A bit confused...

Hey there! New here and I have to say I'm a bit confused, and the more I'm reading, the worse its getting lol. Anyways, here's my situation and my questions! I have an Xbox HD DVD drive on order and its soon to arrive, I plan to harvest my LD from it, that's all good. Where I start to get confused is the drivers. I dont really have the know how, or the will atm to build myself a driver, and alot of people seem to be recommending the flexdrive. I had seen these a few times on websites, and I was curious if there was any model out there where I could buy it pre-configured for the right mW? The goal is for this laser to be able to burn, so I was looking at the 105mW range or so, will that be too high? Also, if anyone can suggest a good casing for the LD and driver, I'd appreciate it! As far as a "host" for it all I have yet to decide, but I figure a flashlight would be the easiest fix, mainly I'm just confused on the driver specs.

P.S: I am aware that the HD DVD drives for 360's have a low power laser and then two varieties of the higher powered lasers (or at least that's my concept of it from what I've read, if im wrong tell me lol), so you have a 50/50 chance of getting the higher powered of the two, will both be capable of burning? or do I really have to worry about which one is in the drive.

Thanks a ton!
Toga

You can ask the seller of the Flex-Drive or the rkcstr Micro-Drive to
pre-adjust the current for you....

Jerry

Thanks for the info Laser!

Ok so I've got a sled, a module, and a Rckstr (sp?) driver on their way.

Now will i need a heatsink? I know some people use them, and others don't? If I do need one can anyone suggest one?

And most importantly, I am a bit confused as far as power supplies go! Any suggestions? I have heard some people suggesting to not do 9V batteries as they might blow out the laser?

TogaLive said:

Thanks for the info Laser!

Ok so I've got a sled, a module, and a Rckstr (sp?) driver on their way.

Now will i need a heatsink? I know some people use them, and others don't? If I do need one can anyone suggest one?

And most importantly, I am a bit confused as far as power supplies go! Any suggestions? I have heard some people suggesting to not do 9V batteries as they might blow out the laser?

Click to expand...

You don't NEED a heatsink, but if you have one, you can run your diode at a higher power without shortening its lifespan. Running say, a PHR diode at 150mW is doable, but it will die, and fast.
In terms of which to use, and how to get one, it really depends on what you're going to use as a host. Jayrob makes a bunch of machined heatsinks that are of a really high quality, or you could try building one out of washers or the like. There are tutorials on that.

The power supply you'll need really depends on two things: The diode, and the driver you're using. As a general rule, blu-ray diodes will need more voltage across them than red diodes will. You may also need more voltage if you're powering more than just your diode (like if you're using a fan for cooling). Check the specifications for the driver you're using for what current you need.
(Although, I'm also not quite sure about how safe it is to use 9V batteries...I've seen them used just fine, and I've seen threads in which people were grieving for their recently deceased diode, at the hands of 9V batteries...)

-Mop

9v batteries are nopt really recomendable, short life etc, and sometimes they just can't give enough current.

I highly recomend you to use CR2 cells, use 3 of them to get a very long life, and the rkcstr can hold them properly.

Yours,
Albert

So about 3 of these?

Thanks for all the advice