Pioneer 8X Blu-Ray-- BDR-203

So Dave, are there any other markings on the sled? All I've been able to garner from your photos is "b2700002536a" which returns no google results.

It'd be kickass awesome if there were a cheap supply of these sleds rather than buying the whole drive... I work at a computer store, and our cheapest distributor has the drives for $250CAD with free shipping... I've had an itchy trigger finger for a while now and I'm really restraining myself, trying not to buy one.

pseudolobster said:

So Dave, are there any other markings on the sled? All I've been able to garner from your photos is "b2700002536a" which returns no google results.
It'd be kickass awesome if there were a cheap supply of these sleds rather than buying the whole drive... I work at a computer store, and our cheapest distributor has the drives for $250CAD with free shipping... I've had an itchy trigger finger for a while now and I'm really restraining myself, trying not to buy one.

Click to expand...

There is one other "number."  It is printed into/onto the circuit "board."  It looks like this:

G (this letter is inside a square)
A30C5/
A38C10
mk OR c <=> 2  (This line is the best I could do.  There is a very small triangle before the "mk" and this combination "<=>" actually looks more like a two ended arrow.  Also the "OR" are letters on the board NOT the word or)

Peace,
dave

Wow, you would never believe it, but Sony did respond to my email. They gave me a phone number to call. I will call them as soon as I get a break from work.

iskor12 said:

Wow, you would never believe it, but Sony did respond to my email.  They gave me a phone number to call.  I will call them as soon as I get a break from work.

Click to expand...

Could you PM me that phone number? I may be able to get quite a few of those diodes through my work since I am in the process of designing a 405 for an industrial application and need to test diodes to see what is best for us. I of course would be performing lifetime tests as well as some basic spectral work that I could share.

climbak said:

[quote author=iskor12 link=1236464366/288#290 date=1238165721]Wow, you would never believe it, but Sony did respond to my email.  They gave me a phone number to call.  I will call them as soon as I get a break from work.

Click to expand...

Could you PM me that phone number? I may be able to get quite a few of those diodes through my work since I am in the process of designing a 405 for an industrial application and need to test diodes to see what is best for us. I of course would be performing lifetime tests as well as some basic spectral work that I could share.[/quote]

Sure thing. The original number that they gave me sent me to a person who was speaking japanese. So, that didn't get far....he transfered me to another department and then that department gave me another number. So I called the new number and then that person transfered me as well!! Then that person gave me a number for there purchasing department. But, now my lunch break is over, so I am not able to call them.

I will PM you all of the numbers that they gave me. Please let me know if you manage to get some information out of Sony.

FYI: Everyone was friendly on the phone at Sony.

I tried calling the numbers you sent me, but no luck. I found a number for the US semiconductor office though so hopefully I hear back from them soon. If all else fails we have some contacts directly in Japan that I may be able to get a hold of.

climbak said:

I tried calling the numbers you sent me, but no luck. I found a number for the US semiconductor office though so hopefully I hear back from them soon. If all else fails we have some contacts directly in Japan that I may be able to get a hold of.

Click to expand...

Great, I am currently waiting on a company to give me more information about some Sharp brand laser diodes that I found. 405nm 125mW pulsed. I don't know how they will turn out. The company is taking their sweet time though.

iskor12 said:

Sure thing.  The original number that they gave me sent me to a person who was speaking japanese.

Click to expand...

So you don't speak Japanese?

daguin said:

[quote author=rocketparrotlet link=1236464366/272#284 date=1238109639]No popups on LPF.  It would

This is about helping people to make that decision.  Right now it is a $200 experiment for each person taking the plunge

Peace,
dave

Click to expand...

I'm ready for taking the plunge
Just say to me which 8x drive I need to buy for start the experimentation

I'm considering finding the money and doing this, but only if there's someone who could buy it after I have finished with it (and therefore, I won't be running lifetime or "death" tests on it, either). Nonetheless, it would still be very useful to have a second diode "out there", to compare power output, current and voltage with. I can machine a heatsink and make a driver, so anyone interested in funding this, and [highlight]probably[/highlight] getting a Class 4 handheld at the end, could PM me.

iskor12 said:

[quote author=climbak link=1236464366/288#293 date=1238177432]I tried calling the numbers you sent me, but no luck. I found a number for the US semiconductor office though so hopefully I hear back from them soon. If all else fails we have some contacts directly in Japan that I may be able to get a hold of.

Click to expand...

Great, I am currently waiting on a company to give me more information about some Sharp brand laser diodes that I found.  405nm 125mW pulsed.  I don't know how they will turn out.  The company is taking their sweet time though. [/quote]

climbak said:

[quote author=iskor12 link=1236464366/288#290 date=1238165721]Wow, you would never believe it, but Sony did respond to my email.  They gave me a phone number to call.  I will call them as soon as I get a break from work.

Click to expand...

Could you PM me that phone number? I may be able to get quite a few of those diodes through my work since I am in the process of designing a 405 for an industrial application and need to test diodes to see what is best for us. I of course would be performing lifetime tests as well as some basic spectral work that I could share.[/quote]


Thanks for doing this, it'd be awesome if Sony actually allowed a "GB" for this magic diode

@climbak: Exactly what we needed

Finally I bought the SONY Optiarc BWU-300S :
I'll let the forum know what my testing shows

intro74 said:

Finally I bought the SONY Optiarc BWU-300S  :
I'll let the forum know what my testing shows  

Click to expand...

great! thanks for testing!
cant wait, keep us updated!

manuel

Took the plunge as well, got a BDR-203.

No measurements yet, I hope  I'll get to that during the weekend.

Extracting the violet LD was a breeze, thanks to Dave's pictures. In fact, the diode is that much exposed that I didn't even need to remove the sled from the drive. Instead of cutting the little ribbon cable that connects the laser diode to the sled, I desoldered the diode inside the drive using hot air. Popped it out of its heatsink ... but did not break the heatsink.

Tried to power up the drive (without its violet LD), green LED comes on, it registers fine in Windows as BDR-203, but it did not do anything when a disc was inserted. You want your diode back? Alright, I'll give you one, just not the 8x

I put a PHR in the original heatsink, glued it back to its approximate position on the sled, and soldered the little ribbon cable back on. Power up....

... it's alive! Reads CDs, DVDs, and I just burned a DVD-R at full speed without problems! Probably it just needed something with a ~5V voltage drop on its violet LD pins.

I doubt it will read Blu-Rays though (can't try it out right now, I don't have any).


Here is a close-up of the 8x diode:




More to come...

That's a purty picture

Peace,
dave

That marking is different than the PHR's and the 6X diodes...

Is your 8X like that too Dave? No little square in the corner?
Jay