Hi all.
Just thought I'd share my experience of my first 445 build, my second proper build, and review my first proper host, made by Ehgemus. I've assembled a couple of Mk2 Dilda hosts before this, but they were more like painting-by-numbers, to be honest.
After reading DTR's review of his " http://laserpointerforums.com/f52/1-8w-ehgemus-custom-26650-black-host-57160.html " ehgemus host build, I decided THAT was the design that I had to have.
It's the ridged surface that appeals to me; really tactile, hides the finger-prints, and just looks really good, in my opinion.
The main difference between mine and DTR's is that mines suited for an 18650 battery rather than the monster 26650, so it's a little thinner.
I was too eager to get this built to be bothered to take detailed build pictures, but there are plenty of those and excellent instructions in DTR's numerous reviews.
So, on with the build.
Here's a view from the front, where you can see the quality of finish. Excellent, and beyond my expectations.
Here are a couple of views from the rear, showing the superb tail-switch. It feels really robust, smooth and again, the quality of finish is top-class. The threads are nice and tight, and smooth running.
You can see all the major components laid out next to each other here.
The bit that really impressed me is the design of the module section that houses the laser diode and the driver. It's such a neat and tidy, yet elegant design that just press-fits together without too much force required, and no slack at all. A testament to the skill of its designer and manufacturer.
Here you can see it disassembled with my driver inside. It's a Flexdrive V5 by the way that I chose to wrap in PTFE tape instead of regular insulation tape as I think it's a bit tidier and easy to remove without leaving residue, and just as effective.
Here's a good shot of a part of the module that, although seemingly trivial, really impressed me; the battery contact. It's a circular piece of black plastic with an alumimium disc in the centre, with the contact wire pinched between the two. What impresses me is how professionally this is made. A really good example of the attention to detail evident throughout this host. It just presses nice and tight into the cylindrical driver housing perfectly. If I could make a any suggestion to improve this, it would be to leave a slightly elevated bump on this to aid contact with flat-headed 18650's. Not an issue though as I just added a blob of solder to the positive end of my 18650 battery to ensure perfect contact no matter how much I shook it.
Here you can see it with the focus cap in position too.
I configured the Flexdrive to the maximum range, bridging all four resistors, and left the pot untouched, and got a reading of around 730mA, assuming I made my test load correctly.
By the way, if any of you more experienced builders can confirm whether or not this is a normal output for a Flexdrive set as I've done, I'd appreciate it
I haven't got an LPM so can't verify it's optical output, but with a standard glass 405-445 lens I bought from Odicforce I guess it might be somewhere around the 600mW region.
Also, when the focus cap is fully tightened, the beam output is more like a torch/floodlight, which is perfect for storage in case anyone decided to handle it and switch on by mistake, reducing the worst possible damage that could happen.
It focuses to infinity around half way through the thread length.
It dissipates the heat very well in the sense that it seems to get warm in a linear fashion rather than abruptly, and the entire host gets warm rather than just the tip.
All in all, I love this host and will be ordering a few more in time, no doubt.
Here are a few obligatory beam shots. This camera doesn't have any manual settings at all and no low light mode, so exposure was a little short, and beam looks a little transparent.
Thanks for reading
Just thought I'd share my experience of my first 445 build, my second proper build, and review my first proper host, made by Ehgemus. I've assembled a couple of Mk2 Dilda hosts before this, but they were more like painting-by-numbers, to be honest.
After reading DTR's review of his " http://laserpointerforums.com/f52/1-8w-ehgemus-custom-26650-black-host-57160.html " ehgemus host build, I decided THAT was the design that I had to have.
It's the ridged surface that appeals to me; really tactile, hides the finger-prints, and just looks really good, in my opinion.
The main difference between mine and DTR's is that mines suited for an 18650 battery rather than the monster 26650, so it's a little thinner.
I was too eager to get this built to be bothered to take detailed build pictures, but there are plenty of those and excellent instructions in DTR's numerous reviews.
So, on with the build.
Here's a view from the front, where you can see the quality of finish. Excellent, and beyond my expectations.
Here are a couple of views from the rear, showing the superb tail-switch. It feels really robust, smooth and again, the quality of finish is top-class. The threads are nice and tight, and smooth running.
You can see all the major components laid out next to each other here.
The bit that really impressed me is the design of the module section that houses the laser diode and the driver. It's such a neat and tidy, yet elegant design that just press-fits together without too much force required, and no slack at all. A testament to the skill of its designer and manufacturer.
Here you can see it disassembled with my driver inside. It's a Flexdrive V5 by the way that I chose to wrap in PTFE tape instead of regular insulation tape as I think it's a bit tidier and easy to remove without leaving residue, and just as effective.
Here's a good shot of a part of the module that, although seemingly trivial, really impressed me; the battery contact. It's a circular piece of black plastic with an alumimium disc in the centre, with the contact wire pinched between the two. What impresses me is how professionally this is made. A really good example of the attention to detail evident throughout this host. It just presses nice and tight into the cylindrical driver housing perfectly. If I could make a any suggestion to improve this, it would be to leave a slightly elevated bump on this to aid contact with flat-headed 18650's. Not an issue though as I just added a blob of solder to the positive end of my 18650 battery to ensure perfect contact no matter how much I shook it.
Here you can see it with the focus cap in position too.
I configured the Flexdrive to the maximum range, bridging all four resistors, and left the pot untouched, and got a reading of around 730mA, assuming I made my test load correctly.
By the way, if any of you more experienced builders can confirm whether or not this is a normal output for a Flexdrive set as I've done, I'd appreciate it
I haven't got an LPM so can't verify it's optical output, but with a standard glass 405-445 lens I bought from Odicforce I guess it might be somewhere around the 600mW region.
Also, when the focus cap is fully tightened, the beam output is more like a torch/floodlight, which is perfect for storage in case anyone decided to handle it and switch on by mistake, reducing the worst possible damage that could happen.
It focuses to infinity around half way through the thread length.
It dissipates the heat very well in the sense that it seems to get warm in a linear fashion rather than abruptly, and the entire host gets warm rather than just the tip.
All in all, I love this host and will be ordering a few more in time, no doubt.
Here are a few obligatory beam shots. This camera doesn't have any manual settings at all and no low light mode, so exposure was a little short, and beam looks a little transparent.
Thanks for reading
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