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It is best practice to drive laser diodes (and LEDs) with constant current, so I would suggest the LM317 (even though it's current limiting, not constant current). Note that it has a dropout voltage of 1.2V in this configuration, which places a minimum on your input voltage.

Awesome, that is exactly the kind of information I was looking for! You mention common ground as a good thing to have. Is that because usually in a handheld, the battery, driver, and diode "ground" are all electrically connected?

That's mainly what I'm looking for, I'd like to be able to design any driver I need (and leave any successful designs in the forums). I take it the "PMIC - LED drivers" section of the Digikey product index is a good place to start?

Hello everyone, I apologize if this is a search away, I've searched many times over the past while but haven't found much information, despite my expectations that I would. I took a course on DC-DC switching converters, but never learned anything about making a constant current driver. I would...

Tried the staggered positioning of my batteries, still not seeing them reach 4.2V... I'll check Dr. Lava's thread. Hmm, didn't think too little current would yield bad results. I'll grab a lower resistance load soon. Thanks for the responses!

Hi everyone, You may recall (or simply see lower in the board) my post asking for high-quality battery suppliers shipping to Canada. Well, I went with Illumination Supply. Shipping was pretty quick, and the packaging was nice. Measured internal resistance after charging them, and, well, a...

Thanks, I didn't know exactly what separated those three from the rest until now. I'm looking for 16340's and 10440's, any idea what manufacturers are reliable for that?

Thank you for letting me know about these sellers! I haven't heard of these brands, does anyone know how Tenergy, EagleTac and Fenix compare to Sanyo, Panasonic, and Samsung cells?

Hi everyone, As the title says, I'm looking for some high-quality cells available in Canada. I'm hesitant to use eBay or most other sites in case they are counterfeit. Any recommendations are appreciated. I know about Lighthound, but am wondering if there are cheaper/higher capacity sources...

Right, I should have specified that I was talking about rechargeable Ni-MH batteries.

Thanks for the replies! Sigurthr, what do you mean that I won't be able to recharge them?

Hey all, I know that 9V batteries are not very useable for powering lasers, but I'm looking for a good quality 9V battery charger. I've seen the 40$ giant bucket thing that energizer sells, and that seems very excessive. Anyone know of a good brand to buy this from? Thank you!

Ugh, looking at WL comments is worse than YouTube comments. Someone asked if they could make weapon sights, and WL (thankfully) said "We do not make or recommend our lasers for use on firearms" 5 comments later, people are fighting over whether high-power laser sights are legal or not...

Hey, I think we lost correspondence... Still interested in a WF 501b HS from you.

Oh, I misread the default 532nm diagram. Ouch. Thanks for the response!

Hey everyone, A brief question concerning 532nm DPSS lasers. First off, I just hardly understand how it works, and I may still be incorrect: 1064nm diode goes through a crystal or two, which double the frequency, turning it into 532nm light. Now for the question. The wavelength emitted by a...

There's the bulk of it! To quickly answer your question on what "type" of part though, if you use a blue or purple laser, you'll need more voltage. This means either a boost driver, or more batteries in series and a linear driver. Hosts like the guidesman are good for this since they come with a...

Hey Dibbit, welcome to the forums! I'm no expert myself, but I will go ahead saying what everyone else will tell you: don't forget goggles. As for what "type" of part, give us some more details. Namely, what wavelength/colour do you want to build? Knowing this, I can try to help a lot more.

Thanks for the response WBS. Anyone else have answers to my questions?

Hey everyone, I have a few questions, none of which are particularly specific. First off, I screwed up a laser build a while ago and the battery shorted through the case, and the tail cap ended up breaking, so I need a new C6 tailcap, preferably for a lot cheaper than a whole new C6. Would this...