I toyed back and forth with what wavelength and output to use for quite a while. I agree with you that reds are the first to go as depth increases, so that color likely would have stood out the most at greater depth.
I guess the reason I chose the 520nm is due to 'perceived brightness.'...
That is exactly why I built them - I dive with my girlfriend, and we'll be cruising along and I will see something neat and try desperately to point it out to her. I usually get shrugged shoulders as a response. I'm hoping with this I'll have more luck.
Thanks for the kind words. In regards to depth, the waterproof flashlight I started with was rated to 50 meters (164 feet) and was intended for recreational scuba diving. I didn't do anything to impair the structural integrity of the host, so I have no qualms with taking it down to 100 feet. My...
So I started a thread in March of this year about building some waterproof laser hosts to take scuba diving.
To recap the previous thread, I bought a couple of waterproof flashlights built for scuba diving, gutted them, mailed them to mrcrouse to custom mill a couple of heat sinks, and then...
Update as of 5-16-2015:
I put an Osram PL520 diode/350mA driver/G2 lens assembly from DTR in the larger host. Works like a charm and fired right up. Without an LPM, my best *guess* is somewhere in the 80-100mW range, based on diode/driver/lens and DTR's testing thread. I took it to Playa Del...
If you are interested in pointing out stars and being able to burn things, you can get a lot more 'bang for your buck' (mW/$) if you go with a 445nm blue laser. I've not purchased any lasers from retailers, so I can't speak about any of them, but I have built a few. I highly recommend the kits...
Well, I posted in the hosts forum not too long ago about looking for some waterproof hosts. I found a couple I liked, and have been working on them ever since. I had mrcrouse do some custom machining for me and now all I have left is to add some diode/driver modules. Let me know what you guys...
Not sure how set you are on 532nm, but you can get a 520nm that is depth-rated (for scuba diving) for a fairly reasonable price from lasertb here:
Diving laser 50 meters
In other news, I'm actually working on buiding a couple of waterproof lasers to take diving with me. I've got everything...
Re: Laserbtb.com the source for all laser needs. (6%: 109058640691)
I've been wanting to get my hands on one of laserbtb's diving lasers for a few weeks now. I am a scuba diver and am interested in taking a pointer with me to be able to point out fish/coral/etc to my dive buddy. Would you be...
This is a really interesting topic for me. I would love to use a multiple mode LED driver to be able to have multiple output intensities on a laser, but I haven't been able to ind a suitable driver for my needs. Trying to do the build with a PL520 diode, so I would like input voltage to be up to...
I'm sure you are right. Admittedly, I don't know anything about knife edge arrays. I just happened to see someone looking for some and remembered that I had seen some for sale from a reputable seller. I had no idea if they were any good or what you happened to be looking for. Just trying to help.