12x in a Phobos host

[cheech226]

hey y'all......

i've had this phobos host for a while now and never could decide what to put in it. i sold my only 12x recently, it was my favorite hand held because of the incredible power density of the perfect tem00 beam.
so i went ahead and ordered a 12x diode in a copper module from who else? - dtr. as always dtr's shipment arrived in 3 days and as always dtr done me right!
i had an old micro boost driver but upon the test load it couldn't deliver the current needed. looked like the inductor was fried.
le quack has a nice little buck/boost driver i had been reading about so after a pm or 2 he agreed to sell me one set to 525mA. i got it in 3 days too!
an afterthought was that i shouldn't have asked dtr to solder leads on the diode, the area for a driver in the phobos is kinda small and the long pins on the diode along with heatshrink tubing took more of the length than wanted. but the e-drive was able to fit in the limited space. i did not put the driver on a test load, just shorted it, then soldered it up.
an imr 18350 @ 800mAh is the power source.
the first pics are with a 3 element 405 lens.


now for the best part:drool:

i tried a g-1 lens, but without some modification it doesn't get close enough to the diode to focus using the focus head

i had to see what it would do with the 9mm 445 diode lens

big thanks to le quack and dtr for their commitment to the hobby:wave:

i've also built an lpc-826,
http://laserpointerforums.com/f50/simple-red-660-a-78013.html
and a pl450b,
http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/osram-pl450b-aurora-ss-host-78016.html
in the last few days, they will be described in the proper sections soon.


edit: 11/17/2012 i killer this laser by twisting the module and breaking the wires. got another diode from drt and an x-boost set to 520ma from lazeerer. it's now doing 587mw with 3 element and 697 with a g-1. but it still burns like hell

edit: 01/23/13 i received an extended lens barrel from dtr so i could use my g9 lens in this build. i had to push the copper module back a little to accomodate the extra length. works great - gives great spot and 705mW

 

[Blord]

The Phobos is a great host. One piece of metal for an outstanding thermal transfer.

The color in the last picture is way off. A 405nm shouldn't be blue but violet.

 

[cheech226]

i agree on all counts. i like the host, same idea as the kryton but more mass.
as far as the last pic.......well that's what the cam processed, just art ;-)

 

[Eudaimonium]

Wait what, almost 700mW through 3-element lens?!

What sort of diode is that, where'd you pick it up?

Nice work, man!

 

[lasersbee]

Nice work on your build....:gj:

You'll need to test the output with a more efficient lens
to milk the most power from that LD...:beer:


Jerry

You can contact us at any time on our Website: J.BAUER Electronics

 

[cheech226]

thanks jerry! i added an lpm pic using the 9mm 445 diode lens. with a g-1 lens the power was at 765mw.
unless i get a long barrel housing for one of the lens i won't be able to use the phobos focus head with it. i like the look of the spot way better with the 3 element lens anyway. unless i'm doing long distance popping my aspherical lens stay in the box.

edit: i was surprised by the output of this diode. right off i suspected my laserbee so a fresh 9v battery was installed and i measured some of my "standard output" lasers - a red rayfoss, 594 he ne, and my 488 argon. all results tallied. this diode is a keeper, hope it lasts:beer:

it didn't - i killed it see op