405 TTL driver

[Hemlock_Mike]

I'm playing with my "tiny" etcher which I got from ebay a couple
years ago. I removed the low power 445 laser and replaced it with
a bigger blue. As normal, it doesn't focus to a point.
I want to put in a 405 (about .7 watt) but I need a driver which
puts out 6-7 volts AND has a TTL or analog input. All the 405 drivers
I see here have no TTL input.
What else do we have here?
HM

 

[WizardG]

All of the drivers I've seen used with the BDR-209 have a soft start feature to avoid shocking the diode. Yes, I know the DVD drive switches the diode on and off very very rapidly, but the drive isn't asking the poor little diode to pass 700mA. If you go with a driver that has TTL blanking you may need to reduce the current to avoid killing the diode.

 

[94Z28]

I haven't personally tried it, but I bet one of wossee drivers would work for this. I think it also has a start-up delay, not sure how much of a soft-ramp it has but I have liked all of his products so far. Maybe worth asking him, or giving it a shot on a cheaper 405nm first.

3A analog linear / PWM laser diode driver with thermal protection | eBay


/e He also has a cheaper version that drives a max of 500mA I believe check the store!

 

[Encap]

Maybe one of these from DTR https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/flexdrives/8a-blackbuck

There are a lot of lower cost drivers w. TTL on ebay

 

[Benm]

Yeah, and anything with analog modulation will also switch on TTL signals (provided the low is a solid pulldown low).

Drivers intented for use as a pointer may have soft start features to protect the diode, which would make fast switching impossible. However, any driver intended for things like laser shows can switch pretty quickly, at least at a 30 kHz or so rate. If you need something faster than that, post back

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Thanks for the help. I'm looking at
these now. As I recall, The BlackBuck
output is limited to about 5 volts and a
405 diode needs ~ 6volts.
HM

 

[Benm]

I'm not familiar with that driver, but if it is a buck regulator it should be able to output any voltage under its input voltage, provided you don't exceed some maximum voltage on the chip in the process.

Then again for a setup like that, why go for switchmode regulators?

Those are good when you have to work with a battery voltage you can do little about and/or the need to be efficient, but in a benchtop machine you need neither. I'd just go for linear regulation there, fewer things that can play up, and no limitation on cooling really - heatsinks are cheap