5mw bluray diy?

[tomi77]

Hello everyone!
Questions from a new member:
Can I make a 5mw bluray pointer or is it always like 10mw and more?
I´m not interested burning stuff, I just want to make quite "safe" laser for a first diy project and use it indoors to make little effects.
Will it work if I buy a ps3 kes-400 from ebay and driver and stuff from somewhere else place?
And can I find instructions to make that all to become a working lowpower-laser?
I´ve tried to find an answer to that, but I haven´t so thats why I´m asking.

Sorry my asking, but I think this site is the best place to ask this.


Thanks,
tomi from far away Finland

 

[daguin]

Hello everyone!
Questions from a new member:
Can I make a 5mw bluray pointer or is it always like 10mw and more?
I´m not interested burning stuff, I just want to make quite "safe" laser for a first diy project and use it indoors to make little effects.
Will it work if I buy a ps3 kes-400 from ebay and driver and stuff from somewhere else place?
And can I find instructions to make that all to become a working lowpower-laser?
I´ve tried to find an answer to that, but I haven´t so thats why I´m asking.
Sorry my asking, but I think this site is the best place to ask this.

Thanks,
tomi from far away Finland

You can do this. If you use the PS3 diode and drive it under 30mA, you should get what you are looking for. I haven't tried to get them all the way down below 5mW, but I have built several around 10mW. These work very well as lecture pointers. You should be warned. A 5mW 405nm dot is very dim to the human eye unless it is fluorescing something. Rkcstr should be able to put a driver together for you at this low current.

http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1206947255

Peace,
dave

 

[john_lawson]

I'd say do at least 35-45 mw or its kinda hard to see it ? but yes it is possble to make a 5mw one also

wow Dave you beat me to the post notice time posted :

 

[daguin]

I'd say do at least 35-45 mw or its kinda hard to see it ? but yes it is possble to make a 5mw one also

wow Dave you beat me to the post notice time posted  :

I was watching you . . . .

Peace,
dave

 

[tomi77]

thank you for so quick answer!
I was so sure that someone would just say to me like: what a dumb question!
but no, I was happily suprised!

I gotta ask Rkcstr... thanks for that tip.
maybe if I start from low power and then in time put some more power...

yes I believe 5mW is dim, but in dark and with smoke maybe be seen?

cheers,
tomi

 

[daguin]

thank you for so quick answer!
I was so sure that someone would just say to me like: what a dumb question!
but no, I was happily suprised!
I gotta ask Rkcstr... thanks for that tip.
maybe if I start from low power and then in time put some more power...
yes I believe 5mW is dim, but in dark and with smoke maybe be seen?
cheers,
tomi

I don't think you will be able to see much of a "beam" even with a visualizer in the air. However, I use a very low powered one for lecture. The spot is visible in a darkened room.

Peace,
dave

 

[Zom-B]

Using a polarized beamsplitter cube you can dim the laser beam. When the polarization of the beam and the cube are exactly 90° rotated, in theory no light will pass, but in practice, about 2-5% will pass. Rotate them to 0° and >95% of the light will pass. Drive the blu-ray at a normal power (like 10-20mW to save batteries) and use the cube to suppress the beam down to 5mW or less.

 

[suiraM]

Let's leave out safety classes and the peak absorption of uveal melanin for a moment.

An eye-safe violet laser is doable. That isn't really the question. Nor is visibility.

So... to propose a question I have grown very fond of over the years:

"What are you actually trying to do here?"

A goal makes it a lot easier for anyone to comment usefully and accurately on how to get what you're after, because it tells them what you're trying to do, rather than how you tried to do it, or what obstacles you ran into in doing so. In some cases, there's a very different route to the goal which will serve you better. For instance, if you're really looking for an eye-safe beam, then a certified greenie is the way to go. If you're looking for an eye-safe fluorescence exciter, then you just need to keep the beam large enough. If you just want it to be eye safe under all circumstances, a 5mW red with max 30 minutes battery capacity and non-explosive batteries will prevent everything except attempts at physically pushing it into the orbit, and you'll hopefully agree that possession of a finger makes that risk academic at worst. If you want an eye-safe visible beam with violet color, you are barking up the wrong tree, though it's probably possible to do it by mixing 470nm and 630nm, at an exorbitant cost. If you want to keep costs down, DX has modules. If you just want to build a laser, find out what fascinates you about them, and start in that end (e.g. if it's building the host, then you can buy the driver and module ready-made, whereas if it's the electronics, you can buy a host to put it in, etc.).

This was not criticism, but advice, and I would be happy to offer more concrete advice on eye-safety if this piece has been helpful. I'm sure others will, too. I'm always glad to see people build something; it puts us humans in touch with our roots, and there's something about it that's satisfying in a way we can't convey to one who hasn't built something. My interest is more tied to health, science and manufacture for the most part, but I definitely like the building process, too.

Finally, if you're just looking to avoid getting your eyes damaged...

... that is exactly what the goggles are for.

 

[tomi77]

thank you for tips.
you´re right, i gotta think what i really want to do.

and those goggles i have to purchase.
cheers,
tomi

 

[treb76]

group buy going on now for them $35- check sig :

 

[tomi77]

now i got ps3 5-pin diode from ebay and 38mA driver from rkcstr.
what would be the perfect voltage for that combination?
thanks
tomi

 

[daguin]

7.4V - 9V

Peace,
dave

 

[tomi77]

thanks.
so is it same if i use one 9v battery or 3x cr2?

tomi

 

[john_lawson]

I dont know about you guys but all my pen style blurays use two 10440 3.7 batteries that average 8.2 volts fully charged and they last a real long time 2-3 weeks general usage between charges i run them about 125 ma  

 

[daguin]

I dont know about you guys but all my pen style blurays use two 10440 3.7 batteries that average 8.2 volts fully charged and they last a real long time 2-3 weeks general usage  between charges i run them about 125 ma  

Mine too. I will be making a couple with the flexdrive soon, but for now I'm with you.

However, he didn't seem to be wanting to limit himself to a pen-style. The question as to whether to use a 9V or three CR2's confirms that. With the PS3 diode the 9V battery is fine and cheaper. Milos built a shitload of these and most if not all are still out there working.

Peace,
dave

 

[Jane the One]

Maybe you should try using LPWA chipset, it is more suitable for such small and delicate devices, from my experience.