Welcome to Laser Pointer Forums - discuss green laser pointers, blue laser pointers, and all types of lasers

LPF Donation via Stripe | LPF Donation - Other Methods

Links below open in new window

ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Allow Me To Introduce Myself...

PhaserBoy

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2019
Messages
60
Points
18
Hi fellow Laser enthusiasts, I am located in the Fort Belvoir area of Northern Virginia,14 miles South of DC. I got my start in lasers with cat lasers ( which now I dont consider cool) My Ducks and Chickens enjoyed them too. But their rapid movements makes it unsafe, even for a low power 'toy'. I have bought many regular size blue, violet, red and green lasers on eBay. I really like the ones that you twirl and make patterns with, they have a special tip. I also have a few '10 mile' green lasers.. I always carry in the mountains when hiking in case of Bears, Bigfoots or a stray Cougar. I have no guns. Arrived here on Earth June 26 1963. My name is Doug.
Hobbies include gardening, camping,hiking,birdwatching,nature,beach trips, LED and Laser tinkering. I have chickens,ducks Bobwhite Quail , 2 Great Pyrenees and 4 cats. A backyard pond. Built an electric Schwinn Trike and custom Electra bicycle. Drive the Ford 65 Galaxie wagon my Grandfather bought 2894V Baby Blue. CDL local truck driver hauling steel and aluminum since 2004. I PutYHWH1st.
I am here to learn and possibly purchase items. I am building a USS Enterprise Willits model. It will have LED lighting and hopefully a twin beam laser for the bottom of saucer. space is an issue , no Pun intended? A special thanks to GSS for his Phaser and his help.
 
Last edited:





Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Messages
17,252
Points
113
Welcome to the LPF, even if it is belated. Better late than never. Those green 532nm lasers listed on eBay with a 10 mile range is another Chinese over hyped selling technique, as they are normally around 80 mW and the beam diameter is quite wide at 10 miles. They are not bad for a $5.00 laser, though. If you paid more than that I hope it wasn't much more. Good luck with your Star Trek laser projects. :D
 

PhaserBoy

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2019
Messages
60
Points
18
Thanks Paul, never paid more than $10, what is really cool is waving them up and down rapidly into the smoke of a camp fire. It creates a slice of patterned smoke, my young daughter thought that was real cool.
 

BowtieGuy

0
LPF Site Supporter
Joined
Oct 14, 2012
Messages
6,090
Points
113
Welcome to LPF, PhaserBoy! :)

Have fun, stay safe, and enjoy your stay here.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
562
Points
63
Welcome! Hope you enjoy your stay.

If you can fit a 12mm "Aixiz" style module in the Star Trek model that gives you lots of options. I'm building a tiny pocket handheld with one of these modules turned down to 11mm diameter - if you put the driver somewhere else, the copper module + diode + lens really can be very small. Aside from that maybe using some arrangement of optical fibres might work. Would definitely drive the cost way up though. Not sure what sort of decoupler you'd need to get a laser going out of an optical fibre straight. Probably someone with more experience happy to weigh in though :)
 
Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Messages
17,252
Points
113
Thanks Paul, never paid more than $10, what is really cool is waving them up and down rapidly into the smoke of a camp fire. It creates a slice of patterned smoke, my young daughter thought that was real cool.

I have a daughter too. She is in her mid thirties now. When she was about 12 I gave her a HeNe laser to take for show and tell at school. It was a huge success for her. But, the tube broke about ten years ago when it fell from her closet shelf at her house. No matter how old they get, they never cease to be your little girl.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
562
Points
63
When she was about 12 I gave her a HeNe laser to take for show and tell at school.
Never been a little girl myself but god, Show and Tell would have been way more interesting if Dad had a HeNe tube lying around for me to take in :sneaky:
 
Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Messages
17,252
Points
113
Yeah, that was before laser diodes took off, so seeing a laser up close was a real treat for many of those kids. It was only a 5 mW 632.8nm laser, but it was CW. I saw my first laser in 1965. But, it was a ruby laser and was only a short pulse. I was already aware of lasers and had done a lot of reading on them, but seeing a ruby laser pop a big blue balloon from across a stage was really awesome for me to see back then.
 

PhaserBoy

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2019
Messages
60
Points
18
Welcome! Hope you enjoy your stay.

@Immo1282 Some of the drivers I have seen make the total length about 22 mm minimum. (eBay) Most of my parts will be remote, Power supply, wireless remote control, and possibly driver if its to large on the twin beam. have to figure out how to get laser in the small saucer space- probably cut a door hole and running the wires thru ship so they are of of sight. there will be multiple LEDS flashing and still. I have RGB flashing LEDS for the engine nacelle fronts. lot of wires to hide. Daisy chains will help cut that down I hope.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
562
Points
63
Some of the drivers I have seen make the total length about 22 mm minimum
If you solder on wires instead of a driver directly mounted to your laser diodes, you can put the driver in a different space from the module - and the module can be a lot shorter. Can't do a lot about the diameter though.

This picture from DTRs shop page on 12mm modules shows which bit of the module you retain in this way and which you can do away with...
unnamed.jpg
If you use the front section alone, shown in the bottom of the image (or if you've the space, the half-length module on the right) and omit the silver focus ring you can cut a lot of length. Move the driver as close as possible once you've routed the wires, but it doesn't necessarily need to be attached directly to your laser diode :)

You won't be able to get much power & duty cycle out of this setup due to limited heatsinking, but if you're going for small space, there's not a lot better that you can do.
 

PhaserBoy

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2019
Messages
60
Points
18
Cool, I'm hoping less than 12" is not to far to box the driver, batteries and remote control receiver . That would be under the Model. What type of solder? I have a mini iron and some thin solder from a Pacman Arcade I built for my son with Raspberry Pi. Probably shrink tube connections also.Screenshot_20190108-153514.png
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
562
Points
63
What I reccomend you do (given this is your first build) is get your modules, prefitted with diodes and wires (potentially even the Laser driver) direct from Jordan at DTRs shop. There's a lot of pitfalls with builds for new people to it (and I still count myself in that number.)

Laser diodes can be extremely sensitive to ESD (Static discharge) so it's paramount that you at least wear a grounded wrist-strap whilst working on them, as well as use a soldering iron where the tip is also grounded. If you don't there's a good chance that the diode will be killed before you can even work on them. LDs are also mechanically sensitive - and pressing a diode into a module is also easy to cock up (I have killed ~£40 of laser diodes with ESD, and a £30 laser diode by pressing it in at an angle and breaking it's glass front window).

By buying the module with wires pre-attached, you can mostly eliminate the physical concerns. By buying the diode module /w driver soldered and wires from the driver, you can eliminate much of the ESD concerns too, as the driver will help in protecting the diode from smaller discharges. Trust me in that for a first build - it's extremely frustrating to be killing parts because of rushing, or not using the right tools etc.

Looking at the model - (and I'd measure it before you order anything to make sure) - you probably have space for a full 12mm module, including a hollow back containing the driver board. This is by far the most fool-proof option if it'll fit. You need space for a cylinder 12mm in diameter and about 31mm long. This way, you can power the driver board directly from a battery in the base, and leave the module entirely intact for the best chance of success.
 
Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Messages
17,252
Points
113
If you are already proficient with electronics you may have little to no problems at all. But, if you are new to all of this, there are many pitfalls and you might be better off buying your diodes pressed and the driver wired to it and ready to drop into a host. You will always pay a premium for having someone else set everything up for you, but at least you know it will work when you get it.
 




Top