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FrozenGate by Avery

Awlego's RGB Laser Driver Has Arrived!

Can't wait to try this out! :paypal:

Edit: Wow! I paid and it was here in 2 days!!! Looks great. Very professional.
 
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I'm camping over the weekend (Aug 12 - Aug 14). I'll respond to orders/PMs/emails when I get back. If anyone orders tonight, I'll ship tomorrow, otherwise it will be on Monday or Tuesday.

Peace,
-Awlego
 
Hey Awlego,

I finally have all of the components to do my build with your driver! Well, I'm still waiting on the dichros from Modwerx, but I have everything else, including a nice half-inch thick piece of aluminum to mount everything on. I'm planning on using a 200mW HL63133DG 640nm diode for the RED, and a 150mW DPSS 532nm module for the GREEN. Blue is my big stumbling block, as I have two options (both on hand already):

- 405nm 12x diode
- 445nm multi-mode with Dr. Lava's corrective optics.

With either the 405 or the 445 I can run them at the appropriate output to balance my RED and GREEN, so that's not an issue. My dilemma stems from the desire to get as "clean" of a beam as possible. If I go with the 405nm 12x for the BLUE, I'll have three very similar beam profiles when mixed with the RED and GREEN. However, I loose some of the blue spectrum options. If I go with the 445nm Dr. Lava optics corrected multi-mode, I'll have a better blue range, but even after correction, I'm thinking the combined beam won't be as tight.

I suppose my question can be boiled down to:

- How disappointing is the loss of blue spectrum experienced when using a 405nm?
- How disappointing is the loss of similar beam specs experience with a corrected 445nm?

This is surely a subjective question, so I would really welcome, and be appreciative of any input from anyone with experience on the subject :) I'm going to recycle my most prized diode (the HL63133DG) into this labby build, so I really want to make sure everything is well thought-out!
 
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So like you said, this is subjective, but here's my take:

You are correct that using the 445 gives less of a blue range, and will have a worse beam quality. However, the blue produced from mixing violet with the other colors will definitely not be as impressive as actually having a blue diode.

I have had 1 RGB and 1 RGV, both very different setups (one is around 300mW total and one is a fully mixed 1 watt setup)... One has well made custom dichro mounts and the other I super glued to a PHR sled and fit in a tiny box. I like them each for different things...

I personally would probably go for the 445 because you have the corrective optics, and though it won't be quite as nice beam quality, the blues will look so much better. But then again, I'm quite partial to the bright blue colors.

Before you decide though, know that both will look amazing. Check out flaminpryo's RGV: http://laserpointerforums.com/f47/white-fusion-colors-48217.html

Best of luck!

As for the diode you traded me, I'm still waiting on finishing some other projects before I machine a custom press fit host for it :D

-Awlego

rhd said:
Hey Awlego,

I finally have all of the components to do my build with your driver! Well, I'm still waiting on the dichros from Modwerx, but I have everything else, including a nice half-inch thick piece of aluminum to mount everything on. I'm planning on using a 200mW HL63133DG 640nm diode for the RED, and a 150mW DPSS 532nm module for the GREEN. Blue is my big stumbling block, as I have two options (both on hand already):

- 405nm 12x diode
- 445nm multi-mode with Dr. Lava's corrective optics.

With either the 405 or the 445 I can run them at the appropriate output to balance my RED and GREEN, so that's not an issue. My dilemma stems from the desire to get as "clean" of a beam as possible. If I go with the 405nm 12x for the BLUE, I'll have three very similar beam profiles when mixed with the RED and GREEN. However, I loose some of the blue spectrum options. If I go with the 445nm Dr. Lava optics corrected multi-mode, I'll have a better blue range, but even after correction, I'm thinking the combined beam won't be as tight.

I suppose my question can be boiled down to:

- How disappointing is the loss of blue spectrum experienced when using a 405nm?
- How disappointing is the loss of similar beam specs experience with a corrected 445nm?

This is surely a subjective question, so I would really welcome, and be appreciative of any input from anyone with experience on the subject :) I'm going to recycle my most prized diode (the HL63133DG) into this labby build, so I really want to make sure everything is well thought-out!
Click to expand...
 
Hey,

I just wired up my driver, and no luck :(

I wired in all the leads, and connected the Green leads to a test load. Then I powered the board with 3x lithium ion cells.

I immediately heard a click, and could smell that awful burning electronics smell. I quickly disconnected the power. I then finger-tested each component for heat, and the transistor located as indicated in the image below was BURNING hot. Like almost burn-inducing, and this was after maybe 1 full second of testing, no more.

While doing this, the test load registered zero current. Repeating the process with the Blue and then the Red leads connected to the test load, and again for a very short half a second or so, produced the same results - a burning hot transistor, and no current.

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Thoughts?
 

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Awlego - What happened with RHD's driver sounds almost exactly like what happened to me. However, I only heat tested the larger components. One second, and something popped, a puff of smoke. Sorry ive taken so long to address the issue in full, by I am certain I did everything correctly. Also, some parts arrived in the mail, so I may be able to construct a test load to see what the outputs are.

AAlasers
 
Hi, was it a bad idea to test the driver only with a test load on the red and let the green and blue unwired... I burned the prg chip when I started to play with the program buttons...
Now red is stuck at 179ma , blue at 189ma and green on 0
Can I buy only a program chip?

Thank you
 
AAlasers and sherap, PM's on the way.

It also sounds more than one person is having trouble with setting up the drivers (and complications that may arrise as such), so I'm working on creating a user manual. I will post it as soon as it is finished.

-Awlego
 
sherap said:
Hi, was it a bad idea to test the driver only with a test load on the red and let the green and blue unwired... I burned the prg chip when I started to play with the program buttons...
Now red is stuck at 179ma , blue at 189ma and green on 0
Can I buy only a program chip?

Thank you
Click to expand...

Sherap you can buy just the machine coded chip here: http://www.bigclive.com/shop.htm
 
Anybody get one of these things to work even after the 5 volt regulater leed swap?
 
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