Dutch Diodes (a question to my fellow countryman browsing this forum)

[phaser]

so where does the average kaaskop gets his or her diodes ?
marktplaats, cd burners ,that vague chinese salesman from ebay, or you found website that delivers ?
what are your experiences and how often did you got your mail intercepted ( this counts especialy for international posts)
and ofcourse not unimportant, how was the quality/price of your product ?
please be elaborate in your answer and try to keep it english for as far as thats posible.
also this topic does not only aply to diodes but also to other parts like drivers/hosts and everything else that comes to mind*
try to include prices if you bought it somewhere.

enligthen me with your answers, get it ? no ? nevermind then


*as long as it is vital/relevant to the topic.
just not wickedlaser or other manufuctard lasers,lets keep it stricly homebuilt in that sense

 

[FreeBee]

I wouldn't know, since I haven't built lasers myself yet. If I did, I think I'd buy them from a seller here on the forum, or from one of the more professional online laser shops outside of this country, they also sell the other stuffs like hosts/diode housings/lenses/drivers etc.

I already succesfully purchased some spare lenses and drivers (from aforementioned sources). They were pretty cheap, and the costs of shipping are sometimes even cheaper then here. Stuffs that would easily fit into your mailbox are sent for package prices often here, so this is usually better.

I have already demolished some old DVD drives, just for testing purposes, but the real diodes are in the more expensive pieces, and I just don't find those worthy of destroying (or the effort) for a single laser diode. Then I'd better buy 'em off of someone who knows what he's doing.

Sorry I couldn't be of more assistance, but I hope you can do at least something with it.

 

[Bluefan]

I get my parts from everywhere: here on the forum, webshops, ebay (china, US, DE, anywhere) and also locally (marktplaats, mostly HeNe's). I got some sleds from laserwinkel, a user here on the forum and on PL. It's an actual company here in the Netherlands, so hardly any delay. If you need A140 diodes (445nm), I got a load of them that I already planned to place on marktplaats, including the original projector lens.

Although I regularly build lasers I haven't build a pointer yet, so I'm not that familiar with pointer specific things like hosts and stuff.

 

[DTR]

I would not worry about a diode being intercepted. I send quite a few diodes all over the world and have never seen one get confiscated by any customs. Now fully built laser pointers are a different story. I would just make sure the seller is reputable.

What kind of specific diodes are you looking for?

 

[phaser]

bluefan "If you need A140 diodes (445nm), I got a load of them that I already planned to place on marktplaats, including the original projector lens"

Could you please pm me with more info, i may take them of your hands if the price is right

DTR "What kind of specific diodes are you looking for? "

I hate to sound vague, but non in particulair.
Basicaly, anything above 200 NM would do aslong as it is in the visible spectrum.
However, no IR/gas powered lasers.