First confirmed kill :(

[mendnwngs]

Heh, My hubris caught up with me today..

So, I got a couple LPC-826 from Modwerks, and a couple Aixiz modules (and AR coated lenses)

Well... it came today.. I pressed one into a module, took a guess at the lens orientation, and attached it to my power supply..

At about 200mA, I had a nice red dot (I guessed correctly on the lens direction, Hehe)

Very nice dot, beam looks pretty nice, and its a lot brighter than any red I've yet played with..

Not paying attention to my hand on the control knob, I guess I made it to about 800mA before the LD blew.. I just wasnt paying attention

Now it will lase with a weird beam profile (line with a half-dot in the middle) at about 400mA, but just barely..

Entirely my fault, I know.. I'll be a lot more mindful moving forward..

Fun stuff tho.. for $10, that LD is *awesome* I'm sooo thinking about getting back into holography now.. (My first holography laser was a surplus HeNe I built for like $250 total some 18-19 years ago.. It was ~3mW as far as I could tell)

I did, however, realise that I need some tools.. Namely LD press-in, and LD press-out tools.. Perhaps I can fab something up on the mill, but I might just buy a set for Aixiz tools.

Anyway.. I hope to try and remove the LD, and see if I cant take a look at this thing at work under one of the stereo microscopes.. (Its a canless LD) It looks pretty neat in there, be cool to see it up close.

Fun little hobby y'all got here.. I'm hooked

 

[laserhead2112]

Lol good job on your first kill ...um did you say look at it AT WORK under a MIRCROSCOPE...not a good idea!!!

 

[mendnwngs]

..Erm..

The dead LD, unpowered.. LOL..

I'm curious to see how these things are put together, thats all..

(Like I'd look down the barrel of a powered laser (at any power) I like my eyes too much... )

 

[laserhead2112]

Oh ok at first I thought you try to power it up under it lol my bad..

 

[skir0987]

I had my fifth confirmed LPC-826 kill today... on my way to laser genocide haha. It happens

 

[Sigurthr]

I believe Flaminpyro makes an awesome set of LD tools, might want to check his out instead of Aixiz.

Tools are the reason I went with a DTR module instead of just building from scratch. If you're making lots of DIY lasers then it is worth it to invest in tools, but if you're only wavelength collecting like me, well, it was more cost effective to buy a module guaranteed to be assembled by an expert.

Series max-current protection resistors are a good idea for variable power drivers not being used in a permanent setting. Gotta figure out the max voltage applicable to the diode by the constant-current driver though.

 

[Bionic-Badger]

I stupidly burned out a diode because I had it hooked up to an ammeter, and then switched it to voltage mode while it was running. Fortunately it was a cheap 635nm diode (those cheap $3 ones). Still, don't do that.