FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

[millirad]

Thanks Igor, no I won't use different types of batteries. Until I get my rechargeables, I have 3X3 volt cr123 in series with 2 1N4001 in series from the positive terminal of the batteries. That is dropping the voltage from ~9 volts to ~7.6 volts and 450ma. These are almost fresh batteries, but not brand new. I don't know how much voltage from the input is unwise for the LD, but I know that the regulator will heat up if it receives too much input voltage with the red diodes. Thanks for all of your help.

 

[Sam7]

is batch #3 ready to ship?

 

[robjdixon]

EDIT: Ok, please take a look at that datasheet.. It's a Multi-mode diode. Not what we want. We want single mode..... Multimode has BAAAD fast axis! You need a Fast Axis Correction lens for those... Preferably mounted INSIDE the can by the manufacturer.. Otherwise it won't work in regular modules, cos you need FAC, and you don't have room for a FAC lens in a regular module... Without it, it's impossible to get a spot.

I was thinking about that. Is the main use for 405nm diodes at the moment in blu-ray burners? And if i remember correctly, blu-ray burners can't use multimode diodes. I remember a member once said that there are various levels of "multimodeness." Could it be that while the beam wouldn't be ideal, it wouldn't be too bad, as the diode is not very "multimode"

Rob

 

[IgorT]

is batch #3 ready to ship?

You will know when it's almost ready to ship when you receive PP invoices..

I think i should send the PP invoices out today... I said i would make it quickly... I think i can ship them this week, if i work hard. But that means i will have to reduce my online activities slightly.

I will be reading my email (gmail) and this thread, but my replies might (= WILL) become shorter while i work hard.... That's all i'm saying..

The packaging, as usual will take up almost more time than the making of the lasers!

This is because i first modify the lenses (take the back plate out and machine it to a ring with a special inside angle to prevent a ring projection and put it back in), quadruple check that they are clean, then i clean the springs under a lens-less 405nm laser (shows all particles for me to brush off), then i carefully unseal the head (which is sealed during the whole building process and cleaned thoroughly before that), and put the optics in carefully and again quadruple check that they are spotless.

This is why i hate packaging. It's almost the hardest part for me, especially if i stumble upon a dirty diode window... :cryyy:

Cleaning diode windows is more art and luck than technique.


But i WILL try to get them out this week and at worst i'm taking the weekend as a buffer, ok? (sometimes (but luckily rarelly) a diode window breaks and i have to rebuild that laser from scratch), so i need a buffer, just in case... It's very delicate work, with all the details i pay a lot of attention to!

I could make lasers ASAP, but i prefer to make them as-good-as-can-be instead.... But then again, that's why you want them.... So unfortunatelly you have no choice but to wait till i'm done with the last of the details.

But don't worry, i worked hard in the last month to free up some time just for this. So it will all be just fine.

 

[IgorT]

IgorT welcome back. hehehe good timing, i just got back

Oh, hi Stan!!

How are you? Long time no read...

And how is your Blu-Ray? PHR still alive? Can't believe how long it's been since the very first batch!

 

[Sam7]

works for me. i'm just excited / anxious to get it.

 

[IgorT]

Thanks Igor, no I won't use different types of batteries. Until I get my rechargeables, I have 3X3 volt cr123 in series with 2 1N4001 in series from the positive terminal of the batteries. That is dropping the voltage from ~9 volts to ~7.6 volts and 450ma. These are almost fresh batteries, but not brand new. I don't know how much voltage from the input is unwise for the LD, but I know that the regulator will heat up if it receives too much input voltage with the red diodes. Thanks for all of your help.

Yes, it will heat up! That's what i was saying. The regulator heating up is exactly how it is regulating!

But you don't need to worry about TOO MUCH voltage! That's preciselly what a linear regulator needs. It will heat up more if it has to discard more obviously, so that diode in series is not a bad idea.. Doesn't matter which side it's on as long as it's oriented correctly = it conducts..

All you do with this is, that some of the heat the regulator would otherwise dissipate, get's dissipated by this diode...

However the 317 regulator can take up to almost 40V! 37V is the official limit IIRC. So if you put on a heatsink (any chunk-o-metal will do), you can safely feed it 9V for powering a red.

It can't hurt the diode. If the heat would become too much for the regulator, it would simply go into thermal shutdown. It's a very well designed chip in this regard (safety)...

 

[IgorT]

works for me. i'm just excited / anxious to get it.

Can't blame you, man, i'm without a blu-ray at the moment myself!

I know how it hurts.. Especially if you had it before and are then without..

You're in less pain than me, i'm sure... :angel:

 

[IgorT]

I was thinking about that. Is the main use for 405nm diodes at the moment in blu-ray burners? And if i remember correctly, blu-ray burners can't use multimode diodes.

I don't know enough to say what their main use at the moment is. I know there are so many fields they are used in. Sometimes simply as illuminators. There multimodes work just fine.. I can get a 1W rated 405nm MM diode, but what good would it be..

And no, i don't think a burner can use a multimode. I mean theoretically it could, but it would require so many special beam shaping optics, that it would not be worth it (all the losses). All writers and readers have single-mode diodes inside as far as i know. And even then they use beam shaping, just to make it neat. And then in the end there is an LCD apperture which shapes the beam even further, by blocking some of it, and letting just the needed part through...

Cos even single-mode 405nm diodes put out a lot of crap. That's why i don't use my short FL custom lenses.. They bring it all out, but some of "all of it" is crap. I prefer the medium cos it cuts off the crap and leaves just the nice part of the power... It loses me a few mW but it's the ugly mW that are lost so i am not going to complain (the drawing will explain it all).

I remember a member once said that there are various levels of "multimodeness." Could it be that while the beam wouldn't be ideal, it wouldn't be too bad, as the diode is not very "multimode"
Rob

Various levels of multimodeness?

There are various levels of perpendicular divergence and, well, maybe various levels of the fast axis "width" in MM diodes.. Sure they vary...

Then there are MM diode bars, now that's a horrible sight... Collimate that!


But ultimatelly, the answer to your question is no. I'm sorry, MM diodes put out a bar and not a spot. You NEED beam shaping for them... You need to "slow down" the divergence of the fast axis and then let it catch up with the divergence of the slow axis, before collimating it with a normal aspherical lens, before you can get ANYTHING even remotelly resembling nice results (= a spot)...

There are special lenses that can do all this in one step (one lens), but they require axial alignment to the diode. So focusing by turning the lens is out of the question, unless you want a funny lightshow.


It would take a special module, where you turn one piece that moves the lens to and from the diode, but without turning it....

 

[IgorT]

To ALL Batch #3 members:

I need some help!!! I went through ALL the "order summaries" twice, and i can't figure out who asked for the CR123 side-button host.

I'm sorry. I must have made a mistake with the labeling or perhaps you forgot to mention it in the summary.... I can't even do the invoices without knowing this!


So whoever you are, PLEASE help me and write me again in your own Order Summary row, so i don't make the wrong laser for you, ok?

The sooner the better.... :angel:

 

[robjdixon]

Hey Igor - maybe you could experiment a bit with teh multimode lenses that Hereursciences is selling here:
http://laserpointerforums.com/laser_pointer_forums_3/forum/showthread.php?t=39834

Maybe you could work out a lens assembly, sort of like your 405nm lenses?

Rob

 

[IgorT]

Hey Igor - maybe you could experiment a bit with teh multimode lenses that Hereursciences is selling here:
http://laserpointerforums.com/laser_pointer_forums_3/forum/showthread.php?t=39834

Maybe you could work out a lens assembly, sort of like your 405nm lenses?

Rob

Yeah, but why? There MAY be a 200mW single mode diode coming soon, and the lenses i have are already good enough..

I don't want to mess with multimode except if i have to. Altho in some cases i do, so i appreciate the link. Might be useful. Thanks!
(you're full of potentially useful links)



P.S. Keep in mind, lens assemblies lose a lot of light, due to being composed of several lenses. For example, there is a multielement lens on LSP, coated for Blu Rays but brings less increase than my medium FL lens or even my disaster lens, never mind my short FL lens!

Why? Cos it consists of a grin lens and two spherical lenses opti-glued together (also at low NA and long FL)... The more the light has to pass, the more you lose.

That's why i wasted (?) way over a thousand dollars on finding proper lenses that do it all in one step!


And that's why lenses exist, which can collimate even a multimode diode in one step! But they cost a liver and a half..
Wanna see them? They sent me a catalogue with drawings, explanations and pictures, it's interesting reading..


You know what they told me? For regular aspheric lenses 68€ a piece one by one, 38€ a piece at 500+. And that was unmounted!!! But they said that we could "talk about the price" once we get to "larger quantities".. :crackup:


They didn't understand that for me 250+ is a larger quantity. I mean, they wanted to send their German and French representatives together to my company for a coffe and chat (i'm talking about the largest lens manufacturer in the world here)... :scared:
I think i overdid it with the official inquiries a "little".. :angel:


Luckily i then found THE manufacturer with same lenses but WAY better prices, even one by one!

 

[robjdixon]

Yeah, but why? There MAY be a 200mW single mode diode coming soon, and the lenses i have are already good enough..

I don't want to mess with multimode except if i have to. Altho in some cases i do, so i appreciate the link. Might be useful. Thanks!
(you're full of potentially useful links)



P.S. Keep in mind, lens assemblies lose a lot of light, due to being composed of several lenses. For example, there is a multielement lens on LSP, coated for Blu Rays but brings less increase than my medium FL lens or even my disaster lens, never mind my short FL lens!

Why? Cos it consists of a grin lens and two spherical lenses opti-glued together (also at low NA and long FL)... The more the light has to pass, the more you lose.

That's why i wasted (?) way over a thousand dollars on finding proper lenses that do it all in one step!


And that's why lenses exist, which can collimate even a multimode diode in one step! But they cost a liver and a half..
Wanna see them? They sent me a catalogue with drawings, explanations and pictures, it's interesting reading..


You know what they told me? For regular aspheric lenses 68€ a piece one by one, 38€ a piece at 500+. And that was unmounted!!! But they said that we could "talk about the price" once we get to "larger quantities".. :crackup:


They didn't understand that for me 250+ is a larger quantity. I mean, they wanted to send their German and French representatives together to my company for a coffe and chat (i'm talking about the largest lens manufacturer in the world here)... :scared:
I think i overdid it with the official inquiries a "little".. :angel:


Luckily i then found THE manufacturer with same lenses but WAY better prices, even one by one!

Sounds like you put a lot of hard work into this

Also, I spoke to the guy ordering them in, and he said the datasheet may be wrong, so We'll wait for that I guess.

How long does the USPS express normally take?
I might want a few for myself:friend:

 

[IgorT]

Sounds like you put a lot of hard work into this

A LOT of hard work AND a lot of money down the drain if i don't finish it!

I mean, the money will still be lost even if i do finish it, but at least it won't feel like the thousands of lost dollars were in vain, if you understand what i mean....

I invested months of my life and tons of money into the lens project. I need to finish it, or else i'll feel a hole somewhere in myself.
I mean, i am (and have been from the start) willing to do it at cost, without getting ANY money back, just to get it done (and get some more lenses for myself).


The thing that was holding me back before was the FUGLY splatter appearing next to the highest power lens' beam and spot.. I didn't know how to explain it. Everyone wants max power, but at what cost? (for me the line i don't want to cross is where the beam and spot become FUBAR) But now many people saw this splatter, and know what it looks like (since the other lenses appearing on the forum now are nearly identical to my short FL custom lens in specs and results)...

So maybe that's a good thing. Cos i have this other lens that cuts the crappy part off and leaves just the nice stuff. Sure you loose a few mW but it's the ugly mW that get lost..... I want the end results to be aesthetically pleasing, if you know what i mean.

Because the few mW more the short FL custom lenses would bring are not noticable visually (brightness) nor in burning, but they ARE VERY noticable in the resulting uglyness. There, and on the meter, nowhere else..


That's why i'm working on this drawing, to explain it all! I need to post it ASAP and then arrange a test-buy, something i should have done a LONG time ago! But like i said, i was scared what people would say, when they would see the FUGLY splatter.. But now i'm focused on a better lens entirelly....

Also, I spoke to the guy ordering them in, and he said the datasheet may be wrong, so We'll wait for that I guess.

How long does the USPS express normally take?
I might want a few for myself:friend:

I'll have them in a week, since i ordered directly to myself with EMS Express..

You can be sure i'll test them the same day!



Why would he say the datasheet may be wrong?!? I hope i didn't make him worry too much with my questions....

 

[Tech_Junkie]

A lot of people, including myself, have been waiting for the "no splatter" lens. Keep up he good work Igor. You have the support of many people here.

 

[IgorT]

Ok, so, i just spent two whole days (from the morning to the evening) doing nothing but answering emails and replying posts...


I NEED to go offline if i EVER want to finish ANY work! Otherwise Batch #3 will take three weeks! I really need to limit my online activities, and get to WORK! It won't get done by itself... I mean, i'd love to do both, but it's physically impossible, unless i clone myself.. A mini-me would come in handy right now..


So... I will be logged on here, and in G-Mail, but PLEASE UNDERSTAND if i don't answer immediatelly. If i don't it's only cos i'm making YOUR lasers - trying to get them done faster!

If there is anything URGENT, indicate this in the subject, so it stands out. Otherwise i really need to work. So from now on, expect my replies to be short or delayed, until Batch #3 is shipped......

I hope everyone understands.