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FrozenGate by Avery

GB Blu-Ray and double Photon conversion

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danq

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Sep 18, 2007
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Yippee!

Thinking about simple drivers last night, I remembered having read somewhere that the Photon Micro-Light controller can drive at least 6 of the bright LED's they come with... probably therefore not current-regulated, but a robust circuit nevertheless.

And I had one that Rosie the Wonder Dog modified when she was a puppy - that's the first Photon Conversion ::)

Not wanting to test it raw on the Blu-Ray, having only 1 so far... I tested it with my SenKat red! I knew that one could take anything 2 CR2016's could dish out. And it sure did... flattened them before the Photon could cycle through its 5 tricks... but they kept going on the flashing mode for quite a while... might make a good 1-shot keychain lighter :-?

That proved there was no current limiting involved - so I damped the Photon's output with a pot, figured where to get 40mA, and just soldered a series 5 ohm resistor between the diode and the Photon.

Now I have a violet keychain laser with multiple modes of operation!

:) :) :) :) :)

DanQ
 

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...and here's a video in action - fade up; slow blink; fast blink; SOS twice; fade down; fade up.

:) :) :) :) :)

DanQ
 

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Looking good!
Is that heatshrink the only thing holding it on? Aren't you worried about it working loose or the diode pins breaking off?
 
Yes, just the heat-shrink - that's all I had energy for at 4:30 this morning ::)
wanted to have something to show you folks!

...but the Photon is socketed, and just in case, I made my solder joints poor on the diode end to relieve tension if stressed ;)

will get it more robust soon...

DanQ
 
Update - actually just an extended idea: I think the Photon may use PWM for its dimming, but don't have an oscilloscope. If so, it might make a great driver for certain types of simple current regulators... I'm thinking about making one with surface mount components for the violet diode, since it's not much power. Now to look through those sm bins to see if I have what it takes....

Question: does anyone have both a recent Photon micro-light and a scope to check if it's pwm?

btw, it's a great light, well worth the price over cheap imitations... durable (per Rosie, several wash/dry cycles and ground impact at the tip of a water rocket from 75ft) and the little clip mount is worth something by itself (I use it on my hat). Plus, it has a lifetime warranty (they pre-ship replacements) and made in the USA.
currently $17.75 at PhotonLight.com

DanQ
 
LOVE that video man! Your second diode is on the way ;)

That is really very nice... A lot of originality in that... and the result is amazing :D

--DDL
 
Kenom said:
can you show us a picture of the board in that thing? open er up for us please!

OH and I hear that the UV led's require the same amount of juice as the bluray LD's so this might be another option since it's using the UV led
http://www.photonlight.com/UV-Ultra...ED-Lights-p/uv-ultraviolet-led-blacklight.htm
Click to expand...
Sure - but there's not much to see...

Topside is just a gold-plated battery holder (the solder is mine). Bottom is just a chip, the little gold-plated metal dome that forms the switch, and the LED pin sockets. I was surprised to see the chip package on this one - had remembered them as a blob of epoxy covering an ASIC or something. Anyway, the thing's really simple, externally! But pretty cool inside.

Note that this is stamped "2003" - I would be surprised if the current ones are the same - the guy who invented these things, David Allen, is a friggin' genius and perfectionist who constantly refines it. (disclosure - he's also my ex's brother-in-law).

I don't think their UV lights would be much different, just a different LED - used to be that the whites used 2 x 3V and some of the colors only used 3V total (1 x CR2032), not sure if that's still the case.
 

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Rubberband, that first one you linked to has 200mW output. If that's correct, then unless it's 100% efficient the controller may overdrive this laser??

btw, I made a tiny fixed current limiter (45 mA) using sm components, with a low-Vsat transistor on its output. It's small enough to fit between my LD and the Photon board (or into an Aixiz housing); has pins fitting the Photon.
But it's incredibly messy, I proto'd the board by carving out traces with my Dremel :P and my soldering hand was really shaky last night. So no photo till I re-do, when I'll add pin sockets on the LD end. I think in the same space I can squeeze a sm trimmer pot so it's adjustable.

DanQ
 
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