knimrod
0
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2007
- Messages
- 385
- Points
- 0
I received my GB Blu-Ray diode in the mail yesterday (Thanks Daedal!) so I set out to build a Blu-Ray laser pointer.
I started out with the idea of borrowing the torch/pointer modification that Catdog did but that the torch that I wound up with was a little different than Catdog's and didn't fare the disassembly well. Oh well, on to plan 'B'. I picked up some inexpensive plastic cases with 9V battery compartments at the local electronics supply shop. It's big for a pointer but will afford me lots of room and flexibility. The button I used was a disposable "Try Me Now" button assembly that was hot-glued to the box of some LED Christmas ornament my wife bought. It's nice and flush with the case.. Too bad it has a white bezel. While I'm not very proud of the overall appearance, it functions.
Since I already had the brass 6.5mm Aixiz modules called out for Catdog's mod, I decided to use that and simply solder the module to the protoboard. I just soldered a solid piece of wire (cut off resistor lead) around the base of the module before pressing in the diode (to avoid overheating the diode. The module then has two leads approx. 0.3" apart for soldering to the protoboard. It's actually a very stable mounting arrangement.
As near as I could tell, the lasing threshold appeared to be ~30mA and I set the current to 45mA. So far so good, it all seems to work well. If I have a complaint it's that the raw divergent beam appears to have a couple of spots that look like dirt on the window. I tried compressed air but that didn't fix it. It's only noticeable when the beam is expanded so I'll leave it for now.
While this "pointer" isn't very pretty, it was quick and easy to build.
I started out with the idea of borrowing the torch/pointer modification that Catdog did but that the torch that I wound up with was a little different than Catdog's and didn't fare the disassembly well. Oh well, on to plan 'B'. I picked up some inexpensive plastic cases with 9V battery compartments at the local electronics supply shop. It's big for a pointer but will afford me lots of room and flexibility. The button I used was a disposable "Try Me Now" button assembly that was hot-glued to the box of some LED Christmas ornament my wife bought. It's nice and flush with the case.. Too bad it has a white bezel. While I'm not very proud of the overall appearance, it functions.
Since I already had the brass 6.5mm Aixiz modules called out for Catdog's mod, I decided to use that and simply solder the module to the protoboard. I just soldered a solid piece of wire (cut off resistor lead) around the base of the module before pressing in the diode (to avoid overheating the diode. The module then has two leads approx. 0.3" apart for soldering to the protoboard. It's actually a very stable mounting arrangement.
As near as I could tell, the lasing threshold appeared to be ~30mA and I set the current to 45mA. So far so good, it all seems to work well. If I have a complaint it's that the raw divergent beam appears to have a couple of spots that look like dirt on the window. I tried compressed air but that didn't fix it. It's only noticeable when the beam is expanded so I'll leave it for now.
While this "pointer" isn't very pretty, it was quick and easy to build.
