Zircarg
0
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2012
- Messages
- 59
- Points
- 8
Hello All,
I thought I should introduce myself.
I purchased my first laser in 1988 as a teenager. I recall it being a Siemans (I think) aluminum tube HeNe unit with an output of about .5 to 1 mw. It had a cord stemming from the back that attached to a power supply to which another cord was affixed that could be plugged into a wall outlet. Every now and again the power supply would snap audibly.
I purchased a few optical lenses and experimented with it but lost interest after I ran out of things to do with it. After all, it wasn't portable and back then these things didn't have much of a power output. They were also fairly rare, especially as a hobby item.
So, I forgot about the hobby until I picked up a few laserpointers a couple of months ago (5mw) and rediscovered them all over again. I'm quite surprised to see how portable and compact they have become. 2 watts in a tiny flashlight housing? That shocked me...and the blue beam of a 445 - beautiful!
Needless to say, I'm hooked all over again and would really like to learn to build my own units and experiment with different configurations (like gun/Trek phasers etc - a bit of a nerd that way). However, I'm not very handy, so I hope I don't blow myself up.
I've ordered a pair of safety goggles and now have a lot of reading and learning to do on this site (and others) before selecting my first build. If anyone has any suggestions on a nice project to start out on, I would greatly appreciate it.
Regards,
Zircarg
(a strange handle, I know...it was the name of a Dungeons & Dragons character I played as a kid...a game I haven't seen in 20+ years).
I thought I should introduce myself.
I purchased my first laser in 1988 as a teenager. I recall it being a Siemans (I think) aluminum tube HeNe unit with an output of about .5 to 1 mw. It had a cord stemming from the back that attached to a power supply to which another cord was affixed that could be plugged into a wall outlet. Every now and again the power supply would snap audibly.
I purchased a few optical lenses and experimented with it but lost interest after I ran out of things to do with it. After all, it wasn't portable and back then these things didn't have much of a power output. They were also fairly rare, especially as a hobby item.
So, I forgot about the hobby until I picked up a few laserpointers a couple of months ago (5mw) and rediscovered them all over again. I'm quite surprised to see how portable and compact they have become. 2 watts in a tiny flashlight housing? That shocked me...and the blue beam of a 445 - beautiful!
Needless to say, I'm hooked all over again and would really like to learn to build my own units and experiment with different configurations (like gun/Trek phasers etc - a bit of a nerd that way). However, I'm not very handy, so I hope I don't blow myself up.
I've ordered a pair of safety goggles and now have a lot of reading and learning to do on this site (and others) before selecting my first build. If anyone has any suggestions on a nice project to start out on, I would greatly appreciate it.
Regards,
Zircarg
(a strange handle, I know...it was the name of a Dungeons & Dragons character I played as a kid...a game I haven't seen in 20+ years).
