What happened:
I was building a power supply in my garage and I dropped an old non-working DVD burner on the floor in the garage. I decided to take it apart to see what parts I could use later. Nothing too useful except a motor or two. Then the laser made me curious. Did a Youtube search and saw all the vids on burning matches, tape, balloons, etc.
Pushed the power supply aside, grabbed a spare LM317, a few parts, and a breadboard and built a current source. Did some reading.
Ripped the burner apart more and got the diodes out. Tested the current source with a few LEDs then the diodes. One was fairly bright. My son came in, asked what I was doing, and then responded with "Cool". Just what I was thinking. Wait a minute... Lasers can blind you. Did some more reading. Looks like the burner is a 12x so no balloon popping, match lighting, or tape burning...yet.
I have no way to focus the laser anyway so I'll find a module to mount it in and get some safety glasses and play around with it. Did some more reading and found this place. Been reading a lot more lately. Looks like I may have found a new hobby (like I need another one).
Gotta find a module and a "real" diode so I can burn some tape...
Great forum
Sorry so long.
I was building a power supply in my garage and I dropped an old non-working DVD burner on the floor in the garage. I decided to take it apart to see what parts I could use later. Nothing too useful except a motor or two. Then the laser made me curious. Did a Youtube search and saw all the vids on burning matches, tape, balloons, etc.
Pushed the power supply aside, grabbed a spare LM317, a few parts, and a breadboard and built a current source. Did some reading.
Ripped the burner apart more and got the diodes out. Tested the current source with a few LEDs then the diodes. One was fairly bright. My son came in, asked what I was doing, and then responded with "Cool". Just what I was thinking. Wait a minute... Lasers can blind you. Did some more reading. Looks like the burner is a 12x so no balloon popping, match lighting, or tape burning...yet.
I have no way to focus the laser anyway so I'll find a module to mount it in and get some safety glasses and play around with it. Did some more reading and found this place. Been reading a lot more lately. Looks like I may have found a new hobby (like I need another one).
Gotta find a module and a "real" diode so I can burn some tape...
Great forum
Sorry so long.