Hello! Overwhelmed New Member

[Jay-son]

Hello,
I want to introduce myself and do my first post correctly, I hope. My name is Jay and I have read the forum rules and both website that contain laser safety information. The first thing I did, was order my safety goggles from Laser Survival. I have tried to do as much research as possible, because that is half the fun. However, I have questions and hope to learn and maybe not make the same mistakes as others.

Questions.

One, I want a quality laser pointer. That is probably more important to me than anything. It sounds like Sanwu is highly recommended. JetLasers was another one I would see often. There were others, I just don’t remember. Is there one place that is synonymous with quality?

Two, would I be better served from buying a host from a member? I am not exactly sure how to do this or what this means. Does this mean they build the everything except the diode? Would you guys help me find the right diode? I assume the quality would be better from buying a host?

Three, I am use to 18650 batteries with white lights. But, is 18350 the standard for laser pointers?

Lastly, I guess I should tell you what I am looking for. I think I want a green, decent mW, handheld laser pointer for signaling. In other words, I want distance. I would use it responsibly. I am not moronic to point of at aircraft. I would not compromise their safety or my safety by going to prison. I am too old. Also, I would like a blue one for lighting matches, etc.

Thank you so much for taking tomenfo read this and if you so desire to help, your investment in a reply. Thanks all!!

-Jay

 

[RedCowboy]

NDG7475 is the 1W+ green you want and the NDB7A75 is the 5W+ blue I think you would be most happy with for bench top wood burning art/fun and I would buy modules/diodes ready to go from DTR and housings from Lifetime17 Just send Lifetime17 a PM

Here's a 7A75 I was just playing wit....I mean working with, lol It may have been done to death but I still enjoy the simple things.

 

[Encap]

Welcome. Enjoy the forum.

 

[icecruncher]

Where do you live and how old are you? (you said you were too old to point at aircraft).

I know idiots that exist in every age group, even retired people like me (but not me)! But the temptation is always there. I'm always worried abut taking my high powered stuff outside and having them confiscated some how, especially since I live in the USA in the middle of a very large metro area.

if you get a high power laser, please be careful

 

[gazer101]

Hello,
I want to introduce myself and do my first post correctly, I hope. My name is Jay and I have read the forum rules and both website that contain laser safety information. The first thing I did, was order my safety goggles from Laser Survival. I have tried to do as much research as possible, because that is half the fun. However, I have questions and hope to learn and maybe not make the same mistakes as others.

Questions.

One, I want a quality laser pointer. That is probably more important to me than anything. It sounds like Sanwu is highly recommended. JetLasers was another one I would see often. There were others, I just don’t remember. Is there one place that is synonymous with quality?

Two, would I be better served from buying a host from a member? I am not exactly sure how to do this or what this means. Does this mean they build the everything except the diode? Would you guys help me find the right diode? I assume the quality would be better from buying a host?

Three, I am use to 18650 batteries with white lights. But, is 18350 the standard for laser pointers?

Lastly, I guess I should tell you what I am looking for. I think I want a green, decent mW, handheld laser pointer for signaling. In other words, I want distance. I would use it responsibly. I am not moronic to point of at aircraft. I would not compromise their safety or my safety by going to prison. I am too old. Also, I would like a blue one for lighting matches, etc.

Thank you so much for taking tomenfo read this and if you so desire to help, your investment in a reply. Thanks all!!

-Jay

I think the best quality lasers are the ones one builds themselves.

You said you wanted range right? The most powerful single-mode (AKA low divergence, long range) green laser diode on the market (that I know of) is the Sh@rp GH0521DE2G coming in at around 125mW: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sharp-GH0521DE2G-5-6mm-Green-520nm-135mw-150mw-Laser-Diode/313202868987

Then just pair that with this host assembly (set the correct current): https://www.survivallaser.com/Bargain_No-Diode_Host_Bundle/p556088_14474091.aspx

and this diode module and lens: https://www.survivallaser.com/Copper_Diode_Module_for_56mm_Diodes/p556088_3984097.aspx and https://www.survivallaser.com/445nm_AR_Coated_Standard_Glass_Lens_Assembly/p556088_3367159.aspx

and you've got yourself one hell of a long-distance green laser pointer.

PS: Power it with a single 18650 battery, it'll last hours

 

[Jay-son]

NDG7475 is the 1W+ green you want and the NDB7A75 is the 5W+ blue I think you would be most happy with for bench top wood burning art/fun and I would buy modules/diodes ready to go from DTR and housings from Lifetime17 Just send Lifetime17 a PM

Thank you so much @RedCowboy.

Where do you live and how old are you? (you said you were too old to point at aircraft).

I know idiots that exist in every age group, even retired people like me (but not me)! But the temptation is always there. I'm always worried abut taking my high powered stuff outside and having them confiscated some how, especially since I live in the USA in the middle of a very large metro area.

if you get a high power laser, please be careful

I am middle-aged and live in the Southeast in the burbs of a metro city as well. I understand the temptation, but I would not even consider due to the risk to the pilot and passengers. Plus, it would damage my career. No way I would risk a felony either, but that is secondary to the sanctity of human life.

 

[Jay-son]

The wealth information on this forum is amazing. Thank you all. A few more questions.

For the NDG7475, which I am using a a long-range pointer, would I want a G-2 lens?
For the NDB7A75, which I am using for bench top wood burning, would I want a G-2 lens?

For the NDG7465 with 12mm Copper Module w/ Driver, do I want to select the Super X-Driver or the ACS4500BU? Then there is a 'Desired Current' field. What do I input? (This may be a question for @Lifetime17 since he is building the housing)

For the NDB7A75 with the 12mm Copper Module, I do not see ANY driver options in the 12mm. Am I missing this on the DTR website? Maybe they are just out.

Thanks!!

 

[icecruncher]

Thank you so much @RedCowboy.


I am middle-aged and live in the Southeast in the burbs of a metro city as well. I understand the temptation, but I would not even consider due to the risk to the pilot and passengers. Plus, it would damage my career. No way I would risk a felony either, but that is secondary to the sanctity of human life.

Sanctity of Human Life is always primary responsibility. I just finished a thing this summer with reminders about keeping joy and another program on Tuesday night about the sanctity of human life.

I'm retired/disabled now, but also the job I was involved with was commercial security and any felony would make working in the field impossible to get licenses you need. I do see lots of people do stupid things with lasers, I won't even let people who visit handle any of my high power ones.

Regarding some of the high power diodes on DTR (Jordans) website. Some of the drivers also require extra heatsinking and so they aren't something you could reasonably heat sink AND put in the aixiz housing. That is probably the reason some are not listed with the drivers. Do some research on the diode you are looking at before buying to see what you are getting into.

High power diodes often come with additional issues relating to heat and duty cycle, so be warned.

 

[gazer101]

The wealth information on this forum is amazing. Thank you all. A few more questions.

For the NDG7475, which I am using a a long-range pointer, would I want a G-2 lens?
For the NDB7A75, which I am using for bench top wood burning, would I want a G-2 lens?

For the NDG7465 with 12mm Copper Module w/ Driver, do I want to select the Super X-Driver or the ACS4500BU? Then there is a 'Desired Current' field. What do I input? (This may be a question for @Lifetime17 since he is building the housing)

For the NDB7A75 with the 12mm Copper Module, I do not see ANY driver options in the 12mm. Am I missing this on the DTR website? Maybe they are just out.

Thanks!!

Keep in mind that the NDG-series diodes are all highly multimode... they will become more like flashlights at long distances (with rectangular laser dots). Single mode is the way to go for long range (circular laser dot)

 

[Jay-son]

Keep in mind that the NDG-series diodes are all highly multimode... they will become more like flashlights at long distances (with rectangular laser dots). Single mode is the way to go for long range (circular laser dot)

Oh. Then I need to go single mode for my green diode. For burning, multimode diodes?

 

[gazer101]

Oh. Then I need to go single mode for my green diode. For burning, multimode diodes?

For sure, multimode gives you far higher powers. 2W ought to be enough to light fires though, the C@sio M-140 laser diode is far cheaper than the 5W N!chia

 

[Jay-son]

For sure, multimode gives you far higher powers. 2W ought to be enough to light fires though, the C@sio M-140 laser diode is far cheaper than the 5W N!chia

Also, @Lifetime17 is building the housing. I think he is leaving it up to me on the diodes, that is why I have all the questions. Plus, if I built this from scratch myself, I might melt my eyeballs.

 

[Alaskan]

Sure, easy for you to walk in here with two eyes, later it might not be so.

 

[Jay-son]

Sure, easy for you to walk in here with two eyes, later it might not be so.

View attachment 69974

Hi @Alaskan that is hilarious. Funny timing. I just read a post from December of 2019 that was a member’s first post. He was asking for someone to build him a portable laser that was 3x as “powerful” as his Odin. His grammar was atrocious and he was quite rude. Your response was actually very kind. I am glad I had a little better intro than he did. Thanks for the laugh and look forward to many more fun times on this board.

 

[Buffo]

Welcome, Jay-son! You mentioned living in the South Eastern US... I'm in Charleston, SC, and there are several laserists in NC near Charlotte, Raleigh, and Lexington. So you may have a kindred spirit living close to you.

Regarding the host you're getting from Lifetime17, I can say that Rich does very nice work. He recently modified one of his hosts for me to accommodate the NUBM44 in a 25 mm housing. I was extremely pleased with the custom machining he did. Also, despite the fact that he had to purchase quite a bit of extra material for the build, he still charged me a very reasonable price. (Much less than any local machine shop would have charged!)

That being said, I will offer one piece of advice regarding diode selection: if this is your first build you may want to select a diode that favors better beam quality over absolute maximum output power. As others have said, multi-mode diodes have poor beam quality, and the higher the output power the worse the beam.

In my case, I wanted to build a stupidly-powerful handheld, so I went with the NUBM44. And yeah, I am getting just over 7 watts out the front end. But the beam quality is terrible (which I knew going into this build). So while it's lethal at close range (even before you focus the beam to a point), once you get more than 12-15" away you'll always have a line instead of a spot. At just 10 ft away the line is already nearly 2 inches wide, which is not what most people expect when you say "laser". Just something to keep in mind.

As for my build, I'm quite happy with it. My goal was simply to build the most irresponsible, reckless hand-held I could, beam quality be damned, and by that measure I definitely succeeded. The thing is so dangerous I store it completely disassembled with the batteries in another box. (It will char just about any flammable item more or less instantly - provided it's within a foot of the aperture. This includes wood, rubber, leather, FLESH, plastic, etc.)

Adam

 

[Michael Varn]

Where do you live and how old are you? (you said you were too old to point at aircraft).

I know idiots that exist in every age group, even retired people like me (but not me)! But the temptation is always there. I'm always worried abut taking my high powered stuff outside and having them confiscated some how, especially since I live in the USA in the middle of a very large metro area.

if you get a high power laser, please be careful

Question about green laser pointers: One is $50.00 the other is $500.00.

What is the diffetence? Specs seem similar?