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Help choosing red laser diode

anton

anton

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Hello, I've purchased a green and blue laser over the last few months of being on this forum. Now i want a red laser to complete my simple collection and though this would be a good time to try and build one. I'm stuck between the Oclaro 700 diode and the Mits 500. Which one would be better for a simple handheld laser? Thanks
 





Have you considered one of the single mode red diodes? The Oclaro and Mitsu' are both multimode with terrible beam specs.
 
Just know that red diodes tend to be open can. So for a first build, that adds another aspect to potential failure.
That being said, if you wanted to do a lower power build, you can practice with something like a LPC-826, which can be had for only a few bucks per diode.
 
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Well how visible would a single mode red laser be at night? I know i can't get a red laser to closely match the visibility of my green and blue laser but i would like a red laser thats not going to look like nothing compared to them. I've heard some people say that multi mode red lasers divergence isn't so bad that its unbearable but if a single mode has decent visibility than I might just go for that instead.
 
Do you mean dot, or beam visibility? A single mode red beam isn't very bright. I can see my 250mw one, but it fails in comparison to a low power green. I also have a muti-mode red, and the divergence is actually pretty bad. It pretty much looks like a bar line on the wall. No where near a dot.
 
I mean beam visibility. How does the red multi mode beam look when pointing in the sky? Does it still look like a decent beam?
 
anton, I've got to agree with these guys, IMO, a nice single mode would definitely be a better choice for a first build.
The beam is easily seen at night, and the dot is going to be an actual dot and not a bar of light.

Here is a link to a build that I made (COLEMAN SPECIAL), using the Oclaro 120mW 638nm diode, it's putting out about 240mW.
The indoor shots are with a very light fog, but the last one is outside on a clear night.
 
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I was looking around on eBay for a red laser to see if I could find anything cheaper than what it would cost to build one and came across this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/222353700299
The seller claims its 500mw with a 12mm beam at 10 meters. The seller has very good feedback but are these specs even possible for a red laser? It seems to good to be true based on the single mode lasers I've been seeing on here.
 
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