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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

hey guys! joe here

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Hello all. I am new to the forum. I have posted a little when i first ordered a few lasers with some slight disapointments that i should have handled a little differently, so for that i apologize. Anyways my name is Joe, I am 29 years old from Portland Oregon USA. I have been into electronics since i was about 8. Rebuilding VCRS if anyone remembers those. But I then moved on to cars at the young age of 12 with my 72' valiant. which i still own. I am a fully ASE certified mechanic, and as many of you guys know the electronics in new cars these days is crazy. Because i was always working in dark places I needed a lot of random flashlights and light bars. So hand held light has been my thing for awhile. After going to a few outdoor "events" I found my self fully entertained and interested in lasers. I started with a few 5mW 532's and 405's!:san:
 





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thats what im looking forward to and afraid of hehe. Ide love to build a laser one day. I'm really good at soldering and "making" things work if needed be. which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes not hehe. Ripping apart a dvd player or blu-ray player and retro fitting sounds like my kinda thing. Thanks for the welcome
 
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Welcome!

Firstly, I recommend that you get some goggles, safety first!

I think the better way for you start DIY is with red lasers, the ones from DVD burners are great! Also you will learn better how a laser diode and the driver works! When you get comfortable with those, then you can start with 405 nm or 635 nm, and the more expensive 445 nm.

If you only wanna play around, I recommend 532nm too!

:beer:
 
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I got the cheaper 10$ glasses right now and i got the survival eagle 60$ on the way. "save your seeing balls" as styropyro says.. that guys crazy!!

But yes thanks for the info. I would like to start with a cheaper diode as I know I will probably fry a few.
 
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I realize i should probably do a search. But quick question. How would a dvd burner be better laser than a regular cd drive? Is it a higher mW to create the burn effect? Kinda make sense as i write this.
 
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...."I realize i should probably do a search. But quick question. How would..."

let me stop you there-

you are correct--

do your search or a rocky road is ahead fo you.. grasshopper...

.....

'quick' questions are no different-- its in the search- or google or Sam's Laser FAQ

? no results?? just change your search terms-


if we start spoonfeeding you now-- you will come to expect it--

read read read--


hk








PM sent with suggestions
 
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I didn't get a PM but i don't know if that was towards me or not. Sam's laser FAQ looks great!!!!!! I'm gonna get sore from reading off a computer for so long but that's ok. GLASS lasers construction!!!!! I didn't even think if that. I blew glass for over ten years and havn't touched it an about 3 years!!! Soft glass and Pyrex!
 
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ahh so much reading to still be done.. hehe maybe just a simple 635nm to start for sure!! Before i get over my head! anyone need mechanic advice? im ASE certified!!!
 
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Sorry, I had the same kind of response when I first came here. However, if you search the forum there is lots of information. In my case, there just wasn't the information I needed but others assumed it was there and pretty much told me to shut up and search the archives and I still don't have the answer to the question yet!

I can't answer your question anyway but I do know this, if you want to have a higher power laser diode out of a CD burner, look for one which has a much faster write rate, the faster the rate, the more power it requires. If you want a blue diode, get one out of a blue-ray DVD burner but you might not like the color, I have a 16X laser diode out of a blue-ray writer and it is 405nm, a violet-blue color which doesn't show up very brightly at that short of a wavelength, even though I can safely drive it to 700 mw output after collimation.

I don't know what color laser diodes can be had from CDROM's or DVD writers except for my one example as I'm fairly new to the hobby. Since you are new to the hobby, I'd buy something off of ebay, a bare diode can be purchased, all the parts you need as a kit or an assembled one for a reasonable price. There are also several members here who sell kits (add your own diode). If you are so determined you want to build something by taking a DVD or CDROM apart just to do it for yourself, then I'd say go after it, but it is easier to just buy something and probably won't cost more anyway.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150mW-405nm...Laser-Diode-Module-w-driver-Kit-/271095681788
 
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wow thats very cheap for a driver and diode! It would basicly just need a host/heatsink/battery! Thanks for the link
 




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