History of the 803T?

[Jules]

Who first figured out that we could yank the diode and DIY it into our own creations? WHo was the first on the board to build one and figure out the pin out etc? I am fascinated how information like this gets disseminated gotta love the internet. I gotta thank the board for getting me back into DIY and (LOL) introducing me to dealextreme I spent hours cruising that site and buying stuff I don't need...

Jules

 

[wicked1]

This isn't a direct answer to your question, but people have been yanking the lasers out of optical media drives for many many years to use for their DIY projects. It's just a very small step forward to disassemble a blu-ray vs a dvd-rom.

 

[styropyro]

Dr.Lava was one of the people who worked to see which sleds/drives have a powerful violet diode as opposed the weaker ones. Before that we used to pay ~$30 for a sled that contained a 10mW blu-ray diode and before that, we used to pay ~$65 for one of the weaker sleds on eBay. Before that nobody made blu-ray lasers because you had to pay $2000 for an engineering sample. ;D

 

[hydrogenman15]

Heres the first test that was done on the 803T's >http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1209940381
It all started when somebody took apart a 360 HD DVD sled there where two different sleds the 803T and something else. Later on somebody found out where to get them for 19 dollars and things kicked into high gear. Now they cost about 30$-40$ each and the prices are rising, reminds me of the ps3 sleds. ;D

--hydro15

 

[Jules]

Wow, I got in at just the right time. I got two of the $17 dollar sleds, had a intermittent solder joint on my diode that showed up putting it into the Axiz module and blew it. My second is still going strong and I bought a third sled from a GB that I have not harvested yet. That on is going in a lab style enclosure for a laser show thing that I have not fully figured out yet. I am at the life stage of having a good job, etc, just not enough time for all my hobbies!

Thanks everyone for the responses. I am on a couple other forums and this one truly has the best people on it.

Jules