How far can I pop a balloon?

[RedCowboy]

The single mode BDR-209 is known as the little giant. Everyone should have one, they are such a killer deep purple, understated but compact and capable.
With a G2 it will clobber any multi mode diode with a G2 at 50 feet as far as balloon popping.

But here is my NUBM44 with a G2, 6X FAC and a 3X expander, it will burn cardboard at 75 feet and set it on fire with a little bearing down at the edge of the hole it makes.

So while I love beam quality, quantity still has a quality of it's own, because if I put my jet 10X BE on the BDR-209 it would still lack the raw power needed to exceed the flashpoint of the cardboard no matter how tight the spot, poke tiny holes yes, but burn no.

Yes it's a messy build, but it was a proof of concept grown out of a test bed for testing adjustability of a G2 while using 6X FAC.

Here's a video with that same crazy splash, but you can see the power is there, desktop power focusable at a distance.
I am not bragging about my sloppy moped muffler build, as named by a member , I'm just showing that it is possible and more.

 

[AaronT]

The single mode BDR-209 is known as the little giant. Everyone should have one, they are such a killer deep purple, understated but compact and capable.
With a G2 it will clobber any multi mode diode with a G2 at 50 feet as far as balloon popping.

But here is my NUBM44 with a G2, 6X FAC and a 3X expander, it will burn cardboard at 75 feet and set it on fire with a little bearing down at the edge of the hole it makes.

So while I love beam quality, quantity still has a quality of it's own, because if I put my jet 10X BE on the BDR-209 it would still lack the raw power needed to exceed the flashpoint of the cardboard no matter how tight the spot, poke tiny holes yes, but burn no.

I want to put a BDR-209 in -this kit- from jayrob.

Is there a 16340 and driver that would push this diode to 1 watt in that host?

I'm thinking it would make a good substitute for a Bic.

 

[HydroSean]

do you have a link to the 6x FAC lens? Also did you focus your G-2 to infinity or just to the FAC lens?

 

[RedCowboy]

Be careful pushing the BDR-209 past about 800mw, DTR uses a driver with a ramp up cap set to bring the current up gently, people going for 1 watt pop them often.

I set my G2 focus at 15 feet then aligned my 6X pair to it's best focus at 15 feet as well, them let the expander carry it further, it could be tweaked for closer or further, but as is I can cut leaves at the top of my highest backyard trees, it's fun.

The 6X pairs we get from LSP, we always do a group buy to get them to make a batch then people order pairs afterwards until there gone.

LSP does not list them on his site, but message him and ask for them if you want a pair, 55 AUD is about 41 USD.

Lasershow Parts - Mitsubishi diode correction optics kit

http://laserpointerforums.com/f55/n...ndrical-pairs-nubm44-95059-8.html#post1438815

 

[HydroSean]

As you may know, I am going to make a 1.4W NDG7475 laser soon, should I go all out on this build with the G2, optics corrections kit, and either 3xBE or 6xBE? or should I put all that on the BDR-209?

 

[AaronT]

Be careful pushing the BDR-209 past about 800mw, DTR uses a driver with a ramp up cap set to bring the current up gently, people going for 1 watt pop them often.

I set my G2 focus at 15 feet then aligned my 6X pair to it's best focus at 15 feet as well, them let the expander carry it further, it could be tweaked for closer or further, but as is I can cut leaves at the top of my highest backyard trees, it's fun.

The 6X pairs we get from LSP, we always do a group buy to get them to make a batch then people order pairs afterwards until there gone.

LSP does not list them on his site, but message him and ask for them if you want a pair, 55 AUD is about 41 USD.

Lasershow Parts - Mitsubishi diode correction optics kit

http://laserpointerforums.com/f55/n...ndrical-pairs-nubm44-95059-8.html#post1438815

With DTRs driver, would 1w be as conservative as 800mw on other drivers?

 

[RedCowboy]

As you may know, I am going to make a 1.4W NDG7475 laser soon, should I go all out on this build with the G2, optics corrections kit, and either 3xBE or 6xBE? or should I put all that on the BDR-209?

Neither is going to be a super burner, maybe try a 3 element coated for green and see how it looks to you and the BDR-209 works well with a G2, I tested others and it likes the short FL of the G2.
You could combine two 7475's for brightness, what is your goal?

Here's my 1st pair of NUBM44's, I have become a power junkie ever since and just want more, I would save those correction funds for the high output diodes.

BTW the one on the right I ran at 5.0 amps and I finally cooked it, the one on the left is still burning over 6 months later at 4.5 amps.

With DTRs driver, would 1w be as conservative as 800mw on other drivers?

You can PM DTR, he will answer your questions, I don't want to tell you wrong, but mine he set where he sets them and it's a very cool laser and has held up well, if it's 850mw then I would rather have a reliable 850mw than a maypop 975mw, it just wont make that much difference.

Here's mine, it's a neat laser, I was burning through pill bottles last night with it. I want to build more but I have so many irons in the fire. I would like to build a ring of a dozen or so all aimed into a cone and use a double concave and double convex lens pair to set the bundle size and zoom to a convergence point.

 

[HydroSean]

Neither is going to be a super burner, maybe try a 3 element coated for green and see how it looks to you and the BDR-209 works well with a G2, I tested others and it likes the short FL of the G2.
You could combine two 7475's for brightness, what is your goal?

To have an awesome arsenal of a wide variety of lasers haha top quality, aesthetics, and power.

 

[RedCowboy]

The 7475 has divergence much like a 7875, it's not bad as it is, maybe you would like a big expander like Alaskan builds.

This is his. It could probably pop a balloon a long way off.

 

[10fenny]

Yea don't exceed 850 on a bdr. Super powerful single mode.. I think everyone is just obsessed with thease new powerful multimodes. There cool and powerful but the uncorrected beam specs are aweful

 

[Pman]

Everything 800mW and above is pushing the bdr. Yes I have at least a couple running that hot but I have found that most of them don't like it much and you will know if yours doesn't by it likely dyeing right after build completion. I have also found that most will lase at over 1W running off a variable DC power supply but will die immediately trying to do the same thing with a driver. DTR isn't going to sell you a preset driver for that high an output with one of those diodes for good reason. It's luck as to how well the bdr you get is going to hold up. The way DTR is selling them now with the particular drivers he supplies them with works out well trying to compensate for a possible issue the diode has with switching frequency or something like that but it also limits the output which again I would say is fair play since he is selling them and so many have fried in the past.
The 12x diodes are more robust in my opinion. Don't know if it's the extra surface area of it being a 5.6mm or what but they don't die as easily as the bdr. Of course their output is also less so it doesn't look like that is what you are going to want.
I would definitely pay attention to Red with what you are trying to accomplish as I kind of consider him to be the burning expert in the forum and he knows his stuff in the lens department too if you are willing to take the next step with a beam expander or some other type of lens setup.
Looking forward to seeing how you make out with this.
Also, has anyone actually combined 405nm before? I've heard so amny people mention doing it over the years here but I can't remember actually seeing someone accomplish it. Combining 405nm to me would be one of the greatest accomplishments not so much for burning but beam visibility. They look great with a bit of fog but I would sure relish seeing one with a few watts.
Here's the link to my 405nm thread just to motivate you although I way overdid the smoke:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f38/petes-sake-s-lot-purple-pete-98331.html

 

[CaliKirk]

I'd love to do something similar to what Jander did on this thread

1335mw from (2) PBSd 405s, although diodes binned at ~411nm, pretty badass!

Now going along with RedCowboy, and maybe subconsciously I got the idea from him, but I too have had a plan/dream to put (12) bdr209s in an even distributed circle and my main goal was to obtain 10w of 405nm.

I have a 2x3x6" AL block that needs to be machined and really the only thing holding me back at this point is I'm having to slowly stock pile the parts needed as it's really starting to add up.

Anything 2W and above in 405 would be breathtaking, hell IMO my 850mw 405 is and probably will always be my favorite just on the beam specs alone!

 

[HydroSean]

Sorry to bring this back up but I think I'm going to build this BDR-209 diode before the NDG7475. I noticed on DTRs site that it requires 2V-6V in but on his power meter picture he has 0.81 Amps and 6.6 Volts, this is what I want but I don't know if two 3.7V Li-Ions will overload the driver. Any thoughts?

 

[RedCowboy]

Just use ONE 3.7 volt cell.

I think he switched from the flex driver to the nano buck boost driver but he has it marked 2 - 6 volts, you can ask him but otherwise I would not go over 6 volts max.

405nm diodes are cool but they do not like static or spikes.

 

[HydroSean]

Just use ONE 3.7 volt cell.

I think he switched from the flex driver to the nano buck boost driver but he has it marked 2 - 6 volts, you can ask him but otherwise I would not go over 6 volts max.

405nm diodes are cool but they do not like static or spikes.

Okay so I noticed with my M462 I can power it up with just one 3.7V cell and it makes it low power mode and then I can power it up with two 3.7V cells and it puts it in high powered mode. Is this because the M462 is a multi-mode and the BDR-209 is single mode? I'm thinking I'm going to put this in a seriously tiny microbuild.

 

[AaronT]

Okay so I noticed with my M462 I can power it up with just one 3.7V cell and it makes it low power mode and then I can power it up with two 3.7V cells and it puts it in high powered mode. Is this because the M462 is a multi-mode and the BDR-209 is single mode? I'm thinking I'm going to put this in a seriously tiny microbuild and carry it around with me in case I want to sneakily pop some balloons haha. Shh don't tell anyone :na:

I'm planning on building one of jayrobs Pocket Mini Build Kit

But using this host (I like the belt clip)

Romisen RC C3 1 x CR123A CREE Q2 LED Lamp 160 Lumens Mini Flashlight Torch New | eBay

I want 1 Watt of red instead. I think I'll build a phaser with a BDR-209 for a balloon popper.