Is it worth starting?

[iskor12]

Yes, I'm using a Dr. Lava Microflexdrive (due to arrive soon, hopefully )

As for the batteries, I was set to buy them from batteryspace, but backed out of it, when I saw the price of shipping, and to tell you the truth, since my card was not accepted by paypal, I'm using my mother's card, and she nearly took my head off, so I'm forced to improvise now. I don't like it either, but I have to make do with what I can scrounge up, and buy really cheap locally

Well good luck to you.
You really should try to get those batteries from DX though. Your looking at a total that is less than $20 and that includes a charger and free shipping.

 

[ThunderBird89]

If the battery holder project crashes, I might try getting the funding for it, since it would really help out the future user of the result.

But until then, I have to subsist on what I can grab from the garage and salvage from other stuff lying around, such as using a coffee frother for a body, by ripping out the motor, and doing stuff to it

 

[Switch]

since [highlight]my card[/highlight] was not accepted by paypal, I'm using my mother's card, and she nearly took my head off

Well if you have a card with money just pay your mother back so she'll let you order stuff with her card, but with your money

 

[robjdixon]

Instead of using an aixiz housing, try one of these :
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1240213213
They are much smaller

 

[ThunderBird89]

All the parts have finally arrived, at long last! Driver at 300mA, test load, red diode from modwerx in Aixiz. Just put everything together, and I'm happy now, for it seems to work

All that is left now is to mount it in the housing, and we're all set

 

[Deadly]

Pics?

 

[ThunderBird89]

Sure, just not of the finished article yet. Messed up the host real bad by drilling it apart accidentally...

I know the solder joints are not the best, but hey, all I had was a 30+ years old iron with a blunt tip, and I was using it for the first time

Not to sound conceited, but given the resources at my disposal, it's not a bad result...

Maybe tomorrow or the day after I can upload a pic of the finished build.

 

[ThunderBird89]

Well, there goes another major component. Just as I finished assembling the wiring in the host, and started checking the connection, I found out that the arming switch I used is defective, and does not close the circuit in either direction. Another delay :angry:

It seems like this build is never going to be finished :S

 

[lasersbee]

That's one of the reasons.. when I buy parts...
I will most always buy a minimum of 2 pieces...

BTW... on the closeup pic of the Flexrdrive.. on the output pins...
those solder spikes are caused by the lack of Flux..:yh:


Jerry

 

[ThunderBird89]

And the fact that the old iron burns off flux faster than a propane torch burns gunpowder...

Anyway, the switch was from an older purchase, and I found it in my desk. Like I said, I'm a bit strapped on cash, so I'm scavenging around the house for parts

 

[laser83]

I'm always impressed how younger people can get this done so quickly. Looks like you had prior experience working with electronics? Killed me because I basically had to learn from scratch.

 

[ThunderBird89]

Actually, no prior experience.

and that will show, beacuse the shell is going to be incredibly crowded, if I can fit it together anyway
Components turned out to be bigger than expected, like the button and the Aixiz, space is less than expected, I used bigger leads than neede, and hopefully the solder joints will stay together despite their bad quality...

 

[ThunderBird89]

No experience is showing

I got the build together (after having ripped out much of the electronics, to make it fit), but the diode won't light up. I checked the connections, working. Polarities: tried them both ways in case I accidentally inserted the batteries the wrong way around. Still nothing. Checked the driver input with an ohmmeter, to see in current was flowing. Got 200 Ohm when polarized correctly, and a lot less when polarized wrong. Checked the diode too, got infinite resistance in either direction.

Question is, did I blow the driver, the diode, or both? And if so, how could have I done it, I haven't heated either one. Could have heat travelled that far on the wires? And what if I used a soldering gun to make the connections away from the driver, like those to the switches and batteries. Maybe the charge travelled down the lines, and fried my driver/diode?

EDIT: Scratch that, I got everything working, but it's a really minimalist barebone build, about as far from what I started with in mind as it can be without actually being something else
Pics will follow in an hour or so...

 

[ThunderBird89]

Well, here's the pic. It's about as far from the original idea as it can be without being something else. Also, consider the fact that the last modifications(read: actual assembling ) were made on a train with only an SAK and a roll of duct tape. Did I mention I love MacGyver?