Knife Edging for Dummies (me... please help)....

[Alaskan]

I'd have done it already if I could just get some ledges I can epoxy glue on the the front of some of my laser pointers to mount the optics to. I guess that isn't really hard, just a 90 degree piece of aluminum with a hole in it for the beam to go through.

 

[CDBEAM777]

Oh RB...you hit my " Hot Button " !!! There are a few of us...forging ahead with corrective optics....despite the cost, technical challenge....and general apathy.

While not producing " Perfect Beam's "....corrective optics go a long way to improve the overall beam quality. Yes...yes....The laws of Optics eventually rule....divergence....say... at one (1) mile....1.6 Kilometers...even with a .65 mRad....spreads out to a meter in diameter....but then....our human eyesight via parallax view ....make this dot ===> spot look very small indeed. SO...who cares !! I would speculate that the vast majority are concerned....with what is happening in the first 1000 feet ( 0.3 Kilometer )....at the maximum end of the range.

Typically....The main thing I attempt is to negate the cursed bar...into a round cornered rectangle. Even this is limited with the nasty astigmatic aspect ratio of our more powerful multi mode diodes.

SO....I care....and I share my builds....for those of like mind....albeit a limited few...we will continue to push the envelope....and have great satisfaction at our travels !!

All this....even though I use too much punctuation....and ramble on...I guess....almost endlessly to some....So sorry.......NOT !!!!! hahahaha !!!!
Beam Out !!!

 

[RedCowboy]

It's was 2008-09 when I was working with single mode lasers, my wife died in 09 and I took a break, I have been playing with MM and what is cheap but I desire a bit more power and longer reach for my leaf hunting.

If you want a high quality low divergence laser you can buy them, they are not cheap.

Making use of readily available affordable power is what many of us do and like you have said, divergence trumps power over distance.

I was mounting 100mw 660nm lasers in these as an expedient solution, and attaching to a wood circle, it's crude but easy to adjust and modify while prototyping.

This is not a good pic but you can see how you can pick up the cone before or after the beams intersect, so it's expanding or contracting and the lens can be concave or convex depending. Also you can set your starting diameter, just like a big expanded single beam.

Yes CDBeam777
The thirst for knowledge is never fully quenched and in time what was a mystery becomes common understanding......funny thing the power a little knowledge can have, and how lacking it can mean failure.

Actually the amount of power we know how to harness and control is a measure of our evolution, class 1 civilization to class 4, from breaking down chemical bonds for the tiny energy release to converting matter to energy.

Lasers are already used is so many ways, uranium enrichment and possibly future cold fusion, x-ray lasers reveal the tiny particles that make up what were once thought to be the tiny particles.

Even if I lack the means to hold the technology in my hands I still wish to understand it.

 

[VisibleGreen]

I've lost interest in lasers almost entirely lately. My list became so huge that I must have blew a fuse and I don't know what I want to do in the hobby anymore. No doubt money is a huge decider for it.
I would love to get into it again but ... I just don't know where to start.

 

[RedCowboy]

I've lost interest in lasers almost entirely lately. My list became so huge that I must have blew a fuse and I don't know what I want to do in the hobby anymore. No doubt money is a huge decider for it.
I would love to get into it again but ... I just don't know where to start.

What do you have?
Do you have a NDB7875 or an Osram pltb450b ?

You can get a 7875 from DTR with a 3 element and driver for 100 bucks already pressed into a module and ready to use, just connect 2 wires, and a MX-900 heatsink from BudgetBeams for 12 dollars, the MX-900's I have been buying from ebay from a US shipper for 12-14 dollars and you can cut the parts off the mx-900 driver/spring board and use it as is. For 130 bucks you can have a nice 2.5 - 3.0 watt burner quick and easy.
Just buy batteries and safety glasses if you don't have them and the 7875 is tough as hell, they take a cooking and keep on burning, very robust diode.

https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes/9mm-445nm

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141410333014?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

http://budgetbeams.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=23

use the discount code "LPF" at budget and save a couple dollars.

If you put a modular plug on your 12mm DTR module with enclosed driver you can use that same host for his other 12mm modules with drivers like the NUBM07E or the NDG700.

Connectors like these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-pairs-JS...178486?hash=item280c027136:g:MYwAAOSwcdBWT0-q

But the housings and heat sinks are such a good deal, you could resell on ebay if you get tired of one so you might as well by 2 flashlights for that price, they are good flashlights, a lot brighter than you would expect.

I have half a dozen 900's and they are great housings, the switches will carry 5 amps at 8 volts, way more than you will need.

 

[VisibleGreen]

What do you have?
Do you have a NDB7875 or an Osram pltb450b ?

You can get a 7875 from DTR with a 3 element and driver for 100 bucks already pressed into a module and ready to use, just connect 2 wires, and a MX-900 heatsink from BudgetBeams for 12 dollars, the MX-900's I have been buying from ebay from a US shipper for 12-14 dollars and you can cut the parts off the mx-900 driver/spring board and use it as is. For 130 bucks you can have a nice 2.5 - 3.0 watt burner quick and easy.
Just buy batteries and safety glasses if you don't have them and the 7875 is tough as hell, they take a cooking and keep on burning, very robust diode.

https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes/9mm-445nm

3000 Lumen XM L2 T6 LED Flashlight Torch Light Super Bright Hot | eBay

XML T-6 heat sink for 12mm module - $12.99 : Budget Beams LLC

use the discount code "LPF" at budget and save a couple dollars.

If you put a modular plug on your 12mm DTR module with enclosed driver you can use that same host for his other 12mm modules with drivers like the NUBM07E or the NDG700.

Connectors like these
10 Pairs JST Plug Connector RC LiPo Battery Male Female LW Szus | eBay

But the housings and heat sinks are such a good deal, you could resell on ebay if you get tired of one so you might as well by 2 flashlights for that price, they are good flashlights, a lot brighter than you would expect.

I have half a dozen 900's and they are great housings, the switches will carry 5 amps at 8 volts, way more than you will need.

Thanks man. I've done a lot of projects already but I just gotta figure out what I want to do next. I've been wanting corrective optics since the 445 diodes came out but just never got into it.

I got a cmount 660 stashed away but I would need a few hundred to complete that build. Someday

 

[RedCowboy]

Dude, I hear ya. If I put my want to's in my left hand and my disposable dollars in my right......my left hand would be stuck to my foot and my right up scratching my head.

That's why I got such a kick out of seeing Alaskan fire up that FAP 808, I have 3 of those and plenty of stuff to build a power supply, but until I buy some 300 dollar certified wrap around goggles I'm afraid to even power it up at threshold.

I am all the time weighing out the options and deciding what will be the most fun per dollar, that's what's great about LPF, we can live vicariously through others, hell if it's a contest of who has the most money to spend I concede right now.

Your ideas are not bound by money, your thoughts, concepts and dreams can be shared, explored and refined by others with first hand knowledge, that way we learn the lesson without spending the money ourselves.

I know I have learned here, and many things I will find a way to do the poor many way, I have no shame in my 25 dollar housings, they will run as long and shed heat as well as the 125 dollar housings, not that I put the first class stuff down, I just don't have to prove anything, at the end of the day if my built from salvaged junk laser shines like a 1000 dollar store bought model, then I feel like I have won.

Just like if I learn an expensive lesson watching someone else build prototypes and find the trip wires, again I feel like I have gained, but I understand wanting to contribute, if we can't contribute our money we can contribute by warning newcomers to be carful and helping to answering another's curious question.

I know I am not ready to give this hobby up, there's still too much I don't know, and for the sake of knowing it I want too. :beer:

 

[VisibleGreen]

Great words of encouragement. I think the best way to afford personal projects and give to the community at the same time is selling some goods.
I might run a feeler thread when I'm ready to show what I can provide and I won't be taking customers away from existing sellers if I sell something they don't have. Namely certain types of hosts and I see people ask for all the time.
Will update when I can.

Sorry for the derail. I like the way you guys shown how to stack those diodes to combine 4 beams together like that. I wonder if I can manage that in a portable.

 

[RedCowboy]

I thought about 16 single modes in a large portable, but I would have the 4x4 diode block custom made.

I'm thinking about cylindrical correction for the NUBM44 then a telescope or beam expander, because as soon as I have a custom 4x4 mount made for 16 single modes the next gen projector will come out with 3 big diodes, 1 each RGB.

If I had the budget I would try to do it all, but waiting can pay off too.

The NUBM44 is a powerhouse, I am very tempted to buy a whole projector and see if I can repurpose some of the factory optical train, all 7 diodes fire through that spinning phosphor wheel, heck even the old a blocks of 24 looked pretty good all fired like a big blue spotlight as far as looking cool, not so good for burning.

 

[VisibleGreen]

I thought about 16 single modes in a large portable, but I would have the 4x4 diode block custom made.

I'm thinking about cylindrical correction for the NUBM44 then a telescope or beam expander, because as soon as I have a custom 4x4 mount made for 16 single modes the next gen projector will come out with 3 big diodes, 1 each RGB.

If I had the budget I would try to do it all, but waiting can pay off too.

The NUBM44 is a powerhouse, I am very tempted to buy a whole projector and see if I can repurpose some of the factory optical train, all 7 diodes fire through that spinning phosphor wheel, heck even the old a blocks of 24 looked pretty good all fired like a big blue spotlight as far as looking cool, not so good for burning.

What about a FAC lens? Has anyone messed around with those for these diodes?
I think I remember reading that they are better than both prisms and those cylindrical lenses but they have to be mounted right on the dye?

 

[RedCowboy]

Yes I had that idea and asked about it a while back, supposedly lazerer has done it successfully before.

Now with the NUBM44 the can would probably have to be removed, but the NUBM07E would be the one try it with, it's could produce very good results but the fused silica tiny lenses I have found are expensive and there will be a learning curve.

I like the results minimoto got with his NUBM44 using just a compound beam expander.

The 07E is less divergent and would be an even better diode for a compound expander.