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FrozenGate by Avery

Micro-Drive laser driver by rkcstr

Thank you!

And, yes, they're pretty simple fixes, but I don't have time to go through and repair them all myself. And, otherwise, they just sit on my desk doing nothing, so I figured I'd sell em cheap just to clear it up.
 





hey man, how have you been? Can we call you Dr. Crooks yet?
edit: NVM, i just read above. what field are you going to specialize in? emergency medicine i hope :D
 
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I'm doin just fine :) The last of school is much better than the others. I'm done with interviews now, so just have to wait until March to find out where I'm headed for the next 4 years. My specialty will be neurology, however my fiancee is emergency med.
 
Now offering current setting on my V3 driver for $3.00 ($2.70 after discount). Just select 'Yes' for Preset Current and put in the value you would like set to in the box below.
 
rkcstr said:
I agree! Unfortunately, the availability of ICs suitable for use in a current source for a laser driver is rather limited at this time. There are a lot of ones out there for LEDs, but they tend to have a lot of ripple/noise or regulation isn't very good, etc, that makes them unsuitable for more sensitive LDs. I occasionally look around to see what's out there, but for the most part, I wouldn't be able to offer anything better than is currently available from other sellers on here. And, it doesn't make sense to offer basically the same thing as someone else in a small market unless I have some advantage over the others.
Click to expand...

You would have an advantage, you'd have them for sale :crackup: Anytime I've went to get a boost driver they were gone and no info on when they'd be back or response. I haven't bought a whole lot from you but I know I can with no problems and you keep the community informed if you think there would be or there was one. Busy as you are, you have great customer service.
 
Also, if you were to do a boost circuit, you could set up two boost ICs in parallel to give around 2 AMPS of current, something only achievable today by using two flexdrives. Plus, as it would only cost another $1 at most for the extra IC, it means you could build them for a lot cheaper, saving us money and bringing you customers! Now that would be something special...
 
Hey - so why is it that this has such a high dropout voltage? I built a LM1117 driver myself and stuck it with an LOC diode with a single li-ion, and it ran just fine at around 381mA... or was it not producing the voltage or whatever required?

Because it seemed pretty damn bright and was capable of burning.... Anyway, I am very confused.
 
What was the setting resistance for your driver? I'm going to guess you weren't actually putting out regulated current. The driver will continue to put out current below the dropout voltage, but it will not be regulated, meaning it will continue to drop in current as voltage drops.
 
The resistance was set to 3.3 Ohms, which is right on the money for 381mA or so, which is odd.
 
I don't have a definitive answer, but I suspect it probably isn't as it seems. The regulator needs appx 1V extra itself, then you drop another 1.25V over the resistor on the output, so that's where the drop-out voltage comes from. Since the regulator can't produce more voltage than you give it, the absolute minimum to produce 3V would be 4.25, but that's not even with a regulated current. Otherwise, it would be some effect I'm not familiar with or you have a shorted or malfunctioning IC. I have seen drivers put out current that does not change with setting resistance after accidentally reversing polarity to the IC. it was typically higher current like 300-900mA, even with resistance set to max (ie pot all the way down). I suspect internal shorting thru the adj pin or something.
 
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Hmm, you know what? That may have been the case. Alright, well, curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
 
ANNOUNCEMENT:

Some may know that I've finished school. That means now I'm officially earning a paycheck as a resident physician. It also means I have crap for free time. That means that I've had little to no time to prep and ship orders let alone assemble more drivers to fullfill orders. So, once my stock runs out, I don't plan to offer my items in the way I currently offer them.

What I may end up doing is offering a bulk "built-to-order" system where I'll assemble drivers for say amounts of 10 or more and they won't be like a next day type order, moreso when I have enough time since, for most months, I end up working about 12 hours a day with 1 day off a week.

I also may offer the drivers as kits, but more so selling them as a supplier rather than distributor, meaning selling them in bulk instead of individually since it can be time consuming shipping say 15 drivers in 15 different orders vs one order of the same amount.

If there are any of you looking to distribute my driver, let me know. We can discuss pricing on volume. With enough volume, I'm sure I can make it profitable to sell even at my own pricing.

I appreciate everyone who has purchased my products, no matter how many or few. I wish I could continue to offer these items and more, but my profession is time consuming and is extremely difficult to maintain a business, even a small one like mine. So, thank you again and keep on lasering!
 
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rkcstr said:
ANNOUNCEMENT:

Some may know that I've finished school. That means now I'm officially earning a paycheck as a resident physician. It also means I have crap for free time. That means that I've had little to no time to prep and ship orders let alone assemble more drivers to fullfill orders. So, once my stock runs out, I don't plan to offer my items in the way I currently offer them.

What I may end up doing is offering a bulk "built-to-order" system where I'll assemble drivers for say amounts of 10 or more and they won't be like a next day type order, moreso when I have enough time since, for most months, I end up working about 12 hours a day with 1 day off a week.

I also may offer the drivers as kits, but more so selling them as a supplier rather than distributor, meaning selling them in bulk instead of individually since it can be time consuming shipping say 15 drivers in 15 different orders vs one order of the same amount.

If there are any of you looking to distribute my driver, let me know. We can discuss pricing on volume. With enough volume, I'm sure I can make it profitable to sell even at my own pricing.

I appreciate everyone who has purchased my products, no matter how many or few. I wish I could continue to offer these items and more, but my profession is time consuming and is extremely difficult to maintain a business, even a small one like mine. So, thank you again and keep on lasering!
Click to expand...

Glad to hear doc! I hope one day you'll develop a boost/buck driver as well.
 
I've transitioned to a distributor only via my website.

If anyone is interested in distributing through their website, please let me know.

I've had a number of customers ask about purchasing single drivers, however I cannot operate in that capacity, so there is still a customer base for the driver. I also previously offered them thru eBay, which I no longer do. In fact, that is where I had the majority of purchases in the last few months that I sold them.

If someone is interested in distributing, you can contact me via email, which is my username @gmail.com

As you can see on my site, in higher volumes, the drivers are about 50% of retail (my prev $13 each, $15 on EBay), though you can charge whatever you like. While those volumes may not be practical to start, we may be able to negotiate a fair price to get started. I am also happy to direct traffic from my site to your own via link for retail purchases.

EDIT: Also, this is primarily for a US distributor. However, I'm open to a European or Aussie dealer as well.
 
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