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FrozenGate by Avery

nm and ma?






nm is the wavelenght of your diode, the color, for example, a 650nm diode outputs 650nm red light, a 635nm diode outputs 635nm of light, which is a little more orange than 650nm red.
mA means milliamps, it comes from the word ampere or amp for short, one amp = 1000mA.
An amp is the amount of electrical current that exists when a number of electrons move past a given point in one second.
You don't have to know exactly what it means, just that it's a number that indicates the amount of electricity going to your laser diode. If you want to learn more, check out wikipedia: ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampere
 
Hope this helps with nm (wavelength)

visible_spectrum_waves_big.jpg



mA, is milliamps. 1mA = .001amps.
Amps * Volts = Watts (this is to figure out how "powerful" the laser is)
Amps * Resistance = Volts
or Volts / Resistance = Amps (This helps you figure out the current draw as some diodes are rated only 90mA CW or continuous wave while others might be near 200mA so running them over that rated value means we are over driving them and this is why they sometimes only last minutes or hours)
 
Well this hasn't been said yet: nm stands for nanometers.1 nm = 0.000000001 m

And you can't really tell of a laser's power with volts*amps=watts since diodes produce more heat than laser output :P
 
Yes you can only get a general idea with mW of power, a meter is what is needed to really tell how powerful it is.
 
goldfingerfif said:
If Gazoo offers advice TAKE IT, he is very knowledgeable, I see his posts and he seems to know all, lol
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Lol...I wish I did know all..ha..ha. But thanks for the compliment. Most of what I have learned was from other members of this forum although I will admit I learned a lot from experimenting...I lost count of how many diodes I have ruined but I know it is more than 20...lol.
 
Haha, I have only ruined 1 BR and 2 reds so far. I have been experimenting a lot too lately. I got my DX 200 in and it is insane. I need something to focus it to burn better, anything you recommend?
 
goldfingerfif said:
Haha, I have only ruined 1 BR and 2 reds so far. I have been experimenting a lot too lately. I got my DX 200 in and it is insane. I need something to focus it to burn better, anything you recommend?
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See I don't know all...lol. Greenies are my weak spot...sorry.
 
Gazoo said:
[quote author=goldfingerfif link=1204074270/0#11 date=1204152051]Haha, I have only ruined 1 BR and 2 reds so far.  I have been experimenting a lot too lately.  I got my DX 200 in and it is insane.  I need something to focus it to burn better, anything you recommend?
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See I don't know all...lol. Greenies are my weak spot...sorry.[/quote]

Haha, I know figure of speech, but if you offer help or do know something you're on the ball.
 
How about a small convex lens to make a nice thin waist a few inches out?Maybe even a 2 lens plastic cap with a thread, made out of a plastic pen or something to stick in front of it and have variable focus? :-/ Maybe you can use some lenses from old cameras or scopes or whatever you may have :P
 
Switch said:
How about a small convex lens to make a nice thin waist a few inches out?Maybe even a 2 lens plastic cap with a thread, made out of a plastic pen or something to stick in front of it and have variable focus? :-/ Maybe you can use some lenses from old cameras or scopes or whatever you may have :P
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Yeah I am going to make a thread and ask some suggestions as well as show the plans I have.
 
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