Sharp GH04W10A2GC 350mW 405nm

[barthchris]

DTR is the best salesman/ shop keeper in a second. Supplies,

Wolfram, you got me beat as a longtime member/low time poster. Lol! Actually you have more posts than I do but Ill get there in another few years.

Mentioned this in another thread. The current group of posters here are enjoyable and drama-free, During the DX "true green" days and the wicked days this place was troll central. Nuggets of good info interspersed with flame wars. I dont know how the good guys stayed. Does anyone know what happened to Daquin? Lost interest, died.....? Patience of a saint, Igor T was another prolific/helpful poster in the PHR days. Remember he got sick and kinda dropped out..

Review: TS100 Soldering Iron

Temperature-controlled soldering irons can be cheap, lightweight, and good. Pick any two of those attributes when you choose an iron, because you’ll never have all three. You might believe th…

hackaday.com

Solder iron I use that I can not recommend enough. I've had the Hakko and its clones but this has them all beat. Seconds to working temperature. Can use 12-30V from any DC source, laptop power supply or 4s /5s lipos is what I use. Excellent fast regulation despite ithe tips low thermal mass. Third-party firmware is available to make even better. With my horrific soldering examples above you would never guess that Im actually pretty good. It is a learned skill that need practice and the right tools to perfect. That said, I've used a piece of #10 solid copper heated with a torch and held with pliers in a pinch with good results. Lol!

 

[barthchris]

OK, I removed the boost drive. Never powered it up I swear, seriously... Soldered new 24G silicone leads on diode. Soldered those leads to DIY #14 silicone w/ 4mm bullet connectors to a variable current/voltage power supply. All precautions are taken to avoid a surge when connecting. No power meter here but Im getting low output , MUCH less than a BDR209. Strong knee at .80A at 4.4V. Highest output is at .77A 4.4V. With no lens it looks very single modish. Clean long oval with no extra lines while ramping up from threshold to full output. Did I lose the efficiency lottery?

 

[wolfram]

Hi Barth. Dave retired several years back. He and I corresponded via e-mail about 2 years ago. He is a great guy! He does pop in and out now and then.

 

[barthchris]

Hi Barth. Dave retired several years back. He and I corresponded via e-mail about 2 years ago. He is a great guy! He does pop in and out now and then.

Retired from lasers?? Lol!! Good to hear he's around. You never know.... He was a rock here during these forums rough and wild days. Who would have guessed a laser pointer forum would created so much drama??? Didn't think nerds like us were drama queens

 

[wolfram]

It's my opinion that many of the older members of the laser related forums began our geeky interest in the hobby after the DVD writer explosion. You see many of us grew up watching SciFi, things like Star Trek, lost in space, and even black and white Flash Gordon. We dreamed of coherent beams. But at that time lasers were financially out of reach. So, when they became obtainable, many of us geeks became hoarders. We became broke, many became single, and others just disappeared from the forums. In the case of Dave, I believe that he still has a decent collection, but is retired and needed to escape the obsession. Watch, Dave will view this reply and most certainly correct my grammar. Lol!!!

 

[Coonie]

Retired from lasers?? Lol!! Good to hear he's around. You never know.... He was a rock here during these forums rough and wild days. Who would have guessed a laser pointer forum would created so much drama??? Didn't think nerds like us were drama queens

Well every form of social media has drama. It's in our nature to have conflict among many equally good traits

 

[barthchris]

It's my opinion that many of the older members of the laser related forums began our geeky interest in the hobby after the DVD writer explosion. You see many of us grew up watching SciFi, things like Star Trek, lost in space, and even black and white Flash Gordon. We dreamed of coherent beams. But at that time lasers were financially out of reach. So, when they became obtainable, many of us geeks became hoarders. We became broke, many became single, and others just disappeared from the forums. In the case of Dave, I believe that he still has a decent collection, but is retired and needed to escape the obsession. Watch, Dave will view this reply and most certainly correct my grammar. Lol!!!

Described me to the T. This so deserves its own thread but hell, here it is. My first real laser. 1993 $88 under the glass at radio shack. Was only 18 and HAD to have it. Still works!!! Takes two odd voltage batteries. I dont have it near me to confirm though. I will say this horror of many members here. I probably have the dubious distinction of the first aircraft laser incident ever with this pointer. Helicopter chasing a subject was too easy of a target to not try to hit. He turned the nightsun right at my UMD dorm room and I shriveled like a slug in salt. Lesson learned. Remember, this was 1993...

Another edit. I remember being absolutely fascinated with the speckle effects of this laser pointer. Had no idea it was even called speckle. Had to ask a physics professor at UMD college park, he promptly went out and bought one after seeing mine. Though not a physics student and ultimately a college drop out(loved girls way too much) it did briefly get me into the cool world of watching dye lasers being pumped with different frequencies to exploit different lines Speckle on this diode laser was much more pronounced that others that followed for some reason.

 

[barthchris]

Well every form of social media has drama. It's in our nature to have conflict among many equally good traits

Ehh, this place had a special kind of nasty for a time. Ive been posting freely at RC groups, other electronics forums for years without issues. Here was different. A possible explanation could be idiots gaining unwanted attention to our hobby with wicked 1W POS and tolerance was low. Still had some nasty trolls here though. IDK.. maybe Im wrong. Could flame me all day long now, flame suit is well insulated. Lol!

Back to 405nm... Just recieved a bdr209 from DTR today. Much preferable to this sharp diode. Hard to beat that single mode spot.

 

[paul1598419]

Yeah, these single mode BDR laser diodes are great. I'm still amazed they can be over driven to the extent that we do.

 

[Coonie]

Yeah, these single mode BDR laser diodes are great. I'm still amazed they can be over driven to the extent that we do.

Mines still going strong

 

[barthchris]

Yeah, these single mode BDR laser diodes are great. I'm still amazed they can be over driven to the extent that we do.

What do you think makes the diode emit in single mode with the amount of power were "pumping" it with. Semiconductor shape? Placement of bond wires. Heat dissipation, quality of semiconductor? All of the above? Its (BDR) is definitely a standout in SM diodes. SOJs tended to blink out on me quickly. Haven't had great luck with BDRs but most have been my stupidity. I know for a fact a back-reflection directly back into the lens caused an immediate COD. Ive also pushed duty cycle too far killing a few.

Other various self-induced "doh" moments have also occurred over the years. Lessons are hopefully learned each time. Even if it was a months worth of "lunch money" saved and covertly diverted to a new light amplifier my pulse barely rises is a diode dies but the ones that I beat myself over are the repeat "you know better" moments. Lol!! Jeez, with RC I've had triple/quadruple same damn mistake resulting in a crater full of toothpicks/foam and or carbon fiber. Good ones include the sweet bubblegum smell of a hissing, venting lipo electrolyte followed by flames. You frantically try to separate the battery from the savable parts from becoming unsalvageable. Lol!!

 

[wolfram]

I had BDR running at 900 mW continuously for 30 minutes, then all of a sudden, diode death! This of course was what I had thought.After I checked the setup, I discovered that the driver died. The diode was fine. It was an interesting moment.

 

[barthchris]

I had BDR running at 900 mW continuously for 30 minutes, then all of a sudden, diode death! This of course was what I had thought.After I checked the setup, I discovered that the driver died. The diode was fine. It was an interesting moment.

Same just happened to me yesterday after last post. Lol!!. Maybe a few min of short duty cycles. Was kinda bummed I saw such little light but just for $hit$ & giggles I connected diode to my PS and voila, it was fine!! Brand new ACS5000 set to 900mAh., used 1 really good lion cell(yes, correct polarity) lol!

 

[paul1598419]

What do you think makes the diode emit in single mode with the amount of power were "pumping" it with. Semiconductor shape? Placement of bond wires. Heat dissipation, quality of semiconductor? All of the above? Its (BDR) is definitely a standout in SM diodes. SOJs tended to blink out on me quickly. Haven't had great luck with BDRs but most have been my stupidity. I know for a fact a back-reflection directly back into the lens caused an immediate COD. Ive also pushed duty cycle too far killing a few.

Other various self-induced "doh" moments have also occurred over the years. Lessons are hopefully learned each time. Even if it was a months worth of "lunch money" saved and covertly diverted to a new light amplifier my pulse barely rises is a diode dies but the ones that I beat myself over are the repeat "you know better" moments. Lol!! Jeez, with RC I've had triple/quadruple same damn mistake resulting in a crater full of toothpicks/foam and or carbon fiber. Good ones include the sweet bubblegum smell of a hissing, venting lipo electrolyte followed by flames. You frantically try to separate the battery from the savable parts from becoming unsalvageable. Lol!!

Most of us here have had failures with these diodes in the past....mainly because we were over driving them too much. The TO-18 diodes need to be driven at or below 400 mA and the TO-38 diodes can only take maybe 100 mA more. I lost my fair share of these before limiting them this way. I haven't driven any of mine with the ACS5000 drivers so I can't speak to those driver failures. You can use either a SEPIC or boost driver with a single cell, but I have used a buck driver mostly with two Li-ion cells. I did start using much larger heat sinks when I was losing the TO-18 diodes and that seemed to help, but I believe limiting the drive current is the only way to keep any of these from failing right out of the gate.

 

[Lifetime17]

Hi,
With these BDR 209 diodes dont look for the 1W Holy Grail , its a recipe for disaster. As Paul stated 400 mA maybe 100mA more and thats the end of the line setting. And you will have it for a long amount of time.
Rich

 

[barthchris]

Most of us here have had failures with these diodes in the past....mainly because we were over driving them too much. The TO-18 diodes need to be driven at or below 400 mA and the TO-38 diodes can only take maybe 100 mA more. I lost my fair share of these before limiting them this way. I haven't driven any of mine with the ACS5000 drivers so I can't speak to those driver failures. You can use either a SEPIC or boost driver with a single cell, but I have used a buck driver mostly with two Li-ion cells. I did start using much larger heat sinks when I was losing the TO-18 diodes and that seemed to help, but I believe limiting the drive current is the only way to keep any of these from failing right out of the gate.

Now that Ive totally derailed this thread..... Sorry fellas!!
You were right Paul it was an ACS500SE (assume SE is SEPIC) driver not the buck driver. Yes, attention to rapid heat removal is essential. Im anal about diodes being pressed in straight and level with as much package contact as possible to transfer heat quickly. I think the back of the diode is an overlooked area that needs attention. A slight burr or lip from a misaligned press can severely limit heat transfer. I sometimes will use a small fine file to get that essential contact correct. A bit of thermal compound as well.

EDIT, you guys are right about current as well. Even though they can do 900mAh before the knee doesn't mean its OK. I need to adjust my expectations, hell I don't even have a power meter so I wont know what Im missing. Or maybe thats my problem. Lol!! IDK these light amplifiers do funny things to people who like to fix what's not broken. I'm guessing a lot of us are like that. Lol!