Terminology Definitions

[ekeup]

Still new to lasers... Is there a sticky somewhere with frequently used terminology? (if not, I think there should be one)

So... the one I'm stumped on now is 'pill'...?

EDIT: now see the acronym definitions, but still... what is a pill?

 

[Misanthrop]

 

[Elektrotechniker]

Hope this helps?

lul

 

[sopark4000]

Use the search engine before posting new threads. I used the search engine to check your question and immediately found the answer.

 

[532 with Envy]

Perhaps....laser related of a kind....a pill would refer to the front housing of the laser.
Including the diode, its heatsink, driver, and a + or - connection for the battery.

They body referring to where the battery would be housed and a PILL a self contained unit mounted within the body in front of the battery.......Perhaps..............


If not, you may need to explain your question a bit better...... Perhaps use "Pill" in a sentence that gives it relevance to your question.

 

[ekeup]

Use the search engine before posting new threads. I used the search engine to check your question and immediately found the answer.

"Is there a sticky somewhere with frequently used terminology?"

- still haven't found an answer to that. I see many threads that define terms, but not in one place.

Perhaps....laser related of a kind....a pill would refer to the front housing of the laser.
Including the diode, its heatsink, driver, and a + or - connection for the battery.

They body referring to where the battery would be housed and a PILL a self contained unit mounted within the body in front of the battery.......Perhaps..............


If not, you may need to explain your question a bit better...... Perhaps use "Pill" in a sentence that gives it relevance to your question.

Thanks, at least some people are actually helpful!

 

[sopark4000]

Thanks, at least some people are actually helpful!

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him forever"

I am being helpful by telling you that your best bet as far as finding the answer to most questions is using the search function.

 

[ekeup]

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him forever"

I am being helpful by telling you that your best bet as far as finding the answer to most questions is using the search function.

I later found the definition on another site, could you link to the pill definition you found on this forum? and what exactly did you search for?

 

[532 with Envy]

You still haven't phrased your question in a clear way.

I am an AVID supporter of using the search area. Most question within your experiments can be answered via a search of the internet.

What frustration you see comes from MANY posts from new members that have not really searched for the answers to their questions...Many, many posts....

Your question will be answered when it is clearly put....aside from that, continue your research. At some points it may take me days if not weeks to research what I need to know, grow to 'understand' it and then(only then) do I come looking for a bit of help or a push in the right direction.:beer:

 

[ekeup]

You still haven't phrased your question in a clear way.

I am an AVID supporter of using the search area. Most question within your experiments can be answered via a search of the internet.

What frustration you see comes from MANY posts from new members that have not really searched for the answers to their questions...Many, many posts....

Your question will be answered when it is clearly put....aside from that, continue your research. At some points it may take me days if not weeks to research what I need to know, grow to 'understand' it and then(only then) do I come looking for a bit of help or a push in the right direction.:beer:

I should have stated that I did use the search feature before posting, didn't see a concise answer to what a 'pill' is... I've learned that people use the term in many ways... to refer to the diode itself, heatsink that LD fits in, and/or the LD/heatsink/driver combination. At least that's my current understanding. My real question (the title of the post) is "Is there one good place to find definitions of terms/slang/etc.." (aside from the search feature)

 

[532 with Envy]

Common usage and technical terms will always be separated. These wording will change as the hobby and professional research continues.

Your best bet is what you have been doing already, which unfortunately means reading many different post on many different threads when a simple search of the web yields millions of hits.:beer:

No laser slang related sites or terminology that I know of....

This one is interesting in answering many basic question on the subject though.
http://www.rp-photonics.com/encyclopedia.html

 

[aryntha]

ekeup:

In summary -- we don't really use the term 'pill' here much. This seems to be (mostly) a term coined by AwesomeLasers, with their Cobalt series. (It was also common for CB freebanders to use the term 'pill' for a TO-3 canned transistor, which performed a similar function in amplifiers, and i'm guessing this is where Ian and Dave at AwesomeLasers got their terminology.) Additionally I know that some folks on CPF refer to the LED driver or driver+heatsink in an LED light as the "pill", but most people just call them drivers, and that's probably the best thing to refer to them as around here.

In any case, by "pill", when it's at all importat - they probably mean "driver" - which is going to be the term we use for it. It can also mean the driver+heatsink, as you said, or the driver+whatever it sits on. I've never really heard it used for the diode+heatsink combination but I suppose someone could. But I think it's less common.

But most importantly, when referring to a driver -- It's a small circuit board which regulates current to the laser diode. Laser diodes are current-dependent, and must be current-limited to prevent runaway conditions where they essentially burn themselves up. (Similar to LEDs, but moreso.) -- additionally, certain laser diodes will require a specfic Vf (forward voltage), and a 'buck/boost' driver can either lower (buck) or raise (boost) that voltage in relation to the source battery, which is usually 3.7v lithium ion. In that case, it's all ohm's law, where current is sacrificed for voltage, or voltage is sacrificed for current, so long as it all balances out.

I agree that the search function is useful, but also I do understand sometimes folks need a bit of a 'jumpstart'... Took me forever to even figure out what LOC, SOC, SCC, PHR, etc meant. It'll come with time, just read a lot, you'll get it. But, I think why people 'facepalmed' is just that it's not a very commonly used term around these parts.

532: There actually was a 'sticky' of commonly used terms here, I'll try to find it for him..

EDIT: here they are.


http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/acronyms-forum-42167.html

http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/good-know-laser-term-guide-newbies-58951.html


Give a look at those, those should go a long way, actually, in familiarizing you.

 

[qumefox]

I think the term 'pill' predates awesomelasers.. It's most commonly used in 'flashlight' discussions though.. Particularly LED based ones that generally have the LED and driver both mounted on a cylindrical heatsink that's easily removed.

Look at flashlight reviews etc, on sites like DX, etc, and you'll see the term 'pill' used a lot.

For example, here's the 'pill' out of a tank007 hk128 flashlight.

But as Aryntha said, the term isn't really used much in the laser community.. We just call them heatsinks. heh.