The XBOX 360 HD-DVD high power laser thread

[roSSco]

Oh and my 803T has a very flat beam.

 

[IgorT]

My drive from geeks.com came in last night and I got it running @ 100mA. I am getting ~67mW through my acrylic lenses. I need to measure the output w/o a lens and report back.

Can't wait to hear that measurement.. The power looks like what i'm getting at 90mA. Do they really vary this much? Your lens is clear, right?

 

[IgorT]

My 6x has 4.61V @ 110mA dropping to ~4.55V as it warms up.

Well, originally we were guessing this is a 4x die in a different can, so...

Does anyone have a 4x BR writer diode?

 

[roSSco]

[quote author=roSSco link=1209940381/330#334 date=1211375120]My drive from geeks.com came in last night and I got it running @ 100mA. I am getting ~67mW through my acrylic lenses. I need to measure the output w/o a lens and report back.

Can't wait to hear that measurement.. The power looks like what i'm getting at 90mA. Do they really vary this much? Your lens is clear, right?[/quote]

I don't know! :-?

 

[jayrob]

I really hope no one is using AR coated lenses, unless they are $100 405nm AR coated lenses from Thorlabs..

The glass AR coated AixiZ lens would seem to take less power away, but i can't find mine right now, to do that measurement as well. When i do, i will add that measurement.

You would not believe the power difference using a Meredith glass lens. (which is AR coated) Comparing power readings against an Meredith acrylic lens, the Meredith glass lens will give you 30% increase in power using blu-ray diodes!

And 20% using the open can reds. Here's why:
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1207011306/20#36Jay

 

[IgorT]

You would not believe the power difference using a Meredith glass lens. (which is AR coated) Comparing power readings against an AixiZ acrylic (plastic cut away), the Meredith glass lens will give you 30% increase in power using blu-ray diodes!

Well, AR coating is not a problem by itself. It's the wavelength the coating is meant for.

Could it be the coating on a meredith is meant for multiple wavelengths? On the other hand, a 650nm AR coated glass AixiZ lens does not decrease the output nearly as much as a 650nm AR coated acrylic, even tho it is a three layer lens with coatings on both sides of each!

So maybe the glass is so much better when it comes to 405nm, that the AR coating on the Meredith doesn't matter so much. But i'm sure it would be even better without it.


Obviously the plastic is one part of the problem and the coating another. Combined, they decrease the power by over 50%!

 

[roSSco]

My drive from geeks.com came in last night and I got it running @ 100mA. I am getting ~67mW through my acrylic lenses. I need to measure the output w/o a lens and report back.

With a fresh battery I get 120mW w/o a lens, 80mW with. My battery was weak last night.

 

[daguin]

[quote author=roSSco link=1209940381/324#334 date=1211375120]My drive from geeks.com came in last night and I got it running @ 100mA. I am getting ~67mW through my acrylic lenses. I need to measure the output w/o a lens and report back.

With a fresh battery I get 120mW w/o a lens, 80mW with. My battery was weak last night. [/quote]

Well, they are showing consistence.

Nice work, RoSSco

Peace,
dave

-- Call to the Universe -- We need near UV coated optics that fit aiXiz modules -- Call to the Universe --

 

[john_lawson]

been running mine for a couple days at first a minute or two at a time then noticed wasn't getting real hot so have had it on up to ten minutes at a time no problem yet (it will probibly fry now that I posted This LOL ) :
oh the laserbee meter does not recognize 405 nm ?? any have a problem like this with thier wannabee meters ?

 

[roSSco]

[quote author=roSSco link=1209940381/336#343 date=1211423405][quote author=roSSco link=1209940381/324#334 date=1211375120]My drive from geeks.com came in last night and I got it running @ 100mA. I am getting ~67mW through my acrylic lenses. I need to measure the output w/o a lens and report back.

With a fresh battery I get 120mW w/o a lens, 80mW with. My battery was weak last night. [/quote]

Well, they are showing consistence.

Nice work, RoSSco

Peace,
dave

-- Call to the Universe -- We need near UV coated optics that fit aiXiz modules -- Call to the Universe --[/quote]

I want my 40mW back.

 

[roSSco]

been running mine for a couple days at first a minute or two at a time then noticed wasn't getting real hot so have had it on up to ten minutes at a time no problem yet (it will probibly fry now that I posted This LOL ) :
oh the laserbee meter does not recognize 405 nm ?? any have a problem like this with thier wannabee meters ?

I had mine on for a few minutes tonight playin with my minerals and noticed the aixiz module was a little warm. Nothing to be alarmed about, but I should probably keep the duty cycle to a couple minutes max.

 

[daguin]

I want my 40mW back.

I made a deal with Kenom to swap him a 308T for a PS3. I want to build a blu-ray that I can actually use in lecture. I don't WANT 80mW in my darkened lecture hall.

Peace,
dave

 

[flogged]

Finished another brick pointer using a diode I got off an 803t sled I purchased from psxboy.

Very happy with it. I'm running this one @80-85 mA, and this should put it over 50mW. It looks it. It appears 2-4x as bright as my first bluray pointer running at 35mA.

I put everything in a radioshack project box. Decided to use 'AA' batteries (6), as they are better able to supply 85mA off current compared to a nine volt battery. I'm housing the diode in a new Meredith 'LDC-2' housing (glass lens), which is mounted in an old (reused) meredith heatsink/mounting block. I'm using the 'DDL' circuit to regulate.. it's built around a beefy 25ohm 3 watt rheostat.

The diode came to life using about 45mA of current - it was still an LED! As I increased the current tt was not until about 50mA that it started to lase, and it dramatically brightened as I increased the current to ~82.5 mA. In the image below you can see it compared to my older blueray, using the lower powered diode @ 35mA (and nine volt battery).

Closeup of the two. Both using diodes from xbox hd players. New brick on the bottom.

At 50+ mW the bluray has some definite dazzle to it, though it does not appear much brighter than my 5-10 mW red keychain pointer. At night, wow. I can easily see the beam.

I wasted one of the two diodes I ordered from psxboy. During extraction I was impatient and tried to hammer the diode out from the front of the heatsink using the butt end of a drill bit. The diode came out, but I dimpled the top of the can, and f*cked up the diode window. Sigh. That diode is now an open can with a highly funky output. For the second diode extraction I held the heatsink+diode (which neatly pops loose from the rest of the sled) gently with a pliers, whilst the other hand sawed through the thin side of the heatsink using an xacto knife until I was able to fit a small flathead screw driver in and split the heatsink.

In the future I was be sawing free all diodes. Bashing the diode is bad. Make certain to put some tape over the diode window when you're sawing to keep metal flakes off it.

 

[phenol]

Here are a few transmittance curves of optical-grade 3.2-mm thick acrylic sheets. Note the roll-off somewhere around 300-350nm

 

[IgorT]

With a fresh battery I get 120mW w/o a lens, 80mW with. My battery was weak last night.

Q1: What kind of a driver are you using, that you are getting lower powers with weaker batteries? Or was the battery voltage under the minimum required for regulation?

Q2: What kind of lens are you using?!? 120mW without and only 80mW with it? I got 98mW without a lens and 76mW with it at 96.5mA yesterday, and i would have gotten 80mW if my lens wasn't dirty and a little scratched (lost 4mW because of it).. Did you almost touch the module to the thermopile? If i do that, i also get ~120mW, but those are reflections and whatnot. I hold it at a small distance, so that the beam covers most, but not all of the thermopile coating.


Oh, and thanks for answering about the flat beam. I was getting worried..

 

[danq]

I want to build a blu-ray that I can actually use in lecture. I don't WANT 80mW in my darkened lecture hall.

Peace,
dave

Dave, a thought before you make that jump:
just because you're driving a V8 doesn't mean you have to go 80 in that school zone...

With the 308T you could make a really dependable 40mW or whatever... or with a switch and a resistor you could make it dual power. I've done the latter with a red burner; it's 30mW normally but goes to 250mW when I attach a small magnet "key". (it triggers a tiny magnetic reed switch in the case, which switches in a shunt resistor).