Tiny red laser, visible on snow

[tweek]

Hi all, love the forums, have wasted lots of hours browsing and looking at fun projects. Alas I couldn't find an answer to my question:

OK, so Santa brought me one of these:
Action Camera 3 - VGA Model

As you can see, the camera has dimensions: 9.5 x 2.8 x 2.8 cm

Now for the laser bit... When I have the camera on a helmet mount I have no idea where it's pointing, so I'd like to add a laser to it.

So the criteria: smallest possible yet still visible on snow (I'll be taking it skiing).
Can I get away with one of these? AixiZ 650nm 2mW

Alas I can't break the camera apart to get at the power supply without damaging it (I think at least, if I break it my wife will kill me). So I'll need laser module, on/off button and power supply all external to the camera.

Since it's only going to be used for a few seconds at a time, tiny button batteries will be sufficient right?

Thoughts, opinions?

Thanks,
tweek

 

[Flaminpyro]

Howdy and Welcome to the Forum :wave:

If you want a low power laser to use for sighting in the camera I would use a
5mW green as they can be seen better in the day than a red laser beam.

Hi all, love the forums, have wasted lots of hours browsing and looking at fun projects. Alas I couldn't find an answer to my question:

OK, so Santa brought me one of these:
Action Camera 3 - VGA Model

As you can see, the camera has dimensions: 9.5 x 2.8 x 2.8 cm

Now for the laser bit... When I have the camera on a helmet mount I have no idea where it's pointing, so I'd like to add a laser to it.

So the criteria: smallest possible yet still visible on snow (I'll be taking it skiing).
Can I get away with one of these? AixiZ 650nm 2mW

Alas I can't break the camera apart to get at the power supply without damaging it (I think at least, if I break it my wife will kill me). So I'll need laser module, on/off button and power supply all external to the camera.

Since it's only going to be used for a few seconds at a time, tiny button batteries will be sufficient right?

Thoughts, opinions?

Thanks,
tweek

 

[tee]

I believe the manufacturer Contour uses a built in laser for aligning their helmetcams that have no display screen. pretty neat idea, good luck.

 

[jason66823]

Yes, I would use a green that is 5mw or less because they are much more visible than a red of the same power.

 

[tweek]

Sweet, thanks guys.

Anyone know of a good driver to buy then, I haven't seen a green equivalent of that Aixiz red one?

Cheers,
Andreas

 

[Fiddy]

greens come in a module which contains; driver,diode,crystal and lens.

All you have to do is feed it a 3-4.2VDC source and your in business!

 

[tb864]

Sweet, thanks guys.

Anyone know of a good driver to buy then, I haven't seen a green equivalent of that Aixiz red one?

Cheers,
Andreas

what do you mean by a good driver to buy ? do you own the ld and you want the driver to run it ?
any how , that's sounds really fun , good luck with that ,
i guess 5mw wont be satisfying , i a 300 mw red would be great it and it could just fit in a shape that goes pretty with the shape of your camera , good luck with your job
if you continued your job please post the news