Very first red laser build... IM A NOOB!

[a_pyro_is]

Sorry to sound so gloomy, but I think the one where you don't see anything is most likely the red LD, and the one with a dim red glow is trying to blind you with all that NIR.

Did you remove the two diodes from the heatsinks they were mounted to?
Can you post some pics?
I hope the diode is ok. But as is plastered all over the forum, connecting anything not current limited will oft kill the diode.

 

[Zarniwoop]

*sigh*
I'm not sure this could have been any clearer:
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1190456606

Not to harp on, but how'd we get from "would 20 Ohms be enough..." to hooking directly to the batteries?

Although I gotta confess I blew my first diode that way before I knew better, but that was on another forum where they were saying to do it that way  

 

[DJEEPER]

yeah... it was definately a dumb move... i guess im getting a GB diode now. Im done harvesting.... I did confirm the IR was the one that was coming on. I pointed it at my eye and my eye started to bleed.


just kidding on that last bit.... but i used my Computer Camera and saw a nice bright light, but nothing I could see in person.


oh well, its probably for the better. i REALLY need to get the circuitry tighter. Anyone want to sell just the cap, N1004, and resistors to me all assembled?

 

[Zarniwoop]

The cap really ought to go directly on the laser diode.
Ideally the resistance should be determined for a specific diode.
If you're using the mini Dorcy, there's not all that much to it, since it has a regulator built in.
You just can't hook directly to the batteries like that.

 

[DJEEPER]

I HAVE LASER!

well, not visible. I used the IR diode instead. Got it to burn into a micro SD-SD converter. I focused it under my table out of sight with my webcam. i reworked the schematics some to make it really compact. came out well. I have some tweaking to do with the fitting issue, but i can solve that with some time and maybe smaller components. Now all i need is a GB diode.