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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Wanted, quickly, UK! Ultraviolet laser(s)

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Sep 3, 2010
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I’m looking for “the best combination of power and reliability in a 2xAA form, of a laser having the wavelength that is the most effective at causing luminous materials to fluoresce like crazy when you point it at them, and costing up to £50 each posted special delivery in the U.K., and for a last minute birthday present, so as quickly as possible”, please :)

In other words, the “best” 2xAA UV (405?) laser pointer available in the U.K. for £50.

Two, if poss. Home builds or whatever.

Cash Paypal or BT waiting...

Thank you
 





BowtieGuy

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Would a good high power LED work just as well for the birthday present, just wondering since a 405nm laser can deceivingly dim to the eye, but be more than powerful enough to cause instant eye damage.
If the person receiving the 405nm isn't educated in laser safety practices, accidents are a real probability; at the very least include a pair of the proper wavelength goggles with your gift. :yh:
 
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Thank you for that thought, very much appreciated. She’s aware of laser dangers but I’ll def. provide a pair of goggles.

Anyone any pointers to pet suppliers?
 

Gazen

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Does it have to use 2 AA’s? Depending on the quality you want you could try here:
405nm laser - Free Shipping - DX

Or sanwu lasers for something of higher quality, like their pocket series. I have one in 405nm and it’s served me well.
 
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Joined
Jun 3, 2007
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I’m looking for “the best combination of power and reliability in a 2xAA form, of a laser having the wavelength that is the most effective at causing luminous materials to fluoresce like crazy when you point it at them, and costing up to £50 each posted special delivery in the U.K., and for a last minute birthday present, so as quickly as possible”, please :)

In other words, the “best” 2xAA UV (405?) laser pointer available in the U.K. for £50.

Two, if poss. Home builds or whatever.

Cash Paypal or BT waiting...

Thank you
Some minerals are phosphorescent. https://laserpointerforums.com/f54/mineral-phosphorescence-102829.html
 
Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Messages
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You will have a hard time finding what you want that runs on 2 AA batteries. You could get one with either the S06J or the BDR-209 diode. The latter is the smaller diode and has a higher power. But, either one would get you 0.5 watts easily. They are typically run off a boost driver as the forward voltage is >6 volts normally. Both are single mode diode and have great divergence specs so you can use a short focal length aspheric lens, which gives the greatest amount of power compared to multi element lenses. You would have to run it off a single Li-ion battery like a 18650 which is rechargeable. You can use this information in your search.
 

Benm

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I doubt you'll find many running from (1.2/1.5 volt) AA batteries really.

I'ts certainly possible to make a boost driver to power a bluray diode from them, but i suppose the market for that - if you have space for 2 AA cells you may as well go for lithium batteries.

If it is strictly about the form factor that could work out though: find one that runs on on AA sized ("14500" size) lithium cells, there are plenty of those.
 
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Thank you all. I’ve decided I can do without the AA restriction so would be happy to hear from anyone with a UV laser available for purchase with 18650 or others, failing that the Sanwu stuff looks great.
 
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If you would like an inexpensive 405nm laser, the 301s or 303s on eBay run ~$10.00 and can be in the 90 mW range. They are focusable so you can often focus the dot to a very small area at short distances to melt plastic or light matches. Just a thought for an inexpensive one.
 

Benm

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Plenty of them available indeed, and cheaply too.

The sort of 100 mW-ish power can be achieved with any diode intended for bluray writing drives and are very widely available, so even at $10 you have realistic chances of getting something that outputs 100 mW - although it will probably sold as outputting much more than that.

When looking on ebay they will often specify just 5 mW for legal reasons, but if it's also sold as "burning" or able to ignite a match etc you can be sure the output power is far greater than 5 mW. How far is anyones guess at this point.

The problem is that ebay doesn't allow "laser pointer" listings with power levels over 5 mW. This has caused most vendors to rate the power as 5 mW, even on units that put out 20 or 40 times that much... a very dangerous practice, but that's what you get for policing the internet.

Conversely: Never trust that the power is only 5 mW when you get a laser from ebay!
 
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That is so very true. Unless the laser is in a lab host, the lasers on eBay are all listed as 5 mW. Almost none of them are close to that low in power. I think I once got one that was 50 mW. That was the lowest power 405nm pointer I got on eBay. Even the $2 and $3 AAA pointers are ~50 mW.
 
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Lasers taking 2AAs primaries are either rare or do not exist. Did you mean 2X aaa?? (pen pointers)
and being in a huge rush is not in your favor....& are you really going to include the proper eye protection??...( some eyeware is wavelength dependent-- that is-- they protect red but not blue etc/

the good ones that protect all visible lasers are very expensive BUT CHEAP considering they protect your eyes!! what price/value do you set for one or both of your eyes. ???

go to Odicforce-- they are UK and great to deal with...enjoy safely--hak
 
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Sep 3, 2010
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Thank you lasersbee, yes I’m more than capable of using google. but as stated in the OP I am in the U.K. and speed was of the essence.
 
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