Why can laser pointers be so much cheaper than the diode alone?

[Fiddy]

You do know you cannot see 808nm dont you? not to mention the uber bad divergence...

 

[ronox]

actually 808nm is visible, at high power. under 100mw perhaps to the naked eye, its barely visivble, but in my experience, over 200mw its always visible.

Also, i have some 850nm 200mw led's, and the IR of those is also visible.

I agree, divergance is a big problem, but given the pricing of any other wavelength diode, 808nm's are the best option for beginners, who just want to do silly stuff like burn plastic, or make a laser lighter or whatever.

 

[Fiddy]

it has a very dim dot, pretty much invisible that has to be on a mildly reflective surface to see, no way you will the beam, very useless and dangerous to use without proper glasses or viewing equipment.


No way man, 808's are a big no no for beginner, for the reasons of high power and invisibility.

the red *LOC diodes are the best to start with actually.

 

[ronox]

SOC?

Well, incidentally, i am going to start building modules with 660nm diodes, since i gotta do something with these to-18 housings

also, when tech junkie said

We pay ~$7 for that 200mW red diode. If you bought in bulk at the source you'd pay ~$4.

whereabouts did he mean?
$7 for a 200mw red diode, is very cheap, and im wondering, where would you get them that cheaply? $10 is the cheapest i can find at the moment, and thats for one which says 80-130mw

 

[Fiddy]

SOC means short open can, version of red diodes, although i think the LOC's are more common.

heres a $8 red: LPC-815 Sleds for draw out a 250mW Red Laser Diode/Lab | eBay

 

[JSimo]

Fellow Aussie here, I've sent you a pm regarding these modules.

 

[Fiddy]

another member from canberra

 

[billg519]

IR is not a good idea for beginners. The dim, dull red spot from 808nm or 850nm seems so harmless to them. As the beam does not appear bright to them, they will not want to purchase or use safety goggles unless they already have a good understanding of laser safety. I have quite a few IR handhelds, from 0.5W to 4W output. An eye strike from one of these lasers would be automatic admission to the white cane society. The goggles for them are costly, but worth their weight in gold. You also need goggles for any buddies who want to watch up close. Last, these bar-line emitters only make a good close up burner, you can't get a proper beam without additional optics. Hope your business goes well, sounds like you have a good start.

 

[Encap]

IR is not a good idea for beginners. The dim, dull red spot from 808nm or 850nm seems so harmless to them. As the beam does not appear bright to them, they will not want to purchase or use safety goggles unless they already have a good understanding of laser safety. I have quite a few IR handhelds, from 0.5W to 4W output. An eye strike from one of these lasers would be automatic admission to the white cane society. The goggles for them are costly, but worth their weight in gold. You also need goggles for any buddies who want to watch up close. Last, these bar-line emitters only make a good close up burner, you can't get a proper beam without additional optics. Hope your business goes well, sounds like you have a good start.

110% billg--808nm 1W are nothing beginners should fool around with--they can not even get a sense of the danger before it it to late with beam not visable---is bad enough and dangerous enough to give a 445nm 1W to a beginner---808nm 1W is scary dangerous and a bad practice that could easily come back to haunt you.