Would You Believe a 180mW Blu-Ray?

[daguin]

171mW after a plastic lens at 189.5mA!

This one is gonna be amazing after 405nm optics! I can't believe how sturdy these diodes are!


Until a short time ago, my most powerful laser was a 186mW red.. Now a PHR is coming close to that! ;D

Soon to surpass . . . . You better tell the long open cans to watch their backs!

Peace,
dave

 

[IgorT]

Haha, well, i wish..

The freak diode just died at 189.5mA..

It was working fine for quite a while now. I kept pointing it around now that it's dark, and it got warm, but didn't care..
But just now i turned it on, and it blinked and went out.

The freak diode is no more.. Looks like 190mA really is too much for them.



I increase the output cap just to soften the blow at power up, but obviously it was not enough.. The powerup killed it.

 

[daguin]

The freak diode is no more.. Looks like 190mA really is too much for them.

Sorry to hear that. It sure was purty though, weren't it?

Mine's got about 45 minutes on it now. <fingers crossed>

I still quiver a bit in the time between when I click the button and when the flexdrive kicks in :-/

Back off a bit and try it again. :

If you're not living on the edge . . . . .You're taking up too much space.

Peace,
dave

 

[IgorT]

Back off a bit and try it again.  :

If you're not living on the edge . . . . .You're taking up too much space.  

Haha..

Well, i did this on purpose.. Since i noticed such wide variances in power, i wanted to see how various PHR diodes differ at higher currents..

So now i hooked up a diode, that did only 71mW at the 109mA test (the freak did 98mW at 109mA!).

I backed off a little. I set the current to 179mA. The weak diode is now doing 125mW... I knew it wouldn't get close to the efficient one, but 50mW less! Well, the current is a bit lower.. Still, the freak PHR diode did 120mW at 125mA already!

I wonder how many more diodes i will have to test, before i find a similar one.


In any case, i want >150mW back! So i need to make myself another laser..

 

[GooeyGus]

well if you have to test more than 12 (12 x $20 = $240) diodes before you get a really robust one, then you might as well buy the 6x for 250!

 

[daguin]

In any case, i want >150mW back! So i need to make myself another laser..

We're going to have to organize a weekly meeting . . . .

"Hi. My name's dave . . . . . and I'm hooked on blu-ray"

Thanking Bill.

Peace,
dave

 

[daguin]

well if you have to test more than 12 (12 x $20 = $240) diodes before you get a really robust one, then you might as well buy the 6x for 250!

DON'T LISTEN TO HIM, IGOR!!!!!

GooeyGus is of the devil! He'll tempt you into higher and higher powers.

Pretty soon, 6X won't give you enough "kick."

You'll start craving 8X

Then 10X

Before you know it, you'll be building super cooled blu-rays in your basement

[highlight]**EDIT** Igor is in Slovenia. He only gets to "dream" of $20 diodes.[/highlight]

 

[IgorT]

Yeah, Gus.. If i order sleds, i have to pay $57 with custom fees and taxes... Luckily some nice people from the US are helping me to get them cheaper. But it was never even close to $20.

Otherwise, when i saw 175mW, i did actually start dreaming about a 6x.. But then i remembered, i would try to push it.

But... Where can i get a 6x for $250? I would have to pay duty fees and taxes on that..


In any case, i'll make myself another >160mW tomorrow.. Maybe i should make it with the Meredith, Dave was kind enough to send me.. Then i could again reach 175mW at a slightly "safer" current.

 

[Kage]

2 PHR-803t's outputting 150mW from Aixiz acrylic clear (like the ones you get on DX for $4.30). 157mA in and about 5.55V. Lites a kitchen match at 12.5ft - similar to a dilda laser - damn powerful, these little buggers!
Edit: 185mW before the lens.

 

[IgorT]

How did you measure the no lens power reliably, Kage?

If you repeat it, do you get the same number?

 

[GooeyGus]

Yeah, Gus.. If i order sleds, i have to pay $57 with custom fees and taxes... Luckily some nice people from the US are helping me to get them cheaper. But it was never even close to $20.

Otherwise, when i saw 175mW, i did actually start dreaming about a 6x.. But then i remembered, i would try to push it.

But... Where can i get a 6x for $250? I would have to pay duty fees and taxes on that..


In any case, i'll make myself another >160mW tomorrow.. Maybe i should make it with the Meredith, Dave was kind enough to send me.. Then i could again reach 175mW at a slightly "safer" current.

Ahhh... thats right I forgot about the shipping to your country. The 6x drive can be had for around $250 on newegg.com If you're really interested I can ship it off to ya and put zero value so you wont have to pay duty

Just imagine... 200mA.... over 200mW of 405 after the lens.... probably over 220 or 230mW after your sweet lenses come in, considering mines about 250mW before the lens, and its only at 180mA.... mmmMMMMMmmmmmmmm

 

[IgorT]

Hehe, you really are of the devil..

But declaring something as a low value, for it to pass Slovenian customs is also something i can only dream about. They request proof of payment, and then they actually go online to check the price! That's why i need people to partially extract PHR diodes for me..

And even with "cheap" PHRs i'm worried about it.. Asking someone else to partially extract a 6x would be painful!


Would you do it for me?  :

 

[IgorT]

Oh, and Gus.. If yours really is 250mW before the lens, then just calculate 95% of that..

But i kinda don't really trust the no-lens measurements.. I think some IR is involved, as the power increases when you bring the diode closer, even if the light cone covers the thermopile from the start..

32% more would be dreamy, but i think it'll be somewhere around 20...

 

[hydro]

Just checking, you guys are measuring with a thermal LPM not optical right?

 

[GooeyGus]

Oh, and Gus.. If yours really is 250mW before the lens, then just calculate 95% of that..

But i kinda don't really trust the no-lens measurements.. I think some IR is involved, as the power increases when you bring the diode closer, even if the light cone covers the thermopile from the start..

32% more would be dreamy, but i think it'll be somewhere around 20...

I've done it as accurately as possible. I know heat is still probably a factor, but I did it with the laser as far away from the sensor as I could get it, with all of the light still on the sensor head. I also made sure that the needle fell back to zero, with the laser still in place, to help eliminate any possibility that heat was adding to the reading. This still isn't as accurate as it could be, but I think its the closest I'm going to be able to get.

 

[IgorT]

Just checking, you guys are measuring with a thermal LPM not optical right?

Yes. The optical ones are showing way more than this..

But look at how much diodes differ from one another: http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1214268330/#7

If you follow a graph to figure out the power, you can easily be 30mW off at higher currents. This is why i at first thought my meter is showing too little - the first two diodes i measured didn't match the graph.