flogged
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- Joined
- Jul 8, 2007
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** Sigh. Well, my xbox bluray diode lasted about 15 minutes at 40mA... it did lase brilliantly during its short life. It died about an hour after I did the write up below. Sigh. While watching an old deoderant container fluouresce. **
success! Ordered an xbox hd dvd player from Amazon ($50.00)...
Was able to transform into black light (~400 nm) laser pointer. The skills I'd acquired building red diode lasers helped.
It seems a shame to waste the entire drive to get that tiny laser diode out, unfortunately at this time it's still the cheapest way to get these diodes! Below is a picture of the assembly containing the two diodes (on other side than the one shown).
The most difficult part for me was getting the diode out of the last hemishperical bit of housing it's press fit into. I tried the end of the drill bit technique (and 9/64" does fit well) to push the diode out, but after pushing as hard as I cared to (on the front of the diode) it would not budge. Switching to the back end of the diode, I then pushed a dull xacto knife blade, about midway down, into the brass diode flange, which was sticking out a wee bit from the housing. This is a technique I learned to open the backs of watches, when I used to replace watch batteries. You would use a dull paring knife to catch and pop open the back of the watch (palmed in hand), like opening a clam. Using the xacto knife in one hand, while holding the diode housing with pliers in the other, I slowly worked my way around the back of the diode and prised it from the housing with hardly a scratch.
After testing the diode using a ddl circuit and 9 volt battery (it lased!) I then loaded the diode into the Meredith brass housing + glass lens. Image below
After thermal gluing the diode into the housing, I then glued the diode into the housing box, soldered things up, and attached my trusty old analog multimeter. Yeah I was worried it wouldn't lase. I flipped the switch and it came to life, using a little more than 40 mA of current!! ...As far as I care to go now
OK, the circuit's a mess, but it works. I'm using the ddl circuit, radio shack parts. Lots of epoxy
Few shots of the laser in action.
A pointer rises from the remains of the drive
Impressions. This thing has really grown on me. It's funky... it really is a black light laser.
First off, I can't seem to focus on the spot at any distance. When I was trying to get a tight focus on a wall about 25 feet away, I simply couldn't tell when the focus was good. I had to walk up to the spot to see.
At first I thought it was pretty dim, it really doesn't look much brighter than a 5mW red pointer... UNTIL you hit something that floureces, then it looks bright, more like a 15-20 mW pointer! The thing really tickles my dark adapted eyes. In a dark room when I ceiling bounce the spot it doesn't look that bright on the ceiling, but when I look around my room suddenly all sorts of stuff can be seen flourescing, just like a black light. So it's deceptively powerful, something to keep in mind. The beam is definitely more visible than a 5 mW red at night.
I like it!
success! Ordered an xbox hd dvd player from Amazon ($50.00)...
Was able to transform into black light (~400 nm) laser pointer. The skills I'd acquired building red diode lasers helped.
It seems a shame to waste the entire drive to get that tiny laser diode out, unfortunately at this time it's still the cheapest way to get these diodes! Below is a picture of the assembly containing the two diodes (on other side than the one shown).
The most difficult part for me was getting the diode out of the last hemishperical bit of housing it's press fit into. I tried the end of the drill bit technique (and 9/64" does fit well) to push the diode out, but after pushing as hard as I cared to (on the front of the diode) it would not budge. Switching to the back end of the diode, I then pushed a dull xacto knife blade, about midway down, into the brass diode flange, which was sticking out a wee bit from the housing. This is a technique I learned to open the backs of watches, when I used to replace watch batteries. You would use a dull paring knife to catch and pop open the back of the watch (palmed in hand), like opening a clam. Using the xacto knife in one hand, while holding the diode housing with pliers in the other, I slowly worked my way around the back of the diode and prised it from the housing with hardly a scratch.
After testing the diode using a ddl circuit and 9 volt battery (it lased!) I then loaded the diode into the Meredith brass housing + glass lens. Image below
After thermal gluing the diode into the housing, I then glued the diode into the housing box, soldered things up, and attached my trusty old analog multimeter. Yeah I was worried it wouldn't lase. I flipped the switch and it came to life, using a little more than 40 mA of current!! ...As far as I care to go now
OK, the circuit's a mess, but it works. I'm using the ddl circuit, radio shack parts. Lots of epoxy
Few shots of the laser in action.
A pointer rises from the remains of the drive
Impressions. This thing has really grown on me. It's funky... it really is a black light laser.
First off, I can't seem to focus on the spot at any distance. When I was trying to get a tight focus on a wall about 25 feet away, I simply couldn't tell when the focus was good. I had to walk up to the spot to see.
At first I thought it was pretty dim, it really doesn't look much brighter than a 5mW red pointer... UNTIL you hit something that floureces, then it looks bright, more like a 15-20 mW pointer! The thing really tickles my dark adapted eyes. In a dark room when I ceiling bounce the spot it doesn't look that bright on the ceiling, but when I look around my room suddenly all sorts of stuff can be seen flourescing, just like a black light. So it's deceptively powerful, something to keep in mind. The beam is definitely more visible than a 5 mW red at night.
I like it!
no really... £170 just for a BR laser diode and a few optics