Building my own LPM?

[sudosilman]

Hello,

I am new here and recently posted in the general section about measuring the power of a laser pointer that i recently purchased.

I do not intend on spending that much money on measuring my laser, and the suggestions i got on how to measure the power were all "buy an LPM" but i don't intend to spend more than 30 dollars (since i am only measuring out of curiosity) on the measurement of my laser.

Is there any instructions for building my own laser power meter? I have experience with soldering and already own many basic circuitry tools, i feel like a solar cell and a multimeter can form the basis for a very simple LPM.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[ARG]

Ta Da!
http://laserpointerforums.com/f42/diy-thermal-lpm-under-50-a-51129.html#post704325

 

[benmwv]

Problem there is calibration.

I don't think you can get a calibrated lpm for $30 unless you build a diy and send it to someone to calibrate it for you. Even that would be really tough to do for under $30 though.