Recent content by monel_funkawitz

Re: Does anyone have a DX laser that DOESN'T mode My DX200 doesn't mode hop, especially after I modded it. The driver needs supported better, cause they have it at an angle.  I used the back ring from a Radio Shack greenie, and a silicone blob.  Slight adjustment of the crystal and driver, and...

How in the hell are you guys getting this apart? I heated the crap outta it, froze the end in nitrogen, and I STILL can't get that damn locktite to break loose.

The DX200 does not have one.

Has anyone actually done a spectral analysis on these to find out how much of what is coming out? I got my DX200 today. I went into the clean room at work, and at 16% humidity, it lost ALOT of power at 20 feet. Can't burn paper when I tried. Up close it was ok. I suspect then that most of the...

Take it back to Radio Shack and get a refund. ;D I spent ALOT of hours on this laser. They are good as a normal green pointer. To mod them, is a losing battle. They are hard to open without destroying them (So far I am the only person I know that can open RS lasers without leaving marks. I'm...

10uf laser emitting capacitors? That is a new one. ;)

Pot, feedback, and resistor modded Radio Shack green pointer. Real TEM01 unstable.

5mw greens show up good at night, especially with a little late night haze.

If I'm running anything over 5mw, I'm using goggles. I trust no one when it comes to guidelines like this. Good quote.

Retinal scotomas are all you are gonna get with 5mw, unless you are unblinkable. ;D Quote from Wikipedia....

<Safety monitor on> Hey, accidents happen. People underestimate lasers anymore. I remember not too long ago, watching a 100mw laser. Well, not actually watching, but through cameras, because everyone had to be out of the room when it was fired. Goggles were MANDITORY if you were near it, even...

Neither, "technically" speaking. The FDA considers 5mw, as in a class 3a laser, unable to cause damage to the human eye, although they HIGHLY caution you do not test it. As far as if IR or 532nm will cause more damage at a much higher power level, IR is the answer. Green will make you flinch...

This is one of the most irrational posts I've ever heard here yet. Any time you work with a laser with an optical output over 5mw, or a DPSS laser with a drive diode over 5mw, you should ALWAYS wear the goggles. Period. Enough people have burned holes in their retinas. Practice safe...

Peltiers are not a cure all. They are more useful in using them to help assist heat sinks, but they are grossly inefficient. In a handheld pointer, a peltier would not be an option. Even using a peltier with a Qmax rated close to the heatload of the diode and not counting thermal atmospheric...

There is actually MUCH better ways to drive laser diodes than a linear regulator like this, but I haven't had the time to draw out a schematic yet. Make sure you use a good quality pot (Or use a fixed resistor) on good lasers, cause one problem here will FRY it.