Recent content by Spoomples

Budget is $100-ish, but i'm testing out the cheaper options first. And a minor update: I discovered what connector this thing needs (DB-17W2) which I can get off of newark for under $10, and I managed to abuse a PC PSU's 3.3v sense line to get constant current out. Probably not the best idea...

Its like a bore sight for a M61 Vulcan.

That's something else. Did you order that just to have a comedically large laser, or are you making something absurdly powerful? You could probably stuff that DPSS head of yours into it, with room for all the batteries needed to power it.

Its a 2.5W 532nm head. I ran across your post about the Jenoptik when I was researching this subject, which helped reassure me that I won't immediately blow out the pump diode. As for the TEC controllers, those seem to be made for specific thermistors. Maybe that could be worked around if its...

I just barely got a 58-GHS-305-048 Melles Griot head off of eBay. I might have been a bit too hasty about getting one without its fancy control box, but I'll turn this into an opportunity for a project. I think I can manage it, but a little extra advice is always useful. I might turn this thread...

A 2.5W Melles Griot head popped up for $200, so I guess this is resolved for now. This thing showed up for $170 too, though I can't figure out exactly what sort of laser it is.

I saw a Jenoptik Jenlas D2.3 (3-5W 532nm) go for $160 a few hours ago (I was slightly outbid), and that got my hopes up. I figure that if I snoop around and wait long enough I might catch a similar deal.

If one wanted to buy a heavy duty laser for a decent price, like a multi-watt 532nm head for example, where are the best places to look? I know lurking on eBay until a cheap-ish one shows up is one method, but are there specific tricks or other websites (like surplus sites) that can speed up the...

1: 80mw through an ND16 filter = 5mw. You may need a laser power meter, or someone with one that's willing to adjust the power for you, to verify that the power getting through is actually ~5mw. 2: Its extremely unlikely that the driver in a red laser pointer will work on such a radically...

I've bought a few diodes from opticsld, maybe even that diode specifically. They seem to ship out the real thing.

I updated the tool a bit. A brightness matching feature has been added, as well as an extremely experimental mesopic correction option for beams.

It can be hard to accuratlly guess from pictures, you may need to try this to know for sure: https://hackaday.com/2015/03/20/measure-laser-wavelength-with-a-cd-and-a-tape-measure/

Some folks on the forums are selling 1W 520nm lasers for ~$150, and there are probably sub $100 blue or reds for sale as well. You could also buy parts from DTR and get a decently sized host from here to build it yourself, which would cost around the same.

Survival Laser has things for hosts https://www.survivallaserusa.com/ https://www.survivallaser.com/ And there are a few active host makers in the buy/sell section.

You'll need two 18650s to power that driver, and they'lll need to be rated for at least 5 amps of continuous output. Its very important to get good batteries from a reputable source (cheap ones lose a LOT of their capacity at high drain currents). Ones rated for 20-30 amps might be overkill, but...