Anyone up for a forum - wide project?

[superbert]

You guys seem to be the most tightly - knit group of members of all of the forums I have found... I DO love the forum I mod, but the members there are more into pointers. This seems like something that could be accomplished with all of your help...I would like to make the following into a forum - wide project:

Take one of the modules that Spec sells (the tabletop >150mW 532nm modules), and make it into a fully functional handheld. Money is somewhat tight, so this project cannot happen all at once for me... maybe it can be a passaround type thing if others are interested?

Spec, you and I have discussed this before, and I still have the pic that you sent me of the design you made.. when I get home I will post it.

Let me know if any of you are in...

Thanks!

[liteglow]

hi, thanx for the feedback on this forum
yes this is a unique group of ppl


Handheld unit sounds cool, but i think it`s a shame to break appart such a nice module-unit :lol:
I was first into handheld, but after I realize the power of what a Scanner system can do, (that NOT a handheld can do) I did understand what a laser is supposed to be used at :twisted: :twisted:

Byt anyway, i did also have a idea of makeing this compact unit mobile!!
But spec told me about the TEC and how many watt they need to cool down the laser and so on...

So i think you need a new supply board to power ut the diode and TEC?
Or maybe do like my idea was, to use a 12volt\110volt inverter.
And some small and powerful Litium Battery

[buffo]

You guys seem to be the most tightly - knit group of members of all of the forums I have found.

Cool! 8) Nice to know we're being noticed!

I DO love the forum I mod, but the members there are more into pointers.

Greenlasers.co.uk? Or some other forum? Come on now, don't make me start humming the theme to Jepoardy! Tell us!

Take one of the modules that Spec sells (the tabletop >150mW 532nm modules), and make it into a fully functional handheld.

YGBSM!

A hand-held? How are you going to keep it cool? The head on the laser Spec has sports a huge honkin' heat sink AND a TEC... (I know, I have one just like it here...)

If you take those away I doubt you'll get 150 mw for more than 30 seconds before it melts! (Ok, I know - it won't actually melt, but I bet it will get hot enough that the diode output shifts past 808nm and the pump efficiency goes to hell.)

Plus there's the power supply problem. (Batteries don't last long when they have to deliver 700 ma or more.)

Of course, this also begs the question of what you intend to do with a 150 mw handheld...

For the record, I know of at least one member here on this forum (Astroguy) that has sucessfully created a 100 + mw handheld laser. (In fact, it's built into a pointer housing... One-of-a-kind!). But that was using a direct injection diode at 650 nm, which is a lot simpler than a DPSS solution like you're proposing.

Dunno - if you could solve the cooling problem (water jacket perhaps?), and use some really powerful batteries...

[superbert]

yes, it is greenlasers.co.uk (lasermod's forum)...


as for the portable module... what about the smaller modules that you had a while back spec... the ones you sent me pics of? They were VERY small, and VERY bright... these would be a little easier to cool and find a power source for... we just need to find the right module I think, that's all.

[yaddatrance]

I don't see it as being undoable actually... the bulk of the PSU on
the NLC 150mW units is the AC power supply... The "laser" specific
parts is pretty small...

[buffo]

How are you going to cool it? :?:

Unless you specify a limited duty cycle (measured in seconds, not minutes) I don't see how you can keep the thing cool.

A limited duty cycle hand-held hardly qualifies as "fully functional" 150 mw laser in my book. Lots of companies already sell souped-up pointers (and larger modules mounted in flashlight cases) that can ouput power in this range but are only good for 30-90 seconds of operation. I don't see the point of this project unless it can run continuously. Which leads right back to the cooling problem...

[superbert]

it would have to be a forced air cooling system... something along the lines of a low voltage cooling fan... the entire unit would have to be powered by D cells... not as small as one would like, but more portable than a tabletop module.

[Spec]

The biggest problem is the TEC.

It will eat up to 2A keeping the diode within specifications.

I dont know of many batteries that can reliably source that much current for any length of time that are a manageable size. Maybe a LiOn stack or something.

I dont know... My idea of "portable" is "fits in my car and takes 220v single phase or less"

I think a TEC controlled handheld would be interesting, but theres really no serious demand for it. Raw power wins out and the "users" of said product really are not into laser tech nearly as much as bragging rights... Just look at CPF for example...

[yaddatrance]

IMHO I'd run it as is, TEC cooled using a IBM Li-ion laptop battery
http://www.laptopbattery.net/ibm/
as the source... I'd guess about an hour of power with a 10V 5400mAh
battery with a custom laser/TEC driver and no optimization whatsoever,
and it's rechargeable... Li-ion recharge circuits aren't too hard to build these
days thanks to some nifty chips out.

[Hack]

Hey Superbert, As you have probably seen on green laser forum , the Magnum 532 Stinger pics, the new version I just finished has holes drilled completly around the barrel, all the electronics mounted inside the new housing and a homemade cooling fan that pulls air in from the front and out the back. You want a low voltage fan, I'm putting 1 volt through mine and it still is going to fast. I'm using a motor from a Zip-Zap RC car and the battery is now a Black and Decker Versapak Battery. Granted I'm not pulling as much power as you guys are talking but 1 battery lasts about 1 day of good playing before needing a recharge. If anything, I just threw some ideas at you.
Tony