Lasers and the such.

[saMfish]

So, who on Rotorfark is interested in high powered lasers and using them responsibly?

I just ordered a custom host courtesy of jayrob from LaserPointerForums.com into which I plan on putting a 200mW 532nm module from o-like.
Host - Module

I'm really interested in creating my own effects and syncing them to music. I plan on making a scanner which will eventually evolve into a beam table.
[video=youtube;tHHHqFWTwXo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHHHqFWTwXo&feature=related[/video]
Does anyone here own a high powered laser?

Oh, can I just say that if you think shining a laser of any kind at someone, at something living, or at a moving vehicle is fun, you need not reply.

 

[Morgan123]

Pretty fond of lasers myself and was fortunate enough to get a reasonably high powered one before they became illegal to import. 50mW Green Laser Pointer, amazing how much fun you can have with these things and only cost me about $20. Can go a few kms at night or a few 100ms during the day which is pretty cool, forgot to take it down to the beach for NYE to see how far it could make it across the bay, and no I don't shine it in peoples eyes. Does get a fair few "aw fuck yeh"'s with i pull it out haha.

P.S. The lasers in that video are pretty sick.

 

[saMfish]

Yeah. The thing is, it's illegal to import laser pointers, but not hosts and modules separately. A 500mW module is legal to import, whereas a 500mW ready-to-use pointer is not. I plan on changing the driver (which is the little piece of electrical board on the back of the module) on the 200mW module I'm getting to a custom-made one (from FML on LaserPointerForums.com) to make effects such as the ones in that video.

 

[b_S]

Laser pointers for the sake of it, err... no thanks - but party lasers, oh yeah! I have 3 dual head DMX laser units and want more. They're just cheapo crap from ebay but have lasted a while and always look good when a bit of smoke is involved.
As much as I do want a few more, I'm turning to projectors as they're much more versatile.

How will you be making your scanner? Much easier to buy one premade, probably cheaper too.

 

[saMfish]

How will you be making your scanner? Much easier to buy one premade, probably cheaper too.

I'll be making it very ghetto and DIY for a start, but plan to make a metal box to house it and make it look all nice. I don't intend on using pointers or pointer modules for it. I have a MLL-H-532 DPSS 532nm green labbie on the way from CNI Laser, have harvested a ~250mW LPC-815 diode from a DVD-RW burner, and plan on purchasing a PHR-803T 405nm blu-ray diode from Modwerx.

The reason I'm not purchasing one pre-made is because I want to explore what can be done with them and learn how to do everything. I've already got a few effects working such as the time tunnel