throbscottle
Well-Known Member
I'm wanting to equip the pcb drill I'm building with a cross hair so I can always hit the right spot. There are some 5mw laser modules around equipped with a cross hair lens, such as this: **broken link removed**
5mw is rather high, but lower powered lasers are a lot more expensive. So I was wondering about power reducing schemes. Most obvious choice is reducing the current, but I'm guessing there's a point at which it cuts off. Next option is to give it a pulse train as it's power supply, so it's only on for a small percentage of the time. I have no idea how much of a reduction in it's ability to blind me that would actually confer.
Or is the fact that the beam is spread out into a cross shape a sufficient safety margin in it's own right?
The other option is to get one of those cheap 1mw laser pointers and use the diode out of that with the lens out of the module. The lenses themselves are relatively expensive, I found. Crazy situation.
So, as always, what does anyone think?
5mw is rather high, but lower powered lasers are a lot more expensive. So I was wondering about power reducing schemes. Most obvious choice is reducing the current, but I'm guessing there's a point at which it cuts off. Next option is to give it a pulse train as it's power supply, so it's only on for a small percentage of the time. I have no idea how much of a reduction in it's ability to blind me that would actually confer.
Or is the fact that the beam is spread out into a cross shape a sufficient safety margin in it's own right?
The other option is to get one of those cheap 1mw laser pointers and use the diode out of that with the lens out of the module. The lenses themselves are relatively expensive, I found. Crazy situation.
So, as always, what does anyone think?