Quote:
Originally Posted by erick
Yep, they have always been expensive to me. And when it is cold, the laser gets too cold to operate efficiently (it's not the batteries - its the laser itself).
When I get the time I'll put up an article on my extremely low cost, no frills, no moving parts laser pointing system in which you get to keep the laser warm.
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I cut my laser open with a hacksaw so I could connect directly to the battery terminals and then connected it to a voltage regulator circuit set to output 3.00V from 4xAA cells. If I put it in the freezer, it outputs 2.96V. The problem is the laser doesn't work even in the fridge, so yes, that confirms that it is the laser diode and not the batteries at all.
My next thought is to put a small resistor inside the laser tube and run a couple of watts directly from the batteries to keep it warm, with a switch to turn it on when needed...or maybe a dew strap wrapped around it!
But normally I only use the laser for alignment at setup time. At public viewings I use the one in my pocket.