CD-ROM laser

[mateo]

Are these things visible when in use? If so, Im thinking about maybe modding a CD drive with a side window, and perhaps a little bit of the nonessential structure of the drive itself, so that you could see the laser when the drive is in operation :).

[SniperXX]

I am pretty sure its invisible. You cant see them on portable cd players when you run them w/ no cd and the top open..

[BlueWraith]

Erm.. its also quite harmful to look at, even if its not visable. Anyone ever read those warning stickers anymore? :D

[MLMIB]

*looks at sun*

huh? what?

[BlueWraith]

Bah... suntans are for wimps. Get a welding tan. :) Much faster, and a lot more fun! lol


Uhmm... what was the topic again? Oh yeah...

[squirtle632]

You might also have read problems since the laser will have a problem focusin on da cd :)

[incorporeal]

You could always just blow some chalk dust in there. :D

[i_like_penguins]

cd-rom lasers use infrared wavelengths. since there is no die that will react to this, as the case with uv wavelenghts, there is realy no way to see the laser beam. sorry.

[weponhead]

yes contrary to the belief star trek and star wars have created lasers are actually invisible... i think all of em are anyhow...

[Blueacid]

That's odd, my portable CD-Player lens glows red when I fool it into thinking that it's closed :)

But yeah, don't do the mod, since it does damage your eyes :D

[Mico]

Yeah, eye damage is permanant and you don't want to have it.

[Blueacid]

*Blueacid squints, trying to get the image into focus*

Sorry, what was that last comment about lasers?

[mateo]

Oops, forgot about warning labels. Guess that comes with killing hardware and being an OCer anyway :D

[Fuzzbeaner]

Don't take my word for this, but I think CD Rom lasers are class III - IE only 1000 seconds or more can cause eye damage. At least that's the defintion of a class III laser. However it might be Class I for all I know, and wouldn't that ruin your day....:D

-Jeff

[thorilan]

there are many diferent wavelenght lasers some are visible some are not . the thing about class 3 and 2 lasers is that they are strong enough to damage your eye even if you cant see them.

if you want to make a laser show in your case you are better off trying to get a simple ruby rod laser ( a bit expencive) or just focusing visible light through 2 perpendicular polarized lenses or filters which will give nearly the same effect.

i am considering doing something with the beast that has its roots in this but the cost right now is a factor.

[mateo]

Eh, its not the show, just taht its something working, in action, that would be pretty cool to see.

[SniperXX]

Originally posted by Blueacid
That's odd, my portable CD-Player lens glows red when I fool it into thinking that it's closed :)

But yeah, don't do the mod, since it does damage your eyes :D

Yeah the lens may glow but you still cant see a beam as mentioned before.

[Wiseass]

I believe this was posted here in another forum, but as far as I understand if it's a red wavelength you're not going to be able to see the laser itself.

http://www.whatisthebinty.com/images/wiseass/spectrumchartv1.jpg

[Mysphyt]

Here, check this (www.lapalme.ca/oc/Mysphyt) out (very piccy, 56kers be warned). This is my case complete with CDRW top window mod. These were shot while burning a CD, and the laser is pretty clearly visible through the CD and the window, so if laser-seein's all your after, that might be a good solution. As to the side window, though, even if you could stare at it safely, you'd still have to deal with the fact that you'd need your head at a really weird angle to do so. :P Anyway, think about laser pointers. When a laser pointer is on, you can't really see the beam, all you can see is where that beam hits stuff. Presumably, the laser in your CD drive is the same way, so if you cut the window and everything, you wouldn't see anything.

[Captain Slug]

The effect is much cooler with DVD-ROMs. Since they're mildly translucent you can see the laser jump between tracks.

[CrystalMethod]

Originally posted by Fuzzbeaner
Don't take my word for this, but I think CD Rom lasers are class III - IE only 1000 seconds or more can cause eye damage. At least that's the defintion of a class III laser. However it might be Class I for all I know, and wouldn't that ruin your day....:D

-Jeff

They're Class 1 lasers. So don't look into them with your remaining eye.

[bsspewer]

Originally posted by thorilan
if you want to make a laser show in your case you are better off trying to get a simple ruby rod laser ( a bit expencive) or just focusing visible light through 2 perpendicular polarized lenses or filters which will give nearly the same effect.


eh hmm..i don't know anything about a simple ruby rod laser, never heard of them, but i do know about your suggestion. According to microscopy, 2 perpendicular polarized lenses with visible light shining through them WILL NOT WORK..laws of physics and such won't allow it. Since the light is polarized as it passes through one polarized lense (in other words, you know how it's a wavelength going up and down, well it is now only located in one plane, such as north south) it will not pass through the second lense because the light is vibrating perpendicular to the lense.

A better explantion is like this, try walking through a doorway with a 5 foot pole horizontally. Won't work, the pole hits the door sides and won't fit through. It's the same thing with light, it's vibrating horizontally and needs to be vibrating vertically.

[Fuzzbeaner]

Actually, class 1 lasers are the MOST BS lasers (My Bad :-D), they can't cause any eye damage. Or maybe they were the ones that required 1000 seconds? Anyways, no, believe it or not, you cannot be blinded by a CD-Rom laser. If lasers that small could burn through the retinal layers of cells, don't you think we'd have laser pistols by now? :p Sorry for my mix up guys, I havn't had light and lasers for a year now, it's getting foggy.

-Jeff

[speedy4500]

You only see light when it "hits your eye," so to speak. A laser is a tightly focused beam of light, in other words, it's dispersion is kept to a minimum, and thus you cannot see the beam itself (unless there is particulate in the medium of travel, which would reflect the light to your eyes, as in a very dusty room). However, when the laser reflects off an imperfect surface (paper or a wall), the light wave disperses widely, and you can see the dot of the laser on that surface. Think about it this way: a laser is like a rifle, and a light bulb is like a bomb. You only get hurt by the rifle if it's aimed at you, but a bomb can harm anyone with a certain radius.

bsspewer, you're correct about the polarization principle.

That's as simple as I can explain it, without going into details of electromagnetic radiation, wave and particle theory, all that good stuff.

[bsspewer]

Originally posted by speedy4500
bsspewer, you're correct about the polarization principle.


i know i'm correct...2 years of this stuff is enough for me :). And a little fyi, even though you say the laser's dispersion is kept to a minimum so therefor you can't see it is not the only reason you can't see it. When can you ever see light? Such as a light bulb, you can't see the light coming from the bulb, only when the light interacts with a surface do you see it reflecting off that surface. If you follow.