CD burners

[badhorsey]

It occurred to me that I've got a defunct CD-RW drive sitting around, and I wondered... what's inside? Presumably something more than a 1mw laser, if it can burn pits into a CD-R!

 

[VidPro]

i havent ever seen it actually happen , but they dont Burn pits, they just hit a chemical that changes to look to a laser like a pit /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif that is why a cd-r or even a dvd-r is nowhere near the same quality or durability of a "pressed" type of glass master thing they do for stuff like the movies we buy.
that is why there is more compatability issues with "burned" vrses store purchaced cds and dvds. the store bought one have real pits, and handle fingerprints and scratches much better.

there must be a laser in there of fair output still, because some units overheated when burning to fast, and did not accomplish the color changes as well on various media, and so caused the issues with certian burning media working better than others.

gee that didnt answer the question did it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

i would hope that there was at least a laser pointer in there, and that on a dvd there would be at least a over 5mw one, but its optics might be perfected for a spot one or 2 inches away.
after all you wouldnt think that a hand pointer would destroy a persons presentation, because they accidentally passed it by thier cd

 

[The_LED_Museum]

I'm guessing here that there is a laser diode of perhaps 35mW in there; probably little or no more.

 

[Draco_Americanus]

What I would want is the laser block from a "blue ray" reader. hmmm blue....

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Craig is correct as usual. That's around a 35mw diode in there, probably 780nm NIR. If it was a DVD burner then it would be a 635-650nm diode.

 

[VidPro]

i have 2 older 4-8X dvd burners, that are no longer usefull for burning dvds (still burn cds), and not worth fixing.
do you think i could get a usable SMALL module out of them?
or is thier design such that it would not be easy to make a small pointer without messing with the optics? creating a case to hold optics and aligning optics?

like i see a seller selling them, and it looks like the optics are stuck on a large aluminum plate.

in other words, even if you worked out a small driver, for the diode, would you be able to get a handheld, or would these be easier to play with as a "home" unit.