fmgst@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Filip Gieszczykiewicz) (08/14/90)
Greetings. Thank's to all that replied to my post about LazerTag gun's output. I just went to a "trift" store and got a bag of guns... Inside the gun are 3 chips (1 custom), 2 power transistors, caps, and resistors and diodes. In the handle is a 2200 uF 10V capacitor. Does anyone know, if I increase it to 3300 uF 10V, will it increase the range of the gun? May it blow the IR diode? How much range could I get if I hooked up a IR laser diode to the standard IR diode's output (through a FET) with it's own power supply? (say, 12 V @ 5A...) Take care. P.S. There was a post about blade-switches, a while back. Well, I have one. It's a 2 pole model with a porcelain base. Anyone want it? ;-) -- _______________________________________________________________________________ "The Force will be with you, always." It _is_ with me and has been for 10 years Filip Gieszczykiewicz "A man without a dream is like a fish without water." FMGST@PITTVMS or fmgst@unix.cis.pitt.edu "My ideas. ALL MINE!!"
spcecdt@deeptht.UUCP (John DuBois) (08/15/90)
In article <28227@unix.cis.pitt.edu> fmgst@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Filip Gieszczykiewicz) writes:
+
+ Greetings. Thank's to all that replied to my post about
+ LazerTag gun's output. I just went to a "trift" store
+ and got a bag of guns...
+
+ Inside the gun are 3 chips (1 custom), 2 power transistors,
+ caps, and resistors and diodes.
The custom chip is mainly a sound effects generator.
+
+ In the handle is a 2200 uF 10V capacitor. Does anyone know,
+ if I increase it to 3300 uF 10V, will it increase the
+ range of the gun? May it blow the IR diode?
The cap in the handle is just a power supply (in this case, batteries)
decoupling cap. I observed fairly little firing pulse ripple across it,
even after I upped the driver circuit on my pistol from 1A to 3A. Increase
it as much as you want; it won't help too much but won't hurt.
+ How much range could I get if I hooked up a IR laser
+ diode to the standard IR diode's output (through a FET)
+ with it's own power supply? (say, 12 V @ 5A...)
To get the kind of duty cycle the gun produces, you'd need a CW diode.
They're expensive and don't produce much power. It would probably be
better collimated, but that's one thing you *don't* want in a LT pistol -
it makes it harder to hit the target! (on the other hand, if you cooled
your diode with liquid nitrogen, you could get some serious power/range :-)
Good collimation might be nice if you refitted one of the LT rifles with a
laser diode. They had a fair sight for a toy.
John DuBoismyers@hpfcdj.HP.COM (Bob Myers) (08/16/90)
> In the handle is a 2200 uF 10V capacitor. Does anyone know, > if I increase it to 3300 uF 10V, will it increase the > range of the gun? May it blow the IR diode? Unlikely; the diode's output depends on the current through it, which is in turn very probably limited by a series resistor, and dependent on the voltage across the series combination. Upping the capacitance would store more energy in the cap, but at the same voltage. The current through the diode would thus be the same, but the current pulse could now last (up to) 50% longer. Bob Myers KC0EW HP Graphics Tech. Div.| Opinions expressed here are not Ft. Collins, Colorado | those of my employer or any other myers@fc.hp.com | sentient life-form on this planet.