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i just had a brainstorm for a new mod and i need a little background info.

i did a cpl searches already, but i really dont know how to phrase what i want to get good results.

i want a light that can project a beam.
i have a cheapo comp usa case that im using to house my server. well it has a square cut hole on the front panel with a drawer type assembly attached to open and close it. i dont know what its function is supposed to be but i use it to pop off the front panel.

here is a rotton pic from the comp usa site here

you can make it out under the 3.5" bays

i already painted the exterior of the case bright florescent yellow and sealed it with some clear coat.
what i want in that hollow area behind is a light that projects a beam with minimal diffusion over a 20 foot span. color choice is not as important as effect.
if this is not economically feasable how about a prism effect?

A beam?

Without dust or smoke in the air, you won't see anything in the air. You'll just see a dot where the beam is aiming.

Your best bet would probably be a cheap laser, preferably something that worked off of 5V. If not, you could build or buy a voltage regulator. LM317 at RadioShack.

Freon wrote:

A beam?

Without dust or smoke in the air, you won't see anything in the air. You'll just see a dot where the beam is aiming.

Your best bet would probably be a cheap laser, preferably something that worked off of 5V. If not, you could build or buy a voltage regulator. LM317 at RadioShack.

the beam is going to reflect off the target surface, and there is always a bit of smoke and dust in the air in the room it will be in so im hoping to get that sparkle effect.
any ideas where to shop for a low power laser? and if it was on for long periods of time, would i have to worry about the heat projected onto the target surface?
ill check radio shack, like you suggested, first off

i found this
http://www.lasersale.com/catalog/display_products.asp?cat=59

but i think its overkill. these lasers demand some safety precaution, and considering my recreational use of said laser, im thinking its too dangerous.
still looking......

Use any crappy laser pointer, you can dis-assemble them, grab the laser itself, and power it from +5V. Most have internal limiting already, but to be safe put a 1/4 watt resistor in series of 33-100 ohms. You can find red laser pointers at FYE, Radio Shack, and many other places.

Green ones are very cool, but expensive. The solid-state versions use a frequency doubler crystal to take infra-red and convert it to green at some loss of output power. They are also much more visible to the eye.

To get the sparkle effect requires a very intense laser which are unsafe at best, and usually not solid-state. If you check out DigiKey.com they sell some decent power solid-state lasers, but they will cost you dearly. I have a 50mW HeNe gas laser that produces a nice sparkle effect in a dusty room, but will give you blind spots rather quickly if you don't use protection for your eyes. It is bright enough to light clouds and bounce off of a street sign several miles away when the air conditions are just right.

Good luck!

i saw the HeNe's for sale. the cheapest is a red 1mW for $295. maybe lower pwrd ones are available, but i didnt find any yet

the size would prohibit me from installing it inside the case and i wouldnt trust my $295.00 investment, or more accurately, i wouldnt trust myself with my $295.00 investment if i planned on dissassembling it.

the other concern is that at that intensity, you have to be pretty carefull, and the enviorenment i plan to show this off in would not be safety concerned.

i saw plenty of superbright led's and laser pointers for sale, some as cheap as 6 bucks. i thought about getting 4 of them, pulling out the lasers like you said, and figuring out a way to power them ( thank you for your advice, that problem is now solved. )


my concerns here would be a lack of power and range.
im thinking out loud here, so pls offer your thoughts or advice.
what if, instead of relying on a diffusion plate located 15-20 ft away, i diffused them much closer. say some sort of transparent assembly located an inch or so away from the source and fastened to the exterior of the case. im thinking i could get at least the prism effect i mentioned by this process? maybe a cheap faceted crystal or something?

edit: btw- what the hell are you doing with a 50mW!!!!?