Optics

Pulse Doppler waveforms are an important aspect of many modern radar systems. They allow accurate target range and velocity estimates to be relatively easily calculated within a single look at a...

Science fair projects require both a technical as well as a fundamental understanding of the subject. Making a laser pointer for a science fair is a good example of this because it requires...

A laser cutter in the movies can shear through solid metal. While such devices aren't available to the average person, it is possible to take an ordinary green laser pointer and make it into a...

Laser pointers are relatively inexpensive to buy, but making your own laser can give you a sense of accomplishment that spending a couple of dollars cannot. A homemade laser can be made out of a...

The megger, also known as the Mega-Ohm tester, is used to test the integrity of insulation between conductors. Meggers have around since 1905, and the name comes from the fact that the insulating...

Soy devices can be found everywhere a person goes, and it is almost impossible to know if one is recording what you are doing. These hidden video cameras work wirelessly. Making a homemade radio...

A laser projector creates a light show that seems to be coming from dozens of laser beams. In actuality, a laser projector only needs a single laser beam to create the effect because the beam is...

Microscopes come with a variety of magnification abilities, allowing the user to peer into miniscule worlds that may be invisible to the naked eye. "Magnification" refers to enlarging the image of...

A laser pointer displays a beam of laser light; the intensity of the beam is set at the factory. Adjusting the intensity yourself will only take a few minutes and will strengthen the laser pointer.

Laser lovers are everywhere while they have to admit that they're often upset by the unfocused beam of their laser pointer or handheld lasers. It's the upsetting collimated laser beam though the...

Building your own LED light bulb is a great way to avoid paying exorbitant prices for LED bulbs, which -- since the technology is still relatively new -- can be very costly. Building your own LED...

A Maglite flashlight produces a beam of light with an incandescent bulb. Replacing the bulb with a laser diode inside of a laser housing will let you turn the Maglite into the equivalent of a...

For years, the concept of seeing in perfect darkness or heavy fog had been little more than a dream, but then came the advent of forward-looking infrared, also known as FLIR.

The most expensive part of a laser is the laser diode, and this cost is the reason that most people pass on making their own laser. The laser diode of a CD-RW disk drive can be used to make a...

Building a visible laser beam requires that the laser diode supplying the laser light be of a wavelength of light that is highly visible to the eye. A Blu-ray laser diode, such as commonly found...

Laser beam pointers sold to the public are limited in the power of the laser beam they project. A Mag light can be used to make your own laser pointer that will be more powerful and so travel a...

The very earliest lasers worked in the microwave, infrared, and red regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Helium-neon-based green lasers soon followed. The invention of the laser diode in the...

Green laser pointers vary in price but they all share a common limitation in the amount of laser light they emit. The milliwatt (mW) output is hand set by a tiny screw inside the green laser...

Red laser pointers comes in a variety of shapes and designs. What they all share--regardless of their price--is a low-intensity beam set at the factory. The intensity can be adjusted to a higher...

5Mw green laser pointers are usually factory-set to a very low intensity. To increase the intensity requires manipulating the electronics inside the laser pointer. The increased strength of the...

People have long been fascinated by lasers, but it is only recently that it has become possible to build one yourself. Making a homemade portable green laser will let you project a beam of green...

Laser pointers were once only available to "mad scientists" in science fiction. Now anybody can legally purchase a laser pointer for just a few dollars. Green laser pointers are popular because...

Many people have turned to lasers for school and personal do-it-yourself projects. Replacing the red laser diode in a laser housing with a green laser diode provides for a brighter laser beam...

Laser pointers may be inexpensive to buy, but there's fun in making your own. A homemade laser pointer will work as well as one from a store and give you a sense of accomplishment every time you...

Laser pointers are inexpensive because the beam they project is weak. This is due to a limiter that is built into the laser mechanism. Adjusting the limiter will increase the power of the laser so...

The laser beam of an inexpensive green laser pointer can be easily seen across a great distance. The intensity of a green laser pointer, however, is quite weak because the efficiency of the laser...

Lasers were once the stuff of science fiction, but today it is possible to build a laser that, while functioning on a much lesser scale, works exactly like the one NASA used to bounce a beam off...

Green laser pointers have become very popular due to the fact that they are inexpensive and the human eye is much more sensitive to the green laser light than red laser light pointers. The...

Digital clocks often take batteries known as L44 batteries, or LR44 batteries. These small 1.5 volt batteries are commonly used in digital clocks, wristwatches, and LED flashlights. They are...

Describes what to look for when buying your first telescope.

The AixiZ laser is very popular for use in science projects because the laser diode in the housing is not soldered onto the laser mechanism. This makes it easy to remove and replace with a...

The price of a laser pointer is determined by the intensity of the laser light it emits. Inexpensive laser pointers use diodes which are very weak. Replacing this laser diode with the laser diode...

A metal mini-flashlight can be made into a laser flashlight by removing the incandescent bulb and replacing it with a laser diode. This laser diode can be taken out of a broken or unused computer...

Oh! No, the lights have gone out. This looks like a job for a light bulb changer such as yourself. Following the directions in this article shall make you a professional light bulb changer.

Laser sights are often used in movies and TV shows as a dramatic way to show that a person is about to be shot. The real purpose of a laser sight is to aid the person holding the gun in lining up...

Red lasers are used for many things in many places across the world. "Laser" is an acronym that stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

Lasers come in many different colors and are used worldwide for many different purposes. Red and green are only two of those colors, and as can be found through further research, "red" and "green"...

A laser pointer projects a laser beam through a lens that can be seen from a great distance. The intensity of the laser is controlled by a potentiometer on a circuit board inside the laser...

A flashlight using an LED projects a beam of light that is very weak and hard to see. Converting a LED flashlight into a laser requires replacing the LED with a laser diode. The laser diode will...

Green laser pointers are inexpensive and readily available in hobby stores and electronics shops. Hacking a green laser pointer is done by destroying the circuit board limiter that keeps the laser...

Building a powerful burning laser pointer doesn't require spending a lot of money because the mechanism found in an inexpensive green laser pointer is the same. The difference is that the green...

Spy cameras are used by corporations and individuals to invade our privacy every day. We don't see them because they are so small, and they're hard to find even if you know that one is there. The...

As our world gets more and more populated, our energy demands are getting higher and higher. Because of this, using low-energy solutions going forward will become more and more important....

A laser pointer uses a small lens to focus the laser light as it exits the barrel of the pointer. A dirty or cracked lens inhibits the laser light and renders the laser pointer useless. Replacing...

I would say the green laser pointer is most wonderful gadget i have seen ever before. From the very beginning of development of laser technology until today, the green laser pointer has become the...

Typically, a laser beam will only go in a completely straight path. While this is useful for most cases, there may come a time when you need to bend the laser so that it reaches another area that...

A digital scale is a great way to get an accurate measurement of an item's weight. Most digital scales give results in two decimal places, making it automatically more accurate than a standard...

Night vision goggles were invented for use by the military. Over the years, they have become popular among law enforcement agencies and hunters. The technology that makes night vision possible is...

Night vision goggles were invented for use by the military. Over the years, they have become popular among law enforcement agencies and hunters. The technology that makes night vision possible is...

A micrometer is a device most often used by engineers to precisely measure machines and other industrial instruments. Although the device originated as an analog system where you read the markings...