# BTG - 10 Mod



## nemul (Apr 15, 2005)

This is a Lithium powered BTG-10 by Leadlight 
that I got from Z-Bolt. I use the simple 
pot mod, and I'm very pleased with the results.












I wish I could get better pics, but my Kodak sucks at
taking laser pics. I dont know the mW but in the dark
(like outside darkness) it leaves a VERY solid line.


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## bootleg2go (Apr 15, 2005)

Very cool, thanks for sharing.
What are the dimensions of the BTG-10? Do you have any idea of it output and how hard was it to get inside of?

Jack


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## nemul (Apr 15, 2005)

Dimensions - 4.15 in. Length, 0.85 in. Diameter
after playing with it for a little while I realized there wasn't a easy way to get in there. 
i used the way akm47 did in his post...here
after I modded it the pot was a little loose so i put a dab of epoxy to hold it in place. 
epoxied the hole backup, sanded the hole down, and placed the sticker over the hole.
Being a laser noob i have no idea about the output, but if you know a way to guesstimate please share.


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## xenophobe (Apr 15, 2005)

I just bought one of these. I wonder if the barrel can be tapped out from the rear...


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## nemul (Apr 15, 2005)

go ahead, let me know how it turns out! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif


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## xenophobe (Apr 15, 2005)

I just realized that these look just like the Bigha Jasper... does anyone know if the internals are identical?


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## Raccoon (Apr 15, 2005)

Interesting pics nemul. Are you sure this is a Leadlight though?

PS. Thought you should know this forum is relatively free of gimongus sig pics... like yours. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif They really serve no purpose and break up the thread of discussion.


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## nemul (Apr 16, 2005)

[ QUOTE ]
*Raccoon said:*
Interesting pics nemul. Are you sure this is a Leadlight though?

PS. Thought you should know this forum is relatively free of gimongus sig pics... like yours. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif They really serve no purpose and break up the thread of discussion. 

[/ QUOTE ]

It's says Leadlight on the sticker. 
if scrolling 2 lines down to see the next post troubles that
much I'll remove it. 350 x 125 55KB is not "gimongus" unless 
you have a 640x480 resolution monitor.. in that case, sorry..

back to the laser...


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## xenophobe (Apr 16, 2005)

lol.... nice sig nemul /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif


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## nemul (Apr 16, 2005)

lol....

oh yeah, it does look just like the Jasper Always...


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## xenophobe (Apr 16, 2005)

Does the BTG-10 have a red led on the side to indicate on status?


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## nemul (Apr 17, 2005)

there's no red led on the side...


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## Kiessling (Apr 17, 2005)

IIRC Noah (BigHa) said they used a similar housing for their Jasper as some other manufacturers, but I do not remember if it was leadlight. Anyhow ... the internals are different he said, and the Jasper has that red LED:






bernhard


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## nemul (Apr 17, 2005)

Is that jasper mod-able?


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## Kreso_Bukvic (Apr 17, 2005)

[ QUOTE ]
*nemul said:*
Is that jasper mod-able? 

[/ QUOTE ]

I really want to know that too! Since Jasper is really efficient and has high quallity MCA. 

Im sure this laser can be modified for REAL power.
Affcourse noah says thatit cannot be modified becuase there is no pot, yeah right that wioll stop us /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif.

Did anyone open it? It maybe has a pot too because Noah says they "calibrate evry laser", but if it doesnot it is easy to solder few resistors /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.


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## Raccoon (Apr 17, 2005)

I would like a side by side comparison of the Jasper and the Leadlight, if anyone is feeling like buying the two.

I am under the impression that Bigha custom orders their Jasper from Leadlight in the same fashion AtlasNova orders theirs (quality MCA).


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## nemul (Apr 17, 2005)

thats kinda what it looks like, but i think the Jasper has the 110 board (red led) no?


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## xenophobe (Apr 17, 2005)

If it's a 110 board, it has a pot, and is much easier to resistor mod. At least from the descriptions I've seen.


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## xenophobe (Apr 18, 2005)

*My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Well, I just got it in, and it's a really nice unit. It read slightly under 4mW. There is a LOT more room to put a probe down to tap out the barrel. I'm going to adjust the pot on it sometime tomorrow, and I'll report the mW gain.

There is a considerable amount of aluminum at the body where the barrel is. This unit (with a little Arctic Silver) might make for a decent high powered (longer duty cycle) mod, with a lot more material to absorb heat. I'll post more when I've finished.


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## SuperBert (Apr 18, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

if you do end up tapping the front cap out/off, post some pics at different angles and see if there is any way to adjust the alignment of the diode and the crystals like there is on the old style leadlights! Thanks!


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## xenophobe (Apr 18, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Well, I won't dissassemble the barrel, but I'll definitely take pics at various angles for you when I get this done. It looks like it's going to be much easier removing than from a standard 105.


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## nemul (Apr 18, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

yea, I wanna see how you remove it...


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## xenophobe (Apr 18, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

I'm going to use a thin punch. If you look inside, there is plenty of room to get a 1/16" or similar sized punch inside there and tap it out gently. I'll try to illustrate that, but just looking in the battery compartment, you can see enough clearance to the brass laser barrel.


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## Data (Apr 19, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

I know you said tap and that is softer than strike, but it would be better to press it out. The laser may not like the shock.

my $.02


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## nemul (Apr 19, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

what would you use to press it out?


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## xenophobe (Apr 19, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Hard steel punch. I'm not going to force it out by any means. 

There is enough surface on the top that I'll be able to exert enough pressure to push it out carefully, or use the mechanical press at work. Either way, it looks like it'll come out much easier than a standard pointer.


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## Data (Apr 19, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

I am hoping that it will come out easy and xenophobe will not have to use a press.

If you had to press it out you could make a vise fixture to hold the laser-tube out of two pieces of aluminum (two halves) bored out to the diameter of the OD of the laser-tube.

The insert could be a smaller tube (with a custom end) that just fits inside the ID of the laser-tube.


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## xenophobe (Apr 19, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

The plastic cap that comes with the BTG-10 is already the correct size to hold the tube, and has enough room for the barrel to be pressed out.

An aluminum punch/poker would probably bend. It only needs maybe 15-25 lbs of pressure to push out I would imagine, but more psi than a thin piece of aluminum would be able to handle...


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## xenophobe (Apr 19, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Update... partially done. I've disassembled the BTG-10 exactly how I thought I would. I've gone from a stable 3.5mW to a stable 17mW. It's been running for over 20 minutes constant without a twitch in power reading.

I did add high-temp thermal compound to the barrel/led holder, and between the tube/barrel. There is so much aluminum in the housing (approximately 3/16" the full length of the barrel/driver board) so that I'm pretty sure is acting well enough absorbing heat.

I will post pictures when I can go back to work and press the assembly the last 1/32 of an inch into the body housing.


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## xenophobe (Apr 19, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Nearly an hour of continuous-on later, power has not fluxuated from the reading of 17mW, though the unit is now considerably warm to the touch, most likely from the lithium battery heating.

I consider this a success!


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## nemul (Apr 19, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

so.. how did you get it out?
what all mods did you use? just the pot?


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## xenophobe (Apr 19, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Just a pot mod. I'll post pictures when I've finished seating the barrel assembly tomorrow.


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## nemul (Apr 19, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

short the pot to the barrel! lol


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## nemul (Apr 22, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

xenophobe, we're all still waiting for those pics! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


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## LaserMod (Apr 22, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Here, here /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif


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## Goldmagnet (Apr 22, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Is it a 110 Board ?


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## nemul (Apr 22, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

it's a 105... no red led...


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## xenophobe (Apr 22, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

It is a 105 board with the momentary switch contacts shorted with a piece of wire.

Pictures will come tomorrow night. I left my digicam at work and won't be able to upload pictures till i get it back.


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## nemul (Apr 22, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

grrrr.... well okay! lol


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## ian333 (Apr 24, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum and I came on this thread while trawling for information on "z-bolt" laser supplies.
I would be grateful if any of you can help me with the following regarding green lasers in general and the z-bolt BGT-10 in particular.
I know very little about lasers. I want to use one as a range finder on my air rifle (this is a common use for lasers). The main requirement for this use is that the dot projected onto the surface is as small as possible and that it is as near a round dot as possible. It also needs to be visible during daylight. I am talking very small ranges here - 60 yards maximum - but if the laser is positioned above the telescopic sight and then the dot is zeroed onto the scopes crosshair at, say, 35 yards I can see if the dot shows above or below the crosshair and (using the mil dots on the crosshair) calculate the range. This method is good for giving a quick and fairly accurate range (so I am told!) but the results are obviously best with a dot of small diameter. It is possible to buy red lasers here in the uk but they are of relatively poor quality I think. By this I mean that they cannot be seen very well in daylight and the focussing of the beam is very poor (generally giving a dot size in the region of 4 inches at 100 yards. I have seen some U.S. lasers (beamshot) that quote a dot size of only 1.5 inches at 100 yards and this seems the best on offer at the moment. The red dot is supposedly visible in daylight at the ranges I'm talking about but only with difficulty. I have seen a green laser pointer and it was easily visible in daylight out to 100 yards but unfortunately the dot was more of a "flare" and when I measured this elongated image it was approx. 35mm x 80mm at 50 yards and 60mm x 120mm at 100 yards.
Now back to the point.....
I have asked John Mueller of Beam of Light technologies about the dot size, etc of his model BTG-10. He kindly e-mailed me to say that it gave a focused dot (I presume he meant a round dot without any "flare" to the edges) and he said it was "1 to 3mm at 50 to 100 yards". Now this sounds like it will do the job for me but as it will involve not only buying the laser but also manufacturing some kind of housing (so that it can be positioned above the scope and accurately be zeroed) - I need to be sure that it is worth all the effort and expense. I should tell you that it is possible to buy green lasers for this purpose but they are very expensive hence I am considering the D.I.Y. approach!
The ordinary BTG-10 is available for just $80 but it will cost me half as much again to get it posted here. They are also offering a model they call BTG-10 Plus for $109 which is factory tuned to 4.5 to 5 mW (more efficient diodes than the run-of the mill BTG-10 that usually give 1.5 to 4 mW).
Will the BTG-10 give me a small dot? Will it be clearly visible in daylight at the ranges I want? Is it worth paying the extra for the BTG-10 PLUS?
If you have managed to get this far without being bored out of your skull - thanks for your patience.
I look forward to your comments/advice.
Ian


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## Kreso_Bukvic (Apr 24, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Hy,

do not buy "factory tuned" lasers from anyone. They just turn the pot up and charge that 30-200 as some do... You can do it yourself. Decide what laser you want red or green, but i think you need green since it is daytime capable. I do know about some laser modules that have very low divergence <0.1 mrad but i do not know where to buy pointer with that kind of specs. 

I see you ask will it be clearly visibe in daylight. Dot or line? Dot will be visible but whole beam will not. I have a 150 mW 532 nm laser and you cannt see the beam in daylight exept if you look at diffrent angle.

Krešo


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## ian333 (Apr 24, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Thanks kreso.
I will only need to see the dot on the target. The beam itself is of no use for my purpose. Also I want to shoot the target - not burn holes in it Ha Ha - so I don't want too high a power. Incidently, I am limited here in the UK as to what power of laser I can legally hold. The limit for me is a class 3A laser with a power less than 5 mW. I am sure this will be sufficient for me to see a dot in daylight at the limited distances I will want (max 60 yards). The main requirement is for a tiny focused dot.

Ian


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## bootleg2go (Apr 24, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Hi ian333 and welcome to the laser forums.
Your questions will get a better response by starting your own thread on your subject rather than tacking your questions onto a different topic. I can give you an idea of beam diameter you can expect. The smallest beam diameters in commercial pointers is 1.2mrad to 1.5 mrad(divergence). This means the diameter of the beam at a given distance will be the distance multiplied by .0012 to .0015. So a best case of 1.2mrad would give a beam diameter of 2.6 inches at 60 yards. The person who gave you the number of 1mm to 3mm at 50 yards does not know what they are talking about. A 3mm beam at 50 yards would be .06 mrad, that 20X better than any laser pointers being made. So depending on how close your projectile needs to be, a 2.5 inch circle at 60 yards may not be small enough for your needs.

Jack


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## xenophobe (Apr 24, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

I'm not sure how well it will work for that purpose. Green lasers are relatively fragile, and might not handle the recoil of an air rifle, and I would imagine a spring loaded air-rifle would eventually shock the MCA loose from the LED housing... 

You're thinking that an air rifle might not have enough recoil to destroy one, but they have enough recoil to blow out some regular riflescopes, mainly because the recoil is opposite of a long rifle, and many scopes aren't designed to handle it. That's also why they have scopes designed specifically for air rifles. (that and parallax focus ranges are going to be much different @75m for air rifles, @125-150m on riflescopes).

Lasers that you would mount on firearms are relatively expensive for a reason. They must be designed to handle the particular g-force shock for their particular application. That's why a red pen laser costs about $5 at the convienience store, and the cheapest weapons mountable units cost around $75, with the tactical/rugged use models selling in upwards of $400. 

ANYWAYS... you're going to have to do a lot of work and it might not work. Perhaps you could just buy a seperate rangefinding unit?


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## ian333 (Apr 25, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

Thanks for your comments.
Bootleg2go - I had seen figures like "1.2mrad" quoted but wasn't too sure if my maths was correct when working out the divergence in dot size (inches at a given distance). from what you say i was not that far out in my suspicions that the dot size claimed for the BTG-10 was very "optimistic". However, I wasn't sure if this beam divergence could be altered using lenses.
xenophobe - I understand your concerns but this shouldn't be an issue for me. My rifle is a PCP type so virtually no recoil. I take your point that this D.I.Y. greenlaser idea will be a lot of work and it may not function after all. If you guys are tending to say "Beware" then I welcome your advice. The whole point of contacting this forum was to get views from people who obviously know a lot more about the practical use of lasers that I do.
In view of your initial comments I think it might be better to just buy one of the inferior red lasers and make do the best I can. It's just a shame 'cos the idea of having a laser that could give a tiny dot easily visible in daylight was a nice dream.


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## Kreso_Bukvic (Apr 25, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

You could ensure and secure MCA little better if there is recoil and you say there is not.

Did nayone ever hear abut a pointer with beam divergence 0.1 mrad.

MAybe some producers could made this but it would be expensive so original approachi is better.

Krešo


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## ian333 (Apr 25, 2005)

*Re: My BTG - 10 arrived today*

I now realise that bootleg2go's suggestion that I should have started a new topic/thread is a good one. This is the first time for me to actually ask for information in a forum (although I have browsed a few) so it's a good learning experience. i will try starting a new topic so this original thread doesn't get bogged down with my problems.


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