Hello all, I'm new to the forum as this is my first post, and consider myself as a noob compared to all of you elecro-wizards out there, just had a question. I was wondering if there is such a thing as an IR BEAM not an LED but more like how a laser pointer projects like a beam. Like a solid projection.
Remote TV control are usually IR beams. I haven't seen IR pointers before, there might be some models. You can buy scrapped IR remote controls and there you are. Connect a 100 ohm resistor and 5V series to the IR led and test the range using a receiver. That is if you have one. If you don't have it then you can see the light dispersion on a surface, the beam spot can be seen using your cellphone in camera mode.
Sure, you can buy those pointers he was talking about at novelty stores and so forth. You could replace the LED with an IR LED. Like you said. You could pull it out of a TV remote. If you want a real beam that is absolutely coherent light, then you need a ruby rod.