SELEM 2026 Sign-up Thread (SELEM 19)

19th annual South Eastern Laser Enthusiast's Meeting (SELEM 2026)
Sunday, August 2nd through Friday, August 7th
at the Executive Banquet and Conference Center in Newark, Delaware.

Register via Paypal: selempayment@gmail.com
Be sure to include a note to specify your shirt size (Sizes: Small to 4X)
Be sure to state the type of shirt you want (Polo or T-shirt)
One shirt is included with your registration. Extra shirts are $20 each.

Early registration – Now through May 24th (Guaranteed a shirt): $179 EARLY REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
Standard registration – May 25th through June 30th (Guaranteed a shirt): $199 STANDARD REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
Late registration or at the door – July 1st through the end of the event (no guarantee of a shirt): $229

Please note that registration fees are non-refundable.

================================================== ==========================

Guests are free to attend. Generally, guests are family or friends of the people who have registered to attend. Guests may share some interest in lasers or laser shows, but guests are not laserists themselves. If they are, they should register as attendees and not guests. Please do not abuse this policy.

Teenage children are allowed to attend if they are mature enough to follow rules and be responsible. Young children (under 13) are discouraged from attending, and may only attend if they are continually supervised by a parent or guardian. Note that all minors must have a parent present at the event.

Liability waivers (see attached .pdf file) will be required for all persons (this includes registered attendees and all guests). Minors will need a parent to sign their waiver. When you arrive, go to the sign-in area in the lobby to sign your waiver. (There will be a sign at the sign-in table so you know where to go.) Waivers must be witnessed by another registered SELEM attendee.

Once your waiver is signed, you will be issued a lanyard with a name badge, and if you registered in time (before July 1st) you will receive your official SELEM shirt. (Extra shirts for yourself or your guests are completely optional and may be purchased in advance for $20.) As posted above, be sure you specify your shirt size and choice of either a polo or T-shirt when you register. (No preference specified means you get a Polo.)

Also, just a reminder that ABSOLUTELY NO WEAPONS OF ANY KIND, ESPECIALLY FIREARMS, WILL BE PERMITTED AT SELEM. THIS INCLUDES ALL INDOOR SPACES AS WELL AS THE OUTDOOR AREAS SURROUNDING THE BUILDING AND ALL PARKING LOTS. If you have a concealed-carry permit, leave your weapon in your car and don't park it at the venue. No exceptions to this policy.

Event Schedule:

SPECIAL EVENT SATURDAY, AUGUST 1st (Before SELEM): The Pink Floyd Tribute Band, "Echoes" will be performing a concert on Saturday evening, August 1st in the area. This concert will NOT be at the SELEM venue, however. Instead, it will be at the Delaware Theater Company in downtown Wilmington, DE. The show starts at 8 PM. Select laserists from our group will be performing a live laser show to accompany this concert. If you'd like to help with the show, reach out to me or Brad.

Sunday, August 2nd: Start at 10 AM, run until 6PM. This is load-in and set-up. The main ballroom will be divided into two spaces, one for “Club-SELEM” and one for the ”auditorium” space. The inflatable planetarium dome will be in the auditorium side again this year. The main lobby will be the "show off space", and the area to the right of the lobby (near the bar window) will be used for presentations. The “buy-sell-trade” area will be in the kitchen service hallway, and the ion laser work room will be at the far right of the kitchen service hallway near the loading dock. We will have both 208/240 3 phase as well as 480v 3 phase available in the area near the loading dock. Even if you are not bringing any equipment to SELEM, you are still welcome (and encouraged!) to come help out with the load-in. (Seriously! We really could use the help!!!) Once load-in is completed, we will all get together afterwards for dinner out at a local restaurant.

Monday, August 3rd through Thursday, August 6th: Start at 10 AM, run until at least midnight, if not later. Typical SELEM activities running all day in various spaces inside the hall. We plan to extend until 2 AM on Wednesday and Thursday night.

Friday, August 7th: Start at 10 AM, run until 6 PM. Pack-up, load-out, clean-up, and say your goodbyes. For those who will be staying in town Friday night and leaving Saturday morning, we plan to go out to dinner one last time on Friday night once load-out is complete.

NOTE: We are not allowed to bring our own alcohol into the building at any time during SELEM. We have the option to have a cash bar open in the evenings, but there is a minimum charge of $250 per night. In the past we've had the cash bar open from 7PM-Midnight on Thursday, and sometimes on Wednesday as well. I am open to feedback from the group regarding the cash bar for this year. (Having a cash bar helps build goodwill with the venue, as it is extra revenue for them, but it's also difficult for a small group like ours to meet the $250 minimum each night.) Please share your comments about the cash bar below.

Venue Layout Details:

Main Entrance atrium will be the sign-in location. This is where you'll need to go to sign your waiver form and pick up your lanyard and name badge (and shirt, if you registered in time). This is also where you can purchase extra shirts (pending availability). Also, there is an ATM in the entrance atrium if you need cash.

Front half of the ballroom (to the right, or stage side, of the dividing wall) will be used for running pre-choreographed graphics and abstract shows, along with pre-choreographed multi-projector beam shows, just like we used to do in the auditorium. Front of house will be at the stage end of the room to the far right, with the dividing wall serving as the main display surface for graphics and abstracts. We will also have the large inflatable planetarium dome set up in this space, close to where the bar is. We will have a schedule posted with time slots for dome content and auditorium content.

Back half of the ballroom (to the left, or emergency exit side, of the dividing wall) will be "Club-SELEM" and will be dedicated to live beam shows. Front of house will be on the kitchen-end of the room (primary projection direction rotated 90 degrees compared to the layout for the “auditorium” side). Laser control consoles will be available for those who want to try their hand at running a show "live", and we will probably have a few live DJs set up as well.

Front lobby near main entrance will be the "enthusiast display space", or as I like to call it, the show-off room! The purpose of this space is to showcase home-made projectors, laser modules, electronics projects, computers, and any other cool hobby items, regardless of whether they are related to lasers or not. Space is going to be tight in here, so please be cautious in this area. Note: we can extend this area down the hall to the left (towards the coat closet) if we want.

Far right corner of the lobby (near the bar service hallway) will be the VR gaming area. Previously this was "abstract corner", but DZ plans to have all of his equipment (including the Z5 console) in the dome this year.

The long kitchen service hallway will be the buy / sell / trade area. Tables and racks will be set up along one side of the hallway for people to display the stuff they're selling. There may also be some projector repair going on here, so long as it doesn't block people's ability to move down the hallway. (It's a very wide hallway.)

The area near the loading dock will be the ion laser work area. There could be exposed high voltage and/or high-power beams in this space! Always ask before approaching this area.

Outdoor patio area can be used at any time for meals, snacks, or just to relax in the sun. At night, we can also use this space for laser tunnel photos. Speaking of food: Lunch and dinner will be provided Monday-Thursday, and as mentioned above, we have the option of having a cash bar open on Wednesday and Thursday evening if we want. Also, please remember that we can't bring our own alcohol in from outside. (Doing so is unlawful and could result in the venue losing their state liquor license.)

The right half of the main lobby (near the bar window) will be used for training and special presentations during the day, and as a social gathering area at night.

The bridal suite (in the bar service hallway behind the VR gaming area) will be available for glow-in-the-dark show displays, assuming that David Kumpula is able to join us again this year.

More information concerning the presentation schedule and sign-up information for show display time slots will be coming soon.

Travel and Lodging info:

If you will be flying to SELEM, the two closest airports are Baltimore Washington International (BWI) and Philadelphia International (PHL). Philadelphia is slightly closer (45-50 min), but even BWI is only about an hour and 15 minutes by car from the venue. (Unless the traffic on I95 is really bad...)

Note that there is a $4 toll on I95 at the state line between Maryland and Delaware. The toll is charged both ways. The venue is in Delaware, just off the first exit from I95 if you're heading north. Thus, if you are staying at a hotel in Maryland (as most people will be), you don't want to get on the Interstate to get to the venue each day, as you'll rack up 8 bucks per day in tolls for a 5 mile drive. Instead, avoid I95 and take the secondary roads when you go to and from the venue each day. It only adds about a mile to your drive, and it saves you 8 bucks a day in tolls! See this post for details.

In previous years, some people stayed at the Holiday Inn Express located on Elkton Rd in Elkton, Maryland. The direct number to the hotel is (443) 350-9154. However, the consensus from the group is that this is NOT the best hotel to use, even though it is one of the closest. :( Buyer beware!

There is another Holiday Inn Express & suites located in Wilmington, Delaware that some people stayed at last year, and the general feedback was that this hotel was much better. The direct number to this hotel is (302) 737-2700

Finally, there is a Bed and Breakfast that is just down the street from the Holiday Inn Express in Elkton, Maryland - it's called The Elk Forge B&B Inn. Their number is (410) 392-9007. This place is similar to the Trott House Inn that many of us stayed at in Newton, NC, but the Elk Forge B&B is much bigger. They have 14 rooms, 6 of which are multi-room suites. Some of the suites even have a full kitchen! Rates range from $129 to $250 per night, but the larger rooms and suites can comfortably sleep several people. If you are traveling with a buddy or two, you can save some money by sharing one of these larger spaces and splitting the cost vs booking separate hotel rooms.

As always, we're open to more ideas! If you have any questions or suggestions, please post them below. And remember, registration is now open. The longer you wait to sign up, the more it costs, so sign up early!

List of registered attendees:
Buffo
Hitekvoop
LazerJock
HankLloydRight
Araugh
Telmnstr
DrFlick
Dkumpula
Clickamouse
Bradstockdale
Displaser
Mmuhler
Mariomaster
Bradfo69
J4cbo
ILDADirect
SaltyRobot
Jimena
Singlemode
Cfavreau
Swamidog
Fission7
AllThatWhichIs
Theodore McNeil Jr
DZ
Evanlite

Me! Xl shirt.

Didnt read anyone of it to be fast.

Message padding for size

Paid!!
Can't wait to see all of my friends again.

Buy the ticket, take the ride.

XL T-SHIRT pls!



:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HankLloydRight

XL shirt pls!

---

I presume you mean XL T-shirt, right Hank? *retardo

Sorry I was so late getting this post up on the forum this year. It's been - complicated - lately. (But things are looking up!)

Adam

​SELEM

• LASERERS
• DJ'S
• AMAZING FOOD
• PINBALL
• VR
• DRONES
• GOOD FRIENDS
• and anything else under the sun.

WHO COULD ASK FOR MORE?

lattes?

and...

more lattes

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lazerjock

​SELEM

• LASERERS
• DJ'S
• AMAZING FOOD
• PINBALL
• VR
• DRONES
• GOOD FRIENDS
• and anything else under the sun.

WHO COULD ASK FOR MORE?

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by swamidog

lattes?

and...

more lattes

---

OK, I don't drink them, I'm hyper enough without caffeine, but I'll give you that.

Chris, you forgot to add "INFLATABLE PLANETARIUM DOME" to the list, lol! Not to mention 3D printers! And a little bird told me that there might be a few cool DIY electronics projects on display as well. :rolleyes:

And Chris (no, the other one), we *can* make lattes. There are two commercial coffee machines in the kitchen service hallway that can make individual cups or whole pots of coffee (any strength) at the push of a button, and there's always milk, half-and-half, and heavy cream in the staff refrigerator next to the microwave.

OK, I guess TECHNICALLY it's not a latte unless you start with espresso and you steam the milk, but we can get pretty darned close with the equipment in the hall. (I know, because I've done it several times over the past few years.)

I can also bring my spare Keurig machine, like I used to do in Newton, if you want. They have all sorts of interesting options in K-cups. (I really like the Grove Square French Vanilla Cappuccino, for example.) I just stopped bringing it because it was easier to use what they had in the hall. They even have the flavored syrups on the rack opposite the microwave, in case you want Mocha, or Carmel, or French Vanilla, or Pumpkin Spice, or whatever else floats your boat. I think they had at least a half-dozen flavors, last time I checked. (I usually stick with French Vanilla.)

And I guess if you really want to be spoiled, you can try to sweet talk Brad to see if he's willing to bring his espresso machine from his house and set it up in the kitchen service hallway for SELEM. It's a commercial-grade unit, so it can handle whatever you throw at it, but he might not want to schlepp it to the hall. (That being said, if you do get him to agree to that, *you're* going to have to be the one to run it and clean it...)

Adam

i think brad has the same machine that i have...

Attachment 62156

Quote:

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Originally Posted by buffo

Chris, you forgot to add "INFLATABLE PLANETARIUM DOME" to the list, lol! Not to mention 3D printers! And a little bird told me that there might be a few cool DIY electronics projects on display as well. :rolleyes:

And Chris (no, the other one), we *can* make lattes. There are two commercial coffee machines in the kitchen service hallway that can make individual cups or whole pots of coffee (any strength) at the push of a button, and there's always milk, half-and-half, and heavy cream in the staff refrigerator next to the microwave.

OK, I guess TECHNICALLY it's not a latte unless you start with espresso and you steam the milk, but we can get pretty darned close with the equipment in the hall. (I know, because I've done it several times over the past few years.)

I can also bring my spare Keurig machine, like I used to do in Newton, if you want. They have all sorts of interesting options in K-cups. (I really like the Grove Square French Vanilla Cappuccino, for example.) I just stopped bringing it because it was easier to use what they had in the hall. They even have the flavored syrups on the rack opposite the microwave, in case you want Mocha, or Carmel, or French Vanilla, or Pumpkin Spice, or whatever else floats your boat. I think they had at least a half-dozen flavors, last time I checked. (I usually stick with French Vanilla.)

And I guess if you really want to be spoiled, you can try to sweet talk Brad to see if he's willing to bring his espresso machine from his house and set it up in the kitchen service hallway for SELEM. It's a commercial-grade unit, so it can handle whatever you throw at it, but he might not want to schlepp it to the hall. (That being said, if you do get him to agree to that, *you're* going to have to be the one to run it and clean it...)

Adam

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by swamidog

i think brad has the same machine that i have...

Attachment 62156

---

Yup... Dat's da one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bradfo69

Yup... Dat's da one.

---

i need to laser cut some stencils for selem:

Attachment 62166

Registered now…

2XL Polo for the shirt please!

See ya’ in August

Greg
(Displaser)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by swamidog

i think brad has the same machine that i have...

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bradfo69

Yup... Dat's da one.

---

OK, so that means Chris should already know how to use it. :D

I think if Brad brings the machine, it's only fair that Chris operates it and makes lattes for everyone on demand...:rolleyes:

Adam

Let's make sure we are talking about the right Chris.......

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lazerjock

Let's make sure we are talking about the right Chris.......

---

aren't they pretty much interchangeable? it's all part of the chris continuum.

c=me^2

Hi there laser peeps!
Unfortunately...I Will again not be able to attend services at SELEM 19, 2026.
MY brother has moved here for home hospice care (terminal liver cancer with possibly less than 6 months left)...I can barely be gone for more than 2 hours, much less days. 😞
To add on to sad times...I am unable to locate my fb3 to entertain him with QS and Beyond. (anybody got an old fb3 kicking around I can purchase and register with Beyond?)
I'm sure all attendees will have a great time. Hope to see some pics and videos!

Damn Rodney - sorry to hear about your brother, man... That's rough.

Completely understand not being able to make the trip this year. Not to worry though - we'll be back next year. Family comes first!

Regarding the FB3 you lost, that might be tricky. Used FB3s can be found on Ebay for around $400 or so, and I know that Pangolin can transfer a license file from one controller to another, but I'm pretty sure you have to surrender the old controller before they'll generate the new license. (Otherwise, if you ever found the old controller, you'd have 2 valid licenses.)

Although this might not be an issue with the changes to the licensing that were introduced with Beyond 5, especially with the ability to verify a license over the Internet... I'd give Pangolin a call and ask them what your options are.

Adam

Thanks for the response and explanation...I was concerned about the license thing. I was hoping to get some lights up for my brother whilst he could still enjoy it. I'll keep searching. I thought it was in my "collectibles" room. We cleared out about half that room for my brother's bed and equipment. Have gotten down to a 2010 "layer". 😉
Thanks again...

Attending. Thanks for putting this together! I am looking forward to it. Will be there Tuesday evening to Friday.

Looking forward to seeing you again, Chris! I will be sure to return the book I borrowed from you last year. :o

Adam

Thanks Adam. I am really looking forward to seeing you as well.

I have a few questions about activities etc. at SELEM.

Door Prizes? I plan on bringing at least one or two. Anyone else or is there a pot to contribute to so we can purchase some?

Events during the week. Is there anything besides hanging out going on? I have been thinking it would be great to have a few sessions where we can learn something. I miss those from Newton. I would really love to have a session where I can learn more about the software or workflows for creating shows.

Laser show Jam contest... 24 hours make a show. Thinking back to the Michael Robert's Laser FX meetup days we had a banquet with shows to vote on. Most of those were done ahead of time however... Something fun... nothing serious.

I can do a session on 3d printing if anyone would like to learn more about it. I don't have a lot of time to prepare however I will have my printer there and can answer questions and show how I do things from idea to printed thingy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by buffo

Looking forward to seeing you again, Chris! I will be sure to return the book I borrowed from you last year. :o

Adam

---

Hi Chris -- always look forward to seeing you at SELEM!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cfavreau

I can do a session on 3d printing if anyone would like to learn more about it. I don't have a lot of time to prepare however I will have my printer there and can answer questions and show how I do things from idea to printed thingy.

---

I'd totally be up for that as I just got a Bambu A1 Mini 3d printer and I'm just floundering around! If I have room, I may bring it down.

thanks!

Hi Hank! It is great hearing from you.

I will be sure to plan some sort of session for 3d printing with a bent towards laser show / art stuff. Bring your printer (and some of your filament)! It no doubt has a different personality than mine. I will try to have a small assortment of filament types although I mainly print with ABS and occasionally PLA.

Take Care, Chris F.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HankLloydRight

Hi Chris -- always look forward to seeing you at SELEM!



I'd totally be up for that as I just got a Bambu A1 Mini 3d printer and I'm just floundering around! If I have room, I may bring it down.

thanks!

---

I've already updated the main post at the top of this thread, but just so everyone is aware: The Echoes concert on Saturday, August 1st will be held at the Delaware Theater Company in downtown Wilmington, DE. (This venue is less than 20 minutes from the Executive Banquet and Conference Center.)

Door for the show open at 7 PM, with the show starting at 8 PM. They're planning on a 2 1/2 hour concert with a 15 min intermission. Here's a link to the details on the Delaware Theater Company's website: https://www.delawaretheatre.org/echoes

A few SELEM regulars will be performing a live laser show to accompany this concert. We'll be doing beams and abstracts. It won't be anywhere near as big of a production as we've done in past years when the concert was at the Executive Banquet and Conference Center though. (Mostly because none of us were too keen on moving a ton of equipment from one venue to the other once the show ended, lol.)

Still, we felt bad that the band lost out on the SELEM venue due to a double-booking error (which was NOT Brad's fault, btw) so we figured we'd at least support their concert as best we could without killing ourselves trying to set up half of SELEM in the new venue, only to tear it all down after a few hours.

If anyone is interested in helping out with this event, please contact either me or Brad. (While we'll never refuse help, this is mostly if you just want to hang out with us for the show; the setup is going to be pretty straightforward, so it's not like we're desperate for hands or anything.)

Adam

I'm thinking about coming this year.
I would arrive on Friday the 31st and leave Friday August 7.
Anyone have an extra bed? I can bring cash if necessary.
- Dan Barlow

Dan! I'm sorry I don't have a spare bed to offer, but it would be great to see you at SELEM!

I decided to get a room at the Holiday Inn Express recommended above.
I'll see you all there.

I have two Martin atomic 3000 strobes I am interested in selling or trading for LED based moving heads.

These are 3000 watt xeon strobes that run on 208-240vac at 20 amps each. The atomic color dmx gel scrollers have their own 120v psu and iirc have 10 colors on them.

I have 6 strobes but the flight case only holds four so I am interested in reducing the count to 4.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DanBarlow

I decided to get a room at the Holiday Inn Express recommended above.
I'll see you all there.

---

Will be great to see you again, Dan! It's been a minute, lol!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by telmnstr

I have two Martin atomic 3000 strobes I am interested in selling.

---

OOF! Mario Moore had some of those in his collection back in the day. They were BLINDINGLY bright on full power! Another cool thing about them is that you can turn the power way down and use them like normal lights if you want. Just have to watch the heat build-up though - if you have them on "simmer" and you turn the power up too high, they will thermal out on high temp.

Adam

Hi friends! Apologies for being a ghost this year; I have also had a difficult 2026 that started with my mom getting an unexpected stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in January :( I'm thankful that current circumstances have allowed me to shelve most of the rest of my life and help her through treatment + try to enjoy what time I have left with her, and so that's been the majority of my focus for this year.

My mom is responsible for my laser addiction and has insisted I still come up for the week since she knows how much this event means to me every year. Assuming nothing catastrophic happens last minute, I will be there and can't wait! These circumstances have also forced me to pull a project off the backburner and make it my one other focus this year, so I will also be bringing along a new group activity....

Mom was responsible for exposing me to my first lasers at a very early age - we lived in Japan when I was in kindergarten and she brought me to a museum that had an exhibit with holograms on display, and a room to showcase (very primitive early 90s) timelined laser shows. But that was enough to get me perpetually interested in seeing more, and when she got me a book about homemade holography when I was in middle school, building out a setup to do that properly has always been on my laser bucket list - and ideally something I wanted to do while she was still around to see it! She was a big film photography nerd for decades and spent a lot of time with our childhood photos in the darkroom. Since that timeframe is now quite uncertain, I decided to full send it this year on trying to build out the setup and actually make a childhood dream happen, and it's all coming with me!

I am gonna bring a small DIY isolation table I've cooked up that uses a couple 2'x2' optical breadboards as a work surface, and I've got two unopened orders of fresh plates from Litiholo that we can get into - a total of 40x 2"x3" plates, and 12x 4"x5" plates. I figured this was probably the best motivation I'll ever get to finally earn one of my laserist merit badges too, so I have finally acquired a laser from Sam Goldwasser's shop - a 20mW 460nm SLM coherent sapphire, which will be coming alongside a PL530. These plates need no chemical process to develop, so hopefully having above average laser quality + removing the ability to fuck up that part of the process will let us actually produce some results!

I would love to make this available as a group activity and send anyone interested home with any good shots you're able to get. Since this is also a learning experiment for me and my first time using this type of plate, the cost of all the inevitable media we'll fuck up is on me, just buy any plates that do turn out which you wanna keep! Plates are $7 each for a 2x3 and $25 for a 4x5.

I encourage everyone to bring some cool objects that we can use as subjects - obviously anything you wanna try to make a shot of for yourself, but if you have anything else that could translate to an interesting hologram it would be awesome to experiment with! Size needs to be roughly similar to the plate size it's being shot with, and matte reflective surfaces are the easiest to work with. If any of you folks bringing a 3d printer wanted to toss in some white filament, that's an endless source of great subjects. Anything with a lot of 3D detail or features that add perspective will be what translates particularly well to a cool hologram over a 2d photo.

Also, if any of you with big parts collections wanted to toss in any optics/optomechanics that might be useful, it would be awesome to have some options beyond what's in my box - My table is imperial and I have a fairly conmplete amount of optics/optomechanics already that are all coming along, but I would welcome any extra choices particularly for lenses/lens mounts, dichros if we wanna try a multi-wavelength exposure, etc. If anyone has a spatial filter/spatial filter parts that they wouldn't mind bringing, any of your shots are free - that's the one big optional-but-very-nice-to-have bit that I have not had the budget to source for myself yet. Even if you've only got pinholes and lenses that would be huge- I have quite a few X / X+Y / X+Y+Z micrometer stages and random brackets coming, so we could totally do without a fullblown purpose built holder for one. If you have an SLM laser and wanna try another wavelength option, there will be plenty of room on the table too!

Can't wait to see you all! Maybe we can luck out this year and not have load in/load out days be the hottest two days of August....maybe....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by singlemode

Hi friends! Apologies for being a ghost this year; I have also had a difficult 2026 that started with my mom getting an unexpected stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in January :( I'm thankful that current circumstances have allowed me to shelve most of the rest of my life and help her through treatment + try to enjoy what time I have left with her, and so that's been the majority of my focus for this year.

My mom is responsible for my laser addiction and has insisted I still come up for the week since she knows how much this event means to me every year. Assuming nothing catastrophic happens last minute, I will be there and can't wait! These circumstances have also forced me to pull a project off the backburner and make it my one other focus this year, so I will also be bringing along a new group activity....

Mom was responsible for exposing me to my first lasers at a very early age - we lived in Japan when I was in kindergarten and she brought me to a museum that had an exhibit with holograms on display, and a room to showcase (very primitive early 90s) timelined laser shows. But that was enough to get me perpetually interested in seeing more, and when she got me a book about homemade holography when I was in middle school, building out a setup to do that properly has always been on my laser bucket list - and ideally something I wanted to do while she was still around to see it! She was a big film photography nerd for decades and spent a lot of time with our childhood photos in the darkroom. Since that timeframe is now quite uncertain, I decided to full send it this year on trying to build out the setup and actually make a childhood dream happen, and it's all coming with me!

I am gonna bring a small DIY isolation table I've cooked up that uses a couple 2'x2' optical breadboards as a work surface, and I've got two unopened orders of fresh plates from Litiholo that we can get into - a total of 40x 2"x3" plates, and 12x 4"x5" plates. I figured this was probably the best motivation I'll ever get to finally earn one of my laserist merit badges too, so I have finally acquired a laser from Sam Goldwasser's shop - a 20mW 460nm SLM coherent sapphire, which will be coming alongside a PL530. These plates need no chemical process to develop, so hopefully having above average laser quality + removing the ability to fuck up that part of the process will let us actually produce some results!

I would love to make this available as a group activity and send anyone interested home with any good shots you're able to get. Since this is also a learning experiment for me and my first time using this type of plate, the cost of all the inevitable media we'll fuck up is on me, just buy any plates that do turn out which you wanna keep! Plates are $7 each for a 2x3 and $25 for a 4x5.

I encourage everyone to bring some cool objects that we can use as subjects - obviously anything you wanna try to make a shot of for yourself, but if you have anything else that could translate to an interesting hologram it would be awesome to experiment with! Size needs to be roughly similar to the plate size it's being shot with, and matte reflective surfaces are the easiest to work with. If any of you folks bringing a 3d printer wanted to toss in some white filament, that's an endless source of great subjects. Anything with a lot of 3D detail or features that add perspective will be what translates particularly well to a cool hologram over a 2d photo.

Also, if any of you with big parts collections wanted to toss in any optics/optomechanics that might be useful, it would be awesome to have some options beyond what's in my box - My table is imperial and I have a fairly conmplete amount of optics/optomechanics already that are all coming along, but I would welcome any extra choices particularly for lenses/lens mounts, dichros if we wanna try a multi-wavelength exposure, etc. If anyone has a spatial filter/spatial filter parts that they wouldn't mind bringing, any of your shots are free - that's the one big optional-but-very-nice-to-have bit that I have not had the budget to source for myself yet. Even if you've only got pinholes and lenses that would be huge- I have quite a few X / X+Y / X+Y+Z micrometer stages and random brackets coming, so we could totally do without a fullblown purpose built holder for one. If you have an SLM laser and wanna try another wavelength option, there will be plenty of room on the table too!

Can't wait to see you all! Maybe we can luck out this year and not have load in/load out days be the hottest two days of August....maybe....

---

Wil,
So sorry to hear about your Mom. It sounds like you could use a few days away to recharge.

I am totally up for trying to make a hologram. I have a small collection I will try to bring with me.
Back in the 90's when I worked at COSI (Ohio Science Center) I tried to make holograms with a small HeNe, but they never developed properly. Lets see if I can do any better 30 years later. LOL

Whelp looks like I will be coming this year. Will send payment this weekend. Man the signup list is so short compared to 2019 ;(.
Anyone still buying these days I plan to bring a crate of junk to sell or trade. I am massively downsizing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lazerman121

Whelp looks like I will be coming this year. Will send payment this weekend. Man the signup list is so short compared to 2019 ;(.
Anyone still buying these days I plan to bring a crate of junk to sell or trade. I am massively downsizing.

---

cool. it'll be great to see you!

Wil: I did not realize that your Mom played such an important role in cultivating your interest in lasers. Very sorry to hear about her Pancreatic Cancer diagnosis; how is she responding to the implanted alpha radiation source treatment?

I agree with Chris though: you sound like you need a bit of a break. I know I pushed myself pretty hard when I started caring for my Mom when she was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and towards the end it really wore me down. It also dragged Marie down, which made everything harder. Not being able to take a family vacation for ~ 3 years is absolutely draining, especially when the grandkids were all in Virginia. (What's the saying? Happy Wife, Happy Life? Yeah, words to live by. :) )

The hologram project sounds AWESOME! My son, Daniel, will be bringing his two 3-D Printers (Creality K-1 and K-1 Max), so he should be able to whip up some interesting shapes to experiment with.

As for your request for interesting lenses and mounts, maybe David Francus can help? I know you guys chatted about this idea earlier, and I believe David is still planning to attend (although he hasn't registered yet), so if he does come to SELEM, maybe he can bring a sampling of lenses from his collection.?.

If we can get a pair of identical lenses, we can place them at double their focal length apart to make a Keplerian Collimator. Then we can position a pinhole in the middle, and as you move it towards the first lens, it will mask more and more of the edges of the beam. This is a very simply way to do spatial filtering on the cheap. (You can literally use a sheet of aluminum foil taped over a circular dichro mount with a hole poked in the center.)

Chris: I seem to remember you had several cool holograms that you brought to one of the FLEMs back in the day.?. Please, PLEASE bring as many of those as you can fit in your bag! I'd especially like to see "Lovely Rita" again, assuming you still have it... :rolleyes:

Zach: Very cool that you'll be joining us this year! I'll be sure to bring my collection of odd-wavelength pointers. ;) Feel free to bring stuff you want to sell or trade - as usual we will have some racks in the kitchen service hallway for the buy-sell-trade area.

As for the sign-up list being rather short, yeah, that was a bit surprising. I think people are waiting until the last minute to register this year, but I'm not sure why. Still, with some of the last-minute registrations that I know are coming, we should be able to make budget.

See everyone in a few days! (Can't wait!)

Adam

Hiya, I'm new to the community and can't wait to check out SELEM! Payment in progress now.

I have experience in lighting and fountain design, looking to learn more about lasers and to witness their greatness in person.

Very excited, see you soon!

fantastic. i took a hologram workshop from august muth and fred unterseher a few years back and loved every second of it. absolutely interested in participating. it'll be great to see you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by singlemode

I am gonna bring a small DIY isolation table I've cooked up that uses a couple 2'x2' optical breadboards as a work surface, and I've got two unopened orders of fresh plates from Litiholo that we can get into - a total of 40x 2"x3" plates, and 12x 4"x5" plates. I figured this was probably the best motivation I'll ever get to finally earn one of my laserist merit badges too, so I have finally acquired a laser from Sam Goldwasser's shop - a 20mW 460nm SLM coherent sapphire, which will be coming alongside a PL530. These plates need no chemical process to develop, so hopefully having above average laser quality + removing the ability to fuck up that part of the process will let us actually produce some results!

I would love to make this available as a group activity and send anyone interested home with any good shots you're able to get. Since this is also a learning experiment for me and my first time using this type of plate, the cost of all the inevitable media we'll fuck up is on me, just buy any plates that do turn out which you wanna keep! Plates are $7 each for a 2x3 and $25 for a 4x5.

I encourage everyone to bring some cool objects that we can use as subjects - obviously anything you wanna try to make a shot of for yourself, but if you have anything else that could translate to an interesting hologram it would be awesome to experiment with! Size needs to be roughly similar to the plate size it's being shot with, and matte reflective surfaces are the easiest to work with. If any of you folks bringing a 3d printer wanted to toss in some white filament, that's an endless source of great subjects. Anything with a lot of 3D detail or features that add perspective will be what translates particularly well to a cool hologram over a 2d photo.

Also, if any of you with big parts collections wanted to toss in any optics/optomechanics that might be useful, it would be awesome to have some options beyond what's in my box - My table is imperial and I have a fairly conmplete amount of optics/optomechanics already that are all coming along, but I would welcome any extra choices particularly for lenses/lens mounts, dichros if we wanna try a multi-wavelength exposure, etc. If anyone has a spatial filter/spatial filter parts that they wouldn't mind bringing, any of your shots are free - that's the one big optional-but-very-nice-to-have bit that I have not had the budget to source for myself yet. Even if you've only got pinholes and lenses that would be huge- I have quite a few X / X+Y / X+Y+Z micrometer stages and random brackets coming, so we could totally do without a fullblown purpose built holder for one. If you have an SLM laser and wanna try another wavelength option, there will be plenty of room on the table too!

Can't wait to see you all! Maybe we can luck out this year and not have load in/load out days be the hottest two days of August....maybe....

---

Anyone that's coming up via I-95 or flying into BWI and would like to visit the X-Laser shop, just shoot me an email to coordinate

Ugh. Spent 6 hours packing up stuff yesterday, and spent another 6 hours today trying to tetris everything into the car and the trailer. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I need a bigger trailer... Gonna be a long, slow ride north to Delaware, let me tell you! (Trailer is riding rather low this year, lol.) Really glad I went with the upgraded tires on the trailer last year when I had to replace them; they're clearly going to get a workout on this trip. Almost tempted to stop at a truck stop to get a weight, but I'm a little afraid of the number. (Shudder)

Should be a lot of fun this year though! Got plenty of cool gadgets to tinker with. The 8-bit CPU on breadboards is making a comeback, along with the Stirling engine, the plasma torroids, and the sparkle fiber. I've also got a couple sound-reactive ferro-fluid units that should be fun to play with, and a new plasma drinking glass that I can't wait to try out. (Just add your adult beverage of choice!)

I also snagged a hell of a deal on a large CNC router table (28" x 63" working area) with a laser attachment, although I have no idea if I'll be able to fit it in the trailer to take it home with me. (Brad is holding it for me for the moment.) At the very least, I hope we can get it working at SELEM and maybe do some custom carvings... I'm bringing some black acrylic and some basswood stock that we can experiment with.

Got some new laser projectors to add to the truss in Club-SELEM (as if we needed more power in that room), and of course, "Big Blue" will also be in attendance again this year. (DZ is bringing his son with him, and they both want to make S'mores again like David did several years ago.) This year I have some proper safety glasses for anyone crazy enough to put a WHITE marshmallow into the output beam of a 150 watt 445 nm blue laser... (Remember, you signed a waiver!)

Exactly 60 hours to load-in, and counting!

Adam

Happy to help out with any of the CNC questions, that's kinda my thing. What system did you get?

Hi Adam,

I'd *GREATLY* appreciate any assistance you can offer! It's a NextWave Shark HD520. I don't know any details about the router or the laser attachment though. I guess we will figure that out when we un-box it.

Adam

PS: 49 hours to load-in and counting! I'm just about to get on the road...

I am either coming up Sunday with Kumpula or Monday via Flix Bus but I am 100% in at this point will have my decision by tonight. Ugg So much to do and so little time. Just got back from cali a week ago and seems like ive gotten nothing done.
Does anyone have any interest in a Green HeNe or some digital microscope parts? trying to make a decision on what to pack. Bringing an SLM 488nm for the holography set up as well.

I managed to get my glow in the dark fabric into the luggage. It's approximately bed sheet sized if I remember correctly.
Available for any glowy experiences.

I just wanted to express my gratitude to everyone who participated in SELEM 19. I thought it was another great year with everyone sharing their interests with the group. I particularly enjoyed the prepared talks, laser shows, and numerous conversations with friends that I haven't seen in the past year and the opportunity to make new friends.

As always a special note of thanks for Brad B (bradfo69) for working as host nearly non-stop, Adam B (buffo) for organizing and leading the event, Chris T (LazerJock) for his efforts at the front door, and everyone else that provided their assistance to make this a fantastic event. I encourage all attendees to share their feedback and identify how we can make things even better next year.

Thanks again and I hope to see you all next year at SELEM 20!

-David

I'll second David's comments above - SELEM 19 was *GREAT*! Great food, great friends, great laser shows, and just great fun in general! Can't wait for next year's event. (And just a reminder - next year's SELEM will be 1 week earlier, so load-in will be on Sunday, July 25th, 2027.)

One of the highlights this year was having the chance to make a hologram, which is something I've never done before. (Thanks to Wil Carder for bringing all the gear to make that happen!)

Speaking of holograms, several people were talking about multi-image holograms, and Patrick Murphy mentioned that he had seen a few other ones that none of us were aware of. He sent me a short note after SELEM with more info, so I've pasted his words in below:

At SELEM, when we were talking about holograms, and specifically animated cylindrical multiplex holograms, I mentioned "The Kiss" which I believe was one of the first of these. Here are links to some info about it. Pam Brazier was the subject, and Lloyd Cross made the hologram.
https://www.jrholocollection.com/collection/cross.html

There is also a Kiss where she is wearing a hat. There is confusion over the name. Some call the hatless one "Kiss" and some call it "Kiss (II)" implying that the one with the hat is the original Kiss. Here's a YouTube video of one of the Kisses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkqxj8EPAVg

This is a great technical paper about multiplex holograms in general and The Kiss in particular. I suspect the author is a son or daughter of Lloyd Cross.
https://digitalcommons.buffalostate....t_con_projects

Finally, here is an article about how The Kiss inspired a physics paper that is said to be the most cited paper in physics history.
https://bretkerr.substack.com/p/the-...ged-the-cosmos

Adam

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for welcoming me into your laser community last week, I have been looking for something like this since around 2014. The SELEM convention allowed me to escape what I have been dealing with every day and replace it with a Pink Floyd concert :) I enjoyed talking with all of you, and seeing and hearing about the art that you make.

If you know anyone who wants help with their projects, like many of you, I have some serious engineering experience. For the last 20 years I have been writing C++ at MOTU, Vectorworks, and Avid. I have a lot of ideas, hopefully I will be making something in this space too. I am located in southern Delaware.

I am already looking forward to the next SELEM...

Please let me know if I should post this message in another channel, if this is an old thread. Thanks again.

Happy lasing,
Bryan Geiger

Hi Bryan,

I'm glad you found our group! I'll be very interested to see any projects you end up digging into as a result of coming to SELEM.

Regarding the Echoes show at the Delaware Theater Company, it appears that we will be doing this again next year as well. They still have to work out a few details, but the band really liked the venue, as did the crowd, and the venue was also quite pleased with the revenue that the event brought in. (Apparently, fans of Pink Floyd music spend more at the bar than your average patron who comes to the theater just to see a play - who knew? ;))

Since next year we're moving SELEM to the last week in July, that would mean that the Echoes concert would end up being held on Saturday, July 24th, 2027. Then, SELEM load-in would be on Sunday, July 25th, 2027, with load-out being pushed to the following Sunday, August 1st, 2027 to give us an extra 2 days of SELEM. The Executive Banquet and Conference Center has already signaled that they're OK with SELEM running longer, and while we haven't finalized the pricing yet, it looks like it will be a very reasonable increase. (We're hoping to get that nailed down soon...) We're also hoping that the band and the theater can lock in the date for the concert in the next few weeks. Once these dates are all set, we'll start making plans for SELEM 2027 in earnest.

Adam