back after some time off for a family health crisis...
got the alignment down on the RGB. (Thanks Adam!!)
thought y'all would like some pics-
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back after some time off for a family health crisis...
got the alignment down on the RGB. (Thanks Adam!!)
thought y'all would like some pics-
NICE! The first time you get white is always a nice feeling. :cool: That red is a little fat... :rolleyes: I just got a 250mW 635nm CNI and am just about to fire it up. Guess that is what I get to look forward to. :D Do you have scanners?
Your pictures are beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Very inspirational!
Just awesome.
If ever I want to show someone what an RGB laser projector looks like, these are about the nicest pictures I've ever seen; very clean and to-the-point.
James. :)
Ahhhhh... the beauty of light. :D
Congratulations err... Marc !!!!!!!!
It looks brilliant, as 'allthat' says, there's nothing quite like getting white light for the first time.
Cheers
Jem
:D HELL YEAH! :D
Lookin' good there, Marc... Lookin' Good! (Told you the fog would make all the difference!)
Glad to see you got the alignment all sorted out. All you need to do is mount the scanners and you're golden!
Adam
Thanks everyone!
the beam pics look pretty good, but i have DEF seen better lookin more handsome projectors out there!! :) i got a lot of "cleanin up" to do on my projector.
i do have scanners (scanpro 30ks) i just havent gotten them mounted yet. like i said,i was out of the laser world for a little while. so this past week was getting me backin the game.
adam-
thanks SOOO much for your help. i think this would have gone through a window if you didnt give me some pointers!
the red on here (lasever 635) is RIDICULOUS!!! it has a wider beam than my mag lite!! so getting this beam onto my scanners is going to be QUITE a chore. i think im just going to take my bathroom mirror and strap it to my scanners.that should *just* about be big enough for the beam! lol.
and yes,white for the first time.....WOWWWWW!!!! :) i think i just stared at it fora good 5-10 mins.
anyone else have any close upshots of there beams? i want to compare my alignment withothers.
i still feel it isnt as aligned as it could be. it seems like the b and g could be better aligned. but yet, i still have a pretty good white. ??? am i just being crazy? i will get the definitive answer when i scan the test pattern i guess.
thanks everyone for the compliments though. ill try to get more pics up with scanners and the FB3 runnin!
-Marc
Hey Marc,
That looks pretty awesome to me, very impressive...
I too have a 635nm Lasever in my projector, though I might be replacing it soon with 800mw of 650nm...
I attached a couple of pics of my allignment and the results out of the business end.. I think you will find that for beams, your red will look great...
Cheers
Mark
Mark-
ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!! thanks for your input. i gotta get some pics of the scanners in here now. your projector is much "neater" than mine! lol...thats for sure! im workin on it though.
-Marc
Marc,
Boy...those pictures are just GREAT !!!! The beams jump right off the computer screen !!!! I am inspired to finish my projector...up an order of magnitude !!! As if the SELEM deadline is not enough of a " Pitch Fork "
motivator !!!! hahahaha !!!!!! It sounds like you took the pictures while using a fogger ?????? My pics do NOT look like this...no fogger !!!! I have tried many, many camera settings....no good !!!mmmm??? must be the fog !!!!!Duh....Of course !!! Hope to meet you at SELEM !!
Bob
congratulations..................., Marc, great, wonderful, very impress working.;).
the pictures is really beautiful, love it.
Best regards!
Bridge
I was actually thinking how nicely laid out your projector was... looks a superb job...Quote:
Originally Posted by gottaluvlasers
Since adding a diffraction wheel to mine, it is not so neat anymore... Will get some pictures out when it is complete...
What is the output on yours? It looks very bright, mine is about a watt balanced... But ony 350mw of red as it is 635nm..
Keep the pics coming, we like pics:D
Cheers
Mark
thanks everyone for the kind words and encouragement! and YES...i will be at selem. :)
bob-(cdbeam)-
yes,there was fog in the room. it definitely makes it easier to see how your white balance is. makes the colors "flow" into each other. and plus, it looks DAMN SEXY!!!
Bridge-
Thanks so much!! your 473 blue in there is ABSOLUTELY beautiful! it has performed flawlessly since i got the unit. and its DEFINITLEY putting out over 200mW!!
mark-
i appreciate the compliments. the problem im running into is that im trying to squish everything in a small area. and i will NEVER use a pre-drilled base plate again!! NOTHING lines up correctly!!!
oh, the unit is pushing about 800mW at balance. i dont have a meter anymore so i cant give an exact number. :( but its in that range.
oh, i made an album on here last night. TONS of pics-
http://www.photonlexicon.com/gallery...ottaluvlasers/ have fun! :)
-Marc
Hi Marc and Mark,
Yes, both nice pictures! :):):)
Can you please tell us the molules output ratio RGB? :confused:
Is it 400mW 635nm- 200mW 532nm- 200mW 473nm? :confused:
Another thing is that I wonder where you bought the dichro's. :rolleyes:
I seen the Blue is joining the beam as last one.
According to the specifications of the dichro's (found here: http://www.laser-wave.com/eproduct_s...assid=43&id=35 ) Red should be at placed last. :rolleyes:
Because blue modules are the most expensive one, It's great to place them as last one because of the loss of output by the the dichro's. Were are theise dichro's come from?
Xxx Audrey.
Audrey;
Edmund optics sells dichros that will pass green and red and reflect blue. So if you buy the right dicrho from them, you can put the blue last in the chain. (Which, as you pointed out, makes good economic sense because blue is so darned expensive!) I think Mark bought his dichros from Edmunds, not Laser-Wave.
Adam
Hi Audrey-
Yes, these are Edmund Optics Dichro filters.
( http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlineca...=2433&search=1 )
I also bought a pair from...crap....i cant remember who it was on here....i think "Jian." a set of dichros in the mounts. i am not using them. i decided to use the bigger Edmund ones. so if you need a set, i have a brand new set in th mounts. (reflect red, reflect blue)
Blue is always last, like adam said, because they are so expensive. so, loss of even a couple mW's is an unbearable thought. lol. where as red and green (cost/mW) is much less forgiving.
i have my ratios of colors as follows (This formula is a theoretical balance. every eye is different, but i guess its mathematically correct)-
RED (635) 42.48%
GREEN (532) 25.09%
BLUE (473) 32.42%
so this was *supposed* to be a 600mW White Light system.
RED (635)- 252mW
GREEN (532)- 150mW
BLUE (473)- 192mW
Obviously, you cant buy a laser module at "252 mW" or "192mW" so i aways round laser powers UP. (does anyone disagree with MORE laser power?? :) )
RED- 300mW
GREEN- 200mW
BLUE- 200mW
Hope this helps. what are you building?? or what do you currently have?
-Marc
Hi Marc and Adam,
Thanks for the info, This is what I need right now! :) (<--- PL, please add new smilies like Hot Lips or a Heart)
My lasers are:
1x 400 mW 532nm analog, 24K M9024 galvo.
1x 300 mW 532nm analog, 24K M9024 galvo.
1x RGB ~200 mW TTL, 15K galvo.
Right now I'm at the point to built my next laserset.
I still have to find out the right parts, so this thread is a good help.
My budget is limited to 3500 euro's (5000USD ???)
It should have a balanced white of course and maximum output...
I was thinking about the next modules:
250mW 473nm + 300mW 532nm + 500mW 635nm.
Maybe not the perfect ratio (according to Adam's great post about this in another thread) but I have to start somewere.
LaserWorld and Medialas are having quite fast galvo sets (45-50K), but I think the lasers modules can't do this speed.
You white pictures gave my a warm feeling, I jumped in the air and said to my dog that this is gonna be my next project. :D
LOL-
Lasers are SOOO addicting, ESPECIALLY after seeing other pics. its VERY addicting. and unfortunatley for us...NOT a cheap addiction!!
if you have a $5,000 budget (or approx) budget, you can build yourself a pretty decent RGB.
I dont have current pricing. but my guess is around a 600mW-800mW or even more RGB could be built with that budget. ESPECIALLY if you purchase with the intention on gradually upgrading.
blue is obviously going to be the most expensive. but just looking at some of the older pricing i have, you can easily and sufficiently get yourself into 700-800mW of white with some pretty decent manufactuers. skimp a little here and there and you could probably even go higher in powers.
my suggestion, ESPECIALLY for your blue purchase would be to stick with Laserwave. (Bridge on here). A little bit more pricey than say "Lasever," BUT- a FAR superior (in my opinion) product. I have had *NO* problems with any of my lasers (Viasho, Lasever and Laserwave), but Bridge and his products are Excellent. Plus, Bridge LIVES on this forum!! :) and is always willing to answer questions and help out!!!
Any other questions, feel free to ask. im No Adam (Buffo) or anything, lol, But i could do my best.
-Marc
You really have an eye for a great picture. These photos tell quite a wealth of information with no words.Quote:
Originally Posted by gottaluvlasers
James. :)
Hi,
I got a Lasever red and CNI green and blue.. They weigh in at:
350mw of 635nm
312mw of 532nm
330mw of 473nm
The great thing is that the blue is only rated at 200mw, so I got lucky :D:D
The photo's are of them all running full power, nothing wound back.. So by more luck than judgement they balance perfectly.
Adam, you are right, I got my optics from Edmund. Had a bit of trouble with the reflect blue optic at first, but they replaced it very quickly..
I use Laserworld 50k scanners in mine and they do the job and at a very cheap price... Also I have had nothing but top service from Martin Werner at Laserworld...
Keep us posted on the build Audrey, and don't forget,,, Loads a pics :D:D
Mark
Ummmmm. If a prism can split this white beam into it's red, green and blue lines, with a decent angle between them, then why can't you do it the other way and point the red, green and blue beams into the prism at the same angles and get white out the other side? Is it a difficulty of alignment thing? :confused:
I guess the angle isn't all that great. The prism would probably have to be 12 feet way from the lasers.
James. :)
You just answered your own question, James! :D The other limiting factor is the optical losses within the prizm. But apart from that, there's nothing preventing you from using one... It's just that dichros are more efficient and easier to align.Quote:
Originally Posted by James Lehman
Audry;
With a budget of $5000 US, you should be able to hit the power level you were aiming for with ease. And by using 635 nm for red, your color balance will actually be very close to ideal. (Remember that 635 appears much brighter than 660 nm.) Be sure you get analog color modulation and you'll be golden.
As for running your scanners at 50K - don't forget that a lot of the existing artwork is designed to be scanned at 30K. One of the advanced techniques that ILDA animators use is a concept called "pulling points". Essentially, they arrange points in an image that are much farther apart than they should be. So the scanner has no hope of actually reaching the target point before it gets sent off to the next point in the pattern. This results in a smooth curve with the scanner moving at it's maximum speed. (Ballistic motion, just like when you're scanning the center circle in the ILDA test pattern.)
The problem is that if you bump up your scanner speed to 50K, the scanners are moving fast enough that they can reach these "pulled points" in the image. So the nice smooth curve becomes a jagged, angled line. (Yuk.) If you have the famous "mermaid" ilda animation, you can see this technique in use. (Her eyes have pulled points, and I think parts of her tail do as well.)
This is why most people run their scanners at 30K, even if they are rated for higher speeds. (The other advantage of faster scanners is that they'll give you a wider scan angle when you run them at 30K.)
So don't worry too much about the modulation speed of the lasers. So long as they're good enough for 30K, you should be fine. (Of course, trying to compare modulation speed between different laser manufacturers is a challenge in itself because there isn't any standard for the spec.)
Adam
Really !!! ???Quote:
Originally Posted by buffo
Like how efficient? I noticed, from looking at these pictures, that there seems to be almost no "leakage". They must have made great strides in dichro coatings since the one I have was made. It leaks like crazy! I just have the one that combines the Argon and the HeNe.
James. :)
Depends on how much money you're willing to spend! :D Consumer-level dichros in the $45-$50 range boast reflection efficiencies of 98 to 99 %, with transmission efficiencies of 95 to 98 %.Quote:
Originally Posted by James Lehman
However, if you don't mind spending a couple hundred bucks on a dichro, you *can* get 99.5% or better on reflectance, and 99% or better on transmittance.
The one's from Edmund's are OK, but they're not great. I loose about 3 % of my green through *each* dichro, and I loose about 3% of my red through the second dicrho. However, the reflectance numbers are very good. I probably loose around 1% of my blue to reflectance from the second dichro, and maybe another 1.5% of the red off the first one. (My projector has the green laser at the back, then I mix in red at the first dichro, then I mix in blue at the second dichro before I hit the shutter and then the scanners.)
In the grand scheme of things, however, these numbers aren't so bad.
For what it's worth, I've heard from a few members here that the dichros that Bridge sells (the Laser-Wave ones) have better efficiency numbers than the one's from Edmunds, but I haven't checked them myself...
Could be that the one you have is also sensitive to polarization angle. There are a number of older coatings that only reach peak efficiency when both the angle of incidence *and* the polarization angle are aligned correctly. Or it could be that the coatings were optimized for different wavelengths. Or it could just be a cheap dichro. I've seen broad-band trichros that exhibit 5-7 percent losses on each face! Then again, they're 15 years old too. So yeah, it's fair to say that dichro technology has improved!Quote:
They must have made great strides in dichro coatings since the one I have was made. It leaks like crazy! I just have the one that combines the Argon and the HeNe.
Adam
Those numbers are amazing. I had no idea that they could be that good.
James. :)