New to RGV, got a good idea where to start, I don't want to re-invent the wheel

[rMuD]

OK, so today I started looking to make a few inexpensive RGV projectors, just for the home office to write some software. I got lots of info, but not confident enough to pull the trigger to buy parts.

Things I need is good looking and the most linear analogue modulation or equivalent. again bang for the buck, I don't need perfect but I don't want to over pay for something that sucks. I'm looking at a expensive drivers. What are the favorites?

I plan on maybe mixing it up a bit between projectors with 650nm 660nm and maybe even do one with 445nm. Green I'm not real comfortable with what will work.. Worse case I have a 15W PCAOM sitting in the closet that I'd have to probably get new crystals for it. Or Maybe someone would want to trade me some new laser stuff for some old ion laser stuff.. 15W PCAOM, 60x big 20mw Hene. 2' x 3' 1/4" 20 bread board, ADAT players.

Scanners what works? I'm only familar with 6800's I have 1 set with broken mirrors and amp. I think I might have a set of old turbo tracks in the basement. I see 30k sets on ebay for $300? is that for real? is it more like 12k or less?

Power I could live with 50mw total power but of course I want more power! and I want to have a good white balance (not necessarily at 100% all on)

Looking to spend $1000 or less.. (Pre Scanners)

[White-Light]

640nm is considered by many best for red as it gives a good compromise between luminosity and colour and also has good beam specs. 650nm has a wide beam and apart from alignment issues, you will lose some power inside the projector as the beam will miss the mirrors in part.

As for blue, many on here like 445nm but also consider 458nm (see McCarrot's web site for lasers CNI lasers at this wavelength). Supposed to have the deeper colour but higher luminosity. You originally talked about Violet in the title which is of course 405nm and will be self build as I don't think any big name company sells 405nm commercially. Also be aware that Andy's findings with Violet are that you need a lot of it for beams (500mw+) although smaller amounts are useful for graphics.

The most linear lasers I believe are the new Kvant modules but these are more expensive. Most on here tend to choose Laserwave but more for their reliability and Bridge's excellent service than for linearity. They are good lasers though. If linearity is your number 1 criteria then Kvant are the way to go but they will bust your budget.

As for power levels, 50mw isn't going to be easily achieveable with what you're proposing unless you build some from diodes yourself. The smallest Laserwave green is 100mw. I'm not sure on 458nm but I think McCarrot's smallest unit is 600mw from memory. On 640nm red I think its around 150mw. A 500mw projector is probably a better aim therefore if you want to keep powers low.

For your budget you could manage 100mw green, 200mw 640nm and maybe a self build violet but that doesn't leave much for casing etc. A 50mw 473nm blue would bust your budget if added to what went previously.

Scanners consider DT 40's, DT 40 wides or Scan Pro's or of course Cambridge if you have a large scanner budget.

[rMuD]

Below is the basic occular brightness if I want to use 10mw of Green to make white.. and what power I would need to match for each wavelength. Stating 50mw is more of what I would compare to a Argon/Hene brightness... I'm just old I guess.




I do understand that standard drivers are not so good, and was planning on spending a good part of that $1000 for good diode drivers. $1000 before scanners is my target. I got some room to work with.

Trying to avoid DPSS for Blue, dealing with green power curve is hard enough, blue I havn't heard much in the way of that working well. 445 is probably the goal, just depends on how well I do on getting the right green. making at least 2 projectors might do one of each... plus if I decided not to sell the PCAOM, I can get that retrofitted for blue and green dpss I supose. But I think alot of my budget will be satisfied by selling the beast.

FYI: 8 Channel Rack Mount NEOS with test buttons, digital driver with supply and all, crystal wasn't used in high power often, should be in great shape. comes with brag mount and all, taking offers I know I spent over $3000 with discounts for it.

[tocket]

I suspect your table contains values for luminous efficiencies of different wavelengths. If you want to match the brightness of all your elementary colors, they are indeed the values you should look at. They are not that useful for figuring out what color the mixed beam will have though. Violet, such as 405 nm is not very bright, but it has a strong effect on the color when mixed with for example green. It will shift the color to blue much more than is suggested by the luminous efficiency.

That said, I still don't think 405 nm is a suitable wavelength for laser show applications. Many people, including me (typically nearsighted) have trouble focusing on such short wavelenghts, which will make the beam look strange. It is also hard to get a blue color with good saturation from it. The colors you get on the red-violet line are stunning though!

[White-Light]

I'm curious to know what you're using as your green laser source given that you're only aiming at 10mw. Could this be a pointer module and if so how are you going to stop it overheating in a projector, have you added a TEC?

I'm presuming from your aim of having all of the modules so low powered that all your sources are going to be pointer modules.

As for your prediction table, the violet rating is very interesting 1.8 Watts!! Kind of blows the 50mw total out of the water!!

I think this shows the danger of going of luminosity alone. Tockets Chroma predictor is fairly accurate in the mainstream visible spectrum and very good for getting on the fly ideas of white balance. It doesn't work so well for 405nm.

I think most on here would also tell you that you can achieve some nice balances without matching the luminosity of the colours exactly anyway. There are very few people who can afford enough blue or red to match the luminosity of their greens and yet still have very nice projectors.

[mixedgas]

Rob, down the road from you is a Case doctoral student who sells quality, fast, diode drivers and has violet if you wish to look at it. PM DRLAVA for details.

Keep your Cambridges, even the 6800HPs are still very good compared to the gold standard 682X series, but yes, you can get a 30K cambridge clone for that. Only difference is the magnets are not bonded to the case and chinese bearings, while good, are not ceramic. In reality, you, being a serious user, might notice the position sensor linearity issues at the edges of large images, but no one else does.

Expect to have to do some mild retuning out of the box for your standards, about 10 minutes worth per axis.


Steve[/QUOTE]

[rMuD]

Rob, down the road from you is a Case doctoral student who sells quality, fast, diode drivers and has violet if you wish to look at it. PM DRLAVA for details.

Keep your Cambridges, even the 6800HPs are still very good compared to the gold standard 682X series, but yes, you can get a 30K cambridge clone for that. Only difference is the magnets are not bonded to the case and chinese bearings, while good, are not ceramic. In reality, you, being a serious user, might notice the position sensor linearity issues at the edges of large images, but no one else does.

Expect to have to do some mild retuning out of the box for your standards, about 10 minutes worth per axis.


Steve

Steve now that we are in our 40's at least my eyes don't scan faster than 22k, anything beyond that is irrevelent. Though maybe one more run of LaserMAME I just found out the World Record Holder for Tempest works in Solon. I was planning to keep at least my 6800's or send them off to be repaired, metal bearings and broken mirrors, but I hear that the turn around time is 6 months. I havn't tuned galvo in 10+ years, but between Matt and I we've tuned eclipse amps to almost do 50k. I'm am estatic that entry level scanners with amps are "hobby" friendly. The average laser enthusiest has a chance.

[mixedgas]

Steve now that we are in our 40's at least my eyes don't scan faster than 22k, anything beyond that is irrevelent. Though maybe one more run of LaserMAME I just found out the World Record Holder for Tempest works in Solon. I was planning to keep at least my 6800's or send them off to be repaired, metal bearings and broken mirrors, but I hear that the turn around time is 6 months. I havn't tuned galvo in 10+ years, but between Matt and I we've tuned eclipse amps to almost do 50k. I'm am estatic that entry level scanners with amps are "hobby" friendly. The average laser enthusiest has a chance.

Not only that, you can get going with a 6 channel USB sound card. (i've been busy behind the scenes, and with a little help (actually lots!) from some very skilled people have schemed to make this accessable to anybody with some basic skills.

Its NOT Pangolin, but you can now get up and running with freeware.

And speak for yourself, at the last test I was 20/15 uncorrected. My left eye is dragging me down.. :-)

Go see DR Lava's setup. You'll like his sound card driver...

Steve

[rMuD]

I suspect your table contains values for luminous efficiencies of different wavelengths. If you want to match the brightness of all your elementary colors, they are indeed the values you should look at. They are not that useful for figuring out what color the mixed beam will have though. Violet, such as 405 nm is not very bright, but it has a strong effect on the color when mixed with for example green. It will shift the color to blue much more than is suggested by the luminous efficiency.

That said, I still don't think 405 nm is a suitable wavelength for laser show applications. Many people, including me (typically nearsighted) have trouble focusing on such short wavelenghts, which will make the beam look strange. It is also hard to get a blue color with good saturation from it. The colors you get on the red-violet line are stunning though!

the chart is the occular brightness chart, it is a reference to how bright a wavelength appears to the human eye 555nm being 100%. It was or is available from es-Lasersysteme in a word doc. There use to be a graph or mouse pad that someone use to give out as laser swag. On that note, if anyone wants to support my cause, feel free to purchase a Coffee Mug with the schematic of a 60X control board on it. Also available in a stylish Beer Stein with gold trim.

10mw is just a reference of the amount of green I'd want to use for a balanced white. It does not represent anything I own.

I've been told that there is a effect with 405nm that it appears brighter when used on a white sheet, and obviously would use color dragging to increase. I am with you though on losing short wavelengths, that will defiently be added to the criteria, I can no longer tell the difference between navy blue and black.

[swamidog]

405 is kind of like staring at a black light made out of barbed wire.

That said, I still don't think 405 nm is a suitable wavelength for laser show applications. Many people, including me (typically nearsighted) have trouble focusing on such short wavelenghts, which will make the beam look strange. It is also hard to get a blue color with good saturation from it. The colors you get on the red-violet line are stunning though!