last stages of my laser completion help

[tommylee333]

is it ok to run the blue casio 1 watt diode at 650mw?
another question.
my picture always seems to jump when i play a show or program in spaghetti can anyone help?
i don't think it is spaghetti because it is working great.
I Love The Program.
i have a 500mw dpps green
a casio blue 1 watt
red 200mw.
drlava 3 drivers
pt 30 scanners.
30k scanners and 3 of drlavas new 3 drivers are driving everything.
Question number 3 the red always seems to have a line running from the bottom of the page to where the picture starts. and it stays in the picture all the time, at some point.
any suggestions would be really appreciated.
and once again if you want to piss, and moan, just pass my thread by. and don't worry about it.
me and my wife Tammy Renne, are the luckiest people in the world.
we get to play music and get paid for it thank God.
so we don't like bitching, and pissing, and moaning, if you are un happy in your life that is not my fault, God gives us all the right to be happy so enjoy life.
God bless.

[buffo]

is it ok to run the blue casio 1 watt diode at 650mw?

Yes. They will run just fine at anything up to (and even a little beyond) a full watt. So 650 mw is well within the safety zone. (There's never a problem running a diode below it's maximum power rating. If anything, it improves the life expectancy of the diode.)

Just keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get too hot. If it's too hot to touch it after operating for 30 min or so, consider adding a small fan to keep it cool.

my picture always seems to jump when i play a show or program in spaghetti can anyone help?

We really need more information to diagnose this. A video would be great. Baring that, what exactly is "jumping"? Is the whole image moving around, or is the image itself distorting?

Either way, it sounds like a cabling problem. How do you have the X and Y signals connected to your scanners? (Are you using the X+ and X- inputs, or just the X+ and gnd inputs?) Also, I seem to remember that you were using a sound-card DAC. If so, did you go through the adjustment and calibration process for your correction amplifier before you hooked up your projector?

Please post a video so we can see exactly what is happening.

the red always seems to have a line running from the bottom of the page to where the picture starts. and it stays in the picture all the time, at some point.

That means the red laser isn't blanking. Check your wiring first. Make sure you've got the correct pin on the ILDA connector (the red + color signal is on pin 5), and make sure it's connected to the modulation input on the driver for the red laser. It's probably just a loose wire, but it could be a faulty driver. (Unlikely though)

so we don't like bitching, and pissing, and moaning, if you are un happy in your life that is not my fault

Um.... Where did all that come from? Who said anything was your fault dude? Let's keep the drama to a minimum, OK?

Adam

[allthatwhichis]

Hey Tommy, can you post a video of the "jumpyness"? You may need to run a wire from PIN25 to your scanner power supply. I had to do this on my DT40 Pros. I am not sure why, but I am sure someone here can post a follow up explination. I'd need to see a video to be sure this is the same problem I had.

I see Adam has posted something on the other issues...

[buffo]

Good advice, Aaron. There *should* be a connection from the scanner amp power supply ground to ILDA ground (pin 25). If his projector is missing that, it might cause artifacts similar to what he described.

Still, a video of the exact problem would make it easier to diagnose...

Adam

[tommylee333]

thanks buffo you always give the best answers.
i made a heat sink for the blue diode to keep it from getting to hot.
the whole picture seems to move around slowly and sometimes jumps making it hard to watch.
i have the x+ x- and ground hooked up also the y+ y- and y ground hooked up.
i have the red signal wire hooked right.
sorry about the bitching, but i try and post a question on the forum, and half of the time some one tells me to do more resaerch and i tell them i did but couldn't find it. a
nd they get rude.
i am not talking about everyone, there are some really nice people on here and i enjoy talking to them.
i don't think they realize i had 4 mini strokes in the period of 2 years, and also a mild heart attack. and it effected my short term memory so some times i can't remember what i read, and it gets hard to understand.
i am 61 years old.
i'm not an idiot, i graduated the 3rd highest in the history of atlanta area tech in electronic technician.
also i play 9 instruments, and also graduated as an automotive mechanic, had my own electronic repair shop for years, until a tv explodoed on my hand. and so i gave that up, and went back into music.
i invented my own buglar alarm system from scratch, and sold them.
i install half of all the top notch sound systems in the big night clubs in atlanta.
and so when people act like you are an idiot it gets you irritated.
thats why i don't post on here as much as i should.
don't like to be treated like an idiot.
i am in the country music hall of fame,
band of the year 3 years in a row,
entertainer of the year 3 years in a row,
best recording studio 3 years in a roe,
best video studio 4 years in a row,
life time achievement awards ,
been on tv numourous times,with many stars,
played withe Grand Funk Rail Road,
Toured with Phil Collins,
played with Billy Joe Royal,
The Georgia Sattelites,The paltters,
Toured with lynerd skyners,
played for literally millions of people.
toured with the president,
awarded for raising over a million dollars for needed children ,
have out my own cd that was nuber 2 for 17 weeks in 19 countries.
to much stuff to print here.
so you see why it irritares me when people act like you are an idiot.
just because you are learning something new. sorry to affend anyone,
but would just like for them to answer my question, or just don't comment, if they are gonna be rude.
God has blessed me, and i always do unto others as i would have them do unto me.
if you asked me a question, i don't care how many times someone has answered it, i would be glad to tell you the answer if i knew it.
i'm like you Buffo i like helping people.
thank you, and everyone, for all your help on here.
and may God bless everyone of you.

[tommylee333]

we are so busy playing in the band right now, but i will try and post a video on here this week.
thanks for your replys. and i do have a ground wire number pin 25 to the red, blue,green, and the scanner amps all from pin 25 on the db25 plug.
God bless.

[gottaluvlasers]

Hi Tommy-

if you are using the DT scanners, your scanner inputs (signal inputs) should just be the + and -. *NOT* the ground input! Connect your X+ and X- and Y+ and Y-. but *do not* use the middle conductor (i think a black wire) as a ground.

Run ILDA pin 25 to the power supplys "com" input.

-Marc

[allthatwhichis]

I have one going from PIN 25 to the DC "GND" of my 24V scanner amp power supply. If this is not connected it gets some sort of feedback and the image wiggles.

[buffo]

i made a heat sink for the blue diode to keep it from getting to hot.

That's a good idea. The blue diodes can take a lot of punishment, but a little heatsinking will go a long way towards keeping them happy. Like I said, so long as it's not so hot that it burns your finger after it's been running a while, you should be fine. And worst case, you can always put a little fan blowing on it. They really don't need TEC cooling unless you're overdriving them.

the whole picture seems to move around slowly and sometimes jumps making it hard to watch.

Ok, so we're talking about a slow movement of the entire image, perhaps on a diagonal, and then it "snaps back" from time to time? If so, this sounds like a grounding issue. Unfortunately, this also means it might take a while to track down the problem. I had this same issue with the first revision of my projector...

i have the x+ x- and ground hooked up also the y+ y- and y ground hooked up.

Ok, try removing the ground on X and Y first. You should only have X+ and X- connected on the scanner amp. There shouldn't be any connection to the gnd connection between them. Same goes for the Y scanner amp. (Yeah, I know it's confusing... Why put the gnd connector there if it's not supposed to be used, right? But trust me, it will work better without having ILDA pin 25 connected there.)

Also, regarding what Aaron said above: Check to be sure you *do* have ILDA pin 25 connected to the GND connection on your scanner amp power supply.

i have the red signal wire hooked right.

Hmmm... OK, let's try this then: connect the modulation wire from the red driver to the GREEN modulation signal. This should force your red laser to come on whenever GREEN is being displayed. Now, if you have a bunch of extra green re-trace lines in the image, then you know that the driver has a problem and it's not blanking the diode. In that case, I'd need to know exactly which driver you are using. If it's the older N2 version of the Flexmod, then the problem is probably a short circuit between the output transistor and ground. But if it's the newer P3 unit, then I don't know what could be causing it.

On the other hand, if you connect the red driver to the green color signal and everything works just fine (no green retrace lines like you had with red), then that means there is a problem with the red signal getting to your projector. Either a bad ILDA cable or a problem with your controller...

sorry about the bitching, but i try and post a question on the forum, and half of the time some one tells me to do more resaerch and i tell them i did but couldn't find it.

Part of the problem is that the search engine is not working correctly right now. So searching for things on the forum is very difficult right now, and many times you *won't* be able to find what you are looking for, even though the answers are in the forums. Not everyone is aware of the problems Spec is having with the search engine though, and that's where some of those nasty posts are coming from. I'm hoping that those people will soon realize the foolishness of their rants.

One thing you can do to make it easier though is to post more detailed information about the problem you are having. Explain what you are trying to do, what isn't working, and what you've looked at already. That lets people know where to start when trying to answer your question. And yeah, no matter what you do, sometimes you're just going to catch someone on a bad day... Hopefully that doesn't happen too often though.

As for me, I understand your personal situation, and I know you're not an idiot. Not everyone has met you in person though, and some people are just a bit too short-tempered. I agree that it would be much better if everyone just took a deep breath and relaxed before posting.

Adam

[tommylee333]

thanks so much for all your help.
i'm sorry if i sounded like i was bitchin.
i'm gonna try the things all of you suggested, and again thanks, and God bless everyone here on the forum.