Building a new projector

[dash8brj]

Well I got started!

I just ordered the DT40Wides - as I'm a beamshow guy.
Also the $135 set of dichro mounts, L brackets, and the dichros from LSP.

I also picked up a breakout board off ebay for about $15.

Tomorrow I'll go and get the case at my local jaycar store - Going to go with a 2U rackmount case (theres a couple of guys using them on LPF, and they're a sturdy good looking case. I have a couple of dead fixtures here I can steal the u brackets off.

I'll be testing with my 1 watt 445 dialed back to 400mw or so (for the sake of eye saftey).

I nearly plonked the almost $1000 I've spent on another chinese projector but thought NAH! I'm getting my home built one done!

next to find a baseplate, and deal with some green and red lasers. I'm going to start with exit aperture power of around one watt until I get my hands on higher powered red.

For now I'll use
400mw red 640nm
400mw green 532nm
400mw blue 445nm

Next item to buy on the list is pangolin Quickshow with the FB3 dac.

[LaNeK779]

waiting for pics!!!!

[dash8brj]

Well once bits start arriving i will take some :-)

[Ubersapian]

Hi ... I actualy went for this case from jaycar ... a bit more room than a 2U if u wanna play around with mounting powersupplys etc under your optics base plate http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView...T&SUBCATID=479

Cheers

Brett

[dash8brj]

Good on ya - I like that idea but that means I have to make a secondary table under the optics table.


Ben is tired, and must sleep. Time for ipod music and sleep

edit: after sleep:

hey thats a nice case there brett. I was going to go for a 6u originally then I saw the 2u and reckoned I could squeeze 3 lasers, some galvos, amps and a few psu's in there and still have room for the ILDA breakout, keys switch and iec socket

Case has arrived. I'll take some photos once I have assembled the second front panel, and my galvo's arrive.

Also just ordered an 8mm baseplate 1x1 foot which will fit into the case quite nicely

[dash8brj]

Well folks, bits arrived from LSP - and I chose a 2U rackmount case as the enclosure. (for now - if I dont like it or its too small, I'll put a single green projector in there, and get a bigger one).


Clockwise from back left: scan amp power supply, dichro mirrors, 5v psu for 445nm laser, funny brown capacitor things, L angle bracket (barely visible), adjustable dichro mounts, scanner block, centre - scanner amps. (edit: the funny brown caps are fuses for the galvo amps)


This is the y scanner amp - the x one looks the same except it has an X written on it.


Scanner block and galvos - the longer y mirror gives away that these are the wides.

Now, I also modded a 150mw greenie with a flexmod p3 for analogue modulation for testing. Once my ilda breakout board arrives, I'll be able to test the setup with my frame streamer express 2.0

Yes my place is dusty - the galvos have been carefully cleaned and the cardboard cover put back on them, and stored in a ziplock bag.

[dash8brj]

Been a while since I have updated my projector, but thats because I'm spending cash on other boring things like bills. I'll soon have the actual green laser, but heres the inside of the box with a general layout...



Note that the green laser will face like the demo 150mw in the picture, bounced off a mirror, to the galvos via the dicros. The red and blue lasers will fire toward the green laser, and live below the power supplies, but each also hit their own bounce mirror. Using bounce mirrors simplifies nearfield alignment. Yes I am happy to take the small hit in power. This thing will be insanely bright anyway, so loosing a few milliwatts wont be too terrible.

The green laser choice is going to be a DHOM optical green now, having seen good reports of them on this forum, and those building projectors on LPF; and they are a bit cheaper than laserwave. If anyone recommends sticking to the green laserwave, please advise. This is a hobby projector though, and will be for my personal use / parties etc, so splashing out for a kvant 640 will be expensive enough - if I can spend less on the green and put that money toward the FB3 and Quickshow, I'll be happy, but not if that saving means a degradation in performance from the green (heard these DHOM's are all overspec anyway so not too worried!)

[Ubersapian]

Hi

Your projector build looks like it's coming along well ... Mine gathering dust at moment due to dead green

Btw i noticed you mentioned the pangolin FB3 / QS .... I have two of these lil gems at the moment and am only really using one of them ... Shoot me a pm if u interested at anypoint.

-Brett

[dash8brj]

Ubersapian: you have a PM

I just tested my galvos with a crappy green laser thats just about had it (abused before I knew how to treat even a cheap chinese labby)

After working out a phantom earth that kept locking up my frame streamer I had a broad grin on my face watching the beams caress my workbench all the way over to the bathroom door and everywhere inbetween. The DT40W's sure are an amazing scanset. Thanks Dave and Aijii from LSP!!! they are awesome.

Now to get the FB3 from ubersapian and a couple of nice lasers and finish this beast.

I just found some nice heatsinks for the projector. I think I'm gonna need up upgrade to a 3 U case so I can mount the scanset psu vertically and save some space!