Building my first projector - will this work?

[Rx4]

Hello everyone. I am completely new to lasers other than owing a few ebay jobs which I run via dmx. Having now taken an interest in it I am looking at building my own.
I was wondering if I could run by you all what I was planning. I am looking at building a pair of 1W ILDA blue projectors and was checking if the components I have selected will work and if I am missing anything.

For cases I am going to order a couple of box-500 blacks through Golden Star.

For the diodes I was looking at a pair of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Real-1W-blue-las...item2a0cf87343

And for the galvos a pair of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/30Kpps-HightSpee...item336164dd02

Will the above combination work? What else would I be in need of?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Cheers.

[Geetone]

Hey, dude!
I really dunno about that diode module, but find my show video here on pl - you'll see how these scanners perform. They're good. But contact spacelas or phenixtechnology - you could buy these for ~160$ plus shipping from them, these scanners are ScanLSP30 also named PT30K.

[Rx4]

Hey Geetone.
Thank you very much for the information. I had a look at your project as well, well done.

I have now been contemplating changing to an RGB projector, or at least having the option to down the track. If I was to run with that blue 445nm module with an output rated at 850mW what power ratings would I require to a red and green module to match in order to get a decent white and equivalent brightness along all three?

[LaNeK779]

well... very roughly speaking, green should be over 500mw (more like closer to 850 mw)

and red should be.... depends if you use 642nm or 650 - 660nm. if you go with 660 it's good to have to least 3,5 times your green power. if you go with 642nm, you will need much less (but much much more expensive)

[Rx4]

Thanks very much for the information Lanek779.

Another question to you all if I may. I am better of going a 100mW 473nm module or a 1W 445nm module? How would they compare in brightness?

[Doc]

Thanks very much for the information Lanek779.

Another question to you all if I may. I am better of going a 100mW 473nm module or a 1W 445nm module? How would they compare in brightness?

The 473 would have a smaller/nicer beam (though somewhat noisy), 1W 445 will be a fait bit brighter due to the amount of power.

[Stoney3K]

Do keep in mind that these O-like blue modules are not temperature regulated or cooled through a TEC. If you push them too hard, they're bust.

If you want a decent quality blue 445nm, you can always look at the DHOM blue modules, a bit more expensive, but have the option of analog modulation:

http://cgi.ebay.com/600mW-445nm-Blue...item4aa6537afc

The extra money may be worth it in the long run. The DHOM modules will go up to 1W without breaking a sweat.

[Rx4]

Do keep in mind that these O-like blue modules are not temperature regulated or cooled through a TEC. If you push them too hard, they're bust.

If you want a decent quality blue 445nm, you can always look at the DHOM blue modules, a bit more expensive, but have the option of analog modulation:

http://cgi.ebay.com/600mW-445nm-Blue...item4aa6537afc

The extra money may be worth it in the long run. The DHOM modules will go up to 1W without breaking a sweat.

Hello Stoney3K. Thanks for the information and suggestion. As I am new to building my own projector I am a little lost when it comes to analog vs TTL modulation. I understand the concept of both but not sure about what is required in order to run analog. Obviously it would require analog modulated lasers, but beyond that what is required? Ar the scanners from ebay I listed at the start of the thread able to be used with analog lasers?

Cheers.

[LaNeK779]

The modulation has only to do with the power supplied to the laser diodes, nothing to do with scanners.

So, if you buy analog modulated laser modules you are ready to run analog. Spaghetti and other laser show software have native support for analog lasers

so, this is the easy part. buy analog, run analog end of story

[Stoney3K]

The modulation has only to do with the power supplied to the laser diodes, nothing to do with scanners.

So, if you buy analog modulated laser modules you are ready to run analog. Spaghetti and other laser show software have native support for analog lasers

so, this is the easy part. buy analog, run analog end of story

Adding to that: The difference between analog and TTL is similar to a light switch and a dimmer. A TTL laser only has two settings, 'on' and 'off', which are sent from your DAC just as the X and Y signal is sent to the scanners. (A typical DAC has 5 or 6 channels, the X and Y beam positions and R/G/B colour intensity)

Starting out with a TTL laser if you're on a budget and driving it like it was an analog laser won't break it. Neither would the other way round, and upgrading is a drop-in replacement.

If you're on a tight budget, go for TTL, but since you're only using one colour at this time, analog modulation is a great addition to your arsenal of effects. Audiences will notice a laser fading in and out instead of just going *click* off *click* on.