advice on where to purchase a scanner from

**ReaperZ** · 08-30-2011, 10:51

Hi all, am new here

i come from LPF (dont shoot me for being a handhold user!)

as of lately ive become interested in scanners, and here in NZ most clubs have less than adequate laser setups, so i was hoping to obtain something that would be reasonable for this kind of thing!

i was directed to a kvant unit as they are supposed to be quality, the one i was looking at was http://www.lasershow.sk/products/39-...-spectrum-2000, however the price for this unit is 3332 Euros. a little steep for whats inside it i think!

im after something with 30K galvos, with Analog modules, from my understanding color balance is 4:1:4 for RGB at 650:532:445, so i was thinking of 1watt for both the blue/red, and ~250mW green. please let me know if my thinking here is wrong!

i would look into researching and building my own, however i simply do not have the time right now due to starting a new demanding job.

is anyone able to suggest somewhere i may be able to purchase something like this ? or alternatively would anyone be willing to build me a unit?

appreciate your time

**White-Light** · 08-30-2011, 14:41

Kvant are quality and well worth the money albeit that model is a little blue heavy.

They're quality inside with great laser units modulation wise and quality dichros, mounts, scanners, well everything really. Kvant and RGB laser systems are probably the Rolls Royce of lasers.

Personally if I was in that position, I'd get the 2.1W spectrum and scale the blue back to 500mw to give 1.6W at almost 1:1:1.

If you do want the 1.6W spectrum, then you either need to accept the blue heavy balance or scale it back to 900mw.

With 640nm red a ratio of 1:1:1 is ideal.

Your 4:1:4 ratio looks way off even allowing for 650nm red which I don't think anyone here would recommend anyway due to its fat beam and the fact that 640nm and 637nm are much safer due to the lower power levels required for any given visibility. I'm guessing that was based on luminosity and not white balance.

Kvant with LM's are good. Cambridge if you're rich and do graphics.

Other than that, I'm sure there are several members on here that could custom build you a unit. However, projectors aren't cheap for a quality build. The components used in Kvant aren't far off the fully built price if priced and bought seperately.

**taggalucci** · 08-30-2011, 14:53

Welcome to PL!

Where in NZ are you? I have a few mates there and a few Kiwi mates here in Melbourne too.

You would most likely find the cheapest option would be to buy a complete projector from a Chinese supplier. I'm not saying that's your best option, just the cheapest. Though you would need to factor in quality issues, failures requiring shipping back to China (at your expense) etc. Most of these suppliers generally have a bad reputation here. Have a search around. One particular poor manufacturer is Laserworld.

I could probably build you a reasonably inexpensive projector. I have built a number of them in the past. One of my larger builds is posted here on PL.

The key things are the power level you would reasonably and realistically use there, the regulations NZ require both you and the projector to comply with and how educated you are in regards to using and maintaining a Class 4 laser projector.

Approximate ratios for colour balance would be:

1:1:1 635/640:532:445

3:1:1 650/660:532:445

The ratio you quoted would be blue heavy. Though this would be fine for beam shows where colour balance is less important.

Please tell us more about your knowledge, experience and what you'd like to achieve.

**ReaperZ** · 08-30-2011, 15:37

Originally Posted by White-Light

Kvant are quality and well worth the money albeit that model is a little blue heavy.

They're quality inside with great laser units modulation wise and quality dichros, mounts, scanners, well everything really. Kvant and RGB laser systems are probably the Rolls Royce of lasers.

Personally if I was in that position, I'd get the 2.1W spectrum and scale the blue back to 500mw to give 1.6W at almost 1:1:1.

If you do want the 1.6W spectrum, then you either need to accept the blue heavy balance or scale it back to 900mw.

With 640nm red a ratio of 1:1:1 is ideal.

Your 4:1:4 ratio looks way off even allowing for 650nm red which I don't think anyone here would recommend anyway due to its fat beam and the fact that 640nm and 637nm are much safer due to the lower power levels required for any given visibility. I'm guessing that was based on luminosity and not white balance.

Kvant with LM's are good. Cambridge if you're rich and do graphics.

Other than that, I'm sure there are several members on here that could custom build you a unit. However, projectors aren't cheap for a quality build. The components used in Kvant aren't far off the fully built price if priced and bought seperately.

i am looking to spend a little less than that at the moment :-) then in a year or two upgrade to something better ! perhaps i better speak to some builders, would there be anyone you could reccomend i talk to ?

i did not know 637/640 was an available diode wavelength , im new to reds and only knew of 660/650, with ~300mW max output, and was going to pbs cube them. is this the same limitations for the 637/640 ? or are they that much brighter that only a single labby is required?.

ps White-Light, i bought an arcade machine the other day, Jamma board based, it has pacman plus 47 other retro games from the early 80s!

Originally Posted by taggalucci

Welcome to PL!

Where in NZ are you? I have a few mates there and a few Kiwi mates here in Melbourne too.

You would most likely find the cheapest option would be to buy a complete projector from a Chinese supplier. I'm not saying that's your best option, just the cheapest. Though you would need to factor in quality issues, failures requiring shipping back to China (at your expense) etc. Most of these suppliers generally have a bad reputation here. Have a search around. One particular poor manufacturer is Laserworld.

I could probably build you a reasonably inexpensive projector. I have built a number of them in the past. One of my larger builds is posted here on PL.

The key things are the power level you would reasonably and realistically use there, the regulations NZ require both you and the projector to comply with and how educated you are in regards to using and maintaining a Class 4 laser projector.

Approximate ratios for colour balance would be:

1:1:1 635/640:532:445

3:1:1 650/660:532:445

The ratio you quoted would be blue heavy. Though this would be fine for beam shows where colour balance is less important.

Please tell us more about your knowledge, experience and what you'd like to achieve.

Thanks for the reply

I'm situated in Wellington!

my experience with laser scanners is zero, apart from seeing a few shows at clubs and thinking 'wow i know a lot more could be achieved' however with portables i have about 20, ranging from 5mW to 1600mW, with wavelengths varying from 405/445/532/650/660. the brightest being a 520mW CNI PGL based 532nm. i also have an LPM

i understand the risks and dangers of using class 4 lasers, but have not looked into safety regarding using in a crowded area. i would like the possibility to potentially do crowd scanning, however i understand i would need to SEVERLY lower the output powers, hence why Analog modulation seems very important to me (am i thinking along the right line here?)

what i would like to achieve would be beamshows similar to this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY2yhR0qnp4
i understand this unit is FAR beyond what i would be looking at anytime in the near future.

also some animation style stuff (hence why i was looking at 30k galvos as opposed to 10/15/20k), for example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkJ_9...eature=related.

do you have a link to your larger build ? i would love to see it

Also I would be interested in hiring your skills

there are no power restrictions in New Zealand

**taggalucci** · 08-30-2011, 23:34

Wellington hey? I have a few mates here from Wellington, used to go to the Fevah parties there.

Here's some photos of my larger projector...

http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...467#post144467

What sized venue would you realistically use a projector in? This will help decide the minimum power levels to go for.

You're right about needing analogue modulation so that you can fade the lasers as required (particularly if audience scanning). This is a tricky area though and requires much knowledge to do safely.

I'm happy to help out if I can, I have a few builds on the go at the moment, so can easily incorporate more metalwork, electronics, parts orders etc.

**Jem** · 08-31-2011, 08:41

Sent a PM to 'Pitts' here on PL

He's in Rotarua and is a Pangolin dealer, he'll also be able to advise on lasers.

Cheers

Jem

**ReaperZ** · 08-31-2011, 10:50

Originally Posted by taggalucci

Wellington hey? I have a few mates here from Wellington, used to go to the Fevah parties there.

Here's some photos of my larger projector...

http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...467#post144467

What sized venue would you realistically use a projector in? This will help decide the minimum power levels to go for.

You're right about needing analogue modulation so that you can fade the lasers as required (particularly if audience scanning). This is a tricky area though and requires much knowledge to do safely.

I'm happy to help out if I can, I have a few builds on the go at the moment, so can easily incorporate more metalwork, electronics, parts orders etc.

hmm, i would say 90% of the venues would be approx 60metres by 20 metres.. however there may be possibilities of doing shows at larger venues. say 150metres by 40 metres. but that would be further down the track. so depending on cost of power levels required, i may look at upgrading to meet the 2nd venues requirements later .. or perhaps add a second scanner.

sounds like you and i need to have a chat sometime :-)

Originally Posted by Jem

Sent a PM to 'Pitts' here on PL

He's in Rotarua and is a Pangolin dealer, he'll also be able to advise on lasers.

Cheers

Jem

Thank you :-) i will certainly do this.

small side note, its spelt Rotorua , but ican forgive you for that!!!

**Jem** · 08-31-2011, 11:15