Laser Projector (Red, Green, Purple) "Laser 3D Party Light" from Spencer's

[GridMonkey]

Is there a good test file out there to align the lasers? or should i just set the smallest focus pattern and do it that way? also any ideas on why a dot might be a wide-ish oval instead? i think the noise around the green in this case is just a smudged dichroic mirror (ps this is something i do understand as im a theatrical lighting tech, so optics and dichroics and such i get and would be willing to help with) which will get a lint free cloth cleaning and such. Still looking for some reason as to why certian ild files dont want to work on the laser even though they seem to have the same properties as the ones that do according to a number of different ilda viewers.

thanks

[GridMonkey]

And so i figured out how to get a decent alignment going, just made a 1 pixel box basically cycling all 3 colors, and while attempting to align the kinda off red laser i broke it, or the board or something, red no longer works, w/o using a scope is there any way to quick test the header that the red laser plugged into, like a multimeter?

[DogP]

Is there a good test file out there to align the lasers? or should i just set the smallest focus pattern and do it that way? also any ideas on why a dot might be a wide-ish oval instead? i think the noise around the green in this case is just a smudged dichroic mirror (ps this is something i do understand as im a theatrical lighting tech, so optics and dichroics and such i get and would be willing to help with) which will get a lint free cloth cleaning and such. Still looking for some reason as to why certian ild files dont want to work on the laser even though they seem to have the same properties as the ones that do according to a number of different ilda viewers.

I used the ILDA test pattern at a large size, as it's got a white outline and a few 1 pixel white dots, which made it easy to get tweaked just right. When I shrunk the output to a small size, it was too bright and hard to see the edges of the dots to align. I'm not sure about some files not working for you... I haven't tried very many. The only things I can remember running across are problems with the types being different, and the pallete being different.

And so i figured out how to get a decent alignment going, just made a 1 pixel box basically cycling all 3 colors, and while attempting to align the kinda off red laser i broke it, or the board or something, red no longer works, w/o using a scope is there any way to quick test the header that the red laser plugged into, like a multimeter?

Hmm, hopefully it's nothing major. Have you looked at the wires to make sure nothing got detached or pinched? You should be able to check the output from the board with a multimeter... I'd put a pattern that has a lot of white (or add the ",i" to the end of the .prg line), and check approximately what DC value you get from the green and violet outputs, and see if you get that from the red output.

You could also plug the red laser into the green output, and green laser into the red output, and see what works/doesn't... but I'd check with the multimeter first, since a bad output could blow the laser, and a bad laser could blow the output.

DogP

[GridMonkey]

Near as i can tell i did something to the output that powers the red laser, not sure where in the system, but not getting any power at the pins, so.... yea there's that, ive also deicded that i have one of the much older models as it came with 3 boards inside, looks to be some kind of power regulator for the galvos being the third small board, since they stop moving when its unpugged. Also mine only came with a 256mb card. In any case, id be willing to sell it off if anyone wants it, or trade. Id like to keep the diodes if its a trade so id be looking for trading for a driver(i think thats what i mean, to power them on their own) or 2 and something like this thanks

[buffo]

Is there a good test file out there to align the lasers?

Any all-white pattern that has horizontal and vertical lines will work. I like to use the LaserMedia test pattern myself.
It looks like this:


Adam

[LaserCo]

Hey Gridmonkey, I am interested in working out a deal with you on the broken party light, PM'd you

@All: I was in Spencers a while back and was checking out the display they had running fulltime off this item. They were shining it the ceiling down onto the floor.. While it was not in the ultimate of a display position I could make out several of the images. This thread has kept me interested and I am tempted to get one myself.

[Nozzledog]

Sounds like you guys are going thru a lot of the same stuff I am right now. Just got a China laser (500mw RGB 25Kpps) as a gift and trying to figure out how it all works. It looks like the SD card file system on mine is a little different, the files don't have any control handles at the end. I still haven't figured out how to get more than one to play at a time though.
I paid out the $29 for ILDSoS ( http://hacylon.case.edu/ebay/laser_diode/ILD_SOS.php ).
It has been a great little program for tweaking the frame rates of .ild files. You tell it the speed of your galvos and what framerate you want, and its adds or subtracts the right amount of points to achieve those results. It also lets you convert different .ild versions back and forth. I found my laser SD reader only recognizes v4.5 .ild files.
If you have Inkscape, it is very easy to make .svg file that ILDSoS will convert to .ild . It also treats Inkscape layers as frames for animation.
I am also finding that some files flicker more than others, and it is not always related to the number of points being drawn, maybe more about how far the points are away from each other.

Was the Spencers laser the one that was showing the fireworks animation? I would love to find that file.

[steve-o]

The one I got (spencers) has fireworks animation. Its pretty cool. I'd like to figure out how to run high power diodes off it. Does this thing have a 0-5V output somewhere available (analog modulation output) for the LD driver board?

[DogP]

Does this thing have a 0-5V output somewhere available (analog modulation output) for the LD driver board?

I'm pretty sure the Spencer's unit doesn't have any sort of analog laser control... it appears to just switch the laser on or off. My newer board has a few header pins, one of which is labeled blue... I haven't investigated whether they're just testpoints for the output, or for driving it externally (for a factory test program or something).

DogP

[steve-o]

Ok thx DogP . I forgot it was mentioned that this was only a TTL / 7 color projector. Oh well.. fun little gadget anyway :]