Upgrading Scanners - 10k to 25k

[ragerlazer]

So I have a 1w laser with 10k scanners, and bought from Goldenstar laser a set of 25k scanners. The 10k's have one driver card, while the 25's each have their own for the X and Y. Power will not be a problem since the new power supply has two outputs for the driver cards.

On the 10k driver card are two more 3pin connections - one labeled as X G Y which connects to the X and Y out from the ILDA input card. The other connection is a -15 G +15 connection that also connects to the ILDA input card.


Would it be a matter of splitting that X G Y, and take X G to the X driver for the 25k, and G Y to the Y driver for the 25k, or is there a lot more that I'm missing? The power in (-15 G +15) runs from the 10k driver card, to the ILDA board, so I figure I can use either new driver card to power it.

I've attached some photos. I've never upgraded scanners before, so if I am missing something, or am on the right track, any information would be greatly appreciated!

Some photos of the insides are attached.


Robert

[mixedgas]

Your old amps were Single Ended: one signal wire and ground. The new amps will have Differential (two signal wires with exactly opposite signals + optional ground) inputs.
The Differential signaling method is used to cancel noise pickup on long cable runs. It lets the amp subtract the noise pickup.

Differential wiring is unique in that you can dispense with the signal ground in most cases, if you have a differential source. You dont, so you need the single ended to differential wiring scheme.

There is a simple cure for this:

Take X Out from the three pin connector you mentioned, and run it to input one on the new X amp
Ground X Input two to the signal ground on the new X amp.
Signal Ground from the three pin connects to Input Ground on the new amp, unless you have possible noise issues (We'll work on that later)

Take Y Out from the three pin and run it to input one on the new Y amp.
Ground Y Input two to the signal ground on the new Y amp.
Signal ground on the three pin connects to input ground on the new amp.

Make sure there is a jumper from the three pin ground to both signal grounds on the new amps.

Note input ground is NOT power line/case ground. That is a long post for another time.

Expect images to possibly be 1/2 size on the new amp because the old system used single ended signals. When a Diff amp is fed single ended signals it shrinks the image by design.

There are some variables here, such as what the image size pots are set to on the new amps, etc.

I hope the old PSUs can supply enough Amperage to handle the new Galvos.

Pangolin has a beautiful writeup on wiring projectors, its worth a read. Its in the resource section of their website.

So what you wrote up in your post works, except you need two more ground wires to make the amp inputs happy,


Steve

[ragerlazer]

So I am pretty much taking the X G Y (from the ILDA card, which runs to the old scanner driver), splitting it and connecting X to the X pin on the new X driver, Y to the Y pin on the new Y driver, and splitting G (ground) to BOTH drivers.

Correct?


Robert

[ragerlazer]

So it seems I will need to split the G from the X G Y to each new driver card (X will have X G, Y will have Y G), and then split the G from the +15 G -15 connector to the G for each. The new driver cards have the +15 G -15 on them, so is it possible to just split the whole thing, and give each new driver card a +15 G -15, or is it better to just split the G to both?


Robert

[ragerlazer]

Here is a photo of the new card (I have TWO, one for X and one for Y). I can easily do the power in (the new power supply came with two power outputs) and I can use one of the cards for the +15 G -15 which runs to the ILDA board.

There is a big 4 pin connector, which has to be the X or Y input (depending on which you send it) - I only have one small 3 pin connector which is X G Y... any idea on how to split it and which pins the wiring will connect to?

[tribble]

Steve told you exactly how to wire the signals. Re-read his post, and/or the Pangolin guide... I can't be clearer than they were.

I see your new amp boards are 24V, and your new PS is probably 24V too. If the original power supply ran to the amp board and then to the show board, the show board is expecting 15V. DO NOT connect a 24V supply to your show board on a jack marked 15V, or you will probably fry it (unless winni says otherwise!)

Good luck!

[ragerlazer]

*doh* I figured it out. I had X (or Y) going to both + AND - and the laser would turn on, but galvos would be in one position. + is now the 'signal' and the other three are ground. Looks much more impressive than a 10k (which was advertised as a 15k when I bought it). Thanks everyone for helping a newbie!

[tribble]

Glad you got it going! I would be very interested in photos of the ilda and lasermedia test patterns if you are able to project/photograph them. Always good to know what particular scansets are capable of.