mamba

[buffo]

There are some low cost options out there for a laser show DAC and software combination. In fact, there are some FREE solutions available (Laserboy, linux-laser, and Uclinux are 3 examples) if you're willing to solder the DAC together yourself. (Well, the DAC isn't technically free, but it won't cost you more than $50 to build, and the software is free.)

Low cost solutions include the Alphalite XC Pro and Mamba 2004 w/ the easylase USB DAC.

Adam

[andy_con]

thanks for them, but how is $350 cheap??? LOL

im waiting for j_gee to get some boards printed.

I can get a dac for £50 ($100) but it uses mamba and thats expensive

[buffo]

How is $350 cheap, you ask?

When some of the alternatives (IE: Pangolin Pro) can cost upwards of $7,000 - that's how!

Don't get me wrong. Pangolin offers a HELL of a lot more functionality than anything mentioned in my post. But you're going to pay for it. So if you don't have deep pockets and you want to get started in laser shows anyway, you'll have to sacrifice a lot of the features and quality that the high-end stuff offers. That's just the name of the game. (And believe me, $350 is very cheap compared to the choices you would have had just a few years ago!)

Lasers are a money-pit hobby. There's no escaping it. Granted, some prices have begun to fall, but the hobby will always be expensive. Always.

If you are really on a budget, have a look at the free software solutions I linked to in my post above. The Laserboy software, for example, works with a $20 sound card!

Adam

[Banthai]

Andy ....

im starting to think that you are a "bolox merchant" myself and Buffo have given .. good explinations
but still you come back with crap replys.....

You have paid for galvos ..... you know how much this hobby costs .... Dont tell us that 350 is too much
if it is ..... take a break from this hobby and save up like i did to achive your dream
I would like to know how old you are ... I hope im not being rude in any way by asking
But when you say that $350 is not cheap for what you are asking in software

Myself im 40ish and over the years have asked a lot of questions ... and most of my best answers have been via forums like these ..... to be honest PL has been my fave ....

dont be afraid to ask ..... but be honest with us ... because we will respect it


All the best .... Karl

[jkaiser3000]

There's another inexpensive option that I don't think has been mentioned, and it's to use peoplescan with a parallel port DAC. Peoplescan is free, and the DAC shouldn't be more than 50-100$.

I agree that 350$ is pretty inexpensive considering the other "good" options available. Also, if you want to get into this hobby, it would be better to start with a good set up, or you'll end up paying more in the long run. For example, you may want to start with open loop galvos, but then you find the patterns are not enough for what you want, so you go with a 8K closed loop galvo + cheap dac + free software, and find out your galvos aren't fast enough and the parallel port DAC is creating hot spots, so you go for a pair of 30KPPS + mamba + easylase (to name one). In the end you'll pay a lot more than if you go with the 30K galvos from the start.

That's how I think any way. It may be a wrong way of seeing things though.

I, for one, decided to go for the easylase plus mamba 2004 and dt-40. Mamba 2004 being the least expensive of the software, so if I see that this hobby is not for me, I can sell my set up later, not much harm done. But if I like it enough, I can always upgrade to mamba black which, I believe, is more than enough for what I want at this point.

And finally, I sense a bit of apprehension. I'd suggest you do some introspection and decide if you really want to dive into this hobby. You need to consider what you'll do with your projector, whether you really want to play with it, if you can afford it and what you can afford. If, in the end, you don't see a future for you in this hobby, I'd say save yourself from the hassle and expense. However, if you see a glimmer of hope, by all means, dive right into it, you won't regret it.

As some people have said, don't be afraid to ask. Just be honest with yourself and with us.

P.S.: I'm one of the least experienced guys in this forum, so take my words with a grain, or two, of salt

cheers mate

[andy_con]

Andy ....

im starting to think that you are a "bolox merchant" myself and Buffo have given .. good explinations
but still you come back with crap replys.....

You have paid for galvos ..... you know how much this hobby costs .... Dont tell us that 350 is too much
if it is ..... take a break from this hobby and save up like i did to achive your dream
I would like to know how old you are ... I hope im not being rude in any way by asking
But when you say that $350 is not cheap for what you are asking in software

Myself im 40ish and over the years have asked a lot of questions ... and most of my best answers have been via forums like these ..... to be honest PL has been my fave ....

dont be afraid to ask ..... but be honest with us ... because we will respect it


All the best .... Karl

IM 23 and have recently purchase a brad new clio 182 which is not cheap to run. Well the 15k scanner set cost me £160, so just software costing $350 which is something like £175 i dont see as being cheap!!!

i am being honest, i dont know what you want me to say really???

[allthatwhichis]

Cheap/inexpensive and lasers... well that's about the best sentence I can get with the two phrases. They don't mix. I too tried building a projector for cheap, close to $2000 later, and I almost have a "cheap" projector... Guess it's all about perspective.

Wait, let me check the math...

Blue - $500
Green - $125
Red - $285
Scanners - $600
DAC - $175
optics - $70
power supplies - $45
popelscan - free

What... $1900 there, and trust me, it's a "cheap" projector. O, I got the Dell I'm running it on for $60... :roll: Then add all the shipping for the above. I got the DAC and scanners from the other side of the planet too... Welcome to ring side at the money pit, garronteed to thin the wallet.

O yea, I still don't have a box or anything to house it in or even mount it on... I have stuff poster puddies to my wooden desk and lasers on cd cases...

I saw LDS on eBay going for less than $300. I won a copy for less than $250, but again, it's coming from Germany. I hope to get it and the usb DAC my co-worker nabbed for me by FLEM. Although I won't know how to use either. :roll: Not that I can use popelscan that well. ops:

[chad]

Laser and cheap don't come together. It is what it is. Not too many years ago just scanners and drivers would be $2000. A new coherent purelight is around $34,000. Pcaom = @ 2500. it is easy to pay $100 for a good mirror. Another $50 for a mm1 and that is just getting started.

Try pricing out a Lasergraph DSP from sollinger some time.

All of the chinese dpss are getting prices down to where hobbyist can afford something more than a hene. 15 years ago a nice 10mw hene and supply was $1000...

Everything we are playing with now is, "cheap". This is an expensive hobby, that is just the plain truth. That being said i know what it is like to be poor (most laserists do!) it is very hard to make a good living doing laser, more so in the usa because of draconian regulations, the cdrh has pretty much killed the laser market here. Combine that with noobs with 500 mw of green doing shitty laser shows giving the entire pro laser industry a bad rap. There are very few pro laser companies around any more. Laserium- gone, Laser Fantasy- gone, AVi- not sure, probably gone.

Sorry got off on a little tangent.

If you want to play, you gotta pay.

Chad

[dream beamz]

yeh for real.

lets flash back to 2002

you would have paid nearly $800 for a 50mw green laser with no TTL

Galvos would cost a pretty penny and you pretty much had three choices.
Genneral scanning, used set with amps $1000
cambrige $2000+
cat weasels from media lase $1200+

To blank just a couple years ago you would have to have a "Z" mount galvo or some form of aom

Software was either something really old running off of an amiga or comadore
or you could get laser painter from media lase. Full auto from new method lasers or pangolin

getting a less than 5mw green laser pointer would cost you in excess of $200.


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Spend the money and get the mamba is my suggestion. No sense in waisting the laser that you have on limited effects