Scanner endurance.

[The_Doctor]

Some time has passed... I guess people now have some idea about which scanners last longest. Please let me know what you think. I'm assuming that a good scanner, not pushed too hard, as with most things, is the way to go for long life. I'm not after intense performance, but accuracy is vital, scan angle need not be wide, but it must be able to draw fine detail unattended for a very long time. Being capable of passive cooling is important, systems relying on forced air don't usually live long. Basically I want it to run like the energiser bunny so I can leave it that way while I program for hours on other stuff, absent-mindedly enjoying the view.

So what do you think? I want the name of the scanners you would trust to the ends of the Earth, rather than those more immediately impressive...

[Bradfo69]

I'll take a stab at this and say that I think you will find the general consensus of most people to be:

1. Cambridge Technologies 6215's
2. Eye Magic EMS4000's
3. Dragon Tiger 40 Pros

That's basically the order in terms of price, performance, reliability, preference etc.
Personally I am a big fan of DT40wides and they're my favorite scanners although, "trust to the ends of the Earth" would probably need to be the Cambridge.
Yes there are other brands, models that people may prefer and it may also depend on application and what you are doing with them. General Scanning probably has some fans too.

[slicklasers]

Cambridge.


It really depends on how big of mirrors you are using. I have 6810's with 1/2 inch mirrors that have been batting photons for well over 10,000 hours at 12K. I have actually only killed one 6800hp out of at least 100, and that was from a dab of superglue that ran onto the shaft when I was trying to fix a broken mirror at a show.

I only have 1 set of chinese scanners out of at least a dozen that have lasted for any amount of time, and i only have about 400 hours on them and they just recently started to act jittery.

If you want reliability, long life, and ease of operation, CAMBRIDGE. If it's going to be for programing, i would go with a pair of 6800hp's and the DTR Diode bundle. That would be easy on the eyes, last forever, and be really small. Want me to build you one? lol

[Robin]

...I have 6810's with 1/2 inch mirrors that have been batting photons for well over 10,000 hours at 12K.

My Cambridge 6240's are still going strong after 10+ years. If you can afford it, or save for a bit, get Cambridge scanners and be done with it.

[steve-o]

Doc!! How the hell ya been? You haven't posted here in like .. forever. Thought you must have given up lasers or something bizarre .. but I see ... NAHHHH !!!!
Don't be a stranger ..
As far as the question; from the reviews through the years, Cambridge Technology has the highest quality scanners that will probably last a lifetime (and the price-tag definitely reflects it - no pun intended lol )

[ThatLazerGirl]

We've been using 3 sets of Chinese Scanpro 20s for beam shows for over 5 years. Thousands of hours each, not a single problem. Unfortunately I can't seem to find them for sale anymore... We have 2 sets of 30k "PT" scanners that have been going along their merry way for 4 years, also with many hours on them. Not a single issue, in fact they look a touch better than the Scanpros in terms of tuning. Knock on wood we haven't had any major issues with any of the Chinese stuff we've been using all this time, and it seems like the quality is improving steadily. I can only speak for what we use, though, so I'm not saying that all inexpensive Chinese units are reliable. We've had very good experiences with our scan sets resulting in many successful shows, but we don't do much graphics work. Graphics do look very good on all of our projectors though, with negligible over/undershoot, tails, or other anomalies.

[dzodzo]

1. Cambridge Technologies 6215's

what he said, 6215's rock

[mixedgas]

I have had nothing but trouble with Asian scanners over long periods of time. My use pattern is very mild but critical for quality. I now use only Cambridge and Eye Magic.

Steve

[csg]

I have JM raytrack 35K's in my 2 main projectors and so far so good - came very well tuned and i particularly like the single driver board that saves a lot of space.

[The_Doctor]

I always wanted Cambridge scanners ever since a girl called Helen wrote back to me several years ago with a quote for 6800HP, a mount, and some drivers. I bought a Yamaha SY99 instead. As I have spent the last many months doing what I love best, working with phase modulation synthesis (and C and Win32 API, having decided I would go all the way), I have rested my eyes from lasers and know that any deterioration in sight is due to causes other than lasers. I also have enough money stowed to aim for the best scanners I can get, or at least make a start...

I'm after 6215 scanners, and if anyone can make me an offer I can't refuse (by PM or openly), I'll go for it if I can afford it. This is just the scanners for now, I'll have to buy mount and drivers later, as I think there may be more to choosing drivers than I can take on right now.

As far as I know, the scanners themselves are prepared for a particular combination of speed, optical angle, and aperture, purely based on choice of mirrors, then the driver boards and scanners are 'tuned' together to get best results for PID control. I also imagine that notion stands some need of correction so please have at it if you know how.

I want the scanners new, but the mount and driver boards can be used. I may not have enough so I'll try not to waste anyone's time, but having decided to do this while I stand a chance of success, now is a good time to try. I have a small scanner table I built, with Widemoves, that I may sell to raise money to speed this up. Steve (Roberts) had some kind words to say about that when he saw the pics last time, saying it was 'varianceable', given a change to an opaque top. It's smaller than most, as stocky as a Staffordshire bull terrier, but as lasers shrink that is likely a Good Thing for many people these days. It's shock-mounted and the scanners are in a dust-proof chamber behind a wide and very tough window, and the whole thing is extremely solidly built, compact, etc... I have no idea how much I can get for it, but I can find pictures and other files related to its design for anyone serious about taking it on. Widemoves are great for intended purpose, but I find that a long-throw accurate scan for very small angles is what I want now, so building a new platform makes better sense than modifying this one, and if I can trade it for accelerated build of a new system, I will.

Lastly, hello Steve-o. I'm glad I came back. I tried many post attempts to try to say why I left, why I returned, etc, and binned each attempt. It would take too long. All I can say is that my first love (phase modulation synthesis, now extended to coding my own synthesiser) is not thwarted so I have no reason to feel thwarted about any failure of plans in my second, so I'm back to see if I can make the most of that too.