Introduction

[Galvonaut]

Hi everyone.

I thought I should introduce myself to the community.
I'm pretty new to lasers (built my first laser 2 years ago out of scrap components) and now getting a little more serious as I thoroughly enjoy throwing those pretty photons around!

I live on the South Coast of the UK, close to Brighton, so plenty of parties and clubs to play in

Looking forward to meeting and chatting to you all

[Jem]

Hi 'Galvonaut', and welcome to Photonlexicon

There's a strong group of laser addicts here in the UK. If you haven't already searched for the UK Laser Enthusiasts Meetings it may be worth doing so now. Search for 'UKLEM' and 'ShowLEM'.

Cheers

Jem

[The_Doctor]

I'm pretty new to lasers (built my first laser 2 years ago out of scrap components) ...

Do tell. I'm interested in what can be done with the most limited resources. I put an argon laser together for someone once, many of the parts supplied as a sort of rough kit, and some of those were clearly salvage, and by the time I'd got it done it looked like a cross between a 125 locomotive and a rabbit hutch. It was horrible. But it worked. I'll hopefully get some top notch CT scanners when I can afford to, but I'm a great believer in making things like laser drivers and power meters from the most basic parts possible. So anyone who makes working stuff out of scrap has got to be interesting.

[Galvonaut]

Thanks Jem, I am very interested in meeting other laser addicts and sharing what we do, so will have a look at UK meetings.

Do tell. I'm interested in what can be done with the most limited resources. I put an argon laser together for someone once, many of the parts supplied as a sort of rough kit, and some of those were clearly salvage, and by the time I'd got it done it looked like a cross between a 125 locomotive and a rabbit hutch. It was horrible. But it worked. I'll hopefully get some top notch CT scanners when I can afford to, but I'm a great believer in making things like laser drivers and power meters from the most basic parts possible. So anyone who makes working stuff out of scrap has got to be interesting.

My setup was pretty basic, using a 500mw green DPSS laser which I couldn't figure out how to modulate as it was so old and lacked any documentation - even on the interweb!
I managed to build it for about £800 including a FB3, QS and a laptop to run it all. Galvos were cheap 30k things from ebay, although I have some untested but very old CT galvos sitting here which may or may not make their way into a projector (no idea what model but can just see the CT logo) . My laser looked a little rabbit hutchy too and weighed far more than it should have done for what it did due to extra PSUs etc.
As I wasn't modulating the laser, the safety features were limited to an emergency stop interlock with 5 second delay and an adjustable plate which was set to the minimum safe scanning height.
Unfortunately my electronics knowledge has waned over the years, so I am probably going to stick with buying, repairing and upgrading subsequent lasers, rather than building them and concentrate on developing effects and shows and improving my live show abilities (maybe with an Akai APC40 and Beyond).
I quite like the idea of doing this (except with maybe a little more consideration for one's eyes)! >>

http://vimeo.com/raumzeitpiraten/warphole

[The_Doctor]

Just a tad. That looks scary. Drum kits are way too shiny for lasers. OK, it wasn't a drum kit, but that image set my mind wandering...

If you put up an image of those CT scanners you'll almost certainly get an ID for them from someone here. As far as I know, CT originally aimed at scientific purposes, so even if you don't get speed you might get very fine accuracy out of them. I think I value that above speed... I think I should get an FB3. Plenty of bang per buck with those, I've heard. Did that green DPSS have an input socket? If so, try shorting the screen and inner contact via a 100 ohm resistor. (I'm assuming if it's there, it will be a 3.5mm jack). If that dims or blanks the laser it suggests an open collector TTL modulator is viable, using voltage supplied internally from the laser driver box. Mine worked that way. Inever had a proportional one so I can't advise anything useful for those, other than that 5VDC peak should give full output, and that whatever you drive it with must sink as well as source.

[Galvonaut]

DB15 connector I'm afraid. I could spend some time researching the components in the box but have more fun things to do!
I'll try and get a photo of the galvos on here. It would be handy to know what they are.
The FB3 is great, although now that I am trying to do more with the software I am discovering Quickshow's limitations. I've had zero problems with the FB3 and have run it for hours and hours on end. Impressed enough to want to buy another one now that I have 3 RGB lasers and one green one.

[The_Doctor]

15 pins is just enough to really waste a person's time. Point taken.

[swamidog]

don't overlook LSX (laser show express). the intro package with a riya dac is about half the cost of an FB3.

I think I should get an FB3. Plenty of bang per buck with those, I've heard.

[The_Doctor]

Thanks. I'll look at that. My original aim was to use code and a sound card DC coupled, but if any of these dedicated boards can do external processing and storage of patterns I'm interested because it saves reinventing all the wheels.

(My idea is a bit vague actually, but is based on knowing that some Yamaha DSP cards became cheap, and under software control have been coerced into making amazing synthesisers in host machines with otherwise abject specs.)

[swamidog]

a number of the riya dacs can accept memory cards with ilda frames/patterns/animations:

http://www.riyalasers.com/

as can the ether-dream dac:

http://www.ether-dream.com/

if you're interested in writing your own code, the ether-dream might be a good way to go as there is an SDK and protocol documentation available.

there are some very interesting projects being done with the ether-dream:

https://vimeo.com/65929618
https://vimeo.com/66367827
https://vimeo.com/66358726

Thanks. I'll look at that. My original aim was to use code and a sound card DC coupled, but if any of these dedicated boards can do external processing and storage of patterns I'm interested because it saves reinventing all the wheels.

(My idea is a bit vague actually, but is based on knowing that some Yamaha DSP cards became cheap, and under software control have been coerced into making amazing synthesisers in host machines with otherwise abject specs.)