Yo... to the lurkers..

[Lazerjock]

I felt intimidated to post until I went to my first LEM and met some of you. It might sound strange, but once I found out that you are real people just like me I began posting. With that said I still only post occasionally. When I feel I have something to add to the conversation.

Chris

[Bradfo69]

I'm still intimidated. I'm a laser dumbass compared to many of you. I just seem to have spending down to a science.

[Lazerjock]

Brad there is no need for you to feel intimidated, but yes you have spending down to a science. Lol

[planters]

My guess is many of the lurkers are N Koreans monitoring us to make sure we don't insult the "dear leader".

Much more likely our own leaders...really. They are lasers after all.

How many projector builds have we seen here in the past year, 10 or so ?

No builds no posts......

Northy mention in a previous thread that the hype is over and he is right it is

I agree. I got involved when a projector was new to me and interesting as an assembly of components such as electronics, optics and software. I have moved past that now. I may never build another projector even though I will continue to work with these components. I am not interested in rehashing the same issues although I will readily share what I have learned with those for whom the techniques are new and exciting, but daunting. That is part of the motivation behind my videos. I'm working on a project now that might really concern the N. Koreans and I'll make a video of that as well.

I wish to some extent that PL in general was not so focused on entertainment projectors. Occasionally, there will be a post about ultra-fast lasers, laser weapons, video mapping and light based technologies, but it is often an aside placed in the lounge. For what it's worth, this forum IS titled Photonlexicon and not Projectorlexicon. I believe that is why LPF has stagnated and won't recover. If the only (or almost only) interest is in pointers and the only evolution can be to higher and higher powers they will reach a point where they will be restricted in use or ownership or location because of the danger. The second amendment won't protect you Mr. Spock. There will be nothing to discuss.

my guess is that is that it is a bunch of lonely house wives looking for "SPAGHETTI" recipes

Recent tirades on a few threads that are not really dynamic debates on interesting and controversial topics (I'd relish those) are distressing as well. They do nothing to attract visitor participation they deter it. They waste time that could be spent on exciting projects; planning, designing financing or collaborating...

I believe that Photonlexicon needs to evolve if the primary focus has been on projector assembly and these will increasingly be bought ready made like microwave ovens. There are no really popular microwave oven forums. And if the software is where all the action is then only a microscopic few of us create it and the rest only use it. There needs to be much more content based sharing. Pangolin Show Space needs 20 contributions/ week and where is Swammi's store?

[swamidog]

Pangolin Show Space needs 20 contributions/ week and where is Swammi's store?

i haven't forgotten!

the problem is i have a full time IT day job. laser shows just one of my side activities and they get bumped a lot when art side jobs come in. i was supposed to be working on lasers this week, but got handed some emergency video work by the heard museum.

[flecom]

I believe that Photonlexicon needs to evolve if the primary focus has been on projector assembly and these will increasingly be bought ready made like microwave ovens. There are no really popular microwave oven forums. And if the software is where all the action is then only a microscopic few of us create it and the rest only use it. There needs to be much more content based sharing. Pangolin Show Space needs 20 contributions/ week and where is Swammi's store?

that's called progress...

the hardware has become a commodity due to china and cost of entry quickly spiraling downwards...

now instead of it being a club for the select few anyone can do it...

which hopefully means we can get more people out there concentrating on the art portion of it even if they have no clue whats happening inside the "magic box"

all forums have drama, at the end of the day we are just one big dysfunctional family

but things are better, sure it might have been more satisfying "back then" but I just purchased some lasers for a project including 1W of red, 1W of green and 3W of blue for less than $1000... meanwhile just a few short years ago 1.2W of red cost me $2700 and 400mW of blue cost me $2700 also...

and we had LD2k, what a joy to use that thing was... ever since QS came out (and then Beyond) I find myself ENJOYING show creation instead of dreading it

AND *GASP* we have multiple options, don't like Pangolin because Bill came over to your house and murdered your entire family including the dog? then use LSX... can't afford it? well there are all sorts of options including FREE now, LaserBoy etc... want to just do abstracts? you can buy a *NEW* analog console from DZ, or a software based one from DigiSynth... none of that existed when I entered this hobby... you either had Pangolin or you went home

so ya

things have never been better, just different

[BlueFang]

One thing I find a little intimidating is the tone many threads take when it comes to people like myself that pretty much have zero interest in building my own projector. Now don't get me wrong, I find the technology fascinating - and I am sure I would learn a great deal more about how the ILDA controller talks to the scanner controller - etc... but I just don't have the time or even the tooling (drills, cnc machines, metal working skills) to really build anything interesting.

The parts I find fascinating happen to be parts that are way out of the reach of a hobby DIYer - like the actual diodes (NP junctions are pretty much as close to magic as I have ever seen), the scanners themselves and the dichroic glass. That is where all the magic happens.

So for now, I am happy just sitting back with a bottle of beer, smashing buttons on my controller, and watching the pretty lights. It makes me smile every time!

[tribble]

I'd like to see more show creation tips and tricks topics... I've loved the projector building topics through the years and want to finish my own eventually, but it's content creation I'd like to discuss once I get a projector to develop content on!

Planters, are you going to do the Saturn scanner assessment you talked about at one point, or is that OBE now?

[planters]

The parts I find fascinating happen to be parts that are way out of the reach of a hobby DIYer - like the actual diodes (NP junctions are pretty much as close to magic as I have ever seen), the scanners themselves and the dichroic glass. That is where all the magic happens.

Agreed. What I am missing is taking that fascination beyond projectors. Projectors are fine. No home should be without one and playing with them after a long day at work is a great relief.

all forums have drama, at the end of the day we are just one big dysfunctional family

You know what I'm talking about and this level of dysfunction has not been a good thing. Your own role has been understandable and probably unavoidable. A simple answer to your question would have avoided a lot of hard feelings. But, think of how this would appeal (not) to a curious visitor (on PL) interested in visiting a planetarium.

One thing I find a little intimidating is the tone many threads take when it comes to people like myself that pretty much have zero interest in building my own projector.

I here you. My own weakness is software. I am abused nearly daily by my sons who live and breath this stuff. But, I simply don't find the nuts and bolts of it as captivating as real nuts and bolts. Building a projector is about as complicated as assembling a desktop comp from a collection of parts. No one can construct a CPU at home, but there are very popular forums dedicated to modding comps to ridiculous performance levels (pulsing, purple cooling loops). Others just buy the platform and play BF4.

[planters]

Planters, are you going to do the Saturn scanner assessment you talked about at one point, or is that OBE now?

I'm still waiting for the Saturn Scanner! Messing with components is still a kick, but I have so much power at my place (blush) that building another club type unit just doesn't make any sense. I want to do truly memorable things with a limited amount of time. I was working with Bill on some advanced mirror designs and this has been on hold for a little while as they are focusing on assembling scanners ( large numbers of them as I understand it for commercial contracts). But, when they get around to making a Saturn system available to me then I plan to marry it with an advanced mirror made of beryllium. I'd ask Bill to do the tunning. He's really, really good at it.