LT-9 / LongTeng-IX Laser Motorhead Light - i.Top for Moving Head

[Stenstad]

Hi, I recently aquired an old LongTeng-IX Laser Motorhead Light. It was sold quite cheap and as "probably not working", and the owner did not have software for the DAC.

My main question is: Does anyone have a copy of iTop for Moving Head and/or a copy of the manual for the LT-9? The normal installer is in a folder named "iTopEn" and the version with support for movement is called "iTopMovingEn".



I have noticed that it has a SilverStar logo, and I think it has also been sold by Yagang/Jajiang, at least according to what I've found on the internet.



It comes with an old DAC that is marked as "USB Graphics Interface Card". It is clearly been modified to work with just this equipment, and I've opened it up to try to understand what it does. It's made to work with i.Top Laser Designer, the predecessor to iShow if I understand correctly. It does not work with iShow, at least my attempts has not worked.

The connection from the DAC to the Laser is via a shielded 8+1 data cable with a strange DIN plug in one end, and a DB9 on the DAC side.

Pin 1+2 from the laser goes to J2 on DAC marked "Power In". This powers most of the DAC from the laser. I've not checked the voltage.
Pin 3+4 from the laser goes to J4 on DAC marked "Signal". I assume this is X+ and Y+.
Pin 5 from the laser goes to J11 on the DAC marked "Green". It is soldered to two of the 3 pins.
Pin 6+7 from the laser goes to J3 on the DAC marked "DMX". I assume this is Data- and Data+.
Pin 8 from the laser goes to J3 ("Power In" middle post) and J4 ("Signal" middle post). This is ground for the DAC.

Ground (pin 8) is run around the shielding, and the last remaining wire is not used.



The DAC actually has a DMX output jack, wich I assume originally was supposed to run DMX out of the DAC to other DMX equipment. It has however never been connected internally, so it's use is probably for another variant of the DAC.

Ground was actually torn off in the connector to the laser, and after repairing that the DAC powered up correctly, and I was able to use a copy of i.Top I found online (http://www.mhdiffusion.fr/commun/download/Itop/) to get the laser to actually display ILD files.

So, since I do not a have a copy of the iTopMovingEn software, only iTopEn, I removed the DMX connector from the board, and jerry-rigged this onto a DMX interface. If I try to send DMX values, the moving head now actually pans and tilts, but it is totally random, so it probably isn't standard DMX. Wich would make sense, I guess.

So, anyone has any proper software, or any good ideas on how to use external DMX on the head itself?

(Yeah, I know it is old and kinda sucks, but it is what I have.)

[Stenstad]

Made a quick video of it working, alltho without movement:

[Stenstad]

Not that anyone seems to be very interested, but I think I just managed to find the software. In case someone needs it in the future I have put them out for download.

The software is known as i.Top or iTop, apparently before it was renamed to iShow. It is for the old USB 1.1 DACs, while iShow seems to only support USB 2.0 DACs.

The software, DAC and showcard seems to have been rebranded and bundled with lots of other products from various brands at the time. I finally found the software by Googling for the phrase "Graphics USB card 1PCS" wich seems to be used in the factory-supplied manual template. I then found a laser from ShowTec called "Shogun Club RGB-120", with order code 30978. On https://www.highlite.nl/Service/Downloads I wrote in 30978 as the Item Number to reveal the downloads of iTop that also included the iTopMovingEn version for my LT-9. Wow, this has been a long ride, and the worst part is that the DAC and software is really terrible. But at least now I have it. :-)

• itop.zip - Installer for iTop, from mhdiffusion.fr
• usb.zip - USB drivers for the DACs in the series, from mhdiffusion.fr
• 30978_ITOP_SOFTWARE.zip Same software as in itop.zip above.
• 30978_ITOP_EN_UPDATE.zip Updated version of iTopEn.exe. It differs from the versions in the installers, but not sure when it is from.
• 30978_ITOP_LASER_SOFTWARE.rar This is a folder with iTopEn unpacked, and iTopMovingEn (LT-9 Moving Head Laser) installer. The iTopEn.exe binary here differs from both the installers and the update above.

Would be great if the files could be archied elsewhere as well, you never know when someone digs out some old crusty hardware.

[Philipnjf]

Made a quick video of it working, alltho without movement:

Hi I am also toying with 3 of these lasers. I want to rebuild them into just normal lightshows. I do not want them as movingheads. As they are really for travel. And they sound like an old printer when they are moving .

I have been looking to the end of google. But I cannot find out what signal the X/Y board gets from the motherboard?

I short i want to take out the motherboard. Only using the power supply. And use a different DMX board for signal to the Y Z PCB but I am not sure if it is possible,

The original motherboard does NOT like that I have removed the steppermotores for pan and tilt.

Hope you found something.

[Stenstad]

After I got the main intended functionality working with the included software, I did not proceed with changing anything further.

To be honest, if you want to use it as a stationary laser, I think you will be better served by just buying a cheap show laser instead.

[Philipnjf]

You are right. But the nerd in me likes to play with stuff like this. The only thing I cannot figure out is the “figure signal”. Seems like it is a simple 0-1V signal maybe.

[Stenstad]

You are right. But the nerd in me likes to play with stuff like this. The only thing I cannot figure out is the “figure signal”. Seems like it is a simple 0-1V signal maybe.

I would assume it is just an analog signal, you might want to take a look at the old OpenLase project by Hector Martin. That should give you some inspiration and technical insight.