Kvant ClubMax 800 presale questions

[wendylou]

I currently have a Chinese 20 Kpps 500 mW RGB scanner for personal use. I'm considering moving up to full color analog modulation with 40 Kpps and have been looking at the Kvant ClubMax 800. I thought about the ClubMax 1800 but I'm wondering if that is too powerful for close quarters? These Kvant scanners can do 40 Kpps @ 8° optical and can go up to 60° maximum. As I only have 11 feet 3 in. of distance to the wall and currently enjoy a 4 foot wide display zone at 20°, I'm worried that 8° will produce patterns more than half as small or less than 2 feet. I could up the scan angle and lose the 40 Kpps, but what will I end up with at 20°? 30 Kpps? Or, if I opted for their DiscoScan 2.0 and mount, is that thing adjustable or would I suddenly go to the other extreme of a crazy-wide field of view?

Color me crazy, although I once had received a federal variance back in 80's, I'm doing scanning at home purely for personal enjoyment. But I'm becoming dissatisfied with the discrete RGB colors and lower scan rate. Any Kvant owner or expert advice welcome. To recap, 1) wondering if 1.8 W ClubMax 1800 is too bright for small space vs 800 mW ClubMax 800 (Goldilocks zone?), and 2) what happens to the scan rate at 20°, and 3) if I do need the DiscoScan to widen that 8°, will things become way too wide at only 11 feet distance?

Cheers,
Wendy

[Bradfo69]

Hi Wendy,

I'm sure others will jump in to answer your more specific questions regarding scan angle but, as far as which ClubMax, I think you will be fine with the 800. I have an 1800 as well as some older Kvant models. Based on the space where you are using them, I think you'll find 800 to be more than adequate. Also... based on your description, I suspect you are primarily concerned with graphics and perhaps abstracts. That means two things.... one, the projector does not have to be that powerful in which case, that's another reason for suggesting the 800 and two, you don't want a disco scan lens. The disco scan is great for what it does in terms of giving you a wide angle which is very helpful for beams but, in my experience, the disco scan also introduces a good deal of divergence and so, if graphics are important, you won't have crisp tight lines. They tend to get bigger and fuzzier. I am going to suspect you'll be very happy with the scan angle the Kvant will be able to produce and I'm willing to bet the output will be MUCH improved from Chinese 20k scanners. Another nice thing is the Clubmax's are silent since there are no fans which is also really nice in close quarters.
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One thing you may not like however is, depending on the content you are running, there are times when there is no ILDA signal being sent and the shutter closes - as it should with a US legal projector such as the Clubmax - however, the noise from the shutter opening and closing is an annoying clunk. I play a lot of older planetarium style shows in wav format and there are often a multitude of rapidly occurring open and closing of the shutter. And the rapid fire clunkity, clunkity, clunkity, is extremely annoying.

[wendylou]

Thanks, this is very good information! The 800 mW it is then ) Yes, you are correct: I really like crisp graphics and abstracts so I'll forget the DiscoScan lens. Hopefully I can get the scan angle large enough without compromising the scan rate too much.

I'm guessing I'll be thrilled with Kvant unit compared to my current scanner. I especially like the fact that it can be adjusted and fine tuned externally. My current scanner is has everything hex bolted into place so not very convenient or easy to fine tune. Its fan is loud and one diode laser fan has a bearing that squeals, so I just ordered a replacement.

Do most of the legal lasers wth physical shutters make similar clunk noises? I guess I better get used to that sound! Back in the day when I built my own scanner, the then Bureau of Radiological Health came out to my apartments and recommended changes to my scanner but I was allowed to work without a physical beam stop as long as I was at the controls. A lot has changed since then. We didn't even have diode lasers and there were no premade scanners for sale. I just had to get back into this when I saw the advances and the price of RGB laser scanners!

[Bradfo69]

Yes, the Kvant will be an amazing upgrade over what you are using now. You should be quite pleased. No, the Kvant is the only one I have come across with the clunking sound and I'm certain it's just the actuator they've selected. Lightspace has used a better, quiet solution by using a 3rd galvo in front of the scanners with a much larger paddle than a galvo mirror in their latest projectors. Kvant may have solved this by now - my 1800 is a little better than a year old.
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It's a bit like listening to a Mobolaser beam rail up close and hearing each of the individual turret actuators snap in and out of place, only louder.

[Bradfo69]

Now.... the important question! What are you doing in mid August? If you're getting back into the game.... you absolutely want to throw caution to the wind, and take a leap of faith and go to SELEM. It's the Mecca, the granddaddy of laser enthusiast meet ups and will be the most amazing experience. Even if you can only spare a couple days, it's worth the effort and expense it takes to get there. http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...16-Sign-up-now!
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I can't emphasize enough that where there is a will, there is a way. People ride share, many of the meals are covered and there are inexpensive accommodations close by. It can be pulled off on a shoestring budget if necessary. You REALLY want to consider this! Missouri isn't that far! I just looked and you're even a closer drive than many of the attendees!

[SaltyRobot]

Now.... the important question! What are you doing in mid August? If you're getting back into the game.... you absolutely want to throw caution to the wind, and take a leap of faith and go to SELEM. It's the Mecca, the granddaddy of laser enthusiast meet ups and will be the most amazing experience. Even if you can only spare a couple days, it's worth the effort and expense it takes to get there. http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...16-Sign-up-now!
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I can't emphasize enough that where there is a will, there is a way. People ride share, many of the meals are covered and there are inexpensive accommodations close by. It can be pulled off on a shoestring budget if necessary. You REALLY want to consider this! Missouri isn't that far! I just looked and you're even a closer drive than many of the attendees!

I second what Brad is saying. SELEM is something every laserist needs to attend at least once but usually once they attend once they attend for a life time. There is no where; no concert, no lab, no festival, that has more laser per square foot than SELEM. Any aspect you want to focus on is available. Want to watch shows for 4 days straight? We got you covered. Want to watch a gas laser get fixed and emit lines not seen? Got it. Want to fly drones, talk robots, see home brew devices? Got that too. Want to play with laser soup live to club music? You can do that too. Not to mention all the wonderful people that love to geek out and socialize for 4 days Take a serious thought about coming you won't regret it.

[Bradfo69]

Another thought regarding SELEM. Pangolin has gotten into the game of selling/recommending projectors and especially Kvant. They brought the 1800 I ended up buying there last year. I fully expect they will be bringing a few this year and, I suspect if you let them know you intend to get it there, they'll make sure they have an 800 and they have usually given us very favorable pricing and a SELEM discount so, what you save on buying the projector at SELEM would probably offset your cost of attending. It could be like going to SELEM for free!

[wendylou]

Although the ClubMax 800 would suit me fine for home use, the ClubMax 1800 price is not that much more for gaining an extra 1W of power. That could come in handy if I ever were to jump back into public shows instead of just at-home noodling around. How successful would I be if I bought the more powerful 1800, which is no doubt too bright for home use, and then attenuated that excess power in software? Does that work reliably? I understand the Kvant scanners also have individual physical power controls but I thought i read that was mostly for set-up.

Not sure about SELEM this year but it sounds like real fun and my kind of crowd!

[Bradfo69]

Absolutely you can dial it down very easily in most software. In Pangolin's Quickshow and Beyond, it's a simple slider bar. And yes, you have gain knobs on the back for each individual color of the projector.
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The cost difference is probably worth it since the bulk of the manufacturing costs between the two are exactly the same and it's just the actual diode difference. And... as you said, you may very well end up using it for more than just home use. It's also varianced for use in the US for that anyway, although that's been mentioned.
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Regarding SELEM, I'm dead serious. You really want to give this some serious consideration even if you're only able to swing a couple days. Friday and Saturday would be the ideal ones to shoot for if you can. Largest attendance days with the most interesting seminars and demonstrations. I got into this madness about 6 weeks prior to SELEM several years ago and actually went ahead and "went for it", arriving late Saturday night and was there primarily just for Sunday (which had more going on that we do now) and it was life changing. I know of at least one other gentleman from Connecticut who has a similar story, getting into this about 6 weeks before SELEM and, in two years, has been to SELEM twice (getting ready for a third), FLEM in Florida, CarribLEM in Utila off the Honduras coast, NELEM, north of Boston, and has been to my place in Delaware on a few occasions to "play" and even became an ILDA awards judge. It WILL *quickly* get you back into this!

[PeterB]

Hi Wendy,

Might I point you at our new S-400, a 520laser system that offers 30Kpps scanning in combination with crisp 400 mW of pure diode laser.
One snag I see is that it doesn't have a shutter in the current version.

I feel that shutters are absolute BS anyway as modern lasers don't need these anymore , they are relics of old times, but as US laws and regulations till predict these, it may pose a small problem.
We can look into building one in at added costs though. Ours are not cluncky and you hardly hear them, that's for sure

The info on this system is found here : http://www.520laser.nl/s400.html

Best regards,

Peter