what are these wires;)

[wes]

firstly,i'm overjoyed because my cni laser came today.
it was just sunday dave pm'd me he was sending it the next morning.
i didn't expect it for a week at least.

WEEEEHAAAWW!

so,this seems self evident but,what are the extra wires coming out of the back of the driver?
i assume it is for a power take off for some other use.

since there is just the 15 pin plug and power cable i assume i don't need to do anything with these wires.

posting for caution but also just to say YEEEHAAAWW!!!

[Laser Ben]

I think those are for modulation.

[dave]

Hi Wes - they are as Ben said, they are for the analogue blanking.

With CNI the laser will not emit light without volts being supplied to these. The input range is 0-5v. (no more than 5v)

David

firstly,i'm overjoyed because my cni laser came today.
it was just sunday dave pm'd me he was sending it the next morning.
i didn't expect it for a week at least.

WEEEEHAAAWW!

so,this seems self evident but,what are the extra wires coming out of the back of the driver?
i assume it is for a power take off for some other use.

since there is just the 15 pin plug and power cable i assume i don't need to do anything with these wires.

posting for caution but also just to say YEEEHAAAWW!!!

[Laser Ben]

You must not be thinking straight with all the excitement!

[wes]

so what is the best way to apply this 5v.

just wire the proper female plug to the red and black wires and use a 5v adapter?

let me ask now how should i wire the plug ie red wire where black wire where?

i don't even know exactly what the plug will look like.
how will i know when i go to wire it? i am hoping that these plugs are standard and someone can advise me on proper wiring.

dave emailed me manuals but don't anyone hesitate to post if you think you can guide a novice at electronics through this simple task.well,off to study the manuals.
peace,
wes
shoot! i want light!

[buffo]

Wes;

What controller are you using? Are you building a laser projector, or are you just trying to get the laser fired up to play with it?

Be careful. The 9-pin connector between the head and the driver board is static sensitive. My advice is to hook it up and leave it that way.

If you just want to play around, you can apply 5 volts to the modulation/blanking wires using three "D" size batteries. That will probably only get you to between 4.5 and 4.8 volts (depending on how new the batteries are), but that's close enough to full power for you to have some fun.

A longer term solution would be to connect it to the REGULATED output of a 5 volt DC power supply. If the power supply that feeds the driver board is 5 volt (which nearly all of them are), then you can use that. Otherwise, any source of regulated 5 volt power will work.

But Dave's warning bears repeating. *Don't* put more than 5 volts on the modulation input. Ever. In fact, Marconi recommends putting a zeiner diode across the blanking wires that is set to break down at 5.7 volts, just to prevent overvoltage.

On the other hand, if you're assembling a projector, then you need to connect the blanking leads to the blanking output from your controller. (And this is why I asked how you were going to control it. Most controllers use the ILDA standard 25-pin output, but if you've got a custom DMX board or some other controller you may not have an ILDA compatible output.)

Adam

PS: The red wire is the positive modulation input, the black wire is ground. +5 volts = full on, while zero volts = off. Anything in-between will be some fraction of full power, and it should be more or less linear.

[wes]

You must not be thinking straight with all the excitement!

yeah,that and i really don't know much

so, a 5v power supply and i think i can figure out wiring a plug.

red wire live, black neutral?

i know how to wire a 115v wall plug but am concerned about knowing how on a little 1/8 in. plug.

thanks in advance for bearing with me.

so many smart people here

[buffo]

Do you have a voltmeter?

Check the voltage on the driver board. I'll just about bet that it's regulated to 5 volts. (There should be two phillips-head screw terminals just to the left of the 1/8th inch jack where the power supply plugs in to the driver board. Check the voltage there.)

If the voltage on the driver board is 5 volts, you can conenct the red wire to the +5 volt side, and the black wire to the ground side, and you'll be fine. (Do this with the power off of course!)

This will force the laser to come on at full power and always run at full power. Later, when you're ready to install it in a projector and hook up the blanking leads from your controller, you will disconnect the blanking leads from those terminal screws and connect them to your controller.

Adam

[wes]

thanks adam.

this laser will be full on all the time as i am using it in a beam box.
i'm not concerned w/ blanking.
the power supply/driver is self contained and hard wired to just plug into the wall.
i can't access the power supply w/o voiding the warranty so i will have to go for an outboard 5v supply.
i'll just have to wire the plug to these wires,right.


zeiner diode huh???

care to explain how to hook that up?

i'm greateful for your help.

[buffo]

Yeah... Give me a call.

PM sent.

Adam