Are These Galvos Any Good???

[300EVIL]

http://cgi.ebay.com/GSI-Lumonics-Z22...QQcmdZViewItem

According to the auction their closed loop. However, I can't seem to find any specs on them.
Thanks!
Adam

[buffo]

Hi Adam!

Be careful buying used galvos on E-bay. I've got a box full of useless galvos I've picked up via E-bay over the years, including 3 or 4 pair that look a lot like the one's in that listing.

I'm not familiar with this specific model, but from the looks of it I'm guessing that they're not suitable for graphics at anything over 8-10K. They were likely designed for laser marking, not light shows. (Think slow moving, high positional accuracy) You could mount a pretty good sized mirror on there though. (But mounting a mirror presents it's own challenge.)

A decent set of (new) closed-loop galvos is going to set you back a minimum of $300 on E-bay. (That's for the 20kpps SCANECO units that Dave and Aijii sell; watch their auctions and you might snag a deal for under $300 if you're patient.) The next steup up from that is the DT-40 Pro's, which is pretty much the galvo of choice on PhotonLexicon - at least for the hobbyists. But they are almost double the cost of the SCANECO units.

Adam

[300EVIL]

Hey Adam,
Yeah, For $10 I wasn't hoping for anything spectacular. I was mostly just curious. I've been reading up on those DT-40's here. They seem like pretty good units compared to those 6800's.... The God of galvos from what I hear. Are my correct in assuming they are 40kpps? Where can I get them (with drivers) and what do they cost? I'm ready to upgrade already!
Thanks!
Adam

[buffo]

Hi Adam;

Yeah, the DT-40 Pro's are spec'd to run at 40kpps. I've heard of people getting them to run at up to 45Kpps, though to be honest most people run them at 30Kpps or slower. Why? Because most of the artwork is already designed to run at 30Kpps. Also, certain effects (like abstracts for example), actually look better when scanned slower. Plus, a slower scan speed means you can get a wider scan angle, which makes the scanned image larger. I normally run mine at 30Kpps for graphics and 12Kpps for beams and abstracts, though I have run them at 40Kpps with no problems.

They come as a complete set. You get 2 galvos w/ mirrors, a mounting block, 2 matching amps, a power supply for the amps, and all the cables you need. All you need to do is supply a signal from your controller to the input of the amps. Jian tunes each set before they're shipped, so you can run them right out of the box.

I think the latest price I saw on them was $550 plus shipping, but I could be wrong. Contact Jian725 here on the forums (send him a PM) for details on how to order.

Adam

[werner1619]

I can second on that, the DT40 are the way to go!
Price and performance wise the best I have ever had!

Plus Jian is a pleasure to do business with!

Rather wait untill you can afford them, you will be very pleased.

[mixedgas]

Thats a most likely a G306DT, g330DT or 315DT with whatever mod made it a custom piece to get the z number, GSI doesnt release Z number info.
If its a 330, then you've got 60' mechanical, but would be lucky to get 175-200hz response out of it small angle. G330's are awesome for flinging slow beams around a room or slow color mod, but thats about it.

Steve

[QUAZAR]

Ispotted those as well, thought they might be usefull for a copper vapour laser, but thats about it. Plus he wanted $90 to ship to the UK.