Lanling-Tech

[Pitopito]

Firs of all, hi everybody, this is my first post.
I'm a rookie in this field but I love lasers since I was a kid (a long time ago..).
I already own a simple Laserworld (silverstar) RGY 150.... total mW stepper scanning projector, a 15K ecoscan galvoset and a 50mw 532nm "nice price" from Dave/Aijii. Recently I've received a 45K Laserworld galvo set (still in it's box ). I'm planning to make a cheap, but full of joy, RGY projector, so I won this bid on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140147004804&ru=http%3 A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dl l%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D1401470 04804%2509%26fvi%3D1
The module is almost identical as the one in the Silverstar projector, but the price I think is unbeatable.
I receive the package today (only 4 days from China to Italy) and no custom trouble too .
The package was well done, with complete instructions and all molex wirings provided.
Of course the laser is only TTL and not TEC, but for 16,17$ can I complain??
The beam was also quite well collimated, way better then the Silverstar with just a very light spurious vertical line around the spot, but not black dots or scratches. I cannot measure the real output, but the spot looks brighter than Silverstar
When I asked DavidLanling (the seller) to ship not thru EMS, to avoid the trouble I had with Aijii (was not Aijii fault, but Italian standard mail use to loose/steal/destroy/and custom overcharge the packages), I got a prompt and nice answer.
Anyway my deal with Lanling-Tech was wery good and I might say that he is a honest and reliable seller.
Sorry for my english, but my italian is way better

[Dr Laser]

Don't forget that Laserworld 45kpps @ 5 degrees 30kpps @ 20degrees 20kpps@ 40 degrees 5kpps@ 60 degrees

And that red of Ebay is useless. Maybe for small apartment laser show.
The Red you can work with is 200mw 635nm minimum.

Ohh btw welcome to the board.!

[Pitopito]

Don't forget that Laserworld 45kpps @ 5 degrees 30kpps @ 20degrees 20kpps@ 40 degrees 5kpps@ 60 degrees

And that red of Ebay is useless. Maybe for small apartment laser show.
The Red you can work with is 200mw 635nm minimum.

Ohh btw welcome to the board.!

Ok, consider that I have no plan do perform a show at the Epcot Center...
Anyway I noticed that usually the 100mw red toy is usually overpriced a lot. At least this is one of the few cases in the laser market that I pay exactly what I get and not four times more.
In the future, if I see the opportunity to get a little revenues from my experiments, then I will invest the thousands Euros required, meanwile I do not need a laser source just to slice bread at home.
Are my L45k galvo set so useless? (I have payed them 257€ plus shipping)

[Dr Laser]

Are my L45k galvo set so useless?

No it should be fine.

[buffo]

And that red of Ebay is useless. Maybe for small apartment laser show. The Red you can work with is 200mw 635nm minimum.

What the hell? What's with the crass, elitist attitude Doc? You think every hobbyist needs to start out with a $900 red laser? That's pretty absurd, and damn insulting to the rest of the members here, many of whom are running just 200 mw of 660 nm red. Who pissed in your breakfast cereal this morning?

Personally I think PitoPito is on the right track. He's getting started on a budget. Better to make your mistakes with a $20 diode than with a $900 one. He's on the bottom of the learning curve; give the guy a break for crying out loud!

PitoPito: I don't have any direct experience with the Laserworld galvos, but from the little bit I've read about them, it sounds like they'll suit your needs quite well for now. (For sure they're a big step above the simple open-loop galvos that I started with years ago!)

Have you decided which software you will be using for your R/Y/G projector? Also, will you be concentrating more on beam shows or on graphics shows? (Or both? )

Welcome to PhotonLexicon... If you've got more questions, ask them! (I think most of the answers will be in English though, not Italian. Sorry about that! ) And when you get a chance, be sure to post some pictures of your progress...

Adam

[Dr Laser]

Did I say something rude.... Sorry if I did.

Maybe I got a escalating laserpower syndrome. It's like a star sickness but has nothing to do with a human factor. It's all about power....of lasers. Power corrupts absolutely.

But to be realistic 200mw@635nm is the one to go. Yes it's not as cheap as 100mw but 200mw will be very visible...add 80mw green and 40mw blue and you have good starting projector. Good for small clubs.

[Pitopito]

Please, don't bite each other, I just meant to review the seller, not the diode !!
Anyway, at the moment I'm just testing the galvos with the dmx board supplied in the ecoscan kit (David/Aijii), but I know that they deserves a much better controller.
Actually I'm spending most of the time surfing the net and reading all the threads of this forum.
I was thrilled by the results of James Lehman (http://www.akrobiz.com/laserboy/) using a simple soundboard.
Considering that I'm italian, as Leonardo Da Vinci, but not that smart... , I have to fly to a much lower altitude.
I was seriously thinking to buy Mamba Black + medialas dac or easylase or minilumax from http://www.spectrabeam.de/ or http://www.he-privat.de/Preisliste.htm
but yesterday I saw the thread about LaFreak offer and now I'm just waiting if the new release is ready for shipping.
At the moment I'm more attracted by the beam shows, but You all know that this is just the beginning to a serious addiction...

Thank you for all your support

[buffo]

PitoPito;

Sorry; didn't mean to sound like an ogre. But it just rubbed me the wrong way when Dr Laser started insulting your red laser. It is not "useless" by any means. There are several people here running 660 nm lasers at between 100 and 400 mw of power, and ALL of them work very well. It's an excellent choice for a beginner, and there are quite a few experienced laserists here that use them as well. (The famous Maxyz modules from Marconi - possibly the most popular red lasers among all the members here - are only rated at 200 mw each at 660 nm.)

I agree that 635 nm is more visible to the eye, but it's also more expensive. A *lot* more expensive. Plus the bean quality is often worse than a 660 nm diode. Bottom line, stepping up to a 635 nm diode is something that can wait...

Those EcoScan galvos from Dave and Aijii are pretty cool, and in a sub-30 kpps galvo I think they're the best value on the market right now. The performance is surprisingly close to what you get from a set of 30Kpps units, and the price can't be beat!

As for your question about the LA FREAK software - the software is still called "LA Studio" right now, and it works 100% with the FB3 controller. However, Pangolin is planning to change the software to make some tasks easier. Right now you get a full-blown suite of software, including a modeler, a text effects generator, a show editor, an abstract generator, a live player, etc... This means there are several different ways to accomplish a given task. Bill's goal is to make things more simple for the average user.

But rest assured: the software as it stands right now is complete and it all works. (And has been working for several years, BTW.) So don't feel you need to wait for the LA FREAK version to be released. If you're ready to get started right now, then by all means place your order. (By the way, you *also* get a copy of LIVE! PRO with your FB3, which is possibly the best live player software ever - especially for beam shows that will be played live to dance music. Note that this software is in addition to the LA Studio live player.)

Adam

[Pitopito]

Sorry; didn't mean to sound like an ogre. But it just rubbed me the wrong way when Dr Laser started insulting your red laser.

No problem at all, I like critics when are well motivated ....

About the scanner controller, I did not explained correctly that I'm waiting when the FB3 is ready for selling equipped with the XD card reader (But on Pangolin website, I saw that the selling is "restricted" to dealers or OEM ).
Meanwile I'm feeding the EcoScan and the Laserworld Lw45K with the same Syncmos based Dmx card (256 effects plus mic). The only obstacle I got is that the LW45K have differential inputs but EcoScan + DMX board not.

I agree with you that the EcoScan are performing really well, considering their "eco" class.

Anyway, up to the last weekend, I never though that I could even get close to Pangolin's legendary quality products, but now, discovering the Flashback3.... my paypal account is warming up...

Luciano

[buffo]

But on Pangolin website, I saw that the selling is "restricted" to dealers or OEM

Don't worry about that. It is designed with dealers and OEM folks in mind, but ANYONE can buy one. That's why it's called an "Evaluation kit". It's designed so that a company can buy one and evaluate whether they want to incorporate the FB3 board into their projectors...

The only obstacle I got is that the LW45K have differential inputs but EcoScan + DMX board not.

I'm sure they'll also run single ended... There are two ways to connect it. The first is to leave the X - lead on the scanner amp disconnected and connect X+ to X+ and Gnd to Gnd. This might result in your scanned image being 1/2 normal size though. The other way is to leave the ground lead on the scanner amp disconnected, and connect X+ to X+ and Gnd to X -. Check the manual for your scanners to see which wiring method they recommend for single ended operation.

Anyway, up to the last weekend, I never though that I could even get close to Pangolin's legendary quality products, but now, discovering the Flashback3.... my paypal account is warming up...

Believe me, you are not alone in thinking that. Pangolin has always been the industry leader, but they've also been pricey. I think that's why competitors like Mamba Black have gotten so popular recently. But this FB3 unit is such an incredible value, I think it's going to take the market by storm. For sure I would never have purchased Mamba Black (or my Alphalite unit) if I had known about the FB3 back then! Fortunately, I'm now running Pangolin anyway, so I'm all set. But I could have saved myself a lot of money earlier... (Not to mention saved a lot of frustration dealing with the limits of other controllers - especially the Alphalite.)

Adam