First, I'd like to introduce myself - my name is Trent and I am new to this hobby. I used to have an electronics repair business back in the 80's and 90's when people actually repaired electronics rather than tossing it in the trash and replacing it. Now, it is a sideline to a more lucrative network engineering career.
I recently repaired a couple of effects lasers for a friend of mine who owns a small club. The power supplies had gone out and they just needed all the electrolytic caps replaced to bring them back to life. I thought these things were cool. They pretty much put on an effects show that goes to the beat of the music. I fired up my halloween fog machine and had a rave in my workshop - mesmerized for hours. I was hooked and so was my son.
I thought it would be neat to purchase a laser to light up the front of my house for Christmas instead of hanging lights. So, I purchased a 2000mW laser from AliExpress (I can hear the groaning already, LOL) and received it a couple of days ago. I made sure it had an ILDA connector for PC control, analog lasers (not TTL) and I paid extra for 40kpps galvanometers. Knowing how these Chinese vendors exaggerate specs was expected, so I figured if I paid for 40K galvos, I'd get something that could do 30Kpps. I don't think this unit can do even that. While it handles wave and tunnel effects nicely, it flickers on animated graphics that have roughly over 1000 points per frame. It should be able to handle that at 20 frames a second, right? (20kpps if I'm doing my math right) The unit is a LH-RGB242 from LH-Lasers (Blue Ocean Technology, Co. LTD).
Will this affect what I plan on using the laser for? I just want to map my house (roofline, windows, door, etc.) and project virtual Christmas lights. Nothing fancy. I did order a FB3QS package from Pangolin, so I will be getting the PC interface and software in a couple of days. (Hey, I did at least one thing right and got the "good stuff') Right now, I'm working with the .ild files that were provided on an SD card from the manufacturer, which looks like they downloaded from your FTP site to begin with. An interesting note is that even when I turn down the "sensitivity" adjustment on the laser to reduce the scanning angle, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference in the flicker. Shouldn't it get a lot better if I'm not moving the mirrors around as much? Is there any way to "tune" the scanners? The instructions were garbage. It took me 15 minutes to just get the menus in English.
I'm sorry for the n00b questions, and yes, I did search the forums but figured a fresh thread may be best. I never expected this new hobby to be cheap, and I know money can fix most anything. Sock it to me, I can take it. I canceled three trips this year, I've got some money to burn.
Thanks for any help!
Trent