well this is my first post on any forum..... ever!
be gentle with me.
i have been into lasers for a little while now (15 years+) and done most of the usual stuff at a fairly young age (I`m 32 by the way) like blowing a weeks wages when i first started work on a 2mw hene laser and bouncing it off mirors stuck on a speaker with blu-tak. then off mirrors on 1 motor, then off 2 motors then off 3 and so on ( ahh the addiction begins ).
reading a little more and learning of the laser and its origin and the science behind that beautiful speckle pattern, it had got me. lasers would be a part of my life for ever. well on a hobbiest level anyway.
then i sort of got into making music with a friend for a few years and the laser hobby was on the back burner.
i`ve allways been interested in high voltage (sparks specificaly) and at work i could make various things to satisfy theese pleasures.( i was a tool maker in a toolroom for 15 years) i made a little tesla coil about a foot tall. did`nt work very well but i enjoyed it anyway. made a van de graff, that was cool and it still a great ice breaker at parties!
then i re-discovered lasers when i heard of theese blue-green argon ion lasers.....can`t remember where from but after having a 2mw hene laser and a cigar box full of red laser pointers i decided to spend about £600 i think on a spectra phisics 161? laser head rated at 23mw (wow at the time) and all the components to build the wardrobe sized power supply to run it! well it all arived in the post and i started building ot once. i`ll post some pictures one day. it only had 4 motors.3 with mirrors and one for blanking ha ha ha ha it was a piece of plastic with 3 slots in it. again not very good but i enjoyed making it and it did pay for itself eventualy.
then wow these green laserpointers..... so much coherent light for so little and it was greeeeeeen. mmm
had to get myself one of theese.(actually brought 2 cos i knew i`d bust one eventualy) payed on ebay (whoopeee that was my first ever ebay purchase). B***ARD import tax arghh. then just messed around with them `till a friend dropped it. "errr its not working anymore?????"."oh well. just have to take is apart to see if i can fix it (mooohahahahaharrrrr(excelent smithers)). i just love taking things apart! looked inside and all the bits were just glued together. promtly made a housing at work to hold all the different bits together and with tuning posibilities (again ill post some pictures one day to so off my engenering skills).
well that brings me to here. been looking at forums for tidbits of info but now its time to get serious.
the dream has always been to use galvos to do complex stuff. but never got round to it. well i now have 2 sets of 30k galvos, amps and psu`s.thanks to ebay. they both need mirors but thats all.
i will probly need help with tuning etc and just for now have ordered a dac off norm(homemade laser show) for messing around with. have already sent a message to bill (pangolin) about that fb3, la frek stuff and thats my next purchase or a laser. which brings me to my next question...
looking for a laser, green will do for now 100-200mw? enough to do small shows. doesent have to be new or nearly new just somthing quite bright with a couple of thousand hrs let on it. see when it dies i`ll enjoy tryin` to fix it. if not recomended dealers please. dont forget i`m in the uk.
well thanks.
for now............
scoot.