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Thread: Laser scanner tutorial?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Default Laser scanner tutorial?

    Hey guy
    im new to the world of laser scanners, just wanted to know if anyone has or knows of a tutorial on how to put a scanner together. I want to order a basic galvo set from laser show parts dot com, the 20kpps set and a 50mw laser from CNI, but i have no idea how to put it all together. Any help would be most welcome.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
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    Melbourne, Australia
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    id be very interested in something like this too
    After buying prebuilt lasers i now want to experiment on my own!

    Is there a specific way to build them or are most of the parts just plug and play apart from making a chassis to mount everything too

  3. #3
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    Also how do i connect a FB3 to a set of DMX galvos?

  4. #4
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    Jan 2006
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    Charleston, SC
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    Quote Originally Posted by SpyroS View Post
    I want to order a basic galvo set from laser show parts dot com, the 20kpps set and a 50mw laser from CNI, but i have no idea how to put it all together.
    What controller are you going to use to drive those scanners?

    The setup is fairly straightforward. You connect the X+, X-, and ground connections on your controller to the X+, X-, and ground inputs on the scanner amp. You do the same thing for the Y scanner amp.

    If the scanners don't support differential inputs (they only have an X+ and a ground input on the amp), then you only connect those signals and leave the X- connection alone. Same thing goes for the case when your controller doesn't support differential signals.

    You also need to connect the blanking line on the laser to the intensity output on your controller. Since you only have a single laser, you don't want to use the green blanking output; if you do you'll only see the lines in the frame that were supposed to be green. By using the intensity output the laser will be on any time there is a visible point (or line) in the frame.

    Follow the guidelines for the ILDA connector and you'll be all set. (here's a link)

    Here are a few more links you may find useful:

    http://www.laserfx.com/Works/Works3S.html
    http://www.laserfx.com/Backstage.Las...Scanning1.html
    http://www.pangolin.com/ILDAtest.html

    As far as connecting a Flashback 3 to a set of "dmx galvos", I'm not sure what you mean. Galvos are analog devices that accept an analog waveform from a controller. DMX, on the other hand, is a serial, digital communication standard that is normally used to trigger lighting effects.

    Now, some projectors have a small controller with some built-in effects and a DMX port installed inside the projector. The idea is that you can run the unit as a stand-alone, or connect it to a lighting panel and trigger those basic built-in effects remotely. (If you buy the Scan-Eco 20 galvos that they sell at lasershowparts.com, they also comes with a mini-controller that has several built-in effects and a DMX port.) If you are looking to trigger those built-in effects on that controller via external signals from the FB3, that's certainly possible via the DMX output on the FB3. You'll need to set the DMX addresses to match so that the FB3 knows which channel to use to talk to the DMX port on the controller.

    But you *can't* output frames or animations from the FB3 to a DMX port. It doesn't work that way. If you want to send frames or animations from the FB3 to your scanners, you need to connect the analog outputs from the FB3 (those X+, X- connections I mentioned above) to the analog inputs on the scanner amps. This bypasses the mini controller with the DMX port that came with the scanners; the FB3 is now the controller and the mini controller isn't connected to anything.

    Adam
    Last edited by buffo; 09-24-2007 at 03:29. Reason: clarity...

  5. #5
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    Sep 2007
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    its all starting to make sense now thanks for the help

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