To the laser show software companies

[mixedgas]

When your running the scanners in their ballistic response region, they will do things like that.

Steve

[planters]

Oh boy, I received the quote from HB lasers for the dual channel Micro amps and cabling to drive the 506 compact scanners...908E. This isn't just significantly more expensive than the motors. This is STUPID! With this component cost, the price of these "entry level scanners" equals the cost of the most expensive, demonstrably best scanners in the world from Cambridge and Nutfield.

[norty303]

Don't forget you ARE choosing the Rolls Royce amp from the HB range Planters.
The other amp that Pangolin suggest (2x single channel amps) is ~500E for the pair. This makes them comparable with DT40's.

And of course, you could use another amp of your choice. If the previous suggestion is correct, then the DT30 scanner set uses the DT40 amps and DT25 galvos.
So from my perspective, my DT30 set cost ~£160. Adding a set of 506 galvos to my existing scanners leaves me change from what a set of DT40's would cost (based on the whole cost of the 506's AND DT30 set).

As an aside, is the HB laser amp that Bill is recommending the same as recommended for the Saturn series? I personally think it'd be overkill (financially and spec wise) for use on what is ultimately Pangolin's mid range scanner (although performance may not be mid-range in comparison to other mid range offerings)

P.S. didn't I read somewhere that Steve Mixedgas is doing some work to evaluate a range of amps with the 506's, and suggest what mods will be needed? Or do I just dream these things up?

[mixedgas]

The 506 compatable cables arrive at Pangolin tomorrow for evaluation with my Turbotrack amp. Planters, a amp that will drive a 506 to 30K performance has ~35-40$ worth of parts on it. This is not rocket science.

There are two 506Cs, one has the new patented Saturn position sensor on it, and the other has a backwards compatible sensor.

Saturn's patented position sensor has a inverted output. By inverted, it uses common anode as opposed to common cathode sensors. As far as I know, no amp on the market works with it right now. If some one gets a me a Saturn, I can solve that problem fairly quickly with a couple of op-amps.. But I'm not going to design something for Saturn unless I have one here. I have a good amp design.
It includes small angle switching logic.

Testing with Turbotrack is beneficial to Pangolin, it lets Bill test with two different output stage configurations, and since the board is not surface mount, any required mods go quickly.

Steve

[norty303]

So, are we saying that bar a bit of re-tuning, the DT30/DT40 amp will work 'out of the box' with the backwards compatible 506?
Or are there further 'enhancements' to be made?

[mixedgas]

I'm wondering if there really is enough market on PL for a "Early Adopter" Saturn amp. I've seen the presentation on the DSP amp, and it looks to be worth holding out for. Why would I want to run a board layout for 6-7 months of small scale sales?

Steve

[White-Light]

Steve I think you would be wasting your time designing an amp as the DSP amp doesn't appear to be that far off.

There's been a pic of what looks like a pretty polished version on the ScannerMax FB page for a while now:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

[planters]

Norty,

I missed the other amp recommendation. What was it?

In any case the 500E price tag along with the scanner motors from P. would cost 2x as much as a DT40 and actually be close to an EMS 7000. It seems to me that the amp is significant. Without any specs to go with the position sensor choice I don't know what the ramifications of choosing the "economy" tracking would be. Then this choice governs the choice of amp. My understanding is P. is working on two amp designs; the "credit card" due out in the next few months and designed to drive the 506 (conventional position sensor?) and the "digital" with a significantly further time horizon. The "credit card" will be very cost competitive and I suspect performance competitive considering price. The "digital" will be necessary to take advantage of the propitiatory position sensor whichever motor it is on and will have the current capability to drive the motors to their full potential.

If these interim driver solutions require modifications, will not necessarily give superior performance (it is not clear that existing systems are motor limited) and are not inexpensive then the only reason to purchase them is to experiment. This is a valid reason, but this is outside my area of expertise and so I'll watch what develops.

[The_Doctor]

When your running the scanners in their ballistic response region, they will do things like that.

Steve

Thanks Steve. I found two big posts of yours about ballistic response, though mainly mentioned in passing, one on PL, one on LPF. I'll Google some more, read some more, because I didn't fully understand it yet. One thing.. the flattened circle thing didn't so much appear in what I took to mean ballistic response, as get smoothed out by it. Specifically, I'd see it many times, but one time I did not see it was in the circle in an ILDA pattern. It mainly showed up during my tests of rotating polygons. I found that regardless of speed and scan angles, straight lines would periodically become not-straight. But as that small AVI I posted shows, when a straight line is diagonal there is little bowing apart of lines. The optimum angle there is not quite 45° as it should be, so I guess a little driver tuning might be in order, but that linewarp thing looks like bigger trouble. It looks as if tracking to a momentary stop works accurately, the WideMove galvos just seem reluctant to start moving again.

[norty303]

Planters, it was these amps I believe

http://shop.hb-laser.com/OEM/Apollo-...ier::4487.html

BTW, Pangolin are looking at competitive pricing versus DT40's it seems, but in a recent email to me quoted a retail price of $750-$900 for the DT40's.

I've responded to let them know that DT40's are not that expensive from some of the Chinese sellers.