Stuka's RGB Progress....

[Stuka]

Since I haven't started enclosure construction yet, I decided to go ahead and modify the optics layout to include provisions for the Poly-20 wheel I ordered from LaserVisuals last fall (and almost forgot about!).

Of course, it meant I had to shift all the optical components to the back of the optics shelf - and a full afternoon of realigning everything! (MUCH quicker than first attempt at this, but still a pain in the rear!!)

Here's a length-wise shot of the new layout - Poly-20 wheel is at the top-left, with the scanner mount just to the right of that:



Here's a closer shot of the Poly-20 wheel - good view of the optical actuator that sits between the GM-20 beam shutter and scanners, and routes the beam through the wheel:



Finally, a side shot of a mirror bounce to the ceiling:



All for now - time to pack up the toys and head home to the missus (I've been living in temporary quarters the last couple of months while attending training).

More to follow soon, hopefully!

[godfrey]

Very nice!

I curious though, why did you not just purchase a red module from CNI? Most of their model families are the same size (for RGB - in relation to aperture height).


Phil

[Stuka]

As far as the red module purchase -

Maxyz modules were very highly recommended by several folks, including some that sell CNI lasers. Chuck offered a great price & service, so I took the plunge and ordered a set of duals from him - and have been quite pleased so far! Of course, can't complain about the CNI's so far, either!!

I though I'd post a few shots of some "artwork" generated by the Poly-20 wheel before wrapping things up for the night:

Looking up at the ceiling - bounce mirror reflection:


Wall art:

[soforene]

Excellent colour seperation on those patterns.

[DZ]

Very nice work Stuka, I'm curious, are you controlling the poly 20 and the stp-8 via dmx from pangolin or in some other manual way?

[Stuka]

Thanks for the kind comments

Until I can afford to jump on board the LD2000 bandwagon, I'll be trying out some DMX decoders and relays to control everything that can't be controlled by the FlashBack 3 (which is basically just the scanners and shutter). I found a fairly affordable stateside source for DMX boards through these guys:

http://home.att.net/~northlightsystems/home.htm

Since I already have a fairly decently-equipped MIDI hobby studio, I plan on using that as my primary control suite. I already have LivePRO USB to control the lasers and scanners; just about everything in the software can be controlled via MIDI, so syncing with the other existing "toys" shouldn't be much of a problem (hopefully)!

To add the DMX-controlled items to the mix, I plan on using an external device called a LanBox LCM, which will convert MIDI commands to DMX:

http://www.lanbox.com/products/LCMDataSheet.html

I have a couple of small DMX-controlled LED PAR cans and a quad dimmer I want to add to the mix at some point, so the LanBox will extend the functionality of everything beyond just the RGB rig.....eventually....

[Mr.Coffee]

Looking nice there, Randy, I think when I get back stateside that you'll have much more to show me than me you.

I figure that you probably already know this, but DMX-512 is actually half-duplex rs-485, so you may be able to play around with a converter board, or just come straight out of your serial port.