Is doable this RGB set?

[Steve Milani]

Hi all!

As someone has already foreseen, my troubles starts just now...

I have available two alu board (both thickness of 1 cm). You can see their dimension into first photo which I attached here.

As I am a rookie, I would ask you:

1) Is better to cut the largest board at the same dimensions of smallest, so I can get "two floors" projector (lower floor: PSU, drivers etc. etc. and upstairs to put laser heads, optics and galvos)?

or:

2) Is more useful to use the largest alu board only, so can get a sort of "all at one" set? (see second photo, please)?

Today I just known from Bridge what real power of each laser is:
Green: >200mw
Red: next to 300mw
Blue: >250mw

Thanks a lot in advance to whoever wants give me an advice.
Greetings.

Steve
P.S. I hope not to have mistaken the color mixing in the photo...

[allthatwhichis]

Quick reply here... I would swap the red and blue positions so you lose less of your blue.

[Dr Laser]

0. I highly recommend 2 level design. Separating optical and electronics components will make your life so much easier.
1. Put Green parallel to all other lasers and add good mirror. This will decrease the size of board and will allow you more adjusting ability.
2. Leave a space for an extra red. So in the future you can increase the power by adding one extra red laser and a beam splitting cube.
3. Like allthatwhichis said swap blue and red.

[stanwax]

Steve
you cant swap the red and blue as the boys suggest due to the limitations of the LW dichros - I take it you have GB & GBR dichros....
This means the layout can only really go one way and the way your image shows is wrong! The green and blue are correct but the GBR dichro passes green and blue and reflects red.


Look at my Laserwave demo projector I am building (see images below) - I have a rectangular base of 250x500 and have the 2 level design - the only electronics on top are the scanner amps so I can easily tune. You will also see that the red is at 90 degrees - this is so I can add a PBS and another red - which I will do shortly.
I think you will be better to put the red where your green is shown on the image above and lay the blue next to it placing the green at the back at 90 degrees to the others.
The good news however is that due to the excellent charateristics of the LW dichros this layout will work well and not loose you lots of blue

Rob

[Carl B]

Hey Rob

Your demo setup is even more fasinating to look at with a touch of smoke. Was great to see it in the flesh running the pangolin demo show though.

Edit.
My mistake. It was the pan / tilt rgb that ran the pangolin show.

Carl

[Steve Milani]

Steve
you cant swap the red and blue as the boys suggest due to the limitations of the LW dichros - I take it you have GB & GBR dichros....
This means the layout can only really go one way and the way your image shows is wrong! The green and blue are correct but the GBR dichro passes green and blue and reflects red.


Look at my Laserwave demo projector I am building (see images below) - I have a rectangular base of 250x500 and have the 2 level design - the only electronics on top are the scanner amps so I can easily tune. You will also see that the red is at 90 degrees - this is so I can add a PBS and another red - which I will do shortly.
I think you will be better to put the red where your green is shown on the image above and lay the blue next to it placing the green at the back at 90 degrees to the others.
The good news however is that due to the excellent charateristics of the LW dichros this layout will work well and not loose you lots of blue

Rob

Firstly I have to thanks everybody for smart advices.

I think Rob (Stanwax) said right.
Best solution could be, as all you told me, to build my projector using two boards. (By the way...your projector looks very very good!)

Bridge told me the power of each laser head that he delivered me:
Red @635 = next to 300 mw
Green @532 = more than 200mw
Blue @473 = more than 250mw.
I don't know how much "more than" means exactly (maybe more than 250 means 251? or 260? Who knows???).
Knowing this, I have chosen to put the red in that position (nearest to scanner mirrors) only because its divergence is the greatest among others.

Dichroic mirrors I have:
n°1 "GB" type (reflecting blue, passing green)
n°1 "GBR" type (reflecting green and blue, passing red)

This is the first time I try to build myself a projector, even if I got my first laser since 1983 (He-Ne gas laser @ 632,8nm - 5 mw) and I always had "plug 'n play" lasers.
I think this will be a very hard test for me.... I'm next to 51 y.o. ...my eyes and hands aren't so fine anymore as when in youth....

Anyway... don't worries Mates!
I will bore you more and more, always asking new advices and tips......

That's what Forum and Members are for!

I'll keep you informed about my progress with photos. You have to be sure guys!

For the moment once more thank you!.

Ciao! (means " hallo" or "hi")

Greetings

"Uncle" Steve

[FrankenPC]

Firstly I have to thanks everybody for smart advices.

I think Rob (Stanwax) said right.
Best solution could be, as all you told me, to build my projector using two boards. (By the way...your projector looks very very good!)

Bridge told me the power of each laser head that he delivered me:
Red @635 = next to 300 mw
Green @532 = more than 200mw
Blue @473 = more than 250mw.
I don't know how much "more than" means exactly (maybe more than 250 means 251? or 260? Who knows???).
Knowing this, I have chosen to put the red in that position (nearest to scanner mirrors) only because its divergence is the greatest among others.

Dichroic mirrors I have:
n°1 "GB" type (reflecting blue, passing green)
n°1 "GBR" type (reflecting green and blue, passing red)

This is the first time I try to build myself a projector, even if I got my first laser since 1983 (He-Ne gas laser @ 632,8nm - 5 mw) and I always had "plug 'n play" lasers.
I think this will be a very hard test for me.... I'm next to 51 y.o. ...my eyes and hands aren't so fine anymore as when in youth....

Anyway... don't worries Mates!
I will bore you more and more, always asking new advices and tips......

That's what Forum and Members are for!

I'll keep you informed about my progress with photos. You have to be sure guys!

For the moment once more thank you!.

Ciao! (means " hallo" or "hi")

Greetings

"Uncle" Steve

Just curious....why not use notch filters for the dichroics? A straight line from green to the first galvo. Then a dichroic which only reflects red followed by a dichroic which only reflects blue?

[buffo]

Just curious....why not use notch filters for the dichroics? A straight line from green to the first galvo. Then a dichroic which only reflects red followed by a dichroic which only reflects blue?

No need for a notch filter. Just need the correct dichro. (One that passes green but reflects red, and one that passes green and red but reflects blue) Unfortunately, Laserwave doesn't currently make dichros with the correct optical coatings to accomplish this.

Edmund Optics does sell dichros that will work in this configuration, but 1) they cost more than the dichros from LaserWave, and 2) the efficiency of the dichros from Edmund Optics are a lot worse.

So if you want good efficiency, you go with the LaserWave dichros and accept that you have sub-optimal layout. Or else you go with the Edmund dichros and live with the fact that you loose more power off the face of each dichro. It's a toss-up either way...

There are other companies that sell dichros (including one-stop-laser-shop, for example) but no one has posted any data on how those other dichros compare in terms of price or efficiency.

If you did decide to go with a high end optical notch filter you could get amazing efficiencies (99% reflectance and 98.5% transmittance), but you'd also pay nearly 5 times as much...

Adam

[FrankenPC]

No need for a notch filter. Just need the correct dichro. (One that passes green but reflects red, and one that passes green and red but reflects blue) Unfortunately, Laserwave doesn't currently make dichros with the correct optical coatings to accomplish this.

Edmund Optics does sell dichros that will work in this configuration, but 1) they cost more than the dichros from LaserWave, and 2) the efficiency of the dichros from Edmund Optics are a lot worse.

So if you want good efficiency, you go with the LaserWave dichros and accept that you have sub-optimal layout. Or else you go with the Edmund dichros and live with the fact that you loose more power off the face of each dichro. It's a toss-up either way...

There are other companies that sell dichros (including one-stop-laser-shop, for example) but no one has posted any data on how those other dichros compare in terms of price or efficiency.

If you did decide to go with a high end optical notch filter you could get amazing efficiencies (99% reflectance and 98.5% transmittance), but you'd also pay nearly 5 times as much...

Adam

Do you know a good supplier for high end notch filters?

[Steve Milani]

Hi all!
I tried this layout, changin positions of laser heads as Rob adviced me.
There isn't alignment yet, of course...
Is it fine?
(sorry for ugly quality of pics...)
Greets!

Steve