New Here help with starting scanner project.

[buffo]

Hi Josh; Welcome to PhotonLexicon!

The FB3 does indeed support USB communications. That's one of 2 ways you can run it. (The second way is to use DMX to trigger stored files on the FB3 itself.) For your purposes, you will be using your laptop (running the LA Studio software suite) to control the FB3 via a USB link. Then you'll run a 25-pin cable from the output of the FB3 to your projector. This is the ILDA cable, and will carry the signals needed to control the scanners and the lasers.

The DT-40 Pro scanners can be purchased from jian725 right here on PL. Send him a PM and ask for a price quote. However, it looks like you were already set to buy the ScanPro-30 scanners. Those are available from Lasershowparts.com, and the two guys that run that store (Dave and Aijii) are also members here. Either set will be fine for your first projector.

As for getting Bill Benner to tune your scanners - he does indeed offer this service for all Pangolin users. (In fact, at SELEM he will tune anyone's scanners, no matter what software they're running!) But it might be difficult for you to attend SELEM as you're in Texas and SELEM 2008 will be held in North Carolina. Still, maybe you and Carmangary can carpool.?. Give it some thought anyway.

Once you buy your FB3, all you need to do is contact Bill at Pangolin and he will give you directions on how to send your scanners to him. He'll tune them up and mail them back to you. It's that simple. (Turn around time is about a week, depending on Bill's schedule.) Depending on which scanners you get, he may perform a modification of the scanner amp to make them easier to tune.

Finally, you can buy scanners straight from Pangolin, but they only sell the best: Cambridge. Still, they can normally get pretty good prices (they buy in volume), so if you're thinking about upgrading to the very best scanners, give Pangolin a call.

Adam

[laserpic]

30Kpps galvos price 250USD including shipping cost.

see me post Thread
http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...ead.php?t=4870

[thesk8nmidget]

Hi Josh; Welcome to PhotonLexicon!

The FB3 does indeed support USB communications. That's one of 2 ways you can run it. (The second way is to use DMX to trigger stored files on the FB3 itself.) For your purposes, you will be using your laptop (running the LA Studio software suite) to control the FB3 via a USB link. Then you'll run a 25-pin cable from the output of the FB3 to your projector. This is the ILDA cable, and will carry the signals needed to control the scanners and the lasers.

The DT-40 Pro scanners can be purchased from jian725 right here on PL. Send him a PM and ask for a price quote. However, it looks like you were already set to buy the ScanPro-30 scanners. Those are available from Lasershowparts.com, and the two guys that run that store (Dave and Aijii) are also members here. Either set will be fine for your first projector.

As for getting Bill Benner to tune your scanners - he does indeed offer this service for all Pangolin users. (In fact, at SELEM he will tune anyone's scanners, no matter what software they're running!) But it might be difficult for you to attend SELEM as you're in Texas and SELEM 2008 will be held in North Carolina. Still, maybe you and Carmangary can carpool.?. Give it some thought anyway.

Once you buy your FB3, all you need to do is contact Bill at Pangolin and he will give you directions on how to send your scanners to him. He'll tune them up and mail them back to you. It's that simple. (Turn around time is about a week, depending on Bill's schedule.) Depending on which scanners you get, he may perform a modification of the scanner amp to make them easier to tune.

Finally, you can buy scanners straight from Pangolin, but they only sell the best: Cambridge. Still, they can normally get pretty good prices (they buy in volume), so if you're thinking about upgrading to the very best scanners, give Pangolin a call.

Adam

ok and for the fb3 do i need to buy the usb daughter board? seperate or do you get to choose between the dmx and usb?

can you give me some more details on SALEM? i did a google search and couldnt find anything.
when is it and how long? and does it cost anything. i think it would be a GREAT way to learn a lot more! and really progress in my laser hobby.

i will have to contact bill. is he a member here?

thanks a ton for all the help andy!

[buffo]

ok and for the fb3 do i need to buy the usb daughter board? seperate or do you get to choose between the dmx and usb?

Hi Josh;

The FB3 comes with the USB connector. If you decide you want the DMX daughterboard (which gives you the ability to control the FB3 via DMX), then you need to order the FB3 Evaluation kit. It costs $595.

Otherwise, if you won't be using DMX, you can order the "LA FREAK" kit which is aimed at the hobbyist market. It's identical to the Evaluation kit except it doesn't have the daughterboard and it's cheaper - only $500.

Both kits come with the FB3 controller and the entire LA Studio software suite.

can you give me some more details on SALEM? i did a google search and couldnt find anything.

Hehe.. It's SELEM, which stands for "South Eastern Laser Enthusiast's Meeting". And the best place to get information is right here, since it's an event organized by PhotonLexicon members. Have a look in the "meet and greet" subforum and you'll find several threads talking about SELEM.

If you're really curious as to what this is all about, look back at past threads and read up on SELEM 2007, as well as FLEM, FLEM 1.5, and FLEM MARK II.

when is it and how long?

SELEM officially starts on Saturday, August 16th, at 10:00 AM. However, you really don't want to miss the pre-SELEM dinner party we hold the night before. The dinner party starts at 6 PM and usually runs until midnight or so. It's a great way to unwind after a day traveling to Newton, NC and setting up all the gear in the auditorium. See the SELEM threads above for more details.

Anyway, like I said, SELEM officially starts at 10:00 AM on Saturday, August 16th. It runs until 10PM (or maybe a little later) that night. Then we start up again on Sunday, August 17th at 10:00 AM again, and run until around 4:30 PM or so. At that point we start taking things apart and packing up. We try to be out of the venue by 6 PM, but last year it was closer to 7:30...

and does it cost anything

This year we tried something different. We're charging just $25 to register for SELEM, and for that price we *include* an official SELEM 2008 shirt. (The shirts are short-sleeved knit shirts with a collar and the SELEM logo embroidered on the front.) Once you are registered you may bring your family members or guests with you to the event.

You are also eligible to participate in the raffle and the door prizes. (Note that you must be present to win the door prizes, but the raffle is open to anyone that registers for the event - you don't need to be present to win the raffle.) If you want to buy extra shirts, they're just $20.

i think it would be a GREAT way to learn a lot more! and really progress in my laser hobby.

You got it! That's why we do it. It's a fantastic way to learn, plus it's a lot of fun too! You'll meet some amazing people, learn a lot about lasers, software, and projectors, and have a *ton* of fun.

Trust me - we've done 4 of these Laser Enthusiast Meetings so far (3 in Florida and 1 in North Carolina) and they've all been great. Some of the members in the UK have picked up the idea, and they've had 2 meets over there. Would you believe they ended up with more people in attendance than we did! Read up on the UKLEM threads for more info about those meets.

Bottom line: everyone agrees that the meets are great.

i will have to contact bill. is he a member here?

Yup. He's registered as Pangolin. Though you can probably contact him faster via the Pangolin website, or by picking up the phone.

Adam

[thesk8nmidget]

well geez! that is a lot sooner than i was hoping! i wioll have to see if there is a way i can swing that and make the trip

sure would be awesome to make it! anhd i will have get in contact will bill sometime in the near future!


im stoked im starting all my drawings and seeing where i want to mount everything.

[thesk8nmidget]

okay so after some planning and drawing i have come up with my layout.

the power supply's will be mounted on their sides and same as the amps.

i havent decided what i wanna do with the fb3 (mount in in the box or make a case and leave it out?

heres what i have so far


i drew out the line for where i think i will run the wires... not sure if those arew exactly corect but you get the idea.

and here is where the laser will come out


now for a few more questions.

do you think there would be a better layout than this? i made it so the amps can be easily tuned if needed and the components spaced out as much as possible for cooling.


if i were to mount the fb3 in the case it would go in between the PCB and the scanner power supply.

are there any benefits to running the pcb out side of the case? or should i just run a long usb into the case and to my computer?

thanks in advanced

[buffo]

Hi Josh;

That layout should be OK. A little cramped, perhaps, but it will work. One thing: you probably should leave room for a shutter between the laser and the scanners. True, you're not trying to get your projector varianced right now, but you might want to do so in the future. Also, a shutter is a handy safety device.

As for mounting the FB3 inside the box vs using a separate, external enclosure: the only real problem is that USB doesn't work well over long cable runs. If you always plan to have the control computer within ~ 10 feet of the projector, then go ahead and put the FB3 inside the box.

But if you think you might want to have the projector on the opposite side of the room (or even on the opposide side of the room and up 10 feet off the floor, like it would need to be for safety reasons), then you'd be better off mounting the FB3 in it's own box that would sit close to your computer and connect to it via a relatively short USB cable. Then you would use a much longer ILDA cable to connect the FB3 output to your projector.

Adam

[thesk8nmidget]

im looking into shutters right now. i actually planned on doing that just completely slipped my mind when drawing out my layout.

are there any good reliable brands that are affordable for a hobbyist?

i was saw people here get a usb to cat5 adapter and use a long cat5 cable that may be what i end up doing. i like that idea since i have a lot of cat 5 cables laying around