SELEM!!!

[Stuka]

any group photos of you, guys?
haha, here in China, every meeting, group photos is the most important, if not there, sorry for my asking.
Best regards!
Bridge

Woops - sorry, Bridge!!

I think we got so wrapped up running lasers that we TOTALLY forgot about getting any kind of group shot - which would be nice to have, for sure!

We'll do better next year - and I'm sure there will be PLENTY of more pictures showing up over the next several days!!

Randy

[James Lehman]

I'm fried. I brought some of my stuff in from the van, but I'm going to just do nothing for a while.

I really want to give super special thanks to mixedgas and DZ. They actually found an RGB gas laser projector under the pile of dust I brought to SELEM. They also found several problems with the construction of the rig, including a badly rotated polarized HeNe and a backwards mounted dichro! My crummy little gas rig isn't so crummy after all! I would say it looks like it's about 10+ times brighter and tighter than it ever was before.

I feel like I got a whole new laser projector!

Also thanks to buffo for the very nice greenie pointer prize. I have a SELEM shirt and a high power pointer now. I am officially an Über-nerd!

[buffo]

I think we got so wrapped up running lasers that we TOTALLY forgot about getting any kind of group shot - which would be nice to have, for sure!

I don't have a group photo, but I do have pictures of everyone that attended the pre-SELEM dinner party. I'll put them on-line later tonight when I get home.

Marc;

Missed your post about the speeding ticket earlier. Yeah, Pennsylvania is really strict about speeding. I remember back in the 1980's when the national speed limit was still 55 mph they had signs posted along the highway throughout Pennsylvania that listed the fines for speeding 5 mph over the limit, 10 mph over, 15mph over, and 20 mph over. The top fine was something like $220 back then...

And yeah, I agree - Bill Witcher's all-plexiglass case is really cool. (But heavy!)

Bridge;

I'm relying on memory here, so I might be a little off, but I'm pretty sure we had a total of 8 RGB scanning systems set up. Most of them were outputting between 400 and 700 mw total. (One was less than 100 mw, but it used a HeNe for red and a multiline 60X argon for green and blue. It was outfitted with a PCAOM - the only system at the entire event with one.)

We had at least two other argon projectors set up with diffraction gratings. We also had 2 large beam-rail projectors, both with 3 watt DPSS green lasers. We had 1 RYG projector (300 mw total I believe), and 1 green-only projector (100 mw). There may have been one or two other projectors in there that I've missed, but I think that's most of them.

Oh yeah, and in the hallway we had a Lexel 95 running at about 3-4 watts. No scan head on it though. (Not yet anyway!)

James;

Glad to see that DZ and MixedGas were able to get your projector dialed back in. That PCAOM is *very* cool. Enjoy the pointer!

Adam

[carmangary]

So, how were the demos? Were there any new products (hardware or software) shown off? I think you mentioned the 50K scanners already. Is everyone hooked on sound card DACs and LaserBoy now?

[Stuka]

So, how were the demos? Were there any new products (hardware or software) shown off? I think you mentioned the 50K scanners already. Is everyone hooked on sound card DACs and LaserBoy now?

James was able to give a good - if somewhat abbreviated due to time constraints - demo of Laserboy, and I'm sure most of us in attendance would agree it is a very good program, with hints from James of more things yet to come! Without a doubt it would be a GREAT way for someone starting out to get involved in the hobby, and also a nice change of pace for someone who has invested in other packages already, and wants to dabble with something just a little different than the "normal" laser software / hardware packages!

Patrick Murphy gave a very nice talk about the ILDA, issues it's currently addressing, and the "inside history" of Pangolin. Pangolin's Bill Benner gave a very good demo on scanner tuning (with me being the beneficiary by offering up my "projector" as a graphic training aid. Thank you!!), and a VERY good talk concerning projector wiring that anyone would benefit from regardless of what hardware / software package they're using.

For me - and probably several others - THE kick-ass demo of the event was the LivePro demo hosted by Francesco, an intern from the Netherlands working the summer with Pangolin. His solo performance with 3 separate projectors being controlled and synchronized to music from just one "touch screen" laptop was definitely something to see!!

The bulk of the time was pretty well split between working out hardware issues with individual projectors (thanks again, Bill!!), and impromptu, semi-synchronized group laser shows with anywhere from 4 to 8 projectors running simultaneously. To me, that alone was worth the trip - seeing those multiple synchronized beams shooting across the auditorium, along with abstracts from James' argon and another RGB rig shooting on the back wall of the stage, was one of THE most incredible laser displays I have ever seen!!

Not bad for a bunch of laser geeks who primarily do this as a hobby

[James Lehman]

James was able to give a good ... demo of Laserboy ...

No I wasn't.

... Without a doubt it would be a GREAT way for someone starting out to get involved in the hobby ...

I really wish people would not look at it that way. LaserBoy just might be everything you want it to be.

James.

[platinum]

I will now expand on my last post a little:

Wow. I *knew* I was going to have a blast, but my expectations were exceeded. I'm really glad I made the trek out to this! I will be back next year barring any natural disasters/acts of God etc.

Upon arriving Friday night at the Artist Cafe I felt immediately welcome and had a good time getting to know everyone.

Another thanks to Buffo for the laser pen. I never got around to getting a decent one, and now I don't have to.

In a nutshell, SELEM was just plain awesome. I'll let the forthcoming pictures and video tell the rest of the story for me.

-Jonathan Rehm

[Stuka]

I think Platinum gets the hard-core attendee award for this event -

Flew all the way in from the West coast, AND paid $$$ extra to ship his projector on the plane with him!!

Now THAT is dedication!!!

[platinum]

...AND paid $$$ extra to ship his projector on the plane with him!!...

Worth every penny!

[Lasernerd]

Good Job Jonathan!
And something else I think I saw your brother on the news!
A school band in China