How do I find legit FDA approved lasers?

[pelosh]

Well, I do not recommend those 405nm ones to people. 445nm with CTs is only the option I am wiling to send over the water.
No VAT for US and delivery charge is unfortunately inevitability.

The projector you specified is an RGV (violet) and not a "true Blue".

There is a difference .................

You'd also need to add VAT and delivery to those prices.

[Phredy1]

In the price list I do not see CT's available for the 445nm 500mW model.

Well, I do not recommend those 405nm ones to people. 445nm with CTs is only the option I am wiling to send over the water.
No VAT for US and delivery charge is unfortunately inevitability.

I think my budget will not allow the higher end models at this time

[Stuka]

Don't forget to budget for a CONTROLLER & software to go with your projector...

[Phredy1]

Don't forget to budget for a CONTROLLER & software to go with your projector...

I can see friends and family are not going to get much for Christmas this year from me...

[norty303]

As a start, why don't you sort out some control gear, and see if your existing projector supports scanning at 10 or 12k (i.e. not stepper motors)

If it does, you could retrofit an ILDA port to it (easy enough to find the scanner driver inputs and blanking cable with some photos and assistance from here) and start doing some basic ILDA design/programming.

Bottom line at that point is you've not spent any money you won't anyway, as you'll always need control of some kind (ok, bar a DB25 port and some bits of wire), and you can get a sense of what you may REALLY want as you play with this. It'll also mean you get very familiar with the insides of your laser if you decide to build your own - AND you're not out by much if you do catastrophically break something

[buffo]

As for electronics background, I am a licensed Ham Radio Operator and a computer tech.

Hi Phredy! Welcome to PhotonLexicon.

Based on your statement above, I can tell you with reasonable certainty that you have the basic electrical and mechanical skills needed to successfully assemble your own RGB laser projector. There are a few hams here, and more than a few former hams. (For example, I was KA9KPG once upon a time.) Relax; you're among friends here. Yes, we do tend to take safety very seriously, and that might sound like we're jumping on you, but it's not that way at all. We're here to help you do this right.

I want to do this for a hobby - for now. I would like to learn as much as possible, and learn programing IDLA shows. <snip> I have no plans to get a new projector and run out and do shows, with no idea wtf I am doing. Maybe someday when I get good at it....

Attaboy! That's what we're looking for: someone willing to learn how do do things right (and safe). Running a commercial show is a monumental pain in the ass, and it also carries some very serious risks if not done correctly. This is why we tend to discourage people from getting into this hobby with the intent of making money. It's not something that is easy to jump into.

Besides, even very experienced operators don't exactly make rock star money doing this sort of thing. There is a famous chapter in L Michael Roberts' book about laser shows that deals with this question: "Can you make a lot of money doing laser shows". The entire chapter consists of just one word: NO.

As for building / getting inside the cases of laser projectors, that is not anything that interests me - at the moment.

That's unfortunate, because you can learn a lot about lasers *and* save a considerable sum of money by doing things yourself. Building a projector (or modifying an existing one to make it CDRH-compliant) isn't nearly as daunting a task as you might think. If you've ever taken something apart to fix a loose wire, or cut and drilled some metal plate to make a bracket to mount something in your car, then you've got what it takes to accomplish this.

The laser I have now is only DMX. It is not worth the trouble to get to standards.

You may want to replace the DMX controller with something more capable, but if the case itself is robust and the lasers inside work just fine, then modifying it to be CDRH compliant is fairly straightforward. Even if you want better scanners, it's likely that it will still be easier for you to work with your existing unit first. Make your mistakes on this one and you'll be much better prepared when you try to build your next projector all from scratch.

In reading the forum here and looking at pics of other people's projects, my first thought is "without a ton of help and stupid questions here, I have no hope of building anything workable".

Fortunately for you, a ton and a half of help is available, and we don't berate people for asking stupid questions.

In parts, how much money would I have to invest to build a decent low power RGB system? Is it a matter of just buying parts and a case and putting them all together, or do I need a machine shop and a PHD degree?

PHD? Machine shop? No way... You buy the parts and either buy or build the case, then you assemble everything and wire it up. Sure, there is a little creativity involved, and some of the members here get *very* carried away with custom anodized aluminum and super-neat wiring runs and all that, but it's not a requirement to building a working projector. If you have a hand-held jigsaw, a drill, a soldering iron, a dremel tool, and some basic wrenches and screwdrivers, you can build a projector just like this one. (Those are all the tools I used to build it.)

As far as cost, it depends on what you are aiming for. My guess is that you're looking for something that will look good in your living room or garage (assuming all the lights are out and you have a fog machine running). That means you're looking for around a half watt of white or less.

Let's assume you go with a home-made 660 nm red laser. Why 660 nm? They're cheap, they have great beam specs, and the deeper red makes for some very pretty color blends. You can buy a ready made unit (including a mount and an analog driver) for less than $300 from either MechEng3 or DrLava right here on PL, and both members have outstanding reputations. Given your budget, I'd suggest a pair of them, combined with a PBS cube to give you around 400 mw of output. Figure $750 for everything you'll need to make this work.

Now you'll need green and blue. My suggestion would be to purchase roughly 100 mw of blue at 473 nm, and 75 to 100 mw of green at 532 nm. Assuming that you purchase all your lasers with drivers that support analog modulation, you'll be able to tweak the power output of each laser to obtain a perfect white. For the blue laser, I'd budget around $900, and for the green, figure $250.

We have a reputable LaserWave dealer right here (Gottaluvlasers) who can help you with these two lasers, or you might want to check with LaserShowParts.com to see what the price break would be on a CNI model. Both Dave and Adrian at Lasershowparts.com are also members here, and their customer service is also excellent.

When it comes to scanners, I would look very closely at either the ScanPro 40's or the DT-40 pros. Both have very good performance, and will end up costing around $500. The ScanPro 40's are available through LaserShowParts.com, and the DT-40 pros are available from dzelaser.com (DZ is also a respected member here on PL.) Note that the prices listed on LaserShowParts.com are in Australian dollars, so the US price will be lower.

So we're at around $2400 for parts so far, right? You can add a few hundred to that for case parts, relays, switches, connectors, a shutter, some indicating lights, and so on, but even so you are well within your budget. In fact, it still leaves you more than enough cash left over to purchase a quality laser show controller & software.

I should also point out that these figures are *inflated* to reflect worst case numbers. It's very likely that your finished build will end up being cheaper.

Finally, I strongly suggest that you try to attend a "Laser Enthusiast's Meeting" in the near future. Baring that, at least try to meet with one or two of the PL members near you and see what they are running. Once you see a home-made projector up close and start asking questions about how it was done, you begin to realize that it's not nearly as hard as it sounds.

Adam

[beller420]

In mu experience, as a newbie, getting a variance is a total pain in the ass, but necessary!!! I mailed all of my paperwork in in December 08, got a docket # in feb but still, to this day, no license. The feds are slow at best but if u get the ball rolling, you enter a grey area where u submitted the paperwork and can "technically" work and do shows. But I agree with the wise experienced ones here,$3-4K won't get u anything(at least compliant to impress people at a "show". I started w 2 370mW rgb projectors, which was a little impressive in a midsize room but soon realized I needed more power, warning! this is now an addiction that may never go away. And more power quickly adds up to way more $.just ask my wife, I currently sleep on the couch JK.
Regards,
Tom

[mixedgas]

call em and ask why.

often gets you one, to the top of the file, and two, you findout they called you over something and you were not home.

Steve

[beller420]

Actually I did just that at the 6 month mark and was told their office was moving and not to use my units until I got my variance. Total crap. Maybe its bc I put "head dude" as my title

[mixedgas]

Actually I did just that at the 6 month mark and was told their office was moving and not to use my units until I got my variance. Total crap. Maybe its bc I put "head dude" as my title

That would do it, they are very formal and politically correct , you have to be as a civil service fed.

Steve