Another RGY build

[norty303]

Well, as I've got the parts on order, I thought I'd better start on ripping out the old projector, so it's ready when the bits arrive.

On their way from Laserwave are:
1 x 300mW 532nm
2 x 350mW 640nm

A green and a red are going in this projector, and the other red is going in my other projector to replace the 1W 650nm thats in there currently. Both projectors will have the same laser heads then, total power somewhere between 7-800mW each. Funds didn't permit me to upgrade the scanners at this point so I'm keeping the Scaneco15's but ditching the DMX card as it won't be used anyway.

Anyway, here are the 'before' photos, from original configuration to nearly empty case...

[hobbybob]

will we see this new laser at the Surfleet LEM ?
Really nice to see the projectors. Keep us posted about your progress.

[norty303]

Sorry for the long delay, real life has a way of snagging you sometimes.

@hobbybob - no sorry, won't be at Surfleet, its a long way away from me and money is especially tight right now, especially after paying for this lot!

An update - lasers are still not here, but Rob Stanwax has them in his possession for testing, and they'll be with me shortly, so I can proceed with the builds. Here is a pic of what the green is doing...



No pics of the reds yet as Rob has discovered that a side effect of the lasorb incorporation has meant that only one diode in the heads operates under CW mode, but should be fine under analogue modulation. Bridge has confirmed that to be correct and Rob is just testing before shipping.

So hopefully in a week or so I'll have some more progress to report and pics to show! I'll even try and use a decent camera!

[Doc]

Cool, I'll be interested to see how the 350mW 640 performs against the 1W 650

[norty303]

Yeah, I hadn't really thought about comparing them actually, was going to just rebuild both, but I should probably do a side by side comparison shot (shots? videos?) before I switch out the 650. Just realised the camera the mum in law leant us also shoots video, so might get something quite pretty for you as it takes good shots.
It's just a shame the 650 is likely to stand out a mile, so it'll be quite obvious which is which, even if the brightness is relatively similar.
Quite excited as they were put in the post today, 640's are doing 380 and 400mW respectively, so one projector will be about 780 (lower power pair of each colour), and the other one about 900 (higher power pair)

Laserwave 650nm 1.1w is very much for sale now, as is the Aixiz ~200mW TTL 532

[norty303]

Ok, so after a few false starts, misalignment of optics, and a bit of head scratching over positioning, the parts were arranged and fixed to the baseplate. I think at some point I'll be getting 2 baseplates made up out of thicker ally, with a lip machined down each edge so it can still slide into the existing channels for the original baseplate. The current one (~3mm) relies on folded edges for additional stiffness, and doesn't do too badly (its not very big), but a nice 6mm plate should be better.

Anyway, here are some photos to keep you going, right up to the alignment and getting ready to close her up for the first time.

Hopefully I'll have the time over the weekend to get it in the garage with some smoke, up next to her sister which has the 1 watt 650nm in it, and take some photos and video to put up. At the moment the green far out powers the red in this one, but dialling back the green to about 80% and it starts to look better when viewing test frames on the wall. This was about the same situation with the 650. The reality can be quite different when 'out front' looking at beams through smoke I've found though.

P.S. Oh yeah, nearly forgot, I had intended to try and retain the existing rear panel as it had a nice set of pots for X/Y size and reverse switches. Unfortunately, when it came to try and get it working, it looks as if the DMX board, programmer baord and rear panel all work in tandem with each other. I think that one of the boards takes all the signal in from the rear panel, processes it, then puts what is required back to some other connectors on the rear panel. Unfortunatly the sawitches don't appear to actually reverse the signal, they just tell the programme board to reverse the signal before pumping it back to the panel for further distribution. As I have neither the will, nor space to accomodate these boards, they came out, and one of DZ's breakout boards went in...

[norty303]

Ok, so I managed to get in the garage tonight and do some comparisons. I've started a separate thread for the red comparison on its own in case it useful for future reference more generically

http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/showthread.php/10780-400mW-640nm-vs-1.1-watt-650nm-Pics-and-videos!-%29

Ok, so first things first, I'm a bit dissappointed with my original 532. You'll from the pics that it is quite a bit down on power compared to the new one.
The original one has about 30hrs on it, and is a 300mW and was doing ~410mW when Rob sent it to me.
The new one is also a 300mW head, but this was doing 500mW (see pic further up the page)
However, the difference in brightness is fairly distinct, so I think its dropped quite a long way further. Is it below 300mW? I don't know, and can't meter it, but it's under a year old so I may investigate to see if it's worth sending for warranty checkup. As it is the whole thing is so inbalanced, it would be a bit embarrassing putting in a 'pair' of projectors on a job when they're out that far from each other. However, I'll have to fit the other 640nm first and see how they compare then, once they're both using the same reds.

For now, here are some pics and vids (once they've been uploaded) of the 2 projectors doing their thing... enjoy. Sorry, no music.