250$ Pf-114 RGV 300mw Projector upgrade (some pics inside)

[Geetone]

Greetings! As I've finished upgrading that cheap chinese RGV projector, here's my little review.
From the beginning, I wanted to have a budget solution to draw some good graphics in color, try to trace/draw/redraw/import images, frames, sequences, try myself in making animations and so on. To tell the truth, I didn't expect much from a 250$ RGV projector, I knew that lasers are not a cheap way of spending free time.
Anyway, I've ordered one PF-114 Projector from PF-Lighting, a pair of ScanLSP30k scanners, and the ISHOW (what a crap it is indeed)
The first thing I did after opening the package with projector - plug in the mamba dac (took one from the club for tests), draw a test pattern for ten seconds, shut the projector off, unscrew those default scanners and throw them away. Those galvos were, as I understand, around 10-12kpps, not the type I was looking for. After making a decent baseplate (I made it from, emm, well, I'll tell the story another time), I've dismantled the projector's case, leaving only its lower and back sides, where all the electronics were mounted. The projector's remains are still to be fixed on the baseplate, while ScanLSP drivers are already screwed to the left.

Also, just as santanas did, I've turned the platform with laser modules 90deg clockwise, getting rid of a corner bounce mirror. Less mirrors=more brightness.

Mounting galvos into the scanner block and onto the baseplate was easy, it took me about 10 minutes to mount and calibrate galvos to shoot the right direction.

To save some space, I've screwed the laser's DMX board on top of the ScanLSP PSU.

+-5V XY scanner signal was taken directly from ILDA breakout board.

Now the only thing I'm thinking of is what can be used as an enclosure for my first laser, coz on 31'st of october it'll be time for some drawing in the club. :-)

Some "in action" pics, including test pattern scanned at 29500kpps an approx. 25deg angle. As soon as I figure out if my phone camera can shoot enough of red and green (those colors are there, believe me) - I'll post some other beam images and some complex animation frames.

[Stoney3K]

Will you be replacing the Bluray with 445nm? If I read the review right, the diode should drop right in place of the 405 that's in there right now. Would make it a very fancy RGB.

Also, did you have to realign the dichros or did you turn the whole she-bang with the lasers on it as a piece? I heard these things were quite stuck down with epoxy, so they may be a little cumbersome to realign.

Is there any way to get rid of the original galvo driver boards (hey, you might even be able to sell those working galvos to someone for $30!) and make some room for the higher specced drivers? That way the lid will fit back on

[Geetone]

Will you be replacing the Bluray with 445nm? If I read the review right, the diode should drop right in place of the 405 that's in there right now. Would make it a very fancy RGB.

Also, did you have to realign the dichros or did you turn the whole she-bang with the lasers on it as a piece? I heard these things were quite stuck down with epoxy, so they may be a little cumbersome to realign.

Is there any way to get rid of the original galvo driver boards (hey, you might even be able to sell those working galvos to someone for $30!) and make some room for the higher specced drivers? That way the lid will fit back on

Well, yes, I'm thinkin of putting a 445nm instead of 405nm module, tho i still don't know where to buy one of same dimensions. O-like 445 is a bit bigger with its heatsink, no?
I did turn the whole platform with dichros and modules 90 deg clockwise. Originally the lasers were aligned from top to bottom, and there was a 90deg bounce mirror. (photo by santanas(c))
Nothing was glued, just unscrew and rotate. :-) I did align the dichros a bit, coz scanner block of ScanLSP30 is 3-4mm higher than original. That took me a minute or two. And all the modification of the projector took 2.5-3 hours at all.
Original galvo drivers are integrated in dmx board. You could really take all the modulation/XY signals directly from ILDA breakout board, but as I get it, you would loose all the dmx capabilities. I have an idea of making some diffraction wheels, lumia and similar kind of stuff to work in this projector. And it would be great if servos were controlled by sunlite or other dmx controller/software.