I'd first like to extend a thank you to drlava for giving me the opportunity to test his new Flexmod P3 driver. I know there's a lot of people who have grown tired of waiting for the new Flexmod, especially since the old one has been out of stock for a while now. Well let me tell you, it is worth the wait. Drlava has nailed it with this new driver. I can't think of a change or an improvement he could add to make it any better.
First, let me introduce you to the new driver, this pic is basically of a pre-production model, the final product will look a bit different. Amazingly, the final model, will be the same size as the previous Flexmod. How he managed to cram all these new features into the same footprint is nothing short of awesome!
Ok, the basics, the pots are different. These normal size pots replace the much smaller ones found on the previous Flexmod. These are MUCH easier to adjust in my opinion. Clockwise to increase current, counter-clockwise to decrease current. Along with the normal Gain and Bias, there is an additional pot for "Balance". This, aparently isn't something for a user to adjust and should be left alone.
Modulation- I measured the input impedance to be 97.6K, which is a wonderful improvement over the current Flexmod. I connected an open can diode to the driver and ran a couple shows, including a raster show and the blanking was spot on, as expected. Linearity appeared to be perfect as well.
Built-in delay- This new Flexmod has a built in time delay (around 5 seconds). Which I find to be a very nice feature!
Now for the good stuff, The tiny white wiring hanging off the P3 is part of an interlock! If you power the P3 with this white wire not connected, a little red led illuminates on the board. When you attach the white wire to +V, the led goes dark and the timer begins. A very unique feature. This isn't the best part though!
Does your driver do this: While modulating (projector was displaying an abstract) I decided to cut one of the leads to the laser diode, immediately, the red led on the Flexmod illuminated. I then grabbed my soldering iron and quickly soldered the cut wire back together, with the Flexmod P3 still powered! I then disconnected the white interlock wire from +V, waited the required 1 second and reattached it to +V. After the 5 second countdown the laser lit right up displaying the abstract pattern. I thought this was simply amazing.
Very nice work on this, drlava!