FlexMod P3 Analog/TTL Laser Diode Driver

[drlava]

Dr Lava, Can the old Flexmod N2 do this as well?

Nope, the N2 was limited to 12.0V max, unless you separated the diode supply and driver supply.

[tazlynx51]

I setup a Google account as well. I keep getting Adobe Acrobat windows trying to open whenever I use it though..... Hmmmm

Anyhoo, ordered one of the new modules....It's going to look tiny in my "lab" supply ! !!

George

[ljk]

Just placed my order.

Thanks for your great work!!

[hobbybob]

I just ordered 2 !
Dr. Lava is a very nice man to do business with ;-)
And the old Flexmod was cool, and this one is even cooler.

[MLin]

2x drivers and 2x mysterious Lasorb's ordered!

[XysteR]

Mine arrived today. Ultra fast delivery to the UK

[taggalucci]

Got mine, thanks Andrew

Out of interest, given that the P3 uses the GND for both the DC supply and Modulation input, I'm wondering what impact this has on my single pointed grounding scheme. I have separate grounding points for AC and DC. Up until the P3, the drivers I've been using have separate ground inputs for modulation and supply so this hasn't been something I've considered.

For example, to continue enjoying the benefits of my single pointed grounding scheme, would I need to run the ILDA modultation ground, for only those colour channels using drivers with combined ground, to my DC ground point and not the other colour channels?

Perhaps my good mate Buffo has already addressed this in some way here. Just a note: all of my lasers are electrically isolated from the baseplate.

I'm not very electronics savvy, so I'd appreciate any views on this.

[drlava]

Glad some of the internationals are getting them too. I'll be sending out another batch Monday next week when more arrive.

taggalucci, good question.
To answer this, consider that while the drivers that you are used to have had separate ground inputs for modulation and supply, internally (inside the laser) they are most often just connected together. To get the same effect, you can run two wires from the ground point on the P3: a shorter thicker wire back to the power supply, and an optionally thinner wire to the modulation input common gnd. Alternately, assuming modulation control gnd is connected at the power gnd star point, you don't need to run a separate wire for modulation gnd. The key benefit of the star ground approach is to prevent ground lifts from affecting scanning on the x and y axis, so if you follow this approach there won't be problems.

[taggalucci]

Thanks Andrew. I actually just read this again on my on thread. Seems I haven't yet managed to assign all this useful stuff to memory!

[Law99]

Received mine, still yet to test it but arrived well packaged and all intact! Thanks!

Edit: Also what PSU would you guys recommend? I've seen this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/20W-5V-DC-3-8A...ht_2516wt_1011

but its switching mode, not linear, will that make a difference? Or does anyone have any recommended UK suppliers... I have a look on Rob's (Stanwax) website but couldn't see anything!