A 'blast from the past' just for fun

[Displaser]

I had the SVS kit, as well as several other kits along the way, MWK DAC kit (also a firestar? as I recall - complete with laserdisc galvos).

How far we've progressed....

[flecom]

I also I had an oscillator and stepper motor scanners I think I got from MI or MWK

[Yag]

Over this side of the pond, a lot of people (myself included) started with the Lasertech kits:-



Scanners based on loudspeakers!

Worked though, I think I have three complete systems!

[Jem]

Over this side of the pond, a lot of people (myself included) started with the Lasertech kits:-

Yep, I had one of those, bit boring though as patterns were severely limited, mine didn't have a lumia wheel though, that must have been a later addition .

[flecom]

is that a screwdriver joystick? lol!

[JasonB]

Its really cool to see so many folks sharing kits/projects/products from years past! That laser scanner set from over the pond looks very modular and nice...

Also wanted to follow up on Popelscan in case anyone reads this thread looking for any answers. Like all interesting problems in electronics/software there was more than one issue. Yes, the checkbox for Switch-PCB needs to be checked to enable the RGB, learned that on this forum, AND for some reason the 25 pin cable I used had pin 17 referenced to ground which is why the clock for the RGB latch did not work... Hooked up LEDs to represent RGB for now, therefore there is no excuse to move forward with LD drivers driven by the popelscan interface...

Thanks to the published schematics for c4RO's Popelscan LPT-RGB interface circuit (and the German DAC Wandler which is the same except it uses a 74574 flip-flop (latch) rather than a 74273).

Below we can see the breadboarded circuit. Next step is to set up the op amps for the scanner and build/test a single blanking LD circuit so I can graduate from the HeNe gasser to solid state and actually be only 5 years behind current amateur technology rather than 20....

Photonlexicon has some of the kindest most intelligent and interesting folks of any forum ever! It has become obvious that building a RGB projector could be one of the most fun projects a person could tackle!

Stay tuned, this addiction has only begun!

Hopefully using a LD from a pointer with a home-built TTL modulator will be a good enough start before sinking $$$ into a real laser or laser module .... Any comments there?

- Jason

[allthatwhichis]

This ancient thread... july 2006, from candlepowerforums, http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...ser-show-video, does a good job of documenting my first forays into the elusive lasergasm...

Here is my post about a 1mW HeNe and a gutted Laser FX...

:touche:


Damn... you beat me to it. If I had posted pictures I would have accused plagerism...

What you go there is a "Laser FX" Laser Light Show by "With Design in Mind". They sold them in Spencers back in the late 80's. I kinda collect them. they use an early Xion type bulb and a "tonka" toy motor with colored celiphane to project a laser like image off a mirror attached to a speaker coil onto your ceiling or wall.

I just got into lasers and have a 1mw hene pointed at one. I have it set up as a computer case mod, although this computer has no case... :grin2: The power supply takes 12 volt which a computer psu gladly supplies. I just gel snapped, scotch locked, beaned... the power supply to a 4 pin molex connecter like you would find on a hard drive or computer fan, threw in a small switch on the ground, and :whistle: powered laser...

















Your %mw green is WAY better looking though. Much better show. opcorn: I would like to find a way to get the beam to mimic an osccelator (horrible speller) and draw just a wave form from a musical input. This uses music but the way the speaker/mirror moves it makes more of a circular representtion of the music, i just want a line.

[Yag]

is that a screwdriver joystick? lol!

Why yes it is!

[Yag]

Yep, I had one of those, bit boring though as patterns were severely limited, mine didn't have a lumia wheel though, that must have been a later addition .

Did you not have "Beam Sculptor GM" the software to load the graphics module? You could draw anything you want up to a maximum of 128 points!

[Jem]

Did you not have "Beam Sculptor GM" the software to load the graphics module? You could draw anything you want up to a maximum of 128 points!

Nah, mine was a bit of a kn*ckered old unit. The control box was *really* simple, nothing more than sine waves and variants of.