New User Scanner Tuning

[Discoordination]

OK guys,
I worked it out and for future reference the 30k@4deg Scan 2.0 amp board in the Laserworld CS-1500RGB has the following trimmers...

	X - Axis		Y - Axis
PR 5	Unknown (no visible effect)	PR 3	Servo Gain
PR 1	Size	PR 2	LF Damp
PR 4	HF Damp
		PR 4	HF Damp
PR 2	LF Damp	PR 1	Size
PR 3	Servo Gain	PR 5	Unknown (no visible effect)

In order to turn down size, gain, servo the trimmers must be rotated clockwise, counter-clockwise results in an increase...
And for the sake of completeness analog modulation can be achieved on the green diode by plugging the control input to the driver into the lower slot and shorting the top slot. Then solder the other end direct to the pins for Green ILDA modulation on the back of the ILDA input (Thanks to SideFX). (Disclaimer: I don t know if this will last but i will just replace the green with a more powerful diode.)

Now can anyone tell me what speed i should aim to tune these for (spec 30k at 4deg) for max speed at max angle (as the club i work in is not that big) let me know... Think i m going to try to tune to 30k at 4 now...
cheers to Absolom7691 for the tips!

[absolom7691]

I notice you said that you are using it in a club. Are you using if for beams or for graphics? For beams, you can get away with a lower scan speed for a wider scan angle. A few people here tune to 20K so they can get the max angle with a very limited amount of flicker. For beams, Angle > Speed. If you are doing graphics then speed is more important.

If you are shooting for 30K, you should display the test pattern at 30k and tune while displaying at the speed. I find that much easier than tuning at 20K, then again at 24K and finally at 30K. Display the test pattern at 30K but at a low scan angle. I am not familiar with Phoenix software, but I am sure it must have an image size adjustment. Display it at 4°(full angle) and play with your trimmers to get the image looking good. Increase the size of the image and tweak your adjustments to keep the circle touching the edges of the squar. Keep doing this until you reach an angle at which you cannot make the image any better. That would be your limit.

Hope that helps. As you have seen from the posts ragarding tuning, it is a slow and tedious process. Don't get discouraged if you can't get it within the first 20 minutes. Good luck!

[Discoordination]

I think i got about 17k in the end and running it in the phoenix software seems to tidy up a lot of the blanking issues as opposed to running the test pattern in the hardware check program. Above about 17k at about 8 degrees i didn t seem to be getting any more gain to make the circle bigger. However it is bigger in the phoenix test pattern so maybe i should go back and try it again. At first i tuned them to 12k which meant i hardly had to any extra HF damping. Results now seem a lot better... I can go up to 17k with a good image and there seems much less flicker so definitely a positive result and some successful tinkering over the weekend. Since i bought it it is now brighter, faster and with full analog modulation for no investment of extra cash.. !!! Am thinking about modding it some more though and improving on it as it seems like a solid and spacious case! I'm guessing either faster scanners with a wider angle to really fill up the visual space in the club or a brighter green or red... The blue seems the brightest on this one and i could use a more powerful green on it s own as i've always been a fan of green lasers!!!
thanks,
wil!!

[absolom7691]

Sounds great. It sounds like you're coming along with it. First time tuning is almost always a nightmare. I remember tuning my first set of G-120s... that was scary because those galvos have a torsion spring inside for suspension. If they oscillated badly during the tuning (as they did from time to time) they could break the torsion spring and that meant a dead scanner. It was quite tedious, indeed. Luckily new scanners don't use torsion bars anymore. Once you get them tuned in pretty well, you shouldn't have to tune them again for a while. DT40 glavos fit a hobbyist budget but I think yours can be pushed a little farther. See if you can hit 20K ~ 24K!

[absolom7691]

Also, you should be able to clean up the blanking by setting the blanking offest. That should be somewhere in the software.

[Banthai]

Hi Wil
looking at the photo that unfortunately does not look like a 30k driver board ... more like a 12k ....
Im using the laserworld 50k scanners ... and again vastly exagerated ... they do a good 30k ... but not much more
if you are agetting 17k with the tuning ... you may have hit the limit with what you have ... but well done in getting it ...

all the best

Karl

[Discoordination]

Oops tried again today and only got to 16k... maybe at a slightly larger angle...