Building my first Laser

[SanTai]

Hi all!

I am planning on building my first laser.
I was planning on starting with a green laser and upgrade to RGB in time.

I have been looking through this forum for a while and I think I know where to start. I do have some questions and hoped you guys might look through my list of stuff, I do not want to miss something essential in my order.

I have tried to find the info but I might have missed it. I am sorry if I ask dumb questions.

I was planning on buying a bunch of stuff from goldenstarlaser, is that a good place to start?

For control I planned on using LSX with Ether Dream.(from ether-dream.com)

Laser stuff(from goldenstarlaser.com):
1pcs DT30 set(450USD)
3pcs 3D holder(25USD each)
3pcs mirror(guessing these are easy to break)
3pcs reflect red
3pcs reflect blue
CNI 532nm 500w(290USD)
1pcs Box F(130USD)

Unclear if I need:
Safety switch(25USD)
safety and DMX board(40USD)

Does anyone know if the laser case includes a thick alu base plate?

What I can not seem to find out is if I need some kind of PSU, I am guessning the galvos do not run on 230VAC 50Hz but the laser looks like it do.

Do I need some kind of control card? What interfaces the ether dream ILDA db25 analog input with the galvos and lasers?

[hybridz0rz]

Hey, I recently purchased the box-D from goldenstar and it included a 5mm alu plate (no pre-drilled holes for mounting stuff)
But why do you need the reflective red and blue if you are only going to have a CNI 532nm Green laser? (you can get them later)

Ohh and the Galvonometers come with a powersupply that require 120-230V and take that down to 24-25V. so you should be able to hook everything up to a shared 230V line in you projector.

You should also fuse your projector (was included in the box-D)

You don't need an interface card but it would be helpful to have a breakout board from StanWax (http://shop.stanwaxlaser.co.uk/gener...oard-365-p.asp)
that will help to keep everything cleaner looking inside.

[ZeroPoint]

Hi! Hybrid is correct that you do not need the dichros if you are only going to have green for right now. in fact, the dichros would only cause a loss in output power so they shouldnt be used until you have the other lasers to go in to the projector. also, you should only need one of each dichro and not 3 of each, that could save a little money.

The only reason you may need a safety switch is if you plan on using your projector in public. i don't know exactly what the regulations are in sweden but it is likely that a safety switch is required. however, if you only plan on using the projector in your own home or at a friends then you do not need the safety switch.

Ultimately you will need at least two PSU's. one PSU should come with the DT30's along with the scanners, scanner amps, and necessary wiring. this PSU will be used to power the scanner amps and can also be used to power either the ILDA breakout board that Hybrid linked you to or it can be used to power the ILDA interface board here (http://shop.stanwaxlaser.co.uk/ilda-...board-55-p.asp) you will need EITHER the breakout board or the more advanced interface board in order to link the projector to your computer via the ILDA 25pin cable. I am not familiar with the breakout board but i do have the interface board in my projector and it is very simple to install. (I just looked at the DT30's on the goldenstar website and i didn't notice any reference to it including the power supply. you may want to email goldenstar to confirm if it does or not, or maybe someone here knows if it will)

The second PSU you will need is going to be your main PSU that will power your lasers, modules, and any other components you install. i have a generic 5volt 14amp ac-dc power supply that has worked fine so far, however, i would recommend buying one with an output closer to at least 10volts dc @ several amps. my power supply works fine if i am only powering one laser module per channel but if i try to power a second one from the same channel then it cannot do it (ive only tried it in parallel so i might be able to get away with wiring it in series but thats a completely different topic). you can find plenty of decent and cheap power supplies all over the place. (I just looked up the CNI 532 500mW laser on the site as well and noticed that it does appear to come with its own power supply. this power supply along with the power supply for the scanner set should be all you need until you start adding more lasers or more features that require power such as fans and other cooling options. It's always a good idea to have a spare power supply lying around just in case the need arises suddenly)

Hope that helps and good luck on your build! i'm nearly finished with my first build (it's only blue right now but it works!). don't hesitate to ask any more questions.

(Edit: if you are intending to use the projector for public performances and you do buy a safety switch then you will probably have to buy the more expensive ILDA interface board instead of the cheaper breakout board. the interface board comes complete with pins to connect your safety switches and interlocks to as well as output pins for emission LEDs. I don't think the breakout board comes with these option though i could be wrong. if you only intend on using the projector for personal use then the breakout board should be fine.)

Luke

[SanTai]

Thanks for the replies!

The Reason I plan on getting the dichros for a full RBG laser is to be able to buy a laser module from ebay or anywhere and not having to place another order to China.

I am kind of safety nut and would like to keep the safety up to high standard. Thats why I want the safety switch option even though I have no plans on any real shows even if the option is nice. Knowing the laser would be safe enough would be nice though.

The "safety and DMX board" that goldenstarlasers sells doesn't that include a breakout board?(Judging from the pictures).

The output of the "safety switch" seems to be a DB9 connector, how does that connects to anything laser?

The loss of data -> e-stop on the ether-dream is it good enough for a real e-stop?

[ZeroPoint]

I just tried looking at the safety and DMX board on the website but I'm on my phone so the image is rather small. I don't like that there is no description of the board (what it does, how it works, etc). If you're going to spend $40 on a Chinese mystery board I would recommend spending $10 more and getting the ILDA interface board from Rob Stanwax. It offers ILDA input/output and the DB9 connector for the stop switch plus there is actually a description of what it does and how it works... Not to mention you can get great customer service from Rob right here on this forum. Rob also offers the e-stop switch on his website with the appropriate connector already mounted. All you have to have is the DB9 cable and you're all set. I wish I could advise you better on the products from goldenstar but without a general description I just don't know. I'm sure you could email them though.

[SanTai]

Thanks for the reply, the Stanwax ilda board looks nice.

It seems rather old school having to run both DB25 and DE9 cable. Thats 34 conductors for every laser. How do you do the safety switch in the pro world? Can you use the ether-dream for e-stop as well? Or some other e-stop protocol over ethernet.

Or is the point of a the ether-dream just to let you run cat5 and DE9 instead of a DB25 and a DE9?

[stanwax]

Hi SanTai
If you look at the instructions for the ILDA board it does show a way to run an estop by breaking out the ILDA interlock pins at the control end of the ILDA cable. In th enot too distant future we will have v2.0 of the ILDA board available, with this there will be an optional adaptor to allow the estop to be used with a standard XLR cable. This allows the connection of a number of ILDA board equipped projectors to operate from a single stop control.
We have experimented with running the estop signals down the ILDA cable with start and LED being broken out at the control end allowing a single cable run but we found that though this works OK with one projector its not reliable enough with multiples so we wont be using this system in future

Rob

[smogthemog]

Could you not use coded digital signalling for long runs & multiple switching points Rob? although I guess it matters as to what Safety Category you are working too?

Pilz offer something along these lines I am sure, so it is possible.

[SanTai]

Could you not use coded digital signalling for long runs & multiple switching points Rob? although I guess it matters as to what Safety Category you are working too?

Pilz offer something along these lines I am sure, so it is possible.

The dream would be to only run an ethernet cable(with etherCon connector, of course) for both safety and signal, and then daisy chain it to the rest of the lasers. Including a small ethernet switch in every projector would be nice.

[Picasso]

For the same price go with the Laserwave 500mw, smaller and the current cni green drivers might be a little suspect. But I heard cni changed them again so who knows whats going on. Id ignore the china safety board and dmx/auto show. Just use your head and keep your beams well above people heads. Use a beam block at all times. Another option to the stanwaxlaser board is the DZ breakout board. DZ is a member here I dont think he has a site.