Scannermax 506s

[White-Light]

so I stopped by pangolin over the weekend for something unrelated and Bill took me on a little tour of their scanner manufacturing process... I was amazed to discover that these things are all assembled/tested by hand in their office... I figured at that price point these things were being made in china or something... need to order some soon!

When Charlie shut his chocolate factory, the Umper Lumpas had to go somewhere.

..and you got in without a golden ticket!

....
I was aware Pangolin have not yet produced amps for the 506's (are there any in the pipeline?) but as I'm not comfortable trying to mod my own amps, it seemed logical to obtain the scanners and modded amps from the same source. Collimated appear to only sell the scanners but I have asked them if they sell the amps too.

Again thanks for the replies.

Bill has previosuly shown some digital amps that look very good - they can even tune themselves. However, I don't think there's an eta yet.

There's a video here showing the amps with the Saturn Galvos:

[Elektrotechniker]

When Charlie shut his chocolate factory, the Umper Lumpas had to go somewhere.

..and you got in without a golden ticket!



Bill has previosuly shown some digital amps that look very good - they can even tune themselves. However, I don't think there's an eta yet.

There's a video here showing the amps with the Saturn Galvos:

These would be only offered with the saturn series though right? Meaning of course, that they will not be compatible with the 506s. Correct me if I am wrong.

[tribble]

Pretty sure the 506 has a different position sensor than the Saturn. I think they are working on something called the "Mach mini" for the 506.

[WolfMax]

Hi guys,

On the amp front, we're basically at capacity with fulfilling orders. We're delivering now, but to a large theme park, who ordered as many systems as we could build in two months. Success can be a double-edged sword...

Bill

This does suggest there is an amp out there for the 506's and like the 506's when they first came out, Pangolin are fulfilling contracts before they are made available for general sale.
As to being called the 'Mach mini', your guess is as good as anyones!

[White-Light]

I was under the impression there would be a digital amp for both, but I could be wrong.

The difference will always be there because the Saturns are a better scanner. However, whether or not the 506's hitting 50K has made a difference to the approach remains to be seen as clearly there was a bigger distinction when the 506's were just a 30K scanner.

Also, weren't there to be 2 version of the 506's? One with an ordinary sensor and one with the same sensor as the Saturns?

[WolfMax]

Also, weren't there to be 2 version of the 506's? One with an ordinary sensor and one with the same sensor as the Saturns?

Yes. There was a post that eluded to this a while back (This thread, page 14 post #330) where I picked up on it and asked questions about it. The reply was there is a 'Pro' version which has the same sensor as the Saturn in it and can be connected to the 'Mach' DSP amps and a 'Economy' version which is what everyone is buying off the shelf and converting existing amps to run. There are a few post that follow mine which make quite interesting reading regarding the 'Pro'.

Also for Tribble, See post #288 (this thread page 12) Where Bill mentions the 'Mach Mini' in relation to the 'Mach' DSP amp for the Saturn's.

[planters]

At the risk of sounding like Bill here, the Saturn is not a "better" scanner than the 506. The Saturns are larger and can generate more torque and so can drive larger mirrors to higher accelerations, but because the shafts are longer there is less torsional rigidity. This may pose a challenge for the position sensing (I don't know). When I say a challenge I don't mean a problem. Just like the aligning of the lasers in a projector to 100urad is a challenge, but not a problem (unless you think of it as a nice problem to have. "Success is a two edge sword"). If the Saturns are coupled with higher performance position sensors and higher current amps then I may want one more, but I will have to pay more and allow more room for the scanner block. I just wouldn't call it better. In fact in a space and weight limited medical scanning head I might think it was worse.

I think Steve is going to be at this for some time. The in house assembly philosophy @ Pangolin means Steve's work is currently a significant contribution to the delivery of these systems. His service ethic also seems very similar to what I have seen from Pangolin. As the subsystems (amps) become available in greater quantities and newer revisions there will probably remain services that will best be completed by smart humans.

[tribble]

Also for Tribble, See post #288 (this thread page 12) Where Bill mentions the 'Mach Mini' in relation to the 'Mach' DSP amp for the Saturn's.

Said I was pretty sure, didn't I?

I wonder what the performance crossover between the 506 and the Saturns is going to be... curious if Pangolin have managed to end up with something much more capable than the expected for their lower-end system (Compact 506 / Mach MINI) and will have to find a way to manage the value proposition for market purposes.

Frankly, I can't wait to see what 60Kpps or 90Kpps does for abstracts. Suspect you will be able to get a lot more detail on the screen at once at those rates! Bill should retrofit a projector with 60K scanners and let Chris play with it for 6 months and see what comes out... I bet it's marketing gold. (mash mash mash OOh, pretty!)

[swamidog]

I approve of this plan

Said I was pretty sure, didn't I?

I wonder what the performance crossover between the 506 and the Saturns is going to be... curious if Pangolin have managed to end up with something much more capable than the expected for their lower-end system (Compact 506 / Mach MINI) and will have to find a way to manage the value proposition for market purposes.

Frankly, I can't wait to see what 60Kpps or 90Kpps does for abstracts. Suspect you will be able to get a lot more detail on the screen at once at those rates! Bill should retrofit a projector with 60K scanners and let Chris play with it for 6 months and see what comes out... I bet it's marketing gold. (mash mash mash OOh, pretty!)

[dkumpula]

I approve of this plan

Seconded! +15 char