Scannermax 506s

[rns0504]

Hi Chris,

To be completely honest, I would reach out to David K or PJ and ask their experience. They both have C506 sets with 3mm mirrors, driven by Mach DSP. Actually, if they want to post their honest opinions here for everyone to see, that would be great.

They can talk about 'real world' use better than I, as they are both laser designers and I certainly am not. What they liked, didnt like, what works and what doesnt, actual speeds and angles achieved would be great to hear from users in the field. I think PJ claims something like 50k with his and I think David's was shipped tuned to 40? But I don't remember the angles or really any other details, as I am not involved in the tuning process.

As for 5mm, I don't think we've delivered a set of those to a laser show client with Mach DSP, just to industrial. But those systems have special tunings for industrial systems PDF, PDFF, etc), which may slow performance some, compared to a typical laser show tuning. Once I have some actual experience with one, I will be happy to share what we find.

[swamidog]

oh cool! i'll harass dkumpula until he curses my name and blocks me on facebook.

i'm sure he'll chime in.

Hi Chris,

To be completely honest, I would reach out to David K or PJ and ask their experience. They both have C506 sets with 3mm mirrors, driven by Mach DSP. Actually, if they want to post their honest opinions here for everyone to see, that would be great.

They can talk about 'real world' use better than I, as they are both laser designers and I certainly am not. What they liked, didnt like, what works and what doesnt, actual speeds and angles achieved would be great to hear from users in the field. I think PJ claims something like 50k with his and I think David's was shipped tuned to 40? But I don't remember the angles or really any other details, as I am not involved in the tuning process.

As for 5mm, I don't think we've delivered a set of those to a laser show client with Mach DSP, just to industrial. But those systems have special tunings for industrial systems PDF, PDFF, etc), which may slow performance some, compared to a typical laser show tuning. Once I have some actual experience with one, I will be happy to share what we find.

[White-Light]

Hi Loopee,

However, the issue of the position sensor still existed. We developed a new position sensor for the Compact 506 to make it work with the Mach DSP. The biggest problem using the Mach DSP creates, is that it is not compatible with any of the C506 scanners already 'in the field'. There are something like 11,000 C506 scanners around the world right now. None of these existing scanners will be compatible with the Mach DSP, without significant modification to the scanner or to the driver (or both). This is something that can only be done by Pangolin. The Mach Mini would have been compatible with all of these scanners, but as stated, it is indefinitely shelved.

As for selling scanners with drivers, we have been doing this, just not advertising publicly. As stated before, we are a bit more interested in capturing and serving the industrial market than the laser show market at this time. The final package cost of the whole system is a bit higher than we were originally hoping for (have to finance all the Mercedes cars the Pangolin employees are driving somehow... /sarcasm). It is a bit expensive compared to other scanning systems aimed at the light-show market, but it is very reasonably priced for the requirements of the industrial industry.

For the C506 with Mach DSP complete turn-key system, the cost is $995-$1095 for new customers, depending on mirror size. For the Saturn series, the cost is around $2495 for new customers. This fluctuates a bit if you need gold or silver coated mirrors, multiple tunings, long or custom cables, power supplies, etc. But that is a reasonable end-user baseline price.

...... We welcome any feedback!

Why designate the newer c506's as the C506B or C507's so this gets around any confusion over which scanners can and cannot use the DSP amp.

Secondly, simply offer the the 507 in 2 flavours on your website - with or without the Digital Amp. That gets around any prices issues customers may have with the more expensive amps and leaves customers free to choose whether or use their own amps or the Pangolin Digital ones.

I think many laser customers would have bought the 506's had it not been for the lack of the dedicated amps.

[kecked]

I can only say I’m really happy with the 506 scanners. I have them on amps running 12v. Just 3mm mirrors for single mode diodes. Copy of swamis actually.

[swamidog]

I can only say I’m really happy with the 506 scanners. I have them on amps running 12v. Just 3mm mirrors for single mode diodes. Copy of swamis actually.

those single mode rigs are so perfect for living room programming. .5W is more than enough power.

[rns0504]

Haha. The '506' term actually refers to the physical dimensions of the scanner so 507 wouldn't work...

We intentionally do not have the C506 with amp posted on the website. Actually I don't even think we have the regular C506 pricing posted online. But for reference, it is $350 for Galvos/Mirrors/Mounts, with dielectric coated mirrors, any supported size.

$995 for turnkey system with 3mm or 4mm aperture mirrors

$1095 for turnkey system with 5mm / 6mm / 8mm / 10mm mirrors.

$2495 for any flavor Saturn system.

Pricing subject to change of course, this is as of 1/11/18

As I think we've previously discussed, there will never be a 'buy it now' for ScannerMAX galvos on the website. We get into a dialogue with each and every customer before they purchase any products from us. If they don't like this, we aren't hugely interested in their business, and they are more than welcome to purchase galvos from another company. I hear the chinese will sell to anyone no questions asked, for pretty reasonable prices too.

[rns0504]

Figured while this thread is active....

We have discontinued the white "Mini CT" connector. We now only offer the red "MicroMatch" connector for standard sales. The galvos compatible with mach DSP have a larger black "Molex" connector, but the only way to get this connector is to buy with Mach DSP. We will not sell it otherwise, except to certain industrial partners...

We have also discontinued the 3 ohm "Standard" coil, which is what was compatible with most 3rd party amps. We only offer the galvos with the 2 ohm "AW50" coil, which most standard scanner amps will not work with, at least without significant modification. Kvant, and many other bulk purchasers, use the AW50 coil now. I think absolom7691 / Brian bought the last 'standard' coil scanner we had in stock...

[absolom7691]

I think absolom7691 / Brian bought the last 'standard' coil scanner we had in stock...

Yes I did and I am thankful you still had one! With a minor tweak in tuning, that scan system is back up and running. 30K @ 10° (circle touching square) on little PT-20K amps.

[norty303]

Useful to know! I'd better not break any of mine, I think they are some of the first prototypes!

[dkumpula]

To be completely honest, I would reach out to David K or PJ and ask their experience . . Actually, if they want to post their honest opinions here for everyone to see, that would be great.

Hey guys! I haven't had a chance to test my latest set as it is going into a new build that is still in the design phase. I'll be happy to share my results with video once that project is completed or in person if you attend SELEM. As with all my Pangolin purchases, I don't feel the need to test individual components in advance as I know they will work as designed when built into the final product. Not to mention this last set was tuned by Bill, so I have no doubt that I'll be happy with them when he was satisfied with their performance.

This said, I might be able to add some commentary on the C506's in more general terms as I have seven other sets working reliably in projectors here at home. My oldest two sets have the 'redboard amps' that MixedGas offered a few years ago and were tuned by Bill as they had largeish mirrors. The other five sets are combined with the X-Laser +12V amp. In my experience, the C506s excel in builds that require one or more of the following:

• Minimal cooling requirements (i.e. The build has minimal heatsinking and/or active cooling available for the scanners and amp)
• Minuscule overall footprint and required volume including the combined galvos, amp(s) and PSU . . assuming you intend to use an X-Laser amp or the MachDSP amp, not those huge redboard amps
• Long, reliable lifespan (e.g. you don't want your bearings to fail due to microwelds or evaporated lubricant)

Speed and maximum scan angle vary of course based on the amp the C506s are combined with as well mirror size and probably dozens of other factors I am not aware of (ambient temperature, altitude, distance from the equator . . .) Finally, the addition of a MachDSP into the mix opens the door to lots of cool tricks including being able to switch between optimized tunings in a couple of seconds. Heck, just reading the MachDSP manual is fun (assuming you are a geek, of course).

In summary, the day a Pangolin box of goodies arrives on your doorstep is always a good day.

-David