Looking to buy a Goldenstar N-RGB3000.. Need some advice..

[sektar]

Hey guys, so i have got enough money together to get a decent laser now i think but there are a few little things im not sure about and would really appreciate some advice before contacting Goldenstar... The model i am considering is the N-RGB3000...
I have seen older post from someone who was really happy with it but i'm wondering with the red being >1000mw/638nm lasever with a divergence <2*0.6mrad and apperature of <5*2.5mm would it still need opitcal correction??
I also intend on getting it with DT40 Wides because i will mainly be doing beamshows but would also like to display crop circle and sacred geometry type images.. they would be able to handle this aswell yeah or would i need to retune them to a lesser angle for that of stuff?
Anything else i should request from them aswell with my build?? 3d adjustable dichros, thicker baseplate??
One other thing that has crossed my mind is there any sort of full spectrum safety glasses? i guess you need something like that for adjusting dichros every now and again?? And finally is there that much difference between between 637 and 638??

Thanks heaps i really enjoy reading and learning about lasers and cant wait to start pumping out those beams...

Peace

[db3306]

i have a N-RGB4000 with dt wide scanners and im very happy with it.
im using it mostley for beams but graphics are descent also if its not to far away.

The baseplate is quite thick and they put a heatsink with a big fan under it as well.
I might have an older version of it as my red is a 900mW Laserwave.

[m0f]

I'd go for dt-40 pro's not wides. The reason being the mirror size of the wides will accept a 3mm beam, whereas the standard dt40 pro's can be ordered with 5mm aperture 'large' mirrors. Looking at the size of the red you posted, if using wides, a fairly large portion of it would not fit the mirrors.

In general most diode lasers are larger than 3mm beam size nowadays, aside from some lower powered and some of the highest end lasers.

And besides, the dt40 pros do go quite wide, wider than most will ever need for beam shows. And if you're doing graphics, you would want to use a narrower scan angle anyhow so you'd likely see no advantage to the wides.

Re the red you posted, from the specs it sounds like it's not corrected. It may or may not be easy to add your own correction external to it, depending on it's design. Perhaps consider purchasing it without red and just building your own, or purchase a higher end red either with built in correction or 637nm single mode diode type which does not require it. For the money though I find corrected 638nm to be the best option, as multi diode 637nm combiners are much more expensive at similar power levels.

[sektar]

Yeah cool, thanks m0f, i figured that might have been the case with the red.. from what ive read im pretty sure Goldenstar are pretty flexible with customising units so hopefully they are onto it ... so get the dt40 pros with the 5mm mirrors.. sweet... i want to build my next unit but i need this one so i know how it all works first... i got referred to the Pluto's aswell.. they seem to be full diode units running 520nm and 462nm.. i know from what i have read you loose the yellow with 520nm but what about 462nm.. no deep blues?? anyway i've kinda got my heart set on the GS unit but the pluto does sound nice too.. any thoughts of which would be better?

[m0f]

I haven't seen the 520nm in person so will hold off on commenting about that, however I really like the 462nm. It's true that you have to give up one shade to get another, but the deep blue is one I don't think I will miss. I always liked the 473nm and the mixed that become available with it, and the 462nm I think is just about the perfect compromise, allowing for some wonderful shades of colour I haven't seen since the days of 473nm, and yet on it's own still looks to be a very pure blue.

In fact one of the strange things I found was with a very small amount of red mixed in, allows for a very deep violet / purple shade that isn't available with the 445nm. White is another place I really find improved, not that I ever noticed a problem before but when comparing side by side, it just looks like a purer white. This is not only noticeable in white, but other shades as well appear to have a purplish tinge on the 445nm

The fact that it's not shifted so deep, also allows for more if it before it will taint the white for example. Though the advanced palette tuning of something like Beyond could also allow for that.

Visibility is nice, though in looking at beams side by side the 445nm appears of similar brightness (just darker shade), the difference becomes much more noticeable in liquid sky type effects, particularly in a rainbow where the 445nm looks faded compared to the other colours and the 462nm appears much more solid.

Strangely in a mixed 462nm, 445nm projector, the combined effect is much closer to 445nm than to 462nm. But I think a projector with independent control of each might be the best of both worlds, though likely hard to tune.

For graphics I find the deep deep blue is hard to focus on and so appears to be fuzzy when compared to the other colours, though not perfect the 462nm is definitely an improvement in that aspect.

In the end it's a matter of personal preference. Perhaps it's the novelty but I really like the results of the 462nm, and time will tell if I end up missing the depth. As it's so cheap to add 445nm as well, at least for lower powered projectors, I think I'll be going for a combination of the two.

As far as pluto vs goldenstar, I've heard great things about both. I've only used goldenstar exclusively for parts, but have always been happy with my purchases from them. I don't think you can go wrong with either. Perhaps purchase a green with a extra big case and build your colour modules to your liking ? At the power levels you need, a single diode of each would do it.

[Bradfo69]

Just my $.02 here but, from various people I have talked to and what little bit I have seen, the Pluto's (and other Lightspace projectors) have a bit nicer build quality than the Goldenstar units. Goldenstar is great for parts and ok for projectors. Lightspace doesn't have a lot of parts but builds slightly more refined projectors. Fit and finish, attention to details, just little things like that. I doubt there is anything "wrong" with the Goldenstar box and you'd probably be pleased with it but, it might be sort of a Honda/Acura thing. Both are good... just ones a bit more refined.

[sektar]

Hey guys, thanks heaps for your opinions i do value them alot, i guess they way to go would be purchase a complete unit from Omar/Lightspace, and use Goldenstar to purchase parts for my own build.. i need one to know how to build the other.. The specs on the Plutos do seem to be more on trend as well with 520nm 637nm and 462nm and the optics on the green are now prism corrected according to another thread... The only thing is I dont know a lot about the PT40 scanners.. I know they are made in house by Lightspace and people seem to prefer them over the DT40's but is that because of price or performance?? I have read a few posts of people being quite happy with them from back in January... But no long term test/ evaluations had been made because they were still new, how have they handled the test of time? do they need to be retuned often? once again thanks heaps.

Peace

[m0f]

I can only speak of the lower end of the pt series but the do leave quite a bit to be desired and are often found in budget imported lasers.

The only thing I've heard and again it's not personal experience and could be just internet hearsay, but I've read of the bearings not standing the test of time vs the dt series. Though as with anything, models may be improved over time and so it's possible the newer models may be better.

It's not such an expensive or difficult part to swap down the road though if you do end up with troubles, with either brand. Many are liking or looking forward to the Pangolin 506's, so it may be worth considering upgrading them down the road anyhow.

[AnthonyGarcia]

In regards to the scanners, I had an initial issue with my PTA-40 scanners from Lightspace when I bought the new Pluto II 3W(they left a sticker on one of the shafts causing overheating / hell to break loose). The replacement process was fairly quick and easy, with no charge to myself.