Yo... to the lurkers..

[edison]

I agree also with absolom that you have to dig deep sometimes to find it. Its a mather of how much effort you want to putt into the search and maybe more important how patient you are. Some people have a wide interest so it takes quite a while to learn everything there is to know. I,m only interested in knivedging and how to get the best beamquallity so that narrows it down quite allot. Lasershows is not that interesting for me, heck i don,t have a clue how quickshow works. As long as the beam is superthight i,m happy

[absolom7691]

i don,t have a clue how quickshow works.

Just remember, you brought Pangolin up! JK!

Yes, it does take a long time to learn stuff and to dig, hence the lurkers. I also don't discount information stuck into threads that you wouldn't expect to find there. Which is why I say, it is less about technical talk and more about noise. Starting threads for fun is okay, I guess. I would think that that's what IRC is for. Open, realtime communication about..... whatever!

[Bradfo69]

I suppose in theory, this thread could be deemed as having been started for fun - or at least an observation. But, it's also in the lounge where it's supposed to be, and I've learned a few things from it such as Techjunkies explaination about how some forums work with regards to boosting views. Even right now, it says 2100 users online with 153 members (us with screen names) and 1947 guests. That just seems like once heck of a lot of people "looking around" and, it's always sort of like that. Day or night.

Today though I was an example of one of those guests. A DJ friend was asking me about buying a laser and since his computer was on, I said, here... type in www.photonlexicon.com and showed him something in the Buy/Sell thread. I didn't log on but, probably would have been counted as a "guest" during those few minutes.

I agree there seems to be less building and more buying of competed projectors. And yes, I'm sure that has to do with pricing becoming reasonable. It's sort of the same with computers. I used to build my own and go to computer shows to buy parts. They were jammed with people and you felt like you were on the stock exchange floor and running around comparing one vendors price on memory sticks with three others and trying to figure out where to get the proc, or the sound card or whatever. Now, you can buy a $200 tablet with more power than the things we were building a few years back. And the computer shows that still happen around this area have maybe 12 vendors - many of which are selling phone cases, mini powered speakers and USB gizmos. It's not the same anymore. MaximumPC magazine that I've subscribed to since back in the "Boot" days I hardly find time to read or understand it when I do read. I used to devour it every month and couldn't wait for it to arrive.

Projectors might be moving that same way PC's did. ImageLight sometimes tells me I did it right. I bought completed projectors from the start, where he has a mountain of expensive things that don't work or need parts and can't just sit back in his basement and watch a show for enjoyment. Will the end result be perhaps some new better shows and ideas? Hopefully. I saw a post somewhere today where someone is using BEYOND to do like, an hour long show with all sorts of DMX lighting cues and a ton of tracks. The complex is getting easier to accomplish.

(And absolom no, it's not Facebook but.... sometimes I sure as hell wish there was a "Like" button!)

[carlos3621]

There was a time when building projectors was a necessity, for laser show peeps.
Today, it is not worth the time , its just affordable for most people or lighting co's, to buy completed systems.
As a hobby, yeah it's fun and gratifying, as a business, it just doesnt make dollars OR cents.

In 2001, i built my first projector, cause buying one would have set me back 30-40k for single color.
I built mine for 20k.(melles griot 2.5 watt with 6800hp's and full auto)
Today, it,s cheaper to purchase a completed system, period.
This business sure has changed alot in the last few yrs.

[swamidog]

i'm sure a number of lurkers are spam bots waiting to pounce.

i know i am.

[carlos3621]

I mean, i just received a price list for completed laser modules from the far east, and for example, a 637nm module from them is less than half price, than from european co's.
I own both types, and am happy with the quality equally.
So for me, no more builds..

The only differance i see, is the quality of the scanning setups, but thats an easy fix.

For example: i can purchase 12 watts of 445@ 1.1mrad. 5.5mm beam , for 2400 usd.
To me its a no brainer, im over the fun of building modules.
The real challenge nowadays, is SALES.

[swamidog]

I mean, i just received a price list for completed laser modules from the far east, and for example, a 637nm module from them is less than half price, than from european co's.
I own both types, and am happy with the quality equally.
So for me, no more builds..

The only differance i see, is the quality of the scanning setups, but thats an easy fix.

For example: i can purchase 12 watts of 445@ 1.1mrad. 5.5mm beam , for 2400 usd.
To me its a no brainer, im over the fun of building modules.
The real challenge nowadays, is SALES.

can you ship me a copy of that price list?

[carlos3621]

can you ship me a copy of that price list?

Check your email

[WolfMax]

I joined PL 'cause I wanted to build a projector. For me the fun is in the engineering and overcoming problems and generally playing with tools
I'll admit , I didn't wait to finish it before buying some ready made (but cheap) projectors to play with, but I've modified those too so the engineer in me came through again.
I know I'm not a show programmer, I wish I was. But I don't have the patients for it (I certainly don't have the money to throw at Beyond and I would give up trying to learn LSX). Even QS is complex enough that I haven't bothered with a lot of its functions. No, for me it's bolts and wires over ones and zeros. Sure the money I've spent could have bought me a reasonable projector (an LK-PD1/2 for instance or both now I come to think about it ) But that wasn't what I really wanted.

PL and all you I've corresponded with, helped me achieve a dream that without you guys, I would still be in the "I don't know what I need let alone where to get it" state of mind
So thanks.

Another thing is not everyone is into surplus laser equipment. Sure it is fascinating to read what you guys are doing with it (even if it goes over my head mostly). but I for one don't have the money or the space to buy something like that even though I know I would enjoy the challenge in getting it working. So lurking on a thread about "Laserscope Modification" for e.g. is all I'll do.

[tribble]

I wonder if those saying "DUH, just use SEARCH you lazy bum" have actually tried to find things with the search facility. For some terms, the signal to noise ratio is so bad that search is useless. You might as well just read the entire forum top to bottom, it would take about as much time as checking all of the search results. This is especially true when the information is slightly older. I went looking for information on divergence and collimation setups from around the time period when the first big blues came out of the Ca$i0 projectors and it was hard going. And, much of the information is several years old and potentially out of date. A person looking for information doesn't know if the information is out of date or not; it's much better to ask. It's probably better to ask in a forum post instead of a PM, but search is no panacea.