Anyone else got a PM20?

[marconi]

Ahh.. Very Cool...
Yep, I have seen of those, just dont remember where tho, coulda been from a lasershow I seen many years ago..

Very cool looking rig and functionable.
I can see why you guys cherish them. If I ever get the opportunity
to grab one , I will.

Thanks for posting the pix guys

[mazfg]

I've had a PM20 and PM21, both now sold for software based control. I must say though, they really were great for live playing. They even did simple scrolling text. The modulation of images was really rather ingenious and you could get some excellent tumbles, flip, rotates etc with it, as well as point mode graphics. I do miss mine, some of the effects were awesome, especially if using diffraction gratings with them.
This old video here shows my old 150mw with PM21 control: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/domain_...clublaser2.wmv

Before the PM21 I had a PM20, this had a tendency to crash quite often and would lock up. Initally it had good beat control, but then it stopped working. Instead of a D-type connector the PM20 had a centronics printer connector, which was horrible!

Apparently prior to these 2 there was a PM19 too. This I heard was even more unreliable, but had an ability to produce lissajous and geometric patterns which you could change the frequency of and then save/ store to a button? I've never seen one of these, but would definately like some more info on them or any pictures if anyone has any?
The downside to these was as Banthai said, keeping the program stored, especially fi the backup battery went down. There was never any provision made to back these onto a PC. The PM21 had a lot of extra ports, rs232, serial etc, but these were never supported (I think)
I also had a Laser Systems, Maestro controller with my first ALC68 argon system. This was OK but again nothing like the PM's. Laser system changed to Laser Studio but I can't find anything about them now, are they still around???? They had some cool looking standalone controllers, like the Magnum etc

I'll upload some pics of my old controllers later!

[p1t8ull]

They had some cool looking standalone controllers, like the Magnum

That reminded me that I had a magnum once, pulled from a club is Bristol along with a broken Coherent purelight. Never got to plug the controller in before selling it on, but it looked like a whacky bit of kit!
Big up-right thing with 2 trackerballs. Very retro!

[mazfg]

Aahh, that's right, those track ball things, I remember it now. Apparently they were a nightmare to use?

Can't find my pics of the old lasers at the moment, but found this one I forgot, from a company called "Laser Science", up North somehwere I think.

Chamtech also do a PM25, which is geared towards DPSS single wavelength lasers.

[mazfg]

If you go here I've remembered that I've got some photos of old projects I'd done. In amongst that lot is some pics of the controllers I'd had....Maestro, PM20 & PM21.

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/mazfg

[Yag]

Cool! this is turning in to a retro controller thread!

I have to say after finishing resurrecting this PM20, I have refound my love for these old hardware solutions, they're just so playable!

The PM22 has some fantastic sound to light functions, I'll have to stick up a video, the old VU meter is great!

The Magnum was the first laser controller I ever experienced, I haven't seen one in over 10 years, I remember the two track balls and wasn't the image Eprom fitted in the front panel? Anyone got any pictures?

Now does anyone else still have a Lasertech system?

[marconi]

Those are some really cool old shots..
I dig those PM's !!!
And it was good to see some old G120's in there as well.
I still have mine.
Someday, If I can find them.. Ive got some old pix of my homebrew
controller built about circa 1979 while I was in college.
All built up in old bud boxes and telco rack hardware.
What was really a trip , was trying to remember what switch did what.
rows and rows of switches and pots., and of course LED's.
Dymo tape on everything.
All that for a HeNe too...!!!
Later I did add a Lexel 75 to the mess, made the HeNe look like a toy.
Always wanted more red..badly.
I guess thats why I make em

[mazfg]

I remember Lasertech from many years ago. Always seemed a little pricey if I remember. I actually went up there once with friend to meet Dave Green and have a demo. We almost bought a 100mW Argon-ion! The basic controller was OK, not too sure about the scanners(speakers) though. I rather like the look of the external effects controller, it looked liked it could do some nice things. Unfortunately he didn't have one at the time to demo.

YAG, can you tell us some more about the ext. effects controller, and can we have a close up of the panel front? Whats the purpose of the laptop with that set-up?

(There's something very satisfying using a desk with lots of buttons and flashing lights on!)

[p1t8ull]

[quote=Yag;23166]Now does anyone else still have a Lasertech system?/quote]

O-M-G! that's the same setup I had with one of his SP162 laser heads producing 60mW and a pair of speakers as scanners. It was the next step up from a HeNe and a pair of motors. I think I still have one of the speaker amps/joystick module somewhere

I think there's quite a few people went for the Lasertech stuff years ago, at that time there just wasn't the choice of controllers, laser suppliers & competition there is now. Yes, it was pretty expensive but it worked.
His speaker scanners had some great features... when you tried using them in a heavy bass environment, they picked up the freqs and made their own patterns. Actually looked pretty cool!

I'll bet anyone that visited him in his attic "demo room" or spoke to him on the phone knows what I mean when I say he liked a chat

Happy days tho & I did learn a lot from him

[Yag]

YAG, can you tell us some more about the ext. effects controller, and can we have a close up of the panel front? Whats the purpose of the laptop with that set-up?

No worries! The external effects controller was a bit pricey, so I was pleased to pick mine up second hand on ebay, along with a dead Hene lasertech projector (which is now in the loft somewhere, sporting a 100mw DPSS! )



This unit does pretty much nothing until you feed it an audio signal, the two yellow knobs adjust the level, and beat delay, a rather handy function to help it pick out bass beats, or catch every second beat etc. Zooms and rotations are both triggered by the audio source.

The red knobs copy the sine wave generators on the original controller, but the fine adjust allows you to "lock" static images more easily.

The green knobs are the zoom section, the top two are switches that set the manner of the zoom ( ANALOGUE=smooth, 2 STATE=bounce between big and small, DIGITAL=stepped) and the axis to which it is applied (X, Y, X and Y and AUTO switches through the 3 options in turn) The DIRECTION knob set whether it zoomed up or down (AUTO alternated this) DECAY set the speed of the zoom, and RANGE how far it went.

The grey knobs control the rotation of the image, either OFF, CONT (continuous rotation) or STEP (on the beat) The sequence knob changed the direction.

I can't remember what the SYSTEM SEQUENCE switch did, but SYSTEM MODE set whether the unit produced Lissajous patterns or circles, or if it took a feed from an external source (The Graphics Module).



The Laptop was used with a piece of software called Beam Sculptor GM. This was used along with a hardware modification to the Graphics Module, which replaced the EPROM with a memory that could be loaded, via a serial cable, from the software. The software could load ILDA files (max 128 points) and also included a drawing and editing package.

I still have mine, and it all still works!