Need some help planning/building RGB scanner

[mliptack]

This (McMaster-Carr http://www.mcmaster.com/ ) is the best place that I have found that can supply all of my relay needs, do any of you guys know of any better place with lower prices? Pretty much all of the delay relays are around $50.

Ok so as far as the pictures I promised you, I wasn't able to take any last night (some friends came over to enjoy the nice weather and we had some beer... so I thought it probably would not have been the safest thing to do). But I do have some from after I aligned everything and just before I cleaned up all of the wiring. The cleaning up of my wiring consisted of eliminating the edison end from my Lasever, I just hard wired that unit into the scanner power input. I also made some great cable paths. I just need to purchase a nice power supply that can supply 3v, 5v, 9v, 12v, and 24v. 12v I probably wont need, but I am planning on using 24v as my signal voltage on my interlock system, well for the longer runs at least.

I'm still trying to find an easy way to time a show to music... As far as I can tell you cannot import an MP3 or similar audio file into ShRider. Does anyone have any experience with this? It would be a lot easier to write shows if I could see the audio track in the timeline plus when playing the show back there would be no sync problems.

Again thank you for all of your help, I am learning a lot through this process, I really appreciate all of your help!

-Max

[buffo]

That will give you the RC time constant(time to charge the cap to 63.2% of full charge), not the time delay.

Dave;

In the circuit I linked to, once the capacitor reaches about 60% charge there is enough voltage on the transistor to switch on the darlington pair. So the R/C time constant = the delay before power-on. If you had a relay that would pull-in at around 8-9 volts, you'd get the same effect. (Which is why I mentioned that you might get away without the transistor if you had the right relay; namely one that would pull in at around 9 volts.)

Max;

McMaster-Carr is great for some things, but electronics isn't one of them. Try Digikey first; they're likely to be the cheapest. You might also want to check with All Electronics, or even Allied Electronics if you're still stumped. But McMaster-Carr is only one step above Radio Shack. Avoid them if you can. You'll save a lot of money.

Re: LA Freak Show Rider software and MP3's... I think you might have to contact Bill Benner about that one. I haven't seen the software in person, and even if I had a copy I'm pretty sure they never wrote a driver for it for my older QM-32 board. (There *is* a driver for the newer QM-2000 board available, in addition to the FB3 driver that you're using.) However, I seem to remember Bill saying that it did support music syncronization... Maybe it only supports .wav files? As far as seeing the waveform on the timeline, that might not be supported. Again, you probably want to talk to Bill.

Adam

PS: Pics look good! You're getting there...

[steve-o]

5 volts will power 2 LEDs is series. (easiest way) Or As Dave said, a dropping resistor-270 ohms - if memory serves, unless its a white or blue LED.
Newark electronics /and MSC are also good for electronics/ hardware.
The simplest power-on delay circuit that I can think of would require 2 relays (one large and one small), 1 capacitor and 1 resistor- if you're not into building circuits;w/transistors etc. I'll put a drawing up in a bit if you need.

<edit> Even simpler would be a 5v (control v) relay (capable of handling 15-20A 120/220VAC), a 70 ohm 2 watt resistor ,and a .22 Farad 'memory-backup' capacitor. RC time (x.63)=9.7 sec. Should be fairly cheap to build.

[ajohnson30]

I'll toss my .02 in and suggest jameco for cheap electronics.

[mliptack]

Hello everyone, sorry I haven't responded in a while, but I have been away for business for the past week, and now this week I am loading in 9 stages at Summerfest in Milwaukee. (anyone coming up/down for it?) I'll be on the Summerfest Grounds every day of Summerfest except for the 31st I believe. Just to give you an idea of why I haven't had the time to chat with you guys here, tuesday morning I went into overtime for the week... heh. I'm exhausted. I'll try to get back to everyone's comments soon.

Thanks again everyone,
Max

[buffo]

Ahhh... Summerfest. I've got fond memories of that. Saw Heuy Lewis and the News at Summerfest '84... It was their largest gig to date. The main stage is designed for 25K people, but we had 33K crammed in there! The crowd crush as everyone was leaving was exciting, though at the time I didn't realize how dangerous it could have been. Fortunately no one was hurt. Still, a great time.

Sometimes I wish I still lived up there. Summerfest was awesome!

OK - I gotta ask. Is Ernie Von Schledorn still running those goofy ads on TV for his car dealership? You know, the ones where he goes "Shop the great, warm, indoors..." And "Who do you know wants to buy a car?" All with a *thick* German accent? Man, do I have memories of that! (Ernie Von Shledorn... Main street in Menomenee Falls!)

Adam

[mliptack]

First, Adam, I don't know how I missed this post of yours! Yes Ernie still has the same catchy jingle... As soon as you mentioned it the song started to play in my head. "Who do you know, wants to buy or lease a Volkswagon?!? Ernie Von Schledorn Main Street in Menomonee Falls!" hahaha... people at work think I am crazy now because I started laughing and typing frantically!

phew... anyway....

For the best news. In about a week I will have a 1.5watt RGY projector!!!

I just purchased a 800mW 532nm laser from Bridge that should be here in about a week or so. He said he is shipping it today. I will be sure to write up a detailed report of how it's doing as soon as I get it!

This marks a great stepping stone in my projector, I will now have an analog greenie! Also my old 150mW Lasever dropped way under spec it wouldn't be able to even pop a balloon if I tried... not that I'm into that or anything. I guess popping balloons with lasers is one fettish I'll never seem to understand.

My next big step will be a ~200mW blue! But that'll set me back quite a bit... Is it sad that my car is worth less than my projector? Someone recently asked how much I have spent thus far... I told him I didn't know... and quite frankly I dont think I really want to know!

Dont worry everyone... you'll see some pictures soon!

-Max

Ahhh... Summerfest. I've got fond memories of that. Saw Heuy Lewis and the News at Summerfest '84... It was their largest gig to date. The main stage is designed for 25K people, but we had 33K crammed in there! The crowd crush as everyone was leaving was exciting, though at the time I didn't realize how dangerous it could have been. Fortunately no one was hurt. Still, a great time.

Sometimes I wish I still lived up there. Summerfest was awesome!

OK - I gotta ask. Is Ernie Von Schledorn still running those goofy ads on TV for his car dealership? You know, the ones where he goes "Shop the great, warm, indoors..." And "Who do you know wants to buy a car?" All with a *thick* German accent? Man, do I have memories of that! (Ernie Von Shledorn... Main street in Menomenee Falls!)

Adam

[buffo]

Hi Max;

Hehe... Glad to hear that good 'ol Ernie is still in business. Yeah, those commercials were goofy as hell, but they clearly worked because we still remember them.

800 mw of green eh? Yowsa! That's going to be bright. You've still got the maxyz module pair for red, right? Or did you add something else to your rig since last June?

200 mw of blue is going to be expensive for sure, but I hear you re: lasers costing more than the car you're driving. I've always been one to avoid new cars anyway. Cheaper to get something a little older and just hang on to it. (Old Mr. Schledorn would not approve!)

Keep us informed of the progress on the projector!

Adam

[mliptack]

Hi Max;

Hehe... Glad to hear that good 'ol Ernie is still in business. Yeah, those commercials were goofy as hell, but they clearly worked because we still remember them.

Yeah thats some catchy marketing for ya!

800 mw of green eh? Yowsa! That's going to be bright. You've still got the maxyz module pair for red, right? Or did you add something else to your rig since last June?

Nope still have the dual Maxyz's, but I've got some plans...

200 mw of blue is going to be expensive for sure, but I hear you re: lasers costing more than the car you're driving. I've always been one to avoid new cars anyway. Cheaper to get something a little older and just hang on to it. (Old Mr. Schledorn would not approve!)

Keep us informed of the progress on the projector!

Adam

Yeah, I also have the blue PBS cube I got from the group buy, so I hope to be able to add another blue laser down the line, hopefully the prices will drop by then so I can get something much larger what can I say... I'm a power junkie!

I purchased a '97 Jetta which is a great car! 10 years old 133,000 miles, but I am sure it has plenty more miles on it. I was raised to buy used cars, my parents have never owned a brand new car.

Well as always I'll keep you guys informed! I will probably get the 800mW-er on Friday. Be sure there will be many pictures to follow!

Just as a little teaser Bridge tested it yesterday and he said its outputting over 1 watt right now!

-Max

[steve-o]

Yeah- new cars- Bah!!- Ive never owned one and never will -- let the recalls be heard in advance .

Speaking of telasers..(teasers+lasers) A newsflash--636nm 100-150mW --soon to come-- ...possibly near future --stay tuned ... .. hehe.. Georgelous color.. ... just a rumour i heard.. nothing concrete..... dont touch that dial... ..stay tuned to this station... .. updates as soon as theyre avail...