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Thread: advice for a small power rgb module

  1. #1
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    May 2015
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    Default advice for a small power rgb module

    I have been leaving the audio-lighting service for several years now, but I periodically continue to think about my little sweet lasers ....
    so these days I'm thinking of building a small projector, just for home-hobby use, trying to keep costs as low as possible ...
    I was thinking of taking the goldenstar al30+dmx-ilda-sd board set, and work via sd card at least until I save to take a dac + soft
    as a source I wouldn't want a module that is too powerful, I should use it mainly at home
    something like my old goldenstar would be perfect (300\200\1000)
    but I'm having a bit of trouble finding something, I only saw 1w modules (With a too weak green)or 3w which I think is a bit excessive
    You might point out something?

  2. #2
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    You can’t beat the rgb single mode diode set from Dtr laser. Mount those use with x-woosie drivers off eBay. Add a set of 506 compacts from pangolin and a set of dichro from say opt and your done. Just buy the diodes premounted with lens. Then find something to hold the diodes and dichro in place add power supply and box. Should not even need a heatsink. Mine fit in a 6” cube. Others have done it in 3”. You should be able to do it under 2k or maybe even 1.5k. Don’t skimp on the galvos. Yes there are cheaper but you’ll regret it.

  3. #3
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    What Kecked said; DTR is the place to go. All the rest of his advice is spot on as well.

    However, DTR no longer sells the single-mode low power trio as he used to.
    Alas, as this is what I used to use in my low power projectors.

    Kecked, which diodes from his current stock do you recommend for this?

    Diodes are here:

    https://sites.google.com/site/dtrslasershop/home/diodes

    Thanks...Mike
    Runs with Lasers

  4. #4
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    thank you very much for your advice
    1500\2000 is really too much for my budget, the projector is exclusively for hobbi not for work (that chapter is now closed ..)
    I checked the dtr site but I have the same problem, green is too weak (120) or too powerful (700\1000mw), my idea would be to stay around 200mw green
    looking at the opt modules, I found the w2000: 1.2mRad 637nm/500mW+520nm/500mW+445nm/1000mW
    what do you think? it would be a little too powerful, but for the price it costs ...
    I read some old bad reviews on the forum, has anything changed over the years, or is it better to avoid them?

    in the meantime I continue to play with HDDs
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_20190323_193213.jpg  


  5. #5
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    PLT5 450B PL520B 80mW 520nm
    Oclaro 120mW 638nm

    The green could be doubled with a cube but it does about 120mw when pushed.
    This is PLENTY for a hobby projector. The most expensive part is the scanners.

    My advise is the spend it once plan. Yours will cost 3 times as much by the time you mess around and figure out I was right.

  6. #6
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    Feb 2008
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    The reason why you see the jump in power levels is because it goes from single mode around 120mW to multimode at 700mW
    In order to produce a power level in the middle you would either need to look at DPSS technology or combining multiples of the 120mW diodes.
    And the multiple diodes plus combining optics is going to cost more than the 700mW diode.
    So if you're looking for cheap, but need more than the 120mW then the 3W is going to be the most cost effective.
    The OPT modules are probably the most cost effective but look at the beam specs closely
    Frikkin Lasers
    http://www.frikkinlasers.co.uk

    You are using Bonetti's defense against me, ah?

    I thought it fitting, considering the rocky terrain.

  7. #7
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    May 2015
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    italy
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    thank you very much
    I had the opt modules specs, for the 2w they gave me no value for the divergence (on the site they say 1.2mr, but I noticed that the numbers are a bit random on the site)
    1w module do not look bad, at least on paper
    R:638nm\G:505nmB:450nm
    R:180mW\G:180mW\B:650mW
    divergence 1mrad !!!!!
    the 505 nm leaves me a bit confused, I never seen it in person but only on some videos, it seems a little strange, a kind of green\light blue...
    what do you think?
    otherwise I follow your advice and go with single sources
    for the scanners without spending too much, I saw dt30, dt40 and pt30 which are about the same price range

  8. #8
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    Jun 2010
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    Syracuse, NY
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    I'm building a single mode projector right now. The Oclaro HL63603TG 120mW 638nm red, Osram PLT5 450B 450nm blue and Osram PLT5 520B 520nm green are all available from DTR. I'll be driving the red and blue to around 180mW and the green to around 120mW. This will give me roughly 450mW at the aperture. This is bright enough for my purposes at home with some haze in the air and the beams look beautiful, MUCH better than any uncorrected multimode diodes of higher power. I'm using mostly cheap Chinese parts and parts I've salvaged from old projects. The seller Techood on eBay has a 3 channel low power analog driver for about $20, dichros for about $5 each, PT-20K scanners with PSU are about $60 from Goldenstar, Stanwax has a good ILDA board for about $50 but you can find cheaper options from China. On an absolute budget you can put together a single mode projector for $300 or less. The beam quality is excellent but my two weak links are my scanners and driver. For my next iteration of this projector I'll be buying drivers from Stanwax (the driver from Techhood works but it doesn't have any current offset adjustment so proper color blending is very difficult, especially without capable software). I'm ok with the cheap scanners for now since this projector is only used for cue and show programming at home without the need for my show projectors. I have a 3d printer so I modeled and printed a case to put everything in but you can create one any way you want. In short, single mode is definitely the way to go for the simplest, best quality beams for in-home use. with bare bones cheap parts it'll cost you less than $300 for a fully functioning projector. Upgrade whatever parts you desire for better scanning and color blending. I'll likely be getting PT-A40 scanners when I revamp this project. I'll post pics of my build in a week or so once it's finished.

    Here is a video of my projector so far. The red measures about 150mW out of the aperture but I'm having trouble with the blue. It was only measuring about 65mW at the rated current. I'm over driving it now to 250mA and only getting about 115mW out of it. I don't remember if I took this video before or after I started over driving the diode, but either way it's putting out less than it should. I'm going to be replacing it with a known good diode that will do 180mW easily. The green is not working yet so it is absent in the video. I will be finishing it up this coming week after my show this weekend. These are either PT-15 or PT-20K scanners that I bought back in 2010.

    http://www.zpllighting.com/images/ra...401_225931.mp4
    Last edited by ZeroPoint; 04-10-2019 at 22:10.
    LASERS!!

    1x Homemade 500mW 405nm Projector
    1x Homemade 1.2W RGB Projector
    1x Lightspace Color Ray Series 6W RGB
    2x Lightspace Venus 2W RGB

    ZPL Lighting www.zpllighting.com

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    italy
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    here I am again
    at the end, for budget I took the goldenstar al30 scanners + the ilda show card, but I have a little problem .... some cables and wiring instructions are missing, so I'm not sure of connections, some of you have these products and could help me out

    for the ilda card I should have found almost everything, but I don't understand what "i" and "gnd bgry" are
    it also requires a power supply of -15\0\+15 , but the scanners work at 24v, would I need another power supply only for the showcard?
    also where should i connect the dipswitch?

    on the driver board there is no writing
    I have marked what I think are the scanner inputs and power supply, are they right?
    how should the power be connected? -24\0\0\+24?
    what should be the connector marked ?
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails driver.jpg  

    show card.jpg  


  10. #10
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    Charleston, SC
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    If you send an e-mail to Goldenstar they can send you a spec sheet for the scanners and the pattern board that will identify everything. (Try "mimi@goldenstarlaser.com") However, based on my admittedly foggy memory I think you've got everything labeled more or less correctly.

    The 3 pin connector on the scanner amp board (the one between the X and Y input connectors) is a power OUTPUT connector that is designed to supply power to the pattern board. There should be a double-female 3-pin cable in the set that connects the two boards. Polarity is as it's marked on the board with the middle pin being ground.

    The power input to the scanner amp is the 4 pin one near the middle of the amp board. And yes, the two center pins are ground. The 24 V polarity is marked on the connector for each side.

    The 2-pin color-coded RGBI connectors on the back are your color channel modulation outputs from the pattern board that will connect to your laser drivers. Red, Green, Blue, and Intensity, with the other pin on each connector being ground. (Note that if you are making an RGB projector you don't need the Intensity signal - that is only for single-color projectors.) I honestly don't know what the single-row connector on the front edge is for though.

    If the set came with an 8 or 10 position dip-switch module then that should plug in to the pattern board somewhere (it is used to set the DMX address of the board and in some cases to set the operating mode as well). Maybe that's the one that plugs in to the front? I would e-mail Goldenstar to be sure.

    Adam

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