CYGN-B

[laserist]

As to the prom reader I'll send it along with the various odds and ends assuming I can find it...

[ronhip]

Greg,

I used the bitbox mainly for debug, but also, it was useful if you wanted to set some spiral or cycloid frequencies that were difficult to find during the show because sometimes the images were not up for very long. With the bitbox you could set up a stable image and play for however long you needed. Also the bitbox was useful when you had something like a commercial rental for an evening and the client wanted a specific type of image on the dome. Remember, without the tape, you had no access to spirals, rotations, DOG stuff, scan-glasses, lumia, and more. (Though you could bring up scan-glasses and lumia with very awkwardly placed switches inside the projector head...). I think Bing (my backup laserist and assistant director of the Morrison Planetarium) and I did program a couple shows with the bitbox too.

Ron

This just keeps getting better. I was about to give up prior to Brian's observation that the dogloids came with Crystal Odyssey. Then the discoveries began pouring out. There are in fact 24 4 byte presets for the dogloids routine, and they are confirmed to be various and interesting patches.

But somehow I overlooked another entire routine that I thought was part of the dogloids routine. This one must be the one Ron mentioned way back in this thread, that produces slow lissajous like motion paths. It also uses the sine table. I'll label this routine FLY. Losing this genius library of dynamic offset generation algorithms, and the dogloids, would be like forgetting the electric guitar and having it drop out use in rock and roll, or at least the high hat. These are very entertaining effects, especially with all four outputs displayed. I'm sure glad you guys had those eproms. What was the device they were ultimately read on?

I was kind of wondering, how was that data spec 2 document that Ron posted with the 351 codes for the DOG stuff actually of use in the field? Is it that one would use the bit box to access the DOGN functions for troubleshooting?

[Greg]

A Rosetta Stone of sorts has been made available: these two (photo attached) photocopies of the two sides of an unpopulated CYGN-B board. As well, All the difficult to obtain components for the CYGN-B have been obtained, almost all were donated from an original inventory. Tremendous appreciation goes out to the giver. As well, an order for all the commonly available components (precision resistors, tantalum caps, etc.) has arrived, so now the preparations for the building of a CYGN-B is beginning in earnest.

Here's a request for comment regarding raw signal output from such sources as the DOGN that command large instantaneous moves, and it's suitability for delivery (through ILDA port) to, for example, a currently available system from a respected industry leading manufacturer.

The software I use for timeline based choreography applies an "optimization" to the actual points output to the laser. This results in virtually silent scanner operation, and accurate images that look great.

If I disable the optimization, the scanners are noisy.

The manufacturer has an excellent reputation for great scanners, and provides assurance that they are impervious to damage due to rogue signals.

Any thoughts on if it is safe to apply dogloids (signal within electrical spec for ILDA obviously) to such a system, and just ignore the noise?

[laserist]

First observation the dogloids are way slower than the ilda test pattern. Second these things were developed using G-124s. That is to say relatively slow non feedback scanners. You may be disappointed with the dogloids on feedback scanners. The ringing to a stop at each discreet point was a huge part of their charm. The ringing changed as the points move relative to each other, resulting in a more interesting effect as it ran through a cycle. You could emulate the ringing in code, but probably not on a 6502...

[laserist]

Oh, and the CYGNB ran fine on G-120 feedback scanners. Scanners making noise was normal at times with the Mark 6, but usually you couldn't hear them over the music. The first time I heard the scanners doing direct audio mod without the cover of the music was a shock.

[ronhip]

Greg,

I neglected to include the scan of the back-side of the CYGN-B card before. Had I known you wanted it, I would have. So... here it is in all its glory. A second Rosetta Stone. Fewer blue-wire mods in some places, and more in others. Enjoy.

Ron

A Rosetta Stone of sorts has been made available: these two (photo attached) photocopies of the two sides of an unpopulated CYGN-B board. As well, All the difficult to obtain components for the CYGN-B have been obtained, almost all were donated from an original inventory. Tremendous appreciation goes out to the giver. As well, an order for all the commonly available components (precision resistors, tantalum caps, etc.) has arrived, so now the preparations for the building of a CYGN-B is beginning in earnest.

Here's a request for comment regarding raw signal output from such sources as the DOGN that command large instantaneous moves, and it's suitability for delivery (through ILDA port) to, for example, a currently available system from a respected industry leading manufacturer.

The software I use for timeline based choreography applies an "optimization" to the actual points output to the laser. This results in virtually silent scanner operation, and accurate images that look great.

If I disable the optimization, the scanners are noisy.

The manufacturer has an excellent reputation for great scanners, and provides assurance that they are impervious to damage due to rogue signals.

Any thoughts on if it is safe to apply dogloids (signal within electrical spec for ILDA obviously) to such a system, and just ignore the noise?

[laserist]

For anyone following along - the wire wrap jumpers were mods made when LI² replaced their slotted can chopper with a AOM for their Beatles show (btw Sam McGee (who I despise - to this day) convinced the Beatles licensing board to grant us synchronization rights for the first time ever - Beatlemania I was told was a Yoko Ono thing, but if I'm mistaken in this statement Sam did have a severe problem with truth telling, and I find it hard to believe I've just quoted anything he ever said as factual...) those were clock signals from 2 of the three digital oscillators on the CYGNB board. It was a nice effect, but it was really memorable so it was also an "I've seen this before moment" if you used it too much in an hour long planetarium show.

[mixedgas]

Mixedgas goes to take a Tylenol after seeing a certain name come up... Shudder....


Steve

[ronhip]

Brian,

Yes. I believe that Sam was singularly responsible for almost bankrupting Laser Images with that Beatles deal. Took years to pay that off. Poor Ivan kept hiring business people that never actually helped the company survive. Ivan was certainly a visionary we can all agree, just not a business visionary. I don't think we ever recovered from the Sam McGee era. Snake-oil salesman if I ever met one.

The only issue I ever (always?) had with the AOM (and PCAOM) was that it wasted a good portion of the light from the laser (and were super hard to adjust). Our shows were never quite as bright after that. Our current era of individual solid-state lasers has solved that issue. No more PCAOM necessary!!!

Ron

For anyone following along - the wire wrap jumpers were mods made when LI² replaced their slotted can chopper with a AOM for their Beatles show (btw Sam McGee (who I despise - to this day) convinced the Beatles licensing board to grant us synchronization rights for the first time ever - Beatlemania I was told was a Yoko Ono thing, but if I'm mistaken in this statement Sam did have a severe problem with truth telling, and I find it hard to believe I've just quoted anything he ever said as factual...) those were clock signals from 2 of the three digital oscillators on the CYGNB board. It was a nice effect, but it was really memorable so it was also an "I've seen this before moment" if you used it too much in an hour long planetarium show.

[laserist]

I have to agree. Neigher of the krypton lasers I had in 2013 were bright enough for an 80 foot dome if I had a pcaom in the light path. And I used a killer Newport 5 axis mount - so alignment wasn't the problem. Maybe something was defective - everything says 10% - I was getting 50% losses - I was literally still tweeking the electronics at 2 in the morning of the first show. When I tried to run through the show for the first time I discovered the someone reduced the gain of the beam torquer so it's only purpose was a tiny amount of color correction - rather than something you could use to perform a freaking show. Luckily I had some resistors in my kit since - again 2 AM. Nobody noticed I didn't have chopper - - - except me... I seriously thought about putting a slotted can galvo chopper back in the system, but I was so burnt out from being a one man show and working full time as well that I just never go around to it before I said, ENOUGH!

It took about a year to get what I call my "offline processing" back after shutting things down. Doing Laserium and working full time simply sucked down all my bandwidth.