SELEM was a blast!

[White-Light]

Glad you had fun. Now get editing those videos,we're getting photon withdrawal over here.

[JimBo]

We get our fix at the end of next week

Jim

[platinum]

SELEM *was* a blast!

It was really cool hanging out with you guys again, (til 4am every night, pretty much.) and I really look forward to next year.

I vote for starting a day earlier next year, having scaffolding and three-phase on the stage and Go-Go Girls for the laser show portions of the event. Yep.

-Jonathan



/chips and dip!

[White-Light]

I think Marc's lasers going to be a hard one to follow for our US friends.

3 Watts of 473, 445, 640, and 532 with another 1.2 watts of 658 by next year (I think that's correct).

[mixedgas]

I have it on good authority that 15 or more watts of blue/green will be at SELEM next year. Once I get done selling it to him.

Steve

[buffo]

did you manage to sync up more than 9 projectors to beat the record we achieved back in June?

I don't think so. We had a lot of organization issues that prevented us from doing everything we planned. (My fault - I need to be better prepared for next year.) We also did not have the buffered 6-way ILDA break-out box, as the parts supplier ran out of a key component that Steve was using to build it. Next year we'll get started earlier on these custom parts so we're ready!

We could have done it with a couple Y cables, and indeed we did have one Y cable set up. But there were other projectors we could have linked together that we just didn't bother with because of time constraints. Also, a few people had to leave early on Sunday, and they took their RGB projectors with them.

Still, even with 7 or 8 projectors linked, it looked pretty good. I know we've got video of shows running on 6 and 7 projectors, as we filmed that on Sunday afternoon. Not sure what we have from Saturday evening though, and honestly I don't even remember how many we had linked up that night. (There was a *lot* of other stuff going on!)

There's no better way to spend a weekend than playing with loads of lasers and chatting with like minded people

I agree with this sentiment, and it's why I'm still doing these events! But I'm learning (the hard way) that as they get bigger, you need more organization... SELEM has gotten *huge* in just 3 years, and we're still under 30 members attending. I can't imagine what an event with 50 people would be like, but I know that right now I'm not prepared to handle it... That's why next year there will be a committee!

I think Marc's lasers going to be a hard one to follow for our US friends.

Well, we had a Lexel 95 color pro (Kr/Ar mixed gas unit with multi-line optics) set up that was doing around 2 watts... It was a complete unit with Scan Head (Cambridge 6800s), effects wheels, geometric correction board, and a pair of ADATs. We watched a couple shows on it in the hallway before we had to pack it up. (Pianoman had to leave early on Saturday.)

We also had a Coherent Starlight II (another mixed gas rig) that was making 4.2 watts, complete with a scan head and a 10 position mobolaser beam rail, but we didn't set it up in the interest of saving time. (We also didn't have enough cable to get the 3 phase power up onto the stage, and running a beam rail in the hallway would have been pointless.)

We did set up a *bunch* of other multi-watt argon-only lasers in the hallway though, just to test them. In addition to the lasers above, we had 2 other Lexel 95's, 1 Lexel 98, 3 Spectra-Physics 165's, two Lexel 88's, a Lexel 75, and a converted HGM5. Out of all 12 ion lasers we tested in the hallway at SELEM, only one of them was up to air. (I think it was one of the Lexel 95's...) So 11 out of 12 is pretty good, at least in my book. (Big thanks to Steve Roberts, DZ, and Bill Benner for helping to test, adjust, and repair all those tubes and power supplies!)

Note that we had at least 5 more 110 V argon units set up either on-stage or in the dressing room area. This is something of a record for a LEM here in the US, at least in terms of the number of ion lasers present.

As for the number of scanning RGB projectors on stage, I *think* we had a total of 14 set up, not counting DZ's lumia rig. But I know we weren't able to link them all.

Paul (Clandestiny) has talked about doing something outdoors for SELEM 2010, if we can schedule it on a weekend when he's available. If that works, he'd like to bring some very large guns (20 watts of white via a Kr / Ar pair, and maybe a CVL as well), assuming we can find a large enough spot on the building wall to projecto onto. But that's a long way away, and right now I don't even want to think about the logistics of it!

Adam

[carlos3621]

I think Marc's lasers going to be a hard one to follow for our US friends.

3 Watts of 473, 445, 640, and 532 with another 1.2 watts of 658 by next year (I think that's correct).

Yes, i concur! Marc is the new "colorpro".....

[mixedgas]

First of all, I'd like to thank Glenn Miller, Cab Calloway, The Blues Brothers, Mel Brooks, and the King of Sweden........

A special thanks to "Officer Fife " and her Supervisor, "Officer Mahony" for making me late Saturday, And next time keep your hands off my drag reducers on the Equinox, they are not antennas for some weird form of radiation, but patented technology that works.
(Shameless Plug, www.airtab.com, proud to be a customer) I do appreciate your vigilance though.... And that stop sign was a lame excuse.

Andrew, sorry about the abstract system. I was so tired from doing all the ion systems, I forgot to remove the attenuators I put in the box for the xy display crt. I'll copy the tape, reshoot x-y tracks and send it to you, keeping the color and audio intact. James thinks he can recover the amplitudes, too.

Daedal, Sorry Man, we didnt need to bypass the key for the hecad. The keyswitch was in my pants pocket, I'll get it in the mail. Check the wavelength on that unit, some one who would know thinks it was NOT on the normal 442 line, and check the values on the sticker against the jacks on the side of the head. Repair the supply glitch, remind me to find the user manual in case you need to adjust the current and heaters, Then run and run and run to burn down the excess helium so the power goes back up, and enjoy......

DZ, Bless you for the help with the ion world record repair and education session. I doubt the LEXEL factory service dept ever repaired, cleaned, and aligned that many units in one day.

A special thanks to MR William R. Benner for setting on the floor and troubleshooting a "stucK" 95 passbank, I hope you enjoyed that and it gave me a much needed break to catch up.

I really enjoyed the "dualing bajos" abstract session, ie Pangolin vs the ROLAND ROTATOR in real time.

ANALOG IS BACK!


A special thanks to my two room mates.


And Thanks to Frau Stuka and Frau Lava and Frau ALLTHAT for making Selem a classier, more cultured, place.

I had wayyyy too much pulled pork and layered pasta, thanks to those that cooked.

(rumors of my excreting pure krypton after eating are true)

Pianoman and DJMATT, one could not ask for better students.

Congrats to the Pangolin team, that new "pointless" technique with the constant brightness looks great, as does the new abstract gen.

A thanks to the unknown server lady for suggesting the Smirnoff Ice.

And a big thanks for the Newton Conover Auditorium Staff.

Buffo, sorry for the remark , I was out of line. But next year dude we are duck taping you to a curtain riser and you ARE going to let others do the work.

Steve

[Laser Zone]

Post your pics please !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!

[gottaluvlasers]

who won what prizes? and can we get some prelim pictures?

Still sick that i missed this!!! (glad i was here with my fam though. it was needed).

Cat, thank you VERY much for your PM's. really means alot to me!

Adam and i have an agreement that when things get a little better with the fam, we will be planning another LEM. so, GET READY!!!

-Marc