where do you guys buy your lens mounts for your scanners?

woohhw thanx a lot guys! it made sense but i think im going to understand even more if i try it myself when i order the parts. but u guys have been such an amazing help.

what connects my DAC to my computer? do the wires come with it?

^You'll have to provide your own wires and cabling. You'll likely end up wiring the output of the DAC to a DB-25 (25-pin printer) connector. Then you just use a long printer cable to run from the DAC to your scanner. A quick and easy way to handle these connections is to use an ILDA breakout board from DZ laser. Click the link that says "breakout boards are available again". Then all you have to do is attach your wires to the clearly labeled connection points and move on. No worrying about which pin gets which connection.. You use one of these in the scanner and one with a DB-25 male to female gender changer in the DAC.

and do i use my computer to actually tune the channels?

Yes. You play the file max.wav (available in post #46 in this thread) using windows media player ( or some other 5.1ch wav player) and adjust each channel while viewing its output on a multimeter. Post #46 lays it all out..

will i understand how to set it to channel 8 when i install it into my computer?

ElektroFreak said:

^You'll have to provide your own wires and cabling. You'll likely end up wiring the output of the DAC to a DB-25 (25-pin printer) connector. Then you just use a long printer cable to run from the DAC to your scanner. A quick and easy way to handle these connections is to use an ILDA breakout board from DZ laser. Click the link that says "breakout boards are available again". Then all you have to do is attach your wires to the clearly labeled connection points and move on. No worrying about which pin gets which connection.. You use one of these in the scanner and one with a DB-25 male to female gender changer in the DAC.

Click to expand...

I will use the DZE db25 for the SCANNER end. I was planning on using one of These for the DAC. That way the pinout is correct and when hooking up the wires you dont need to solder. Plus the ports are numbered and you will be able to use a male to female instead of a female to female cord (which are very hard to find i have seen...).

^nothing wrong with that, but the DZ breakout board costs the same and is specifically made for the ILDA pinout.. You just add a gender changer to use it with the DAC..

@mattmagic: I'm not sure what you mean by channel 8..

ElektroFreak said:

^nothing wrong with that, but the DZ breakout board costs the same and is specifically made for the ILDA pinout.. You just add a gender changer to use it with the DAC..

@mattmagic: I'm not sure what you mean by channel 8..

Click to expand...

sorry i just meant 8 channels.
so we supply our own wires and cables.....crap haha
honestly, i dont know my cables. but when i order everything i need,
ill try to figure it out.
do any cables come with the correction amp?

Windows media player will automatically detect how many channels are on the card and will use them all. No cables of any kind are provided with any of the sound card DAC parts except the USB cable that comes with the sound card itself. The wiring is described in detail between my tutorial and the threads Muffin_Man and I have linked to elsewhere in this thread. As you build the system, you'll begin to get a real good idea of what's going on. It's VERY difficult to fully understand it all just be having us tell you about it.

ElektroFreak said:

Windows media player will automatically detect how many channels are on the card and will use them all. No cables of any kind are provided with any of the sound card DAC parts except the USB cable that comes with the sound card itself. The wiring is described in detail between my tutorial and the threads Muffin_Man and I have linked to elsewhere in this thread. As you build the system, you'll begin to get a real good idea of what's going on. It's VERY difficult to fully understand it all just be having us tell you about it.

Click to expand...

haha ya it is but im sure that i will understand it right away =]] (when i get the supplies that is)
i mean, i can put most of it together in my head but i still will be asking a lot of questions.

that reminds me (haha ) what does the actual laser connect to?

:thanks:

The modulation input of the laser will connect to whichever channel you assign green signals to in your software. With Spaghetti, if you only use one laser then all the colors get sent to the green channel. The power supply will be connected to mains (wall outlet power) in most cases..

okay, and are you talking about the actual cables? because i thought you connect the laser to the scanner?
:thinking:

The laser beam gets aimed onto the scanner galvo mirrors which then direct it rapidly around to form images or beam effects. The laser's modulation input blanks the laser beam to provide spaces between letters, parts of images, etc rather that it all being connected in one solid trace. This all happens at an incredible rate of speed to allow for full-motion graphics and rapid-fire beam effects. And yes, the power and modulation wires are provided with the laser when you buy it.

May i ask a quick question?

EF: you were talking about the laserorb in laser projectors. I will be building a 200mW analogue/ttl red with the flexmod. Do you think it would be a good idea to use a laserorb in that laser?

Also, There is a website called customaluminumcases.com. I was thinking of getting a "Tray style" (i think thats what it is called..). Basically using it as a cover and having a plate of aluminum on the bottom. Then you just bolt all of the components to the plate and then screw the top "Tray" to the plate aswell...I already emailed the owner to ask if he could make some custom holes in the case for me. A couple 40mm fan holes, a db25, and a power port. He still hasnt emailed me back

I think i will just bolt it to a piece of wood so i can see the colors and then get a price quote on a plate of aluminum. It will be running an hour max so it shouldnt be too bad...I will attach an extra aluminum heatsink to the red aswell as a fan...(What do you think about TEC for the red? I have the perfect piece of aluminum that could cool the tec. Do you think it would be overkill? Ill post some pics on saturday...)

The_Muffin_Man said:

EF: you were talking about the laserorb in laser projectors. I will be building a 200mW analogue/ttl red with the flexmod. Do you think it would be a good idea to use a laserorb in that laser?

Only if you want to make sure that it is impossible to kill the laser by ESD or modulation spikes.. (YES... it's a good idea.)

What do you think about TEC for the red? I have the perfect piece of aluminum that could cool the tec. Do you think it would be overkill?

Definitely not overkill, but maybe more complex than you need. If I were you I'd just strap a fan to that z-bolt heatsink and move on. It should be more than sufficient.

Click to expand...

blah blah 5 characters blah

^ Lol..

Alright. How would i connect that? do i just solder it to the pins like i would a driver but also solder the flexmod to the pins?

mmk. Ill try that with one of the z-bolt heatsinks i already have...I might aswell just add another heatsink (about the same size as the z-bolt one..) to the top. It has a fan attached to it but the fan is really a pain to take off. I had to cut and pry it off with various tools to get it off of a spare i had...Oh well, more cooling