Building of THOR has begun

Building of Project Tiapan has begun

Just now, after debating wether to finish my apache AH-64 RC helicopter build, or start work on the Tiapan, my big projector, I went to laser show parts.

Parting with a BIG chunk of change, I ordered the following items.

1 set of DT40 Wide scanners (I love beamshows!)
1 set of dicro mounts, L brackets and Dichros

Tomorrow I will go to jaycar and buy the case.

Then I'll temporarily set it up with my 1 watt blue labby turned down to 300 mw, and try it all out. I'll also pick up a DB25 connector, and an IEC socket, and power switch.

Edit: Parts have arrived from LSP!!!


Clockwise from back left: scan amp power supply, dichro mirrors, 5v psu for 445nm laser, funny brown capacitor things, L angle bracket (barely visible), adjustable dichro mounts, scanner block, centre - scanner amps.


This is the y scanner amp - the x one looks the same except it has an X written on it.


Scanner block and galvos - the longer y mirror gives away that these are the wides.


Funny brown capacitor things. What are these Dave???

So the project got a name change - its now called "The Tiapan" or "Project Tiapan".

lets hope it turn out to something really cool. I have no experience with shows but, they are really cool. :beer:
well, lets see what bloody 2.5W can do

Unfortunatly, it wont be 2.5 watts - I wont be able to get enough red, without spending a fortune (for me a fortune was $836 for the galvos and dichros!)

Mind you I bought DHL shipping, and top of the line galvos, and paid aussie Government Stealing Tax.

Dude, your going to LOVE those 40 WIDES!! I have some and they are the best!!!
I easily scan at >90 degrees- That Huge!

I know - 90° is insane

I assume thats 45° either side of centre.

I'll have to buy a nibbler tool to cut out the hole in the case, and a file to make it smooth

So about the lasers...

whats going inside this projector of yours?

combined red cannot be used?

Combined LOC builds are really not my thing. I'd rather use the brighter per mw 640nm lasers.

A 350mw 640nm laserwave costs $750. $1000 is about the limit I want to spend per laser.

So 350-500mw of 640
400-500mw of 532
500-600mw of 445

They will all be laserwave modules, apart from the 445, which will be one of the famous projector diodes in a dead 50mw greenie lab laser case, with a flexmod and anamorphic prisms for beam correction.

I will email Dave at LSP and see what he can offer me in a high powered 640, that could up the ante as far as power goes

Edit: I'm lazy - just ordered my 2U case and sundries from jaycar. Too hot to day to go running around to a jaycar store and lugging the stuff home on the bus!

All i need now is a baseplate, and some photon blasters (which I wish could be in the watt range! stupid low power reds!)

If you want a good color balance you should probably scale back the green a bit, and double up on the 640's and combine them with a splitter cube.

unfortunatly the higher power 640's are already cube combined. I was thinking of combining two of the 640 red 400mw for 800 mw but was advised that they are already combined inside the head with a pbs.

So if I try to pbs it again, half the power would go round the 90° bend, and the other half would hit the side of the projector.

vk2fro said:

I'll have to buy a nibbler tool

Click to expand...

Do it! They work absolutely brilliant on aluminium

The 2U cases, everything but the front and back panels is actually steel. I had no luck with my little nibbler on there. Worked great on the alu though (Well, not the 3mm stuff )

Yeah. that would make things difficult. Hmm. I almost was going to suggest combining it with a high power 650nm, but that would involve an extremely specialized dicro, since another pbs isn't possible for your above stated reason.

what are the front panel thickness on these cases Things?

Another option I thought was to draw an outline on the case with pencil, drill inside that outline all the way around, cut the inner piece out, then file to make a nice square.

I will do this if the alu is too thick for the nibbler.

Otherwise they work great - I used to have one, but it got nicked a few years ago when my old house got broken into and my big tool box pinched.

I remember using it to cut the holes in my SGIL1 mkII argon ion supply case. I went to the pub afterward and had to raise my glass with my left hand - right hand was so sore from using the nibbler - probably because I was trying to cut stuff too thick for it

For good colour balance, you're going to need more red, be it 635, 658 or 640nm.

If money is no problem, then buying a multi-658nm diode, and combining LOCs/LCCs is the way to go. You can get kits which can host up to 6 diodes, which are knife-edged and PBS'd into a beam that will actually look Gaussian at a distance.

Your other option is to use one of these kits, and buy a handful of the 150mW 640nm diodes. 4 of these would give 600mW out, which would match 500mW~ of green perfectly.

These kits are available on PL, and so are the diodes.

Your other option is to go with 635, which can be dichro-combined with 658nm (which is highly inadvisable for quite a few reasons).

With 635nm, you end up losing massive amounts of power, simply because the entirety of the beam won't fit on your galvos.

The advantage of having such a fat beam, however, is that you can hide many other beams within it, making PBSing easier.

vk2fro said:

A 350mw 640nm laserwave costs $750. $1000 is about the limit I want to spend per laser.
They will all be laserwave modules

Click to expand...

DO NOT USE THE 640 LASERWAVE! DO NOT USE THE 640 LASERWAVE!!!! it will last <6 months before you need to send it back. Its a good deal now but will be the first thing to seriously break. Every single person I know that uses that module has problems with the beams becoming un-alligned and having 2 separate beams coming out the front.

<-----------------------Look at my avatar and notice how every module is LaserWave except the red.

There are a ton of threads about this topic but here is a good one to start with.. PLEASE dont throw away ~1000 on that module.

LaserWave 640nm -A question for Bridge

I know you dont want to spend MORE cash BUT the next cheapest 640's out there are KVANT...
300mW= 1400+Shipping
600mW= 1700+Shipping
900mW= 2400+Shipping


Goodluck! :beer:

^Agreed! I'm glad you said something KGB..

Also, my own personal preference (even though I don't use the combination in my latest projectors) is to combine 650nm with 635nm. Makes for a killer red, without the orange hue that 635-640nm by itself has.