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

That should be about it. You'll have to provide wires for the DAC and scanner connections, but you can harvest them from anywhere.

right, right :yh:

does the DB-25 have to be both male ends? or female?

I've never seen a DB-25 cable that was the same on both ends. That's why you need the gender changer.

ohhhh okey dokey. that also makes sense haha

so which cable actually connects to your pc?
the usb from the DAC?

^Correct.

woot! haha
i think i almost got it =DD

I made a little diagram to help you visualize the layout:

YOU ARE FREAKIN AWESOME!!!! this clears up a lot!!!
i was thinkin this exact diagram in my head =]]

but where does the DZE go?

One inside the DAC, the other inside the scanner. They're how you connect the two. Neither one just comes with a printer-style connector, so in order to use a printer cable you have to provide connectors for it in the DAC and scanner. Otherwise, what will you connect to? If there is no connector, you cannot connect. It's like trying to plug something into the wall where there's no outlet. You have to have a connector (outlet) to plug into. The reason we use a printer style cable is to maintain compatibility with the ILDA (International Laser Display Association) standards. This means that later if you decide to upgrade to a better DAC, you don't have to redo all the wiring.

Maybe you're not yet understanding just what the breakout boards are. You have two options for providing a printer-style connector in the DAC and scanner: You can go to Radio Shack and buy two blank DB-25 (printer) connectors with 25 pins. Then you can solder each connection directly to each pin based on the ILDA wiring standard diagram (can be found through google). That's the hard way. The breakout boards are just a simpler, easier way to wire up a DB-25 connector. That's all. They have no other function than this. They do not process data, they do not control any scanner parts. The merely provide a DB-25 connector that is already clearly labeled with each connection. If you look at the pictures of the breakout board closely you can see these connections and their labels.

Building scanners is not something that is easily done if you have no experience with electronics. I would HIGHLY recommend carefully reading ALL of the main scanner threads here and on PL again. Also, find a basic text on electronic theory from your local library.

no i understand it all, its just that when i try putting it all together its a huge mess of things that dont make a lot of sense.

i read a lot of the thread on both forums, and they did clear a whole lot of things up.
thanks for all your help
and muffin man
:yh:

its just that i need the parts infront of me to understand better because iv never used this type of stuff.

i mean iv made a few lasers, but a scanner is just a lot to take in. im still gonna try building one. if i dont get it right, ill try to fix it, if i do get it right ill call myself a smarty pants. haha
but im only 15 so obviously you have a lot more experience with lasers than i do.
i just wanna learn as much as i can now, so i dont have to be such a bother in the future haha
cuz i get it, pictures help a lot.
im one of those learners that need to listen(read), and be given examples (pictures)
it just helps me understand better.
but i do understand what your getting at.

I'll continue to be here to help. I recommend that when you buy your parts (based on everything you've read here and on PL) and go to start building, if you run into problems, just refer back to these threads. Every answer you need is already here, especially now that we've done this thread. Any other questions, just ask and post some pics. We'll answer then. It is very difficult to get the full picture without seeing all the parts and trying to build it. I can lay it all out as clearly as possible, and there is still a good chance that you might not fully understand, having never done it before yourself.

haha ya im thinkin the same thing.
i know for sure ill be askin more questions,
but i dont think i have any at the moment
since im still processing what goes together.

actually, can you tell me where the laser is connected to?
i think i saw a thread on PL that talked about
the modulation cables?

^If you follow the tutorial you will most likely end up connecting the modulation to the green channel on the ILDA breakout board in the scanner.

alrighty thanks! =]]

I will draw you a picture later but for now i will try to sum up all of the connections.

Lets start at the computer. You have a usb cable that goes to the dac. All the connections from the soundcard go to the amp. The amp then attaches to a dze breakout board. A gender changer is attached to the breakout board. You then have a male to female db25 cord. That attaches to the gender changer on the dac and the other dze breakout board in the scanner. All of the "signal" connections are connected to the breakout board. So there will be four wires coming from the green (2 signal, 2 power. The two signal, +/-, will be attached to the positive and negative on the breakout board. The two "power" will be attached to a lamp cord that will plug in to a wall strip. ) then there will be 4 from the galvo amps. positive and negative for "x" and positive and negative for "y". Plug these into the corresponding places on the breakout board. There will also be power connectors coming from the galvos. I think these will also be attached to a lamp cord (a cord that is cut off of a lamp. Basically one that plugs into the wall that has 2 wires coming from it. It is AC so there is no polarity. You can plug either one to either one basically..). If you have any fans these will be attached to a power converter (AC-DC) that is plugged into the wall strip). There is generally a switch on the input of the power.

If i missed anything correct me Elektro.

Also matt, it doesnt matter how old you are. I turned 14 today so its not about age. Just do your research and ask questions. At first i was nervous to ask questions, but dont be embarrassed...almost no one comes to this section But really, it actually helps me understand my setup better if i can explain it to someone else....

o snap that was a lot to go through, i really appreciate you doin that and i do understand more =]]

but i would still love a diagram

im still a little confused about the breakout board but im sure ill understand soon enough
:thanks:!!