First Projector Advice

[Meatball]

I love this advice. This is exactly the kind of stuff I need to hear as a learner, and it will hopefully make for a prettier projector of my own! You've inspired many people with your projector flemcom! You know that?

It sure sparked my interest in a new way.

Ok, so here's what I'm collecting so far.

I'm going to buy an appropriate sound card for the DAC conversion, and I think I need a correction amp of some kind? Dr Lava has one that isn't too expensive...

Beyond that, I've decided that the trilights green module will be enough green for me: 150MW Green Laser Diode DIY DPSS Module + Power Analog - eBay (item 230514268394 end time Sep-20-10 03:43:04 PDT)

With a PBS aligned pair of LOCs with 650-G1s, 600mw of 660 will give me better reds, and a beam corrected 445 diode will be enough to give me bright yet deep blues.

So far, the plan looks to be compact!

A simple set of scanners like these, come at a lower price than I thought they would! They just come with the same warranty and customer support that large brand name models would come with.

Galvo(scanning) system ILDA30K Max50k for Laser systems - eBay (item 290464576019 end time Sep-15-10 05:47:46 PDT)

That's it! Easier than I thought!

Now... optics. I see dichro kits with mounts included go for $135-$150, and then I see o-like with a set for $5 a piece.

What would be the main difference between these sets of color filters? Higher priced ones might be of a better material? Less scratch prone? Easier to clean or maintain?

I still have no idea what I want to be using as a baseplate. I'm no machinist, and I don't know anyone machinists either!

 

[Howie]

Hey Meatball,

What you just described in your last post is almost identical to what I'm setting up. I have the Trilights 150mw analog and I'm planning on either a dual or quad LOC red setup and a 445nm blue. I have the exact same scanners you have listed there but since I haven't set it all up yet, I can't tell you how they run yet.

The only difference is I just bought the FB3 and Quickshow from Marc at ctlasers. I looked at the sound card DAC route and it just seemed like it was going to become another project to build when the REAL project is the scanner.

I just got the dichros and mounts from o-like that you're probably talking about. I think for both mounts and the two dichros, they were like $37. I read they were ok but there is no adjustment and the opening where the dichro sits in one is about 5/16" or so higher than the other. I'm going to try them but since this is also my first build, if they give me any grief, they're coming out. You can find dichro beam combining kits for around $150 or so.

I just ordered a baseplate today. 3/8"x16"x16" for $51 from here...
https://www.midweststeelsupply.com/store/6061aluminumplate
I looked around a bit and this was the cheapest I found.

The baseplate should be here Friday or Monday and once it arrives, I'll start mounting everything. If it goes quick, I'll try and post some opinions on the dichros and scanners but I suspect it's going to take me a few weeks to get it running.

 

[flecom]

thanks for the comments Meatball, I love lasers and always enjoy bringing another victim... errr... enthusiast into the projector fray lol

o-like sells dichros? for the price I would be weary, but who knows?

one stop has cheap dichros...

Laser Dichros / Laser Combining Dichroics

they are square so you could mount them popping off of a MM-1 type mount like one stop does on their projectors... ex

although MM1 type mounts tend to run about $40/ea so your looking at say like $100~$120 total and I have never used the one-stop dichros personally but I have heard good things so take that for whatever its worth

so its about the same as buying a set like this...

https://www.ctlasers.com/purchases/dichroic-filter-p-54.html

those are the laserwave dichros... i had a set of their old ones which kinda sucked but I have heard the new ones are significantly better... again, I haven't tried them so take that for whatever its worth...

personally I used the edmunds dichros and have been happy but they are not cheap

also for the LOC's your probably going to want to run them @ 250~mW each for long life in show use... so 500mW pre losses...

a single 445 should be more than enough, you'll probably want to turn it down actually from its capable output...

and that green assuming it modulates well should do you fine... I am probably going to order some soon to play with, just havent gotten around to it

I am actually planning on building a pair of small RGB's with dual loc's a trilight green, 445 module and some decent 30k chinese scanners for graphics projector duties...

99% of the shows I make are graphics shows so I need to be able to see what it looks like scanned, and setting up the 5W projector at home is not really practical