Old 4mW HeNe projector

[budabob07]

I found this laser projector in my basement and decided to open it. Its got a 4 mW HeNe tube from 1994 :O. Anyways the controller for the galvanometers is a mess so I may in the future make my own modern Arduino-based one or at least convert it into some kind of spirograph. For now I removed the galvo's and the shutter so that I could see the performance of the laser. The dot is pretty bright, and (probably thanks to the collameter) it appears to have a very low beam divergence.
Pics:
Whole thing

Without galvos

Laser Tube

Dot: (the focused dot is much smaller in real life than the picture makes it look)

 

[Bionic-Badger]

You just happened to have one of those sitting in your basement?

That was probably a nice projector back in the day, the kind you might see in those planetariums back in the day. Also, given the year of that HeNe, it's relative new compared to many you see for sale (usually 1980s vintage).

I'd hold onto it and not take it apart that much. Maybe see if you can get it working.

 

[budabob07]

Yeah, it was there because at some point some people where my father worked had it made for the company (the company makes large laser cutting machines, but I'm not really sure why they would have had a projector made), but when they were done it was going to go to waste, so he brought it home and it just sat there for several years. I may try to sort out the old controller, but the controller box is a 30lb rats nest of wires. Hopefully I'll get it working at some point

 

[IsaacT]

Dang! That's a really cool find! All I have in my parent's garage is trash, some dumbbells, and saws. *sigh* Hope you can get it running again! :beer:

 

[Moistenator]

That's a pretty sick find to have sitting in your basement.

 

[budabob07]

Here is the controller box. In the corner are two 28V 4A linear power supplies. I'm guessing the heat generated from them must be insane. Also, the PC card is old enough that none of the computers in our house have the right slot for it.
Box:

PC Card (sorry for crappy quality/lighting, these pics are from my phone):