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Question about DIY Scanner build

LaserAdct

LaserAdct

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Dec 22, 2010
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Hello all :-)

I am currently in the progress of making a rgv laser scanner. There are a few things confusing me and I was hoping that someone could help me with a few questions that I have.

Currently I have made a RGV laser with TTL on each laser driver (You can see it in the heatsink link in my signature). Next step is to buy Galvos and build what else is needed. As a starter set I have found the following:

20Kpps Galvo scanning system & laser show card (max35k) | eBay

Now my qquestion is what else would be needed to hook these galvos up to my pc? I am a bit confused about the included showcard. Anyone know what this item does? I have read about Correction Amps and DACs. But cant quite figure out if these are needed together with the showcard.

I hope this makes sense and that someone can point me in the right direction.

Best regards :thanks:
 





The showcard is just a little circuit that generates pre-programmed patterns. In order to use your own patterns from a computer, you need a DAC.

The soundcard/correction amp DAC is a DIY DAC based on a cheap USB sound card and a few opamps.

This is the cheapest form of DAC. Followed by the Riya, probably. Next step up are things like the Pangolin FB3, Moncha, Pangolin LD2K.

But, I am assuming since you are using RGV, you are on a fairly limited budget, so do some googling around the soundcard Or EzAudDac). There is also a prebuilt kit that 300Evil on PL sells.
 
Thanks a lot for your reply Things.

My budget is not really that limited and I am in the process of changing my 405nm with a 455nm to get a bit closer to that blue color :-) The main criteria for this first build was that I wanted to make as much as I could myself learning as I went along.

The showcard has an ILDA interface, is it correct that this is where I would connect the DAC, or would the showcard be omitted when going for the DAC solution?

From the ShowCard description - Function:Music Active,Auto Active,DMX512,ILDADB-25 Connector
 
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Ok thanks for that. I think this set of galvos will be my first to play around with :beer:
 
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Should be a fun build... Might want to go with 30k+ galvo's though... I think a Spacelas kit is only a little over $200.

I have heard that sometimes you end up with underspec galvos depending on vendor.
 
Guyfromhe said:
Should be a fun build... Might want to go with 30k+ galvo's though... I think a Spacelas kit is only a little over $200.

I have heard that sometimes you end up with underspec galvos depending on vendor.
Click to expand...


well it depends on what he wants to perform... if mild animations or complex graphics is the goal then yes step up to faster galvos.

but if beam shows are the goal then under spec 20k's will be fine.

michael.
 
chipdouglas said:
well it depends on what he wants to perform... if mild animations or complex graphics is the goal then yes step up to faster galvos.

but if beam shows are the goal then under spec 20k's will be fine.

michael.
Click to expand...

I think someone said Spacelas gave them a quote of $208 for a single 30k shipped.... So for the extra $60 it's probably worth it IMHO even if he's only using it for beams (if he changes his mind later it will cost him a lot more to forklift upgrade)
 
1 galvo in hand is worth 2 in the bush lol.

i hear ya. but sometimes the extra money is hard to come up with. while it is only 60 bucks then you have to calculate shipping then you are at roughly 90 or more extra.

michael.
 
The post I saw said that it was $208 SHIPPED to the US according to a member... for $50-60 I would say don't waste your time buying something slower (save a little longer if you have to) for $100 I would say don't bother.. That way your not :banghead: when you decide you want to draw pretty pictures :p
 
Guyfromhe said:
The post I saw said that it was $208 SHIPPED to the US according to a member... for $50-60 I would say don't waste your time buying something slower (save a little longer if you have to) for $100 I would say don't bother.. That way your not :banghead: when you decide you want to draw pretty pictures :p
Click to expand...


true!!!
 
Yes 20k will work, yes 30k will be a lot better if you plan on or may in the future decide to do graphics.

In any case it's not really up to either of us what the OP ends up with, just food for thought...
 
I actually think I will have a look at the 30k Spacelas ones. I <3 beamshows, but it would also be nice to be able to do animations and such so instead of having to upgrade shortly after getting the 20k ones I might as well get a set that can do both from the start.

Is the Spacelas set as "complete" when it comes to the galvo drivers, PSU, cables and stuff like that?
 
It'd be very rare to find galvos that didn't come with all the required circuitry. Galvos and their amplifiers are very specifically matched to each other in the factory.
 
Wow. That projector you're working on is exactly what I'm wanting to build. I may use flexmods for drivers so I can use analog modulation. Nice job! :gj:
 
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