Review: Reke 500RGB (laserius projectorus-cheapus)

[ARG]

Re: Reke 500RGB

Yes, if this is for a projector, always good to go analog, or you miss out on Orange and other colors

 

[Guyfromhe]

Re: Reke 500RGB

Alrighty! Just ordered one of these! 306$ Canadian after coupons.

Good man! Slightly more than I paid... I think I got it for $15 less.. Also you will be paying $15 tax+brokerage when you get it.

Thank you for your help! My home made projector should be done soon, but I need to get some 3-aixiz mounts because aligning the o-like dichro mounts is a hard task It's got DT-30's + 1W corrected 445 + 300mW 532nm so it should compliment it nicely.

Do you have two projectors? Can you use one DAC for both of them? I've got a DB-25 (It may be r232 though) switch box from back in the day, and I'm going to see if I can wire it up for both to be on the the same time

No problem, glad to be of assistance. You gotta post some info about your projector when you get the build done.. I am interested to see it.. I would like to do one myself if I ever get the funds together...

I only have one projector (I disowned my stepper R/G when I got this, and it doesn't have ILDA anyway)

I threw one of those DB-25 switch boxes away... You should be able to wire them together no problem... When you go to use a DAC with this unit you need to short the interlock pins together... Remember that... Also try not to hurt yourself stumbling around in the dark like LtKp did

Theoretically you should be able to connect two to the same cable but they will then both be outputting the same thing... you might need to amp the X and Y pins otherwise your likely to end up with half the size image on both...
ILDA is a simple electrical connection there is nothing fancy about it so all the standard laws of electricity apply to it normally and there is no weird digital shit going on.

EDIT:

Yes, if this is for a projector, always good to go analog, or you miss out on Orange and other colors

True Dat! I only sorta miss orange though... I don't miss it $800 worth

 

[ARG]

Re: Reke 500RGB

Good man! Slightly more than I paid... I think I got it for $15 less.. Also you will be paying $15 tax+brokerage when you get it.

I threw one of those DB-25 switch boxes away... You should be able to wire them together no problem... When you go to use a DAC with this unit you need to short the interlock pins together... Remember that...

I hate it when I get charged at the door they never have change for a 20$, I'll be prepared this time

Interlock eh... Would it be possible to take the two interlock wires and add my own key switch? I bought one for my projector, but the interlock on my green module wasn't even wired up, so I scraped that idea.

 

[Guyfromhe]

Re: Reke 500RGB

I hate it when I get charged at the door they never have change for a 20$, I'll be prepared this time

Interlock eh... Would it be possible to take the two interlock wires and add my own key switch? I bought one for my projector, but the interlock on my green module wasn't even wired up, so I scraped that idea.

It's not interlock in the way you (or I originally) think of it... Interlock is used to tell the projector if it should be in ILDA mode or not. If the interlock wire is not connected it will run in whatever built in mode it's set to. (auto, sound active, DMX, etc) If interlock is connected it enables ILDA control... You could put a key switch on that wire but it wouldn't do you much good and definitely wouldn't have the desired effect. (in either position the laser could come on at any time).


Anyway based on a few posts back they slightly changed the unit and it now comes with a key switch instead of a power switch... If you don't get that model you could with a drill and a little patience replace the power switch with a key switch so if the key wasn't turned on the unit wouldn't power up.... or if you wanted to get real fancy you could wire all the lasers to the key switch so you could turn everything on but keep the lasers off.. Anyway probably see what ends up showing up first before you worry about it too much.

You don't really need anything special to interlock a laser, just chop off one of the power leads to the driver and run it through a key switch before connecting it to it's power source... BAM interlock!

EDIT: I always pay couriers with a credit card

 

[Guyfromhe]

Re: Reke 500RGB

I would highly reccomend the 300mW, since the 200mW is TTL modulation instead of analog.

I got it from meierlight for 220$ shipped via DHL included (DHL got me for 10$ at the door). It is listed as 250$, but you can make an offer.

Analog modulation is pretty sweet...

 

[Murph]

Re: Reke 500RGB

Thanks for the excellent review. I've got one on its way but it's been sat in UK Customs since Friday now- very annoying!

It's my first projector so I'm quite excited. I was going to build something but this was such a good price I'll be using this as a base and upgrade it as I get bored

 

[Guyfromhe]

Re: Reke 500RGB

Thanks for the excellent review. I've got one on its way but it's been sat in UK Customs since Friday now- very annoying!

It's my first projector so I'm quite excited. I was going to build something but this was such a good price I'll be using this as a base and upgrade it as I get bored

Cool, let me know if you get the one with the key or not.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Re: Reke 500RGB

The one I have coming is rated at 500 total mW. Is that model TTL only? I want to figure out ILDA control.
HMike

 

[Guyfromhe]

Re: Reke 500RGB

The one I have coming is rated at 500 total mW. Is that model TTL only? I want to figure out ILDA control.
HMike

It is rated at 500 mW and according to a few people it's either close to or on/above spec... Except to see at least 400 mW out of it.

Yes, it is only TTL.. It works fine with ILDA you just need a DAC and some software... Spaghetti has just been officially killed so if you don't have it you can't get it anymore.

 

[Murph]

Re: Reke 500RGB

Well it arrived this morning and whilst getting it out of the box there was a lot of rattling in the unit. My heart sank, immediately expecting to open it up and see smashed dichros etc.

'Luckily' the idiots had just forgotten to bolt the beam table down and the bolts were loose in the casing. I guessed at alignment (which seems OK!), popped them in and tried it out.

All good so far, but the green seems very dim in daylight (to the point I was wondering if the diode was working), but it certainly is. Will just have to wait 'till it gets dark and see what's what.

The unit I have is one with a key switch, but galvos like the OP rather than the cheaper looking ones in the second lot of photos.

 

[Guyfromhe]

Re: Reke 500RGB

Well it arrived this morning and whilst getting it out of the box there was a lot of rattling in the unit. My heart sank, immediately expecting to open it up and see smashed dichros etc.

'Luckily' the idiots had just forgotten to bolt the beam table down and the bolts were loose in the casing. I guessed at alignment (which seems OK!), popped them in and tried it out.

All good so far, but the green seems very dim in daylight (to the point I was wondering if the diode was working), but it certainly is. Will just have to wait 'till it gets dark and see what's what.

The unit I have is one with a key switch, but galvos like the OP rather than the cheaper looking ones in the second lot of photos.

They are pretty well packaged... I think it would be hard for a shipping company to break the dichros... The loose screw thing seems pretty common your the 2nd or 3rd person to report that so make sure you guys check before powering on... Don't want to short anything out.

In daylight outside I couldn't really see anything from my projector... Once the sun started setting all the colors looked fine however..

Keep in mind green is ONLY 50 mW... Don't expect much from it against daylight... It should be perfectly bright enough for dusk or dark viewing though... Hardly get the effect of a good laser show in the daylight anyway

I have no idea whats up with them changing galvos... What is the earliest year your projector has in it when in auto animation mode?

 

[Murph]

Re: Reke 500RGB

It's now dark and the green may as well not be there so something's not right! Could well be an alignment issue because it's definitely working.

Fair point about daylight but I meant compared to the blue/red

The earliest year on mine is 2011.

 

[Guyfromhe]

Re: Reke 500RGB

It's now dark and the green may as well not be there so something's not right! Could well be an alignment issue because it's definitely working.

Fair point about daylight but I meant compared to the blue/red

The earliest year on mine is 2011.

If you can't see the green in the dark than there is something wrong... You could open it up and put a paper for the green to hit and see if it looks right... (cover up the other lasers) It should look very bright in the dark and at least be visible during the day... Do you get yellow at all? Sounds like either the green laser isn't coming on properly or it's not lined up with the rest of the works....

The green passes through all the dicros and makes a straight b-line for the galvos so I don't think minor alignment would make a difference the way a dicro being a few degrees off for blue or red would. Unless it's majorly off and missing the galvos completely.

You might need some safety glasses to properly check it though..

If it's broken contact Dino they are usually pretty good about Customer Servicing people.


EDIT: weird that you have a "2011" software version with the key switch.. oh well. I am curious if the laser is outputting properly...

 

[Murph]

Re: Reke 500RGB

Have just whipped it open again and I think I've sussed it.

With the lid off the show from out of the top of the case (!) is spot on but what comes out of the apeture is rubbish. There were also three large nuts floating around in the case and I reckon these were being used as spacers under the beam table (as that has three bolts). Looking at the second lot of photos, they did the same under the cheaper galvo setup to raise it slightly.

Said nuts are on my desk at work, but I will improvise with washers for now and see what happens!

 

[Guyfromhe]

Re: Reke 500RGB

Have just whipped it open again and I think I've sussed it.

With the lid off the show from out of the top of the case (!) is spot on but what comes out of the apeture is rubbish. There were also three large nuts floating around in the case and I reckon these were being used as spacers under the beam table (as that has three bolts). Looking at the second lot of photos, they did the same under the cheaper galvo setup to raise it slightly.

Said nuts are on my desk at work, but I will improvise with washers for now and see what happens!

So from the sounds of it the green laser just isn't making it to the galvos because it's too low? You are getting a good bright beam inside the case?

 

[Murph]

Re: Reke 500RGB

So from the sounds of it the green laser just isn't making it to the galvos because it's too low? You are getting a good bright beam inside the case?

Yep. Beams are fine after raising the table but I have a secondary problem in that the Y galvo has decided to stop moving.

Not my evening...