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FrozenGate by Avery

Tutorial: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using The White Fusion Kit... from sightfx!

Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

Those are really nice pics jay! I hope to own a kit like this one day. Just wondering though what is "auto-exposure"? What beams could you see with the naked eye in the night sky? Thanks.

By the way, the picture of you holding your kit mounted in the enclosure is the background on my desktop, that's how beautiful it is. :)
 





Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

Glad you like the looks of my build! And thanks for the compliment on the beam shots! :)

Nobody has really said anything about my 'full length' beam shots and I'm darn right proud of them... :thanks:

It's not that easy to get perfect alignment, which gives full length beams with results like those pictures! :D (thanks for the kit Ryan)

My camera is an Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom, and I just put the setting on 'A'. The camera is on a tripod, because at night, the exposures took probably 6 or 8 seconds.

But still, you can barely make out any stars in the pictures. That's how bright the beam really are.

To the naked eye, it's easy to see the 39mW green, or the 174mW blu-ray beam reaching out into the night sky. (just compare that with your own blu-ray or green of the similar power, because the camera does make it look brighter)

Now, since all of the other colors (except red), are a combination which includes the blu-ray, the green, or even both, of course your still going to see the beam, but even more so with other beams combined. Turquoise is one of my favorite... No white... No yellow. Wait, I didn't go yet... :crackup:

White is the most visible. And at 358mW's, it is down right stunning! :cool:
 
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Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

That's incredible! Thanks so much! Also I was wondering, how did you end up connecting the two CR123A's to the single O-like? I just read through this entire thread and it gave a lot of info. But I have some trouble reading all the electrical terms. The problem was that just connecting two CR123a in parallel would lead to 8.4V going to the o-like, right? Thanks. I'll probably post more questions :)
 
Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

Actually I'm pretty sure he connected them both in parallel, that gives him still the same voltage as just one battery but it doubles the mAh. I think somewhere in here he says that the module was burning through one battery quickly so he added another in parallel to make the battery life longer. I could be wrong though I may have read that somewhere else lol. But connecting the batteries in series would give you twice the voltage whereas connecting them in parallel would give you twice the mAh. Took me a while to get this satraight too lol I'm still fairly new to electronics
 
Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

Absolutely correct bhank...

Let me explain parallel vs 'in series'. If you connected two batteries in series, then you would double your voltage. That means that the negative from one battery will connect to the positive on the other battery.

For connecting two batteries in parallel, the voltage is the same as just one battery, but the capacity doubles. That means that you connect both battery negatives together, and both battery positives together...
 
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Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

Nice thanks guys. So the green would have its completely own set of batteries. Would the wire connecting the two positives of the batteries touch the heatsink because aren't o-like modules case positive? or would it go to the spring?
 
Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

If you look closely at my picture near the bottom of the first post, you can see the two wires connected together, and then going to the switch...

From the switch, it goes to the green driver positive. (yes, the module case is positive, but there is a positive solder point on the driver that you can solder to...
 
Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

Nice thanks. Also if I wanted to use a 200mW module but lowered the output to around 30-50mW to not overpower the other colors, this would increase battery life? This is not the only reason I want to have a 200mW green in my kit. I would like to show off it's high powered beam qualities!

So if I kept the pot on the o-like driver at the factory settings, then soldered a 10K ohm pot with a 1K ohm resistor (so it is not as sensitive) soldered to it and connected the batteries to it, it would be feasible? I would adjust the green to 30-50mW using the 10K ohm pot and whenevr I wanted to show someone a full 200mW's of green I could just turn the 10K ohm pot to the least resistance? Or could I use some sort of switch to change between perfect color blend and 200mW of green? This is the pot I would use and the resistor( Does the wattage on the resistor matter?):

Pot: 10k-Ohm Wheel Potentiometer - RadioShack.com

Resistor: 1k-ohm 1W 5% Metal-Oxide Film Resistor (2-Pack) - RadioShack.com

I based the pot/ resistor ohm levels off of the ratio featured earlier in this thread but multiplied by 10 ohms becuase the only wheel pot radioshack has is 10K ohms. Thanks.
 
Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

There has been some discussion on this idea...

I believe it was MISTERWILLING or Ramsey_innovations that did that. You might want to PM him to ask exact how it worked out, and what pot, etc...

Personally, I like the idea of not messing with it once you get it just right. Have a $26 dollar o-like 50mW module in there. Save your 200mW module for a hand held build that you can paint the sky with when ever you want! :)
 
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Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

bhank said:
Well while we're on this subject jayrob, let me run somethign by you and see what you think.

My idea is to us a center off switch that way center is off, up is all colors adjustable, and down is a nice balanced white. I can run it all off of one power source basically if I use 4 batteries in all. 2 sets of 2 in parallel that way ill have 3.6v through the first 2 and 7.4v through all 4. With the center off switch design I'd have to use possibly 2 drivers at different settings for both the BR and red and also limit the voltage getting to the green when its in "white".

Now I know it is a lot of work, but in my mind it's well worth it to be able to get that kind of adjustability. So my question is, does it all sound feasible to you jayrob? I figured you'd be one of the best people to ask haha.
Click to expand...



This project is evolving as we go.

I am waiting to see the driver board that I read about which will give millions of colors.

Quite honestly, just the 7 colors is complex enough for me in a DIY build! :crackup:

My method was to use separate drivers as well as separate power supplies for each laser. That way I did not have to worry about isolating the mounting on any of the lasers. (since the green is case positive, and the others are case negative)

Anyway, your idea does sound cool. I'm sure it can be done, but for sure you would want the 'isolation mounting' that sightfx has an option for...
 
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Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

Yep I was planning on it :-).

But it does sound doable?

I'd still have seperate drivers for all the lasers and I'd keep the stock driver for green I'd just add a pot like MISTERWILLING suggested back on the first page of the thread. then for the "white" switch I'd limit the voltage into the stock green driver to have it put out whatever power I need to have a balanced white.

I'm gettin excited about this lol and I'm just finishing up getting all my parts and materials together. Just getting everythign straight before I start building anything lol.
 
Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

It's a fun project! But definitely a demanding project. Demanding lots of time and tedious work...

I would like to be of more help, but I only know what I have worked with. Your getting into things that I have not tried. I'm sure you could set it up to work as you describe though...
 
Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

Sweet :)

Thanks man I'm excited lol.

I'll be stuck at home for about a month or more since I had surgery so I've got all the time I need haha. Only good thing about surgery is the meds and the time I've got now lol.
 
Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

bhank said:
Yep I was planning on it :-).

But it does sound doable?

I'd still have seperate drivers for all the lasers and I'd keep the stock driver for green I'd just add a pot like MISTERWILLING suggested back on the first page of the thread. then for the "white" switch I'd limit the voltage into the stock green driver to have it put out whatever power I need to have a balanced white.

I'm gettin excited about this lol and I'm just finishing up getting all my parts and materials together. Just getting everythign straight before I start building anything lol.
Click to expand...

If you want, you could go all the way and add power adjustment for each laser.

Although this is a 7 colour build, you can turn it into a 16.1 million colour build if you know how :)
 
Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

Yep that's what I had in mind :-)

Full color spectrum, or at least as close as anyones come in a handheld before LOL. I'm hoping it all works and I'll end up with nice white balance and also have any color I want really :-)
 
Re: Build Tips - 7 Color Laser Using Adjustable Sled Mount/Heatsinks

Jayrob you should post the low power version settings on here too
 
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