Lasershowparts: SCANPRO20K + DMX board review

General Discussion on Laser and related Topics.

Moderator: wler

Antworten
highvolt
Beiträge: 2
Registriert: Di 20 Mai, 2008 12:16 pm

Lasershowparts: SCANPRO20K + DMX board review

Beitrag von highvolt » Di 20 Mai, 2008 1:04 pm

Introduction

I first want to say that I just started with laser projectors as a hobby.
I was always fascinated by laser shows but I always thought that it was
out of reach for me. This review is written for anyone who is interested in
starting a laser show hobby, but hasn’t decided yet where to start and
what to buy. I am not a professional laserist, so this review is from a guy
who browsed laser forums for months and finally decided to start building
something.
All the pictures are as attachments. I also included the pdf version where
the pictures are embedded in the text.

The Order

At a certain point in time (April 24th), I noticed that Lasershowparts.com
presented a nice deal. A SCANPRO20K system and a DMX board for almost
half the price. This instantly made me grab my credit card. About 4 days
later, the package arrived.


Opening my present

Everything was packaged in bubble wrap, foam and anti static bags.
Important when you send stuff half around the world!

Here is a picture of all that was included:



From the upper left to the upper right: 2 Amplifiers, the DMX board,
the switched power supply and the galvo mounting block.
From the lower left to the right you see the manual, various DMX cables
and connectors, two galvos and galvo connection cables.

For persons who are also new at this, a DMX board is a small circuit board
that contains a variety of preprogrammed patterns. These patterns can be
selected and manipulated via a DMX protocol. If you don’t have a DMX
controller like me, then the circuit board can also “play” random patterns by
setting some dipswitches. There is a microphone included with the DMX
board tries to switch patterns on the beat of the music. A DMX board also
comes in handy for those who haven’t got a DAC and computer interface,
but still want to enjoy a laser show.

Lasershowparts claim that the galvo amplifiers are factory tuned to a higher
standard then their ECO series. I can’t wait to see my first galvos in action.
The blue potentiometers on the amplifiers are fixed with a little glue so you
can’t accidentally un-tune them.

Assembly

I connected everything according to the supplied manuals. The manual was
printed in color, so it is hard to make a mistake somewhere with the
different wire colors.
I do have to say that on the DMX board, the galvo wires that I had to
connect were not of the right male/female type. So while you can still
connect them, they do not ‘click’ together if you know what I mean.

The first time I put power on it all, I saw that all my images where upside
down. I didn’t want to risk any damage by switching + and – on the galvo
cables so I emailed Dave from lasershowparts.com. The same evening I
received a reply saying that there was a jumper pair that could be turned
90 degrees to invert the axis. It is nice to know that these Amps have this
capability. If you ever want to back project on a screen, you want to be
able to invert the x-axis.
I also found out that these scanners have a feedback output (2 pads next
to PR3 marked FD) that can be used by safety equipment to block the
beam if the galvo would fail for whatever reason.

The galvos have 6x12mm front coated mirrors on them, so with some
precise alignment, they can take a big fat red beam.

On the picture, you also see that I use a cheap 50mw green laser module
with TTL blanking for this review.

Showtime

I took some pictures of random patterns with a 1/20 shutter speed and
with the camera steady on the table. Notice that I use a cheap green
50mw laser that doesn’t blank very well. That is why you see dim retrace
lines sometimes.


This Chinese text (whatever it means) did not even flicker.
I noticed a little bit of flicker on this “Thank you” text. If I would take a
guess, the refresh rate was between 15 and 20 Hz. The real image is better
then this picture. The lines were not as thick, and the text was clearer.
You can also see my blanking problem in this picture (retrace lines between
the letters). I definitely need a new green laser!


The corners of the text were all nice and sharp. Now you know what they
mean when they say they are factory tuned to a high standard.

I calculated the scan angle for the largest pattern in the DMX board which
was a big square. With a projection distance of 1.3m, and a 1.0m width of
the square, the scan angle was 42degrees. This is not the maximum scan
angle of the galvos themselves. I assume that the mechanical limit is even
+50 degrees
The scanners ran for about 20 minutes during this whole test, and the
galvos and amplifiers where only a bit warmer then ambient temperature.
The DMX board had a very hot resistor. However, this was normal after
confirming with lasershowparts.

Conclusion

These are very good scanners for anyone who is interested in beam shows
and moderate graphics. The DMX board is good for standalone mode if you
don’t want to invest in a DAC and software.
These probably are one of the best scanners, price/quality wise that I have
found on the internet. They only need to update the manual about those
jumpers and feedback loop connections.
EDIT1: Dave updated the manuals the day after this review was posted. Nice one!
Du hast keine ausreichende Berechtigung, um die Dateianhänge dieses Beitrags anzusehen.

Antworten

Zurück zu „Laserboard [en]“

Wer ist online?

Mitglieder in diesem Forum: 0 Mitglieder und 2 Gäste