02Feb Road tripping to pick up a freaking laser.
I’ve been working out the electronics needed for that audio adapter design I posted awhile back. Most of the electronics issues are sorted out (except phantom power) and now I need to design an easy to assemble case. The 3d printers I use for the shock mounts are good for mocking up a case design but they take much to long to print something that big.
I spent some time looking into Chinese lasers on ebay and found some really good pricing, but after talking to a few people about all the hassle required to get one of these things through customs I started checking craigslist. I ended up find this laser in southern Colorado, sent a few e-mails back and forth with the owner then headed out for a road trip on Friday morning to pick it up.
The laser is still a Chinese lasers from ebay but it’s already been imported, re-calibrated, and setup by the previous owners which saves me the 3 month process and risk of damage during shipping. Fitting this very large machine in the back of my hatchback was interesting. By the time we got the seats down and put the laser inside the car, there was less then a foot on either side to work with, but thankfully it fit.
The total work space on this guy is about 22″ by 16″ give or take and I’ll be using that work space to design and fine tune the case design for the DIY audio adapter. This might even speed up the design of the Gopro Hero 3 adapter I’ve been working on. I’ll be making the long drive back home tomorrow with the laser in tow, once I get home I’ll post some more pictures and info.
For now, here is were the audio interface as it is in it’s development stage. Electronics are done, inputs and outputs work, and I’m starting to dive into battery life testing. If I manage to get this sorted out, I’m aiming for a price point of about $40 or less with the option to choose input and output configurations.
I’ll keep you posted on the design progress, and once I’ve finished setting up the laser, i’ll put together some more info on what it can actually do. For now it’s time to enjoy some cable in the motel room and get ready for the road tripping tomorrow.
February 3rd, 2013 at 12:29 am
OK, you have some seriously cool toys… Looking forward to seeing what you crank out with this thing!
February 3rd, 2013 at 7:43 am
You’ve really moved quickly with this project. Dual XLR/1/4″ inputs, if it has monitoring I’m sold…where do I send my money?
Good job DeeJay
February 3rd, 2013 at 8:31 am
Now all you need is the rest of the death star. I wonder if China makes those yet? (full size of course!)
February 3rd, 2013 at 8:43 am
Hello Deejay,
I am happy to see you did go for the 9V option I hope it runs at least 8 hours. and it suports recharable 9V batteries that excaly are 8.4V
keep up the good work!
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:27 am
If you need any real world testing, be honored to help….
February 3rd, 2013 at 7:20 pm
A classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQCP85FngzE
February 5th, 2013 at 9:42 am
This is so crazy it is awesome! Even if I didn’t want one of these (which I do) I would probably buy one just out of mad respect. You should post a video showing this laser thing in action.
February 5th, 2013 at 1:57 pm
As soon as I get the ventilation system setup, videos will be posted. I’ll also be putting up a build log of the 3 foot by 4 foot laser cutter I’ve been working on.