spending £600 on laserworld lasers

[mickeylaa]

im about to buy 2 x laserworld cs-1000s for £300 each "total of £600"

 

I will be dmxing these lasers. before I buy them anyone know any better lasers and tips etc

[paulears]

It does rather need you to explain what the use is? What's the best anything rarely gives good answers?

[peza2010]

My tip would be dont use DMX to control a laser.

 

Do your units accept ilda?

You will get much more out of them if you can properly control them.

[mickeylaa]

using them for a new years rave. they have ilda but I dont have £400 for the software and hard ware..unless theres a way to get it cheaper

[TonyMitchell]

I'll offer you the best tip you'll be given on the subject. Read this fully, comprehend it, then read it again. Treat it like a rule book and follow it to the letter.

 

Back in the day, when djs could only afford 5mw laser 'crabs'/pointers and the 'bigger' lasers needed water cooling, 32/3 or 63/3 supply and a mortgage if you wanted to buy one., all was very good.

 

Fast forward 20 years and these devices, capable of blinding the human eye, can be bought by anyone from every disco dave outlet for a couple of hundred quid. That scares the s*** out of me, being brutally honest.

 

Making matters worse, most venue staff are completely ignorant of the risks, blissfully unaware of HSG95 and so long as the laser sports a green 'PAT' label, all is fine.

 

 

 

[laseranger]

I'll offer you the best tip you'll be given on the subject. Read this fully, comprehend it, then read it again. Treat it like a rule book and follow it to the letter.

 

Back in the day, when djs could only afford 5mw laser 'crabs'/pointers and the 'bigger' lasers needed water cooling, 32/3 or 63/3 supply and a mortgage if you wanted to buy one., all was very good.

 

Fast forward 20 years and these devices, capable of blinding the human eye, can be bought by anyone from every disco dave outlet for a couple of hundred quid. That scares the s*** out of me, being brutally honest.

 

Making matters worse, most venue staff are completely ignorant of the risks, blissfully unaware of HSG95 and so long as the laser sports a green 'PAT' label, all is fine.

 

 

 

Amen to that having just done a display laser safety course with james stuart of LVR If you cannot afford to do this properly you should not be doing it !!

[kerry davies]

Ooh, look. Just as this topic and laser safety makes it's regular appearance on BR we have "BA pilot blinded by laser" in the news.

 

What I would like to know is, what is now considered to be a "military grade" laser. As Tony M writes, it was a lot safer back when "laser" meant a 3 phase supply and a specialist lager cooled operator.

[musht]

Ooh, look. Just as this topic and laser safety makes it's regular appearance on BR we have "BA pilot blinded by laser" in the news.

 

The only source for the `story` is the newspapers , its missing from BALPA`s own site, actual retinal damage at that sort of range would definately involve something that anyone outside the military is unliable to have the resources to operate....

 

Problem with lasers as show device is they only look spectacular as an effect used sparingly or your back to the boredom of watching a coloured washing line wave around the room.

[mickeylaa]

the lasers would be just using there presets. and it will be above peoples heads wont be into the audience

[Young Johnstone]

I've absolutely no idea of your experience of lasers, if you have had any training and if you are what we would call competent, but please take all the advice here VERY SERIOUSLY. They are not a pretty lighting effect that can be used without serious thought, planning and assessment.

I really cannot stress how much you need to be competent with these systems to design and install them safely. You say they will be above peoples heads and won't be in the audience, but what about when the audience sit on their mates shoulders during the show? These people could then be at risk of exposure to the beam! Do you then have the correct systems in place to stop the lasers output, I.e an emergency stop? What will these units do if they loose DMX control.. they could suddenly stop moving and end up as a static beam pointing somewhere it shouldn't!

 

Please, think about all this before you use them. If lasers are an important part of your production the get the pro's in to design, install and operate the systems, they will handle the paperwork and legalities. As a collective group I'm sure we can supply you with enough contacts for laser companies.

[mickeylaa]

il take all that into account any more information?

[Young Johnstone]

Good man, Maybe have a look around THIS forum and ask questions there. It's a dedicated laser forum and they will be able to answer questions in more depth than most of us here.

[sameness]

3 phase supply and a specialist lager cooled operator.

 

Ahh the days of reduce H&S... B-)

[peza2010]

using them for a new years rave. they have ilda but I dont have £400 for the software and hard ware..unless theres a way to get it cheaper

 

Then you dont have the money to use lasers safely.

 

DMX control doesnt give you any zones, is open to interference, has no e-stop capability, etc etc.

 

There becomes a point when you have to say no.

 

Also, might I add. DMX controlled lasers tend to look like absolute crap. So you would have your lasers, but wont get the effects your after.

[adonex]

using them for a new years rave. they have ilda but I dont have £400 for the software and hard ware..unless theres a way to get it cheaper

 

Then you dont have the money to use lasers safely.

 

DMX control doesnt give you any zones, is open to interference, has no e-stop capability, etc etc.

 

There becomes a point when you have to say no.

 

Also, might I add. DMX controlled lasers tend to look like absolute crap. So you would have your lasers, but wont get the effects your after.

 

By law, all Class 4 lasers require a key switch and safety interlock so ILDA is not needed for this. Zones are a software alternative to beam blockers which should always be used over the software alternative due to it just being much safer. Therefore ILDA again is not needed. I do however agree with you partly when you say DMX lasers look crap because some do, but if you take a look at some RTI lasers you will see that they too have DMX and these are used on several large music festivals and are astounding. As for the OP asking about CS-1000 RGB's I'd say don't go near them. Galvo's are awful and break a lot, colour mixing is worse than anything I have seen in a long time and the in built DMX programming is horrendous. This is not to mention the alignment and divergence on the beams, however I really do advise you to come up with a laser alternative or a lower powered device because Class 4 will cause permanent eye damage in under a second if direct eye exposure occurs. Please be very careful.