@lorbas Wish you the best on your journey!
@LaGgY_42o
Amazing! I didn’t even know I could purchase this.
The lenses are HEAVY.
If the intention was for maximum throw, I’m wondering at what size/weight would an RGB laser be more effective than LEP modules for throw.
Maxabeam is obsolete
Still would be cool to convert one to LEP. With everything contained in the body it would combine the legendary look with modern technology. Unfortunately the reflactor is not suited for any module that i know. Kyocera SLD woul probably work, but is was too weak.
Do they make neutral (4000k), preferably high CRI LEPs yet?
Technically the maxabeam fills this niche still?
I’m saving my money by not buying a LEP until they come in the CCT I want 
Driver and MCU working well. Small issue with output ripple, but can be fixed next version.
Huge thanks to @thefreeman for hardware development and @Barracuda for firmware development.
startup overshooting a little
Ripple has been solved
1.36V down to 87mV.
Version 2 will be reduced a bit more.
I’m deciding to use SLM 3D printed aluminum body to greatly reduce design time for this prototype. PCBway offers this service. Anyone know of any other company that can offer it with the newest tech?
Does anyone here know or can recommend an optics specialist? I was given the 250mb “.RAY” file but I don’t know what software can open it. I’m thinking of changing the front optic to a fresnel lens to reduce the total length by 16mm.
The front optic seems to be TWO spherical lenses on of each other. I don’t fully understand why they need 2 instead of just using one. It is probably related to beam quality, but not sure if it is worth it.
Exploring a fully aluminum 3D printed design.
As of now, I have basic ribbed fins for reference. I will probably do some lattice structure for maximum cooling + occasional ribs for structural support.
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Still need to add a blower fan and air channels at the bottom.
OLED and buttons will be at the top to reduce length.
Much easier to assemble and cooling is maximized at the expense of unit cost.
The cost comes from powder useage. Currently it is a 2mm thickness design at USD325. If I change to 1~1.5mm thickness on non structural areas, It goes down to USD200.
I’m getting the feeling that this design can be aluminum die casted. Some machining will be needed after casted.
The molded body unit cost will be ~5USD.
Processing it may be ~15USD.
The mold may be around 5000~10000USD.
Does anyone know a someone who can do open a .RAY file or do lens design?
I want to change the glass lens into fresnel lens to greatly reduce size and weight.
This design has two fixed convex lenses at the front and a concave moving lens at the back. What would the performance difference be if we just used 1 front lens instead?
Did they use two spherical lens to reduce the cost of needing an aspheric lens?
Many questions, hard to find answers.
I could be wrong but the moving rear lens would be to adjust the focal length right? It should reach advertised specs with a single 230mm aspheric / 2x 230mm convex right (if 2x convex = aspheric)?
I wish I knew how all of this works! My brain can only barely comprehend a 1 lens system at the moment.
It does seem like adjusting the concave lens will change the focal length and causing the light to enter the front lens at different angles.
Regarding two lens at the front, I have no idea what is the purpose instead of just using one. Maybe they are for as you say, 2pcs spherical lenses instead of a 1pcs aspherical lens to save cost or reduce size.
Another random guess I have is that it is to bend the light more gradually at a time so you don’t get RGB fringing at the edges of the beam.
Since there are two plano-convex lens, it could technically be made as a single bi-convex lens. The only difference would be it would not have an additional air/glass boundary to pass through with two lens. Maybe it is a good thing or a bad thing.
I need the software LightTools from Synopsys to open the .RAY file that I was provided. It is 224mb in size.
