REKE 500RGB STAGE LASER SHOW PROJECTOR
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Somebody set up us the bomb.
Reke 500RGB Stage Laser Show Projector, retail $247.76 (www.dinodirect.com...)
Manufactured by Shenzen Reke Laser Technology Co., Ltd (www.rekelaser.com)
Last updated 10-27-12
The Reke 500RGB Stage Laser Show Projector is a RGB (Red/Green/Blue) laser show projector that can project vector images in 7 colors using galvonometers (commonly called just "galvos") instead of stepper motors like inferior units. It also uses a true 445nm blue laser, rather than violet lasers which (until rather recently anyway) were far less expen$ive -- yet manufacturers and retailers of laser projector units still erroneously called them "RGB".
The scanners (galvos) are advertised to operate at 10K (which I believe means 10,000 points per second), allowing fully animated, fairly complex drawings to be made instead of having simple Lissajous scanners (that can draw mainly variations of loops and such only) found in other laser show projectors.
Power outputs are stated at 300 mW red (650nm), 50 mW green (532nm) and 200 mW blue (445nm); totaling 550mW (mfgr specifications per the manual).
SIZE
This unit is designed to be hung from the ceiling in your venue. So do that, by any means convenient or doable by you.
There is a bracket on the top of the unit with a hole in its center for just this purpose.
It can also simply be set down on any flat surface; four rubber "feet" on the bottom of this product tell me that this method of "mounting" is also kosher.
Plug the female end of a standard IEC cord (this type of cord is most commonly found connecting your computer to AC power; you should be able to find them inexpensively at a computer store) into the receptacle on the back of the unit near the left edge (as the back of the unit is facing you), and plug the other end into a standard (in north America anyway) 110-130 volts AC 60Hz receptacle.
Just above the AC input on the back of the unit, you'll see a generously-sized rocker switch.
Push in on the upper half of this switch to turn the unit on. You'll hear the cooling fan fire up at once.
After a couple of seconds of delay, the lasers too will come on. This delay is intentional, to help the unit comply with the CDRH regulations for a Class IIIb laser product.
Be *ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN* the beams do not go lower than the tops of the heads of the tallest person you expect in your venue. 7 feet is a good value here.
Since I don't feel like rewriting what's already been written about how to use the Reke 500RGB Stage Laser Show Projector, let's just show you with a photograph...snap...click...and it's off to the Fotomat we go...
Batteries are not used with this unit, so I don't have to tell you which part to remove, throw out the window, and then rather emphatically instruct you not to; nor do I need to tell you to dump the dead batteries in the garbage can and then dump it every now and again so that you don't get praying mantid nymphs or baby cottonmouth snakes.
All you need to do to feed the Reke 500RGB Stage Laser Show Projector is plug the end of the furnished IEC cord into the shielded male receptacle for it on the left side of the rear panel of the unit, and plug the other end into a 3-slot (grounded) 110 to 130 volts AC 60Hz standard (in north America anyway) household receptacle, and that's that.
The Reke 500RGB Stage Laser Show Projector is designed to be put somewhere and not abused, so I won't toss it in the bathtub, try to drown it in the toilet, throw it violently to the floor, stomp on it, run over it, or subject it to other punishments that regular flashlights might be subject to.
So this section will be kind of empty.
One thing I found rather humorous in the furnished instructional materials is the following line, in typical "Chinglish" (a mangled attempt at English by a person who's native language is Chinese):
"Prevent the laser lighting from strong vibration or punch"
Both of thse files are courtesy of Guyfromhe on Laser Pointer Forums and were used with his permission; they're stored on my server to prevent any bandwidth-related issues even though both files are very small.
I love the living tweedle out of this laser projector!!! It projects so much more than just plain old loops, and it does so with seven colors as well -- and it's significantly quieter in operation than those stepper motor laser shows. So quiet in fact, that all you can really hear in a silent room is the faint whir of its cooling fan -- and that isn't obnoxious in any way, shape, or form!
There is some fringing of colors made using two or more lasers; however, this was fully expected from an inexpen$ive unit of non-US manufacture (sometimes known as the, "Hoo Phlung Pu" brand
Photograph of one of the patterns on a wall at ~8 feet.
If you're thinking about getting on my toliet muscle about the damn unmade bed, then please go FV¢K yourself. I had just gotten up from my afternoon delight (what my now-deceased best friend Paul Casey used to call a nap); I know the bed's unmade.
Photograph of another one of the patterns on a wall at ~8 feet -- a Pac Man-type of thing this time.
Photograph of another one of the patterns on a wall at ~8 feet -- a rotating arrow.
Photograph of another one of the patterns on a wall at ~8 feet -- a rotating spiral.
Photograph of another one of the patterns on a wall at ~8 feet -- a club (as in cards); my stepbrother used to call it "puppytoes" as in "I have the 7 of puppytoes".
Photograph of another one of the patterns on a wall at ~8 feet -- a fleur-de-lis.
Photograph showing that the blue laser is misaligned with the red & green lasers.
Another photograph showing that the blue laser is misaligned with the red & green lasers.
And another.
Laser power output analysis.
Another laser power output analysis.
Yet another laser power output analysis.
Yet another laser power output analysis; this one conducted over a period of ~108 minutes.
Yes, yet another laser power output analysis; this one conducted over a period of ~6 hours.
I know these aren't accurate ("not no way, not no how" as they say), but they're better than nothing.
With that in mind, I measured 407mW total on a LaserBee 2.5W USB Laser Power Meter w/Thermopile; the laser show unit was placed approx. 5 feet away from the LPM and the scan size was adjusted to minimum so that the laser spots never left the sensor's active area.
Spectrographic analysis of the red laser in this unit.
Spectrographic analysis of the red laser in this unit; spectrometer's response band narrowed to a range between 650nm and 670nm to pinpoint wavelength, which is ~660.50nm.
Spectrographic analysis of the green laser in this unit.
Spectrographic analysis of the green laser in this unit; spectrometer's response band narrowed to a range between 800nm and 850nm to capture the weak NIR laser line from the pump diode.
Please note that the amplitude is extremely low; it maxes out at approx. 85 vertical counts while most other spectra (including those of lasers) go to 4,096 vertical counts.
Spectrographic analysis of the blue laser in this unit.
Spectrographic analysis of the blue laser in this unit; spectrometer's response band narrowed to a range between 440nm and 450nm to pinpoint wavelength, which is ~441.65nm.
Spectrographic analysis of all lasers in the unit firing simultaneously (at the same time).
Another spectrographic analysis of all lasers in the unit firing simultaneously (at the same time).
Spectrographic analysis of the red laser after ~20 hours to check for wavelength drift: measures exactly 660.0nm.
Spectrographic analysis of the green laser after ~20 hours to check for wavelength drift: measures 531.30nm.
Spectrographic analysis of the blue laser after ~20 hours to check for wavelength drift: measures 441.25nm.
Spectrographic analysis of the red "Power" LED.
Spectrographic analysis of the neon bulb behind the unit's "Power" switch.
ALL OF THE VIDEOS NOW HAVE THEIR OWN WEB PAGE BECAUSE THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY OF THEM NOW!!!
TEST NOTES:
Tst unit was purchased from DinoDirect.com on 08-04-11 (or "04 Aug 2011" or even "Aug 04, Twenty Double Sticks" if you prefer), and was received at 2:53pm PDT on 08-16-11 (or "16 Aug 2011" or even "Aug 16, Twenty Double Sticks").
UPDATE: 08-20-11
The mic (the most widely accepted abbreviation for the word "microphone") in this unit just sucks!!!
Although there is a sensitivity adjustment knob, setting it anywhere from 0% to 99% causes the unit to behave as though it were not sound-sensitive at all; and setting it at 100% does work, but only if the metal case of the product is physically struck with another metal object -- I suppose a wooden spoon would work too if you hit the mic itself.
UPDATE: 08-20-11
No, you aren't seeing things.
Yes, a same-day update.
The IEC power cord is already going to pot on this unit, as the following photograph shows:
See how the black outer covering of this cord has now seperated at the plug/cord junction?
This does ***NOT*** present an immediate fire or safety hazard though, as the three individual conductors inside have fully intact insulation. The cord I use to charge my Celebrity X3 Scooter has been this way for over five years, and it still shows no signs of additional degradation that might pose a threat to safety.
UPDATE: 08-31-11
From Guyfromhe on Laser Pointer Forums comes the following text (no changes to grammar or syntax were made):
After weeks screwing with ILDA I figured out how simple it actually is...
If you want to turn on each laser as a solid point for as long as you want individually all you need is a 3v battery, and some thin jumper wires...
Connect pins 4 & 17 of the DB-25 connector together.
Connect pin 5 to +3v and 18 to -3v and the red laser should turn on...
6 & 19 is green and 7 & 20 is blue.
The computer just creates a voltage on these pins to turn the lasers on and off and creates a varying voltage on pins 1 & 2 to move the galvos around... There is no encoding and no digital logic involved like DMX.
You could even hook it up to a board with switches & pots on it and make your own manual "show".
The ILDA interface seems pretty resilient I have shorted pins, connected weird pins to other pins they aren't supposed to be connected to, and other crazy abusive things trying to get my amp to work...
Since the DB-25 connector is male in gender, you could simply connect very small alligator clips to the correct pins and get results that way without having to find a female DB-25 header.
UPDATE: 09-01-11
Used with explicit written consent (not just implied oral consent) from Guyfromhe on Laser Pointer Forums comes the following text (again, no changes to grammar or syntax were made):
ILDA is a whole beast of it's own. It allows you to use a computer with an ILDA adapter to directly control the galvos. What this means is you can draw a show from scratch (or download a show from the internet) on your computer and then have the laser display it. To use this mode you will need a DAC, ILDA software and a DB-25 cable. You plug the cable in and run the show on the computer and the laser will automatically switch regardless of dip switch settings.
I have just received and got working my AudioLase from 300Evil on PL. These units run from $80 for an un-assembled kit (requiring the purchase of a USB sound card) to $150 for a tuned and tested ready to go unit.
To use the AL with this projector you will need a modified DB-25 cable. You will need to connect pins 4 and 17 (Interlock A and B) together before the AL within the cable (these two pins do not go into the AL at all) Connecting them on the AL board did not work for me.
As soon as you plug in this modified cable the laser will turn off and the DMX led will turn off. This indicates the system is disconnected from the internal processor and running in ILDA control mode. If this does not happen there is a problem with your interlock connection.
You can then open your favorite sound card DAC supporting software (LFI, Spaghetti, Laserboy) and play a show.
I highly recommend buying a Spaghetti license from Gary. He is an amazing guy and his software works great! I may do a full review of it in the future if one doesn't exist already.
The images are somewhat flickery (better than the built in animations however) You can overdrive the galvos and get a more stable picture at the cost of detail. They seem to run at about 7500 KPPS on the ILDA test pattern so again they aren't that fast... I may replace them with some PT-30's in the future. For now I have found 15k to be the best flicker to image distortion ratio to fit my needs. If you can put up with a lot of flicker you can get some very detailed crisp animations.
I had a lot of trouble with software and hardware getting my DAC working so you _WILL_ need to be patient if you go the Audio DAC route and expect to spend at least a few days playing with it and even more time reading up on it. In my case the Microsoft standard sound card drivers worked where the CMedia drivers did not. Your mileage may vary. (You can contact me if you need help and I will do my best to assist)
UPDATE: 09-15-11
Used with explicit written consent (not just implied oral consent) from Guyfromhe on Laser Pointer Forums, comes this YouTube video he made, using the laser show software written by "whiteg" from the Photonlexicon fora {the actual thread on PL is right here if you're interested}:
This video is approximately 191.00621412384 megabytes (200,336,891 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than nine hundred fifty five (!) minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
UPDATE: 10-09-11
Every time I see the "Pac Man" animation, I "hear" part of the song "Pac Man Fever", but sung to the tune of Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever".
So I'd "hear" something like this:
Pac Man fever {three guitar chords increasing in frequency} Pac Man fever {three guitar chords decreasing in frequency; followed by a similar progression} Pac Man fever
UPDATE: 02-26-12
The blue laser seems to be more misaligned with the red & green lasers than it used to be.
I mean, the lasers were never perfectly aligned to begin with (this was fully expected from an inexpen$ive unit of non-US manufacture -- sometimes known as the "Hoo Phlung Pu" brand) but it's definitely more misaligned than it once was.
UPDATE: 02-29-12
Here are two photographs that illustrate this quite effectively:
See how both the blue & red plus the blue & green traces are seperated by a significant distance here?
That's exactly what I mean.
PROS:
Metal case appears quite sturdy
Creates 7 unique colors
True blue laser (not violet like many other budget units)
Has very powerful DMX controller
Has ILDA support
Bright enough to look nice outdoors even at dusk (as well as nighttime)
Lots of patterns to choose from
Pattern size is adjustable with a knob
Inexpensive for what it really is
CONS:
Flicker is readily evident in complex images
A bit of "fringing" on some colors is noticeable if you look
The mic (for sound-sensitive mode) really blows
MANUFACTURER: Shenzen Reke Laser Technology Co., Ltd
PRODUCT TYPE: Sound-actuated / DMX / ILDA laser show projector
LAMP TYPE: Directly-injected diode & DPSS laser, diffused 3mm LED, neon lamp
No. OF LAMPS: 5 (2 red, 1 ea. green, blue lasers), 1 red LED, 1 neon bub
BEAM TYPE: N/A
SWITCH TYPE: Rocker sw. power, DIP switches & pots for mode change
CASE MATERIAL: Aluminum
BEZEL: Metal; lasers & galvos behind protective glass window
BATTERY: N/A
CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 0.04A (1W) {Quiescent}; 0.28A (20W) {Active}
WATER- AND URANATION-RESISTANT: Very light splatter-resistant only
SUBMERSIBLE: ¡¡¡PARA NO DE LOS MOTIVOS DE CRISTO!!!
ACCESSORIES: AC cord, instructional materials
SIZE: 13.50" L x 9.50" Deep x 4" T
WEIGHT: ~3.50Kg
COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: China
WARRANTY: 1 year
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SIZE
Pac Man fever
