RED HOT LASER LIGHT SHOW

Red Hot Laser Light Show, retail $24.98 (www.thingsyouneverknewexisted.com...)
Manufactured by Can You Imagine (www.cyi.net)
Last updated 05-10-10





The "Flame" Laser Light Show (aka. the Red Hot Laser Light Show) is a fully self-contained device, containg a diode laser, an X-Y projector, a controller, and a set of batteries to power the device, that can project various patterns on a wall or ceiling. You can set it to display an automated "show", or set it to respond to music.

It has a pleasing "flame" shape to it, and it can be hung from a hook or set on a table.


SIZE



Install 4 AA cells in the "Flame" Laser Light Show first, and then you can rock out.

Slide the switch on the top of the unit downward one "click" to turn the unit on in "auto" mode.
In this mode, the patterns will change approximately every six (6) seconds, with no intervention on your part.

Slide the switch two "clicks" (from the off position) to turn the unit on in sound-sensitive mode. In this mode, the actual patterns generated are the same as those generated in auto mode, but the length of the laser "traces" change in relation to sound or music.

The small ribbed "wheel" below the switch is a sensitivity control for the sound-sensitive mode; turn this control one way or the other to adjust the sensitivity of the onboard microphone.

Slide the switch to the forwardmost position to turn the unit off.

The unit can be sat on a table or other flat surface, or you can hang it from a hook in the ceiling by unfolding the black loop under the unit.
In either case, adjust the aim in the Y axis (vertically) by loosening the thumbscrews on either side of the "head" portion of the unit, moving the "head" portion up or down as you see fit, then gently tightening the thumbscrews. Do not attempt to overtighten them or tighten them with tools, or they may become broken.
These screws and the sockets they fit into are made of metal, so you do not have to "baby" the screws; just don't abuse them.



Be sure your "Flame" Laser Light Show is turned off. Flip it over, remove the screw with a small/medium phillips screwdriver (the #1 with a shaft diameter of 3.8mm from my set of jeweller's screwdrivers worked here), and lift the battery door off. Set it aside. If necessary, remove and dispose of or recycle the expired AA cells from the battery chamber. Insert four new AA cells into their holders, aligning them so the spring in each compartment faces the flat side (-) of each cell. Once your "Flame" Laser Light Show is all fat and sassy, place the battery door back on, and screw in that screw you removed a moment ago. There, you're all set.

Current usage measures 95.0mA on my DMM's 4A scale.
This is with the unit set to auto; most likely the highest current draw you can expect.



The "Flame" Laser Light Show 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.

According to the label on it near the laser aperture, this is a CDRH Class IIIa laser product, outputting less than 5mW.
I cannot measure the power output because the display is larger than the diameter of the sensor on my laser power meter, but it does indeed look like less than 5mW just by "eyeballing" it.

According to the instructional material, external electrical interference may occasionally cause the unit to "lock up" in a single mode; power-cycling the unit (turning it off, waiting ten seconds, then turning it back on) is the recommended fix.



Beam photograph on the test target at 12".




Beam photograph on a ceiling at ~6'.



WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the laser show in "auto" mode.
This clip is approximately 2.1 megabytes (2,237,638 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than twelve minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

The sound you may hear is from the Star Trek: TNG episode "Suddenly Human", which was on when this was recorded.
The gaps in the laser display do not exist in reality.




Video clip on YourTube showing all of the patterns generated by this product in "automatic" mode.

This clip is approximately 8.3434598 megabytes (8,582,152 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than forty two minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

The gaps in the laser display do not exist in reality.




Video clip on YourTube showing "sound sensitive" mode; the song "Techno Pop" by Kraftwerk was used.

This clip is approximately 23.7345348 megabytes (23,911,426 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than 118 (!) minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

The gaps in the laser display do not exist in reality.




Video clip on YourTube showing "sound sensitive" mode; the song "Young Lust" by Pink Floyd was used.

This clip is approximately 34.2945647 megabytes (34,775,864 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than 172 (!) minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

This video has a duration of exactly three minutes; I recorded for the entire duration of the song (3:29), but the camera I used (a Canon Powershot G3 apparently self-terminates videos shot on it at 3:00 even if there's space left on the memory card -- which there was.
The gaps in the laser display do not exist in reality.




Video clip on YourTube showing "sound sensitive" mode; the song "Stay Hard" by Raven was used.

This clip is approximately 28.17645756 megabytes (28,545,690 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than 142 (!) minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

The gaps in the laser display do not exist in reality.




Video clip on YourTube showing "sound sensitive" mode; the song "Digimon Theme" (untitled, track 13) on the Digimon: Music from the Motion Picture album was used.

This clip is approximately 29.28456441 megabytes (29,621,074 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than 148 (!) minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

The gaps in the laser display do not exist in reality.




Video clip on YourTube showing "sound sensitive" mode; the song "God Save the Queen" by Anthrax was used.

This clip is approximately 29.25634237 megabytes (29,621,074 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than one hundred forty seven (!) minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

The gaps in the laser display do not exist in reality.




Video clip on YourTube showing "sound sensitive" mode; the song "Falcon Dump" from the Commodore 64 video game "Wastelands++" was used.

This clip is approximately 32.2845408 megabytes (32,599,184 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than one hundred sixty two (!) minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

The gaps in the laser display do not exist in reality.




Video clip on YourTube showing "sound sensitive" mode; the song "I'm the Man [censored radio version]" by Anthrax was used.

This clip is approximately 35.215645534 megabytes (35,434,870 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than one hundred seventy seven (!) minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

The gaps in the laser display do not exist in reality.




Video clip on YourTube showing "sound sensitive" mode; the theme song for "Digimon: Data Squad" (season 5) was used.

This clip is approximately 6.63423423 megabytes (6,899,768 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than one thirty three minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

The gaps in the laser display do not exist in reality.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the laser inside this product.
Looks to be ~655-660nm.


Spectrographic analysis
Same as above; newer spectrometer software & settings used.


Spectrographic analysis
Same as above; spectrometer's response narrowed to a band between 648nm and 658nm. Peak wavelength is 652.7nm.
USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.






TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased from the www.thingsyouneverknewexisted.com website on 02-02-07, and was received on 02-15-07.

Product was made in the United States. A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.


UPDATE: 12-14-09
The URL for this product on the www.thingsyouneverknewexisted.com website is no longer any good, but you might be able to find one on Ebay by typing "red hot laser light show" (yes, quote marks included) into the search box.


UPDATE: 01-21-10
I cobbled up an AC power supply for this product using the cord & plug from a battery charger and a "wall wart"-style DC power supply that had already had its plug cut off. So now I can use the Red Hot Laser Show on AC power and not have to worry about batteries.

I also shot another video of the product showing all of the patterns it displays in "automatic" mode; please see above.


UPDATE: 05-08-10
The AC adapter input has shorted out, but the unit still operates from battery power.
Because I can no longer use the product on a nightly basis without burning up batteries, the dreadful "Failed or was destroyed during/after testing" icon will be added next to its listings on this website.


UPDATE: 05-10-10
The AC adapter input has not become shorted as had previously been suspect; after disassembly to check it (everything checked out OK), a current measurement on battery power indicated a current usage of ~670mA (and these aren't even new batteries!) -- far, FAR, FAR higher than the ~95mA that it should be drawing. When connected to an AC adapter with a lower maximum current rating, it stays dark and the AC adapter itself heats up -- giving the look of a short in its circuitry. And when it is on battery power, the only pattern it generates is a circle.

The AC adapter input is labelled for +6 volts at 200mA; with the unit drawing almost 700mA, something's definitely rotten in {insert country of choise here}.

Looks like I'll end up throwing the unit into the dustbin (garbage can), but not before I harvest the laser module from it.




Video clip on YourTube showing how the unit is going down the tube. That sound you might hear in the background is an episode of "Match Game '75" playing on the boob tube; this product was not in sound-sensitive mode when this was recorded, so the sound may be ignored or even muted if it pisses you off.

This clip is approximately 7.966342455223 megabytes (8,130,670 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than forty minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

The gaps in the laser display do not exist in reality.



UPDATE: 05-10-10
No, you aren't seeing things.
Yes, a same-day update.
I just can't bring myself to disembowel the unit and harvest its precious cargo (the diode laser module) and subsequently dispose of its cold, lifeless body... looks like I'll be hanging onto a defective Red Hot Laser Light Show for the forseeable future.





PROS:
Great patterns
Nice looking body
Batteries it needs are common and reasonably inexpensive


CONS:
Laser power output is a bit lower than desireable for this application
AC adapter not furnished


    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: Self-contained laser light show projector
    LAMP TYPE: Red diode laser
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Varry narrow spot
    SWITCH TYPE: Slide switch on/mode change/off; pot for sensititivity adjustment
    CASE MATERIAL: Plastic
    BEZEL: Plastic; plastic window protects laser & "guts"
    BATTERY: 4xAA cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 95.0mA max.
    WATER- AND PEE-RESISTANT: Light splatter-resistance at maximum
    SUBMERSIBLE: NO WAY HOZAY!!!
    ACCESSORIES: None
    WARRANTY: 45 days

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





Red Hot Laser Light Show *






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