Hi!

There's been quite awhile since I last visited this forum, and I must say I got suprised how much had changed since I built my projector.
Seem like there's more robotic stuff than PJ stuff here nowdays

Anyway last weekend I decided to take a look at my old projector that I build in 2006, and improve the design and the usability.
When I originaly built the projector I kind of threw it all together to se how it would work, and said to myself I will take care of all the loose odds and ends later......

But that never happend, so I've been using the Pj for about 2-3 years with the triplet balancing on some long screws and the fresnel jammed in betwen the lcd controller board and the "sled"
Not to mention all the light leaks I had two 120mm fans directly besides the bulb with no light traps what so ever , but I didn't mind since I built it myself and I could get huge screens


My screens have varied from 80" diagonal (16:9) to 200" diagonal (2,35:1)

200" screen in the garage from 2008:

Projector 2008:

So last weekend I took it out to the garage, to test if it would still worked and it did!
But when I was going to remove the lcd sled from the box to have a closer look I accidently pushed the lcd power supply to a metall screw and short circuit (I would never touch the projector with the cord still in the outlet but this time the cord was lying on the ground with a white extension cord that I didn't see, so I thought that the Pj was not plugged into the outlet.)


This accident scared the shit out of me not the short circuit it self but the fact that if I would have grabbed the power supply itself rather that the cord, then perhaps I would have been fried


So now I am super careful when it comes to the electrical stuff.....




My progress on the update so far:
Made a gravity keystone mount for my front fresnel:


Power supply that shorted:

LCD sled:


Old fan mounting slot:


The box (im not as skilled as you other guys )


you can see the burn marks from the bulb:


Bad triplet mount:





To do:

Find new places to mount fans.
Do a proper triplet mount
Find a new lcd or a new power supply to the old one.
Seal light leaks.
Fit my pro reflector

Ok so I decided to get rid of the old ugly dog coffin and build a new nice Haas style box.

This is my first wood project so im very muce a rookie

I started yesterday and made the two side panels:







But when I was routing a nice rounded egde on one of the panels the depth lock (?) became loose and the router made a big hole in the side:



So i cut that piece of:


And glued in another piece of wood:




And today I made more progress:





And the glued in piece turned out pretty good:






I will be away for a few days now and will continue when i come back.






And I was hoping that someone would comment on my garage screen or perhaps the car that you can see in the picture, but no one did so i'm just going to show how that car looks like now anyway, because i'm very proud of it. (not sure that sentence makes any sence but anyway):

I like the screen and the car.

I'm very jealous of the 200" 2.35:1 screen. I can only dream that I'll be able to project an image that size someday. And while I'm dreaming, I'll add an anamorphic lens so that I can keep the constant height and have curtains that will hide the sides when projecting full screen 4:3 or 16.9 aspect ratios.

Fantastic looking HAAS design, I'll add. I'm really impressed with the cut out solution you came up with. I would have just filled it in with wood putty, or something.

I'm not a car guy, but if that is the current state of progress on that blue van-ish thing you showed in your first post, my hat is off to you. Very nice.

Thank you very much!






Thank you!

I was realy pleased with the big screen but the quality wasn't great since the fabric was way to thin, so next time I'll paint some thin plywood boards and screw together!

With the car I only took the chassis and engine from the blue car (that actually is a Volvo(!) from 1968) and a Ford model T body to make my very own Hot rod! (not done yet though )








And I've also made progress on the projector

Finished the back panel with cut out for the two fans:

Fans mounted (the wiring is just for testing purposes only)

close up on fan:




Today I'll do the front panel with a clever focus mechanism, and make some sort of stand for the projector, in wich I also plan on mounting the eballast and place all the wiring in.

I've also been looking around at new lcd panels and decided that if I can't find a 15'' xga for free than I might buy a 15.4'' wuxga with controller from agilent pixel:

Does anybody have any experience with this panel, controller or vendor? pros and cons?
The only problem that I can see now is that my parents where not very happy ( to say the least) about me spending $320 on pj parts when I currently don't have a jobb.

You might try the following Google search: site:lumenlab.com agilentpixel
You can alter the search by keeping the "site:lumenlab.com" and using other keywords like "MST 15.4 controller" (without quotes).

You might run across a "quirk" when searching using Google, however. If you notice the thread looking "wonky" like this image, simply go up the the top right corner of the thread and click on Options and then Switch to: Standard.

Thanks! did a google search and found 8 hits here, didn't help me much though.

I understand that you have lots of knowledge when it comes to lcds and controller Quasi, what's your opinion on this lcd and controller kit and the vendor?

I would realy want a wuxga projector but im a bit unsure at the moment.

Actually, I have lots of knowledge of how to find threads where people with lots of knowledge of LCDs and controllers discuss those things. My actual first hand knowledge of these things is very limited.
The main reason you're not seeing much past discussion about vendors like AgilentPixel is that, until recently, it was forbidden to mention third-party vendors while LL had a business agreement with ManhattanLCD. Now that that's been dissolved, we're a little more free to discuss LCD/controller vendors.

DIY-Beamer.com also sells WUXGA LCD/controller kits.
You might be able to save some money by purchasing a WUXGA panel separately, and then one of the PixelWorks controllers for 15.4 WUXGAs (read more here). You'll want to verify with the controller vendor that the controller is compatible with the LCD panel you have in mind.

Ok Thanks, I've seen that there are many wuxga panels on ebay so your probably right about getting it cheaper that way.
definitly an option worth looking at.


I finished the front panel and the sliding focus mechanics:

This solution gives me about 4'' of movement wich should be more than plenty:

I'm realy happy with how smooth and easy it runs with these sliding things.

Today I finished the Lamp and reflector sled, I used the sliding thingies to make it adjustable.



The only problem is that my bulb is bent: