G'day everyone,

Another aussie plog here. I’ve been reading for a while now and think it's about time to start a plog becauseI have almost all my components and I’m on holidays

Parts List; CMV A150X1 (15" monitor)
Lamp and Ballast (Eye, MF400LE/BUH)
Lenses (lumen labs standard lens kit)

I've cut my box and made up a simple mechanism for moving the light in two dimensions because I am
sure I will not get measurements correct the first time and want to be able to adjust everything as much as possible.

Still waiting on lenses from lumen labs I’m expecting them this week as I only ordered them last week and it's Sunday so they won't be here today

The pic shows all of my initial components, you can see the reflector that came with the lighting, I know that's not going to work. I found an industrial soup ladle that i'm going to use as a reflector. They are huge and perfectly hemispherical, well they look pretty close to me...

Couple of quick questions, from the plogs I’ve read it looks like most people are using 12v fans and running them off an adaptor? Is there are reason for this because I can get old 240v fans and run them strait off the mains power.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, you guys are the experts…

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Well I'm no expert but I can answer your question. You can use the AC fans and they will work fine if that's what you have access to. I went with DC fans because I wanted a nice fan controller with rpm and temperature monitoring capabilities and the controller also lets me adjust fan speed a little easier than it would be to do with and AC fan.

One other thing, if i'm looking at your picture right, it looks like your bulb is frosted, I don't beleive that will work so well, you really need a clear bulb.

I'm using that same monitor. It has a control board at the top of the panel that will pull down just far enough to clear the light path but it makes mounting the control board a little problamatic. I needed to flip the control board over to the other side of the panel so I had to use an extension. Even if your not flipping the board over to the other side of the panel I recommend an FFC extension because it will make mounting it down a whole lot easier.

Good luck with your projector!

Thanks for your advice nncognito. I know the bulb is not going to work so well. I'm just going to use it for testing and then swap over to something nice once i get up and running. The colour temp of the bulb in the pic is 3800 and I have no idea how old it is, so your right in that it is not optimum.

Did a bit of work today, got my lighting mounted. It's adjustable so i'm going to wait till it's adjusted till i secure the ballast. I was thinking of mounting the ballast outside of the box but I can see that there is plenty of room inside now that i have it together, it can just sit directly behind the mogal. I'm still waiting on a router from a friend to do the recess for the top and bottom of the haas box and still waiting on my lenses. Expecting them tomorrow. Then the fun will really start. I'm still pretty worried about stripping my monitor so i haven't done that yet. What is the best stripping guide for the monitor i'm using? Cheers for any help...

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Your bulb looks off center? Is the center of the light emitting part centered side to side wise?

Yep, the bulb is off center, The lenses and triplet are also going to be off center so it should work alright. I have built the box for a different globe so the one in there isn't the same size as the one i will be using if this thing works I'm just going to use my trusty laser level to line everything up then move it over once i've got the other globe sorted... Does that sound like it will work or will not having everything in the center of the box make a difference. Keep the advice coming guys, it is very much appriciated...

I got my package today but am busy for the next couple of days so it will have to wait till the weekend. I ordered the Au kit and it comes with a UV filter. This filter is pretty dirty and has small scratches on it. Does anybody know how to clean it and if the scratches will affect projection, it is paper thin so the scratches arent deep... I'm thinking of mounting the fresnels in aluminium channels and making them adjustable back and forth with threaded steel, is this a good idea? Is there a better way? Are there any advantages mounting in wood?

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Done a little bit more but everything takes longer than i think it's going to... I have cut my fresnel frames out of wood, after deciding it would be easier than using the aluminium. They are almost ready to mount, took me a while to get all of the measurements correct because my box is off center but i have all that sorted now and it all lines up. I got some 240v fans and wired them up. They move a lot more air than i thought so i probably wouldn't need all three but my box is wide enough (because of my oversized light) so i'm going to mount all three on the back of the box. I don't have a holesaw big enough so a friend of mine is cutting them today, cheers Bruce. Made a box for the triplet and will just cut a hole for that in the front of the box when the other optics are installed so i can be sure it's lined up propper. So far everything is going well, no major dramas, still pretty worried about strippin the monitor tho. Should be doing that this weekend if all goes well.

The pic shows my fans all wired up and my triplet's new home...

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Made some more progress today. I framed my fresnels in wood and my buddy cut the holes for me and gave me some mesh to use as fan grills, will mount them tomorrow, should look good.

Attached a photo of the crude method i used to put grooves in the wood to slot the fresnels in. And one of the completed frames...

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Lookin' good my aussie brother, can't wait to see how it turns out. What are the specs on your monitor?
capt kirk

Thanks for your interest Capt_kirk. The specs on the monitor are as follows...

Polyview CMV 1515;

500:1 contrast ratio
400 cd/m2 brightness
1,024 x 768 max native resolution
15ms response time
D-Sub; and speakers

The specs look good to me so it should work out ok if the strip goes successfully, fingers crossed...

More pics coming tomorrow.

I've mounted the fans this morning, they look ok but it's the back of the projector and will be facing a wall so it doesn't really matter anyway. I used three 120mm 240v fans, an old stocking for a filter and mesh to stop people's fingers getting hurt just in case. They are a bit laoud, i might do something about that later but for now they are great...

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That back panel turned out really nice, how wide are you making your enclosure? I can only fit two 120mm fans on my enclosures. looks good so far! dont know about that rig for cutting frames though, LOL! whats the shoe for?

My enclosure is 410mm wide, that's 16 inch for our North American friends. It is pretty wide but that's how wide it needs to be unless i have the mogal sticking out the side and i don't really want that. Your right about the rig I used for cutting my frames, probably not the best idea i've ever had but i still have all my fingers so all is well. The shoe, well I guess i was just too lazy to move it. It all looks a bit more organized now...

Hi All,

I haven't done much over the last few days, still waiting on a router and then i'll be basically done, just have to strip and mount the LCD. I extended all of my audio cables so now my speakers reach all corners of my room. I also made an extended vga cable from this guide;

http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/vgacable.html

I'm just about to test it, will post from my other monitor if it works, fingers crossed...

Well I wasn't really expecting it to work as I used unshielded CAT5 and the cable is about 30feet long but it looks great. When i solder things they don't usaully work first time but this did so that's even better. My soldering skills are really bad.

Proof that the cable works

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That VGA cable is quite sweet. It could help to solve my problem of not wanting to have my PC immediately next to my projector (CAT 5 is cheaper then a long monitor cable).

Yep WeakSauce, the price is the main reason i did it. It should only cost you about $2 for the 15pin plugs and way under $1 a yard for the CAT5, unless you have an electrician friend, then the cable is free. Thanks Josh

Sweet cable Locky! My attempt with unshielded CAT5 (25ft) left me with mild ghosting once the wire was installed - through 3 walls, under baseboard, etc. Congrats and good luck!

DT

I cut the grooves for the top and bottom yesterday so now it's looking a lot more finished. Used a drill in a router attachment to cut the grooves and it worked ok, not as good as a CNC but it does look alright. I used the method described by Tmproff for cutting the curves clamping them together and using one as a guide for the other.

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Also got a reflector, it's an industrial soup ladle. 32oz, diameter as you can see is bigger than a CD (it's about 155mm) so it's going to be plenty big enough. No flat spot either.

What is the best way to polish this? It's stainless steel and i have some crome polish would that work?

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That ladel looks like a great find. where did you get it?

Your triplet box is good workmanship. I'll try to emulate it on my 2nd build.

Your bulb won't work. It is white coated. You need a clear bulb so the light can be collimated. You can obviousely still try to use it, but if you don't get a bright enough picture then you will know the problem.

I got the ladel here, http://www.macmont.com.au/
There would be similar shops in most countries. Cheers for the info on the light, i'm not expecting it to work, just for testing then i'm going to swap it over once i've got everything up and running. The lighting gear i have was free so I might as well use it to test then just use the ballast and mougal when it's all working...

Locky,

...that sure is a nice "snow free" backyard you got there.

I'm up to my chestnuts in snow, here in Southern Ontario, Canada.
No chance in extra plane tickets kicking around, eh?

Your projector looks great so far. I too plan on using the Haas design, but with a 17" LCD.

Good Luck

BobbleHead,

There isn't going to be any snow in my backyard in my lifetime. I'll swap you if you want, your winter for my summer. I can go skiing and you can go surfing... Actually that's one reason this is taking me so long, iv'e been out surfing a lot recently and the surf is ment to be really good this week...

Locky

Well my frames didn't fit in the box once i put the top and bottom on it, not really my measurements that were out. It was the wobbly routing that did it Anyway, made some new frames that work really well. They are just framed in aluminium channels and then to hold them in nice and tight i used fly screen rubber stuff that works really well.

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I added some small brackets to the side of my box to attach the lenses and now their in and it all works all right. I tried using a transparency in between the lenses where the lcd will go and holding the triplet in one hand and the transparency in the other I got an image on the wall, looks focused and pretty big. The bulb I have won't work because the frosting causes a lot of light to be lost because instead of being point source the lenses focus on the whole globe, I think...

Now all I need to do is strip my lcd and install the triplet to the front panel.

Also a friend of mine helped by making some heat shielding out of some scrap aluminium, looks really good, will post pics later...


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I've got a picture of my first image. It's just a plastic sleve with focus written on it so it's nothing special but it's nice to see something on the wall. I was trying to focus it on a box that was right in front of the projector and couldn't get anything, was getting a little frustrated untill I looked up and saw the image on the wall I also mounted the front triplet in the projector and it's adjustable but only by hand. I don't think i'll bother doing any fancy adjustment because my projector is just going to sit in one place once it's finished. Here are some more pics...

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looks like that lamp works OK

nice work, looks good so far. I remember my first test with a transparency.

What are the odds that he has the LCD in and is watching it right now.

I've been pretty busy over the last couple of days what with christmas and boxing day, and the surf has been good I'ts not together yet I got some help tonight stripping the LCD and i'm going to dremel out the backlight and use it as a frame. I'm going to do that tomorrow and hopefully will have enough time to make a sled for the lcd and drill some holes for cooling. Maybe tomorrow the LCD will be in the projector and i won't have any time to post...

Ok, this is getting exciting now. Did a bunch of work yesterday, including cutting holes fot the air to enter, painting the inside black and all the heat shielding black, mounting all the heat shielding. Oh and stripping the LCD I got some help from a friend of mine to strip the LCD and it turned back on when we tested it so all is well... Couple of pictures attached, much more to come today, i'm almost there As you can see in the picture there is no sled for the lcd... I dremeled out the back off the backlight and reattached it to the frame. We then made holes in the frame so that the LCD can move on the same runners as the lenses. Also attached the vga board to the old frame with some wedges of wood and 5 minute araldite. The araldite is really strong but if you want to remove it later it can just be heated with a heat gun and removed.


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I wired all the grounds together and then linked the heatshielding into the circuit and connected them all to the gound wire of a plug that goes to the wall, so hopefully everything is grounded

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Mounted the buttons on the outside of the box with some araldite and silicone to stop any light leaks, seems like it's holding but I only let it dry for an hour...

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I got everything in the box, that was definately the hardest part, everything fit but only just... I have gone for unsplit lenses for now due to the fact that it is easier but it was still a pain getting everything in. Thank god for cable ties or this would be the messiest projector here...

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Mounted the lcd and lenses and it still works. BIG BIG releif... Heres a pic of the screen mounted in the projector while the light is warming up...

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Here is my first screener, there are massive light leaks (top and bottom aren't on) and the room was pretty lit up and i was projecting onto a lab coat but still got an image that looks in focus Have to wait till the lights are off to see it better. Also, no reflector yet that's coming when i get the new globe, unless i can get results i am happy with using this frosted globe. The thing in the middle of the image is a temp sensor.

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That frosted bulb is really going to difuse the light, the fresnel wont have a point of light to focus on. should be ok to test it though. nice job so far.

Last night me and a couple of friends watched a movie, the image is good enough for watching something with bright colours but not much else. This image is with no adjustments, i'm going to move the bulb back because there is heaps of spillage. The image is 350cm (138inch) diagonal. The projector is now in the position it will stay in so that is the final size of the screen. I still need to adjust everything to find the brightest and most uniform alighnment, get a new globe and install my reflector. Oh, temperature was fine. It got to 32 degrees C.

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Looking good Locky! Nice job! Looks like a tight fit in there

Well, i've been on holidays for the last few days so i haven't been home to do anything on my projector I'm back now and ready to do some adjustments to try and get a decent picture. At the moment it's ok for really bright stuff but nothing with dark scenes is even barely watchable. I'm going to get a new globe and shape my reflector, does anybody have any other ideas for increasing brightness? I'm using unsplit fresnels, how big should the gap between them be? It's about 1mm at the moment, will changing this effect brightness, focus is fine already so no need to adjust that.

Thanks for any advice, i really need some...

How long does it take for a new globe to strike properly? I've had this one in for half an hour and it's still this colour... Should it take this long or do i have the wrong globe?

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Apparently i need to be a bit more patient It works and the spillage is a lot smaller than with the other globe so i think the my results should improve a lot, fingers crossed. I'm going to cut up my reflector and hopefully have a better screen shot later on tonight

The pics show the lamp working

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Then the old spillage...

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v's the new and improved spillage

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I need to get some more cutting bits for my dremel before i can install the reflector but i did change the golbe over and but it back together. Watched a couple of movies and the temp went to 33 degrees C, the room temp was 28 so i'm pretty happy with that. The difference in brightness is pretty good, can now see a picture in with sunlight coming into the room and all my lights on and movies in the dark look great. I'll get a good camera and take some nice photos soon but here is a quick comparison shot using an old camera. Can't wait for reflector Now i have to build a screen and mount my speakers Should be fun...

First pic is old lamp...

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This pic is new lamp...

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Looks great!

Could you possibly include some closeup pictures of the metal channels holding the lenses and LCD, how the threaded rods are threaded into the channels, and how the rods are mounted to the sides of the box? I like this method.

Thanks!

I'll put up some pictures next time i open up the box, should be soon coz ive got to put my reflector in

I tried to get some blackout cloth today and it's pretty hard to find it big enough. I'm found a place that does 3 pass blackout (that's the 100% of light blocked out stuff) and they are getting some in next week. It's 2400mm and i only need it to be about 1900mm so that's plenty big enough Anybody in australia that needs blackout cloth you can get it at lincraft or Kornblum Curtains if you are in Adelaide, Spotlight don't make it big enough for me. I made up my screen today and it's 172cm x 291cm pretty close to 16:9 plus it fits in my room so that's all good

The pic is of the frame I made up for my screen, i'm 6ft for reference

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I think the guy at the lighting shop sold me the wrong lamp. I fiered it up the other day and it took 45 minutes to strike after being a dim blue colour for ages and then last night i turned it on and it flashed blue a few times and then just stayed off. I left it on for an hour and nothing happened. Any ideas on what could be wrong other than it being the wrong light? I switched the globe over with my old one and it fires up in a couple of seconds so it's not the wiring Cheers for any help guys...

Ok, so i called the ballast manafacturer and the guy did sell me the wrong lamp. I needed one with an ignightor and the one he sold me didn't have one. So the lamp i need to get is going to cost me $98 insted of $40 (that's aussie $) but atleast i know it's going to work. The specs are a bit better. The color temp isn't a problem, my monitor has a lot of adjustments on it so i can play with the colour and make it look nice.

specs; 400w
40000 lumens
70 CRI
4500k
15000 hours life
universal burn position

miller863 : The lenses just fit into the metal channels and then i used fly screen rubber stuff to hold them in, i used 6mm rubber and forced it in with my fingers. The lenses are then in tight enough to hold themselves in and if you want to take them out you can just take out the rubber and they will come out easy. I mounted both lenses separately so that i can change to a split design if i don't like the unsplit but i'm really happy with the image so i wont be changing any time soon. I drilled holes in the aluminium channels using a drill press and a clamp to hold them all together so the holes lined up. These are the holes that the threaded rods go through. It's as easy as that. Mounted one side with L brackets and the other side i mounted through some wood that is holding wires and stuff on the other side of my case.

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