Thanks Jim,
I'm not sure what I was doing wrong, but the pen frequency is defineltly setting the q-switch rate now. I took the cover off the DB-9 cable to make sure I'd wired it correctly - maybe LASER1 was shorted to the case.
Some time soon, I will write up my notes on each of the configuration fields that I know about. Perhaps this would make a good addition to the manual or even better, a help screen in the software :)
Kevin
On 2/3/2013 10:31 PM, Jim Hart wrote:
Hi Kevin,
I'm not that familar with RTC4 but I'll try to answer your questions here (and do some more investigation with our RTC specialists).
The stand by parameters are used for CO2 and Laser Mode 4 (which is some YAG/Fiber laser mode). That's why we use it as general parameter and don't have it assigned to CO2 only. For several YAG-types this is useless. These frequencies are emitted at LASER1 output.
The Q-Switch frequency is controlled by the "Frequency" parameter in pen settings and is emitted at LASER1 output too. So when changing the pen frequency you should see a change in frequency/pulse width at LASER1. If that does not work for you, please send me an example project so that we can try to reproduce the problem here using your settings.
Regarding the power: yes, you are right, this is used only when you have wired your laser for being controlled by the scanner card.
Kind regards
Jim
On 04 February 2013 at 12:11 Kevin Criqui kcriqui@gmail.com wrote:
I've spent some time trying to figure out the configuration of BeamConstruct to suit my YAG laser. My laser has built-in first pulse suppression so I run it in YAG mode 1 with LASERON wired to the 'gate' input and LASER1 wired to the q-switch trigger input. Power is adjusted by changing the q-switch pulse rate and / or by RS-232 commands to control the pump diode current.
I'm have some questions:
- in RTC Definition, there are 2 parameters which I'm not clear on,
Stand By Frequency and Stand By Length. Best I can tell, these are only used in CO2 mode. Can you tell me if they have any affect in YAG mode?
- in Pen Settings:General
- Power is only used for lasers where power is controlled by the RTC
output defined in RTD Definitions 'Power Output' (such as lamp pumped YAG lasers with an analog power control signal) - Frequency - not sure what this does. It does not seem to affect the q-switch rate
- Pen Settings:Laser
- Pulse Length -> Q-switch Pulse Width
- First Pulse -> FirstPulseKiller Length
- Half Period - This does not seem to affect the q-switch pulse
rate. I think it may only apply to CO2 mode? - Stand-By Pulse Width - also seems to be CO2 specific - Stand-By Frequency - CO2 specific?
My biggest question right now is which setting actually controls the q-switch pulse rate (on the LASER1 pin of the RTC card). The performance of my laser varies dramatically with pulse rate so I need to set it for each different material I work on. I think it should be the 'half period' setting, but I have not seen any change in performance with this set to widely different values.
Kevin _______________________________________________ openapc mailing list openapc@lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/openapc
-- Kind regards
Jim Hart
http://www.lasermarkingsoftware.com http://www.openapc.com
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