Help!!!

[jcorns]

Hey, im new to this fourm and want to make a DIY Projector


one problem....no money

i was wondering if anyone wants to post there best ideas for a close to free projector, that is easy to make.

Instructions or links to instructions would be nice

as always for me

the easier the better


thanks,
jcorns

 

[hoobatech]

...yeaahhh.... um. nothing in this world is free. if you have no money i suggest going to Goodwill and buying a console tv😉 but if you are just talking about a shoe string budget, i would goto ebay and find an lcd with a bad backlight, i picked mine up for 25.50shipped. build your projector box/coffin out of old wood you have or wait untill city junk day and go find a dresser that someone is throwing out and salvage that. as for lens/ fresnell lens, your kinda screwed into buying new. lumenlab.com has a setup for 65 and shipping. do some research on what kind of lightsource you want, the brighter the better, but the price goes up accordingly. i got an s51 HPS ballast from goodmart.com for about $70 shipped and then you will have another $40 in an ushio 400dd bulb. these are pretty much the standard now. you can get other styles for a bit cheaper, the trader section of this website sux for us projector guys. buy a lumenlab.com membership, you get the plans for a cheap box and access to the forums, where diy proj. people are selling/trading their used gear usally very resonably

sources
lcd - ebay
the box - www.hjsproductions.com, though this thing is so simple id build it yourself
Ballasts/bulbs - goodmart.com, www.atlantalightbulbs.com,lumenlab.com
Lens - http://www.3dlens.com/, www.lumenlab.com
reflectors and lexan/ x10 - http://store.ezdropsell.com/
you will also need some computer case fans to keep everything cool

in the next couple of days lumenlab.com is going to make their basic diy projector guide free to the public, ill try to get a link posted when it becomes available.

if this sounds like its way out of your budget, people seem to have mediocre results using an overhead projector and a projection panel, both of which can be had on ebay, these will be dimmer and offer lower resolution though. i have a 3M 9080 OHP with two brand new bulbs that i will sell you cheap if your interested.
I hope i havnt turned you away from the DIY, it may cost 2-400 bucks but they are comperable to projectors costing 10x more.🙂

 

[hoobatech]

also, if your willing to sacrifice quality in the face of cost, people here seem to be doing some very interesting things with supersmall lcd screens, like the 5inch PSone screens (kmart is liquidating all their inventory and they are $13 if you can find one 🙂 ) also a slightly better candidate is a 7-8lcd screen by hammie. with the smaller lcd you are able to reduce the size of your enclosure and you dont have to have as bright of light source.
you dont have to have the membership to lumenlab.com to check out what peoples finished setups look like, heres a link to give you some ideas http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showforum=25

 

[jcorns]

thanks for the help...i was also wondering where the light source comes into play...as in if i have the screen in a caseing would i just have a light inside the case or would it be around the screen or what ever

thanks again,

Jcorns

 

[hoobatech]

the light goes inside the projector enclosure, looks like this

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|back of pj(wall)-Light source-fresnell-lcd-fresnell-Lens-front of projector| ----> | Screen

 

[hoobatech]

that looks pretty bad, i'll find a picture to illustrate.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.