Editing Larson Scanner

This page is the central documentation site for the Larson Scanner kit from [http://evilmadscientist.com/ Evil Mad Scientist].
 

'''Main details about the Larson Scanner kit:'''
* [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/larsonkit Announcement article] at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories
* [http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/tinykitlist/152-scanner Kit page] at evilmadscientist.com  
* The Larson Scanner is named after [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_A._Larson Glen A. Larson], who produced the Battlestar Galactica and Knight Rider series, and is responsible for introducing scanning red light effects to the sci-fi TV viewing population of the 1970s and 80s. We coined the term "Larson Scanner" when we [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/CylonOLantern2 wrote an article] with instructions for an analog version of the circuit for the [http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=HALLOW07 Make Magazine Halloween Special Edition] in 2007.


'''Assembly instructions:''' 
* [http://evilmadscience.com/KitInstrux/Larson_150.pdf PDF Version] (3.8 MB PDF)    (Trouble Viewing? [[Downloading_PDFs|Please click here.]])


'''Open Source Hardware documentation for the Larson Scanner:'''
* Source code is available at [http://code.google.com/p/larsonscanner/downloads/list?q=label:Featured Google Code].
* Electrical schematics are [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/source/ix/ix_schematic.pdf here]. (33 kB .pdf file)
* The circuit board design is in [[gEDA_Resources|gEDA]], and you can download the design files [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/source/ix/ix_RevC.pcb here]. (74 kB .pcb file)
* For home PCB etching, the PCB layout, showing the individual circuit board layers broken out individually with crop marks, is also available as a .pdf [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/source/ix/ix_RevC_PCB.pdf here]. (124 kB .pdf file)
* [[Larson_Scanner_Bill_of_Materials|Bill of Materials]]


'''Hacks and Mods:'''
* An article on building a Kraftwerk-inspired LED tie with a Larson Scanner kit is [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/ledtie here].  (Hint: Jumper "opt. 2" on the PCB.)
* An article on linking several Larson Scanner kits together is [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarsonscanner here].
* A "Narrow eye" mode is built into the firmware. Hold button down at turn-on to preview.  Jumper "opt. 1" on the PCB to make the "narrow eye" the default.


'''More red scanning light projects:'''
* [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/CylonOLantern An analog version] of the scanning red light circuit, at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories
* The analog circuit above was refined and [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/CylonOLantern2 published in Make Magazine], the schematic for which is [http://cdn.makezine.com/make/cyclonschematics.pdf here].
* [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/minipovcylon MiniPOV Cylon] using the Adafruit [http://www.ladyada.net/make/minipov3/ MiniPov].


'''Places for questions, answers, and sharing experiences:''' 
* [http://forum.evilmadscientist.com/categories/ix Support forum] at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories
* See also: [http://www2.evilmadscientist.com/forum/index.php?forum=6 Archived Forums], with older discussions
* [http://www.flickr.com/groups/evilmadscience/ Evil Mad Science Auxiliary Flickr Group] where you can share photos of your Larson Scanners