Newbie, got a Pinnacle v-series last weekend. need some help!

[phil pajor]

Howdy folks.

I imagine there are a million threads on here, and have no idea where to start.

I inherited what appears to be a Pinnacle v-series last weekend, I haven't got it running yet, plan to test it out tomorrow. Problem is, I have no idea where to start. Not even sure I've got the right model number. I searched the model number from the label on the back of the unit, and think this is what I've got: http://www.axminsternet.com/education/focus_pinnaclev.html but it looks like it comes in either a 12 or 30 watt variety. my model number is v-35. Would that be a 35 watt laser?

It's been in my uncle's basement for who knows how long, but it was tested and he was able to etch some images with it at some point.

I think I've got an appropriate driver set for it, will be checking that tomorrow. I had to install XP onto an old laptop I've got kicking around for it. Software is my next hurdle. what should I be looking at? Free software would be best, but I'm not adverse to paying a few bucks, as I got the unit for free.

I'm planning to do some basic text plastic name tags (he also had a pile of these) and a bunch of 1/8" acrylic strips that were boxed up with it. I also have an assortment of chromed dog tags I would like to try (this is what he had tested it with, successfully, although I never got to see the finished product, I hear it looked quite good)

I'm very much looking forward to playing with this thing, and hope someone here can point me in the right direction. Thank you all so much!

Phil

[George M. Perzel]

Phil;
Looks like the Laserpro Venus model, 35 watt size from your description.
Email me for the manual and check Jorlink site for drivers and firmware.
Works best with CorelDraw- X4 version is fine as you don't need the latest.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[phil pajor]

First off, Thanks for the reply! I checked Jorlink, and grabbed the driver from there over the weekend. v3.35 .. the firmware are not available (returns a 404), but to be honest, I'm hesitant to mess with firmware anyways. The colour scheme seems to be off. it's not blue/white, like Jorlink shows. Signwarehouse.com has a driver download (http://www.signwarehouse.com/support/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=391&nav=0,15,102) that I might have a crack with this weekend.

I installed the 3.35 venus driver and a trial copy of EngravePro 9. Although the machine seemed to be functional on a mechanical level (x,y movement, table raises/lowers as expected, red beam, etc) I could not seem to get it to send anything to the engraver, though. I'll have another read through the manual, and I'll take a look at corel x4. Any other tips would be very welcome.

Again, thanks a lot for your reply. :)

[phil pajor]

Thanks, George. I got the package on wednesday, I will go through and read all the documentation as soon as I have the chance. Very much appreciated!

[Bert Kemp]

Phil welcome to the creek, have fun with your new toy:)

[phil pajor]

Well, I had a chance to do another test with this bad boy today, the mirrors were super dirty, so I took the panels off, gave it all a good cleaning, and alignment, then spent the next several hours playing around with it. It works! I'm super excited that I was able to get it running, thanks to George's guidance and the disk. The alignment videos helped out, although I couldn't hear the audio, but I could see what he was doing well enough and combined with the manual it seemed logical enough. A bit of trial and error on the settings involved with the acrylic I got with it, and I was able to engrave a new name tag for my friend, and a couple other test pieces.

I'll be heading over again tomorrow to have some more fun with it.

Thanks again!

[phil pajor]

Hey George, not sure if you're still watching these forums, I think I messed up today. doing a cleaning, alignment maintenance day today, I decided to update the firmware on this device. (Trying to set home location as per the manual, it wasn't working as expected, thought the firmware might help. nope)

After uploading the v2.25 firmware you included on the disk to sent me (Thanks again, BTW!) it presents me with a message to call maintenance technicians. I was wondering where I could find another version of the firmware for the Venus v35, perhaps the 2.20 version I had prior.

thanks!
Phil

[George M. Perzel]

Phil;
Email me directly
gmperzel@rochester.rr.com
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts