I am using one Helios DAC right now with two 3W lasers. Im wondering if anyone has built a cable with pins switched to get a mirrored projection?
Thanks!
I’ve half attempted it - meaning - I never finished the job. Here are my thoughts…
Does one of your projectors have x-flip in menu settings? If it does, problem solved. If it doesn’t, and you don’t already own a db25 cable to burn, the connectors, decent wire strippers, multi meter, precision screwdriver, and some sort of small shop table with some second hand clamps, I’d say don’t bother. Spend the money on another Helios.
That being said, I find there is a lack of diy tasks I am comfortable attempting, for fear of irreparable /expensive damage. I do feel this is definitely a good beginner project to dip your toes into the service tech domain.
So, if you do attempt, get your wire color code guide and connector pinout ready for quick access viewing.
Without finding a decent step by step guide, naturally, I went about it the 4th best way - trying to make tight fit leads. The shortest wire ended getting severed with no slack and I put the project aside due to time constraints.
When I do go back to complete it, I’ll approach it with long leads and ready to stuff the slack. Theres likely a ready made xflip adapter out there already that makes this way a fools errand.
If you’re going to use db25 cable, connectors get smashed, cables get severed. You may need to service one in a pinch. Again, this a good skill to learn and with proficiency, you’d get the job done in 5-10 minutes.
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I did. It’s just a simple swap of pins 1 and 14 (X+ and X-).
The quickest approach is to use new cable and a DB25 solder connector. Not all pins are used by ILDA, and some might not even be used at all by your projector (my cheap lasers only use 10 pins: x, x, y, y, r, g, b, interlock a/b and gnd).
Thanks for all of that!
I am using one DAC for two lasers, so when connected through ILDA, flipping X on the laser’s menu doesn’t work. But I did order a short length of db25 cable, along with two 25 pin connectors so I can build an adapter with the 1 & 14 pins swapped. This should work, I will post my results.
Yes, that will definitely work.
For longer runs I am using CAT6 cables, with a DB25 to RJ45 adapter on the Helios. You can find wire-able adapters on amazon or far-east suppliers, so you can send the 8 vital signals over cheap cat cables, and at the other end you can build an inverse adapter to feed the projector. Wire order is not crucial, but try to use for each X and Y pair the same cat pair so they will pick noise at the same level and differential signal works better.
I learnt the hard way that some projector needs the interlock, which there is no room to be carried on cat cables. If it’s your case you can build a DB25 termination plug that connects pin 4 and 17 on the daisy chain output port of the projector. Be sure to have a failsafe shutdown method if you’re displaying in public and going this way because interlock from Helios won’t be used.
It’s not a clean hack, but made me save ton of money on long ILDA cables.
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Thank you again! All super helpful!
I really like the idea of using cat 6 for sure! Something I’ll have to keep in mind. I may be asking you some questions about that in the future! 
Ha! These are the exact same connectors I bought! I don’t mind soldering, but these make it so much easier.
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