Laser Spectacles, inc. partnered with Internacional De Lamparas S.A. de C.V. to reignite the iconic laser beam from the top of the landmark tower “Faro Del Comercio” in the center of the city of Monterrey, Mexico. “Faro Del Comercio” translates as “Lighthouse of Commerce”; the 360° rotating laser beacon is the light of the house, and a symbol of the city.
In 1985 the 70 meter tall Faro was completed; a 20 watt laser beam was installed that rotated around the city from this central location. We do not know who installed that first system. Monterrey was widely regarded as a progressive city for having this state of the art laser installation; I heard about it but never got to witness it. The system was clearly a large frame water cooled argon; there is a substantial plumbing system running up the tower from a huge cooling system buried in the ground at the foot of the tower to provide enough cooling power for the water cooled laser.
But this is the next century, and the city wanted the latest in DPSS and OPSL technology installed, with full air cooled RGB (red – green – blue) color capability in the 360° rotating laser beacon, and also the ability to scan RGB laser beams to the park below as an added attraction.
We partnered with Kvant in Slovenia on the construction of the RGB laser system, using a Kvant red 5.8W DPSS module, a Kvant 9W blue DPSS module, and a Coherent Taipan 10W green laser. The beams were combined into one white beam and switched between the various effects by means of a custom optical table.
OPENING EVENT: (click on an image to see it larger)
On September 19, 2013 the City of Monterrey celebrated its 417th birthday with a concert and celebration in the plaza below the Faro De Comercio. At the appropriate time, the crew from Internacional de Lamparas allowed the mayor to activate a green laser beam up to the tower, and the inaugural beacon from the new laser system projected out and began to rotate around the city. For the next four hours the laser was switched between the RGB scanned effects and the rotating laser beacon. The evening was a great success, and we are sure that the City of Monterrey will enjoy having their laser back for the next century!
TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS:
The effects were all mounted upon the roof of the Faro, with the laser and optics mounted in a narrow room directly below. In essence, this room with the lasers was a large optical bench for the installation. The original installation featured vertical pipes to mount mirrors to that sent the beam straight up through glass covered tubes to the roof for further direction.
The 360° effect was very straightforward and simple – we mounted the optical table directly under it’s tube and directed it up to the 360° rotating mirror.
The RGB scanning effect was more complex – the beam had to be taken from its vertical tube and directed into a pair of XY scanners, which needed to be protected from the weather. Laser Spectacles designed and constructed two such scanning systems around Cambridge 6215 scanners with wide mirrors, designed to be mounted to standard one inch galvanized pipes attached horizontally to the roof. The laser beam was delivered by means of a mirror through this pipe and into the scanner system, which could rotate around the beam’s axis for final adjustment. A total of four mirrors were carefully adjusted to get this accomplished. The weatherproof housing for the scanner systems were manufactured to Laser Spectacles’ specifications by Weatherall, Inc. in Austin, TX. Once the final alignment was realized and locked down, the beam path proved very reliable.
Since this was possible an audience scanning effect, the scanning system incorporated a Pangolin PASS system to protect agains possible dangerous effects or scanner failure. All calculations were performed to ensure safe laser effects towards the audience.