Beacon ABL bed scanner - Amazing speed and accuracy, perfect 1st layers

My patrons alerted me to the existence of the Beacon 3D printer bed scanner, so I took the plunge on a pre-order. This sensor can be used to take very fast and accurate ABL meshes, allowing first perfect layers with incredible efficiency. In this video, I take you through how it differs to existing probes, and the full installation and setup process.

This product was purchased with my own money. All opinions expressed are my own.

0:00 Introduction

0:41 What is Beacon?

2:09 Prerequisites

3:55 Unboxing

4:27 Documentation

4:57 Designing a mount

6:57 Cabling

7:56 Firmware

9:55 Calibration

11:35 Tuning and testing

13:29 Conclusion

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[grasstreefarmer]

I love the beacon. Its the best money I have spent on 3d printer gear for some time. I'm using it on my Voron 2.4 and its just as accurate as the TAP probe while being far faster, lighter and more consistent. I am getting the the best bed meshes I have ever had.
One thing that the quick start guide does not cover is that you need to use the ls /dev/serial/by-id command on the pi to get the beacons device ID to add to the klipper config.

[cowboyaa]

I know the video is a bit old, but now that they also have Eddy, which is the same thing but in a different board form factor. I will be getting one of these for my new Sovol Sv08 printer that is arriving next week! I love the speed and consistancy of the bed meshing making adhesion more percise! I cant wait to try it out! Thanks for your great video!

[NiteLynr]

To be honest, the time saving isn't a huge selling point for me as I'm regularly running multi-day prints but I'll quite happily swallow the cost if the accuracy is considerably better. Slowly upgrading my machines to Klipper so reckon I'll give it a shot on one of them. Can't see it being too long before there's a repository of user-designed files for mounting it to at least the more common printers so that'll remove a major hurdle for most people.

[Korvorkian]

I've been waiting for you to get a vid for this since I saw the posts. It looks fantastic and now I really wanna mess with this

[anchormandotnz]

Thanks again for your expertise .. I used you original videos to build my 3 ratrigs and now an upgrade to the Beacon ..

[KoshEFG]

I already have one, but currently sat in the upgrades to do pile.

[troysoon]

I can't wait for the market to open up for competition and introduce more fine tuning and innovation in this style of ABL. Given a little time im certain things will get very interesting.

[TheBillzilla]

A great review, thanks. I ordered one for my new printer last week, I really must get it finished!

[joannascimento]

Another nice video, thank you for taking your time to share your knowledge for a newbie like me! You have been helping me through a lot with 3d printing.

[sabergo]

Quick to scan and easy to setup. I like it.

[hamburgerbuns]

i never thought about doing z tilit in the start g code, seems like a great idea

[superbrain]

Beacon is quite intresting, some other quirks is that it can measure Backlash in the Z axis for adding some software compensation.
wont fix it, but minimize it.

[MCsCreations]

Pretty interesting indeed! Thanks, Michael! 😊
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[stWorldProblemsSolved]

Great to see this review, I was very interested when I saw this was available.

[DWITD]

OMG, I love this. It will eliminate the need to worry about nozzle ooze when using Klicky Probe or Tap. Ordering one to try. Great video Michael, thank you!

[SharkyMoto]

I am running TAP on my Voron, wich has the absolute advantage, that i can change Nozzles AND Bed surfaces, even both at the same time and i never have to readjust for any of it, since the Nozzle is the probe and the offset always stays the same. If tuned correctly once, you have no more guesswork at all.

[backgammonbacon]

These are using off the shelf Texas instruments chips that cost only a couple of dollars, they are even using the suggested layout that comes with the chips documentation. Some chinese companies will come along and properly open source it and sell it for $10 in a couple of months.

[pirobotbeta]

I removed the springs under my Anycubic Mega X print bed two years ago.
Installed jam-nuts to prevent leveling knobs from rotating.
Manually leveled it twice since then after repairs. No leveling mesh.
I fear I am doing something wrong, for I never have leveling issues.

[jemo_hack]

Really cool video, thank you for taking the time for this content, owning the Bambu X1 Carbon, and now the Prusa XL *I preordered before the Bambu, this kind of bed leveling will be game changing if there is adoption. As you mention, the resolution and the time to get to result will improve print times substantially. Now I print functional designs, but those running print farms, saving 3/5 min prep time will be and added benefit. I just ordered to put in on my RailCore 300ZL.

[BenderTheOffender]

A comparison between the Beacon and the much cheaper BigTreeTech Eddy probe would be interesting.