New Ultimate FX vs standard Hasbro sound comparison...

[dexios]

Hey everyone... Here's a link to my sound comparison:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26sdPRyqFc8

The short version is: The Ultimate FX has an econo board in it... :( I'm not spending $35 to tear it apart and be sure, but between the momentary switch and the identical hum/swing/clash sounds, I'm pretty sure its the same... Also, the handles are slightly different in proportions, but not much, and the switch is in a different spot. There's also no easy way to take it apart. I'm going to return it, so please no requests for further tests...

Oh, and the other thing I found out is that my voice sounds really nasal when recorded... :P

Let me know what you think...

[Jay-gon Jinn]

So it sounds the same, but it looks like it supports an led ladder that scrolls....it may still be useful for some to use in a custom saber. Thanks for taking the time to make and post the video, now the rest of us can decide if we want to use them or not.

[Skottsaber]

Yeah they got rid of the blade effects and replaced them with better ones (hoping we can get some current and voltage measurements when somebody else gets one).
I wonder if it will not just be worth it to fork out another $10-15 for an FX board.

[KuroChou]

I wouldn't mind picking one up for the sake of budget scrolling.

[Knighthammer]

well the no flash on boot up is nice.

[Noyl Wendor]

I'm hunting for one of those. I think the sound is the same, but...I wonder what one of those Ultimates would sound like with a better chamber and speaker. I can imagine they would use the same SB, but make the saber and packaging different.
Dexios how many batteries does it take?

[dexios]

It takes 3 AAA's, just like the standard Hasbro...

The blade is much nicer and brighter, but as it was a sound comparison, I didn't initially comment on it; The LED's do ladder up the blade, but they are very separated... There is still a flash-on-clash with the blade, as well... It was also quieter than the standard Hasbro, because the opening for the speaker sound to come out is not as wide. Everything else, sound-wise, was identical.

[cardcollector]

Good review man!

[J-Saber33]

So Ive already opened up the anakin ultimate fx. I dont have a multimeter however and even if I did... I'm not nearly competent enough to make sense of it without teaching myself! However what I will say is that the board looks like a mini force fx board. the forward section of the board has a harness's worth of wires for the blade, only there isnt a harness- ALL of the wires are soldered at the bottom of the board and only hot glued on the top side. I haven't torn it apart completely though, only powered it on with a 3.7 18650 and added a tcss speaker to hear more accurate sound. Btw, the reason the toy speaker isnt as loud is because the magnet is half as big as the 2010 hasbro! Guess that is one way they saved cost...anyway, the tcss speaker was a big help. I have some days off so maybe post some pics if I have time to experiment! Oh, the other interesting thing is the on/off/tryme switch wired to the board...it's tempting to approach this as a board controlled killswitch, but I'd be curious to know if it really power draw or simply shuts off the momentary. We'll probably have to figure out how to bridge/bypass this any use a conventional hard killswitch setup.

[Rhyen Skytracker]

OK, who wants details? It is like a cross between the 2010 econo board and the Hasbro FX board. It has the sounds of the 2010 econo board but has the ramp up/down of the FX board. There are still a couple of issues with it. It still blinks on clash (though not as bad) and with all 5 LED circuits tied together you only get around 400 mA at 3.3 Volts with the standard batteries that come with it. I would not push this board too much over 5 volts or you may fry it. The good news is that you can use the transistor set up to boost the power to the LED and you will have a saber that will have a nice blade, not blink on power up/down, (but wil on clash) and you can change the clash and motion sensor out to have pretty decent detection. Another change is that they have incerased the time out of the saber to 1 minute instead of 30 seconds. The HUGE PLUS side is that you can take it apart and put it back together gutted and have a decent plastic belt hanger.

Well, that is the 10 minutes I spent taking it apart and testing it. I can post pics and more details if anyone is interested.

[cardcollector]

I am wondering.. How are the quality of the hilts? Convert able Maybe? Sure it would be a cheapo quality conversion, but still. An idea.

[Skottsaber]

I wonder if you would be able to replace those transistors with some higher rated ones to retain scrolling but get more current...
Probably not a job everyone could do, but I think it should be workable.

Got any pics of the board?

[Rhyen Skytracker]

No, it is not really convertable. Keep in mind that it is still a cheap plastic toy and you would not be able to secure the blade good enough to make it removable. They look decent at a distance but up close they are still plastic.

[Xanatos1986]

to a early post stating you can put it back togeather, then you can get the board and return it... not that i would but funny.

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

How does it compare dimensionally with the 2010 econo Obi?

[Skottsaber]

Yeah I'm waiting for somebody to post a picture :D

[Rhyen Skytracker]

The blade is a little short and it is a decent brightness in normal mode (not demo mode) but the LEDs are spaced out too far and you can see the gaps in between the LEDs. Here are some pics of the hilt and board.

BTW - These take 3 AA batteries, not AAA batteries (at least the Vader one does) and it is NOT the same board as the 2010 econo but it does have the same sounds as the 2010 econo. If you put this in a custom saber be sure to wire the demo/normal switch in the normal mode, not demo mode.

http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0635.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0635.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0634.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0634.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0633.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0633.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0632.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0632.jpg)

http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0637.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0637.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0639.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0639.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0640.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0640.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0641.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0641.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0642.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0642.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0643.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0643.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0644.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0644.jpg)

[vargose]

whats that smaller board down at the bottom? How much mA do you get with 6v? Looks like 5 sections of LEDs. I wonder if we could use 5 transistors to make a LED-String blade.

[Jedi-Loreen]

I'm guessing that's the pommel cap with the speaker inside it.

[Rhyen Skytracker]

The smaller board close to the speaker is the off/demo/normal switch. You can bypass this board by wiring the common wire to the normal mode wire. I will be putting this board in a saber soon and will make an official tutorial on it then. The wiring diagrams won't change much from the ones with the transistor set up.

[Maurnick]

http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0643.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0643.jpg)

Looks like there's enough room above each led to add your own to get rid of the spacing.

[Noyl Wendor]

So it looks like all they did was strip down an MR board and put the cheapy components on it. Eh, could still use it. I would want to know for sure if the board could take 6v. Not to mention the size looks different, it may fit different (in a hilt) then the cheapy Obi-wan for instance.
I do think some of the transistors on the board could be replaced, make it louder and brighter. But I think you would take some life off the board and possibly the LED that you are using. I'll have to look into that.

[Rhyen Skytracker]

Yes, the board can take 6 volts but I wouldn't push it any past that. I have my saber set up with a 4 AA Akaline battery pack (6 volts) and it has been doing fine. Keep in mind I fried 2 on board transistors and am only using 3 of the 5 LED circuits and am still getting 1100 mA out of the 3 circuits. I will probably not be getting anymore of these or any economy boards to put in sabers since the PC is unlocked and readily available.

[vargose]

How did you fry the 2 transistors? I wonder how much I could get out of 4 or 5? enough to run 1500ma?

[krog7d7]

Anyone have a new wiring diagram for these?

Similar to this thread? http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?10288-2010-Electronic-Lightsaber-w-DVD-Tutorial

[Rhyen Skytracker]

It is similar to that one except that you have to add 2 jumpers and tie the 5 LED circuits together. Here is a video of one I made.

http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011%20Econo%20Ultimate%20Board/th_DSCN0660-1.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011%20Econo%20Ultimate%20Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0660-1.mp4)

[krog7d7]

It is similar to that one except that you have to add 2 jumpers and tie the 5 LED circuits together. Here is a video of one I made.

http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011%20Econo%20Ultimate%20Board/th_DSCN0660-1.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011%20Econo%20Ultimate%20Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0660-1.mp4)

You are a king my friend!! Thanks for the video and pics. I now have a weekend project!!

[Noyl Wendor]

So now its 2 jumpers? Okay cool. Thanks for all the work Rhyen! Very cool to see it in video. Do you think that these new boards have a forward voltage limit like the old ones? Plus am I the only one that sees a striking similarity between this board and the MR boards?
I just stated the obvious...again. :)
Edit: BTW I was just at wally world (aka The Empire) and the stock person told me that they may not be getting any more of the older sabers. Anyone heard anything on that?

[krog7d7]

HI again Rhyen!

I'm more of a tinkerer than an electrician. ;)

In these images.....I need help with the "???" sections. I was able to bridge the 5 LED circuits, do the jumpers you showed in the video.....but I'm unclear on what some of the other wires go to.

Can you take a look at these pics and let me know what to do with the ??? wires?

Additionally, on the 5 LED circuits bridged, I have a red wire coming off that I am assuming goes to + on the LED?

Thanks for any additional help.

5720

[Rhyen Skytracker]

The red and black wires on either side of the switch wires are the power wires coming from the battery pack. The red wire that you have on the bridged LED circuits go to the LED + and the black wire next to it is the LED -. The 2 blue wires next to that one are for your clash sensor.

[krog7d7]

Got it working! Thank you my friend!!

[Rhyen Skytracker]

Good deal. Glad to help.

[junglemoose]

Hi. New to the site, been lurking for a couple days now, and just discovered this board at the store tonight. I'm interested in making a LED string saber, and knew as soon as I saw these two sabers and their ramp up/down that the board could be used for my intended purpose. I've still got a long way to go and much to learn in terms of figuring out exactly what I'll need to do regarding how to wire the LED strings to the board, getting the correct resistance for LED strings, etc, but I do have some other questions that I'm hoping you can answer, since this is a brand new board.

Say I wanted to wire a recharge port and accent LED's (2 max for lighting crystals in a crystal chamber) into the hilt. Would one of the diagrams on this thread http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?10288-2010-Electronic-Lightsaber-w-DVD-Tutorial be useful to me?

Like I said, I've got a lot to learn about saber building and was hesitant to even post so soon after deciding to undertake a project, but I've found very little info on this board, and there seems to be relatively little info on LED string blades as compared to those using P4s or Lux-style LEDs. Most in the LED string forums are Makoto showing of his (phenomenal) blades. If I've looked over some info pertinent to me, or neglected the search function in some way, I'm very sorry, as this is not my first forum and I know the rules of DIY forums. Any info you may return would be appreciated to no end.

-Moose

[Rhyen Skytracker]

Those wiring diagrams will show you how to wire up recharge ports and accent LEDs. There is also a tutorial either here or at FX-Sabers on how to make string blades.

I did get another board to test and was able to get 1300 mA with a 4AAA akaline battery pack. You should be able to get even more mA with a 4 NiMH battery pack.

[junglemoose]

Ahh, thanks, I'll go find that.

[krog7d7]

@Rhyen,

I've got my saber "mostly" completed. I'll post pics once I put the finishing touches on it.

I couldn't find a thread about this.....but specifically for these boards....and possibly others.....is there anyway to get the speaker sound level upped a bit? Is there anything that can be done? Or is it simply getting a better speaker?

Do you find yours to be a little on the low side?

Thanks!

[KuroChou]

You might try using an op-amp. Look for tuts on "minty-boost" style altoids-tin amplifiers.

[dexios]

That's not cool, man. Stealing soundboards (even econo boards from Walmart) gives us all a bad name.

[Xanatos1986]

I was kidding, I only use PC now

[jvidamins]

The red and black wires on either side of the switch wires are the power wires coming from the battery pack. The red wire that you have on the bridged LED circuits go to the LED + and the black wire next to it is the LED -. The 2 blue wires next to that one are for your clash sensor.

Does this setup still need the PNP transistor like the 2010 econo board? Also, is it recommended to replace the board's swing and clash sensors with ones from the TCSS store? Lastly, if you're running a 7.2V setup, do you need the 5V voltage regulator?

[Rhyen Skytracker]

With the correct power solution you can just tie all the LED circuits together and not have to use the PNP transistor. I would recommend using 4 AA for this solution. You will get the most power output from them.

[jvidamins]

Well... I already purchased two Li-Ion 3.7V 18650 2600mAh batteries (w/PCB) - one for each of my two sabers I'm getting ready to build. I'm guessing these will also work without using the PNP transistor then, I just won't get as bright of a blade or as long of a run time, right? Since I'm wiring both up with a recharge port and I'll only be using them to play with my kids, I'm not so concerned with run time. But how less bright will the blade be vs. the 4 AA Ni-MH solution?

Also, I'll still need the resistor between the board and the LED, right?

[Rhyen Skytracker]

You should still get good results with the 18650 Li-Ion.

[jvidamins]

Sweet! Thanks Rhyen! On another thread you replied that there was a tutorial somewhere with these new boards. I've been scouring this place and the only thing I can find is your threads/pics/video. Was the tutorial on this forum?

[jvidamins]

Ok, I just finished swapping out all the wires and adding the clash sensor (which was mounted on the blade of the toy) to the 2011 Ultimate FX board . I'm now to the point of swapping out the swing sensor. Looking at the pictures I've added, you'll see there are what seem to be 2 swing sensor mounting locations, one for the Vader saber and one for the Anakin saber. This card was from the Anakin so the Vader is empty. I was going to try intalling 2 swing sensors perpendicular to each other on a strip board and wire that to the soundboard (as suggested by Skottsaber for the 2010 Obi-wan econo board), but it seems you might be able to just mount one to the Vader side and one to the Anakin side. I'm admittedly a noob when it comes to sabers and circuitry, but it seems like it's at least a possibility. Anyone more experienced care to chime in?

Also, I noticed that there are 3 holes, but only 2 wires one the swing sensor from TCSS. How would one even wire in the TCSS swing sensor? I've labeled them 1, 2 & 3 so someone can easily just tell us which ones would go where.

62466247

[jvidamins]

****UPDATE - disregard this entire post!!!!! I've fried two of these boards and, though im still trying to figure out why, im thinking it migh have been wiring both swing sensors. However, I just bought my third and it has a completely different board in it, which I'll post about later, so none of this will matter anyway. It only has on place for a swing sensor.

To anyone who may be following this... after some testing, I've answered my own questions. What I found was that you can indeed use both the Vader and Anakin swing sensor sides simultaneously!!! Also, the #'s 1 and 3 holes are on the same trace, so you only need to use one of them. The other leg of the swing sensor goes in the # 2 hole. I'm going to mount the swing sensors on the opposite side the stock one was mounted on so I can keep the one side of the board flat and mount it on top of my single cell 1865 li-ion battery, which should fit very nicely in my 1 1/4" sink tube hilt. It looks like the orientation to make them is Anakin=parallel to long side of board and Vader=perpendicular to long side of board. I'll post pictures when I have them mounted up.

Ok, here's how it turned out:
6253

[cleanermc]

Thank you that you have Postet these Pics. Now i know much more and know how to get it in my Self made Saber ^^ thanks Jvidamins
6254

But maybe you can say me what the marked ones in the Picture are?
The rest i know from the Video and your Pics.
Thanks Sascha

[jvidamins]

Thank you that you have Postet these Pics. Now i know much more and know how to get it in my Self made Saber ^^ thanks Jvidamins
6254

But maybe you can say me what the marked ones in the Picture are?
The rest i know from the Video and your Pics.
Thanks Sascha

The wires you have labeled "Power +/-" are the speaker wires. The ones you labeled "Speaker" are in fact the switch wires. The "What is that?" at the lower left hand corner is the Battery - (notice the B- on the board). Lastly, the other "And what is that?" at the top middle is the Battery +. Hope that helps.

[jvidamins]

Before anyone follows my wiring instructions, you'd better read about the problems I'm having after I plugged in my Tenergy Li-Ion charger... you can find it here: http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?13806-Sound-problem-on-2011-Ultimate-FX-sound-card&p=206492#post206492

Haven't figured out why my swing and clash sounds have stopped. Will let you know when I do.

[Freakzilla6942]

OK so i am buying a staff from Ultrasaber and was thinking of getting a pair of hasbro sabers to rape for the sound and other features. even if i buy 2 new ones thats only 60 bucks vs 90 for 1 of their obsideon sound boards muck less two. my questions would be can i fit the sound system/electronics in their MHS hilts and how hard would it be to incorporate the hasbro electronics in with their stuff. Asked them and of course they said they wouldn't work but with 180 or better riding on the answer I'm inclined to be skeptical. I'm fairly good with electronics although lately either my soldering iron or me has been working poorly so might have a buddy do my soldering but still want some guidance
thank you for your time

[Jay-gon Jinn]

If you have the tools, you can fit any soundboard in just about any hilt. Seeing as the Ultrasabers staff is a direct copy of the ORIGINAL MHS parts sold in the store attached to this forum, I'd have to say that those boards will fit just fine, seeing as people install them in their MHS sabers here almost everyday.

[Freakzilla6942]

If you have the tools, you can fit any soundboard in just about any hilt. Seeing as the Ultrasabers staff is a direct copy of the ORIGINAL MHS parts sold in the store attached to this forum, I'd have to say that those boards will fit just fine, seeing as people install them in their MHS sabers here almost everyday.

Thanks for the reply. That is what i figured. Gonna go ahead and get their cheapest MHS staff and just leave the sound out for now. Might go ahead and get the fx ones and play around a bit with them then after my 90 days is up if i haven't broken anything go ahead and try my hand and adding the sound to the staff from the fx sabers. Is there a big difference in boards and should i spring for the new versions or are some of the older versions better? Sorry to ask so many questions but with my budget every dollar counts but then again I don't want to go half-a$$ on it either.

I know the ones i was playing with in Wal-mart had the swing and clash sensors but didn't notice if they flashed on clash. how hard is that to do?
and should i worry about that while i'm tinkering or take it one step at a time?

Like i said i'm pretty good with electronics. the laptop i'm on i rebuilt without any prior laptop repair experiance (been fixing computers for years but laptops are a different animal) after watching a video on how to do it once. same for my digital camera and many other gadgets over the years. my only hesitation is alot of precision soldering. a new iron is on my to do list but still last time i soldered regularly was in highschool building those walkman EQ/Amps kits they used to sell so i could sell them for a nice profit. well for a kid anyway LOL

[Jay-gon Jinn]

honestly if you haven't bought the staff already., I'd look through the shop here and see what you can put together yourself. might save yourself some money that way.

As far as the sound boards go, the newest ones from the Ultimate FX's seem to be pretty decent. I personally haven't used one yet, but there are a few others that have. They do not do Flash on Clash by themselves, you'd need some extra electronics for that.

[Freakzilla6942]

honestly if you haven't bought the staff already., I'd look through the shop here and see what you can put together yourself. might save yourself some money that way.

As far as the sound boards go, the newest ones from the Ultimate FX's seem to be pretty decent. I personally haven't used one yet, but there are a few others that have. They do not do Flash on Clash by themselves, you'd need some extra electronics for that.

My thinking was along the lines of getting one premade and playing around a bit with it before i tinkered. also I figured it would be easier to ADD sound to their setup instead of building from scratch. might just do some comparison shopping and see. maybe look up a good how to video on building a saber and see if i think i could manage it.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

In my experience, it's always easier to build from scratch. That way you don't end up trying to fit everything you want into a hilt that may not have been designed for it. You also don't have to spend the time taking it apart before you rebuild it. There's plenty of tutorials here in the "A to Z Build Threads" section, and I personally know a guy on youtube that has a how to video series on his youtube channel.

[Freakzilla6942]

In my experience, it's always easier to build from scratch. That way you don't end up trying to fit everything you want into a hilt that may not have been designed for it. You also don't have to spend the time taking it apart before you rebuild it. There's plenty of tutorials here in the "A to Z Build Threads" section, and I personally know a guy on youtube that has a how to video series on his youtube channel.

Ok i'll try and look them up. My only other reason for shoping ultrasaber is i love some of their hilts especially the dark versions. might still get my hilt parts from them if i choose to build from scratch

p.s. nevermind just found the powdercoat section. geek hard-on in progess LMAO

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Ok i'll try and look them up. My only other reason for shoping ultrasaber is i love some of their hilts especially the dark versions. might still get my hilt parts from them if i choose to build from scratch

p.s. nevermind just found the powdercoat section. geek hard-on in progess LMAOHave you seen the MHS builder yet? http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/mhsbuilder/mhsbuilder.php

[Freakzilla6942]

Have you seen the MHS builder yet? http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/mhsbuilder/mhsbuilder.php

Yeah so far with the powder coating just the hilt is running 160+ lol and that is not for a staff either lol yeah just threw a staff together and looking at almost 400 already. that doesn't include electronics

[jvidamins]

I posted this in one of my own threads, but thought it should definitely be here, since this seems to be the best "Ultimate FX" thread. I think Hasbro just changed the boards in these sabers. I bought a Vader version about a week ago, and then another just 2 days ago. The one I bought 2 days ago is completely different than the previous 2 I purchased. Here are a couple pics showing the difference between the two:

(Old board on top, new on bottom)
6278 6279

It's much narrower than the old one, but I'm not sure how we'd wire up the LED wires since there are no holes to solder wires into. I think I'm going to take this back and try to find one of the older ones. Has anyone used one of the newer ones yet?

[justletmepostable]

@jvidamins
i have not seen this set up in any of the ufx's i bought 3 days ago. only in the luke one actually just not the vader and anakin.

[jvidamins]

@jvidamins
i have not seen this set up in any of the ufx's i bought 3 days ago. only in the luke one actually just not the vader and anakin.

I took it back and bought 3 other Vaders and they were all the old style, too. Not sure what the deal is with the one mounted to the blade???

[justletmepostable]

@jvidamins
you probably should have kept it. it could have been a rare mess up because i whent out and got another luke saber and it had the anakin one (swing sensor was on the anakin side) i still have the weird one trying to figure it out. my electronics and spelling abillety is not the best but i know enough to help.

[Noyl Wendor]

:) As usual late to the party. I was thinking, for the swing sensor contacts. Could it be possible to attach one end of one sensor to the end of another? Then use the contacts from both sides of the board? (anakin and vader?) for that matter 4 contacts on the board, 3 (4?) swing sensors? All oriented in seperate directions.
I did my first one of these a while back (sidetracked by PC awsomeness:)) now I'm back to a Vader board I have, been looking at this thread again, pleased to see the new updates:)
I will say, this board (for me) has been a sort of pain in the rear ;)

[justletmepostable]

i honestly have no idea but try it out and tell us how it turns out

[jvidamins]

:) As usual late to the party. I was thinking, for the swing sensor contacts. Could it be possible to attach one end of one sensor to the end of another? Then use the contacts from both sides of the board? (anakin and vader?) for that matter 4 contacts on the board, 3 (4?) swing sensors? All oriented in seperate directions.
I did my first one of these a while back (sidetracked by PC awsomeness:)) now I'm back to a Vader board I have, been looking at this thread again, pleased to see the new updates:)
I will say, this board (for me) has been a sort of pain in the rear ;)

Ya... so I wouldn't try that if I were you. Fried 2 boards and I think that was the cause. Take a look at the thread I started about it.... http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?13806-Sound-problem-on-2011-Ultimate-FX-sound-card

[rogue9607]

Just to add another data point. I picked up a Luke Ultimate FX yesterday and it has the in-blade style soundboard.

As a side note, it looks like the top ring of the emitter is attached with a metal pin/rivet. Is there any way to remove this short of drilling it out?

[Freedan_Nadd]

Have you made that tutorial yet?? I have kinda seen one, I am trying to put the soundcard/blade from the 2011 D.V ANH ( I think?? Its the one that the blade is soldered to the board?) Anyways, I think that if I can figure out a GUARANTEED bypass I would b a happy camper!! Any help would b appreciated!

[Ashiva]

Ok I know the thread is a little old, but I had a question and felt asking it in this thread was better then making a new thread. In regards to that sound board, would a Green Rebel star work in it if you used 4 AA set up with the 5 LED's bridged and still get a decent blade out of it or would I need to add a transistor to get a better glow? I ask cause it would make my life much easier to add sound the first time, as I don't wanna ruin a PC being they're so expensive for one, and I'm still learning how to solder decently. I plan on switching out the clash and swing sensors definately, as well as the speaker with those sold in the shop, but wanted to make sure whether I would/wouldn't need to get a tip42 to add to make the blade brighter.\

Edit: Also, a question on the bridging the LEDs.. (Kinda dumb on this).. Do you solder the LED connections together from the backside of the board? I think that's what it looks like everyone has done, but I wanna be sure as it would be my first time actually bridging connections.

[Knight_Stgar]

well...I seem to be one of the unlucky ones.after having all kinds of fun trying to get my windu working, I decided to crack my ultimate FX, and give that board a shot. Of course, its one of the ones that's soldered directly to the led ladder thingy. managed to un-solder the ladder...but I'm completely baffled by this thing now.

http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt196/Ugluvak/Mobile%20Uploads/th_IMG_0900.jpg (http://s611.photobucket.com/albums/tt196/Ugluvak/Mobile%20Uploads/?action=view&current=IMG_0900.jpg)

[Ashiva]

Depending on if you had just bought it or not and what type, I woulda said return it and get another one.. Seems that the anakin and the vaders are more likely the other sound board.. If it was a luke, it might be that kind.. And on rare occassions, the vaders and anakin ones would probably have that kind.. I would say buy one, unscrew it and pry it open without taking it apart.. You should be able to see inside enough to know whether it's the board you need, or a different board.. Then just return it and get another one, say something like your kid wanted the other color and you got the wrong one. when I go to buy one to rip open for the sound board (Which will be soon enough) I'mma make sure it's the board I need before I completely tear it apart.

[pezzer75]

I could be wrong, because I don't have one to test my theory with, but it looks like the essentially the same set up, you would connect 1 though 5 for negative and VSS would be your positive. I would verify with a multimeter to be sure before wiring up a led to it. A and B would be the clash sensor.
As for bridging on board, or bundling the wires together, its really personal preference. To me on board looks cleaner and less clutter to deal with.

[theblackcomet]

Well, this is my first time writing in the forum and I think I can help Knight_Stgar a little with the new board. I am basing my findings off of the old board as it is very similar in regards to wiring. I have not tested the new boards, but I believe that my assumptions are correct. As for the end that originally attached to the blade/led ladder, the 1,2,3,4,5 should be the corresponding led circuits that were seen in the older boards and treated as "+" The VSS should be treated as negative. The A and B should be the for the clash sensor. Therefore, you would need to make a pretty crazy looking solder bridge, or any type of bridge really between the 1,2,3,4,5 and use the diagram posted earlier with the exception of the charging port. I am still wary about using one with this board and will stick with AA or AAA batteries until I can really test out the ultimate FX boards. I hope this helps, as I am currently working on my own ultimate FX board(the older one)

[mrknify]

i just got the new vader one, the main board is now attached to the leds with the clash sensor mounted to the led pcd, not the main board, but the led (as previously said) is mounted directly to the main board, i will be making a "video" of it dissassembled and you tube it (themrknify) i am a novice when it comes to electronics, but i enderstand all the principles (and don't have a multimeter.) I'm up for wiring assistance, but i will attempt all on my own and hopefully make "walkthrough" of my success or folly.

so this is my middle of reading this topic post... lol back to reading. (bought the saber 2 weeks ago on sale at toys"r"us in Edmonton.




The blade is a little short and it is a decent brightness in normal mode (not demo mode) but the LEDs are spaced out too far and you can see the gaps in between the LEDs. Here are some pics of the hilt and board.

BTW - These take 3 AA batteries, not AAA batteries (at least the Vader one does) and it is NOT the same board as the 2010 econo but it does have the same sounds as the 2010 econo. If you put this in a custom saber be sure to wire the demo/normal switch in the normal mode, not demo mode.

http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0635.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0635.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0634.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0634.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0633.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0633.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0632.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0632.jpg)

http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0637.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0637.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0639.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0639.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0640.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0640.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0641.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0641.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0642.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0642.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0643.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0643.jpg)http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/th_DSCN0644.jpg (http://s416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/wadeh13/Tutorials/2011 Econo Ultimate Board/?action=view&current=DSCN0644.jpg)

[mrknify]

ok updated my boring speach with pictures on tube-you... http://youtu.be/cfYzl158of4

[DemonBunnyman]

need more close ups on the wiring i have one of these boards and plan to wire this weekend.

[mrknify]

Ok, I just finished swapping out all the wires and adding the clash sensor (which was mounted on the blade of the toy) to the 2011 Ultimate FX board . I'm now to the point of swapping out the swing sensor. Looking at the pictures I've added, you'll see there are what seem to be 2 swing sensor mounting locations, one for the Vader saber and one for the Anakin saber. This card was from the Anakin so the Vader is empty. I was going to try intalling 2 swing sensors perpendicular to each other on a strip board and wire that to the soundboard (as suggested by Skottsaber for the 2010 Obi-wan econo board), but it seems you might be able to just mount one to the Vader side and one to the Anakin side. I'm admittedly a noob when it comes to sabers and circuitry, but it seems like it's at least a possibility. Anyone more experienced care to chime in?

Also, I noticed that there are 3 holes, but only 2 wires one the swing sensor from TCSS. How would one even wire in the TCSS swing sensor? I've labeled them 1, 2 & 3 so someone can easily just tell us which ones would go where.

62466247

ok its a mirror, looks like they attach the swing to either side yo get vader or ani, swings setup as its the same pattern for their sensor.

as for the tcss sensor, not sure if its clash or swing mut one i have has 3 leads on it.

[mrknify]

I posted this in one of my own threads, but thought it should definitely be here, since this seems to be the best "Ultimate FX" thread. I think Hasbro just changed the boards in these sabers. I bought a Vader version about a week ago, and then another just 2 days ago. The one I bought 2 days ago is completely different than the previous 2 I purchased. Here are a couple pics showing the difference between the two:

(Old board on top, new on bottom)
6278 6279

It's much narrower than the old one, but I'm not sure how we'd wire up the LED wires since there are no holes to solder wires into. I think I'm going to take this back and try to find one of the older ones. Has anyone used one of the newer ones yet?

yes i've been working on this (im going through old posts) i'm looking for the switch bypass (demo mode sucks) i've got a nice pic with my saber pics of the board removed from the blade, and pins attached to the end, the blade spot i found it easy to just solder on the wires, but rith now i'm looking into mounting a clip on it for testing.

[mrknify]

7321

I had the same board, I have all the information on it as best as i could do, you should be able to wire it up the same as the other econo boards, led's speakers, battery, pnp, momentary.

hope this helps.