Extend/Retract without a driver board..

[ThreeQuadFive]

Hi all..

I'm contemplating going to a LED system vs a EL system for my second saber I'm going to be building, and I've been trying to research all of the driver boards, and such before hand. Problem is, they are a bit expensive and somewhat hard to come by at the moment, so I was thinking of trying to go for the whole extend/retract thing without the need for a special board.

Truthfully I don't care all that much about the flashing and clashing and sounds though they would be added bonuses. I figured for my second saber I'd just use a hasbro sound board with a secondary switch when I wanted it or do something along those lines...

So I guess..I've read through some FAQ's, did some searches and read other posts, but I'm still not clear on how to do the ramp up/down with just a LED, a resistor or two, etc...so..is it possible?

Or, should I just wait for the Corbin drivers to come into stock?
Are there any decent ones around that don't break the bank? Is it possible to ramp up and down using just a standard Luxeon 3watt driver and a resistor or something?

[xwingband]

The proper ramping is controlled by a driver. You can't get it by anything simpler. You're going to have to settle for a plain resistor or wait for a driver to come back in stock.

[ThreeQuadFive]

So whats the cheapest driver available these days?
Is it the Joe Jedi one from that Master FX saber?
I read a thread where its available via radioshack for like 35 bucks but didn't find one.

I just can't fathom shelling out more than like 20-30 bucks for the driver as my wife would kill me, and then i'd have to become one with the force.

[Darth Leximus]

Never tried this personally but couldn't he use a pot dial across the battery leads and manually ramp it up and down?? I know its not ideal but I'm pretty sure it would work

[Master Dru-Er]

I would suggest an MR board to drive the LED. If you dont want to spend $50. My first saber has an mr board driving it and when you turn it on the LED has like a 2 stage process of powering on. It goes--> Off-->Activation On---> like 70%-75% LED on-->100%. This all happens within a second. My GF swears she can't see it but it totally does it! And reverse for Deactivation. This is from my first saber i haven't built another yet.


http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=40698067
The second time the camera doesn't adjust quickly enough and you can see it on deactivation.

[ThreeQuadFive]

Any idea where I can get a MR board? I was checking ebay and such and didn't come across any.

[recif77]

I agree with you Darth Leximus.
I think this would be the cheapest way to ramp up/down "electronically".But i saw an other way to do it.
It consists of a steel ball the diameter of which has to be the closest possible of the internal diameter of the blade. At the tip of the blade, instead of a semi-reflective film or a mirror, you put a flat magnet.
That way, when the ball is at the bottom of the blade and you power on your saber nothing happens because the ball prevents the light to go into the blade. Then tilt your saber to make the ball go fix to the magnet and you get the ramp up effect. Forcefully bring the hilt down into the palm of your hand to free the ball and you get the ramp down effect. It's that simple!
The problem with this system is that you can't really use your saber for battle, only for show off because the ball would easily detach from the magnet during a clash of the blades. Anyway, if you want to see the system in action just go here:
http://www.lasersaber.com/SaberGrow.wmv

[ThreeQuadFive]

Very interesting, and it does seem to work.

I however would like the option of doing battle, and would rather shy away from cheesy gimicks :)

I guess I'd rather go for an MR board or something.
Hey, I saw a mace windu one on ebay, but somehow it doesn't look complete?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mace-Windu-Star-Wars-FX-Lightsaber-sound-board_W0QQitemZ180274894300QQihZ008QQcategoryZ9997 1QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Darth Leximus]

Thats a nifty little trick recif thanks for the link

[swear000]

I think that variable blade length has some interesting applications not limited to the plastic tube. Let's say that you created a strong magnetic field that pushed the steel ball upwards towards a given height. Then you managed to keep the ball at that height regardless of which direction the saber was pointed along an x,y, and z axis. Now generate plasma or electricity between the levitating ball and the source of the magnetic field. The magnetic field could act to contain the energy within a column....hrm.......

[Darth Leximus]

Swear you need to get that workin buddy, when you do I'll buy 3 at least!

[ThreeQuadFive]

Hey folks, I just had a thought....


The first saber I built was one of those campy plasma sabers. I bought the kit from high-tech magic online way back when, and basically its a plasma blade (amazingly sturdy enough for dueling), but the coolest part was that you could turn it on and off with either a switch, or a touch plate (and thus could make the blade manually extend and retract)...

I wonder...anyone familiar with these, and would it work to power a LED if one were to use the touch plate as the 'driver' ?

Heres a link to a place that sells them still:
http://www.amazing1.com/plasma_fire_saber.htm

[swear000]

If I come across noteworthy concepts or ideas, I will try to share them. I do want to be sure to give recif77 credit for helping me think in a new direction. I was originally thinking of a plasma gas ignited with a spark gap but this requires a high driving voltage. The magnetic field concept may require less voltage but I'll have to see. I know that a lot of people are interested in achieving a workable concept but there are still limits to overcome in existing technology.

Anyway, I didn't want to thread hijack so I would have to agree that a trim pot would probably the cheapest and easiest way to vary the intensity of the LED thus creating a ramping effect.

Keep brainstorming and discussing and maybe someday we can achieve the dream.

[xwingband]

Jeez, I thought we left all the crack-pot ideas for the "new technology" forum... ball bearings = dangerous. Magnets to control it is even more unrealistic.

Please keep it on target or move the discussion.

A pot is doable. That's what Corbin and many of the early starters used before Corbin made his driver. Cheap but lame as ever. Who wants to have to play with a dial or slide?

[Novastar]

Seems plenty on-topic. "Extend/Retract without the driver". I think Marsupial posted something demonstrating this some time ago too.

Granted, like all things... this idea has advantages and disadvantages.
Just like CF is great... except for the cost (and non-mass-marketing)
Resistors are cheap... but offer no effects (duh), and no constant current driving (duh)
MRFX boards are great... but once converted to "Lux LED" or whatever... they lose the extend/retract feature

I say the idea isn't so much "crackpot"-ish... but just has a few more disadvantages rather than advantages.

[xwingband]

I say the idea isn't so much "crackpot"-ish... but just has a few more disadvantages rather than advantages.

I was reffering to the off-topic posts about plasma sabers and using magnets and other such non-sense.

[recif77]

Xwing, I agree with you that dueling with a blade containing a steel ball would be really dangerous, but as I said in my post, for a show off blade I think the magnet+ball should do the job quite nicely avoiding the use of a pot; don't you?
And a plasma blade is Sci-fi for now.

[ThreeQuadFive]

I feel dumb for asking...but what exactly is a 'pot' (aside from the thing some doobies smoke, and aside from the kind which is usually cast iron and contains delicious contents).

[swear000]

pot is short for potentiometer. It allows variable control of voltage. Simple example is a dimmer switch where you go can turn a knob to dim the lights.

[ThreeQuadFive]

Ahhh, thank you :)

Now I know, and knowing is half the battle!


Jeeeeediiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Joooooeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah!

[ThreeQuadFive]

Ok, so I've deteremined what I'll use for the next Saber: LED!

So the question now remains

1 - Get a general LED kit and later get a driver

2 - Get a general LED kit AND a driver

3 - Get a general LED kit, a buck puck, and later a driver

...

Personally I'd like to go with the LED and later get a driver when they are available and potentially a little less in $$. I'd like to get a buck puck though since they are better on batteries. What i'd like to do, is use the EL wiring I have now, and run it along with the LED (how easy this is, I dunno). The EL would be used for saber accents and thus I wouldn't have to waste it :) That way I can just use all of the blade materials I have now for the LED! The new blade is 42'' so I guess thats at least a Lux III if not a V right?

The other thing I have is a hasbro board..so I guess I'd need to know how to wire it all.

Potentially the wiring would be like:

|led|-wires-switch-buckpuck---------batteries----sound|
Somewhere in the saber too, probably near the emitter or down around the handle, I'd have the EL..so what's the best way to power that? Two battery packs? One rechargable with the recharge slot?

For the Hasbro board, doesn't it require a momentary switch vs the latching? Any way to overcome that?

Thoughts?