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Matt Thorn
11-18-2008, 07:40 AM
Before deciding to take the plunge and buying an Ultrasound 2.0, I bid on a non-functioning 2003 Vader lightsaber (http://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=714.0) at Yahoo! Auctions Japan, and despite my low bid, I won. The seller seems like a trustworthy guy (412 good reviews, zero bad). He says he bought it used (though it looks to be in great shape), but it didn't function from the start. He says the battery pack worked in another saber. So I have no idea what I will find when I open it up (I just won the auction an hour ago), but I have two questions.

1) If I open it up and there's nothing obviously wrong with the connections or wiring, is there some way to test the board to see if it's functional/fixable?

2) If I do manage to salvage the board, any suggestions on what to do with it? I searched the message board, but couldn't find anything on how to use this kind of 3rd generation board.

I probably should have posted this after I got the saber and opened it up, but I thought I'd risk the flames and toss this out there. I'll post an update and photos when I receive the saber and have opened it up.

And the joke will be on me if I open it up and discover it's already been stripped by an earlier scavenger. ;)

Thanks in advance for help or suggestions.

FenderBender
11-18-2008, 08:38 AM
Im doing a conversion on one of those right now. The switch is near the emitter on this one instead of the clamp. Going to be a pain with the blade holder. When you get it, I would direct connect a battery/speaker source to the inputs on the board to make sure it wasn't a faulty connection in the pins that the battery pack pushes against. If nothing there its a good chance the board is toast (the bad kind, lame...not buttered). If you can get it to work then great, good luck converting it if that is what you are planning to do.

Lord Dottore Matto
11-18-2008, 11:14 PM
as far as what you can do with it...put it in any custom hilt, or convert/customize the vader itself! It is just a standard MR board, just an older generation (unless it happens to be the EL Vader???)

Matt Thorn
11-19-2008, 02:41 AM
Thanks for the replies, and the advice. After saying I searched and found nothing, it occurred to me to search for "2003 Vader". Doh. :p It looks like there's some info to be sifted through that I hadn't known was here.
FenderBender, I'll try the direct connect you suggested. I guess if I had used the leetle grey cells, I could have thought of that myself. ;)
I can't wait to get it. I already ordered everything I need to make an MHS saber (and hoping that my order for the Ultrasound 2.0 will actually be filled in this lifetime), but after looking through the galleries, I've developed a hankering to make something more or less from scratch. Unfortunately, we don't have anything anywhere nearly as well stocked as a Home Depot here in Japan (that I know of), but today I went to the nearest thing we have here in Kyoto and scoured the shelves for potential parts. I didn't find much, but was happy to discover that they had lengths of both 1 1/4" (32mm) and 1 1/2" (38mm) aluminum tube. (Hey, it's a start, right? :cool:)

FenderBender
11-19-2008, 10:30 AM
It is a great start. Since I'm doing one right now, if I run into anything unusual or come up with anything else helpful, I will let you know. Good luck.

grayven
11-19-2008, 07:01 PM
I did one of these. It was a lot easier than I first thought. I use a MPP Blade Socket form the graflex shop ( I don't think Tim sells them yet), and a newer MR sith sound board. Runs on 4 AA.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/robodragonsdf1/StarWars/100_1453.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/robodragonsdf1/StarWars/100_1454.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/robodragonsdf1/StarWars/100_1458.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/robodragonsdf1/StarWars/100_1457.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/robodragonsdf1/StarWars/100_1455.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/robodragonsdf1/StarWars/100_1456.jpg

The Anakin AOTC was definitely a hard chore to convert.

FenderBender
11-19-2008, 08:46 PM
Are you using a different MR battery pack? Why did you go with a newer board, more power?

Matt Thorn
11-19-2008, 09:01 PM
Thanks, grayven. For the moment, I'm planning to do the reverse of what you did, which is to use the 03 Vader board in an original DIY hilt. I don't suppose you happen to have a photo of the original board, do you? Well, either way, I should have the saber in hand within a few days.

On the other hand, I suppose I could fix the saber (assuming it's fixable), do a conversion like grayven did, and auction it here in Japan. There are fans here willing to pay a lot for a good saber (bidding is always fierce when an FX saber appears on Yahoo! Auctions Japan), and as far as I can tell, there is no equivalent of a TCSS, Ultrasabers, or Plecterlabs here in Japan where you can get all the parts you need in one place at reasonable prices. It took me a while just to find online sources for Luxeon LEDs in Japan, and they cost a fortune and only come in white. Even after shipping and handling costs, it's cheaper (and easier) to buy from TCSS and have things shipped to Japan than to track them down and buy them here.

Say, Tim! If you ever want to open a Japanese branch, I'm your man! I can translate the whole site into Japanese, respond to Japanese e-mail, process Japanese orders, etc. :D There's definitely an untapped market here.

grayven
11-19-2008, 09:12 PM
Are you using a different MR battery pack? Why did you go with a newer board, more power?

No I bought it as a as-is saber from Ebay and the board was bad and blade was broken. I allways want to have the bigger DV saber with Lux. I like the switch position.

Matt Thorn
11-20-2008, 01:32 AM
Somebody just put up a functioning (new?) 2003 Dark Vader FX saber on Yahoo! Auctions Japan with a "Buy Now" price of 39,900 yen, or about $419 U.S.. Insane. :rolleyes:

Matt Thorn
11-23-2008, 10:26 AM
Well, I got the saber. I ran out to the nearest big electronics shop and bought a battery pack, speaker, and other odds and ends, and, with low expectations, set about trying to revive the seemingly dead 2003 Vader saber...and it worked! This was my first serious electronics project (not counting an Ultrasabers Darth Maul conversion that simply required me to follow directions), and it was quite a thrill to put the batteries in, flip the switch, and see the saber fire up. :D Now I just need an LED, lens, holder, heatsink, and some kind of blade holder, not to mention a hilt. I'm thinking of using the Vader hilt and making it look a lot less Vader-esque by removing the MPP clamp (which, in this 2003 edition, looks pretty cheesy) and improvising a different emitter.
One thing I'm still not clear on, after searching the forums and looking through the various wiring diagrams, is how precisely to add a charger port. Eventually I'll have the MR FX sound board, 4 AAA battery pack (using 1000 aM NiHM batteries), an LED, speaker, and latching switch. I'd be grateful if someone could fill me in on exactly how to wire the charge port in, or point me in the direction of a wiring diagram I may have overlooked. Thanks in advance.

Lord Dottore Matto
11-23-2008, 02:56 PM
Here you go (straight from Erv's tutorials):

http://www.plecterlabs.com/Media/Doc/RechargePort.jpg

Matt Thorn
11-23-2008, 08:51 PM
Thanks, Lord Dottore Matto.
Oops. The jack I bought (see photos) has only two leads. Judging from Erv's diagram, the all-important switch is placed between two (negative?) leads. Is the jack I purchased unusable?
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=342
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=341

Also, here's a photo of the 2003 Darth Vader board. I'd be grateful if someone could fill in the question marks, particularly since 1) I want to use a different switch than the sliding switch that's there now, and 2) the clash sensor may need to be replaced, since I have yet to get a reaction from it.
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=346

Finally, here are shots of the battery-pack/speaker set-up, of which I'm rather proud. (Remember, this is my first project. ;))
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=344
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=348
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=349

Matt Thorn
11-23-2008, 09:12 PM
Hmm. I just checked the online catalog of the store where I bought the jack, and it looks like this is what I needed instead of the one I bought:
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=347
:rolleyes: