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curtainguy
11-26-2005, 06:52 PM
i was in my local wal*mart store and i discovered that the light and sound sabers by hasbro are sold cheaper in a different package, its in a plastic sleave but it still ahs the sound and lights but only cost $8.00, i just thought id share my find.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/vader.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/maul_saber3_small.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/dooku.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/sidious.jpg

informalmyx
11-26-2005, 07:16 PM
i saw that so are they the same ones with sound like the 20 dollar ones

<center>http://home.earthlink.net/~myxmyth/infomyx.jpg
"Many claim to have found serenity, and through serenity to have overcome anger. Such arrogance is astounding."</center>

Mi Gin Gonn
11-26-2005, 09:45 PM
I snagged up a few of those. They'll be located in the toy deptartment on a main walkway in a plain cardboard display stand, not on the shelves.

If it's the same Wallyworld display I saw, it'll be full of Obi Wan's and non-character-specific Sith ones. Get the Sith ones, they sound a <font color="red">hell</font id="red"> of lot better & have both clash and swing sensors in them [^]. The Obi Wan's have that cheap kids toy static-y sound to them.

Here's a question about incorporating one of those into an existing saber. Suppose I want to use it just for sound & NOT run my LED from it, is this possible? Am I correct in guessing that I would need to run a relay from two of my AAA's to the soundcard so it wouldn't be competing for power with the LED? The reason I ask is I don't want my blade making that flashing effect every time it hits something, ugghhh...I cringe at the very thought of it. Cringe like nails on a chalkboard while chewing aluminum foil at the same time cringe. (if that made the hair on the back of anyone's neck stand up, sorry)

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

curtainguy
11-27-2005, 05:04 PM
i think they are cheaper because they are not character specific and arent in the cool box. thast all i can see, $22.00 difference, it seems unusaul.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/vader.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/maul_saber3_small.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/dooku.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/sidious.jpg

Mi Gin Gonn
11-27-2005, 06:39 PM
Well the Sith one isn't character-specific, but the Obi-Wan is, it looks like his AOTC saber. That is unless the Wallyworld in your town was only selling the Sith ones or ran out of Obi altogether (they were selling pretty quick here). I bought one of each & noticed such a huge sound difference that I turned the car around & exchanged Obi for another Sith one. [:D] Obi sounds like a kid's walkie-talkie, Sith almost sounds as good as a MRFX.

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

curtainguy
11-27-2005, 06:45 PM
i bought 2 sith and one blue non specific, or at least as far as i could tell, but now that you mention it, it has some characteristics of the obi from aotc. it is totaly true that yhe sith sounds alot better than the obi, .....my local wally world has three cases of the sabers on the floor, did yours have the purple windu esq. saber?

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/vader.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/maul_saber3_small.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/dooku.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/sidious.jpg

Mi Gin Gonn
11-27-2005, 08:38 PM
nope, no mace's. bummer. do those sound ok?


"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

curtainguy
11-28-2005, 09:33 AM
mine didnt have maces either, i was asking you if yours did?

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/vader.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/maul_saber3_small.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/dooku.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/sidious.jpg

LAN-ED-TUL
11-28-2005, 10:36 AM
ijust checked 2 different wally worlds, no dice. not a single one of those 8 dollar sabers around. and the 20 dollar ones were few. i couldnt even find another anakin color change one.

GeluKhanGharr
11-28-2005, 01:55 PM
I posted something like this last night, but it didn't go through, so here we go again. I have about 35 Hasbros - I don't think I am missing any model. The boards are different from generation to generation and have gotten better over time.

Old (1995) Luke - crappy sound, motion, flash on clash. The clash sensor is ridiculously large - NOT a good board for custom hilts
Anakin AOTC - crappy sound, no motion, flash
Anakin ROTS - great sound, no motion, no flash, color change(2 switcheable outputs, but the switch is board mounted and a hell to install, so the switcheable outputs "feature" is virtually useless. Still, a good board for customs
Yoda training - crappy all the way - yoda talk switch, low volume, crappy sound, flash, no motion, break really fast
Obi ROTS - great sound, no motion, flash on clash, but also the motor output - good to use with Corbin's C&L feature
Obi AOTC - the old models and the new, repackaged 8 dollar ones - I found them to be the same. Crappy sound, no motion, but NO FLASH on clash.
Old Vader ROTJ - The best board in my opinion - great sounds, motion sensor, no flash on clash. Almost impossible to find, except packaged with the helmet at $50
Windu/Dooku/QGonn/generic - all use the same board - great sound, motion sensor, but they all have that stupid flashing on clash.
Stay away from the "build-your-own". My son broke 2 in one week. He's yet to break any of the other ones, so it's not him. They just up and quit.

I hope this helps

Born of Sith, seduced by the light side.

suit_man
11-28-2005, 03:31 PM
yes, the build your own lightsaber kits are horrible. a friend and i went together and bought one to check it out. it was on long enough to test all the sounds and colors, but it quit working soon after. no dueling or anything, it just died.

i am a nerd, if you don't like it, i will cut you with my lightsaber

Mi Gin Gonn
11-28-2005, 07:27 PM
Since I'm planning on not running my LED from the Hasbro board at all, I don't think the flashing will be a problem. If it comes down to it, I'll deal with having two switches on my saber rather than having that cheesy flash.

Good call on old Luke ROTJ, that chip sounded so bad I don't know why they put it in there at all. It sounded worse than an Yanni record.

No, Wal-Fart didn't have Mace Windu.

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

tetmatek
11-28-2005, 09:41 PM
I think removing the Hasbro clash sensor and adding the MR clash sensor would stop the clash flash. kind of defeats the idea of building less expensive sabers with sound though. i think the springy thing that senses shorts the light for the flash. just a thought. It would be nice to be able to flash a chip; with your own sound; like an atmel chip or some sort of mp3 board. it could resolve several issues and create a New thing altogether.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

GeluKhanGharr
11-28-2005, 11:00 PM
tetmatec, it's not the sensor, it is on the board. I don't know enough electronics to point it out, but I removed a clash sensor and just touched the wires for a fraction of a second. The clash sound came on and the light flashed for a whole second or more - way past the time I actually made the connection.
My local Malwart only sells the crappy Obi AOTC and the generic (reversed hilt colors Qui-Gon Jinn) with red or green "blade" in that $8 bin as well.
Another thing - I discovered that if you change the momentary switch on the Hasbro to a push on/push off or slider(continuous on) switch, the contraption turns off at the first clash. So, it needs to be momentary. I've heard there are some spring loaded slider switches out there that combine a momentary and a permanent connection switch. Still looking.
Tim, any help there?

Born of Sith, seduced by the light side.

Mi Gin Gonn
11-28-2005, 11:01 PM
i really want to just let the soundcard mooch enough power from two of my AAA's to run it & not have anything to do with the rest of the circuit. From my experimenting so far I don't think this is gonna work...in fact, I'm starting to doubt if even a relay will solve the problem. I'm waiting to hear back from a few knowledgable people on the subject. when i find something out i'll post it here (hey Tim, if you read this crap any time soon....any ideas? other than, "just buy a force fx & get it over with, dumbass" ?) i'm almost to that point, though [:D]. for what i've ended up paying for two home-built LED sabers, I could have bought two fx's by now.

GeluKhanGharr, is this the one you were talking about?
http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-Vader-Graflex-Style-Lightsaber-ROTJ-New-in-Box_W0QQitemZ6583635157QQcategoryZ99971QQssPageNam eZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem




"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

GeluKhanGharr
11-28-2005, 11:44 PM
Mi, yes, that's it.
So, you alluded to running the power from 2 of your AAAs. I've been toying with the ideea for a while. You say it doesn't work?
Did you try this:
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/power%20453.jpg


Of course, you still need to add your resistor and switch for the LED. The light output from the board you can leave dangling or add another hiltside mounted LED for effect.
Born of Sith, seduced by the light side.

Mi Gin Gonn
11-29-2005, 11:47 AM
that would work for powering the board, the problem is it's still part of the circuit & would make that flash. i found out the led doesn't even have to be hooked up to the soundcard at all, if the soundcard is running off the same battery pack by it'll make the led flash[:(]. i have a solution, Corbin[8D][8D][8D]Das was kind enough to email it to me on this, as soon as I have his ok to share the info I'll post it.

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

tetmatek
11-29-2005, 05:37 PM
i used this switch in my first hasbro conversion and it is momentasry and works great. it is just a bit hard to mount.
http://img281.imageshack.us/img281/6637/switch26yv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img281.imageshack.us/img281/8960/switch14ky.jpg

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Enzerumo
11-29-2005, 09:27 PM
the motion and clash driver for Luke's Rotj rerelease
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b398/Enzerumo/motionclash.jpg

curtainguy
12-01-2005, 07:16 PM
i just saw something very funny, people are paying 40.00 a pop for sound modules from hasbro sabers on ebay, the guy selling them is a pure genious, bt the people buying them should do some research first.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/vader.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/maul_saber3_small.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/dooku.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b121/curtainguy04/sidious.jpg

tetmatek
12-01-2005, 08:37 PM
yea i saw it too and the guy wouldn't even answer my questions.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Mi Gin Gonn
12-01-2005, 09:23 PM
Allright, Corbin gave me the OK to share his info with you guys, I figured best to ask him first. So here it is,
HOW TO MAKE A HASBRO SOUND CARD WORK WITHOUT THAT CHEEZY CLASH FLASHING:

<font color="purple">To run two circuits from the same button, just get a Double Pole
Double Throw button, or a DPDT. It has two isolated circuits attached
to it so you could run the LED driver on one side and the sound module on the other. That's assuming the sound module you're using has a
momentary on/off button and not a latching one. If it has a latching
one, you'd still use a DPDT momentary for the driver, you'd just hook
up a latching relay on the DPDT switch, then connect the sound
module's wires to the relay.</font id="purple">

I'm gonna retrofit my sabers this way. This info came word-for-word from the ever-helpful Corbin Das. Thanks bro!

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

GeluKhanGharr
12-02-2005, 03:28 AM
Mi Gin Gonn,

I've tried the diagram for 2 switches I've showed you and it works perfectly. I guess my problem is the reverse of yours. I have one circuit that needs a momentary switch - the sound card - and one that needs a latching switch - the LED running straight off the battery with a resistor. Any suggestions?

Edit: Never mind, the answer was right in front of me, in your post. Now I need to figure out what a latching relay is. Not sure, but doesn't an additional relay use mucho power?

Born of Sith, seduced by the light side.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

Mi Gin Gonn
12-02-2005, 05:21 PM
I could totally be mistaken here, but I think the purpose of the latching relay is to act as a middleman between the sound card's momentary switch (or switch wires) and the DPDT switch, allowing you to keep a locking button for your resistor/LED side of the circuit. To be 100% sure, Corbin would be the man to ask since I got my info from him in the first place. But if it has a momentary switch like the Hasbro cards do, then you don't even need the latching relay. I don't know how much more battery juice a latching relay would eat up, but running a soundcard/LED setup is gonna burn through some power no matter what you do[xx(]. Especially if you're using AAA's like I am.



"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

Protein5000
12-03-2005, 04:43 AM
Hi Guys. Just wanna say I think this is an awasome site and I'm on it a least an hour a day. It's helping heaps of people make their childhood fantasies a reality.

Has anyone seen the soundboards on eBay available from Ultra Sabers ready to install into custom hilts? Was wondering if anyone has tried them and what they think.

Good job fellas

Mi Gin Gonn
12-03-2005, 09:00 AM
I have that exact same one. the ones you're seeing on eBay are ripped from Hasbro kids' lightsabers. they're on special at Wal Mart for 8 bucks now if you can find the right display. Ultra himself posted this over on the LED Q and A's board at theforce.net, but he's obviously smart enough not to state this in his eBay ads.

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

Protein5000
12-04-2005, 01:10 AM
Crikey! I thought he made them himself. I'm from Australia so the range of toy sabers is kinda limited here.

I someone wrote that different models of the Hasbro sabers have better sound and motions sensors and stuff. Are the ones he's selling the better sound boards from the better saber models?

Thanks for your help

Mi Gin Gonn
12-04-2005, 10:28 AM
yeah, I have that exact one & it sounds great. we're trying to figure out a way to incorporate it into a saber without the "blinking blade" effect when it hits something. but yeah, the sound is almost as good as a Force FX saber [:)]

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

Protein5000
12-05-2005, 05:01 AM
Yeah? Awsome.....

The Ultra Sabers guy says you can hook it up to a EL saber without the blinking blade effect. But I suppose you wouldn't have the same problem with the EL as you would with the LED - I think?? (I'm not very good with electronics)

But I might have to get one though.

xwingband
12-05-2005, 04:19 PM
Whew! If you think this place is neat you need to visit ASAP (a site about props). You can get to it through www.dewbackwing.com and click on prop board. You have to register but it's worth it. Styrdur, Corbin, Ultra Sabers, Hyperdyne, Saberology, etc... all post there. You could spend days there. Most of the current saber building ideas have been pounded out there.

Corbin at the moment is working with Hasbro sound boards I believe. As are others.

Mi Gin Gonn
12-05-2005, 10:04 PM
xwingband-what thread/board over there did you find info on led sabers? i couldn't find any that Strydur & our pals from the LED Q and A board post on there. [?][?][?][?][?][?][?][?][?][?][:(]

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

xwingband
12-05-2005, 10:51 PM
Of course there's LED stuff. Are you sure you went to the prop board? (The roleplaying board has nothing to do with sabers) Styrdur posts under the handle "CustomSaberShop".

Just so there's no chance to mess it up here's the url of the prop board and lightsaber blade forum: http://p082.ezboard.com/fpropreplicasfrm73 Again you may have to register to view it.

The Lightsaber Blade forum is a treasure trove of stuff. The Hardware saber section would also be of interest to people here.

GeluKhanGharr
12-06-2005, 11:12 AM
Personal opinion: The sound on the Hasbros - the best of them - is great on power-up, power-down and humm. The clash sounds are crappy on all of them.

Born of Sith, seduced by the light side.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

Mi Gin Gonn
12-07-2005, 10:01 PM
thanks Xwing, found it. holy crap is that a lot of info to sort thru! who needs a library, lol?

i second that motion that soundcard clash sounds suck. even on the force fx. plus they all have the same "episode IV" power-up sound. how about a ROTJ power-up? c'mon MR get it together already!

i'm about to give up on soundcards altogether, & buy a $100 Boss sampler off eBay. Then I'll just sample my own damn saber sounds onto it & have somebody be a live foley artist while we duke it out with the LED sabers. run it thru the 'ol P.A. system, and voila![^] plus it'll be loud as s*%#!!


"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

Protein5000
12-08-2005, 12:20 AM
What's a Boss sampler? Ive got a music producer mate - maybe he could put sounds on it if it is what I think it is.

Thanks

Mi Gin Gonn
12-08-2005, 08:26 PM
well, Boss isn't the only company that makes them, but here's an example:
ebay item # 7372033903
it's the same kind of sampler you'd use for yeah, hip hop or industrial music or whatever. this particular model usually sells right around $100 and is pretty well made from what i hear. some other companies that make them are Roland (which is actually Boss' parent company I think), Akai, Korg, Yamaha, etc. some of them get pretty friggin' expensive.

the cool thing is you can sample whatever saber sounds you want onto one, you're not limited to the few stock sounds that come on Force FX/Hasbro sound modules. hell, you could even use the Jay & silent bob bongsaber sounds if you could find them. but for regular sabers, just download the ones on theforce.net's post-production part of the website & sample. you then have whatever sounds you want at the push of a button & it's totally portable. you may have to edit the sounds to trim off silence at the beginnings of them, otherwise you'll get a delay when hitting the corresponding button. something as simple as Windows soundrecorder will work, or you can get full-on Sound Forge or Pro Tools with it too.

my main reason for wanting to use this method is VOLUME[:0]. a sampler can be run into a rehearsal p.a., a full-sized nightclub setup, a car stereo, etc. much louder than any tiny 8-ohm 1" speaker can ever hope to be. the drawback, obviously, is that someone has to play "live foley artist," but i think it's worth the occasional inconsistency. with a little choreography you can do some pretty cool stuff too[8D][8D][8D]

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

GeluKhanGharr
12-09-2005, 04:38 AM
Hey Mi-Gin-Gonn,

How big is this thing? Could it be made portable? Not inside the hilt, but hanging from one's belt? If you can, and wire it up to the clash sensor and the gyro, you can say you're a jedi of ancient times, when the saber needed a belt attached power pack. That'd be cool!

Born of Sith, seduced by the light side.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

Ministrydur
12-09-2005, 09:41 AM
HeHe New sig[:D]I like the MR sounds probably the best just because i have my Anakin MR and it sounds pretty cool.[8D]

<font color="red">Ministrydur</font id="red">
<font color="blue">Son of Strydur</font id="blue">
<font color="purple">Jedi of the rebellion</font id="purple">

tetmatek
12-09-2005, 12:50 PM
I Have talked to a guy and given him my requirements for a sound module. it will be basically a chip that has been flashed with the saber sounds and the motion sensor randomly access the movement sounds and when the clash sensor is activated a nother set of sounds for clasing will be activated. hopefully i will be able to provide software so you can have a bongsaber if that is your desire or make it say "ouch" or a scream when clashed. this kind of thing is already available for other hobbies so why not this one. I'll keep everybody posted of progress. who knows how long it will take. i'm hoping it can be based on somthing that is already out there.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

xwingband
12-09-2005, 02:32 PM
I checked that auction out and a sampler is pretty much what I thought it would be. It's not inside the hilt. You'd have to have a wireless sensor in the hilt and have it go to the sampler. Too much work in summary... You might as well go for hyperdyne labs' wireless saber module. It costs a pretty penny but it is bluetooth (great range) and can be made to work with an external speaker/PA system.

I look forward to what you come up with tetmatek. I don't mind the hasbro sounds but I've never bothered with sound just because I didn't want to spare the room and extra power.

Mi Gin Gonn
12-09-2005, 11:35 PM
yeah, trying to make it wireless would be too much damn trouble, and probably would wind up being just as pricey as hyperdyne's anyway. theoretically you could wear one on your belt, and do your own sounds as you go. that sucks, tho, because then you gotta hold your saber with one hand. unless you do it like GeluKhanGharr was suggesting, but i have no idea how one would wire a clash sensor to a sampler button to set off a sound, good gosh, that's way outta my league. i'm not planning on doing any wireless or belt-attached stuff, just "choreographed on the fly" kinda stuff, letting a third person do the button-pushing.

tekmatek-cool sounding chip, sign me up for one when the R&D is done in a couple years, lol.[;)] how much does it cost to have something like that custom boarded? i'm curious to know how much a prototype runs, you know, with setup fees and all that a manufacturer probably would charge. (btw, i just wanna know for my own curiosity's sake, i have no interest in building these things myself professionally, i'll leave that to the guys who are really good at it).

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

xwingband
12-10-2005, 06:50 AM
Getting a custom sound board would probably be more about the sounds hardwired into the chip. I imagine that the per chip it wouldn't be bad but you have to buy in HUGE volume to get it cheap enough for any company to do a run. That's another reason MR and Hasbro have a leg up because they have the capital to do large run that make it cheaper.

tetmatek
12-10-2005, 09:25 AM
i'm hoping with rhe size of MP3 players getting smaller and they are being made by everybody under the sun sombody should be able to help. it would be cool to be able to put custom sounds on saber. For now i am going to try to hook this digital recorder to a corbin driver and see what happens. it will be very limited though. i guess i will be moving at baby step speed. it looks like a hasbro board with a record button
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/9753/img01794hz.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/8876/img01806hq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Model nuilders and robotic builders have this stuff available pretty cheap considering what it cost for a hyperdyne unit. if this works with corbins driver it will be a step in the right direction at least. As soon as i recieve the driver i'll get to work and keep u posted.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Mi Gin Gonn
12-10-2005, 09:26 AM
wouldn't it be nice if we knew what company in China or wherever manufactures MR's sound cards for them & we could just buy direct?[:D]
tekmatek-that looks pretty sweet. you can sample whatever sound onto it that you want?
"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

tetmatek
12-10-2005, 10:00 AM
Yes you get 20 seconds worth in this one. It is a... Radio Shack 20 second sound recording Module. They have them for 10.00. Like i said its a start. i am trying to find MR manufacturer. All the foreign companies will sell to just about anybody and it is not exclusive technology.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Mi Gin Gonn
12-11-2005, 09:57 AM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by tetmatek

hopefully i will be able to provide software so you can have a bongsaber if that is your desire or make it say "ouch" or a scream when clashed.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
That just made me think, it'd be funny as hell to have a saber with an extra button on the hilt that would make the famous "Wilhelm" scream when pressed. Good for delivering a fatal shot to your dueling opponent[:D]

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

tetmatek
12-11-2005, 01:52 PM
i think the second switch might be cool. It could be hooked up to the MR speaker which is louder than the stock one. It also doubles as the mic for recording.It will fit in the tube with the MR board and will give an on demand sound that can be changed with the record button. it will give limitless choices. might be a cool option till a real sound module could be worked up.so i guess one switch and two buttons would need to be installed.Maybe the folks that make this make the one for hasbro.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

scaarmor
12-19-2005, 04:05 PM
I found this posted earlier by MI GIN,
"HOW TO MAKE A HASBRO SOUND CARD WORK WITHOUT THAT CHEEZY CLASH FLASHING:

To run two circuits from the same button, just get a Double Pole
Double Throw button, or a DPDT. It has two isolated circuits attached
to it so you could run the LED driver on one side and the sound module on the other. That's assuming the sound module you're using has a
momentary on/off button and not a latching one. If it has a latching
one, you'd still use a DPDT momentary for the driver, you'd just hook
up a latching relay on the DPDT switch, then connect the sound
module's wires to the relay."

My question is- On the hasbros with the momentary switch, the momentary button itself is pressed to initiate the power. Does this have to be wired so that the hasbro button is pressed or does wiring it to the DPDT switch override the need to press the hasbro button?

More defined-I have the old Vader ROTS hasbro. It has 2 negative wires, 1 positive wire, 2 yellow wires(for impact senser), 2 white wires(for motion senser) and 2 blue wires for the speaker. Do I need a driver(such as Corbin's) or can they be wired into the Battery/resiter/switch/led assembly with a DPDT switch? And how do I get passed the fact that the momentary switch itself needs to be pressed?

Sorry for my insesent questioning...

Cain

vadeblade
12-20-2005, 03:59 PM
What are the exact dimensions of the Hasbro circuit board?

scaarmor
12-20-2005, 06:45 PM
The board itself is 2"x 1", motion sensor is 1/2" dia.,clash sensor is 3/4" squared, and the speaker is just under 1 1/2". I was thinking of gluing them in such a way as to minimize the amount of space they took up together and mounting them to a plastic shaft of sorts (with speaker on bottom) to raise the assembly up enough for a proper echo chamber-like 1 1/2" to the speaker from the end cap. I was also wondering if there was a better mini speaker on the market and do I solder leads onto the board to wire the momentary switch to the DPDT switch?

Cain

vadeblade
12-21-2005, 10:45 AM
Thanks, Scaarmor. So the circuit boards are not that big, good news for me. The speaker maybe a little big though. I'm thinking those Hasbro speakers are probably not very good quality anyway.

I was thinking maybe micro speakers like this
http://www.regalusa.com/new_micro_speaker_line.html

maybe if I can find a broken cell phone with a speakerphone function, I can gut it and use that speaker. While I'm at it, I may as well yank the vibration motor.

Lightsaber Warning Label: "CAUTION: Do NOT attempt to sharpen blade." http://www.geocities.com/projectstm/lightsaber.html

Mi Gin Gonn
12-21-2005, 11:57 AM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by scaarmor

My question is- On the hasbros with the momentary switch, the momentary button itself is pressed to initiate the power. Does this have to be wired so that the hasbro button is pressed or does wiring it to the DPDT switch override the need to press the hasbro button?

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

i think you just chop the wires off the Hasbro's momentary switch & solder them to the DPDT switch opposite the side where you're wiring up your luxeon. HOWEVER i haven't tried this yet, so don't quote me on that[8D]

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

GeluKhanGharr
12-21-2005, 01:03 PM
Hasbros come in different shapes and sizes. Believe me, I've tried them all. On the Obi ep2 style, if you wire the switch to a latching kind rather than the momentary, the board turns off at the first clash. But you don't need to wire this one to a DPDT because the board doesn't cause that flash. The actual sounds are crappy, though, on this board. On the $8 generic sith, that problem is not there, however, wiring to a latching switch works well only when you turn it on, but when you turn it off, the lights go out and the sound stays on. This is the board that does flash. Next time you activate it, the sound turns off and the lights turn on. That doesn't work either. What you need is to use a momentary switch and run your LED through a latching impulse relay. A latching impulse relay effectively turns a momentary switch into a latching kind.
Vincent, it sounds like you are going for the Obi ep3 board. It is larger than the one scaarmor is using. The changing colors Anakin is the largest, then Yoda training, then Obi ep3, then old Vaders and Lukes(btw - the 95 version of Luke has a horrible clash sensor), then the $8 sith/Jinn with the bad sound Obi ep2 being the smallest. There is a trade-off in everything.

Born of Sith, seduced by the light.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

scaarmor
12-21-2005, 02:06 PM
Hello, everyone I am enjoying the help.

Vadeblade, I looked at those mini speakers and it looks like they say they can handle "up to 1 watt of peak power"- that seems no good as the Hasbro speaker I have says 8 ohm 25watt, could be wrong though.

Mi Gin Gonn, That was part of my question-The momentary switch is on the board not wired to it. I think if I solder some leads onto the board to the momentary switch I would be able to then wire it to the main switch. The momentary switch on the board is just a rubber button that has conductive material on the back and, when pressed, momentarily crosses two strips of the board(the two strips I would solder to) which in theory should wire it to a DPDT switch and still do the same thing the momentary switch does.

GeluKhanGharr, My Vader board does have the flash so maybe its not the older one you spoke of. However it is identicle to the one packaged with the Vader helm and cotsume with a product date of 96-02 so I thought it was the old one, dont realy know now.

I am currently getting help from Ultra on this, so with all the help I should have it working soon...

Thank you,
Cain

tetmatek
12-21-2005, 07:41 PM
The Best Hasbro I have Heard Is the Old Anakin where the switch is where the covertec clip should be. it does not have the switch on the board but they are probably long gone by now.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

GeluKhanGharr
12-21-2005, 07:48 PM
I stand corrected, I haven't seen them all. I am sorry I pointed you in the wrong direction scaarmor. I have only take appart 2 vaders that I bought one at Target and the other at a yard sale. Neider of them was flashing and the sound was closer than MRs than hasbros. For instance, on clash it didn't do that stupid short static sound, it was a longer pshhhhhh. The whosh on swing was there and the power-up, power-down sounded like the $8 sith, meaning it sounded well. So i guess they package different boards in the same vader casing. Now I have a question for you - was this an LED saber? Mine looked like they were addapted for 3 LEDs instead of the original bulb.

Tetmatec, I have one of those and it sounds terrible and it eats up batteries like crazy. Maybe it's just broken.

Born of Sith, seduced by the light.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

tetmatek
12-21-2005, 08:00 PM
Mine actuall sounded like crap at first too but i think it was do to the hasbro hilt. It ate up batteries too. I used a MR speaker (having an actual case around it made it sound better).All the crap reasons are why i tried it first and my kids said it was crap and would'nt play with it. so it was easily gotton for the cause. I wish there were some of those $8 units in Va. Do the vaders have the board mounted switch. And can it me moved off of it for a more conventional style switch?

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

scaarmor
12-22-2005, 03:30 AM
Actually Gelu, you did not point me in the wrong direction. The sounds you seem to be describing are all there so no appoligy needed, it just has the flash on clash and board mounted button. All of which I should be able to compensate for. I can solder leads to the board and run them to a momentary switch and if I dont like the flash I can eliminate it.

To answer your question, mine seems to be a bulb not led. I first bought the obi version (thinking that was what you said to be the best) which I found out when I got home and re-read your post was a mistake. It had 3 leds but this vader has a bulb. It does have good sound though, so you did save me a lot of experimantion time, not to mention money! Since yours did not have flash on clash let me say that mine seems to have a very fast flash that I think might look good. It has 2 flashes, if it is a light hit it flashes once, if it is heavy it has a few flashes but as I said they are quick. All in all it does almost mymic a quick blade lock up that I think I might like. The only problem I saw was that the speaker was 1) not vented to let the sound out properly and 2) the speaker was not very loud. I found that both of these could be fixed by putting it in a different hilt that had a 1"- 1 1/2" echo chamber. Which made it louder and have no distortion.

Still saying hats off to you,
Cain

scaarmor
01-05-2006, 02:01 AM
I have some new (maybe old, couldnt find it elswhere) news on sound. I used the Hasbro Vader ROTS model, hot glued all the componants to create a sound unit- with speaker flat on bottom, control board glued to outter rim of speaker standing upright, and motion and clash to control unit. Anyway, it had three power wires- one short ground, one long ground, and one long positive. The long ground isnt needed- I cut it short and put a drop of glue at the tip to keep it from touching anything. The short ground and the long positive get tied into the battery pack. It had an "on the board" momentary, I found empty lead holes for it on the board so I soldered leads to it and glued over the board switch so it didnt get crossed. I mounted the momentary switch just above my LED switch. I had very little room so I had to get a 4AA battery holder that held them all at the same level virsus the two on top and bottom pack ( I might try to see if a 4AAA holer is smaller). After I got it all hooked up I put it back together and fired it up...FLIPIN AWESOME!!! I gave it a small echo chamber to make it louder as it sounded like crap in the hasbro, and let me tell you it sounds GREAT and is staggeringly loud, maybe up to a third to half louder than an FX. And somewhere in the mix a very cool thing happened- the hasbro had flash on clash- after hooking it up this way it somehow naturally lost the flash all together! All I can say is WOW! I never thought a hasbro could sound this good. The only gripe I have is the motion sensor. It works great it just seems that it has a recorded swing sound that must finish playing before it will sense another swing-so instead of the WHOOSH-WHOOSH I get a WHOOSH----WHOOSH, know what I mean? That aside I actually prefer IT over my FX Anikin...

Sorry for my needless rambling, but I thought this might be helpful.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

GeluKhanGharr
01-05-2006, 04:56 AM
The negative you cut was supposed to be the negative for the LED. The advantage of using it would have been the ability to start both light and sound with a single touch of a button. The disadvantage of using it was having the flash on clash. But I understand you have separate switches for sound and LED. If I got that wrong and you're still running off of a single momentary switch, PLEASE, tell us how you wired it up.

Born of Sith, seduced by the light.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

scaarmor
01-05-2006, 09:38 AM
Yup, you got it right. Thank you for the info on the short ground... Might have to try that on my other one (have two only put sound in one last night). I was actually kinda bummed, I was curious to see the flash on clash to see if I liked it or not. Guess I can wire the other for flash and compare.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

dbraxton9
01-05-2006, 10:09 AM
is there a similar toy or novelty on the market that makes comparable sounds? also, how difficult is it to remove the sound cards from the hasbro sabers without damaging them? my friend has one of those build-your-own sabers that everyone here says to avoid. I see why. It sounds like CB radio static and bears no resemblance to a sound effect at all. I doubt it would survive disassembly.
I'm 32 and don't have kids so I'm a bit out of it when it comes to toys, but it seems like this sound feature would be found on many toys like musical instruments and those annoying halloween/christmas decorations that sing and talk. one more question, how does the motion sensor work? Someone suggested a mercury switch but i know they would never approve that for a child's toy.

scaarmor
01-05-2006, 12:01 PM
Actually the Build Your Own will survive disassembly- I used one to experiment on. And you can get the hasbro componants out fairly easily. They use a drop of glue here and there, it acts almost like stout hot glue in the sense that it will stretch and snap if pulled. I just found those little glue spots, scraped them off with a razor blade and slide the componants out. If you pry them without scraping the glue they can break. The motion sensor I have is the little round style with the little tangs on the sides. It works (from what I can see) with a little ball inside that when moved makes contact and begins the sound. If you have these, do not mount them with the tangs horizontal-i.e. both tangs on top or bottom! If you do, when combined with the resination of the speaker and such the freakin thing never stops- its just an endless series of WHOOSHs. But mounted with the tangs vertical it works just fine.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

Protein5000
01-05-2006, 10:25 PM
Do you mount the motion and clash sensors to the inside of the hilt with glue or double sided tape of something? I'd assume leaving them loose in the hilt wouldn't work too well.

scaarmor
01-06-2006, 01:53 AM
I just mounted the speaker, board, motion and clash all together in a tight little unit with hot glue. I dont know if thats how others do it but it worked pretty well for me. Here is a quick rendering--
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/scaarmor/Hasbromountrendering.jpg

NOTE: I would also advise (if done this way) to cover the assembly with something-maybe like a little baggy or something, because it can short if connection hit the sides of the tube...

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

Protein5000
01-06-2006, 02:17 AM
Ahah, very good.
Thanks mate, I'll give it a go when I get my Hasbro.
Get this - I bought one off eBay and the seller charged $15 for delivery to Australia and it's gonna take 6 to 8 weeks! Crikey I'm annoyed.

LAN-ED-TUL
01-06-2006, 03:47 AM
i made a holder out of an old trophy column. hollowed it out to slide the card on the inside of it and mounted the motion and clash sensor to one end of the wooden trophy column. speaker wires go out on one end to bottom of tube and the other wires, switch, power, ground, led wires come out on other end. works absolutely great. and no arcing out worries.

UltraSWG
01-06-2006, 06:21 AM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Protein5000

Ahah, very good.
Thanks mate, I'll give it a go when I get my Hasbro.
Get this - I bought one off eBay and the seller charged $15 for delivery to Australia and it's gonna take 6 to 8 weeks! Crikey I'm annoyed.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

That wasn't me, was it? I ship by USPS Airmail and it usually get's there in 6-10 days.

http://www.ultrasabers.com
Corbin|Strydur|Ultra
The Holy Luxeon Trinity

dbraxton9
01-06-2006, 10:29 AM
Old Vader ROTJ - The best board in my opinion - great sounds, motion sensor, no flash on clash. Almost impossible to find, except packaged with the helmet at $50



the local walmart is having a hard time unloading its leftover Star Wars christmas inventory (LOTR is more popular around here). They have several of the Vader helmet, saber and voice changer package for $22. I don't need anything but the helmet for a costume, is the sound module in the included saber the one people are after? I will let it go for the cost of shipping if anyone wants it.

GeluKhanGharr
01-06-2006, 01:24 PM
dbraxton9
you should use quotes when you quote someone else [;)]

Anyway, I said that right after that combo came out, a few good months back. In the meantime several things have happened - I discovered they are putting out different versions of that saber. Also they are packaging the helmet with 2 kinds of sabers - one that has all those sounds and one that doesn't. I believe the $22 deal is for the one with no sounds.

Born of Sith, seduced by the light.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

dbraxton9
01-06-2006, 03:02 PM
sorry about the quotes, i thought it did that automatically.

it does not have the sounds now that i look closer at it, sorry about the false alarm. these will surely be $10 soon, they have many many of them and I thought I might be of help. oh well!

Protein5000
01-06-2006, 08:44 PM
Ultra, Na that wasn't you. I was looking for your sound boards and havn't seen any for a while so I just bought a generic sith one and the seller got cheap on shipping I think.

Sorry to be annoying everyone, but I searched all related posts for the last 20 mins and can't find the answer.

Ultra - On the EL sounds thread Tim shows us how to hook the sound board up with the voltage reducer to take the 9v battery down to 4.5v for the sound board. I think I read on another forum - maybe jedi council - that you said your sound boards work fine and don't burn out when running it on 9v without the voltage reducer. I'm sorry but I couldn't find your original post and needed some confirmation before I burn this boards out.

Again, sorry if this question has already been answered.

zack
01-07-2006, 01:38 AM
The Fx sabers have all the sound and motion sensors. has any one tride to look for maybe a broken one on ebay? some of them have all working parts but for the light in the blade. you could take the sound and sensors out and put them in your saber... would this work? and do fx sound system, sound ok?

UltraSWG
01-07-2006, 01:52 AM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Protein5000

Ultra, Na that wasn't you. I was looking for your sound boards and havn't seen any for a while so I just bought a generic sith one and the seller got cheap on shipping I think.

Sorry to be annoying everyone, but I searched all related posts for the last 20 mins and can't find the answer.

Ultra - On the EL sounds thread Tim shows us how to hook the sound board up with the voltage reducer to take the 9v battery down to 4.5v for the sound board. I think I read on another forum - maybe jedi council - that you said your sound boards work fine and don't burn out when running it on 9v without the voltage reducer. I'm sorry but I couldn't find your original post and needed some confirmation before I burn this boards out.

Again, sorry if this question has already been answered.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I would reccomend you use the voltage reducer. While people have used the board hooked up drectly to a 9 volt with no problems, it wasn't designed to handle it.

http://www.ultrasabers.com
Corbin|Strydur|Ultra
The Holy Luxeon Trinity

Protein5000
01-07-2006, 05:42 AM
No worries, thanks Ultra! [;)]

TorLinWaDur
01-08-2006, 03:29 PM
ive been reading, and im a bit slow and confused.

I pruchased an Hasbro Eletronic Lightsaber the other day.
How dose one hook it up to the eletronic system that i have?
i am not very skilled with the electronic portion, so a little help could be worth more. ive seen Tim's picture, should i just follow that?

I was also thinking about installing the little montion sensor in and the other component inside a film containers, you know thos black rounded plastic tubes with the grey top for camera film. Has anyone have any idea or input about installing the speaker too?

thanks for reading.

- TorLinWaDur
http://www.geocities.com/dbleswordfighter
http://www.myspace.com/lintodur

scaarmor
01-09-2006, 12:30 AM
I dont know what pic of Tims your refering to, but here is how I hooked up mine and it works great. The only thing you should know is that hooked up this way, if your Hasbro has flash on clash, your saber will have flash as well. I didnt mind as I kinda like the flash (guess its just a matter of personal preference really).
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/scaarmor/HasbroMSpaintdiagram.jpg


Also, I read your post and thought your idea of using a camera film tube might just work and be the thing I needed to make sure my Hasbro boards didnt short out. So I constructed one (hope you dont mind and if anyone asks me about it you will get the credit[:D]). It worked perfectly! I used the clear ones because thats all I had, and I think the clear ones might be a little stronger (not really sure). I drilled a good size hole in the top to run the wires through, notched what used to be the top cap with a groove to run my speaker wires in, hot glued my speaker to the cap, and hot glued a little "pull" wire to the camera tube so I had something to pull on when I remove it. The other componants fit great in the tube and the speaker/cap pop on and off, in case I need to get back in there. The whole thing slides in and out of the hilt with room to spare. I want to say thank you for the wonderful idea and I hope I have not over stepped my bounds by making one.?.


Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

TorLinWaDur
01-09-2006, 06:04 AM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by scaarmor

I dont know what pic of Tims your refering to, but here is how I hooked up mine and it works great. The only thing you should know is that hooked up this way, if your Hasbro has flash on clash, your saber will have flash as well. I didnt mind as I kinda like the flash (guess its just a matter of personal preference really).
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/scaarmor/HasbroMSpaintdiagram.jpg


Also, I read your post and thought your idea of using a camera film tube might just work and be the thing I needed to make sure my Hasbro boards didnt short out. So I constructed one (hope you dont mind and if anyone asks me about it you will get the credit[:D]). It worked perfectly! I used the clear ones because thats all I had, and I think the clear ones might be a little stronger (not really sure). I drilled a good size hole in the top to run the wires through, notched what used to be the top cap with a groove to run my speaker wires in, hot glued my speaker to the cap, and hot glued a little "pull" wire to the camera tube so I had something to pull on when I remove it. The other componants fit great in the tube and the speaker/cap pop on and off, in case I need to get back in there. The whole thing slides in and out of the hilt with room to spare. I want to say thank you for the wonderful idea and I hope I have not over stepped my bounds by making one.?.


Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Hi everyone,

scaaromor,

I wish the image is a bit bigger, when you have time can you enlarage it just a little bit more.

The image I was refering to is this one ( I hope there is no trouble in copying it to show ).

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/torlinwadur/CSS/soundwiring.jpg

now as far as the film camera tube, I don't think u were stepping out of bound, i have placed the idea out on the table, so someone that has more expereince in building things can go first before me trying it. I should like to name it though. to "TeeTubeSoundingSystem". Id like to see a picture of it.

Hey Tim maybe you can offer this pattern. lol

- TorLinWaDur
http://www.geocities.com/dbleswordfighter
http://www.myspace.com/lintodur

GeluKhanGharr
01-09-2006, 12:44 PM
TorLin,

With the set-up you've shown you will need a separate latching switch to your inverter, otherwise it will be on as soon as you hook up your battery. My suggestion is to cut the ground wire to the inverter and use the "negative lead to LED" to feed negative to the inverter. That way the sound and inverter start up simultaneously with the push of the momentary switch. I have originally tried that using a relay to bridge the gap, but that used too much power and it drained the battery in 3 minutes flat. I discovered you don't need a relay if you don't go higher than 9 volts.

Born of Sith, seduced by the light.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

scaarmor
01-09-2006, 03:18 PM
I thought that image of Tims for an El setup? I dont know if you have El or LED but the diagram I showed was for LED, and it connects it all to one momentary switch.

Here is the pic of the camera tube sound unit, sorry for the fuzzyness-
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/scaarmor/Cameratubesoundside.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/scaarmor/Cameratubesoundguts.jpg
Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

TorLinWaDur
01-09-2006, 06:11 PM
I have an EL hilt.
9V to Invetor to Mono Jack set up.

- TorLinWaDur
http://www.geocities.com/dbleswordfighter
http://www.myspace.com/lintodur

Protein5000
01-09-2006, 06:51 PM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by GeluKhanGharr

TorLin,

With the set-up you've shown you will need a separate latching switch to your inverter, otherwise it will be on as soon as you hook up your battery. My suggestion is to cut the ground wire to the inverter and use the "negative lead to LED" to feed negative to the inverter. That way the sound and inverter start up simultaneously with the push of the momentary switch. I have originally tried that using a relay to bridge the gap, but that used too much power and it drained the battery in 3 minutes flat. I discovered you don't need a relay if you don't go higher than 9 volts.

Born of Sith, seduced by the light.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">



Hi, I'm no good at electronics either - do you think you could please post a small diagram of what you mean? Thankyou heaps for your trouble.

scaarmor
01-09-2006, 09:40 PM
I saw that someone put in awhile ago (sorry cant remember who) that if the hasbro board has a resistor built in you dont need to put in another for the LED. I would like to take out my LED resistor to save room if I dont need it. But I dont know if my board has a resistor or not. I have included a pic, the 2 little blue deals say "220(little backward u symbol)f10v", and the one that looks like a mini car fuse says "1A125v" are one of these thigs the resistor or do I not have one?

Again, sorry for the fuzz and size (i cant seem to figure out how to size them down).(EDIT: Thanx X-wing this size is much better.)
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/scaarmor/MyHasbroboard.jpg

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

xwingband
01-09-2006, 09:58 PM
I can tell you're using photobucket from the images url. So, click on edit above the pic and then resize is the first option. You will lose quality though. If you want a true resize and you have a photo program double the resolution (pixels/in) with resampling disabled.

<center>http://www.dewbackwing.com/dewbacks/files/pinupbanner.jpg
www.dewbackwing.com</center>

Jonitus
01-09-2006, 10:54 PM
No resistor in that picture. The blue parts you are looking at are the capacitors, and they are rated at 220 microfarads. You will need a resistor on the positive line to your LED.

When you turn the power on and the saber "ramps up" the capacitors are charging and sending increasing voltage to the LED. When you turn the power off and the saber "ramps down" the capacitors are dischraging, the voltage is getting reduced, and the LED dims until it goes out.

...how will you know the light unless you have seen the dark? How will you know the good unless you have flirted with the evil?

desertscorpion
01-10-2006, 01:02 PM
Can the MR soundboards be purchased somewhere (w/o buying the saber, that is)? I have plenty of Hasbro sabers, but they're a little too janky for me. Personally, the best sounds I've heard were from the MR Mace Windu saber. It had a low, ragged growl that I really liked.

scaarmor
01-11-2006, 02:50 AM
Hey everyone,
Just wanted to share some cool news. I found in Walmart today a full rack of those $8.00 generic sith sabers! They must be restocking them because I read the post way back on page one of this thread and went running to Walmart, to my dismay I found none and was told they were all gone[V]. So, I thought all of you who liked them might want to know to check your local store to see if they got more as well- I grabed four of them real fast!!! Also, I got home with much anticipation to hear them after reading about them so long ago.I threw some batteries in and fired it up, to find they have the exact same sounds as the old ROTS Vaders!!! Great news for me! Also something of note- The packages dont advertise motion sensing so at first I thought they might be different, but after turning it on I was pleasently surprised to hear the motion sensor give me the Whoosh-Whoosh!

Thought you might want to know,


Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

GrimaOllak
01-11-2006, 05:26 PM
@scaarmor: I'm looking at your film cannister pic and wondering... Did you place the parts (board, motion sensor, and clash) in any particular order/design inside the cannister, or did you just shove 'em in and close the lid? Also, it looks like you used some kind of black rubber or foam on the outside of it, is that right?

scaarmor
01-11-2006, 07:47 PM
GrimaOllak,
All of the componants are in a particular order/fashion. Check my post on page 5 dated 1/06. That post has a rendering of how they are placed. Once put together correctly the whole thing just slides into the camera tube-minus the speaker that gets glued to the tube cap instead of the sound board. It looks crammed in the pic but it really does fit in nicely.

Also, the black on the outside of the tube is just electrical tape. I hot glued a pull string to the outside of the tube so it could easily be pulled out. However, hot glue tends to grab the sides of the tube and make it a pain to pull out, so I covered the glue with a layer of tape because the tape slides instead of binding.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

GrimaOllak
01-11-2006, 08:04 PM
@scaarmor: Ah, gotcha. I'd already seen that rendering, but I didn't realize it applied to the cannister as well. Thanks for clearing that up. Out of curiosity, is your sound cannister at the very base of your hilt, or is it above your battery pack?

One last question for the moment... I'm using Stydur's 4AAA setup as my power source for both LED and sound mod. This power source won't fry my sound electronics, right? I know the LED has to have a resistor to keep it from going "poof!", so I'm wondering if the sound stuff needs something similar before I attempt to hook it up.

scaarmor
01-11-2006, 08:15 PM
GrimaOllak,
Currently my sound unit is at the base of my saber. It is held up somewhat from the actual end cap (for an echo chamber)with the battery pack above it. Otherwise the battery pack would muffle the sound out of the speaker. However, while out eating dinner tonight I thought of putting the sound unit above the battery pack, extending the speaker wires and glueing the speaker to the bottom of the battery pack.

4aaa's will work fine. Ive had it hooked to 2aa, 4aa, 2aaa, and 4aaa- however it didnt seem to like a nine volt for some reason.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

GrimaOllak
01-11-2006, 08:57 PM
scaarmor:
I see, the echo chamber makes sense. But how is it staying put? That is, you mentioned that your sound cannister isn't quite at the bottom of the hilt, nor is the cannister or battery pack hitting one another. Is the wiring inside the hilt so dense that it prevents the two from smacking into one another (i.e. twirling the saber, dueling, etc.) or did you rig it elsewise? Seems like a silly question, but when I imagine the scenario, all I can see is the two packs of electronics bumping together whenever you jiggle the hilt.

You have my sincerest gratitude for being so patient with me and taking the time to answer my questions. I only hope I can someday repay you with knowledge of my own. *bows*

scaarmor
01-12-2006, 01:33 AM
GrimaOllak,
The battery pack and sound unit are kept slightly apart by 1)A few small wires in between bundled up, 2)The little 9v adapter plug that plugs into the batery pack, 3)There are a few small wires that run dirctly between the sound unit an battery pack, I twisted those a little to keep the componants spaced.

The sound unit and battery pack are held above the end cap/pommel by a little bracket I made out of ABS plastic. It is really just a glorified spacer- Two posts that contact the sides of the speaker and run down to rest on the outside edges of the pommel inside the hilt. I found that although the whole deal fits nice and snug, with a little bit of flopping the blade around, it all eventually works its way down and made it sound like crap (no echo chamber).

Its not just me that takes time to help out fellow saber builders, there are a lot of other helpful people here, and if it werent for them I wouldnt know half as much as I do and would have probibly thrown my sabers into the wall in disgust. So thank you to all of the people helping others here and freely handing out there advise, expetise, and findings!!! And most importantly-Tim for hosting this site/forum and feeding us all our daily doses of lightsaber medication![:D][:D][:D]

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

Jonitus
01-12-2006, 12:30 PM
What size of an echo chamber are you all using in your sabers? With the tiny size of the speaker, I don't see that you would need a very big chamber, but have those of you who have added sound to your sabers many times before found the "ideal" size of chamber?

...how will you know the light unless you have seen the dark? How will you know the good unless you have flirted with the evil?

scaarmor
01-12-2006, 01:33 PM
Well, I have only put sound into two sabers, but I did do a lot of experimenting before decicing where to put them. I found that an echo chamber makes it considerably louder than the Hasbro and can make a crappy Hasbro sound good. Anyway, I found that for me the "ideal size" or spacing between end cap and speaker is about 1 1/2". However, as I said I have only put sound into two sabers and I am sure some of the people in here have done many more than that. Perhaps they can shed more light on the subject...

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

LAN-ED-TUL
01-12-2006, 07:04 PM
ive done 2 now. a darth vader/heiland and a luke/esbreal graflex with hasbro boards. i have both of them around 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches of space/ amywhere in that area will DEFINATELY make it louder. both mine drown out my vader esb MR fx sound.

scaarmor
01-13-2006, 03:25 AM
Hello again to all,
I had an idea awhile ago and wanted to share it. Someone alluded to using one of those radio shack 20 sec. sound recording devices for saber sounds awhile back. While at radio shack a few days ago I found one and looked it over. It was origionaly made to add sound to greeting cards, kids toys, etc. It is small enough to fit into a hilt as well. Only problem is it can record up to 20 sec. and thats it. It will replay this (up to ) 20 sec. sound over and over but only the one. So hear was my thought- Take say 5 of them, On one record a power up sound as it can be up to 20 sec. but it can also be shorter than 20, on another power down, idle hum on another- the full 20 sec. set to loop the sound for a constant hum, swing (whoosh) on another with a hasbro motion sensor, and finally clash on the last one with a Hasbro clash sensor. Hook all the boards to one speaker- from the size I saw, if held in place close together with all boards sitting vertical they should fit into the hilt still. You would then have a full range of sounds that you could pick and change at a whim. Then all you would have to do is hook them up to power and away you go...

There are a few limitations though. 1) With all 5 needing power, I dont know how much draw that would put on the batteries and/or how fast they would get drained. -2) You would have to make sure that with the way they are placed the "record" buttons are not able to hit anything and edit your sounds. -3) At $10 bucks a pop and needing 5 of them it would be around the same price as getting a damaged (lights damaged) MR off ebay and just installing its sound unit.

However, it would give one the ability to pick and choose thier very own sounds for the saber...Anyway, it was just a thought and I thought that placed here for discussion would give us all one more thing to talk about (as if we needed it right?)[:D].

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

LAN-ED-TUL
01-13-2006, 03:38 AM
neat concept. if everything fits and battery draw isnt too bad, as you said.

Protein5000
01-18-2006, 03:29 AM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by GeluKhanGharr

Hasbros come in different shapes and sizes. Believe me, I've tried them all. On the Obi ep2 style, if you wire the switch to a latching kind rather than the momentary, the board turns off at the first clash. But you don't need to wire this one to a DPDT because the board doesn't cause that flash. The actual sounds are crappy, though, on this board. On the $8 generic sith, that problem is not there, however, wiring to a latching switch works well only when you turn it on, but when you turn it off, the lights go out and the sound stays on. This is the board that does flash. Next time you activate it, the sound turns off and the lights turn on. That doesn't work either. What you need is to use a momentary switch and run your LED through a latching impulse relay. A latching impulse relay effectively turns a momentary switch into a latching kind.
Vincent, it sounds like you are going for the Obi ep3 board. It is larger than the one scaarmor is using. The changing colors Anakin is the largest, then Yoda training, then Obi ep3, then old Vaders and Lukes(btw - the 95 version of Luke has a horrible clash sensor), then the $8 sith/Jinn with the bad sound Obi ep2 being the smallest. There is a trade-off in everything.

Born of Sith, seduced by the light.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Hi, I just got my Hasbro Saber and ripped the sound board out of it, it sounds good but I have experienced exactly what you said with my EL saber when the sound module and the inverter are hooked up to the DPDT switch. The sound stays on and the light goes off then vise versa then both turn off. Just wondering what a "Latching Impluse Relay" is. Do you think you could provide a RadioShack link to one of these cause i can't seem to find it. Thanks heaps!!

jedikanol
01-19-2006, 12:03 AM
i have never seen lightsaber that are $10.00 and have sound the only ones i can find are the 20.00 one. can they work i have i can use

scaarmor
01-19-2006, 02:01 AM
One of the $20.00 Hasbros with sound would work just fine, and the electronics are mostly the same- each Hasbro has slight changes from model to model. I, and a few others, just liked the $8.00 ones because they have good sound, motion and are only $8.00, but that doesnt mean the more expensive ones wont do the same thing.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

GrimaOllak
01-19-2006, 08:43 AM
@scaarmor:

I've been looking over your wiring diagram you posted, and I'm wondering... Did you end up using a DPDT, or just a switch like those sold here on CSS? Also, did you use any of those latching relay thingies (I'm not sure whether those are just for the EL sabers, or if LED sabers use 'em too)?

I keep seeing the posts where someone wires it, and the sound turns on without the LED, or vice versa, and I'm confused as to what setup actually works! From what I can tell, your diagram has everything turn on and off with one little button, period. The end. Is that right? Because if it is, then I'm more than a little relieved.

I've been asking for wiring help over on Jedi Council, but either they don't know, or they think I'm an imbecile. [xx(]

xwingband
01-19-2006, 08:56 AM
Yes, that's exactly what his does with just the momentary switch on the hasbro.

I saw your post on TFN... using that way of wiring would give you the clash on/off. If you wanted to avoid that you would have to use a DPDT switch and wire the sound board in parallel. Parallel would mean you couldn't use the Hasbro for your resistor. You'd wire the LED exactly like Tim's tutorial with the DPDT. The sound board would be parallel meaning the it's connected to the batteries and the switch and nothing else it wasn't attached to already.

I haven't done this myself but I'm pretty sure that's how would work. The only part I'm unsure about is whether the Hasbro needs a momentary switch or if replacing the existing momentary would be fine.

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GrimaOllak
01-19-2006, 09:12 AM
At last, answers! Thank you so much, xwingband!!

Ok, that seems to make sense. I'm not yet "hip" in terms of electronic lingo (i.e. parallel), but it doesn't sound hard. And adding the resistor onto the LED is no problem at all, especially since I thought in the beginning that I'd be doing that anyway.

I assume doing the DPDT wiring, as you suggested, means that I wouldn't be using the short negative wire at all?

I'm going to make a lil' diagram of what you just posted, just to make sure I'm understanding you correctly. If it's right, then maybe I can post it so future newcomers won't have this trouble.

scaarmor
01-19-2006, 09:12 AM
X-wing beat me to it[:)].

Grima,
Yes, you can wire it both ways. In fact you can wire it a lot of ways, most of the ones I have seen posted by people will work. However I use the two ways I believe to be the best without using a driver board such as Corbins. Corbins board is worth the money, I just spend to much of it to afford a few of his. Anyway, if you dont mind the Hasbro flash on clash, than all you need is one momentary switch. If the flash bothers you than you will need two switches, 1) sound board momentary, 1) locking LED switch. Yes, mine is wired up with one momentary and thats it (thanx X-wing[:D]), so if you dont mind the flash on clash, you can rest easy.

Edit- just saw you posted before me[:)]. If you use a DPDT switch you will have an undesirable result. when you turn it on light and sound will come on, then when you turn it off-light out sound still on. You need to have a momentary switch for your Hasbro board. If it was inclear in my other posts I am sorry, here it is again-

SHORT- : goes to batery ground/ LONG-: goes to LED negative post/LONG+; goes to LED + post/ Battery +: comes out of pack and ties into LONG+ between LED & Sund board. If this is still unclear e-mail me and I will send a large diagram to you since my post resizes it.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

xwingband
01-19-2006, 09:37 AM
Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. I believe it's possible to get a DPDT switch that does both momentary on one side and latching on the other. I'll look but it'll be hard to find...[:)]

I'll edit it in if I find it...

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www.dewbackwing.com</center>

GrimaOllak
01-19-2006, 10:20 AM
I feel so very, VERY dumb. I did my little diagram according to your advice, scaarmor, and when I got done, I stood back and said, "Wow, this makes sense."

Then I went to your diagram and looked.... they were exactly the same. Mine's just a colorful, glorified version of yours. That means the answer has been staring me in the face for days. Still, I was wondering if I could post my diagram on FDN to help future folks out. Yes, I drew the diagram, but since it's so similar to yours, it's really your call.

Of course, that's just for the "clash" version. I'd be most interested in your findings, xwingband, if you come across a solution to the "non-clash" conundrum.

In the meantime, I'm going to ask my father-in-law what he thinks. The man builds robots in his spare time (Read: Technological genious), so if anyone can figure this out, it's him. If he tells me anything, this'll be the first place I post it.

xwingband
01-19-2006, 10:58 AM
Holy smokes I feel dumb too...

Why can't the impact sensor just be disabled? What are the effects of just pulling it out? That'd be a heck of a lot easier on the wiring just cut it off and cover the wire ends (or connect them depending on what it is). I assume this would work because the impact sensor is just a momentary switch too that is activated with the hits. If it's not there to give that signal... no clash!

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GrimaOllak
01-19-2006, 11:58 AM
The only problem I see with that is that there'd be no sound when clashing. Unless that's the plan..? I was under the assumption that we're trying to stop the light from flashing.

On the other hand, is anyone sure what the two wires connecting to the clash sensor do? I mean, is it possible that one controls sound while one controls light, or are they both indispensible?

One other thing, I can't remember clearly, but I seem to recall the light flashing when you turn the saber off as well. Can this be disabled?

xwingband
01-19-2006, 12:28 PM
Yeah, the clashing sound would go away too. Unless I can find a switch that does both latching and momentary we're stuck making do. If I had a Hasbro in front of me I'd like to see if there's a way to bypass what it does to the light. Ehh... this is just plain bothersome.[xx(]

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GeluKhanGharr
01-19-2006, 01:28 PM
Protein, sorry for the delayed response. I haven't found the latching inpulse relay anywhere other than in theorethical papers. RS most definetley does not have it. I ordered something recently through a local electronics store and will try it soon, but it is not what I see in theory. Just Google "latching impulse relay" and you'll see what we need. This device effectively turns a momentary switch into a latching one.

Born of Sith, seduced by the light.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

scaarmor
01-19-2006, 02:50 PM
Grima,
You dont have to ask my permission, post away. That is just a rendering of what a lot of people have done, I just didnt see it posted and thought some of the newer people might benefit from a drawing. Besides, when I was new to sound a few others helped me to figure it out, so its not really my diagram anyway.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

Protein5000
01-20-2006, 05:59 AM
Ok, I found a latching relay at an electronics store. It does change a momentary switch into a latching one - we already knew that. I run my EL saber off 9v but the relay they had only worked for 12V but I've found out they have 6v relays but apparently they are hard to find - in Australia anyway, I'm sure it's a different story in the U.S.

It's just a little box with a bunch of prongs sticking out the bottom - it looks very straight forward.

I just gotta find the 6v one and I'll be sweet.

Dunno if this helped by oh well...

GrimaOllak
01-20-2006, 04:51 PM
Urg, I just realized something else irksome... not only does this sucker flash on clash, but it flashes at startup and shutdown as well. Who designed these, anyway!?

This makes matters exponentially harder now. That's three functions to try and disable instead of one. I'm beginning to doubt it's even possible without just creating a card from scratch programmed to only do sound (for which I don't have the means or brainpower).

For those that've made these sound sabers, is it really that annoying, or am I blowing this out of proportion?

xwingband
01-20-2006, 05:47 PM
That sucks major.[}:)]

Since I have yet to find one of these really cheap sabers can someone post a GOOD image of the board (enough that the connections and paths on the board can be seen)? Electronic isn't really that hard. I can think of so many possibilities for stopping it but without one in front of me it does no good.

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www.dewbackwing.com</center>

scaarmor
01-20-2006, 06:44 PM
I dont mind the flashing. I know that some like it, some dont, and some just dont mind enough to worry about changing it. Myself being the latter of the three. Yes mine flash on clash, start up, and power down, but it (to me) doesnt look as bad as others tend to think it does. I think the best thing to do is temp. wire your saber so it has it as that is the easiest way and if you dont like it, change it. I gave an experimental way (posted on a previous page) of how to get the sounds you want programed into A sound board without the flashing, but it would be more expensive than the Hasbro method. Sometimes I believe that if you want a great saber that doesnt cost an arm and a leg to make you have to be willing to except such things-hense why I dont mind the flashing.

X-wing, I would post a pic for you but I dont think I can get one with that amount of detail, sorry.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

GrimaOllak
01-20-2006, 09:48 PM
@xwingband:

I recently got ahold of another Hasbro saber (my local Walmart is practically overflowing with them at the moment), so when I dismantle it, I'll see about getting those pictures posted.

As for the nuisance that is flashing, yeah, I think you're right, scaarmor. For now, since I have a budget to work off of, I think I'll just deal with it. Maybe future generations of saber builders will come up with a better solution, but for now... clash on.

LAN-ED-TUL
01-21-2006, 07:23 AM
ehh, for me it dont matter, cuz once that bright ole lux fires up, no one cares, theyre amazed at the brightness, whilst covering theyre eyes in pain, lol dont worry, i dont shine it in anyones faces like a flashlight.

wish i could find some of thos darn good hasbros at my wally world. i'd buy up a bunch for lux sabers. speaking of which, im still waiting for jedigear to come back up so i can get the part i want for the new project.


You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

GFORCE13
01-23-2006, 02:16 PM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> Posted - 01/12/2006 : 12:33:55
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I have only put sound into two sabers, but I did do a lot of experimenting before decicing where to put them. I found that an echo chamber makes it considerably louder than the Hasbro and can make a crappy Hasbro sound good. Anyway, I found that for me the "ideal size" or spacing between end cap and speaker is about 1 1/2". However, as I said I have only put sound into two sabers and I am sure some of the people in here have done many more than that. Perhaps they can shed more light on the subject...


<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"> Thanks for this post what a differance the sound chamber makes it I just finished wiring my new Hilt to see the best place for the speaker and it is REALLY LOUD!!! at least 6-8Db more than my '05' MR Annikan. Since I am using a 1.5Dia Sink Pipe Hilt with Grip Cut Outs and Split Loom for the Internal Grips the only Place I could mount the speaker was in the space between the Led Emitter and the Boards, I was worried I would have to make holes in the Split Loom because it would be to quiet but it works so well with the Sound Chamber it isn't necessary.[8D]

May the Force
Be with You

Marc E.

xwingband
01-23-2006, 11:06 PM
I just snagged a hasbro from Tim. I bet he grabbed a few from Corbin who just recently said he had stocked a few...[:D]

I'll be messing around with it. Pictures will be posted when it gets to me.

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www.dewbackwing.com</center>

tetmatek
01-24-2006, 06:04 PM
when Tim runs out i have some to unload as well

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

dbraxton9
01-24-2006, 06:14 PM
how much?

"Look at me! Judge me by my size do you? And well you do not! For my ally is the force, and a powerful ally it is!"

xwingband
01-24-2006, 07:31 PM
lol, tetmatek is wise when he said "when Tim runs out". Don't want to undercut/compete with him.[:p] I figured $20 from Tim was less than if I had to buy the expensive Hasbros and bundle it with some other stuff and it becomes a decent deal.[:)]

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www.dewbackwing.com</center>

Strydur
01-24-2006, 09:04 PM
LOL..had to cover my gas and time..went to 5 walmart's before I found any.

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

tetmatek
01-24-2006, 09:13 PM
I had to go 45 miles and have StrangeWings direct me to em. It's like a worldwide treasure hunt. lol

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

xwingband
01-24-2006, 09:47 PM
That's what I get I guess. Only one Walmart near me at the moment... My town lack so much though. You'd think a college town would have a 7-11 or Denny's something open 24 hours, but no. Not even the Walmart is open 24 hours.

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LAN-ED-TUL
01-24-2006, 10:26 PM
i got a wally world in town and in nearby tulsa theres quite a few. but i havent found any of those generic sabers around here. drat. wished i could.

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

Strydur
01-27-2006, 10:16 AM
Gah...I tried for a few hours lastnight to figure out a way to drive the led off of the sound module without having the flash. It looks like it is built into the main chip so there is no way to do it. Hmm..I wonder if you put a capacitor in the circuit if it would keep the power up while the flashes where going on. Anyways I have some momentary switchs on the way and I will find some latching relays.

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

GrimaOllak
01-27-2006, 10:31 AM
Ok, I'm a bit confused now (and I guess I have been for quite some time over this). From what I've read, a "momentary" switch is one that only activates while you hold it down, and when you release it, the power goes off (hence, "momentary"). Seems kinda silly to me to only have lights and sound while you hold the button down. Or is there another definition that I'm just not aware of?

That is to say, these LED/Hasbro sabers won't work with the on/off switches sold here?

Strydur
01-27-2006, 10:58 AM
Momentary is as you described BUT..the hasbro sound modules turn on and off by just getting a tap of electricity. You dont hold the switch down, you just push it and let go to turn on and push it and let go to turn off. A normal push on/push off latching switch like I currently sell will not work correctly. I will have switches that look the same as my other ones but that are momentary in a few days.

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

GrimaOllak
01-27-2006, 12:07 PM
Aha! I get it now. Thanks very much for clearing that up, Tim. [:)]

Mur-Pa DiLos
01-27-2006, 01:49 PM
Xwing,

boy, and I thought my college town was bad... I came from Orange County, Ca where nothing sleeps up to Flagstaff, AZ. I love it up here but wow, what a culture shock! Anyways, I at least have a 24 hour Walmart and a Denny's[:D] lol.

btw, I ordered from Tim two sound boards to go along with my mhs because after buying 4 different types of the expensive lightsabers from Walmart or Target, and then return them, they got kind of suspicious. Thanks Tim for finding these.[:D]

Strydur
01-27-2006, 04:19 PM
I modified one of my pommel's for the hasbro speaker. You can see pics here.
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=332

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

Cactus
01-27-2006, 07:35 PM
I guess it is a treasure hunt. I have 4 Wal-marts within 30 miles of me, but not a single one has the $8 sabers[:(]

gundamaniac
01-29-2006, 11:45 PM
I've got a question about the modules Tim offers; are they the Sith modules? I didn't realize that Hasbro modules differed so much until I went through this topic; everyone seems to be rooting so much for the Sith that I'm assuming that that module is the way to go.

A Jedi gains power through understanding; a Sith gains understanding through power.

Strydur
01-30-2006, 01:15 AM
They are sith and jedi generic ones. The one that sucks is the obi one.

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

gundamaniac
01-30-2006, 01:58 AM
Ah. Is there any difference between the Sith and Jedi sfx? I know when mixing the saber sounds Ben Burtt said that he tried to make Sith sabers sound more vicious and sharp; do hasbro modules reflect this at all, or do they all sound basically the same?

A Jedi gains power through understanding; a Sith gains understanding through power.

scaarmor
01-30-2006, 10:00 AM
Tim,
Do you recommend the use of a resistor with these modules?

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

LAN-ED-TUL
01-30-2006, 12:25 PM
i havent used a resistor with the hasbro boards. the boards resistors down the forward voltage to the range the lux has to have.

i meant these newer generic jedi and sith boards.

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

scaarmor
01-30-2006, 02:46 PM
I had heard somewhere that the Hasbros varied from saber to saber and some had no resistor?

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

GeluKhanGharr
01-30-2006, 06:05 PM
Some of the older Hasbros have no resistor on th lamp circuit. Post a picture - a clear close-up picture and we'll tell you if you need a resistor or not

Born of Sith, seduced by the light.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

scaarmor
01-30-2006, 08:40 PM
Well that was the reason I was asking. I have the same boards that Tim sells. I cannot get a good enough pic with the camera I have but Tim has a clear pic of it on the store section.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

Strydur
01-30-2006, 09:52 PM
Look on the board right near where the negative for your LED comes out and you will see the resistor. I dont believe it is the correct rated one but seems to work ok. I am in the process of figuring out the whole latching relay thing and once I get some and get them working I hope to sell pre converted sound modules that have the relay built on and the correct resistor..easy to hook up wires etc..

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

scaarmor
01-31-2006, 05:15 AM
Cool, cant wait!

Also, you said that you had a limited supply right? Do you plan on getting more when you run out and carrying these for good, or just a one time deal type of thing?

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

Protein5000
01-31-2006, 05:38 AM
Maybe could get a wholesale dealy with Hasbro?

Strydur
01-31-2006, 08:58 AM
As far as I know these will not be available again. Once these are gone the cheapest option I can think of would have a retail price of $30+

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

Nightwing
01-31-2006, 07:43 PM
Wow. $30 for something from a $20 saber...

Strydur
01-31-2006, 10:01 PM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Wow. $30 for something from a $20 saber...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Not sure what you meant by that.

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

GrimaOllak
02-19-2006, 09:17 PM
[V] Argh... just... argh....

I spent the last 2 days building my new saber, and at the end, not only did I wire my stuff up prematurely, but my stupid motion sensor was messed up. No matter how my sound module is laying (note, I'm not even touching the thing), it makes a nonstop whoosh noise. I mounted it with the tangs vertical, I padded it, I switched its position in the film canister several times... no dice. [:(!]

Anyway, this saber is SOL for sound, but have any of you had this problem so I can avoid it for future sabers?

Oh, and before anyone asks, this isn't one of Tim's modules. It's one I personally gutted from a Sith generic.

*sigh* Guess I'll be verbally making my own sound effects with this one. I'm sure that'll amuse my wife... for all of maybe 10 seconds...

LAN-ED-TUL
02-20-2006, 04:26 AM
try soldering a different motion sensor on there. sound like it was bad to start with.

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

meiv4
02-22-2006, 12:35 AM
So either i missed some all important post, or we havent gotten a way to wire the sound board and LED up with a single switch not running the LED off the board (so no stupid flashing) there is speak of a latching relay, but i can't find any info on that. :(

I'm working on something with a lot of little tiny pieces that may just work, wish me luck



hmmm hmmmm whooosh hmmmm whooosh crackel

GFORCE13
02-22-2006, 03:27 AM
There is a way I am using a Sound Board and Corbin's Driver Board off the same Switch, you need a Momentary DpDt.[:)] Good Luck electronic's are a real pain sometimes.

May the Force
Be with You

Marc E.

meiv4
02-22-2006, 01:54 PM
i dont wanna spend 30 bucks on corbins board though. so if my calculations are correct, it is possible to do it with 1 spst momentary switch... it just takes a couple other things.


a flip-flop circuit and a spst relay... acually you dont really need the relay, but you might fry the flip flop if you dont.

hmmm time for the paint schematics
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/meiv4/soundboard.jpg

the - lead on the sound board is the short one.
if you look at the sound board all the switch does is connect the switch lead from the black thing on the back to ground, so you only need the one switch wire.
the flip flop, bassically tuens a momentary into a push on/push off
relay is there so yu are not drawing 1.4a through the flip flop ic.

im going to a electronics store after class to see if i can get the parts i need.

link to flip-flop schem http://www.discovercircuits.com/PDF-FILES/4013oneshots.PDF which i think will still work with the switch moved to the collective ground side. (if it dosent its back to drawing board...)

edit: nope didnt work... baah




hmmm hmmmm whooosh hmmmm whooosh crackel

Luke-SkyMarcher
02-22-2006, 08:30 PM
Here is a websit I found that has very interesting saber sound. http://www.futurehorizons.net/saber.htm You might have to play with the demo video a a little while before it will play smoothly, but the way it changes pitch is awesome, even though the hum doesn't sound quite like a real lightsaber sound. If we could find out how they do that, or get them to sell the sensor and a better sounding hum and a clash sensor to that, it would be the best!

GFORCE13
02-23-2006, 02:24 AM
Interesting Idea, well I bought Corbins driver on the second Day Tim offered them and at that time didn't know that I could have driven the Led directly off the Sound Board. But on the up side I get all the Blade effects(Extend/Retract/Clash) which are cool.[8D]

May the Force
Be with You

Marc E.

Nynthu
03-01-2006, 02:00 PM
So, I've browsed through the sound forum here and still can't really tell if someone has figured out a way to stop the LED from blinking on power up / power down / and clash if I'm using a Luxon LED and a Hasbro sound module together. I've sucessfully hooked up my saber and everything works nicely, but the blinking drives me crazy. Would adding a Corbin driver help at all? Please help and thank you!

Strydur
03-01-2006, 02:40 PM
yes adding the driver would put the led on a seperate circuit and no more blinking.

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

Do-Clo
03-01-2006, 10:19 PM
meiv4, You will still have the flashing when you power up and down also the flashing on clash. Your flip flop circuit will follow the changes of the output from the sound board. You could do away with the flip flop circuit altogether and just use a relay alone and the results would be the same.

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

Do-Clo
03-01-2006, 10:29 PM
I am using a Luxdrive micropuck on the output of a Hasbro sound board to drive a 1 watt luxeon with only two 1.5 volt batteries. This gives you a bright led and good battery life and saves room in your hilt by reducing the number of batteries.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/Do-Clo/Hasbro1.jpg

This is a 1 watt Luxeon led with 5 degree optics with a Hasbro sound board and a luxdrive micropuck on the the output of the Hasbro sound board driving the LED with TCSS diffuser.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/Do-Clo/IM000015.jpg

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

LAN-ED-TUL
03-02-2006, 02:43 AM
sweet do-clo.

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

supertrogdor
03-02-2006, 11:53 AM
has anyone tried using 9V batteries instead of multiple alkalines for space conservation purposes? Any feedback on how they last compared to alternative battery options?

bazuka
03-02-2006, 11:58 AM
Do-Clo: Are you using an MHS hilt? I looked at the specs of the micropuck, and I thought it said it was 1.5" diameter.

Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will.

Do-Clo
03-02-2006, 12:37 PM
1) 9 volt batteries have to have a voltage regulator installed in the circuit to reduce the voltage to 5 volts and the run time with a 9 volt battery is much shorter.

2) The micropuck is very small and will fit into just about anything, the size is 0.45" x 0.30" x 0.26", I think you were looking at the size of the powerpuck which is for the 3 watt luxeon and it is 1.5" in size. There is another option for the 3 watt luxeon and that is the buckpuck which is 0.78”x 0.78”x 0.43” in size and will operate on 6 volts through 32 volts and has different models for different current outputs, 350ma, 500ma, 700ma, 1000ma, 1400ma. I currently have my setup in a Heiland flash handle that is being converted to a lightsaber.

You can also use the micropuck without the sound board and just install a on/off switch between the battery and the micropuck and no other parts are needed.

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

wood7588
03-02-2006, 12:54 PM
Do-Clo
Thanks for the micropuck info, I am making a childs saber and that will come in handy for a small hilt. I have a question though. I understand the advantage of the micropuck but what would be the advantage of the buckpuck if you have to have 6V anyway to run it?
Thanks

xwingband
03-02-2006, 02:18 PM
As I understood Corbin at other places a 9V doesn't have the amperage to run a Luxeon very long even direct drive.

That's a good idea Do-Clo. It doesn't stop the annoying clash though does it?

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Do-Clo
03-02-2006, 02:42 PM
The buckpuck will allow you to get longer life out of your batteries and maintain the led at a constant brightness since the buckpuck maintains a constant current to the led. Remeber the led brightness is controlled by the amount of current not the amount of voltage.

Even using the micropuck with the hasbro sound board the flash on clash is still there. The only way to elimnate the flash on clash is to drive the led independent of the the sound board but this requires a second switch and I have yet to workout a way to do it with using only one switch to power up sound and led, then be able to power it down.

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

bazuka
03-02-2006, 04:36 PM
Do-Clo: I am facing the same wiring problem you are. I am going to experiment with using two 4K inverters, the sound board, and numerous LEDs. I plan on using a Basic Stamp microcontroller to do all the work for me. I considered not getting the sound board, and installing a sound playback chip to get me custom saber sounds, but I am lazy.

Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will.

Do-Clo
03-02-2006, 09:24 PM
Sounds like I have a fellow tech here, post any progress that you make and I will do the same. I have several ideas I just don't have time to explore them like I want to, you know that darn thing called a job and then there is the wife.

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

bazuka
03-03-2006, 07:37 AM
meh... a little I suppose. Here's what I came up with to run my project without a microcontroller.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/rshuck/ls1diagram.jpg

I have to figure out all the values and such yet, but does this look like it'll work to you? This is the first time I've ever used transistors in a project, so I'm not sure if this will work properly or not. The idea is to use the push button (on-off type) to bring bring up the base voltage of the three transistors, in turn, switching on the inverters and sound board. Anybody know the current requirement of the Sound board?

*edit -- the above diagram is incorrect, the two 9v batteries should be wired in parallel, not series.

Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will.

Do-Clo
03-03-2006, 08:40 AM
The basic idea is good but you will have to add a resistor on each emitter of your transistors. The resistor will have to be connected to ground and to the emitter then you can connect your inverters to the emitter of the transistor and when the transistor is biased on you will see a positve voltage on the emitter powering your inverters. The problem with the Hasbro sound board is that it requires a monetary contact to power on and another monetary contact to power off in your current design there is no provision for this because the transistor is just a basic switch. I would recomend using a relay or just use an on/off switch to power up the inverters, remember the simpler you can make it the better.

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

Strydur
03-03-2006, 01:39 PM
I agree..the transistors would be pointless in that design.

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

bazuka
03-03-2006, 07:45 PM
Yeah, I know. I realized later on that I put those in while I was thinking about using the basic stamp. Here's what I was thinking of with the stamp...

http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/8672/ls16cf.jpg

Essentially everything's similar... I want to run from the sound board's clash sensor to a pin on the stamp and trigger a flickering effect to one or both inverters. When using the stamp, I can also control the momentary action required by the board. I want to run the LEDs off the emitter's resistor to ground, but I'm not sure if that will work. I'm going to breadboard this in the morning and see if I get the effect I want.

Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will.

Do-Clo
03-03-2006, 09:53 PM
Overall it looks good but I see a possible problem if you are using a Hasbro style sound board as the board requires a momentary ground connection to power on and power off the way you have your transistor biased and connected to the sound board you will get a positive momentary connection which will not power up the sound board try moving your connection to the collector of the transistor and then install a resistor between the positive connection and the collector and use this as your switch point for the sound board also remove the resistor from the emitter side of the transistor, that way when the transistor is switched on it will give you a ground connection to power up the sound board. I would also remove the resistor going into the sound board as this will not allow you to get a true transition between B+ and ground on the switch contacts. Hope this helps

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

LAN-ED-TUL
03-05-2006, 07:07 AM
whew that flew right over my head. i knew you were a electrical guy, but dude, you know your stuff.

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

Do-Clo
03-05-2006, 08:01 AM
After 20+ years as a tech, I guess I have learned a thing or two

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

winegums100
03-06-2006, 02:17 PM
Hi, Can anyone tell me if the Hasbro Darth Vader ROTSith saber has a decent sound? Can anyone actually do a sound file of it? I've heard some of the Hasbro ones, and they sound pretty lame to me...

Don't eat all the red ones - they're mine!!

Do-Clo
03-06-2006, 03:38 PM
The sith versions of the habro saber have better sounding sound boards including Vader's. Keep in mind the sound will be different in a custom saber as the speaker can be insatalled so that it has a empty space between it and the speaker grille increasing the sound and overall improving the sound qaulity.

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

james3
03-07-2006, 09:29 PM
There seems to be a little inconsistency with the sound boards on the Hasbros from wally world that were 8 bucks, I picked up a hand full of them and some of the sith sabers were the same as the jedi saber. Obi-Wans seemed to be the same from the original EP1 saber, but it seems like maybe sometimes at the end of the day they slapped whatever card they wanted in the sabers, anyone else notice this?

Do-Clo
03-07-2006, 10:51 PM
Those $8 sabers were the last of the production run and they built them until they ran out of parts which means they used anything and everything in them, also some of those could have been old models that were left over inventory that they dumped for a low price to get rid of them. The boards all will work the same it's just that they may look a little different, in fact not all Master Replica FX sabers are the same.

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

james3
03-07-2006, 11:11 PM
Why am I not surprised. Always looking for the lowest bidder instead of consistancy. I think thats standard procedeure with electronics now, before I left my field of employment it seemed that components were getting sloppier all the time.

Do-Clo
03-07-2006, 11:26 PM
In my field I have seen some real junk. By the way many of you are familar with the brand name LG did you know it stands for Lucky Gold corp, and they build all kinds of cheap electronics!

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

LAN-ED-TUL
03-08-2006, 02:57 AM
never heard of it do-clo

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

Do-Clo
03-08-2006, 08:31 AM
They make cell phones and have branched out into other stuff

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

LAN-ED-TUL
03-08-2006, 10:58 AM
ahh ok.
yeeah i think i have heard of LG phones before.

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

james3
03-08-2006, 12:15 PM
From cell phones to refrigerators with tv's built in, scary!

supertrogdor
03-08-2006, 12:17 PM
LG is actually a Korean company that owns about 1/6th of the major business there, they dabble in oodles of things even some candy, but most korean candy doesnt have enough sugar, the kids there have bad enough teeth as it is, but i digress

GFORCE13
03-08-2006, 05:07 PM
Hello I am having problems with the Swing sensor it seems at certian angles it just keeps activating the Sound even though I am not moving my L.Saber does anybody have any suggestions on which direction it needs to be mounted? I remember someone mentioning to use a film cannister for the electronic's but I just don't have the room since I am using both a Hasbro Sound Board and Corbin's driver Board a force resonator with Tim's Emitter there just isn't enough room.I have enclosed a picture to help. Thank You [:)]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/G-FORCE13/myhouse003.jpg


May the Force
Be with You

Marc E.

GrimaOllak
03-08-2006, 06:27 PM
Good luck, Gforce. I had the exact same problem with my sensor, and I found no solution. Supposedly the correct way to mount it is with the "tangs" vertical, but I did that, and to no avail.

In the end, I skipped using sound altogether. Hope you have better luck than me.

Firebird21
03-08-2006, 06:38 PM
My suggestion would be to switch to AAA batteries to give you some extra room.

They have the same voltage. To the best of my knowledge the only difference is how long they last. So you may use them up faster. But by the looks of the batteries that are in that getting some Lithium AAA’s would probably give you equal battery life to the ones in there.


http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_trooper.gifhttp://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_sabre.gif

Do-Clo
03-08-2006, 07:27 PM
You can try mounting the swing sensor with the tabs in the other direction then if that does not help try mounting the swing sensor flat or upside down flat. The things work in the darn hasbro sabers so with the right position they should work in your saber. Changing batteries to AAA will help you gain some space in your hilt to try different mounting postions of the swing sensor.

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

scaarmor
03-08-2006, 09:55 PM
I too would advise switching to AAA. I went for the 4 AAA holder that holds them all together- not the over under style- and it saved so much room I was amazed. I had more room than I needed after ripping out hair with AA and no room. Now, onto the sensor issue. I was the one who said to mount them vertical. The reason was this was the only way I found to mount it and not get it to whoosh constantly. If that does not work for you then I too would advise just playing around with other positions- one is bound to work. Also, remember that if you mount the tangs vertical then lay the saber on its side they are now horizontal and will whoosh for ever. This sucks but when held upright it works perfectly and when your actually swinging it around it works well because its always moving and whooshing anyway.

Cain


***A man is known by the enemies he carries, so make the best ones you can.***

***Give me a decent foothold and I will move the world.***

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

LAN-ED-TUL
03-08-2006, 11:11 PM
when i built the graflex lux saber with a hasbro board, i had slipped the casing i made from a trophy column hollowed out a bit to slide the board into, and 1 1/8 inch ring of wood was left all way round. made a perfect place to screw the sensors to the end. first time i turned on me ending up with motion sensor on its side. kept whooshing when i turn irt on. then i discoverd it turned. i pulled it out repositioned it so when slid back in it was vertical. and it works perfectly now.

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

GFORCE13
03-09-2006, 12:24 AM
Thanks for all the suggestions and Help I will experiment with it to see which way works Best!![:)][8D]

May the Force
Be with You

Marc E.

Tiberius172
03-09-2006, 09:28 AM
I don't know if this will help anyone or not but here's the inside of an old Darth Vader Habro Saber. I'm thinking of using thes sound and clash components in a customn saber but take a look at how large the clash component is! Ouch!!

I saw GeluKahn's post from way back on the different saber sounds but I did not see this one. This has only hum and clash, no motion. I'm not sure what year or model this as I got off Ebay for a couple bucks.

Tiberius

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-1/1141993/DRTHVDR.jpg

Do-Clo
03-09-2006, 09:39 AM
I used a sound board like that in a custom saber and it worked well, you do get a swing sound after the clash sound but the power up and down sounds are fine. I used a pvc adapter that fit into the sink tube and mounted the shock sensor inside of it with some hot glue. The speaker is too larger to fit in a hilt so I replaced it with a smaller speaker and hot glued it to the end of the pvc shock sensor assembly. This made a nice assembly that fit into the hilt very well.

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

Tiberius172
03-09-2006, 10:20 AM
Thanks Do-Clo. I'm runniing into the same problem with the Speaker. I did find where Radio Shack sells a very small speaker so I bought this bought I have no idea if it's going to put out enough sound. Any good speakers or speaker vendor you would recommned?

Tiberius

Do-Clo
03-09-2006, 10:40 AM
Sorry I ended up having one that worked in my spare parts box, You can try a source I use for other electronic parts and stuff, jameco.com they have a lot of stuff and they will sell to individuals

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

scaarmor
03-09-2006, 01:34 PM
The small radio shack speakers are no good. I bought one just to see what it sounded like, hoping to get more bass. What I got was almost nothing and the nothing I did get sounded so horrible I stabbed the speaker with a screwdriver!

Cain


***A man is known by the enemies he carries, so make the best ones you can.***

***Give me a decent foothold and I will move the world.***

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

Tiberius172
03-09-2006, 01:44 PM
[}:)] Hee Hee... "stabed it with the screw-driver" I like it!

Yeah just looking at the speaker it looks pretty much like crap. I kept the receipt so I think based on your past experience I'll just return their little piece of junk, girlie speaker.

DO-CLO, I'll check into the Jameco speakers. Thanks to you too.

Tiberius!



"Beware of the dark side. Anger...fear...aggression. The dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight."

bazuka
03-09-2006, 02:04 PM
This is probably a dumb idea, but has anybody tried a product called "Sound Pads" by Sonic Impact? I don't know how large they are, but I thought they could possibly fit into the pommel end of the hilt and be connected to a decent medium. The same company makes a small 10 Watt amplifier thats PCB is incredibly small, runs on 9v, and could also fit in the hilt.

It seems like the sound coming from the saber isn't loud enough at this point, but the sound pad requires no echo/resonant chamber as it's an infinite baffle design. Anybody have these so you can see if they'd fit inside.

** edit: scratch that, they're 4" in diameter **

Your life is in my hand, Captain, just as your throat is.

Do-Clo
03-09-2006, 03:11 PM
I stabbed the speaker with a screwdriver!

Thanks I needed a smile today



Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

xwingband
03-09-2006, 03:20 PM
I found that the Hasbros are bad because of the crappy parts. The plastic rattled and gave that buzz. I cut out the center and cover the speaker in craft foam in a cog pattern. Mellowed it quite a bit.

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desertscorpion
03-09-2006, 04:11 PM
I scanned the previous pages quickly, but didn't see this addressed: Have any of you tried a car tweeter for the speeker? Could the be used. I know that the resistance is probably different, but if they worked well, I wouldn't mind forking out extra cashola for one.

Do-Clo
03-09-2006, 04:30 PM
A tweeter speaker would not give good low frequency response because it is designed to respond at the higher end of the audio range. The sound from the saber sound module is mostly lower frequency so I am afraid the results would be poor at best.

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

Madcow
03-09-2006, 05:41 PM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">[i:40ad94c20d] I stabbed the speaker with a screwdriver!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

What kind of screwdriver did you stab it with?
.. Not doing too well with the whole calm tranquil Jedi thing eh?

Me neither.

MC

http://rpetkau.photosite.com/~photos/tn/88_348.ts1141004694072.jpg
You want to go home and re-think your life

scaarmor
03-09-2006, 08:22 PM
I stabbed it with the biggest flathead I had, because the big ones hurt more... As for the whole calm jedi thing- that is the reason I guess you could call me Sith. I am not evil but I do get even!

Cain


***A man is known by the enemies he carries, so make the best ones you can.***

***Give me a decent foothold and I will move the world.***

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

Do-Clo
03-09-2006, 11:35 PM
I am not evil but I do get even!

Forget even I get ahead!

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

LAN-ED-TUL
03-10-2006, 03:29 AM
one other speaker that with the chep voice changers dont work to well, are those RS min amp speakers. theyre 9 volt powered. sound like crud when jacked on a wally box voice changer. best amped speaker i have found, is one i got off ebay, its a 4 watt 9 volt powered speaker. thinner than the RS speaker casing too. lighter, and after you take it apart to remove the 2 screws holding the belt clip on back, then put it back together, it sounds really good. i can get way more volume with now distortion or feedback like the RS speaker do. you can barely turn it on and it sounds all garbled and feedbacky. maybe theyll work better on the hyperdyne vortex i just bought. will see when it gets here. but i imagine i will use the ebay 4 watt amped speaker instead anyways, cuz of the thinner profile and lighter weight.

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

winegums100
03-10-2006, 10:23 AM
I was wondering, anyone tried using that Hasbro Anakin Interactive Jedi Training Lightsaber for its sounds? I know that on the Yoda saber you can switch off Yoda's yabbing - can you do this on the Anakin one too? The Anakin one looks good too - chromed up, etc! [:D]

Don't eat all the red ones - they're mine!!

SaberSentinel
03-10-2006, 04:00 PM
Does anyone know the diameter of the MR FX speakers? I split the cost of an 05 Vader with my dad (he wanted a belt hanger I wanted the sound stuff) but he doesn't want to break the battery case to get the speaker out. The inside diameter of my hilt is only 1" and I was hoping it would fit.

If it doesn't, does anyone know how the 1" speakers from allelectronics.com sound, or any other place online for that matter? Tim doesn't carry speakers[:(] so, I'm forced to look elsewhere


Speak softly and carry a big lightsaber.

Do-Clo
03-10-2006, 04:18 PM
I have never opened the battery pack on a MR saber to get to the speaker. But another problem may be if the sound board will fit inside of a 1" hilt man that is small. I built a 1.25" hilt for my nephew and I had a time getting eveything (sound, speaker, battery) inside of it.

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

SaberSentinel
03-11-2006, 02:35 PM
I know the soundboard will fit because I have almost the whole thing apart, its 15/16 wide by 2" long. I think everything will fit, I drew in scale on paint (our computer was outdated in the stone age) and it all "should" to fit.

By the way, how much does your LuxDrive Powerpuck extend battery life? I'm thinking of using 4 AAA batteries with a Buckpuck because I'm worried about battery life. And, would you recomend I wire it and the LED parallel to the board, or just use the Board's setup?


Speak softly and carry a big lightsaber.

Do-Clo
03-11-2006, 03:01 PM
The luxdrive buckpuck will give you the best performance from the batteries because it maintains a constant current to the led, adjusting for drops in input voltage so the led will remain the same brightnes until the batteries are about dead. I would connect the buckpuck in parallel with the sound board. I measured a Hasbro sound board and they also are about 15/16" wide so one of those would fit too.

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

SaberSentinel
03-12-2006, 03:34 PM
Thanks for the info. I'll try it as soon as I scrape together enough money. (That means a while[:(])


Speak softly and carry a big lightsaber.

Darth Tollo
04-08-2008, 07:55 AM
I posted something like this last night, but it didn't go through, so here we go again. I have about 35 Hasbros - I don't think I am missing any model. The boards are different from generation to generation and have gotten better over time.

Old (1995) Luke - crappy sound, motion, flash on clash. The clash sensor is ridiculously large - NOT a good board for custom hilts
Anakin AOTC - crappy sound, no motion, flash
Anakin ROTS - great sound, no motion, no flash, color change(2 switcheable outputs, but the switch is board mounted and a hell to install, so the switcheable outputs "feature" is virtually useless. Still, a good board for customs
Yoda training - crappy all the way - yoda talk switch, low volume, crappy sound, flash, no motion, break really fast
Obi ROTS - great sound, no motion, flash on clash, but also the motor output - good to use with Corbin's C&L feature
Obi AOTC - the old models and the new, repackaged 8 dollar ones - I found them to be the same. Crappy sound, no motion, but NO FLASH on clash.
Old Vader ROTJ - The best board in my opinion - great sounds, motion sensor, no flash on clash. Almost impossible to find, except packaged with the helmet at $50
Windu/Dooku/QGonn/generic - all use the same board - great sound, motion sensor, but they all have that stupid flashing on clash.
Stay away from the "build-your-own". My son broke 2 in one week. He's yet to break any of the other ones, so it's not him. They just up and quit.

I hope this helps

Born of Sith, seduced by the light side.


Wow I dug up the past. I noticed a Hasbro was skipped here. Does anyone have any info on the Darth Maul Hasbro saber?

xwingband
04-08-2008, 09:24 AM
It's decent quality. It's very big though and only ran strobes for the clash effect. I still have one of those.

Darth Tollo
04-08-2008, 12:32 PM
So if I run it with Corbin's board, all should be well? Sweet. Thank you.

eastern57
04-08-2008, 12:34 PM
as in, "comically very big"... about thrice the girth of a MR mace