MHS "Dad Saber"

MHS "Dad Saber"

So, after completing the Padawan Sabers I took my boys out to the park across the street with those and Sakabato, and we went to town. I quickly confirmed that my vintage graflex is NOT combat worthy at all. Sure, the blade doesn't fall out when I use it, but I had some repair work to do when I got it back in the house. My youngest felt terrible, but I assured him he used his saber(s) exactly as intended. Rather than let his new toys get shelved (as he no longer has a sparing buddy) I've resolved to put together a simple "Dad Saber" using available parts. As long as I get a functioning, combat worthy, saber assembled I will have achieved my objective. I can work the aesthetics later. Let's get started...

BUILD STATUS: PARTS ROUND-UP

DRAWING BOARD
Going strictly off of what I have on-hand and what's available in the store, here is what I'm looking at:
http://orig11.deviantart.net/c6f3/f/...ot-dabthv4.jpg

INITIAL SPECS
Quad Rebel (for color mixing, not brightness): Lime + RedOrange / PC Amber / Neutral White (FoC) / 10 degree 23mm Khatod Optics / MHS LED Module v3
Prizm V4 Soundboard (for drive capacity)
Activation Box 14: 16mm AV Switches x2 (White Ring/Yellow Ring wired as accents), Recharge Port, RICE Port
Speaker Mount V5: 28mm Bass Speaker
Rechargeable: Panasonic 18650 3.7v 3400mah / PCB / mounted in a battery holder

After a lot of tinkering and forum slogging I found the shade of yellow that I want for my Sentinel sabers. I read through the power requirements for all of the die needed and cross referenced against each of the available soundboards. I need a Quad Rebel to pull this off, and don’t need major bells/whistles for this build, so I opted for the PRIZM v4. Though I won’t be doing an RGB blade this time, the PRIZM has the drive capacity I need while using a SINGLE CELL power supply. I realize battery life won’t be as great as my previous PRIZM build, but I think ~2 hours of play time is plenty for both me and my son. :D

As for ACCENTS? I’ll assign each of the switch LEDs to an accent pad. This will let me have at least a little fun playing with the active and idle LED functions.

Here is the math for the emitter LEDs and the illuminated switches:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
PRIZM v4 LED MAX DRIVE = 2.5A
18650 Panasonic @3.7v
__________________________________________________ ___
CHANNEL 1 (-)
POS 1: Neutral White 41k@230lm
Max Safe Power = 700mA
Forward Voltage @MSP = 3.25v (0.64ohm/0.31w)
Resistor Type = 0.5ohm/3w
Digital Max Drive = 875

CHANNEL 2 (-)
POS 2: Red-Orange @134lm
Max Safe Power = 700mA
Forward Voltage @MSP = 2.8v (1.29ohm/0.63w)
Resistor Type = 1.2ohm/3w
Digital Max Drive = 750

CHANNEL 3 (-)
POS 3: PC Amber @75lm
Max Safe Power = 350mA
Forward Voltage @MSP = 3.51v (0.27ohm/0.03w)
Resistor Type = 0.5ohm/3w
Digital Max Drive = 970-1023

POS 4: Lime @313lm
Max Safe Power = 700mA
Forward Voltage @MSP = 3v (1ohm/0.49w)
Resistor Type = 1.2ohm/3w
Digital Max Drive = 829-1023

TOTAL BLADE DRIVE = 1.75A (w/FoC = 2.45A)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
PRIZMv4 ACCENT OUTPUT = 0.018A @3.7v
__________________________________________________ ___
ACCENT 1 (+)
16mm AV Switch, Yellow Ring
Max Safe Power = 0.02A
Forward Voltage @MSP = 2.1v (80ohm/0.032w)
Resistor Type = 100ohm/0.25w

ACCENT 2 (+)
16mm AV Switch, White Ring
Max Safe Power = 0.02A
Forward Voltage @MSP = 2v (85ohm/0.034w)
Resistor Type = 100ohm/0.25w

**Considering learning how to solder SMD Resistors this time around…
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

POMMEL
Because the lower hilt is a 4” Ribbed Extension I am going to use a 0.78” Male->Female (vanilla) Extension to mount the V5 Speaker Mount w/ 28mm Base Speaker.

GRIP
There isn’t going to be any room at all for a chassis. I’m using a 18650 Battery Holder to mount the power supply and can position the PRIZM behind it against the flat surface. The mass of wires coming off of the board will fill up the remaining negative space, leaving me JUST enough room for that clear electronics shielding. To keep it all from sliding up into the switch section during operation I’m going to cap that section off with a Chassis Disk 4.

SWITCH SECTION
This will be the first time I attempt a ‘switch section’ using MHS parts. With the 3” Female->Female Extension back in stock, and Activation Box 14 in hand, this was the perfect opportunity. I haven’t had much luck getting RICE to work at all and typically just use the SD Card directly to make changes to my saber settings. The RICE Port hole is too big for the accent LEDs so I’ll just install it anyway for decoration.

EMITTER
I fully intend to do some shroud work in the future using most of this build. For the time being I’m going to use the recently released 0.78” Male->Female (cog?) Extension in combination with Choke Style 1 and MHSv1 Blade Holder Style 1. The choke and extension will give me just enough room for the bulk of my wire bundle and resistors. The intention is to install a pair of 6-pin quick-disconnects that should eliminate the need to de/re solder everything when I go back in later to ‘finish’ this build.

Once everything is in I’ll post a few pics.

Really like the look of the hilt, looking forward to seeing progress on this one!

as i am using both digital drive settings and resistors to protect my LEDs i am considering moving the PC Amber to Channel 3, pairing it up with the Lime. Otherwise i am limiting my Lime too heavily to protect the Re Orange...

UPDATE:

Everything I need for the hilt is in! I have some fun ideas for the shroud, though that'll take some time before I have access to all of the tools I need to make it happen. In the meantime, this is what I've accomplished:
- The blade retention screw has been drill/tapped.
- PRIZM/Battery has been wired up, tested, and packed into the lower hilt. It's a pretty tight fit using a battery holder, but it works.
- Activation Box 14 is fully armed and operational. I even put in some of the new 16mm switch bezels, lol.
- I finally managed to kill my 'well used' bass speaker. I'll get another ordered soon.

The Quad Rebel I ordered got hung up in customs for a few days, but should arrive on Tuesday. I'll need to mod it (or the V3 heatsink) to get the wires out of the LED module, but I anticipated this so and am prepared. I also picked up a 10 degree narrow beam lens. Looking forward to seeing this baby light up!