A Few Tips for a Rookie - Ultrasabers Apprentice LE V4 Remake

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02-03-2016, 10:38 PM
nathanielreykun

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A Few Tips for a Rookie - Ultrasabers Apprentice LE V4 Remake

Okay, so I've been doing saber things for a while now, but I'm only an amateur when it comes to the electronic sides of things (as in, I can certainly do it with a bit of help from reviewing posts, but I'm not so confident as to just go for it). So I've had an Ultrasabers stunt lightsaber, an Apprentice LE V4 with a white LED (made a nice golden yellow with color discs), for quite some time now, and now my favorite of my sabers had a little... Well, accident. The fix is relatively easy?a wire got cut during said "accident"?but as my hilt is now an empty husk ( :( ), I want to take this opportunity to change a few things with it, and as they're in a few different aspects, I figured it was best to do it in one fell swoop than a bunch of posts all over the place.

Change #1: An actual Yellow LED
I don't actually need help with this, but since I'm detailing my upgrade of my saber, I'm just throwing it in there. (Side note: my only reason for doing white with color discs is because I didn't know they offered their "Sentinel Yellow" LED.)

Change #2: New Switch
One other problem that arose during my little "accident" is that my ignition switch?a standard guarding latching switch?was damaged. A bit of the plastic guard broke off, and the button itself has a little more stick to it than I'm comfortable with. (In the initial incident of the "accident," it actually was stuck in the ON position for several minutes, until I could get it to contract.) So I'm a little less than comfortable with my current switch.
With this in mind, something I had been wanting to do is have an Anti Vandal Momentary switch with the yellow LED ring around it (to match the yellow of the blade, and, you know, look cool). So I've had a little difficulty finding out exactly how to wire that in correctly, and if I'll need a new resistor (more on that later).

Change #3: Covertec Button.
I've had an 8-32 button thumbscrew Covertec button where the retention screw for the blade goes, but I don't like having a plastic one or where it sits on the hilt, so I'm wanting to install an actual Covertec button (and replace the thumbscrew with an aluminum, non-Covertec one), but I'm having difficulty finding instructions on how to actually go about doing it. I've found all the materials with which to do it, just not the procedure. Also, I'm not sure where on the hilt would be best to place it. I think I like the idea of having it level with the ignition switch, but I don't know if it's actually feasible to do so.

Change #4: Sound.
I didn't get sound when I got the saber because I didn't have the funds with which to afford it back then. I also didn't know how insanely awesome it makes the saber until I bought a saber with sound for my wife. This left my beloved Apprentice saber less cool than hers. We can't have that now.
So I'm trying to figure out my best option. I don't want to buy the one from Ultrasabers (for one, they don't have their Lite Obsidian sound board for separate purchase, so the only one they have is too expensive for my taste). I've been looking at the Nano Biscotte V3 here on The Custom Saber Shop, but if I can go cheaper, I would like to. I've seen some people using the sound module from the cheaper Hasbro lightsabers, so might that be an option? I really don't know. And here's where the resistor comes up again?is my current one sufficient, or will I have to get a different one?

Thanks for taking the time, let me know what you guys think! Here are my pictures:
Attachment 13225 Attachment 13226 Attachment 13227
02-04-2016, 06:55 AM
NanoRex

Alright, the first thing you should know is that normally we don't deal with products from said company here or even speak of them if we can help it, for a few reasons that I'm sure you can find out by doing a little reading. With that said, installing TCSS electronics in previously purchased hilts is possible, but it's often difficult because of a) Said company's design decisions, and b) Very few people have done it so you will have to do a lot of figuring things out yourself.

I recommend reading up on how one would build any saber first, and familiarize yourself with electronics and chassis setups, and then come up with a way to apply these to your hilt. Good luck!
02-04-2016, 09:25 AM
Cire Yeldarb

Quote:

Originally Posted by nathanielreykun

Change #2: New Switch
With this in mind, something I had been wanting to do is have an Anti Vandal Momentary switch with the yellow LED ring around it (to match the yellow of the blade, and, you know, look cool). So I've had a little difficulty finding out exactly how to wire that in correctly, and if I'll need a new resistor (more on that later).

Change #3: Covertec Button.
I've had an 8-32 button thumbscrew Covertec button where the retention screw for the blade goes, but I don't like having a plastic one or where it sits on the hilt, so I'm wanting to install an actual Covertec button (and replace the thumbscrew with an aluminum, non-Covertec one), but I'm having difficulty finding instructions on how to actually go about doing it. I've found all the materials with which to do it, just not the procedure. Also, I'm not sure where on the hilt would be best to place it. I think I like the idea of having it level with the ignition switch, but I don't know if it's actually feasible to do so.

Change #4: Sound.
So I'm trying to figure out my best option. I don't want to buy the one from Ultrasabers (for one, they don't have their Lite Obsidian sound board for separate purchase, so the only one they have is too expensive for my taste). I've been looking at the Nano Biscotte V3 here on The Custom Saber Shop, but if I can go cheaper, I would like to. I've seen some people using the sound module from the cheaper Hasbro lightsabers, so might that be an option? I really don't know. And here's where the resistor comes up again?is my current one sufficient, or will I have to get a different one?

2. For the AV switch LED, you will want a separate Resistor than the main LED, and I personally would recommend the dynaohm. For wiring directions, please see Rob's new video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A-_PBRtZKE

3. Drill out new hole for Covertec button, Tap new hole, Screw in new covertec button. Not sure what you mean by "level with the ignition switch", but that should not be a problem

4. I recommend the Nano Biscotte. Wiring for it is well documented (and video'ed Thanks to Rob again), and you won't be disappointed. You can use a econo-board, but the result is not as high quality. And and your yes, your Main LED will need a resistor calculated specifically for it and your battery solution. (speaking of which, I would recommend upgrading to a 3.7V li-ion battery, but regardless, mind the vltage limitations of sound boards)

5. Use a chassis of some kind