Adding sound to Ultra-sabers Prophecy RGB Hilt

[Cancer]

Honestly, I'm still debating how I want to approach this project. I'm, over-all, happy with this saber as-is and so I'm pretty scared of botching something and mucking it up ... so I don't want to dive into something that I'm simply not educated enough or equipped to handle ... but I've been tossing around the idea of trying something with a potentiometer to manually adjust each level of color, a simple on/off latching switch, and some kind of third button to select which specific color the potentiometer would actually adjust....

Even writing that out has over-whelmed me XD

I think for this build I'm simply going to maintain the basic functionality of having the three latching switches (controlling each individual color) for now ... plus sound

[Cancer]

Latest development, I just picked up an econo-board from Wally World a few nights ago and, due to its small size etc etc etc, I'm gonna try and shove this guy in there and see how it goes!

[Cancer]

After tinkering around with this setup for a bit, I realized that it was simply impractical to maintain the 3 latching switches (the board only uses a single mom switch), and so I am completely removing all 3 of the latching switches and replacing them with three potentiometers (just gotta find the right ones) and hopefully I can find some knobs ... this way, the board with still maintain a simple on/off (with a fourth tactile mom switch that I shall install) and from there, all 3 of the colours on the RGB will be "on", with the option of toning each one of these colors with their respective pots. As for the knobs, I want to use acrylic so that I can have LED's showing through them (RGB, respective of their corresponding controller). For every board that I've come across, I think that this is the best that I can do (and frankly, it seems like the best idea I've had for this project so far!). I was thinking of leaving the 3 latching's in, with micro-pots, but that simply wouldn't work. I'll get a wiring diagram posted hopefully by this evening! ^^;
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http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?fbid=1437969968062&set=a.1437969808058.5 1726.1797404694&theater
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Got it posted! Check it out!

[Cancer]

I'm sticking to my guns with this guy and gonna try it out. As soon as I can find 3 identical pot's to try this out with that will actually fit into this saber and get them ordered, I'll get this monster set up in my breadboard and post some results!

(Now, for those of you who've been trying to do this same thing or something similar, UltraSabers uses the DX RGB's and I have not calculated the value of the R¹ Rresistor yet. Each Die should only be running at 450-500ma max, toning down with an econo-board would probably be a good idea, and then working up little-by-little. Now that they're available, though, I'm starting to wonder if maybe I want to hold out for those super-awesome PC-L's that everyone should be talking about!)

More info on that subject here:
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com...s-Bane-with-VA

[Cancer]

It's been a while since I've made any progress with this build ... but I've found (finally!!) the potentiometers that I'm going to be using (and they actually fit right in with the slightly 'worn' look that I'm going for)!

http://www.alliedelec.com/search/pro...0371#tab=Specs
0-10K Ohm variance, now with this amount of resistance the fully resistorized diode will NOT be 100% off, but it will be so dimmed out that any other colour will very easily be able to over-power and hopefully there will be enough actual variance within this guy to give me a full range of spectrum. I've only actually tested this with a micro-pot (which was HIGHLY sensitive and offered almost no visible variance at all save for a Low, Med, High brightness [with some flickering that made me a little nervous]). I'm gonna plug my wiring into a breadboard when I get a chance, but as spring starts firing up and the weather is getting more appreciable I'm finding less and less spare time to actually work on this. Stay frosty! Eventually, this mofo is gonna work!

[jin starkiller]

glad that you found what you needed for your build ...sounds like you have your project under control and hope to see the saber soon

[Cancer]

Well it's been a while since I've done anything, but hopefully I'll be able to order these pot's on the 16th. Lately I've been trying to build up a wiring frame for all of the internals but so far I'm just having terrible luck ... and for a project like this ... I'm rather hesitant to put in an econo board. I want this guy to be amazing when I'm done, and the econo boards to have some features that are a little more annoying than impressive. But, come Halloween, there's nothing more disappointing than a saber with no sound. Especially when you're dueling someone who DOES have sound.... Colour-changing or not, spectators have expectations. I'm still going to do what I can to fit the MR Vader card in this guy that I have, but due to this hilt's restrictive size ... I just haven't come up with a solution ... yet!
I'm going to change the pommel, too, as I feel it doesn't quite fit this build at all.

[Skottsaber]

I recommend a style 7 pommel

[Cancer]

Finally got the pot's ordered, they came in today. Dissapointingly, they are not the metal knurled knobs that I expected, they arrived with a linear pattern instead. The discrepancy is strictly cosmetic, though, and not something I'm too terribly concerned with. I may dip them in rhino guard or something, but meh.

Thanks, Skott, for the input - *edit*: I think that guy might be a little too short, though. I'm hoping to go with a bulkier pommel so that I can stuff some more electronics in there for sound ... pommel 10 is similar in style, because I really liked where you were going with that, but with a chunkier bevel and more room to cram-fu

I'm gonna get these guys wired in and try it out as a stunt for a while and see how things go! Hopefully I'll have this done by tonight so I can get some more photos uploaded into my Facebook album for some viewing.