Scott's Models and Props

[Jimbuna]

Be great if you had the means to mass produce....got to be a market out there for this kind of quality kit

[Buddahaid]

There is but price point is hard to reach and the license from CBS would be difficult if not impossible.

[Buddahaid]

A bit of catch up after a lost weekend last weekend awaiting a root canal I thankfully had last Monday.

The four units that will be made without the LCDs(mine included) have the back lights built.






Sorry for the blur.

[Buddahaid]

Then moving on to the two LCD units, the first job was installing the three switches that operate the display. The obvious place for them was the three pads labeled 1, 2, and 3 just below the projection.





The switch board needed to be cut into three pieces and rewired.






The beginnings of the switch pads for the second one. The first has these installed already but more on that tomorrow.

[Buddahaid]

Fixed the graphic and reprinted it. I also enlarged the red "TEMP" text so I hope it shows now.

The switches are done now. I had to shim the tabs fro the second one.


Trim them to fit and glue them on followed by some finesse trimming.






Time to figure out the power switches.

[Buddahaid]

I'll add some epoxy reinforcement but here's the main power switch install.




I need to close the opening at the top of the vacuform body and I've got one made.


I'll save a little time as I used this piece for a pattern before finishing it.

[Buddahaid]

So it's nearly midnight on Friday and I'm beat, but I had a productive week. All the other five tricorders have the curved plate installed which was the last external feature to create. Yay beer! And between last night and today nearly the electronics are installed. Yay beer!

The four units not getting the LCD's needed sound boards so I started that by working on the sound file to stretch the length to two minutes and thirty seconds and remove some noise. I really love Magix Audio Cleaning Lab software! The sound I'm using is the MkVII sound and the length lets me use a BigDawg 220 second board which is plenty long.

Here's the board cut down and fitted with a 5 volt regulator. Same as I've done before with the TWOK tricorders.


And the insatllation.


Next came installing the batteries after attaching wires to the connector. The LCD tricorder is on the right.


Following that was building the charge ports and wiring them all together. The LCD versions use another PCB which is a 5 volt supply plus a different speaker installation.


LCD version.


Well at this point I tested the whole package sans the display to see what's what and discovered I have a problem. The pop-up circuit boards are sequencing erratically which never occurred running off just a 9 volt. I tried a couple of the others to make sure it wasn't just the one board. The good news is I think it's just a matter of filtering power supply noise with a capacitor but that's a battle for tomorrow.

[Aktungbby]

TESLA AUTO NEEDS U...how do the batteries get recharged/replaced?

[Buddahaid]

Good question. I buy these replacement battery kits for Canon camcorders from Amazon which were $17.99 last time I ordered. They come with a charger that works on AC or 12 volt car adapter, and two batteries.








Then I modify the charger and batteries by adding a pair of wires to the battery connector, and half of a mini phone plug to mini phone plug cable.


The battery wires then connect to a switched mini phone jack such that when the plug is inserted, the battery positive gets disconnected from the circuit and connected to the charger. Remove the plug and the battery positive connects to the circuit. I usually have to do a little bending on the jack to make the switching reliable.




That's it. The nice thing about this battery is it's high AH rating, and if it fails sometime in the future, it can be replaced with a standard alkaline 9 volt.

[Buddahaid]

Here's one of the sound boards I use and modify as needed. These can store one long audio file or be broken up into several smaller segments depending on how you configure the edge connector. Writing to the addresses is by USB interface and is as simple as plugging the board in and playing the file from the interface software.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200s-USB-mod...-/230761780701

[Buddahaid]

So I was right about power supply noise being the problem with the pop-up circuit. I added a 330nF capacitor across the power input terminals and that solved it. I also wired on the power leads and connectors.


I was going to wait until final assembly to add on the back lights but it occurred to me I could just leave them wired in but unfitted and complete the wiring.


So a full mock up was needed to see if any last problems arose and it's all working nicely. On to the LCD board version reed switches and magnets.
http://s225.photobucket.com/user/sir...tml?sort=3&o=0

[Buddahaid]

Well I got the one LCD I have on hand installed and it didn't turn out in the way I had thought as regards power and reed switches. I had thought that I needed to first establish power through the lever switch while having the opening reed under the influence of it's magnet. Then as the pop-up continued to rise the magnet would move away from the opening reed and the LCD would light. As the pop-up continued to rise the other magnet would come into influence of the closing reed so when you closed it, that magnet would move away from the closing reed and shut down the LCD with the closing ratchet sound.

What actually would happen was when the closing reed magnet came into influence the reed the LCD would shut down with the closing sound. This is just the opposite of what would happen on a MKVII using the same system so I'm confused and I double checked the reed to be a NO type.

Long story short, it turns out I don't even need the opening reed at all because the LCD powers on when the battery gets connected. For closing I just hooked up the NO side of the opening reed to the closing reed connection and as it closes the magnet comes into influence and it shuts down with the closing ratchet sound. Weird but it works.

In any case, we'll see what the LCD board that's on it's way does to see if I'm crazy.

Here's how I set up the reeds and magnets.

Opening reed.


Closing reed.


Magnets.


Video of the LCD version. I'm scrolling quickly through the different screens and they are in focus unlike the video.
http://s225.photobucket.com/user/sir...tml?sort=3&o=0

[Buddahaid]

Base color applied and it's PK7179 equivalent which is what these look to have been painted with. I've one part to redo but things are moving along. The bad news is I work away from home most of next week then the kitchen demolition begins. Time for props will be very scarce during the next two months.

[Buddahaid]

Bad news as some of the resin parts have spots where the paint will not cure. The same problem I had with the TWOK tricorder run a year ago and the parts were from the same source around the same time. This problem is not typical!

Anyway, time to update. I've no pics but the bad spots have been excised, rebuilt, and are in a state of primer now. I haven't been able to do much since last Saturday with the home construction I'm working on taking up most of my time and then leaving me weak and helpless afterward. :P/>

Good news is the major structural work on my house will be done by the end of this coming weekend. This afternoon involved pouring 29 80 lbs bags of concrete into the first foundation underpinning. Tomorrow the second underpinning will be made ready for concrete, signed off in the afternoon(I hope), and concrete work set for Thursday. This is young mans work and I'm not young anymore! />

[Aktungbby]

Are you making it earthquake proof or adding on an inlaw unit for when (not if) the big one hits Napa...again? We just had a 2.8 in Yountville two days ago-just a jolt...just I was being depth charged in Aces of the Deep though!