lighting help fro Star Trek MKX (Voyager) tricorder

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cp1963
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lighting help fro Star Trek MKX (Voyager) tricorder

Post by cp1963 »

I am working on a tricorder mkx build for my 10 year old. Can anyone help me with a circuit schematic for the lights?
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b5ranger99
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Post by b5ranger99 »

Can you give some more details, e.g. how many "lights" do you want, blinking, sequenced, etc.

Thanks
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Post by Sparky »

It sounds like this is a kit you got somewhere. I'm not familiar with it so we'll need pics or other references to the prop you're trying to reproduce.

I'm guessing it is a Star Trek tricorder you're talking about. Is this the Original Series, Next Gen, Deep Space Nine, or Voyager. I don't remember if they had them in Enterprise, as I didn't get to see them all.
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cp1963
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Post by cp1963 »

This is a scratchbuild. I am trying to to build one from Voyager. My son asked me to build this for him, and the electronics are a little over my head, but I don't want to dissapoint him. I'm not sure how many lights the props had, but I know there are several. Some flash, some are chasers. You guys probably know more about what I need than I do. Thank you for your responses.
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Post by Sparky »

Shucks, I don't have any DVDs from Voyager, and only caught a few of those as-well.

If there is a lot of actions, and you might want some feedback buttons to start and stop them, a micro controller will be you're best bet. there are a few guys here that can do that for you (write the program and load it onto a chip). But you will need to plan out all the FX and use that plan to give them a well written Requirements List (this minimizes the cost since they don't need to do the research).
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jwrjr

Post by jwrjr »

Also, the better plan that you have for your desired FX the better chance you have of getting exactly what you want the first time.
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BART OSSI
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Re: lighting help

Post by BART OSSI »

cp1963 wrote:I am working on a tricorder mkx build for my 10 year old. Can anyone help me with a circuit schematic for the lights?
hey cp
check out on this site for the 4060 chip under lighting
i use that chip for eveything
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Post by Sparky »

I found a little info on the props, there's the Master Replicas picture of an 'OSX' tricorder a limited picture is shown of this on one of their product pages. I'm think this is the Mark 10 that you are working on.


Another website showed the medical tricorder:
http://www.star-trek-voyager.net/ship4/ ... edical.htm

but another site shows these:
http://www.yourprops.com/view_item.php?movie_prop=15906


Ah here the OSX looks like the Mark 10s seen else where:
http://www.chowfookcheong.com/MK%20OSX/MK%20OSX.htm
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Post by Mr. Engineer »

Heh. The last link was from my website. The "Next Generation" Tricorders started with the Mk VI but then switched to MK VII (Scientific and Medical) in the Third Season or so, before going to the MK IX and X during the Deep Space Nine and the movies (After Generations) before becoming a permanent in Voyagers.

The OSX is the supposedly form the alternate future timeline of Voyagers and IMHO, the most "busiest" and beautiful in terms of LED sequences.

Anyway, to do a circuit is not that hard, unless you're going for the screen accurate LED sequences which goes beyond the 555 & 4017 circuit. In ost cases, people would go for the Roddenberry.com body and source out the electronics, mainly either from gmprops which you can get from eBay time to time or the propmakers themselves, HMS Creations.

I am about to start mine, but its going to take years due to limited time for family and work.
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cp1963
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Post by cp1963 »

I am not good with electronics, but I want to learn. If you could give me any advice, I would appreciate it. I almost have the body scratchbuilt, and soon I will be ready for the circuitry. I just need some guidance.
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Post by Richard Baker »

It may not match the sequences prefectly but there is a way to get the sensors to light up and flash without full circuit creation. I go through the toy section in thrift stores, Target, Walmart & such. There are a lot of toys wich have flashing LEDs in them. I tear apart the toy and usually there is a tiny circuit board about an inch square which runs them all. Two of those can get the Tricorder effects you want. They might not be a cycle match for the official prop, but it is close enough IMO. They are battery operated so they are good for hand held devices, Automotive stores have LED blings which are good for models if you can run 12v power to them.

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Post by Sparky »

Just let us know what effect you want and we can figure out the circuits with you, or find a source that meets those needs.
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