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Step 13Mid Level - Force FX Based
For higher sound quality and better light control, people have stripped the electronics out of Force FX Lightsaber previously produced by Master Replicas (MR). MR lost the license to the Star Wars brand but the Force FX product line was picked up by Hasbro.
The most popular sound board to use is the one in the now discontinued product called The Force FX Lightsaber Construction Set - AKA, the 616 or "Joe Jedi". This was sold exclusively at Radio Shack. Why this one? Well with a flick of a switch you can go from lightsaber sounds based on Jedi to Sith (yes, there is a difference). Heck, the set gives you the ability to switch the blade color from Red to Green to Blue. They only place I know to get them now is Ebay. I got two refurbished ones for $40 each.
The MR sound board can only handle 6 volts MAX. Any more and you fry it. The board requires a latching switch similar to the one used for the Basic lightsaber. Using this board to power the LED will limit your choices of high powered LED. Basically if your LED choice requires a forward voltage of more than 6 volts, this board can not do it alone (example would be the Luxeon V , or multiple LEDs like I did).
This is the board that I used. Huh?? I know... I just said that this board can not handle over 6 volts. And my 3 Rebels in series would need 9.45 volts. In fact, the voltage put out by my three Li-Ion batteries is at 10.8v. How did that work?
Well with some applied electronics you can regulate the power going into the board and have the board just provide sound. Then have the rest of the electricity go into a buckpuck. That way you can have the MR board getting less than 6 volts and the LED getting what ever it requires (7.2, 10.6, 12 volt what ever).
Another method is to use a double pole/double throw switch and have two battery packs. One battery pack with low voltage to the MR board and another battery pack with higher voltage going to the buckpuck/resistor/led. Press the button and two different voltages are sent to two circuits isolated from each other. This is the route I went with.
The most popular sound board to use is the one in the now discontinued product called The Force FX Lightsaber Construction Set - AKA, the 616 or "Joe Jedi". This was sold exclusively at Radio Shack. Why this one? Well with a flick of a switch you can go from lightsaber sounds based on Jedi to Sith (yes, there is a difference). Heck, the set gives you the ability to switch the blade color from Red to Green to Blue. They only place I know to get them now is Ebay. I got two refurbished ones for $40 each.
The MR sound board can only handle 6 volts MAX. Any more and you fry it. The board requires a latching switch similar to the one used for the Basic lightsaber. Using this board to power the LED will limit your choices of high powered LED. Basically if your LED choice requires a forward voltage of more than 6 volts, this board can not do it alone (example would be the Luxeon V , or multiple LEDs like I did).
This is the board that I used. Huh?? I know... I just said that this board can not handle over 6 volts. And my 3 Rebels in series would need 9.45 volts. In fact, the voltage put out by my three Li-Ion batteries is at 10.8v. How did that work?
Well with some applied electronics you can regulate the power going into the board and have the board just provide sound. Then have the rest of the electricity go into a buckpuck. That way you can have the MR board getting less than 6 volts and the LED getting what ever it requires (7.2, 10.6, 12 volt what ever).
Another method is to use a double pole/double throw switch and have two battery packs. One battery pack with low voltage to the MR board and another battery pack with higher voltage going to the buckpuck/resistor/led. Press the button and two different voltages are sent to two circuits isolated from each other. This is the route I went with.
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