Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help

TridCloudwalker · 04-01-2010, 07:32 PM

The knob I have looks more like the one in the photo above me on the right with the vertical grooves in it, not the flat one. Still, it appears to be correct for at least one of the MTs.

If someone wants to make a cast of it, I'll gladly lend it out, but as Jonsey said, it's probably just cheaper to buy one.

Try calling around to local hospitals/doctor offices/med supply houses and see if they have any old or broken pressure cuff bulbs they're tossing out. Free is always better than not free. That's how I got mine.

Jonesythecat · 04-01-2010, 07:36 PM

Yes, doctors usually have plenty of broken "sphygs" in their drawers. I'll ask some of my acquaintances and see if they can give me their broken ones... but I still have to come up with an exceptional excuse to the legit question "why do you need broken sphygmomanometers??" or "what are you going to do with it?"

I have a broken one in the house but it has a history, I can't break it up.

TridCloudwalker let me know how your search goes

Jonesythecat · 04-02-2010, 07:52 AM

I took some pictures of the valve and the tube from my vintage sphygmomanometer.

By the look of it... it FITS!
I believe for the film they used any sphygmomanometer that they had in hand, that explain the different knobs. The knob in my picture would match the thin silver one... while the one in the screengrab I showed before (the flat large knob) would belong to another model or just another brand (these aneroid come with different knobs sometimes, there are also black hand held aneroid with black plastic knobs like the one that appears in a perviously posted picture)
Notice also that the rubber tube with the metallic end looks remarkably like what we see in the screen used prop. In this case you would need at least 2 sphygmomanometers to make the cable that goes from the Hama viewer to the dril body because each sphygmomanometer has only 1 of those metallic parts. Some sphygs don't even have one.

propologist · 04-02-2010, 08:51 AM

i bet that's the most anyone has talked about or said " sphygmomanometer" in years

Jonesythecat · 04-02-2010, 09:19 AM

On this forum probably.

It's quite common for me. Aneroid perhaps is an easier word to spell :P

almar bouwman · 04-02-2010, 01:44 PM

I think you're on to something.

Jonesythecat · 04-09-2010, 11:24 AM

Another alternative for the "wire" linking the hama viewer to the drill body is the tube from an airbrush kit, but I would need to have one in hand to see if it's a likely possibility.
Airbrushes have some good metallic swivels too

Harry Harris · 04-09-2010, 03:50 PM

I've always thought it was a piece of 75 Ohm coaxial video cable. I used a piece on my replica & it looks spot-on.

Harry

Jonesythecat · 04-09-2010, 04:23 PM

Don't know Harry, from this picture http://alienscollection.com/trackerprop.jpg it looks like there is some metal thickness in the part that plugs into the drill. Video cables don't have that kind of metallic plug (larger than the wire itself). Just my two cents

almar bouwman · 05-02-2010, 12:30 PM

For those of you who are still looking for a 426 Kango drill, there's one on Ebay(GB) right now. The auction ends today (May 2).
I'm also trying to get my hands on another 426 which is for sale here in The Netherlands. If I can get it, I'll strip it completely and offer it here. I'll let you know.

RCvie · 05-04-2010, 10:36 PM

Typical, keep an eye on ebay, go away for a week and one goes off.
Side note, can anyone draw up basic measurements for the main parts of the Tracker? I'd just like to make up a rough wooden model to mock up for a costume. For starters.

Jonesythecat · 05-05-2010, 02:26 AM

What main parts measurements do you need?

The drill body is quite a complicated piece but if you need any help....

RCvie · 05-05-2010, 03:12 AM

Most of it, main body thickness and depth at both ends and the seperate addon parts. General box dimentions would be fine for now. I mean if I get the basic width and thickness of even the handle I can file the shape by eye from all the good photos on this thread.
For starters what's the length of the drill body and height at each end?

.....______
..._||=''''''||
..||]'''''[8]'''|]
...| ../''L_J''
....''''''

RCvie · 07-21-2010, 03:30 PM

I managed to pick a Kango 426 drill up from ebay. Messaged the guy about some more if he had them and he wrote back:

Hi
its a great testament to these drills that so many people want the spares
I get asked all the time about cases , so people must have them for years and the only thing wrong is they drop them .
we only have working ones left
if you were after a couple we could do a very good deal on post
basicaly you could 4 drills delivered for the post price of £80
once it gets over 2 kilos the prices dont go up so much
cheers
papko

Didn't have the heart to tell him what was planed for them. His ebay profile is eBay My World - papko
I llive in Australia so postage may be different in UK.

brashsculptor · 07-21-2010, 05:18 PM

I have given up on sourcing bitz and am building mine from scratch.

RCvie · 07-22-2010, 08:33 PM

I realy hope someone on here picks up that Kango going for 20 pounds on ebay. UK only postage though or I would.

So who is making the castings of the pump widget and transformer piece?

almar bouwman · 07-23-2010, 02:41 AM

Ebay UK has 4 Kango 426 auctions RIGHT NOW. Grab it while you can!

who45 · 05-15-2011, 11:39 AM

[QUOTEI have given up on sourcing bitz and am building mine from scratch][/QUOTE]

altho i realise this may be an old thread now......i picked all my tracker bits over the last 7 days via the internet (may 2011).

1x kangos (£11) uk ebay
1 x hamer viewer (£15) amazon usa
1 x t28 panel (£5) forbes photographic
1 x self timers inc box (£7) german ebay
1 x jobo minilux (£10) german ebay
1 x hama remote (30) usa ebay
1 x vivastar flashguns (£1) uk ebay
1 x pump widget - marrsattacks
items from maplins for connections (£20)
1 x matchbox psu boxes (99p) uk ebay

i even scored an original sl80 calculator from casio on ebay too

so apart from the pump widget i am very screen made accurate

who45 · 05-26-2011, 06:50 AM

uk ebay has a kango 426 right now - currently no bids at £30 - i bought 2 last week, one is gutted and clean, the other is in a 90% finished state

Jonesythecat · 05-26-2011, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by who45

altho i realise this may be an old thread now......i picked all my tracker bits over the last 7 days via the internet (may 2011).

1x kangos (£11) uk ebay
1 x hamer viewer (£15) amazon usa
1 x t28 panel (£5) forbes photographic
1 x self timers inc box (£7) german ebay
1 x jobo minilux (£10) german ebay
1 x hama remote (30) usa ebay
1 x vivastar flashguns (£1) uk ebay
1 x pump widget - marrsattacks
items from maplins for connections (£20)
1 x matchbox psu boxes (99p) uk ebay

i even scored an original sl80 calculator from casio on ebay too

so apart from the pump widget i am very screen made accurate

What's the cost with postages though?

framed · 01-21-2012, 06:06 AM

hello,

i found out the kango 327 426 and the 422 are indentical only divirence is the voltage.

i have bought a 422 drill payed 25 pounds for it!
still looking for a pump widget if someone can help me out on this one?

thank you guys!

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04-01-2010, 07:32 PM	#126
TridCloudwalker Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: York, PA - USA Posts: 1,566 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help The knob I have looks more like the one in the photo above me on the right with the vertical grooves in it, not the flat one. Still, it appears to be correct for at least one of the MTs. If someone wants to make a cast of it, I'll gladly lend it out, but as Jonsey said, it's probably just cheaper to buy one. Try calling around to local hospitals/doctor offices/med supply houses and see if they have any old or broken pressure cuff bulbs they're tossing out. Free is always better than not free. That's how I got mine.

04-01-2010, 07:36 PM	#127
Jonesythecat Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 181 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help Yes, doctors usually have plenty of broken "sphygs" in their drawers. I'll ask some of my acquaintances and see if they can give me their broken ones... but I still have to come up with an exceptional excuse to the legit question "why do you need broken sphygmomanometers??" or "what are you going to do with it?" I have a broken one in the house but it has a history, I can't break it up. TridCloudwalker let me know how your search goes

04-02-2010, 07:52 AM	#128
Jonesythecat Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 181 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help I took some pictures of the valve and the tube from my vintage sphygmomanometer. By the look of it... it FITS! I believe for the film they used any sphygmomanometer that they had in hand, that explain the different knobs. The knob in my picture would match the thin silver one... while the one in the screengrab I showed before (the flat large knob) would belong to another model or just another brand (these aneroid come with different knobs sometimes, there are also black hand held aneroid with black plastic knobs like the one that appears in a perviously posted picture) Notice also that the rubber tube with the metallic end looks remarkably like what we see in the screen used prop. In this case you would need at least 2 sphygmomanometers to make the cable that goes from the Hama viewer to the dril body because each sphygmomanometer has only 1 of those metallic parts. Some sphygs don't even have one. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Jonesythecat; 04-02-2010 at 08:12 AM.

04-02-2010, 08:51 AM	#129
propologist Banned Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Prattville, Alabama Posts: 2,135 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help i bet that's the most anyone has talked about or said " sphygmomanometer" in years

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04-02-2010, 09:19 AM	#130
Jonesythecat Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 181 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help On this forum probably. It's quite common for me. Aneroid perhaps is an easier word to spell :P

04-02-2010, 01:44 PM	#131
almar bouwman Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Zoetermeer, Netherlands Posts: 462 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help I think you're on to something.

04-09-2010, 11:24 AM	#132
Jonesythecat Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 181 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help Another alternative for the "wire" linking the hama viewer to the drill body is the tube from an airbrush kit, but I would need to have one in hand to see if it's a likely possibility. Airbrushes have some good metallic swivels too Attached Thumbnails

04-09-2010, 03:50 PM	#133
Harry Harris Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 455 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help I've always thought it was a piece of 75 Ohm coaxial video cable. I used a piece on my replica & it looks spot-on. Harry

04-09-2010, 04:23 PM	#134
Jonesythecat Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 181 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help Don't know Harry, from this picture http://alienscollection.com/trackerprop.jpg it looks like there is some metal thickness in the part that plugs into the drill. Video cables don't have that kind of metallic plug (larger than the wire itself). Just my two cents

05-02-2010, 12:30 PM	#135
almar bouwman Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Zoetermeer, Netherlands Posts: 462 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help For those of you who are still looking for a 426 Kango drill, there's one on Ebay(GB) right now. The auction ends today (May 2). I'm also trying to get my hands on another 426 which is for sale here in The Netherlands. If I can get it, I'll strip it completely and offer it here. I'll let you know.

05-04-2010, 10:36 PM	#136
RCvie Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 11 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help Typical, keep an eye on ebay, go away for a week and one goes off. Side note, can anyone draw up basic measurements for the main parts of the Tracker? I'd just like to make up a rough wooden model to mock up for a costume. For starters.

05-05-2010, 02:26 AM	#137
Jonesythecat Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 181 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help What main parts measurements do you need? The drill body is quite a complicated piece but if you need any help....

05-05-2010, 03:12 AM	#138
RCvie Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 11 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help Most of it, main body thickness and depth at both ends and the seperate addon parts. General box dimentions would be fine for now. I mean if I get the basic width and thickness of even the handle I can file the shape by eye from all the good photos on this thread. For starters what's the length of the drill body and height at each end? .....______ ..._\|\|=''''''\|\| ..\|\|]'''''[8]'''\|] ...\| ../''L_J'' ....'''''' Last edited by RCvie; 05-06-2010 at 01:54 AM.

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07-21-2010, 03:30 PM	#139
RCvie Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 11 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help I managed to pick a Kango 426 drill up from ebay. Messaged the guy about some more if he had them and he wrote back: Hi its a great testament to these drills that so many people want the spares I get asked all the time about cases , so people must have them for years and the only thing wrong is they drop them . we only have working ones left if you were after a couple we could do a very good deal on post basicaly you could 4 drills delivered for the post price of £80 once it gets over 2 kilos the prices dont go up so much cheers papko Didn't have the heart to tell him what was planed for them. His ebay profile is eBay My World - papko I llive in Australia so postage may be different in UK.

07-21-2010, 05:18 PM	#140
brashsculptor Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 32 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help I have given up on sourcing bitz and am building mine from scratch.

07-22-2010, 08:33 PM	#141
RCvie Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 11 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help I realy hope someone on here picks up that Kango going for 20 pounds on ebay. UK only postage though or I would. So who is making the castings of the pump widget and transformer piece?

07-23-2010, 02:41 AM	#142
almar bouwman Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Zoetermeer, Netherlands Posts: 462 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help Ebay UK has 4 Kango 426 auctions RIGHT NOW. Grab it while you can!

05-15-2011, 11:39 AM	#143
who45 Join Date: May 2011 Location: nr leicester in england Posts: 201 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help [QUOTEI have given up on sourcing bitz and am building mine from scratch][/QUOTE] altho i realise this may be an old thread now......i picked all my tracker bits over the last 7 days via the internet (may 2011). 1x kangos (£11) uk ebay 1 x hamer viewer (£15) amazon usa 1 x t28 panel (£5) forbes photographic 1 x self timers inc box (£7) german ebay 1 x jobo minilux (£10) german ebay 1 x hama remote (30) usa ebay 1 x vivastar flashguns (£1) uk ebay 1 x pump widget - marrsattacks items from maplins for connections (£20) 1 x matchbox psu boxes (99p) uk ebay i even scored an original sl80 calculator from casio on ebay too so apart from the pump widget i am very screen made accurate Last edited by who45; 05-26-2011 at 06:50 AM.

05-26-2011, 06:50 AM	#144
who45 Join Date: May 2011 Location: nr leicester in england Posts: 201 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help uk ebay has a kango 426 right now - currently no bids at £30 - i bought 2 last week, one is gutted and clean, the other is in a 90% finished state

01-21-2012, 06:06 AM	#146
framed Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Building an Aliens Motion Tracker - need some help hello, i found out the kango 327 426 and the 422 are indentical only divirence is the voltage. i have bought a 422 drill payed 25 pounds for it! still looking for a pump widget if someone can help me out on this one? thank you guys!