If I wasn't so bog tired today I'd take some comparison photos of my Tennant-ish sonic I built when I thought I could have more than one entry. Thing is it's ridiculously over-sized compared to the Tennant tv prop and none of the proportions are 'right' because I wasn't going for 'accurate'. Thing is it's within a hair of being exactly the same length both closed and extended as the new CO 11th toy prop! My actual entry is also almost exactly the same length as the new prop so I had to chuckle about that too.
I'm just enjoying some time to think and not work on them or anything else for a while. I want to complete the build with a sound chip eventually though I hate the idea of having to cannibalize one from a toy. I even emailed CO about buying a chip or damaged/returned sonics they couldn't sell and I got a reply that was basically bugger off.
One of the thoughts I had was to do something amusing if I'm going to electronic it up. Since I have a little more internal room to work with I thought about trying to find one of those TV-B-Gone things, tear it apart and put the IR light in the emitter. It would be nice to walk into a room, "BZZZZZ" and turn on or off tvs with a sonic. A car door opener function might be nice if I knew how to program one to match my truck.
Any ideas folks?
Several things have come to light while doing this contest that I feel I should share...
1) If you're working with the original sound circuitry you will likely need enamel magnet wire to separate the parts and reconnect them without taking up too much space in the object.
2) Per above you also should use a temperature controlled soldering iron as most of the parts on those boards are surface mount and do not respond to heat well. And the board doesn't dissipate any heat at all even when in a "third hand" clamp.
3) If you want straight lines cut into plastic PCV pipe you either need an incredibly steady hand and an exacto knife/dremel OR a small milling machine set at low speed.
4) The cheapest sonic noise currently is the Sonic Pen that you can find from anywhere around $5 to $20. Don't pay more than $20.
5) A tv-be-gone circuit physically would be able to fit in the body of a Tennant if you cut grooves but it would prevent it from extending most likely. Better to try and fit it in an 11. ;-)
6) The internal sound circuits of the Sonic Pen only have a certain amount of power available to the LED but it can run at least three LEDs without too much issue.
7) Metal tape (the kind for heating ducts) can be used for metal pieces like buttons and such or accents but it's not a substitute for paint or leafing.
8) Start...earlier. ;-)
9) Buy more than one Sonic Pen if possible. (No I didn't ruin the circuit but I easily could have.)
10) Have fun! (I was so serious about it that I forgot it's about making cool stuff not just winning a contest!)
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