ALIEN (1979) motion tracker questions

I'd still like to get my hands on an old TEAC so I could have a slider switch to reverse-engineer, but I suppose I don't really need it. Still, Ventura has got over a dozen antique, vintage, and thrift stores downtown, and hopefully next weekend I'll have time to scour them for parts.

I've got several projects I have to prioritize, but ass soon as my load lightens, I'll get back to this project and model the crap out of it. :D

Thanks to Simon and Fred and Mike and everybody who pitched in to make all these fantastic discoveries. I hope they won't be the last, and I'm not giving up on uncovering the secrets of the little "window" parts, the "air filters," or finding the correct ice cube tray, although I'm pretty certain it's native to the UK...

Let's keep this thread alive until more information comes our way and I have more time to post progress pics of my CAD. :)

- Gabe
 
Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up on the search, I'm just willing to accept the fact that we may never find the parts.

The CRT shield may be impossible to find. It may have been a single year production piece AND it's internal. The chances of someone recognizing it may be slim to none.

And the sliders. They could have also been a single year production on just one particular model. Again, not going to be easy to track down. When we approach vintage audio experts, they don't quite get that we're looking for that exact slider profile. They think we're nuts. And if the window part is the internal section of that exact slider....well, you see where this is going.

The filter thing, well, we don't even know for sure if it is a filter. But that's what we have it pidgeon holed as.

I say we keep looking for the found items, but in the meantime, start gathering measurements from photos to make our own.

-Fred
 
Originally posted by Gigatron@Mar 14 2006, 01:27 PM
I say we keep looking for the found items, but in the meantime, start gathering measurements from photos to make our own.
Click to expand...

I agree. Keep looking and at the same time develop possible designs for "place holders". :D

I think any parts that are found parts will be identified. When this finally happens depends on just who is looking and when they are doing so. You know, the old, "right person, in the right place, at the right time" thing.

I don't know what to make of the base under the gulley grill or the other flat cutout pieces, but I'll continue to look for ice cube trays (*whine* Not more ice cube trays...) and the switch covers/knobs. And whenever an ocilloscope presents itself to me, I'll get a look inside.

To me, two of the most defining parts of all that are left to identify are the ice cube tray and the CRT shield, or whatever it is.
 
Well, some good news :)

I received the vernier dials and they seem to be spot on, including the slightly conccave surface.

Regarding the ice cube trays, I have searched around many local stores, and haven't found anything yet. Most modern trays have 7 rows. Something else that is extremely prevalent in modern trays that I'd guess wasn't around in the late 70's are the novelty 'shaped cube' trays.

Like Gabe, I want to travel a bit further afield where I can check out some old electrical exchange and pawn stores, boot sales, etc.
 
Ok guys,

I found some ice cube trays that seem (by description anyway) to fit our needs. According to the website, they're 12 cup, 9"x4"x1". Now generally, dimension are rounded on things like this, so they could actually be a little bit smaller (or at least I hope so :lol)

I ordered them today, so I should hopefully have them in a few days. When I get them, I'll post pics of them against my ranger and we'll decide from there whether or not they're useful to us.

-Fred
 
That looks damn close, Simon. Got a bigger pic or can you tell us where to look to see if any of us can find a bigger pic?

-Fred
 
Got my Vernier Dial from mgoob (thanks again, Mike :D)

Here's some pics of it on the ranger

tracker-dial-001A.jpg


tracker-dial-002A.jpg




Damn cool.

Thanks to WC for hosting.

-Fred
 
How far would you say that part projects from the side of the tracker? An inch?
 
Originally posted by Gigatron@Mar 20 2006, 12:18 AM
W may have a winner with the slide knobs boys  :D  :D  :D

http://www.okwenclosures.com/products/okw/slide-knobs.htm

All experts look and chime in

-Fred
[snapback]1209099[/snapback]​
Click to expand...

Yeah, they look good to me. Size is probably about right. Anyone calculated the number of these on the tracker?

They would probably be cheap enough if we went in together, to not to have to reproduce any in resin :)
 
AWESOME... :thumbsup :) :D :eek :thumbsup

There are 22 sliders on the tracker. I wouldn't jump into a group buy just yet. Remember that these are *RETAIL* prices. I want to get one and reverse-engineer it and add a dowel pin so it can be pushed into drilled holes in the TV enclosure and not pop off like the ones on the hero if the glue dries out. I'll then be getting a quote for injection-molded parts and see if we can beat the $1.00-per-part threshold after we spread the pain over the mold tooling cost. Once tooling is covered, these should be pennies a piece. :)

I'm now thinking that the cheapest way to make the little "window" pieces is to have them stamped out of sheetmetal by the bagfull...

I'll be modeling one up soon and getting a tooling and production quote.

Now let's find those frakkin' air filter louver thingies. :p

- Gabe
 
Originally posted by Prop Runner@Mar 20 2006, 12:47 AM
AWESOME...  :thumbsup  :)  :D  :eek  :thumbsup

There are 22 sliders on the tracker.  I wouldn't jump into a group buy just yet.  Remember that these are *RETAIL* prices.  I want to get one and reverse-engineer it and add a dowel pin so it can be pushed into drilled holes in the TV enclosure and not pop off like the ones on the hero if the glue dries out.  I'll then be getting a quote for injection-molded parts and see if we can beat the $1.00-per-part  threshold after we spread the pain over the mold tooling cost.  Once tooling is covered, these should be pennies a piece. :)

I'm now thinking that the cheapest way to make the little "window" pieces is to have them stamped out of sheetmetal by the bagfull...

I'll be modeling one up soon and getting a tooling and production quote.

Now let's find those frakkin' air filter louver thingies.  :p

- Gabe
[snapback]1209112[/snapback]​
Click to expand...


Gabe, who is going to be actually producing the parts, once you have done your CAD magic?

Isn't setting setting up a stamping run like you are suggesting going to be kind of costly?
 
Originally posted by Birdie@Mar 19 2006, 06:06 PM
Gabe, who is going to be actually producing the parts, once you have done your CAD magic?

Isn't setting setting up a stamping  run like you are suggesting going to be kind of costly?
[snapback]1209152[/snapback]​
Click to expand...
Yes and no. I have access to reliable and cheap vendors, so while the upfront tooling cost might be a bit high, say a few hundred bucks, if I sell enough quantities I'll make my money back, just like with any replica project. Remember that I had a tracker replica project in the table for many months now - I just didn't have the parts to reverse-engineer.

I can either sell kits of the TV walls with all the small to medium greeblies already molded-on to be screwed and/or glued together and painted, or have the TV walls molded bare with the appropriate mounting holes and include the greeblies in a bag. But you're right - in the first scenario, there's no reason to do injection-molded sliders - I'd just buy 22 and use them as my "masters." Still, it doesn't hurt to get a quote. :) The metal stamping is actually cheaper than you'd think. One way or the other, many of the unidentified or unavailable parts will have to be scratch-built and replicated.

Now how about IDing all the other knobs and governor lights? :D

- Gabe
 
It looks like there actually may be 23 sliders on the tracker. If you look at the diagram where you numbered the sliders (pg. 4, post 74) it looks like there's one missing next to number 18, above 20. Now do we want to replicate the prop pre or post parts falling off? I guess that would determine the number of sliders and window things.

-Fred
 
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