Farnsworth Discussion

Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

Not the best pix but...
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Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

That little radar dish looks like those little umbrellas they serve with fufu drinks.
 
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

The odd thing is that even though the show claims that the Farnsworth was developed sometime in the 40's, it doesn't have a 40's style. It's more reminiscent of late 1800's/early 1900's.

I tought Artie said he created it just after inventing the television. His first TV patent was in January 1927 for the image dissector tube (camera tube). So I would have thought around 1930 for the Farnsworth based on when he first had a working TV system.

The following info is quite interesting background.

[SIZE=-1]A Westinghouse employee Vladimir Zworykin, is usually credited as being the father of modern television because his patent for the heart of the TV, the electron scanning tube, was first applied for in 1923. However Farnsworth was the first of the two inventors to successfully demonstrate the transmission of television signals in September 1927, using his own tube. Farnsworth received a patent for his electron scanning tube in 1930.

Zworykin couldn't achieve this until 1934 and his patent for a scanning tube was not issued until 1938. So Zworykin had a patent first but his design was not functional until years later. In fact all earlier efforts were of such poor quality that Westinghouse ordered him to work on something “more useful.” [/SIZE]

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added after rewatching the pilot

When Artie shows Pete and Myka the communicator, he says "I call it a Farnsworth. It's named after Philo Farnsworth. He invented that in 1929 right after he invented television. Isn't that remarkable?"

So I guess that means it was made in 1929 or at least conceived then.

Maybe then if the blueprints seen in season 2, which were for the Farnsworth/Claudia version, say 1944, that unit came later as an improved model. Or maybe the blueprints were drawn up years after the units were made so they'd have a circuit diagram if something broke.
 
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Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

That little radar dish looks like those little umbrellas they serve with fufu drinks.

I thought the same thing. LOL. Looks like they maybe made it from styrene sheet though.

I've been trying to figue out what that "plug" assembly with the metal rods sticking out of it is. It looks really familiar. Though the thing I'm thinking of doesn't have wires sticking out of it and these look like part of the original assembly whatever it is.
 
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

I'd also really like to get a good view of Leena's steampunk mobile phone (cellphone).
 
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

I've been trying to figue out what that "plug" assembly with the metal rods sticking out of it is.


It's a double banana plug adapter. Here's one in red...

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Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

wonder if they just stuck magnets on it to get it to stay on the sides since its not in the jacks..
 
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

The center of the dish looks like it has an old tuning coil with a T pin coming out of the center.
 
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

Just thought some of you might be interested in knowing Quantum Mechanix is releasing a Hero Farnsworth prop...there are pictures of it posted in my Comic Con thread

Quite honestly I don't think their Farnsworth looks any better than the units made by the guys here at RPF and given what QM's stuff costs it would be way out my price range. In fact it is very hard to tell their prop from the RPF members' versions except their screen does not look as good.

Actually the unit with the black screen at the top of the first photo looks bloody horrible. It looks like it caught fire.
 
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

If you zoom into the second photo posted by division 6 you can see what appears to be some type of connection through the wall of the box. Maybe this one was modified specifically for this scene?

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Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

Because the Jacks are positioned lower on the previous photos we've seen of the Farnsworth.

I think they just made another one and moved the sockets up higher on it. I don't think the original ones had the right spacing between those sockets for that double banana plug to fit it. Of course on the Claudia unit they've just put eyelets at the correct spacing.

I don't know whether I'd do that or just make the dish assembly longer to suit the lower sockets but I might really only bother making one for the Claudia model. Tough choice as one would need to have a black screen to go with it. Maybe I'll make the Claudia version with full internals and interchangeable screens and a plug in dish if I can get some more of the screens from Szyntax.

Yeah SurferGeek I had noticed that little detail when studying the photos. Maybe to plug in the dish, they just added some eyelets like the ones on the Claudia model and it just bent the fillet slightly as it was pushed through. Given it was only seen for a split second they probabvly thought it not worth fixing. It is a bit messy though and is not a detail I'd include.
 
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Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

Actually the unit with the black screen at the top of the first photo looks bloody horrible. It looks like it caught fire.

I spoke with the designer of the Farnsworth at the Quantum Mechanix Booth about the black screen......he felt the screen looked better for something 100 years old and it was just a concept piece nothing more. The studio decided on the grey screen. I was also told electronics will be added for lights ,sound and the screen will light up. As far as cost goes we'll see.
 
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

I was also told electronics will be added for lights ,sound and the screen will light up. As far as cost goes we'll see.

I expected that they would but as I said it will be out of my price range. I've not seen anything of theirs that I could afford.
 
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

What's going on right above the bottom plug?
It looks like some copper wire going into the side rivet.
 
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

It's been suggested that some people have used domes from a 3" tap (touch) light for the screen. Does anyone have a link to lights with the right sized dome (3") or a spare one or two of the vac formed ones?.
 
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

Yeah, I keep hearing people say that they've found the correct size lens on those tap lights found in supermarkets.
When this project first started I looked at nearly every tap light out there, and none of them were the correct size. They were usually too big, too small, or they had some screwy pattern on the lens.

Maybe they came out with new types of tap lights that are the correct size.
 
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth

the one i used for a while had a spiral pattern on it, but it was the correct size. I think i got mine at walmart.
 
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