Other than a really-not-very-good Ramona Flowers Hammer, this is my first actual prop build. It's also my first time ever working with electronics, so I'm extra happy with the results.
My goal was to make a Farnsworth that behaves as much like the QMx as possible. I think I came pretty close. The only real differences, functionally, are that the QMx has an adjustable activation delay for the ringer from 0-10 seconds, while mine has 4 options: 0, 3, 5 and 10 second delays. The QMx also has a vibration motor to coincide with the ring tone, and mine has none. I found a perfect motor for the job, but the only way I could wire it to my sound board would have had it buzzing a long, solid buzz any time the Farnsworth was active.
I also made one intentional change (as explained in the video below): On the QMx, the led flashes when ringing and goes off for the "On" mode. On the show (for the 3rd season, at least), the led continues flashing when it's on, exactly the same as when it's ringing. I just thought that having the light steadily on when the Farnsworth is active made more sense. So it blinks when ringing, on when on, of when off. It may not be screen accurate, but I prefer it.
Anyway, here are the internals of the Farnsworth:
Now, that's not very pretty, especially when compared to the QMx:
So I used some poster board to tidy/conceal most of the mess:
And here's the completed piece:
I've always liked a grey screen over a black one, because it's supposed to be a CRT screen, right? Like Philo Farnsworth invented? So I went with grey. I also definitely wanted a glass screen, even though I wouldn't be able to get that little edge you get with the plastic ones... Glass just makes it seem a little more real to me.
I'm a little disappointed in the Faceplate... The Farnsworth logo is off-center, the speaker grille isn't cut out (I colored them in with Sharpie) and the holes for the brads were so big that I had to solder the back of the brads so they didn't fall through. But it is brass and I knew it wasn't quite right when I ordered it... I just wanted it fast and the member I bought it from got it to me from literally the other side of the world in amazing time. Over all, quite nice, but if Szyntax's new run materializes, I'll be replacing it.
And, in case anyone is interested in the back of the faceplate (I always am):
And a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V2gP-B02U0
Over all, I'm quite happy with it!!
My goal was to make a Farnsworth that behaves as much like the QMx as possible. I think I came pretty close. The only real differences, functionally, are that the QMx has an adjustable activation delay for the ringer from 0-10 seconds, while mine has 4 options: 0, 3, 5 and 10 second delays. The QMx also has a vibration motor to coincide with the ring tone, and mine has none. I found a perfect motor for the job, but the only way I could wire it to my sound board would have had it buzzing a long, solid buzz any time the Farnsworth was active.
I also made one intentional change (as explained in the video below): On the QMx, the led flashes when ringing and goes off for the "On" mode. On the show (for the 3rd season, at least), the led continues flashing when it's on, exactly the same as when it's ringing. I just thought that having the light steadily on when the Farnsworth is active made more sense. So it blinks when ringing, on when on, of when off. It may not be screen accurate, but I prefer it.
Anyway, here are the internals of the Farnsworth:
Now, that's not very pretty, especially when compared to the QMx:
So I used some poster board to tidy/conceal most of the mess:
And here's the completed piece:
I've always liked a grey screen over a black one, because it's supposed to be a CRT screen, right? Like Philo Farnsworth invented? So I went with grey. I also definitely wanted a glass screen, even though I wouldn't be able to get that little edge you get with the plastic ones... Glass just makes it seem a little more real to me.
I'm a little disappointed in the Faceplate... The Farnsworth logo is off-center, the speaker grille isn't cut out (I colored them in with Sharpie) and the holes for the brads were so big that I had to solder the back of the brads so they didn't fall through. But it is brass and I knew it wasn't quite right when I ordered it... I just wanted it fast and the member I bought it from got it to me from literally the other side of the world in amazing time. Over all, quite nice, but if Szyntax's new run materializes, I'll be replacing it.
And, in case anyone is interested in the back of the faceplate (I always am):
And a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V2gP-B02U0
Over all, I'm quite happy with it!!
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