Installing Electronics into a Voyager "Endgame" Tricorder kit from Rod.com

[gmprops]

Hi Everyone!

Some time ago, a friend and fellow prop collector sent me a Voyager "Endgame" Tricorder body kit he had purchased from Roddenberry.com. He had heard I was working on the electronics for this tricorder and wanted me to use his tricorder kit as a test for installing my electronics. I used the kit to make sure all of the circuit boards would fit properly.

My first impressions of the body kit were not good. I was not really all that impressed with the way the kit was made. All of the parts were made from cast resin. While the surfaces looked good at first glance, it became very apparent that there were many small imperfections in the resin body as well as quite a few bubbles hidden just below the surface. The body parts were also coated heavily with a type of silicone based mold release, which was a real problem to clean off. Many of the parts would not properly line up with one another, making some of the fittings difficult and sloppy.

The door was a bit better but it still used a styrene panel to cover the opening. I don't know how many of you have built tricorders that use a styrene panel to conceal the insides of the door, but after having built many tricorders I can honestly say that these panels are very difficult to conceal with putty and paint.

But nobody else was really offering kits for this style tricorder, so I went ahead and used it as a framework model for designing my electronics. It took me a while but I finally designed and assembled circuit boards for the Endgame tricorder. You can see the circuit boards in action on my YouTube page here - > YouTube: Endgame Tricorder Electronics.

In the past my tricorder circuits have been designed to allow easy installation into a tricorder body. Many of the circuits would be installed after the body was built. The Endgame tricorder is a bit more tricky. When I started to build I downloaded the PDF instruction manual from Rod.com's site. It was evident that I could not build the body and then install the circuits. I would have to install the circuits AS I WAS BUILDING THE BODY KIT.

So that is what I did. I tried to document many of the crucial steps and milestones. If you are building one of these kits and want to add sound and lights, don't finish the body first. Download the instruction manual for the body kit first and then use it as a guide to follow along with the steps I will post. Then go ahead and order a set of the electronics from me at gmros@cogeco.ca. Take your time and do a good job. I will walk through many of the steps and post photos wherever possible.

So let's get started...

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Wow their stuff has gone up! I liked the body kit you did. I still have fond memories of doing recon at The Experience, taking pic after pic and figuring out the door said OSX tricorder. Good memories!

 

[AJK001]

I bought one of Rodd.com's Endgame Tricorder's kits a few years back and it was the same price as what is beging offered now. The biggest problem was getting the electronics. Rodd.com used to offer them from the same person that did them for the show, but they were built when you ordered them and he always took months or in my case, well over a year to come through with them. I guess that may be why they don't offer them anymore. At the time, I believe you made electronics, but they didn't fit the Rodd.com kit.

I didn't do the build, Brent at Fed Surplus did, but going by the completed Tricorder, it was a better quality kit than the one you built or Brent do a really good job of working around the problems.

Thanks for the tutorial, if I had this to go by and your electronics, I might have tried to build it myself, but knowing my skills, I probably would have still messed it up. :lol

 

[gmprops]

I bought one of Rodd.com's Endgame Tricorder's kits a few years back and it was the same price as what is beging offered now. The biggest problem was getting the electronics. Rodd.com used to offer them from the same person that did them for the show, but they were built when you ordered them and he always took months or in my case, well over a year to come through with them. I guess that may be why they don't offer them anymore. At the time, I believe you made electronics, but they didn't fit the Rodd.com kit.

I didn't do the build, Brent at Fed Surplus did, but going by the completed Tricorder, it was a better quality kit than the one you built or Brent do a really good job of working around the problems.

Thanks for the tutorial, if I had this to go by and your electronics, I might have tried to build it myself, but knowing my skills, I probably would have still messed it up. :lol

Actually, the electronics they offered at the time were not done by the same person that did them for the show.

The original electronics I used to sell would not fit properly into the Rod.com body kits; however, they did fit the body kits I was making at the time. But I no longer make body kits and now try to design electronics for the Rod.com kits and Stapleton body kits.

Brent at Federation Surplus did some really nice Endgame tricorder replicas, there is no denying that. I wish I had the same skills, but I do the best I can. The Endgame tricorder is definitely not a good project for inexperienced prop builders. But if you have built a few other tricorder kits before, then the experience you gained from those will definitely help you here.

 

[gmprops]

The first few steps...

Once you have downloaded the PDF manual from the Rod.com site, you should at least prepare the body parts of the kit for construction. Really do a good job on cleaning each part with some good warm soapy water. Make sure all of the mold release lubricants are removed. Only do this with the resin based pieces from the kit. If you do not get all of the lubricants off the resin, it will make painting the tricorder a huge exercise in futility.

The Rod.com kit comes with everything you need to build a static Science version tricorder. However, for the purposes of my tutorial I will be building the medical version tricorder. The medical version has a different viewscreen image and it also has a side extension arm with a blinking green light. You can see this version being used by the holographic doctor when he comes to Janeway's apartment to give her an examination. The medical extension arm is not included with the Rod.com kit. I managed to acquire my arm through another source. If you are good with styrene plastic you can easily make your own extension arm. The arm I received was actually solid so I had to drill it out to add a tiny green LED and a pair of wires.

But we really do not need the arm at this stage. Plus, if you are planning on just building the science version of the tricorder you can skip these portions of the tutorial.

When I designed the electronics for the Endgame tricorder I did it using what I had available in the Rod.com kit. So I designed it for the Science version only. So the LED locations in the main viewscreen worked well in lighting up the nebula graphic. However, the alignment of these LEDs was off for the medical graphic. (I managed to acquire a medical viewscreen graphic from another source.) I could have just had the graphic redone to line up with the LEDs but instead I modified the circuit LED position slightly to accommodate the current graphic. The viewscreen area on the main body is wide open and offers little in the way of support for either the circuit board or the viewscreen graphic. We could install a piece of clear styrene across the opening; then the graphic decal could be mounted on one side and the circuit board on the inside. But I didn't really care for this scenario because it would lead to a lot of "light bleed" across the viewscreen from the LEDs. I like clear well defined lights. So I decided to use a small sheet of 1.5mm thick styrene to cover the viewscreen and the two lower openings on this panel. I then cut out the areas where the LEDs would shine through.

I used the graphic decal to make sure the holes aligned properly with the correct image locations. I then secured the styrene in place with a bit of CA glue.

As you can see from the photo, I also took the opportunity to mount the front LED board and the string of single LED boards into their proper spots, secured with a little bit of hot glue. There is a pair of connection holes on the front board for the medical extension arm so I just mounted a pair of wires for the time being.

Let's now mount the main viewscreen board... in the next posting...

 

[gmprops]

Next steps...

So now we have the styrene viewscreen "mask" in place and also a couple of the circuit boards are mounted. Now you can see why it is easier to build the body kit around the circuit boards.

Let's install the main viewscreen board and the main power reed switch.

First, you will need to prepare the screw holes for the hinges. use a small diameter drill bit (one that is smaller than the actual hinge screw) and carefully drill the holes for the screws. Only the two outer hinges will be used to deliver power to the door circuit board, so drill a hole between the two screw holes of each hinge. This will be used to feed the wires through that will be soldered to each hinge.

Now place your board into the body as shown. The main viewscreen board LEDs should line up perfectly with the cutout holes in the styrene panel. Once you are certain the board and the LEDs look straight and aligned you can secure the circuit board by placing hot glue along the edges. Then feed the red and black wires through the hinge holes (not the screw holes).

Get a reed switch (normally closed variety, Digi-key Part # HE506-ND) and solder all of the black wires from each of the circuit boards to one side of the reed. (If you are going to use a medical extension arm the wires from the front board should be left alone at this point since they are not yet needed.) Solder another wire to the negative terminal of the main viewscreen board and connect it to the other group of black wires on the reed switch. Solder a single wire to the other end of the reed switch (this will be connected to your negative battery terminal) and leave it for now. Connect and solder all of the red wire ends together, run one other wire from here to the positive terminal of the viewscreen board, and then solder a single red wire to the main group of red wires (this will be connected later to the positive terminal of your battery).

You can secure your reed switch in the approximate location shown, or you can leave it loose until you have a chance to check the magnet alignment later on.

This is how your tricorder should now look.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Makes me want to build another one Gerry.

Believe me folks! This fine citizen is THE Trek electronics master! I've built both his science and medical mark X's and both the science and medical Endgame's. You will LOVE your tric when it's done.

 

[Dave Porter]

Gerry, nice work, as always. :thumbsup

 

[masterjedi322]

Always enjoy a good tricorder build, Gerry! 'Looking forward to watching your progress!

Sean

 

[Starchwreck]

These things are great. If you are thinking about getting one, I highly suggest it. I finished mine, minus painting, weather/time, a few weeks ago, and I still love playing with it lol. I look forward to see what the Medical will look like!

 

[gmprops]

Makes me want to build another one Gerry.

Believe me folks! This fine citizen is THE Trek electronics master! I've built both his science and medical mark X's and both the science and medical Endgame's. You will LOVE your tric when it's done.

Aw, shucks... :$

But if anyone wants a set of these they are available in the JY.

 

[AJK001]

Actually, the electronics they offered at the time were not done by the same person that did them for the show.

The original electronics I used to sell would not fit properly into the Rod.com body kits; however, they did fit the body kits I was making at the time. But I no longer make body kits and now try to design electronics for the Rod.com kits and Stapleton body kits.

Brent at Federation Surplus did some really nice Endgame tricorder replicas, there is no denying that. I wish I had the same skills, but I do the best I can. The Endgame tricorder is definitely not a good project for inexperienced prop builders. But if you have built a few other tricorder kits before, then the experience you gained from those will definitely help you here.

Thanks for the info. I thought I remembered in the notes for the Electronics on Rodd.com's website that it said they were made by the same person, but maybe it only said designed. I just remember that it took a REALLY long time before they were delivered.

I almost bought one of Stapleton's finished Endgame Tricorders when he was selling them on Ebay, but I got outbid and never saw one again. I also wanted to have one with Electronics and at the time, I wasn't sure that it could be put in after it was made and from what you are saying, it appears that you can't put it in afterwards. I've always liked this Tricorder and I'm very glad I was finally able to get one with all the bells and whistles in my collection.

 

[gmprops]

Thanks for the info. I thought I remembered in the notes for the Electronics on Rodd.com's website that it said they were made by the same person, but maybe it only said designed. I just remember that it took a REALLY long time before they were delivered.

Rod.com used to get a lot of their electronics from a guy that took forever to deliver. Then they started getting electronics from me. I did the electronics for the Mark IX Science tricorder, the Mark X Medical tricorder, the Assault phaser, the Enterprise Phase pistol, the Enterprise Communicator, and the TOS Desk comm unit. When I supplied these electronics to them they had them listed as being assembled by the same people that did them for the show. I did not do them for the show. I wish I had.

 

[gmprops]

Let's get the hinges installed...

The red and black wires coming through the hinges need to be secured to each hinge so that they can deliver power to the tricorder door circuits. This procedure is also described in the Rod.com manual for building the Endgame tricorder.

Roughen up the hinge plates a little with some sandpaper or emery cloth. Then apply a little bit of soldering paste to the area on the hinge where the wire will be secured. Make sure you get the correct side of the hinge. You will also need to add a wire to the other hinge plate that will be attached to the tricorder door.

Since the solder tends to build up into a bit of a hump, you will need to carve out the area on the body hinge mount around the wire hole so that the hinge will sit flat. I should have mentioned this before when you first drilled the hole for the wire.

When the wires are soldered and the hinge sits into its mounting perfectly, you can secure them with the screws provided with your kit. Make sure the hinges sit straight and flat. Any angles or imperfections in alignment will become evident when you try to mount the door later.

 

[AJK001]

Rod.com used to get a lot of their electronics from a guy that took forever to deliver. Then they started getting electronics from me. I did the electronics for the Mark IX Science tricorder, the Mark X Medical tricorder, the Assault phaser, the Enterprise Phase pistol, the Enterprise Communicator, and the TOS Desk comm unit. When I supplied these electronics to them they had them listed as being assembled by the same people that did them for the show. I did not do them for the show. I wish I had.

Thanks for clearing that up.

As you can see, I have the perfect caption under my name. :lol

 

[gmprops]

Next step...

Now that the hinges are installed and the main body electronics are in place, we can use a bit of painter's tape and mask out the areas where we don't want any paint. These would include the LEDs in the viewscreen, as well as the LEDs on the front of the tricorder and the single LED windows. I really don't like getting paint on the circuit baords, and since the back of the tricorder is open, I place tape across the boards. You may also wish to tape off the hinges if you do not want them getting clogged with primer paint.

You can now wipe the body down and apply the first coat of primer which I call the "splash coat". This first coat will sometimes reveal imperfections or blemishes that were not noticeable at first glance.

But if you are like me you will put the main body aside and start prepping the door. Then you can paint all of the sections at the same time.

 

[gmprops]

Let me show you the door...

Now we have to get eh door ready. Unlike many other tricorder replicas, the Endgame tricorder door houses a fair bit of electronics. Aside from the array of blinking LEDs and a few other colorful indicators, this circuit also has the main sound.

But before we can start installing the electronics we have to go through the same basic steps of getting the resin clean and ready. So take the door and wash it thoroughly. Don't miss a single spot. Also look for hidden air bubbles in the resin. Some of these can become a real problem if they are not dealt with quickly and early. Lightly sand the entire surface of the door with a 400-600 grit wet sandpaper.

You will need to install the magnet inside the front edge indent where the Identification decal will be placed. Use a fine dremmel bit to drill out an area large enough to place the magnet. The magnet should not extend outside the hole, but at the same time it should not be inserted to deeply. You want the top of the magnet to be flush with the surface of the indent area. Glue the magnet into place with a bit of CA glue.

This magnet will be aligned with the reed switch in the main body. Later you will test how well the reed switch works with the magnet. If an adjustment is needed you won't be able to move the magnet, but you will be able to adjust the position of the reed.

If there is excess resin covering the LED openings you can take a sharp exacto blade and clear these away.

 

[gmprops]

Before we become unhinged...

We're still not quite ready for the circuit board installation. First, we have to prep the hinge area of the door. Use a very small drill bit (about half the diameter of a hinge screw) and carefully drill through each hinge screw hole. The indents for the screws is not enough to fit the screws. The hole will make it easier, Then take a larger drill bit and make a hole between each screw where you can feed the power wire. Use a round dremmel bit to carve away an area around this hole to allow for the solder lump that will be on the hinge.

Clean the area where the hinges will be secured. Excess resin could cause the hinge to sit on a slant or make it difficult to align. The way the hinges will finally sit will determine how the door opens. It may look straight and aligned when you first secure them in place, but when you open the door and observe the way the door sits, it may be all slanted. Now is the time to make all of the adjustments to get the door to sit properly and look straight when opening.

 

[gmprops]

Into the Door You Must Go...

Okay, time to get back to this tutorial.

A couple of other things need to be done to the door before we can install the door electronics. First, you will need to drill a hole from the ID light location back into the main compartment. The ID light location is on the front angled panel beside the area where we installed the magnet. This hole will allow light from a green LED mounted on the board to shine through and illuminate the decal.

You must also clear away any bits of resin plastic that may be covering the holes where other lights will be aligned later.

We can now have the hinges installed onto our door and the wires on the hinges fed through the holes.

Now we can attach the two wires to the door board and install the door electronics. The door electronics contains a microcontroller to run the flashing lights; there is also a digital sound chip which contains the tricorder sounds.

A Note about the sound: The sound I used is the same sound used in other tricorders; it has just been sped up to make it sound different. I could not get an accurate sound clip from the show to use on this tricorder so I went with this one. It is not too bad and it is similar to the one from the show. In any event, it does sound like something that would come from a tricorder like this.

You should be able to see in the photo the locations for the + and - connections from the hinges.

You can secure the board in place with a little bit of hot glue. The small EMRG board should be placed so that the LED is centered over the hole at the EMRG button indent. The front green ID light should be inserted into the hole that you will have drilled out earlier leading to the front angled panel.

One other note: the speaker used in this tricorder works best if it is tightly pressed and secured against the inside surface. If it is not loud enough it will mean the face of the speaker is not sitting tightly enough against the inside surface. So if possible, connect the door leads to a 6 volt source and check that the sound is loud enough.