"MA" transistor markings for ANH Obi Wan Kenobi's Llightsaber

[onderon]

Two washers on Tunisia shoot saber, one washer on Chronicles/Mechanism post production photos.

And it is one washer in the original movie as well. Screenshot is taken from Star.Wars.4K77.2160p.UHD.no-DNR.35mm.x265.v1.0 aka Project 4k77

 

[Serenity]

And it is one washer in the original movie as well. Screenshot is taken from Star.Wars.4K77.2160p.UHD.no-DNR.35mm.x265.v1.0 aka Project 4k77

Yeah sorry, that post was from 2015 before some of the higher resolution versions were available. But I may have been only posting known stills/published photos anyway since that was what was asked for. I don't know, it's been so long.

 

[Halliwax]

The washers look fairly large to me

 

[onderon]

Yeah sorry, that post was from 2015 before some of the higher resolution versions were available. But I may have been only posting known stills/published photos anyway since that was what was asked for. I don't know, it's been so long.

Sure thing. I'm just using this topic since I don't know any other for the washers/transistors. I hope you guys don't mind.

The washers look fairly large to me

Yes I was quite suprised as well!

 

[thd9791]

Me too

The washers look fairly large to me

a) could be different washers: chronicles vs Hero
b) Could be different sabers (less likely, but I'm of the camp there were 2 and maybe a stunt made
c) the chronicles one could have been, until now, mis measured, and actually be larger

 

[Halliwax]

Me too


a) could be different washers: chronicles vs Hero
b) Could be different sabers (less likely, but I'm of the camp there were 2 and maybe a stunt made
c) the chronicles one could have been, until now, mis measured, and actually be larger

Very very true

 

[Halliwax]

 

[Halliwax]

Even the transistor looks different to me..

 

[thd9791]

It could be a trick of the light, but the washer looks bent, flattened on our side.

 

[corliss1]

With the image blown up that thing looks HUGE and thin.

 

[eethan]

yeah thin is what I would say too, it looks like there is a space between the "washer" and the clamp

 

[onderon]

I found these, called recessed washers.

Link 1
Link 2

An average 2N4897 transistor's size is between 7.75-8.51mm according to this datasheet, so I suppose the washer size what we need is size 5/16" which is 7.9mm. That would be MS20002C5. As you can see on Link 2 that is an aerospace parts shop, so my wild guess is that the washers could come from the Derwent Engine as well like many other parts we saw already. BTW you can find some vintage looking ones, but one size bigger on Ebay now. It is quite pricey for me to deliver it to EU, but you might want to give it a try.

What do you think?

 

[corliss1]

onderon - where did you get the 2n4897 number from, or maybe I just missed that in the thread?

While there will be some variance between parts, it's still the to39 package, which I keep mentioning is the physical size of the part. This could be a transistor or op amp, as we aren't really concerned about the part itself until we come up with a number for sure. But there's zillions of part numbers that could be that size.

 

[onderon]

onderon - where did you get the 2n4897 number from, or maybe I just missed that in the thread?

While there will be some variance between parts, it's still the to39 package, which I keep mentioning is the physical size of the part. This could be a transistor or op amp, as we aren't really concerned about the part itself until we come up with a number for sure. But there's zillions of part numbers that could be that size.

From here. And not just TO-39 but TO-5 also. TO-5 is taller (which makes it a better size if we agree that the washer was forced onto it) It is weird that you missed, we are talking about it since pages that it is more likely the better match than the Motorola find.

Sorry to dig up the past on this one but it was the most concise and current discussion thread I could find on these transistors.

Nearly eight years of hunting parts for my own version of this famous hilt and only recently did an Exactra 19 convince me to finally finish. Naturally I went down the rabbit hole that is the search for transistors that matched this new (to me) image.

Nothing yet found quite matches. Yes it it does look like a blotched Motorola "M" logo, but the majority of of the MA markings do not appear like the prop, which has parallel vertical ends. I could not find any, although they do exist on replicas here. Still I could not reconcile the text-line spacing and size of the Motorola logo. There are many theories as to what the mysterious '2' shaped blob might represent but no vintage Motorola transistor that exactly matches this particular detail.

I spent hours searching images of old TO5 and TO39 transistors as many have done before.

One matched. Stay with me here...
View attachment 524581

These are Solitron brand transistors with a logo of the era, dating to 1975 I believe. Think outside of the box on this with me and imagine that the "N" isn't a 'positive' representation of an M but the remnant of the 'negative' Solitron "S" instead? This provides an explanation for the spacing and the mysterious "2" which could just be a leftover of the box around the S.

Could this brand have produced a "MA" series? Their printing seems to be a bit more ransom-note like and perhaps the original markings from the enlarged reference are not MA at all. It does look like that but maybe other prefixes should not be ruled out.

What are these "amplifiers" and how could you see anything clearly from that scene in the movie?

This was a quick and dirty photoshop but all I did was take one of these Solitron transistors and 'scratch' at the printing.
View attachment 524746

Show me a Motorola transistor that can look like that.

EDIT:
Source image if you want to play along at home.
View attachment 524749

The top image is one of these Solitron transistors in a Graflex clamp. I made only subtractive modifications to the printing. On the bottom is ATL's reference from the first post. Looks like a possibility to me.
View attachment 524751

 

[corliss1]

Right, but we had already decided that printing doesn't match the reference photos we have unless the 2 is somehow perfectly worn off, leaving the rest of the letters intact.

 

[TheRealMcFly]

Glad y’all are coming around on Solitron and really glad my phone still remembers my password here.

I still think the Solitron logo is the closest match to the reference. That rectangle containing the S was the only transistor I ever found that could ‘do’ what the reference image does.

There are washers in the aerospace industry that look the part for this transistor. I never got around to ordering any and now I can’t remember what they are called but o recorded it somewhere.

 

[TheRealMcFly]

So far the Solitrons I have are all too tall, just like the Motorola 205s.

View attachment 1075413

Check out the way the S is misprinted on the left, looks almost just like the reference.

 

[JoeG]

I just picked up some of these

We'll see how they look with my op amps when I get them.

 

[onderon]

Right, but we had already decided that printing doesn't match the reference photos we have unless the 2 is somehow perfectly worn off, leaving the rest of the letters intact.

Did we? Not just the 2 had to worn off, the end of the serial number too. And I dont think all of the 2 had worn off, which could result in the N-M confusion.

 

[JoeG]

Received my recessed washers MS20002C5 that I found on eBay. Did a quick loose fit with my op amps on my Obi saber. Tried them with the recessed part up and down. Not sure which way I'll go with yet, but overall I like the look. I think I'll go with these. I like that they are vintage aircraft parts and not regular off the shelf washers. Obviously they still need a bit of work to look just right, but that shouldnt be a problem. I have enough in case I mess up.