Stargate Universe "Hero" Stasis Pod's Purpose

[stefanchik]

Hi People

Of the 8 stasis pods, 3 were "Hero" versions.
(I know this for a fact as I won the VIP auction for the stasis pod room plans and drawings)

Of these Hero versions, I have two in my posession plus 3 non Hero versions.

But here is the odd thing.
The pic below shows the electronics inside the Hero versions.

However, when power is connected, all the front LED's turn on and pressing the light buttons (which are LED's with an on off micro switch built into the circuit board) has ero effect (ie the LED's dont turn on/off)

I'm therefore perplexed as to exactly what all the electronics are there to do ? ... theyve obviously gone to expense to do these Hero versions (as the non Hero versions just had a flat LED panel that also lit all the lights)

If anyone has any suggestions on "what" purpose these electrics are supposed to serve, I'm all ears as we say

the RPF - stefanchik's Album: Stargate Room Entrance Pic 1 - Picture

Stefan

 

[Contec]

Maybe the reused those electronics from something else or the was going to use them for something special but in the end the producers/directors decided that they only needed to light the pods.

 

[stefanchik]

Mmmmm,
This could possibly be the case Contec
... I'm so perplexed that an hour ago I thought "oh to hell with it" and cut the wires that lead to one of the LED's.
Directly connecting the LED's 4 wires to a 12V power supply, and then through trial and error of making different connections, I've now worked out that the yellow and blue ones supplied power to the LED's to turn them on, and that additionally connecting the white one to yellow one, and black to the blue, that this would momentarily "block" current and turn the LED off when the micro switch was pressed, and current would again flow when the switch was released (thereby telling me that the switch isnt a permanent on off type (or even a "remember the last state" type of switch)
... however, in the normal set up of these Hero units, the black and white wires are not directly connected to the LED power (as pressing the switch doesnt block the current in that "normal" set up)
... So either something else was connected to the 2nd set of output pins (the set next to the power input ) or they intended these Hero devices to do something different, it didnt work so they abandoned it.
But given these are no holes in the pod monitor casing for "something else" to be connected to that 2nd set of output pins, then the only logical thing that could be powered by these, is the "Archos" units that were inside the casings.
... Playing around with the electrics to test that Archos power theory is my tomorrow mission, but whatever the outcome of that, I'm gonna ship the LED's to a custom electronics place and get them to replace these micro switches with a type that are permanently either off or on so that pressing the buttons on the front panel really does light that specific LED only ... making the units more cool and interactive

 

[sciroccojunky]

Don't over think it on that. My door opener has a 12v power that has the same connector that Andy's ac adapter sent with the chevron light. The power turns on the main light and the board. Then there is a separate wire to a on off switch or an a/b switch for Turning the red or green lights on. So when an actor comes up and fakes hitting the door button, someone off screen flips the switch and the lights change. I'm sure that pretty much how all those type props work. The quickest point from a to b is a straight line. As long as it suits a task as cheaply as possible it will be done that way. I'm sure my door opener is the one from outside the bridge as the bottom 4 switches on each side work and that is one of the few scenes that they use a key for that. It's rather simple. Bottom keypad lights up the buttons when pressed and the red and green light illuminate when the switch is flipped from a to b. one light is always illuminated and the switch just chooses which one.

From what i understand, they engineer them to fit a specific task and need it done as quickly and cheaply as possible. It's cheaper to have some person flip a switch than it takes to engineer and manufacture a piece that does the same job for 3 times the cost. Your kino remote has power and lights that turn on and off and a few buttons that turn on and off by the keypad button right? The buck Rogers hero pistol had chips and whatnot from a circa 1980's prop that had strobe lights and a button switch that acted like a trigger. Didn't do much more than strobe at the push of a button. It would be cool to do more but it's not all that practical on a tv series budget. Funny how things haven't really evolved from a practicality standpoint between then and now. The detail and whatnot has evolved but the simplicity for the sake of time and money really hasn't. But when money is involved, cheaper always have and always will win out.

My two cents.

 

[sciroccojunky]

Hey Stephan,

Did you paint your door opener and the air lock panel units? The color looks kind of clean. Might be the lighting throwing me off. Be cool to have an entire room of stargate stuff. Mine is a single small shelf LOL!

 

[stefanchik]

Hi Scirocco

Yea, I re-painted the opener and air lock panel
... some might look on that as heresy, but I wanted them to look as though they just rolled off the Ancients production line ,
... I got the idea from when the Destiny shuttle returned and had been made as good as new by the unknown race, as I'm not a fan of the "distressed" look ... it kinda makes it look like the item came from a car boot sale after being on the bottom of the ocean for 500 years .. LOL, Its the same reason I told VIP they could keep that Hero panel that sold for 900 the other day, as I didnt like the painted rust look of it, whereas the original non light up version panel I bought from VIP looks much better

the RPF - stefanchik's Album: Stargate Room Entrance Pic 1 - Picture

PS: Yea, on my large kino remote each of the LED cover buttons turns on or off the respective LED light that the button covers, kinda why I expected these Hero Pod Monitors to do similar.

PPS: LOL, I'm a "idiot" ... Ive got the original monitor power supplies, but had in my testing yesterday connected the 12V supply that I use to power the Stargate, ... and just had the brainwave of "What if this is fine to power the LED's in the Stargate but not enough ampere's to power the Stasis Monitor" ... So I just connected the monitor's supply and BINGO !!! the switches now work ... I power the Stargate with 12v * 250m/a = 4watts, but the Pod power packs are 12v * 600m/a = 7 watts ... and wierd as it may be , those extra 3 watts make the difference between making the push buttons work or not work
.... I could kiss you Scirocco , its not till you mentioned my Kino Controller, that I remembered it had the same type of switch as the ones in the Pod's , so that as you say, A to B "has" to be what its intended for ... Ive already done some mod's to one of the Hero Pod Monitors so that the flip of a switch will power the Archos, will post a you tube vid link later today when all the Mod's have been finalised ... its gonna look awesome

 

[stefanchik]

Here is the link to the youtube video I just made to show my modifications to the Stasis Pod Monitor

Modified "Hero" Version of a Destiny Stasis Pod Monitor.wmv - YouTube

First few seconds show that before the middle switch is flicked to turn the unit on, that pressing the pod buttons has no effect