Supernatural EMF detector

RPFKOV said:
I checked out your reference page, fantastic research! There is a photo there that I haven't seen. I was wondering if you know which episode it is from?



Thanks :)
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That is from Scarecrow. This is the first time we see the Winchester-o-meter that becomes their standard. It is when Dean is in the car by himself and reaches into the back seat and pulls it out of a duffle bag.
 
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Thanks again. Obviously, there have been several versions of the detector over the seasons so I have to decide which one to make. I have narrowed it down to two contenders.

There is this one, which I think is an earlier version:


meter_v1

And this one, which I think is the most current:


meter_v2

There are subtle differences. I think I will go with "meter_v2" as this seems to be the one most currently in use on the series? And it's a bit cleaner in terms of it's design.
 
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I've decided that I'm going to make a minimum of 6 of these. Meaning once I nail down parts I'll be ordering at least 6 of them and building 6 units. I plan on keeping one for myself and I'll make the others available here. (however I would go about doing that - bridge to cross upon arrival) :)

No idea what the total cost of parts will end up being but as I'm trying to make it as open a research and build process as possible I hope that by the end of it I'll have documented everything well enough that industrious users could craft their own if they wanted to.

If there is still a want out there after I'm rid of the first run of 5 I'll see about making more.

Still have lots of parts to track down before that. :eek
 
kysupernatural said:
glad to see pieces are being tracked down and ID'd, but is someone gonna be making these avilable for sale?
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I am a new member here, so as I understand the rules "As a new member you can buy, but cannot sell until you have been a member for 45 days and have at least 20 posts."

I have purchased enough material to make 5 EMF detectors. So if all goes well with the first one, I could make the other 4 available for sale. It may take some time, it depends on how busy I get with work. And obviously, it will be at least 45 days as specified in the rules.

:cool
 
RPFKOV said:
I am lucky to live in a big city with quite a few electronics stores. I found it in one of my usual haunts. It's called Sayal Electronics.

Is there a manufacturer name / part number for that particular switch? I've quite literally looked at more than 3,000 images of toggle switches from various online parts suppliers.

And can you share what meter are you using with yours?
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FriedGeek said:
RPFKOV said:
I am lucky to live in a big city with quite a few electronics stores. I found it in one of my usual haunts. It's called Sayal Electronics.

Is there a manufacturer name / part number for that particular switch? I've quite literally looked at more than 3,000 images of toggle switches from various online parts suppliers.

And can you share what meter are you using with yours?
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The red toggle says "C&K USA" C&K Components on it. They have something very similar on their website if you look in the "Toggle Switches" department.

The store I got mine from sells things in a kind of haphazard way. Stuff on the floor available to the public is often old and they may only have a few available. Their warehouse has more stuff but they have a minimum purchase amount. I have been trying to find that black potentiometer there with no luck. I'll try to find the stock number for you.

Stock number for the switches: SBH-347-1 Sayal Electronics
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I also shop at this great old electronics store downtown. It has hundreds of bins of "stuff/junk" including old electronics parts and just about anything else you can imagine. Active Surplus Electronics :love I can spend hours looking around. My meter came from one of the bins. It is an old analog multimeter.

 
Update. Coding 95% done for "prop mode".

I managed to pinpoint the sound by capturing it from an episode, then used some software to identify the frequencies of the lows and highs so it sounds pretty legit.

Just tweaking the start up sound (the part that sounds like a camera flash charging), and experimenting with the cycles of sound and LEDs that they use with the EMF detector on the show. Since the prop is not reacting to actual "ghosts", it must be programmed to run cycles of sound/LEDs/meter movement. I want to try to be as true to the actual prop as possible.

Will be starting hardware build this week. Photos to come.

:)
 
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Still looking for these clips. Can't find transparent ones anywhere, just translucent nylon, metal or black. :angry

Need them for attaching the antenna to the board. Who'd have thought that they would be the hardest things to find. Anyone?

 
Final choice. After much deliberation, I think I will go with this version as this is the one that I have the best reference photos for.

Starting the hardware build tomorrow. After all the coding, I'm looking forward to putting all the pieces together.

 
RPFKOV said:
Final choice. After much deliberation, I think I will go with this version as this is the one that I have the best reference photos for.

Starting the hardware build tomorrow. After all the coding, I'm looking forward to putting all the pieces together.

Click to expand...


Can't wait to see this assembeled...whats that part called youre looking for and Ill do some searching. :love
 
Update:

Here is the first sound test for the EMF detector. Everything is working more or less in sync, I am testing the sound here, also waiting for a better speaker. I think it sounds a tiny bit higher in the video than it actually is here in front of me. I am just running a loop of sound, trying to get the right pitch/timing etc. Any comments would help greatly with the tweaking.



Here is the link to see and hear it on YouTube: First sound test v2 - YouTube

The LEDs are clear and then red when lit. My camera doesn't show the colours very well. Still a work in progress, but coming along. Also waiting for some hardware bits to come in the mail.

:D
 
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