#443031
One thing you DON'T want to do is email asking for free samples or telling the company why you are interested in them. Many sellers find out about the GB connection and then send the price sky rocketing. Now. I don't expect that to happen here as it is already $1000... but other items such as Elbow Pads, Crank Knobs and Hat Lights have fallen victim to people telling the seller what they are buying them for and even how much more expensive they could be.

Don't expect to pay less than what is being said here. For example, one of the first search results shows a company selling them... TWO for $2499.
ProtonCharger, jackdoud liked this
#443033
you know, the very mention of a "free sample" is something not to mention to people that are in the process of contacting companies about this, and are the people that should not be contacting companies because they'll ruin this for everyone?

bottom line since everyone's being way too polite about this:

if you think you're capable of doing this with out screwing it up for everyone; you're probably not.
dred, jackdoud liked this
#443038
These aren't being made anymore, either, IIRC. That means, because they ARE still in use on aircraft in the US fleet (and will be for probably the next 5-10 years) and are relying on stocks made years ago, that theoretically, the cost per item goes up with each one sold. This isn't necessarily 100%, but it's what seems to happen in aerospace.

Personally, I don't know if I'd even want one. I'd look at it, bite the bullet and install it in a pack, and then burn it out.
ProtonCharger, Chace, Skully and 1 others liked this
#443065
This is not a "sample" type product. Expect to get hung up on. Either you want it or you don't.
It may be a lot of money to a hobbyist but $1000 to aerospace is a $20 bill.
The day a filiment burns out though my heart is going to sink.

I've done the hard work so please don't waste their time.
Chace, Ron Daniels, jackdoud liked this
#443082
mburkit wrote:
Silverstreak wrote:
I don't. Pardon my ignorance but what happened to the hat light company?
I don't remember what specifically happened with the hat light company, but I remember issues with one of the prominent suppliers of glossy black crank knobs raising their prices once they realized people were buying them for ghostbusters props (they went from $18 to $72). Then there was an individual that was selling the power supply that was ID'ed off of the "Murray" pack that was on display at the Minnesota Planet Hollywood, who would quiz people as to what they wanted to purchase that piece of hardware for to figure out how much he's gonna charge people for it. I personally even had issues with an individual down in Florida that sold surplus airplane equipment when I went to buy the A6 yellow O2 tanks for the roof rack of the Ecto-1. He asked what I was using them for, and if they were for a car? Then he said he only had "used ones" left, but I would bet money he just didn't want to sell clean, mint ones to someone who was going to strap them to the roof of their car.

There's a history of people in propping being a little to open and/or naive when it comes to purchasing real world parts for movie props. If you don't know what the piece does, or what it should be installed in outside of the prop you are replicating, the supplier will pick this up right away and straight out not sell it to you, or increase the price exponentially because they know they can get that out of you. This is why both noslliT and myself warn about dealing with suppliers of this part and other parts: 99% of the people that will inquire about it have no idea what its for, what type of plane its out of, or how to go about ordering a component like this from an industrial electronics supplier. Get enough people to waste that supplier's time, and that resource will become unavailable to us as a community.
Thank you, I surmised that something along these lines must have happened. I'm all for accuracy and research but when dealing with unscrupulous suppliers, I would much rather find a substitute or scratch my own.
#444392
For any of you that wanted to see this thing in action and moving!



Now only 4/5's of the thing is lighting up because I didn't have enough shift registers or the space on my breadboard to accommodate the presence of a 4th shift register to light the last 6 segments. Now that I know my code works for this and I have a basic design for a circuit, I'm probably gonna have some boards designed and printed so I can put this in a pack!
ChapterMasterTu'Shan, julz, noslliT and 12 others liked this
User avatar
By julz
#444397
Droollllll

Slobber......
User avatar
By julz
#444402
Looks fake...

Nothing like the hero bargraph!
Skully liked this
#444462
Gratz on the find fellas.....that price tag though....arg.

People with the cash to burn and a desire to replicate a specific pack from the film this is groundbreaking material...

I admit I am only just now reading through this thread....leave it to ghost guy to try and sully the find....stay classy Shawn.
#445531
This is a great find guys and I had an idea which might make your grand worthwhile. I was thinking you guys can take a high resolution close up photo of the bargraph in suitable lighting. Then scale the bargraph in the photo down to the exact dimensions of the bargraph. Then get the picture professionally printed on clear vinyl or some sort of clear decal paper and attach it to a 1/16th thick clear acrylic sheet, laser cut to the same dimensions as the bargraph. I'm pretty sure we would barily be able to tell the difference once attached to the thrower.

A led bargraph should shine through no problem. If not, I'm sure some of the photoshop experts on here can tweak the bargraph slightly in the middle without losing the detail to make it a bit more transparent. What do you guys think? This is just some brainstorming but I think it's a step in the right direction. Either way great find nice to see someone finally find this thing.
#445557
Frigan nice Tc!

I'm looking forward to updates...
#446255
abaka wrote:Sound very complicated, I might just wait until (if) Propforge or Gbfans release a thrower kit. I wonder if you could buy one of the module and rip the lense off and just use the lense for the bargraph, or is the lense just a peice of clear plastic?
The clear plastic has a lens molded into the top of the plastic:
Image
#449875
A couple years ago (prior to the real one being properly identified) I made this as a temp stand-in. Basically the same idea of transparencies and such to get the general look. Sorry for the crappy video quality.

Image
User avatar
By 910dohead
#468504
mburkit wrote:Well, finally got around to designing a circuit and having boards printed to drive the bargraph. Here's a test video of just the bargraph.
That's absolutely beautiful. I wish that this was a part that could be sourced for cheap. :sigh:
#4902297
Spongeface wrote:I was commissioned to make a few boards for these crazy expensive displays that would work with or work like the GBFans Wand Lights:




Luckily I didn't damage the display I was loaned for testing and to help write and debug the code!
AWESOME. You have made my year, and it's only January 17th!
#4902769
beautiful work! count me in for a set, this will compliment my pack nicely!


Spongeface wrote:I was commissioned to make a few boards for these crazy expensive displays that would work with or work like the GBFans Wand Lights:




Luckily I didn't damage the display I was loaned for testing and to help write and debug the code!
#4902831
machina28 wrote:beautiful work! count me in for a set, this will compliment my pack nicely!
My memory of SpongeFace's kit for the bargraph is a little hazy, but I think it was a case they were a limited run made for people who already had the bargraph piece in hand - he didn't supply the bargraphs, only the boards for them... And as the bargraphs are airforce components, they are extortionately expensive in the instances they do pop up in the second-hand market.

I just wanted to clarify that possibility before you became invested in that electronics kit.
machina28 liked this

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