By Cole Funstuff
#4901891
Sorry everyone, I just got all my gear set back up now that we're moved into the house. I plan to dive back into this project but need to get re-situated with where I shoved all my hardware. I hope to have something in the next couple weeks since it's going to be below zero outside the next couple days. Nothing else to do other than 3D printing and Python programming!
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By DerGrundel
#4901932
EctoTron1 wrote:Is it possible to download these plans to print off on a 3D printer?
He posted a link in his fifth post on page 1.

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/7d22a ... a0bdb28b75

You have to sign up with OnShape, then you can export each component.

Speaking of which, I've been printing this beauty up, too. Here it is so far: Image
By Tamhain
#4901996
Looking to score a Matty collector PKe Meter. Pretty scarce right now even on EvilBay. There is only 1 and they are asking for $400 which i can’t bring myself to spend on this. I am open to 3D printed kits or resin cast DIY kits. Actually would prefer them. Any help would be great
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By Kingpin
#4902002
Tamhain wrote:Looking to score a Matty collector PKe Meter. Pretty scarce right now even on EvilBay. There is only 1 and they are asking for $400 which i can’t bring myself to spend on this. I am open to 3D printed kits or resin cast DIY kits. Actually would prefer them. Any help would be great
This isn't really the topic to be asking that, as Cole hasn't made any indications of printing a movie-style PKE. Your best bet might be to make a similar post in the Wanted sub-forum.
By Tamhain
#4902007
“This isn't really the topic to be asking that, as Cole hasn't made any indications of printing a movie-style PKE. Your best bet might be to make a similar post in the Wanted sub-forum“

Sorry I am new to the site and forum. Not to sure on how to navigate. Found Folks discussing PKE meters and figured I could get help and not have the “Forum Police” come and correct me. Sorry to disturb your forum
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By Kingpin
#4902013
Tamhain wrote:figured I could get help and not have the “Forum Police” come and correct me.
It can be considered poor form to pop into a topic and ask to buy something that the original poster may not be selling, this can sometimes be referred to as hijacking it... You may find this to be case on a number of other forums that feature marketplaces. I'm sure you'll also find that there aren't many forums out there that don't have "Forum Police". I don't feel I was particularly unreasonable, but the reception can vary from person to person. :)

I'm not presently aware of anyone offering printed movie PKE Meter shells, although I have seen some people make them in the past. The most active for sale topics are towards the top of the first page of the For Sale section, this is the most likely spot a topic offering PKE shells will appear if anything ends up being listed in the near future.
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By Tamhain
#4902018
“I'm not presently aware of anyone offering printed movie PKE Meter shells, although I have seen some people make them in the past. The most active for sale topics are towards the top of the first page of the For Sale section, this is the most likely spot a topic offering PKE shells will appear if anything ends up being listed in the near future“

While correcting my poor forum etiquette you inadvertently helped me out on what I wanted to know. I should have worded my initial question more clear. I know the discussion was for an entirely different style Meter, just figured folks discussing PKE meters no matter the design would be able to point me in the right direction. Thanks
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By doctorevil30564
#4902565
If you don't mind using them, thingverse has several nice 3D printed plans and you can send the files to be printed from their website. I did this to buy the 3d printed parts to make this listing along with all of the recommended components,etc. from ebay and amazon. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2338494
If I can get mine to look half as good as the one that is shown in the linked youtube video I'll be happy.
By Cole Funstuff
#4909716
WindDrake wrote:Hey Cole, any update on this thing? Dying to build one.
Not as much as I'd like, I've been doing some small changes but haven't really had the time to fine tune the rest of the details.

The remaining things I need to finalize are:
  • Raspberry Pi code
  • Internal mounting layout
  • Antenna wing design (wiring, mechanics)
  • Actually print and assemble a prototype
I'm hoping as winter rolls around I'll have less of a reason to be outside and will end up spending more time in front of the computer and 3D printer. Sorry to everyone who's been waiting on me, life keeps getting more and more hectic it seems!

I'll be sure to post progress as I make it. The source is, as always, available for others to work off of as well in case you need something sooner.
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By timeware
#4909799
I'm like a click away from buying my first printer and my list of to do projects just keeps getting taller and taller. This is on my top ten prints list for sure. I was looking at the display screen and thought a fun way to boot up the PKE meter would be to mimic the blue screen of the commodore 64. Since it was a popular computer while RGB was still on air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVEQua5bADs
By Cole Funstuff
#4911044
Making some progress now that it's getting cold out...
Image
I'm trying to swap to a linear servo to help save space on the inside of the PKE since it's running out quickly. This is a small 1.5g servo that shows some promise. I've ordered a 2.9g one as well since the current one can struggle at times, and I don't have any LEDs or wires attached to it yet.

I'm still learning Pygame but have re-gathered my ideas and have been making progress there. Hopefully I can get the last of the electronics finalized so that I can focus entirely on the software side. Once the servos are done, all that's left is wiring up the buttons and potentiometers.

More to come!
Last edited by Cole Funstuff on March 1st, 2019, 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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By Cole Funstuff
#4911047
gbfan3569 wrote: November 25th, 2018, 9:02 pm Are you going to share any of the codes for the raspberry pie you're putting into rhis?
Of course! I plan to post the source code as well as an image for an SD card people could flash if they didn't want to mess with any code. I'm keeping it private until I have more bugs worked out so that someone doesn't accidentally get their hands on an un-finished version.
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By Rowan J. Zweig
#4911196
This is so AWESOME to see this project continuing! I've been wanting to make something like this for a while. I'm excited to see someone tackle it! Can't wait to see you further your progress!
By Cole Funstuff
#4914908
WindDrake wrote: February 26th, 2019, 6:50 pm It's been a bit - Anything new on this front Cole? How did the bigger linear servo work out?

Unfortunately not only was the bigger linear servo super expensive, but it also left me with no room to add rails for the mast to ride on. I'm not sure I mentioned it, but I was attempting to remove the motorized mast extension and have it be spring loaded instead. This meant I had to revise the mast's structure and I ultimately burned out before I finalized it. You can see some of this on the revision history of OnShape if you dig deep.

I'm still very interested in finishing the project and want to get everything published for others to use. Part of me was wishing that another person would fork the design and come up with a brilliant solution I had not thought of. I really just need to sit down and print out another 10 prototypes to nail the design down.

Long story short, still on-going but as always not as fast as I'd like it to be. Having you guys check in every once in a while does re-ignite a spark in me to keep going, so I'll probably dust of the 3D printer again this weekend and give it another go!
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By WindDrake
#4914995
I hear you there on the burnout. After I did a 3D Printed Neutrino Wand in Solidworks, I've been stalling on finishing the work for the barrel pop mechanism. Still - damn fine work sir. Can't wait to see more.
By Cole Funstuff
#4915007
I've updated the first post to make the OnShape link more accessible. I'll also start exporting some of the finalized parts to an STL format and eventually Thingiverse. I'll plan to provide the links in the same area of the first post as well.
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By bspace
#4916236
I printed out all the parts from onshape nice work it looks amazing really high resolution on the prints
I have the arms running off one or possibly 2 9g servos depending how i configure the horn.
I have been working on the the raising lowering I really like your leadscrew set up (about $20 on aliexpress)
Also liked the idea of the rack and pinon (there is a really great rack and pinnon in old cd rom droves as well as a nice slider or it could be 3d printed) from way back what were there major down falls?
I would like to help get the mechanism rolling again but don't want to go down a dark rabit hole that has already been exhausted.
happy to help
By Cole Funstuff
#4916311
bspace wrote: March 31st, 2019, 10:41 am I would like to help get the mechanism rolling again but don't want to go down a dark rabit hole that has already been exhausted.
happy to help
Honestly, any idea you have or want to roll with could be better than what I'm doing! I gave up on the motorized antenna for the moment as it was taking up too much space in the PKE body. My current idea is to use a spring and some magnets, but I haven't finalized anything yet.

I also re-worked my wing movement (yet again) based on suggestions from mburkit. I'm still prototyping a couple ideas but I like the current result much more than the two push rods:

Image

I've got a small spark re-ignited so I'm hoping to make some progress here over the week to get the antenna and wings finalized once and for all.
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