Moveable RF (servo thingy)

Plain and simple, I want to know how to put a servo thingy in my bucket so the RF moves up and down by itself. I have read a few tutorials, but all they did was leave me confused as they weren't very good. I need a materials list and a how to, step by step guide.

in return, i will name someones kid after you. not my kids. i already named them and had a vasectomy. But i will just, you know, pick a kid out at random and give them your tdh name.

Originally Posted by BobaN00b

in return, i will name someones kid after you. not my kids. i already named them and had a vasectomy. But i will just, you know, pick a kid out at random and give them your tdh name.

You crack me up.

I tried to figure it out too, with little success, so I broke down and bought a hyperdyne servo kit. I have not got it installed yet, but it on my TO DO list.

Now don't take this as gospel, but what I did learn was that the servo is essentialy a little motor with some internal gears and a controllable output position. However, a servo alone, will do nothing. You also need a control board. The control board creates a pulse at a certain frequency, and the timing and durration of that pulse is what gives the servo its instructions to move. Then to signal the control board you need a manual hard wired switch or trasmitter/receiver connnected to the control board. The actuation of the switch signals the control board to trasmit the pulse to the servo, and presto, you have a movable RF. I hope!

I think Jango_Fett_Jr was able to get his RF to work by canabilizing a remote control car / controller to get the transmitter, receiver and control board. I tried this too, but after destroying two cars, I gave up and got the kit.

Hope this helps.

Gator

I think krillindb also had a rock-solid tutorial up, but I'm not sure if it's still available. The setup seemed pretty simple, and best of all, VERY inexpensive.

If you have the cash, contact hyperdyne for one of his systems; comes either as a radio-controlled unit, or voice-activated.

Voice-activated?? **** that'd be cool!

Here's krillindb's tutorial:

http://www.geocities.com/jedi_midyan/rcrf.html

I started doing this but the wires inside the rc car were so small that I ruined them. I plan on trying once more with a new car.

I believe Bobamaker, also, has some great info on that. His RF is controlled by a switch on his gauntlet (Wicked!)

Shinobi

When I had hyperdyne's setup, I Velcro-ed the remote transmitter to the inside (left side) stock of my rifle. In a standard Fett pose, I could manipulate the servo with my thumb. It really freaked people out!

I used krillindb's Tutorial (Thanks krillindb). It was pretty straightforward but make sure your servo motor can lift the weight of your RF...I had a sold resin RF and I had to drill out the center to make it lighter. I keep the remote in one of my pokets, it is one of the best features of a Fett costume. People freek out when they see you dressed up and then TOTALLY freek out when your range finder goes up and down.....you can also hear the motor noise and it's awesome.....

Thanks again krillindb!
J-ROCK

Eric (Batninja), do you have the one that's remote-controlled from Hyperdyne?

I have one that I got from Bobafettish last year or more, but I've never got the chance to install it, though.....does it takes a while for the RF to come down and up? I mean, is it kinda slow on yours (i.e. like 3 seconds or more to move from the up to down position and viceversa)?

Robert

anyone have pics? im a visual person. where do they gears go? etc.

There are numerous threads about this, so I picked this one to add to...

I read the Krillindb tutorial, and it's very helpful. However, what it doesn't show is how to connect the servo to the RF base inside the helmet. Does anyone have pictures, or can explain how it's mounted inside? Also, am I understanding correctly that the zipzap part is to make a radio controlled method? If so, what transmitter do you need/ I know its been asked, but is there a "best" servo to use? Looking through servocity, I see "micro-servoes" these would seem to be the most compact. (And affordable) Any help and input would be most welcome! Thanks!

Shinobi

I will try to break it down.

Originally Posted by Shinobi_Fett

I know its been asked, but is there a "best" servo to use? Looking through servocity, I see "micro-servoes" these would seem to be the most compact

This is the servo that came with my hyperdyne kit:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bi...1P?Q=1&I=LXN620

It would probably be your best choice.

Originally Posted by Shinobi_Fett

I read the Krillindb tutorial, and it's very helpful. However, what it doesn't show is how to connect the servo to the RF base inside the helmet. Does anyone have pictures, or can explain how it's mounted inside?

I dont have a picture of my set up, but I will try to explain what I did. I took on of the servo "horns" that came with my servo, cut off the plastic "arms", and epoxied the center hub to the inside face of my RF stalk. (a servo "horn" is any one of the white plastic pieces in this picture. including the circle mounted to the servo.)



The center hub of the horn is held on to the servo by a small screw. The hub also has internal teeth that mesh with external teeth on the servo output shaft.

Originally Posted by Shinobi_Fett

Also, am I understanding correctly that the zipzap part is to make a radio controlled method? If so, what transmitter do you need?

The transmitter and receiver both come with the zipzap car. The transmitter is the controller that you hold to drive the car. And the receiver is the circuit board in the car itself. The receiver circuit board in the car gets connected to the servo motor to control the RF.

Hope this helps.
Gator

Gator,

The link you posted does not work. Is this you one you got?
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=++&search3=Go

Asok

Yea ... thats it. Thanks for the help Asok.

Looks like I have to fix the pic too.

OK, I thi8nk I get the idea of how to connect it. Though I have a DP 97, 98? which the inside is smooth. I can attach a bolt through the stalk base hole and attach that to the servo. OK, next question. The zip-zap transmitter is a big bulky hand helf thing. Does anyone have pictures of what guts to rip out of that? I think I want to put the transmitter board into my right gauntlet. And again, if anyone has pics of what the inside of their bucket looks like with the thing mounted, that would be smashing! Thankss guys!

Shinobi

The helmet im working on now I want to trick out. So Pics would be nice b/c I dont have a clue. Gator I might have to PM you with some questions about that hyperdyne kit you got.

Well, folks... I did some scavenging this weekend, and I happened to dig out a micro servo out of my uncle's garage! He makes model steam engines, and happened to have this lying around! Score for me! Now with the zip-zap car I have, we're nearly in business!!! I do have a queastion though... I see a lot of people ut fans in their helmets. Is this neccessary for the servo or rc board not to overheat, or merely a comfort issue? Without further ado, here's my servo. Think this will do just fine?

Nice score! Most important thing, make sure it fits in your helemt with your head in there, and make sure it can lift the weight of the rangefinder and stalk.
Most people use fans simply to keep cool, the board and servo won't be overheating at all.

It's hard to tell... I have to figure out the logistics. If It sticks straight out, I do not know that it will fit. I have to put my visor in place when I finalize the paint job. If I can mount it on its side, then the "horn" won't face the right direction... sticking striaght out, it might not fit... Also, I have to figure out a liner, or paddding to keep it on my noggin' without spinning...

I have been PM'ed a few times about my servo, but I thought it would be best to post the pics in a thread.

I have the Hypedyne remote control RF kit. All the electronics and the two 9v batteries fit inside my helmet. The RF stalk has a servo horn epoxied to the piviot hole and secured with a screw. The servo horn on the RF stalk fits through the helmet ear and onto the servo output shaft. I hot melt glued the remote transmitter to my blaster grip, and can control the RF with my thumb. In a standard Fett pose, I can press the button with out anyone knowing how I made the RF move.

Fire away with the questions, and I will answer them if I can.

Gator

I see now!!!!!!!!!! It all makes sense! How do you keep your ear cap on?

Originally Posted by shortimer52

I see now!!!!!!!!!! It all makes sense! How do you keep your ear cap on?

The three circles on the helmet are three rare earth magnets, that match up with three magnets on the ear cap. IIRC it was BKBT that came up with the magnets in the ear cap trick.

Cool Gator! That's precisely what I was Looking for! I am still unsure exactly how this is going to be set up, but this gives me some good visual reference. I have the servo, and the zip-zap for a controller. Now I just have to fit it all in and wire it up. Here's a pic of where my bucket is at now. What you can't see is the back, which i have to re-pain because I'm not satisfied with the green shade.

Aaah!! Thank you so much for the pics Gator Fett! Just what needed!!

Cheers!

Hey Gator, did you have to buy that servo horn seperarely? I got Hyperdyne's servo, and I was planning on doing the same thing as you, but the horns that come with the servo aren't that long.

Originally Posted by Jango_Fett_Jr

Hey Gator, did you have to buy that servo horn seperarely? I got Hyperdyne's servo, and I was planning on doing the same thing as you, but the horns that come with the servo aren't that long.

Yep. I went to my local RC shop and searched through all of the various servo horns, that would fit my servo, till I found the longest one they had. I picked up the package of horns and a seperate package of longer screws. I don't remember the type right now, but I will check when I get home tonight.

Gator

Very nice.

OK, I have determined that my servo wll fit in place. Now, my question is what exactly do I need? I have the servo, I have the zip-zap car as the controller board and transmitter; I have read that 2 AA batteries will be sufficent for power Are there any other components that I will need? Thanks again, to the people with knowledge about this stuff! It really helps, and will make my suit look that much better!

Shinobi

Originally Posted by Gator Fett

I don't remember the type right now, but I will check when I get home tonight.

Sorry guys. I checked last night, but I did not keep the packaging that the horns came in. Your best bet would be to find a local store and guess the size needed for your helmet.

Originally Posted by Shinobi_Fett

OK, I have determined that my servo wll fit in place. Now, my question is what exactly do I need? I have the servo, I have the zip-zap car as the controller board and transmitter; I have read that 2 AA batteries will be sufficent for power Are there any other components that I will need? Thanks again, to the people with knowledge about this stuff! It really helps, and will make my suit look that much better!

Shinobi

One question for you first. Is the zip-zap car controller board still connected to the cars little motor? If so, how many wires are connected? If not, are the wires still available?

Well, I will try to get some pics up of all my starting materials. The car is still in car form, I have to dissasemble it. (The re is a tutorial on that around, I think) Also, I need to know what part of the transmitter to rip out. (the transmitter/charger is a big clunky thing that the car sits on) That part, I think I want to mount to the inside of my gauntlet, though I'm not certain how or where at this point.

Say, anyone else think there should be an "official" helmet servo thread sticky? All this knowledge should be right at hand as a base building step. Just my thought...


Shinobi

Actually I had a question on the same lines. I still need to look for another car to hack up (may end up using the Zipzap this time around), but the ones that have seen, running a simple motor, only have the two wires coming out of them. The Hitech servo from Hyperdyne has three. I don't a ton about servos, but do I need to worry about the yellow one (which I've been told is for pulse and is specific to digital servos), or can i just snip that off and wire it up like I did with my reguler old servo?

I could be wrong but I have seen yellow wires used for remote control (hence the pulse description). If you're using a three way toggle for control, it seems to me like the yellow is useless....

I am by no means an expert in this, but this is what I have learned so far. A standard servo has three wires, red / black / yellow. The red and black are the power wires, and the yellow is a pulse (or control wire). With out the pulse a servo will just go round and round, like a motor, as long as power is applied to the red / black wires.

In my kit, I press the transmitter button once, and the servo moves the programed 90 deg rotation, up or down. *Here is where I am guessing.* Without the control wire, a single press of the button would only move the servo a little bit, OR it would start the servo up and not stop until the RF hit its limit or you pressed the button again. Without the control wire you may have to hold the button down until the RF gets to the positon you want. Then to reverse the operation you would have to use another button, to reverse the polarity of the power wires and control the servo in the other direction. Again, I am guessing. Hopefully someone with some real knowledge will chime in.

Gator

Ok I figured it was something like that. It's a little more covenient with the Hyperdyne kit, only having to press a button for it to go up.

If you don't use the pulse control, you just need to hold down the up or down buttons until they reach the desired position. I use a three-way toggle switch; flick it one way and when it reaches the bottom/top I flick it back to the middle to stop it (or the motor will keep running and burn out). Does that make sense? Its not as simple as the pulse method, but it only takes a second to go up and down so it works for me.

Hey Gator Fett,

That's exactly how mine works..."hold the button down until the RF gets to the positon you want. Then to reverse the operation you would have to use another button, to reverse the polarity of the power wires and control the servo in the other direction."

Again, I used the Zipzap tutorial.

Well, my servo has 3 wires, black, red and blue... what are they? I know that black is almost always ground, and red is power. Is the blue the pulse one? Just becuase I am electrically inept, that I ask so many questions! Thanks follks!

Shinobi

Originally Posted by Shinobi_Fett

Well, my servo has 3 wires, black, red and blue... what are they? I know that black is almost always ground, and red is power. Is the blue the pulse one? Just becuase I am electrically inept, that I ask so many questions! Thanks follks!

Shinobi

Actually black is NEVER ground. GREEN is the ground wire in an AC / DC circuit. In a residential AC circuit black = power, white = neutral and green = ground. In a DC application black may be power, neutral or some other use, but not ground. In your application, the black/red combo are the power/neutral or neutral/power (depending on how the circuit is wired) and the blue is the pulse.

OK, I will be using the zip-zap car method. In these pics (lifted from Krillin) it shows red/black going to the battery. Do both go to the same battery terminal? He recommenends a bettery caes... There are blue and yellow wires rom the controller board, what wires do those go to on the servo? Blue to blue? Is the yellow unneccesary? Help! (Thank you for all the help thusfar!!!!)

Shinobi

Originally Posted by Shinobi_Fett

OK, I will be using the zip-zap car method. In these pics (lifted from Krillin) it shows red/black going to the battery. Do both go to the same battery terminal? He recommenends a bettery caes... There are blue and yellow wires rom the controller board, what wires do those go to on the servo? Blue to blue? Is the yellow unneccesary? Help! (Thank you for all the help thusfar!!!!)

Shinobi

One of those yellows is the antenna isn't it?

Yes, Chief, the yellow wire to the right of the pic is the antenna. But my question is this: my servo has a red black and blue wire; the controller board has a blue yellow red and black wire set-up. What wires go to the servo, and which go to the batteries? Also, how many batteries do I need? Do the same batteries power the servo and the controller board? based on my servo and the zip-zap board pics (below) can anyone draw out a wiring diagram suggestion? As I said, my electronics understanding is rudimentary at best... Thanks guys!

Shinobi

Let's see ... I will give it a try.

Batteries:
Try a 2 AA battery holder from Radio Shack. The battery holder will have two prongs on one end. One positive and one negitive. Connect the controller board red wire to the positive prong and the contoller black wire to the negitive prong. Solder the wires to the prongs. These batteries will power BOTH the contoller board and the servo.

Servo:
Connect the servo red wire to the contoller board blue wire, and the servo black wire to the contoller board yellow wire. Don't worry about the servo blue wire right now. Do not cut it off, just let it hang loose,

Transmitter:
Use whatever type and number of batteries the zip-zap transmitter needs, to provide power to the transmitter board.

That should power and control your servo. Try the switches on your transmitter to see if they work the servo. You may have to switch the red/blue and black/yellow wires to red/yellow and black/blue, if the servo spins in the wrong direction.

Keep us posted.
Gator

Gator, you ROCK!!!

This is what I though, but since I don't know what I'm doing, I I need to hear it from someone who does! Thank a trillion! I'll let you know when it's rigged up! ROCK ON!!

Shinobi

Can a servo simply be dead? The reason I ask is because I've hooked mine up in exactly the way Gator Fett described and I get NOTHING out of my servo. I've even tried connecting the batteries directly to the servo just to see if the direct power would do anything and the servo simply doesn't move. No power at all. PLEASE HELP! This is driving me crazy!

Here's a picture of the three components I have:

- the battery pack
- the Zip Zap board
- the Hitec Micro HS-80 servo

As you can see, the servo has the three wires. Originally the red and yellow were attached together but I pulled the two wires appart.

No matter what I do I can't get the motor to move. I've tried connecting the battery pack directly to the servo wires but nothing happened. Unfortunately I'm not even sure which is the positive, negative and pulse wire.

I'm looking for some eyeglass screwdrivers so I can open the servo up and look inside but no dice yet.

webchief,
I wish I could help you out, but my electrical circuit knowledge (the very little that I have) has been tapped. Sorry.
Gator

A servo motor could be simply dead. On your servo, I would guess red=(+), black=(-), and yellow=pulse. That would make sense for standard wire color code.

Web, here is a good link for ya-

http://www.hitecrcd.com/Support/Manuals/ServoManual.pdf

Cool. Thanks for the link! At least I know the black and red are the wires I'm interested in. That's what I figured but who knows...

i bet this would make a great range finder LED

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=4322

I'm getting so frustrated with this supposedly simple project. I can't get the damned thing to work. I'm thinking of hooking it up to a 9 volt just for the Hell of it to see if the added juice does anything. I touched the wires to the 9 volt earlier and it at least moved a little. Maybe I just need more juice than 2 AAs can provide? Who knows? At this point if I fry the servo... oh well... its not working anyway.

Nice... hooked up the 9 volt, flipped the switch on the Zip-Zap controller and got a nice puff of smoke from the Zip-Zap board. I guess I killed that....

I hooked up the 9 volt to the servo directly... NOTHING. I guess that's dead too. I give up... apparently I'm not meant to get this working.

That sucks..

If you can open the back up and post a pic, it will make it easier to see exactly what you're dealing with. Were you able to find a small enough screwdriver?

Woah guys long time no see. I didnt realize my tutorial continues to live on, I'm flattered :o. I didnt even realize it was still online for that matter. Anyhow its been quite some time since I made that, my suit is in so many pieces that I've put it aside.

webchief, the zipzap that you have, is it one of the old models or the new ones as the tutorial was written to use the original models. I'm sure the new models can do it as well I've just never attempted it.

But if anyone has any specific questions I'd be glad to answer them.
Cheers Gentlemen and Ladies.

I opened it up and it was so tight in there you really couldn't see much. I'll do it again and take the pic.

Oh yeah... I have no clue about the model of Zip-Zap. I just bought it last week on sale for $10. It was one of their discontinued models.

Well here are pictures of radio shacks zipzaps controllers. The first one is the original model, the one I used in my tutorial, the second one is the se model which I have yet to try and the third is the monster truck model which I also havent used. You can also get the third party mini rc cars that have contollers shaped like a circle as shown in the fourth picture. These are actually in the $5-10 range so they run a little cheaper than the zips but they can tend to have more fragile wiring so if using one, just be a little more careful when working th eproject.

Hi all, I need some help please...

on my version of rc model .. comparing the provided picture.. are..

top - positive
2nd - left - no need
3rd - right- no need
4th - front
5th - back
6th - negative

I attached the pos & neg appropriately to the 2 AA source..
on my hitech servo - the wires are red/black/ yellow, and accordingly red=pos,black=neg, yellow= trigger.

no matter how I connect the servo to 4 and 5 it doesn't go? I get some jittering when I attach the pos & neg to pos & neg on the board then touch the yellow to either the f or B? but then still nothing when using the remote?

anyone have any thoughts? I'd post pics but they're not that great.

p.s - it's a brand new servo -

Anyone please

Not to hijack, but I have a question to those who used the zip zaps. I was going to use one, but the remote control is kind of big. Are you guys using the zip zap remote, or finding something small like Gator has?

I eventually gave up so I'm not using anything. It was too much of a pain in the rear. I killed two zip zaps because I couldn't get them to work no matter how they were hooked up. Eventually one burnt out and the other's wires were too fragile and came completely undone.

In the end I almost rather just buy one of Hyperdyne's if I ever think of doing this for real. Its the one piece of my costume that's eluded me for years... had it almost working a few years back only to have that motor completely croak on me. Its never been the same since.

I am not sure it makes a difference using a true "zip zap" model or not /shrug

also as far as the transmitter goes I was planning on modifying as best as possible to make it as small as possible.

Anyone else have any success with this method?

well actually went out and bought a zip zap as in the pics of the original... still no dice... grrrr...

I will have to look into what voltage is required for the servo.. I went with a hitech hs 85

In all of my RC modeling days, I have never seen 3vdc drive a servo. When my transmitter drops below 9vdc, my servos start to flutter, and will not respond to any input I give them. I don't think you have enough juice driving your servos guys/gals. I understand the zipzap board is rated at only 3v, therefore, that doesn't give the servo much juice left to run on, especially to lift a stalk, even if your servo is 120oz. I'll tell ya what I would do. I would run the zipzap board with the 2AA batteries, and then I would hook a 9v battery to my servo for its juice. Don't hook anything to your board but the signal wire for your servo, and the 2AA's.

Kivas,
Your hitec micro servo is rated at a minimum of 5v. At 6v it's only going to pull 26oz. You may have to lighten up your stalk and range finder considerably.

Good luck guys/gals! If I can help, feel free to ask.

ok thanks will try that. As far a lightening my stalk.. this 85 has enough torque for a 60scale plane so I think it should do it.. when it has enough juice that is.

I kind of thought that it wasn't getting enough, but I was not able to find last night what the minimum was for this servo.

I would think it should work with each piece having its independent power source.. and only the pulse wire connected to the board. I will give it a try

well.... tried the 9v to the servo.. and 2AA to board.. and still nothing

I did move a little at the very begining with the 2AA's how easily do these things burn out?

Sorry to say but if you hooked it up to the 9v, it probably fried it. I did this as well. I had 4 of these so it was no biggy, I was testing to see if the board would handle 9v and increase the torque of the servo I was testing. Within a second of pushing the button the board went *poof* and the genie escaped.

Originally Posted by digital509

Within a second of pushing the button the board went *poof* and the genie escaped.

oooooo...my side!

yeah I broke down and got Hyperdyne stuff as well. Great guy to deal w/ btw. My friend who is an EE major told me he could do it, but w/ his classes and life it was impossible to tie him down to commit to it. What really me off was when I showed him Hyperdynes stuff he was all 'oh...I was planning on going smaller than this'

pfffffft whateva!

I never attached the 9v to the board.. only the 2aa's.

I have access to some old flight stuff so I will try out the proper controler receiver for the servo.. and see how small I can get it.. also I will be putting the board back into the zip zap to make sure it still works to eliminate that part.

Ah well.. all fun as this is a hobby and all

hmm... welll.. I can get it all together, but it seem like the servo doesn't get enough pulse?

I went back to a zip zap, - the zip zap is powered by 2 aa, and the servo by the 4.6 v pack it needs. I know the servo is good..and I know the board is good as I left the motor wired in... and then when I attach ther servo pulse wire..it just does a confused jiggle.

please help.. those who have been able to get this to work please post pics.

Gday guys,

ie got a zip zap type remote control car which i have pulled apart it is powered by 6V battery charger and the boards rated at 6v. Now i decided not to go with the servo way but a Dc motor instead that is small enough to fit into the helmet nicely. All i have to do is make a b=racket to glue it in with.

Now it wont do what the hyperdyne one does but it will go up and down as commanded so i will prob be able to do what J-ROCKS one does push button till in up postion and push button till in down postition and i thinks thats the best im gonna do with this one. ill prob upgrade to a hyperdyne when the time comes.

I havent installed it all yet but ill let you know how the motor handels the RF stalk!

Cheers,

Al

I was hoping someone could help me with this.
I tried all the ways listed here and the only way that even gets the servo shuddering was buckeye's way.
I am using a Hitec HS-85MG, and a 1st edition zip zap board.

Please help!

thanks

I never got it to work either, I used various zip zaps and the same servo as you.

Eventually I bought a hitec ground car kit and works fabulously ( came with all parts needed) The only this is the transmitter is obviously bigger than the zip zap, but will be gutting it and concealing it somewhere - hopefully right gaunt -
I am also reworking it to be non direct drive as saves likely 90% of the space.

hmmm..

I just hooked a 9v up to a HS-77BB..it made a hiss sound at me.
Is this thing dead? Ya I am stupid...

Originally Posted by notyourtool

hmmm..

I just hooked a 9v up to a HS-77BB..it made a hiss sound at me.
Is this thing dead? Ya I am stupid...

It just sounds angry to me...

FYI- If you are thinking about using the Zip Zap method, RadioShack is offering the following two items:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family


and

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family

Both for under $4 US. They are in store offers only though. I bought two today and may get more just to stock up. Hope this is useful to anyone.

I got a Cirrus high torque micro servo for about 37 bucks from a local hobby store. With two AA batteries, it hauls the solid resin BKBT rangefinder and aluminum stalk up and down with no complaint.

I have tried two different zip zaps so far. The problem I had is that the servo keeps chattering no matter what I do. If I keep the remote in its original pistol grip case with the rotary switch, it works alright. If I take the transmitter out of the case and try to replace the rotary switch with something I can fit in my gauntlet, it keeps chattering.

Since I am no electronics expert, I was about to break down and buy the hyperdyne kit, when I found a cheap RC car yesterday at KB toys. It was on sale for $3.00. The thing that caught my eye was that the remote has two momentary switches. One for forward and one for reverse.

I tore it up and hooked it up just like the zip zap and eureka!! It worked like a charm. With just two AA's it works awesome. I piggy-backed a couple of wires off of the switches on the transmitter board and conected them to the momentary switches I have in my left gauntlet flamethrower. I ran the power wires through my hose and put the 9 volt in my sleeve where my hoses connect. I also put the antenna in the hose.

So not taking into account the money I wasted on several trips to radio shack, I got this thing to work for 40 bucks.

Perfect! That's the exact same one I used for my last helmet. I wasn't able to find another for my new helmet, so I picked up a a cheapo car that had the basic left/right and forward/reverse controls. I only needed to use one of them, so I might the other to turn on the LEDs in the right gauntlet (which don't aren't on in the movie). I'll take some photos when I start installing that, which should be very soon.

Just to repeat krillindb's advice, if you go with one of the cheaper cars, be very careful and make sure you note where all the wires go. Probably best to unsolder every wire and replace it with a stronger one so you don't have one pop off all of a sudden and you don't know where it goes!

I just looked at this servo at home. It says that it needs 4.8 to 6.0 volts to work. With 2 AA or 2 AAA you only get 3 volts. I am sure that is why I can't get mine to work. As stated before by krillindb, the Zip Zap board can only take 4 volts. I can get my moter to twitch and that is about it.

So, this weekend I am off to a hobby store looking for a servo that can take with only 3 volts or get a box that will hold 4 AAA's and use them to power the servo and 2 AAA's to power the Zip Zap board.

Link to servo.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=++&search3=Go

I'm new to the whole prop making, Mandalorian armor and various other prop making thing, so please bear with me. Since this is my first attempt I thought I'd start inexpensive and see if this is something I want to sink a good deal of the meager amount of money I do have into this hobby-which I seem to have more and more of...Anyway my first helmet is a "deluxe" Rubies, although I don't see much "deluxe" about it. I assume that modifications like the RF servo, cpu fan, headset/microphones etc wouldn't be feasible in the much smaller Rubies helmets and are probably more suited to the larger fiberglass helmets etc, correct? Like I said, this is all new to me so please bear with me...

Dha Syntir

Originally Posted by Dha_Syntir

I'm new to the whole prop making, Mandalorian armor and various other prop making thing, so please bear with me. Since this is my first attempt I thought I'd start inexpensive and see if this is something I want to sink a good deal of the meager amount of money I do have into this hobby-which I seem to have more and more of...Anyway my first helmet is a "deluxe" Rubies, although I don't see much "deluxe" about it. I assume that modifications like the RF servo, cpu fan, headset/microphones etc wouldn't be feasible in the much smaller Rubies helmets and are probably more suited to the larger fiberglass helmets etc, correct? Like I said, this is all new to me so please bear with me...

Dha Syntir

Your correct - to fit all the "gadgets" inside the helmet, you would need one of the larger ones.

but it depends on your head size - if it's small - the smaller helmets would work.

(in my case - my head is 2x the DP95 size - a bit snug - the MS3 fit's perfect and has room for my servo mech from hyperdyne - even so - the relay is about 2 mm from from head....)

I'm a pretty big guy with a head to match. My current Rubies "deluxe" helmet fits and there's a bit of room inside but very likely it won't be large enough to add everything and the kitchen sink to the helmet, as I intend to do. I even want to run a Camelback's hose from the bladder stashed inside the jet pack (along with any bulky electronics and batteries) into the helmet underneath the armor so I won't have to remove my helmet to drink...

Anyway thanks for letting me know for certain that I was correct in my assumptions about the size of my helmet. I'll sadly have to repay you all with an unending amount of questions concerning getting my Mandalorian armor and persona completed. I'd kind of like to catch some of the many conventions for Star Wars, RPG, PC games, and comics-in full Mando attire...We shall see I suppose. Thanks for your time...

I reckon this is certain proof that size "does" matter, at least in this case...

Dha Syntir

has anyone figured out a for sure way to make this work? I have tried all methods and nothing is working.

hi guys, need some help, i attached everthing according to gator fetts suggestions and my servo moves only in one direction, once down i can't get the stalk back up. i used a sender and receiver out of an r c car, and wnated to hook it up to a high torgue servo. any help?

never mind i figured it out.

well, since this thread has been brought back from the dead, you might as well tell us what you were doing wrong and what corrected it.

Originally Posted by saint_nasty

well, since this thread has been brought back from the dead, you might as well tell us what you were doing wrong and what corrected it.

well if you use a servo with those r/c cars some members mentioned that they can't get the servo to work at all or that it jitters. i encountered the same problems. that's because i assumed i would have to use the wires coming from the servo, that was the main problem. i opened the servo to gain access to the little motor inside of it, soldered two wires to it, same way as if it would be the motor in the r/c car. and bingo now the servo travels its full way in both directions smooth and without any problems. so i basically do not use the board inside the servo. i do not have full auto mode, but the servo will be installed in a way that the stalk can't go past the up position and going down you know when to stop, cause you'll see it going down.
the servo did not work because none of the r/c cars shown gave "pulses" to the servo, and the pulse wire "tells" the servo to move to the left or the right (up/down). And using the (+) and (-) wires of the servo only let the servo move in one direction.
so eliminating the supplied wires solved the problem. Hope this explains it well enough.
Besides that, I used a board from a r/c car that was advertised at 4.8 volts but it can easily take 6 volts. So the board and servo in my setup run of 6 volts, the sending unit on 9 volts.