netslave

I've looked at active cooling vests and started to work on a prototype for my wife's scout armor. The TK armor isn't that bad as you can get some airflow and allow your moisture-wicking under suit to do it's job. But point #2 below maybe be feasible for a TK. For her scout, since there's so much fabric to deal with, I'm looking at multiple options. 1) cut out fabric where armor or other fabric covers it. I can cut large holes in both her flight suit as well as her vest where it's covered by the back/front armor. And can cut holes in her flight suit where the cummerbund covers. I'll replace those with mesh material. 2) Pump air in via fans and tubes. I haven't found strong enough fans that are small enough to fit, but I'm hopeful that I can. But using some semi-rigid tubing, I can direct air to the chest/back/armpit areas. That should help provide some cooling. 3) I've also started looking at a water-cooled vest. This would be a vest with small copper or conductive tubes running all through it. IT would then be directed to the backpack where it meets with a water box with peltier plates and a heatsink attached. Also fans to direct the heat away. Then a small 12v water pump would be hooked up inline to push the water through. Similar to a car's cooling system, or a water-cooled CPU. You would transfer heat to the cool water tubes, that heat would be moved to the water box, and the peltier plates would move that heat to the heatsink and fans would move it out. You couldn't really run that set up for hours, it would have to be turned on and off periodically because the drain on the batteries would be too great. But it's an idea at least. It's been proven in the manufacturing industry. I'm just trying to make a smaller (in both size and budget) version.

Thanks, I'm already at MEPD. Just asking here due to higher traffic. Also, I've ordered the anovos TK (for my TK) so I'm just trying to understand everything. So, from what I'm seeing, let me know if this sounds right. Helmet - just completely wrong and misshaped. (not using this anyway). Chest - Pectoral section too wide, and chest piece is too long. Shoulders - too long Ab section - box details placed too high. boxes shaped too big. buttons too big Too big of a gap between ab and kidney Cover strips - pieces fit together with a built in cover strip, which is wrong. Biceps - shaped too straight, not enough curve/shape Hand guards - too big, use latex anyway Thighs - Not enough contour. Generally don't go up high enough. Does this sound like a fair assessment?

I am not using an FX helmet. Just wondering about the armor itself. I'm doing a lot of modding to it so I'm just wondering why the FX armor is a blanket 'no' for Centurion. Maybe it's the shape of the chest? I dunno. Just curious of the actual specifics.

So, I know that FX armor can't make Centurion. But I'm not sure why. I understand that it's not accurate enough, but I'm wondering, what it is about the armor that is so inaccurate? The general measurements? The details on the Ab plate? The way the pieces fit together? I have some FX, but I'm making it into a Sandy with basic approval as my goal. But as I do this, I'm trying to make it as well as I can. So what about the FX is so bad that it isn't acceptable for Centurion?

I ended up cutting the shim in two, and attaching them to both the back and ab pieces. I used fiberglass for the inside, and bondo for the outside. They are almost ready to paint. -------------

Yeah, the posterior was already in two pieces.I'm probablt going to shift the shim down, and trim a little off both the top and bottom of the ab plate. I've been looking at a lot of TM's armor and how people wear it, so while I can't make this armor perfect, I can make it look as good as I can. I've actually thought about attaching the codpiece back to the ab plate too. Of course, this all depends on how the thighs look. I need to modify them quite a bit to get a good fit. I'd hate to have too big of a gap between my thighs and torso pieces.

I figure I may do something like this.... Let me know if I'm way off base here. ------------

How should I cut/attach this shim? Should I trim the bottom corner of the ab plate and shim, making a curved line to bottom of the kidney? Or cut straight from the bottom of the kidney to ab plate? Or even bondo/glue the shim in place, but cut into two pieces making both the Ab and the Kidney larger, meeting in the middle? -----------

Cool. Thanks.

Ok, so let's see if I have this straight. I'll glue the back of the thighs. And the fronts will be detached. But when I put the armor on, I attach the two halves of the thighs..... with velcro from the inside? Or snaps? Then the cover strip goes over the seam. How does that attach? With velcro? Or is it glued to one half of thigh and then just lays over the other half with the two sides are put together? Thanks in advance!

I'm fixing up some old FX Armor, and adding coverstrips to my seams. from what I can tell, the cover strips I've seen are pretty then. I have some somewhat thick .080 ABS that I can use, I just think it may be too thick. Should I get a smaller gauge? Also, how should I connect them? Just glue on the fronts and attach the back with velcro? I'm trying my hardest to not let any velcro show on the seams.

This thread needs some more love. I did this exact method and I think they turned out great! And cheap compared to other sources. I actually have a pair of TKBoots (from francois), and they're great, but I needed a set for my TD. I still need 1-2 more coats of the white on the fabric (and some cleanup around the fabric where I painted too much on the leather), but I think these turned out awesome for the price.

I just picked up the top and bottom set for $22 total. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UITWW1I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cool, thanks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tip. Would gorilla glue work just as well? I have a tube here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How would you choose to reinforce old, thin, or cracked armor? My initial thought is fiberglass, but ugh... I've never worked with it. If I use that, and the armor is cracked, what about the front of the armor? Would you use bondo or something else to fill in the crack?

Thanks. While the first prototype works just about as I designed it, I'm now thinking much bigger. Initially, the thought was to have a small, simple, and self-contained switch in the helmet. Now, I'd like to add LEDs to add a confirmation of what channel is active at the moment (an idea I got from Chef over on the TB board). So that'll add some bulk (battery, LED holders/connectors/wires). I'm also considering using some RJ45 plugs instead of typical 2-4 pole 3.5mm plugs. The way I see it, I have 6 'inputs' and 6 'outputs', so an 8-pin RJ45 might do the trick. So, changing some wiring, adding a battery to the mix, and maybe adding some modules to allow stuff to be placed wherever. I've got some parts coming in this week, so maybe over the weekend, I can get an updated version ready.

Generally speaking, the smaller the battery, the faster it'll run out on the same drain. Like he said, you'll want to find a battery that has a very good milliamp per hour (mAh). Or just carry around extra batteries! I usually carry WAY more battery than I need. Like, running fans or lights off of multiple D Cell batteries. Investigate different options if you really need a long run. Big battery packs, battery belts, easily accessible battery holders so you can change batteries mid troop, etc....

I think he was talking about using 3 Ultrafire (@3.6v each) AAA batteries.

Working on getting it all on the circuit board: ------------ I've already decided that I need to use 1x 4 pole connector for my walkie that has both mic and headphones. That'll save a LOT of space. But I'm happy that I can get it all into a VERY small package.

May be loud. You'll just have to test and see.

Usually, any PTT simply breaks a circuit. But in some cases, you may need a different setup (where the button shorts the circuit with a resistor as the PTT for Midland Walkie Talkies do). The problem you may face with a simple 'normally open' button, is you may experience loud popping when you click it on and off. It'll work though, just be aware. To solve the popping, I'm not sure what to do. I have the same issue I'm trying to solve. I've been looking into debounce circuits, use of capacitors/resistors, as well as different mute circuits, but I'm no electronics wizard (yet ). Hopefully someone will be able to shed some light on that.

So I had this nifty idea to make a setup that lets you switch between external communication, and internal communication via a walkie talkie. The idea was for when trooping, I could speak to people using a Push to Talk button on an external amp or speaker, but then easily switch to an internal channel, while also turning off the external speaker. I'm using a walkie talkie pair for my external speaker, so I needed a setup that would activate the PTT on the Midland radio. So, here's what I've come up with. It uses a magnetic reed switch in the glove to activate the PTT function and allow external sound. Then, when you lift your hand to your helmet, there's a switch in there that turns off the external output, and also acts as the PTT for the internal channel (direct communication with wife, family, troop, etc...) The end result is going to be a module that you can plug any mic into, as well as any output you desire. Here's a pic of my bread board setup, as well as the wiring diagram. *note - the Midland PTT calls for a 2.2K resistor, but I use 2k and it's working just fine. ----------- My circuit boards are coming in next week, so when I get it all wired and pretty, I'll post more plus a video of how it works.

I'm under the impression that the kit will be similar to the TK7 kits. At least, the amount of work involved will be similar. If you check out some of the TK7 build threads or blog posts about making the armor, that'll give you an idea what to look forward to.

I'd add wire to it and out the PTT button anywhere that's convenient. Should work just fine.