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RageQuit

501st Stormtrooper[TK]
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Posts posted by RageQuit

  1. Hey troopers,

    I'm currently using a throat microphone as per the attached photos.

    While this configuration works very well, as attested to by my fellow troopers - if I have the Aker volume up just that wee bit too much I get some pretty harsh feedback.

    The throat mic manufacturer did say that it is still susceptible to feedback, so with that in mind I am not disappointed with the overall performance, I JUST NEED a bit more volume without feedback.

     

    Testing with a head mounted uni-directional microphone I can wind the volume up to almost maximum with zero feedback, this is great however with helmet on/off all the time this mic positioning is a royal pain in the butt.

     

    Have been researching 2.4ghZ wireless micr/transmitter and receivers used by professional photographers, vloggers, etc - there is some really cool hardware out there.

     

    I have been comparing pricing and features for the below:

    • Saramonic Blink900 / love all the features but AU$600 is too much
    • Saramonic Blink500 / previous version than Blink900, from AU$280
    • Boya BY-XM6-S2 /  from AU$180
    • Rode Wireless GO 2 / from AU$254

     

    I like the longer thinner dimensions of the Boya & Saramonic Blink500 as they both would suit my TK-Helmet which already has UKSWrath Hearing Assist [which is awesome, I replaced the small headphone patches with Sony $20 headphone cut down to fit]. That along with my helmet fans and batteries consumes a certain amount of space prompting me to look for a space conscious wireless mic system.

     

    Just about to pull the trigger on the Boya unit [plus it has a listed run time of 7 hours ], just need to confirm that the dimensions of the TX mic unit will fit nicely inside my bucket.

     

    Have read a few posts with guys using bluetooth mics, etc - couldn’t find anything regarding the setup I’m looking at.

    Chest Comms 01.jpeg

    Chest Comms 02.jpeg

  2.  

    Backtracking a bit, I found the original ANH shoulder strapping method made it hard for me to fix the shoulder bells snaps in place by myself - somedays I could, other days no. One troop I had to waylay a passing stranger to do this for me during a carpark change.

    With this in mind I mirrored the strapping design I used in my Death Trooper build which enabled me fully kit up by myself.

    Photos 1 & 2 show the lateral shift induced with my amended strapping [ignore the velcro].

    Photos 3 to 5 show strapping realigning to ANH external using velcro.

    Happy now the realignment works is correct.

     

    Shoulder-Strapping-01.jpg

     

    Shoulder-Strapping-02.jpg

     

    Shoulder-Strapping-03.jpg

     

    Shoulder-Strapping-04.jpg

     

    Shoulder-Strapping-05.jpg

     

     

     

  3. Thanks guys,

    I took a few days to think about the mechanical changes I made with my shoulder re-strapping - had a watershed moment this afternoon and realised my current problem was due to the way I redid my new shoulder straps which induced an unexpected lateral shift - quick amendment today rectified my problem.

    Will pop my solution into this post and link to my my build thread in next couple of days.

    Thanks for your input - all this info goes towards making a build easier for future troopers :)

    • Like 3
  4. I redid my shoulder straps with the red lines indicating were they run under the armour.

    I am getting a consistent shift of the left ribbed shoulder strap as per the photo.

    The elastic is hooked under the new shoulder straps so that should keep the ribbed straps aligned, alas to the case.

    Hoping I can get some advice what to look for to solve this problem.

    I have thought of some velcro, was thinking if I did that it would not allow the ribbed straps to move around and may induce a stress crack somewhere over time.

    Thanks.

     

    Top-Left-Ribbed-Shoulder-Strap-01.jpg

  5. Thanks for your input

    3 hours ago, robojoe said:

    I just repaired a couple of small cracks on my RS PVC armor using JB Weld Marine Epoxy.

     

    https://www.amazon.com/J-B-Weld-50172-MarineWeld-Adhesive/dp/B00R2CDVIW/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=jb+weld+marine+epoxy+resin&qid=1639967273&sr=8-9

     

    My cracks were in curves like yours, and in an area that is too tight to squeeze a piece of PVC into as a backing.  I built up some of the epoxy on the back of the crack and it seems to have solidified well.  Time will tell if the repair will last, but I'm hopeful.

     Thanks for your input robojoe, I will most definitely keep your solution in mind - JB Weld is an awesome bonding agent.

     

    I will now end up checking over my kit after every troop to catch any cracks - my previous TX was 3d printed and kinda bullet proof - PVC being thinner and more flexible warrants ongoing maintenance I think.

  6. Marked the inside of the armour to show where the crack is, used a heat gun to make the 10mm x 20mm pic patch malleable, pushed it into place with a heat proof glove. It was pretty finicky to get into place being so small.

    Give it 24 hours to dry - not the prettiest fix but hopefully will provide sufficient strength to stop the crack increasing.

     

     

    Rear-Upper-Armour-Crack-02.jpg

     

    Rear-Upper-Armour-Crack-03.jpg

     

    Rear-Upper-Armour-Crack-04.jpg

     

     

     

     

    • Like 1
  7. 23 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

    I've not encountered this from a holster before, could be the dye leaching out, but I have had that issue with black cloth pouches I made to wrap FOTK armor and I found using an automotive polish would normally remove most marks and scuffs. I don't use any chemicals on plastic as I've found in the past it can melt, depending on what you use of course.

     

     

    Thanks, for the info :)

    I have just completed a second hot water bath of 20 minutes each time, primarily to soften the leather and mould it the E11 shape making for easier removal of the blaster when trooping.

    The first bath had a reasonable amount of dye leech out into the water with not as much visible 2nd time around.

    I expect that will help reduce transfer to the armour.

    I have some auto polish, will do a small test area and see how it goes.

    • Like 1
  8. After a couple of troops the E11 holster is leaving a reasonable amount of black transfering from the leather onto the left thigh.

    I don't mind the weathered look, but am wondering what is the best way to clean some of the black off.

    Rubbing a moist cloth removes some of the black but not a large amount, want to ensure I don't use a chemical that will damage the PVC.

    Thanks.

    Thigh-04.jpg

     

     

  9. On 12/13/2021 at 12:17 PM, revlimiter said:

    Your helmet build was really inspiring and helpful to me while I was working on mine. Thank you for the fantastic info and pix!

     

    I'm considering an aker amp in the chest specifically for the TK chatter loop. I may have to do that shortly...

     

    Glad I could provide some assistance :)

     

    I read that the Aker M1506 amp is required if you are planning on installing an iCOMM unit as well.

    That's what I bought, con-costs more for the Aker M1506 - pros-much smaller footprint which allowed me to line the volume control side up closer to the edge of my chest plate allowing access during the troop to adjust volume.

     

     

  10. Oh and forgot to mention, I took the Police Chatter mp3 that CallMeMrTibbles mentioned he used, added about 20-30 second pauses between chatter, then copy and pasted till the mp3 was about 4 hours long. Worked well when moving thru the crowd, the police background chatter really caught peoples attention, aded an audible sense of realism to the kit.

    • Like 1
  11. Oz Comic Con weekend was a blast.

    Few photos below, trimming the 20mm off the thigh tops made a big difference for knee clearance - still tempted to take 10mm more as the thighs were still banging into the codpiece and butt plate [more slightly annoying than restricting movement].

    You can see the colour difference between my PVC and the purer white of the ABS kit.

     

    01.jpg

     

    06.jpg

     

    07.jpg

     

    08.jpg

     

    09.jpg

  12. 12 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:

     

    Glad my tutorial helped, Geoff, any photos?  :jc_doublethumbup:

    Hi Joseph,

    I was on the fence line as to how I would trim the armour and what to do about the returns.

    Your post was extremely helpful, thank you very much.

    With the returns gone the additional benefit is the 2 drop plates on my belt sit flatter due to the thighs coming in about 10mm which was the return edge depth roughly.

    We are doing Oz Comic Con next Saturday [11/12th Dec]], I will put up some photos from this event showing the altered thigh heights, etc.

    Have also passed on your post to another TK in our group who needs to make quite a few changes to his kit.

    Cheers.

    • Like 1
  13. I need to reduce the length of my thigh armour, have already increased the moon-shape cutout and am still getting the back of my knee grabbing the armour, especially on the ammo belt side which reduces my ability to walk comfortably and also transverse stairs.

    From the photo [I have the Police stick] I can afford to loose some length on each thigh and still look symmetrical - looking at cutting about 30mm off the top of each thigh.

    I will loose the return around the top edges and am wondering how everyone else has gone re this - not perturbed if I keep the returns or not, just interested in how others have tackled this issue.

     

    Thigh-03.jpg

     

    Took a couple of hours this afternoon using a dremel with cutting disk and 400 grit sandpaper. Can now go up and down stairs with plenty of space behind the knees.

    Had a read of this post which was invaluable: 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  14. 10 hours ago, Troopacoola said:

    Lots of cable running out of that lid. Could you not reduce this?

    Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
     

     

    What you have referenced  was my original design which has since changed. If you look at my above posts you can follow where I pulled the Aker Amp and iComm out of the helmet and chest mounted them. My helmet only has cooling fans and Ukswrath Hearing assist amp system.

  15. Pretty much completed my chest amplifier system.

    Wearing my glove I can manage all switches and the amplifiers volume dial.

    ‘B’ is the mute/unmute microphone switch.

    ‘C’ directs the microphone output either to the iComm first or bypasses it and goes straight to the Aker amplifier. Handy for when you want to talk to someone without the random static bursts.

    ‘D’ is the MP3 player for background sound. Stuck a bit of rubber on the centre control switch to make it easy to control.

    ‘E’ I can adjust the Aker MR1506 volume in the field depending on the environment.Chest-Comms-02.jpg

     

    Chest-Comms-03.jpg

    • Like 4
  16. On 10/10/2021 at 5:20 PM, gmrhodes13 said:

    Have you thought of just running one fan at a time, that's all I use and it's enough even on the hottest troop, I keep the second charged and read in case I need to switch over, but that's only at very long weekend events.

    I need both fans running to provide sufficient air at a lower speed, had them in the same position in my TX helmet and definitely needed both running.

  17. On 10/10/2021 at 8:36 PM, CallMeMrTibbles said:

    If you can be bothered to rewire your voltmeter, you could consider one of these....

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Voltmeter-DIY-Mini-Digital-Timer-LED-Display-Car-Electric-Clock-Thermometer-/383581823026?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

    (UK eBay but shipped direct from china)

    It's a voltmeter/thermometer/clock, and I mounted it in the front of my lid near the back of the hovi tips. I had to put some masking tape over the display otherwise it lit up my face so much you could see me through the lenses.

    It's utterly overkill, but very geeky and I love it emoji1.png

    Am ordering one today, be great to get an idea how hot it gets in the helmet. Thanks for the info :)

    • Like 1
  18. Pretty much finished the helmet fit out, electronics completed and eye shields screwed in place.

    Fitted with Ukswrath Audio Assist and Henry’s Helmet fans with a DC Converter and DPDT switch.

     

    My issue was with the fans running at 5V the Audio Assist kit picked up too much noise, so with the switching system I can run at 5V for maximum cooling [Audio Assist off] or switch to 3V and turn on Audio Assist.

     

    I did buy a couple of DC converters with external control knob with the view to manually dial the voltage up and down as I needed, however when I reduced voltage under 5V both fans would stop running. This happened on both DC converters so there was an issue I couldn't rectify. Using the DC Converter The Mighty Atom sent me I used the on-board pot to reduce voltage to 3V and the fans simply slowed down. The one issue was I couldn’t adjust V on the fly [needed a very small screwdriver to adjust the pot], so with that in mind I knocked up a switching system with a DPDT switch I had lying around.

     

    Very happy with the end result, looking forward to testing it at a troop.

    At the moment the helmet interior is bloody messy and will redo the interior lining to make it look neater.

     

     

    Fan-Wiring-01.jpg

     

    Fan-Wiring-02.jpg

     

    Fan-Wiring-03.jpg

     

    Fan-Wiring-04.jpg

     

    Helmet-Inside-01.jpg

    • Like 2
  19. 2 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

    No I didn't

    After you enter the url sometimes another page opens, close that page, then you are back to the download page, when you click Convert another page will open, close that too. You shouldn't have to install anything I'm aware.

     

    yeh, I didn't close the 1st additional page that opened which was the extension installer. The converter I found didn't pop any other pages. Same result in the end. Thanks for your help :)

    • Like 1
  20. 15 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

    You could contact the owner on the legion boards https://www.501st.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28538

     

    Looks like he updated his thread and now has all the sounds on his own website https://danielcarlton.bandcamp.com/album/star-wars-cosplay-sound-effect-loops-and-soundscapes Now although some tracks say "Buy Digital Track" you can enter $0.00 and it will allow you to download any of the other audio files but if you are feeling generous you could flick him some credits ;) . 

     

    The TK is too large for web so is on his Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/Astrofreq/featured

     

    Here's the TK loop

     

     

    To download to audio clip you could use a free online converter there are heaps of them just Google "free online youtube audio converter", I use this one https://y2mate.is/en4/, just copy and enter the youtube link, wait for it to load, then select quality then download. As it is free software it can open up other pages just close those down. 

     

    Thanks, didn't think about grabbing the sound file via google. 

    I used this web site to convert to .mp3 https://youtubetomp3music.com/en26/ 

    Cheers.

     

  21. As per my post here I have decided to abandon my helmet mounted speaker system [amp + iComm] for a chest mounted solution. I wasn't happy with the low audio out levels and feedback and have gone for a chest mounted solution.

    I had an old Aker amp and have mounted that along with the iComm box with velcro behind my chest. Am getting much better audio throw and clarity with the only issue to date being feedback if volume is too high when using the Aker headmounted mic. To counter that I have been researching throat mic solutions.

    I order a cheap throat mic from a local supplier [Jaycar] which I received today - it turned out to be pretty crap [cheap and that line is discontinued - go figure]. I have this throat mic currently in route from supplier, a few troopers here have used it with positive results, am looking forward to testing once received.

    In the meantime I made up a switching system to mount behind my chest, one switch simply kills the microphone with the second switching microphone  inout between the iComm box and the Aker amp. This will let me easily kill the mic if needed during a troop, plus toggle between static bursts [iComm] and normal speech [Aker direct] if required.

    Bench testing worked perfectly, just need to make a box to house it all and position behind chest.

    I went down this route as the switches I am using are easily controlled while using gloves.

    Also going to parallel a larger momentary switch off the Aker switch and mount that along with the two toggle switches.

    Chest-Comms-01.jpg

     

    Momentary-Switch-01.jpg

    • Like 1
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