Throwing together a pint size console

[gambit410]

Ok its been a while and ive got some updates.

I've filled out and attached a bunch of knickknacks to various panel and added some more lighting.



Above you can see that ive added some electro luminescent wires to the bottom edge of the console. I though it looked a bit top heavy in the light effects. The wire has a constant on, or two levels of flashing. I rewired it so that the light is turned on by the little red button rather than the built in button that i stuck to underneath the console (it was built into the battery pack).

You can also see here ive added a bell (because its fun to hit and make it go ding!) and built the switches into a piece of plastic. The wood was a bit too thick to accommodate the switches so i had to cut holes and install the plastic panels on top of them. I kinda like the way it looks.



Here you can see the demat switch which is a large knife switch i got. Next to that is programmable sound button that i added the TARDIS dematerialization noise to.  Above that is a tally counter that also works nicely as a year setter for time jumps:)

The next panel i added a keyboard, was super hard to find one just the right size that had proper keys but wasn't too big. A kitchen timer, for nice clock ticky and alarm bell sound,  and some switches that i might wire up to other things at a later date.



Next we have a joystick, because they're fun, and another two button that light up and make buzzer sounds when you hit them.
Then we have another button panel with a lots of pushy button and a dial. Also a thermometer and pressure gauge for atmospheric readings.



Here we have another knife switch to use as the door controls.  Im waiting on some parts to fill in the rest of this space (shipping form china takes forever!!)



And here you can see another custom panel with some toggle switches and another two light up buttons that make an alarm sound and laser sound.

[galacticprobe]

I really like what you've done with this! And that light wire around the console's bottom edge is a really nice touch - sort of like the red light slats that were on the "Five Doctors" console collar, only for some reason on the bottom it looks better. Since you've rewired the switch so the red button turns on the light wire, maybe you could find a way to wire the other settings to other controls.

The red button could be the "power up" button, turning on the light wire so everyone knows the TARDIS is ready to go. One level of flashing for the light wire could be wired into the Demat Lever so the flashing adds to the effects of the "time dome" on top to let people know the TARDIS is in flight. And if you've got a "helmic regulator" of sorts to control your TARDIS' speed, you could have that control shift the light wire to the other level of flashing to let people know if the TARDIS is travelling faster or slower, depending on how the light wire flashes.

Just some ideas that my brain ran away with, but maybe my babbling will give you some other ideas.

Dino.

[gambit410]

Ah Dino, if only my electronics skills were that good that would be awesome 

Down the road i do plan on wiring up each of the switches to something even if its just a few extra LEDs. Since this thing is all run off battery's though I'm pacing that out. I think i currently have 24 AA batteries spread out through it at the moment. Battery packs and batteries get expensive quickly! I'd power it all of one main big battery but my ability to work out resistances and voltages is really really rusty so i have to do some more reading up.

I do like the way the elctro wire turned out though, im very tempted to add some more elsewhere.....

[darth_baldrick]

Looking great so far, given me a couple of ideas of extra to add to my boys console.


Loving the recordable buzzers, I hadn't seen those before.
Typical UK prices though, £20 for a set of 4 even though i'd only want one, guess I'll be buying them through works petty cash! lol

Keep up the good work 

[gambit410]

The recordable ones are about $12 each with shipping here in the USA. Be careful the pack of 4 that i got are not recordable and come with preset sounds. They run $16 for 4 here in the USA

Recordable
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K27M9IM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00

Non recordable

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2FNHB6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01

Looks like you can get a set of 12 recordable ones for 65 pounds on amazon uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Resources-Recordable-Answer-Buzzers/dp/B00I00NE14/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457883030&sr=8-1&keywords=Learning+Resources+3770

Which works out about 8 pounds each.

[The14thDr]

I love this TARDIS console. And I know what you mean about deliveries of switches taking forever to arrive (ironic, really; if your console was finished when you ordered the switches you'd be able to pop forwards and pick them up from the future )
And I'm not sure whether this is a massive coincidence or not, but the other week I ordered the exact same desk bell and tally counter that you have on your console! Also, I think I have the same keyboard and rocker switches that you have on your keyboard panel. What did you use for the remote control-looking thing on the bottom-right of the desk bell panel?

Kind regards, The14thDr

[gambit410]

Thanks!!  

I noticed some of the crossover of parts too  

The remote controls the blue and green fairy lights in the dome and the plastic tubing. Its an IR remote and since the receivers are under the console i had to open up the remote, bend the emitter to face down, drill a hole in the remote casing and the console so that the IR signal could reach the receivers.

Here the link for the lights with the remote

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015IP6LGS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

[The14thDr]

Thanks for the link, gambit!! I found the same lights on Amazon UK, so I think I might order some for my own TARDIS.

Kind regards, The14thDr

[gambit410]

Glad to help, they work well when inside something where you can't see the wire. They have a nice pulse setting too which looks very TARDISy. Beware the battery box is huge though they need 6 AAs.

[The14thDr]

I think when I get some I'll thread the lights through a length of corrugated tubing like you have. And my TARDIS currently needs a total of 11 batteries to power all the fairy lights I have running through it at the moment.

[gambit410]

I'm up to 26 AA and 4 hearing aid batteries. Ive go to wire up some of the switches so the light up too.