New to Forums and Sound Card question

[Hawleywood]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forums and I was wondering how complicated it is to install a sound card to a saber.

I am going to but the War Glaive soon and I wanted to know how difficult it would be to remove the sound card from the Anakin ROTS Hasbro FX Saber and install it into the War Glaive.
I am trying to decide if I should try and install it or just pay the 150$ for the installed card.

Thanks in advance to anyone who could tell me.

[Ultra]

Difficulty depends on your own skill level.  If you're good with hand tools, soldering, and wiring, it's not too hard.  Time consuming, but not exactly difficult if you have those skills.

[ShadowKatt]

Would you generally need a new battery pack as well when replacing the soundcard?

[Darth Eyece]

I'm working on that project right now, actually!  It isn't "hard," per se, just a bit more complicated doing the research and spending the time reading if you dont already know electronics.  Good news is I soldered some wires to a board the other day for the first time, just after a bit of reading on soldering, and a few youtube vids to see it in action.

I wish you the best of luck, root around the custom saber shop forums for very technical things, you might need a translator though!

[jsfetzik]

I am in the process of putting an econo sound board into my wifes War Glaive. It is not particularly difficult, but it does depend on your skill level and experience. I have an electronics degree, but have been doing software development for the past 20+ years.

Based on what I have done so far I have one tip. Do NOT unsolder the wires from the sound card. Just splic into the existing wires with yours. Depending on the soldering iron you have and the size wire you are using it can be a real pain to solder to the surface mount pads on the sound board.

I am also adding a couple more custom options beyond just the sound card.

I will have a small switch between the sound card and speaker.

I am also looking to add a switch delay circuit such that you have to push and hold the button for about 2 seconds before the saber will power up or down. This way an accidental touch of the switch doesn't shut things off.

Finally I am also looking at adding an LED to the pommel.

The most difficult part is packaging everything into the hilt in a relatively neat manner.

I am taking pictures as I am working and will be maiking a build post when I am done.

I also have a bunch of other ideas which would involve using a small 8-10 pin microprocessor, but this will take a while to figure out exactly what I want to do. This would be things like using push button sequences to enable/disable sound, enable/disable pommel LED separate from the blade,  use the multiple sound fonts from the Grevious econo sound board, etc.