Qs: Diamond USB access? / recharge port vs basic sound / covertec removal?

[FlibbleJibblet]

Hi,

TLDR; Where is the USB plug on a diamond controller sword, and how often are batteries needing to be replaced causing risk to breaking saber?

I've been debating for years and nearly going to take the plunge with coming into a bit of cash and the current deal.
I'm looking at getting myself and my son our first sabers which will both be diamond controller ones.

My debate is that with the basic options I want I get NEARLY to the 4th free saber (I have 4 other children who could use them but don't need such fancyness).
I can either throw in a very cheap basic saber to make it so I order 3 and get 4 free, this way I get to at least choose a pink blade for my 6 year old daughter to enjoy,
OR
if I remove the charging port from each of the main diamond sabers I save myself $190 and I could make the 3rd saber I order have "basic sound" making it much nicer for my daughter.

My concern is; without the charging port I worry my son and I will damage the saber taking batteries out all the time, BUT is the USB port on the diamond controller inside next to the battery pack anyway (I saw it was on an emerald one) which means we would be making this risk regularly anyway?

As a different side note, do sabers that have the covertec wheel as standard (so I can't select not to have it) have the ability to remove it? And if so, does it look bad underneath? I have no use for it and think it would just annoy me and get in the way.

[Sakura No Kaze]

The USB port is on the Diamond controller board, which is attached to the battery pack. So every time you want to change something on the Diamond board, you'll be taking the battery pack out.

That said, get the recharge ports. First, I'm willing to bet that you'll be needing to charge the batteries more often than you'll be changing things on the Diamond board, and second, the saber has to be turned on while you're working with the Diamond launcher, and having the saber plugged in while you're doing it means you don't have to worry about the saber suddenly turning off in the middle of making changes. Plus you can leave them plugged in when you're not using them, which means they'll always be fully charged when you go to use them, and you can just "grab and go" without having to put batteries in first.

Next, I recommend against getting the Obsidian Lite sound for your 6 year old. Mostly because you cannot change the volume level on the Obsidian Lite. It comes with one volume only, and that volume is LOUD. Which is inconvenient for the household at 6am Saturday morning when your daughter wants to play Star Wars. Or 1am Tuesday night because she needs to defeat a minimum of 17 jedi before she can go to sleep.

I do however, applaud the decision on a Hot Pink blade. It's an awesome color, and one of the original four approved (by me) Sith blade colors (the others being Blazing Red, Fire Orange, and Pyrestone Orange).

Yes, the covertec wheel can be removed, and a screw put in the hole in its place. Personally I don't like the covertec wheel either, so I've never bought a saber with one and I don't know exactly what it looks like underneath. But I'm pretty sure it just looks like the rest of the saber hilt. If you do a search on covertec wheel in this sub-forum you should be able to find some threads on people who have removed theirs and what they've put in it's place, probably with some pictures thrown in. And I'm willing to bet at least a couple of people who have done so will also reply to this thread.

[Cyclops942]

The USB port is on the Diamond controller board, which is attached to the battery pack. So every time you want to change something on the Diamond board, you'll be taking the battery pack out.

That said, get the recharge ports. First, I'm willing to bet that you'll be needing to charge the batteries more often than you'll be changing things on the Diamond board, and second, the saber has to be turned on while you're working with the Diamond launcher, and having the saber plugged in while you're doing it means you don't have to worry about the saber suddenly turning off in the middle of making changes. Plus you can leave them plugged in when you're not using them, which means they'll always be fully charged when you go to use them, and you can just "grab and go" without having to put batteries in first.

Next, I recommend against getting the Obsidian Lite sound for your 6 year old. Mostly because you cannot change the volume level on the Obsidian Lite. It comes with one volume only, and that volume is LOUD. Which is inconvenient for the household at 6am Saturday morning when your daughter wants to play Star Wars. Or 1am Tuesday night because she needs to defeat a minimum of 17 jedi before she can go to sleep.

I do however, applaud the decision on a Hot Pink blade. It's an awesome color, and one of the original four approved (by me) Sith blade colors (the others being Blazing Red, Fire Orange, and Pyrestone Orange).

Yes, the covertec wheel can be removed, and a screw put in the hole in its place. Personally I don't like the covertec wheel either, so I've never bought a saber with one and I don't know exactly what it looks like underneath. But I'm pretty sure it just looks like the rest of the saber hilt. If you do a search on covertec wheel in this sub-forum you should be able to find some threads on people who have removed theirs and what they've put in it's place, probably with some pictures thrown in. And I'm willing to bet at least a couple of people who have done so will also reply to this thread.

I second everything advised here, for exactly the reasons given. GET THE RECHARGE PORT.  THESE SABERS ARE LOUD.

[FlibbleJibblet]

Thanks for the advice. Got a nice big spreadsheet open with all my options... it's adding up though! Yikes... But don't want to spend out $1300 and not quite get it right, better to jump to $1500 I guess... 
Just a shame illuminated AV switches can't change colour, been reading posts about that, seems like such a missing opportunity... would love to program them. (I imagine programming a font so I press the button to turn on and the AV light flickers on and off with blade struggling to ignite for a 5 seconds or so then suddenly a big ignition... but I'm weird like that, I suspect that is way beyond even diamond).

[Sakura No Kaze]

Thanks for the advice. Got a nice big spreadsheet open with all my options... it's adding up though! Yikes... But don't want to spend out $1300 and not quite get it right, better to jump to $1500 I guess... 
Just a shame illuminated AV switches can't change colour, been reading posts about that, seems like such a missing opportunity... would love to program them. (I imagine programming a font so I press the button to turn on and the AV light flickers on and off with blade struggling to ignite for a 5 seconds or so then suddenly a big ignition... but I'm weird like that, I suspect that is way beyond even diamond).

It does add up very quickly, but it's worth it. I very strongly recommend getting exactly what you want, rather than getting something kinda close, but then regretting not getting your perfect saber. If that means waiting a week, a month, however long to save up the extra cash for it, I can guarantee that it's worth it.

Or look at it this way, you're getting more free sabers than you're buying. Which brings the average saber cost way down.

[FlibbleJibblet]

On an unrelated note, and quite embarrassingly, I know I used to know how to give dark/light points but I am utterly failing to see how now. Even a forum search isn't helping... 

[Cyclops942]

On an unrelated note, and quite embarrassingly, I know I used to know how to give dark/light points but I am utterly failing to see how now. Even a forum search isn't helping... 

If you’re using Tapatalk, you’re out of luck; it’s not possible to either see or award points in Tapatalk (well... not the free version, anyway— I haven’t tried the paid version).  If you’re using a web browser to peruse the board, then look to the left of the posts themselves, where you see the avatars for each user.  Under each person’s avatar is a pair of links (in tiny print), one of which will award Light-side points, and one of which will award Dark-side points.

[Sakura No Kaze]

If you’re using Tapatalk, you’re out of luck; it’s not possible to either see or award points in Tapatalk (well... not the free version, anyway— I haven’t tried the paid version).  If you’re using a web browser to peruse the board, then look to the left of the posts themselves, where you see the avatars for each user.  Under each person’s avatar is a pair of links (in tiny print), one of which will award Light-side points, and one of which will award Dark-side points.

What he said, although also be aware that if you're at work (like I am) it's possible that your company's internet settings/firewall block the links for points from appearing/working (which mine don't. And no, the fact that one of my jobs is network admin for the company has nothing to do with that.).

[Cyclops942]

What he said, although also be aware that if you're at work (like I am) it's possible that your company's internet settings/firewall block the links for points from appearing/working (which mine don't. And no, the fact that one of my jobs is network admin for the company has nothing to do with that.).

Suuuuuuuurrrrre... (wink, wink)

LOL

[FlibbleJibblet]

What he said, although also be aware that if you're at work (like I am) it's possible that your company's internet settings/firewall block the links for points from appearing/working (which mine don't. And no, the fact that one of my jobs is network admin for the company has nothing to do with that.).

I swear those links weren't there the other day....

[Randy82103]

I bought sabers for my kids as well, and I would say that I went with the arctic white and aftermarket filters for my kids. If I was doing it again, I would 100% do that again. It was the yellow book, and there are other threads about that, but it works perfectly.

Also, the cheaper sabers have an open hole on the bottom, so I 3d printed a cap that prevents them from jamming in their finger and breaking the speaker. Once you have a cap over the bottom hole, or a nicer pommel with smaller holes, you can also quiet down the saber with a cotton ball or fabric scrap.

I love the diamond saber, with 3 kids the color discs with obsidian lite saved me a fortune.

Also, try not to swear when they hit your knuckles

[HesaHeart]

I bought sabers for my kids as well, and I would say that I went with the arctic white and aftermarket filters for my kids. If I was doing it again, I would 100% do that again. It was the yellow book, and there are other threads about that, but it works perfectly.

Also, the cheaper sabers have an open hole on the bottom, so I 3d printed a cap that prevents them from jamming in their finger and breaking the speaker. Once you have a cap over the bottom hole, or a nicer pommel with smaller holes, you can also quiet down the saber with a cotton ball or fabric scrap.

I love the diamond saber, with 3 kids the color discs with obsidian lite saved me a fortune.

Also, try not to swear when they hit your knuckles

If i had a dollar for each time a student hit my hand or arm. face etc i could retire and live like a king

[Cyclops942]

Also, the cheaper sabers have an open hole on the bottom, so I 3d printed a cap that prevents them from jamming in their finger and breaking the speaker. Once you have a cap over the bottom hole, or a nicer pommel with smaller holes, you can also quiet down the saber with a cotton ball or fabric scrap.

You need some holes in that cap, brother, or you’re going to damage the speaker.  I get that you don’t want finger-sized holes, but you need to let the vibrations escape, or the compression of the air will physically damage the speaker.  The same goes for muffling the speaker with cotton or cloth.  Be careful, and don’t overdo the muffling.

[HesaHeart]

put holes in the pommel then put a screen from a sink faucet inside and a little hot glue

[Sakura No Kaze]

If i had a dollar for each time a student hit my hand or arm. face etc i could retire and live like a king

Oh yeah. Especially when it's about 50F (10C) out, and the saber (or worse, shinai) hits bare skin. If you weren't awake and paying full attention before...

And that's why it's important to wear at least minimal safety gear, even when fooling around with the kids.