Star Trek replicas that actually do something
Why settle for a $20 first-gen phaser that only looks cool, when you can build your own fully-functional Blu-Ray Laser Phaser for just $100?!
[via Instructables]
A collection of other functional replicas after the jump...
You could spend $30 on a communicator that belts out phrases from the classic series like "Enterprise, this is Kirk" or "Your signal is very weak; can you turn up your gain?" ...OR, you could turn up your gain considerably with a USB VoIP/Skype phone built into the same hardware.
There are dozens of replica kits for building your own Klingon Disruptor. The one above costs $68, which seems reasonable. Then again it's only a resin prop gun that "cannot be made to fire anything." Boooo!
Hands down the coolest replica I've ever heard of is this homemade disruptor constructed from a parabolic reflector, a horn antenna, two ignition coils, and a car battery. No pics unfortunately, but here's the particulars: 1) it cost $500 to build using off-the-shelf parts; 2) it fires off a 20 megawatt burst of radio that can disrupt or burnout virtually any electronic device from a distance of 20 feet; 3) It makes the TV-B-Gone look like child's play. Just imagine what carnage could be inflicted at CES with this disruptor.
Tribbles sure are cute. But beware! Not all tribbles replicas are not created equal. These ones from etsy are handmade, but on the inside, all they are is Polyfil. Instead of buying a dustbunny that just sits there, go for a battery-operated tribble that shakes and quails [$15-20 via ThinkGeek]. Better yet, build your own (above, via Instructables). Warning: soldering required.
OK, maybe this Red Shirt cologne wasn't official UFP issue. But, if you're going to suit up in the storied red shirt, you should probably care less about recreating the "smell" and, instead, deck yourself out in as much high-tech riot gear as possible...
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"All tribbles replicas are not created equal."
NOT all Tribble replicas are created equal.
ATTENTION MAKERS: According to none other than Steve Wozniak, the DIY Phaser is a hoax, and it will not work. So please think twice before you go gutting a blu-ray player. And honestly, if you're savvy enough to mod something into an ultra-dangerous, probably-illegal laser, you likely wouldn't need some anonymous youtube d-bag to show you how to do it.
@ myself
of course im just taking his statements regarding the phaser thing at face value. could work, probably doesn't.
Also-- a Klingon bat'leth can be used as an actual weapon:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/18637190/detail.html
...So, if it's real, will it be powerful enough to burn through an inflated car tire? Might come in handy when some frat punk tries to run you off the road on the way to his next kegger.
I wouldn't trust a pricey blue laser diode to a 9-volt and a 150ohm resistor, and heat-sinking would also be a consideration; but you can get proper drive circuits fairly cheaply.
Were I to try, I wouldn't do it on the basis of this video; but the principle seems sound enough.
Meh.
Use the diode from a high-speed DVD burner instead.
It will singe human flesh, not just retinas.
This must have been one hell of a dusty room, otherwise, no chance to see anything of the laser beam without a *dazzling* bright laser spot on the wall.
Nice for a video, maybe nice if you want to make an amateur film, but definitely just bad for a commercial to sell blue laser diodes ...
When they first came out with the model kits, not _that_ long after the show hit it big, I promptly embedded a tunable oscillator in the phaser, and a seven-segment LED and decoder chip with four buttons for binary input into the tricorder. (Couldn't think of anything small and interesting and cheap and within my kid-level skill range to do with the communicator.) Power was supplied from an external battery pack via coiled cord, rather than trying to retrofit battery doors into these. Worked well enough to keep my brother amused for some time, even without counting the Halloween he went out as Spock (with nose-putty ear points).
@#8
"This must have been one hell of a dusty room, otherwise, no chance to see anything of the laser beam without a *dazzling* bright laser spot on the wall."
my 30mw green laser is beam-visible in any normal room.
@4: Can't you use almost anything as an "actual weapon"?
@#2: That's not just any anonymous douchebag, it's Kip Kay, the worlds biggest douchebag. For years now he's been taking other people's projects, distilling them down to a palatable mush for the masses, and then narrating them in his smarmy radio voice.
He's been widely criticized for this tutorial. Not only does he miss out on all safety and legal advice, but hooking a laser diode directly to batteries like that is guaranteed to kill it. You really need to build a current regulator or it'll burn itself out in seconds or minutes.
...Has anyone ever tested if kittehs will go berzerk more over a Blu-ray laser point than a standard el-cheapo red one?