[robpenfold]

I really like the gaffer's tape look. I went the zip tie route. I might rethink that.

[pyhasanon]

Velcro straps under the gaffer's tape works really well!

[thebigone2087]

You know, I went with just straight black duct tape. While it isn't exactly screen accurate. I kind like the look of it

[Parflagush]

Been trying to get some better photos of my completed pack, but I haven't had time yet.



I put the finishing touches on it few days before Salt Lake Comic Con. Comic Con was a blast! I met so many cool people, and I was overwhelmed at how many folks wanted to get a picture with me! I must have done something right, eh? I am pretty happy with how it turned out. Really not too bad for a first pack. I'm sure there will be upgrades to it in the coming year, as I cut a few corners in the build process. Still have some other uniform and props to work on, but I'm calling this completed.

Thanks to everyone on these forums who shared their ideas and offered advice! I couldn't have done it without GBFans!

(I'll get some more photos up as soon as I have time to take them)

[Parflagush]

Here's a minor upgrade I did to my sound board using the sound programmer available in the GBfans shop.

The original sounds that come with the GBFans Pack Blaster sound board are downsampled to 12kHz. This was undoubtedly done to fit as many samples on there as possible. However, the higher frequencies from the original sample are dropped when converted to 12k. I particularly noticed that there is a a high-pitched "whirring" sound with the ambient pack hum which is completely gone in 12k.

The sound chip on the Pack Blaster can support samples at 12kHz, 14kHz, 16kHz, 18kHz, 20kHz, and 22kHz. I'm not sure why, but I had problems with programming sounds at 22k and 20k (endless loops, sounds not firing, etc.), but I managed to get everything working flawlessly at 18kHz.

I downsampled all the necessary 44.1k effects from the video game files to 18k. Obviously I had to remove some sounds that I wouldn't use (like the interactive movie quotes) so that the higher quality samples would fit. But I must say that this upgrade is a very noticeable improvement!

Here's a quick demo video I put together. The sounds are not coming from the pack speakers, but dubbed for the best sound representation. Also, the pack blaster sound chip doesn't support 44.1khz, but I included it in the video for comparison.

[theMaestro]

That does seem like a noticable difference - especially the high pitch whirring you mention. Were you able to still fit all the other sounds key sounds? E.g. TVG sounds, venting, song, etc?

[Parflagush]

ALL of the sound effects were replaced with higher quality versions. I removed all the movie quotes to make room, and I also replaced the song with a short part of the orchestral score to free up room. At 18kHz, I ended up only using 52.73% of the memory, so I will probably re-do the song to fill up the rest. I'd also like to figure out why 22k and 20k weren't working, but I don't really notice too much difference from 18k so I'll probably just stick with that.

[pyhasanon]

That's a HUGE difference! If you perfect this, I would love to be able to do the same on mine, if you're willing to distribute the fruits of your labor... If not, that's fine...

By the way, I would love to have the power up sound play after the overheat/vent sequence... In your experience with the board so far, do you think it is possible to reprogram the GBFans board to do that?

[Parflagush]

That's a HUGE difference! If you perfect this, I would love to be able to do the same on mine, if you're willing to distribute the fruits of your labor... If not, that's fine...

By the way, I would love to have the power up sound play after the overheat/vent sequence... In your experience with the board so far, do you think it is possible to reprogram the GBFans board to do that?

Labor you say??? Ha! This is nothing but pure entertainment, man!

I'm not sure what legal protections the sound files fall under, but I'm more than happy to share what I am allowed to for those that may be interested. Otherwise, I'd be happy to offer assistance in showing you how to do it yourself.

In assigning the sounds using the software, it is possible to sequence in a power up sound to play after the vent sound. I'm not sure exactly how it will handle it though, so I'll have to experiment. I am certain that this wouldn't change the sequence of the lights though, as that is hard-programmed on the board. But I'll play around with it and see what it does and report back to ya.

[pyhasanon]

Yeah, I figured it would only be the sequencing of sounds... basically, rewrite the code to play the power up sound after the vent sequence, and then right back to the ambient hum... at least, it sounds right in my head... LOL

[Sephiroth]

That is a very noticeable difference/improvement. My dad is planning on tinkering with the GBFans sound board and programmer soon and this is definitely good info to know as the new pack we are building will use the GBFans board. We are also looking at possibly changing sound files to make a dedicated ghost trap sound board.
The Mighty Micro-Controller board that I currently have installed on my pack runs 22.05 kHz mono WAV sound files and the memory size isn't an issue with the Micro SD memory. It does distort if playing a 44.1 kHz file for some reason though.

[bishopdonmiguel]

ALL of the sound effects were replaced with higher quality versions. I removed all the movie quotes to make room, and I also replaced the song with a short part of the orchestral score to free up room. At 18kHz, I ended up only using 52.73% of the memory, so I will probably re-do the song to fill up the rest.

Very nice! Do you think there would be room to leave everything on but upgrade select sounds like the pack hum and thrower firing? Unsure how much free space exists, if any, with the 12k set.

Alas, I am a Mac user and as much as I'd like to purchase this board, it's basically a paperweight without Windoze. Low quality quotes & song don't bother me but better quality primary effects is very intriguing.

[Venkman's Swagger]

You've done an amazing job Gush. I'd love to switch the sounds to the GB2 ones I have but having read the tutorial I'm completely baffled and put my purchase of the programmer on hold. Love the work you've done here

[Parflagush]

Do you think there would be room to leave everything on but upgrade select sounds like the pack hum and thrower firing? Unsure how much free space exists, if any, with the 12k set.

I haven't done any experimenting in mixing different sample rates, as the instructions indicate this could cause problems. The default 12k sound set that comes with the board fills up the sound chip completely, so it's not possible to add any more sounds or replace anything with higher quality samples as they would not fit.

I'd love to switch the sounds to the GB2 ones I have but having read the tutorial I'm completely baffled and put my purchase of the programmer on hold.

It's not terribly difficult once you figure out the software. It took me a few tries before I got it all working good. I'd be happy to help you out with anything if you end up buying the chip programmer.

[Venkman's Swagger]

Do you think there would be room to leave everything on but upgrade select sounds like the pack hum and thrower firing? Unsure how much free space exists, if any, with the 12k set.

I haven't done any experimenting in mixing different sample rates, as the instructions indicate this could cause problems. The default 12k sound set that comes with the board fills up the sound chip completely, so it's not possible to add any more sounds or replace anything with higher quality samples as they would not fit.

I'd love to switch the sounds to the GB2 ones I have but having read the tutorial I'm completely baffled and put my purchase of the programmer on hold.

It's not terribly difficult once you figure out the software. It took me a few tries before I got it all working good. I'd be happy to help you out with anything if you end up buying the chip programmer.

Thanks Gush that's awesome of you

[Parflagush]

Okay Phil, here ya go. It works pretty much how I expected.

I apologize for the quality of the video as my daughter borrowed my video camera so I had to use my tablet. But here's what happens when adding the power up after the vent...

[pyhasanon]

YESSSS!!!! I knew it was possible! Can I say "I love you?" LOL! You rock, man! However, why does the power-up sound seem, um, shorter? Still sounds awesome, and a lot better than the standard, in my opinion...

[Parflagush]

I used a shortened version of the power up sound. I'm sure the normal, longer one would work fine too.

[Venkman's Swagger]

That is awesome. If the GBFans soundboard had the startup after vent I'd probably leave the vent option on. As it stands I have it turned off. You're doing great work with the sounds Gush.

[Parflagush]

Did a small but significant upgrade to my pack recently. Added the new GBFans bellows!

Here's some photos of the old one. I never did finish painting and weathering it, but I knew it would eventually be replaced.





And the new one:





To make it more GB2, it needs a bolt through the top end, but I haven't felt confident to do that yet. And it's not weathered at all. It just looks so pretty at the moment I don't want to touch it.

[Venkman's Swagger]

Man AJ's new bellows are so pretty! Really makes your pack pop Gush. Always enjoy seeing pics of this. You did a fantastic job on it

[Parflagush]

Man AJ's new bellows are so pretty! Really makes your pack pop Gush. Always enjoy seeing pics of this. You did a fantastic job on it

Yes, it's amazing how one little part can make a difference. I haven't been visiting the forums much in the last few months, but I see that your pack is coming along quite nicely! I'll shoot you some morale boosters over in your thread.

[Venkman's Swagger]

Yes, it's amazing how one little part can make a difference. I haven't been visiting the forums much in the last few months, but I see that your pack is coming along quite nicely! I'll shoot you some morale boosters over in your thread.

Thank you Gush. I have just seen your comments. Seriously this pack rocks. I remember it being one of the first pack builds I really took notice of when I first joined.

[nick-a-tron]

Thats a really nice pack! Hats off to you.

[csullivan1980]

Great! As if the bezel wasn't daunting enough, I read this lol

Don't worry. I'm sure you'll have better luck than I did, especially with a name like "Venkman's Swagger".


The next step I took was figuring out how to get the button and LED into the ear.



I couldn't imagine out how to fit the components and wires into the ear without modifying it too much. With the height of the button, it would certainly stick out. At this point I pretty much conceded that the wires would be sticking out the bottom, even though it would be nice to have it all fit without protruding wires.

So I drilled into the ear:





I still couldn't mush the wires in through the horizontal tunnel I bore through the side, so I carved out a groove in the bottom:



Widened it a little:



Sort of like this:



I really didn't like cutting into the ear to accomplish this task, but it is what it is I guess.

Gush, awesome pack build!!!

I'm a few weeks away from getting my gbfans light kit for my TC build. What size holes did you drill for the front grip? Did you tap them too?

[Parflagush]

I opted to have the front barrel assembly all molded as one, so the grip came pre-attached.

[csullivan1980]

Back on the thrower...

Firing the thrower just didn't feel quite powerful enough, so I added some rumble (from GBFans Shop).



I didn't want it to spin all free-like inside the gun body, so I grabbed one of these PVC end caps from Home Depot. It's a perfect fit!




Tucked it inside:



After I put everything back together and fired off a few shots, I found it to be shaking and rattling against the inside gun walls. I wasn't sure if mounting it in there somehow would solve the problem. But instead I decided to just wrap it up in felt to keep it from rattling.






Heh. It kind of looks like a burnt marshmallow, huh?

No more rattling! And when I shoot this thang...it feels guuuuud!

what size was the coupler end cap?

[Parflagush]

Sorry for not answering your question sooner. I've been quite busy the past couple of days.

That PVC cap I don't recall the exact size. There are some markings on the bottom in my photo that you might be able to match up. The OD of the rumble motor measures just over 1". It has foam cushioning on the sides which gives enough grip to hold it inside the cap. I just brought the motor with me and test fitted it at the store. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. I'll be picking up another soon for my next build, so I'll post back if you haven't figured it out by then.

[CPU64]

You can use a regular lighter if you don't have a heat gun.. Soldering iron works too.

[Parflagush]

A couple of updates to my pack today.

First off, I realized that the speaker wasn't really doing much good facing the inside of the cyclotron, so I drilled out a speaker grill and turned it around.