After reviewing a number of build threads and really trying to wrap my mind around the electronics and installation, I was ready to start tackling this area. As usual, I'll be following bishopdonmiguel's lead except for his wand electronics. For now, I'm planning on installing them in the thrower, and not in the pack itself. Let's take a look at what I've done so far...
First, I made sure that the GBfans Pack Blaster, Light Kit and Wand Kit all worked and functioned the way I wanted...
The GBfans electronics were a pleasure to setup. I followed the instructions and had everything working in no time.
For power, I'm using the standard blue brick from the GBfans store. I easily removed the LED using
these instructions from jackdoud. Here is my battery after the customization...
The blue brick along with nstevic01's nifty
Blue brick wiring set made the battery plug-n-play. I will keep the battery switched on, and use nstevic01's wiring set for the master power switch.
For speakers, I'm using a pair of Scosche HD5254 5.25" speakers. They are inexpensive, light weight and sounded just as good as a pair of Kicker 40CS54's. You can also see the speaker grille pattern that was kindly offered by bishopdonmiguel for use with my motherboard...
Here I have a Radio Shack 10K Linear pot wired up to replace the Pack Blaster's built-in volume pot (will shorten the shaft when I install it)...
Upgrading to ovwthrillseekr's Vent Light was easy with a little bit of soldering...
Even though it's completely a Video Game feature and my pack is mainly GB1, I couldn't resist jimfin's Vent Mech. It was plug-n-play with my blue brick, GBfans electronics and Spongeface Vent Relay. The pack blaster can be configured for Movie Mode + Vent Effects, so I can get the best of both worlds
My plan is to have it mounted to the motherboard (similar to Phil's) so that nothing is attached to the shell.
Speaking of motherboards, here is mine all marked up with pencil for speaker grille pattern placement. Alice Frame spacers are in place to ensure there were no conflicts.
Grille patterns aligned and spray mounted to the back...
And one last thing before I go... Using card-stock to prototype my electronics mounting platform (again inspired by bishopdonmiguel)...
I won't need all that mounting space since I plan on mounting the wand electronics in the wand, but it will allow for future expansion (Rasberry Pi maybe?) and allow me to change my mind on wand electronics.
Till next time!