Wednesday 23 November 2011

How to make a laser tagger lens system

Thought this could help someone building a lens set-up, have added a photo as sometimes its better to see what were taking about ( I know I do) lol.





Click to enlarge photo.
Here is a list of parts;

35mm black pipe
40mm black pipe (check different makes as some are tighter fit)
35mm lens with a 108mm focal length
1 Fizzie water bottle top.
2 LED Holders
Some pipe glue

The white bit in the photo is what I use to work out the holes, get a sheet of paper wrap it around the 40mm pipe (cut it were the ends meet) work out the size on the computer, then decide were you are going to put the holes, print this and wrap it around the pipe and drill out the holes. This will keep your holes nice and straight. If doing more than one, laminate it first as this will last a lot longer.

Glue the larger part of 35mm pipe in place first, drop in lens, then glue the small section of 35mm pipe in place. Then drill two holes in the top, add the led holders and fit the leds in place with the wires attached.

Slide the top up and down the tube till you get the perfect focus ( Do this just like how you would try and burn a hole in a piece of paper with a magnifying glass )till you get a sharp focus, then fix the screw though the pipe into the bottle top to hold it in place.

Hope this is of some use.             Video: How to focus your lens set-up

Tagger Sensors embedded acrylic resin

Made my sensors with clear acrylic resins with small amount of colour pigment added, also made the pcb's from fibreglass.

The ones I made are for fitting on our assault vest, with two shoulder sensors and one on the back of the vest, each shoulder sensor has two receivers, 1 forward facing receiver and one facing to the side, with one receiver on the back sensor on the vest



I know most of you guy's use head sensors, I should be able to make ones for a headband much smaller and flatter

Rubber mould solution
Note: Making the rubber mould, take the sensor shape you are intending to use, glue them to the bottom of the container, next step is to find out how much rubber solution you need, fill the container with the sensor shapes with water till this covers the
shapes by about 5-10mm. Pour this water into a measuring jug or the use the container you intend to mix it in, make a mark at the water level with marker, this will give you the right amount require for the rubber solution.

Now dry the container, and spray with a silicone based wax, allow to dry the start to fill with rubber solution, leave mould overnight before you remove, also to make the rubber mould last longer leave a couple of days to fully cure before making sensors.

Repeat this measuring part when making the sensors saves making too much resin solution.

New: Full Function Editable Remote for MilesTag     July 2013
                                                            Click to enlarge
 
Phenixtag have upgraded the remote controller for MilesTag systems, no more need for a ref gun the remote can do it all for you. Kent has changed the colour to black and has added a switch to save battery power.  When you connect the remote to a tablet/laptop, using the program you can save all your gameplay in advance. 
 






The fitting out of theTagger's electronics

This is the final part of fibreglassing a tagger, the fitting out of the tagger with the milesTag system. Had to do it in two parts.


These videos follow on from the previous videos on my blog, you should now have all the information require to make your own laser tagger. I've tried to make sure the video give you as much information as possible.



Please Note: On this video I say join the live wire from the keyswitch!
What I should have said was the blue 'off ' position wire from the keyswitch! to the DC point. Sorry! just did it off the cuff (No Script).


 
Click to enlarge Diagrams  





                Diagrams by Dave (djdrthq) over at www.djdrthq.com

For more information about MilesTag system and ll things laser tag
Check out these two websites: http://www.lasertagparts.com/forum/ and www.lasertagparts.com and for the MilesTag Manuals http://www.lasertagparts.com/mtcore.htm



Making the Fibreglass Tagger Body

Here you go guy's!
These are the other two video's of the making of the fibreglass tagger casing/shell, the first one follows on from the making of the tagger mould, as up-loaded earlier.








The second one covers the removing the finished tagger from the mould, this is what your hard work was for... the finished Tagger Shell/Case. Think I covered everything, the main thing is you spend most of your time on the designing of the plug/model before you start to fibreglass.

How to fibreglass the tagger mould

Here you go guy's my first go a making a video on how to fibreglass a tagger shell/case, been up all bloody night trying to up-load these videos on youtube!

The two videos cover the making of the mould (step by step) if you find any faults keep it to yourself


Will post some on the making of the tagger from the mould soon, in the meantime this should keep you busy.

 For a really great looking tagger you'll have to spend lots of time on the design also the cleaning and polishing of the mould... at least 5 coats of wax.

More information about the MDF plug/model making is on an earlier blog.










Remember to wear all the safety equipment when working with MDF and Fibreglass (Mask /Gloves Eye Protection etc)

How to make a MDF Laser Tagger

Go about getting your design, I use 'Flicker' Pimp my Gun site' for ideas for my tagger designs, hundreds of types of weapons to choose from.

To save yourself a lot of drawing, print of the design you like using your printer settings. 'Poster mode' use 4-6 page setting, print off, cut out and tape together.
Video how to make



Top Tip!! If the size feels right, cut out design on 6mm MDF first or cheap hardboad and see how it feels before you cut out the thicker MDF.

Screw to two pieces of MDF boarding together, 18mm and 12mm, think about were you are going to put the screws, don’t want to put them were your going to add other layers of MDF.

Draw up the main line of the tagger, and think how thick each bit will have to be, build them up the layers of 6-9mm MDF, glue then onto the other layers.

Now using a dremel type drill sand away till you get the shape you want, don’t rush this, pick the tagger up and see how it feels.
Now think about how much detail you need to make tagger look the part.

Remember to wear all the safety equipment when working with MDF and Fibreglass (Mask /Gloves Eye Protection etc)


Medic Box

Bought a couple of MilesTag Medic Boxes, but the youngsters were not impressed by them so I re-housed them in one of those boxes from Maplin added small rubber aerial from a old broken walkie Talkie for show, then did a few graphics.
Red Dot Scope
Thought this might help someone, using a way to wire the sights, removed the battery, do a test to find out what was the positive(use a double a size battery with two wires taped attached to the +-) this way you won't blow the scope led, remove the spring bit that hold the battery in place on the lid drilled a small hole and feed the wires to the tagger, attached a 100w resistor to the positive wire and soldered the wires to the sight.

The wires are then piggy backed on to the + - wires on the mainboard.

Save you a fortune in batteries