I remember being almost kinda happy with the little AMT tricorder in the 70s. I had it painted and the whole bit, but it was never close to this "real thing." Nowhere close. 
"The Wand Company" classic Tricorder
- Thread starter Redfern
- Start date
I've been itchin' to provide a followup to my post about the Tricorder arriving, but I also know the staff majorly frowns upon 3 or more posts in a row by a single member. So I've been waiting for somebody yo "say" anything to provide a break. So, thanks, Zap!
Okay, when I last posted, I was charging the Tricorder. I let it run 4 hours as recommended. Unlike the earlier replicas, this one didn't provided any kind of visual indication it fully charged. The LED mounted upon the comm's stand will turn from red/orange to a green/blue. For the phaser, the LED mounted under the acrylic setting indicator changes from flashing red to flashing green. The 'Corder doesn't provide so clear a "ready" status. Or, if it supposed to, mine didn't. But after those 4 hours, I was able to power on the prop.
It prompts you to enter a "name" and a "pass code" to log into the system as one would a computer. I didn't try to see if I could bypass those prompts; I just followed the instructions. I've read comments about the freely pivoting aspect of the control "hood". At least on mine if I apply just the right amount of pressure, the hood stays in position, but admittedly, that is a narrow range, so I tend to brace it with my other hand.
Now, I thought the brass colored grille upon the hood was the speaker, but I learned that is strictly the microphone. The speaker element is mounted behind the moire disc. So, if you want to hear the "whistling" effect of the device "scanning" most clearly, it's best to open that middle panel. On the other hand the various response "beeps" sound loud enough with the panel closed.
I've only sampled the first couple of "log" entries, but that experience is something of a "trip". Wand got access to the master tapes that contain just the voice performances that are not "obscured" by incidental music or sound effects. Playing the first couple from "The Man Trap", I got something of a "Blair Witch Project" feel, like I've stumbled across an abandoned device and I'm reviewing the entries from another ship and crew. I don't know if all the clips are like that, but it would be odd to have some with the other audio channels present.
I've accessed the menu that contains the visual feeds depicted in "City on the Edge of Forever". It contains the two fates of Edith Keller, both the one revealing her death and the alternate timeline in which she survives. As I understand it, Wand recreated those "video" sequences for better clarity, also recreating the pan, zoom and freeze as done in the episode itself. Once played, the sequence just stops and does not repeat. One has to back from that screen to repeat it. The "newsreel" sequence does cycle and contains just three animated shots, crowds of people in the street, activity within Congress, and a rally of marching N@z!5. Then there are a variety of still shots like K-7, a Klingon D-7, a Romulan ship, and the damaged Constellation (the AMT kit, not the updated CGI). I have not tested the recording capabilities of the unit or any other of the real world functions other than an audio sensitivity graph.
Now, I realize there are far larger and sharper images of the replica out there, but please forgive me if I present a personal photo of mine along with the Wand Company's phaser and communicator I purchased years ago.
Okay, when I last posted, I was charging the Tricorder. I let it run 4 hours as recommended. Unlike the earlier replicas, this one didn't provided any kind of visual indication it fully charged. The LED mounted upon the comm's stand will turn from red/orange to a green/blue. For the phaser, the LED mounted under the acrylic setting indicator changes from flashing red to flashing green. The 'Corder doesn't provide so clear a "ready" status. Or, if it supposed to, mine didn't. But after those 4 hours, I was able to power on the prop.
It prompts you to enter a "name" and a "pass code" to log into the system as one would a computer. I didn't try to see if I could bypass those prompts; I just followed the instructions. I've read comments about the freely pivoting aspect of the control "hood". At least on mine if I apply just the right amount of pressure, the hood stays in position, but admittedly, that is a narrow range, so I tend to brace it with my other hand.
Now, I thought the brass colored grille upon the hood was the speaker, but I learned that is strictly the microphone. The speaker element is mounted behind the moire disc. So, if you want to hear the "whistling" effect of the device "scanning" most clearly, it's best to open that middle panel. On the other hand the various response "beeps" sound loud enough with the panel closed.
I've only sampled the first couple of "log" entries, but that experience is something of a "trip". Wand got access to the master tapes that contain just the voice performances that are not "obscured" by incidental music or sound effects. Playing the first couple from "The Man Trap", I got something of a "Blair Witch Project" feel, like I've stumbled across an abandoned device and I'm reviewing the entries from another ship and crew. I don't know if all the clips are like that, but it would be odd to have some with the other audio channels present.
I've accessed the menu that contains the visual feeds depicted in "City on the Edge of Forever". It contains the two fates of Edith Keller, both the one revealing her death and the alternate timeline in which she survives. As I understand it, Wand recreated those "video" sequences for better clarity, also recreating the pan, zoom and freeze as done in the episode itself. Once played, the sequence just stops and does not repeat. One has to back from that screen to repeat it. The "newsreel" sequence does cycle and contains just three animated shots, crowds of people in the street, activity within Congress, and a rally of marching N@z!5. Then there are a variety of still shots like K-7, a Klingon D-7, a Romulan ship, and the damaged Constellation (the AMT kit, not the updated CGI). I have not tested the recording capabilities of the unit or any other of the real world functions other than an audio sensitivity graph.
Now, I realize there are far larger and sharper images of the replica out there, but please forgive me if I present a personal photo of mine along with the Wand Company's phaser and communicator I purchased years ago.
The future we should have had…
We are losing art:
hackaday.com
Objects should do things…
We are losing art:
The Death Of Industrial Design And The Era Of Dull Electronics
It’s often said that what’s inside matters more than one’s looks, but it’s hard to argue that a product’s looks and its physical user experience are what makes it inst…
hackaday.com
Objects should do things…
That picture makes it look like you have no thumb.
I'm sensitive about that.......lol
Has everyone given their tricorder a good shakedown now and been surprised by features they thought they'd ignore? I don't take it down often, but I still have an 'ok this is so cool' feel when I fire it up and run it through its paces... been digging the clean Logs (mainly the novelty of how awkward it is not to hear incidental music and soundfx) and some of the Alerts, on top of the function switching and overall feel.
Looks fantastic! I really, really like your Trek bookshelf.
The neatest element to me is the yellow and red pencil case that Wah Chang "diced" and trimmed to serve as the body for the flip lid communicator.
Learned that from the "HeroComm" site that discusses the props.
I also had that exact container when I was in the second grade.
Some people (I saw a guy on youtube) think Wah made the communicators out of said pencil boxes directly. Of course what he did was use the "cut and re-joined" pencil box to make a mold, and use the mold to cast plaster bucks. Then he pulled heated sheets of Kydex over the bucks to make communicator bodies:The neatest element to me is the yellow and red pencil case that Wah Chang "diced" and trimmed to serve as the body for the flip lid communicator.
www.herocomm.com/Details/BuckOrigins.htm
The future we should have had…
We are losing art:
The Death Of Industrial Design And The Era Of Dull Electronics
It’s often said that what’s inside matters more than one’s looks, but it’s hard to argue that a product’s looks and its physical user experience are what makes it inst…
Objects should do things…
Our electronics already look like scenery from inside the Death Star conference room. No wonder folks put stickers and decorative covers on their devices. It even makes me miss the appliance colours from the 70s. I'd prefer that to what we have now.
That's why I used the words "diced" and "trimmed" to convey he made the comm casing considerably smaller than the original pencil box. Though I did fail to clarify Chang then used that as a "template" or "buck" to make castings. Thanks for providing a link to the source!
Just to clarify, he didn't use the pencil-box master as a buck to make castings; he used the master to make a mold, then made a casting from the mold. That casting was the buck, and he wrapped each Kydex sheet around that.
pencil box -->
flimsy master -->
flexible mold -->
hard buck -->
kydex shell
Each communicator shell was thus slightly larger in each dimension than the pencil-box master (and the buck) by twice the thickness of the Kydex.
Perhaps there is hope:
Ryan Norbauer
I'm the founder of Norbauer & Co. I write about luxury, commercial escapism, retro-futurism, and the psychological burdens of civilized life.
ryan.norbauer.com
Take a look at his prop collection at the end of this video:
The Wand Company are gearing up for a second production run.
"This Tricorder will be exactly the same as the previous Tricorder (updated with the latest software patch) and will be available exclusively from the Star Trek Shop."
So for all of us who missed out for one reason or another, here's a second chance.
"This Tricorder will be exactly the same as the previous Tricorder (updated with the latest software patch) and will be available exclusively from the Star Trek Shop."
So for all of us who missed out for one reason or another, here's a second chance.
Oh? Okay, fuck me then.
Before anyone gets excited just to be disappointed yet again, I need to point out that there's more (well, actually less) to the story. The email does not actually say they are "gearing up" for a second run. As far as I can tell, it's just a repeat announcement that the Star Trek Shop would like Wand to make more, and the STS has a signup where we can, once again, register our interest. I'd like to believe this is maybe one click better than the "no plans to make more" state we've been in for several months now, but if I'm being realistic I don't really see anything here that has changed. Wand still has plans to listen, and if STS can somehow commit to a minimum order then Wand will consider starting to gear up again. That's my read. I think the final phrase I highlighted below in yellow sets the tone for how much hope we should have.
Realistically, if this were anything more than "okay, we'll help you remind people about your signup" then I would have expected to see a news announcement on at least one of those two companies' websites; but there's nothing.
Here's the text of the email:
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