Docking Bay 327 for Millenium Falcon

Hey guys,

First of all, I'm from Germany, so hopefully you understand my english馃槈

I'm new in lightning own Models and need some help regarding the equipment I'll need. Until now I've got only the Ghostbuster HQ Set from brickstuff, and for me it's a really amazing solution.

If I have seen the new Millenium Falcon Set, I've pre-ordered it, and now (of course) I would like to light up my Docking Bay 327 (the new home of my Falcon).

As I said, I only ordered finished Sets until now, so I don't have any Idea, what items I have to order. Attached you will find a picture of the airstirp with some notes, what I'm planning. 

For clarity, the two lines on the outside should be "always on" and the two in the middle

should blink like at an normal airstrip >>>> Maybe you could help me.

Looking forward of your assistance.

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  • Greetings and guten tag!

    This was recently being discussed in an airport (Flughafen), here.

    The 'always on' lights are simple to do, and the BrickPixel shown on the other page appears to meet what you have described.

    From Rob Klingberg 's comments on the airport page, they may be able to make a custom order / kit / set available once you have a final light count (2 x 7 rows?) and such.  馃檪

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  • Thanks for your reply and link to the airport discussion. I think I could use a few informations of the discription from Rob Klingberg

    For a better understanding lets talk about two different light lines. Anyway I need support to know which components I have to order (and this is just for the Ground plate (the rest of the Dock should be also get lights;-))

    So please feel free to correct or comment my listing as follows:

    1. the always on lights
    14x pico lights SKU: LEAF01-PCW-10PK  or SKU: LEAF01-PWW-10PK + SKU: LEAF01-PWW-4PK3
    2x 1:8 Expansion SKU: BRANCH11v2
    1 1:2 Expansion or directly the USB Powe Cable? Correct?


    2. the runway landing lights 
    If I understand it correctly I need 
    1x effect controller (LEC) SKU: TRUNK01
    14x pico lights SKU: LEAF01-PCW-10PK  or SKU: LEAF01-PWW-10PK + SKU: LEAF01-PWW-4PK3
    1x 1:2 Expansion SKU: BRANCH04-4PK
    but what are the Daughterboard Controllers, and how many do I need (7 lights on every side)
    + Some cables?

    As you could see in the picture, I have 28 lights in total on the ground.

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  • Freakmaster Hello!  Thank you for posting your photo and for your kind words about our Ghostbusters Firehouse HQ kit.

    For the "always on" lights, I'd recommend cool white Pico LEDs (in the 10-packs-- you could get three 10-packs total for this project and have 2 left over).

    To connect the "always on" lights, do you have space under the docking bay to run wires and hide them?  If so, the best solution would be 2x BRANCH10 adapter boards (each has 9 plugs so you could connect up to 18 LEDs to these boards).  Get a 10-pack of 12" connecting cables and use two of them (one on each BRANCH10 board) to connect to a BRANCH04 board, then use another cable to connect this to power.

    So for this section you'd need:

    • One 4-pack of BRANCH04 adapters
    • Two BRANCH10 adapters
    • One 10-pack of 12" extension cables
    • Two 10-packs of Cool White Pico LEDs (you'll have six left over for the next part)

    And a power source of course....

    For the runway landing light section, you'd need us to make a custom kit for you with:

    • One 10-pack of Cool White Pico LEDs (you'll have two left over from the entire project)
    • One BrickPixel Lighting Effect Controller (LEC)
    • One BRANCH05 splitter board
    • 10 BRANCH09 BrickPixel daughterboards (enough to control 30 total LEDs)
    • 10 1.5" BrickPixel extension cables

    You could use the leftover 12" extension cables and BRANCH04 boards from the first part to connect the BrickPixel LEC to power.

    I'd recommend using our USB cable to power everything, since you'll have a lot of LEDs in this setup.  If you have an extra iPhone or iPad-type charger for mains power, you can connect the USB cable to this and power all of the LEDS from a single source.

    I hope this information is helpful.  Please let me know if you have any additional questions.  You can see the pricing for the "always on" lights on our website, and the pricing for the BrickPixel parts can be found at the end of the Forum post about the airport.

    If you would like to move forward, I can prepare a PayPal invoice for you (you don't need a PayPal account to pay).  Thank you very much for sharing this project with us!

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  • Rob Klingberg

    Thanks for your help so far. Yes, there is enough space, because I build the Bay modular (see on the picture)

    I will check everything in the next days and inform you, what parts I will order. 

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  • Freakmaster Sounds good!  Are those jumper plates on the runway?  If you'd like us to pre-mount the LEDs inside the jumper plates (drilling a hole in the middle), we can do that for you as well.

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  • That sounds great. Currently I use these plates.

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  • Freakmaster That will work.  If you want us to supply the parts there will be a small additional charge (for parts), or you can order them on Bricklink from a US seller and send them to us in the US.

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  • Rob Klingberg Could you please give me a "all inclusive" offer? Especially for section 2 I don't know the prices.

    Section 1
    * One 4-pack of BRANCH04 adapters 16,49$
    * Two BRANCH10 adapters 17,99$
    * One 10-pack of 12" extension cables 12$
    * Two 10-packs of Cool White Pico LEDs (you'll have six left over for the next part) 43,90$

    Section 2
    * One 10-pack of Cool White Pico LEDs (you'll have two left over from the entire project) 43,90$
    * One BrickPixel Lighting Effect Controller (LEC)
    * One BRANCH05 splitter board
    * 10 BRANCH09 BrickPixel daughterboards (enough to control 30 total LEDs)
    * 10 1.5" BrickPixel extension cables

    * 1 USB Cable for Power (if possible as single source. So please also add cables or adapters if I need more for a single source solution).

    + the  12 1x2 jumper plate, 14 2x2 jumper modified with/for the Pico LED

    for the 1x1 plate a special preparation doesn't make sense, or?

    Is there something I've forgotten?

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  • Oh, there is one more thing, I鈥榲e forgotten. I鈥榲e build this model modular, thereby I could show it on fairs. See attached photo. It鈥榮 grouped into three sections, so it would be cool to arrange the cables with one connector on each section (2 connections).

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  • Rob Klingberg  I tried to make a drawing that it is a little bit clearer.

    I know that now everything is more complicated, but I need the Dock in a Modular way, that I could transport it better to toy fairs, etc.

    So now we have to talk about three different sections. Do you have Connectors wich I could use to connect the 3 panels?

    New Concept due to Modular System
    The yellow lights should be the blinking Lights with the LEC Controller
    The greeen lights are the always on lights

    Section 1 Front Panel (Entrance)
    5 blinking lights (1.1.1 - 1.1.5)
    6 always on lights (1.1 - 1.6)
    + 1 Light Always on Red (optional)

    Section 2 Middle Panel
    7 blinking lights (2.1.1 - 2.1.7)
    6 always on lights (2.1 - 2.6)

    Section 3 Back Panel
    2 blinking lights (3.1.1 + 3.1.2)
    2 always on lights (3.1 - 3.2)
    + 1 Light Always on Red (optional)

    Thanks in Advance for all your efforts

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  • Freakmaster Thanks for the clarification-- the photos and diagrams definitely help.  And we can appreciate the need to make the MOC transportable.  The good news here is that we are just about to release modular wire-to-wire connectors that will be perfect for this application:

     There have 4 wires, so that is enough to transfer power and signal for the "always on" lights and also the runway lights, so there would just be one plug to connect/disconnect between sections.  We would have to make several sets of custom cables, but that's not a huge expense.

    How does this sound to you?

    Also, what is your e-mail address?  Easier to send a price estimate there.

    We're excited to see this project in action!

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  • Freakmaster One last question-- I assume I know the answer, but I never like to assume.  馃槈

    For the blinking lights, can we assume both rows will flash together?  So for example, when 1.1.2 is on, 1.1.5 will also be on?  And when 1.1.3 is on, 2.1.4 will be on?  The little bump out for section 2 will create a little challenge where we'll probably need to make a second connecting plug just for that section, but we can do it.

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  • Rob Klingberg Wow, that sounds perfect! Yes, you're right both rows should flash together. (1.1.2 with 1.1.5 and so on). But one "maybe" crazy question to the LEC Controller. Is it possible to set up different mode? For example... if the space ship (in this case the Millenium Flacon) is landing, the light should blink, after landing it's possible that they are also always on... just some of my maniac thoughts馃槈 You could mail me at marc@big-m-games.de

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  • Freakmaster Thanks, I'll work up an estimate and a diagram and send in the next several days (working on many projects at once, but I'll get this to you as soon as I can).

    Thinking about the idea of having the pattern switch..... that is an interesting idea, and it would look amazing.  There is a button on the effect controller itself:

     

    (the little white one on the left)

    How about if pushing that button switched between flashing and "always on" mode?  You'd have to make it so the LEC was somewhat accessible so you could push the button, but that's about the only way I can think of to get the effect.  What do you think? 

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  • Rob Klingberg it was just an idea of an nerd馃槣 it nothing i really need. The problem is, that all cables and controllers would be under the hood. I鈥榤 looking foward to receive your offer

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  • Rob Klingberg 

    If the width of the LEC is fitting to the height of one standard LEGO brick, it would be possible to integrate it on the back side of section 3 (so this a Chance to use the LEC with the pattern Switch). I'll try to build an example to send you a picture (hopefully this evening). Could you please tell me the dimensions of this LEC?  

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  • Freakmaster Here's the LEC compared to LEGO studs:

     And size:

     Also, can you let me know which side of the build will be the "front" (where the LEC will be), and also how you would like to power everything (USB cable, battery pack, etc.), and also where the power will go.

    Thanks!

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  • Rob Klingberg I tried to make some pictures and notices to give you an total overview and some of my thoughts. There are two possible solutions for the Power input and possibly the integration of the LEC with switch.

    On the pictures you could see 4 Additional red lights (nice to have, but nothing I'm dying for). So let's concentrate on the runway lights as in all our last posts discussed.

    On the first picture you could see, whats Front, Back, Left and right for me.

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  • Here just some more Informations about the red lights in detail

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  • One Idea is, to bring the Power Input and LEC to the Left Corner on the Backside

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  • The other solution could be to bring the Power in on the bottom on the back side

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  • Freakmaster Thanks for the additional photos-- helps with orientation.  For the power input, I'd say you could take either approach-- if you could have access to both the LEC button and the USB input cable by mounting everything on the left/backside corner, then I'd go with that.

    I'm working on the diagram for you showing connections and parts/modules needed.  Stay tuned....

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  • Awesome looking work! I will be following this with interest as I am planning something similar!

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  • Rob Klingberg I had a new Idea, and added some additional lights, who should be integrated easily in the system. I will shoot some photos and send you an update.. 

    Sorry Rob to interrupt your work again, but this would be the cherry on the cake馃槈

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  • First of all, a new picture for orientation.

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