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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  • Rob Klingberg 

    Uff, there are so many decisions to be taken馃槈

    The left light is blinking a Little bit too slow, the right one too fast. A solution in the middle would be fine馃榾

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  • Freakmaster OK I'll see what I can do.  I'll post it in the video and we can change it if you don't like it.

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  • Freakmaster Almost done with the project-- video uploading now.  One question though before I can finish: LED number 2.1.4 in the setup (the one that is on the edge of the module that needs to be disconnected), what type of mounting is that?  Is it on a 2x2 jumper, 1x2 jumper, 1x1 plate, or?  I need to know because that cable needs to be specially made.  Please let me know, thanks!

     

    UPDATE: here is the video.  Please make sure to answer the question above about LED number 2.1.4.  And let me know if you have any feedback on the effects setup-- based on our conversations, I think it achieves what we discussed.

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  • Rob Klingberg 

    it鈥榮 a 2x2 Jumper

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  • Freakmaster OK, thanks.  Did you see the video above?  Thoughts?

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  • Rob Klingberg 

    Now I've  seen it馃榾 Looks awesome. Thereby that everything is adjustable, I think it does exactly what it should do. Very good work. The arrangment of the mounted lights (1x2 or 2x2 jumber) is random, or? Do you Need the Final Position of every light?

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  • Freakmaster I'm glad you like it.  Is your question above related to the red (flashing) lights or the black (floor) lights?  For the lights mounted in the black parts, I have just made as many of each as you indicated (2x mounted into a 1x1 black plate, 12x mounted into a 1x2 jumper, and 14x mounted into a 2x2 jumper)-- the exact position of the lights isn't important, only the one that needed to have the special plug because of its location.  That was the only one I needed to know.

    So, based on what you see above, is everything complete?

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  • Rob Klingberg 

    Final check done, and everything looks fine. But one last question, is it possible to remove the round trans clear 1x1 bricks on the wall-lamps? I've mounted here the trans red, that the effect is also given, when the lights are off. I can do that by my self, just wanted to know if there are permanent fixed?

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  • Freakmaster No the trans clear plates for the flashing lights are not permanent-- you can replace them with trans red.  No problem.  I just didn't have enough red plates in the office. :-)

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  • Rob Klingberg 

    perfect!

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  • Freakmaster Great.  I'll get everything packed up and sent out this week.

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  • Freakmaster Everything is packed and ready to send today!  Please let us know when you receive it, and please share photos/videos once you have it all set up.  Thank you again for your patience.

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  • Rob Klingberg 

    sounds good. Looking forward to get it.  I鈥榣l post when everything is ready!

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  • Rob Klingberg

    I'm actually interested in a nearly identical setup to this one.  Could you provide a price for a package noting the following differences:

    1. Mine will be stationary and does not need to be wired/set-up to be disassembled. 

    2. I would like the ability to add two more blinking red lights.  These light would blink with the current blinking lights so no need for a separate setup, but I would need the additional board space and the additional lights to connect to. 

    3. Two more always on lights for light sabers. 

    4. I will have access to a permanent wall outlet for power. 

    5. I too would like to be able to switch the runway lights to always on, and have the same ability for the flashing ones too.  I plan on placing this in a case of some sort, so can the toggles be placed remotely with a clean look? Meaning the boards would be hidden as part of the install, but have a power off/on and a blinking light blinking/not blinking and a runway running/not running switches run say to the top of the cabinet somewhere? I like the push button switch on the site which I believe looks clean and conveys the spirit of Lego in the build. Can toggles be incorporated in that somehow like on the sides, or a small Lego based panel that clicks on to the top of the button on the side? Judging by an earlier post, access to the panel board could be the only way?

    I also have a few questions:

    1. Can wiring be run under the base plates? Meaning does there have to be space for the wiring to be run freely or can the baseplate sit directly on top of the wiring? 

    2. I see you use Lego #30057 (red one below) 1x1 round plate for covering the lights. Do you have any experience or feedback if you wanted to try using Lego #98138 (clear one below) the 1x1 round flat tile?

    Thanks and a Vielen Dank! to Freakmaster for starting much of the leg work on this one. I've been following with great interest!

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  • Brian Haggard Hi Brian, thanks for your message and for your interest in a landing bay setup similar to Freakmaster 's.  Are you building from the same landing bay designs?  I wasn't sure if this was a published model somewhere with an .lxf or xml file for building that others are replicating and building their own copies of the set, or if each person was doing their own landing bay design.  This matters of course with the LEDs that need to be pre-mounted as in the black tiles/plates on the floor.

    With your requested customizations (for mounting inside a cabinet, etc.), the biggest challenge is making the remote control functions accessible.  Here is the control board we use to manage all of the effects:

     

    As you can see, the board has a dial, a switch, and a push button, all of which are used to control/set effect parameters and operation.  Making any of these controls accessible in a remote location is very difficult.  The large pushbutton like the one we sell cannot be used because it is an on/off button, but the board above uses a momentary button, etc.  The only solution I can see for this is to be able to mount the entire board outside your cabinet (it is not large-- just the size of a 2x6 LEGO plate).  This would give you access to all of the controls.  The lights themselves can be connected at a distance to the board itself-- we have 24" cables, and you can connect multiple 24" cables to extend the reach if needed.

    Do you think this setup would work to provide control?  As I mentioned, this is the best/only way I can see to accomplish what you're requesting.

    I'll respond to your questions in a separate reply....

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  • Brian Haggard OK to answer your specific questions:

    1. OK, that will reduce the cost a bit.
    2. Two more blinking lights could be added with the addition of another daughterboard (3 outputs), a splitter board, and a cable.
    3. Any number of additional "always on" lights could be connected to the main power input.
    4. OK
    5. See my earlier reply about the technical constraints related to your requests here.
    6. Wires can be run under base plates, but there are no holes in base plates, so this poses a very large challenge.  Also, having done the setup for Freakmaster I think some space directly below the hangar is necessary to contain both the control boards and the wires.  The lead wires coming from the LEDs are not long enough to reach back to a central location, for example.  They need to connect to their controlling board within 15-18" of where the LED is located.  I'm sure this isn't the answer you want to hear, but building the hangar on plates with space underneath is the only way I see to make everything work.
    7. Flat tiles can be used *if* the LED is positioned inside the hollow stud of a jumper plate.  This allows the LED to sit down inside the hole in the middle of the jumper plate stud while having a completely flat tile on top.  If the LED needs to sit on top of a regular stud (like in a brick or plate), tiles cannot be used on top because there is no room (the LED sits on top of the stud and needs the open space in the underside of a plate on top to fit the LED).  I hope this is clear-- let me know if you have any questions here.

    I think I've answered all of your questions-- if not, please let me know.  Thank you again for your interest in our lighting effect kits!

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  • Rob Klingberg 

    Hi Rob.

    This MOC, as far as I can tell was originally designed by Dave aka F2 as seen on the following site:

    http://www.moc-pages.com/moc.php/293188

    It looks like shortly thereafter another fan, jmfbtb, took the build and put it in LDD to get part counts and building instructions. I'm guessing some combination of these two are what folks are using for inspiration on their builds. jmfbtb's thread is here:

    https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-0631/jmfbtb/lego-docking-bay-327-for-ucs-falcon/#comments

    Just want to credit those where credit appears to be due.

    I understand about the remote mounting of the switches for changing the lighting from runway or flashing to solid. 

    Is it correct to say the push button you sell can still be used as the master on/off for the entire display?

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  • Rob Klingberg 

    As far as mounting under the base plates, you point out there are no holes in the base plates. I was aware, but had assumed you would have to drill in order to run the wires. So I guess I have to ask how wires are usually run? I now assume they would go above the baseplate but under the tiles? What about in a wall? Would they run between two bricks? I may be asking questions you've solved somewhere else. Are there instructions and or videos I should reference to better understand typical wire runs and support boards etc. mounting locations and best practices?

    For item 6, I had thought about mounting everything behind the back large dark bley wall, leaving space behind the wall in the cabinet for the wiring to all come together and have all the control boards. I'll admit I may be overestimating the space I need for the boards since you've pointed out the small size of the one above. Are you absolutely limited to 15-18"? Do the extension wires have connections on them that would make them unable to go under the baseplate or under a tile, or do you typically want to avoid longer connections if at all possible? This is definitely causing me to rethink how to mount and access. If I don't have to go under now, I may place this on a drawer like slide so I can pull the whole thing from the cabinet and be able to access the back. 

    For item 7 above, I think all of the lights are mounted inside jumper plates or bricks with hollow protruding studs on the side. If this isn't the case, I assume you can drill to make it hollow and mount it this way. Do you have any experience or opinion on which one looks better while lit, or better yet pictures or a video?

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  • Brian Haggard Yes, the pushbutton we sell can still be used for the master on/off for the display, and settings on the effect board will be preserved at power-off.

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  • Brian Haggard You could certainly drill holes in the baseplates, and in normal cases the wires could be run beneath, however in the case of the landing bay, the size is too large to accommodate a single wire run without needing to encounter a splice or adapter board; this is when you run into the need for space as splices and/or adapter boards, you can't just fit these under a baseplate.  So in the case of a building like a LEGO Modular, certainly. wires can be run either under the baseplate or under the plates/tiles on top of the baseplate, because you can make a single wire run to the back, inside, or someplace where you can connect to an adapter board, but with the landing bay, it's just too large for single wire runs.  I hope this makes sense.  The limiting factor here is the size of the build-- it's just too large to accommodate an uninterrupted wire run (our longest LED cables are 12"), and with the way the effect setup works for the landing lights, every LED needs to connect directly into an adapter board (can't use extension cables between the LED and the board).

    In a normal installation (i.e., one without a custom lighting effect setup like this), it would be possible to use the 12" LED cables to connect to an adapter board, after which you could run as many 24" cables as needed.  Again, that's the limitation here-- because of the need to control each LED individually to make the landing strip effect, each LED can be no more than 12" away from its adapter board.  It's not an issue of not wanting to have long extensions, just an issue of needing to connect LEDs directly to their controller boards, and yes our LED cables are pre-made for us in maximum lengths of 12".

    For Freakmaster 's setup, I drilled each plate/jumper so the LED could mount down inside without the wire being visible.  This needs to be done by us at the factory prior to shipping, so in his case, we ordered the parts from Bricklink and modified them before shipping out his kit.

    Hopefully this is helping clarify a bit-- please let me know if you have any additional questions.  Thank you!

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  • Finished! 馃槏

    After some issues with the colour of the parts, an the support of Rob, I managed it to prepare the parts in the right colour. Now everything is installed and is working. Only one of the cables was a little bit too short, so I have to build on lamp on a other position, but that doesn't matter. I will send pictures an Videos later this week.

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  • Freakmaster Nice!  Happy you were able to get the LBG/DBG issue resolved.  Can't wait to see the photos and videos.  Out of curiosity, which wire was too short?

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  • Rob Klingberg 

    The flashing No 36 (you made it already longer) but the way from one side to the other to connect it with the A9Board was too long. I think 10cm more would be perfect.

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  • The video is a little to big to upload, so please have a look to my flickr

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/131190095@N08/28411284228/in/album-72157666009565977/

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  • Freakmaster Absolutely fantastic.  Do you have a video with the Falcon inside the bay also and the lights running?

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