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Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6


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Something like that. I used to build Meccano fairground rides with LEDs in them and often the easiest way to make the return connection was through the Meccano itself, then you only needed one wire :) I guess its not so simple when it not all metal :)

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This is stunning work. :worthy: I'm seriously contemplating the card model you're basing this off, as it's just so much better than the comparative "blob" that comes with the kit. Keep up the good work :clap2:

Thanks Mike for your nice words, the show must go on, and also the lighting chapter, stay tuned. gut.gif

hallo.gif

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Something like that. I used to build Meccano fairground rides with LEDs in them and often the easiest way to make the return connection was through the Meccano itself, then you only needed one wire :) I guess its not so simple when it not all metal :)

That's right, its not so simple when it's not all metal, then you have to draw and connect a lot of wires ... omgsign.gif

hallo.gif

Edited by roma847
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Hello folks,


we stay a little longer in lighting, because it's just so beautiful tricky. flehan.gif Since I still had to glue the centering tubes in the shortened lampshades,


us7g.jpg


which was doable again only under the microscope. rolleyes.gif And since the tubes have some clearance in the shielding sleeves, the superglue-gel (Pattex) proved when gluing but suitable as better than the liquid superglue (UHU) I had used before. cool.gif


68n4.jpg


Thus, there are not only the "classical" lampshapes on the MLP, the almost entirely on the pad (FSS/RSS) are installed, but also some lamps without a pronounced screen, as can be seen in this picture. These are, inter alia, the two lamps above the LOX Valve Skid, below the right TSM.


up037282.jpg

Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)


And also the hazard warning lights (beacons) have a similar shape with a glass cover,


up036998.jpg

Source: NASA


which is why I modified these lamps something. In addition I have used the same ferrules, but not expanded, but only reduced accordingly with the Dremel cutting disc.


v5ns.jpg


gh85.jpg


These are the lampshades right in the picture, next to the tiny tubes that were now still glued,


e6b8.jpg


what looks like when finished.


k6j4.jpg


For the hazard warning lights I have now picked out a few more suitable transparent tube beads for the glass cover and trial strung, what ever does not look bad. The pods I can possibly cut something else and I'm still looking out for something shorter beads from my stuff, then the shape has come out quite well, I think. zustimm.gif


xrfw.jpg


And as a test I now have threaded a red LED (0401) with the thin copper wires (0.1 mm), and low and behold, the tiny LED fit even along through the bead through, what the solution is somewhat simplified. cool.gif


8ozo.jpg


And then I only had to connect the LED to my current bank, and the signal red lit up. gut.gif


8lmp.jpg


And for the two lamps under the blast shield I will also find a solution, but the Sunny White LEDs (0603) to be used there, unfortunately are slightly larger than the tiny red LEDs and therefore require a slightly different solution. undecided.gif


That's it again for today.


hallo.gif

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@batcode:

Thanks for your nice words, stay tuned and only have fun. zustimm.gif

@Kallisti:

You are wondering, but I don't know if you ever have glued such tiny parts with superglue in the range of less than 1 mm? :analintruder:

If you see these pictures, you can imagine possibly that you no longer can do it cleanly without a magnifying glass. This small tube, which is to be glued into the screen is only 0.9 mm wide, and only on this tiny area you are allowed to apply superglue around, otherwise sticking your tube to the needle and in the lampshade and you have built a nice composite. :shrug:

nuxv.jpg

Or look at this tiny LED that needs to be glued in place with the flat side toward the top in the screen,

o4nr.jpg

that you can not control with naked eyes, unless you have eagle eyes, but you're not an eagle. :coolio:

7v1z.jpg

0ud4.jpg

BTW, if you have better experiences, let me know, I'm curious. gut.gif

hallo.gif

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hello folks, let's go on!

 

By looking for the hazard warning lights in age-old image collections from the 80s so I've got further researched and studied this time the lighting on the Access arms of the Tower (OAA, OVA, HVA), but to do sometime soon in more detail. gut.gif

 

lnw7.jpg

Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

 

Today I want to show a quick update to the lamps whose mass production is now underway. These are again the normal lampshades for the lamps on the MLP Access Platforms left in the picture from the expanded ferrules (3 mm), as well as the unexpanded screens (2,4 mm) for the hazard warning lights, which are in the small dish. For this I had already found the matching glass beads, in which one just could fit the red LEDs (0401).

 

1emy.jpg

 

Then I still had looked for matching glass beads for the lamps 11, 12 and 17 with a slightly larger hole,

 

j49i.jpg

 

and found actually beads with a diameter of 2.2 mm in which the slightly larger Sunny White LEDs (0603) would fit longitudinally. Here one of these LEDs is even threaded in such a bead.

 

86x4.jpg

 

Here you can now see two variants, the top for a lamp with a expanded screen, and the bottom one with unexpanded screen, which actually both could be used, because these minimal differences can hardly be distinguished under the Blast Shields anyway. rolleyes.gif

 

up038891.jpg

 

Then briefly to the planned reconstruction of the Current Bank, what already had indicated as a result of extensive brightness tests by reducing the power intensity of the LEDs in the direction of 0.5 mA. In addition I have now begun to replace the fixed resistors (47 Ω) by variable Mini Trimmers (1 kΩ), because the light effect should look even more realistic.

 

7i1a.jpg

 

And here the first Mini trimmer has been soldered.

 

lc7x.jpg

 

And to finish for today two tests with a Sunny White LED with minimum setting of the trimmer (> 6 mA), i.e. maximum brightness,

 

8p55.jpg

 

and here at maximum trimmer setting (0,5 mA) and reduced brightness.

 

z153.jpg

 

And with these parameters, the final current bank for the whole Launch Pad is now designed that offers even better performance than the previous one, which I will present soon. gut.gif

 

Next, the remaining fixed resistors to be replaced by the trimmer. cool.gif
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Thanks for the nice compliment.

 

And I've still soldered the trimmers, finally does come the Easter Bunny. ostern_10.gif
 
And so the current bank now looks with the eight trimmers. gut.gif
 
u6q3.jpg
 
Because the place for soldering was pretty tight, I have omitted to insulating sleeving. shocked.gif
 
For my part I'm fully satisfied, all beginnings are difficult ... cool.gif And the most important thing is that all circuits have passed the function test with flying colors. tongue.gif
 
So now the existing eight circuits, each with up to 12 LEDs in series let set with the same or different brightness and off separately. zustimm.gif At the pad all the lights were finally not always switched on simultaneously and shined with the same brightness as one could see. :rolleyes:
In this sense, all of you a Happy Easter!
 
smileygarden_ostern7.gif
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MANFRED,

Your electronic dept. is doing a great job with this. I know the lights are going to really make this model shine!! Keep going my friend!

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On 18.4.2014 at 0:14 AM, Norman said:

Wow !! what great modelling

Am watching this thread with great admiration and am very jealous of your skills

Cheers

 

Thanks Norman for your nice words, but the skill is a matter of experience and learning by doing, which does not fall in one's lap, you get only gradually, step by step. cool.gif

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On 18.4.2014 at 0:59 AM, RichO said:

MANFRED,

Your electronic dept. is doing a great job with this. I know the lights are going to really make this model shine!! Keep going my friend!

 
Hi Rich,
 
I fully agree with you, the lighting is the icing on the cake. zustimm.gif You've convinced me to happiness, thank you my friend. :worthy:
 
I would never have dared to do this modeling madness and have tried it anyway: The proof of the pudding is in the eating. schlaumeier.gif
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Hi there,

 

so after hopefully all Easter eggs were found of you, it will go on again.

 

Coming soon the prepared lampshades should be painted before the LEDs can be glued in. Unclear to me was previously only how to hold tiny creatures (3 mm). After some thought, I came up with the following solution that should work.

 

hlp3.jpg

 

Since the lampshades are painted gray from the outside, they should stand upright, but also can not fly off when airbrush. Therefore, I have stung pins through a Balsa strip and placed ferrules on the tops, and then the shades were threaded, and ready is the Painting Support (PS). cool.gif

 

Here 24 slots are first prepared and stocked, the PS may also be extended.

 

burs.jpg

 

To avoid that light comes out upwards, I have the screens painted up black. If then the gray paint comes over it, which then should actually suffice, if not, still a splash of color comes on top after threading the LEDs. gut.gif

 

up039259.jpg

 

Consequently, then the first series can go for painting. zustimm.gif

 

Then I again experimented with the special lamps (11,12,17) and further tested two variants. In addition I wanted the Sunny White (0603) longitudinally thread in the larger glass tube, which just fits so.

 

2kaj.jpg

 

And two of these couples I have now threaded each in an unexpanded screen (right) and into an expanded screen (center). On the left is then compared with a standard lamp (3 mm) with cross inlaid LED, as used for all other lamps on the pad.

 

unxh.jpg

 

Here with > 6 mA, which is very brightly, as expected, shocked.gif

 

3xtj.jpg

 

here with 3 mA, somewhat more subdued,

 

nmcz9.jpg

 

and here with 0,5 mA, with relatively moderate light. gut.gif

 

5vt1.jpg

 

In the right variant you have the unimpeded light exit of the LED, which is literally blinding and not recommended.The middle variant seems to me quite reasonable and would differ so from the other lamps.

 

So far again for today.
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Hello folks,

 

I can not shake the stage fright, :rolleyes: and therefore I again thought about the red flashing warning lights,

 

up036998.jpg

Source: NASA

 

for which I had procured the red LEDs (0401). gut.gif

 

For these lampshades I want to use the unexpanded ferrules. For the glass body I had initially thought of a transparent bead. But since the hazard warning lights under the outer glass body have a red insert, a reddish bead would be better suited what I wanted to try and compare, let's go the whole hog.  a040.gif

 

2lql.jpg

 

Here you can see both versions at full brightness (> 6 mA), which makes color virtually no difference. Only the brightness with the transparent bead appears to be somewhat stronger, but this is insignificant.

 

7gvo.jpg

 

And here are the test results at the moderate brightness (0.5 mA), where the effect appears in the image paler than in reality.

 

msn5.jpg

 

Here I have trial basis attached both beads in shades with a tiny superglue droplet, so that the warning light as such is already purely externally visible, which I like better. :coolio:

 

qneb.jpg

 

Now I have threaded the LEDs in both lamps,

 

wrua.jpg

 

and tested the optical effect as described above:

 

> 6 mA:

 

zq5j.jpg

 

0,5 mA:

 

v5on.jpg

 

How was almost expect to see the effects are similar. Therefore, I will probably decide to red glass beads.  a040.gif

 

So the stressful testing with different lamp types and brightness settings should have an end but now.  flehan.gif

 

In the next days I will now make an inventory of the lamps on the RSS so that the design for the final current bank can be rendered more precisely. The lighting of the FSS was relatively clear and will probably mean 8 lamps per floor, what ever gives approx. 100 lamps. analintruder.gif   Added to this are the lamps on the Access Arms that I need to check again.

 

lnw7.jpg

Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

 

While the tower is relatively clear, the RSS still gives me quite a headache, but that will be somehow estimated in a first approximation. Here, I will first try get along with images of the STS-6. After my previous knowledge not only the former lamp shapes appeared significantly different than in the later missions, the number of lamps at the time was significantly greater than at the end of the program. :coolio:

 

That's it for today, see you soon.
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HI MANFRED,

The build seems to be going great!! The mass production of the lights is going to be so much fun!! (LOL) I do really like the look of the red beads for the warnning lights, good job there. I'm also so glad I could give you fits about the introduction of the lighting. Just think of how incredibly impressive this will be all lit up with these mini lights. I'm not that far from waking up my own lighting dept (again) and putting them back to work. You know.

All looks very cool dude, keep building!!

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Thanks Rich for your encouraging words. :worthy:

 

The mass production of the lamps is one thing, on the other hand it's also important to know where all the lamps sit. :coolio:

Hello folks,
 
therefore the time has come, as already announced, I've begun in the last few days with getting things straight concerning the RSS lamps and started a gradual inventory. However, this turns out to be quite stressful and one hand is almost like looking for needles in a haystack. analintruder.gif   And on the other hand, the image analysis provides such a lot of lamps, so I slowly but surely get an uncanny feeling, when I think of the laying of the LEDs ... gut.gif
 
First, I have long brooded over how I could best do, where I realized more and more, that this can not be done in a breath, but that it only gradually progressing and lots of patience needed. flehan.gif
 
For such an analysis one needs high-resolution photos and if possible from all sides and from different perspectives. Of these, although I have collected gradually a lot, but the detail photos are only half the battle. :coolio: For now begin the grueling hard work of screening and comparing the more or less easily recognizable lamps, in which one can become dizzy. shocked.gif
 
More difficult is the fact that there are not particularly many usable shots of the STS-6. Therefore, I am also avoided to the other missions from before the STS-6 and have been looking back up to STS-1, of which there are some good shots.
 
And by and by then sharpens the view and you can see the arrangement of the lamps then better. In order to start with a count, I've then initially colored circled the lamps but deliberately not numbered, because the numbers are still can change, the more one's eyes bend and lamps recognizes that previously were not clearly visible. And when evaluating different pictures and views have to be extremely careful that one does not count lamps twice. Anyway, this is not just a balm for the eyes. :rolleyes:
 
I don't want to put you on the rack but longer, and just show you the first overview shots, then the tricky undertaking is certainly clearer.
 
This is the front of the RSS, and alone on this view I have found about 50 lamps, the transition from FSS to RSS are not even considered.
 
up039500.jpg
Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)
 
Well, start has been made, even though it was only a small taste first, the next steps will follow soon. gut.gif
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Hello together,

 

these are the lamp locations on the back of the RSS at STS-6.

 

BTW, as you can see here, there was at first initially only the small PCR Anteroom, as it were, the vestibule to enter the highly sensitive Payload changeout room (PCR), which was later extended to the right thick pipe. But I must orient myself to the former images.

 

d3dw.jpg

Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

 

And these are also at least 20 or 21 lamps when the green circled lamp top right is counted together, but it's a part of my separate counting of the stairwell on the side that I've counted separately for clarity, what you can see on this picture.

 

1a0q.jpg

Source: NASA

 

Incidentally, this is a photo montage of two sub-images, which I have greatly enlarged me for marking and counting of the lamps (1x click), otherwise you would have been alone with the holding apart too much difficulty. rolleyes.gif

 

All lamps are hard to see in this overview without magnification, so I'm counting of course also of images with different perspectives, where you can see the details better. But you get in the detection of these tiny details already on visual limits to what you must consider. gut.gif

 

Here is such a picture from one of the last missions, where you can specifically recognize the lamps in the external stairwell clearly, especially at high resolution (2x click). cool.gif

 

fpzn.jpg

Source: NASA

 

So, the "red" lamps are already included in the count of the front, now the 12 "green" and the 6 "yellow" lamps in the two stairwells can be added. As a result from these three views now have 91 lamps (53+20+12+6) on the RSS, but without the lamps on the transitions of the FSS to RSS, which have not yet been counted.

 

To this end, here are a looking ahead to another nice STS-1 picture, on which one can recognize these lamps well at high resolution.

 

up039498.jpg

Source: NASA

 

And in this way I live more laborious as the squirrel and layaway from lamp to lamp ... gut.gif

 

In this sense, the count continues - The lighting show must go on! zustimm.gif
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Thanks Kallisti for your honest compliment, I fully understand you. :worthy:

 
But fun times aside, this lighting programme could slowly but surely grow to a Never ending story flehan.gif if the designed current bank would not show me the limits. And the today's state of my planning all inclusive are about 400 lamps. gut.gif
 
What that means in detail, will be quantified only after my complete inventory of the pad lighting, but I will pull through in any case and about their house number I myself am very curious. :rolleyes:
 
But so much is revealed before, in any case, should the lighting of Lightning Masts at Level 265 (80.75 m) including,
 
rfek4.jpg
Source: NASA
 
for which four strong spotlights were installed at the foot of the mast, as one can see in this nice picture of the STS-1.
 
wewj.jpg
Source: NASA
 
But honestly, dear friends of the sun, this all so far is just gray theory, whether if I actually can implement all in practice on the model, will have only still show ... :analintruder:
 
But I'll try it anyway, and you should all strong fingers crossed for me! zustimm.gif
 
The acid test will ever be the upcoming MLP lighting, and if that works the way I imagine it, I can already say more. cool.gif
 
Now you can say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one ...
 
Nothing is impossible! Therefore stay tuned, wait and see! zustimm.gif
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