Lozzer86

It's the little things

Thanks, brothers ! I used some eBay special cabinet / shelf brackets that are purpose built. If I'd made them myself, I'd most likely have made them the right size We're getting through the field pack parts 1 by 1

I can help a bit with this .... The 5 Pin Din I used (at that in no way means it's correct, just looks correct) is a Panel Mount type. Not the Female Plug type in your photo... Your antenna looks great ! Very similar to mine (10mm dia.) I got mine from eBay... Interestingly, it also has a swivel connection. Although mine is inside and you have to extend the ariel. As you pull the ariel up, the swivel joint appears for you to twist the antenna in different directions. As far as the ring around the antenna ? I used a spring washer and bent it back to flat. It was the perfect thickness and diameter.

Today.... We made an Exhaust Port ! So I started with the Exhaust Pipe first. It's made from 3/4" Copper Pipe, with one end fitted into a piece of PolyPipe. There are 2 pieces of 1" long PolyPipe with a Washer glued between them to create the 'Collar'. Then I wrapped some wire around the Copper Pipe to create the convoluted tube effect. I glued both ends of the wire to the Copper Pipe to keep them in place.... Some Heat Shrink over the top to hold it all together... Then a quick douse with some Matt Black Spray... While I was waiting for that to dry, I put my Radar Dish together. I was lucky enough to find a 2 Quart period Tupperware lid. It came all the way from California ! Time to fit everything together... I actually made the Exhaust Port box myself (didn't get any photos of that), as I just couldn't find anything that was close enough to the curved edges of the reference photos. So my box is made from a 'Universal Project Box - Model PX-2'.... It had the right dimensions, just not the correct curves on the top or the cut away angled front. So I (and this is where you're gonna hate me for not taking photo's ), sliced off the front, added to the top with some Auto Body Filler, then sanded it all down to give a much more gradual curved form to the top. It's close ! Now I appreciate that the feet aren't close, but I'm going to live with that as they are strong enough to mount it to the Seed Trays. Not bad progress today

That's cool !

The top one looks good, although 10mm is closer to the ones I've seen in the reference. I bought a vintage 10mm antenna (OK, a bit more than your pointers at the dollar store), but it's as close as I think you can get. Here's a photo comparison of my 10mm (top right), compared to the references;

Bottom of this page, buddy.... http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=13324

I'm seeing exhaust ports in my sleep

Until I saw the size

Just for a minute.... I got very excited !!!

Thanks, Nick

Not too much.... Not too little....

The depth of my seed trays (back to back) is actually 5 1/4". Looking again at the tool box, it looks deeper than 3". Could even be 4" +

I'll pop this picture up again as a reminder of the shape we are looking for. I believe the shape is actually a 'Trapezoid' as opposed to a square sided box.

Cake tins The size (based on my seed trays and frame) should be roughly 6" X 9" X 3" deep.

That's interesting I need to study the tool box pictures again because I'm convinced that it's not a rectangular project box, but a seed / drip / gravel tray as shown above with a lid. That said, I have this .... It's about the right size and will definitely work if all else fails. Might be my plan B. What I might do is build up both versions and take separate photos at the same distance and angle. Then pick the style that looks most like it ? I'll fit the tool box in a way that it can be removed easily.

DLT or T21 ? Great attention to detail on your build, it looks awesome

A bit more Photoshop magic, and I think what we are seeing is the 2nd coil (which is quite horizontal) picking up the light. This would make the outer of the coiled part appear short. I don't know.... It's fair to say we all see different things.

Strider, you mean these 2 images ? I agree. They do look different. But light plays weird tricks and as you say, unless a more detailed capture is ever found (Maybe a 4K version of ANH), I doubt we'll answer that one

Sorry Buddy, I misunderstood your point I also wasted an hour trying to work it out That'll teach me ! Anyway, can you help me with my Tool Box, Seed Tray, Tupperware dilemma ?

Meanwhile ..... Back to the Tool Box (which is actually another seed tray) Are we seeing one of these Deep Seed Trays with a lid mounted to the top of the Field Pack ? Because I am seeing a recessed bar running left to right on the lid of this 'Tool Box', very similar to the seed ridges used for the main body of the Field Pack.... What do you guys think ? Do we have a Tupperware Tub... A Rectangular Box (the most popular Tool Box choice).... or yet another Seed Tray ? Place your bets !!!

Strider, you got me thinking So now i'm home at my PC, I can take a good look at the photo above and see if I can understand your point about the Exhaust Port Tip broken off / missing. In this picture, as you said, the Exhaust pipe tip appears to be missing from this pack (or at least broken off). And that's an important point (particularly for SWAT). Because if that is the case, I would want to reproduce it as close to the screenshot as possible. But something dawned on me when I studied the photograph again ..... In this photo, it looks very much as you describe. But I compared all the other references I have and with a bit of Photoshop magic, it's clear to me that the Exhaust Port isn't in the frame at all. By identifying specific parts like the position of the Mushroom Cap etc. I have added the missing parts from this photo.... You can see that the Exhaust Port is out of shot, and what we are seeing is a separation of the Tool Box on the top seed tray Please don't get me wrong.... I'm only challenging because I want to be sure before I make any critical changes to my pack. I'm enjoying the detective work ! and it will continue. Hopefully everyone benefits from a good debate Thank you for bringing this up, buddy. I love the challenge !

Could it be ? ........

That's cool, buddy ! No one has less pack experience than me, ( I haven't built 1 yet ) and your trooper is awesome !!! My understanding of SWAT though, is to evidence the comparison of your own gear to that of a specific chosen trooper. So you should be able to drill the hole, show an appropriate photo of the hole from a screen shot and that should take care of it. But it does open up to much debate For example; I also haven't seen a pack for a 'Move along' based trooper, where the bottom trays have separated - enforcing the use of the duct tape. But I have seen a lot of duct tape That's not to say that it doesn't exist. I've just never seen one :/

I wish these troopers would stop sharing their packs !!! It's all becoming very confusing