The Wand Company TOS Tricorder is coming!

[blspro]

According to some of the things posted by TWC and also from a leaked screen image, it will have an FM radio and record audio, plus a Compass, Temp, Pressure, Humidity, Acceleration, and EM Field sensors.

You'll find we started to break down the posted details around this part of the thread here:

The Wand Company TOS Tricorder is coming!

Wouldn't that be cool if you could pair the tricorder to a cellphone, like the Communicator, and then be able to access online content. Actually, the back of the Tricorder CAD references Antenna PCB. While that is likely an antenna to "scan radio frequencies" (as indicated on the Interest/FAQ...

www.therpf.com

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

There was a "Mark I Tricorder" released some years ago that had a compact sensor suite -- temperature, pressure, UV index, wideband radio, etc. -- that was more novelty than anything. I have a feeling, from the concept titles of those discs and the component breakdown of the pieces in the rotating upper unit, that this thing is going to be able to do at least some sensing of its environment, some a/v recording/storage/playback, possibly wi-fi and/or Bluetooth connectivity to something...

It's seeming to fall somewhere in between high-end toy with enhanced play features... meticulous "better than the original" replica with interactivity... and functional tool.

 

[blspro]

"some a/v recording"

They have explicitly stated there will only be audio recording capabilities.

 

[MystArt]

.... so I won't be watching YouTube or NetFlix on this thing is my guess

 

[blspro]

.... so I won't be watching YouTube or NetFlix on this thing is my guess

Yeah - there hasn't been any indication of wifi or the like. I don't know that there has even been reference to bluetooth.

That said, I am hoping for the capability of using the SD card to import and view video files. It would be really nice to be able to watch TOS episodes on the screen.

 

[Caveneau]

You guys remember these?

Trek Tech: Tricorder Mark 1

I was lucky enough to get mine signed twice by Levar Burton. First he signed in silver, then we realized it didn't show up against the silver labels on the back, so he signed it again in black marker. Too bad it never went anywhere and they eventually went bankrupt.

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

You guys remember these?

Trek Tech: Tricorder Mark 1

I was lucky enough to get mine signed twice by Levar Burton. First he signed in silver, then we realized it didn't show up against the silver labels on the back, so he signed it again in black marker. Too bad it never went anywhere and they eventually went bankrupt.

*lol* I just mentioned those five posts above.

 

[Caveneau]

*lol* I just mentioned those five posts above.

Sorry I didn't realize those were the ones you were referring to. I wouldn't have been surprised if there was some other tricorder project I was unaware of.

On another sidenote, you guys here of that Indiegogo project 'Runcible'? I wonder if it could amount to something useful or at least interesting.

Runcible - Circular Open Source Anti-Smartphone

Ok, I'm done hijacking the thread, lol.

 

[Britcinescribe]

That is not true. Canon on the series identifies the fact that they were functional/removable. As such, it is a replica of what would have been found in-universe - NOT a replica of the prop. And the former is what TWC *claims* to be creating. But, as essentially everyone has admitted, this color palette is not one found in the Starfleet world. THAT takes this out of the "replica" category. And the primary colors they are using are those found on LEGOS and most other *young* kids toys. So, yes, that fact shifts this towards the toy category - the same way having to paint orange on the end of a blaster makes the item look like a toy and NOT a replica.

Orange is simply NOT part of the weapon's color palette - the same way these colors are NOT part of the Starfleet color palette.

Put simply, TWC goes on and on about how it is trying to get every tiny detail correct - from the patterning on the case, to the texture of the metal screen in the hood, to the logos used on the screen, etc. Heck, for things that they HAD to do but we would hardly ever see - like the reinforcing patterns inside the tricorder frame - they took the hexagonal shapes that we see used BY Starfleet and used them for that functional design. But they didn't do that here. This color palette is NOT used by Starfleet in TOS - not even close - any more than the Discovery logo was used in TOS.

These colors jump the shark in a *big* way.

Now, you are certainly free to NOT to care if they don't use the right logos or colors from TOS. Many of their customers wouldn't even *notice* such things. But *intentionally* choosing things they KNOW are not from TOS *definitely* removes TWC's work from the category they WISH the tricorder to be in.

And I, for one, am *indeed* BUMMED by that fact - especially after all the work they put into things being SO accurate in OTHER areas. IF these are indeed the colors TWC are using, then this feels like an unforced error on their part - a *big* one.

And, if AnubisGuard is right, it's one we will NOT be *able* to correct.


Apology accepted. Heat of the moment. I understand.

"This color palette is not one found in the Starfleet world. THAT takes this out of the "replica" category. And the primary colors they are using are those found on LEGOS and most other *young* kids toys."

I hate to be the one to point this out, but Kirk was always jamming multicoloured "tapes" into his chair, they were always being shoved into replicators, and they were laying around on briefing room and sickbay tables.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

I do agree pastel versions of the colors they have would be better, I just don't see the desirability of four different shades of white/gray.

Something like this.

View attachment 1458956

I must be in the minority that prefers the primary colors over these “Easter Egg”colors.

There was a very broad palette of “tech” colors in TOS….depending on what was on sale for paint, at the time

 

[blspro]

I hate to be the one to point this out, but Kirk was always jamming multicoloured "tapes" into his chair, they were always being shoved into replicators, and they were laying around on briefing room and sickbay tables.

Given that I myself provided examples of these "tapes" already, I'm not sure what it is you are trying to suggest. I will simply point out that the "tapes" are NOT even close to the "dayglo", "crayola" color palette that TWC used.

 

[Britcinescribe]

Wah's original sketch (shown in Wand update blog #3) implies the disks could be inserted into a reader slot in the hood. The finished prop was revised with no provision for that. The thought is that the right most disk was loose in Hero #1, but was held jammed in place by the "selector switch" as it kept falling out. Nothing was ever shown on screen as far as how these disks functioned or what their faces looked like. Most replicas machine that piece from a cylinder of aluminum.

Here's a weird idea. What if each of the discs were in fact the "Moire" spinning disc on the front of the tricorder, as well as the disc on the communicator? You took the disk out of the "rack", and it "attached" to a circular "reader" (either recessed or not) on the Tricorder fascia. The "moire" effect is not the disc spinning, but some function of the "holographic matrices" (or whatever) recording information. (Maybe that even applies to the communicator. You could pop off the discs from each communicator after a mission to be entered into the ship's Duotronic database, in the event that analysis of a mission needed to take place.)

 

[blspro]

There was a very broad palette of “tech” colors in TOS….depending on what was on sale for paint, at the time

Not when it came to the Starfleet palette. Which is why we didn't get purple SF uniforms or orange SF phasers or baby blue SF tricorders etc.

Here's a weird idea. What if each of the discs were in fact the "Moire" spinning disc on the front of the tricorder, as well as the disc on the communicator? You took the disk out of the "rack", and it "attached" to a circular "reader" (either recessed or not) on the Tricorder fascia.

The Wand Company TOS Tricorder is coming!

next up Data discs and what they do, can’t wait for that update

www.therpf.com

 

[Britcinescribe]

Given that I myself provided examples of these "tapes" already, I'm not sure what it is you are trying to suggest. I will simply point out that they are NOT even close to the "dayglo", "crayola" color palette that TWC used.

Uh...they look plenty colourful to me! (And plenty of engineering conduits and crawlspaces in the TOS sets used colors that popped. One of the reasons, I'll be honest, that I like them.) I bet you I could pull a few episodes out with some "tapes" and do screen grabs that would provide almost identical matches with these: there were a LOT of colours used.

The Wand Company TOS Tricorder is coming!

next up Data discs and what they do, can’t wait for that update

www.therpf.com

No, I got the email, too. This is the usage we've got in this TWC Tricorder. I was just hypothetically extrapolating backwards as if we were back in the 1960s and trying to figure this out in the RPF treehouse.

 

[blspro]

provide almost identical matches with these: there were a LOT of colours used.

No. These colors are not the colors used by SF. Not when one is comparing like to like (ie physical painted colors as opposed to colors of lighted things etc)

No, I got the email, too. This is the usage we've got in this TWC Tricorder. I was just hypothetically extrapolating backwards as if we were back in the 1960s and trying to figure this out in the RPF treehouse.

You didn't follow the link and read the content.

 

[Britcinescribe]

No. These colors are not the colors used by SF.

You didn't follow the link and read the content.

You're right, I didn't.

However, "Great Minds...", etc, etc...

 

[JW Foust]

Here's a weird idea. What if each of the discs were in fact the "Moire" spinning disc on the front of the tricorder, as well as the disc on the communicator? You took the disk out of the "rack", and it "attached" to a circular "reader" (either recessed or not) on the Tricorder fascia. The "moire" effect is not the disc spinning, but some function of the "holographic matrices" (or whatever) recording information. (Maybe that even applies to the communicator. You could pop off the discs from each communicator after a mission to be entered into the ship's Duotronic database, in the event that analysis of a mission needed to take place.)

Except the tricorder moire never spun. All that is fine as far as one's head canon, sort of what I always thought it did after finding out the disks were intended to be removable, but the original tric props never had that kind of functionality.

 

[asalaw]

Well, I for one will be spending my time geeking out over the fact that we'll soon have a genuine, working tricorder to complete the field exploration set. I can't believe how blessed we are to be getting this, and I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

[Starbase101]

Except the tricorder moire never spun. All that is fine as far as one's head canon, sort of what I always thought it did after finding out the disks were intended to be removable, but the original tric props never had that kind of functionality.

Keep in mind TWC is making an "in-universe" prop replica, so it's not really a matter of whether or not we saw the moire effect on the original prop, it's a matter of should it have. Since the communicator spins, Spock's bridge station spins, it makes "logical" sense that the tricorder's should spin as well. Studio phaser props also weren't TV remotes, so.......

 

[asalaw]

Chris Barnardo updated the color palette after saying the photo we've been referencing was just a quick render that didn't truly reflect the colors they're currently considering. This is much closer to what the disks will be: