The Wand Company TOS Tricorder is coming!
- Thread starter Jediwannabe
- Start date
NICE!
Mine still shows as a delivery day of today by end of day on DHL's tracking site but I haven't received any notifications since yesterday afternoon that it was entering customs for clearance in NY. I seriously doubt it'll get through NY, get to Dallas, and out for delivery an hour away by today. I'm not holding my breath.
Question for those who have already played around with theirs. Just received mine, took it out of the box, and first thing it says in the instructions is to charge it for 4 hours before first use. No problem. Pulled out the little plastic tab in the back, I go to plug it in, and... nothing.
Took out the battery, put it back in just in case it wasn't seated properly for whatever reason. I assume I'm supposed to be seeing the indicator lights turn on or something to indicate it is in fact charging, like would happen with both their phaser remote and communicator right?
It's just sitting there, dead. No signs of life, Jim...
Took out the battery, put it back in just in case it wasn't seated properly for whatever reason. I assume I'm supposed to be seeing the indicator lights turn on or something to indicate it is in fact charging, like would happen with both their phaser remote and communicator right?
It's just sitting there, dead. No signs of life, Jim...
Sounds like you can still turn it on when it's charging. Nothing about an external charging indicator light.
Oh, okay. So I need to turn it on first. The way it's worded made it sound like I had to charge it before I even turned it on (first "use"), lol. Duh 
The other two didn't need to be turned on before charging, so I just assumed this one worked the same way.
The other two didn't need to be turned on before charging, so I just assumed this one worked the same way.
Yeah I think it pulls in more power than i uses so it is effectively charging even while on. You can definitely just plug it in for 4 hours to getOh, okay. So I need to turn it on first. The way it's worded made it sound like I had to charge it before I even turned it on (first "use"), lol. Duh
The other two didn't need to be turned on before charging, so I just assumed this one worked the same way.
Purely a guess as I don't have mine yet haha.
asalaw
Master Member
It comes with a substantial charge out of the box, and any USB-C charging solution should work just fine. I've charged it off of both my iPad power brick, which is 20 watts, and my Mac, which goes up to 15 watts depending on what you're charging. I've also often charged my other two Wand props off my Mac. Obviously any USB-C cable will do, and I left my Wand one in the box.
When you charge it, you can leave it on the regular Home Screen, which has a charge bar right under the date, or you can put it on the status screen, which also shows the charge level. Either way lets you know when it's done charging.
When you charge it, you can leave it on the regular Home Screen, which has a charge bar right under the date, or you can put it on the status screen, which also shows the charge level. Either way lets you know when it's done charging.
Since they used a popular rechargeable you could just put in a fresh charged battery straight away if you have a few of these on hand already.
asalaw
Master Member
Exactly. They have a bajillion 18650 button-tops on Amazon, most of them with greater mAh ratings than the stock one. Some of them come in sets of two or four with their own charging cradle. I will definitely be laying those in. BTW Andrew Stockdale said they usually come in 3.6V or 3.7V flavors, and either will do.
Well Dennis is behind the updates, with that being said, two people making these is one thing, mass producing in china is an entirely different ball game
asalaw
Master Member
I've been playing with it on and off all day and I've gotten it down from 100% to around 53%. But I don't usually use the moiré motor. Also, as soon as you leave it alone for 10 minutes the screen saver kicks in, and that may be lower power. And that's not getting into whether you have the moiré light on or off. I usually have mine on.
It's supposed to go 6 months in hibernation mode.
NakedMoleRat
Legendary Member
I use the 18650 button-tops for my two custom lightsabers. They last forever.
I wonder if the scanner could be another TV remote? The 10th Doctor’s sonic didn’t have tones of room inside of it.
I wonder if the scanner could be another TV remote? The 10th Doctor’s sonic didn’t have tones of room inside of it.
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JiminSTLouis
Sr Member
Yup… there’s no indicator that show’s it’s charging, until you actually turn it on with the center button. I left it plugged in for 4 hours and it was 100% at first activation.
asalaw
Master Member
Yeah, and they make a wand that does that too, which is pretty slender. It strikes me as weird, but I suppose no weirder than a phaser remote. The trick would be programming it for your TV.
Yeah that's why I was hoping it could be a digital thermometer.
1. the one I have is small, so the electronics footprint is minimal.
2. it has a real-world application
3. it fits with the "scanner" aspect, particularly the medical scanner.
4. a simple LCD display on the bottom for the temperature output would fit in that small space.
But being a health-related tool, there might be other hurdles to jump over like FDA clearance, unless they were able to piggy back off of an existing thermometer that they could fit in the housing.
1. the one I have is small, so the electronics footprint is minimal.
2. it has a real-world application
3. it fits with the "scanner" aspect, particularly the medical scanner.
4. a simple LCD display on the bottom for the temperature output would fit in that small space.
But being a health-related tool, there might be other hurdles to jump over like FDA clearance, unless they were able to piggy back off of an existing thermometer that they could fit in the housing.
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NakedMoleRat
Legendary Member
Put the infrared LED in the bottom plate next to the charge port. I’d be fine with that. The other sonic remotes were gesture based.
asalaw
Master Member
That could be cool. Without doing the research, I do think they could get around the FDA issue with disclaimers stating that it's not intended to be used as a medical device, for amusement only, that sort of thing. Though I'd rather see some sort of glowing LED display behind the aluminum, like the power-on lights on certain Mac models. It just looks like plain aluminum till the LED turns on. I think they do that by shaving the back of the aluminum down to almost nothing so a light can shine through it.
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