The Link and Sound boards are Sold out - will be restocking in April (current target)
The Keep Alive is now available.
The Hasbro Spengler Wand is a very nice wand that is available here on GBFans and other places as well.
Unfortunately, Hasbro did not design it to connect to anything else like the Matty wand did, so what can be done for this?
The Spengler Link board is a board that you will need to install inside the wand (requires soldering and some modification to your wand). The Spengler Link, along with a Spengler version of the Matty Spirit Sound board will allow the Spengler wand to control your pack lights will also amplify the sounds from the wand. I am working on the Spengler Decoder board to sit next to the GBFans Pack Blaster sound board. This new board does not have a sound generator or audio amplifier. It will be available about a month after the Link and sound boards are available.
The recommended setup for a Spirit Halloween pack:
Spengler Link -------> Spengler Sound Board w/Spirit Mounting ----> Spirit Pack Lights
Two different options for full sized packs:
Spengler Link -------> Spengler Sound Board -------> GBFans Power Cell and Cyclotron Lights
Spengler Link -------> Spengler Decoder -------------> GBFans Power Celll and Cyclotron Lights
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn---------------------> GBFans Sound Board
For anyone that wants to decode the Spengler Link output and make their own (or connect to their own) controller the information needed is included in the SPengler Link documentation. Basically the output is a stereo audio cable with three wires:
1 - Audio (2v p-p capacitive coupled signal should be compatible with most audio amplifiers)
2 - Common (or “ground”)
3 - Output pulses to indicate what is going on (< 0.7V normally, > 2.4V isolated pulses ranging from 8 to 56mS in 6 ms steps
Seller Info:
Doug Keithley
Boise, ID USA
Doug @ GhostLab42 . com
Features:
- Spengler wand can be connected two different ways to the Spengler sound board in the pack
[list] Easily removable stereo audio cable for control and audio connections - The above stereo audio cable and a separate hard-to-disconnect cable to replace the Spengler Wand’s internal battery pack.
Power everything from a single 12V rechargeable battery in your pack.
[*] Support for these different features
- Pack power up and down sequencing
- Pack Light sequencing speeds up when firing with high intensity settings
- Overheating special pack lights sequencing
- Cyclotron light colors follow the wand mode (RED proton, GREEN slime, BLUE stasis, YELLOW meson)
- Manual and automatic venting sequence with sound
[*] Support for different Pack Lights Kits - GBFans Powercell and Cyclotron lights - multi color cyclotron lights supported
- Previous GBFans Powercell and Cyclotron lights - works well, but cyclotron lights will remain RED in the different modes
- Spirit Pack Lights - multi color cyclotron lights supported
- Previous Spirit PackLights - works well, but cyclotron lights will only support RED and GREEN modes
- A switched battery output is available on the sound board to supply power whenever the pack should be cycling lights (no other special affects will be supported)
[] Optional “Keep alive” selection that will keep the wand powered up as long as the motor is not running
[] Built in self test to help you check your wiring between the Spengler Link and the Wand’s circuit board
[/list]
Demo Video
Spengler Keep Alive:
Just a subset of the Spengler Link kit (circuit board, 8-wire cable and mounting hardware). The board will just keep the Spengler wand from shutting down while powered on as long as the rumble motor is off. Only connections to the inside of the wand.
Prices:
Spengler Link with connection cables: $29
Spengler Sound board with connection cables: $59
Spengler Sound board with connection cables and Spirit Halloween mounting kit with speaker: $79
Spengler Decoder with connection cables: $37
Spengler Keep Alive: $19
Hopefully all of the Spengler boards have similar internal electronics - if they change things around too much this could be a problem!
Documentation and Installation Instructions:
Spengler Link: https://www.ghostlab42.com/img/Spengler/SpenglerLink_v1p1.pdf
Spengler Sound: https://www.ghostlab42.com/img/Spengler/Spengler_Sound_Instructions_v1p0.pdf
Spengler Decoder: not yet available
Spengler Keep Alive: https://www.ghostlab42.com/img/Spengler/SpenglerKeep_v1p0.pdf
***** Critical Update for first run Spengler Link and Spengler Sound Boards *****
Two issue have come up on more than one set of customer installs:
-
A hissing sound above 1/2 volume. This can also cause “clicking” sounds while adjusting the volume. A temp fix can be had by using a different audio cable - the included thin cables appear to exacerbate the issue. The general fix is to add (solder) an additional 1.5K ohm resistor onto the Spengler Link board.
-
A high pitched “whine” at higher volume settings. This is caused by the new voltage regulator. The old one went out of stock and the new one that is made by the same manufacturer and is the recommended replacement is causing the whine. This can be significantly reduces by adding a larger capacitor to the 5V supply. One 50uF 25V low ESR capacitor across +5V to GND greatly reduces the “whine”. Adding a load resistor of 500 to 800 ohms will raise the frequency of the switching so can completely eliminate the whine, though it does consume a few mA of current from the battery all of the time.
I do not have an easy way to track all of the purchases, so please use this link to get the three parts needed for the fix: https://www.ebay.com/itm/194550016279
eBay does have a minimum purchase price of $0.99, so have to charge that but I was still able to offer free shipping for both USA and International shipping addresses.
Here is a link to the installation instructions: Index of /img/Spengler/ … x_v1p1.pdf
If you want to source or have your own parts rather than waiting for this kit, here is what you need for the fixes:
-
one 47uF capacitor, rated at 10V or more. A ceramic MLCC does not care about orientation, but an electrolytic does. If you use an electrolytic capacitor (not what comes with this kit), the short lead (negative lead) needs to go in the middle hole.
-
one 500 to 800 ohm resistor. This kit comes with a 750 ohm, but lower values will increase the frequency of the switching regulator and use more current from the battery.
-
one 1.4K to 1.7K resistor. This kit comes with a 1.57k Ohm resistor.
