# Matty PKE teardown and IONA comparison (pic intensive) **URL:** \ **Category:** Collectibles\ **Created:** [December 22, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173 "2010-12-22T03:42:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![prologic9](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/prologic9/32/188012_2.png) [@prologic9](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/prologic9)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/21 "2010-12-22T21:17:06Z")
AAA’s ---
**Author:** ![Talyn](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/talyn/32/382_2.png) [@Talyn](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Talyn)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/22 "2010-12-22T21:47:58Z")
wow thanks! With that digital potentiometer … do you think fi you added a few more notches of gold foil there it could speed up the amount of spinning it takes to change? ![IMG_9707](https://discdn.gbfans.com/original/3X/3/9/39ce996ed97fef7a77e345919726490ae655db2e.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![aj-quick](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/aj-quick/32/188008_2.png) [@aj-quick](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/aj-quick)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/23 "2010-12-22T21:57:34Z")
I think so. Its a change I’m gonna try to make to one of mine when I get it. ---
**Author:** ![Talyn](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/talyn/32/382_2.png) [@Talyn](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Talyn)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/24 "2010-12-22T22:13:59Z")
also wonder if you put one of those buzzer speakers or even just a plate of metal in front of that speaker if it would help it sounds a little more rattly and closer to the original sound. ---
**Author:** ![ThrowingChicken](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@ThrowingChicken](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/ThrowingChicken)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/25 "2010-12-22T22:50:09Z")
Do you have to take apart the motor box to get everything out? ---
**Author:** ![GhostGuy](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/9fc29f/32.png) [@GhostGuy](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/GhostGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/26 "2010-12-22T23:29:47Z")
Thanks for posting these. Man, the electronics on this thing are really weird. So many questions… 1. Why’d they go with a speaker instead of a piezo which would be cheaper and make the batteries last longer? It only needed to beep. 2. Why’d they use through hole leds on the screen, instead of surface mount? 3. Why’d they choose to use 3x5 array and 8 conductors for the screen instead of 9 conductors and a 2x7 array? With the 2x7 array only two resistors are needed while with this setup they have 19 resistors. Wait… 19 resistors? On the screen? Where there are only 14 leds, and only one resistor for each row should be needed even with a 3x5 setup? What the hell??? 4. Why’d they use rectangular leds on the main circuit board when surface mount would do, given they are hidden behind light pipes anyway? 5. Why is the main board, like the screen, so chock full of resistors? I count somewhere around 44 resistors on there, which seems to be about twice as many as should be needed for the 14 leds on the wings, 5 leds on the front panel, and the three switches. 6. The durability of the rotary switch for the speed control concerns me. It looks in the photo like the copper traces the contacts sub against is torn up. Is that the case or is it just a trick of the light? 7. I wonder what all those capacitors and transistors on the back are for. The motor perhaps? Why so many? Why not SMT? Other observations: 1. The design of the wings is nice. If I had the luxury of mass production so I could use flexible pcbs and surface mount leds on them and stick light pipes in the wings, I’d have gone that route with my boards. 2. I’ll bet that mechanism that pulls the wings down has another rotary switch mounted under it. They’ve gotta have some way to detect how far the wings have traveled, and that board under there looks similar to the rotary switch one, and has four wires coming out of it. 3. Are those metal threads where the screws attach the top of the shell to the bottom? I’m surprised, usually on toys they just use self threading screws. But maybe because this needs to be dissasembled to repalce the batteries they decided to go with something more durable. Anyway, interesting and odd choices in the engineering. ---
**Author:** ![GhostGuy](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/9fc29f/32.png) [@GhostGuy](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/GhostGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/27 "2010-12-22T23:41:28Z")
> [@Talyn](#): > > wow thanks! With that digital potentiometer … do you think fi you added a few more notches of gold foil there it could speed up the amount of spinning it takes to change? I think it would be a lot more difficult than simply adding some notches in the foil. Those rotary switches are kinda complicated in how they work. I think there’s actually two switches there, and they work in a binary pattern similar to: 00, 01, 11, 10, as the knob turns. ---
**Author:** ![D\_rock](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ed655f/32.png) [@D\_rock](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/D_rock)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/28 "2010-12-23T03:28:51Z")
I was waiting for this comparison. Makes me appreciate the Matty PKE that much more. ---
**Author:** ![Sledge](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/sledge/32/3976_2.png) [@Sledge](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Sledge)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/29 "2010-12-23T16:32:35Z")
has anyone noticed the serial # on the handle as well? are they the same? I am going to bet its there as to look official but lets find out. Mine is 3080SJ for comparison. I got 2 meters but I do not want to open the other for comparison as I am keeping it in its original box. ---
**Author:** ![sonicr](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/sonicr/32/88270_2.png) [@sonicr](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/sonicr)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/30 "2010-12-24T14:42:51Z")
> [@Sledge](#): > > has anyone noticed the serial # on the handle as well? are they the same? > > I am going to bet its there as to look official but lets find out. Mine is 3080SJ for comparison. > > I got 2 meters but I do not want to open the other for comparison as I am keeping it in its original box. Mine says 3080SJ too. Now there is however a hand written sticker on the upper top of the handle that says something like 4212129M… ---
**Author:** ![jackdoud](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/6a8cbe/32.png) [@jackdoud](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/jackdoud)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/31 "2010-12-24T16:07:14Z")
> [@ThrowingChicken](#): > > Do you have to take apart the motor box to get everything out? No, you just have to remove the motor, then you can unscrew the whole plate and expose the electronics. ---
**Author:** ![jackdoud](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/6a8cbe/32.png) [@jackdoud](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/jackdoud)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/32 "2010-12-24T16:19:34Z")
> [@GhostGuy](#): > > 1. Why’d they go with a speaker instead of a piezo which would be cheaper and make the batteries last longer? It only needed to beep. It’s only a small step up from a piezo, only a speaker in the loosest sense. > [@GhostGuy](#): > > 1. Why’d they use through hole leds on the screen, instead of surface mount? SMT probably didn’t look right. They’d have had to make a custom lightpipe setup to give it the look of rounded bulbs. Using actual LEDs was probably simpler in the long run. > [@GhostGuy](#): > > 1. Why’d they use rectangular leds on the main circuit board when surface mount would do, given they are hidden behind light pipes anyway? Again, probably production concerns. They may have initially intended the leds to be seen directly but changed it to a light pipe later without changing the LEDs themselves. > [@GhostGuy](#): > > 1. Why is the main board, like the screen, so chock full of resistors? I count somewhere around 44 resistors on there, which seems to be about twice as many as should be needed for the 14 leds on the wings, 5 leds on the front panel, and the three switches. There’s probably a lot of debounce and signal cleanup from the various switches. > [@GhostGuy](#): > > 1. The durability of the rotary switch for the speed control concerns me. It looks in the photo like the copper traces the contacts sub against is torn up. Is that the case or is it just a trick of the light? That’s mostly from the picture and the grease they put on the shaft. It’s definitely weak though. When I put it back together it’s a little tighter than before and doesn’t turn as cleanly. > [@GhostGuy](#): > > 1. I wonder what all those capacitors and transistors on the back are for. The motor perhaps? Why so many? Why not SMT? Sometimes you can’t get away with SMT capacitors, you need to use electrolytics. > [@GhostGuy](#): > > 1. The design of the wings is nice. If I had the luxury of mass production so I could use flexible pcbs and surface mount leds on them and stick light pipes in the wings, I’d have gone that route with my boards. Looking at the wings it’s obvious there’s a flexible strip of SMT LEDs behind the light pipes. Nice if you can do it but out of the realm of possibility for most people. > [@GhostGuy](#): > > 1. I’ll bet that mechanism that pulls the wings down has another rotary switch mounted under it. They’ve gotta have some way to detect how far the wings have traveled, and that board under there looks similar to the rotary switch one, and has four wires coming out of it. It does, you can see the wires going to it in this pic: [http://www.gbfans.com/images/pb/jackdoud/Ghostbusters\_Matty](http://www.gbfans.com/images/pb/jackdoud/Ghostbusters_Matty) Teardown\_IMG\_9721.jpg. Simple design but it works. > [@GhostGuy](#): > > 1. Are those metal threads where the screws attach the top of the shell to the bottom? I’m surprised, usually on toys they just use self threading screws. But maybe because this needs to be dissasembled to repalce the batteries they decided to go with something more durable. They’re actually regular nuts in a molded socket. They’re not even glued in, I had trouble with one not letting go when I tried to remove the battery plate. ---
**Author:** ![Talyn](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/talyn/32/382_2.png) [@Talyn](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Talyn)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/33 "2010-12-25T17:18:21Z")
put a penny and some foam over the speaker in mine and it didnt really make it any quieter.. ---
**Author:** ![Soren](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Soren](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Soren)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/34 "2010-12-26T19:22:51Z")
Any chance you can give the three measures of the white miler box? I need it to calculate shipping from across the pond. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![protokev](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/aeb1de/32.png) [@protokev](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/protokev)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/35 "2010-12-26T19:43:15Z")
looking at the pics, i think adding foil itself wont help. If you look there are traces coming from the foil to two wires, those would have to be added as well. this may or may not be difficult to do ---
**Author:** ![Gareee](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/gareee/32/5994_2.png) [@Gareee](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Gareee)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/36 "2010-12-26T20:03:43Z")
> [@Soren](#): > > Any chance you can give the three measures of the white miler box? I need it to calculate shipping from across the pond. Thanks They only weight a few pounds, and the box is not large, though matty ships the white mailer box in another box outside it. Ups is killer, costing about $112. Priority Usps mail will run you about $45, but standard usps mail will only run you about $ 25, and will get there almost as fast as priority mail. (7-10 days). (of course, it depends on where it is being shipped from.) ---
**Author:** ![Vincenzo330](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/v/8c91f0/32.png) [@Vincenzo330](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Vincenzo330)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/37 "2010-12-26T20:13:00Z")
To answer your actual question it’s 6-1/4" x 6-1/4" x 12-1/2" Look into DHL for international shipping, they’re much slower but also much, much cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![Dreamstalker](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/dreamstalker/32/5899_2.png) [@Dreamstalker](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Dreamstalker)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/38 "2010-12-29T15:37:47Z")
> [@protokev](#): > > looking at the pics, i think adding foil itself wont help. If you look there are traces coming from the foil to two wires, those would have to be added as well. this may or may not be difficult to do I´ve seen very fine-tip pens that are designed for re-drawing traces. ---
**Author:** ![Ecto-ASH](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@Ecto-ASH](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Ecto-ASH)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/39 "2011-01-17T02:50:20Z")
Awesome research, Is this going to be useful for people to build a better working [PKE meter](https://www.gbfans.com/shop/mattel-pke-meter) or should i say, is there things in the matty unit that will help better design fan prop units?? Cos I love my Matty PKE, but What I really want is an original Iona replica shell, quicker speed control and proper movie sound, oh and I noticed in the films the little red lights down the bottom of the PKE stay on instead of blink when you press the wing buttons. ---
**Author:** ![Soren](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Soren](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Soren)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173/40 "2011-02-01T23:36:35Z")
Since this is such a thorough review I think I’ll just ask… I have to have the boxed pke sent to me by a us friend o’mine. D’you think there will be a huge price difference if I just get the [pke meter](https://www.gbfans.com/shop/mattel-pke-meter) and the instructions sent other than the white mailer box sent? Thanks.. 🙂 [Previous page](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173.md?page=1) [Next page](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/matty-pke-teardown-and-iona-comparison-pic-intensive/27173.md?page=3)