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New all-in-one board for hacking squawkers mccaw

97K views 253 replies 72 participants last post by  J-Man 
#1 · (Edited)
OK guys, here it is, the new All-in-One board for hacking Squawkers McCaw. Auto beak sync, random body movement, and built in 3W stereo amplifier with volume control for connecting directly to the internal speaker or a small external speaker.
It operates on a single 5V 2A power supply, no other power source is needed. The board requires a regulated 5V power source to operate, any voltage over 5.5V will damage the circuitry. Hence the reason each board will include the proper power supply. Target price is $65 plus shipping. I have a new method for getting at the required 6 wires inside of Squawkers without taking him apart, super easy! Here's a pic of the new board and a demo video. Board size is 2.8"x 2.1".
UPDATE May 2022:
For anyone reading this thread for the first time (and you don't make it all the way to the end) these have been a very popular item for 5 years now and are still available. Price has gone up a bit due to increased cost of components, now $74.


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#3 ·
Looks good J-Man! I was able to watch the video BTW.

I was wondering how the random body movement would look but I'm fine with what I saw. I'm getting excited thinking of what to do with a talking parrot in my haunt scenes. Of course he works in a pirate theme, but could see him in a carnival maybe talking to a ventriloquist dummy or to a magician as he's about to saw a body in two. He could be in an office or haunted house theme as the owners bird. I have a nice big cage he'll fit in that I usually use my hanging bat in. Jungle scene...of course. Yep see lots of practical ways to use him and justify the cost of the board over many years' haunts. Most of all he will be so cool and the kids will love him. Probably have some kids wanting to stay all night at our house. ;)
 
#5 ·
Thanks guys! Just a quick overview of the body movement, the lower right POT on the board sets this mode. With the pot fully CW (about 5 o'clock) Squawkers will remain motionless until he talks, the body movements are then random every 2 to 4 seconds while the beak is active. When the beak becomes inactive, he remains motionless. By adjusting the pot CCW to about 3 o'clock, he will briefly move randomly every 27 to 67 seconds when not talking. Further CCW adjustment lengthens that time, full CCW (about 8 o'clock) sets the random time from 54 to 134 seconds. No matter where the pot is set, Squawkers will go into random movements whenever the beak is active and then return to the setting when the beak becomes inactive. This gives you the option to have him move every so often when he's not talking.
 
#7 ·
Also wanted to mention that the eye blink feature is disabled with this board, all other body movements function. Because the eye blink uses the same motor as the beak via reversing the polarity, the eyes will never blink when the beak is active. To have the eyes blink when the beak is inactive would have made the board much bigger because a pair of relays would be needed along with additional circuitry. Personally I don't like the mechanical noise that the eye blink produces anyway, especially when there's no sound going on to cover it. I just wanted everyone to be aware of this up front.
 
#19 ·
Thanks J-Man. I hope to have about a 7 min show then repeat along with some lights going on and off. The ToTs will then just walk up and see a repeating show with some animatronics. I will have lots of props so I think it will look cool (fingers crossed)...
 
#23 ·
Hi everyone, longtime listener first time caller. :D
I wanted to chime in to say that J-Man's boards are amazing and easy enough for novices such as myself to get up and running. If you are thinking of buying one do it. You won't be sorry. I have both versions, and while the two board version was not terribly difficult, this latest one is a piece of cake. I'll get a video up here one of these days for sure.
 
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