NK Guy
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Researching the ancient Ripmax Futaba M6
NK Guy replied to NK Guy's topic in General Radio Discussion
Thanks for the replies. I can't find any photos of a Futaba 5L. I'd also be surprised if they used a budget system - the Empire Strikes Back was, after all, a pretty big film production! I've found some photos of the Futaba FP-T4L, but it has a wide chromed carrying handle right above the aerial, which isn't visible in the photos. Also the photos seem to show at least a pair of toggle switches on the left back, which the FP-T4L does not have. I'm wondering if the rectangles on the top of the unit are strips of tape for labelling, and not parts of the transmitter. Hard to tell. Just as a reminder - the Empire Strikes Back was in production from 1978 through 1980, with most of the on-set stuff in 1979. It was filmed in the UK, and so that presumably would limit the focus of the equipment search. Edited By NK Guy on 11/09/2020 12:05:00 -
Researching the ancient Ripmax Futaba M6
NK Guy replied to NK Guy's topic in General Radio Discussion
Okay, since you all seem to be doing brilliantly at figuring out RC transmitters from low-resolution snapshots, any clues on what this unit was? https://40bc6f4f-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/3dsfinfo/various-esb-radios.jpg That's the type used on Empire Strikes Back. The photos aren't great, I'm afraid. Thank you! - NK Guy Edited By NK Guy on 11/09/2020 02:43:35 -
Researching the ancient Ripmax Futaba M6
NK Guy replied to NK Guy's topic in General Radio Discussion
Posted by J D 8 on 10/09/2020 13:47:58: "NK guy, It may be of interest to you that the full size Millennium Falcon for Empire strikes back was built in Pembrokeshire in Pembroke Dock the old flyingboat station before being shipped to the film studio." Indeed! The original trilogy was largely filmed in the UK, and a lot of interesting contributions came from all over. - NK Guy Edited By NK Guy on 10/09/2020 14:02:11 -
Researching the ancient Ripmax Futaba M6
NK Guy replied to NK Guy's topic in General Radio Discussion
Posted by Alan Gorham_ on 10/09/2020 12:51:24: That picture came up as a very pixellated image but to me it looks like a McGregor Digimac set. Yes! I think you're right. Thank you. It looks like McGregor made radios in a couple of different widths; that being a wider one. I found a number of photos finally which show the radios used in filming the Empire Strikes Back, but they're all pretty low-resolution and terrible. https://40bc6f4f-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/3dsfinfo/various-esb-radios.jpg Edited By NK Guy on 10/09/2020 13:11:04 -
Researching the ancient Ripmax Futaba M6
NK Guy replied to NK Guy's topic in General Radio Discussion
Posted by Barrie Lever on 10/09/2020 10:29:23: That link is to a photo of a Futaba 'J' series. Awesome! That looks totally right. Actually, a correction. That photo was taken during the filming of Return of the Jedi in 1982. There's also this radio in the background of another photo. Would anyone recognise this one? **LINK** - NK Guy -
Researching the ancient Ripmax Futaba M6
NK Guy replied to NK Guy's topic in General Radio Discussion
Hmmmm. I posted an image but it appears as a broken image icon, and I can't edit the post. I can't seem to upload photos to this site at all. Here's a link to the Empire Strikes Back radio remote photo. https://40bc6f4f-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/3dsfinfo/esb-rc-controller.jpg Edited By NK Guy on 10/09/2020 09:58:52 Edited By NK Guy on 10/09/2020 09:59:17 -
Researching the ancient Ripmax Futaba M6
NK Guy replied to NK Guy's topic in General Radio Discussion
On a related topic, does anyone recognise this thing? Was it a commercial product? R2-D2 controller during the filming of the Empire Strikes Back in 1979. -
Researching the ancient Ripmax Futaba M6
NK Guy replied to NK Guy's topic in General Radio Discussion
Here's R2-D2 being controlled by John Stears, effects supervisor for the film. The middle leg drop mechanism for the robot was damaged and the team are struggling to get it to cooperate. Note the Futaba M6 in its full glory! - NK Guy -
Researching the ancient Ripmax Futaba M6
NK Guy replied to NK Guy's topic in General Radio Discussion
Thanks for the information! Very much appreciated. The transmitter I have is really quite filthy. From production reports in 1976 the operators had massive problems with reliability, unfortunately. Star Wars' effects coordinator apparently would angrily blame "taxis" when a robot failed to respond properly - even when out in the middle of the Tunisian desert, miles from any passing British taxi! I'm wondering if the receiver aerial was blocked by the metal casing of the droids - but you'd think they would have thought of that and stuck the aerial outside... - NK Guy -
Hi, everyone! I apologise for being an interloper here. But I'm researching the Ripmax Futaba M6 RC transmitter from the 1970s, and I'm wondering if anyone here with long memories might be able to help. Why? Well, basically I'm researching the R2-D2 props used in the original Star Wars films, and the M6 was the transmitter used back in 1976. It was used to control the sole radio-controlled R2-D2, and also some of the other droids such as the wheeled "Treadwell" robot. Here's the R2-D2 site: https://sites.google.com/site/3dsfinfo/astromech-pages Now, what I've found so far is: - this was a product produced by Futaba of Japan, cobranded with Ripmax, a UK reseller/retailer. - The M6 was a 27MHz AM radio with 6 channels. (hence the 6 in M6) Were any of them 35MHz? 27MHz meant a lot of potential interference from radio communications, such as CB radios imported illegally into the UK. - It shipped with rechargeable NiCad batteries in an internal pack. You had to unscrew the bottom to swap out dead batteries if you didn't have time to recharge. - It had a small panel for interchangeable crystals. No PLL capabilities. - The removable aerial had optional coloured pennants to indicate the channel in use. - The box had an attachment point at the top centre for an optional neck lanyard for hands-free operation. - The transmitter had override capabilities - a socket and press and hold switch so a "buddy" or "trainer" could take over control when a novice is flying a plane. So a few questions: - Were the devices proportional? I see conflicting information about that. Not that it matters particularly for Star Wars, since they used a simple multi-position switch driven by a servo at the R2-D2 end with 3 discrete motor speeds. - Were they digital in any meaningful fashion? I've seen references to digital, but it really looks to me that they're basically analogue devices. There are no ICs on the board. There's certainly nothing useful like error correction! - What did it list for in 1976? It seems maybe around £200 with servos and receiver? - Any suggestions on a good similarly-coloured spray paint to redo the casing? I have a particularly filthy old transmitter that I'd like to clean up somewhat. It's a sort of strange metallic beige colour - a plastic overlay over a sheet aluminium chassis. - Apparently there are people who have done full-guts conversions of these devices to talk to 2.4 GHz devices. (ie: just keeping the sticks and the chassis) Anyone have any information on this? Thanks in advance for any comments or memories about this product! - NK Guy