|
The finished UFO Detector board will occupy a space of a proximately 1" x 1" x 2.25 ".
The detector needs to be housed in a non-ferrous material. A ferrous material like iron would affect the compass operation. Suitable non-ferrous housing materials include the following materials: plastic, wood, brass, foam board and aluminum. If you would like an almost ready made housing the Testor Model company sells two different styles of UFO models. One is a Roswell UFO model number 555 and the UFO model is Testor's part number 576X. Either model is large enough to hold the detector inside and would make a suitable enclosure.
|
|
Figure 10
|
Build the UFO kit housing
The housing is made of four pieces of transparent plastic; a 3.25" diameter plastic tube, 5.25" tall, with a 45-degree angle cut on one end, a smaller 3" diameter plastic tubing 1.25" tall, a 3" diameter disk and finally a 3.25 x 4" oval, see figure 10.
|
|
|
These parts with a label sticker and a few pieces of paper, see figure 11, make the UFO Detector housing.
|
Figure 11
|
|
|
The first piece to put together is the internal base. The base consists of the 3" diameter tube with the 3" dia. disk. Remove the protective paper from the 3" plastic disk. Attach the 4-40 screw and three nuts into the side hole on the disk as shown in figure 12. Glue the disk to the 3" x 1.25 plastic tube, see figure 13. After the glue dries finish off the base by cutting out the base strip graphic and inserting it on the inside of the 3" tubing. Tape if necessary, see figure 14. Note: construction of the black UFO detector is shown for clarity. Transparent UFO Detector would base the base glyphs printed black on clear material.
|
|
Figure 12
|
Figure 13
|
Figure 14
|
|
|
Mount the preprogram microcontroller 16F84 (or 16F628) into the 18 pin socket. Make sure to orientate the indent in the top of the microcontroller chip to the indent on the silkscreen outline (and 18-pin socket).
|
|
Next attach the circuit board and battery to the base as shown in figure 15 using the double-sided foam tape. Using a small piece of double-sided foam tape, secure the speaker to the side of the aluminum battery holder as shown in figure 16. It is important to place the speaker on the side of the battery holder that will be opposite of the circuit board. This provides enough distance between the speaker and the compass, so that the compass will not be effect by the speaker.
|
|
Figure 15
|
Figure 16
|
|
|
Remove the protective paper from the plastic oval. Get the sticker and place it diagonally on the oval, see figure 17. This is how you need to align the label to the oval when you are placing the sticker on to the oval. Remove the paper from a corner of the sticker. Place the corner of the sticker on the oval. Slowly work the sticker onto the diagonal to prevent any air bubbles from being trapped under the sticker.
|
Figure 17
|
|
|
Once the sticker is in place turn it over and trim the excess sticker material from the oval shape using an exacto knife. Next glue the plastic oval to the 45-degree angle of the 3.25 diameter plastic tube. The sticker side faces toward the outside of the tube, see figure 18. After the glue dries, we need to place the black paper shape inside the 3.25 diameter tubing, see figure 19. (* Note for the transparent UFO detector this step is not required - no paper - no alignment.) Align the paper so the tall side is in line with the back (tall side) of the tube. The top of the paper should be touching or be very close to the oval top, see figure 20.
|
|
Figure 18
|
Figure 19
|
Figure 20
|
|
|
Figure 21
|
Once the black paper is in place, the internal base holding the circuit board and battery holder can be slid into the bottom of the 3.25 inch tube, see figure 21. Place a 9 Volt lithium battery into the battery holder. When you need to remove the base for a battery change you can use the 4-40 screw to grip to help slide the base out.
|
|
|
Using The Finished UFO Detector
With the base slid in place hold the UFO Detector upside down. This turns the circuit off, via the mercury switch. Sometime the mercury will stick to the bottom electrodes in the switch even when the UFO detector is turned upside down and keep the circuit powered. Just tap or jiggle the detector a little to make the mercury fall. Bring the detector where you want to set it up and place it right side up. In three seconds the LED with blink and the speaker will beep letting you know the detector is working.
|
Figure 1
|
|
|
UFO Detector Kit Page
Back Page | Next Page
|
