2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Dec 19, 2020 23:51:03 GMT -5
In another thread we were talking about pluses and minuses for airsoft vs blank fire and the posts migrated to a discussion about ways to add rifle or mg sound effects to our airsoft guns. The laser, close combat simulators create decently loud, cool weapons sounds and it certainly seemed to me that the technology is on hand to come up with something cool. Small speakers are produced that provide excellent sound and led lights could simulate muzzle flash. MP3 recordings to support video games and the film industry catalogue virtually every firearm in existence.
Imagine what a significant enhancement it would be for this hobby if our weapons reports were perhaps 2 to 3 times louder and you could tell by sound alone the type of weapon firing at you. (A German MP40 sounds very different than a Thompson for instance.) A louder report and muzzle flash (especially in low light) would reduce the effectiveness of the "lone wolf" campers that we all hate and the overall ambiance would be greatly improved. Led lights are what are used for our existing traced units.
If you've ever done a night game where everyone has tracer elements you know how cool that can be. Tracer elements in night games are also much safer as they tend to reduce the "too close for safety" engagements that often happen in night games.
Lets see what thoughts and ideas we can come up with and put them here in this thread. Norseman from our site (Mountain Airsoft) and his son experimented with a Halloween scream box which shows great promise. I have ordered some parts to try out as well. Initially I plan to apply them to my crew served machine guns but if they work and costs can be kept down ultimately it would be great to have them in all guns.
Who knows maybe eventually the manufacturers will catch on and build them into their products where they could run off the AEGs power source? In mass production it would probably add very little to the cost. I'm targeting something with costs in line with existing traced units.
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Post by norseman on Dec 20, 2020 16:47:00 GMT -5
I’m excited to get mine working on my AEG! Thanks for creating this thread.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Dec 20, 2020 20:41:24 GMT -5
I think it will reinvigorate this hobby I really do. Not sure what's holding up my purchase? In a perfect world I'd like to figure out how to designate a single shot, short burst and long burst NOT just sequentially. The sequential might be fine but I think I'd make it a series of short bursts.
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Post by 2ndbat2 on Jan 3, 2021 13:48:05 GMT -5
I lost my password and this site with its "are you a robot" security frustratingly made it impossible for this old "Ludite" to recover and log back on so I am now 2ndBat 2. Incredibly I still haven't received my scream box so no progress thus far on that project. I have walked through the hundreds of gunfire sound effects and am excited about this experiment. My water cooled M1917 and one of my MG34s are going to be my mules for adaptation. Both already have LED tracer elements built into the hop up. This was a $40.00 adaptation performed by Tacoma Tactical and is an awesome modification.
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Post by 2ndbat2 on Jan 4, 2021 22:10:24 GMT -5
Wade have you managed to hook yours up to an AEG yet? What I want to do is video tape it in operation sharing the sounds from right at the gun, 20 feet away and a hundred feet away. Ultimately I want a report that is at least twice as loud and a muzzle flash that can be seen in daylight from 100 feet away. ThE hope is to tie initiation in with the guns trigger and a simple way to switch from single shots to short bursts for semi auto rifles and short bursts to long bursts for SMGs and MGs.
For individual weapons I am hoping something can be set up that's not overly intrusive. For MGs the ammo box, water jackets should provide plenty of room.
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Post by 2ndbat2 on Jan 7, 2021 20:47:02 GMT -5
I finally (just tonight) received my "fright box". Hopefully I will get a chance to experiment with it this weekend. First I decide on and upload the sounds I want and establish just how loud I can get them without distortion. The hope is to tie it in with and LED light for muzzle flash and set it up for remote battery operation. Next fit it all in harmony with an airsoft MG.
It appears to be a tight little package. I am excited to finally get this!
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Post by 2ndbat2 on Jan 8, 2021 19:59:30 GMT -5
Surprisingly the device I received is already set up for battery power and can operate off three AAA batteries. These small batteries can also power a bank of 4 tiny LED lights with as much as as 2 1/2 feet of wiring which will allow me to position them up by the muzzle. The bulk of the device I got is quite compact and should be easy to position in a ration can as might be positioned under a MG ammo belt being fed into the MG.
The hope is I'll be able to position one button for a short burst and another for a long burst which I can repeat as appropriate. I found a jpeg file that has about a 5 second staccato burst reminiscent of a .30 cal M1919. As well as a 6 second high rate of fire like an MG 34.
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Post by 2ndbat2 on Jan 13, 2021 2:08:20 GMT -5
So I set this up to contain three sound effects. A short 3 round burst a 12 round burst an a 20 round burst. They can cycle or I can repeat each which is just what I want. The speaker is quite small but at least indoors it sounds quite loud. Not much louder than an AEG (maybe half again louder) but definitely a cooler sound. Impressive for the firer but probably not so much for the target opponent down range. If every players gun had them the effect would be even cooler. The LED light array is just what I was hoping for . picture the blinking.lights road bikes use. I haven't rigged it all to my m1917 yet or tried it outside but hope to this weekend.
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Post by 2ndbat2 on Jan 15, 2021 17:02:39 GMT -5
To increase the volume I am mounting the tiny speaker in an ammo can and am going to try and mount a sort of megaphone through the ammo can with an OD colored grill that hopefully won't be too distracting and will help project the sound down range.
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Post by 2ndbat2 on Jan 17, 2021 17:59:04 GMT -5
I set up the M1917 in the back yard with the "squawk box" set up in a 30 Cal ammo can. The LED light effect is awesome even in mid day and the sound is amplified nicely though still not as loud as I was hoping. I need to see if I can adapt one of my little JBL speakers?
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Post by 2ndbat2 on Jan 18, 2021 22:26:50 GMT -5
I decided not to alter an actual WW2 ammo can. A speaker vent on the front wall just wouldn't look right and frankly I didn't want to ruin an actual relic . in Vietnam we frequently affixed an empty ration can on the side of the feed tray on an M60 as it facilitated smoother, more reliable flow of the ammo belt. I am not sure if that was commonplace on a .30 cal in WW2 but I suspect it might have been? Either way I think that will become my housing for my squawk box. It would leave the control buttons on the back sidewhere they could easily be accessed by the gunner and a funnel cone for the speaker would not be highly visible being mostly hidden by the ammo belt.
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Post by 2ndbat2 on Feb 3, 2021 23:25:39 GMT -5
So indoors it sounds awesome but it looses a lot of the impact outdoors. Its definitely cooler than the sound an AEG by itself makes but not as dramatic as I had hoped. The LED light is absolutely the effect I was looking for. This weekend I hope to connect it to a 4" JBL speaker I have.In hopes that there is enough juice to power more volume without distortion.
With the speaker facing the operator of the MG the sound is quite cool but not so much for down range targets 100 feet away.
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Post by norseman on Feb 9, 2021 22:32:37 GMT -5
/ Here is mine. Not happy with the speaker quality. But as a proof of concept it does work. Optimally it needs a better speaker and wired directly to gear box trigger. I’m sure the trigger board is a 99 cent product. If you could buy everything separately? You could build something cheap and more robust than it is in stock form.
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Post by norseman on Feb 9, 2021 22:34:38 GMT -5
So indoors it sounds awesome but it looses a lot of the impact outdoors. Its definitely cooler than the sound an AEG by itself makes but not as dramatic as I had hoped. The LED light is absolutely the effect I was looking for. This weekend I hope to connect it to a 4" JBL speaker I have.In hopes that there is enough juice to power more volume without distortion. With the speaker facing the operator of the MG the sound is quite cool but not so much for down range targets 100 feet away. Interested to see how well the new speaker does! Nice job!
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Post by 2ndbat2 on Feb 11, 2021 22:02:07 GMT -5
Unfortunately I am not a wiring sodering kind of guy. To try some of the alterations I am looking to do I am probably going to have to bring it all somewhere. The upside is they might have some simple inexpensive solutions for what I'm trying to do.
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