(This article was first emailed on May 23rd, 2023 to fans who had registered an interest in finding out more about our Tricorder.)
Space is big … journeys are long, and as it transpires, so is this project
Season 1 recap
In late 2016 we started serious discussions with CBS about the possibility of developing a replica tricorder. However, it would take another three years until the stars fully aligned and we met with Greg Jein in Burbank to scan his screen-used hero prop so that we could properly kick off the development. After six months working with scan data we became increasingly confident that we could successfully tackle such an ambitious project and by the summer of 2020 we were ready to announce our development. Despite the havoc created by Covid, the initial development work progressed quickly, and by March 2021 we began these newsletters to bring the detailed story of this epic challenge to as many fans as possible with the expectation that as the story unfolded we were easing the project into production.
Yes, you read the headline right… pre-production has started with the first 30 units being built up to test the production line and provide a suitable quantity for functional, performance and final regulatory testing. Here you can see some of the built-up button PCBs ready for assembly into programmed tricorders.
So close but so far
However, even as we were getting ready for production, for many different reasons, the finishing line continued to be tantalisingly out of reach. It seemed as though every time we turned a crucial development corner a new and previously unconsidered issue came into focus. After a few false estimates of when production would start and 14 blog posts ramping up excitement, at the beginning of September 2021, we decided to stop trying to predict how long it would take to get the tricorder into production with potentially disappointing dates, and concentrate fully on completing the development. At the time, one of the main chips we needed was on a 52 week lead time and we felt that even attempting to estimate when production would start more than a year out was futile.
Moiré bezel mounting plates ready for assembly
Almost two years on from then, and nearly two and a half thousand days since we started scoping out the project, as we have now completed the critical component acquisition and as we move into the last stages of pre-production, we feel that it is at last time to start telling you more about the tricorder, and the final developmental steps that will culminate in full production in a few months time.
Texture and form combine to ensure the tricorder parts mimic the original thermoformed Kydex as closely as possible.
At last, we are happy with the textures and how they map over the surface in a way that is faithful to the prop, yet creates a look of a solidly engineered piece of scientific equipment. The aluminium side frames are precision machined before being hand finished so that the brushed edges match the top and bottom of the frame. Each of the aluminium parts requires a different set of processes and skills to make them – the 80,000 data discs needed for the first full manufacturing run are each turned on a lathe and then individually laser etched, while the cross bar is extruded and wire cut. As the software enters the polishing stage, the mechanical processes that need to come together not just to make this iconic prop but to manufacture it as a collectible piece of equipment are finally securely in place.
The aluminium side frames are precision CNC machined to provide the high accuracy needed for registration and location of many of the mechanical components that make up the structure of the tricorder.
We know it has been a long journey for fans eagerly waiting for news about the tricorder development, so thank you for your patience – hopefully it will be rewarded with a lovely product that is worth the wait.
LLAP
Chris
Coming next time
Captain’s logs – All of them
Fans who register with us will be the first to read our news and the progress of this exciting Tricorder development and, later, where and when to purchase it. You can catch up with the story so far here on this blog, but if you haven’t already done so, why not register your interest in the Tricorder – you’ll then receive a personalised registration certificate and early access to these updates (before we publish them on our website).
Glad to know that the project is still proceeding and that you’re making sure it’s perfect before its release.
“…the final developmental steps that will culminate in full production in a few months time.”
Hopefully this means the first production run will be offered for sale late October or early November, allowing suitable lead time for Christmas purchases. I’ll be savouring the anticipation like a glass of fine Tranya…
“…80,000 data discs needed for the first full manufacturing run…”
With each tricorder requiring eight discs, the first run apparently will be 10,000 units. Hopefully this will be enough to fulfill the demand from us die-hards who have been waiting with bated breath for several years, will sell out completely, then allow TWC further production runs to reap large profits (which they so very much deserve) from this complex, beautiful and incredible product!
Wonderful news!, it’ll be here before you know it!
Ich bin voller Vorfreude und hoffe das alles funktioniert. Macht weiter so.
What a coincidence, I just thought about the Tricorder and wondering if it was still on the books and I see it has not been abandoned. Warp back to 8 Captain!
Can’t wait until this Tricorder is finally ready for sale.
Nor can we!
Videre est credere! Almost 1 year since last post! By the time this is finished the real Star Ship Enterprise – will be retired for 100 years!
SUCH AMAZING NEWS! GOOD LUCK! I CAN’T WAIT!
I’ve enjoyed all the blog posts about the Tricorder tremendously. Has TWC considered making a booklet of them and including the booklet with the Tricorder?
That is a very good idea and a nice thought. We will certainly investigate the possibility of doing just that.
I second that, Thom—the Blogs are a wonderful chronicle of the whole process and I’m always a sucker for the DVD extras.
Best. Mike.
Agreed – a great idea!
Wonderful news Chris! We (well most of us) knew you and your team were still hard at it. We waited for the next update and you sure put out a great one. Anxiously looking forward to pre-orders opening up.
Thanks
jim
Chris,
Is this where I raise my hand and volunteer to be a product tester? I’ve got 11 years experience in both UAT (User Acceptance Testing) SIT (System Integration Testing) and Functional Testing. If you’re still looking for testers that is.
V/R
Dan
Add me to the UAT/SIT list…
As a veteran of numerous UIs and GUIs over the decades, and a fan of Trek & the Tricorder since the ’60s, I would like to believe that I might fit your beta testing demographics. Please, put me on this hypothetical list.
Best. Mike.
I’m guessing from the comment that production will be starting in a few months time that the end of year may be a possible release date.
I am hoping that pre-orders will be able to me made at some point, maybe even with a deposit for it. I am definitely looking forward to it, have been since I saw the prototype in person.
It has been a long wait but it will be worth it.
I’m desperate to have one of these suckers! Been waiting for so long, but…very happy to wait for as long as it takes.
Peter,
Look at it this way, its still coming. It hasn’t been canceled, it hasn’t even been stopped (just slowed) but it’s still coming. And eventually it will be here. Fingers crossed, it will make if by Christmas this year.
V/R
Dan
Thank you for staying the course and refusing to compromise on your vision. I have been content to wait as long as necessary for a product that incorporates all the impressive functionality you envisioned. I assume many here are like me, having spent hard-earned money on “convention specials” that always left something to be desired and a lingering “buyer’s remorse.” Not so with your replicas. I remember unboxing the Wand Company Communicator and thinking to myself, “this isn’t a prop… this IS a COMMUNICATOR!” I am eagerly awaiting to experience the same revelation with the Wand Company Tricorder.
Thanks for your support and kind words.
Can’t wait so excited looks absolutely fantastic it will be well worth the wait
Hi Chris, thank you for the update. I’m jazzed about the pre-production status. Given the level of interest and the potential ramp up time for production, how long after production starts will we be able to order the tricorder?
It’s a technical thing, we want to do it correctly and are working on a solution for preordering… more details to follow once we have a workable solution in place.
Thanks Chris
Hi Chris, when you have a working solution. will the preorders be available for Canadian customers who registered and how much would it cost. I have the communicator and the phaser i would love to have the Tricorder to finish the landing party set thanks.
Mike, we will hopefully be selling the tricorder from our own new store, which we very much hope to have up and running soon. We are aiming to make preorders available to all the people that kindly registered for news on the tricorder and we are still aiming at the cost of approximately $300(USD)/£300(GBP) but that is unlikely to include shipping.
Looking forward to the to the next update occurring on 6/22/23, it’ll mark the 57th year anniversary (6/21/66) of when Wah Ming Chang delivered the original 2 Tricorders to Desilu for Star Trek The Original Series.
Doug:
Chang received $286 per back then—$2,669.31 in today’s dollars. As they say, “just sayin’…”
Best. Mike.
Absolutely loving these updates, Chris.
You know what would be a fantastic future product add-on to go in the lower compartment? A medical scanner that functions as a digital forehead thermometer. 😉 wink wink.
Sooooooo looking forward to completion of this project , it is the final piece of the jigsaw for all us Star Trek fans 🙂
Hi there , have you an estimated final price tag on this sucker now. thanks.
We are still aiming for about $300 / £300
I’m absolutely thrilled to see this coming to fruition, finally! I was a bit surprised that my name seemed to have “fallen out” from the registered notifications, as I never got the email. I went ahead and re-registered. (Glitches happen, huh?)
As a mechanical design engineer who’s worked on many similar (but “real life”) projects along these general lines, it’s been a blast following your own development cycle. I’ve got a few bucks set aside just waiting for this to hit the proverbial street… but no pressure, guys!
I’m just excited to see it. Big thumbs up!
I am definitely champing at the bit for the next update, and all the other ones!
This is off-topic, and I’m sorry if anyone feels I’m hijacking the thread…
I remember first hearing about the comm, just before its release. I could not believe my eyes when I saw the beauty shots. Someone actually brought this to reality. This was a bucket-list item. When it showed up at my door… I was literally shaking. Truly… a childhood dream come true. 7 years later, I can finally admit that I would gladly have paid twice the price. It was everything that I had hoped it would be.
I took it with me on a trek to Ticonderoga, NY, to see the TOS set tour. It was a four hour ride, but well worth it. Sitting in the captain’s chair was the next childhood dream to come true. The bridge is all that.
This tricorder looks beautiful. I’m gonna a really dumb question: What exactly will it be capable of doing? I haven’t read all the blogs.
Thank you, Chris. Your dedication to TOS has made a LOT of people happy. I should know, cuz…. I’m one of them.
Hi Mike,
Your experience with the Communicator is a shared one, as well as your experience with the Chair at Jim’s. There’s an indescribable feeling to relaxing and looking around a Starfleet bridge. Its shared among those of us lucky enough to have sat in the Chair.
The blogs have been great and I encourage you to read more about this amazing effort.
Well, I’m not him, but I have been following very closely, and here’s what we know are there. Pretty much the typical set of sensors found on higher-end cell phones are present. Meaning, light levels, sound capture and analysis, acceleration measurement (including but not limited to motion and gravity), and certain radio-frequency EM bands.
How these are USED is a whole ‘nother matter, and that’s yet to be fully explained. But, we know that it can pick up and play audio radio broadcasts, measure weather conditions, and I BELIEVE it can even detect magnetic or electromagnetic distortions (ie, like a “studfinder” or an in-wall wiring detector) though that last one is not certain.
It can record and play back audio. I SUSPECT that it can play back, but not record, video.
There’s nothing it can do that a typical smart phone can’t do, and plenty a smart phone can do that it can’t. But… that’s not a BAD thing. It’s not designed to replace your phone or tablet, after all, is it?
The primary operational modes of this are switched by inserting different read/write “disks” into the first (rightmost) position. These don’t actually hold data, but “pretend” to. Their cores are color-coded and the tricorder identifies the disk in that position by color. It then and switches the device mode accordingly. Pretty much every REAL piece of data is stored in the “head” of the unit.
It charges by USB… it looks like USB-C… at the lower rear of the device.
The disks are non-functional as data-storage, but DO serve the aforementioned “mode selection” feature. (It may be possible to bypass the mode selection, but I sort of hope not!)
The moire disk (which I’ve always taken, on both the tricorder and communicator, to represent a circular monitor screen which shows electromagnetic fields in its primary mode) is functional, of course. I BELIEVE that they’ve built in a way of setting the moire mode to “stop” on a particular display condition… the “cross” mode being the most likely, I believe.
I THINK that the batteries are in the unit lower housing, though I would have preferred a pair, with one in either “side panel” of the device, personally. That’s how I always imagined the “real” tricorder would be constructed, anyway. The lower section DOES fold out, and has space for a sensor, or if you’re a fan of Leonard Nimoy, an Tootsie Roll Pop. You have to provide your own sensor or lollypop, however.
The top section is where the magic occurs, of course. The entire unit is controlled by three controls. One you’ll likely never see… it actuates when you flip open the “hood” and turns the unit on, and turns the unit off when you close the hood. There are three “button/knobs” on the lower portion of the main panel in the hood. Had it been ME, I’d h ave made the two outer ones rotational controls (perhaps with one controlling volume?) but those are merely pushbuttons. The central one is a pushbutton/4-way “hat” device, similar to what’s found on many game controllers. It can be used to scroll left/right/up/down, and to select.
The “modes” are defined by disks, as mentioned before. The disks have the following labels:
1) Archive
2) Audio
3) Atmosphere
4) Radiation
5) Logs
6) Planetary
7) Status
and
8) Orientation
What those all mean is anybody’s guess at this point, but a few we know about. We know, for example, about the recorded “captain’s/ship’s logs” from every episode being available in that mode. I PRESUME that “radiation” really is the “FM radio” mode (and perhaps “wire finder mode?) Audio is pretty straightforward, though it does appear, as of now, that there may be some crossover between that and “logs.” “Atmosphere” is likely using the temperature and barometric pressure monitors, perhaps also connecting to Wifi in some fashion to get forecasts and “trekify” them? (Lots of Android-based “weather stations” do the same, collecting standard weather forecast data over the internet or over radio signals and reformatting it however they like). “Planetary” seems to be a series of data slides relating to fictional planets and phenomenon in the Trek world. Possibly… hopefully… with some animation included? “Status” seems to be the “diagnostic and updates” mode for the Tricorder device… think of it as “service mode.” And finally, “orientation” might be a “user’s manual for the tricorder” in digital form, shown on the display, or an in-fiction “orientation mode for new starfleet officers,” or it might be a “navigation mode” using GPS and magnetic orientation features. Personally, I’d prefer the latter, but I suspect it may well be one of the two earlier options.
In ANY case, this will do quite a bit. But it will NOT detect Gorn in caves a few hundred feet away. Which is a shame, isn’t it? 🙂
Nice and thorough summary. Please note, the tricorder will not be able to record video and at present not be able to play video.
“…at *present* not be able to play video.”
Does this imply that the tricorder WILL be able to play video at some point after initial release, perhaps via a software upgrade? If so, fine, but I hope we won’t face a situation where us enthusiasts rush out and buy units from the first production run only to find that in a few months a “new and improved” version gets released with a slew of upgrades including video capability. Please…don’t that to us!
Agree completely.
I *suspect*, though by no means am sure, that Chris means the capacity exists for the Tricorder to play videos. But that – perhaps for legal/financial reasons – the software/programming required to do so is something that The Wand Company cannnot/will not provide. As such, after market methods may be suggested and/or offered by TWC or ‘enterprising’ third-parties.
Thanks for the detailed description. I am very much interested in getting my hands on one and taking it through the paces.
Ya know… if it can’t pick up a Gorn’s heat signature… then what the hell good is it?
Thank you so much for spelling that out for me. That was quite a dissertation. Honestly, I thought I was gonna be met with, “You’re a fan, and you don’t know?” Instead, I got the full gamut. Thanks for taking the time to be so thorough. If I ask anything else, I’m gonna get spoiled.
Honestly… when I was watching the show, I bought into whatever they said it was supposed to do. So, I didn’t have any great expectations as to its functionality, other than being some kind of computer/sensor thingy. Back then, like most of us… we had AMT’s Exploration Set. I think I was about 8 years old when I got it. I begged my mother to order it, from the Johnson Smith Catalogue. Remember that? Well… it was like the real thing, and it was good enough, regardless of having to majorly suspend your disbelief.
So, I didn’t really know what to expect of this recreation. No matter what it did… it was gonna look and feel like the real McCoy. The phaser doesn’t actually do what it did on the show. And it doesn’t matter. It was the real deal, and it felt great to hold. It actually looks like something you’d expect to be defending yourself with, in a given dimension. No matter tric’s limitations… I’d bet my paycheck that it’s gonna be impressive, on another level. Grained-black Kydex, with the aluminum trim… pretty damn sexy. Wah Chang was certainly ahead of his time. I don’t think he had the slightest idea how popular his stuff would become.
Can’t wait to get one very excited looks fantastic got the communicator and it’s fab it will be well worth the wait
Huzzah! Great article. I just finished reading the latest update via email called “Tricorder update #18: Captain’s logs – all of them” and I’m pumped! Fascinating journey to say the least, having had a Granddaughter and other major life events during what I now call the “Tricorder” period. I plan to record her over the years and have them for playback as my personal journey continues. Almost like jumping through the Guardian of Forever.
“MANY SUCH JOURNEYS ARE POSSIBLE. LET ME BE YOUR GATEWAY.” – Guardian of Forever
this is amazing news! I was concerned you guys might have given up it was so ambitious.. Really looking forward to seeing the finished product!!
Hi Chris,
this all sounds awesome and as a star trek fan I can’t wait to see this tricorder in action.
As you mentioned before you are going to sell the tricorder this time directly from your new shop.
May I ask if it will be possible to order here from Germany and will there be some different payment
methods as only credit card, as this is not so prevalent her in Germany as in your country,
perhaps paypal would be great.
Thank you for keeping us informed and all the best for your work so that the tricorder will be the greatest
device for Star Trek fans ever.
Sorry for my bad English
With kind regards, Roland
Roland, thanks for your kind words. There is no need to apologise, your English is excellent and one hundred percent better than my German. Also, please don’t worry, we will be making our tricorder available to as many fans as possible and we will be shipping to continental Europe (either from the UK or from a European warehouse) and be sure also that we will be arranging as many convenient ways to pay as possible, which will undoubtedly include PayPal.
Hello Chris,
thank you very much for your reply.
That sounds great and now my pleasant anticipation is again a bit more intensive my registration for the tricorder
I have to say that I can’t put in words how much work you put in this project and how much I appreciate this, thank you so much.
All the best to you and your team.
Roland
I can not wait for this one! Will there be a presale?
We hope to have a presale window and of course that will be announced first to fans that have registered with us.
Hi Chris,
Roland asked great question and your response was focused on Europe and the UK. Will you also include the U.S. market? As a Star trek fan who does not live in either the UK or Europe, I’m very interested in how I will be able to purchase a tricorder as well. As you may already observe from my past posts. I am very much looking forward to completing my collection. I already have the Communicator and Phaser; this is of great interest to me.
Eric.
Eric, yes the tricorder will be shipping to North America from our North American warehouse.
thank you
after you guys get the production of the tricorder under way and finished, please consider to do a phaser reboot. Any possibility of you guys actually considering doing a phaser reboot? I think the phaser reboot would sell out pretty fast.
Keep up the good work – Romulus wasn’t built in a day!
Phil
FANTABULOUS!!!! ( would have used the other Fword, but will restrain myself ), glad to hear that the project was not going to be abandoned, besides greg would have been seriously disappointed had he lived to see this through…But he is with you all in spirit. Sooo, have my funds set aside when the first units are available, to those of us who grew up with the TOS, back in the 60’s, yes I’m dating myself. Please keep us updated, good luck & expect to have my tricorder by christmas 2023/2024.
Will the pre-production tricorders make an appearance at any upcoming conventions? It seems like we haven’t heard anything in a couple of months, I hope the testing is going well.
Chris,
Any news on production? Will it make it out, or at least for pre-order before Christmas?
Think the price will still be around $300?
That’s definitely our target
I have ONE suggestion!
When the head of the tricorder flips to the horizontal angle as the television show displayed characters often held it, the display should automatically flip “upside-down”.
I know that it’s yet one more thing you’d have to decide whether to do, and maybe you know a better and less expensive method to make it so, without it happening automatically — such as pressing all three buttons at the same time on the tricorder head in order to flip the display no matter which way the head was angled, so that any user holding it upside-down can see and read the screen oriented towards the user holding it upside-down.
This avoids the need for reprogramming the motion sensors and such or even adding one of those to somehow know when the display is facing upward while the body is not horizontal… especially because anyone could hold the entire tricorder horizontally and not want the display to reset to standard mode, but they want the screen to be better legible while holding the head towards themselves and the bottom away from them.
I do not know exactly what kind of software is running your tricorder, but if you wanted seamless operation for this feature, and only wanted to have it happen after turning the head 90° to be horizontal with the screen facing upwards, it could be as simple as mounting one tiny magnet in a particular spot somewhere behind the switch buttons on the right of the tricorder head.
That would be one half of a tiny magnetic contact switch on the back of the head (under the outer head casing).
I have seen so many inexpensive components involving magnets hovering near a small, “Normally Open (N/O) Magnetic Induction Reed Switch”.
One could easily be added, hidden behind the cover of the black faceplate holding the Moiré housing screen, at the top of the housing case. That Disk Reader / sensor area seems to have more than enough room to house a normally open magnetic induction Reed switch without it or the magnet which activates it being too strong nor too close to cause any interferance with any of the Moiré screen or Disk Sensor components.
This is just an example link, and I am not plugging this particular source, but I am showing off what the component looks like and there are indeed other similar devices with slightly different specs:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/315363200537
Since it is normally an open switch, it does absolutely nothing and isn’t altering any of the Tricorder’s normal operations. Flipping the display head until the magnetic field comes close enough to the normally open magnetic induction Reed switch located in the matching area immediately under the middle of the head over that Moiré area would then complete or close the circuit.
The signal could be as little as 0.5A with a minimum
insulation resistance around 1010,
a switch current of 0.5A,
maxima charging current: 1.0A,
working temperature: -20 degrees to 80 degrees,
and a test line circle number or resistance of 870/5000Ω.
You have made a wonderful piece of electronic art with this prop, and I think you know well that if this hasn’t been solved yet, that my two suggestions are simple and the one involving a magnetic induction Reed switch has plenty of room to be implemented with this tiny revision adding maybe $1 to each tricorder manufacturing price.
I’m sure you could open one of the 30 you’ve made and literally just add the magnet to the head casing with any method to secure it to the material of the casing and 3-5 lines of code, one Reed sensor, two little wires attached to the circuitry near where your 3 button switch inputs connect, and it’s all done. Once it works with one and your satisfied, all of them that are already made and any in the future are easily retrofitted with this one simple addition to the design.
As you know with circuitry, that would then be a signal that can be interpreted by the tricorder’s OS instructions to detect that signal loop “closing”, changing a value of 0 to a value of 1 which activates a line of code designed to detect the signal, telling the tricorder’s OS to flip the display screen output 180°.
Otherwise, yes, it needs a button sequence to flip the display upside down. Even this simple solution only involves code, if you don’t want to add a normally open magnetic induction Reed switch.
Thanks for your detailed suggestion. I am afraid that the design phase is now completed and as we move into production, no further mechanical changes can be made unless they are necessary for the function, as doing so will only slow production. I like your optimistic view of product development ” literally just add the magnet to the head casing with any method to secure it to the material of the casing and 3-5 lines of code, one Reed sensor, two little wires attached to the circuitry near where your 3 button switch inputs connect, and it’s all done.” We’ve found it to be a lot more complex than that. In fact internally we have banned the use of the word “just”, because in almost every case there is no simple “just” about any changes to a manufactured product. Also, considering the use of the screen, while flipping its view would be relatively simple, the concomitant changes needed to the user interface and the button functions, which would then all be back to front, would cause significant problems for us and the end user. I think the simplest way to use the display looking down on it, would be to read it upside down, which for the EM radiation scanning screen and the audio display screen, neither of which are test heavy, that would work perfectly, or turn the tricorder so that it faces towards you, thus negating the need for a flipped screen.
“May The Force Be With You” oops wrong show…..just kidding ! “Live Long and Prosper”. I can’t imagine what the overall worth of a complete set will be worth, the Tricorder is the last piece I need ! It’ll be a sad, sad day when the last three remaining cast members pass away GOD forbid anytime soon, but I can’t imagine what the value of all three pieces together will be. Ward Speed gentlemen! An awesome task you’ve completed in keeping Star Trek alive forever, kudo’s