The Chopper Command Copters
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The front (white) chopper is the police version. Behind it is the green army chopper. Other than color they are identical. (More on the Army Version later.) |
The 6v Power Adapter Modification (At least, how I did it)
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This is my Police Chopper, demonstrating some heavy lifting after my 6volt power
supply modification. |
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WARNING! Since doing the 6 volt modification below I have been made aware of a problem. It will "back flow" through the batteries if they are left in the unit, giving them a slight recharge, but also introducing a very real risk of leakage, fire, or even explosion. This has not happened with my unit, but it is a possibility. I changed the way it did this mod, and I will modify this page, along with parts numbers, etc... in the long fabled "day I get around to it." Until then PLEASE follow this link to find better directions: WhirlyBird Central. On Whirlys Download page (Chopper Command Power Supply Conversion) you can find instructions on a mod that is nearly identical to my final mod, but it's available NOW on Whirlys site. Go to that link NOW. Really. I highly recommend it. But, please DON'T follow the directions below. I'm leaving them here so I can follow this format when documenting the correct procedure. But they are NOT the way to do this mod. Obviously, this is experimental tinkering I'm doing here, and any use you put this information to is at your own risk. It'd be a shame to melt down your Chopper Command (or worse.) If you've already followed this directions, I recommend keeping an eye on things, and not leaving it plugged in unattended. Or better yet, go to Whirlys page and re-do your mod. THAT'S the real way to do this. |
Having burnt up one set of 4 D cell batteries in a week, I could see that my chopper habit was going to get expensive. I'd read messages on the web of people modifying their choppers to accept AC/DC power supplies. Sounded interesting.
Now, my electrical talents are pretty slim. But, the chopper only cost me $15. In my extravagant adulthood, I could afford wrecking a couple Choppers. As it turns out the job was easy enough I got it right the first time.
Tools & Supplies Needed:
- Power drill
- 1/8" and 5/64" drill bits
- Soldering gun
- Resin core solder
- Multi-voltage 1000mA Power Adapter (Radio Shack Part#:273-1680)
- Adaptaplug 6' extension cord (Radio Shack Part#:273-1641)
(Note: The Power Adapter was a more expensive, multi-voltage unit. I'm going to try a less expensive, yet more powerful unit, but it has to be special ordered.)
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This is the Police Chopper base unit, along with the 3-12 volt 1000mA power adapter. Since it's a multi-voltage unit I made sure to set it to 6 volts. It connects to the black wire via a standard "Adaptaplug." The black wire is one end of the 6 foot extension cord. (Part #:273-1641) Thanks to the modularity of the Adaptaplugs, I'll be able to easily try out more powerful power supplies in the future. I drilled a hole for the extension cord to pass through on the bottom of the base unit. That allows me to unscrew and remove the top cover of the base unit without messing around with dangling wires. I've found that the 1000mA is only enough power if batteries (even mostly dead ones) are also used. I intend to try more powerful supplies available via special order from Radio Shack. Not only would they provide more power (1500mA or 2000mA, depending on model) but they are single voltage models, and will thus be cheaper than the 1000mA multi-voltage supply I'm currently using. |
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This is the base unit with the top cover removed. The added extension cord goes under the unit and up through a 1/8" hole I drilled in the base. (Green arrow. I tied a knot there to keep the cord from being yanked out and stressing the solder points you'll see in the next pic.) Before all this I had to cut off the female end of the extension cord, so it could pass through that hole. I then split the cord, and stripped the two ends. Then I passed the two wires separately through 2 smaller holes (5/64", I think?) drilled into the corners of the battery boxes in the base unit (Red arrows.) Be somewhat careful drilling the holes, so the wires won't interfere with the batteries. Also, make sure the (+) wire goes to the (+) side, and the (-) wire goes to the (-) side. However, getting these reversed isn't a really BAD thing, as the Adaptaplug connector can be flipped and used backwards, if needed. |
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Looking at the bottom of the base unit, with the battery cover off. Again, the green arrow shows the hole I drilled to let the extension cord pass into the base unit. The red arrows show the two smaller holes allowing the (+) and (-) wires into the battery boxes. The yellow arrows are where where I soldered the wires onto the battery terminals. I did this here because my soldering skills are pretty primative, and the battery terminals are really large here. Also, if I had tried soldering, for example, in the previous picture, I might have messed up the existing connections. Better safe than sorry. Having made the connections where I did, I can still close the batter cover fine, and I can still use batteries if I want to, which is a good thing. I did this soldering solo, but it would have been far easier with a friend to hold the wires in place while you manipulate the soldering gun and solder. A LOT easier. |
All in all, I spent maybe an hour doing the work, and could probably do it in half an hour now. Nothing was really hard. The placement of the first, larger hole, isn't terribly critical. The smaller ones in the battery box should be as close to the corners as you can get them, but again there is room for a lot of error there.
If you haven't ever soldered wire connections you should probably practice on some scraps first. If you're the type of person who solders PC card compenents and such, (far beyond my skills) this'll be a snap.
The Army Chopper Command
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Here's a better picture of the Army Chopper. It's identical to the white Police Chopper, except for it's green colored plastic. |
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This is a picture of the full Army Chopper Command set. Sorry, but it's kinda dark. The arrows point out (clockwise) the chopper, a mobile radar dish, a humvee, a jet, 2 army men, and a tent (hidden behind one building, and so dark it's hard to see, anyway. The circles are around the 3 buildings, a command post, control tower, and hangar. This army set comes with the playmat shown, the six (arrowed) pickup items, 3 buildings, and a light up control panel. It doesn't have a speaker. I think only the larger police set has sound. (Could there be another Chopper Command in my future?) |
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These are the two base units. They are identical, except that the police version is blue, while the army version is green. I didn't post a picture of the control units, as they are exactly the same, including color. |
Play Time
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Unlike many Vertibird collectors, and now Chopper Command collectors, I believe in playing with mine. Believe me, trying to fly two choppers, one above the other, and taking pictures at the same time, is not something to try if you are overly concerned with keeping your keepsakes undamaged. I had several wrecks, and the Choppers have proven to be pretty durable, as nothing has broken. (Yet.) |