2 Biggies this Month

So between now and mid-May, I'll be focusing on two mods that cover both sides of the hobbies I cover on here.

Older versions of the Pulse Rifle
required me to wear external sensors

On the Laser Tag side, I'll be working on my M41A Pulse Rifle, preparing it for the next summer season of tagging and making it compatible with the Lazer Tag Phoenixes we'll be switching to.  The switch to the LTX isn't quite as simple as a recasing, like my LTX DMR did last season (though it can hardly be called "simple"!).  We are not only installing our own custom-programmed Arduino boards to run the software for these blasters, but will also be installing embedded sensors into the Pulse Rifle's body.  Unlike a Sensor Dome that the LTTO and LTX blasters utilize to record hits during games, the M41A will have 4 sensors that are placed on easily concealable parts of the blaster (in between the vents on the front, above the main barrel, along the top rail) and there will also be red LED lights installed on the blaster that will light up when it is hit.  It'll function just like a blaster with a sensor dome, but instead of an unsightly dome sitting somewhere on my beautiful Pulse Rifle, the design will retain it's iconic appearance while hiding these sensors on the body.  It's a transition from being a Laser Challenge blaster (with external sensors worn on the user) to a LTTO/LTX blaster (with sensors on the blaster) that won't be too noticeable, but requires a great deal of re-wiring and internal construction.

The other project is obviously on the Nerf side of things.  I've been working with my Whiteout Longstrike recently, messing with an Orange Mod Works Massacre kit and ordering the Xplorer grip for it.  But once all of THAT comes together, I'll be weighing my options to see if I want to use it as my main blaster or if the Elite Longshot project that I'm working on is a better pick.  As it stands, the Elite Longshot performs a little better, but I would like to get this Longstrike up to par with it for some odd reason.  I'll probably end up switching between the two, as both are high-performing blasters and are comfortable to use in games, but after my initial tests with the Longshot vs the Longstrike, I was kind of bummed the Longstrike didn't do better.  I'll be trying things out to improve that.

Keep it here for updates on these two projects as I hone my spare time on these areas.  I'll also be doing a full review of the Longstrike grip from Xplorer, so stay tuned for that.