The Origin of Ghostbusters' Belt Gizmo Prop!

One of the lesser-known props essential to a Ghostbusters cosplay is the "gizmo" accessory that hangs off of the uniform's belt. Fans of the film have uncovered the origins of that prop, sourcing its components to a vintage Sanyo calculator! Sean takes apart one of these calculators and shows how well it compares to the beautiful Ectolabs Gizmo replica kit, comprised of real custom circuitboards and working electronics!
Ectolabs Gizmo prop kit: www.ectolabs.n...
Shot by Joey Fameli and edited by Norman Chan
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#ghostbusters #props #replica

[@tested]

Ectolabs Gizmo prop kit: www.ectolabs.net/products/gizmo-8410 Join this channel to support Tested and get access to perks: kzbin.info/door/iDJtJKMICpb9B1qf7qjEOAjoin Tested Ts, stickers, mugs and more: tested-store.com

[@dogwalker666]

It's a nice kit shame the VFD tubes don't light up, it's also Very expensive.

[@feronium]

Very cool tech, though the glass tubes with 7 segment digits are vacuum fluorescent tubes and they switched to a compact version in the 'new' calculator. The Nixie tubes are quite different in that they operate between 170 and 200 volts and the numbers are stacked behind each other. The VFD tubes and displays operate at around 50 volts and are fundamentally quite different.

[@dogwalker666]

Agreed.

[@fena0701]

Correct, nixies are layered complete numbers filled with neon gas.

[@CworthDynamics]

Ahh - thank you for that! My bad.

[@nixietubes]

Yeah and the flat-pack display is panaplex / planar gas discharge not a vfd, nbd though

[@dafoex]

There are seven segment nixie tubes. They were sold under the brand name Numitron and, to my knowledge, operated the exact same way as a standard nixie.

[@Advil1024]

I like that fake ICs were created as not to drive up the cost of the kit. Very much sucks that they didn't even try to come up with a way to drive the display and just put some cheap RGBs behind the tubes. Why not take clear floral tubes and stick 7 segment LED displays in them? It would look just like the tubes on the prop but would actually work and would be easy to drive with an ATmega328 or an Arduino nano clone.

[@CworthDynamics]

Driving the actual tubes would greatly increase the cost of the kit and really complicate the DIY aspect and be a nightmare for them tech-support wise.

[@luissantiago5163]

Oh lovely. Cheers

[@aishalove9927]

Ok, those are clearly not nixie tubes. Those are 7 segment VFDs.

[@Lion_McLionhead]

Can't believe they threw in fully functional nixie tubes without ever hooking them up, just for the look. That's the difference between Tested & every electronics channel.

[@TobiasRieperGER]

IF you want a more detailed Story of Ghostbusters Gadgets, you should contact Dan Aykroyd. He was involved in all the stuff on the set, the props, ECTO-1, and i am sure the suits, too. There is an interesting video on YT, where some guys rebuild ECTO-1, and Dan was there and told stories about the car and many more...

[@Luschan]

The gizmo was one of my favorite things to create for my Ghostbuster costume. I was pretty loose with it and just tried to make an approximation. I took a board from a calculator, hot glued some plastic cylinders to the top, and attached a coil cord from a CB radio microphone. It’s not screen accurate, but it was satisfying to see it come together. It was also fun to make the ecto goggles from welding goggles and PVC fittings. Highly recommended.

[@nicholastosoni707]

One day in 2017, I hit Salvation Army and bought up every printer calculator on the shelf. Took 'em home, unscrewed them, and picked the one I felt the most impressive-looking. One of the "cheap gizmo build" instructions online said "use transparent pen caps as nixie tubes." I used pen sticks. When these broke off, I went "screw it" and bunged a dollar-store calculator display onto the board with mounting tape.

[@_b_9895]

I made one with a chip board that I gutted from a used up NES Tetris cartridge, then glued it to a black leather tape measurer holster, and I also glued a black landline phone cord to it. It didn't have the nixie tubes, but overall it looked the part.

[@russell28533]

The timing for this is insane. I just completed my own Belt Gizmo for my GB uniform. Awesome video BTW :)

[@manuellongo4365]

Very interesting - I am not into dressing up and having the accessories but I appreciate the attention to detail and work that people put into these prop replicas

[@stewartmcminn7773]

Dressing up = having a Halloween dinner with friends Cosplay = public events showcasing pop culture

[@geordimaul5380]

I believe the daughter board was from the mains adapter/transformer of the calculator as well as the cable

[@JCBeastie]

That would be logical.

[@dorsk84]

I have the same Arrakis t-shirt. I know it has nothing to do with this vid, just found it cool.

[@utubechannel8670]

Those are NOT nixie tubes.

[@JeffreySJonas]

The propmaster and I probably shopped at the same Canal Street stores in NYC: I had a pair of those bare Sanyo boards (sold them way too cheap) and "The Trader" was an Army/Navy store with pouches

[@4thdoctor284]

I always thought they were a diagnostic device that plugged into the pack with the daughter board. It probably reads error codes much the way code readers do with cars. It was probably made as an afterthought once the packs were nearly done so it was a separate peripheral that could be used in the field for troubleshooting/repair.

[@o2bsam]

[@adamjohns350]

Do you know about this calculator? I found one recently in a storage unit. It has a typo on the back that says "electronic calcurator" instead of calculator. Have you seen that before?

[@petermerz2704]

Very nice! I have one of those calculators in storage somewhere. I’ll have to dig it out. Thanks for sharing! Happy days and model on! 😎

[@dogwalker666]

As soon as I saw the VFD display tubes it was obviously a cannibalised early calculator, and the Sanyo resistor arrays were a hint to the manufacturer.

[@Voirreydirector]

Yup, I thought that was a teacher’s calculator! I used to repair them in school.

[@dogwalker666]

@@Voirreydirector 👍🏻

[@Frankie_Holt]

My mother had that calculator when she was in nursing school. If I recall it was a couple hundred bucks in the mid seventies

[@gnewt75]

Did this device have a function in Ghostbuster lore??

[@shinmusashi44]

Wanted to get this but everything shows as sold out.

[@RevNoch]

YES!! This is exactly what I was hoping someone would do, recreate the original PCB and manufacture them as new. Too bad they're currently sold out. Name on the list however.

[@tekvax01]

Those are *NOT* nixie tubes in that calculator! they are VFDs! _Both of those old and newer calculators are using seven segment VFDs._ Powering and driving those VFD tubes isn't that difficult; I could assist you if you wanted to make them function. I built a 11 digit nixie tube clock (time/date/seconds/days-of-the-week) clock from scratch, if you'd be interested.

[@martinfinne7259]

If the tubes actually are real I see no reason for not using them. Or as someone else suggested, if faking it, do it with 7-segment LED displays in tubes. Yes, it adds a bit of complexity. Yes, you will need something better than a 9V battery to power it, especially for the actual tube version, but at least it isn't just a RGB strip.

[@SethBradley]

The original tubes are neither Nixie nor VFD. It is yet another display technology called the Numitron. They were developed to be more portable friendly as they run off of 5V. They are incandescent. The envelope is under vacuum and there are 8 segments, each is like that in an incandescent lamp but run at lower temp so it is orange rather than yellow. They weren't used much.

[@tekvax01]

this was an old calculator. I remember someone (maybe FranLab) did a whole video on this calculator.

[@Cosplayvicar]

Love any video with Sean. Great ghostbusters content.

[@WilliamBlakers]

If you dont need to solder it would be a great piece to practice your soldering.

[@Onestringpuppet]

Its a shame you're not able to show screenshot from the movie to let us see what you're reffering too. I assume its for copyright reasons but what about fair use? I'd have thought a quick screen grab wouldn't matter.. it'd really make the video better to reference the scene its taken from! Love the channel, not sure who this guy is but seems ok 👍

[@leemarsh3569]

Cool kit. Thanks to Charles for another great video

[@MrDavidlfields]

Almost the definition of “Kit bashing”

[@daltontinoco7084]

This is so cool yoooooo. Thanks for showing this off!

[@NormGagnon]

Great video! Paranorman

[@sturdybutter]

Cool video!

[@Gazulolima]

it is pronounce "Sanio"? i pronounce it like "Sansho"

[@tookitogo]

He’s pronouncing it correctly. “Sansho”, on the other hand, is a Japanese word for a type of chili powder.

[@sapphiresphone7144]

Why does this only have 8 tubes when the original film ones have 10?

[@CworthDynamics]

The hero prop is 8 since it was pulled right from calculator - there were other reproductions and stunt versions made for the film that had more.

[@user-gl5ld9vm7i]

Thanks for your video. It's usually that Norm guy lol. Nice to see someone else present.