Hello everybody,
I am to do a presentation next wednesday on a very large display, so using a pen wasn't exactly an option, as I couldn't reach the top of the display. So I needed a wand, but since I carry all my presentation gear (wiimotes, pens, batteries...) in a small case, I didn't want to have to carry a great big stick separately. So instead I bought a car cell phone charger with a retractable cord at the flee market, and hacked it to convert my old telescopic pointer pen into a telescopic IR wand.
The charger thing had a thin cord that you could pull out, and a button to release the ratcheting mechanism inside and store the cord back inside on a spring-loaded spool. There are two contacts on the spool and two tracks on a PCB to carry the electrical signal to the wire. Essentially just the same mechanism as on any vaccuum cleaner.
So I opened it up, removed the ratchet button, de-soldered all the components, soldered a battery connector near the cigarette lighter plug end, removed the fuse and cigarette lighter contacts to accomodate a short LR1 battery (and reused the spring as + contact), then threaded the wire into the telescopic pen, soldered one of our beloved Vishay TSAL6400 LEDs to the wire, glued the LED to the pen's removable tip, screws the tip back on, and locked the entire telescopic pen / charger assembly into place with Polymorph plastic.
The result is a bit ugly but it's very functional, and there are no wires hanging on the outside. I tried it at work on Friday and it works really well. Here are two videos, one of the finished wand, and the other showing the reeling mechanism.
I hope this'll give you ideas for your own telescopic wand.
Take care yall!
