Naigon Electronic Spark Color SC2-R3 User manual

© 2013 by Scott DeBoer, Naigon’s Electronic Creations. Spark Color 2™, Spark™, Igniter™ and Naigon’s Electronic Creations have no affiliation
with Lucas Film, Disney, or its subsidiaries.
SC2-R3 SETUP GUIDE

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1. CONTENTS
2. Introduction...........................................................................................................................................................4
2.1. Color Mixing .................................................................................................................................................4
2.2. New in SC2-R2 ..............................................................................................................................................4
3. Getting Started ......................................................................................................................................................5
3.1. Important Notes...........................................................................................................................................5
3.1.1. 3.7v Power Supply ..............................................................................................................................5
3.1.2. Battery Protection ...................................................................................................................................5
3.1.3. Battery Brands .........................................................................................................................................5
3.1.4. Battery Size ..............................................................................................................................................6
3.1.5. LED Choices..............................................................................................................................................6
3.2. Spark Color 2™ Layout..................................................................................................................................6
3.3. TruDrive™ Separation ..................................................................................................................................8
4. Wiring Diagrams ....................................................................................................................................................8
4.1. Basic Wiring..................................................................................................................................................8
4.2. RGB Wiring ...................................................................................................................................................9
4.3. RGBW/RGBA/RGBX wiring ...........................................................................................................................9
4.4. Rumble Motor and Accessory Wiring ........................................................................................................10
4.5. Color Changing Crystal Wiring....................................................................................................................11
4.6. X-Saber Wiring ...........................................................................................................................................12
4.7. Single Color Cross-Guard Blade..................................................................................................................13
4.8. Full Wiring With Accents............................................................................................................................14
5. Configuration Editing ...........................................................................................................................................16
5.1. Installation .................................................................................................................................................16
5.2. Copy Files to your machine ........................................................................................................................16
5.3. Launching The Application .........................................................................................................................17
5.4. Changing Soundfonts .................................................................................................................................19

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5.5. EDITING SETTINGS......................................................................................................................................21
5.5.1. Master....................................................................................................................................................21
5.5.2. Blade Effects ..........................................................................................................................................23
5.5.3. Blade Color.............................................................................................................................................24
5.5.4. Audio......................................................................................................................................................25
5.5.5. Motion ...................................................................................................................................................26
5.5.6. Advanced ...............................................................................................................................................26
5.5.7. Accent ....................................................................................................................................................27
5.6. Format Micro SD ........................................................................................................................................27
5.7. Copy Files Back To The Micro SD................................................................................................................28
6. Saber Operation...................................................................................................................................................28
6.1. Idle Mode ...................................................................................................................................................29
6.1.1. Idle Mode Interaction Table ..................................................................................................................29
6.2. Running Mode............................................................................................................................................29
6.2.1. Running Mode Interaction Table ...........................................................................................................29
6.3. Saber Tracks™ ............................................................................................................................................30
6.3.1. Saber Tracks Interactivity.......................................................................................................................30
6.4. Saber Configuration ...................................................................................................................................30
6.5. Color Editor ................................................................................................................................................31
6.5.1. Color Editor Menu .................................................................................................................................31
6.5.2. Color Editor Editing................................................................................................................................31
6.6. Motion Editor .............................................................................................................................................31
7. Thanks..................................................................................................................................................................32

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2. INTRODUCTION
Introducing the Spark Color 2™, the simple and affordable way to get color mixing into your saber! By combining
the simplicity of Spark™ and the powerful color mixing engine from Igniter 2™, Spark Color 2™ allows an amazing
depth of features:
Color Mixing is independent of fonts –set each color set separately from each font, allowing all the colors
to be used with all fonts!
Easy setup –with only a few tabs in the color editor, setup is a breeze while still allowing effects
personalization.
Use the Spark Color 2™ Color Editor by booting the saber with the aux button pressed, allowing color-
configuration on the fly!
TruMix™ - hum sounds are mixed in real-time with other sounds
Six (6) sound fonts supported, along with Saber Tracks™; a mode to play your favorite music and audio
files.
Integrated MaxAmp™ allows for maximum volume with the 3.7v battery.
On-board 3axis gyro and 3axis accelerometer, using SaberSense™ for superb motion tracking.
22050Hz, 16bit crystal clear audio.
All of this now comes in a super tiny package –only 2.07” x .85” x .238” with TruDrive™ attached, and 1.75” x .85”
x .238” for the board detached! This board operates on ONE 3.7v Li-ion battery, making installation suited for just
about any build.
2.1. COLOR MIXING
Color mixing is done a bit differently in Spark Color 2™. Unlike Igniter 2™ which utilizes a color for each font, Spark
Color 2™ has nine (9) color sets which are independent from the fonts. A color set consists of a main blade color, a
clash color, and a blaster block color. These colors are stored on disk in the folders colr1, colr2, …, colr9. They can
be edited from both the Configuration Editor on the computer, or from the Color Editor by booting the saber with
the aux button pressed. The latter allows color editing in real time!
To change colors, simply perform the DualPhase™ motion from Igniter™ when a font is running. This will advance
to the next color set. When the last color set is reached, it will start again at the first.
When performing the retraction, the current color set is remembered, so that going to the next font will not reset
the color set. Going to any font and performing the extension will be for the last used color set. Inserting the kill
key or cutting power to the board will reset the color as the board always launches in the first color set.
2.2. NEW IN SC2-R3
The SC2-R3 release brings more great features to an already solid color-mixing platform.
Engage the blade in Saber Tracks™, and cycle through all 9 colors. Saber Tracks™ has its own color storage
and maintains the last color used; it defaults to the first color set.
Linear hum and linear actions ported from Igniter™, allowing the hums, extensions, and retractions, and
the swings, slashes, blasts, clashes, and lockups to be played in file order instead of being randomly
selected.
Improved LED driver for smoother effects, and cleaner audio.

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Alternating clash ported from Igniter™ I2-R2, to have the amazing, vibrant clashes on this board.
WS-2812 (NeoPixel) support for RGB string blades.
2.3. NEW IN SC2-R2
The SC2-R2 release adds a few great features.
Change the motion for advancing the color to either twisting or holding the aux button and twisting.
X-Saber, the ability to have an RGB color-changing cross-guard saber! This requires the purchase of the
XDrive module, which is sold separately from the store: http://saberigniter.com/XDrive.aspx.
3. GETTING STARTED
3.1. IMPORTANT NOTES
PLEASE READ THIS SUBSECTION CAREFULLY AS FAILURE TO DO SO COULD CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE SPARK
COLOR 2™ BOARD.
3.1.1. 3.7v POWER SUPPLY
Spark Color 2™is designed around a 3.7v power supply input. In general, the best way to run Spark Color 2™is to
hook up a single 3.7v battery to the VBATT+ and VBATT- pads.
NEVER HOOK A 7.4V BATTERY DIRECTLY TO AN SPARK COLOR 2™UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, OR
YOU WILL DESTROY THE BOARD.
NEVER REVERSE THE POLARITY OF VBATT+ AND VBATT-/GND. IF USING A CONNECTOR FOR THE
BATTERY, MAKE SURE TO USE ONE THAT ONLY CLIPS IN ONE WAY TO PREVENT DAMAGING THE
BOARD BY HOOKING THE POWER IN REVERSE.
3.1.2. BATTERY PROTECTION
Only use li-ion batteries that have a built-in protection circuit. NEVER USE UNPROTECTED CELLS AS THIS CAN
CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE BATTERY AND/OR SPARK COLOR 2™. IMR batteries are okay but since they are not
protected they can allow large amounts of power to the board and do not act like a fuse when there is a wiring
issue, so they are not recommended.
3.1.3. BATTERY BRANDS
Because only one battery is being used, it is very important that a quality battery is selected to get the best
experience from Spark Color 2™. From internal testing, the following brands are the only ones recommended for
use with Spark Color 2™:
AW
KeepPower
Solo’s Hold custom
Panasonic

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Sayno
Tenergy
These batteries have the best life and have the most consistent voltage output, allowing for the best experience
through the entire life of the battery. If you choose to use another battery your experience will not be guaranteed.
Specifically when using the Z6 LED, the only battery that Naigon’s Electronic Creations recommends is the AW
3400mAh 18650 here: http://www.lighthound.com/AW-18650-Protected-3400-mAh-Rechargeable-Lithium-
Battery-_p_4149.html, or the AW 2900 mAh 18650 sold from lighthound here: http://www.lighthound.com/AW-
18650-Protected-2900-mAh-Rechargeable-Lithium-Battery_p_3671.html. These batteries will not trip when using
all 6 die of the Z6 with Spark Color 2™.
Another good choice is the KeepPower with the 3 module protection circuit, as that battery can withstand high
drain. These are usually on Ebay; just search for “KeepPower 18650 3400mAh” and pick ones that have the good
protection circuit.
Finally, Solo’s Hold just released a new Panasonic battery that has the 3 module protection circuit mentioned
above. These are great as well and are highly recommended: http://www.soloshold.com.
3.1.4. BATTERY SIZE
The best battery to use is an 18650, space allowing. If that cannot be used, then an 18500, 17650, 16650, or 17500
should be used, in that order. 14xxx batteries and 18350 batteries are not recommended due to their shorter life,
and because those batteries may not be able to output enough power to run 4 die of a High Brightness LED
(HBLED).
3.1.5. LED CHOICES
When using Spark Color 2™ with a 3.7v power source the LEDEngin LEDs will not work well. This is because
LEDEngin’s green and blue dies require a forward voltage of 4.0v for maximum brightness. Thus it is highly
recommended to use the Z6 sold here at Naigon’s Electronic Creations. Other choices are the X4 LED sold by Lucien
Kane of the Imperial Royal Arms forum or a Tri/Quad Rebel or Triple Cree. The Z6 and X4 LED is by far the easiest
to wire as the positive pads of the LEDs are already bridged with the Z6 being even easier since the diode for the
red die is already built in.
3.2. SPARK COLOR 2™ LAYOUT
Before getting started, it is important to familiarize yourself with the layout of Spark Color 2™, TruDrive™ and all of
the pads on the board. This will help in wiring up the board for use in a saber.
The following diagram shows the important components of Spark Color 2™, with an accompanying table describing
what each component does.

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Figure 1 –Important components on the front of Spark Color 2™.
Name
Label
Description
1. Micro SD card
holder
NA
Holds the micro SD card that contains the fonts and
configuration for Igniter 2™. Make sure that the card is fully
inserted before applying power to Igniter 2™.
2. TruDrive™
board
LED DRIVER PCB
Driving board that powers the high-power LEDs from Igniter
2™.
3. Battery +/-
pads
BAT+, BAT-
Hook power and ground from a 3.7v li-ion pack here.
4. Speaker pads
SPKR
Hook a 1.5-3.0w, 8ohm speaker here.
5. Accent
Common +
VLED+
Used to power all three of the accent LEDs. Optionally,
additional static LEDs can be powered from this pad. The
output is 3.3v, and it is rated at 200mA.
6. Accent LED
pads
1,2,3
Each pad can hold one 20mA accent LED. These LEDs will be
sequenced by the chosen pattern.
7. Accent LED
pads
4,5,6,7,8
Remaining LED pads that are smaller in size. 28AWG or smaller
wire is required for these pads.
8. LED connect
pads
1,2,3,4,GND
Pads that hook the TruDrive™ board to the Igniter 2™ main
board. Hook the corresponding numbers together with a wire.
Pad 1 connects the ground, pad 2 connects C1-, pad 3
connects C2-, pad 4 connects C3- and pad 5 connects C4-
9. Color Pads
C1-, C2-, C3-, C4-
Hook the main LED cathodes to these pads. C4- may also be
used for an accessory such as a rumble motor.
10. Switch Pads
MAIN, AUX
Pads for the switches. MAIN can be a momentary or latching,
AUX must be momentary. Make sure to select the correct type
of switch for MAIN in the Config Editor.
Figure 2 –Description of each component.

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3.3. TRUDRIVE™ SEPARATION
Igniter 2™ will come by default with the TruDrive™ attached to the main board. If it is desired to have the
TruDrive™ separate from the main board for the install, then you can detach the two boards.
Separation is much easier than with previous board versions and can be performed by hand or with a small set of
needle nose pliers or forceps. Make sure to keep pressure off the middle of the board; hold it in your hands by the
two edges.
It is important to note that once the board has been removed it cannot go back on; plan accordingly before
separating the boards.
4. WIRING DIAGRAMS
The following diagrams are the most common to get your board up and running.
Note: It is very important that the correct resistor be used between the negative pad of the LED and C1-, C2-, C3-
and C4- to prevent burning out the LED for warm color LEDs. For Rebel LEDs if a red, red-orange or amber LED is
used, then a 1ohm 1watt resister is needed. For any other Rebel colors a resistor is not needed. The STTH2L06
diode can be used in place of the resistor and it is a slightly smaller part.
4.1. BASIC WIRING
This is the most basic wiring that is possible to get the board up and running. It is great for testing your Spark Color
2™ on the bench, or if you are doing a simple install into a saber that will have a removable battery.

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Figure 3 –Basic wiring for Spark Color 2™. This will drive a single main LED and would require a removable battery for charging. Note that a
resistor between the blue wire and C1- of TruDrive™ would be needed if the LED is red, amber, or red-orange.
4.2. RGB WIRING
The preferred setup of Spark Color 2™ is to use an RGB LED. This allows the use of all the popular Igniter™ specific
features, such as separate colors for clash/lockup and blaster, ClashShade™, BlastShade™, and BladeShade™, and
the popular R4 feature Saber Dual Phase™.
The recommended LED to use with this setup is the NECree RGB LED that is sold right from our store! This LED was
specifically designed to have the brightest possible colors throughout the entire color range, and can do vivid
oranges, purples and other mixed colors that other LEDs cannot do as well. Another good choice is the standard
TriCrees that you can get from the custom saber shop.
The following diagram shows the NECree RGB wiring
Figure 4 –Wiring up Spark Color 2™ with the NECree RGB LED. This setup uses RGB wiring and allows for full color-mixing for main blade and
blade effects. Notice that the diode for the red is built-on and thus no external resistance is needed!
4.3. RGBW/RGBA/RGBX WIRING
With Spark Color 2™ a fourth die can be utilized for even more flash effects, and even more main blade colors! The
following diagram shows an X4 RGBW, but any combination for a fourth die could be used. For instance, an RGBA
LED would allow for very rich purples not previously available under the standard RGB color mixing model.

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Figure 5 –X4 wiring that uses four unique colors instead of doubling up on one color. This setup allows for more varied colors but is not as
intuitive to get correct color mixing. Also, while an RGBW was used only the RED die needed a resistor/diode; if an RGBA is used a second
resistor would be needed for the amber die as well.
4.4. RUMBLE MOTOR AND ACCESSORY WIRING
When not using a fourth die the C4 pin can be use to run an accessory. For those familiar with the original Igniter™,
the C4 pin is actually a cross between the Crystal Pin and Flash- pin from Igniter™. Thus, it can be used for a single
crystal LED, a rumble motor, or any other accessory if not used as a fourth color.
The following diagram will show the use of a low power (3.3v) shaft-less motor that can be purchased from Pololu
here. If using something that required more voltage than 3.3v, the power could be drawn directly from the battery
instead of the VLED+ pin.

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Figure 6 –Diagram with a small shaft-less rumble motor running off the C4- pad. In this application the C4- pad is like the Crystal pad of the
original Igniter™. Note that if more than 3.3v is required the power could be hooked to the battery directly. Also, note that the C4- pad can
only handle up to 2A.
4.5. COLOR CHANGING CRYSTAL WIRING
With the advent of color mixing many people are wanting a blade matching crystal chamber to go along with their
build. If you want to experience this thrill, then look no further! The following diagram shows how to get this LED
wired and working.

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Figure 7 –Wiring with an RGB crystal chamber. This will have an RGB led that matches the blade color and pulses with the blade. Note that
all three pins of the REB LED have a resistor since power is coming from the battery. I recommend a 22-33ohm for R1, and a 1ohm each for
R2.
4.6. X-SABER WIRING
The following diagram shows the wiring of the XDrive and Spark Color 2™ board to utilize the X-Saber functionality.
Three NECree LEDs are shown; a TriCree can be used as well but resistors will be needed for all three red die.
Note that it is recommended to use a 26650 since the runtime drain for this setup is quite high.

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Figure 8 –Wiring with the XDrive for the X-Saber feature. If TriCrees are used then 3 resistors/STTH2L06’s would be needed for the red die.
After wiring this feature, not only does X-Saber need to be enabled in the master config, but also c4Percent should
be set to 95, and then for each colorset where it is desired to have the side LEDs engaged the color should be set
to a non-zero value. I recommend 100 as the side LEDs are short and running 3 high-power LEDs causes a large
drain on the batteries. So for color set 1, the following would work: C4COLOR=100, C4FLSH=100, C4BLST=100.
If you want to do something more advanced like having a color set where the side blades only come on during the
clash effect, you could set the following: C4COLOR=0, C4FLSH=100, C4BLST=0. This allows each font to have a
different cross-guard setup.
4.7. SINGLE COLOR CROSS-GUARD BLADE
If you want to run a single color blade with the cross-guard functionality, then the following diagram for Spark 2™’s
Cross-Saber will work.

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Figure 9 –Single color cross-guard wiring. This is almost the same as Spark 2™, the only difference being that the second group is controlled
from C4 instead of C2. Note that a resistor or STTH2L06 diode would be needed for each die if the blade color is red or amber.
The same as with X-Saber, for each colorset that utilizes this feature c4 needs to be set appropriately in the color
set to a non-zero value.
4.8. WS2812 WIRING
NEW IN R3. Spark 2™ now supports WS2812 strip blades! Wiring them has change a bit since the initial release, so
pay attention to the diagram below.
Notice that a resistor that is somewhere between 270ohm to 400ohm is required. It doesn’t really matter what the
value is, it’s just there to protect the data line. I usually use a 330ohm as it is a pretty common value.
Also, this example is using the triangular prism style, where three strips are wired in parallel. To save power it is
possible to just do two strips back to back, though I’ve found this increases the unsightly vertical shadowing. To do
this wiring one strip can simply be omitted since these are just in parallel wiring.
Finally, it is extremely important to use a 10amp battery with this type of blade as it does tend to draw a lot of
amperage.

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Figure 10 - Wiring a triangular prism style WS2812 blade with 3 parallel strips. It is also possible to do two strips back to back, though that
increases the vertical shadowing and doesn’t look as good when looking right at the seams. Notice that there is an extra ground wire from
the TruDrive to the main ground; this is recommended to ensure adequate amperage can flow to the string.
4.9. FULL WIRING WITH ACCENTS
The following diagram shows how to wire all accent LEDs and the recharge port, which will utilize every feature of
Spark Color 2™ (except for C4-). This will be the typical diagram for most folks that are looking for a build that
utilizes all the great features of the board without overly complicated wiring. Note that the accent pads 4-8 are in
the middle of the bottom of the board and require 28-30 gauge wire and surface type soldering (strip a small bit of
insulation from a solid core wire and push it through the accent LED hole from the top side and apply solder on the
top of the pad on the bottom side to seal).

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Figure 11 –Full wiring using all accent LEDs and a recharge port/kill key combo. This wiring will allow most features of Spark Color 2™ to be
experienced without getting into super complex wiring. Note that the resistor/diode is needed for the red color.
5. CONFIGURATION EDITING
Once Spark Color 2™ has been wired according to the wiring above then it will work immediately with the default
configuration. However, changing the fonts and effects is completely possible and encouraged by using the
Igniter™ Config Editor. The following section will go through installing and using the editor to modify Igniter™
configuration.
5.1. INSTALLATION
To install the application, launch the .msi file from the installer zip file. You can get the file from SaberIgniter.com.
A version is also included on the micro SD card that came with Igniter™, but I recommend going to the site to get
the newest version in case any enhancements have been made to the program. Click through the wizard until the
application launches.
5.2. COPY FILES TO YOUR MACHINE
Before opening Spark Color 2™ Config Editor you will need to copy the files you want to edit from the micro SD
card to your local computer. First, insert your micro SD card into your computer using your SD card reader. If you
do not currently have one, I recommend this cheap one off eBay: Micro SD card.
Then, open a new window and find a place to put a new Igniter directory. In this example the Igniter directory will
be placed right on the root c:\ drive. Create a new directory and name it “Igniter”. Then, inside that directory,
create another folder with the name of your saber. In this example, “Saber1” will be used.

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Now, with both the Saber1 empty directory open and the micro SD card opened, select all the files from the micro
SD card, and drag them into the Saber1 directory. When done, all the files should be copied to your hard-drive as
shown below.
Figure 12 –After creating a new directory called “c:\Igniter\Saber1”, the files are copied from the micro SD card (on the right) to the new
Saber1 folder (on the left). From here edits can be made to the files from the config editor.
5.3. LAUNCHING THE APPLICATION
To launch the config editor, you can use either the desktop shortcut that was created, or you can use the shortcut
from the Start Menu. Once launched you should see the program as below:

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Figure 13 –Igniter™ Config Editor launched after installation.
You can then go to File->Open, and the open dialogue will appear. Navigate to the “c:\Igniter\Saber1” folder and
then go into one of the fonts to edit. When you see the config.ini appear in the window, double click it or select it
and click open to load the program for editing this font.

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Figure 14 –Navigate to “c:\Igniter\Saber1” in the window, and then one of the font folders (font1 –font9) to edit. When you see config.ini,
double click it to open editing for the font.
5.4. CHANGING SOUNDFONTS
Changing soundfonts was never easier with the enhancements to the config editor in R5. With the auto-sync of the
app open you can switch fonts easily even when directly editing a font in the config editor. You also swap the font
before opening it for the first time.
To copy a new sound font, first go to the font that you want to change. In this example it will be
“c:\Igniter\Saber1\font1”. Navigate to that directory in explorer and then select both of the .wav files (font.wav
and multi.wav), and all the wav folders. I find the easiest way to do that is to select all (edit->select all or ctrl+A),
then hold control and click the config.ini and accent.ini files (along with the backup folder if already present) to
unselect those files. Then you can delete the original files to the recycle bin. Make sure you have a separate
backup of these waves before doing this.

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Figure 15 –Delete the existing font by selecting all the files, then hold control and uncheck ‘accent.ini’, ‘config.ini’, and ‘backup’ if it is
present. Then the selected files font.wav, multi.wav, and the wav folders can be deleted or cut and pasted into a backup location.
After the wav files are removed and all that is left is the config files and backup folder, you can copy in all the new
wav files from a new font. You can find these from online saber sound websites, and there are some free ones
available from my website as well: http://SaberIgniter.com/fonts.aspx.
Once the files are copied, then either open the font in the config editor, or if the config editor was already opened
to this font, simply switch back to the config editor, and it will auto-sync the font numbers from disk, and it will
auto-convert them to 22050Hz, mono with appropriate headers!