FreeTrack Forum

Hi, I just thought I'd share my new creation and how it was done  
I live in the UK and bought all the components needed from Maplin, Northampton.

COMPONENTS (Already lying around the house/garage)
Baseball cap
hook & loop fastner
Heat Shrink tube
Super Glue

COMPONENTS (Purchased from Maplin, Northampton (UK))
3 x LD271 IR LED's £2.16
1 x 82 Ohm Resistor £0.15p
10 mtr Black Bell Wire £1.79
10 mtr Red Bell Wire £1.79
1 x 9v switchable Battery Box £1.29


TOOLS:
Dremel multi-tool
25w Soldering Iron
Solder
6" Ruler
Pen/Pencil
Large Needle

METHOD:
I had decided to locate the battery box at the back of the cap, just above the size adjuster.

Measure and mark on the cap the position of all three LEDs in accordance with the instructions on the freetrack web site.

Grind down and polish the domed ends of each LED so that they are flat (this gives them a wider angle of view) I used my dremel but you could use a file, or sand paper.

Solder one end of the resistor to the +ve leg of one LED

Strip back about 1/8th inch of insulation and solder Red wire to opposite end of the resistor.

Holding the LED on the mark previously made on the peak of the cap ( I used the left hand side of the peak when worn for the first LED) Measure and cut to length the Red wire to go to the battery box (wire running along the Left hand edge of the peak, around the brim of the cap to the back)

Make two small holes (using the needle) at the mark made for the forhead position (2nd) LED (these holes are simply to facilitate easy passage of the LED legs through the cap material.

Push the terminals of the second LED through the cap (+ve on the left when viewed from inside the cap)

Measure and cut to length some Black wire to go from the -ve leg of the 1st LED, along the edge and half way round the inside edge where the peak joins the cap, then up the centre line of the cap to the +ve leg of the 2nd LED

strip back about 1/8th inch of insulation and solder one end of this piece of Black wire to the -ve leg of the 1st LED

Now take the remaining LED. strip back about 1/8th inch of insulation and solder a length of Black wire to the -ve terminal. Holding the LED on the mark previously made on the peak of the cap ( this time the Right hand side of the peak) Measure and cut to length the Black wire to go to the battery box (wire running along the Right hand edge of the peak, around the brim of the cap to the back)

Measure and cut to length some Black wire to go from the -ve leg of the 2nd LED (at the forehead position), down the centre line, half way round the inside edge where the peak joins the cap and along the right hand edge of the peak to the +ve leg of the 3rd LED

Strip back about 1/8th inch of insulation and solder this piece of Black wire to the +ve terminal of the 3rd LED

You should now have:

1 LED with a resistor and long piece of Red wire coming from the +ve terminal and a shorter piece of Black wire coming from the -ve.

1 LED pushed through the material of the cap with nothing else attached to it.

1 LED with a short piece of Black wire attached to the +ve terminal and a longer piece attached to the -ve.

Now cover all bare wires/soldered joints with heat-shrink tube.

Turn the cap upside down (so you are looking at the underside of the peak). Take the first LED (the one with the long Red wire) and  push both the Red and Black wires through the Left-hand corner seam where the peak joins the cap. The Red wire can be run inside the up-turned cap band where it will remain out of sight before being pushed through the seam at the back of the cap where the sizing band is joined.

The small Black wire can now be joined to the +ve terminal of the centre or forehead position LED. BEFORE YOU SOLDER THIS JOINT slip some heat-shrink tube  (long enough to cover all the bare wire and then some) over the black wire. Strip back about 1/8th inch of insulation and solder this to the Black wire to the +ve terminal of the centre LED.

Now take the 3rd LED and repeat the process in the previous two paragraphs, this time of course, taking the longer Black wire round to the rear of the cap and joining the shorter Black wire to the -ve terminal of the centre or forehead poisition LED. Once again BEFORE YOU SOLDER THIS JOINT slip some heat-shrink tube  (long enough to cover all the bare wire and then some) over the black wire.

I used super glue to bond the left and right LED's to each side of the peak.

All that remains is to connect the red and black wires coming out of the headband at the back of the cap to its coreponding coloure coming out of the battery box. Once again BEFORE YOU SOLDER THIS JOINT slip some heat-shrink tube  (long enough to cover all the bare wire and then some) over the wires.

To keep the battery box in place I used the hook and loop fastner (Velcro)

The softer part attached to the back of the cap, the harder, spikey part glued to the battery box.

PICTURES: