this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2025
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Shut up and take my money: A working Bluetooth TNG Combadge (www.youtube.com)
submitted 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) by IcedRaktajino@startrek.website to c/startrek@startrek.website
19 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Sadly they're unavailable, but I want one of these so badly. I promise to only be minimally obnoxious with it.

Edit: Here's the product page if anyone's interested.

If anyone knows of a similar functional Bluetooth option like this, pleas share.

top 19 comments
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[–] rogermccoy@startrek.website 10 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

I have one. I want to say ThinkGeek used to sell them, but I definitely recognize that backing as being from the same device I have.

It's cool and fun to wear, but not amazing as a Bluetooth device. Microphone didn't pick up super-well, which isn't too surprising when it's clipped on your shirt. Magnet would sometimes slip off if the shirt bunched up or something too. (I haven't used it in a few years, so I'm a little hazy on some of this.)

A Bluetooth version of the TMP communicators might have better success, albeit at the cost of having to hold your arm up for the whole conversation.

[–] alekwithak@lemmy.world 10 points 4 hours ago

ThinkGeek

Now that's a name I've not heard in a long, long time.

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 5 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

not amazing as a Bluetooth device. Microphone didn't pick up super-well

That's disappointing. Seemed to work well in that video, though it was quiet; I did wonder how it would fare in the real world, though.

A Bluetooth version of the TMP communicators might have better success albeit at the cost of having to hold your arm up for the whole conversation.

I've used smart watches for phone calls like that, and it was pretty annoying after not very long at all.

I could probably easily make a Bluetooth TOS communicator, but that would be two roughly phone-sized things to carry around, so not really practical.

OTOH:

[–] Davel23@fedia.io 6 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I could probably easily make a Bluetooth TOS communicator

You've been beaten to it, though they're not making it any more.

https://www.thewandcompany.com/communicator/

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 4 points 3 hours ago

Would love to have one of those. Guess I'll have to settle for 3D printing one and hacking up a Bluetooth headset/speaker to make it work.

[–] data1701d@startrek.website 3 points 3 hours ago

I wish there was a Lower Decks and VOY/DS9 version of this. However, I would cry a little having to design any PCB for that space, even if it's as simple as registering a button or blinking an LED with a microcontroller.

Honestly, I'd be tempted to just do analog FM instead of Bluetooth and basically just make walkie-talkies. You could enable greater functionality, perhaps including Bluetooth support and being able to make voice commands, by having a "ship's computer" that would just be a Raspberry Pi server or something with an FM receiver that could process the voice commands and route signals. You might have to hide it in a probe like a tricorder or a phaser while at cons, but if you're just handing out Halloween candy or something like that, you shouldn't have to worry.

[–] sramder@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Reminds me of the port-o-rotary… the guys at Spark Fun were rolling around Makefair with a million years ago. Like $500 to convert an old rotary phone into a cellphone you could carry around.

Shit audio quality, but now that I’ve got a few bucks 😅

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 3 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

I have an old rotary phone / bluetooth "headset"! Though it's only technically portable.

It's a 50's wall-mount model that the phone company would have hardwired (no RJ-11). I've got it hooked to a Bluetooth -> POTS adapter that will decode the pulse coding. It rings when my cell rings, you can answer/place calls from it, and you can dial 0 to engage the voice assistant. Technically speaking, I can absolutely text people from a rotary phone.

Is it practical? No. Do I use it? Rarely. It's mostly decorative, but if I'm going to have retro tech as decorations, I like to make it work. Next "wish list" is an old payphone.

[–] sramder@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

That’s awesome 😎

I’m old enough that I ~~basically just fart dust.~~ remember when…

The telco forced you to rent the phones from them, went defunct, got bought by AT&T, who then proceeded to send my folks an $700 bill for the “princess phone” they never wanted back. And now my folks wonder why I’m a socialist 😌

[–] shutz@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 hours ago

I would much rather get the Bluetooth TOS communicator replica that came out a little earlier, as a present for my dad. I wish they made more of that, instead.

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 2 points 4 hours ago

Nevermind the bad reviews. These things are from the future. Obviously they're not going to work perfectly for us

[–] ImpermeableMembrane@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Maybe I'm missing something here, but it says right at the top of the listing in bright red text "This item will be back in stock in November 2025 (New Version)".

So don't you just have to wait a little while?

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 2 points 4 hours ago

I saw that, but it's November 19 already. So they've either not restocked or have sold out already.

I clicked a few of the "Where to buy" links from the bottom, but only the non-Bluetooth ones were available.

[–] SpoonyBard@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I saw these a little while back and thought they looked awesome, but after reading lots of reviews on a few different brands, they all came to the same conclusion. It wasn’t actually viable as a Bluetooth device. Hard to hear for both parties.

Most said they just ended up using it as part of their cosplay, but never used the actual Bluetooth function. At that rate, you could find better looking ones or ones that may have other, simple functions, like just doing the sound effect when you press it.

I imagine if you wanted to create the effect, you could may be able to buy your own pin of it to put on your shirt and then wear a typical Bluetooth ear piece and just act like you are using the communicator. It’s not perfect, but you’d at least have a Bluetooth that is viable and just get the one that makes the sound effect when you press it.

[–] fonix232@fedia.io 2 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

Our tech is simply not there to put proper speakers and microphones AND a well sized battery in something so small.

Especially speakers. Volume is determined by the amount of air the diaphragm can move - and there's an exponential relationship between the size of the diaphragm and the volume of air it moves. Large diaphragm: even small movements (low amplification) can be loud because of how much air you move. Small diaphragm: even at high amplification, the volume will be low.

Smartphone speakers work this around by having an actually large speaker with appropriate sized cavity tucked away. Like, look at an iPhone teardown and see just how big the speakers are for the mediocre volume they can output. A combadge is what, 1/5 the size of the largest iPhone, in volume? And you still need to put electronics AND a battery in there.

It could work as a microphone, but not as a speaker.

[–] data1701d@startrek.website 3 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Part of me wonders if you could cheat a bit and put the speaker in say, a tricorder prop.

Looking at the size of the iPhone 15's speakers, I think it might actually be possible to fit it in. You might have to fudge the dimensions a little bit, but I think that could fit in a roughly combadge-sized space. The big question is getting the rest of the electronics to fit.

Sounds like a fun project for self-torture in KiCad.

EDIT: Another option to free up space would be to wear and conceal a throat mic. Heck, combined with the tricorder method, you could basically just make your combadge a glorified button.

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Laptop-style speakers may be just enough. It would be tight and maybe the badge would have to be enlarged slightly to accommodate it, though.

I did a deep clean of my laptop not long ago and was surprised at how tiny and flat the speakers actually were. They won't fill a room, but they're enough for light music or a Teams call at arm's length. Granted, it might not be good in a noisy area, but that would be a problem for the mic as well (not to mention public speakerphone use is kind of frowned on lol).

[–] fonix232@fedia.io 1 points 3 hours ago

Laptop speakers work with being small by adding a large sound cavity around it, which allows for the sound to be amplified.

You can't jam that into a combadge size while also keeping space for battery and electronics.

[–] WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

Vocera shudders