10-Hole Hero:
The Ammo Counter
THE MYSTERIES OF THE PULSE RIFLE AMMO COUNTER REVEALED!
This section is divided into two parts: Information about the Ammo Counter of the 10-Hole Hero Pulse Rifle and my attempt to build my own ammo counter. The second part is still under construction though.
First of all, it is important to note that the 10-Hole Hero Pulse Rifle did in fact have a "working" ammo counter for the close up shots, most notably the Hicks/Ripley scene. As per the storyline, ammunition was scarce and the Pulse Rifle was loaded with a mere 42 rounds at that time.
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Further shots of the movie show that the counter of the 10-Hole Hero Pulse Rifle was in fact static and set to a fixed number of 42 rounds. This is most notably seen in the scene where Ripley takes the elevator down to the reactor, and while loading grenades into the Pulse Rifle, the rifle shows 42 rounds on the counter, even though it showed 95 rounds just a few moments before when Ripley loaded the Pulse Rifle in the dropship.
fig. 1: Movie still of the 10-Hole Hero Pulse Rifle in the elevator scene, showing the lit counter (set at 42).
This is cleverly hidden most of the time, and in fact you are led to believe that the ammo counter counts down once Ripley gets to the queen and fires the Pulse Rifle in the egg chamber. However, on closer inspection, you can see that the ammo counter only counts down in close-ups, and you never see much more than the ammo counter window by itself.
Furthermore, there is a weird "third" screw just below the counter window that is not seen on any of the Hero Pulse Rifles, and most definitely not on the 10-Hole Hero Rifle.
It is likely that the functional ammo counter was mounted to an oversized shell that resembles the Pulse Rifle shroud and contained a fully functional counter, and was then shaken to simulate the Pulse Rifle being fired.
fig. 2: Movie still of the counter counting down during the egg chamber scene.
fig. 3: My personal counter with the rectangular segment displays, PCB designed by myself.
The counter used LED seven segment displays. I do not know what segment displays were available in the 1970s, but the screen-used displays did not have the current beveled edges on the segments. The segments were completely rectangular, which I was able to confirm for the close-up counter as well as for the original "42" Hero Pulse Rifle.
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Bug Stomper was able to find an old segment display with the rectangular segments. You can sometimes find them for purchase as well. These are individual displays, not double digit displays, so you will need two of them. Furthermore, these are not as power-saving as newer models and need in fact up to 20 mA per segment, which means that you need to supply up to 280 mA to display the number 88 where all segments are lit.
Build your own Ammo Counter!
COMING SOON!