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The Eclipse Ego10. This 6th Generation Ego is the start of a new
direction for Planet Eclipse and the focus of the engineering behind
the marker. For the first time since the inception of the Ego model,
the Ego10's main design brief and focus has been placed on smoothness
of shot and even finer resolved paint handling. Every previous Ego has
been developed with the express intent of maximizing the cycle speed of
the Ego design, speeding up rammer and bolt movement and minimizing
pneumatic and electronic delays wherever possible. Whist this has
produced arguably the fastest under-and-over poppet paintball marker on
the planet, it can equally be argued that the Ego has not been one of
the smoothest shooting.
Well that is all about to change.
Paintball is changing. No longer is the perfect marker the one that
will shoot and cycle the fastest. Today, more than ever, players want
and need to be able to shoot the most fragile paint, with the smoothest
shot. And this is the direction that the Ego10 will start taking us in.
Using
some of the very latest Ultra High Speed Video recording facilities, as
well as micron-accurate, 50,000hz sampling speed, laser displacement
sensing equipment, the Ego10 has been developed to produce bolt speeds
that are more gentle on the fore-stoke so that paint is handled in a
much more gentle manner when being loaded, and that opens the poppet
valve in a way that helps reduce sound signature, and then returns in a
way to help minimize the recoil imparted into the body by the rearward
motion of the bolt and rammer and reduce rear-stop rebound.
Yet
even though the cycle has been significantly slowed down, due to the
unique design of the direct-mounted solenoid, the Ego10 still has
extraordinary pneumatic responses that mean no time from switching on
the solenoid to the bolt starting to move is wasted. The result: Still
28+bps fire rates, but smoother, quieter, better-handling feel.
With
a smoother cycle, come other benefits. Wear and tear are significantly
reduced. Bumpers, valves, and all other dynamic components suffer less
brutal forces on every cycle hence longevity is added to each of those
components.
Mechanically the Ego10 incorporates some of the
technology of last season's SL94. The Zick2, which is an intrinsic part
of the pneumatic drive system, is designed to both have a softer
initial kick-off on the forward stroke, which helps load the ball more
gently and helps minimize bolt-strike breakage of the paintball, but
also cushion the system on the return stroke into its rear-stop
position. Both these attributes are key to helping achieve the
fundamental goals of the Ego10.
Sitting above the Zick2 kit
there is now a body-cut contoured Cure3+ bolt. The main body of the
bolt carries the same upper profiling and cupping as the standard Cure3
bolt, which massively reduces both bolt-strike impact on the ball being
fired, but also ensures that the bolts leading upper edge has the least
amount of impact possible on the second ball in the stack. Impact
fractures from the bolt on the second ball are common place when using
force-feed loaders, and the Cure3 ensures those fractures are kept to
an absolute minimum. But what is new on the Cure3+ bolt is a new
2-piece design. The new second piece sits inside the main body, is held
in place with the bolt pin, and is removable and interchangeable
without the need of any tools. The standard Cure3+ found in the Ego10
comes with a ramped insert that gives the air path from the valve to
the face of the bolt a nice smooth transition through its 90 degree
turn. But the real beauty of the design means that the insert can be
quickly and easily removed and replaced for any future upgrades that
may be developed for this bolt design.
Up at the front of the
Ego10, below the lightened LPR cap, there is now an additional vent in
the main body. This little vent hole is further testament of the desire
to make the Ego10 the most reliable high-end marker out there. The
little hole is nothing more than a vent, but its simplicity is its
beauty, in that it makes it impossible for any kind of HP air from the
valve chamber to bypass the internal LPR body seals and contaminate the
LP air that feeds the Solenoid and Rammer. This added protection for
the solenoid further enhances the durability and reliability of the
whole marker.
Electronically the Ego10 has also had a complete
overhaul. Of course the key features that have kept the Ego at the top
of its game, such as Opto and Micro switch trigger actuation, are still
there. But the heads-up display, GUI, microprocessor, solenoid drive
circuit and expansion socket have all seen some major changes.
The
four layer circuit board is home for a 16-bit, 16mips PIC
microprocessor, running at 3V and with advanced power saving features.
The increased number-crunching power of the processor allows for much
more sophisticated control algorithms, leading to a smooth and seamless
operation of the marker, and the 64K of internal program memory
provides ample space for future firmware expansion.
The solenoid
drive circuitry has been optimised with a focus upon the consistent and
repeatable operation of the solenoid and multi-level prioritised
interrupts within the control firmware ensure that timing fluctuations
are virtually non-existent.
Standards have traditionally been a
problem within paintball's manufacturing community and so the Ego10
expansion connector supports UART, SPI and IIC interfaces, providing
flexible upgrade capabilities. Planned expansion boards from Eclipse
include USB and RF interfaces.
The liquid crystal display module
(LCM) has been completely redesigned from scratch. This is not a
commercial display, made to fit into a paintball marker but a custom
unit
engineered specifically to withstand the rigours of the
modern game. The chip-on-glass design is completely sealed against the
ingress of paint, water and aggressive lubricants and is further
protected by a plastic surround which also serves as a rigid mounting
system. Transflective LCD technology means that the display doesn't
wash out in strong sunlight, contrast actually improves in brighter
conditions whilst using significantly less power than OLED technology.
When light levels are lower, a tru-colour RGB backlight can be
configured to the user's colour of choice via software.
The
viewing area of the LCM has been increased by 92% over the previous
model, improving the resolution while maintaining dot pitch and the
Graphical User Interface (GUI) has been overhauled in order to take
advantage of this larger viewing area. Readability has been improved
with increased font sizes; Windows pop-up with useful status
information; Range bars indicate the adjustability of parameters; Smart
Menus reduce clutter by removing parameters when not required.
Usability has been improved in a number of subtle, but important ways.
It is now possible to scroll through the run screens with a single
button press, allowing the user to quickly access all of the available
information; The tournament lock can be quickly toggled with the press
of an internal pushbutton; All of the user adjustable control
parameters have been grouped into a single menu and can be easily
viewed regardless of the state of the tournament lock. Along with the
instant and peak ROFs the two Rate of Fire screens display historical
data in the form of histograms allowing the user to monitor rate of
fire consistency and thus analyse the way in which the trigger is being
pulled. The Shot Counter screen features an adjustable and selectable
Shots Remaining Gauge which allows the user to quickly estimate how
much paint they have remaining.
All together, the changes made
to the Ego10 have been entirely player-focused. It's been designed to
be easier to shoot, smoother to shoot, more reliable, more consistent,
require less day-to-day maintenance, easier to adjust and just
generally nicer to live with. What you won't find different with the
new Ego10 is our industry-leading levels of customer support, our
commitment to support the players in the locations they use Eclipse
products, and our commitment to educating and training technicians and
service centres the world over.
An Eclipse Marker is more than just a collection of metal and wires. It is the Complete Package. |
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