Clash-on-Flash without a Crystal Focus?

[cannibal869]

This is the wiring schematic I'm using right now.



I tried using the relay without the PNP transistor, but the problem with this particular relay is that it needs 600 mA to activate... so I had to come up with something in order to get it to switch. Now if you have a different relay or one that can switch on low voltage and current, then you might be able to forgo the transistor. I actually ordered a few different ones to play around with, but they haven't gotten here yet.

Please note - this is NOT a recommended setup right now.
I'm going to experiment with a few things in order to try to get the LED to flash a bit brighter.

-C

[Matt Thorn]

Great stuff, Cannibal! Right after I posted my last response, it occurred to me that you must be reversing "on" and "off". I loved the way you solved the "constantly on" problem.

I wonder if you couldn't use an NPN transistor on the negative lead, instead of a PNP on the positive lead? I know there are transistors out there capable of pumping out more than one ampere.

And I'm pretty sure there are relays that will work with lower power.

[cardcollector]

I have to say I am excited about this...

I am sad I am to stupid to help with testing...

[cannibal869]

I *think* I have a viable solution to this that wil drive the clash flash at full strength AND allow you to even have 2 accent LEDs, all with this Hasbro board. It won't be a replacement for CF, but it'll be more like a poor man's CF...

I'm estimating the total electronics parts cost to be around $100 (this includes a 10W LedEngin RGB(A) LED mounted on a star... more details to follow

-C

[Matt Thorn]

I *think* I have a viable solution to this that wil drive the clash flash at full strength AND allow you to even have 2 accent LEDs, all with this Hasbro board. It won't be a replacement for CF, but it'll be more like a poor man's CF...

I'm estimating the total electronics parts cost to be around $100 (this includes a 10W LedEngin RGB(A) LED mounted on a star... more details to follow

-C

Looking forward to more details. $100 just for electronics? Are you including the price of the 2010 Hasbro Electronic Lightsaber in that? I don't think I've ever spent $100 just on the electronics of any saber, though I'm so bad with numbers and money that I probably wouldn't notice if I had. (Note to self: This is probably why I'm poor, despite having a salaried job.)

[cannibal869]

Looking forward to more details. $100 just for electronics? Are you including the price of the 2010 Hasbro Electronic Lightsaber in that? I don't think I've ever spent $100 just on the electronics of any saber, though I'm so bad with numbers and money that I probably wouldn't notice if I had. (Note to self: This is probably why I'm poor, despite having a salaried job.)

Yes, I'm talking about total electronics parts (LedEngin 10W RGGB or RGBA, TCSS Speaker and speaker holder, 3 Trustfires, DPDT or DPST relay, PNP Transistor, NPN Transistor, momentary activation switch, Hasbro 2010 Electronic Lightsaber board, and TCSS 3W LED driver)

I've gotta get some better NPN transistors though - I got ones that were waaaaaaay too small and I think probably burned through about 4 or 5 of them in real short order. Oh well... time to get better parts. Also, I'm not entirely sure about the setup - on paper, it looks great, but in practice... well, let's just wait till I get a better NPN first. Also, I need Tim to restock some stuff in the store too (like the 3W driver).

I'll post up a new schematic once I get things working satisfactorily.
@CC - dude, trust me I am by NO means an electronics wizard. I'm able to trace out wiring diagrams, but a lot of the finer elements of all this electronics stuff simply eludes me... Luckily, I have a bit of expendable $$ to be able to afford parts to experiment with. Trial and error baby!

-C

EDIT: I would furthermore like to add my $0.02 on how much of a PITA it is trying to devise an electronic circuit like this without any real life experience or electrical engineering background... The sad thing is that even if I can come up with a feasible solution, I am almost 99% sure that some EE will come along, take a quick look at the circuit diagram, and propose something very simple and elegant that does the same thing. <sigh>... oh well.... back to the drawing board...

[Matt Thorn]

EDIT: I would furthermore like to add my $0.02 on how much of a PITA it is trying to devise an electronic circuit like this without any real life experience or electrical engineering background... The sad thing is that even if I can come up with a feasible solution, I am almost 99% sure that some EE will come along, take a quick look at the circuit diagram, and propose something very simple and elegant that does the same thing. <sigh>... oh well.... back to the drawing board...

Amen to that. Where's Eandor when we need him?

I sometimes go looking for clues on the Arduino forums, but it's not much better there, since so many Arduino users are artists, and not electrical wizards. I think sabersmithing has evolved a lot in the past couple of years. Who was building circuits with transistors (not counting those that are already on commercially available soundboards and LED drivers) two years ago? Today we want color changing, flash-on-clash, LED bar graphs doing cool things, instant text messaging, the ability to toast marshmallows.... What? I'm the only one who wants to to be able to Twitter and toast marshmallows with a lightsaber?

[Jedi-Loreen]

I'm afraid that Eandori has left this hobby I believer for personal reasons about which I have no information.

[cannibal869]

Hi Everyone,

I appreciate all the help and advice I've gotten from all of you...
I still need to get better NPN transistors - ones with better voltage and ampere ratings. Anyway, I wanted to post up the test schematic I want to use. I think you'll be able to get one accent LED out of this setup (I thought we could get two but turns out *that* particular schematic didn't quite work as well as I'd hoped).

I figure this should be more of a group / community effort since I'm starting to get to the end of my circuit designing rope. Sorry but my specialty (and day job) is really more geared towards reading X-Rays... Also, maybe if you see what I'm thinkin of someone out there in saberland will get some more ideas or come up with something that I haven't thought of. (side thought - I'm not sure I have the leads on the NPN transistor set up correctly).

Anyway here goes: This was my most recent proposed setup for making the clash flash work a bit brighter with this board. I guess worst case scenario, we could always just stick in a latching switch that you have to turn on after the board is on... I don't suppose there's a way to make a latching switch turn on a momentary board?? Cause that would be useful too...



And here is what I would ideally like to do - have the TCSS 3W driver hooked up to 2 trustfires, driving 2 of the LedEngin dies in series (both get around 1000 mA and should get around 3-4V each). This would also give you a pulsed effect when the saber is on (I posted a video of this in another thread too I think - the driver really needs over 7V for this to happen). Then have the hasbro soundboard for the sound, accent LED and also the clash flash effect.

[Matt Thorn]

Cannibal, a TIP120 NPN transistor has a peak DC collector current of a whopping 5 amperes. It's about the size and shape of a standard 5V voltage regulator. If you need a smaller package, the BC63916 (at 1 ampere) is the most powerful one I know of in the TO-92 package.

And, yeah, it looks like you have the NPN wired wrong. As the name implies, it's Negative-Positive-Negative, so the leads on both sides should be negative, and the lead in the middle should be positive.

For a high-output PNP, you could try a KSA940 (1.5 A) or a BD242 (3A).

As for the second diagram, you're not planning on two separate battery packs, are you? Two 14500 li-ions is more than enough to run the whole thing. You would just wire them in parallel, and put a 5V voltage regulator between the battery pack and the Hasbro board.

P.S.: That's a bummer about Eandori, J-Lo. I have great respect for him. I hope he'll find his way back here eventually.