# Touchtone control



## Dr Morbius

I have a question I hope...REALLY HOPE there is an answer to regarding the use of touch tones for control.

I guess I should elaborate a little.
Everyone is familiar with Touchtones in thier phone, right? There is an inexpensive IC Chip that can decode up to 16 piared tones an average land based touchtone phone can produce..(Actually, phones only use 12, but 16 are available for decoding), and this got me thinking about using this for talking skull control. Imagine recording a tone, uploading it to your MP3 player on the left channel, audio on the right. The Chip would decode the tone, and send a latched signal to a relay turning on a DC motor in the jaw. The tone stops, but since the signal is latched, it will stay on. The work around is record another tone the relay isn't hooked onto and play that, turning off the relay. Ok, so we have potentially 12-16 relays we can control using the left channel of ONE mp3 player...pretty neat, huh? I thought so, until I played out the design in my mind and realized only one signal can be sent at a time....bummer for multiple skulls singing a group song where more than one skull needs to open thier jaw at the same time...


Question: Is there a way to, 1. Unlatch the signal. 2. have multiple signals decoded at the same time? 


Does this make sense? I really think a controller like this would be awesome, CHEAP, and easy, but it needs to work simultaneously to be practical. Anyone?


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## Sickie Ickie

you may be on to something there, Doc. I'd be interested in hearing the answer.


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## Dr Morbius

My guess is that it may be possible to unlatch the signal, but not have multiple tones going at the same time. I really hope I'm missing something and someone has an answer to that one. It would be SOOO COOL to control multiple Boris skulls from one Mp3 player.


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## Sickie Ickie

you're not kidding, dude!


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## Dr Morbius

Yup...imagine. Get an old touch tone phone. Hook up the IC decoder circuit. Record in REAL TIME the switches as the audio plays. Use Audicity to mix the signals, then upload them to the left channel of your mp3 player, the right channel with audio. Now you would have one mp3 player and one simple circuit controlling all those relays. It would really work that way but only one relay at a time so far as I can tell. Maybe not for skulls, but a wiper motor goes on controlling your hangman with audio, then a fog machine goes while a strobe turns on...I mean, even if it doesn't work with multiple skulls, it's still a pretty neat control device.


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## Revenant

And for different people who have different set-ups and equipment, there's no other cross-platform decoding necessary. You just change CDs. Everyone could share their controller recordings because they're an audio track on the CD. Somebody trades Grim Grinning Ghosts for a barbershop quartet of I Ain't Got Nobody with someone accross the country in a minute online.

You are on to something big methinks.


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## pshort

Looking up DTMF on wikipedia, it seems that a DTMF decoder should be able to decode a signal as short as 45 ms long. So if you have latches external to the decoder, you should be able to control several motors more or less simultaneously with one channel as long as the time accuracy doesn't need to be much better than 1 sec.

Also, it might be useful to consider using multiple LM567 tone decoders instead of the DTMF chip, since this thing doesn't need to be limited to the capabilities of POTS.


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## Phil

What a cool idea - just read a bit of this kit assembly instruction and it seemed interesting.


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## pshort

What is the best price that you've found?


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## Phil

If you are referring to the kit, it seems to be $24.95 everywhere.


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## pshort

Hmm...a bit pricey, especially since DM is proposing an external latch board as well.

If I were doing it, I would skip the DTMF decoder and latches altogether, unless there are cheaper kits/parts available. Instead I'd use a bunch of LM567/NE567/SE567 tone decoders. Each decoder would be activated by one tone, with the selected frequencies far enough apart that standard tolerance caps/resistors could be used. Each output (motor) would be controlled by one decoder, with the presence of the tone activating the motor. The decoders cost around $2.00 from Digikey (subject to their minimum order), and I'd just put them on one of the little 1.75"x1.75" perfboards (276-148 or 276-159) from Radio Shack.


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## Dr Morbius

pshort said:


> Hmm...a bit pricey, especially since DM is proposing an external latch board as well.
> 
> If I were doing it, I would skip the DTMF decoder and latches altogether, unless there are cheaper kits/parts available. Instead I'd use a bunch of LM567/NE567/SE567 tone decoders. Each decoder would be activated by one tone, with the selected frequencies far enough apart that standard tolerance caps/resistors could be used. Each output (motor) would be controlled by one decoder, with the presence of the tone activating the motor. The decoders cost around $2.00 from Digikey (subject to their minimum order), and I'd just put them on one of the little 1.75"x1.75" perfboards (276-148 or 276-159) from Radio Shack.


Sounds good...Which frequencies would you select? Seems that the phone company has done the research for us given the sinusoidal wave frequncies that won't interfer with each other has already been determined...
DTMF keypad frequencies (with sound clips)1209 Hz1336 Hz1477 Hz1633 Hz697 Hz123A770 Hz456B852 Hz789C941 Hz*0#D


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## Moon Dog




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## pshort

How many control channels do you want for each mp3 left-channel?

In any case, the scheme that I mentioned only really needs to have the frequencies differing by more than 10% to take into account component tolerances (the DTMF frequencies were selected, I'm sure, with the limitations of the phone system in mind, and perhaps based on prior network capabilities). So, perhaps 600 hz, 700 hz, 820 Hz, 950 Hz, 1110 Hz, 1300 Hz, 1500 Hz and so forth up to perhaps 5100 Hz. That is, if that there is a need for that many channels (16). The other thing that needs to be investigated is how does an mp3 encoder/decoder pair treat these signals. Part of the mp3 compression scheme is remove signals that the human ear can't really perceive, such as a low-volume tone right next in frequency to a high-volume tone.

Incidently, what are you thinking of for turning the mp3 player on and off, or would it be running continuously in some sort of loop?


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## Dr Morbius

I think it wouldn't matter what is used to turn it on or off..If I were to automate that I would hack the play button and have something like VSA turn it on or off, but in this application a loop would be ok seeing as how an mp3 player can be set to repeat. Also, I agree the frequencies may have been chosen for DTMF because of network limitations, but also I read somewhere they were chosen so as not to interfere with each other. 

I think 16 control channels would be enough to encode.


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## Dr Morbius

Oh, the decoder converts the tones into binary:

"1"--0000
"2"--0001
"3"--0010
"A"--0011
"4"--0100
"5"--0101
"6"--0110
"B"--0111
"7"--1000
"8"--1001
"9"--1010
"C"--1011
"Star"--1100
"0"--1101
"Octothorp"--1110
"D"--1111


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## Dr Morbius

Hmmm....I just thought of something. If there are 4 bits in each byte, then you CAN have 4 skulls open thier mouths at once..the key "D"= 1111...4 on states. Think of each byte as a combination where the number 1 = an open jaw. Programming it would be difficult manually though. Maybe I can find a tone generator software for free, then you can program the tones as you need the jaws to open in sync with audio. I'm gonna play around with this. True, this limits the prop to 4 skulls, but that's still pretty cool using 1 mp3 player, and one off the shelf decoder kit...I did find one for about 25 bucks. The only added cost would be relays and a perf board.


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## Dr Morbius

Found a Java applet...getting close..
http://www.dsptutor.freeuk.com/dtmf/TG102.html


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## Dr Morbius

Ok, I found a cool generator. It's free, and you can program pauses into it. I don't know how many numbers it's limied to, but you can always copy the tones to Audacity for an unlimited length. I wrote the digits in Notepad and used the clipboard feature to paste it in. To record the tones, you may need to use windows sound recorder. I haven't figured out how to sync with audio yet.


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## Dr Morbius

Seems like I'm talking to myself..I must be going insane.


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## pshort

How many motors do you want to control? Four, with simple on/off for each motor?


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## Dr Morbius

I would think that since the off te shelf decoder IC has 4 bit bytes, then yes. 4 skulls one for each bit may be the easiest. Or not, I dunno. I'm leaning more toward your idea of a dedicated chip for each skull. Lets keep it simple then and keep it at 4. I suppose we could always add chips later. And yes, simple on off for each motor.


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## pshort

At one point I was thinking of one bit per motor, so each output from the DTMF decoder would drive one motor (with some sort of switch to make sure that it returns to the start point when power is removed). However, there is too much chance of a glitch causing problems when changing outputs.

I found the 567 decoders for about $.45 at the http://www.futurlec.com site.


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## Dr Morbius

I take it these aren't DTMF decoders. But at that price, it may be worth a look. How would this circuit work?


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## pshort

Each LM567 (with a few resistors and caps) decodes one tone (rather than a pair of tones as with DTMF).

The NE567 is essentially the same part (from Philips), and the datasheet is a bit better than the National datasheet. The circuit that you need is essentially the one on the 'block diagram' on the first page of the following datasheet, multiplied n times for the n channels that you need. The xx567 by itself is probably not good for the current that you'll need, so you'll also need a PNP transistor, base resistor and maybe a catch diode for controlling the motor(s). At this point my computer with the schematic software on it is not set up, so this is the best that I can do for now.

http://f5ad.free.fr/Docs_Composants/NE567.pdf


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## Phil

Wondered if there is any update on this before I drop the money on the kit?


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## Koumajutsu

Dr Morbius said:


> Oh, the decoder converts the tones into binary:
> 
> "1"--0000
> "2"--0001
> "3"--0010
> "A"--0011
> "4"--0100
> "5"--0101
> "6"--0110
> "B"--0111
> "7"--1000
> "8"--1001
> "9"--1010
> "C"--1011
> "Star"--1100
> "0"--1101
> "Octothorp"--1110
> "D"--1111


Dr M, you can always take that 4 bit output and run that into a demux chip
something like the 74HC154

Link to Datasheet

then that 4 bit output would drive 16 functions again


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## Phil

Found a 'kit' with the 8870 at $7 a piece ($5 kit, $2 shipping). Description:
_8870 - DTMF Decoder Chip Kit
Includes either a Zarlink MT8870D chip or Clare M8870-01 in PDIP-18 package, color burst crystal, socket, three precision resistors and 2 caps_.
http://www.wulfden.org/SpecialSale/index.shtml
I am not at all familiar with this place, just thought it was interesting.


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## Bilbo

Not pretending to understand anything that you guys are talking about, but I ran into this while surfing... doesn't look like he's gotten it working, but may be a good jumping off point. http://omarshauntedtrail.com/omarsh...g Talking Props/Multichannel Audio Player.pdf


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## Phil

Just reviving this long enough to check if anyone has pursued this notion. I am finally going to order some decoders unless someone has found it fruitless. Thanks!


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## Dr Morbius

Holy crap I forgot all about this thread.


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## hpropman

Dr M,

You can run each of the four bits into a microcontroller to control a mouth servo or a transistor for a hacked prop with motor mouth control. I use a picaxe 08M in my sound boards and they work great and at about $3 a chip fairly reasonable. The chips can be programed to latch on for any length of time that you desired I normally use 70ms any less than that and the mouth chatters. See my joking skellies for this circuit in action. the 08M on the board listens for a pulse from the sound section of the board and then moves the servo and then returns to the original position when no sound is playing. It mimics speech fairly accurately. I have listed the Picaxe program below if anyone is interested. Please let me know if you have any questions. Note everything after the ' is a comment the formatting did not carry over properly the comments should have been tabbed to the right.

input 3
servo 2,180 'servo movement check
pause 1000
servo 2,150
pause 1000
servo 2,211 'close mouth and then start the loop
goto start 'Start loop

closed:	servo 2,211
pause 30
goto start

start:	if pin3 = 1 then open 'Check to see if mouth open (high) is present.
goto start 'continue checking until pin 3 goes high

open: servo 2,170 'pin 3 went high open mouth
pause 70 'wait 70 ms or mouth chatters

check:	if pin3 = 0 then closed	'check to see if pin 3 went low go to close mouth if low
goto check 'continue checking until pin 3 goes low



Dr Morbius said:


> Hmmm....I just thought of something. If there are 4 bits in each byte, then you CAN have 4 skulls open thier mouths at once..the key "D"= 1111...4 on states. Think of each byte as a combination where the number 1 = an open jaw. Programming it would be difficult manually though. Maybe I can find a tone generator software for free, then you can program the tones as you need the jaws to open in sync with audio. I'm gonna play around with this. True, this limits the prop to 4 skulls, but that's still pretty cool using 1 mp3 player, and one off the shelf decoder kit...I did find one for about 25 bucks. The only added cost would be relays and a perf board.


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## Phil

Alright I blame Dr. M, but I cannot let this thing go. I finally got a 75T2090 transceiver. I know nothing about circuit design but patched something together based on several other circuits. If one of you smart folks would take a peek to let me know how far off I am it would be most appreciated.


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## joshua17ss2

Hey
The DTMF tones are the same thing that they use in the Disney specter magic parade, its used to sequence all the lights and keep everything in running with the timing so this defiantly has some huge possibility. 
also 
audacity has its own tone generator programmed right in for the DTMF stuff. just click the generate tab and you can enter any number as long as you want it to be. save some copying and pasting


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## Phil

Joshua, thanks for the info! I had no idea that this type of control system was used by Disney, nor that Audacity was already equipped with a generator.
I hope to get some feedback on the circuit before building it, but if not I will plunge ahead.
Thanks man!


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## hpropman

Phil said:


> Alright I blame Dr. M, but I cannot let this thing go. I finally got a 75T2090 transceiver. I know nothing about circuit design but patched something together based on several other circuits. If one of you smart folks would take a peek to let me know how far off I am it would be most appreciated.


Phil I studied your circuit and I understand what you are trying to do but I do not know why you are using the dual flip flop chips. why can't you just run the output of the Demultiplexer directly to the base of the transistors through a 1K resistor. I do not think that you need the flip flops. The transistors will need to be changed to PNP transistors as well (sorry I am not familiar with the European transistors so I can't give you the PNP counterpart for the BC548). I hope that helps some. If you go to my website in the links section there is a free course on electronics that is very good.


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## Phil

hpropman, thanks very much for taking a look at it. the flip-flops were intended to provide a toggle (tone=on, 2nd tone=off), as it looked to me like otherwise the output would be active only for the duration of the control tone.
not sure where the hell i came up with a European part #. i will take you up on the link and thanks again.


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## hpropman

I see well in that context it makes sense you are using the flip flops to latch the relay on and off. Now I understand why the flip flops are there. It looks like a viable circuit have you breadboarded it yet?


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## Phil

i was holding off picking up a few of the components till i got some feedback. now i will pick the rest of the stuff up this week and let you know what color the smoke is. thanks again for your help.


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## hpropman

Phil said:


> i was holding off picking up a few of the components till i got some feedback. now i will pick the rest of the stuff up this week and let you know what color the smoke is. thanks again for your help.


LOL the infamous magic smoke - make sure that you triple check the connections before you power the circuit, take your time building it, Get some low breadboard jumpers (Like these - http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103801) they make it so much easier to build and troubleshoot the circuit. One last thing before you apply power to the circuit do a Continuity test between ground and the positive points in the circuit it the meter buzzes or indicates connection then you have a short that must be found before you connect the power. Let us know how you make out.


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## pshort

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I have a few comments...

1) The transistors should have resistors between their base and the output of the flip-flops.

2) The flip-flops will change value when the specific tone ends, not when it begins. I'm not sure if this was your intent, although it should be workable as-is.

3) Any noise may cause the tone-decoder output to turn off and back on. This could result in unexpected actions on the output. I'm not sure what you plan to use this for, but it might be better to use one tone to turn an output on and a different tone to turn it off (you would use an R-S flip-flop for each output, perhaps implemented as a pair of cross-coupled NAND gates). This gives you only half as many outputs, but is probably more robust.


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## Phil

Phil, thanks for the info. What value resistor would you recommend?
I didn't realize that the state would change at the tone's end, but I was planning on brief bursts and think I can work with the timing.
The control tones will be recorded on one channel of an MP3 player. The plan is to use this as a simple prop control synchronized with an audio track on the other channel of the player. Thanks again for sharing your insight.


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## pshort

The resistor value would depend on the current drawn by the relays. Arbitrarily assuming that the beta of the transistors is around 20, a good starting value for the resistor (in ohms) would be 4 * 20 / I, where I is the relay coil current (in amps). If you are using darlington transistors, then the factor of 20 would become something much higher, and the factor of 4 would go down to maybe 3.


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## Phil

Thanks again Phil. I understand what to do with what you said even though I don't understand what you said.


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## bw1

Here is some DTMF equipment I have used in the security business. I used an AK-16 connected to a RB-16 
to operate some remote surveillance equipment. It was rock solid and very dependable.
http://www.motron.com/index.php/cPath/41?osCsid=f1050af55101ed2561662c0871a6c84d


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## Phil

That stuff looks solid. If I can come close to that stability for $25 I will be ecstatic.


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## hirez00

*DTMF control / audio control*

I was hoping someone here might be able to help me with a project I have been working on ...

I have made a dvd with the video output going to a projector / monitor and I am using 1 audio track to provide the sound for what is on the video ... and on the other audio track I am / was putting a "tone" at -18db at certain places and then when that dvd is played back and he audio track that has the tone on it is fed to one of those type of "lightning simulator" boards / circuits, it trigger a prop in the room to activate in time with the video. I actually have the tone increase audio volume to -6db and another one of those lightning simulator cicuits (that is set to a lower sensativity) fires of another prop / action in the room.

This is sort of the "cave man" approach to doing it ... but the idea I thought was a good one and could be replicated easily. DVD players (basic ones) could be used for all sorts of cool props when using the audio channel to set off an action, etc. The same effect could be done better with a computer and / or numerous devices out there from other "haunt" companies ... but I was trying to avoid having to use fancy / expensive hardware because quite honestly, I think the idea of using audio in time with DVDs / video is an untapped idea, and was hoping it could be done very inexpesively because the idea is good, and sounds so simple.

In addition, if this is something that could be done cheaply, many home haunters who didn't think of this idea can now be creative and experiment and make some amazing new "scares". Cheap. All it takes is the imagination.

I have done some research into perhaps going with the DTMF appraoch to this because a DTMF deconder can read 12-16 "tones" just like the ones made when dialing a phone. The problem is that I know nothing about electronics and don't know HOW to do it ... but I am sure it can be done.

There was a similar thread on this site that started to delve into this idea about a year ago - but it doesn't look like it ever got finalized / realized to its completion.

So ... does anyone have any ideas or suggestions, or know how as to how to make this idea a reality. I have read just about everything out there about using DTMF signal / encoders / decoders ... but like I said - I am a moron when it comes to circuits and electronics and have no idea what I am looking / reading about.

Basically I need someone with the proper know how to either "build" one of these type circuits for me ... or at least point me in the right direction so I can move forward.

Any help for that matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

HiRez00


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## hirez00

I just started a new thread about a similar subect, but with different functions / setup

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=19685&highlight=DTMF

If you are currently reading this message thread ... please read the one I just listed and see if you can help.

Thanks.


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## Phil

HiRez00 I am right there with you on the potential for this. There is some discussion about DTMF on the Halloween Forum under a thread about knocking off the Asylum Door prop. Hopefully we have the interest of another haunter with the aptitude and time to pursue it.


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## spinman1949

Phil said:


> HiRez00 I am right there with you on the potential for this. There is some discussion about DTMF on the Halloween Forum under a thread about knocking off the Asylum Door prop. Hopefully we have the interest of another haunter with the aptitude and time to pursue it.


This is an interesting idea. I wonder if you can have tone upon tone.

Here is a board that looks promising.

http://www.motron.com/product_info.php/products_id/132

I just looked at the description a bit more closely. The answer is we would not need tone upon tone. the board will accept latching, unlatching and momentary control sequences. I will share this on the Asylum thread on the other froum.

Really good thinking.


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## HomeyDaClown

spinman1949 said:


> This is an interesting idea. I wonder if you can have tone upon tone.
> 
> Here is a board that looks promising.
> 
> http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=TT7
> 
> I just looked at the description a bit more closely. The answer is we would not need tone upon tone. the board will accept latching, unlatching and momentary control sequences. I will share this on the Asylum thread on the other froum.
> 
> Really good thinking.


I have a Motron dtmf data logger with display and it's ok but very pricey.

This would make a nice alternative: http://www.hobbytron.com/R-TT-7.html
And they are on sale which is even better. Tack on a small relay or two and you'd be set to go.

I found the manual buried here: http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/downloads/manuals/TT7.pdf


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## hirez00

Last night I found this website and these DTMF circuit boards: http://www.dschmidt.com/dtmf.html#DTMFRLYB-T

I was reading an online article with a guy that was doing a dvd presentation and he encoded one of the video tracks with DTMF tones to have the lights turn on an off at the beginning and end of the presentation and he described using these boards.

The owner of these boards is supposed to be a super nice guy who makes custom stuff for people all the time at a low price ... he is also supposed to be a DTMF expert ... so I have emailed him explaining what we are looking to do.

Imagine how great it would be to have props be controllable or at least triggered from a DVD or CD. The only way people have been able to control ellaborate fx woud be with a computer (ie: 3 axis skulls and other systems). Those are fine as is and using DTMF for that doesnt seem to apply ... but this system I am interested in making, this is something so simple as just having a cd or dvd turn something on an off. For example ... a video with a spooky ghost on the screen that pretends to blow out a candle or light in the video and the lights go out in the room. How cool would that be!!!!

I also found this as well: http://www.instructables.com/id/Cellphone_operated_Robot/ that may have some of the answers you need too.

Like I said in my posts, I am a electronics moron and don't know the first thing about how to do this ... but if someone was able to "instruct" how to do it ... I could follow along to make it ... as long as it is well documented.

I too am not interested in making money making these sort of devices ... all I would want to do it maybe make the videos that run with these boxes or come up with the scenarios and then charge an absolute minimal amount for my time to make the dvd for others ...


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## Mr_Chicken

My brother tells me that the Arduino board ($40) is probably capable of this also. I'm having him look into it, but it seems like a very practical setup (and apparently there's also a $30 version). There's some coding involved, but once one person writes the basic code, it should be pretty easy to share it with others and just tag on your own instructions for specific props.

Plus, you can always use the board for other props if you decide to change it up-- it appears quite versatile.


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## hirez00

I saw that board as well ... but according to the "blog" info it doesn't work with DTMF tones ... maybe something else ... also it required programming, which I have no idea how to do ... true this board once programmed could "run" props ... but I was hoping to uncover some gem that was off the shelf and anyone could use and didn't need to learn "programming".

I think I may have sound the solution (not sure yet) with this module: http://www.dschmidt.com/dtmf.html#DTMFRLYB-T

I am hoping to talk to the manufacturer and see if it can be reworked into having more relays add, 4-5 would be nice.

I will research the Aruino board as well and see what comes up.

Thanks.


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## HomeyDaClown

There is an Arduino library for sending dtmf but not for decoding. Most projects involving an Arduino for dtmf decoding use a $3 decoder chip to pass output to the Arduino instead.


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## DeathTouch

I have seen this chip a while ago in a electronics mag. I am assuming, if I remember that it has a reset line. I bet you could connect something to that line to reset it everytime it latched.

Maybe what you could do is set a different dc level to each sign to each of the skulls that you are working with. Then with a d to a convert tell it to control each of the skulls. What I mean is that skull one would work at 1v and the 2nd one would work at 2v and so on. Think of it as a signal bar.


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## HomeyDaClown

A single $3 CM8870 chip with a few resistors, a capacitor and a crystal will give you four unique outputs to drive four relays or SSRs. The outputs are 4 bit so feeding the tones for digits 1,2,4 and 8 will fire the Q1,Q2,Q3,Q4 pins in that order.

http://cgi.ebay.com/CM8870-DTMF-Reciever-Decoder-KIT-USA-Seller-Tracking_W0QQitemZ290376668922QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item439bcc56fa


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## fritz42_male

Some other stuff

http://www.pcinterfaces.co.uk/dtmfswitch.htm

http://www.nhrc.net/nhrc-remote-plus/
http://jenal.com/page9.htm
http://www.atv-projects.com/DTMF_Control.html

These would need a few mods
http://electronicsworld.tripod.com/remotecontrolsimages/remotecontrolsckt2.html
http://www.quasarelectronics.com/3140-4-channel-dtmf-telephone-relay-switcher.htm

http://www.free-electronic-circuits.com/circuits/radio-remote-control-using-dtmf.html

http://halloweentinkering.googlepages.com/power&control2

This one is pricey
http://www.conex-electro.com/DT40/DT40.html

Other stuff
http://halloweentinkering.googlepages.com/power&control
http://www.horrorseek.com/home/halloween/wolfstone/PropsTalking/am1toc_ToneControlDesign.html


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## Phil

This topic was picked up on another forum and, long story short, I have the great fortune of testing a 4-channel DTMF prototype from Bruce over at Animated Prop Systems.










I have been testing with an online dialer and Audacity 1.3 (which for some unknown reason has a DTMF generator on board). The board responds reliably from PC audio output and from recorded tones on a cheap MP3 player (output voltage unspecified).

Interesting details (to me anyway):

the board as tested is latching in a configuration of #1 = relay 1 ON, #2 = relay 1 OFF, etc. 
the scheme is programmable so that other configurations, like momentary, are possible. this should theoretically allow four boards to be used in conjunction from one audio control track for up to sixteen channels of control.
minimum tone duration is 50 ms
literally simultaneous tones are ignored; where there is a difference of less than 50 ms the first tone works and second is ignored; difference of more than 50 ms both tones work

Bruce won't know the price until the final board design is produced. It has been a real kick to see this idea turn into a physical product, and Bruce could not be a nicer guy. Thanks to Doc for putting this monkey on my back and thanks to Bruce for taking it off!


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## Dr Morbius

That board looks great, if he can get the price under 40.00, he will have a winner for sure..Under 50 would be OK too. Thanks for posting this!


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## Phil

Doc, it's a real pleasure to have something concrete to post, even if it's been a year and a half since you originally planted the seed! With no 'programming' skills or supplemental equipment needed, it is a very approachable controller for home haunters.
It wouldn't surprise me to see initial pricing slightly higher, given development costs and an entirely speculative market. But if it's popular who knows?


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## hpropman

HomeyDaClown said:


> A single $3 CM8870 chip with a few resistors, a capacitor and a crystal will give you four unique outputs to drive four relays or SSRs. The outputs are 4 bit so feeding the tones for digits 1,2,4 and 8 will fire the Q1,Q2,Q3,Q4 pins in that order.
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/CM8870-DTMF-Reciever-Decoder-KIT-USA-Seller-Tracking_W0QQitemZ290376668922QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item439bcc56fa


I have downloaded the data sheet for this chip and I was reading it last night. It seems pretty easy to use. Some items worth mentioning is that the the four outputs Q1- Q4 are latched meaning that they stay in that setting until it detects another tone set. (e.g. you turn on Q1 and Q3 they will stay on until the chip detects another tone that changes the output to the new settings from the tones that it just received). Also Touch tones are audible meaning that we can hear them so stereo recording will be required for any media that is used with this one track for the audio and one for the tones. I will order a few of these and play with them and I still need to look at some of the other links to see what people are doing with them. I am sure we can come up with a solution for what you guys want to do. You can even drop a picaxe 08M on each output if you wanted and have it do its thing when the chip turns on its input trigger. I do not see why we can't use this to control whatever you want it too.


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## Dr Morbius

hpropman said:


> Also Touch tones are audible meaning that we can hear them so stereo recording will be required for any media that is used with this one track for the audio and one for the tones. I will order a few of these and play with them and I still need to look at some of the other links to see what people are doing with them. I am sure we can come up with a solution for what you guys want to do. You can even drop a picaxe 08M on each output if you wanted and have it do its thing when the chip turns on its input trigger. I do not see why we can't use this to control whatever you want it too.


You can use surround sound if more channels are desired, but then you are stuck with a surround sound card or amp. Whether using a cheap MP3 player or a sophisticated surround sound set up, it will be interesting to see how this chip pans out. Do keep us updated!

On a side note, I want to personally thanks all you tech gurus for following through with this idea, who knows when I would have gotten around to it.


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## hirez00

*We finally got it working!*

Greetings all.

After months and months of working on a viable solution, we finally figured out the most cost effective way to do the DTMF tone control.

Here is the result.


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