# Scary Terry Audio Servo Driver - Need Some Help



## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

Hey Everyone,
I just bought a Scary Terry Audio Servo Driver from Cowlacious Designs, I
am having a lot of trouble getting it to work, I have tried to adjust it,
but it still does not work, the jaw barely moves, does anyone know whats
wrong with this.
Thanks
Joe


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## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

Play with the sensitivity control until the jaw opens all the way. How far does the jaw open when you do that? If it doesn't open very far, then you need to use a longer piece of wire from the motor to the jaw and re-adjust the motor's "start position" (via the pot the controls that) to compensate for the change.

Also, are you using the CD player's line out or headphone out? If you're using the headphone out, how high do you have the volume turned up? Having the volume too low on the headphone out (if that's what's feeding audio to the circuit) will result in not enough audio getting to the circuit. I recommend using the line output if your CD player has one.


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## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

It opens all the way when the sensetivity is all the way up but it does not follow the sound it does it in a pattern like all the way open, wait 3 secs all the way ect.


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## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

Are you running the Scary Terry board off of batteries or did you get an AC adapter already? Sounds to me like either the batteries may be dying on you or that maybe whatever you're using to power them can't supply enough current.


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## SuperCreep31 (Nov 22, 2009)

i know this thread is very old but I am having the exact same problems. I've run through the instructions manual a number of times and can't seem to get this to work. I also tried what Zombie-F had to say and no luck... any thoughts would be appreciated... I wasn't able to get my talking skull on display last year because of this.


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## SuperCreep31 (Nov 22, 2009)

I forgot to mention the servo seems to hesitate back and forth a little even when I don't have audio playing and I adjust the pots... the only time I can seem to stop it is when i adjust the "LVL" port so that the little LED lights up red which in the manual says it should not be lit up. I am using a Scary Terry Audio Servo Driver ST-300 Circuit Board if that helps any.


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## Thisaintmayberry (Aug 23, 2010)

I have found that the quality of the sound file can affect the performance of the skull. Some downloaded files have too much "combined sound" and overwhelm the sensitivity controls. Files with background music, more than one voice, multiple sounds, etc. don't work well. I found the best performance comes from something I record myself, using clear speech with just a little spacing between words. I use Audacity to make the recording and then play with pitch etc. to get a good bucky voice. Minimally, find a sound file with just a voice, the clearer the better.


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

I don't have one myself, but wasn't there a video posted around here of someone working with the sound file to get the skull to work? Don't know if it's the same set-up, but he put the actual audio on one channel and a high freq sine wave on the other. The audio played for the audience, and the HF wave drove the skull on the other channel with more accurate control.


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## SuperCreep31 (Nov 22, 2009)

yes corey, you are correct about that and I have tried that as well. That doesn't seem to be the problem though. Thanks


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## Death Wraith (Mar 23, 2006)

When I had a problem with one of Cowlacious' products I contacted them directly and they were very helpful. Don't be afraid to give them a call if nothing else works.


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

The missing piece here is the sound source. What are you using, MP3 player, CD etc? Have you tried moving the jumper on P8?


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## SuperCreep31 (Nov 22, 2009)

Otaku said:


> The missing piece here is the sound source. What are you using, MP3 player, CD etc? Have you tried moving the jumper on P8?


Yes I have moved the jumper both up and down. I am using my iPhone now but I plan on using a little battery operated Mp3 Player later. I know that I need the volume high on the iphone so that it can be recognized but it still doesn't seem to work.


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## SuperCreep31 (Nov 22, 2009)

Death Wraith said:


> When I had a problem with one of Cowlacious' products I contacted them directly and they were very helpful. Don't be afraid to give them a call if nothing else works.


I have tried emailing them but it has been just about 2 weeks and i haven't heard back at all. I think I read on their contact page that they reply within 24 hours so I will probably try contacting them again if nothing else seems to work...


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Try using a MP3 or CD player, or a line out on a boom box. I use small MP3 players with my ST-300 boards and they have no problems. I don't know what the signal voltage is for an iPhone, but I'm betting it's really low.


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## SuperCreep31 (Nov 22, 2009)

Otaku said:


> Try using a MP3 or CD player, or a line out on a boom box. I use small MP3 players with my ST-300 boards and they have no problems. I don't know what the signal voltage is for an iPhone, but I'm betting it's really low.


I have used a CD player with no luck before but I will try the MP3 player. I will let you know my results... thanks


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## SuperCreep31 (Nov 22, 2009)

Otaku, I tried what you suggested and messed around with the board awhile today and still, no change. What is the voltage that the Scary Terry Board should run on? I tried a different audio file and an Mp3 player and a CD player as well and none of those worked... Any other thoughts?


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

I use either a 4AA pack (6VDC) or a regulated 5VDC wart for my ST boards. The sound sources are either small MP3 players or ISD2560 ChipCorder boards.
You mentioned earlier that you are getting some twitching of the servo even when there's no signal going to the ST board. I had this issue once when using an old BPE AutoTalk board. The guys at BPE thought it might be a bad servo encoder, and they were right. Do you have a spare servo that you could swap in to see if it's the motor that's causing the problem?


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## SuperCreep31 (Nov 22, 2009)

Unfortunately I do not... I bought all this stuff about a year ago so returning things isn't really a possibility either. If all else fails, I will have to buy a new servo. Is there possibly a way that I can test the servo I have?


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Darn. Outside of testing your current motor with a different ST board, I can't think of a way to verify the motor function.
Did you ever get any support from Carl Cowley? I know this is a busy time of year for him, but it only takes a minute to make a phone call and give some troubleshooting advice. Email works, too, and it's cheaper.


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## SuperCreep31 (Nov 22, 2009)

Otaku said:


> Darn. Outside of testing your current motor with a different ST board, I can't think of a way to verify the motor function.
> Did you ever get any support from Carl Cowley? I know this is a busy time of year for him, but it only takes a minute to make a phone call and give some troubleshooting advice. Email works, too, and it's cheaper.


I tried reaching him a couple weeks ago but still haven't gotten a response. I email Cowlacious again to see if they can help.


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## HauntNH (May 17, 2010)

use the phone and call them I never got a response to my emails from them but a phone call worked last year when I hadn't received my stuff from them.


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

Check out this thread that talks about some of the boards being defective and how to check yours and fix it if necessary - http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/109438-scary-terry-audacity-synchronisation-3.html


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## Dead Things (Apr 4, 2009)

I was having problems with their board (not driving servo, servo twitching, board and servo heating up) and what we found was running the servo power direct from the power supply and running only signal thru the Scary Terry board. Cleared up things for me. It meant cutting and splicing the servo's cord.


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