# A timer in a timer in a trigger...



## R. Lamb (Oct 11, 2011)

I started this thought in another thread and decided to "air" it again here. 
If a person wanted a trigger Ie; mat or PIR to run a prop for a random amount of time, say 5 to 20 seconds and then not work again for a random amount of time from about 2 -10 minutes, Would that person have to go back to College and get a degree in electronics? Is there some thing out there or will I have to build it?


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## Slanks (Feb 21, 2009)

I believe the Prop 1 from EFX-TEK would work and they do a great job helping with the programming, as long as you don't wait to ask until the last minute. Not sure if the new Monstershield by HauntSoft would work or not.


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

Sounds like you're looking for a 2 stage timer like this one - http://hauntmasterproducts.com/15.html
If you'd like to build your own, fellow forum member and moderator Otaku has designed one which can be found here - http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=20860 It was one of the first electronic projects I attempted and I've been really happy with them. I've got at least 3 of them running in my haunt.


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## Acid PopTart (Oct 29, 2007)

R. Lamb said:


> I started this thought in another thread and decided to "air" it again here.
> If a person wanted a trigger Ie; mat or PIR to run a prop for a random amount of time, say 5 to 20 seconds and then not work again for a random amount of time from about 2 -10 minutes, Would that person have to go back to College and get a degree in electronics? Is there some thing out there or will I have to build it?


I just wanted to applaud you on the wording of this. 

Halstaff, thanks for that link, I had a similar question and that helped me a lot.


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## R. Lamb (Oct 11, 2011)

Thank you folks Heaps and ton's for the help here. It looks as though I'll be calling Jeff for my new 2 stage timers.


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## The_Caretaker (Mar 6, 2007)

a couple of 555's some caps and resistors is all you need to create a timer circuit


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## R. Lamb (Oct 11, 2011)

I could show you how to build a Vortex chiller that would handle the biggest fogger ever made. I could even show you how to make an FCG work with nothing above it. I can build or rig just about anything but, If I had a couple of 555's some caps and resistors I would have a box of stuff that I would have no idea what to do with. Building and rigging I get. putting together an electronic circuit is So far out of my experience....Well , You get my point.


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## Sytnathotep (Oct 10, 2011)

R. Lamb said:


> I could show you how to build a Vortex chiller that would handle the biggest fogger ever made. I could even show you how to make an FCG work with nothing above it. I can build or rig just about anything but, If I had a couple of 555's some caps and resistors I would have a box of stuff that I would have no idea what to do with. Building and rigging I get. putting together an electronic circuit is So far out of my experience....Well , You get my point.


I feel the same way, so your not alone there! LOL


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

R. Lamb said:


> I could show you how to build a Vortex chiller that would handle the biggest fogger ever made. I could even show you how to make an FCG work with nothing above it. I can build or rig just about anything but, If I had a couple of 555's some caps and resistors I would have a box of stuff that I would have no idea what to do with. Building and rigging I get. putting together an electronic circuit is So far out of my experience....Well , You get my point.


Try this site - lots of info on 555 timer circuits:

http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/LM555.html


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## Xpendable (Sep 19, 2006)

Slanks said:


> I believe the Prop 1 from EFX-TEK would work and they do a great job helping with the programming, as long as you don't wait to ask until the last minute. Not sure if the new Monstershield by HauntSoft would work or not.


Yes, you could do this with the MonsterShield. The way I would do it is use all 15 animation slots and record a different amount of time to each one. You can do up to 16 minutes per animation slot. Then set the MonsterShield to random mode so that each time it is triggered, it selects one of the 15 animations to run. The MonsterShield also has a "cooldown" setting that can be from 0 to 255 seconds that prevents the prop from being able to be triggerd again during that time. In addition to this, you can also just increase the length of the animation without actually having any animation beyond what you want your scene to do -- the MonsterShield doesn't allow any triggers while the animation is running. As an example, let's say you have 20 seconds of actual animation. But you don't want the prop to be triggered for at least 4 minutes after that. Simple -- just set the animation to be 4 minutes and 20 seconds long, and have all your animation events in the first 20 seconds.


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## R. Lamb (Oct 11, 2011)

Now that, I think I could do!!


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