# best and easiest prop controllers?



## chrizzo (Aug 31, 2008)

what is the best and easiest controllers to use for:
pneumatic props? 
12vdc props?
sound and lighting activation?

i am really starting to get into the haunting Hobby and am looking for whatever advice i can get.


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## JonnyMac (Apr 5, 2007)

I'm a big fan of the EFX-TEK EZ-8 -- but then, I designed it! 

All kidding aside, there are a lot of great control products on the market. Have a look at everyone who sells controllers, check out their support system and ability/desire to help you do your own thing. Be careful about getting lured into the low-cost game... your time is worth money and that becomes painful when you're a few hours from opening your display and things go terribly wrong.

Jon Williams
EFX-TEK Hollywood Office


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Jon's right - there's a lot of stuff to sift through. Think about what your future props will be doing; not just that it's a pneumatic prop, but how many movements will it be making and how long the routine might be. The same with lighting control - how many lights will you be using now and what are your plans for expansion. Will you need sensor input capability (beam breakers, PIR, mat switch). How are your programming skills, some controllers require a working knowledge of PBasic or other low-level languages. (This is where EFX-Tek really shines, BTW, their customer support is second to none.) Think through what your haunt is like this year and where you want to take it. I went through this exercise a few years ago - the controllers I got back then are still being used in my haunt. A little forethought can save you some bucks and a lot of frustration when your control systems hit the wall unexpectedly.


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## halloween_freak (Jul 1, 2008)

I'm a couple of months ahead of where you are now, and can attest that Otaku's advice is dead on.

I wasted a lot of time just surfing the web and being overwhelmed by the various controller options. It wasn't until i sat down and planned out my haunt for 2009 and figured out what kind of controls i really needed that things really started to make sense and come together.

I'm using a mix of pneumatics, wiper motors, and 120V lighting for my haunt. In the end, and after some email discussions with hpropman, I opted to go with controllers based on the Picaxe chips (http://www.rev-ed.co.uk/picaxe) since they they were inexpensive, there are a range of chips (and price points) to choose from, they use BASIC programming which i already knew from school, and the Canadian distributor is close by. I have to solder the boards together when they arrive, but that's not too difficult.

Right now i'm working on putting all my relay boards together from scratch. It would be easier and far less time consuming to buy the relay boards (from EFX-TEK or others), but i need to save my pennies for more pneumatic gear, and i enjoy the challenge of building the boards.

check out this thread if you haven't already found it

http://hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=15055&highlight=controller

Also, look at this electronics for neophites website if you are going to start building (thanks to hpropman for this link)

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/index.htm


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

Valid points made by all. I would like to add my thoughts as well. If you know nothing about electronics and want to build your own controllers then you will need to take the time to learn electronics. You don't need to learn advanced electronics just the basics will do for most situations. You can always learn more if you need to. As Johnny said what is your time worth. The other half of that coin is that you are learning a new skill and an enjoyable hobby that can help you with prop making or other things such as robotics or maybe helping you child or grandchild with a science project. Electronics is a very enjoyable hobby for me and others here but it may not be for everyone. EFX-TEK make some really nice products and there support is second to none but they cost a lot more money. So basically you are paying for his expertise and knowledge. Also, no matter which controller path you take you will still need to connect the controllers to motors, solenoids, servos, valves,etc. and a certain amount of electronics knowledge is needed anyway. one other point that I want to make is that with a controller based on a microcontroller chip vs an assembled unit is that you make a controller very specific to the prop that you are making and you can even use several chips and have them work together for a more complex prop. for an example of this my greeter uses 3 Picaxe 08M chips to control it this is due to the low cost of the chips around $3 each. You can see him on my videos on my website. No matter which way you decide to go there are many people here that are more than willing to help you so look around and see what is available ask questions and do your research. You may decide to start with an EFX-TEK or other controller for now and then go the electronics route later on. good luck and happy haunting.


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## gadget-evilusions (Jan 26, 2007)

I am a huge fan of EFX-TEK controllers also. I run all my props that I sell, all the scenes in our haunt, and my home haunt off efx-tek controllers.


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## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

I concur with the comments about EFX-TEK - they have been helpful to me already and I haven't even bought yet - just waiting for a 240V version of their lighting controller.

I'm also picking up a pile of Picaxe stuff when I'm in the UK in a week or so. These chips are VERY easy to drive. I'll be using these for basic stuff and the EFX-PROP1 for lighting control for a Pepper's Ghost illusion.


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## GOT (Apr 17, 2007)

I've got to throw in my support for the EFX-Prop 1 and 2. If you are just starting out, they will bend over backwards to help you out. I have never known better customer support.


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## gmacted (Jan 18, 2006)

I've used both the Prop-1 and Prop-SX in my props.


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## Brett Baker (Aug 3, 2010)

I have found the maestro2 from haunted enterprizes easy to program, its a buton masher, writing code gives me the willies


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## walterb (Jul 27, 2010)

I have found the boobox products to be hassle free and with a ton of functionality. Frightprops.com sells them and offers great support. They are more for setting up scenes than individual props though.


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## Cole&Jacksdad (Jan 20, 2011)

I m using an Arduino. I wanted something I can run multiple props, lights, PIR's, sound etc. They do take a little time to learn, but so far nothing too difficult.


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## colonel mortimer (Sep 19, 2011)

*Monster Guts Nerve Center*

Monster Guts seems to get a lot of love on these forums as a vendor, but I haven't seen a lot of discussion about their Nerve Center controller. I just purchased one and haven't had a chance to test it out, but it seemed comparable to the more expensive PicoBoo. I was wondering if anyone here has any experience with the Nerve Center and could share some comments or advice here.


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## ouizul1 (May 22, 2010)

colonel mortimer said:


> ...any experience with the Nerve Center and could share some comments or advice here.


I've got a couple of them and they're okay. Easy to use and work well for what they are. The one hassle is that because they're "key bangers", you have to program it in real time by pressing the buttons. Sometimes it's difficult to get the timing right, and if it's off...you have to start all over again. I built a thunder and lightning machine with one and it took me 7 or 8 tries to get the timing right.


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