# 3-Stage timer



## .id. (Jul 3, 2006)

I lead a group build of a 3-stage timer last year at the Rocky Mountain Haunters group and finally got around to updating the build docs. This timer has three stages, a Delay, a Run, and an Off. The Delay is the amount of time (1-60 seconds) from when the timer is triggered before the prop turns on. The On stage is the amount of time (1-60 seconds) that the prop runs. And the Off stage is the amount of time (1-60 seconds) the the prop is off (before the timer can be re-triggered). It can be controlled via a test button on the timer or a remote contact/trigger/mat switch, etc. The circuit board is based on the little Radio Shack prototyping boards (see the Bill of Materials in the Document) for ease of building and reproducibility.

For anyone that is intersted, they can be found here:
Build Doc
Circuit Board Layout

Enjoy!


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## RandalB (Jun 8, 2009)

That's a fantastic project ID, now I know what I'll be doing this winter....

RandalB


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## Spider Web (Oct 11, 2007)

Owwee!!! been looking for an alternative for time delay relays I've been using. ,And if I read your parts list correctly, that's a 10 amp contact rating on the relay? Very nice. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You ID for sharing that one.

Oh, excellent "how to"...even I could follow that.


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Great how-to, .id. That's a very useful timer. A quick question - I notice the perf board isn't your standard single-hole board. Does simply soldering in the components where indicated on the board layout template create the connections? One other thing - the font on the PDF header looks a lot like the one that Terror By Design used back when they were in business. Is there any relationship between this circuit and the one used in the UDT II 3-stage timer?


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## .id. (Jul 3, 2006)

Otaku, you are correct, this isn't the standard single-hole protoboard. The board does create the circuit for you. As for the Terror By Design, not that I'm aware of...I don't think I've seen any of their stuff. I found that font online at a Halloween Font site and just liked it. As for the circuit, the clostest thing I've found to it is the two-stage one seen on Haunter's Hangout. Let me know if you have any other questions.


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Most cool. This is a good project for a rainy night this winter. It looks as though the dry trigger input could be modded to accept a PIR input, perhaps with an extra transistor or relay Thanks for posting this!


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## Restless Spirit (Oct 27, 2007)

Excellent tutorial .id.!
I thing I have most of the parts to build this... if not, Digikey likes me
Thanks for sharing!


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## .id. (Jul 3, 2006)

Glad all of you like it! If you have any other questions, let me know!


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

Interesting circuit. The this circuit can be made much simpler by using a microcontroller like the picaxe 08M. Only one 8 pin chip is needed, a few resistors, 1 cap, a transistor, a diode, the three pots, and a 5 volt regulator circuit or a 5 volt regulated wall wart. Of course the leds, relay, and case connectors will be needed as well. If you are interested I can write this up and test it for you after Halloween. Running out of time and a lot to do still.


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## .id. (Jul 3, 2006)

Thanks for the offer. I had contemplated using a microcontroller, and probably should have for reduced complexity, but I wanted something that was easy to understand and could be build by anyone with out having to program the chip. I and serveral of the people in the RMG group are comfortable with microcontrollers but we just chose a different (old school? ) way that anyone could build with just a little soldering experience. If we do a build again, I think I will go the route of a uC and just provide the pre-programmed chips.


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## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

It's a lot easier to build in Picaxe form especially if you use a pre-made board. 

Programming is easy and I've already published a prog for a 2 stage timer (dely/Duration). A few minor mods and you could have a 3 stage timer.

Use the 20x2 and you can get a really fancy setup with 2 timed outputs, trigger in, multiple timed trigger outs and so on.


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