# My $20 Prop entry



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Hi all,
I entered a prop controller in this year's contest and didn't want to get off topic in the contest thread, so I'm posting a follow-up here.
After I finished and verified the controller design, I looked on the Simple Circuit Boards site to see if Jeff had anything off-the-rack that could be modded to work with the Pumpkin Insert sensor. I sent him the circuit drawing and he quickly worked up a pre-printed board that is based on my design and parts list. He sent me the first-off and it works great. I tested it in a high-traffic area at work for ~100 hours, and it never missed a beat.

Obviously, it's much easier to simply solder parts to a printed board than having to make all the connections from scratch. He is selling the boards for $5 each + $2 shipping. Additional boards in the same order are $5 each. He also is offering a built out version (minus the pots and PIR) for $33.75. The reason for not including the pots is that the user will want to choose their own ranges for the on-off times. The PIR, of course, comes from Radio Shack.

I should mention that I have no financial interest in Jeff's business. I have made two of the scratch-built controllers, and it probably took me 15 hours to install all the parts on a blank perf board. It took about an hour to assemble Jeff's board, including removing the PIR from the Pumpkin Insert. If you want to build one of these controllers, this is the way to go.


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

Getting the board for $7 from Jeff is a no brainer! It's really the way to go and with the sourced part list from Otaku, it makes gathering the materials and putting it together much easier. This was my first major electronic project and I'm very pleased with how it came out. I'll be using at least 3 of these in my haunt this year.


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Here's a pic of Jeff's board with the pots, sensor, switch and optional bi-color LED attached. Since this is a printed board its much easier to assemble than the perf board version that I designed. The increase in cost is minimal - you replace a $1.50 perf board with a $5 printed board and save a ton of assembly time.


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## abner135 (May 31, 2009)

Who is Jeff and if I wanted a board how do I get one


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

Jeff is at Simple Circuit boards - http://www.simplecircuitboards.com/contact.html
Just tell him you want Otaku's timer board.
He's great to work with and has lots of great boards for Haunters.


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

I want to post an update to this thread. Over the past few weeks a design issue with this board has been identified and fixed. The v.1 board had some re-triggering problems when it was used for switching AC powered devices (like Shiatsu props) due to interference. This has been resolved and the v.2 boards will now handle AC and DC loads, both inductive (motors) and resistive (lights etc). Jeff still has the price at $5 + $2 shipping. If interested, please contact Jeff at www.simplecircuitboards.com/contact.html.


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## BIGANT (Jul 13, 2010)

Im really interested in this! Does the relay work with 120v? What v does the board itself run on? also is there another version that might use different types of triggers? for example a normal push button trigger etc etc


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Yes, the relay works with 120V, no problem, but it does have a 5A limit. The board runs on regulated 12VDC. I only designed the version that uses a PIR for the trigger; I imagine it could be modded a bit to accept a pushbutton. I have one of the bare boards on my desk at work - I'll look into it after I get done with the Gemmy skull board that I'm working on right now. Using a pushbutton kinda defeats the purpose of the board, though, as its designed to be an unattended prop trigger.


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## BIGANT (Jul 13, 2010)

Otaku said:


> Yes, the relay works with 120V, no problem, but it does have a 5A limit. The board runs on regulated 12VDC. I only designed the version that uses a PIR for the trigger; I imagine it could be modded a bit to accept a pushbutton. I have one of the bare boards on my desk at work - I'll look into it after I get done with the Gemmy skull board that I'm working on right now. Using a pushbutton kinda defeats the purpose of the board, though, as its designed to be an unattended prop trigger.


I guess the better question would be could it be triggered by a photocell acting as a push button? or just a photocell period I am currently working on a project involving using lasers over a long distance.


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

The circuit looks for a high signal from a PIR, around 3VDC. If your photocell can send that pulse to the circuit, then I'd say, provisionally, that it should work. The secondary timer in the circuit locks out the PIR via a relay until that timer runs out (delay after on). This would apply to the photocell, as well.


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

Otaku said:


> The circuit looks for a high signal from a PIR, around 3VDC. If your photocell can send that pulse to the circuit, then I'd say, provisionally, that it should work. The secondary timer in the circuit locks out the PIR via a relay until that timer runs out (delay after on). This would apply to the photocell, as well.


:jol:God, you are smart........


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## GhoulishCop (Sep 25, 2009)

I read stuff in posts like this all the time and have no clue what anyone's saying and wish I, too, could be that smart. I'm sure I want one of these boards, if I only understood what it was that it was doing. 

I guarantee if you translated Otaku's comment above into Greek and posted it here it would have the same meaning to me. 

Rich


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## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

HAHAHAHAHA - what Rich said! Don't feel bad Rich - I suspect you AND I are not the only ones. One day I swear I will get all brave and make a prop that moves!


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## QueenRuby2002 (Oct 23, 2011)

No Headless you two are not the only ones. I still haven't made anything that moves. I want to do a cauldron creep but I still can't figure out the mechaincs behind it. All greek.


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