# Help with timer



## Indyandy (Sep 7, 2005)

Ok, now I know where to get the sound board. I am going to trigger the prop and board with a PIR. What do I need so that once it is triggered, it will stop when the sound is done? And wait for a few seconds before it can be triggered again? I am guessing some kind of timer to do both?


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Whose sound board and PIR are you using? And what is the prop you're running?


----------



## Indyandy (Sep 7, 2005)

I am going to use the 50 second USB sound board from the previous thread from Eletronics123.com. The PIR is an old motion sensor light.

I have a haunted hallway that will have 3 -4 doll scenes as you go down the hall. Each scene will have a PIR and trigger a sound board to play a track that I made for each scene. I want the track to play then stop. I don't want it to play again for a short delay in case someone retriggers the sensor too soon. Or if someone stays in the PIR field of view.
I hope I made that clear. If not let me know and I will try to break it down some more. I don't always communicate clearly.


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

The motion sensor PIRs aren't too friendly for this application, they usually have a short test time, and then are able to be re-triggered. They're not too easy to lock out. If you want to use PIRs, you'll need a way to lock them out so they can't be re-triggered (delay-off). If you have a pretty good budget, you can go with these:
http://www.pimpmyprop.com/RelayTimerDetails.htm
http://www.pimpmyprop.com/PIRDetails.htm
It'll wind up costing $55 per system, not including power supplies, but this will solve your problem.


----------



## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

Simple solution is a normal mains PIR detector/light with the light socket powering a 12V wall wart adapter hooked to a 12V relay with the NO contacts linked to the 50 second board.

Don't use the test mode but carefully adjust sensitivity and time on until you are happy.


----------



## Indyandy (Sep 7, 2005)

fritz42 if I don't use the test mode, what setting do I use? 1 minute?


----------



## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

Indyandy said:


> fritz42 if I don't use the test mode, what setting do I use? 1 minute?


That's fine. The board plays whatever sound length you have up to 50 secs so if you need to pad it out then just use Audacity or whatever.


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

fritz42_male said:


> Simple solution is a normal mains PIR detector/light with the light socket powering a 12V wall wart adapter hooked to a 12V relay with the NO contacts linked to the 50 second board.
> 
> Don't use the test mode but carefully adjust sensitivity and time on until you are happy.


I'd save a few bucks and use a 110VAC relay to trigger the sound board. No need to go with a 12VDC wart. One other thing - if this board uses an IC similar to the old ISD 2500 series, it may not like having it's trigger pin held high when the playback stops. With the 25XX chips, this would cause garbled sound on the next playback, inability to play back unless power was recycled and other little quirks. If the PIR keeps the relay powered for longer than the sound file, you might have some problems. If you try to get around this time conflict issue by using a short test mode on the PIR without a way to lock out the sensor, the relay may be activated while the sound is playing. If you've hacked the Play button to start the board, the second relay closure will shut it down prematurely. Perhaps an adjustable 555 one-shot timer with a DPDT relay can be used to trigger the board while cutting the AC to the sensor at the same time. Set the one-shot to just a bit less than the length of the sound file. This would prevent re-triggers while the file is playing, and get around the trigger time overlap I mentioned above.


----------



## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

Otaku said:


> I'd save a few bucks and use a 110VAC relay to trigger the sound board. No need to go with a 12VDC wart.


(Slaps hand to forehead and looks round for someone to kick his butt)

I didn't think of this!


----------



## hedg12 (Jul 6, 2008)

Amazon.com: Pulse Timer with Spdt Relay: [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@516SHMERQZL would stand in nicely for the 555 one shot timer Otaku's talking about, if you don't want to build one for yourself. (The 555 circuit's not hard to build, but time's gettin' short!)


----------



## Indyandy (Sep 7, 2005)

Otaku, do you have a source for this timer board or a diagram? I wondered about using a 120v dpdt relay from the PIR instead of walwarts and 12v relays.

You know, I am going to need 5 of these setups to do what I want. (5 PIR's, 5 sound boards, 5 relays, ect.) Because there will be 5 different props in different areas. Is there a better (cheaper) way to do this? I figure I am going to spend about $75.00 just on the sound part of these props.


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

I have one somewhere - let me see what I can dig up. I'll get back to you today.


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

FYI - Jeff at SCB has a board that can move sound around a room. I imagine it has several programmable outputs for the sound. It's not shown on his web site, but is mentioned in the list on this page:
http://www.simplecircuitboards.com/HauntedHouse.html
It's called the Programmable Sound Distribution Board. Depending on the number of outputs, this might be able to simplify the system and save you some $$.


----------



## Indyandy (Sep 7, 2005)

Otaku, did you find the diagram or source for that timer?


----------

