Search found 655 matches

by Sparky
Sat Jan 12, 2013 9:35 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: Clyde "En'til'Zog" Jones has passed away
Replies: 28
Views: 82647

Very sad news, he had a great way of breaking things down for the rest of us. Its just hard to hear this news.
by Sparky
Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:19 am
Forum: Construction
Topic: Got Resin?
Replies: 53
Views: 179631

I've had issues with the envirotex setting up in rtv molds, the oomoo is a definite no. And I've had it both work and fail in some other alumiltie rtvs, real pain to clean out took a few castings to get all the sticky out. take a look at smooth on's new color match. Last time is saw a casting of the...
by Sparky
Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:09 am
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: LED chaser/running circuit
Replies: 5
Views: 9021

I'm not sure what fx you're looking for. 1) all LED banks moving/clocking along at the same rate, but that rate is variable 2) each LED bank moves/clocks at its own rate, allowing some sequences to restart while other banks have not yet finished. 3) advanced, each bank of LEDs can progress through t...
by Sparky
Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:15 am
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: Trying (and failing) to test a circuit
Replies: 5
Views: 8457

If that's not clear, I can draw something up tomorrow at work.
by Sparky
Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:00 am
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: LED chaser/running circuit
Replies: 5
Views: 9021

also you won't be able to have different speeds for each bank of LEDs, as you may have guessed. They will all clock at the same time

To have [individually] varied speeds you will need a 4017 and 555 timer for each bank of LEDs.
by Sparky
Thu Apr 05, 2012 3:54 am
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: LED chaser/running circuit
Replies: 5
Views: 9021

sounds like you are talking about dividing up the display into quadrants (well if it where a circle and you wanted 4 off LEDs at a time). When you do this you can get away with one 4017 and 555 but you may start to max out the 4017 drive circuits. Here's an example. If you want 3 LEDs off/walking th...
by Sparky
Thu Apr 05, 2012 3:40 am
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: Electronic Circuits Help
Replies: 33
Views: 139997

in addition to ohm's law: E=I*R (also sometimes written as V=I*R) don't forget PIE P = I*E E is electromotive force and is measured in Volts P is power and is measure in Watts I is current and is measured in Amps R is resistance and is measured in Ohms The rest of Direct Current (DC) ohm's laws has ...
by Sparky
Thu Apr 05, 2012 3:28 am
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: Trying (and failing) to test a circuit
Replies: 5
Views: 8457

you will not be able to measure resistance of the LEDs to tell you how much resistance you need to consume the over age power. The info you need still involves Ohm's Law: First for parallel circuits know that current is cumulative. So if you have say 4 white LEDs in parallel each drawing 0.02 Amps (...
by Sparky
Sat Mar 24, 2012 2:35 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: A reverse LED chaser circuit
Replies: 15
Views: 16899

When we used Zogs circuit in the nacelle lighting we used it to generate a moving dark spot. The logic chip will ground an output or drive it to Vcc (high), if the LEDs are hooked up so that their cathode (negative) is connected to the 4017 and their anodes (plus) to common Vcc (or a resistor going ...
by Sparky
Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:05 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: What kind of connector do I need?
Replies: 6
Views: 7925

I have access to the PNI style shown above, if you're interested PM me with a mailing address I can send a few for you to try out. The primary issues is how easy it will be to pull them apart without stressing the wires. For a lot of moving about you may have to go back to mono jacks and plugs since...
by Sparky
Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:56 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: Beginner Lighting Guide
Replies: 6
Views: 9295

You might check in the on line build section of the main site . http://www.starshipmodeler.com/olb.cfm Trekman Scott has done several lighting how too's in there for trek kits. He's around too for follow up questions. Though there maybe some lag now-a-days as he's gone crazy and gone back to school ...
by Sparky
Thu Feb 09, 2012 2:46 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: What are some useful bits to start with?
Replies: 10
Views: 12940

There are 2 sizes you should get, one for the wires to protect against short circuits and one to help bundle plastic fiber optic bundles to the face an LED. So the second one depends on the LED type. But for wires and inline resistor solder points you'll want 1/16th and 1/8th probably. 1/4 inch is g...
by Sparky
Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:55 am
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: White, Blue, Red leds on one circuit.
Replies: 7
Views: 9214

i don't know how you can calculate resistor values without knowing the LED's forward working voltage and their forward working current. You don't want to guess on these since you will either under drive the LED or overdrive them. He want's full brightness so that means getting the exact requirements...
by Sparky
Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:45 am
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: On/Off button + Toggle wiring question
Replies: 7
Views: 11588

my calculation was 37.5 ohms, a 10k certainty is providing enough voltage drop to protect the LEDs.
by Sparky
Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:27 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: On/Off button + Toggle wiring question
Replies: 7
Views: 11588

just remember that if you have multiple series of 4 leds in parallel and one resistor dropping voltage, the current through the resistor is the current through 1 series of LEDs * the number of 4 LED series loops. So typical new LEDs would be 4loops * 0.020 Asmps per loop = 0.080 Amps total. Wattage ...
by Sparky
Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:16 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: What are some useful bits to start with?
Replies: 10
Views: 12940

I use the barrel of the soldering iron, not the tip for heat shrinking. The tip will be hot enough to start to burn the tube but its not a problem for the tube more of the tip is getting dirty when this happens. Get a tub of tip tin-er to help keep your tip in working order and use it often while us...
by Sparky
Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:08 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: White, Blue, Red leds on one circuit.
Replies: 7
Views: 9214

remember if you daisy chain the LEDs the current is not additive, the voltage is. So if you have a chain of leds and they all want 20 mA, they must all want that cause the current cannot change in the loop, then add the voltage and thats the voltage you will need for that chain, Current is 20mA. you...
by Sparky
Mon Jan 30, 2012 12:30 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: Options for lighting connections to pedestals -or not - etc
Replies: 4
Views: 7060

we put 12 volts and lots of power through ours, and made it stand up to slow rotation :!:
by Sparky
Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:22 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: Options for lighting connections to pedestals -or not - etc
Replies: 4
Views: 7060

We should start a thread for mounting examples. Need some basic pictures of each technique and examples of it so that the thread isn't to wordy. Short answers is anything from 1/4" mono or stereo jacks to mini mono jacks. To spring fingers removed from RJ45 ethernet jacks and brass plate. IT de...
by Sparky
Fri Jan 27, 2012 11:40 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: how to make fake laser beams?
Replies: 9
Views: 11124

there are also colored plastic/acrylic rod I picked some up for use as laser beams. Just light with a bright white LED. As long as there aren't big bubbles in the rod it wont' look too obvious. I did also get the el flex wire, but its hard to see that in full light of a contest room, also the invert...
by Sparky
Thu Jan 26, 2012 2:19 pm
Forum: Construction
Topic: Got Resin?
Replies: 53
Views: 179631

Its mainly about 'pot time,' if you are pouring into a lot of molds or a big mold you might want to go with the longer pot life so that the larger batches of resin aren't kicking in the mixing cup. There are also some resins which cure to a very hard plastic that can be milled and cut. If you will b...
by Sparky
Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:53 am
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: Advice on making sound-activated lighting circuit
Replies: 7
Views: 12145

give the youtube trick a try, I'd be weary of blowing out the computer sound card but you could try some other audio device maybe an little fm radio for jogging or what not. 30 LEDs assuming newer white or blue. Assume you slightly under drive and run 4 leads in series (wants 13.2 volts). you can ge...
by Sparky
Mon Jan 16, 2012 1:43 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: Advice on making sound-activated lighting circuit
Replies: 7
Views: 12145

sounds like you're talking about two different things, passing power into a model over a connector and using sound to activate lights.
by Sparky
Sun Jan 15, 2012 5:33 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: Power question
Replies: 2
Views: 5456

sounds right :)
by Sparky
Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:57 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: A Nub needs help. Looking for "Cool White" Surf M
Replies: 2
Views: 4578

you can order direct from kingsbright http://www.kingbrightusa.com/default.asp I have and they pretty fast, digikey lists them but they were out of most of the LEDs I wanted to try out so I ordered direct. I'd be very surprised if they didn't have something in the color scheme you want. But you can ...
by Sparky
Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:49 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: Pegasus Alpha Centauri lighting
Replies: 17
Views: 19058

That looks great I had a design started in eagle layout but never finished. How much will a bare bones board cost (un-populated).
by Sparky
Sat Dec 24, 2011 12:12 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: "Strobe effect" from a 4060 timer
Replies: 14
Views: 15192

Did anyone catch the mistake I made on one of the boards? I just saw it looking at the pics. I tests 2 out of 3 boards and the one not tested wont work. . .
by Sparky
Fri Dec 23, 2011 8:12 pm
Forum: Lighting & Electronics
Topic: Warm White LED Question
Replies: 8
Views: 11045

You're only hope is to get the actual 'color' warmth rating then find another example that you can look out with the same ratings then you'll have a good idea of how yellow the light is. The battery powered lights from target that say warm white are pretty nice think of a grain of wheat blub that ha...
by Sparky
Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:57 pm
Forum: Scratchbuilding
Topic: Place to buy greebles?
Replies: 30
Views: 74834

Gonna have to find someone casting gribblies on the side. Casting will let you use parts made from things you can't properly glue or paint. The best thing to do is create a few gibbly pieces from stock styrene and other parts, then get them cast up in a gang mold. that way it looks less like a jumbl...
by Sparky
Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:43 pm
Forum: Scratchbuilding
Topic: Half kit half scratch? Tramp Steamer
Replies: 4
Views: 9797

Here's the small freighter with the 'no neck' configuration as described in the instructions. http://www.kc6sye.com/images/small_freighter/IMGP6142.JPG http://www.kc6sye.com/images/small_freighter/IMGP6143.JPG http://www.kc6sye.com/images/small_freighter/IMGP6144.JPG http://www.kc6sye.com/images/sma...