Hi, I'm building yet another cat scaring gadget, and could use a little help...
I've gotten this project down to the final stage, and not too sure about part selection, or the best way not waste too much battery power. I have a disposiable camera flash board, runs off of a single 1.5 AA battery. There are two switches (sets of wires...), one charges the capacitor and the other triggers the flash (when a tiny neon lamp glows and flashes "ready").
I just want to send power to the board, and have the capacitor charge, then trigger when the neon says its "ready". Nothing fancy, no need for variable rate or anything. Next I wish to a piezo-tweeter, so as to get a loud "POP" when the xenon fires.
Now, I'm pretty sure I can just shot the charge switch, but the trigger is the tough one, a neon lamp glows at 70 vac. I don't know how to pick the best part to trigger the flash with this.
The piezo-tweeter I have is rated 100 watts, hoping I can direct wire it to the neon or some place, maybe add a resister for protection.
Finally, this whole mess runs off 1.5 vdc, but my supply will be 9 volts from a PIR motion sensor, power by 6-nicad AAs , solar-charged. Need to drop the 9 volts down to 1.5, without wasting too much battery power. Although, the PIR will only power the flash board long enough for two-three flashes. So I guess its not to important right now.
The idea is a motion controlled electronic firecracker. Figured, I'd give this post a shot, and hopefully find some incrediably simple solutions.
finally note... I have read and search this forum pretty thoroughly, and...
Yes, I am aware that the flash board carries unpleasant charges, so yes I'll be very careful, and always discharge the capacitor, before touching the board.
I've search with Google and Metacrawler , there are several good pages for modifying these flash boards, but not what I had in mind. Some use exotic sounding parts for a variable rate stobe, others salvage the major parts, and build new circuits.
Oh, and this gadget should, in no way, interfer with cell phones....
I've gotten this project down to the final stage, and not too sure about part selection, or the best way not waste too much battery power. I have a disposiable camera flash board, runs off of a single 1.5 AA battery. There are two switches (sets of wires...), one charges the capacitor and the other triggers the flash (when a tiny neon lamp glows and flashes "ready").
I just want to send power to the board, and have the capacitor charge, then trigger when the neon says its "ready". Nothing fancy, no need for variable rate or anything. Next I wish to a piezo-tweeter, so as to get a loud "POP" when the xenon fires.
Now, I'm pretty sure I can just shot the charge switch, but the trigger is the tough one, a neon lamp glows at 70 vac. I don't know how to pick the best part to trigger the flash with this.
The piezo-tweeter I have is rated 100 watts, hoping I can direct wire it to the neon or some place, maybe add a resister for protection.
Finally, this whole mess runs off 1.5 vdc, but my supply will be 9 volts from a PIR motion sensor, power by 6-nicad AAs , solar-charged. Need to drop the 9 volts down to 1.5, without wasting too much battery power. Although, the PIR will only power the flash board long enough for two-three flashes. So I guess its not to important right now.
The idea is a motion controlled electronic firecracker. Figured, I'd give this post a shot, and hopefully find some incrediably simple solutions.
finally note... I have read and search this forum pretty thoroughly, and...
Yes, I am aware that the flash board carries unpleasant charges, so yes I'll be very careful, and always discharge the capacitor, before touching the board.
I've search with Google and Metacrawler , there are several good pages for modifying these flash boards, but not what I had in mind. Some use exotic sounding parts for a variable rate stobe, others salvage the major parts, and build new circuits.
Oh, and this gadget should, in no way, interfer with cell phones....