Oddball Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Hi Guys, I'm opping sound for a panto and as a little project I wanted to build a simple cue light system for it. The kind of thing I was thinking of was a couple of project boxes with a red and a green light plus an acknowledge button. Somehow I'd be able to send a red light to these remote boxes (which would stay on until acknowledged). Then once I received an acknowledge signal I could send them a green. Ideally I'd like the boxes to have XLR connections (5 pin I guess?) and IEC's for power. Anybody got any idea where I could find some rough schematics on how to build something like this as whilst I'm nifty with a soldering iron I'm by no means an electronics buff! Thanks for any help, Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Its definitely worth a search for this, as its been covered quite a few times before, for starters there are a variety of circuits on the Blue Room Wiki and also some links to relevant topics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revbobuk Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 There's this thread - and if you are interested in details of my efforts to create one, PM for details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaize110 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I made one of these for my GCSE electronics project. I used PICAXE chips (PIC chips with some firmware on and relatively easy to program) and 3 pin XLR. I only needed to use 2 of the pins. One 0V and one for the data signal. Only disadvantage is that each station needs batteries to power the PIC and/or boost the signal if going over a long distance. While this isnt the MOST simple solution, it gives to option for such extras as a keyboard input or LCD out like I used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 ... 3 pin XLR. I only needed to use 2 of the pins. One 0V and one for the data signal. Only disadvantage is that each station needs batteries to power the PIC and/or boost the signal if going over a long distance. Thats what the third wire of the XLR is for - power! Preferably 24-30VDC, so you can run it off the intercom power supply... You should publish this project; I think lots of people may be interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmills Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I know the OP has seen this version already, but here is one (drawn from memory of something I built, but you get the idea): http://www.exponent.myzen.co.uk/cuelight.pdf The only even slightly subtle bit is the standby indicator wiring in the outstation, when it is first powered up, the flashing led wired in series with the actual standby indicator causes the indicator to flash (and because everything is in series also causes the standby indicator at the SMs console to flash), when the ack button is pressed on the outstation the scr (drawn as a thyristor on that drawing) latches on, bypassing the flashing led and causing the standby indicator to light continuously (also mirrored at the stage managers console). An improvement would be to replace the resistors in the console with simple constant current drivers (clamped to about 5V compliance range) to keep the light output constant in the various modes. No microcontrollers needed and you get open circuit indication for free! Regards, Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 ... 3 pin XLR. I only needed to use 2 of the pins. One 0V and one for the data signal. Only disadvantage is that each station needs batteries to power the PIC and/or boost the signal if going over a long distance. Thats what the third wire of the XLR is for - power! Preferably 24-30VDC, so you can run it off the intercom power supply... You should publish this project; I think lots of people may be interested.Count me in as one of them dbuckley. I have a feeling this could be a very handy project. You would just need to work out how to step the 24-30VDC down to the 5VDC that the PICAXE chips want. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 A little 5V regulator would do the job rather well. Costs about 50p... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 True, but all of the 5v Voltage Regulators I have seen will only work with an input voltage of upto 18VDC. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 How bout this or this or any of these Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Ok thank you Jon. I stand corrected. I have only looked into Voltage Regulators quickly as part of a larger project. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bh00 Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 I've built, and somewhere have the plans for, a digital cue light system. Each "outstation" had a small PIC, a switch and an LCD, the backlight of the LCD was used to alert the operator by flashing. These could then be wired back using 3-core XLR to the "base station" - power and data carried over the XLR. PM me if you're interested and I'll try and dig out my drawings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Would it not be easier to publish the plans on here? That way everyone would benefit. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bh00 Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Yes, I can do that - I will need to find/scan them first though so was looking to see if there was any demand for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Well, I would like to see it. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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