I seem to remember someone mentioning a new board that would produce random blinking lights...the sort of thing you would use to light up the TOS bridge, or a 60's style computer display. My searches for this haven't come up with anything though. Anybody here know of any boards like that?
Random blinking lights board?
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This is random blinks for $9.
http://www.fedoratron.com/pulsater.html
But it relies on self-blinking LED's to begin with. The self-blinkers included can drive any other color of LED you choose. May be too fast for your needs though. This might be more of a flicekr effect than a slow heart beat/ pulse like you are thinking.
A slow sequencer, or two, would do it. An arduino board could be made to do it. Brad Burleson has one that's pretty cool. A member search here should turn him up.
http://www.fedoratron.com/pulsater.html
But it relies on self-blinking LED's to begin with. The self-blinkers included can drive any other color of LED you choose. May be too fast for your needs though. This might be more of a flicekr effect than a slow heart beat/ pulse like you are thinking.
A slow sequencer, or two, would do it. An arduino board could be made to do it. Brad Burleson has one that's pretty cool. A member search here should turn him up.
This is the one I will use for the blinking lights in the computer panels in my J2 build.http://www.fedoratron.com/sequencer.html
I played with it a bit and if you slow it down real slow it is real close to the way they blink on the show.
You just need to route the fiber optics to get a random blinking on the different panels.
It can run up to 10 leds so there should be no problem getting patterns close to the ones on the show.
It will just take some experimenting to get it the way I want it.
I played with it a bit and if you slow it down real slow it is real close to the way they blink on the show.
You just need to route the fiber optics to get a random blinking on the different panels.
It can run up to 10 leds so there should be no problem getting patterns close to the ones on the show.
It will just take some experimenting to get it the way I want it.
Try this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Sequenc...913?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564b365b11
These blink in a 'circle' but you can arrange them in any oder you prefer by placeing them at random spots. The other good thing about it is it has a trim pot so you can speed it up or slow it down to suit your needs!
They come in different colors too.
hal9001-
These blink in a 'circle' but you can arrange them in any oder you prefer by placeing them at random spots. The other good thing about it is it has a trim pot so you can speed it up or slow it down to suit your needs!
They come in different colors too.
hal9001-
That is a nice little unit for a great price.
The one I referenced does the same and you can also adjust the intensity of the light coming from the LEDS.
I ended up soldering .100 male pins to the LED connections on the board and female connectors to the wires,
so I could try different LEDS without soldering them directly to the board or wires. Sure saved a ton of time changing LEDS.
I put all the components on the same side to make mounting easier.
I accidentally ran across the board I was originally thinking of when I made this post while browsing CultTVMan's shop (I knew I had seen it somewhere). It is called the Blinking Computer Lights from Tenacontrol. Here's the description:
Generic blinking computer lighting. This kit features 8 LEDs that blink on and off at different rates to create a random computer effect. This unit comes with 2 yellow, 2 green and 4 red LEDs that are prewired. Just attach to the couplers on the circuit board. This unit has a variety of uses. It can simulate blinking control panel lights on kits like the Enterprise Bridge or interior of the Jupiter 2. Use fiber optic to run light to multiple points. Use in your own Batcave or other computer equipment!
The board is small and solidly built. Attaching the LEDs and battery/switch is trivial--all you need is a very small flat-headed screwdriver. All 8 LEDs blink on and off at different intervals, but all stay on for much longer than they are off. The board runs off of an (included) 9V battery.
My only complaint is the small size of the LEDs used. I would have preferred larger LEDs as you can run more fiber optic strands off of larger LEDs. I don't foresee any issue with using larger LEDs in place of the ones provided, however.
Generic blinking computer lighting. This kit features 8 LEDs that blink on and off at different rates to create a random computer effect. This unit comes with 2 yellow, 2 green and 4 red LEDs that are prewired. Just attach to the couplers on the circuit board. This unit has a variety of uses. It can simulate blinking control panel lights on kits like the Enterprise Bridge or interior of the Jupiter 2. Use fiber optic to run light to multiple points. Use in your own Batcave or other computer equipment!
The board is small and solidly built. Attaching the LEDs and battery/switch is trivial--all you need is a very small flat-headed screwdriver. All 8 LEDs blink on and off at different intervals, but all stay on for much longer than they are off. The board runs off of an (included) 9V battery.
My only complaint is the small size of the LEDs used. I would have preferred larger LEDs as you can run more fiber optic strands off of larger LEDs. I don't foresee any issue with using larger LEDs in place of the ones provided, however.
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How big is the area you want to add the lights? How many colors? I bought a small circuit board to run HO scale traffic lights... I'm pretty sure the guy said there was a random feature on them. Downside is they cost about $25. Something else you might consider is going low tech. look for tree lights in dollhouse stuff on ebay, and put a slow moving spinning wheel between it and your buttons. The spinning perforated wheel will keep most of the blinking lights off of your panel, letting light thru where ever it's perforated at the time. If you can, try and put a photo up of the panel next to a ruler. Knowing the space available helps a lot.
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Would this work for traffic signals?? LOng green, short yellow, long red then back to green.. So far, I know of 2, but both are quite expensive.
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