electrical help

[Harry II]

I have know idea how to do this as I've no experience with anything electrical but what I want to do is set a light in a clear resin shape. These shapes would be joined together by the wire used to charge the lights inside them in a vertically suspended grid pattern.

I'm thinking I've lost everyone now. But I'll carry on.

I'm hoping that the lights won't get too hot and either set the resin on fire or melt it, that the current can be minimal so as not to hurt or kill anyone curious enough to touch it and that the lights would never fail. I need the lights to be smaller tham 5mm and not Chistmas lights.

Can anyone help with suppliers of minature lights (LED?) maybe model Train builders?

This could be the least replied to thread in WW Forum history so I'm not expecting alot of reponse but hoping someone out there is there with some idea.

[olddog]

Hi Harry11,Not real sure what you are after,more details please,but I think LEDs are the way to go,you would need a stepdown transformer with a DC output,maybe a look through RS catalog would help........Peter you.www.rs-components.com.au

[stevebaby]

Fibre optic cable? Dick Smiths have them.
What are you actually making?

[Harry II]

Hi Harry11,Not real sure what you are after,more details please,but I think LEDs are the way to go,you would need a stepdown transformer with a DC output,maybe a look through RS catalog would help........Peter you.www.rs-components.com.au


Fibre optic cable? Dick Smiths have them.
What are you actually making?

Thanks for responding, I didn't think I'd get anyone replying, I still may lose you after I explain what I'm wanting to do. I do a bit of artwork (still with me?). Imagine a square fishing net suspended from horizontal wire not quite touching the ground, at each intersection of the cords is a glass heart (still with me?).

Except the cord is copper? wire that carries a small? current to a LED? light embedded in the heart. Each hearts colour would ideally be able to change independently at different intervals and be able to be controlled or programed.

I can't think of any way of being able to embed a light in glass with wires to it for charge so I've ruled that out at the moment. Casting in resin seems possible but haven't worked it out yet, I just need to know wether the lights heat would effect the resin.

"LEDs are the way to go,you would need a stepdown transformer with a DC output,maybe a look through RS catalog would help"

Why do you reckon LEDs are the way to go? What's a "stepdown transformer with a DC output"? I search on Google for miniture lights and the RS site came up, looked at the online catalogue for a while but didn't really know what I was looking at most of the time but noticed they can be as small as 1.8mm diameter x about 5mm I think, that's good. But how do you connect them? Charge them? How long would they last?

Any help would be appreciated.

[doug1]

You could do this with LEDs either 2,3,4,5 mm or surface mount
connect with winding wire ( small enamalled wire, would be invisable)
you would need a small power supply say 5 volt) and some resistors to do this
and be carefull of polarity

see LEDs at
http://www.oatleyelectronics.com/leds.htm

Doug

[graemet]

You could use casting resin, as far as I know, it is an electical insulator. LEDs don't emit significant heat. You would have to count the number of LEDs in series, ( getting the polarity right) and multiply by the current drain of the particular LEDs to get the current output required from the transformer. If you don't understand a word of what I've said, you probably need to ask one of the bright young blokes in Jaycar. No point in asking the Dick Smith crew any more, they're just Woolies counter jumpers who can just work a cash register sometimes. The older Dick Smith and Jaycar cattledogs used to have a data section in the back with the formulae, don't know about the current ones, I'm too lousy to buy one, they used to be GIVEN away with the electronics mags.
Cheers
Graeme

[Harry II]

You could do this with LEDs either 2,3,4,5 mm or surface mount
connect with winding wire ( small enamalled wire, would be invisable)
you would need a small power supply say 5 volt) and some resistors to do this
and be carefull of polarity

see LEDs at
http://www.oatleyelectronics.com/leds.htm

Doug


You could use casting resin, as far as I know, it is an electical insulator. LEDs don't emit significant heat. You would have to count the number of LEDs in series, ( getting the polarity right) and multiply by the current drain of the particular LEDs to get the current output required from the transformer. If you don't understand a word of what I've said, you probably need to ask one of the bright young blokes in Jaycar. No point in asking the Dick Smith crew any more, they're just Woolies counter jumpers who can just work a cash register sometimes. The older Dick Smith and Jaycar cattledogs used to have a data section in the back with the formulae, don't know about the current ones, I'm too lousy to buy one, they used to be GIVEN away with the electronics mags.
Cheers
Graeme

Got to get some sleep before mongrel day at work, too many questions, thanks for the info, I'll be back. Kind regards and good night.

[olddog]

Hi HarryII, From the way you descibed the project,yes use LED,s as said by others no heat to worry about,can be cast in resin with ease,as LED,s draw bugger all current about 20mA,s you could run them from battery power but it may be better to run from mains power again it depends on the time and size of the display,it may be best to use some of the resin that is avalible from some of the Bunning,s stores and others to cover table tops etc it is a pour on and sets cristal clear or maybe buy from a model shop. As for the wiring, LED,s can be run on tiny guage wire that would be nearly invisable as not much current there,you can also get multi coloured leds ie. red green orange etc As for step down tranny it means taking mains power 240/230 VAC down to a usable voltage and amperage for whatever is needed ie plug packs and you can change AC (alternating current ) to DC ( direct curent ) LED,s work on DC and usualy need a resistor in series to limit current draw to about 20mA.cant see many problems with what you want to do,like others said go to Jaycar,Alltronics or Dicksmith and have a talk with them,if I can help just ask........Peter

[pcal]

The advice you have received on led's is 100% correct.

I did something similar (but on a MUCH smaller and simpler scale) in an art project when I was in school, oh decades ago now! ;) I had a couple of LED's, and some electronic switching gear to make them flash, and soldered the components together without a pc board, to make a mini scuplture out of the leads, and set the whole contrivance in a block of resin with a battery lead comming out one end. It made a very interesting paperweight until the battery lead broke off...

..there in lies your biggest challenge. The wiring within the resin will be immobilised by the resin, but the wiring between your resin "hearts" will not. If you intend to leave the sculpture flexible (ie. bending on the wires), then they will fairly quickly work harden at the points where the wire exists the resin, and some will inevitably break. Once that happens, you can't rejoin them without major and ugly surgery to your resin.

An alternative may be to join the hearts together with thin gauge hollow ridgid tube. You could bend the tubes to whatever shape you prefer, and feed the wires through them for mechanical protection.

As for programmable display patterns, this would be relatively simple with a little bit of electronics to multiplex your horizonal and vertical grid lines onto a serial, or even usb communications line, which could be driven by a standard computer. With a bit more fuffing about, you may even be able to use one of the control boards from someone like http://www.futurlec.com/Boards.shtml to drive it without a computer. I suspect you may have to engage the services of someone with a little more of an electronic bent to make it happen, but it is certainly achievable.

Regards,

Glen

[Harry II]

From the way you descibed the project,yes use LED,s as said by others no heat to worry about,can be cast in resin with ease,as LED,s draw bugger all current about 20mA

Beauty LEDs it is! I'm working on the problem of how to cast the LED in the heart and the connection to it after casting, a socket connection would be good but may be hard to get in tiny sizes, the conections are going to have to be simple and they will be very if not all important, actually I'm still working on the heart cast, I have carved and rough sanded about 200 hearts fron Huon only 700 to go, it's really zipping along, not! I hope to make separate works from the casting and the wooden hearts, so one is making the other.

so you could run them from battery power but it may be better to run from mains power again it depends on the time and size of the display

I'm thinking about three metres square at the moment. 900 or so hearts. Suspended by a horizontal wire between to poles but not convinced that's they way it will turn out, suspended or hanging for sure. I'll do a drawing/diagram tomorow and Post it.

As for the wiring, LED,s can be run on tiny guage wire that would be nearly invisable as not much current there,you can also get multi coloured leds ie. red green orange etc

The wire would need to be flexible to some degree and strong to bear weight. I've done a wooden one with 250 hearts with .5mm copper wire, that's what I'm used to but you've got me thinking otherwise with your suggestion "be nearly invisable" but can tiny guage wire be strong? It would be good to be able to colour the LEDs any colour but I reckon I'm barking up the wrong tree there. Is it possible to control the on/off timing of eack individual LED?

As for step down tranny it means taking mains power 240/230 VAC down to a usable voltage and amperage for whatever is needed ie plug packs and you can change AC (alternating current ) to DC ( direct curent ) LED,s work on DC and usualy need a resistor in series to limit current draw to about 20mA.cant see many problems with what you want to do,like others said go to Jaycar,Alltronics or Dicksmith and have a talk with them,if I can help just ask........Peter

Tranny = Transformer yes. (I used to have a model railway)
voltage and aperage = I'm electronically stupid (but I know not to touch wires)
plug pack = what the?
AC DC = Highway To Hell
resistor in a series = blue healers

Thanks heaps for your help Peter and all, kind regards Harry

[Harry II]

..there in lies your biggest challenge. The wiring within the resin will be immobilised by the resin, but the wiring between your resin "hearts" will not. If you intend to leave the sculpture flexible (ie. bending on the wires), then they will fairly quickly work harden at the points where the wire exists the resin, and some will inevitably break. Once that happens, you can't rejoin them without major and ugly surgery to your resin. An alternative may be to join the hearts together with thin gauge hollow ridgid tube. You could bend the tubes to whatever shape you prefer, and feed the wires through them for mechanical protection.

the connections and linkages are becoming more important to me now, it's going to make or break this literally.

As for programmable display patterns, this would be relatively simple with a little bit of electronics to multiplex your horizonal and vertical grid lines onto a serial, or even usb communications line, which could be driven by a standard computer. With a bit more fuffing about, you may even be able to use one of the control boards from someone like http://www.futurlec.com/Boards.shtml to drive it without a computer. I suspect you may have to engage the services of someone with a little more of an electronic bent to make it happen, but it is certainly achievable.

now where talking, I don't know what you talking about but I reckon I'm on the right track, that's gold.
Regards,

Glen[/QUOTE]

Thanks Glen

[pcal]

I'm working on the problem of how to cast the LED in the heart and the connection to it after casting, a socket connection would be good but may be hard to get in tiny sizes, the conections are going to have to be simple and they will be very if not all important

Using a plug and socket arrangement will infinitely improve your reliability (can switch out a faulty one easily), but will also signifcantly increase your cost. A suitable plug and socket could easily cost 10 times as much as the LED it is connected to.

You could even solder the LED directly onto the end of the socket, and set the socket half in / half out of your casting. Then, the whole heart becomes a "plug in" attachment to a completely separate wire net, made with plugs at the intersection points of the horizontal and vertical runs.


actually I'm still working on the heart cast, I have carved and rough sanded about 200 hearts fron Huon only 700 to go, it's really zipping along, not! I hope to make separate works from the casting and the wooden hearts, so one is making the other.

Couldn't you re-use the mold? I don't understand why multiple originals are required...


It would be good to be able to colour the LEDs any colour but I reckon I'm barking up the wrong tree there. Is it possible to control the on/off timing of eack individual LED?

There are quite a range of single colour LEDs available, but to my knowledge only one that can be multi coloured - called a "tri-colour" LED. When you run DC voltage through it in one direction it glows red, if you run the same voltage in reverse it glows green, and if you connect it to AC voltage it glows yellow (actually, alternating between red and green so quickly, that it just looks yellow)

If you use some electronic control, it should be possible to make each individual LED come on or off at will. If you just wire them straight to a power supply (plug pack etc.) then they will just be constantly on, all together.

Regards,

Glen

[Harry II]

A suitable plug and socket could easily cost 10 times as much as the LED it is connected to.

what about the wire, will it be strong enough, I don't what a ridgid look about the thing more like it's moving in the breeze. Could I make my own sockets?

You could even solder the LED directly onto the end of the socket, and set the socket half in / half out of your casting. Then, the whole heart becomes a "plug in" attachment to a completely separate wire net, made with plugs at the intersection points of the horizontal and vertical runs.

oh yeah and have you ever tried to stuff a LED and sockets in mold and cast it in resin before, yeah sounds real bloody easy.;)

Couldn't you re-use the mould? I don't understand why multiple originals are required...

They all need to be different don't they?

There are quite a range of single colour LEDs available, but to my knowledge only one that can be multi coloured - called a "tri-colour" LED. When you run DC voltage through it in one direction it glows red, if you run the same voltage in reverse it glows green, and if you connect it to AC voltage it glows yellow (actually, alternating between red and green so quickly, that it just looks yellow)

I'd like to run a shadow over it, like a areoplane shadow and you guessed it, I want it Blue.

If you use some electronic control, it should be possible to make each individual LED come on or off at will. If you just wire them straight to a power supply (plug pack etc.) then they will just be constantly on, all together.

or a flock of birds in...no not pink:o :D

Kind regards
Harry

[pcal]

what about the wire, will it be strong enough, I don't what a ridgid look about the thing more like it's moving in the breeze.

You would have to work out the total weight of your sculpture before you could determine how strong the wire would need to be.

One possible solution may be to make your "net" out of thin flexible steel cable (which has plenty of strength) and then use a fine electrical wire that can be clipped or taped to the steel cables for connecting to the plugs at each intersection of the net. That way, the electrical connection can be protected from the mechanical forces, and will be much less likely to break.


Could I make my own sockets?

Possible? Yes
Practical? No


Couldn't you re-use the mould? I don't understand why multiple originals are required...

They all need to be different don't they?

Why? If you're making a net with a heart at each junction, and plan to have 900 of them, is anyone really going to notice if number 274 is identical to number 631 and number 896? If you already have 200 models nearly made, pick the 20 best ones, and use them to cast 20 rubber molds, and fill those 20 molds with your resin 45 times each (inserting the socket with LED attached while the resin is still liquid - quite easy really ;)), giving you 45 resin hearts in each of 20 designs, for your 900 total... or have I missed something somewhere?


I'd like to run a shadow over it, like a areoplane shadow and you guessed it, I want it Blue.
...
or a flock of birds in...no not pink:o :D

Red, Green, or White would be a LOT cheaper, as they are are a lot more common. I think I've seen a blue one somewhere, but the thought of buying nearly a thousand of them would give me the shudders...

... if you want aircraft shadows and flocks of birds, then may I suggest that in addition to the electronics technician to interface it to your computer, you will likely need a programmer as well to create the software for such an ambitious objective. As before, it is certainly achievable, but you are adding layers of complexity with each new post! :D

Regards,

Glen

[Harry II]

Why? If you're making a net with a heart at each junction, and plan to have 900 of them, is anyone really going to notice if number 274 is identical to number 631 and number 896? If you already have 200 models nearly made, pick the 20 best ones, and use them to cast 20 rubber molds, and fill those 20 molds with your resin 45 times each (inserting the socket with LED attached while the resin is still liquid - quite easy really ;)), giving you 45 resin hearts in each of 20 designs, for your 900 total... or have I missed something somewhere?

Seem verging on the obsessive I no Glen, "is anyone really going to notice", probably not most. I think the work would lose some of its power if the hearts are repetitive but I get your point and mulling it over, the resin one is still evolving, twisting and turning. "inserting the socket with LED attached while the resin is still liquid - quite easy really", ok, I believe you, but how do you connect to the LED?



Red, Green, or White would be a LOT cheaper, as they are are a lot more common. I think I've seen a blue one somewhere, but the thought of buying nearly a thousand of them would give me the shudders...

I thought they where (shuddering) cheap?


... if you want aircraft shadows and flocks of birds, then may I suggest that in addition to the electronics technician to interface it to your computer, you will likely need a programmer as well to create the software for such an ambitious objective. As before, it is certainly achievable, but you are adding layers of complexity with each new post! :D

your right, the resin one is undergoing a thought process, I'm just so tired from my fullon time job that I haven't settled it down yet, just exploring the possibilities, especially with electrics, It'd be good if you could get tiny LCD screens and control them from a computer, I can see that.

Regards,

Harry

[pcal]

"inserting the socket with LED attached while the resin is still liquid - quite easy really", ok, I believe you, but how do you connect to the LED?

Imagine if you will... (what it would look like, not how you would do it;)) take the plug on the end of your ipod headphones, cut off the wire from the plug, and solder the LED back in place of the wire. Now imagine your rubber mold filled with liquid resin, with a headphone plug sized hole in the top. Poke the LED end of the plug into the hole, plunging deep into the heart of the issue (small pun there :)) leaving the metal pin (the bit you normally whack into the ipod) sticking out in the breeze. The resin hardens, the led is stuck on the inside, the plug connections are attached on the outside.

Make up your net separately, but rather than led's, solder sockets into the net at all the places you want a heart to go.

Voila! Plug your heart into the net. (My instinct tells me I should be saying something about anti-virus and filters here, but I'll let it ride this time...)



I thought they where (shuddering) cheap?

"cheap" is a relative term. Compared to gold bullion, blue led's are cheap. Comared to red led's, they're not.


Regards,

Glen

[Harry II]

and solder the LED back in place of the wire.

Please excuse my ignorance:o but the LEDs I saw on a web sight had two prongs stickn out of a coloured glass looking head, are there 2 wires coming out of an Ipod socket? If so, solder them to each prong, yes?


Make up your net separately, but rather than led's, solder sockets into the net at all the places you want a heart to go.


Voila! Plug your heart into the net. (My instinct tells me I should be saying something about anti-virus and filters here, but I'll let it ride this time...)

it's starting to look like a flat christmas tree:confused: , the hearts will look plugged-in, I'd rather have the wire going through the hearts and preferably cross at the intersection of the light (no religious conentations intended).


"cheap" is a relative term. Compared to gold bullion, blue led's are cheap. Comared to red led's, they're not.

How much are common reds ones?

Thanks for the advice Glen, you certainly have a good mind for figuring things out, albeit in a direction away from my initial concept of which is still cooking. I've even thought of incasing the whole arrangment, which opens up more possibilities inspired by your suggestions, thanks. Thing is I don't like resin much, Ive never really like the look of it let alone the smell but it may have to do, it runs a poor second to glass. Ultimately the hearts wood be glass but people whom I have met (2) who work in glass say it can't be done, let alone having a light inside. Till next time, kind regards.

Harry

[pcal]

As noted, my description was for what it looked like, not how to do it. An actual ipod plug would have three connections (for stereo), but you can buy them with only two - called a "2.5mm mono phone plug", and worth about 50c each from Jaycar in bulk if you take the black plastic ones, or about $1.30 each if you go with the shiny metal ones. (I was in Jaycar today, and noted some of the relevant prices...) Yes, you would solder one pin to one connection on the plug, and the other to the other. As you are looking at a custom application, there would be no standard way of doing it, so it would not matter which way around you did it, so long as they were all the same. The sockets on the net would also have to be wired the same way as each other. Matching sockets were about 65c each for the plastic version. So long as the plugs and sockets were all consistent, you would have a 50/50 chance of them all working first time, and if they didn't, you would only have to reverse the wires coming off whatever power supply you use.

They had red LED's in a packet of 100 for a few dollars (sorry, I can't remember exactly how much it was), but they worked out to only a few cents each. But they didn't stock blue LED's - Had some products with blue led's in them (so they certainly exist), but just not for sale individually at least at Jaycar.

I guess I was looking at the practicalities of how to do what you asked for with off the shelf gear. My background is in fixing electrical, electronic, and mechanical things that break - so when designing stuff, I'm looking for "robust", and "easy to work on".

It may be possible to do it without using plugs and sockets - but if you're going to have wires set directly into the resin, I don't think any sort of copper is going to stand up to the mechanical stresses you are likely to give it. A stainless steel cable of a fine enough gauge may have enough strength, and can also be used to carry the supply for the LED's, but introduces a number of its own problems...

1) It would be a pain to try to solder the led's onto (x 900!) - stainless doesn't solder real well.
2) It would significantly increase the complexity of molding, as you would have to assemble the net first with the LED's in place, then hold the cables somehow so they don't short out while molding the hearts around them...
3) You would have to insulate the cables somehow between hearts so they didn't short out (otherwise, at best - you may get the wrong LED's coming on, or at worst - you could blow up the electronics controlling them.)
4) The resin hearts themselves would become the mechanical tie between the horizontal and vertical strands of your net. If something were to fall onto your net for example, the cable would likely rip your hearts to bits.

Suppose I'll leave the creative to you, just putting in my 10c worth on the practical side.

Regards,

Glen

[Harry II]

More than 10c worth Glen, thanks. I to don't like making things that are likely to fall apart easily, I've always tried to build things that are robust but all the plugs, sockets and soldering is getting too busy, but your right, it's the way to achieve what I asked how to do in terms of the electrical connections to lights. Considering all that, I'm thinking of doing one with a copper net and resin (glass still lingering) hearts and maybe back light it and doing another where the hearts with plugs, sockets and soldering are incased in a resin/fibreglass pane. What are the chances of a LED failing, over what time? I have noticed some are more expensive than others, assuming that you pay for quality, would that decrease that chances of it failing?.
Both the above works can now be considered possible candidates for being able to control sequences of LEDs, is there a good not to technical resource for finding out how to wire such a thing up so I control it?

Kind regards
Harry

[olddog]

Hi Harry,
Just a recap on your project todate I think you are getting some where now with good advice from PCAL and others,what you want to do can be done,BUT at what cost, your project could cost between $100 and $10,000 depending on what way you go and what electronic controls you want switching etc again the net can cost an arm and leg if you want it to be the mechanical and electrical carrier all in one,on the other hand it can be done at a fraction of the cost if you split the mechanical and the electrical,like PCAL said copper work hardens over time so the less stress the better,I think you will have to overlay the net with the electrics on a cost basis and stress wise as well. Connecting the hearts to the wiring is another challenge but can be over come,your project is much bigger than I at first thought and more complex in what you want for an outcome, but dont let that stop you. Ok off on another track I think you need a bit of electical knowlege without getting to complex so may I surgest some of the books obtainable from Dicksmith on the basic,s of electronics not to complex just enough to get you up and running on the terminology. Please PM me with your address and I will drop you a few LED,s and resistors to play with,I have lots laying about that I will never use so you can blow them up for practice and get a bit of soldering practice as well,Good Luck........Peter

[pcal]

Hi again Harry,

Irrespective of whether your light source is in the heart or outside of it, the "work hardening" properties of copper would make it a poor choice in my opinion for your net material - copper is a "soft" metal. You can get stainless steel cable that is still quite flexible, but would take a lot more effort to work harden. - Marine suppliers would be a good place to go to have a look at some...

LED reliability is generally fairly good. They are MUCH less likely to fail than incandescent or fluroescent globes, but failure is still possible. That said, I'm not aware of any other light source that I would consider to be MORE relaible that LED's. If your going to the wholesalers to get the quantity your looking for, they should be able to give you a MTBF rating on the led's from the manufacturer (Mean Time Between Failures). The bigger the number, the better the quality.

I hope I'm not judging your level of electronic understanding too harshly, but based on what you have said already I believe building a computer interfaced de-multiplexor suitable for driving your lighting would be beyond your capabilites. I understand the principles involved, but would probably look for some more experienced help if doing it myself...

I'll try to explain it as simply as I can so at least you will be able to ask the right questions of any electronic techs you contact.

Multiplexing is a process of converting a number of individual inputs, into a code number. De-multiplexing is a process of converting a code number, into one or more of a number of individual outputs. You would need a de-multiplexor. The software in your computer (that would also be custom written for this job) sends a code number down the serial or usb cable to the de-multiplexor, which interprets that code as an instruction to switch on output numbers "X". The output lines from the de-multiplexor switched on by this instruction then drive their transistors (basically electrically controlled switches) which turn on power to their corresponding LEDs.

You would need a "64bit" de-multiplexor - ie one that has 64 output lines. 30 of those lines would control switching the positive power to the x axis lines in your net, 30 more to control switching the negative power to the Y axis lines in your net, and 4 spares. (30 X by 30 Y = 900 hearts, yes? Maybe you could use the spares to trigger special functions, like turn on all leds for a test, or something like that)

Every possible combination of output lines from the de-multiplexor would have a corresponding code number. So your software would choose the code number that turns on the 1st y axis line, and every x axis line in the first y axis line that needs its led on for the current image.
[note: now you would have positive being fed down however many of the x axis lines you wanted on, flowing through (and thereby turning on) the led's you want in the first row, and then flowing out through the negative connected to the first y axis line. There would be power on one side of the corresponding x axis led's in every other row as well, but since the negative is only connected to the first line, all the others stay off.]
Then the computer would send the number that corresponds to the 2nd y axis line, with every x axis line in the 2nd row. Then the 3rd y with corresponding x'es etc. etc. After sending the 30th y axis code, the computer jumps right back to the 1st again.

This would all happen so quickly, that the computer would have sent its codes for all 30 of the y axis lines in less time than it takes for persistence of vision to loose the light from the first y axis row. So it looks to the observer that there is a steady image over the entire net. This process is called "rastorisation" - displaying an image one line at a time, and is basically the same way a television screen operates.

As I said before, theory is one thing - but practice is something altogether different. At least I hope you get a basic idea of how it could work...

Regards,

Glen

[Ashore]

If I remember correctly there are also single LED's with two colours and three prongs that could give you even more variations of colour:D

[Harry II]

I hope I'm not judging your level of electronic understanding too harshly, but based on what you have said already I believe building a computer interfaced de-multiplexor suitable for driving your lighting would be beyond your capabilites. I understand the principles involved, but would probably look for some more experienced help if doing it myself...

I can't agree more. Are the specialist lighting electricians that would be willing to take on a project like this? I made myself start something else today to stop thinking about it, think I'll leave it settle down a while so I can establish true direction with it.


If I remember correctly there are also single LED's with two colours and three prongs that could give you even more variations of colour:D

I think I may enough on my plate at the moment for one little bird brain.:o

Regards,
harry