From doktorp at mac.com Wed Dec 5 00:32:33 2007 From: doktorp at mac.com (vade) Date: Wed Dec 5 00:33:18 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] RE: electronics stores In-Reply-To: References: <474F436C.5030507@music.columbia.edu> Message-ID: <62AB232A-8009-41CF-B72F-E256BF9B2C10@mac.com> For HAM radio related items there is a store on 2nd avenue and around 4th or 5th street - its on a corner and on the second floor, with a yellow sign - apologies, I cannot for the life of me find the name: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=4th+Street+and+3rd+Avenue+Manhattan+New+York&sll=40.677562,-73.98556&sspn=0.008478,0.015922&layer=c&ie=UTF8&ll=40.731633,-73.988349&spn=0.008471,0.015922&z=16&om=1&cbll=40.727317,-73.9886&cbp=1,258.15870895258655,,0,-1.1705647109331023 Google maps may be of some help :) You can also check out 269 Canal St, back of the mall has a small selection, mostly video related components For junk, check out Argo Electronics, right off of .. I think it is 6th ave an canal, at the 'north west' end of the canal 'run', has used junk components, sometimes some *really* great finds in there. Fun to just casually browse stuff. : http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=4th+Street+and+3rd+Avenue+Manhattan+New+York&sll=40.677562,-73.98556&sspn=0.008478,0.015922&layer=c&ie=UTF8&ll=40.725925,-74.004636&spn=0.008472,0.015922&z=16&om=1&cbll=40.721614,-74.005005&cbp=1,366.2561326475998,,0,-1.1705647109331028 The little red store :) In BK, there is also Mikeys Hookup, which has some components, but mostly AV related (higher end tape stock, connectors) and Computer related items. While ive never been to one of those shops, I can say its pretty lame here in NYC for DIY-ers and walk in stores :( On Nov 30, 2007, at 9:55 AM, Lee von kraus wrote: > I don't know of anything other than radioshack but I did some > searching and found these listings, if we all call some of the > places up we can probably figure out if any are worth checking out > (I tried to find websites for ones that looked promising but couldn't) > > http://www.brooklynyes.com/brooklyn-Consumer-Electronics-shops.html > http://www.hellobrooklyn.com/Brooklyn_home_and_garden/Brooklyn_Electronics.html > > -Lee > > Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:19:59 -0500 > From: jebjeb@gmail.com > To: dorkbotnyc-blabber@music.columbia.edu > Subject: Re: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] [Fwd: FW: Interactives is hiring] > > Sadly, the great rando electronics market of New York was destroyed > in the name of urban renewal years ago. Manhattan used to have its > own little Akihabara down where the World Trade Center was. That > said, check out Leeds Radio ( http://www.leedselect.com/) in > Williamsburg. That has basic stuff, but it also has a wide variety > of weird crap, especially tubes, tube sockets, stuff for building > audio circuits like transformers, etc. For certain electronic bits, > there are a couple stores on Canal Street in the blocks immediately > west of broadway that sell stuff, and another good resource is the > lighting stores on Broadway downtown, but only for general > electrical components, not like transistors. As far as I know, > though, there's no equivalent of like Active Surplus thats so cool > that people write blog posts about it. > > Check out this depressing story: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE1D6133AF931A15754C0A9679C8B63 > > On Nov 29, 2007 9:36 PM, Adela Kuehn wrote: > Greetings one and all- > > I remember this coming up in a post not too long ago, but I don't > remember/can't find the response. I am looking for an electronics > parts store in the city. I'm not looking for anything complicated, > just where I can find a decent selection of basic components; lets > just say that my local RadioShack was laughable. Any suggestions? I > just moved here from LA not too long ago and I really miss All > Electronics, not to mention browsing in Apex; sigh... > > Thank you, > Adela > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with > electricity.......... > ..........................http:// > dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with > electricity.......... > ..........................http:// > dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ From doktorp at mac.com Wed Dec 5 00:35:27 2007 From: doktorp at mac.com (vade) Date: Wed Dec 5 00:35:36 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] RE: electronics stores In-Reply-To: <62AB232A-8009-41CF-B72F-E256BF9B2C10@mac.com> References: <474F436C.5030507@music.columbia.edu> <62AB232A-8009-41CF-B72F-E256BF9B2C10@mac.com> Message-ID: <41A67F6B-22F5-40A6-A756-3B5562A4B4A0@mac.com> I meant to say, one of the stores in LA that you miss :) On Dec 5, 2007, at 12:32 AM, vade wrote: > While ive never been to one of those shops, I can say its pretty > lame here in NYC for DIY-ers and walk in stores :( From elisecake at gmail.com Thu Dec 6 09:01:31 2007 From: elisecake at gmail.com (Elise Roedenbeck) Date: Thu Dec 6 09:01:39 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] small LCD's Message-ID: <56a35d9d0712060601qce441d6wf4a4c655f32cbafc@mail.gmail.com> does anyone know a good place to get unhoused small (7" or less) LCD screens? thanks! elise -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotnyc-blabber/attachments/20071206/1511a9cb/attachment-0001.html From jebjeb at gmail.com Thu Dec 6 09:34:05 2007 From: jebjeb at gmail.com (jeb boniakowski) Date: Thu Dec 6 09:34:19 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] small LCD's In-Reply-To: <56a35d9d0712060601qce441d6wf4a4c655f32cbafc@mail.gmail.com> References: <56a35d9d0712060601qce441d6wf4a4c655f32cbafc@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: this place always lists really cheap surplus LCDs but I've never ordered from them: http://www.timeline-inc.com/lcd.html On Dec 6, 2007 9:01 AM, Elise Roedenbeck wrote: > does anyone know a good place to get unhoused small (7" or less) LCD > screens? > > thanks! > elise > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotnyc-blabber/attachments/20071206/e54a5e6a/attachment.html From leevonk at hotmail.com Thu Dec 6 09:53:52 2007 From: leevonk at hotmail.com (Lee von kraus) Date: Thu Dec 6 09:53:56 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] small LCD's In-Reply-To: References: <56a35d9d0712060601qce441d6wf4a4c655f32cbafc@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: here too: www.allelectronics.com -Lee Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2007 09:34:05 -0500 From: jebjeb@gmail.com To: dorkbotnyc-blabber@music.columbia.edu Subject: Re: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] small LCD's this place always lists really cheap surplus LCDs but I've never ordered from them: http://www.timeline-inc.com/lcd.html On Dec 6, 2007 9:01 AM, Elise Roedenbeck < elisecake@gmail.com> wrote: does anyone know a good place to get unhoused small (7" or less) LCD screens? thanks! elise ........................................................................ .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ ........................................................................ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotnyc-blabber/attachments/20071206/7ee5c4a0/attachment.html From douglas at music.columbia.edu Thu Dec 6 10:53:54 2007 From: douglas at music.columbia.edu (douglas repetto) Date: Thu Dec 6 10:51:56 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] small LCD's In-Reply-To: <56a35d9d0712060601qce441d6wf4a4c655f32cbafc@mail.gmail.com> References: <56a35d9d0712060601qce441d6wf4a4c655f32cbafc@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <47581B12.8060405@music.columbia.edu> I've bought small LCDs from the car stereo places on Canal. They're meant for mounting in car headrests. You can probably find them cheaper online, but visiting one of those stores might help you get a feel for what's out there. douglas Elise Roedenbeck wrote: > does anyone know a good place to get unhoused small (7" or less) LCD > screens? > > > thanks! > elise > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ -- ............................................... http://artbots.org .....douglas.....irving........................ http://dorkbot.org .......................... http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp .......... repetto............. http://music.columbia.edu/organism ............................... http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas From caitlin at membrana.us Thu Dec 6 18:07:45 2007 From: caitlin at membrana.us (caitlin berrigan) Date: Thu Dec 6 18:07:56 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] small LCD's In-Reply-To: <56a35d9d0712060601qce441d6wf4a4c655f32cbafc@mail.gmail.com> References: <56a35d9d0712060601qce441d6wf4a4c655f32cbafc@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <475880C1.9060203@membrana.us> What kind of LCD are you looking for? There are also these LCDs: http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php?cPath=76 And if you are looking for a graphic LCD, you could always hack a disposable CVS video cam... Check out this to start: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2005/08/how_to_cvs_vide_1.html best, Caitlin Elise Roedenbeck wrote: > does anyone know a good place to get unhoused small (7" or less) LCD > screens? > > > thanks! > elise > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ From douglas at music.columbia.edu Mon Dec 10 17:57:27 2007 From: douglas at music.columbia.edu (douglas repetto) Date: Mon Dec 10 17:55:29 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] craft mirrors? Message-ID: <475DC457.4050504@music.columbia.edu> Anyone know where to get small glass craft mirrors in Manhattan? Like: http://factorydirectcraft.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1174_1692&products_id=14916 Does Pearl have them? Or maybe the Canal St plastic places? But I want glass, not plastic... thanks, douglas -- ............................................... http://artbots.org .....douglas.....irving........................ http://dorkbot.org .......................... http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp .......... repetto............. http://music.columbia.edu/organism ............................... http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas From valerieclarkny at aol.com Mon Dec 10 19:19:49 2007 From: valerieclarkny at aol.com (valerieclarkny@aol.com) Date: Mon Dec 10 19:20:12 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] craft mirrors? In-Reply-To: <475DC457.4050504@music.columbia.edu> References: <475DC457.4050504@music.columbia.edu> Message-ID: <8CA09A2AD73ED1B-5A4-3D3A@FWM-M34.sysops.aol.com> City Quilter, a pricey quilting store in the Twenties has them for shisha work, but you would probably do a lot better financially ordering them through the web. I go to Pearl Craft often and haven't noticed them but that doesn't mean they're not there. Valerie -----Original Message----- From: douglas repetto To: dorkbotnyc-blabber@dorkbot.org Sent: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 5:57 pm Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] craft mirrors? Anyone know where to get small glass craft mirrors in Manhattan? Like:? ? http://factorydirectcraft.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1174_1692&products_id=14916? ? Does Pearl have them? Or maybe the Canal St plastic places? But I want glass, not plastic...? ? thanks,? douglas? ? -- ............................................... http://artbots.org? .....douglas.....irving........................ http://dorkbot.org? .......................... http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp? .......... repetto............. http://music.columbia.edu/organism? ............................... http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas? ? ........................................................................? .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity..........? ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................? ........................................................................? ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/text.htm?ncid=aolcmp00050000000003 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotnyc-blabber/attachments/20071210/1ecad2c1/attachment.html From douglas at music.columbia.edu Mon Dec 10 20:41:02 2007 From: douglas at music.columbia.edu (douglas repetto) Date: Mon Dec 10 20:39:56 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] craft mirrors? In-Reply-To: <8CA09A2AD73ED1B-5A4-3D3A@FWM-M34.sysops.aol.com> References: <475DC457.4050504@music.columbia.edu> <8CA09A2AD73ED1B-5A4-3D3A@FWM-M34.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <475DEAAE.8060204@music.columbia.edu> Thanks, Valerie. I just need a few to play with for now, then when I'm ready to order the several hundreds I'll ultimately need I'll do it online. For now I just want to get a feel for what's out there...I'll check out City Quilter. douglas valerieclarkny@aol.com wrote: > City Quilter, a pricey quilting store in the Twenties has them for > shisha work, but you would probably do a lot better financially ordering > them through the web. I go to Pearl Craft often and haven't noticed them > but that doesn't mean they're not there. > > Valerie > > > -----Original Message----- > From: douglas repetto > To: dorkbotnyc-blabber@dorkbot.org > Sent: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 5:57 pm > Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] craft mirrors? > > Anyone know where to get small glass craft mirrors in Manhattan? Like: > > http://factorydirectcraft.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1174_1692&products_id=14916 > > > Does Pearl have them? Or maybe the Canal St plastic places? But I want > glass, not plastic... > > thanks, > douglas > > -- ............................................... http://artbots.org > .....douglas.....irving........................ http://dorkbot.org > .......................... http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp > .......... repetto............. http://music.columbia.edu/organism > ............................... http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas > > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail > ! > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ -- ............................................... http://artbots.org .....douglas.....irving........................ http://dorkbot.org .......................... http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp .......... repetto............. http://music.columbia.edu/organism ............................... http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas From douglas at music.columbia.edu Thu Dec 13 11:28:18 2007 From: douglas at music.columbia.edu (douglas repetto) Date: Thu Dec 13 11:26:15 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] Handmade Music Message-ID: <47615DA2.1050005@music.columbia.edu> I haven't been to one of these yet, but they look really fun: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/12/handmade_music_this_sunda.html Handmade Music 2:00 - 5:00 pm December 16, 2007 openhousegallery.org at 201 Mulberry Street near Spring Street, Manhattan Hosted by createdigitalmusic.com, Make Magazine, and Etsy.com * Featured Performance: Mister Resistor Ensemble from Parsons * Workshop: Soldering-free Sonic Electronics for Beginners, with Peter Kirn and PAiA (paia.com) * Open musical show-and-tell * Free, with refreshments provided by Function Drinks Handmade Music is a semi-regular event hosted by createdigitalmusic.com, Etsy.com, and Make Magazine celebrating DIY music creation. It's a party, performance, and show-and-tell for musicians who build their own expressive tools, in hardware, instruments, and software. This month is headlined by the Mister Resistor student ensemble from Parsons, featuring instruments constructed by cassette tape, microchips, oatmeal boxes, and much more. Ensemble director Ranjit Bhatnagar has already wowed audiences with musical robots and ironing boards, and now shows off what his students have been doing. To help newcomers learn how to make their own creations, Create Digital Music's Peter Kirn will lead off with a workshop on musical electronics, with free kits from PAiA Corporation that uses pencil markings to produce circuits. (No soldering required, so total beginners can give it a try. Kits for the project are free, on a first-come, first-served basis.) Throughout the afternoon, New York's top musical makers will meet and display their creations. Everyone is welcome, from curious visitors to those bringing in-progress projects of their own. RSVP to: rsvp@etsy.com -- ............................................... http://artbots.org .....douglas.....irving........................ http://dorkbot.org .......................... http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp .......... repetto............. http://music.columbia.edu/organism ............................... http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas From jnarveson at wesleyan.edu Fri Dec 21 09:27:43 2007 From: jnarveson at wesleyan.edu (Jascha Narveson) Date: Fri Dec 21 09:27:58 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] voltage differences: powering a 9-volt thing with a wall socket powered device Message-ID: <3E48B684-9266-4852-B7CA-85D63862151E@wesleyan.edu> Hello, Dorkbot - Quick question: i've got a 9-volt battery powered circuit which I want to power with an off-the-shelf turn-the-lights-on-when-the-bad- guy-gets-near-your-house motion sensor. The sensor runs off normal 110 AC power, and I'm not sure what kind of power it's feeding to the light bulbs, but it's higher than 9 volts. Is there an easy way to change the output of the sensor to safely power the circuit? thanks, jascha From douglas at music.columbia.edu Fri Dec 21 09:47:38 2007 From: douglas at music.columbia.edu (douglas repetto) Date: Fri Dec 21 09:46:33 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] voltage differences: powering a 9-volt thing with a wall socket powered device In-Reply-To: <3E48B684-9266-4852-B7CA-85D63862151E@wesleyan.edu> References: <3E48B684-9266-4852-B7CA-85D63862151E@wesleyan.edu> Message-ID: <476BD20A.2010707@music.columbia.edu> It's probably just a relay that's switching the 110v wall current on and off when it detects motion. Check it with a voltage meter to be sure! If it is, then you can simply plug in a 9v DC power transformer ("wall wart", available at Radio Shack). That way when the sensor turns to power on and off it'll be just like you plugging and unplugging the wall wart from the wall. What does the physical connection between the sensor and the lights look like? If it's a 2 or 3 prong jack then just plug in the 9v DC transformer as you would plug it into the wall. If it's directly wired to the lights then you'll need to get a bit creative -- but be careful! Wire it up with the sensor UNPLUGGED and make sure you understand what you've done before you turn it on. You're dealing with 120v AC wall current, and if you make a mistake you can get hurt! Maybe best to ask someone who's done it before. best, douglas Jascha Narveson wrote: > > Hello, Dorkbot - > > Quick question: i've got a 9-volt battery powered circuit which I want > to power with an off-the-shelf > turn-the-lights-on-when-the-bad-guy-gets-near-your-house motion sensor. > The sensor runs off normal 110 AC power, and I'm not sure what kind of > power it's feeding to the light bulbs, but it's higher than 9 volts. Is > there an easy way to change the output of the sensor to safely power the > circuit? > > thanks, > > jascha > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ -- ............................................... http://artbots.org .....douglas.....irving........................ http://dorkbot.org .......................... http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp .......... repetto............. http://music.columbia.edu/organism ............................... http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas From gus at pbx.org Fri Dec 21 09:48:34 2007 From: gus at pbx.org (August Huber) Date: Fri Dec 21 09:50:24 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] voltage differences: powering a 9-volt thing with a wall socket powered device In-Reply-To: <3E48B684-9266-4852-B7CA-85D63862151E@wesleyan.edu> References: <3E48B684-9266-4852-B7CA-85D63862151E@wesleyan.edu> Message-ID: <242BD134-C9A5-4AEF-AFD4-AA14CD155F04@pbx.org> Relays? -- august huber pbx labs (+1.212.464.7306) On Dec 21, 2007, at 9:27 AM, Jascha Narveson wrote: > > Hello, Dorkbot - > > Quick question: i've got a 9-volt battery powered circuit which I > want to power with an off-the-shelf turn-the-lights-on-when-the-bad- > guy-gets-near-your-house motion sensor. The sensor runs off normal > 110 AC power, and I'm not sure what kind of power it's feeding to > the light bulbs, but it's higher than 9 volts. Is there an easy way > to change the output of the sensor to safely power the circuit? > > thanks, > > jascha > ... > ..................................................................... > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with > electricity.......... > ..........................http:// > dorkbot.org............................ > ... > ..................................................................... From jebjeb at gmail.com Fri Dec 21 09:52:14 2007 From: jebjeb at gmail.com (jeb boniakowski) Date: Fri Dec 21 09:53:33 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] voltage differences: powering a 9-volt thing with a wall socket powered device In-Reply-To: <476BD20A.2010707@music.columbia.edu> References: <3E48B684-9266-4852-B7CA-85D63862151E@wesleyan.edu> <476BD20A.2010707@music.columbia.edu> Message-ID: If its direct-wired to the lights, you could just unscrew the bulbs and put in one of those adapters that converts a normal incandescant bulb socket into a power outlet. that would probably be the easiest thing. (oddly, my old roommate did a proj that involved doing this exact thing last year, and as you would expect there's some simple circuit in there that flips a relay to power the lights. For a variety of reasons, though, he said once you start taking it apart its actually much easier to just build a new circuit using the sensing element then to adapt the one in the box.) On Dec 21, 2007 9:47 AM, douglas repetto wrote: > > It's probably just a relay that's switching the 110v wall current on and > off when it detects motion. Check it with a voltage meter to be sure! If > it is, then you can simply plug in a 9v DC power transformer ("wall > wart", available at Radio Shack). That way when the sensor turns to > power on and off it'll be just like you plugging and unplugging the wall > wart from the wall. > > What does the physical connection between the sensor and the lights look > like? If it's a 2 or 3 prong jack then just plug in the 9v DC > transformer as you would plug it into the wall. If it's directly wired > to the lights then you'll need to get a bit creative -- but be careful! > Wire it up with the sensor UNPLUGGED and make sure you understand what > you've done before you turn it on. You're dealing with 120v AC wall > current, and if you make a mistake you can get hurt! Maybe best to ask > someone who's done it before. > > best, > douglas > > Jascha Narveson wrote: > > > > Hello, Dorkbot - > > > > Quick question: i've got a 9-volt battery powered circuit which I want > > to power with an off-the-shelf > > turn-the-lights-on-when-the-bad-guy-gets-near-your-house motion sensor. > > The sensor runs off normal 110 AC power, and I'm not sure what kind of > > power it's feeding to the light bulbs, but it's higher than 9 volts. Is > > there an easy way to change the output of the sensor to safely power the > > circuit? > > > > thanks, > > > > jascha > > ........................................................................ > > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > > ........................................................................ > > -- > ............................................... http://artbots.org > .....douglas.....irving........................ http://dorkbot.org > .......................... http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp > .......... repetto............. http://music.columbia.edu/organism > ............................... http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotnyc-blabber/attachments/20071221/4f588532/attachment.html From jnarveson at wesleyan.edu Fri Dec 21 10:01:39 2007 From: jnarveson at wesleyan.edu (Jascha Narveson) Date: Fri Dec 21 10:01:53 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] voltage differences: powering a 9-volt thing with a wall socket powered device In-Reply-To: References: <3E48B684-9266-4852-B7CA-85D63862151E@wesleyan.edu> <476BD20A.2010707@music.columbia.edu> Message-ID: <26B1C95D-D94D-4819-8206-3BE3D80464AD@wesleyan.edu> Ah ha! I didn't know screw-in outlets existed - these combined with a normal 9v-dc adaptor makes the whole thing suddenly pretty easy. thanks, all, jascha On Dec 21, 2007, at 9:52 AM, jeb boniakowski wrote: > If its direct-wired to the lights, you could just unscrew the bulbs > and put in one of those adapters that converts a normal > incandescant bulb socket into a power outlet. that would probably > be the easiest thing. > > (oddly, my old roommate did a proj that involved doing this exact > thing last year, and as you would expect there's some simple > circuit in there that flips a relay to power the lights. For a > variety of reasons, though, he said once you start taking it apart > its actually much easier to just build a new circuit using the > sensing element then to adapt the one in the box.) > > On Dec 21, 2007 9:47 AM, douglas repetto > wrote: > > It's probably just a relay that's switching the 110v wall current > on and > off when it detects motion. Check it with a voltage meter to be > sure! If > it is, then you can simply plug in a 9v DC power transformer ("wall > wart", available at Radio Shack). That way when the sensor turns to > power on and off it'll be just like you plugging and unplugging the > wall > wart from the wall. > > What does the physical connection between the sensor and the lights > look > like? If it's a 2 or 3 prong jack then just plug in the 9v DC > transformer as you would plug it into the wall. If it's directly wired > to the lights then you'll need to get a bit creative -- but be > careful! > Wire it up with the sensor UNPLUGGED and make sure you understand what > you've done before you turn it on. You're dealing with 120v AC wall > current, and if you make a mistake you can get hurt! Maybe best to ask > someone who's done it before. > > best, > douglas > > Jascha Narveson wrote: > > > > Hello, Dorkbot - > > > > Quick question: i've got a 9-volt battery powered circuit which > I want > > to power with an off-the-shelf > > turn-the-lights-on-when-the-bad-guy-gets-near-your-house motion > sensor. > > The sensor runs off normal 110 AC power, and I'm not sure what > kind of > > power it's feeding to the light bulbs, but it's higher than 9 > volts. Is > > there an easy way to change the output of the sensor to safely > power the > > circuit? > > > > thanks, > > > > jascha > > .................................................................... > .... > > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with > electricity.......... > > ..........................http:// > dorkbot.org............................ > > .................................................................... > .... > > -- > ............................................... http://artbots.org > .....douglas.....irving........................ http://dorkbot.org > .......................... http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp > .......... repetto............. http://music.columbia.edu/organism > ............................... http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas > > ...................................................................... > .. > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with > electricity.......... > ..........................http:// > dorkbot.org............................ > ...................................................................... > .. > > ...................................................................... > .. > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with > electricity.......... > ..........................http:// > dorkbot.org............................ > ...................................................................... > .. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotnyc-blabber/attachments/20071221/26fa2ce3/attachment-0001.html From cvecchio at noisemantra.com Fri Dec 21 11:28:46 2007 From: cvecchio at noisemantra.com (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Chris=20Vecchio?=) Date: Fri Dec 21 11:28:49 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] voltage differences: powering a 9-volt thing with a wall socket powered device Message-ID: <20071221162846.30108.qmail@hoster911.com> A screw-in outlet sounds like the easiest solution. But if you're working with low voltage stuff in the future, you might want to just get one of these: http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=16220+SC -------Original Message------- From: Jascha Narveson Subject: Re: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] voltage differences: powering a 9-volt thing with a wall socket powered device Sent: 21 Dec '07 15:01 Ah ha! I didn't know screw-in outlets existed - these combined with a normal 9v-dc adaptor makes the whole thing suddenly pretty easy. thanks, all, jascha On Dec 21, 2007, at 9:52 AM, jeb boniakowski wrote: If its direct-wired to the lights, you could just unscrew the bulbs and put in one of those adapters that converts a normal incandescant bulb socket into a power outlet. that would probably be the easiest thing. (oddly, my old roommate did a proj that involved doing this exact thing last year, and as you would expect there's some simple circuit in there that flips a relay to power the lights. For a variety of reasons, though, he said once you start taking it apart its actually much easier to just build a new circuit using the sensing element then to adapt the one in the box.) On Dec 21, 2007 9:47 AM, douglas repetto <[LINK: mailto:douglas@music.columbia.edu] douglas@music.columbia.edu> wrote: It's probably just a relay that's switching the 110v wall current on and off when it detects motion. Check it with a voltage meter to be sure! If it is, then you can simply plug in a 9v DC power transformer ("wall wart", available at Radio Shack). That way when the sensor turns to power on and off it'll be just like you plugging and unplugging the wall wart from the wall. What does the physical connection between the sensor and the lights look like? If it's a 2 or 3 prong jack then just plug in the 9v DC transformer as you would plug it into the wall. If it's directly wired to the lights then you'll need to get a bit creative -- but be careful! Wire it up with the sensor UNPLUGGED and make sure you understand what you've done before you turn it on. You're dealing with 120v AC wall current, and if you make a mistake you can get hurt! Maybe best to ask someone who's done it before. best, douglas Jascha Narveson wrote: > > Hello, Dorkbot - > > Quick question: i've got a 9-volt battery powered circuit which I want > to power with an off-the-shelf > turn-the-lights-on-when-the-bad-guy-gets-near-your-house motion sensor. > The sensor runs off normal 110 AC power, and I'm not sure what kind of > power it's feeding to the light bulbs, but it's higher than 9 volts. Is > there an easy way to change the output of the sensor to safely power the > circuit? > > thanks, > > jascha > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ -- ............................................... [LINK: http://artbots.org] http://artbots.org .....douglas.....irving........................ [LINK: http://dorkbot.org] http://dorkbot.org .......................... [LINK: http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp] http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp .......... repetto............. [LINK: http://music.columbia.edu/organism] http://music.columbia.edu/organism ............................... [LINK: http://music.columbia.edu/%7Edouglas] http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas ........................................................................ .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ ........................................................................ ........................................................................ .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ ........................................................................ -------------------- ........................................................................ .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... ..........................[LINK: http://dorkbot.org............................] http://dorkbot.org............................ ........................................................................ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotnyc-blabber/attachments/20071221/1c5954a9/attachment.html From douglas at music.columbia.edu Fri Dec 21 23:31:48 2007 From: douglas at music.columbia.edu (douglas repetto) Date: Fri Dec 21 23:29:51 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-blabber] slot open for January! Message-ID: <476C9334.3040703@music.columbia.edu> Hey dorks! Due to a cancellation I have some room on the Jan 2nd dorkbot. Do you want to present something? Do you know someone who wants to/needs to be encouraged to present something?!? Let me know asap!!! Please spread the word! douglas -- ............................................... http://artbots.org .....douglas.....irving........................ http://dorkbot.org .......................... http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp .......... repetto............. http://music.columbia.edu/organism ............................... http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas