<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>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.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>thanks, all,</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>jascha</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On Dec 21, 2007, at 9:52 AM, jeb boniakowski wrote:</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">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.<BR><BR>(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.) <BR><BR><DIV class="gmail_quote">On Dec 21, 2007 9:47 AM, douglas repetto <<A href="mailto:douglas@music.columbia.edu">douglas@music.columbia.edu</A>> wrote:<BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> <BR>It's probably just a relay that's switching the 110v wall current on and<BR>off when it detects motion. Check it with a voltage meter to be sure! If<BR>it is, then you can simply plug in a 9v DC power transformer ("wall <BR>wart", available at Radio Shack). That way when the sensor turns to<BR>power on and off it'll be just like you plugging and unplugging the wall<BR>wart from the wall.<BR><BR>What does the physical connection between the sensor and the lights look <BR>like? If it's a 2 or 3 prong jack then just plug in the 9v DC<BR>transformer as you would plug it into the wall. If it's directly wired<BR>to the lights then you'll need to get a bit creative -- but be careful! <BR>Wire it up with the sensor UNPLUGGED and make sure you understand what<BR>you've done before you turn it on. You're dealing with 120v AC wall<BR>current, and if you make a mistake you can get hurt! Maybe best to ask <BR>someone who's done it before.<BR><BR>best,<BR>douglas<BR><DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV class="Wj3C7c"><BR>Jascha Narveson wrote:<BR>><BR>> Hello, Dorkbot -<BR>><BR>> Quick question: i've got a 9-volt battery powered circuit which I want <BR>> to power with an off-the-shelf<BR>> turn-the-lights-on-when-the-bad-guy-gets-near-your-house motion sensor.<BR>> The sensor runs off normal 110 AC power, and I'm not sure what kind of<BR>> power it's feeding to the light bulbs, but it's higher than 9 volts. Is <BR>> there an easy way to change the output of the sensor to safely power the<BR>> circuit?<BR>><BR>> thanks,<BR>><BR>> jascha<BR>> ........................................................................ <BR>> .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity..........<BR>> ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................<BR>> ........................................................................ <BR><BR></DIV></DIV><FONT color="#888888">--<BR>............................................... <A href="http://artbots.org" target="_blank">http://artbots.org</A><BR>.....douglas.....irving........................ <A href="http://dorkbot.org" target="_blank"> http://dorkbot.org</A><BR>.......................... <A href="http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp" target="_blank">http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/music-dsp</A><BR>.......... repetto............. <A href="http://music.columbia.edu/organism" target="_blank"> http://music.columbia.edu/organism</A><BR>............................... <A href="http://music.columbia.edu/%7Edouglas" target="_blank">http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas</A><BR></FONT><DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV class="Wj3C7c"> <BR>........................................................................<BR>.........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity..........<BR>..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ <BR>........................................................................<BR></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">........................................................................</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">.........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity..........</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">..........................http://dorkbot.org............................</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">........................................................................</DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>