Building chasing airport lights -- Attn: Jim Weir?

Oh, Jay, no. If Tom's already got one done, let him run with it. I was going
to do the design from scratch, but one that's already built...GO FOR IT.

Jim



Tom Pappano
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-Jay Honeck wrote:
-Whoo Hoo! Methinks I'll have to take you up on that!
-
-
- Uh oh. We've got two competing systems now, Tom. (See Jim's posts.)
-
- Perhaps I can put one system in the day lobby, and one in the night lobby?
- :-)
-
-No problem, I'm happy to build you this little controller because
-it will allow a little prototype from another project to go on living a
-useful life, where otherwise it would be a sad little orphan
-forced to watch other microcontrollers frolicking and doing
-useful work 8-)
-
-Tom Pappano, PP-ASEL-IA, "Live to program, program to live!"



Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Okay, guys. I'm not picky! :-)

So, Tom, can we incorporate your stuff into the "Two-row-of-lights" plan? I
did some measuring this afternoon, and it looks like the optimal number of
lights in either row is now TEN (not 15) -- so I'll need 20 lights, total,
in two rows of ten.

They need to be sequenced together, so that they "chase" from the door
toward the lobby reservation desk like the airport "rabbit." The two rows
should be sequenced together, so that they blink as one unit.

Need any other info?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"
"Jim Weir" wrote in message
...
Oh, Jay, no. If Tom's already got one done, let him run with it. I was
going
to do the design from scratch, but one that's already built...GO FOR IT.

Jim



Tom Pappano
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-Jay Honeck wrote:
-Whoo Hoo! Methinks I'll have to take you up on that!
-
-
- Uh oh. We've got two competing systems now, Tom. (See Jim's posts.)
-
- Perhaps I can put one system in the day lobby, and one in the night
lobby?
- :-)
-
-No problem, I'm happy to build you this little controller because
-it will allow a little prototype from another project to go on living a
-useful life, where otherwise it would be a sad little orphan
-forced to watch other microcontrollers frolicking and doing
-useful work 8-)
-
-Tom Pappano, PP-ASEL-IA, "Live to program, program to live!"



Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Jay Honeck wrote:
Okay, guys. I'm not picky! :-)

So, Tom, can we incorporate your stuff into the "Two-row-of-lights" plan? I
did some measuring this afternoon, and it looks like the optimal number of
lights in either row is now TEN (not 15) -- so I'll need 20 lights, total,
in two rows of ten.

They need to be sequenced together, so that they "chase" from the door
toward the lobby reservation desk like the airport "rabbit." The two rows
should be sequenced together, so that they blink as one unit.

Need any other info?

Hi Jay,

Two lights per "stage" no problem. Just connect each pair in series,
then to the proper controller output. With 10 stages, you will have
11 leads coming back to the controller. One positive "bus" tying the
+ ends of each stage together, and one lead from the - end of each
stage. You mentioned maybe having a motion detector trigger the system.
The previous tennant of my office left behind a passive infrared
detector from his security system. I probably can integrate that into
the system as well, and adding a pot to set "turn off delay" will
give you an "auto start with time delayed off" function.
There will be outputs to drive up to 16 stages, so you would just
use the first 10 for your setup. Should be pretty cool!

Tom Pappano, PP-ASEL-IA

Tom Pappano wrote:

The previous tennant of my office left behind a passive infrared
detector from his security system. I probably can integrate that into
the system as well, and adding a pot to set "turn off delay" will
give you an "auto start with time delayed off" function.

The detectors I've seen used in security systems have been low voltage units. If
you need 110v, the heat/motion detectors used for outdoor lights work well and
can be purchased separately from the lights. These usually have primitive adjustable
timers. Many of them also have photocells to keep them from operating during the
day, so, if you go this route, disable that.

George Patterson
Great discoveries are not announced with "Eureka!". What's usually said is
"Hummmmm... That's interesting...."

There will be outputs to drive up to 16 stages, so you would just
use the first 10 for your setup. Should be pretty cool!

A true story: This morning I was excitedly describing this "rabbit light"
system to some poor, unsuspecting hotel guests. We were in the lobby, and I
spent a good five minutes explaining how it was going to look just like the
lights leading to the approach end of a runway, and how it would be
sequenced, and how it would look really cool...

These people were clearly NOT pilots, nor even aviation buffs, and I
obviously chose the *wrong* audience -- cuz this woman and her husband just
looked at me like I was absolutely out of my mind. They smiled politely,
but clearly thought the whole idea was simply beyond bizarre...

Luckily, Mary was there to divert the conversation into more productive
directions.

*sigh* Dj'a ever wonder why some people just aren't "into" aviation, like
we are? What's *wrong* with them, anyway? :-)

Oh well -- I am really looking forward to this thing, Tom. What's next?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

These people were clearly NOT pilots, nor even aviation buffs, and I
obviously chose the *wrong* audience -- cuz this woman and her husband just
looked at me like I was absolutely out of my mind.

Like I said.... Better go with signs and arrows.

George Patterson
Great discoveries are not announced with "Eureka!". What's usually said is
"Hummmmm... That's interesting...."

Like I said.... Better go with signs and arrows.

But George -- the poor people just don't *understand* how cool it will be!

It's up to me to "educate" them...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

Like I said.... Better go with signs and arrows.

But George -- the poor people just don't *understand* how cool it will be!

Well, that's your business. Literally.

George Patterson
Great discoveries are not announced with "Eureka!". What's usually said is
"Hummmmm... That's interesting...."

Ramp check, anyone?
denny
"Tom Pappano" wrote in message
m...
Jay Honeck wrote:
Okay, guys. I'm not picky! :-)

but if you just have the rabbits they still won't know where to go and will
wonder what's wrong with the lights.

Margy

Jay Honeck wrote:

Like I said.... Better go with signs and arrows.

But George -- the poor people just don't *understand* how cool it will be!

It's up to me to "educate" them...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"