found this, cheap controller

[deanno]

After a bit of searching on the net i found this. Would it be any good, it seems to be a good price


http://www.rapidonline.com/productinfo.aspx?kw=&tier1=Educational+Products&tier2=Projects+%26+Robotics&tier3=Project+Kits&tier4=8-channel+relay+board&moduleno=80629#techspec


Dean

[P. Short]

It has mechanical relays, which have a short life and are not really good for rapid sequencing during the course of a show. And the low current limits on the relays does not make it very useful for turning large numbers of lights on or off at the beginning and end of shows.

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Phil

[Saltisiak]

I run a Olsen 595 with 32 mechanical relays. I didn't have much cash to play with this year, so that's why I went this route. I got 50 relays from China on ebay for like $9.95 + shipping. They are 5v relays rated at 20amps. When using something like this on a 595, just keep in mind that you're going to need transistors for each channel to boost the current to drive the coil, and then you'll need diodes for the reverse voltage you get from the coil itself.

I have ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM running 32 relays at 50ms intervals for a mega tree. It's a pretty fun noise to hear too all the little clicking as the channels fire. When turning all the lights on or off, there's no current problem either, cause they are rated high enough. Just keep in mind that each strand of mini lights runs about 1/3 amp.

There is NO LAG either with turning the relays on/off. The mechanical specs of the relays that I have are rated for 3.8 million cycles, so if you go the route of the relays, you WILL eventually have to upgrade to SSRs.

If you're on a budget, and positive that the relays will handle the current that you're going to put through them, then I'd encourage you to go that route, just beware, you'll want to upgrade eventually to something more reliable.