Re purposing some 3w stars as pest deterrent.

[jrock64]

I put these little gems together, and I hesitate to call them strobes.
The 3w star that powers them is more like a light grenade.
If you are closer than 15 ft you will be seeing spots for the next half hour.

That made me think, what else can I irritate with these.
So I placed 8 of them on the posts and high poles.



Here is a close up of the two highlighted in the previous photo.
The guts fit inside a 1in PVC pipe cap




and a night shot.
3 of the strobes firing.



And last a video that gives you the full effect.



and the ugly control box that turns on and randomizes the strobes



So what are the possible outcomes of this exercise.

#1 The four legged rats are scared off by the lights and leave the garden alone.
#2 The four legged rats enjoy the fine mood lighting and enjoy the feast I have provided for them.

#2a Side effect of option 2.
They are conditioned that the lights can't actually hurt them.
So next time they cross the road and a car is coming, instead of moving, they just stare
..... problem solved.

Joel

[Skunberg]

Joel, It's not like you to leave out a picture of the 3W star. The rest of the shots with explanations are great. I see one PiC driving 8 outputs, tell us about how the PIC runs. I see the cat5 leaving the box so it's not self contained for control. Thank you for another great use for our hobby.

Brian

[jrock64]

Ok I finally found all the pieces of how these went together.

I thought the post was made over here, but it was over at ACL

This got me going...
http://auschristmaslighting.com/foru...ic,1853.0.html

which led me to this...
you want the second picture
http://www.instructables.com/id/Circ...he-difference/

which was actually based on this...
http://www.instructables.com/id/Powe...stant-current/

It was damo's suggestion to substitute the BD139 that got me going.

I got 50 3w stars for $57 with free shipping
the BD139 was .40
the PIC12F629 was .80
I ordered both 1.5 and 2 ohm resistors.
I ended up using the 1.5 ohm 1/2w $5/100 you need 2 so .10
I order the 4.7K resistor but never used them
substituted a 390 ohm
I ordered the transistor, but never used it.

In testing, I found when using 5volts only...
You need the two 1.5 resistors in parallel at .75 ohm to pass enough current to the LED
unregulated, with just the resistors you will get about 800ma to the LED.
You need 9ma to get the BD139 to turn on enough to let 650ma pass.
I used a 390 resistor as it was the closest in my stock that would allow at lest 600ma to the LED.
I determined that the dump transistor was never going to get enough current to turn on in this application,
so I left it out.

If ran for any length of time in this configuration, both the BD139 and the LED will get warm, which I assumed leads to HOT.
I programmed the pic to run with short double bursts at 1 second intervals, all jumpers shorted.
In this configuration it can run indefinitely with no heat build up.

The output from one PIC provides power to the PIC on the strobes.
For the garden strobes, it is just a PIC16F688 running some code that turns the outputs on and off at different intervals making the whole thing look random and unpredictable.
For the light shows, it will be a PIC16F722(Simple16)
9ma is a little high for the PIC output, but the duty cycle is so short, and not all outputs are expected to be on at the same time.

Photos coming.

JOel

[jrock64]

I really am disappointed that no one picked up on these in the messy desk thread.
http://doityourselfchristmas.com/for...977#post208977

I could have bug boarded them, but then I ordered the SMD PIC and I have a CNC that needs to be used so.

the boards measure .85 x 1.15



On the PIC Pin 1 is power, 2 is open, 3 & 4 are shorted to ground, 5 is output, 6 & 7 & 8 are shorted to ground.
to get the short, double pulse, at 1 second intervals.
The PIC was programmed and tested with a clip prior be being soldered into place.

A cat5 cable goes to each strobe supplying to 700ma to fire the strobe, and the power to the PIC that signals the circuit to start firing.
Pin 1 Wo is is my signal wire that supplies power to the pic, when this has power the strobe fires.
Pins 2 & 3 & 4 are unswitched 5v+ for the BD139, this always has power.
Pins 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 are common ground for the PIC and the BD139

So I needed something to corral all those RJ45 connections...



When finished.
A wire will jumper to each pin#1 that will be connected to the controlling PIC



The enclosure is quite simple, and really small.



1 1/4 inches of 1in thin wall-low pressure pipe
a sliver, 3/16in if 1in thick wall schedule 40 pipe.
Something for the lens, look in the ceiling tile section for diffusers
A bottom spacer, 1/4 inch of the 1in thick wall
A 1in pipe cap, Genova has thick ends that will take the eye, Nibco would not
A screw eye for the hanger.
Any tube of PVC glue and adhesive that dries clear and waterproof. I used Plumbers Goop

Remove enough of the sliver so it can fit inside of the pipe, not too much or you will have gaps that will make attaching the lens difficult.
I cut the lenses with a 1 1/4in hole saw withe the pilot removed, clamp it down on your drill press so it can't move.
Test fit and trim, so it fits on top of the sliver inside the pipe.
Apply a SMALL bead of adhesive around the sliver.
Fit the lens and apply pressure with your thumb to give it a 1/4 turn to distribute the adhesive.
Drill a hole for the cat5.
Drill a pilot hole and insert the screw eye opposite the hole for the cat5, IF YOUR CAP IS THICK ENOUGH TO DO THIS.

The 1/4in spacer goes in the bottom and allows the cable to exit.
It also prevents the pipe from seating so tight it can not be pulled back apart.
Mine are weather tight, but can be opened if the need to be. no adhesive or sealer is used.

The strobe just floats in there on the end of the cat 5

The middle shot shows the sliver with the gap at 7 oclock.
and the lens glued on top of the sliver inside the pipe for the completed end cap.


I still need to mill the two simple16s that will drive the light shows.

JOel

[Skunberg]

Thank you very much! I love all the detail. And after seeing how you got there, it seems almost like a no brainer that you took a couple of steps further. This is still way beyond my abilities but I almost understood it "ALL" (When I started this I wouldn't have understood 10 percent). But with this great detail maybe someone will take it and run in a different direction, maybe come up with the next big thing. Thank you very much again!!!!

Brian

[dirknerkle]

The really big question though, is.... Do they work to keep the pests away?

[jrock64]

And now the Ren16 control boards
The first is raw off the mill with an oopps.
One of the steppers skipped and the board was ruined.
The second is a good one with all the extra copper stripped off.
Only one small problem. No power to the MAX232.
Had me close to panic untill I figured it out.
Add the jumer to the back.
Insert all the parts and a sucessfull test.


Put it all together, and it looks like this....


Happy building.
I am sooo far behind.

Joel 270

[cnbales]

Give us an update. Are the pest staying away? In this economy, I'm feeling bad for the poor scarecrow that might lose his job.

[jrock64]

The peas are about ready to start being picked.
The beets and the green beans have not been topped YET.

Probably just jinxed myself and everything will be eaten to the ground by tomorrow morning.

Might have been the garlic and rotten egg extract I sprayed them with earlier.
But after 4+ inches of rain, I think that has been more than washed off by now.

Joel 295

[Skunberg]

RJ 11's?