Thread: Beam break triger for a CD player

Tweet

Can it be done?

Let me begin by saying I don't want to get into prop-1 controllers and such. I'm trying to keep this relatively low-tech and self contained. Besides, I enjoy the MacGuyver aspect of using what I have on hand.

Here's what I've got. A cheap portable CD player, and a light sensitive night light which will likely get desoldered for it's components.

I want to rig the photosensor (CDS cell) from the nightlight to the play button of the CD player. The hope is to have a CD in it with my greeting that will start playing when somebody enters the crypt.

Questions:

What's needed to make the 2 work together? I suspect simply soldering a CDS cell to the "grid" under the play button wouldn't work. So how do I make it so that when the beam is broken, the play button is activated?

Will a laser beam work for the CDS cell as a light source? I figure a red beam at shin height should be minimally noticable unless the fog from the yard creeps in there.

A couple questions, do you have a CD player that will begin playing when it turns on?

Your best bet is to hook a set of computer speakers to the headphone jack, and use the motion sensor to power the speakers on. (leaving the CD player on continuously)

Originally Posted by wilbret

A couple questions, do you have a CD player that will begin playing when it turns on?

Yup.

when you hit play it powers up and starts playing. I figure a CD with only 1 greeting track should play thorugh then stop and shut down, then restart at the next "press" of the play button.

I'm going to burn the CD tonight and test this out for sure.


I also do have some cheap Sansa mp3 players, but the play button is so small in it I'm not sure I could solder something in there cleanly. They'll most likely get used for ambient sound elsewhere in the haunt where they can just play continuously.

Well here's another easy trick. Can you rig the player so that PLAY is simply the unit powering on? (I have no idea what player you have)

1 - motion sensor kit, one that screws into a light socket.

1 - lamp base (anything you want)
1 - screw in adapter that gives you an outlet in a light socket


I have started to use PIR sensors, but I do use a basic prop timer mainly to prevent the device from going off so often back to back.

Plug your device into that setup. No soldering or anything required.

Originally Posted by wilbret

Well here's another easy trick. Can you rig the player so that PLAY is simply the unit powering on? (I have no idea what player you have)

I honestly don't know. But it's just a cheap Roadstar CD player.

I've ever considered trying to rig a simple pressure plate type of setup that physically pushes the button.



I do have plans to rig a sensor setup like you showed above for another prop though. It's an MIB coffin. I figure I'll have it so that as people approach, the motor will fire up and start shaking the coffin lid.

So I decided to try running with the pressure switch idea instead.

I attached the wires to a basic footswitch I got from a fellow haunter to make sure the idea works. The up side, is that it worked nicely across 25 feet of wire soldered to the play button contacts. Now I can work on some sort of pressure plate.

The down side is that if it's hit again too soon the player will pause and not go through the whole greeting and reset.

I need to figure out away to have the TOTs only trigger it once.

How long is your audio? The player boards that Cowlacious Design sells can hold 120 seconds, then resets. They are well priced and easy to use with sensor. You could use cheap boom box as an amp. I use them to be triggered in my buckys.

the greeting is currently 90 seconds long, but I'd like to double the speed without changing the pitch. I doubled the speed in Mediaplayer and it worked well at the higher speed, but I haven't been able to make a permanent change in Audacity. For some reason all the editting options are greyed out.

As for the Cowalicious board... yeah, I could do that. But half the fun of this for me is using what I have on hand and hacking it and otherwise bending it to my will.

Originally Posted by wandererrob

the greeting is currently 90 seconds long, but I'd like to double the speed without changing the pitch. I doubled the speed in Mediaplayer and it worked well at the higher speed, but I haven't been able to make a permanent change in Audacity. For some reason all the editting options are greyed out.

As for the Cowalicious board... yeah, I could do that. But half the fun of this for me is using what I have on hand and hacking it and otherwise bending it to my will.

are you "highlighting" the part you want to edit?

Originally Posted by jrzmac

are you "highlighting" the part you want to edit?

* facepalm *

Nope.

I suppose that would have helped. Hey look, it works! LOL!

Thanks!