Thread: prop trigger help

Tweet

well I am so confused I have built 4 pneumatic props for this year and am going to be using some prop timers but I am not sure what the best way to trigger them would be. I don't want to use motion sensors or pressure pads because I don't want to mentally scare some little tots by accident. I want to be able to select my victims of an older age but I need something that is wireless and I heard that X10 is flakey at best and not reliable. so any suggestions and or advice would be greatly appreciated thanks

Originally Posted by floridaspook

well I am so confused I have built 4 pneumatic props for this year and am going to be using some prop timers but I am not sure what the best way to trigger them would be. I don't want to use motion sensors or pressure pads because I don't want to mentally scare some little tots by accident. I want to be able to select my victims of an older age but I need something that is wireless and I heard that X10 is flakey at best and not reliable. so any suggestions and or advice would be greatly appreciated thanks

I do a lot of Home Automation at my house and yes X-10 is flakey at times. Might I suggest using Z-Wave, it is wireless and not too expensive. Intermatic makes a nice 6 button remote (HomeSettings) and they also have an outdoor module that works really well. Other options would be SmartHome's Insteon products. (Someone wrote software to sync lights to music with Insteon that I was playing with last Halloween. LightShowMaster). Another Home Automation protocol is UPB that works well also.

The Pod

wow thanks now I have a lot of research to do . in your opinion which one is the easiest to use and most dependable? With the Intermatic Home Settings Wireless Handy Remote Control #HA09C how many lamp moduals can you cantrol with the same remote six? do they have dip switches or something? do they have differant addresses like with x10?
LightShowMaster looks similar to what I use for my Christmas lights!

last year I wrote a dual mode routine in exorcist, this worked by the doorman selecting a scare mode and inside the haunt the mat switches would respond differently depending on the mode, playing different routines to the props so the smaller kids got a more toned down experience, and the older ones got the full effect.

Consider using a wireless RF remote. You can buy a 4 channel remote on Ebay for less than $20. Basically you get a keyfob remote control with 4 buttons and a PCB with the reciever and 4 relays. Here's an example- 4CH Momentary Remote&Receiver/1,2,4,6,8,12CH Selectable - eBay (item 290229992040 end time May-22-08 16:30:00 PDT)

Originally Posted by floridaspook

wow thanks now I have a lot of research to do . in your opinion which one is the easiest to use and most dependable? With the Intermatic Home Settings Wireless Handy Remote Control #HA09C how many lamp moduals can you cantrol with the same remote six? do they have dip switches or something? do they have differant addresses like with x10?
LightShowMaster looks similar to what I use for my Christmas lights!

X-10 is by far the easiest to setup and use. Just set the dials A-P and 1-16 on a transmitter and the receiver. X-10 is also the cheapest solution. But it is powerline based (meaning the signal is transmitted over the power lines) so electrical noise from motors or other electrical equipment can cause false signals or block valid ones from getting through. I still have a lot of X-10 in the house and use it for holiday decorations since I have a bunch of modules laying around. Last year I created an X-10 remote for my fog machine.

Z-Wave is currently my choice for easy use and minimal cost. The Intermatic Homesettings products have been working very well for me as I have 22 lights and appliances controlled by them. The 6 buttons on the HA09C are for setting up scenes. You can assign a whole bunch of modules (I believe the limit is 64 per scene/button, but I'm not certain) and they will all turn on/off at the press of a button. Z-Wave is true RF (not power line based like the others so there isn't any issues of power line noise interference from motors or electrical equipment). Easy to use, just press a button on the remote and then press the button on the module to link/remove it.

I started to invest in Insteon equipment when it first came out and was really liking the way it worked and the speed of the signals, until I started having hardware failures of switches and modules. Within 2 years 8 of the 16 devices I had have failed/stopped working. I still have Insteon devices and use them with the LightShowMaster program, but I've decided to no longer use them in the house for controlling the lights.

UPB I'm starting to play with. Very nice and strong signals. You need to have a computer hook up to program the links between the modules and such. The modules/switches are on the pricey side and since UPB is also power line based, you still could run into issues with electrical noise. Not as bad as X-10, but I did have one module that would turn on once and a while by itself until I set it up for a different lamp and moved it to the other end of the house. It could be it was picking up some stray signal from one of the X-10 modules in the same room. Never really found the problem, since it went away after moving the module elsewhere.

So, in my opinion..... Z-Wave has been the most dependable and reliable for me. Hope this helps.

The Pod

Thanks alot for all the info I think I will try the z-wave HA09C and play with it plenty before Halloween to make sure it is right for my applications . I found some cheap ones on amazon
Thanks again!