Thread: Quorum PIR is on sale again

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Hi all,
I see that Electronic Goldmine is selling the Quorum PIR for for $5 again. Useful item to have for prop control, and easy to hack.

Quorum A-160 Passive Infrared Detector-The Electronic Goldmine

Do you have or know where to get the hack?
Thanks

Originally Posted by Oldsguy350

Do you have or know where to get the hack?
Thanks

Yes, I have a hack which allows you to change the factory preset "off" intervals from 15 sec and 15 mins (not too useful for prop triggering and resets) to 30 secs and 60 secs. It also shows how to install a switch so you can toggle between the two intervals on the fly. It does require some minimal soldering.

Otaku, how long do you find the 9v battery lasts? I may have to pick up a few of these, they're just what I'm looking for!

PS. Do you have that hack online somewhere?

Her's a link to the hack and the Timer Board:

Hmm...link won't work. Go to "thefrighteners . com" , look at the bottom of the page and click on "How-to's", then on "Quorum PIR Hack".

I built 3 of these a few years ago and it's not too hard, as long as you know how to solder fairly well. I use one on my Opening tombstone, with the PIR hanging on a tree. Whenever cars or people walk by it automatically goes off.
All the other parts are from Allelectronics. If the part numbers aren't with the tutorial I might still have them somewhere.

Originally Posted by Mr Grimsley

Otaku, how long do you find the 9v battery lasts?

I found that that the battery lasts for many weeks. I have one hacked unit that I use for prop testing and it never gets powered down. After ~ 5 months of tests, the voltage is at 8.2VDC. BTW, the hack that DintheG referred to shows how to wire in an external battery clip so that you can remove the battery easily. I'm currently working on an update that allows the battery to remain in the unit, but the power on/off can be controlled with a toggle switch. More to come on that.

WOW, thanks! You guys are a wealth of information and assets to this forum! Thanks again for all your help in the past!

Mr. G.

These have worked for me in the past. I have had issues with them not activating so I need to check into some other methods. These are good for the price, I've built relay boards since the output is only 5 volts, you will need a 5 volt relay. Then the contacts can be used to activate you're higher voltage.

I've gotten a couple of the Quorums from Goldmine b4, they had them for $2.99 on sale. I did the mods and they were ok. Now I use ones like these:
Motion-Activated Switch for Lights. Free Shipping. Lifetime Guarantee.

$11.99 is not bad for a unit that does not require battery power, has adjustable delay from 2 to 5 minutes and has a built-in AC outlet.

My local Harbor Freight has these for $9.99 but I do not see them listed in the online catalog.

I've seen a number of sensors of that type, but I try to build stand-alone props using just batteries. Sometimes I can't get away with it, though, and I gotta run power cords. My problem is I don't have a lot of outside circuits, so I have to be careful how I lay out the lights etc or I'll pop breakers all night when a fogger starts up. Thank goodness for Kill-A-Watt meters!