Thread: Thunder and Lightning question

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Hello! Came across this forum while trying to research a project I'm working on and was hoping someone could give me some insight. I'm trying to make a thunder and lightning unit for my graveyard in the front of the house. I picked up a color organ kit from electronic goldmine (This one) and have managed to put it together. The instructions said I could test it with a 9v battery which I did and it appears to work.

So then I started contemplating light and audio sources and that's where I started getting discouraged. I had figured I could just pick up an old boom box of some sort as an audio source but the kit says the audio input can't exceed 35watts. What have other folks used for audio with these things?

Also, I found a web site that seemed to say that although the kit I have says it will handle up to 200W, that that is maybe enough to flash some christmas lights. Anything higher would quickly burn out the unit. That doesn't seem...right... seeming as I have a flood light (which I was planning on using) that's only 50W. Seems like a couple of those pointed at the house would be enough to do a simple llightning effect. Anyone have any thoughts on that? I'd hate to waste time finishing this up if it's going to be lackluster at best and burst into flames at worst...

I have a fire fly and it works amazingly. it can do a lightning affect or a dimming effect ( like power shortages) I highly suggest getting it

If you want a cheap and easy solution, try one of these:

Amazon.com: Christmas Tree FX: Everything Else: Reviews, Prices & more

They used to have a Halloween version (black with an orange lightning bolt) but it's almost impossible to find now. The x-mas version works exactly the same tho.

It has a knob to adjust the sensitivity to sound, and can handle something like 600 watts (I can't remember exactly, but it was at least a few flood bulbs worth). Just set it near a speaker and plug in the lights and you're in business.

I have one of the Xmas Tree FX and it works great for me. You can set an audio source near it to respond to sound or, do like I did, plug it into an mp3 player with a really cheap audio cord. Like this one: http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103855 (I hope I'm not crossing any sponsor boundaries - I have nothing to do with this retailer lol)

Good luck

Thanks for the tips. I fiddled around with this thing for a while and have decided it's more trouble than it's worth. I ended up taking Frankie's Girls advice and just ordered one of the X-mas FX boxes. The professional units look pretty cool, but are overkill for me (and way out of my budget).

You won't be disappointed with the FX box. 500W of lightning is good for most applications. I highly recommend getting photoflood bulbs (one white, one blue) at your local photography store. They're about 200-250W per, so they work with your box, are extremely bright and very fast-cycling.

I second Otaku. I used the setup of an FX box and 2 Photo flood lights and added a relay and put more lights through the normaly open contacts. Last year was my first time using it and it was a big hit. The relay operated lights don't fade like the FX box operated lights but they added intensity.