Sequencers

Project time!

How about a sequencer that can handle LEDs, some hefty transistor switches, and some plain old EL drivers?

Ed,

If you've found a cheap, light-duty controller that meets your timing and sequencing needs, consider having it drive relays instead of EL strings. Then drive your EL strings from the relays.

That would be much quicker (and probably cheaper) than rolling your own from scratch.

Good luck!

Tom

--Hey I like that! Thanks for the idea!

--Oops followup question: the sequencer output is around 400hz AC; will this cause any problems with a relay?

-- "Steamboat Ed" Haas : "Hold on! we're passing Hacking the Trailing Edge! : through the moronosphere!"

Probably, unless it's specially designed for 400Hz; if there were such a beast it would be a specialized aircraft relay from the 60's or 70's.

You could rectify the AC with a little bridge and use that to feed the relay -- it should work well. Just what you need for a rectifier and associated circuitry depends on whether the relay you use is mechanical or not. For a mechanical relay there's a good chance that you could just use a bridge and count on the relay coil's inductance to smooth the current out sufficiently; for a solid-state relay you'd probably need a bridge, filter capacitor and loading resistance.