Thanks for being patient, here are some photo's of my work and some of my sheeeeeeeet:

A Tour, if you will...of my workspace





First off, we have a circuit for JKe11Z for his car, Here is the signal Level Logic part of the circuit, (the driver end is missing)

Here is the computer simulation with MultiSim 8:





Here is the circuit prototyped on a solderless bredboard, this is all signal level, no drivers yet.










Here is an led cluseer that i had planned for some brake lights. These are the really bright 70mA LED's. (not lit though)











And now for my test equipment: (well, some of it anyways, missing from here is a crappy laptop that serves as a function generator, logic analyzer, among other things)

Here we have a frequency counter made by Hewlett Packard (HP) you apply an input signal to this device and it will tell you the frequency that the signal is (so if you stuck the leads in the wall socket, you'd get 60Hz, but i wouldn't try it, i think it has to be logic level...ill have to check the manual...)




Then one of my favorites, this is an Oscilloscope (ahh-sill-oh-scope) and this can do the same as the counter,but it displays the waveform on the screen. You can adjust the time setting on the oscilloscope and it will zoom in on the waveform your lookin at. This one is 30 Mhz, it's really old. It was given to me by my old man, and he bought it when he was a kid. These can be quite costly as well...




What good is Electronics circuits without power? This power supply has plenty of it...variable Voltage and current outputs up to 60VDC @ 10Amps! that's 600Watts of DC Power!



Bomb soldering setup, birthday gift from a family member with a lifetime subscription of replacement parts courtesy of your local
Snap-On truck! I love expensive tools!!!!



17" Samsung LCD monitor, doubles as an Xbox Screen with INCREDIBLE resolution that you wont see in any TV. and i use it when i build PC's for people...it's easy on the eyes, you know?



Everyone has a "Junk Drawer"...this holds true even for the neatest Electronics tech (btw, im nowhere close to the neatest)




This is another must have for the electronics whiz...without one (or 15) of these, you'll be spending one hour building a circuit, and over a week to find all the pieces!



I built this device called a Variac, but i call it a "Variable Transformer" because that's what it is. You plug 115 VAC in one side, and the knob controls the Voltage on the output socket, from 0V to 120V. This one is rated for 10A. (that would make this unit 1200Watts max) good for dimming light bulbs, controlling some AC motors, or pre-loading items that need repair to see where the damages are...




I took this ATX Power supply out of a computer case and modified it to be used as a benchtop power supply. This is good for someone into Car audio because a common 200W PSU from a computer has an output on the 12V side of 10A, the bigger ones go as high as 20, even higher! perfect to power that headunit that your not sure if it works, or you wanna see that amp power on. It offers great output and stiff voltage/current regulation. It also has a short-circuit shutoff control circuit that disconnects the outputs when they are shorted together (so you don't burn your house down) PM me and ill show you how. if i get enough pm's, ill make a DIY thread on this forum for you to enjoy.

Mine offers 12V @ 10A, and 5V @ 25A,



Last but not least, after a hard night of following circuit traces and diagrams, suffering from contact with electro-magnetic radiation (sounds bad, but EMR doesn't affect humans) and you can't get that 60Hz hum out of your head, we have the solution:




Catch me on, ill play whatever, i got halo, GTAIV, FABLE II, and many others, my gamertag is "Metalfan1185" add me to your list! (unless your afraid ill whoop your ass at like, street hoops or something LMAO)

damn man thats a helluva setup you have there. i would have no idea what to do with any of it lol....when it comes to electrical shit I am semi-retarded!

WOW. I usually just look for a wire that has power when i want it and tap into it

lol, thanks, if you need help with anything ill try to get a response to you in a "electronic-semi-retarded-friendly way" lol

that can be ok...if you go easy with it and do it neatly (and fused)

sucks when you start poppin fuses and it can be a nightmare when someone like me has to crawl all over your car with a multimeter to find out where a short is just because someone hacked the sheeeet out of something just so a LED will light on their dashboard lol

this is not a reflection of your work, im just sayin...You'd be surprised

Ive seen it too often, what some people will mess with just to get some stupid piece of junk to work

would you be able to make LED panels for taillights..i know when i had my eclipse there was a guy who filled the taillights with thousands of LEDs and it looked badass

Yes i can, and i have seen that eclipse, the green one right? that thing is crazy...i sent him all kinds of messages trying to get a diagram of how he did that. It seems to me that he used a sequencer and Programmable Microcontrollers to do that. First you write code in C or C#, then flash the code to the controller, and then you have a certain effect. add more controllers and a way to toggle between them, and that's what you get.

lots of work to get to that point, i don't know who he is but i commend him on his work

yeah, i've always liked the look of LED"s better so depending on what i buy for a car i might see if you could make some panels to go in the taillights

holy shit batman. I think i know what only two things are that you have


Oh i got your pm just have to dig around for the numbers needed.

Glad I'm not the only one who thought that rod.

LMAO

hahaha, well, it's too bad Radio Shack as it's known now is a toy store...When i was a kid, i used to get all my Electronics Components from there, nowadays if you go in there and take any parts off the wall and ask about it, they'll tell you

"I dont even know what that is...Hey, wanna buy an IPOD?"





Radio Shack -> "You've got questions, We've got comission-biased paychecks"

which is why i use a nail gun at work and not a soldering iron

I also failed to mention that i have a "Magic Box" ---wink--- ---wink---

well, it's a little messy...so..you can call it a sloppy magic box...hahaha

anyone care for GTA IV?


here it is:









With this box, i can make any circuit the my little heart desires...i use it for prototyping big time, and when people want custom electronics in their car, i can bring this along to show them what im workin with.


Like I have always said, I'd Rather have a "Magic Box" than a "Magic Bag" LMAO

looks like my basement only I don;t have an o-scope. wish I did.



yea, they're horrible. Who do you use for parts? I used to go to Avtec in Cranston. I don't even know if they're there anymore.

well, i used to go to that place right off the highway there....uuhhh....Jabour Electronics, that's what it was. But they are out of business now, then radio shack,

depending on what it is, i look at Jameco Electronics, MCM electronics, Mouser, American Electronics, and my own personal stock in my basement.

All you gotta do, is when you throw something away, take it in the basement and pull all the guts out of it. that way you have all kinds of stuff to build with.

But those places are where i go when i need a Part that i don't have, or one that should be purchased new.

I also use new parts if it is a circuit for someone else, i only use old parts for the prototypes lol I wouldn't want someone pissed because i made something for them and it crapped out because i used some ancient capacitor in there or something lol

Ed if you want a mouser catalog i got one at home or in storeage from the store i can get it for you they also have a web site an dif you want an O-scope i can see if my buddy still has an extra he bought 2 of them when new england tech was selling them like our 2nd or 3rd quarter there i can prob get it for you cheep but it is older i was gonna buy it from him but i have gotten so use to the new ones i don't even wanna look at an old one unless i absolutely must...


Good job man like what your doing sounds like you know your shit man did you go to school for it or is it just personal experance?

So John is adding police flashers to his car?

Well, my dad had a repair shop and used to fix radios and TV's and VCR's and stuff and i was always watching him, because "When i Grow Up i wanna fix things just like my dad!"

little by little he would take the time to teach about how they worked, everything from radio, reel to reel (hhahahaha) all kinds of stuff, High Voltage, jacobs ladders and junk.

so eventually it came to be. I took a class in High School but i aced that crap, the kids would hook a resistor and capacitor together to make a filter and take all kinds of notes while im in the corner working on a 4 bit binary demultiplexing circuit. lol

.......

lol....

i want to go LED for my brakelights....

I can build ya some lights. The only thing is that if the lenses are red, they may not have the look that you want them to have. Plus the OEM lanses on most cars have little...almost like prisms...in the lens casing to reflect light all over the place, I think LED's look nicer focused and clear.

ive seen a few max's done on the org, led brake lights look sweet

well, those lights may be ok to do, i tried it with mine (Jetta) and it looked like crap with the OEM casings, i need to find some clear ones.

The only other alternative i have is to drill holes for the LED lenses to stick out, and then i have to wry about sealing it and i don't think it would look right.



Rod, that site is nice, i was lookin at some multimeters and stuff, decent prices on the Fluke ones too.

you do it is pretty cool, i live 5 mins from there. its actually in needham right off 128.

yes yes yes i am doing police LEDs on my car. that was the big secret on this project. Josh and i met last thurs and sat for about 2 hours going over everything, and when i say everything i mean EVERYTHING. there will be just around 200 LEDs on the car just for this project. front grill (hideaway), behind my rearview mirror (just behind the blue strip on my windshield), and each side of my third brakelight in the back (partially hidden by a black bottom strip). they will alternate between red and blue, and strobe when in the on position. its alot of work and i have definately have to thank Josh for puttin all the time into this project for me. its gonna look sick man and i cant wait to get it into my car

I have been lookin onto the blue LED's, i found a bunch that are the same kind of LED in Blue that will be a little brighter than the red, but i can dim them down a hair to make them match. The ones im looking at are about $1.40 a piece. I ordered a few so i can play with them to see the color and brightness. I also have a different deeper red than the red that i showed you when we got tegether, so, if you want to schedule another meet up, i can bring the LED's so you can compare and choose, and ill bring the prototype with me too. just let me know when your available.

Oh, I also have to change a Tie Rod end on my jetta drivers side, I havent decided where im going to do it yet, but out of the cold if possible. Ill take care of that later on though.

once we determine the colors and parts, i can give you an estimate of what the entire project will cost you,
(minus the enclosures for the LED clusters, i havent had time to look into that yet, but we can work that out as well)

Overall it's startin to come together pretty well

Gonna look sick Kellz glad it's not me doing this project i want no responsability for this when you get pulled over being an idiot for fake puling over a friend! but gonna look sick

Ditto...

I don't mind installing this stuff, but im not responsible for anything you do with it.

Shows and stuff is one thing, but you have to understand that i have to cover my ass for projects like these lol.

right!

99.9 percent of it is for show and offroad use, not to pull people over. im not gonna be that dumb and get arrested for impersonation of a cop. josh i told you that youre more than welcome to use my garage to do the tie rod in if you want. and i can meet up whenever. im not really around tomorrow and fri, but if ur going to the meet on sunday ill be there.

btw, couldnt find ne blue leds that werent 4x the price of the reds?

Well, the blues are in most cases more expensive than the reds, I use SuperFlux LED's from Phillips, and these are expensive in any color. I've been waiting for them to go on sale, but the reds go on sale alot more of then than the blues.

Im still looking into the LED Situation, but i've looked at the prices of all the other stuff and it's really really cheap

Ill let you know

The LED's I use are called "Pirahna" High-Flux (70mA) LED's, these are incredibly bright.

I have red and red-orange

the ones that i have in my running boards in the car are REd-orange. so there is a deeper red than that.

http://superbrightleds.com/led_prcs.htm#highflux

5mm superflux LED's, blue under a dollar a piece for 100-199 i believe

These LEDs are similar to the ones i use, and look exactly the same, but there is no listing of their specs, they make Pirahna Flux LED's in smaller currents too, i've seen 20mA, 30mA, and 35mA. The ones i use are 70mA.

These are also prices without shipping.

Can you get a spec sheet on those? so i can compare them to the LED's that i have been lookin into? I've never dealt with that site

http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/hf5-b5590.htm spec sheet on the 5mm one just copy the part number into google and you can find the spec sheet very easily

http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/hf3-b5570.htm the 3mm ones

Thanks,

These are different, the lens on them is huge, so i think the ones that i have may be the 3mm,

but the Forward Current rating for solid use (no PWM) is 20mA and the Forward Voltage is 3.something


the intensity is less as well, i believe the LED's i ordered for testing are 10,000mcd+, i forgot exactly what number, ill know in a few days.

These LEDs are Manufactured in Germany, so a few days im guessing with shipping.





(I mean this with no harsh tones whatsoever, I just failed to mention earlier...) ---->

Listen man, im an honest person, and im not out to screw anyone, the last thing i want is dirt on my work rep because someone that i provided a service to felt cheated. I test every circuit in every enviornment i can before it is installed in the real thing. I do the best i can to be sure that my circuits are safe, last a long time, and wont interfere with any existing electronics in whatever application i use them for.

That being said, feel free to look around and find LED prices for yourself, I won't know exactly what im workin with until i have a couple on my bench for testing. That is also my way of being sure that the customer is happy, you know? I don't want to install some Crap that lasts a month and then be put on the spot later on as to why they crapped out.

I know im new here, but please dont get the wrong idea. lol



When i Get some LEDs, i ususally make something out of them and either test the crap out of them, or install them in my own car, so i can see first hand how they respond to warm, cold, sun, shade, rain, (i have a bad habit of leaving my windows open lol) So i know where these LED's stand in terms of Quality. I use Phillips, OSRAM, and Pirahna LED's and there are lots of people that duplicate cheaper versions of them.

I find the only way to weed them out is expierience lol.

just trying to help you out man, like i said you know what youre doing, not me lol whatever works best is what im going with, so its up to you. you have my full support on whatever path or product you want to go with

Ok, Thanks,

I mean, im not discouraging you from looking up prices if you want, im trying to find a decent balance between Quality and Price, you know?

I want you to have this look nice, and professional, and not cheesy lookin. so far, the LED's are the most expensive part of this project, the rest of the parts are incredibly cheap, you'll see what i mean when we meet up, which will be after the blue test ones come in, (or before then if you want to see the circuit and help me adjust the flash timing. we have to do that too.


Later man,

I attempted to take pics of those LED's without success, the light meter on the camera dimms the picture to crap, and with the LED's on, you can't really see much besides a massive Red blob.

I tried! I guess you'll just have to see them in person! lol