Guide Tutorial-Modding a Sound Sensitive Unit

Hey Everybody,

With the help of others here at bit-tech I've sorted out how to make a few mods to the sound activated units sold for CCF lights. 3 simple mods that will make using your CCFL and sound activated unit much more convenient.

1) Extending the Microphone
2) Extending the Off/Flash/On Switch
3) Extending the Sensitivity Adjustment (not completed yet)

Here's the unit:




Out of its case


PCB Board (mic is already extended in this pic)



The components labelled



Corresponding pins



1-Extending the Microphone:

By extending the mic to the front, top or side panel--it will have greater sensitivity and greater flashing effect. This one is really easy--2 solder points on the board, 2 wires and 2 solder points on the mic. Just unsolder the 2 mic pins and pull it from the board. Solder in one wire to each corresponding place on the PCB board, then solder one wire to each of the 2 mic pins--its a done deal. Mount the mic where and how you want it. Should look something like this:



If You pull the felt off of the top of the mic--it should look like this:



I have too many other things to do with this case mod, so I haven't mounted the mic yet. But here's the plan: I will drill a hole in the appropriate location (side facing speakers in my case) slightly larger than the inside hole on the mic, and then mount the mic on the inside of the case with some 3M double-sided tape. Yes, I will cut a hole in the tape to help maintain sensitivty. I've been playing with this thing a lot, so I'm not expecting any issues with the mounting.

All too simple really.....

 

2-Extending the Off/Flash/On Switch

This is the one that really threw me for a loop. Electronics are my weak point--so I get lost really fast!. Posts on several forums, over 200 views total and only 1 response (Thanx for the confirmations, 500mph! ). Sheesh! Then Cinnander came along and helped me out--Thanx!

I just really could not get this sorted out from looking at the circuits. Nothing worked. Points looked connected--but they actually were not. So, I did what I should have done to start with--I took the switch a part!



The switch is comprised of the plastic slider that moves the 2 copper contact sliders; and the double rails attached to the board. There are 2 contact points made on each rail at any given point--except one.



The little pieces....

Once I tore it a part, I found that the rails looked like this:


I already realized that there were 2 contact points per setting, but beyond that--I was lost. Apparently there are up to 4 contact points.


So, like most things--this one is pretty simple once the details are worked out.

Let's cut to the chase:


The pin order that I am calling....



Note: Pin 6 is actually soldered down near the red wire--it was just an easier place to make the contact.
Wires need to be soldered on to Pins-2,3,4,6 and 7. That will complete the Off/Flash/On.

For the Flash: wires 2 & 3 need to connect to each other, and wires 6 & 7 need to connect to each other. All 4 wires must be connected for the Flash to work: 2 to 3; 6 to 7.

For On: wires 2,3 & 4 need to be connected together.

I don't have a proper switch (double-pole/double-throw...?) on hand, so what I did was hook this unit up to 2 simple rocker switches. It worked like this:

Determine Your ground blade--on mine its the gold one (the other 2 are silver)

Turn both switches off--the unit is Off.

Switch 1 On/Off:
Solder wires 2 & 3 to one (silver) blade and wire 4 to the other (silver) blade. The last blade should be Gold and that is the ground--it makes my LED come on. Using this switch will simply turn the unit on or off--that's it.

Switch 2 Flash/Off:
Solder wire 6 to one (silver) blade and wire 7 to the other (silver) blade. Again, the last (gold) blade is for the ground that makes the LED in the rocker come on.

That's it! Turn switch 2 on and the system Flashes--turn it off--and its off. Turn switch 1 on and the lights stay on--off and the system is off. One note: If the system is on flash and the On switch is turned on--it will over ride the flash and the lights will just be on. Doesn't seem to hurt anything, but that's how it works.

 

Reserved for Mod 3.....

I have not completed this mod yet. I have to pick up a 3 wire potentiometer and then jump through the hoops. Shouldn't be a big deal, but this section will not be completed until at least (probably) next week.

 

You might want to re-tag it with guide too... other than that... nice one..