Old light board, what to do?

[moretroubleagain]

All right amazing Tardis builder people. I have the boards pictured. I would like to make them just randomly blink. I'd like the switches to change the random blinking or off/on. I don't even know where to start. Arduino? does anyone have an introduction page or places to learn how to do this?

[phillbarron]

Do you actually want them random? Or do you want the flashing patterns you see in sci-fi?

If you literally want random blinking then I'd just wire up a load of flashing leds and let it do its own thing. Wire them in banks to different switches and you could get patterns flashing at different rates.

[moretroubleagain]

Something other than just "on". That is the extent of my wiring knowledge. I could wire them so they're just on. But I'd love to have the 55 lights just change on and off whenever.

[phillbarron]

Here's an example of a mixture of stationary and flashing LEDs wired up to two simple switches. If you stare long enough you begin to imagine a pattern ... but they're random.

[moretroubleagain]

WOW! Great. Now how do I do that? Where to start?

[phillbarron]

As long as you're comfortable with a soldering iron it's just:

Power supply, switch, LED and suitable resistor then repeat as necessary.

There's some info here on parallel vs series wiring:

https://www.ledsupply.com/blog/wiring-leds-correctly-series-parallel-circuits-explained/

If you wire them in batches to different switches then you can turn banks of them on and off.

I'm assuming you have since basic electronic knowledge since you said you could wire them to be all on ... obviously, if you have no idea at all what you're doing then seek proper help!

[russellsuthern]

I agree,
You can't be too careful.
If you're not sure then get a professional to do it for you.

I never touch electrics, gas or plumbing when it comes to DIY, but this caution comes from some hard learned lessons- I have some stories that would make your hair curl like my Tom Baker wig!!


Russ

[moretroubleagain]

Thanks both. Yes I have basic wiring knowledge to make lamps, lighting for bar lamps, steampunk lamps, and "the Internet" from the IT crowd. That was 1 blinking light. This is 65 lights and 10 switches. And probably 120 volts vs a 9 volt battery.

I appreciate the link!!