It is very similar to an older video game which I will not mention. LOL!!
However, the ghosts are currently lit up with a Red, a Green and a Blue 110v, 7w, C7 bulb and that just won’t do. Can anyone help me convert that to a super bright LED in each. I want to change them to Red, Green and Yellow. But here is the kicker, I want to make them all turn Blue every couple minutes! can anyone point me to some circuitry to get that done?
You might be able to find C7 LED bulbs in color - it is almost Christmas, isn’t it?
For all my electronics background, I’m no good at designing circuits such as you describe. I’d probably try to find a motor driven switch through a surplus outlet.
You might be able to pull something off with a microprocessor, like the Arduino or Basic Stamp. Both handle multiple channels (16 in the Basic Stamp, it think the Arduino is the same) which might allow you to get even fancier with your effects than you’ve suggested.
Cheapest approach may be to use packaged ‘light bulb replacements’ as these contain the voltage conversion circuitry, clamping, heat sinking, etc. needed to make superbright LEDs live. I haven’t seen these in C-7 socket size so you might want to wire in some standard size sockets in parallel. You could also convert to LVDC, with the parts from existing lawn lighting (and using cheapo 12V bulbs rather than LEDs…)
Meanwhile, the ‘maker’ scene has many people working innovatively with LED color control. Here is a good introduction to LEDs from the Adafruit people. I’d give serious consideration to repowering the wiring as LVDT if you build your own strings.
You can use colored LEDs or apply a filter (e.g. theatrical gel or transparent paint) over the bulb enclosure to get your color.
Simplest way to make them ‘turn blue’ might be to use a relay (I’m showing my age here) to switch between strings, make the blinking, etc. On the other hand, quite a few recent Christmas lights have multicolor LEDs that are driven by a rudimentary programmable controller so they flash in patterns – you might easily adapt one of these controllers to the shorter but brighter LED strings you’re building. Look here for some more thoughts that might get you started.
Hey RJ was up? I haven’t been in here much myself lately. Good to see ya back. I know LEDs and component design and could probably help out. PM me and we’ll talk.
Overmod, good idea, but LEDs emit very narrow band light and filtering the light spectrum will not work like it would with an incandesent (broadband) light source. It would just attenuate the undesired away and leave you with nothing at the desired color. Good idea though [swg]