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Battery powered switch

J

James

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hey all,

I need to build/buy a small, cheap, battery powered system which will
allow me to turn on/off another battery-powered apparatus remotely.

I have a small battery-powered radio which is behind closed doors.
The radio runs off a single 9-volt battery. For reasons I won't get
into, I can't easily get to the radio at all times of the day to turn
it on and off. Ultimately, as it goes now, the radio remains on at
all times, basically until I can get to the radio at the end of the
day to turn it off, or until the battery dies and I go back in to
replace the battery thus starting the cycle all over again.

I was wondering if there was a way for me to create or buy a remote
receiver (I guess it would need to be RF or something similar, since
IR won't work through the door) which could listen to a remote signal,
and switch on/off the radio circuit, alternately cutting
off/connecting the power supply.

Ideally, this receiver would be battery-powered, and would not draw
much power at all (so it could stay up and listening for days or weeks
on end). It could draw from its own separate battery. And, it would
need to connect to the radio circuit so the radio could be turned "on
and off" appropriately.

Sound like something easy or cheap?

Thanks,

James
 
M

Michael A. Covington

Jan 1, 1970
0
Is AC power available in the room where the radio is?
 
J

James

Jan 1, 1970
0
Unfortunately, no. Both radio and receiver need to be battery powered.
 
J

Jonathan Kirwan

Jan 1, 1970
0
Is AC power available in the room where the radio is?

If it were convenient, I'd guess he'd use it.

When I read it, I was kind of imagining a "barn situation" where one might put a
1970's style 5D-cell radio up in the rafters in the morning to get good overall
speaker coverage to wherever one was working around at during the day and where
power isn't available without stringing long extension drop cords that might
just get in the way. When one leaves the area for a time (say, to go slop the
hogs, for example), it would be nice to just point a controller at it and turn
it off to save battery juice until working back in the barn area.

Jon
 
K

Ken Taylor

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ken Taylor said:
Try something like this:
http://www.smarthome.com/4000.html

However it's relatively expensive for the task - you might prefer just to
search using a term like "wireless remote control".

Ken
Sorry, that unit isn't any good for what you want, unless you pretty well
took it apart and re-engineered it (confession - I didn't read very far into
the page!) :) However the search term should turn something up.

Cheers.

Ken
 
M

mike

Jan 1, 1970
0
James said:
Hey all,

I need to build/buy a small, cheap, battery powered system which will
allow me to turn on/off another battery-powered apparatus remotely.

I have a small battery-powered radio which is behind closed doors.
The radio runs off a single 9-volt battery. For reasons I won't get
into, I can't easily get to the radio at all times of the day to turn
it on and off. Ultimately, as it goes now, the radio remains on at
all times, basically until I can get to the radio at the end of the
day to turn it off, or until the battery dies and I go back in to
replace the battery thus starting the cycle all over again.

I was wondering if there was a way for me to create or buy a remote
receiver (I guess it would need to be RF or something similar, since
IR won't work through the door) which could listen to a remote signal,
and switch on/off the radio circuit, alternately cutting
off/connecting the power supply.

Ideally, this receiver would be battery-powered, and would not draw
much power at all (so it could stay up and listening for days or weeks
on end). It could draw from its own separate battery. And, it would
need to connect to the radio circuit so the radio could be turned "on
and off" appropriately.

Sound like something easy or cheap?

Thanks,

James

UR story sounds more than a little suspicious. Why not just put a
switch with a sign on it so the people behind the door can turn on the
radio when they want to listen to it??? Make it a timer so it shuts off
after a time.

If you want to monitor people without their knowledge or consent, your
local spy shop can set you up with all manner of neat toys.
mike

--
Return address is VALID.
Wanted, 12.1" LCD for Gateway Solo 5300. Samsung LT121SU-121
Bunch of stuff For Sale and Wanted at the link below.
Compaq Aero floppy,ram,battery.
MINT HP-41CV, 2-METER AMPS, 200CH SCANNER
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Monitor/4710/
 
J

James

Jan 1, 1970
0
It is similar to that. Basically we have a small (for lack of a better
word) outlet box near a back wall of our building. The outlet box actually
houses connections to a set of external speakers that have been wired
throughout parts of the building. There isn't any power that is running
through the outlet box (I suppose we could run power there, but the cost of
getting someone to do that would far exceed the amount of money I want to
spend on this). Anyways, each speaker throughout the building has its own
power switch so if we wanted to turn off the sound in, say, my office, I
could just flip off the speaker itself. The outlet box door is pretty well
surrounded by equipment in the storage room, so getting into the box is
somewhat of a pain as you try to maneuver around equipment, etc., so for
the most part, I just leave the radio on all day long, and let people turn
off their speakers when they don't want to listen.

Recently, I have really been the only one using the radio (it just plays
sports radio all day long), so I can pretty easily turn on/off the radio
whenever I want -- but only if I can get inside the box.

Anyways, long story short, I want to be able to set up a remote system
where I can just send some kind of remote signal from inside/just outside
the storage room to the receiver inside the (blocked or closed) outlet box.
The receiver should take any incoming signal and allow me to
connect/disconnect the radio from its battery power source. Finally, the
receiver should run on battery power (since there isn't a readily available
power source) and shouldn't require too much power since it will basically
need to be on at all times. If I only needed to get to the box once every
few days or a week to change the battery on the receiver, that'd be good
enough. As it is, I get about a 14 hours on the radio with the 9volt,
which means I am either changing the battery daily, or going in to the
outlet box several times a day.

TIA,

James
 
J

James

Jan 1, 1970
0
Suspicious or not, that's what I need. See my previous post for more
details of the situation at hand. The door isn't a door to another room in
the building, but a door to a small outlet box wired to speakers throughout
the building.

James
 
M

Michael A. Covington

Jan 1, 1970
0
Can you run a _low voltage_ power wire to the radio, and switch it from a
more convenient location? Even a power wire from a battery box to the
radio?
 
G

Genome

Jan 1, 1970
0
| It is similar to that. Basically we have a small (for lack of a
better
| word) outlet box near a back wall of our building. The outlet box
actually
| houses connections to a set of external speakers that have been wired
| throughout parts of the building. There isn't any power that is
running
| through the outlet box (I suppose we could run power there, but the
cost of
| getting someone to do that would far exceed the amount of money I want
to
| spend on this). Anyways, each speaker throughout the building has its
own
| power switch so if we wanted to turn off the sound in, say, my office,
I
| could just flip off the speaker itself. The outlet box door is pretty
well
| surrounded by equipment in the storage room, so getting into the box
is
| somewhat of a pain as you try to maneuver around equipment, etc., so
for
| the most part, I just leave the radio on all day long, and let people
turn
| off their speakers when they don't want to listen.
|
| Recently, I have really been the only one using the radio (it just
plays
| sports radio all day long), so I can pretty easily turn on/off the
radio
| whenever I want -- but only if I can get inside the box.
|
| Anyways, long story short, I want to be able to set up a remote system
| where I can just send some kind of remote signal from inside/just
outside
| the storage room to the receiver inside the (blocked or closed) outlet
box.
| The receiver should take any incoming signal and allow me to
| connect/disconnect the radio from its battery power source. Finally,
the
| receiver should run on battery power (since there isn't a readily
available
| power source) and shouldn't require too much power since it will
basically
| need to be on at all times. If I only needed to get to the box once
every
| few days or a week to change the battery on the receiver, that'd be
good
| enough. As it is, I get about a 14 hours on the radio with the 9volt,
| which means I am either changing the battery daily, or going in to the
| outlet box several times a day.
|
| TIA,
|
| James
|
| |
| > When I read it, I was kind of imagining a "barn situation"...

I'd suggest you figure out how the speakers are actually wired.

If it's not a '100V' system with transformers and the speakers are in
parallel then you might consider moving the radio to your office and
connecting it to your speaker terminals.

Such a method may be feasible even if transformers are used, your
speaker transformer becomes the main one.

Anyway there must be a way of achieving what I'm suggesting.

DNA
 
J

James

Jan 1, 1970
0
I was going to try to do that, but I'd rather not do anything to mess with
the wiring already in place. Management is a bit wary about people hacking
away at their speaker wiring system (it was originally installed as a means
to send messages throughout the building a long time ago) and sometimes
gets used for legitimate business purposes once every few months. (And
sometimes to pipe xmas music throughout the office throughout the December
months.)

I guess the ability to turn off the speakers at each remote location makes
the system a bit pointless now to send announcements, but again, I'd rather
not try to hack into the system just to feed my own input just to my
office.

I was hoping that there was something simple I could do to get what I
wanted. It doesn't sound like there is.

James
 
J

James

Jan 1, 1970
0
One of the agreements I made before I was allowed to hook up the radio to
the system was that there were to be no running wires in the storage room
and that the entire radio system must be contained within the outlet box,
with the box remaining shut at all times. Claimed it was a liability to
have the wires running (which I can see) and to actually have the outlet
box open (which I can't really believe to be true).

Luckily the box has enough space inside to house the small radio, but I'm
definitely not working with a lot of room.

James
 
J

John Woodgate

Jan 1, 1970
0
I read in sci.electronics.design that James
Ideally, this receiver would be battery-powered, and would not draw much
power at all (so it could stay up and listening for days or weeks on
end). It could draw from its own separate battery. And, it would need
to connect to the radio circuit so the radio could be turned "on and
off" appropriately.

Sound like something easy or cheap?

Well, you had a lot of sophisticated replies, but AIUI, nothing that
works for you. I can see two solutions:

1. Mount an IR sensor on the outside of the cupboard and use a remote
unit like a TV control. You could build all this yourself. The IR
receiver would switch the radio on by means of a relay or a FET.

2. Buy a short-range radio transmitter and matching receiver, the
receiver being configured for very low current consumption when idling.
You would need to add a relay or FET to do the on/off switching, as for
option 1.
 
J

James

Jan 1, 1970
0
Thanks John,

Any thoughts as to where I can find a receiver like this?

James
 
J

John Woodgate

Jan 1, 1970
0
I read in sci.electronics.design that James
Any thoughts as to where I can find a receiver like this?

Well, you are posting from GMT -0500, but I still don't know where you
are, even if I guess USA. There are a lot of Merkans here who can better
advise you about sources.
 
R

Rich Grise

Jan 1, 1970
0
James said:
One of the agreements I made before I was allowed to hook up the radio to
the system was that there were to be no running wires in the storage room
and that the entire radio system must be contained within the outlet box,
with the box remaining shut at all times. Claimed it was a liability to
have the wires running (which I can see) and to actually have the outlet
box open (which I can't really believe to be true).

Luckily the box has enough space inside to house the small radio, but I'm
definitely not working with a lot of room.

The IR receiver out of a TV - or the circuit, copied - can turn the radio
on and off, but you'd need either line-of-sight or the ability to set
up mirrors for the IR.

Good Luck!
Rich
 
R

Rich Grise

Jan 1, 1970
0
James said:
It is similar to that. Basically we have a small (for lack of a better
word) outlet box near a back wall of our building. The outlet box
actually houses connections to a set of external speakers that have been
wired
throughout parts of the building. There isn't any power that is running
through the outlet box (I suppose we could run power there, but the cost
of getting someone to do that would far exceed the amount of money I want
to
spend on this). Anyways, each speaker throughout the building has its own
power switch so if we wanted to turn off the sound in, say, my office, I
could just flip off the speaker itself. The outlet box door is pretty
well surrounded by equipment in the storage room, so getting into the box
is somewhat of a pain as you try to maneuver around equipment, etc., so
for
the most part, I just leave the radio on all day long, and let people
turn off their speakers when they don't want to listen.

Piggyback a control signal on your speaker lead(s).

Cheers!
Rich
 
R

Rich Grise

Jan 1, 1970
0
James said:
I was going to try to do that, but I'd rather not do anything to mess with
the wiring already in place. Management is a bit wary about people
hacking away at their speaker wiring system (it was originally installed
as a means to send messages throughout the building a long time ago) and
sometimes
gets used for legitimate business purposes once every few months. (And
sometimes to pipe xmas music throughout the office throughout the December
months.)

I guess the ability to turn off the speakers at each remote location makes
the system a bit pointless now to send announcements, but again, I'd
rather not try to hack into the system just to feed my own input just to
my office.

I was hoping that there was something simple I could do to get what I
wanted. It doesn't sound like there is.

If it is a PA system, and each speaker has its own transformer, and the
junction box just has a bunch of branches, then just move the radio to your
office and connect its output to the primary of your speaker.

That only works if it's a typical 70.7 volt PA system, where all the
speaker transformer primaries are in parallel.

Good Luck!
Rich
 
M

Michael A. Covington

Jan 1, 1970
0
The IR receiver out of a TV - or the circuit, copied - can turn the radio
on and off, but you'd need either line-of-sight or the ability to set
up mirrors for the IR.

If you have line-of-sight contact, hitting photocells with a laser pointer
is easier. I once designed a circuit (for "Q&A" in Popular Electronics)
that had two CdS photocells. Hit one to turn on and the other to turn off.
They formed a voltage divider driving a 555 configured as a Schmitt trigger.
 
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