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10 Cue Firing system


Updup

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I have just finished writing up some plans for a 10 cue firing system. It will have a three pole key switch to turn it on, and once on, it has two modes, AUX, and HOT.

 

The modes:

 

AUX: In AUX mode, the left right cue switch and LED'S will be active, you will be able to turn on the two work lights, and a small LED will light up showing that you are in AUX mode.

 

HOT: In HOT mode, everything in AUX mode will still be active, but in this mode the cues are hot, so if you flip a cue switch, that E-match will pop, There is also an LED the lights up when you enter HOT mode.

 

Right/left: The switch circled in purple lets you chose between the left, or the right side of the firing field. This switch has two LED'S that are active in AUX mode; these tell you what side of the field you have selected. Also, in addition to changing what LED is lit up, this switch triggers a relay some 50-100 feet in front of you changing what set of E-matches your five cue switches trigger.

 

WORK LIGHTS: Two bright LED's or a few flash light bulbs on the top have their own switch to turn on/off. This ensures that you can see what you're doing in the dark.

 

RELAY BOX: I plan on putting a small box with the relays up the field so I consume less wire, from the relay box, one wire enters and two come out the sides; one for right field, and one for left.

 

E-MATCHES: On the end on the left and right side wires, will be a basic wiring setup for the E-matches, note the they each have their own positive wire, but all share a negative wire. I use holiday light E-matches, so each on the little green boxes are the holders that the bulbs come in, if you cut those off the strand, you can just plug in your E-matches and your good to go – making setup very easy.

 

post-9884-1258303859_thumb.jpg

 

 

Anyway, I haven't built it yet, but it's my plan to make it before New Year's [=. If you guys notice anything that won't work, please let me know, other than that, tell me what you think! :D

 

Oh, and how do I make the Image bigger?

 

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You should select the diode between the 'aux' and 'hot' poles of the bottom switch very carefully for bleeding. If it fails you can get trouble. I'd personally rather use a completely separated circuit rather than dividing them with a diode, for the sake of safety.

 

Also, a box in the field creates an extra point where your system can fail. When it comes to firing boxes, try to keep it as simple and reliable as possible. Murphy's law isn't there for no reason, so keep that in mind.

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Yeah, i won't need the diode your talking about if i can find a key switch that will go OpenOpen-OpenClosed-ClosedClosed.

 

And you right, the box is another point to fail, and depending on how cheap i can find a relay that will work for me, it might be cheaper just to have 5 more switches and forget the whole relay thing...

 

Thanks for the feedback!

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I thought about doing one utilizing a micro controller since some of them are easy to program....

Arduinos are cheap, they are powerful enough for robots and stuff like that but are like $40.

Think basic Stamp minus the cost and more simplicity.

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I've built a simple wireless system using PICs. It was an interesting project and I am planning to build a better one, but it is fairly involved and not something I would recommend to someone who hasn't got a fair bit of experience with electronics in general and micros in particular.
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Yea the whole Zig Bee or equivalent isn't very simple,

I think going with switches, diodes, leds and transistors is better unless you want wireless or want it perfectly timed,

logic that can tell if a shell leaves it's tube or something around that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay, I'm done making it, and it works just fine, I think I'll post pictures later though.

 

One question I have is, how much would you be willing to pay for a 12 (yes I found out that I didn't need a relay for the commen so I put another two cues in) cue fireing system? I was thinking about refining it and selling them, now one thing I want you to note is that I didn't put two modes in, nor do I have a on switch, I instead have a wire coming out of the main box that hooks up to a battery pack, that way you know it won't shoot when the battery isn't pluged up.

 

Pictures comming soon.

Edited by Updup
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I'd map out a PCB board and get like 10 milled up if you want to sell them,

then buy bulk parts and they could be done professionally, cleanly and affordable.

Also I'd look into Solid State Relays,

barely need any voltage, handle abuse and are beyond reliable....

Normal ones are great but if you can get the SSRs cheaply enough,

sometimes you can get them as old stock, the first one made has been working fro 25 years without any weaknesses.

Edited by jm82792
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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay I thought I would enlighten you guys with some pictures :D . I took all of these during construction so that why they seem all wirey =P

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx255/Updup/November_46.jpg

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx255/Updup/November_49.jpg

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx255/Updup/November_55.jpg

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx255/Updup/November_53.jpg

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I missed this somehow Updup. Nice work! If you want to have some PC boards etched, there are a few companies on the internet that specialize in making prototype (or bulk) boards for experimenters. A company (Express PCB) did these for me:

 

http://www.5bears.com/ecu/pcbfront.jpg

 

It was a controller for a model turbojet. Not cheap for just 2 or 3, but if you wanted to make 50, it'd be a huge time and money saver.

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Great, thanks. I just found http://cgi.ebay.com/RF-Wireless-Remote-Con...=item3efa47be55 This, add a few of these

 

http://www.pyrodirect.com/media/ccp0/prodsm/033-0001.jpgAnd a 12 cue wirless firing system for less than 50 bucks!

And the ebay page says 1000 meters below the remote picture, I'm not sure if that IS in fact it's range, but if it is, WOW!

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  • 7 months later...

I did a 13 cue, could have done a 100 if I wanted too, nail board, using cleap phone wire, piece of 2x4, finish nails and a 9 volt battery.

 

Wasn't great looking but then it didn't need to be, using 6 pair wire, all the positive firing wires got wound around the nails and hooked to the cakes, then I tied all the negatives together and ran it to the negative of the battery.

 

To fire a match you just touched the postive to the nail, I was sitting 25 feet away firing at will and only had one fail to fire, not bad for first year dipping and using match blanks.

 

I fired the first 13 and let my brother fire the last 11 with the China made remote remote, we had one receiver not working so only had 11 of 12 cues working remote.

 

I use the KISS system, Keep It Simple Stupid and even though some of the family[you know how they are] was betting against it working, it was to simple not to work, so they had say good well done.

Edited by handymanherb
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