[GLLUG] Lamp Parts (for me to buy off you)

[Karl Schuttler]

I found a nice lamp I want to build. It uses red, green, and blue LEDs
to cycle through rainbow-ish colors. I've wanted one of these for
quite a long while, as I enjoy the soft light they give, as well as
it's appeal to the techno fanboy within.

There are several of these lamps on Thinkgeek. There is the Mathmos
Softlight (Lamp or pillow shaped light that goes through colors, $49),
Mathmos Airswitch (pass your hand over it and it turns on!, $85),
Mathmos Aduki (a bean shaped light that goes through a variety of
colors $50), and the Mathmos Color Bubble (spherical light that you
can carry around and squeeze to turn on, $70).

If you take a look at the prices, you will note how outrageous they
are for the product that you get. While the geekly within me aches for
such artsy-goods, they also have some drawbacks...

*Most of them are made out of glass
*The battery ones, such as the aduki, don't go through all the colors
*The Softlight, while looking quite nice, is both made out of glass
and has to be plugged in
*The Color bubble is limited to one color

So, the conclusion of this piece, is that I'll be able to make
something just as hip for lesser a price, and gain a bit more
soldering skill and general electronics know-how.

So, here are the parts that I need in order to build it.

- 3 transistors (I don't know what type yet, so I'll hold off)
- one PIC 16F628 and a programmer*
- a small perforated circuit board
- some resistors
- a battery holder (4 x AAA)
- a nice casing
- diy silicons
- red, green and blue extra bright leds
- ferro rocher chocolate plastic pyramid casing
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001FQVAM/002-9133948-1345663?v=glance&n=3370831

*The programmer also needs to be assembled. Picture available at
I found a nice lamp I want to build. It uses red, green, and blue LEDs
to cycle through rainbow-ish colors. I've wanted one of these for
quite a long while, as I enjoy the soft light they give, as well as
it's appeal to the techno fanboy within.

There are several of these lamps on Thinkgeek. There is the Mathmos
Softlight (Lamp or pillow shaped light that goes through colors, $49),
Mathmos Airswitch (pass your hand over it and it turns on!, $85),
Mathmos Aduki (a bean shaped light that goes through a variety of
colors $50), and the Mathmos Color Bubble (spherical light that you
can carry around and squeeze to turn on, $70).

If you take a look at the prices, you will note how outrageous they
are for the product that you get. While the geekly within me aches for
such artsy-goods, they also have some drawbacks...

*Most of them are made out of glass
*The battery ones, such as the aduki, don't go through all the colors
*The Softlight, while looking quite nice, is both made out of glass
and has to be plugged in
*The Color bubble is limited to one color

So, the conclusion of this piece, is that I'll be able to make
something just as hip for lesser a price, and gain a bit more
soldering skill and general electronics know-how.

So, here are the parts that I need in order to build it.

- 3 transistors (I don't know what type yet, so I'll hold off)
- one PIC 16F628 and a programmer*
- a small perforated circuit board
- some resistors
- a battery holder (4 x AAA)
- a nice casing
- diy silicons
- red, green and blue extra bright leds
- ferro rocher chocolate plastic pyramid casing
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001FQVAM/002-9133948-1345663?v=glance&n=3370831

*The programmer also needs to be assembled. Picture available at
http://www.circuitsonline.net/circuits/view.php?id=91

    * 1x DB9 connector (RS232)
    *  1x 15kΩ
    * 1x 10KΩ
    * 1x 100uF condensator
    * 1x BC547B transistor
    * 1x 5,1V breakdown diode
    * 1x 18 pin's ic voetje (one of them black H-looking things you
use to plug the chip into. on old motherboards, etc. Like back in the
day when you could add memory to your vid card, one of those.
    * 1x DB9 connector (RS232) (serial port connector cable end)

If you've got any of these laying around at all, I'd be happy for you
to give them to me for free or for a fee. Name your price; I don't
feel like running all around town to find stuff. If any of you are
do-it-yourselfers, you might have some of this around. Have broken
electronics? You might just happen to have the battery holder. Etc.

Let me know.
Karl