Iamthehor

...otherwise dubbed "The Little Red Box of Death, Destruction & Mayhem"

Looks almost innocent.....


Wait a sec:




Code in operation (stolen from MX270a - Thanks again for posting the VB example) My VB code is done & works, but needs more testing (Activates & Delays any/all 16 outputs, monitors batt voltage so i don't get misfires, etc)



Next version will have 2 brains & double the outputs, too bad the V3 & V4 wouldn't play nice with the .dll

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Crzy_gtr_god3

lol. this is awesome. I just want to know what pyrotechnics your doing.

Iamthehor

This year, just a simple fireworks show for the 4th, probably going to have to have a few test runs before then......

Last year we had over 200 mortars to shoot off. Really cut into my beer drinking, so I decided to do this. Going to have more rockets & fountains this year since i won't be able to re-load the mortars.

Plus there's the whole cool factor of my program playing [Gladiator]"At my signal, unleash hell"[/Gladiator] when i hit the start button for the fireworks show.

2k1Toaster

Pretty cool. Take some video of the fireworks show when it happens!

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GadgetBandit

Yep, pretty cool! Is there a way to use one output to toggle between 2 banks of 15 relays?

Iamthehor

That was an option, but there's no way i was fitting 30+ relays inside this little toolbox anyway (chosen after deciding to go to 1 brain). I'm actually kind of glad it got downsized from 28 outputs (v3 + v4) as crimping 4 terminals/relay + the .064mm header terminals was a major PITA.

Add to that - the terminals, switches, header connectors, box, etc added almost up the the same cost as the Brain - crazy considering the relays & wire were free.

When you consider i can fire 2-3 igniters per circuit (depends on igniter resistance) & virtually unlimited fireworks per igniter, I think I'll have enough. I can delay using fuse. I doubt this will be the ONLY fireworks shot this year, but it could make a good end to the show.

Screenshot of the software i wrote (available if somebody wants to use it)

checkboxes control activation of output, combobox controls delay (currently in 1/10 second increments, probably 1sec on final - I'm not waiting 5 minutes to make sure all my outputs fire off)

Iamthehor

I was able to test my contraption this weekend. I didnt have many worries, but it performed flawlessly.

3 mortars (all the tubes I had)
6 rockets (1 dud)
4 candels
4 fountains of various types

I only used 8 of the 16 outputs, but tried to figure out how to use multiple electric matches & delay fusing. I had a couple failures due to the fusing, but I know what I did wrong.

People thought I was nuts before, when I hit "go" and the sky lit up, they were convinced

2k1Toaster

cool!

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no12call

That is very impressive. Thanks for sharing!

Iamthehor

Due to going out of town next weekend we fired this puppy up Saturday night

FB Pyrotechnic controlling: 1
My fireworks presentation skills: 0

Actually it worked pretty well. I half-assed the setup & one of my mortar tubes got blown over before it went off, so when it fired, it lit the rest of the mortars off. The finale came a little quickly the other display kept going though, and I parked my truck between the fireworks & the viewers, so all were safe. Glass half full: the fire spread to the other display after it was done & kept me from having to clean up any trash

No pictures & no video. I had to hurry to set this up, which is what caused the foul up.
I got quite a few promises of donations for next year to be a much bigger show.....

2k1Toaster

Well great that it worked! I am sure it is difficult to come up with a "show", timed and everything because you need to know how long after it gets ignited it makes light and even then these artistic things are not my forte!

You could do another show Wednesday for Canada Day

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Iamthehor

I just fused stuff together in "interesting" combinations while drinking. then set the timing right before the show (also while drinking) because the laptop screwed up & I had to start over. It worked well, other than the mortars (and the new battle scars on the Chevy from the low breaks). You really can't go wrong with fireworks, the more the better. I just needed to make the show long enough not to suck with a limited # of fireworks (I really wanted all 12 channels to fire at once )

This year i was more focused on the electronic ignition part of things, but that turned out to be very easy (I thought i need high voltage, 12V worked fine, etc). The hard & tedious part was hooking multiple "shots" together. I've learned a lot about the setup & "show" part of things now, so hopefully it will get easier (& the I won't have to nickle & dime myself so much buying minor supplies) the guy i bought the stuff from is my pyro hero: he has all his good stuff on tape so i can get timing & pair stuff together. He also make's 16" (406mm in canuck ) mortars & his own rockets. I showed up during a BATFE inspection, so they gave me the tour. I have some of the stuff to make some smaller rockets & cakes, so hopefully i can run some trials with that stuff. Money is really the limiting factor. There is an opportunity to turn this into a paid hobby, but then it kinda looses the hobby status.

Advice for any other idiot out there that wants to try this: 1 Brain isn't enough channels. It much easier to have 1 channel : 1 Pyro item as fusing them together makes things complicated. At the very least, use 1 output to double up (15 x 2, using 1 to control). I may go away from the computer control altogether (although it added a lot to the wow factor), but if i were to do it again, 3+ brains & a quick connection system (the screw terminals turned into a major PITA when it was 95* while i was hooking up the e-matches).

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