DIY lighting effects. Do-it-yourself lighting device for discotheques. Color music with RGB LED strip
The inexhaustible potential of LEDs has once again been revealed in the design of new and modernization of existing color and music consoles. 30 years ago, color music, assembled from multi-colored 220-volt light bulbs connected to a cassette recorder, was considered the peak of fashion. Now the situation has changed and the function of the tape recorder is now performed by any multimedia device, and instead of incandescent lamps, super-bright LEDs or LED strips are installed.
The advantages of LEDs over light bulbs in color and music consoles are undeniable:
- wide color gamut and more saturated light;
- various versions (discrete elements, modules, RGB strips, rulers);
- high response speed;
- low power consumption.
How to make color music using a simple electronic circuit and make the LEDs blink from an audio frequency source? What are the options for converting the audio signal? We will consider these and other questions with specific examples.
The simplest circuit with one LED
First you need to deal with a simple color music circuit assembled on a single bipolar transistor, resistor and LED. Power can be supplied from a DC source with a voltage of 6 to 12 volts. This color music works on a single transistor according to the principle of an amplifying stage with a common emitter. The disturbing action in the form of a signal with varying frequency and amplitude is fed to the base VT1. As soon as the oscillation amplitude exceeds a certain threshold value, the transistor opens and the LED flashes.
The disadvantage of this simple scheme is that the rate of blinking of the LED depends entirely on the level of the audio signal. In other words, a full-fledged color-musical effect will be observed only at one volume level. Lowering the volume will result in a rare wink, and increasing it will result in an almost constant glow.
Scheme with a single-color LED strip
The simplest transistor color music above can be assembled using an LED strip in the load. To do this, you need to increase the supply voltage to 12V, select a transistor with the highest collector current exceeding the load current and recalculate the resistor value. Such a simple color music from an LED strip is perfect for beginner radio amateurs to assemble with their own hands, even at home.
Simple three-channel circuit
A three-channel sound converter allows you to get rid of the shortcomings of the previous scheme. The simplest scheme of color music with the division of the sound range into three parts is shown in the figure. 
It is powered by a constant voltage of 9V and can light one or two LEDs in each channel. The circuit consists of three independent amplifying stages assembled on transistors KT315 (KT3102), the load of which includes LEDs of different colors. As an element for pre-amplification, you can use a small step-down type network transformer.
The input signal is applied to the secondary winding of the transformer, which performs two functions: galvanically isolates the two devices and amplifies the sound from the line output. Further, the signal is fed to three parallel-connected filters assembled on the basis of RC circuits. Each of them operates in a certain frequency band, which depends on the values of resistors and capacitors. The low-pass filter passes sound vibrations up to 300 Hz, as evidenced by the flashing red LED. Sound in the range of 300-6000 Hz passes through the mid-pass filter, which is manifested in the flickering of the blue LED. The high-pass filter passes the signal above 6000 Hz, which corresponds to a green LED. Each filter is equipped with a tuning resistor. With their help, you can set the uniform glow of all LEDs, regardless of the musical genre. At the output of the circuit, all three filtered signals are amplified by transistors.
If the circuit is powered from a low-voltage DC source, then the transformer can be safely replaced with a single-stage transistor amplifier. 
First, galvanic isolation loses its practical meaning. Secondly, the transformer loses several times to the circuit shown in the figure in terms of weight, size and cost. The circuit of a simple audio frequency amplifier consists of a KT3102 transistor, two capacitors that cut off the constant component, and resistors that provide the transistor with a common emitter mode. By using a trimmer, you can achieve the overall gain of a weak input signal.
In the case when it is necessary to amplify the signal from the microphone, an electret microphone is connected to the input of the previous circuit, applying a potential to it from the power source. The diagram of a two-stage preamplifier is shown in the figure. 
In this case, the tuning resistor is at the output of the first amplifying stage, which gives more opportunities for adjusting the sensitivity. Capacitors C1-C3 pass the useful component and cut off the direct current. For implementation, any electret microphone is suitable, for the normal operation of which a bias of 1.5V is sufficient.
Color music with RGB LED strip
The following color and music box circuit operates on 12 volts and can be installed in a car. It combines the main functions of the previously considered circuit solutions and is able to work in the mode of color music and lamp.
The first mode is achieved by contactless control of the RGB tape with a microphone, and the second mode is achieved by simultaneously glowing the red, green and blue LEDs at full power. The mode is selected using a switch located on the board. Now let's dwell on how to make color music, which is perfect even for installation in a car, and what details will be required for this.
Structural scheme
To understand how this color-musical prefix works, we first consider its block diagram. It will help to trace the complete path of the signal. 
The source of the electrical signal is a microphone that converts sound vibrations from a phonogram. Because this signal is too small and needs to be amplified with a transistor or an op-amp. This is followed by an automatic level control (AGC), which keeps the fluctuations of the sound within reasonable limits and prepares it for further processing. Filters separate the signal into three components, each of which operates in only one frequency range. At the end, it remains only to amplify the prepared current signal, for which transistors operating in the key mode are used.
circuit diagram
Based on the structural blocks, you can proceed to the consideration of the circuit diagram. Its general view is shown in the figure. 
To limit the current consumption and stabilize the supply voltage, a resistor R12 and a capacitor C9 are installed. R1, R2, C1 are set to set the microphone bias voltage. Capacitor C fc is selected individually for a specific microphone model during commissioning. It is needed in order to slightly muffle the signal of the frequency that prevails in the operation of the microphone. Usually reduce the influence of the high-frequency component.
Unstable voltage of the car network can affect the operation of color music. Therefore, it is most correct to connect home-made electronic devices through a 12V stabilizer.
Sound vibrations in the microphone are converted into an electrical signal and through C2 are fed to the direct input of the operational amplifier DA1.1. from its output, the signal follows the input of the operational amplifier DA1.2, equipped with a feedback circuit. The resistances of the resistors R5, R6 and R10, R11 set the gain DA1.1, DA1.2 equal to 11. The OS circuit elements: VD1, VD2, C4, C5, R8, R9 and VT1, together with DA1.2, are part of the AGC. At the moment the signal of too large amplitude appears at the output DA1.2, the transistor VT1 opens and through C4 closes the input signal to a common wire. This results in an instant voltage drop at the output.
Then the stabilized audio frequency alternating current passes through the cut-off capacitor C8, after which it is divided into three RC filters: R13, C10 (LF), R14, C11, C12 (MF), R15, C13 (HF). In order for the color music on the LEDs to shine brightly enough, you need to amplify the output current to the appropriate value. For a tape with a consumption of up to 0.5A, medium-power transistors such as KT817 or imported BD139 without mounting on a radiator are suitable for each channel. If the do-it-yourself light music being assembled involves a load of about 1A, then the transistors will need forced cooling.
In the collectors of each output transistor (parallel to the output) there are diodes D6-D8, the cathodes of which are interconnected and connected to the switch SA1 (White light). The second contact of the switch is connected to ground (GND). While SA1 is open, the circuit operates in color music mode. When the switch contacts are closed, all the LEDs in the strip light up at full brightness, forming a white stream of light in total.
PCB and Assembly Parts
For the manufacture of a printed circuit board, you will need a one-sided textolite measuring 50 by 90 mm and a ready-made .lay file, which can be downloaded. For clarity, the board is shown from the side of the radio elements. Before printing, you must specify its mirror image. Layer M1 shows 3 jumpers placed on the side of the parts. 
To assemble color music from an LED strip with your own hands, you will need affordable and inexpensive components. Microphone electret type, suitable in a protective case from the old audio equipment. Light music is assembled on a TL072 chip in a DIP8 package. Capacitors, regardless of type, must have a voltage margin and be rated for 16V or 25V. If necessary, the design of the board allows you to install output transistors on small heatsinks. A 6-position terminal block is soldered on the edge for power supply, connecting an RGB LED strip and a switch. A complete list of elements is given in the table. 
In conclusion, I would like to note that the number of output channels in a home-made color and music console can be increased arbitrarily. To do this, you need to break the entire frequency range into more sectors and recalculate the bandwidth of each RC filter. Connect LEDs of intermediate colors to the outputs of additional amplifiers: purple, turquoise, orange. From such an improvement, do-it-yourself color music will only become more beautiful.
The above schemes belong to the site cxem.net
Read also
At first, this circuit claimed to be a bipolar transistor probe (since I mainly solder the parts from the boards, the transistors had to be checked, and I had a lot of them), but after experimenting, it turned out that I missed a lot at first, thinking that it would be an excellent diode probe and transistors. After understanding my mistakes, I nevertheless came up with a new circuit for this probe, but now it consisted of 12 transistors and two microcircuits, and not from one and a half microcircuits, as in this case. Now, in the existing probe, I installed larger capacitors and connected the test outputs together. After such manipulations, such an interesting light effect turned out. If you are a person who will say that he has seen all the LED effects - be sure that you have definitely not seen this. The circuit does not need any settings and starts working immediately after proper assembly. It is desirable to put the LEDs of the same type. The voltage of 6 ... 8 volts was chosen precisely to create the same effect, and the operating voltage is within 4 ... 12 volts. In its version, it was powered by two lithium batteries connected in series.On the elements DD1.1, DD1.2, DD1.3, a generator with three states is assembled and on the elements DD1.4, DD2.1, DD2.2 three amplifiers for LEDs, each of which at a certain moment can have a plus or minus output (logical "1" or "0"). Resistors R1, R2, R3, and capacitors C1, C2, C, (not C3 because I forgot to write) determine the frequency, if you do not have capacitors for 1000 microfarads, you can put on 100 microfarads, then you will have to increase the resistance of resistors R1, R2, R3 , for example up to 5.6 kilo-ohms. How it works. At the very beginning, when you turn on the power through the resistor, one of the capacitors starts charging from the output of one of the logic elements (usually the one with less capacitance, or which accounts for more current - no matter how many capacitors and resistors you select, there are no identical ratings) . When the voltage on this capacitor reaches the value of logical "1", the next element switches, which charges another capacitor, in the same way charges the third, and then again the first capacitors. At the outputs, we always have one logical "0" and two logical "1" (two units because the newly charged capacitor is still discharging while the next one already has a "1" output. Then, from the same three outputs, the logical states are fed to the inputs of the inverting amplifiers on DD1.4, DD2.1, DD2.2 and then to the LEDs. If all the LEDs are connected by color, as in the diagram, then two green and one red or two red and one green will always glow. The trick of this effect is that two of the LEDs glow through one and we get that those two shine with medium brightness, and one is twice as bright, then one of those that shone medium will shine brighter, since the other two are now shining through it . But it would be difficult to describe this effect in words, try to collect it and evaluate it yourself. Thank you for collecting your devices according to my schemes! The author is Lesha left-handed, the article was edited by AKA.
LEDs are actively used both in electronic circuits and in amateur radio homemade products. In circuit diagrams, an LED is denoted as a semiconductor diode in a circle.
In order to connect the LED in the simplest case, it is necessary to connect the positive output of the 3-5 volt power supply to the anode of the LED, and the negative output to the cathode. But, if the voltage of the power source is higher than the nominal voltage of the LED, then you cannot directly connect the LED to it. You must use at least .
In many amateur radio designs and developments, the issue of power indication is often raised. Incandescent lamps are morally and physically obsolete, neon lamps are only good for lighting switches and sockets, so an LED is an excellent indicator element. Therefore, in this article we will study several simple options for connecting semiconductor light indicators to a 220 volt network.
A fruitful basis for the design is considered to be a cheap flashlight with an incandescent lamp powered by a battery, consisting of 2 AA galvanic parts. An ultra-bright white diode was used as a light source.
Garden rechargeable lanterns for landscape design have the shape of a fungus and have excellent properties: during the day it was charged from a solar battery built into the lid, and at night it shines from under the lid. A variant of the modernization of the finished Chinese lantern is considered, and a similar amateur radio homemade product is presented.
With the help of such a controller, you can get original lighting color compositions for the interior of your house or apartment. The controller for the LED strip, the circuit of which is considered, is quite simple and even a novice radio amateur can assemble it.
This simple dimmer circuit for an LED lamp allows you to change its brightness. The basis of the circuit is a linear voltage regulator LM2941, which made it possible to seriously simplify the design. In addition, a number of circuits are considered, including those with PWM control.
The first version of the running lights circuit on LEDs is made on a fairly well-known ATtiny2313 microcontroller. There are 12 possible programs of various lighting effects in the firmware memory. These are running lights, a running shadow, a growing fire, etc.
In another design, the effect of a running fire is manifested by the smooth alternate ignition of three garlands of assembled incandescent bulbs. Garlands should be arranged in such a way that the bulbs of one garland alternate with the bulbs of others.
If you want to add some color to the look of your bike, there are many ways to do it, one of them is bike lights.
led cube |
This is such an amateur radio design where LEDs are located throughout the volume. Using the cube, you can generate various lighting and animation effects. Complex schemes of led cubes are even capable of displaying various volumetric words.
In other words, this is an elementary surround monitor. The LED cube scheme of which we will consider can be used to design shows and presentations. I think that many novice radio amateurs will want to assemble such an LED design with their own hands, but not everyone is ready to immediately start programming microcontrollers.
Two-color led control can be built using the KR1006VI1 timer chip
The scheme alternately turns on green or red
Flashing beacons are used in electronic house security systems and on cars as a means of indication, signaling and warning. With the development of LED technology, LED beacons have also appeared that can even be installed on a bicycle and after that you will not go unnoticed on the road at night.
These circuits on microcontrollers work on the principle of a random number generator that simulates random throwing of dice, but in addition, a motion sensor has been added to one of the circuits.
Schemes of running LED lines will help to decorate a shop window or revive the route board in a minibus. There are a lot of possibilities for their implementation and combination with various additional functions, but we will consider only a few simple implementation options.
DIY LED heart |
Concert programs, shows and discos. The scheme of the "light hedgehog" is shown in the figure. The basis of the control unit for the M2 stepper motor that rotates the reflector is the PIC12C508A microcontroller, in the program memory of which the codes from the table should be written using the programmer. You can download all firmware for MK on the forum.
The signals generated by the controller are fed to the windings of the M2 stepper motor through the transistor keys of the ULN2004 microcircuit. Each of its outputs is equipped with a protective diode, and the common cathode of the diodes is connected to terminal 9. Thus, the motor windings are shunted by diodes that suppress switching surges.The program provides five different speeds and two directions of rotation of the reflector. Various combinations of these parameters create lighting effects. If the contacts of the switch SA1 are closed, the change of speed/direction combinations occurs periodically according to the program. Otherwise (the switch is open), the change is synchronized by the pulses received at pin 4 of the DD1 chip.
The pulse shaper to the beat with the rhythm of a piece of music is assembled on a DA1 chip. The cascade on the op-amp DA1.1 amplifies the sound signal of the musical accompaniment received by the BM1 microphone. Resistor R3 is a gain regulator. Further, through the R7C6R8C7 filter, the signal enters the input of the amplifier on the op-amp DA1.2, covered by AGC (automatic gain control), which maintains the signal amplitude at the DA1.2 output constant, regardless of the volume of the music. The AGC detector is assembled on a VD5 diode, the filter is R12C8, the actuator is a VT1 transistor. The amplitude detector on the VD6 diode with the R16R17C14 filter and the DA1.3 repeater allocate the envelope of the musical signal. The threshold device on the DA1.4 op amp with a retry delay unit converts the envelope into rectangular pulses input to the GP3 input of the DD1 microcontroller.
The power of the transformer T1 must be greater than the power of the lamp EL1 by at least 20 watts. The voltage on the secondary winding of this transformer with the lamp connected should be 10-12 V. Any lighting power up to 100 W is suitable as the main EL1 lamp. In addition to power, lamps are classified by color temperature, the lower it is, the “redder” the light. Ordinary incandescent lamps are characterized by a relatively low color temperature, so the rays of colors in the blue region of the spectrum will seem dim. For halogen lamps, this indicator is higher, but the period less service life.It is recommended to use a halogen lamp KGM12-100-2 with a power of 100 W. Possible replacements are lamps KGM12-100 or FSR12-100.In extreme cases, you can take car fog lamps.When installing the lamp, it should be borne in mind that its spiral must be facing the reflector with the luminous surface of the largest area, and the center of this surface is located on the optical axis of the device, indicated by a dotted line in Fig. 1. The width of the protective screen is 5 mm larger than the diameter of the lamp bulb.Since the operating temperature of the EL1 halogen lamp bulb exceeds 250 ° C, without forced ventilation in the enclosed inner space of the hedgehog, the lamp can overheat up to softening and deformation of the flask. Under the influence of high temperature, the lamp panel is often destroyed, the electronic components of the engine control unit fail. A fan from the computer power supply is used to cool the device.
The reflector is driven by a DShR-39 stepper motor. A possible replacement is PBMG-200, which was used in five-inch floppy disk drives for computers. The lens-objective of the device is a double magnifier with a focal length of 192 mm. Another one with a diameter of at least 100 mm and with a focal length of 150 ... 300 mm is also suitable. The latter can be approximately determined by focusing the image of the solar disk on some non-combustible surface. The distance from the lens to the surface is the focal length. In the photo below you can see the magnifier I use for the light fixture.
The body of the "light hedgehog" is made from any sheet metal. Plastic, plywood and other materials with poor thermal conductivity and heat resistance are not recommended. The diameter of the hole for the lens is 5 mm less than its diameter. The lens is attached around the perimeter with several clamps.
The establishment of the control unit begins with checking the voltage at the outputs of the integral stabilizers DA2 (9 V) and DA3 (5 V). By closing the SA1 switch, using an oscilloscope, check for the presence of rectangular pulses of periodically changing frequency at pins 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the DD1 microcontroller. If they are not present, the microcontroller is faulty or incorrectly programmed. Similar pulses, but with an amplitude of approximately 12 V, should be at pins 14,13,11,10 of the DD2 microcircuit. If there are no pulses on one of them, and the voltage is zero, the cause may be a break in the motor winding M2. Then turn on the music with bass - drums. On the screen of an oscilloscope connected to the output of the op-amp DD1.1 (pin 6), an oscillogram of a musical signal should be visible, the amplitude of which is regulated using a tuning resistor R3. When it changes tenfold, the amplitude of the signal at the output DD1.2 (pin 14) should remain approximately equal to 3 V. Otherwise, it is necessary to check the health of the transistor VT1 and related elements. A constant level of a couple of volts at the output of DA1.3 while the music is playing should be accompanied by bursts to the beat of the strong beat of the piece. The voltage at pin 6 of DA1.4 - approximately 4 V - varies slightly depending on the nature of the music.
It remains to check the presence of rectangular positive pulses at the output DA1.4 (pin 7). Their duration depends on the parameters of the C16 R23 circuit and should be 100 ms. It is possible to eliminate gaps or untimely output of pulses by selecting the value of the resistor R19. I won’t say for sure that I used the PIC12C508 controller, I don’t remember already, but what I used PIC12C508A and PIC12C509A is 100%. I used the EXTRA PIC programmer - a diagram on the forum. Stitched in ICProg. No changes were made to the source. Indicated in the program exactly the controller that is in bed. The devices work in both modes. Watch a video of the work of a home-made disco device here:
From the built-in program - they work out the firmware program. And from music - it just stops without music, and with music, the same built-in program starts. The design was assembled and tested by: Romick_Kaluga
New Year's schemes - automatic lighting effects that are easy to assemble with your own hands for a beginner radio amateur
Good day dear radio amateurs!
I welcome you to the site ""
Time flies very quickly. You won’t have time to look back - but on the “nose” of the New Year, it’s time to draw up the results of the past year, isn’t it a shame, looking back, for the past days. Yes, and the upcoming holiday should be somehow diversified with new New Year's homemade, hand-picked to the delight of family and friends.
Today we will look at a few New Year's schemes lighting effect machines for holiday decoration, simple, not containing scarce parts and easy to assemble.
First scheme:
Miniature Christmas tree with "running fire"
Such a Christmas tree on LEDs will become a decoration of the festive table and will surely please all your friends and acquaintances:
On transistors VT1 and VT2, a rectangular pulse generator is assembled, on transistors VT3 and VT4 - electronic switches that switch groups of LEDs. The LEDs are located on the printed circuit board in the form of a Christmas tree. The frequency of the generated pulses depends on the values of the resistances R2, R3 and capacitors C1 and C2 (the higher their value, the lower the frequency of the generator).
Transistors VT3 and VT4 are connected to the outputs of the generator through current-limiting resistors R5 and R6, respectively. Pulses from the generator open the transistors in turn. When the transistor VT3 is open, the LEDs HL1-HL3, HL10-HL14, HL18, HL19 are lit. And when the transistor VT4 is open - HL4-HL9, HL15-HL17, HL20. Switching them creates the effect of running fire. Power is supplied from a 9 volt battery.
All parts are mounted on a single-sided printed circuit board:
Details can be used of any type, LEDs - with a small current consumption, such as instrumentation.
Second scheme.
She's not really second. Based on this circuit, using one widely available microcircuit, several transistors and LEDs, you can assemble a large number of different lighting effects machines.
Such lighting effect machines will become a decoration of the New Year holiday, a wonderful New Year's gift.
The basis of this circuit is a three-phase generator assembled on a microcircuit K561LA7(in extreme cases, it can be replaced by K561LE5).
What is chip K561LA7 and her full analog CD4011A:
Scheme of a three-phase generator on a K561LA7 chip:
The resistances of the resistors and the capacitance of the capacitors in such a circuit are equal: R1=R2=R3, C1=C2=C3.
The generator works like this. At the moment the power is turned on, all capacitors are discharged, at the inputs of the microcircuit 1-2, 5-6, 8-9 there is a logical zero, and at the outputs 3, 4, 10 - a logical one. Capacitors through resistors begin to charge. Although the values of resistors and capacitors are the same, but due to the variation in the parameters of real parts, some kind of capacitor will charge faster. Suppose the capacitor C1 was charged first, a logical unit appears at the input 1-2 of the microcircuit, and a logical zero appears at the output 3, respectively. Capacitor C2, not having time to charge, will begin to discharge through resistor R2. In the meantime, the capacitor C3 will have time to charge up to a logical unit and, of course, a logical zero will appear at the output 10 - the capacitor C1 will start to discharge through the resistor R1. You can follow the further path of the microcircuit by analogy yourself. Thus, at the outputs 1-2-3 there is a periodic change of logical zero to a logical unit. Now it is enough to connect transistor switches with LEDs to outputs 1-2-3 and we will get lighting effect machine:
The fourth element - DD1.4 - is not used, and its inputs (pins 12-13) are connected to the "+" power supply.
On transistors VT1-VT3, transistor keys are assembled, each of which turns on and off the corresponding garland of LEDs. Resistors R4-R6 limit the current through the LEDs. The letters A-D indicate the connection points for LED garlands of a different type, for the machines described below.
All resistors are any, small-sized, transistors of the KT315 series with letter designations A-G. LEDs must be of the same type and the same color. On the printed circuit boards below, the anodes of the LEDs must be soldered to square contact tracks.
First lighting effect machine"Triangle".
The LEDs on the board of this machine are located along the contour of the triangle:
During the operation of the generator, pulses of positive polarity are sequentially formed at its outputs, which open the transistors one by one, as a result of which the effect of “lights” moving along the perimeter is created.
Second lighting effect machine"Propeller".
The circuit does not differ from the previous one, and the “propeller” lighting effect is provided by the appropriate location of the LEDs on the board:
By experimenting with the location of the LEDs on the board, you can get many other lighting effects.
The third lighting effect machine"Snowflake".
The device creates the effect of a falling snowflake, which is achieved by sequential ignition (with rotation) of three "concentric" garlands of single-color LEDs.
This one differs from the previous schemes in the number of LEDs in the garland (four instead of three) and in the absence of current-limiting resistors R4-R6 in connection with this:
Garlands are connected to the corresponding points A-B on the diagram.
PCB layout:
Appearance of the machine:
Fourth lighting effect machine"Running Lights".
This scheme is no different from the “Snowflakes” scheme - there are also 4 LEDs in a garland, but they are arranged differently. This design creates an original effect of “running lights” in the form of a rotating light bar:
Appearance of "Running Lights":
Fifth lighting effect machine"Star".
The machine creates the effect of emitting rays from a star.
The difference between this scheme and the previous ones is in the number of LEDs and the way they are turned on:
PCB drawing “Star”:
And this is what the “Star” lighting effects machine looks like:
Sixth lighting effect machine"Running bug".
The LEDs of this device flashing sequentially create the effect of the insect's paws moving around, while its abdomen and head glow constantly.
Scheme of the garland “Running Insect”:
Garlands A-B-C imitate the paws, and the garland G (luminous constantly) imitates the abdomen and head.
The printed circuit board of the "Running Insect":
Appearance of the lighting effects machine “Running Insect”:
Seventh lighting effect machine"Running Wave".
Sequential flashes of several garlands, each of which consists of three LEDs arranged in the form of a reverse tick, creates a “traveling wave” in this design.