![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Home | Site Map | Buyer's Guide Search |
![]() |
Event Calendar | ![]() |
Article Archive | ![]() |
Message Boards | ![]() |
Classifieds | ![]() |
Product Showcases | ![]() |
News | ![]() |
Advertise | ![]() |
Search | ![]() |
Join Now | ![]() |
![]() |
![]()
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() Flashing Made Simple
By Alan Dorman
As usual I will get a call out of the blue from one of my customers with a request to come by their shop at my earliest convenience to help them determine the components necessary to flash some new sign.
![]()
The specifications for the word "Experience" caught my attention next. While "Grand Canyon" was to be made with block letters the letters for "Experience" were to be made with cursive style letters all connected together. The designer wanted these letters to spell on also but in a style that would make the word appear to be written in lights from the "E" to the "e" in a fluid motion. This would take more than 21 points! It would look jerky at best to completely light up each letter as the word was spelled on. I was told that "Experience" would have low wattage light bulbs lined all along the center of the word in groups of six, a compromise to driving each bulb individually and really increasing the point count. Just the word "Experience" would involve driving 84 points of animation. So the total point count for this project was now 11 plus 84 or 95 points of animation. The next step was to determine how much AC current each point of animation would need to illuminate the sign. The words "Grand Canyon" were to have their borders steady lit with neon so I didn't have to worry about driving these lights. Inside the letters would also be done with neon. Each letter required one neon transformer. The primary of each transformer draws approximately 3 Amps of AC current. This small amount of current could be driven by one of my 12 Point 10 Amp per point triac boards with one point to spare.
![]()
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
© Copyright 1999-2021, All Rights Reserved. |