The basic Idea
was to have Christmas lights flash with the music. In my design I use
an ordinary amplified computer speaker, a diode bridge, and a 'CRYDOM'
SSR (Solid State Relay). In order to increase the time that the lights were on as well as protect the SSR I used a Diode Bridge to rectify the signal from the amplifier circuit.
This particular SSR
does not have to be used, in fact it is a little bit overkill. The SSR
I used is rated for 3 amps at 240 VAC. This 'CRYDOM' Solid State Relay
is something the GE man gave me upon a visit to his lair.
Any
SSR can be used as long as it is rated for 120VAC and the correct
amount of current. A standard strand of 100 Christmas lights is ~0.5
amps. To be on the safe side if you only wanted to run two strands of
100 lights you should probably use a SSR rated at ~2 amps.
I used an audio
amplifier from a set of old computer speakers. They are cheap and easy
to find, and best of all almost everyone has an old pair lying around.
Instead of taking the amplifier out of the speaker case and finding a
new enclosure to hold it all I decided to remove the speaker and put
everything inside the speaker case.
This is one
of those adapters that reduce the three pronged plug to a two prong
plug. I was looking at one of these and noticed how there is a threaded
hole in the center, perfect for mounting it to things. I dremeled
notches in the top of the speaker case so that the prongs could fit
through. I then mounted it to the case using a screw. I used this
instead of a normal outlet because it is small, requires minimal
cutting to install and is cheap (around 20 cents).
