Electronics help- Hallmark!

SprueOne wrote:

So, as of right now, you can't get it to play again? because the complete 15 minutes has passed? Or is there another time frame that enables you to play it again?  the battery might be dead. test the battery if you have a multimeter. and is there another metal parts within the card that you discarded? There may be a chassis ground interuption.

The chip will play again. It plays for 15 seconds, not minutes. The battery is not dead.  There are no other parts that were accidently discarded.  The whole unit is is two pieces (circuit board & speaker) that is contained on the greeting card backing it is glued to.

What I'm thinking is that maybe there is something that prevents it from playing until the circuit is interrupted & then connected again?  Is that possible?  If so, can it be removed so the sound plays continuously?

gulfstreamV- Thanks for the idea!  I may try it, but find a way to not cut the tab in case I need it if it doesn't work.

SprueOne wrote:

sorry about writing minutes instead of seconds on my reply above.

Not a problem!

Sounds like there is a timer in line that needs to be by passed but that is beyond me. I forwarded this to my ET buddies and will be watching this thread. good ruck!

Please let me know if they come up with an idea for altering it!

Okay, I've been posting this on other boards because I wanted to get as many minds on this as possible. Turns out that the wife gave me the base idea for the solution! All this time I wanted to make King's gas cap the on/off switch. But then when I actually stuck the switch through the hole, I realized that I'd need about a 1/4" actaully sticking out of the hole to be able to push it in to trigger it!

Here's what I ended up with. I'm going to put the spring side of the circuit mounted near the inside of the gas cap. The spring will be raised slightly, breaking the circuit with no plastic tab. When something (oh, say a gas can nozzle!) is inserted into the hole, it will complete the circuit & start the sound! Here's a pic of the idea, using my pin vice as the gas can.

What'cha think?

Prince of Styrene II wrote:

Problem is that when the 15 seconds runs out it won't play again, even when the switch is turned off & on again.

Was your switch meant to replace the card's open-close switch as suggested by gulfstreamV? Perhaps you must turn it off for TBD seconds before you turn it back on again?

I believe there IS a built-in timer on the card.  I say this because of component R2 in upper left with 215 printed on it along with the nearby parts.  Skipping the techno-babble, that looks like a timing circuit which might stop the sound from repeating, and/or require the switch to be off for TBD sec before re-starting.  A good clue would be if there are other Hallmark cards that repeat as long as the card is open. As for modifying the circuit to do what you want, you might have better luck in one of those DIY electronics hobbyist forums. 

I like the idea of a gas nozzle activating the sound - quite clever. 

SprueOne wrote:

Good idea with the on/off switch. As far as the time out cycle circuit, this is what my friend replied with, " In the guy's picture the black circle thinig is a one off lsi chip that cannot be changed or modified. I woud have to say what he wants to do is imposible. what is possible is to put a momentary push button on the model and make it make sound every so often. still kinda fun, " hope this helps...

A bit.  I've gotten pretty much the same response from a couple other people, too.  His "push button" idea is pretty much like the gas can idea I came up with.

stan2004 wrote:

Was your switch meant to replace the card's open-close switch as suggested by gulfstreamV? Perhaps you must turn it off for TBD seconds before you turn it back on again?

Yes, the switch was, to some extent.  The chip sounds instantly as soon as you break the connection & reconnect it.

I believe there IS a built-in timer on the card.  A good clue would be if there are other Hallmark cards that repeat as long as the card is open.  I like the idea of a gas nozzle activating the sound - quite clever.

None of the cards that I've encountered have ever repeated when left open.  And thanks for the compliment!

Prince of Styrene II wrote:

SprueOne wrote: Good idea with the on/off switch. ... A bit.  I've gotten pretty much the same response from a couple other people, too.  His "push button" idea is pretty much like the gas can idea I came up with.

Prince of Styrene II wrote:

The chip sounds instantly as soon as you break the connection & reconnect it.

First, we must agree to ignore the man behind the curtain snickering that this is but a $5 card.

I'm convinced it could be made to repeat with $1-2 in additional parts.  Problem is, it would take $$$ in engineering.  You need an electronics buddy who owes you one.  Describe the problem and if you hear "555 timer chip" then you're probably on the right track.  You need a widget that momentarily interrupts power every 15 sec.  OTOH,  I still believe there's a magic so-called "holdoff" signal on the card that indicates the sound is over in which case it can be done for 25 cents.

WRT the nozzle, while the plastic rod is certainly the simplest and most elegant solution, it also struck me that those co-axial tube-like power connectors used in cellphone chargers look like nozzles.  So as the man behind the curtain is now rolling on the floor laughing, these connectors have 2 conductors and with a mating connector jack in the car, you could have your battery stored in the gas can which might make it easier to change.   When powering model a/c lights, motor to spin prop, etc. a common technique is running 2 wires from the battery into the plane disguised as the APU or generator cable.  Then with the extra external power you can now add little LEDs for headlights, light up the dashboard, etc.  I'm not familiar with the Cars genre but there's a forum on another modeling board on "hoppers and dancers" where tiny motors animate the suspension

stan2004 wrote:

WRT the nozzle, while the plastic rod is certainly the simplest and most elegant solution, it also struck me that those co-axial tube-like power connectors used in cellphone chargers look like nozzles.  So as the man behind the curtain is now rolling on the floor laughing, these connectors have 2 conductors and with a mating connector jack in the car, you could have your battery stored in the gas can which might make it easier to change.   When powering model a/c lights, motor to spin prop, etc. a common technique is running 2 wires from the battery into the plane disguised as the APU or generator cable.  Then with the extra external power you can now add little LEDs for headlights, light up the dashboard, etc.  I'm not familiar with the Cars genre but there's a forum on another modeling board on "hoppers and dancers" where tiny motors animate the suspension

Awwww, man!  Now you got me thinking again!  I could go bonky thinking up all the things I could throw into this!   Though the battery in the gas can isn't a bad idea.

No dashboards in the Cars universe- all the other windows are blacked out.  And no head & tail lights for the race cars.

To the modeler formerly known as Prince,

Ha!  I just wanted to say that.    I don't mean to get a tad off topic here but is that an actual model of The King from the Cars movie?  I didn't realize they made models of the characters!  My four year old girl loves that movie and as we were watching it last night I thought it would be neat to build some models of the characters for her.  Who is the kit manufacturer?

Thanks!

Eric

echolmberg wrote:

To the modeler formerly known as Prince, Ha!  I just wanted to say that.

Former?!  <Don't we have an "eye roll" emoticon here?>  I don't see no symbol instead of my name!

I don't mean to get a tad off topic here but is that an actual model of The King from the Cars movie?  I didn't realize they made models of the characters!  My four year old girl loves that movie and as we were watching it last night I thought it would be neat to build some models of the characters for her.  Who is the kit manufacturer?

Eric,

My daughter is now six (5 when the movie came out) & it's still one of our favorites!  She loves listening to the soundtrack when we're driving.  The kit is not a "Cars" kit, but just a Revell "Richard Petty's '70 Superbird" kit.  (1/24 kit# 85-2360)  This is why some of the first alterations I had to do was chop away some of the length to match King's proportions.  I would hope that a manufacturer wouldn't have gotten his dimentions that wrong!

As for building some of the characters, you could just do what I'm doing.  When I first thought of doing King, I googled & found a site that lists all the characters & the closest "real versions" to what they are.  Good luck with Lightning, though.  He's just a generic modern NASCAR.  Pixar didn't want the audience to have any pre-concieved notions about the hero.  Mater would be a little harder, Chick might be easy but I'd hate to do all those decals!  Doc, Sheriff, Lizzy, Ramone & Flo would also be easy if you could find their respective kits.

Good luck if you do one, & remember to post pics!  Speaking of which, I have a few more pics in the camera, I just need to resize them & I'll post.

Linky linky!!

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