Product Manual: 6-Channel Lighting Controller with Machine Gun Effect | Brickstuff Hobby Electronics

Product Guide: EFFECT-GUNS 6-Channel Lighting Controller with Machine Gun Effect


INTRODUCTION

This guide describes the functions and operation of the Brickstuff 6-Channel Lighting Controller with Machine Gun Effects.

The machine gun lighting effect controller has six outputs, all of which operate independently.  You can connect up to six LED lights (sold separately) to the outputs on the controller to simulate up to six randomly-firing guns.

The illustration below shows the main parts of the controller.



POWER

Connect your power input to this plug.  This is a "small" plug (Pico-size), so you'll need a connecting cable with a small plug.  If you are using a Brickstuff power supply with a "large" plug, we sell conversion cables and adapter boards on our website.

OUTPUTS

Connect up to six LED lights to these outputs.  All outputs are independent of each other (each simulates a randomly-firing gun).  Each of the six outputs uses a "small" plug (Pico-size), so you'll need to connect a LED that has a matching small plug.  If you are using a Brickstuff LED light with a "large" plug, we sell conversion cables and adapters on our website.


Here are some things to note about connecting LED lights to the outputs:
  1. Each output provides enough power to light a single LED light.  You can connect more than one LED light to an output (using connecting cables or adapters)-- there is no danger of burning out or damaging the lighting controller by connecting too many LED lights to any single output.  Note, however, that the power will be divided by the number of LED lights you have connected to a single output (for example, connecting two LEDs will divide the power between them and make each LED light half as bright as it would be if connected by itself).
  2. If you connect a high-power LED light or a LED filament light to an output, those LED lights will be very dim: these kinds of LED lights are designed to use many times the total power output provided by a single output on this lighting controller.  Again, there is no danger of damaging the controller, but your lights will be very dim or may not light at all if using high-power LED lights or LED filaments.
  3. If you want to connect your own LEDs to the outputs in a DIY configuration, we sell individual cables with Pico-size connecting plugs on our website in the DIY section.  You can purchase six of these and connect them to the controller's outputs.  Since the lighting controller delivers a fixed amount of current to each output, no current-limiting resistors are needed regardless of the voltage LED you are using.  This greatly simplifies DIY setups using these lighting controllers.

POWER LED

The power LED light will be green when power is connected to the controller.

STATUS LED

The blue status LED light flashes 1-3 times when power is turned on to show the current setting for time between gun firing bursts.  More information is below, in the USAGE section.

BUTTON

The button is used to change the delay time between gun bursts.  More information is below, in the USAGE section.

OTHER PLUGS

There are other plugs on the lighting controller: one marked OUT and one marked SENS1.  These have no function for the machine gun lighting effect controller, so they are marked with a red "X" in the diagram above.  Leave these disconnected (do not plug anything into these plugs).


USAGE

Once the controller is connected to power, its green Power LED light should turn on.  If this LED light does not turn on, check your power supply source.  The lighting controller is designed to be operated from a 5V DC power source.

Do not connect the lighting controller to any sort of dimming circuit or dimmer controller-- this can damage the circuit board.  To operate properly, the lighting controller needs a full "on" connection (5V DC).
You can use external switches to turn the lighting controller ON and OFF as long as those switches are not dimmers and provide either a fully ON or fully OFF power supply.

When power is supplied, the onboard Status LED light will blink 1-3 times to indicate the delay time between gun bursts:
  1. One blink:  0.2 seconds - 2 seconds between gun bursts
  2. Two blinks:  1 second - 5 seconds between gun bursts (this is the default setting)
  3. Three blinks:  1.5 seconds - 7.5 seconds between gun bursts
After the blue Status LED light blinks 1-3 times to indicate the delay setting, the machine gun effects will begin.

During normal operation, pressing and releasing the button will change the time interval between gun bursts.  The onboard Status LED light will blink 1-3 times to show which time interval setting is now active.

While the controller is powered on, each of the six outputs runs its own independent machine gun effect:
  1. Pause for the selected random delay time (0.2-7.5 seconds, depending on the delay time setting described above).
  2. Begin firing.
  3. Fire for a random number of rounds.  Each output (or "gun") maintains its own ammo count, and will count down from 100 rounds each time the gun fires.  When the "ammo" reaches zero in a particular "gun," that output will pause for a short time (to simulate reloading).
  4. Loop back to Step 1 above as the effect continues.
Because each output (or "gun") maintains its own ammo count, because each output fires a random number of times with each burst, and because each output pauses for a random time between bursts, the machine gun effect becomes more dramatic and visually impactful the more LED lights are connected.

If you press the button when the delay time is set to 3 blinks, it will loop back to 1 blink.
Your settings are stored in memory and preserved even when power is turned off.

THANK YOU

Thank you for purchasing this Brickstuff product!  Your support means a lot to our small, family business, and it allows us to wake up every morning and continue doing the work we love: making really cool things to take your models to the next level!

If you have any questions or problems with this product, please send us an e-mail and let us know how we can help.

If you make something really cool with this product, please share on social media and tag us (@brickstuff on most platforms) so we can see your awesome work!