Awesome LED Level Meter

This WAS going to be my entry to the 'Get the LED Out contest', but I was too slow.

I was bored one day. I wanted to build something cool. A quick bit of brainstorming and nothing came up. Digging through my junk boxes, I found a old level meter kit. I went over my mate's place later that day and we were having a killfest in Halo 3. He had seen this Level kit in use before, and wanted it rebuilt into a full-blown system to complement his surround system.

Here I'll guide yo on how to make your own.

Step 1: Parts

For this Project you will need:

Scrap wood
LED level meter kit (available here)
LED's of your choice.
power supply
Diodes (if using AC output supply)
Cable
Potentiometer
10 X BC558 or similar transistors.

Comments

[Dr.Bill]

So where's the schematics ?

[nhesterberg]

Soo a few things

1. What's the potentiometer for?
2. What is the audio input source? Like a regular 3.5mm input jack?

[jpodejko]

Now just to be clear, is this for a power level?

[bror89]

hey what's the difference with these two chips? LM3915 IC chip LM3916 IC chip

[almostkorean]

is it possible to do this with more LEDs?

[Da_Fudge]

yeah, just make sure your transistors can handle it. even better, replace the LED's with relay's. then you can put as many lights as your relay can hold!!! I'l send you a circuit diagram if you want.

[almostkorean]

if you could send me a circuit diagram that would be AWESOME

[Da_Fudge]

k. I'l P.M you something soon.

[seligtobiason]

If you did make a circuit diagram, would you mind sending one my way too?  I love this idea but really want to make one with a bunch of LEDs per sounds level!  Thanks

[7Chris Crash]

Could I Please have a circuit diagram too?

[Eeeeeeeeeekz]

where were you able to pick up the LEDs?

[Da_Fudge]

i got them from my local jaycar store

[GorillazMiko]

Dude, you're freaking awesome! Your stuff is amazing, I really like it, I hope to see more, this one is just really cool. Maybe you should have made the LEDs rainbow colored? No-- even better. RGB. Nice job anyways, I just have 3 more things to say to you. 1) +1 rating. 2) (added to favorites) 3) You should post an Instructable on how to make fudge.

[Da_Fudge]

you like it? ok then, be prepared for an onslaught of instructables. Turbocharged go-karts, remote control docks, huge cinema displays, and awesome spud cannons. My aim is to get featured, as it will greatly boost my pageveiws. I'm in a contest against myself. You have been warned!

[thermoelectric]

G'day mate I'm lookin forward to it Great I'ble

[Da_Fudge]

thanks.

[n0ukf]

Where's the project schematic? Where's the (BC558 or equivalent) transistors in the parts list? Your instructions in step 4 don't say what side is up when you cut the leads and the pictures are hard to see that the flat side is up when cutting the right 2 leads (base and emitter) short. For anyone substituting transistors, be sure of the pinout, since the 2N3906 has a reversed (EBC) lead order from the BC558 (CBE).

[scotty3785]

It would be great to stick one of these in to the case of a pair of speakers behind the mesh that covers the cones. Would look fantastic on a guitar amp too!

[Da_Fudge]

yeah. this design is so flexible. once you have built the board, you can mount it anywhere. it is only 80mm x 28mm x 9mm. The led's can be aranged in any order, too, so it doesn't have to be 1 - 10. I have done before 5,8,1,3,7,6,2,9,10,4. it looked really cool.

[jolshefsky]

My favorite bit was the hack to stick a transistor's base-emitter pair into an LED hole, leaving the collector for switching a bigger load.

[Da_Fudge]

thanks for your comment.