Introduction: 2 Channel DVD LED COLOR ORGAN

I've been wanting to build an LED COLOR ORGAN that could be controlled by an FM Transmitterconnected to my PC or my Toshiba Notebook Audio Output jack.

The idea was to transfer music from my Computer - using an FM Transmitter – to a small FM Receiver connected to an LED Color Organ – and finally to mount all this on a “wall display” - (with preferably no wires showing) .

( I would of course transmit the same signal to my 100 Watt Stereo FM Receiver at the same time to fill the room with music sound up to 50 Watts per channel )

ABOVE (IMAGE #1) is the prototype.

I used a Wireless FM Transmitter which is very small and only requires 2 AAA batteries.
You can get this No-Name Chinese Clone Transmitter on EBAY entitled
“Wireless FM Transmitter” for $5.00 U.S. to your door.

I wanted to transmit my MP3s from the FM Transmitter to a small FM Receiver.....
one which I wouldn't have to putz around with to match the transmitted frequency.

That's when I found the COBY CX50 compact AM\FM Digital Radio on Amazon.ca.
It had a digital FM frequency display.
At only 4” x 2” - it was small, light and just what I needed to easily match the Transmitter frequency.
Here is what this Digital FM Radio looks like on YOUTUBE.

Step 1: The 2 CHANNEL LED COLOR ORGAN CIRCUIT

The LED COLOR ORGAN was the next and most important component to get.

There are some good ones out there – but I wanted one with an op-amp to maintain the 24+ ma current I would need to power my 15,000 mcd RGB LEDs with just a 9 volt battery.

The answer came after watching this color organ in action below.



I obtained this 2 CHANNEL PR004 Color Organ from
http://www.usbekits.com/color-organ---pr004.html
It has 2 Channels – one TREBLE and one BASS.

IMAGE #2 above is the Circuit Diagram for the PR004 LED Color Organ in my project.


Step 2: COLOR ORGAN MODIFICATIONS


I removed one of the 3 GREEN (TREBLE) LEDs and soldered in 2 wires to what would become
the OUTPUT to 9 bright RGB LEDs (in parallel).

I also removed one of the 3 BLUE (BASS) LEDs and soldered in 2 wires to what would become
the OUTPUT to 8 Bright Green LEDs (in parallel).


The remaining 2 Green and 2 Blue LEDs are used for monitoring the Color Organ frequency response.
See IMAGE #3 above.

Step 3: The DVD DISPLAY

Finally I had to decide what the DISPLAY would look like.
I had already tested the Color Organ with the RGB LEDs and the colors
and brightness were impressive.

While I was thinking – I noticed a DVD on the table was reflecting a spectrum of light.
So I mounted 9 RGB LEDs on the front sides of 4 DVDs I had overlapped and super glued.

The effect was good in the dark – combining the colors in the RGB LEDs with the
spectrum reflections from the DVDs.

But I still felt something was missing.
The DVD holes just looked empty and I thought maybe I could add something to boost the effects.

In the Dollar Store – I found a bag of translucent large Plastic Diamonds in the Crafts section.
After I glued them into the 4 DVD holes – (nice fit) they reflected some light but not enough.
So I decided to add a pair of Bright Green LEDs to the sides of the plastic diamonds on the back of the DVDs.

That did the trick.
Green light streamed out into the colored lights already producing an excellent lighting effect on the DVD display.
See IMAGE #4 above.

Step 4: BRIGHT GREEN LEDs on the BACK of DISPLAY

IMAGE #5 above shows the pairs of bright Green LEDs
beside the Plastic Diamonds on the back of the DVD Display.

Wiring the BACK of the DVD Display is very easy.
Just add red wires around the perimeter to each of the positive RGB LED legs.
Then add black wires around the perimeter to each of the negative RGB LED legs.
The BASS output of the Color Organ can then be connected to any one
of these RGB LEDs.
Be sure to connect the red positive and black negative wires correctly.

The 4 PAIRS of Bright Green LEDs can be wired together to meet at the center
of the DVD Display.
I used yellow wires for positive and black wires for negative.

Each positive leg PAIR of the Green LEDs are soldered together before soldering
them to a yellow wire..

Each positive leg PAIR of the Green LEDs are soldered together before soldering
them to a black wire..



After all 4 Pairs are done - join all ends of the yellow wires together and solder -
then all all ends of the black wires together and solder.
The BASS output of the Color Organ can then be connected to the center of the
DVD Display to these solder points.

(see IMAGE #5 above)


Step 5: DEVICES and COMPONENTS LIST

IMAGE #6 above shows all the PARTS needed to build this DVD LED COLOR ORGAN.

I have indicated where to purchase the FM Transmitter - FM Radio and LED Color Organ.
The 15,000 mcd RGB LEDs and Bright Green LEDs can also be purchased

from EBAY at a fraction of retail prices.


The DVD's can be substituted with old CD ROMs you may have lying around.



.

Step 6: VELCRO the DEVICES to the BACK of the DVD DISPLAY

See IMAGE #7 above.
The Color Organ BoardFM Radio and 9V Battery are all small enough to be mounted
on the back of the DVD display with VELCRO – so they can be removed easily if needed.

Finally - just super glue a piece of wire onto the back of the project and it can be

hung on the wall with no wires showing when viewed in the dark.



Step 7: PHOTOS of the DVD LED COLOR ORGAN

In IMAGE #8 above....
There are 3 Photos taken of the DVD LED Color Organ...
Two taken in the Dark - and one with one lamp on.

The effects are quite different.
Having just one lamp on provides more spectrum reflection on the DVDs.

.

Step 8: CONSTRUCTION NOTES:

NOTE:
For my Project - Resistors R2 and R4 are rated at 1 Watt for heat dissipation of both LED parallel strings as the TREBLE Channel has 9 Bright RGB LEDs and the BASS Channel has 8 bright Green LEDs .

The value of  R12 was changed from 10K to 33K to increase the GAIN of the OP-AMP times 3.
This allowed better response and amplification of the MID/BASS frequencies from the 1 Watt FM COBY Radio.

I used small drops of Super Glue to glue the 4 DVDs together and also to keep all the wires down on the back of the display.

The 9 Volt Battery uses little power since the LEDs are not on continuously as they would be in a toy or powering a small motor.
The circuit is regulated to 5 Volts so the battery will continue to work even after a voltage loss down to 7 or 8 volts.

Set the Volume Level of your PC or Notebook to at least half - so that the FM Transmitter has ample signal to travel to the Coby FM Radio.
You will not hear the song playing from your PC or Notebook unless you add an Audio Splitter to your Audio Line-Out Jack which will also feed your external Computer Speakers.
*****( not necessary if you are also transmitting to a Stereo System Receiver at the same time )****

You must adjust the sensitivity of the Treble and Bass Channels of the Color Organ with the "TRIM-POTS" on the Circuit Board after you set the COBY RADIO to about HALF VOLUME.
Once set - you just need to slightly adjust the Coby Radio Volume only for soft sounds or hard rock.
Of course - the COBY is not very loud - and is really used as just a Volume/Light Control monitor.

The MAIN SOUND - will come from your HOME STEREO FM RECEIVER or BOOMBOX which you also set to the SAME frequency as the FM Transmitter.

Now you can hear the music as loud as you want and walk around the room with the "wireless" DVD LED Color Organ in your hands to show your guests while it is flashing to the music.
OR:
Just hang it on the wall whenever you want to see music come to life.



Step 9: SUMMARY:

As my prototype of music to light with an FM  Transmitter to a
"wireless" LED COLOR ORGAN wall display
....
the project was a success and will be helpful with future creations.

A video is worth a thousand pictures....  - so here it is.....