When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
i almost hate to post this pic since the camera either flashed and washed out the led set up or didn't and couldn't show anything in such low light. but here's the best i could do. now, keep in mind in person it look about 100x better than this:
i thought i'd do a bit of critiquing to give you a feel for what i thought was awesome and what could use a little improvement. maybe it'll help dan with some of his future plans, and he seems to be the type to enjoy some constructive criticism. so cons first:
Cons
-too much phone jack wire. would have been nice to have less of that and more of the grey wires
-light set up is nice, but brighter LEDs or a few more might have added to the effect. or possibly an even spread via some kind of light condusive materal lining the bottom of the mechanism.
-would ahve been nice to have knobs to change the colors.
Pros
-changes red on braking. in addition to bling, makes for a nice safety feature.(last night, i was hitting the brakes just cuz i wanted other people to notice. no reason to stop really. this rocks!!!)
-one HELL of a mod to grab some attention at night.
-fairly easy install even for someone like me with no experience with tapping
-colors, colors, colors!! you have any tone of red, green, and blue (the same 3 colors most of your monitors are working off now so imagine the choices).
-summing up above ... MANY options and you're not stuck with colors, when it lights up or if it lights up at all.
9.5/10, dan. knobs and a shorter phone wire kept this from a 10. i love it, love it, love it! and i did originally have red day glow paint on there, but i wasn't thrilled with the effect so i removed it (sorry no before pics). that removal also seemed to remove the yellow tint that dan wasn't thrilled with from the etching or maybe i just wasn't looking close enough to notice.
so, thanks to axoman for the outstanding job of etching and dan to his electrical expertise.
The choice of 4 LEDs over 6 was made when the units were nearing production due to the high amounts of heat dissipated inside the control box. The original design with 6 would have covered the entire screen without problem, but I had to chop it back to 4 if I didn't want to redesign the entire controller...for most people and their slightly smaller logos, it works fine, but if the logo stretches from one end of the screen to the other (as yours did), there wasn't much else I could do. This issue will be addressed in the next version.
I thought it would be convenient to NOT have knobs so there was nothing to bump and change the color accidentally. In hindsight, though, it does make things more difficult to adjust initially. This issue will be addressed in the next version.
I decided upon too much phone wire being better than too little. Since at design time I had no idea where people would be placing the control box, it seemed prudent to give them some leeway. If someone wants a shorter cord, they can always pick up a tool at Radio Shack and make it shorter, or hang around the parking lot of your local computer network repair guy and ask him to crimp on a new connector This issue will be addressed in the next version with several cord length options.
I continue to get the ocassional request for backup lights turning the screen white in addition to the brake lights turning the screen red. This issue will be addressed in the next version.
BTW, what did you use to remove the paint? The yellow tint inside the etching was QUITE noticeable, so if painting and removing the paint removes the tint, I'll try that for any further screens I receive.
11-05-2003, 08:17 AM
This issue will be addressed in the next version with several cord length options.
)
