Relays

ktdid07

Can anybody help me out with some relays? I'm trying to hook up a 12VDC light, through a 12VDC relay, and into a normal household socket. I would like this circuit to be connected through the Basic Stamp board in a way that I can control the light through a program, not necessarily a hard switch.

I'm new to electronics, and I'm a nervous newbie, so I'm asking for help because I'm afraid that I'm going to fry either a)myself, b)my stamp board, or c)some hapless bystander.

If anybody can help me figure out how the relay connects to the light and the light to the socket, that would be amazing. I would really appreciate a wiring diagram or explanation, and some help figuring out how that all connects to the stamp board.

Wow.

Thanks! [noparse]:)[/noparse]

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Mike Green

Download the "What's a Microcontroller?" tutorial and the "Industrial Control" tutorial from the Parallax website. Go to their main webpage, then select the Resources tab. You'll see a list with Downloads on it. Select that and you'll see another list with Stamps in Class Tutorial Downloads on it. Select that and you'll see the tutorials. These (particularly Industrial Control around page 90) have discussions and sample hookups for controlling lights or motors using a relay with a Stamp. You may need a switching transistor as shown in the tutorial, particularly if the relay needs more than about 20mA to pull it in.