switching on and off a 120V power supply

zacharyr

I've never worked with BASIC stamps but I have an idea and I think it might be a good time to learn. I've been reading Wikipedia and such but there's something I can't figure out:

How can I have my BASIC stamp control a 120V power source? I want to have my program and sensors switch household fans on and off.

Bruce Bates

Zachary -

The easiest way that I've found is to use the PBASIC XOUT command and the X-10 plug-in modules.


Regards,

Bruce Bates

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D Faust

Wouldn't switching a·Solid state relay·on or off be simpler?· You could use a DAC to get voltages in between.· I think there is a special way to hook this up.· Its on the forums somewhere.

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Mike Green

Have a look at the EFX-TEK RC-4 or FC-4 (www.efx-tek.com/topics/rc-4.html). These include a microprocessor that is controlled over a serial port by the Stamp. Their main advantage is that they're carefully designed to keep the potentially lethal AC away from the logic circuitry. You could use the same Solid State Relays (SSRs) directly with a Stamp since they look like an LED to the Stamp and many SSRs include the LED current limiting resistor and the "snubber" circuitry on the AC side.

One reason for suggesting the X-10 stuff is that you can control stuff elsewhere in the building and the X-10 interface (like the RC-4) takes care of the interface to the AC line all in a nice, safe plastic enclosure.

Post Edited (Mike Green) : 9/1/2007 2:17:56 PM GMT