What's the heck is on? (1 Viewer)

[Peter.G]

With all components in a closet how can I tell what's on/off without getting up and checking it out? I want to mount a set of status lights on the wall next to the projector screen that will light up if the unit is off/on. It seems low tech to me but I didn't know if there was an easy way to do this.

 

[chuckg]

Cheapest, dirtiest solution: get some plastic fiberoptic cable. Stick one end near the power light on a piece of gear, and the other end on the wall.

Slightly hipper: get some opto-transistors, and mount them pointing at the power lights on your gear. add a small power supply, a few bits of wire, a couple of inverters from a 74LSXX hex inverter, and some LEDs to mount on the wall.

Or, just put a glass window in the closet door.

 

[Leo Kerr]

Or the fancy, advanced way to do it.

Get a bunch of power line monitors. Each device plugs into one, and you set "levels" so that below a certain current, they read "off" and above a certain level, they read "on". Then rig 'em to LEDs mounted outside of cabinet.

But probably not next to your screen.

The fiber idea might not be too bad, but the catch is, some of the power status LEDs aren't very bright to begin with, and you really need to get the capture-end of the fiber pointed directly into the LED's beam.

Leo

 

[Peter.G]

I have optic sensors with quad plugs, a passive terminator/power supply, and LEDs. Am I missing something and am I way off base?