User Programmable Target Shooting Controller with Display

Pictured below is a target shooting controller which we recently made for a shooting club in Australia.

programmable shooting target controllerWe had previously made them a controller with fixed time series – for example, Standard Pistol 150s, 30s, and 10s, Centre Fire face target 3s then away for 7s repeating 5 times, and Rapid Fire 8s, 6s, and 4s. Other clubs in the area required something similar, but with flexibility in the timings.

shooting target controller display - start seriesWe therefore enhanced the software written for the original controller so that all of the different time series could be modified, reducing or increasing the time that the target faced the shooter by the operator at the range to meet specific and potentially changing needs.

shooting target controller display modify series timingWhen the start button is pressed, the target turns away from the shooter. After 7 seconds the on board buzzer sounds for half a second and the target faces the shooter. (An external 12V buzzer or siren can be connected to the terminals on the controller board if a louder sounds is required). After the user programmed time, the target turns away from the shooter (again accompanied by the sound of the buzzer), and then a further 7 seconds later, the target is turned back to face ready for the next shooter.

NEW – We now also produce a modified version of this controller which allows the operator to set the edge times of the target independently for each of the series instead of using a fixed 7 seconds for all of them.modify edge times for shooting target controller modify face and edge time for shooting timer controller

Order a Controller

If you need any kind of shooting target timer controller, please email neil@reuk.co.uk with your specific requirements. (Click here to view some of the turning target and other shooting timers we have supplied in the past.)

 

Target Shooting Timer Example Instructions

programmable target shooting controller with display

Pictured above is the version of this shooting target timer controller which we currently sell. It is physically smaller, but otherwise functionally identical to the original, and the connections are the same as per the photographic diagram at the top of this post.

On the controller there are two buttons. Press button1 (Down) to run the currently displayed series. Press and hold button2 (Up) for more than half a second to be able to select from the seven saved series (using button1 to go down and button2 to go up through the list).

The device is fitted with a 10A rated SPDT relay with NO, COM, and NC connections. It has the relay energised when the target is to be faced, and de-energised when the target is to be edged. You can therefore wire things up whether your solenoids need to be powered to face the target, or need to be powered to edge the target using the NO-COM or NC-COM connections respectively.

When a series has run to completion, the target will edge, the screen will go blank for 7 seconds and then the target will face with the controller reset and ready to be run again.

In order to modify any of the timings of the seven pre-programmed series, press and hold button1 for 5 seconds or longer. Then, use button1 to decrease the number of seconds for the selected series, or button2 to increase the number of seconds. The value will be shown on the screen as you increase or decrease it. After five seconds of inactivity (no button presses), the new displayed value will be saved under the name of the selected series – e.g. Standard Pistol 150s could become Standard Pistol 125s or whatever you have set it as.

The maximum time limit is 254 seconds for any series – e.g. you could set Standard Pistol 254s, but you could not set Standard Pistol 255s or higher.

Hen House Door Controller for Dawn/Dusk or Timer Operation

Pictured below is a controller we recently made to open and close the door of a hen house automatically.

hen house door controller with light detector for dawn/dusk operation and a programmable digital timerWe make a lot of door controllers for a range of different needs, and in general they either open and close the door depending on times programmed into a timer, or automatically detect dawn and dusk with a light detector and open or close the door accordingly.

With this particular controller, the user can select between two modes – dawn/dusk mode or timer mode. If timer mode is selected, the door will open when the timer turns ON and close when the timer turns OFF. In this way the door can be made to open and close at times convenient to the owner – for example opening the door later on weekend mornings so that the poultry do not disturb neighbours.

If instead the dawn/dusk mode is selected, the door will open at dawn and close at dusk, with the ambient light level for the day-dusk and night-dawn thresholds calibrated by the user when setting up the controller and light detector in its location.

If you need any kind of automatic door controller, email neil@reuk.co.uk with details of your specific requirements.

Turning Shooting Target Controller

Pictured below is a controller we recently made to control a shooting target for competitive shooting.target-turning-timer-crowleBased around an Arduino Pro Mini, this device is used to edge or face a shooting target according to preset and user-set timings.

Display for a shooting target controller

By default, the target is edge on to the shooter. When the start button is pressed, a relay closes which turns the target face on to the shooter. An accurate timer then starts and counts down the number of seconds the shooter has until the target is turned edge on again.

There are five preset modes – 165 seconds, 35s, 8s, 4s, and 2s. There is also a sixth mode which the user can programme to be any duration from 1 to 999 seconds.

Buttons are fitted to the circuit board, but there are also connectors to which external buttons can be connected so that the device can be fitted in a box with just the two external buttons and display visible.

If you need any kind of shooting target controller, please email neil@reuk.co.uk with details of your requirements.

Apple Store Fan Thermostat

Pictured below is a device we recently made to act as a fan controller for an apple storage room.apple store fan controlling thermostatThis device has two waterproof DS18B20 temperature sensors connected to it and a relay to switch the power to a fan which drives air from outside the apple store to the inside.

Whenever the outside temperature is measured to be a couple of degrees cooler than the inside temperature, the fan is turned on to drive the cooler air into the store. When the temperature differential falls to zero – i.e. the inside and outside temperatures are equal or the inside is cooler, the fan is turned off again.

This device also has built in frost protection to prevent freezing air from being blown into the apple store. If the outside temperature falls below 2 degrees C, the fan is turned off if it is on, and remains off until the outside temperature has increased by a couple of degrees.

If you need any kind of thermostat, email neil@reuk.co.uk with details of your requirements.

Programmable Automatic Plant Propagator Thermostat

In our March 2015 blog post Automatic Plant Propagator Thermostat, we showed a device we had made to automatically turn on/off 12V heat pads under young plants to prevent them from getting too cold (or hot).

This device connected the power to the heat pads when the measured temperature was below 17 degrees and off again when it had got back up to 23 degrees.

Different plants require different temperature ranges, so in order to meet those demands, we created the device pictured below.

programmable automatic plant propagator thermostatThis device has been enhanced with a user programming button enabling the user to set the low temperature threshold at or below which heating pads should be turned on, and also the number of degrees of temperature increase which must occur before the heating pads are turned off again. This gives a far more flexible thermostat for a wide range of plant propagation.

If you need a thermostat like this or similar for plant propagation thermostat, email neil@reuk.co.uk with details of your specific requirements.

Automatic Dawn Dusk Gate Opener

24v dawn dusk gate controller openerPictured above is a controller we made recently for a gate which is to be opened at dawn and closed at dusk automatically.

The controller is based around our standard REUK Dawn Dusk Relay Controller which uses a light detector and user calibration to detect the arrivals of dawn and dusk depending on measured ambient lighting levels.

This particular unit is designed to control a large gate motor which requires two contacts on its electronics to be shorted out (connected together) for one second to toggle the state of the gate – i.e. open the gate if it is closed, or close it if it is open.

When dawn is detected, the on board relay closes for one second which opens the gate. Then, when dusk is detected, the relay closes again for one second which closes the gate. The controller has a selection of timers and automation logic built in which prevent false dawns and false dusks being detected when there are clouds moving across the sun early and late in the day.

If you need any kind of dawn/dusk detecting controller, email neil@reuk.co.uk with details of your requirements.

Battery mAh Capactity Tester

low voltage disconnect with stopwatch for battery testingPictured above is a device we made recently to help estimate the capacity of 12V and 24V batteries. It is based loosely around our 12V Low Voltage Disconnect with Display, but with some major changes and functionality additions.

The customer for this device has a Farnell Electronic load which is capable of discharging batteries at up to 1.5kW (e.g. 12V @ 125A). He wanted to be able to use this to discharge batteries under test, to time accurately the discharge duration, and to automatically turn off the electronic load when the battery voltage falls below a user set level (for example 9.5V for a 12V battery).

This electronic load can be controlled externally by terminals on the back of the unit (Load Enable/Disable). If 5 VDC is connected across those terminals, the electronic load is enabled (turned on), otherwise it is disabled (turned off).

We therefore designed a device which the user can set with their choice of low voltage threshold. Then, when they press the Start Button, a regulated 5V is put across the terminals on the back of the electronic load which starts discharging the battery under test. At the same time, a stopwatch (created in software on the Arduino Pro Mini around which this controller is built) starts to display the number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds that have elapsed since the battery discharge began.

When the battery voltage is measured to have fallen below the low voltage threshold, the stopwatch stops, and the 5V signal to the electronic load is disconnected preventing the battery being discharged any further and potentially being permanently damaged.

The time on the stopwatch is saved in memory on our device and is displayed on the LCD until the user presses the reset button. It is saved in this way just in case after a multi-hour/day test has been completed, someone accidentally disconnects the battery from the timing device before noting the displayed timing results.

Pictured below is an alternative version of the same thing, designed for use with 12V batteries, and provided with an OLED display on board.

Device to time discharge of 12V battery to calculate mah capacity

This device works the same as the unit detailed above, but it has a smaller footprint, draws slightly less current from the battery itself, and it has a 1 Amp rated output to the electronic load @ 12VDC.

OLED display on battery mah capacity meter device

Pictured above is the display in standard operation showing the battery voltage at present, the low voltage threshold level (below which the electronic load will be switched off), and the running time so far.

Below shows the display when the device is in programming mode when the low voltage threshold can be set to a suitable value by the user.battery mah capacity meter low voltage disconnect

If you need any kind of voltage measuring device, low voltage disconnect, and/or timer, please email neil@reuk.co.uk with details of your exact requirements.

Automatic Irrigation System Timer Controller

Pictured below is a timer controller we recently made for a commercial irrigation system. This set up currently has four solenoid valves which when opened, water different regions in a large greenhouse. The number of solenoid valves will soon be increased to eight, so we had to make this controller work now with four valves, but be ready to control eight in the future. The controller is based around an Arduino Pro Mini.

automatic irrigation timer controller

The main controller board above drives four or eight of the 10 Amp rated relays on the relay board pictured below.relay board for irrigation timer controller

The small button at the top left of the main controller board can be used to toggle between four valve or eight valve operation as per the user’s requirements.

The valves are to be opened on a four hour cycle. With four valves, each valve is opened for 15 minutes in turn with a 15 minute delay between. Then after a two hour delay, the cycle repeats. With eight valves, each valve is opened in turn for 15 minutes with a 15 minute delay between each. The cycle then immediately repeats.

If you need an automatic timer controller for an irrigation system, please email neil@reuk.co.uk with details of your exact requirements.

Window Blind Motor Timer Controller

Pictured below is a device we made recently to control window blinds so that they automatically close in the evening and open in the morning to give the impression that someone is at home when they are away on holiday.Window blind motor timer controllerThe motor set up with these particular blinds is a small 3 Volt DC unit, but the controller is powered by 12 Volt DC. The motor needs to be turned forwards to open the blinds and turn in reverse to close the blinds. Therefore a pair of relays are used (as explained here: Reversing the Polarity of a Motor with Two Relays) to give the reversing polarity output for the motor.

A programming button is fitted to the device which is used to set the number of seconds that the motor is to run to fully open or fully close the blinds. In addition, there are a pair of microswitches which act as limit switches ensuring that if blinds reach the end of their motion before the expected time, the motor will be turned off so that it does not burn out under the heavy load of fighting resistance. Therefore, the motor runs until either the user programmed run time has elapsed or the limit switch is hit. If there was not a time limit, then if the blinds became jammed, the limit switch would never be reached, and again there would be the risk of the motor burning out.

If you need any type of motor controller or timer, please email neil@reuk.co.uk with details of your exact requirements.

Motion Sensing MP3 Player for Bird Hide

Pictured below is a device we recently made for use within a bird hide. When motion is detected inside the hide (via a small KC7783R PIR sensor module), a small MP3 player is turned on to play an educational soundtrack.

automatic motion detecting MP3 player for educational bird hideBecause the length of the track may be changed, the device is fitted with a button which enables the number of minutes that the MP3 player is powered after motion detection to be adjusted so that the whole track is played, but no power is wasted by not leaving the MP3 powered when the track has played (since this is a solar PV powered set up).

If you need any type of motion sensing device or timer, please email neil@reuk.co.uk with details of your requirements.