Making a remote start for your PC.

Materials:
-Battery operated Door Bell
-5 volt relay
-Few bits of thin gauge wire.
-Soldering iron and solder


First thing you need to know is the type of doorbell you will be getting. The one i used is made by "Chime Design," model number WD-1120.

(Remote left : Receiver right)
The reason I chose this one is, the chime/receiver runs off of 3 "C" batteries which is 4.5volts. This is important that you get one that runs on a similar voltage because you will be wiring it to a 5 volt line. You can use a door bell that runs on lower or higher voltages but then you will have to get a resistor or capacitor. You may also want to find one with a single chime so your pc doesn't turn on and off repeatedly. Mine uses a "2-tone" chime and seems to work fine.

The remote is small and runs off of a single lithium watch style battery. I didn't modify this in anyway considering the battery should last quite a long time. If you want to run this in a wireless keyboard or something like that, all you need is a constant 3Volt source.

I also picked up a 5V relay from radio shack; if you don't know what a relay is, they are like an electrical momentary switch. When they are receiving power the circuit is closed and when receiving no power the circuit is open.

I made this small diagram to show how to wire the receiver and relay. Just make sure you run the positive line off of the receiver to the "purple wire" or "5V VSB" on the 20/24 pin connector on your power supply. This wire sends a constant 5 volts to your motherboard when the power supply is plugged in. You can use any ground wire (black) on your Power Supply.

Thats it. Its a really simple cool addition to any computer.

Killer idea, this can also be used for an Xbox.

Yup, thats part of were this comes from. The tutorial is not original by any means but I thought it wouldnt hurt to have it hear for anyone interested.

Also, if you have any questions or additions to this please due tell.

danthegeek

Now thats kewl. . Im gonna have to try that out.

Thats a pretty cool idea. I also might have to try this out. thanks! +Rep

wow, that's pretty cool. I'm thinking about doing that now. lol. but by any chance is there any other way for you to show more pictures of the wiring? since im kind of a noob with modding(no worry I'll probably be under some electronic student supervision when i mod) hahah....I'm 18...darn i sound so noobish(i gotta start somewhere) thanks again.

Here's a pretty good Step by Step Tut for you.
Remote PC Start At GideonTech.com

Hope it helps!!!:banana:


CrazyBillyBob

Damn, where was that a couple of months ago, ;)

Thats a lot better then mine, good find.

can you post some pictures with the wires shown more clearly? thanks

i have a chime that runs on 2 1.5v batteries. which is 3v. would i have to get an extra resistor or capacitor for this to work or will the current be enough? thnx

If it runs on 3 volts you will have to step down the voltages. Im not sure what you would need to do this, some other members may be better educated in this area then I am. If you dont lower the voltages it will most likely fry or not last very long. You would probably be better off finding one that runs on 3 1.5 volt batteries giving you 4.5volts. A half a volt shouldn't damage the chime and I have had mine hooked up for 3 months straight with no problems. Remember, you have to use the 5 volts coming out of the psu.

As for pictures, I havent worked on the thing in 6 months. It is now tucked away in th BF2 LAN PC and is quite difficult to get out. I will let you know if I have time tomorrow to take the computer apart to get to it.

nice work man i might even try pulling that one off myaelf thanks . +rep

anyone know how to do this with uk components as cant find anything for me here in the uk web pages. cheers guys

Quote:

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Originally Posted by malachi

anyone know how to do this with uk components as cant find anything for me here in the uk web pages. cheers guys

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im guessing that it will be the same for most doorbells regradless of the manufacture. . your best bet to get something like that would be a home and bargin or a wilkonsons, i would expect them to have them the most.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by danthegeek

If it runs on 3 volts you will have to step down the voltages. Im not sure what you would need to do this, some other members may be better educated in this area then I am. If you dont lower the voltages it will most likely fry or not last very long. You would probably be better off finding one that runs on 3 1.5 volt batteries giving you 4.5volts. A half a volt shouldn't damage the chime and I have had mine hooked up for 3 months straight with no problems. Remember, you have to use the 5 volts coming out of the psu.

As for pictures, I havent worked on the thing in 6 months. It is now tucked away in th BF2 LAN PC and is quite difficult to get out. I will let you know if I have time tomorrow to take the computer apart to get to it.

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dam, i haven't seen this in a while. sup Dan, helping other people with the same problem i had. I have the 3.5volt i think in mine. so far, the only problem i get is, i gotta hold the button down for a while. haha.

Good to hear it is still working.

As far as the uk, it should work on any brand as stated before. Most use the same layout and voltages. Good luck

cheers danth.

watch out for my case mod coming around the beggining of january.

Now THAT I gotta have a bash at.

Nice one.

Man, some of you people haven't heard of this? It's been done on Xboxes for years now. I remember first seeing it in 2004.

A very cool application indeed. +rep again, mainly because I feel like it.

Now if I could just figure out where to implement it...

is there any substitute for the 5 v relay? can't find it here

I call my butler in the morning and tell him to turn on my shower and PC while he cooks my eggs. No soldering needed! Fully remote for on AND OFF functions too. Unfortunately he takes more than 3 AA batteries to keep running yet ....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blackbox

is there any substitute for the 5 v relay? can't find it here

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Where is "here"? .. give us a clue and you might find what you need.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by malachi

anyone know how to do this with uk components as cant find anything for me here in the uk web pages. cheers guys

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Sounds like you may need some lessons in how to use the web, particularly google.

Maplins:

Door Chime @ £10.99 (going to need to step down the voltage or run it on batteries.

5v Reed Relay @ £2.56

Build cost ~ £15 if you are going to build a step down circuit for the voltage too.

better door chime from Argos @ £7.99 runs off three C type batteries = 4.5v

build cost ~ £10.55

On ebay you can get them for a fiver or so if you want to wait for one to arrive from Hong Kong.

Crazy

sweet idea! I may have to incorporate something like this into my next buildup