Diorama Castle

LVL1 Sign

The LVL1 sign is a collection of four duplicate circuits. Each circuit provides a high voltage charge to a xenon flash tube. The voltage is not discharged such that the tube flashes, but instead allows streaks of plasma to form between the two ends. The circuits are divided into two parts. The first part is the charging circuit from disposal cameras with a flash. The internal flash module is scavenged for its transistor, step-up transformer, resistor and diode. The components are wired as before on a perfboard. The second ciruit is based on a strobe light. The trigger ciruit charges a capacitor. When charged, the capacitor allows current to light the neon lamp which triggers the SCR. The triggered SCR, shorts out the capacitor through the trigger coil with the output end and ground attached to the flash tube. The camera circuit does provide a capacitor and trigger coil, but they are not capable of making the plasma streaks as bright as the substituted components.