# Low cost idea for motion activated music please?



## Kim's HM Halloween (Jun 8, 2012)

Hi, 
I havent set up much decorations because of where I was living but now I am in a area that its possible and I would like to do a 
Haunted Mansion theme. I dont want the same loop blaring all night when we dont have trick or treaters so I am trying to figure out something
extremely simple and hopefully cheap that I can do to set up some sounds like Madame Leota, Grim Grinning Ghosts, HM sounds etc that are either motion activated or sound activated. I have the sounds on my computer so they can be burned to a disk or possible played straight from my laptop. The speakers will be set up in my front window probably so thats another reason I dont want them just on the entire night. 
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!  
Kim


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## Dark lord (Jan 8, 2007)

A simple trick used for this problem is connecting a motion sensor's lines to a power strip ( or a receptacle plug box ) & plug in power pc speakers to it. When triggered, the strip will power on & off, and the speakers / sound effect ( sound source needs to be played in a loop mode ) .

The only problem with this is the time on & off of the sound. "Test" setting usually gives you 5 - 7 sec's of on, good for a scare sound, but maybe not for your set up, you would have to use a 5 min setting, of course constant Toter's going thru will continuously trigger it on also......

Hope this helps.......


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## Kim's HM Halloween (Jun 8, 2012)

*Reply to motion detector*

Ha ha, dumb question but motion sensors lines? Can you send me a link of a product you mean? Sorry, I am BRAND new to all this! I didn't think about the length of it so I may just have to make myself and neighbors crazy with it just constantly on. I would like to set up the motion setting to where it would run the full loop before turning off again so it wouldn't restart in the middle. 
Thanks a lot for all the help! 



Dark lord said:


> A simple trick used for this problem is connecting a motion sensor's lines to a power strip ( or a receptacle plug box ) & plug in power pc speakers to it. When triggered, the strip will power on & off, and the speakers / sound effect ( sound source needs to be played in a loop mode ) .
> 
> The only problem with this is the time on & off of the sound. "Test" setting usually gives you 5 - 7 sec's of on, good for a scare sound, but maybe not for your set up, you would have to use a 5 min setting, of course constant Toter's going thru will continuously trigger it on also......
> 
> Hope this helps.......


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## Dark lord (Jan 8, 2007)

Sorry, no prob, we've all been nubie's to this stuff in the beginning   ........ the fun is learning. 
You take a motion sensor power lines ( Black - hot, white - neutral, green - ground ) & re connect / hack a power strip so that the motion sensor turns on & off the power strip..... yes it is a little more to do if your not familiar with A/C electrical. It is the easiest cost wise other than investing in a more expensive sound trigger system....

The other problem would be that this method just turns on & off sound, so it will restart at any point of sound effect or music. There is no way to turn it off after it finishing a full loop before being restarted at the beginning again......... so you & neighbors may have to deal with it all nite......

Maybe this will help you understand better, a tutorial from another member on another haunt forum http://hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=11139


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## Kim's HM Halloween (Jun 8, 2012)

Wow thank you, that link is really helpful! A little scary though, I dont know if I trust myself to mess with power like that ha ha! I could use something like that for other ideas though so I am thinking I am just going to have to make my neighbors crazy for Halloween! Just one night right?  HA HA! Really appreciate all the help! It was a great learning experience! I wonder if there are anyone who makes and sells these on Ebay? Maybe I will get lucky and find someone! 
Thanks again!


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## Dark lord (Jan 8, 2007)

I've seen a couple EBay sellers making something like these for $30-$60 + shipping. If you wanted one or two motion sensor plugs outlets, more than happy to pop a couple together at cost of parts & shipping only to get you started...... PM me if your interested.


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## Kim's HM Halloween (Jun 8, 2012)

Wow, that is so nice of you to offer! I may take you up on that offer once I figure out what needs to go where! What do you think the cost of one would be? 
Thanks a lot! Kim


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## Dark lord (Jan 8, 2007)

The box to hold outlet & outlet with 2 plugs are a couple dollars ( optional 4 outlet plug & box a couple dollars more ), the motion sensor is the most of the cost $8 - $10. I always have left over Heavy duty wire from customer jobs, I like to use 14 or 12 gauge wire. Extension cord ( depends on how long you want ) I usually use a 8 - 10 ft , sometimes 15 ft HD extension cord - $ 4. min pending length wanted. Can usually make them for about $20 each, maybe a little less if there are sales or I have leftover parts from jobs.


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