# Rising Nosferatu "how-to".



## Mr_Chicken (Nov 30, 2008)

Thanks for writing that up. It really helped clarify the workings.


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## TNBrad (Sep 12, 2007)

*You Rock*... Thank you.
I really like when we can all share something fun.
I agree with Mr. Chicken that it did help me understand better how to do this kind of prop/effect.


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## eanderso13 (Mar 31, 2009)

No problem! When I talked about it on HauntForum last year I was told by a lot of people that using the cylinders to pull instead of push was a concept most hadn't thought of for whatever reason, as well as using bike cable actuators.

So yeah, that's what these forums are all about! Helping haunters expand their bag -O tricks!!! (or treats )

-EEric


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## Blood~Hound (Apr 28, 2008)

Nice work on your How-To. Thank's for putting it out there!!!!


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## Rev. Noch (Sep 2, 2008)

I hate this stupid net nanny here at work. I'll have to remember to check it out when I get home. That's fantastic, I may look to relocate my FCG for that Bad boy.


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## TNBrad (Sep 12, 2007)

eanderso13
I had an Idea you may or may not, think could work for you.
What if you made the coffin (with out the top) and add added a small fog chiller or ground fogger or even Dry Ice, so it would fill the coffin to the point of spilling over the edges and covering the Nosferatu figure, then as he rises up from the fog it would spill off him too.


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## eanderso13 (Mar 31, 2009)

TNBrad said:


> eanderso13
> I had an Idea you may or may not, think could work for you.
> What if you made the coffin (with out the top) and add added a small fog chiller or ground fogger or even Dry Ice, so it would fill the coffin to the point of spilling over the edges and covering the Nosferatu figure, then as he rises up from the fog it would spill off him too.


That is a GREAT idea!! I had intended to make sides for the coffin this year, just to hide the mechanism a little more, but adding fog or dry ice would be a sweet added effect! 

Another interesting idea...the floor of the mausoleum is slatted...not solid. I did that just to make it a bit lighter and easy to carry but I could add a bunch of dry ice under the floor or pipe in fog that would sort of disguise the fact that the floor is not solid...hmm...

Thanks for the suggestion, Brad!

-EEric


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## TNBrad (Sep 12, 2007)

My honor I really like this place it is so much fun.

In my haunt I used an aluminum dryer hose in a "J" shape. With 3 frozen plastic water bottles (with Rock salt). 
and a side note the Rock Salt water took 3 day to fully freeze. I had them on their side and I would turn them very 8 or so hours.

















the fog would fill the crypt and then spill out the open slot in the back over the lighting effects









and then run down the yard to the street.


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## TNBrad (Sep 12, 2007)

EEric could teach me more about you controled this great prop?


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## eanderso13 (Mar 31, 2009)

Sure! What do you want to know? Anything specific? I'll get pics of the controller tonight and post those and explain a bit about it. Also I could do up a diagram of the air flow and stuff...

-EEric


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## kprimm (Apr 3, 2009)

Very good job on the prop and the how to. I am so glad i joined this forum, there are so so many talented people out there and i whole heartedly agree, it is so cool to share ideas with other haunters out there. I look at it like this...
every prop that is built and every idea that is shared just helps to keep this awesome holiday getting better and better.


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## TNBrad (Sep 12, 2007)

Thanks -EEric 
That would be great a 3.5 horse comperssor and I'm ready to get started LOL


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## eanderso13 (Mar 31, 2009)

*Brrraaaaaaiiiiinnnss!!!*

Ok, I sort of stopped being a slacker and am now here to add more details on the Nosferatu control. Here's a pic:








The thing on the right is my breakout box for the solenoids. the thing on the left is the PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). Basically what a PLC like this does is real a program that is set up like a Relay diagram, and switch outputs that are 'virtual" relays. You can get a lot of different types, like ones that run on AC, DC, have AC or DC input, AC or DC output or Relay outputs. And generally speaking, you can daisy chain multiple units together for huge control systems running off one program.

This one, in particular, takes 120v AC, has 8 12-24V DC inputs and 6 relay outputs that can take either AC or DC:








I ran a different prop off of this before which was triggered by a retroreflective sensor. The Nosferatu is a program that runs in a continuous loop and needs no input to start...just power. 

In the picture above, the red wire is a jumper taking 120V AC from the power supply input to the common of the output relay contacts. When each relay output turns ON, 120v is provided to the corresponding brown wire (Y0, Y1 or Y2) which then turns on the solenoid plugged into the corresponding outlet in the breakout box.

I'll let that sink in and give you a chance to ask any questions.


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## Hauntcast (Oct 3, 2007)

Awesome Nasferatu and crypt.


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## TNBrad (Sep 12, 2007)

OK Question #1
Where do i look to get a *Direct Logic 5*?


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## eanderso13 (Mar 31, 2009)

I got mine on Ebay
But the store Automation Direct has the stuff, too. Basically you could use any PLC with enough inputs and outputs for your application. Automation Direct seems to be a bit more expensive than they used to be...or maybe I'm just confusing my ebay price with regular price.


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## yardhauntjunkie (Feb 26, 2009)

I was wondering if you are going to go more in depth on how this unit is programmed. Great work by the way.


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## eanderso13 (Mar 31, 2009)

Yeah, I can do that. I'll get a screenshot of my program and go more in-depth about how each element in the program works. Thanks for the compliments!


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## eanderso13 (Mar 31, 2009)

Ok, here's my ladder logic program:








How this works is we assume the vertical line to the left is "power" and the one to the right is the "load". To turn something on (get power to the load) we need the rung of the ladder program to be "True". This type of programming is a holdover form the days of using relays to control automated assembly line systems. Its full name is "Relay Ladder Logic".

Some of the elements in the program:









The "NC Switch" is "Normally Closed", "NO Switch" is "Normally Open"...I'll assume that everyone knows what that means for now. The "coil" refers to a virtual relay coil, within the system. Turning one of these ON will allow you to use that "ON" state to control other elements in the program.

So basically, on the D0-05, X represents a physical input on the PLC, and Y represents a physical output. These conventions will be different on different brands of PLCs. All other letter designations are "virtual"...or contained only in the software.

So for the first rung, that is saying "If there is no Input on X0, then the switch is closed". This makes the rung True, thereby turning ON the output coil C0. This rung puts the program into a continuous loop. It will always retrigger itself without any external input.

In rung 2 you start with a NO Switch, with the same name as the output coil from rung 1. This means that when the output coil C0 is active, then this switch is closed (or active, true, whatever you want to call it). C0 leads to a NC closed switch which is tied to an output coil called C7. What this does is de-energize the rung and reset the time (TMR) in rung 2 when C7 is turned ON (in rung 11).

I'll continue with the TMR dicussion in another post.


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## eanderso13 (Mar 31, 2009)

Ok. Here's the program again:










We're on rung 2 at the Timer (TMR). this particular timer counts in tenth of a second increments. The value of the timer can be accessed directly with the "K" value. So a timer value of 100 is 10 seconds. Within the timer, you can set "K" to be the starting value. For this instance we want it to start at 0.

So, thus far we have X0 automatically ON, which turns on C0, which activates C0 on rung 2, which starts the timer T0. Rung 3 has a conditional switch tied to the timer. It says, "when the timer T0 value (TA0) is equal to or greater than 50 (5 seconds) turn the switch ON". This activates the output coil C1.

Now remember, the output coils are virtual and do not actually exist. We need to tie the logic of an active output coil to a physical output to get real results. So rung 4 does this by saying "When output coil C1 is active, close the switch C1, and activate physical output Y0". Once again, the NC switch C6 is there so we can turn this rung, and output Y0, OFF later on.

So here is the logic of the overall program:
-Program starts->C0 activates->T0 activates and starts counting up from 0.
-After 5 seconds, C1 activates, which turns on Y0->solenoid to open mausoleum doors is activated.
-After another 5 seconds (10 seconds total), C2 activates, which turns on Y1->solenoid to raise Nosferatu is activated.
-After 5 more seconds (15 seconds total), C3 activates, which turns on Y2->solenoid to move Nosferatu's arms is activated.
-After another 5 seconds (20 seconds total), C4 is activated, which activates the normally closed switch C4 in rung 8->rung is no longer "true"->Y2 deactivates->Nosferatu's arms drop.
-After 3 more seconds, C5 is activated, which activates the normally closed switch C5 in rung 6->rung is no longer "true"->Y1 deactivates->Nosferatu lays back down.
-After 7 more seconds, C6 and C7 are activated, which activates the normally closed switch C6 in rung 4 and C7 in rung 2->rungs are no longer "true"->Y0 deactivates->Mausoleum doors close and the Timer resets to 0.

The (end) command in rung 12 resets the program back to the beginning, where it is automatically triggered again and the whole sequence starts over.


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