Multiple Lights To Sound Controller

i am trying to do the same thing. you need a MOSFET transistor. you can get them from radio shack:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5fid=276-2072

one of thos can source 3 amps (with a heat sink), which should be enugh to drive 12 duel bulb CCFL inverters. i believe that it is the negitive output of the sunbeam that is switched - so if you hooked it directly to the gate of the MOSFET then the output would be inverterd. instead, you may need a small PNP transistor to invert the polarity before it gets to the MOSFET. in either case, the output will remain analouge (i dont think the sound activated part is analouge though) where as with a relay, it would be either on or off.

i dont understand what you meen by HDD option. care to explain?

went to the website - it comes with an adustable strobe... ST1 and ST2

I think you are right about it being the negative output that is switched.  If you could let me know (send a link) for the small PNP transistor that would be great.  As I said, I am a total newbie when it comes to this stuff.  The most detailed and simplified instructions would be greatly appreciated.  I am not too sure what you mean by analouge output.  Are you saying that the fading will still function properly with transistors, but not with a relay?

What I was planning to do with the HDD option was to hook it to a seperate controller that could send out variable on-off pulses.  It is my understanding that that is what the HDD does.  It is a 12 volt pulse, on when the HD is being used and off when it is not.  This way I could adjust the strobing speed independently.  The controller does have a strobe function as you mentioned, but it doesn;t work on single channels.  It strobes through every channel, and I wanted the ability to stobe one individually while having another stead on, lets say.  I hope that makes some sense.  Thank you for all your help thus far.

yeah analouge means that it varys continously, while digital can only be on or off. pulsing digital can look like a diffrent brightness, and this is called PWM

transistor is http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5fid=276-2023

the HDD on a computer responds to activity, it does not strobe randomly. each read/write flashes the light for a fraction of a second, so when you are reading/writing a lot of data, the light looks like it is blinking fast, but when there is low activity, it turns off or blinks occasionaly. i guess you could wire up a flasher to activate this input, but it seems like a roundabout way of doing things when there is already an osclator on the module.

Okay, so I understand the analogue thing now.  It seems you understand what I am trying to do here.  The one thing I noticed, is that the second link you sent me can only handle 600mA... if I am reading this correctly.  Will that still work?

I don't understand the last bit of your explaination.  The only reason why I wanted to add on a strobing option to each channel, is otherwise the HDD selection will be useless.  That and I would like to have the ability to change the strobe speeds and have one channel strobe while the other remains constant or is going to the music or something.  Who knows if I will ever end up using it that way, but I would like to be able to.  Do you know of anything I could purchase and plug in that would work in a smiliar 12V application?

the MOSFET still does the heavy lifting - the bipolor transistor just inverts the signal going to it, so it's current rating doesnt matter - the MOSFET will not draw any current (theoreticly) and in reality will draw less then .1ma

for the HDD thing, i think i understand. youll want (if you can make it to a radio shack) a flashing LED http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F006%5F002%5F000&product%5fid=276%2D036 and a 1k ohm pot. hook +12v to the LED thrugh the POT to control flashrate, then the - of the LED into the HDD input. easy enugh?

I can make it to a radioshack.  I actually have a couple really near by that I will go check out 2morow.  I am not too sure what the purpose of the flashing LED is... what makes it different than other normal LEDs?  And again... you are going to have to help me out with the POT.  What is it exactly... and what does it do?  (Again if you could send me a link it would be much appreciated.)  That way I can just go to the shack with the part numbers of everything I need.  I would imagine that I am going to need three of everything as far as the MOSFET and bipolor transistor go. 

the point of a flashing LED is that... well.. it flashes! there is a built in flasher that turns it on and off. it also acts like a voltage switch, when the LED is on there is + voltage across it, and when it is off there is an open circut. normal LEDs just light up constantly when you aply power. 

the POT varies the voltage that the flashing led flashes at, which changes its rate of flash. here is one:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F002%5F011%5F000&product%5fid=271%2D342