ok, this is my first time lighting a case, and here's what i'm thinking...

red sound-sensitive cathodes plus [insertsomethinghere] to provide a decent glow when the red sound-sensitive cathodes aren't flashing. i was originally going to go with UV cathodes, but they don't provide enough illumination considering that i don't have my case decked out with UV-reactive materials, nor do i have the money to do so. i'm a bit antsy about getting blue cathodes, because in some cases it seems like they are blindingly bright.

what do you think would get some nice illumination inside my case, but without illuminating the entire room? it needs to be dim enough that the red sound-sensitive cathodes will provide a dominating contrast when they go off.

thanks for your advice.

Quote: Originally Posted by beamerxl ok, this is my first time lighting a case, and here's what i'm thinking... red sound-sensitive cathodes plus [insertsomethinghere] to provide a decent glow when the red sound-sensitive cathodes aren't flashing. i was originally going to go with UV cathodes, but they don't provide enough illumination considering that i don't have my case decked out with UV-reactive materials, nor do i have the money to do so. i'm a bit antsy about getting blue cathodes, because in some cases it seems like they are blindingly bright. what do you think would get some nice illumination inside my case, but without illuminating the entire room? it needs to be dim enough that the red sound-sensitive cathodes will provide a dominating contrast when they go off. thanks for your advice.

I'd go with an array of non-super bright LEDs, should be simple enough to wire together. Otherwise, get a standard cathode and get a gel, or some mesh or something to put over it to dim the light.

I'd say a couple of red led fans and one or two super bright leds and yeah my blue cc were bright i taped um up some

Or get a short, 4 inch red cathode. Or hook two sensitive ones up and have another standard always on.

look at frozencpu and xoxide you'll find something

or svc, they have lots of lights

i think i'm going to go with a blue 4" cathode... so now my question is, will one 4" provide decent light in my system or should i get two?

The 4" cathodes are typically just as bright as the 12" ones.. just shorter in length.

If you want to go and get two, you could have more even lighting from it, but it's still going to be lit up, be it one or two.

I had a pair of blue 9" StreetGlow Thin Line neons (back in the day before cc's were cheap & common). They lit up pretty well without blinding you like blue cathodes.

Alternately, you might be able to run blue cathodes through a rheo (aka fan controller) and simply turn down the brightness. Or, get some window tint from an auto shop, cut to length, and wrap several times around each cathode (I'd leave the adhesive backing on and just use tape to hold it on, in case you want to remove it later).

By the way, red cathodes often look pink (regardless of the pictures posted on the web). You may want to get some red cellophane at a craft shop to wrap them in if they're too pink looking.

ok, one more stupid question...

if i buy this set of dual cathodes, i can separate the two tubes, right? in the pictures they are right next to each other, i just wanted to make sure i could put one on top of my window and one on bottom...

also, one sound-sensitive box can control both cathodes, correct?

Quote: Originally Posted by FunkyFresh I had a pair of blue 9" StreetGlow Thin Line neons (back in the day before cc's were cheap & common). They lit up pretty well without blinding you like blue cathodes. Alternately, you might be able to run blue cathodes through a rheo (aka fan controller) and simply turn down the brightness. Or, get some window tint from an auto shop, cut to length, and wrap several times around each cathode (I'd leave the adhesive backing on and just use tape to hold it on, in case you want to remove it later). By the way, red cathodes often look pink (regardless of the pictures posted on the web). You may want to get some red cellophane at a craft shop to wrap them in if they're too pink looking.

I agree on the celophane, but wiring cold cathodes to a rheostat isn't a good idea, i'm pretty sure this would fry the inverter. CCFL are made to run on one voltage (very high, which is why an inverter is needed), i'm pretty sure anything else wouldn't work. Just like how you cant have flourescent lights on a dimmer. Maybe an electrical pimp can explin this better if i'm even right...

Quote: Originally Posted by beamerxl if i buy this set of dual cathodes, i can separate the two tubes, right? in the pictures they are right next to each other, i just wanted to make sure i could put one on top of my window and one on bottom... also, one sound-sensitive box can control both cathodes, correct?

Correct. The power hooks up to the sound-sensitive module, which hooks to the inverter that goes to the two lights.

And yes, the lights themselves come on their own wires, so you should be able to place one above and one below your window. The wires are kinda short sometimes though... Anyway, this is what the whole package usually looks like.

Cyno01, I know you can run the lights on a lower voltage, but like you mention with fluorescents, the effect isn't entirely linear (maybe not enough to be a practical dimmer). If you steadily decrease the voltage, it'll dim to a point, then lose nearly all of its brightness as the "light beam" between cathode and anode is broken. Then as the voltage continues to decrease, the beam shortens until it's gone. Bit-Tech's Cathode Throbber and even the sound-sensitive modules work by varying the voltage sent to the inverter. You've got a good point; maybe I'll try out the rheo thing to see if it'd really work or not.

[QUOTE=FunkyFresh]And yes, the lights themselves come on their own wires, so you should be able to place one above and one below your window. The wires are kinda short sometimes though... QUOTE]

One thing to note -

As He started to hint to in the remainder of the post. CCFL are very sensitive to how much current they receive. If you attempt to mod the CCLF to extend the wires between the inverter and the bulbs, it can cause enough increased resistance to make the bulbs only partialy light up. Even knowing about this I still did it once and I only added about 10" to the wires