DIY gameshow buzzers ftw!

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By Collin Cunningham
Posted 2008/09/04 @ 2:23 pm
Category Fun & Games

Mike, aka Mrsuperpants, built this quiz buzzer system to use at a friend’s annual BBQ shindig. Built mostly from extra/scavenged parts, the setup sports light/sound indicators and some “sparkly holographic covering material” – sure to be a party favorite. – Quiz system

- Quiz system components on Flickr

In the Maker Shed

Gift Certificate

Getting Started with Raspberry Pi

Calculator Kit from Spikenzie Labs

Make: Getting Started with Soldering Kit

5 Responses to DIY gameshow buzzers ftw!

The Oracle on September 4th, 2008 at 4:01 pm said:

I’ve got to start documenting my projects.

I built a trivia buzzer using the 6 remote controls from the Hasbro game “Remote Possibilities”. I used an Arduino for the receiver and an RGB LED for the display so the LED lights up the colour of the remote that was pressed.

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Collin Cunningham on September 4th, 2008 at 4:08 pm said:

“I’ve got to start documenting my projects.”

- yeah, you do – sounds cool!

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anachrocomputer on September 5th, 2008 at 3:12 am said:

If you actually read right down to the bottom of that page, looking for the description of the circuit, you’ll find that it’s unfinished. There’s no relay logic in it to determine who buzzed first, just the buzzers and lights. Shame. Oh well, I have some ideas for making one of these gadgets with a few SCRs and no need for any relays. Will have to press on with that, and write it up!

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The Oracle on September 5th, 2008 at 4:03 am said:

It’s actually a very simple thing to build, I’m not sure what you mean by relay logic, maybe 1940′s computer technology?

Popular electronics had an article on this I built many years ago. They used a 8-bit latch; connect 8 buttons to the 8 inputs and some kind of SCR to hold it latched once triggered.

More recently, I’ve done it with PIC chips and now Arduino. It’s a very, very simple program, basically “monitor the pins, if something changes, latch it, light the correct output and make a noise, then wait for a button press”.

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- Dennis Nestor Jr (@drnjr31) on October 29th, 2012 at 2:11 pm said:
  
  Did you ever have time to document your Remote Possibilities Hack.
  
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