*?* Mystery Box *?*

[PHOBoS]

I am looking through some circuits I built over the years that never got put in an enclosure with the idea to put them all in one box.
Along the way I got the idea for a mystery box, which this probably isn't going to be. Some of you probably already built mystery
boxes but here's the idea.

Inside the mystery box are a couple of simple lunetta circuits, wich have all the in/outputs wired to a panel, but they are placed at
random and without any labels. You can make them with varying difficulty levels:

EASY : inputs and outputs have different connectors (colors), outputs have LEDs, in/outs are placed random.
NORMAL: inputs and outputs have the same connectors, (some) outputs have LEDs but placed at random, in/outs are placed random.
HARD : inputs and outputs have the same connectors, no LEDs (or not hardwired), in/outs are placed random.
GOD : a mystery box built by someone else

And of course the more circuits and in/output are added the bigger the mystery.


The circuits would all be digital without pots or switches except for some oscillators.

some examples of circuits that could be used are:
* varies gates (NOT/AND/XOR)
* counter/divider (binary/decimal/7-segment)
* adder
* multiplexer
* shift register
* linear feedback shift register
* 4017/4051 melody generator (or XL)

some examples for oscillators are:
* standard schmitt trigger oscillator
* NAND gate oscillator (or NANDulator)
* inverter oscillator (+ divider = CD4060)

some other things that could be added are:
* switches to patch between points
* buffered LEDs (some sort of LED ornament would be nice)
* V+ outputs maybe with a small resistor

all inputs have pulldown resistors and inverters where needed.
all outputs are protected with a 1K resistor and a diode.

For the main output you could make a simple mixer with resistors/potentiometers or even diodes. You could place the inputs at
random too but I don' t think that would be very useful.

Of course if you built yourself a mystery box it isn't much of a mysery if you know how it is wired it up. To prevent this I would
suggest adding wires to all the ciruits using the same color (don't forget to test them!). Then cover the circuits with a piece of
cardboard/wood or whatever which has 1 hole in it through which you thread all the wires (maybe cut them at the same length too).
Place the connectors of your choice at random on the panel(s) and then connect all the wires to them.

To play it you just start patching and listen to what the box reveals. I think one of the fun things about a mystery box is that it
prevents you from thinking too much while patching with hopefully some unusual results. After playing with it for a while you will
probably figure some things out though and it becomes less of a mystery. If that happens you could just make another mystery box
and play with both of them.

[AlanP]

My OCD is strong enough that I can see me throwing a wobbly when confronted with a mystery box, or at least forcing them to help me create a cheatsheet.

I hope you have fun with it, though