Wiring Question for 445 Switch Tower

That's a great idea, I believe a relay with "NO" normally open and  "NC" normally closed contacts should work. If using a DC relay you'll need to install a bridge rectifier before it if using AC to power it.

@charles mcdaniel,

I’ve used bridge rectifiers on another project, but I’m a bit of a newbie on anything above resistors. Would you be able to point me to a DC relay for this?  Ideally I’d like to be able to hide it in the ground floor.

I got a circuit from GRJ a couple of weeks ago for my UPP2066 project using a relay, diode and a capacitor. Send me an email and I'll forward you his email. It has all the instructions and P/Ns for what you need. I got everything from Amazon.
I'd post it up, but I don't want to violate and site rules since it's not mine.

My email is in my profile.

@Jayhawk500,

Thanks, I've done that, but I had a different thought.  My plan was to activate the switch tower via a 153IR controller (which unfortunately appears to be lost in the USPS).  It seems that I could put the bottom lights and coil on the NO output, and the top lights on the NC output?  I do have a 153IR in use that I can pull and run a test.

@texgeekboy posted:

@charles mcdaniel,

I’ve used bridge rectifiers on another project, but I’m a bit of a newbie on anything above resistors. Would you be able to point me to a DC relay for this?  Ideally I’d like to be able to hide it in the ground floor.

These work well from Jameco Electronics. They are easy to configure, dc but you'll need to verify the dimensions and were less than $3.

Thanks again @Jayhawk500 and @charles mcdaniel.  When Charles mentioned the NC/NO bit, a little light came on in my head.  That is what the 153-IR controller could do.  My plan was to always use the 153 to control it anyway.  I took a 153 I had on my 'layout' (it's a stretch to call it that), and connected it up to my 445.  After playing around with the connections a bit, I got the following result which is exactly what I wanted.  Note that I had to add a piece of heavy construction paper to the ceiling on the ground floor to minimize light bleed between floors.

@texgeekboy posted:

Thanks again @Jayhawk500 and @charles mcdaniel.  When Charles mentioned the NC/NO bit, a little light came on in my head.  That is what the 153-IR controller could do.  My plan was to always use the 153 to control it anyway.  I took a 153 I had on my 'layout' (it's a stretch to call it that), and connected it up to my 445.  After playing around with the connections a bit, I got the following result which is exactly what I wanted.  Note that I had to add a piece of heavy construction paper to the ceiling on the ground floor to minimize light bleed between floors.

That's really cool! Glad it worked out for you. I think I'll do your retrofit on mine. Again I think it turned out great.