DISCLAIMER - I copied these directions and believe the device constructed in the way described to be safe, but I'm no electrician. I'm not responsible if it burns down your house, shocks you, kills small animals. If you are not an electrician, I suggest you find one and use his/her services. You may even find some questions are asked and a learning conversation can take place. If you do decide to attempt this construction on your own, please test first and use the first few times with someone watching over you for any problems.
HOW TO BUILD THE DREAM LIGHT GOGGLES
PARTS:
1. AC powered LED Alarm clock with at least a 9 minute snooze function. Any small LED clock would probably work as long as the voltage to the speaker is not too high. The speaker voltage on one like the Spartus is about 7 volts DC.
2. Swimming goggles. The main thing is to find a pair that is fairly comfortable. You can get cheap ones, but it might be worth it to get a pair you can actually sleep with.
3. Two Radio Shack Red High-Brightness Jumbo Blinking Light- Emitting Diodes Catalog No. 276-020.
4. One Low-Current Red LED (Light Emitting Diode).
5. About 6 feet of speaker wire.
6. One toggle switch. This should be a 3 pole, 2 position switch.
ASSEMBLY
STEP ONE:
Using a tapered steel centerpunch, or some other suitable device burn a hole in the center of each plastic lens of the swim goggles. A tapered punch works well. Use a torch to heat it up, it doesn't have to be red hot (if you make it red hot you will take the temper out of the punch).
Then burn a hole in the lens until it is just the right size to snugly fit the Jumbo Blinking Diodes. The diodes are tapered and you don't want them to fit all the way into the goggles or they might touch your eyelids. Once you've done this put the goggles aside until you wire up the diodes.
STEP TWO:
STEP THREE
Cut the positive wire leading from the circuit board of the clock to the speaker. Use a voltmeter to tell which one is positive. It's not necessarily the red wire. Could just as easily be the black one.
It really doesn't matter if you use the negative instead of the positive, except that the diodes are directional, they have a positive and negative pole and so will only work in one way. The way of these directions is assuming you are using the positive side.
Be sure you cut the speaker wire in a place that you can get the solder leads to it. Now solder the positive speaker wire you just cut coming from the circuit board to the middle pole of the toggle switch.
Now take the small red LED and solder the long lead of the diode (Pos. side) to one of the outside poles of the toggle switch. You will find that there is a residual voltage in the speaker circuit even when the alarm is not active, and this is enough to cause the diodes in the goggles to emit a small amount of light even when the circuit is not active. You can try resisters but you will find that putting this red LED in the circuit works the best to prevent this. For this reason this LED can be inside the clock box, just make sure it doesn't short against anything.
Next solder one end of one wire in the two wire speaker cable to the other lead of the red LED (the short one). Most speaker cable has a way to identify one wire from the other. Some have a white line on one wire, or one wire may be brass and other silver. It's best to use the wire with the marking so that you know that it is the positive side. The length of the wire is to determine how far you want to be from the clock when you're sleeping. 6ft should be plenty.
Now take the other end of the positive speaker wire and solder it to the long (pos) lead of the first Jumbo Blinking LED. Then take a short piece of speaker wire and solder it from the short lead of the first Jumbo LED to the long lead of the second Jumbo LED. Be sure you make this jumper wire the right length so that the two LEDs are spaced the proper distance apart to fit in the goggles.
Next take the goggles end of the other speaker wire (neg. side) and solder it to the short lead of the second Jumbo LED. Take the clock end of that same wire and splice it into the negitive speaker wire. This makes a complete circuit from the positive side of the circuit board, through the toggle switch, through the lights in the goggles and back to the negative speaker wire leading to the circuit board. This means that when the switch closes this circuit the lights will come on every time the clock sends an alarm pulse to the speaker.
Now you must conect the other side of the speaker wire you cut (the speaker side) to the other outside pole of the toggle switch. You will probably have to solder in a jumper wire to do this. This completes the speaker circuit so that when the switch is set to speaker, the speaker sounds when the alarm turns on. Be sure you insulate all your exposed conections.
Now burn a notch in the back panel of the clock for the goggles wire to pass through and put a knot in the wire just inside the box so that it can't be pulled out. Now put the clock back together.
The last thing to do now is to put the Jumbo LEDs into the holes in the goggle lenses. Use a black tape to tape them into place and block out light into the goggles from outside. Insulate all the exposed leads of the LEDs. Run the wire from the LEDs along the goggle strap and tape them to the strap so that the wires exit the goggles from the strap at the back of the head. Leave enough slack to allow for stretching of the strap.
Well, now you're ready. Good luck, and please let me know the names and numbers of the electricians you may find so I may include that information here to pass on to others interested in this construction.
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