Electroluminescense

Supposing. Supposing, if you're really really hungry and has not eaten properly for a few days. And now, just in front of you, you're given the opportunity to have a nice little chocolate covered cheesecake. But there is a price which you cannot readily pay. You think you really need to eat the cake but in your heart, you know that you can still survive a few more days without it. Still, you want it because that place is so far away and to go back there, costs quite a bit. And moreover, that place is not easily........... there you go again, convincing yourself that the cake is delicious. But the actual truth is, you really do not need this cake right now. And you cannot pay for it too. But, oh, it feels so warm and soft and most in your hands..............

So, in the end, against all that your principles stood for, you went and bought that cake.

Yeah, that is how I felt. But with some projects running concurrently, this is usually where all my money went. Just this month, I have spent about RM98 just for some Luxeon LEDs, relays, etc. And now this. So, I have to clear my Credit Card soon. Or else I die.

And this is my cake: Electroluminescent Wire. In a simple term, it is a piece of paper which lights up when you apply voltage to it. That paper can be cut to shape, it can be bent and also have a very long operation life, provided you did not crumple or feed it with the wrong type of voltage. In the past few years, the flat media has evolved into what everyone terms it as "strings". And the EL glow is usually like a neon sans the fragile glass tubings, etc. So, with this technology, lighting up a model even with a cramped space is now possible. Also, it would save a lot of LEDs/Bulbs especially where a lot of lights are needed, such as small windows of the Titanic or the Enterprise starships. However, there is one big problem. Yes, in order to light up such a huge area, you would need a big inverter. Anyhow, this would/could be solved later once I have enough to make my own inverter using SMT inductors.

For that obscene amount of money, all it got me was a 3metre white

EL cable and an inverter which either lights up with sound or just on

Since I was so excited this morning, I forgot to bring my own
power supply, so I just plugged it into the car' 12volt supply
Admittedly, the inverter hums a lot and you can hear it. I
suspect it is because they use a cheaper transformer.
When unlit, it is pinkish red. The whole night, it was
turned on and lit in sync with the car's radio.
Yeah, my Beng-ness overcame my sanity

And when it is lit, it is while. The whole EL media is wrapped
into the plastic tubing. And it can be twisted (up to a certain
angle) with no problems. So, with this type of "flexible" neon
your lighting problems (usually for models) are solved

And so, you ask, HOW will I eat this cake? Stay tuned.