SiriusLab Electronics
SolarSounds User Guide v1.0
To properly understand the working principles of operation please carefully read
the user guide. If any problems should arise during use, please contact SiriusLab
Electronics.
This is a solar powered digital music instrument and as such has a solar panel that
generates electricity and a printed circuit board which has all electronic
components soldered to it. The light source necessary to operate the device
might come from the Sun or other forms of light like a light bulb or an LED light.
The device will work on low light levels, for example on an overcast day, but still
has limitations. There are no batteries in the device and no serviceable parts.
With proper care, the operational lifetime of the device is unlimited.
To use the device, orient the solar panel side of the device towards a light source.
The change of the pitch and notes is achieved by casting a partial shadow on the
solar panel or by limiting the amount of light hitting the solar panel by any other
means.
To operate the device it needs to be pointed towards a light source.
1. Basics
The device has two main modes of operation. One is called LINEAR and the other
is COMPLEX.
LINEAR mode makes the pitch linearly proportional to the amount of light
hitting the solar panel. That means that more light makes higher pitch sound and
less light produces lower frequency sound. The MUTE button can be used to
mute the speaker. The frequency starts at 278 Hz and ends at 3230 Hz.
COMPLEX mode plays a selection of discrete notes according to the amount of
light on a solar panel. The more light hits the solar panel, a higher note from the
selection is played and vice versa. The notes are sequentially changed according
to the amount of light hitting the solar panel.
The desired notes can be manually selected and the device comes
preprogrammed with the 12 most popular chords and the 12 most popular scales
in C.
List of the preprogrammed chords and scales can be found in the appendix.
The device is tuned to 440 Hz and all selected notes are translated to two octaves
even though there is only a single octave selection. Notes start from C6 and end
on B7.