Project 035 – Fun Stuff

Helping create a steampunk doorbell

Many years ago a friend and colleague of mine asked me to help him with a hobby project.

He used to work in a store for musical instruments. In the back room of this store there was a small and very old pipe organ. The wood had decayed (woodworm) and the mechanics had withered. There was no sense in saving the organ because of the costs for restoration. Only the organ pipes were still in good condition.

My friend asked if he could have the organ pipes, so he might someday use them in a hobby project. The store manager agreed, happy to get rid of the old organ.

Many years later we would meet and he wanted to start his project with these organ pipes. They were going to be his new doorbell. And they were to play the 'cuckoo' theme from the classic Laurel and Hardy television series.

So he collected some air valves, air hoses and an old refrigerator compressor. He was proficient in electronics and PCB design but needed someone who could program a microcontroller. When a visitor would press his doorbell, the microcontroller was to start the compressor and then drive the different air valves in the right sequence.

I was glad to help him with the microcontroller part. I wrote some embedded software for the microcontroller and some PC-software to convert the 'Cuckoo' musical MIDI file into the right microcontroller instructions.

Then he put everything together: the compressor in his meter cupboard and the valves and electronics in a nicely painted PCB tube in his living room. And the organ pipes on top.

The youth in his neighborhood had great fun in continuously ringing his doorbell (so he just invited them in so they could have a look).