Tutorial written by : mkollek
Last edited: September 28, 2003

See a video of the final products here

Here we go this is the long awaited tutorial. This is a quick story how I came up with the idea and why. Well I was looking to do something to my xbox that nobody has ever done before. So I started to brainstorm and I don’t know from where but it came to me. What if I can get the lights to turn on, on the xbox when it gets dark, And so this started the tedious task or making this work. It took many weeks but finally… here it is.

Here is how to make you xbox cathode, LED’s, or just about anything turn on when it gets dark.

First you must get all the right parts. I got all the parts I needed for two sets (my kit and friends kit) and it cost me 23$ or something close to it. So figure ~$12 for each set.

The parts needed are: (Radio Shack part numbers in parenthesis-If you aren’t buying from Radio Shack e-mail me about the exact parts you will need)
1-5v reed relay (275-232)
1-CdS cell [Cadmium-Sulfide Photocells] (276-1657) <-pack of 5
1-NPN transistor (276-2016)
1-Micro 10K Potentiometer (271-282)
1-PC board (Radio Shack has a pack of two small PC boards.. that’s what I used)
1-Mini Center-Off Toggle Switch (275-664)
WIRE (and lots of it… not too thick but not too thin)

Plus your tools:
-Soldering iron (15-30W)
-Solder
-FLUX is a must (It will make your life much easier while soldering onto the PC board)
-MULTI METER kind of important. If you are doing this mod you should probably have one.
-wire strippers (optional, I used my teeth and a knife : ) )

Before I go any further read the following.

WARNING: This is not a mod for newbie’s to soldering and/or electricity and/or the xbox. Anybody that has next to none or none experience with soldering stay away. This mod can seriously damage your xbox and/or yourself!!! So, if you mess up yourself or your xbox don’t blame me. I gave you an ample warning.

Ok so here is the deal After you have all the parts and tools its time to get down to business.

1. First off, make a nice working are for yourself. Plug in you soldering iron and let it heat up. When its heating up take another look at my schematic and arrange your parts out in front of you. I would suggest printing the schematic to make it easier for yourself.

2. Now with the schematic in hand begin to solder away….. and please no ouches or crying :-D and
IMPORTANT- TAKE YOUR TIME. It took me about 45-60 mins to do it. Trust me you don’t want to do it twice. (I did it more than twice since I had to come up with a way of doing it first)

Are you done yet? Didn’t think so………………..

Ok, did I give you enough time? I think I did… Here is what mine looked like… the transistor its behind the red wire if you cant see it. If you don’t have enough patience to do it like I did then you might have to find a different way of connecting everything)

3. So now you have everything wired up on the pc board correct? - Ok no what you must do is go back check it again and again. < -----IMPORTANT. If you don’t know how to check it read on… if you checked it yourself and it works go to part 4.

ok here is how to check it. Get a power supply that has about 5 volt output (that’s about three AA batteries). IF you have no way of connecting these batteries or getting any power supply than you will have to try with the xbox power supply. I do not suggest trying this tho. So please try to find a power supply of 5 volts. ( Still cant find 5v? ok just use the xbox power you will have to hook it up there later anyway. GO TO 3(b) )

3(a) OK for now lets say you got a 5v supply. Put it into the circuit where it is drawn

Than clip on the meter onto the ends of the relay (set the meter to measure resistance) and make sure that the switch is set in the auto position

Now in bright light turn the potentiometer so that the resistance on the meter will lower significantly (near zero resistance will be left). Once that happened turn the potentiometer in opposite direction so that the resistance jumps. As soon as it does, stop turning the potentiometer. Now with your hand, cover the CdS cell. Did the resistance drop? IF it did GOOD Go on to step 4. If not you must have some wires touching somewhere or a wrong connection. Go back over it and fix it. If you can not find it than I suggest desoldering everything and doing it over. When you get it fixed also proceed to step 4.

3(b) No power supply? The red wire on the main power supply plug on the mobo has 5v vcc. It is red and any black wire is ground on that same plug. (But you knew that already right? Good!) . So IF THIS IS THE LAST RESORT do connect the power from the xbox to the circuit…

Now go to 3(a) above and follow those instructions.

4 OK you checked it right? IT works? YEAY!!

Cool since you are here everything works. Very nice, I am impressed. Now as in step 3b we will use the red and black wire from the main power supply on the mobo to be the 5v supply for our built circuit.

I will not tell you in which way to connect these wires. There are many ways people do it. Some attach it to the plug itself but I stripped a part of the wire and soldered in my wire. Than taped it off and that part is done. (look above)

5. Next is connecting the cathode, LED’s, whatever (as long as its electrical parameters agree with the parameters that the relay can handle.
Like So… ( If using a cathode remember that this connection must be done before the inverter do not touch the wires that go to the cathode. The wires before the inverter are black and red NOT white. )

If you are connecting the LED’s you have under the jewel instead of the cathode it should be wired in the same way as the cathode. I didn’t try it but I’m sure you guys can figure it out.

6. Did you connect everything? Check your circuit one more time. Tape up all the connections so we get no mess-ups : )

Everything taped up? Everything done? Well let it rip. Check if everything works fine with the xbox running before putting it into the xbox fully. It works ? AWSOME. (No ? go back over to step 3(a) )

!!!!At this point You can tweak the sensitivity of the system. Actually you must, because if you used an external 5v supply it may react differently to this 5v supply. By tweaking I mean turning the potentiometer to tell the system what conditions mean - turn on the light. This can be tricky at times so take your time!!!!!
( It is described in fully in step 3(a) on how to tweak it )

Everything is set? Very cool. Now stuff all of this back in.. BUT BE CAREFULL YOU DO NOT WANT TO BEND, STRECH, PULL OR DO ANYTHING VIOLENT to this setup. I guarantee that if you do it violently and not gently than your setup will be screwed. Carefully put it behind the DVD tray. Now remember the step where you were supposed to tape off this setup? Good that you did it because if you didn’t and put it back there.. the metal case shielding will mess up the electron flow, and possibly mess up the xbox and electrocute you. So again make sure u have a nice amount of tape on there.

Final product…

Well that concludes our tutorial for today. I tried to make it as enjoyable as possible and as detailed as possible. With this mod patience is the biggest need, just because this mod CAN be a big old pain in the ass. But even though it can give you a lot of trouble This mod is the best mod I have ever done or seen.

Boys and girls always remember safety is first, not second. So please exercise caution.

If there are any problems, errors, comments or just simply questions you can IM me on AIM @ mkollek (online 24/7 almost) there you can leave your message. If it requires my response leave your e-mail there or I can just respond by AIM if I am there.
You also can e-mail me @ mkollek@yahoo.com and in the subject line please put “MOD” so my filter can put it in the urgent folder.

Look for more of my work to come and my older tutorial on controller port LED’s.

Its been fun. Until next time… HAPPY MODDING!! EnJoY!!