Greetings,
I'm not really an electronics hobbyist, but there are things I've always wanted to do. I'm getting old, and I figured I better start learning something now so I can do something interesting when I retire.
One thing I have always wanted to do is modify a Surefire pressure switch to a micro receiver and install it on a Surefire light so I can activate it from a few hundred feet away. The pressure switches are easily available, and the switch can be cut off, and the wires reinstalled into another device. I would like to use the Nikon remote control. It is very small, like a flash drive, although the range is only about 60 feet. Maybe there is a better one that some of you guys know about. This could be very useful when hiking/camping in the wilderness. Such a flashlight could be installed in a tree, or clamped to some other structure, and activated while I'm hiding in the dark elsewhere.
A more immediate interest for me though, is a timed switch that I can install in a 123A flashlight, in place of the tailcap. I have several such flashlights, and some home-builds. I want to drill a hole in a replacement tailcap for the human interface of the switch, and have the switch inside. I would like to be able to set the switch to 1 or 2 or 5 minutes or whatever. The purpose is to install the flashlight in a remote location, activate the timer, and have a few minutes to get to another location before it activates the light.
Such a switch would have to be about 15mm in diameter. If someone could direct me to a source of switches, I would really appreciate it. The more selection offered, the better. I might want a 25mm switch for D-cell flashlights.
I always hear of guys who take apart cameras, and other appliances to use the parts, but I've never done that. I wouldn't know how to find a device that would have what I want, or how to extract it, unless someone told me about it.
Thank you.