Connection indicator

[Rizomorph]

Hi Iam building a big patchbay/Bendingstation and iam going to have like mabey 30-40 jacks.
I want to have an led on teh side of every jack and i want the led's to light up if theres a circuit connected to that jack because iam going to use it with several diffrent toys that ive wierd up with it. can anyone help me how to do this? and how do i do this without weakening the streght of the jacks output?

[Circuitbenders]

You could use DPDT switching jack sockets which have internal switches that are isolated from the jack itself but close or open their contacts automatically when you stick a jack in the socket. They are a bit tricky to get hold of and not cheap but i'm sure you could find them somewhere as they are commonly used on guitar cabs and amps.

If you wired the LED's on/off switching using the switching poles of the socket not connected to the jack, then you can turn them on or off by plugging in a jack.

Thats a really good idea, but i wouldn't like to undertake the wiring of that patchbay 

[Rizomorph]

thx for the reply

Ill just post a pic so Iam sure you get what i mean



I dont what the led's to light up when i stick a plug in the sockets but i want them to show if they are connected to a circuit on the toy or not. cause i will use it for a lot of toys and some of them may not have so many bends and it will look so much nicer if you can se witch sockets that has any connection to the toy iam going to use a D-sub contact witch connects to the sockets;) I dont want to tell anyone exactly what iam going to do yet cause i want to share it with you all when Ive finished building it;) damn the patch sockets are going to be expensive liek at leats 40£

[Circuitbenders]

I can't really think of a way of doing that.

If every toy had the same voltage or signal at every connection then maybe you could put something together but every toy or machine you connect to it will be different.

[nochtanseenspecht]

or maybe something with a relais ? can't figure exactly how tough

[Gordonjcp]

If you're only ever going to use mono plugs, you can try using stereo sockets.  Have a look at the schematics for stomp boxes to see how a stereo jack is used to cut the power to the pedal when the plug is removed.