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An Engineer in Wonderland - Two leds for one

circuit.JPGThat push button bistable I have still yet to get going is part of an attempt to replace an led in an existing lamp with a choice of two.

I thought I would reveal the rest of my circuit for scrutiny.  

The idea is that the whole circuit connects directly into the lamp instead of the existing led, stealing a few microamps to run itself.

The pairs of diodes ensure that there is always a load on the power source, which is a dc-dc converter, even during switching.

I tried just one diode, but the Cree leds I am using seem quite happy to produce a significant amount of light, even with only 2.5V across them.

The two diodes cut this to about 2.2V when the active led is dropping 3V, leaving only a faint glow from the nominally 'off' one.

'Alice'

Respond below, or to alice@electronicsweekly.

 


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Comments (4)

Mike Meakin:

How do I post a picture in a comment ? I have a nifty little circuit as an alternative to the 74HC74

'Alice':

Sorry, what ever we try, the comments on Movable Type seem to be picture-proof.

I am most interested in this - I once made one with NOR gates in a ring but, although it worked, I was never quite sure how.

You can email it to alice@electroncsweekly.com and I can stick it up in a new posting, or add it to this one.

'Alice'

Stuart:

Will not a switch alone suffice?

2 LEDS, to 2 poles of a toggle switch.
Position 1 connect LED 1, position 2 the other LED.


'Alice':

Thanks Stuart.

I did think about a toggle switch, what stopped me was that there was only a tiny place to mount the switch, and it had to be glove-friendly.

As well as that, the control had to be at the end of some wires and I worried about RFI because the supply to the leds is noisy.

'Alice'

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on January 25, 2010 8:22 AM.

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