David Holland 2 Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Morning Gents, hope you all had a great Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours. I am close to completing an Airsail Chipmunk, lovely kit and a pleasure to build, and think I would like to add working navigation and landing lights and a simulated rotating, anti-collision beacon. Nav and landing lights are no problem but I can't find a flashing LED with a slow enough blink rate to look realistic. The best I can find is 2.4Hz and I really want 1Hz at the most. Can any of the electronic gurus out there suggest a SIMPLE circuit that would give me the flash rate I need, preferably working from the 5.5v BEC output? Many thanks in advance, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Have a look here. **LINK** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holland 2 Posted December 29, 2018 Author Share Posted December 29, 2018 Thanks, C8, that looks straightforward. Would you know if I would need to change any component values to work at a lower voltage, 5.5v as opposed to the 9v specified on the circuit diagram? What a shame Maplins is no moore, I could have nipped down there and picked up the necessary to experiment. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis Watkins Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Cubans circuits are perfect for your project David Easy to build and will show you a way into understanding electrics The 555 chip does the hard work for you and C1 and R1, can be altered to change the flash rate of other projects Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian101 Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Try one of these. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pffV-eWw_Nk I removed the LED and run 3 smaller ones off one unit. Cheap and effective. I will upload a video onto youtube and put a link on later. Edited By Ian101 on 29/12/2018 12:03:12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryorbik Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 David, Have a look at E Bay, item number 122976395367 which is for two 1 Hz flasher IC's which need no external components and all for £2.09 inc p&p. Barry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis Watkins Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Low voltage is always problematic in practical electronics David. We need some voltage to drive the circuit, to maintain it, then some to make light. In the the 1st circuit alone, we need 1.6v just to flick the transistors on and off, then 2v for light. Most chips need 5v just to operate, without the volts needed to then work light or relay So your 555 needs 5v of your your 5.5v, so not much left to do work Consider ramping up your supply, a 9v PP9 battery will operate those for some hours Edited By Denis Watkins on 29/12/2018 12:13:04 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian101 Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 As promised:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECE0QitEe0Q&feature=youtu.be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hess Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Ready made solution **LINK** Theory. Note that the resistors are labelled differently to above: **LINK** This will work down to receiver battery voltage. In the second link, I'd use a 100K preset pot instead of R2 to be able to adjust the frequency and a 1K preset for R3 to adjust the brightness. Bear in mind the 200mA limit for all the LEDs on the output. A single 5mm ultrabright LED takes around 20 mA. If you shop around you can find flashing LEDs that work directly from a battery, like these: https://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/products/slow-flash-led I used a red one on my boat when I was living on it so that it looked like there was an alarm, but all it was was a 12v flashing LED with a switch on it. The boat was in a dodgy area with no security and it never got broken into, so it worked. Edited By Dave Hess on 29/12/2018 16:07:00 Edited By Dave Hess on 29/12/2018 16:13:11 Edited By Dave Hess on 29/12/2018 16:15:59 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holland 2 Posted December 29, 2018 Author Share Posted December 29, 2018 I knew the answer would be instantly forthcoming, thanks for the suggestions. I have googled electronic components are they really are cheap as chips and I quite fancy trying one or more of the circuits suggested. I assume I can use that pre-drilled circuit board (can't remember what it's called, Ive got "veroboard" circling behind my eyeballs but I might have made that up). Thanks again for all your help, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis Watkins Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 To try your components, treat yourself to a breadboard, with multiuser holes And yes, VeroBoard for soldering up your circuit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Privett Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Posted by David Holland 2 on 29/12/2018 22:07:46: ...Ive got "veroboard" circling behind my eyeballs but I might have made that up). No - you didn't make it up! Veroboard is certainly what I used in the past when I dabbled with a few electronics bits 'n' pieces. I don't know if it's still around, I haven't done much in recent years. That simulated rotating beacon on the Strobon V2 certainly looks convincing. I did something similar (at probably double the cost and weight!) as an experiment a while back with an Arduino. I never installed it in anything - it was really just an excuse to get an Arduino and have a play! The rotating beacon effect was very similar. I suspect the details (exact Arduino board, code etc) may be on this forum somewhere. [EDIT] Yep - there's more than I thought! The thread about nav lights and Arduinos from a bit over 2 years ago is here. Edited By John Privett on 30/12/2018 18:33:06 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Rotating Beacon.... here Edited By cymaz on 30/12/2018 18:50:18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hess Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 If you want to do something more complicated, try a Genie board. These things were designed for young schoolkids to program for their projects. Their advantage is that the programming is done by very simple block diagrams. The software is a free download from the Genie website. You also need to buy the programming cable, which is about a tenner. These things are an excellent introduction to PLC programming. The genie board will run from your receiver battery. You can flash things in whatever sequence you want, and you can PWM one of the outputs to adjust the brightness. **LINK** **LINK** **LINK** **LINK** Edited By Dave Hess on 30/12/2018 19:00:37 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben B Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 What frequency do automotive indicators flash at? You can get LED versions of those that will flash at any wattage any ones that will do 6v which I suspect is close enough to 5.5 to work.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben B Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 sorry- should have said- I was imagining the LED flasher relay being used- probably in a decased direct soldered situation.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis Watkins Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 4v to 15v Flasher Kit os-none:dev-t&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl43AlsTy3wIVBGMVCB3BxQfWEAEYASACEgLVvPD_BwE">https://www.rapidonline.com/Piggyaxe-555-Flasher-Kit-70-1051?IncVat=1&pdg=aud-312640626653:cmp-831354174:adg-42148673706:crv-244928515857os-none:dev-t&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl43AlsTy3wIVBGMVCB3BxQfWEAEYASACEgLVvPD_BwE Edited By Denis Watkins on 16/01/2019 14:49:44 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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