[T-Man]

The next step is making a LED Flash. After checking some sources and trial runs. I can get a LED to flash slow enough and not look like a Xmas tree. This one flashes at 41 per minute. By swapping the 100K with 220K and swapping the 10k with 2.2K. I got 19 flashes per minute.
I used a 9 volt power supply for now, to keep it portable.

The LED is a 5mm red in line with a 470 ohm resistor. Connected to #3 and and #4 which is positive.

The 555 timer has 8 pins. 1 is negative and 8 is positive. Notice the connections from 8 to 4 and 6 to 2.

100k is connected from 2 to 7, and the the 10k is connected from 7 to 8.

The capacitor is a 10 micro farad (uf) connected to 1 and 2 . The black stripe is the negative side of the capacitor.
All these parts are available at Radio Shack.

Or you can buy one already completed but I had to know how to make one.

I'll have to edit this post a lot but I had to start somewhere.
Now, after this introduction I can go in three directions. Actually solder one on a board, use different lights and go tandem and use a different power supply more suitable to the hobby.

This is just a quick introduction. Buying parts can be intimidating to the :newbie:. Many times I have gone to Radio Shack and just looked into the drawer ,thinking I know what I want, and just give up. I will post the parts in the Technical section. Please post easy questions here.:laugh:

The breadboard has connected holes. abcde are connected and fghij.

 

[smokey]

Cool stuff, man :thumbsup: I've been following these LED posts here lately- good info.

Thanks for sharing :thumbsup:

 

[ntrainlover]

do you think of this stuff yourself jezz!

 

[T-Man]

My story

My recent passion for LEDS started with a friend who wanted lights on a HO Amtrack coach. I told him if he wanted to get fancy that the local hobby store had a flasher that was just a plug in. He got one and wanted it installed in an Amtrak Diesel Athern. Well the device was really simple so I studied it and actually made a copy. Last winter was reseach and development. I soon outgrew Rado shack piece by piece sales and bought lots. My desire is to build a Diesel horn Generator, next winter's project.Cost wise, it probably isn't efficient but now I can build 5 to 10 of the Horn units.It has been a lot of reading on my part. I bought all of the Peter Thorne Kalmbach books :appl: MY HERO!:thumbsup::thumbsup: ( Two Rail, he lives in the Toronto Area). Now, If I can find a ready made circuit I like, I can build it. The hardest part is chasing parts that quickly become obsolete.Cost, you have no idea until you get everthing, hence, the advantage to buying premade boards.
The first time I tried the flasher, it took two weeks to get it right.By looking at the chip I thought pins 3 and 4 were connected .They weren't and when I fixed it ,IT FLASHED!!!. So I have had some growing pains and the best medicine so far has been to share my experience.
By the way the Amtrack is another story. The 9 volt didn't fit and I had to build a power supply for it.
This is starting to get technical so I may move future post to the technical section.
Thanks!
Bob

 

[ntrainlover]

you do a great job at what u do I like circuts relays and leds but I dont have the knowledge about alot of it yet
heres an idea , could you design a circut where theres a daytime then a switch to another circut the a switch to night all timed and done automaticly yet can be switched off for layout settings? PM me if you are intrusted.

 

[T-Man]

Light sensitive Circuit

Most Light Circuits need a light overhead to operate and when the train passes it breaks the connection by shadow and sets off an action.

RR electronic books do have circuits so it has been done. You need to be more specific.

I personally like Reed switches They operate by a passing magnet attached to a car. I'll have to mail order some, I can't get them locally.

I haven't had sucess in relays . I tried to use a reed relay to operate a battery powered flasher in HO.I was using track power for the relay. It worked in Mockup but failed in practice.

Two rail curent flow does present a problem since the current is switched to reverse the motor.

 

[T-Man]

September

Look for an article on LEDs by Bob Nelson in Classic Toy Train Mag. It should be interesting he is an electrical engineer out of Austin Texas.:thumbsup: