I am a real neophyte at this, so please excuse my ignorance.
I am trying to design a circuit to turn on a blinking LED when an IR Emitter-Detector beam is broken. The distance between the Emitter and Detector will be approximately 6 inches. It will be located such that shaded daylight will fall on them. The circuit I designed (Microsoft Visio) with parts specifications is attached. I would appreciate any comments regarding the circuit and/or its components.
Specifically, I would like someone who is much more knowledgeable regarding the math to validate, or correct, the resistor values I have.
Further, any thoughts on the life of the 3-AA battery pack that I propose to use. I think the IR Emitter-Detector will continuously draw some amount of current.
Thanks for the help and your insight.