Hello everybody,
This is my first post and hopefully will be the start of a good relationship with the board. I'm hoping that somebody here can help me, seeing as this looks like a relatively simple project.
I would like to build a flashing LED array. Basically when a switch is thrown, a series of, say, 20 LEDs will begin to flash on and off, all at once. The flash rate would be a constant, require no modulation, and be fairly fast(11-14hz). I am going to be dealing with high intensity infrared LEDs, so I figured I'll probably need some capacitors for a quick charge/discharge time. The whole system will run on a 12VDC, but it will be automobile so I'll need to have some kind of a resistor to keep the current flow smooth. I'm not a complete beginner, I do know my way aorund a soldering iron and can figure out a circuit diagram. If anybody can give me some help, I would really appreciate it.
Now here's the kicker to the whole shebang: I need to somehow be able to adjust the speed of the flashing LEDs fairly precisely(11-14hz) I'm talking maybe a 1hz -/+ room for error, and even that is undesirable. I need it to be exact as possible.
Here's what I thought I might need: LEDs, a timer chip(555?), capacitors, and resistors. I know that sounds pretty basic but I really have no idea how to go about this. Project summary: Array of 20 infrared LEDs that flash at a certain hertz when turned on, remain flashing constantly at that speed until turned off. Thats it.
Any help is greatly appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you all. Thanks again and have a good weekend.
--mindctrl
This is my first post and hopefully will be the start of a good relationship with the board. I'm hoping that somebody here can help me, seeing as this looks like a relatively simple project.
I would like to build a flashing LED array. Basically when a switch is thrown, a series of, say, 20 LEDs will begin to flash on and off, all at once. The flash rate would be a constant, require no modulation, and be fairly fast(11-14hz). I am going to be dealing with high intensity infrared LEDs, so I figured I'll probably need some capacitors for a quick charge/discharge time. The whole system will run on a 12VDC, but it will be automobile so I'll need to have some kind of a resistor to keep the current flow smooth. I'm not a complete beginner, I do know my way aorund a soldering iron and can figure out a circuit diagram. If anybody can give me some help, I would really appreciate it.
Now here's the kicker to the whole shebang: I need to somehow be able to adjust the speed of the flashing LEDs fairly precisely(11-14hz) I'm talking maybe a 1hz -/+ room for error, and even that is undesirable. I need it to be exact as possible.
Here's what I thought I might need: LEDs, a timer chip(555?), capacitors, and resistors. I know that sounds pretty basic but I really have no idea how to go about this. Project summary: Array of 20 infrared LEDs that flash at a certain hertz when turned on, remain flashing constantly at that speed until turned off. Thats it.
Any help is greatly appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you all. Thanks again and have a good weekend.
--mindctrl