This has been blogged, here and here. I added a CdS photocell (resistor with a circle around it) to shut it off during daylight, thus conserving the AAA cell. I used a 100k resistor for the base bias, so it draws very low current from the cell. I can then call this a low power
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I found these at a Walmart store. They’re named Great Value and came in a package of four nightlights. As usual, curiosity made me open it up to see the circuit inside. I traced the circuit and drew a schematic of it. I was disappointed, but not surprised. The way the CdS photocell works is
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I went to Home Depot this weekend to buy some stuff to fix the leaky toilet, and I walked past the display for the new GE Bright Stik LED light bulbs. I was attracted to their shape and small size. They come packaged 3 to a box, and there were two types: bright white and
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I talked to a club member about LED lights and how much money they saved in electricity. But he said he stocked up on incandescent lights before they were banned so he could have them for his radio room. He has had problems with LED lights causing RF interference with his radios, so he went
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Quantsuff emailed us a link about a new material summarized at Newscientist.com. I have a few thoughts that I’d like to add. The stuff should be great for illumination. But I have doubts about its use for display purposes. Displays have millions of very small pixels. If one or a few get contaminated with dust
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I do exercise, but when I’m reading couch potato style, I like to have my LED lights with a switch close by. So I make up extension cords with a plug, switch and outlet socket. I also like to put the on/off switch where the AC power comes into the adapter because there will be
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I got another email from Designing With LEDs about removing the fluorescent lights from a bathroom and replacing them with Cree LED lights. The blog shows the charts from a spectrometer showing the difference between the fluo lights, which are deficient in the red, and the high CRI LED lights which have much better lighting
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QS sent this link to me about Osram’s smart LED light called Lightify. I went and browsed the shelves at Fry’s Electronics. They have the dimmer sockets and remotes on the shelf that use Sky Link.
I got some 1 watt LEDs from Goldmine Electronics for 5 for $10 (They were on sale when I bought them). These are LEDs that do not have a mounting bracket, but were made for surface mounting. I’m not sure if the case itself is supposed to be held to the PC board only by
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I have made an assortment of LED task lights that I’ve clipped onto places where I need a small, low power light, such as my keyboard, workbench and kitchen counter. They typically have 3 or 4 LEDs and run off an AC adapter of about 5 volts. I want to make a lamp with multiple
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