My First Circuit: a Blinking LED
by DragonDon in Circuits > Electronics
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My First Circuit: a Blinking LED
I am really thankful for Instructables and JameCo for the opportunity to learn an be part of such an awesome community!
When I received my bag of goodies, I had no idea what to do with them. I did know that LEDs would be involved add there were quite a few of them. I also learned a little bit about the 555 timer, so I went on a hunt to find simple circuits I could build both with and without the 555 timer. These three instructables were incredibly enlightening and only served to make me wasn't to learn more!
For Mt first one, I did s nice and simple blinking LED and it all started with a breadboard and a 555 timer
When I received my bag of goodies, I had no idea what to do with them. I did know that LEDs would be involved add there were quite a few of them. I also learned a little bit about the 555 timer, so I went on a hunt to find simple circuits I could build both with and without the 555 timer. These three instructables were incredibly enlightening and only served to make me wasn't to learn more!
For Mt first one, I did s nice and simple blinking LED and it all started with a breadboard and a 555 timer
The Parts
I found this nice and simple video on a blinking circuit. Here is a screen capture of the diagram and parts list.
First Step, Jumper 1
Place a jumper from pin 2 to pin 6.
First Resistor
Place a 33K resistor from pin 2 to pin 7.
Second Resistor
Place a 100K resistor from pin 7 to + power
Add in the Capacitor
Add the capacitor from pin 2 to - ground.
The instructions called for a 10uF capacitor. Best I could do was find a 33uF. The only difference is the speed at which the LED blinks. If you want to see the blinks, don't do much higher than this as the rate slows down quite a bit at 2300uFs :D
The instructions called for a 10uF capacitor. Best I could do was find a 33uF. The only difference is the speed at which the LED blinks. If you want to see the blinks, don't do much higher than this as the rate slows down quite a bit at 2300uFs :D
Add the LED
Add the LED from pin 3 to any open line. More connections to be added to this.
Resistor #3
Add a 1K Resistor from the LED to the ground.
Jumper #2
Huh, I just realized that I have no idea why I added this jumper. It doens't connect to anything. I'll just chalk this up to simple mis-reading of the diagram that luckily, didn;t blow anything up :)
Jumper #2 (for Real This Time)
Add a jumper from pin 1 to ground.
Jumper #3
Add a jumper from pin 8 to + power
Adding Power, Almost
I'm not sure why the Positive line is added first from the 9V battery but I decided to follow the instructions verbatum. In my automotive days, I always ha the ground hooked up first, just in case something connected and the power had some place to go. Someone will hopefully comment on this.
Power!
And now we all connected! Ain't she a beaut! Uhh....hmmm....maybe this Red LED ain't so bright on camera....hang on.
Let's Try This
Swapped in a white LED that I got a few years back but never did much with them.
Another Angle of the Setup
Looks about right, save that random jumper.
Ah HA!
Success! We have light!
And video to prove it works too. yay!
(In case the vid doesn't work, you can see it here http://youtu.be/fC82ExxCrSE)
Thank you Instructables and JameCo(http://jameco.com/)!
And video to prove it works too. yay!
(In case the vid doesn't work, you can see it here http://youtu.be/fC82ExxCrSE)
Thank you Instructables and JameCo(http://jameco.com/)!
Video
Here is the video of the working circuit. Nothing blew up :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC82ExxCrSE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC82ExxCrSE&feature=youtube_gdata_player