"Strobe effect" from a 4060 timer

Trekmanscott · Post by **Trekmanscott** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 8:00 am

Hi all. I have read Zog's article on using 4060 chips to flash leds several times. I finally took the plunge and bought the components to make some of these for use in my starships. I can get the steady on off blink rate for position lights no problem. What I need help with is how to get the rapid pulse or strobe of the navigation lights. Does anyone know how I can accomplish this?

brt · Post by **brt** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 9:41 am

I have been able to get the strobe effect by using a 1N4148 signal diode with a 555 timer. I plan to use a 556 timer so I can have the steady nav lights on one half and the strobes on the other.

I used the following link successfully for the 555 timer strobes and the navs on my breadboard.

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/555timer.htm

Scroll down to the Duty Cycle header for diagrams etc.

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 2:44 pm

http://www.kc6sye.com/techmages_11_10_06.html

I can provide some more info on this if you like, like which of Zog's circuits I used, but basically it is the 4060. The outputs go to a pin header since you mix and match till you get an approximate flash rate that you want.

en'til Zog · Post by **en'til Zog** » Thu Nov 24, 2011 12:25 am

Tanks, Sparky! Looks good.

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Thu Nov 24, 2011 11:20 am

also note the dual pin headers i used, the row that appears unused is a common ground connection. Using this would yield the simplest FX lighting option. It would light for whatever the clock period is then be off till the clock count caused that bit to toggle again (its a binary counter). its a divider so take the clock freq/2^bit position and that would be how often the LED would light.

By putting the LED across the outputs you get more strobing FX. But I couldn't tell you a formula to figure that out. I used the pins and some old wiring I striped from a PC to allow me to mix and match the connection points across all the output pins.

Trekmanscott · Post by **Trekmanscott** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 6:55 pm

Thanks for the replies guys. Sparky I think I'm gonna need some help with this. I have no experience reading electronic schematics. Icould build Zog's because he translated it to english for everyone.

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 7:30 pm

I used Zog's circuit too, I just added the header pins to make it easier to try out different connections till I got an effect that looked good.

The other thing on that board is just a voltage regulator with some filter caps, its the thing the blew up at wonderfest, cause there wasn't a reverse polarity protection diode and if you set the upper decks on wrong the polarity can get reversed.

I can try to take better pics so you could copy the circuit layout.

Trekmanscott · Post by **Trekmanscott** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 8:39 pm

If you wouldn't mind can you please take some pictures

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 2:58 pm

Still working on this, hope to have something by Friday.

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 4:17 pm

Hey got 3 circuits setup, to show the options. One would be what I call experimenter's setup.

setup a)
you can quick plug an LED(s) to try out the effects, experimenter's setup

setup b)
solder in a standard 4060 DIP(ackage) and then solder LED wires to the pins that you picked out in setup a)

setup c)
same as setup B but smaller and the mini 4060 is soldered in place. Chip has less power output though so you won't be able to drive as many LEDs as setup b)
You will still need to solder in the LED connections as in setup b)

I need to cut away the extra board in all setups, this is a tricky prospect without a shear/brake, but I have done it. There is risk that I will break the circuit if the board cracks while trimming it.

Will let you know tonight and get some pics of them. My camera will not like taking the closeups but I will get what I can, then send these off to you. You have a soldering iron with a small tip? setup c) needs a pretty small tip.

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:51 am

setup c) 'top' side the component on its side from the view of the camera is the 470K ohm surface mount resistor used in place of the 500 K variable zog shows. its on its side cause its a wide 1/4 or 1/8 watt resistor, either way its bigger than it needs to be.
big file!
http://www.kc6sye.com/images/circuits/IMGP6044.JPG

with an LED and button battery holder in frame for approximate scale
http://www.kc6sye.com/images/circuits/IMGP6045.JPG

on the left setup a) and on the right setup c)
http://www.kc6sye.com/images/circuits/I ... _small.JPG

on the left setup a) and on the right setup c) with LED and button cell in frame for scale again
http://www.kc6sye.com/images/circuits/IMGP6047.JPG

bottom side of setup a) showing a 470K ohm surface mount resistor, its as close as I could find and its what I used before on the J-57
http://www.kc6sye.com/images/circuits/IMGP6048.JPG

setup b) I didn't solder in a socket nor did I solder down a 4060, that will need to be added and using it without a socket is risky (over heating the IC static etc) but saves on height
http://www.kc6sye.com/images/circuits/IMGP6049.JPG

bottom side of setup b) showing a 470K ohm surface mount resistor, you now its setup b) cause there is no solder mounds where the socket/IC pins should be
http://www.kc6sye.com/images/circuits/IMGP6051.JPG

quick note for setup a) as you can see I tried this position, pin 5 to the positive leg on an LED, and pin 6 to the negative.
http://www.kc6sye.com/images/circuits/IMGP6052.JPG

I can box these and send them off tomorrow...ah later today its within +-Delta. You need to PM me your shipping address though I probably have it somewheres around here.

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 2:13 pm

Ok its on its way got to the PO 5 mins before they closed. But I sent it cheapest so week to 10 days...

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:07 am

any luck whipping one of these up?

From a component view it takes 3 components not including the LED, one resistor, capacitor and a jumper.
two connections for power Positive and Negative battery connections.

When your ready to try for strobe pins 5 and 6 as mention before.

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 12:12 pm

Did anyone catch the mistake I made on one of the boards? I just saw it looking at the pics. I tests 2 out of 3 boards and the one not tested wont work. . .

en'til Zog · Post by **en'til Zog** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 2:24 pm

Even so, you does good work Sparkster!

Huzzah!