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flashing tail light

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basicconcepts

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i want to make the tail light on my bike flash like 5 times than stay steady.everything i have seen on the net basically says splice in a flasher relay and it will blink, but wont go steady. thats not what i want. im thinking ill have to make some sort of an electrical board that will allow this. i took a couple electronics classes in hs but that was years ago. if some one could point me in the right direction of some diagrams or what i would possibly need that would be much appreciated.

thanx in advance,
BasicConcepts
 
You could use the microcontroller's puny 5.5V output to switch a big bad MOSFET, that would blink your lights.
 
Hi,


If you have never worked with micro controllers i was going to suggest a dual 555 circuit which would probably be the simplest way to go. One 555 with a much slower pulse rate acts as an enable for the other which blinks at the normal faster rate.
 
K, high school electronics isn't going to help with micoprocessors, everyone who has taken time to learn them recommends them for everything! They are pretty cool though, just leave me a bit cold right now... In the future maybe. For now though you could search for a pic calculator online, I'm sure I have seen one for flashing leds, but if you do you'll have to configure it to (oscillator, wdt, mclr etc). You will also need a means of compiling and programming the code.

For now though here is an idea which may work: a 555 oscillator working at a low frequency (flashes per second = frequency in hz, so about 1 or 2 maybe). Have that feeding a decade counter, either have the first three outputs flash the LEDs and the other 7 common, that would give u three flashes and on for duration of 7 flashes. You would need transistor if switching multiple LEDs and maybe a capacitor to store charge on common outputs... Would that work?
 
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so i found this what do you guys think?

Do you mean flash...flash...flash...flash...flash...steady...flash...flash...flash...flash...flash...steady...flash...flash...flash...flash...flash?
If so, how fast a flash and how long steady?
Or, do you want it like that third brake light circuit: flash...flash...flash...flash...flash...steady..............................?

Ken
 
Why not just buy a brake light flasher like this. Likely cheaper than you could build it yourself.
 
Why not just buy a brake light flasher like this. Likely cheaper than you could build it yourself.

ya that exactly what i want. i did some searching but was finding modules that come stock in new jeeps and some other suvs they were in the 100-300$ range... this is much cheaper.

thanx man
 
Hi,


I dont think you'll get a lower parts count than a micro controller, but second in line comes the two 555 chip solution which is, after all, either two small 8 pin chips or one larger 16 pin chip with two 555's on it. Cant get any simpler.
If you want to do this solely with discreet transistors that's another story. That would be extremely reliable too.
 
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i want to make the tail light on my bike flash like 5 times than stay steady.everything i have seen on the net basically says splice in a flasher relay and it will blink, but wont go steady. thats not what i want. im thinking ill have to make some sort of an electrical board that will allow this. i took a couple electronics classes in hs but that was years ago. if some one could point me in the right direction of some diagrams or what i would possibly need that would be much appreciated.

thanx in advance,
BasicConcepts
I built one before: use a FET to drive the brake light, need two 555 timers. One is a one shot ,the second which is a flasher. The flasher goes on when the barke light switch activates the circuit, the one shot forces the FET fully on after it times out (so it no longer flashes).
 
Howdy, unfortunately all thusfar seems overly complex (uC) or doesn't address the answer.
Easiest (to me) answer: LM3914, use it in dot mode, the appropriate lower outputs through diodes to cause the flashing, then highest outputs ganged through diodes as "constant on".
Good Hunting... <<<)))

P.S Not all... BountyHunters" answer works (it's great alternative...) but different as mine. I'm using the 3914 as a shift register, he doing a "run length limited" method... both valid (I'll keep his in mind...).
 
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Another option. This is one I made many years ago. R6 adjusts the flash rate and R1 adjusts the flashing duration. Still running.

Ken
 
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