Andy1845c
Active Member
Take a look - **broken link removed**
I have been toying with the idea of trying to build one of these for a while. It would be easier to just buy one, but they are expensive, and I don't learn anything then. I originally was going to use those Sharp LED moduals from goldmine that I posted about a while back, but I haven't been able to come up with a way to get 20v out of my car battery. So they have gone on to other project ideas.
So.... if I were to try to make my own moduals with LEDs not wired in series, as they are in the Sharp moduals, I should be able to get by on a lesser voltage, right?
The thing I can't figure out is how I could get the leds so nice and close together and still give them their own resistor. I'm guessing that the manufactured units are able to put lines of LEDs in series since they are made at the same time? Then with a nice PCB things probibly look pretty tidy inside?
Has anyone ever tried somthing like this? Am I nuts to even think I could pack almost 500 5mm LEDs into somthing and not have it turn out to be as big as a sofa? Are there any tricks to how I could lay out and soldier everything?
My next question is how bright is a 6000mcd LED? I know thats a bit hard to answer, but I am looking for each segment, (52 LED on the manufactured unit, but mine could use less, or larger LEDs) to be highly visible in daylight.
I wish radio shack had a better selection of LEDs and actually had some info on the packages, so I could go buy some of differnt mcd rating as see what I like. I hate to order a bunch online and find out there not what I want. Anyone have a recommendation?
I have been toying with the idea of trying to build one of these for a while. It would be easier to just buy one, but they are expensive, and I don't learn anything then. I originally was going to use those Sharp LED moduals from goldmine that I posted about a while back, but I haven't been able to come up with a way to get 20v out of my car battery. So they have gone on to other project ideas.
So.... if I were to try to make my own moduals with LEDs not wired in series, as they are in the Sharp moduals, I should be able to get by on a lesser voltage, right?
The thing I can't figure out is how I could get the leds so nice and close together and still give them their own resistor. I'm guessing that the manufactured units are able to put lines of LEDs in series since they are made at the same time? Then with a nice PCB things probibly look pretty tidy inside?
Has anyone ever tried somthing like this? Am I nuts to even think I could pack almost 500 5mm LEDs into somthing and not have it turn out to be as big as a sofa? Are there any tricks to how I could lay out and soldier everything?
My next question is how bright is a 6000mcd LED? I know thats a bit hard to answer, but I am looking for each segment, (52 LED on the manufactured unit, but mine could use less, or larger LEDs) to be highly visible in daylight.
I wish radio shack had a better selection of LEDs and actually had some info on the packages, so I could go buy some of differnt mcd rating as see what I like. I hate to order a bunch online and find out there not what I want. Anyone have a recommendation?