Thanks so much for the circuit diagram Eric, you rock!
I have been focusing on just the comparator trying to get to that to work. My frustration has lead me to take a picture and hope you'll take a look at it. I've built a 25% voltage divider with some resistors (470ohm and 150ohm) I bought earlier and connected it to V+. 8V is coming out of my 9V battery, and is connected directly to V- and Vcc. Shouldn't I be getting 8V out of the output (since V+ < V-)? I'm getting 0V... swap V+ and V-, still 0V... Tomorrow I'll go to radio shack and pick up some larger resistors (maybe I'm giving it too many amps).
Per the diagram... I read before that the diode is to prevent the blowback from the coil when it disconnects. What is the 2N2222 transistor for?
At the risk of embarassing myself, maybe I'll upload the circuit I had drawn out before