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Project Notes

#559 Slow Glow

A simple slowly-glowing LED effect using a 555 timer.

Build

Here’s a quick demo..

clip

Notes

This is a simple circuit that flashes an LED at a fairly slow rate (0.5Hz) with ~50% duty cycle.

A 555 timer provides the oscillation, with R1=4.7k, R2=330k and C1=4.7uF.

The “glow” effect is achieved with a RC filter with time constant (𝛕) of about 103ms.

Construction

Breadboard

Schematic

Build

Credits and References

About LEAP#559 555 TimerLED
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This page is a web-friendly rendering of my project notes shared in the LEAP GitHub repository.

LEAP is just my personal collection of projects. Two main themes have emerged in recent years, sometimes combined:

  • electronics - usually involving an Arduino or other microprocessor in one way or another. Some are full-blown projects, while many are trivial breadboard experiments, intended to learn and explore something interesting
  • scale modelling - I caught the bug after deciding to build a Harrier during covid to demonstrate an electronic jet engine simulation. Let the fun begin..
To be honest, I haven't quite figured out if these two interests belong in the same GitHub repo or not. But for now - they are all here!

Projects are often inspired by things found wild on the net, or ideas from the many great electronics and scale modelling podcasts and YouTube channels. Feel free to borrow liberally, and if you spot any issues do let me know (or send a PR!). See the individual projects for credits where due.