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FLASHER(E,P)
DUAL-LED
Thiscircuitusesa one-gate witha 4093CMOSlG,to producea
oscillator,
50%duty-cycle flasherin two LEDsor a bi-colorLED.The circuitcan be
powered bya 3 to 12-voltpowersupplyandis usefulin severalexperiments
andpracticalapplications.Youcanuseit as partof alarms,warningsystems,
games,toys,andsomescientific experiments, as wewilldescribehere'

R2andR3valuesdependuponthe powersupplyvoltage,according
to the
table:
following
Power Supply R2, R3

3 Volts 220 ohms

5 Volts 330 ohms

6 Volts 470 ohms

9 Volts 820 ohms

12Volts 1,000ohms

Formoreoutputyoucanusea transistorized outputstagedrivingincandes-

centlamps.Experiments to observelightetfectson animalsandplantscan
beconductedwiththiscircuit.
Pl andC1 determine flashrate.Flashratecan be adiustedby P1,butCl
to the application
alsocanbe alteredin a largerangeof values,according
youintendforthedevice.
Schematic diagram fortheDual-Led Flasheris shownin Figure1.Onegate
andtheothertwoareusedas inverters.
of a 4093lC is usedas oscillator
Componentsplacement on a PC boardis shownin Figure2.Youcanalso
or solderless
usea breadboard circuit.
boardto mountit as an experimental
ofthepolarized
Position andlC,shouldbe
pieces,suchas LEDs,eletrolytics
observed.

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P1 R1 ---t,
tM 100K
I
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-,- . \ \-_
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cl
1pF
LEDl
(.) SEETEXT

Figure 1

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+3a
12V

ov c1

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Figure2

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PartsList- Dual-LedFlasher
lC1 - 40938CMOSintegrated
circuit
LED1 - bi-coloror redand greencommonLEDs
(RadioShack276-012l
R1 - 100,000 ohm,114W,5% resistor

R2,3 - resistoraccordingto powersupplyvoltage- see text

P1 - 1,000,000
ohm potentiometer

C1 - 1 uF,25 WVDCelectrolytic
capacitor

ldeasto Explore
To learnmoreaboutthe circuitand devices:
o ReplaceC1 with capacitorsin the rangebetween1 and 47 uF.
Observehow highervaluesalterthe flashrate.
No changein the
o InfraredLEDscanbe usedin someexperiments.
originalcircuitis necessary.

Scienceanddifferentusesfor the circuit:

o RemoveP1 and R1 and wireat this ponta touchsensoror elec-
device
trodes.Youcan controlthe flashrateby touch.A bio-feedback
can be madethis waY.
o By wiringthe lC"spin 1 to an externalcircuit,the flashercan be
controlledby a logiclevel.CMOScircuitscan be usedto controlthe
flasher.

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o Mount inplace
theLEDs ofthelenses
o,".ffi
flashratecanbeadjusted to makean hypnotic
or relaxingLtfect.
Com-
binethiswitha touchsensorandyouhavean uncommon bio-feed-
backdevice.Youcanalsousethiscircuitto makeexperimentsincirca-
dianrhythmsor internalbiological
clocks,determininghowtheycan
bealteredbylightpulses.
Varioustheorieshavebeenproposed about
thissubject.
. Psychiatrists
are usingphototherapy to helpsomepatients.
can
youfindsomeapplication
forthecircuitin thisfield?
. Pl alsocanbe replaced byresistive
transducers,suchas LDRsor
NTCs,to givea light-or temperature-dependentflash-rate
circuit.Ex-
periments canbe madewithconductivity of materials
by connecting
probesin serieswithR1.Replace pl withtheprobesin thiscase.

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