I've had a quick try at making myself an active LED but in all honesty don't really know where to start. I was wondering if some kind person from these forums could spend five minutes heading over either :
http://www.rswww.com
or
http://Maplin.co.uk
and link me to exactly what it is I need to buy? Some basic instructions would be very helpful as well
Cheers in advance all!
Chris
[ September 05, 2003, 05:06 PM: Message edited by: Chris Halpin ]
Making an active dot - help needed
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Charlie251
- Posts: 955
- Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2003 5:00 am
- Location: Melbourne, Florida
Re: Making an active dot - help needed
The link Gold provided above has your parts list. Look at the first post by Bhodi and write all those down.
As to how to wirte it up, you have two options. You could just wire it all directly with wire or you could mount it all to a PCB or breadboard. At Radio Shack, they sell bread boards and they look like a PCB but instead of having copper runs and such, they are just empty holes like a miniture peg board.
Now, mount the peieces on the PCB, or wire them directly, in this order.
1. Positive terminal of battery holder
2. Resistor
3. Trim Potentiometer
4. LED
5. Ground terminal of battery holder
The resistor can be wired in either direction, there is no specific side.
Some LEDs come with a small + or - on one of the terminal legs of it. I do not know about this specific one as I have not used it. I am quite sure that this type of LED can be wired either way.
The trim pot may or may not have 3 legs. Just make sure that you wire the leads to one of the base legs and the other to the center tapped leg of it. More than likely it will only have two legs.
Ideas: You can buy the boxes at RS to house everything if you want. If you get small enough parts, you could possibly wire it all up inside of a film container. Just remember, that whatever you use is what your going to have to mount to your headset.
As to how to wirte it up, you have two options. You could just wire it all directly with wire or you could mount it all to a PCB or breadboard. At Radio Shack, they sell bread boards and they look like a PCB but instead of having copper runs and such, they are just empty holes like a miniture peg board.
Now, mount the peieces on the PCB, or wire them directly, in this order.
1. Positive terminal of battery holder
2. Resistor
3. Trim Potentiometer
4. LED
5. Ground terminal of battery holder
The resistor can be wired in either direction, there is no specific side.
Some LEDs come with a small + or - on one of the terminal legs of it. I do not know about this specific one as I have not used it. I am quite sure that this type of LED can be wired either way.
The trim pot may or may not have 3 legs. Just make sure that you wire the leads to one of the base legs and the other to the center tapped leg of it. More than likely it will only have two legs.
Ideas: You can buy the boxes at RS to house everything if you want. If you get small enough parts, you could possibly wire it all up inside of a film container. Just remember, that whatever you use is what your going to have to mount to your headset.
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BPO6_GoldenWing
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2002 5:00 am
- Location: Orlando, Florida
Re: Making an active dot - help needed
Hey Chris:
This is what I found here at NP:
http://forums.naturalpoint.com/cgi-bin/ ... 5;t=000001
I'm interested in doing this also, and my next stop is SimHQ http://www.simhq.com
Bhodi is a real guru in using TrackIR as a part of a real sim cockpit he built, so look for his comments as well.
~S! Gold
[ September 07, 2003, 01:02 PM: Message edited by: BoP_GoldenWing ]
This is what I found here at NP:
http://forums.naturalpoint.com/cgi-bin/ ... 5;t=000001
I'm interested in doing this also, and my next stop is SimHQ http://www.simhq.com
Bhodi is a real guru in using TrackIR as a part of a real sim cockpit he built, so look for his comments as well.
~S! Gold
[ September 07, 2003, 01:02 PM: Message edited by: BoP_GoldenWing ]