<html>
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
  </head>
  <body>
    <p>Nice idea. Very convenient with dual SMT transistors like the
      MBT3904 et al.<br>
    </p>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/23/23 9:24 PM, Scott Bernardi via
      Synth-diy wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAM-tPNMjwqfCUOcYDKbp2uWWDcfQ70uhpOOdv965YveEtoxvkA@mail.gmail.com">
      <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
      <div dir="ltr">Here's a way to keep a constant current driving a
        flashing LED using a differential pair.  It only takes one extra
        resistor and transistor compared to the standard transistor 
        <div>I whipped up a page for it:</div>
        <div><a
            href="https://www.bernacomp.com/elec/og2/constant_current_led.html"
            moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://www.bernacomp.com/elec/og2/constant_current_led.html</a><br>
        </div>
      </div>
      <br>
      <div class="gmail_quote">
        <div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Feb 23, 2023 at 3:50
          PM Neil Johnson via Synth-diy <<a
            href="mailto:synth-diy@synth-diy.org" moz-do-not-send="true"
            class="moz-txt-link-freetext">synth-diy@synth-diy.org</a>>
          wrote:<br>
        </div>
        <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
          0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Hi
          Florian,<br>
          <br>
          > The problem is, that there is current draw switched on
          and off, which puts a sudden load on the supply. The trick is
          to keep the current constant, but redirect it over a
          transistor (excerpt from one of my schematics):<br>
          ><br>
          > The R19 should be fed by your U1C pin 8. If you have only
          12V as supply, you should use a 3k3 or 4k7 resistor for R24.<br>
          <br>
          Except that's not constant current.  Yes it's better than just<br>
          switching the LED on or off, but the current still flips
          between<br>
          almost 5 mA and around 3.3 mA, so that's a 2.7 mA peak-peak<br>
          alternating current with sharp edges coming from +5V and going
          into<br>
          ground.<br>
          <br>
          A constant current source good enough for this application is
          a single<br>
          transistor, a couple of diodes and a couple of resistors. 
          Across 24V<br>
          you should be able to string together about 10 LEDs.<br>
          <br>
          Neil<br>
          _______________________________________________<br>
          Synth-diy mailing list<br>
          <a href="mailto:Synth-diy@synth-diy.org" target="_blank"
            moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">Synth-diy@synth-diy.org</a><br>
          <a href="http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy"
            rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
            class="moz-txt-link-freetext">http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy</a><br>
          Selling or trading? Use <a
            href="mailto:marketplace@synth-diy.org" target="_blank"
            moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">marketplace@synth-diy.org</a><br>
        </blockquote>
      </div>
      <br>
      <fieldset class="moz-mime-attachment-header"></fieldset>
      <pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">_______________________________________________
Synth-diy mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Synth-diy@synth-diy.org">Synth-diy@synth-diy.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy">http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy</a>
Selling or trading? Use <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:marketplace@synth-diy.org">marketplace@synth-diy.org</a>
</pre>
    </blockquote>
  </body>
</html>