I saw where a 3mm Clear orange LED is recommended. I only have regular (not clear) orange, yellow and red. In clear I have Blue.
Should I order the clear orange and wait 2 woks or would I be happy with one of these above and build today?!
I've go a few of the 3mm clear orange if you need them. Let me know and i'll send them your way.
I would socket the LED pads and try a few. I believe I used yellow diffused when I was developing the circuit, but I recall red and green diffused also working. It will also depend somewhat on the LDRs you are using. So definite socket and test. :)
I thought about socketing but was concerned about the height of the LED VS the LDR. I guess the effect would be minimal? Thanks for the quick response guys.
Cut the LED leads to length. ;)
I guess my question is, do the LDRs need to be the same height as the socket+LED (assuming the LED is flush with the socket)? Am I being too anal?
Distance and direction from the LED definitely matter. But again, it's something you have to play around with.
Look up the datasheet for the LDR you're using. It will give you something called the "peak frequency" or something similar. Compare the number it gives you with a frequency chart for light, and use the closest LED color you have. That's you're baseline -- the point at which the cell operates at its "best." That doesn't mean it sounds the best, and that's why you'll need to play around with it. Particularly because there's a tradeoff between the frequency of the light (and how strongly the cell "sees" it) and how bright the LED can get from the oscillator.
I purchased the LDRs from Tayda. As was recommended in the build document. I'll have a look at the data sheet on their website. Thanks for the tips guys.
Mike was kind enough to mail me a clear orange LED. I'll experiment with some other LEDs in the meanwhile!
Seems to me Chris over at byoc said based on specs, yellow is the way to go.
Diffused 3mm or 5mm Yellow is good, orange diffused would also work well.
When you'll install you're LDR, make sure you keep enough lead length on them to make them closer or more distant from the LED, tunning that also have a big influence on the overall effect you'll get in the end.
Thanks Rej. Look forward to experimenting.
Also, just finished up Chimaera build with 1N270s. Sounds killer. I'll do a build report in a few days.
Sent out those LEDs for you today. You should see them soon
Thanks!