These LEDs get everywhere!

Chris M.

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 17, 2001
Messages
2,564
Location
South Wales, UK
Bought me a USB hub recently so I can plug the camera in without having to haul the lump of a desktop PC case forwards every time to reach the ports.

And it glows!

blueledusbhub.jpg


(no, the Amiga 500 isn`t the thing hosting that hub!)

I remember a time, only a few short years ago, when blue LEDs were expensive and still generally considered rare and exotic. You almost never saw them anywhere. I once built a hi-fi power amp from kits sold by Maplins and decided to give it a blue LED power-on light. It was one of the silicon carbide kinds that lit with a sort of bright sky-blue colour, and wasn`t very bright. Cost about £4 ($6), incidentally the amplifier kits only cost about £15 so comparitively this was an expensive little thing. I`ve always been partial to the colour though so felt it was worth it. The specs said it could be run at 50mA and because it wasn`t very bright, that`s exactly what it did. 2 weeks later, it burned out /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif . Couldn`t really afford another £4 for a second one so I never found out if I actually toasted it, or just got a duff one. Probably cooked the poor thing, it did get rather warm. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

How the technology has moved on, now you get them everywhere - in disposable keychain squeeze lights, fun party novelties, shining out of the cab of many a HGV like 2 little eyes, and for other somewhat "frivolous" uses such as lighting the center of this little hub. But I must say I like it! Makes the world a more colourful place. The days of the boring red and yellow-green LEDs on consumer electronics are well and truly numbered!

Anyway, I digress, a bit. If you`re partial to blue things that glow (like I am), need a 4 port USB hub with a meter of cord, and live in the UK, you can get one from Maplin Electronics - it was on special offer and probably still is. Order code A02AL, for a penny short of GB£12, if anyone`s interested. They also had USB cords with a blue LED in the plug on the input end, but I can`t find the code for those. They`re in the specials too I think.

Havn`t checked out the mod possibilities yet but if it isn`t a surface mount diode in there, you probably could substitute almost any colour if blue aint your thing. Looks a bit small to fit a Luxeon in though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 

The_LED_Museum

*Retired*
Joined
Aug 12, 2000
Messages
19,414
Location
Federal Way WA. USA
That Commode Amiga is probably worth some cash if you ever have to sell it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I remember putting a blue SiC LED in my computer in the early 1990s, to replace a boring old red power-on light. It later got moved to a modem or something, and was subsequently struck by lightning! Although it was all crispy and black inside, the silly thing still worked! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

I paid around $15 for it from some electronics place not too far from Seattle, so I was a bit hesitant to throw it out. And I think I still have it, somewhere. (It's in The LED Museum's 1990s page if you're interested).
 

tvodrd

*Flashaholic* ,
Joined
Dec 13, 2002
Messages
4,987
Location
Hawthorne, NV
Anybody remember when the Panasonic SiC "blues" first showed-up on the rear cover of the DigiKey catalog? I'd sure like my money back today for what this thing cost me then /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif :
site1029.jpg

The toggle sw turns it off and on. The DIP sw lets you select 2,4,6,8,10,12, or all 14 of 'em. Only problem was/is after 6, current sinks the 9V to the point of no output increase /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif . If it'd worked, I'd have made a decent reflector. Diodes are in SIP sockets so I can still recycle them. (No, never tried it on a NiCd.)

(One of my dumber lights)

Larry
 
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