I want to add some LED's to my projects -
Now I'm looking on the maplin website for 9 volt LEDs, and they all seem to be around 2 - 5 volts. What is the correct procedure for wiring up LEDs? Do I need to use a voltage regulator, or do people usually just use large resistors?
If so, do I need a separate resistor for each LED, or is it possible to just put one resistor on the Ground for all the LEDs?
I've trashed a few expensive LEDs by un-educated experiments, so it's time to ask for help and advice!
Also, say for example I have a drum machine... I've found an internal connection which will make an LED flash every beat - Now I need a circuit which will use this 'pulse' to drive a string of LEDs in a similar way to how expensive x-mas tree lights work, ie so that the string of LED's will 'flow' like running water. You know, like the lights you see in shopping malls at x-mas time.... I have a kids voice machine toy which has a hypnotic ring of flashing LED's where the light spins around the circle. The louder the volume the faster the light spins. Unfortunately the chip is in a black blob, so I can't see what it is, but if I could find something similar then that would be great...
Now is there a nice cheap cmos IC that I can use to do the job?
I thought it'd be really cool to do this with my HR-16. I've found a stable flashing LED point on one of the IC's, and I've got the whole week free to experiment...
Many thanks.............:-))