Something I put together last year was a home-made U/V LED flashlight.
Purpose: to see what will and won't glow under blacklight when I'm shopping for crap like that.
I've used it quite a number of times...I just usually forget to take it with me.
I know many of you on this forum could whip one of these up in 5 minutes - so I just thought I'd throw the idea out there for you...
Here's what I used:
2 U/V LED's (eBay of course...about $25 for 100 of them)
1 470 ohm resistor (came with the LED's)
9v battery connector (5 in a box from Fry's Electronics for a buck)
9v battery
4" of 1" PVC pipe (don't we all have enough of this laying around?)
bottle cap from a 1 liter water bottle.
The cap is my mounting board - 4 holes with a push-pin, slide the 2 LED's through (keep track of which terminal is which), connect the LED's in series, add the resistor, then the battery connector.
I hot glued the cap in place (cheap / easy / quick) and connected the battery.
The only problem was: a 9v battery is larger than 1" PVC - I had to cut a notch in the pipe for the battery.
Good thing about that: it makes for a nice clip for the battery - it stays in, and it's simple to remove (I made it a bit snug, so the battery won't slip out)
Just an idea for everyone...
Purpose: to see what will and won't glow under blacklight when I'm shopping for crap like that.
I've used it quite a number of times...I just usually forget to take it with me.
I know many of you on this forum could whip one of these up in 5 minutes - so I just thought I'd throw the idea out there for you...
Here's what I used:
2 U/V LED's (eBay of course...about $25 for 100 of them)
1 470 ohm resistor (came with the LED's)
9v battery connector (5 in a box from Fry's Electronics for a buck)
9v battery
4" of 1" PVC pipe (don't we all have enough of this laying around?)
bottle cap from a 1 liter water bottle.
The cap is my mounting board - 4 holes with a push-pin, slide the 2 LED's through (keep track of which terminal is which), connect the LED's in series, add the resistor, then the battery connector.
I hot glued the cap in place (cheap / easy / quick) and connected the battery.
The only problem was: a 9v battery is larger than 1" PVC - I had to cut a notch in the pipe for the battery.
Good thing about that: it makes for a nice clip for the battery - it stays in, and it's simple to remove (I made it a bit snug, so the battery won't slip out)
Just an idea for everyone...
