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F1 LED Light tutorial for F102, F103, F104, F109 etc

The other day I decided I wanted to add a flashing rear light to my F1. Quicky scouting around the internet nowhere seemed to hav...



The other day I decided I wanted to add a flashing rear light to my F1. Quicky scouting around the internet nowhere seemed to have them in stock and I also noted that they seemed quite highly priced.

So I decided to make my own.

First of, I decided than I was going to power the LED from the receiver in the car.
Receivers supply 5-6V of power which is more than enough for the average LED. Plus is keeps it tidy and light.

So to build it I just needed
  • Red 5mm Flashing LED
  • Resistor
  • Wire
  • Servo Plug

As I had copious amounts of wires and old dead servos etc I only needed the Flashing led and the resistor.

The Flashing LED is available from Maplins here the circuit is built into the led (its microscopic).

Then you need to get a resistor. The LED uses 2.5v and we should assume the receiver will provide 6v so you need to use the simple equation of Ohms law

R = (VS - VL) / I

VS = supply voltage
VL = LED voltage
I = LED current (e.g. 25mA), this must be less than the maximum permitted

If the final calculated value is not available as a resistor you should get one that is available but at a higher value not a lower one. The greater the resister it will just reduce some of the brightness of the led.

For example:

If the supply voltage VS = 6V, and you have the Flashing red LED in the link above (VL = 2.5V), requiring a current I = 55mA =0.055A, R = (6V – 2.5V) / 0.055A = 63.6363(ohm), so choose 68(ohm) which is the nearest standard value which is greater.

So I purchased the LED and the 68 (ohm) resistor

Total price for components was £1.16! 

Then I simply had to make the following circuit.



Now you need to cut your wire, remember the led fitting is in rear wing so take some wire and ensure that the length is generous enough to reach your receiver with a fair bit of slack (you don’t want your rear pod being constrained).  I cut my two wires and fired up the soldering iron.

On the positive wire I added the resistor. Then I chopped the positive leg down to about 10mm on the LED and soldered that onto the wire. It is important to ensure you connect the positive wire to the anode. This is easily distinguishable as its the longer leg on the led.

Once this was done I then cut down the other leg and soldered that to the negative wire.  

I covered the exposed resistor and the end of the led with some heat shrink (You can use electric tape if you don’t have any) and plugged it in the receiver and hey presto! A funky flashing light.

All that was left was to remove the rear wing, so I could slide in the 5mm led in the hole, and mount it back up and thread through the wire to the receiver.

Total time to make this was 10 mins. It’s a fun little thing to do, costs peanuts and I think it looks smart. Take a look at the video below.
J
tamiya 4397855532063320466

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