QUOTE (Lancashire Fusilier @ 25 Aug 2008, 05:27) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Further to that, I suggest wiring a small circuit up for a few pence that will allow you to adjust the brightness of the LED by adjusting the voltage applied using a variable resistor.
Depending on the voltage rating of your LED which is typically around 1.5 - 3 Volts I would apply a 1000 ohm (1k) resistor in series with a 0-10,000 ohm trim pot which gives you resistoe adjustment from 1000 to 11000 ohms which when I apllied a 6 volt supply to resulted in very prototypical light levels using DCC Concepts 1.8 mm panel dot typw Prototypical White LED.
Thank you for the advice. I have done as you suggested and applied a 1000 ohm resistor in series to the LEDs. I have conneted them all to a gaugemaster transformer that was lying around obsolete now dcc is in use and have the voltage set to a level that looks right on the LEDs.
I might just get hold of a 3 volt adapter though,if you think there is a problem in using the gaugemaster for this purpose.
On a side note I got around the problem of what to do about scale wiring on my MSE semaphores. I used the wire from a motor winding I got from inside an old DVD player or something of that nature. It is coated with some kind of red enamel and is not much thicker that a human hair yet is perfectly insulated even pressing hard down on it across live rails I could not get my dcc layout to short.
On single posts signals I drilled a minute hole almost invisible to send the single wire down inside and for more complicated signals like a gantry the wires look like scale electrical cable anyway.
Depending on the voltage rating of your LED which is typically around 1.5 - 3 Volts I would apply a 1000 ohm (1k) resistor in series with a 0-10,000 ohm trim pot which gives you resistoe adjustment from 1000 to 11000 ohms which when I apllied a 6 volt supply to resulted in very prototypical light levels using DCC Concepts 1.8 mm panel dot typw Prototypical White LED.
Thank you for the advice. I have done as you suggested and applied a 1000 ohm resistor in series to the LEDs. I have conneted them all to a gaugemaster transformer that was lying around obsolete now dcc is in use and have the voltage set to a level that looks right on the LEDs.
I might just get hold of a 3 volt adapter though,if you think there is a problem in using the gaugemaster for this purpose.
On a side note I got around the problem of what to do about scale wiring on my MSE semaphores. I used the wire from a motor winding I got from inside an old DVD player or something of that nature. It is coated with some kind of red enamel and is not much thicker that a human hair yet is perfectly insulated even pressing hard down on it across live rails I could not get my dcc layout to short.
On single posts signals I drilled a minute hole almost invisible to send the single wire down inside and for more complicated signals like a gantry the wires look like scale electrical cable anyway.
