Alternate LED Flasher

Here'a another electronic circuit I designed. It flashes two LEDs alternately, with about 0.5 seconds between flashes. It pulses the LEDs through capacitive discharge, rather than drawing directly on the out­puts of an IC. It may be used, for example, to simulate aircraft lights, or to give a flash which has a more aggressive appearance than a single LED. The CD40106BE IC was found to work best for IC1. Equivalents should work fine, but may cause a slight residual glow after flashing. Six AA batteries should last a few weeks here. OBSERVATION: A former electronics editor comments: "Thomas Scarborough knows NOTHING about the operation of this simple circuit." I designed it. It works!

POSTSCRIPT: If you're about to produce a whole lot of these, one can obtain a five-colour pack of 50 ultrabright LED's* from Amazon. Also the CD40106BE IC* in a pack of ten. A pack of ten 10uF capacitors*. A pack of ten BAT85 diodes*. And three 9V battery clips*. And three 9V AA battery holders* if desired. Resistors? Alas, they come in a minimum pack of 100 pieces 100k*.

*This is an Amazon affiliate link. I earn a commission, at no cost to the buyer.