Recent content by mn velocity pilot

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  1. M

    LEDs in Series vs. Parallel vs. Series/Parallel

    Hi Steve K - thanks for responding! My basic design requirements are to use ship power (14V), a nominal ambient temperature range of around 0 - 100F, and as high an output as I can reasonably get. I'm not sure what you mean by voltage transients as a design parameter. Obviously, electrical...
  2. M

    LEDs in Series vs. Parallel vs. Series/Parallel

    Thanks, DIWdiver - You are correct, the schematic in the instructable is downlevel for sure. I have waited to change it only because I had to work through the issue of how to handle the ground bounce caused by the long wire length between the controller (mounted in the cockpit) and the...
  3. M

    LEDs in Series vs. Parallel vs. Series/Parallel

    Wow, thanks alpg88! I'll take you up on that offer! If you've had a chance to look at the instructible link I posted above, you'll can see in gory detail what I implemented for the nose mounted landing light strobe system... it's basically a PIC controller driving a mosfet switch, and using an...
  4. M

    LEDs in Series vs. Parallel vs. Series/Parallel

    Thanks, Steve K. Here's a link to what I've got implemented now in my experimental Velocity aircraft: http://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Landing-Light-for-Experimental-Aircraft/ I'm using a linear regulator for current limiting (an LM338). I'm trying to find an acceptable way to go from the...
  5. M

    LEDs in Series vs. Parallel vs. Series/Parallel

    Thanks, alpg88... that's kinda what I suspected. What was on my mind was that there may be other factors that aren't so obvious, such as any inherent current limiting effect of having the diodes in series (such as turn on voltage ramp time which would increase...). I'm having a challenge...
  6. M

    LEDs in Series vs. Parallel vs. Series/Parallel

    In developing a high power aircraft strobe system, I've been looking hard at various current limiter topologies. Many of the LED controller supplies I've seen show the LEDs in series instead of parallel, or sometimes in series/parallel. My question is... is there an advantage to doing that...
  7. M

    Experimental Aircraft Landing Light

    Me again! I've had the flashing landing light deployed in my airplane since this spring, and it seems to be working OK... but, as winter is coming, and I'll have time on my hands, I'd like to think about improvements. I published an instructable on my implementation here...
  8. M

    Experimental Aircraft Landing Light

    Thanks, TEEJ! Yes, for sure, I can drive the LEDs much harder. The issue became that to do so would really force the shift from a linear regulator to a switcher. Switcher's are more efficient, but are more complex and can create electrical noise (which can be an issue in an airplane)... so...
  9. M

    Experimental Aircraft Landing Light

    I completed my work (or at least for now)... here's a link to an Instructable documenting what I did: http://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Landing-Light-for-Experimental-Aircraft/ At some point I start thinking about even more power...!
  10. M

    Experimental Aircraft Landing Light

    Thanks for all the input! Here's some responses... To calflash - the off the shelf drivers I've looked at all use switching regulators, which are more efficent, but which can throw quite a bit of electrical noise. That's part of why I chose a linear regulator. The other big factor was...
  11. M

    Experimental Aircraft Landing Light

    Thanks, inetdog. The issue with the mosfet isn't the "on resistance", which is spec'd out as around 0.5 ohms when the device is fully on... the problem is that it requires more than the 2-3 volts available to fully turn on. That's unfortunately going to be the case with any mosfet I've looked...
  12. M

    Experimental Aircraft Landing Light

    It's actually a four place high performance bird... it's been lots of work but lots of fun. Part of the reason for rolling my own, outside of the enjoyment I get out of building, is that there is a potential safety advantage of having a strobing light in the front (in addition to the wingtip...
  13. M

    Experimental Aircraft Landing Light

    Sorry, forgot to answer the other question from TEEJ. For an experimental aircraft, there are no rules or requirements as to what I can use for a landing light. I'm free to innovate. Basically, brighter is better, and the rear end I save with a good landing light just might be my own.
  14. M

    Experimental Aircraft Landing Light

    Hey, sorry, I hopefully now understand how to post images. Here's the modified incandescent bulb: And here's the airplane in the hangar: If you look carefully at the bottom side of the nose of the aircraft, you can see the plexiglass cover for the landing light. Any & all help will be...
  15. M

    Experimental Aircraft Landing Light

    Hi Team, Last fall I discovered that the incandescent landing light installed in the nose of my experimental Velocity aircraft had failed. I had two choices - I could either spend six bucks and buy a new one, or I could roll my own... well, winters are long here in Minnesota, and I needed...
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