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Lamp / Light Control Circuits
Lamp Controls:   #'s - B       C - K       L - M       N - S       T-Z


Last Updated: June 02, 2021 01:45 PM

Circuits Designed by Dave Johnson, P.E. :

Dark Activated 12v Power Supply SwitchUsing an inexpensive phototransistor, this circuit switches 12v to 24v power to a load, whenever the sun goes down . . . Hobby Circuit designed by Dave Johnson P.E.-July, 2006

Detect Short Xenon Lamp FlashesThis circuit uses a small 2.5mm square photo diode in conjunction with a 100mH coil to detect the short light flashes from a xenon lamp.  The coil makes the circuit immune to normal room lights.  Its 10mv sensitivity can detect light flashes from a range of over 100 feet. . . . Hobby Circuit designed by David Johnson P.E.-February, 2002

Detects Xenon Lamp FlashThis circuit has a very low standby current requirement yet has very high sensitivity toward the light flashes from a xenon lamp.  When connected to a flip/flop it can serve as an on on/off Controller . . . Hobby Circuit designed by David A. Johnson P.E.-December, 2004

Drive a LED with an Intensity Ramping ModeThe circuit below was designed to drive a LED with an intensity ramping mode.  Two 555 timers generate two different triangle waveforms.  The upper device generates a 10KHz signal while the lower unit produces a 1Hz signal.  The two signals are fed to a . . . Hobby Circuit designed by David Johnson P.E.-December, 2007


Links to electronic circuits, electronic schematics and designs for engineers, hobbyists, students & inventors:

Dancing LEDs -  LED sequencer: follows the rhythm of music or speech; 9V Battery-operated portable unit __ Contact: Flavio Dellepiane, fladello @ tin.it

Dark Activated 12v Power Supply Switch -  Using an inexpensive phototransistor, this circuit switches 12v to 24v power to a load, whenever the sun goes down . . . Hobby Circuit designed by Dave Johnson P.E.-July, 2006

Dark Activated Switch -  This circuit will activate a relay when light falls to a preset level.  Light level can be adjusted with VR1 and the relay contacts may be used to operate an external light or buzzer.   __ Designed by Andy Collison

Dark Detector -  When the level of light on the photo-cell decreases, the 555 is activated.  Photo-cells  (Photo-resistors) have a wide range of specifications.  Some cells go down to 100R in full sunlight while others only go down to 1k.  Some have a HIGH resistance of between 1M and others are 10M in total darkness.  For this circuit, the LOW resistance  (the resistance in sunlight) is the critical value__ 555-Timer

Dark Detector -  Dark Detector with NE555

Dark/Light Activated Relay -  The potmeter adjust the trigger 'on' level.  The diode in the diagram shows to be 1N914.  This is ok if you have a light-duty relay, also the 1N914 is a signal diode so actually does not qualify.  Use a 1N4001  (Tony van Roon's or better) instead.  A couple of substitutes for the 2N2222 transistor are: NTE123A, ECG123A, PN100, etc __ Designed by Tony van Roon  VA3AVR

Dark-activated 230V Lamp -  Compact circuitry using small-size parts only.  Can be wired in parallel to existing switches Circuit diagram: Parts: R1 Photo resistor  (any type) R2 100K 1W Resistor R3 200K 1/2W Trimmer Cermet R4, R7 470R 1/4W Resistors R5 12K 1/4W Resistor R6 1K __ Designed by Flavio Dellepiane

Dark-Activated 230V Lamp -  Compact circuitry using small-size parts only; Can be wired in parallel to existing switches __ Contact: Flavio Dellepiane, fladello @ tin.it

Dark-activated LED or Lamp Flasher -  This circuit adopts the rather unusual Bowes/White emitter coupled multivibrator circuit.  The oscillation frequency is about 1Hz and is set by C1 value.   __ Contact: Flavio Dellepiane, fladello @ tin.it

DayLight Alarm -  The circuit presented here wakes you up with a loud alarm at the break of the daylight.  Once again the 555 timer is used here.  It is working as an astable multivibrator at a frequency of about 1kHz.   __ Designed by Radioland.nt.au

Daytime Running Lights Controller -  Auto makers have been gradually switching to light emitting diode  (LED) lighting for automotive headlamps because of its features such as high efficiency and long service life.  In addition, from a...__ Electronics Projects for You

Deliver Dimming Control for White-LED Driver -  10/28/04  EDN-Design Ideas The demand for power in color cell-phone handsets is constantly increasing.  New applications steadily emerge, making it imperative to reduce power consumption in the design.  Examination of usage data shows thatthan 50% of the power Design by Wallace Ly, National Semiconductor, Santa Clara, CA

Descrete Multistage Light Sequencer -  The drawing below illustrates a multistage light sequencer using descrete parts and no integrated circuits.  The idea is not new and I hear a similar circuit was developed about 40 years ago using germanium transistors.  The idea is to connect the lights so that as one turns off it causes the next to turn on, and so forth.  This is accomplished with a large capacitor between each stage that charges when a stage turns off and supplies base current to the next transistor, thus turning it on.  Any  __ Designed by Bill Bowden

Detect Short Xenon Lamp Flashes -  This circuit uses a small 2.5mm square photo diode in conjunction with a 100mH coil to detect the short light flashes from a xenon lamp.  The coil makes the circuit immune to normal room lights.  Its 10mv sensitivity can detect light flashes from a range of over 100 feet. . . . Hobby Circuit designed by David Johnson P.E.-February, 2002

Detects Xenon Lamp Flash -  This circuit has a very low standby current requirement yet has very high sensitivity toward the light flashes from a xenon lamp.  When connected to a flip/flop it can serve as an on on/off Controller . . . Hobby Circuit designed by David A. Johnson P.E.-December, 2004

DIAC-Controlled Flasher -  This simple flasher finds various industrial applications as a high-voltage indicator or machine-’on’ indicator.  It flashes once every second to give a warning indication.  It is simple to design and can...__ Electronics Projects for You

Dice -  Press the push switch to 'throw' the dice: this makes the circuit rapidly cycle through the dice numbers so that an effectively random dice number is displayed by the LEDs when the push switch is released.   __ Designed by John Hewes

Digi Pack DMX 512 Lighting Controller -  This is a design for a digital lighting controler.   __ Designed by Paul Harris

Digital Dimming DALI Ballast for 32W/T8 110V Input -  This reference design is a high efficiency, high power factor, digital dimming electronic ballast designed to drive rapid start fluorescent lamp types.  The design contains an active power factor correction circuit for universal voltage input as well as a ballast control circuit using the IR21592.  The design also includes a PIC16F628 microcontroller and an isolation circuit for connecting to a Digitally Addressable Lighting Interface  (DALI) .  

Digital Dimming DALI Ballast for 36W/T8 220V Input -  This reference design is a high efficiency, high power factor, digital dimming electronic ballast designed to drive rapid start fluorescent lamp types.  The design contains an active power factor correction circuit for universal voltage input as well as a ballast control circuit using the IR21592.  The design also includes a PIC16F628 microcontroller and an isolation circuit for connecting to a Digitally Addressable Lighting Interface  (DALI) .  

Digital LED Chaser -  This circuit uses digital circuits such as a demultiplexer and a binary counter to create patterns of "moving" led lights.  This basic circuit is really cool when used in the dark or to light up a sign of some sort, as it creates a cool pattern that catches the eye __ Designed by Zaakid Mata @ kakinblogs @ gmail.com

Digitally Addressable DALI Dimming Ballast -  A digitally addressable digital dimming ballast has been developed.  It conforms to DALI standard requiring very few parts and operates at very low power.  Applications include building management or studio lighting where it is desired to control single or groups of lamps for conserving energy, performing lamp maintenance or creating prefect light quality.  The design includes the digital dimming ballast, the code of the micro-controller and a platform to control the ballast by PC.   __ Designed by Cecilia Contenti and Tom Ribarich Applications Engineer, International Rectifier, Lighting Group

Digitally Adjustable Dancing Lights -  You might have come across several types of adjustable dancing lights  (flickering LEDs) .  Most of them use presets  (variable resistors) to adjust the rate of switching.  Being a mechanical component, the...__ Electronics Projects for You

Digitally Control Room Light Intensity -  11-Nov-04 EDN-Design Ideas Many people favor different light and temperature settings for different rooms depending upon their mood or whether they are working or relaxing.  The circuit in Figure 1 controls the intensity of the artificial light in a room and  Design by Donal McNamara and Kieran Kelly, Analog Devices, Limerick, Ireland

Dim 12V Light Bulb with 555 IC -  This light dimmer is used to dim the intensity of 12V light bulbs using the well-known 555 timer that is configured as an astable multivibrator.  The pulses from pin 3 are used to control the VMOS transistor BUZ20, BUZ72 or 10N10.  The maximum dissipated power must not exceed 40 watts.  You may use the transistor without a __ Designed by Popescu Marian

Dimmable LED Desk Lamp -  This circuit was used to convert a portable fluorescent desk lamp to LEDs.  It is dimmable from "night light" level to "retina burner" level.72 high-brightness LEDs put out a lot of light.  Without a diffuser, the light output is very directional, like __ Designed by Andrew R. Morris

Dimmable LED Desk Lamp -  30-Nov-12 -Design News:   Andrew Morris designed a dimmable LED driver circuit that is simple and energy efficient.  He then installed the circuit into a portable fluorescent lamp. __ Designed by Andrew R. Morris, Gadget Freak-Case #230

Dimmable Li-Ion Halogen Bike Light -  Biking in the winter, or at night, is dangerous without a front light.  A good front-light is essential, not only for being seen, but to see the road.  LED lamps will not illuminate the road, and they can be too dim for cars to see you  (1W or better LEDs are quite nice as headlamps.) I offer here a simple  (but high-quality) design to build your own 5 or 10W halogen lamp, which runs off of a rechargeable 7.2V or 7.4V Lithium Ion battery pack. __ Designed by © Lucky Larry

Dimmer/Motor Speed Control -  Lamp dimmers using traics can be quite simple,   nothing more than a potentiometer, resistor, capacitor and TRIAC with a built-in diac.   (See Teccor's App Note for examples and other technical data.) The circuit below is similar __ Contact: Charles Wenzel of Wenzel Associates, Inc.

Dimming DALI Ballast for 32W/T8 110V Input -  This reference design is a high efficiency, high power factor, digital dimming electronic ballast designed to drive rapid start fluorescent lamp types.  The design contains an active power factor correction circuit for universal voltage input as well as a ballast control circuit using the IR21592.  The design also includes a PIC16F628 microcontroller and an isolation circuit for connecting to a Digitally Addressable Lighting Interface  (DALI) .  

Dimming DALI Ballast for 36W/T8 220V Input -  This reference design is a high efficiency, high power factor, digital dimming electronic ballast designed to drive rapid start fluorescent lamp types.  The design contains an active power factor correction circuit for universal voltage input as well as a ballast control circuit using the IR21592.  The design also includes a PIC16F628 microcontroller and an isolation circuit for connecting to a Digitally Addressable Lighting Interface  (DALI) .  

Disco Style Strobe Light -  The stoboscope tube needs about 250-400V DC to operate.  This high voltage is generated using simple voltage step up circuit built from transistors Q1, Q2 and transformer T1.  This circuit gives out about 230V AC voltage which is then rectified with rectifying bridge U1  (must have at least 400V voltage rating) and stored to the main capacitor C1 __ Designed by Tomi Engdahl

Dome Lamp Dimmer -  A reading light inside the car greatly assists passengers during night, but often the interior dome lamp is too bright and distracting to the driver.  A linear regulator such as a...__ Electronics Projects for You

Dome Lamp Dimmer -  This unique circuit makes your dome light look cool.  Usually when the car door is closed, the dome light just goes OFF.  With this circuit, you can have our dome light fade slowly.   __ Contact: Charles Wenzel of Wenzel Associates, Inc.

Dome light dimmer (with Delay) -  For all you guys out there that want a fading dome light  (aka courtesy light aka theatre lighting) without having to pay for one, you can build your own.  I have attached the schematics and you can build it for a few bucks given that you don't have any spare components lying around otherwise it can cost you absolutely nothing.  Of course you can rip some parts from your TV, CD player, radio, etc.  , but I'm not responsible for the damage you cause this way [b:e43bc460fa]The way it works[/b:e43bc460fa] I won't bother you with technical

Dome Light Extender -  There are countless dome light extenders on the Net and in magazines, but most of them suffer from one problem complexity.  Ok, they are not actually complex, but most are far more complex than they need to be.  Some are completely over the top, and require additional car wiring, a PCB, ICs, trimpots and lots of other stuff, while others seem to be someone's untested idea or maybe just a brain fartsome circuits I saw will never work.  My goal was extreme simplicity, and I think that has been achieved.   __ Designed by Rod Elliott  ESP

Doozy requiring some parts you can't get at the 'Shack. -  You can make a doozy of a xenon strobe using the 12 volt DC in, DC output mercury lamp ballast here at http://www.  donklipstein.  com/ebdc12.  html.  You may run into a problem with the flashtube arcing continuously after a flash.  If you use an open-collector comparator such as a 339 in the overvoltage sensing section of this circuit, you can wired-AND the comparator output with some sort of scheme to disable the circuit for a few to a few tens of milliseconds after a flash  (by "pulling down" Pin 5 of the 555) .   __ Designed by Don Klipstein

Drive a Complementary Output Stage & Step-Up Audio Transformer -  File contains several designs, please scroll to find this circuit.  T he following circuit uses the flasher circuit to drive a complementary output stage and step-up audio transformer.  This circuit is used in a high voltage breakdown tester but it would be useful for a variety of applications.   __ Contact: Charles Wenzel of Wenzel Associates, Inc.

Drive a LED with an Intensity Ramping Mode -  The circuit below was designed to drive a LED with an intensity ramping mode.  Two 555 timers generate two different triangle waveforms.  The upper device generates a 10KHz signal while the lower unit produces a 1Hz signal.  The two signals are fed to a . . . Hobby Circuit designed by David Johnson P.E.-December, 2007

Driver Lights Architectural & Interior LEDs -  08/11/11 EDN-Design Ideas Hold the current constant and within tolerance.  LEDs are more efficient than incandescent lights and can last 100 times longer, but they require specialized electronic-drive circuits to avoid overstress conditions.  The main operating parameter is relatively simple: Keep the current through the LEDs constant and under the specified maximum.   Design by Steve Sheard, On Semiconductor, Tempe, AZ

Driver thermally compensates LED -  09/02/99 EDN-Design Ideas Optical power of popular types of LEDs decreases with temperature.  Optical-power measurements into a typical multimode fiber at 62.5/125 ?m for a GCA 1A194 LED indicate a temperature coefficient of approximately -0.4%/°C.  In bipolar analog drivers for short- and medium-distance fiber links Design by Andrzej Wolczko, University of Mining and Metallurgy, Krakow, Poland

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