Aw, geez guys... I still have the parts we tried to use on
@TenderTendon's
Flashlight Project, all except for that damned fancy LED controller. You know, the one that changed modes when the current through it was briefly interrupted... I had intended to purchase one just to see how brief of an interruption of current was needed to NOT cause a change in mode. Adam and I had both worked on the software aspects of the problem, and I believe our "solutions" might have worked if the LED controller (which had a microprocessor of its own) cooperated. Unfortunately we never found out, and I went on to other "problems" which included retiring to a newly purchased home in Florida.
I am still not set up to work on things like that again, but there is always hope. Parts of various types and vintages are packed away in cardboard boxes, and my test equipment (digital multimeter and digital storage oscilloscope and logic probes) is still available and in working order. I just need to convince my wife that it's worth my time, compared to the huge list of projects in my "Honey Dew" jar.
I thought then, and still believe today, that adding a tiny, thin, insulated wire from the positive terminal of the battery in the front end of the flashlight to the circuit board in the other end would have been the best "solution" to the problem of how to maintain power to the MOSFET switching circuit
after the LED was turned on. But, I did learn a LOT about how to put a PIC to "sleep" and get it to awaken again to conserve the charge on the energy storage capacitor. I might even have a use for this knowledge someday before I die. Or maybe I will write it up as a tutorial project and post it here if there is any interest. It's not exactly "new," since placing microprocessors (or micro-controllers) in "sleep" mode to conserve power has been used for quite some time now. The "trick" is getting them to "wake up" and continue doing whatever they were going to do before being put to sleep. That turned out to be difficult for the particular PIC we had decided to use, and yet one more reason that I dislike writing (debugging) software.
Ah, well... I hope Kris (wherever he is now) happens upon this thread, and knows we are still thinking about him and trying to honor his memory.
@bikemech: Pete, I see from your recent posts that you didn't bin your
500W stage-line amp repair project. Kris helped start/steer many projects when he was alive, but many were finished without him seeing the results. I am pretty sure he would not have wanted you to give up because he happened to die...
@WHONOES is very technically competent to help you, but I will follow your thread from time to time and jump in if I see where I might be of some help.
