Building an LED Ring Light (part 1)

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:45:49 +0000

After failing to find a reasonably priced LED ring light which does what I want, I have decided to build one myself. My electronics knowledge was never particularly good at school, so it should be fun!

My basic requirements are that it:

Illuminates small (~5mm) to medium (~2cm) sized insects without casting too many shadows
Fits on different microscopes
Is powered by a (rechargeable) battery

Additional requirements are:

The option to power it from the mains
The ability to dim the LEDs
Switch groups of LEDs on/off

I shall start with a basic prototype consisting of 8 white LEDs, potentially adding more and making the circuit more complex. It shouldn’t be too hard but I haven’t used a soldering iron for years!

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Building an LED Ring Light (part 1)