Thursday, February 17, 2011

Thing a Day 17: Failed Latch-on Transistor

failed latch-on transistor

I thought I had it. I thought I knew what I was doing -- I thought I could create a switch that, once it received a bit of current, would keep itself on. I was wrong. I failed; it doesn't work.

But that's okay. ;) This was supposed to be a quick "Slap these parts together and you'll have a light switch that won't turn off when it's dark again. Then you can get to the next step of the project!", but there's a gap in my knowledge about transistors somewhere. I think I'm getting a runaway effect where the transistor slowly turns itself off after the light sensor goes dark. But without an oscilloscope..

Time to hit the books! If I can't find a solution, I'll have to hack togeth..er.. Actually, all I'll need to do is slap an NPN transistor into that circuit and I'll have a thyristor. Duh.

Tomorrow's Thing a Day: Homemade thyristor!

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