Need LED blinking lights for Christmas Display?

Question

Ok, here's the deal. For Christmas, I have a large star that I made last year out of rope light and blinking lights that I put on the mast (pole) that holds my weather station. This year, I'm adding another additional star inside the big star made of blue lights to signify the son we are expecting in April. I also wanted to put a single LED flashing light in the smaller star for a heartbeat (and to piss off the neighbors... hee hee). My problem is this: I've bought a battery operated LED strobe light that you're supposed to use on a bike, while running, etc. The documentation says that the light will run for about 100 hours - not near enough for the christmas season. I want to figure out something that will let me power up the blinking LED's with the power that is already going to the lights on the star, but I can't find anything out there that is a AC powered LED blinker/strobe. I also can run DC up the pole if needed, say from a 6 volt lantern battery. Any ideas?

Answer 1

LEDs are DC only. You can put a diode in series with the AC. But check the voltage of the AC.

You could run up a separate DC supply.

I guess it uses AAA batteries. Why not use the same number of D cell batteries (as they are the same voltage and have much higher capacity). Solder wires to the terminals and wire into your flasher.

Answer 2

When a PC starts up it is customary to give a single beep letting you know everything's alright. If there is no display whatsoever and the HD light is acting funny, turn it on and listed for the beep. If it beeps long or repeated, then there is a problem with some hardware, probably your RAM. If it doesn't beep at all, it may be a problem with your motherboard. Chances are it's not the hard drive because the computer will still start up and do a RAM test even if there is a broken HD or none at all. If it gives a single beep, look to make sure you're monitor is plugged into the computer properly.