Instruction manual

LEDS1• 13
flash to the beat if you are playing a song that has a good drum beat. If
there is a lot of electric guitar you will probably see multiple flashes with
each guitar hit because an electric guitar will tend to produce a more
continuous string of low frequencies as opposed to the quick “thump” of a
drum. On the high-pass setting the LEDS1 will tend to trigger on things
like a symbol hit or snare drum beat. Instruments like these tend to
produce a lot of high frequencies. Experiment around and try different
types of music to see how the LEDS1 responds.
TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE
If your LEDS1 doesn’t work right away don’t worry; it’s probably something
simple. The first thing is to make sure of is that the LM324 and 2 NE555’s are
oriented correctly. Inserting ICs backwards is a no-no. If you’ve done it, just
carefully unsolder them and solder them in the right way. They probably
survived. The NE555 is pretty tough, and I’ve never seen anyone break an
LM324. If the ICs are ok take a look at the diodes and electrolytic caps. These
have a polarity and if put in wrong they won’t work right.
GOING FURTHER:
This section of the manual is for our customers who are really into messing
around with their kit. It is for those of you who will never be satisfied until you
see how much you can tweak your kit until it breaks, at which point,
incidentally, it would be our honor to sell you another one.
THAT BIG OL’ BLUE FLASHLIGHT
When building this kit you may have noticed that the power jack on the LED
board is the same as the jack the power adapter plugs into. You were
probably tempted to plug the adapter directly into the LED board. Well, go
ahead! You will get a blinding blue flashlight, even more so with the Ramsey
LEDS1-LG 20 LED board! You might want to keep an eye on the board if
you’re using it that way though, since the LEDs can get rather warm and you
wouldn’t want to burn them out. Also, it’s better to use a wall adapter than a
big power supply unless you’re going to current limit the output. These LEDs
will draw quite a bit of current so either put a large enough resistor inline to
limit it or simply turn up the current limit on your supply.