THE BUILDING BLOCKS
This project has 6 separate building blocks:
1. A sinewave oscillator – more realistically called a feedback oscillator or blocking oscillator.
2. A charge-pump – a diode charging a capacitor
3. A time-delay circuit
4. A relaxation oscillator – not used when in the repeat flash mode
5. A transistor in breakdown mode – this is one of the added components
6. A trigger transformer
WARNING
This project generates 350V DC and stores the voltage in a large electrolytic. This voltage will not kill you, but will deliver a nasty SHOCK! For this reason, the project has a great benefit. It will teach you to work very carefully on equipment with high voltages and if you do get a shock, you will appreciate electricity EVEN MORE! Simply discharge the 120u electrolytic with a screwdriver or jumper lead before working on the circuit. I do. I’m not silly. I don’t want to get a bite or tingle each time I pick up or work on the board.
There is no reason why beginners cannot experience working on this project as it contains non-lethal high voltages and is a very good grounding for electrical safety.
We forgot to mention the other high voltage produced by the circuit. As you will learn in the notes, a trigger transformer is also included in the circuit and it produces a very high voltage to trigger the Xenon tube to produce a flash. This trigger voltage is approx 2,000 volts but since it is only present for a very short period of time, you would have to be holding the circuit at the instant when a flash occurs, to feel the spike. None the less, this 2kV is part of the circuit and adds to the fact that this project is packed with features
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