My entries for the Flashing Light Prize 2017 ( https://www.flashinglightprize.com/ ), a competition to find unique technical methods for causing an incandescent light bulb to flash. Starts with 0.5W, then moves up to 1,000W.
This video was originally uploaded on my personal website because I had lots of trouble getting it onto a video hosting website.
http://computernerdkev.heliohost.org/swingstrober/Flashing_Light_Prize_2017_Entry_-_Swing_Strober__Xvid.avi (223MB, will probably be removed later)
Some Extra Details:
*The pre-manufactured flashing light bulbs were made by General Electric, model no. 401X. 1.5V 0.33A (0.5W) E10 (10mm) socket.
*The Philips Colorenta bulbs used were old stock, but it seems that the bulbs may still be available, although they're currently being replaced by LED alternatives. After a lot of searching, I found an image of one from another manufacturer that isn't frosted, so you can see the internal design:
https://internationallamps.co.uk/product/long-tube-striplight-filament-colorenta-light-bulb-40w-e27-279523240/
In case that page is removed, I've saved the image here:
http://computernerdkev.heliohost.org/swingstrober/colorenta.jpg
It appears that the bulbs acutally have multiple filaments inside, connected in parallel along the length of the tube.
*The circuit in the Swing Strober, for detecting the light from the swinging Colorenta bulbs in order to flash the 1,000W bulb, is a simple design based around that old IC favourite, the NE555. A relay is used to switch the 240VAC. I've drawn out the schematic, which can be found here:
http://computernerdkev.heliohost.org/swingstrober/flasher_schematic.gif
Circuit Notes here:
http://computernerdkev.heliohost.org/swingstrober/flasher_schematic.txt
I'm better with a still camera :) :
http://computernerdkev.heliohost.org/swingstrober/p1010001,c.jpg
