Good day to all! Before New Year I still have time, I decided to make a Christmas tree. As they say, I made it out of what I had!
And it was precisely:
- Copper tube 30 cm high with a diameter of 5-7 mm (iron can also be used),
- Copper wire with a diameter of 1-1.5 mm, I don’t remember how many meters, soft electrical tape “Japan” (Actually “Made in China”), I think narrow tape will do,
- Heat shrink with a diameter of 4 mm,
- Copper wire (I used twisted pairs from UTP cable),
- 3mm LEDs (quantity depending on the number of branches on the future tree) green and red that were in stock, which were once ordered from a Chinese online store,
- Resistors (the value and quantity depends on the connection method and supply voltage, I soldered resistors from old circuits of phones, TVs, tape recorders),
- Pliers,
- Scissors or wire cutters,
- Green “Grass” yarn was purchased in the “Yarn” department,
- Power supply (used an old phone charger)
- Resistor values, quantity and connection diagram can be calculated on the website: http://www.casemods.ru/services/raschet_rezistora.html
- The calculation of the multivibrator was done in the program “Symmetrical multivibrator”
Let's get started!
We measure the wire for the upper branches, make allowance for attaching the branch to the trunk, fold it in half and twist the halves together. Thus we get a branch blank:
The number of branches in the first row depends on your imagination, I made 4. Next, we attach the branches to the trunk using electrical tape.
We make the top of the head using the same method. Next we make the second row of branches down. I have 6 of them, all made like the first ones, only they are a little longer, the number of branches in a row and the number of rows in the tree depends on you. In this way, you need to make and secure all the branches on the future tree.
If you don’t want to make a garland, you can immediately wrap the branches and trunk with Grass yarn. But I made a garland, or rather even two separate ones. One garland of red LEDs and the second of green ones.
I soldered the LEDs in series, 2 pieces at a time, with a 120 ohm 0.04 watt resistor. Supply voltage 6 volts. There is one LED for each branch tip. The tip of the branch was inserted between the legs of the LED. The wire from which the branches are made is in varnish insulation. After soldering, heat shrink was applied.
Before wrapping the branches, I checked the entire structure for functionality (as you can see in the photo, this is already the second tree, and in the video at the end of the article, the third).
The Christmas tree stand was made from a cardboard tube (the base of a reel of packaging film). The top of the stand is cut out of chipboard, a hole is drilled along the diameter of the trunk, the chipboard is attached to a cardboard tube with nails, the bottom of the stand is cut out of kragis. The barrel is fixed in the stand using hot glue. The stand is lined with black cashmere.
There is a hole drilled on the side of the stand for the power cable.
A multivibrator is inserted into the stand, calculated in the “Symmetrical multivibrator” program and soldered according to this scheme:
Everything is connected according to the diagram. After installing the multivibrator in the stand, we secure the bottom of the stand (kragis) with a furniture stapler. The Christmas tree is ready! If desired, you can imitate snow on the branches with gouache.
Video of a homemade Christmas tree:
Hi all!!! Happy New Year, everyone!! Let all the bad things remain in the old year, and let all the good things be with us in the new year!! So in this article I want to tell you how to make just such a small Christmas tree in just a couple of hours that can decorate yours, for example. workplace, in the new year, or maybe standing somewhere at home
The basis of the device is a simple multivibrator.
The oscillation frequency depends on the values of capacitors and resistors in the base circuits. Wide field for experiments.
What do we need?
1) LEDs. I used three colors: green 6pcs, yellow 6pcs and red 7pcs.
2) Resistors. 10kOhm - 2 pcs, and 1kOhm - equal to the number of LEDs used.
3) A pair of transistors
4) Heat shrink with a diameter of 2 and 4 mm
5) Copper wire, varnished, approximately 0.8 or 0.7 mm thick
6) Something else...
The wire should be cut into pieces approximately 10-15cm long. The number of such segments should be equal to the number of LEDs multiplied by two. It is advisable to make half of the segments 10cm, the other half 15cm.
Resistors are soldered to the LEDs, then all this is soldered to our pieces of wire, as in the figure.
Then the resistors on the LEDs are “hidden” in heat shrink.
After this, you need to once again check each LED with a resistor for functionality, and clarify the polarity. Then we twist together all the “pluses” of the LEDs, and all the “minuses.” Then we split the bunch of “pluses” into two so that we get two approximately identical groups of LEDs, which we will connect to our multivibrator. Something like this.
I made a multivibrator wall-mounted on two KT816G transistors, and unfortunately I didn’t have time to take a photo.
All that remains is to stuff it all into any suitable case, and voila!! Enjoy!!
LED Christmas tree do it yourself, no programming required!
This project shows how to do Christmas decoration in the form of a Christmas tree without special effort and knowledge. The Christmas tree has a size of 120 x 80 cm and is made of ordinary LEDs, but their operation does not require a microcontroller and its programming at all. This means that everyone can do it.
The project doesn't take that long to make, even though it contains almost 1,500 individual LEDs. It is assembled quite quickly and simply, but this is taking into account that you will follow the instructions given below, which will contain warnings against various errors. Before starting assembly, it is recommended to watch the video presented above.
Step 1: Materials and Tools
To make this project, you really don’t need as many materials and tools as you might initially think. This makes the project cheap and easy to make. So, you will need:
Materials:
- LEDs 5 mm. This project used almost 1100 green, 300 yellow and 100 blue LEDs. Moreover, the yellow and blue LEDs should be blinking.
- MDF or fiberboard sheet
- Soldering materials
- Electrical wires, about 30 meters, preferably made of thin, solid copper conductor. IN in this case a split telephone cable was used.
- An old laptop charger as a power source, in this case we used an 18.5 Volt power supply with a power of 4 Amps.
Most main secret in this project is to have individual colors of LEDs flashing. In this project, these are yellow and blue LEDs. When designing, it was assumed that they would flash at different intervals, causing a random pattern over time, and this theory turned out to be correct. The moment power is applied, they start blinking at regular intervals, but after 10 - 15 seconds, they start blinking randomly. If we take into account this feature of non-uniform operation, it turns out that to create beautiful effect no microcontroller required, no programming required, no resistors, no capacitors, nothing but LEDs!
You will also need very few tools:
- Drill bit diameter 1mm and 5mm, drill
- Soldering iron
- Wooden model - matrix
- Insulating tape
- A tool for stripping wires (as it turns out, the most important one, since it greatly simplifies the work).
- Ruler, pencil and other small things.
Step 2: Preparing the design
Prep takes about half the time to make this project, and trust me, it's worth it.
First, you need to draw an image on graph paper (you can use graph paper), using only the colors of the LEDs that you can find. Be careful with red because... in this case, 100 red flashing LEDs were ordered, and it turned out that when they are combined into a series, they turn off the entire series at the same time and do not light up again (it looks ugly and is not recommended for you). By combining red LEDs in a series of 9 pcs. they practically did not catch fire. Blue and yellow LEDs are not affected by this problem, so we had to exclude red LEDs from the entire project.
In this project, the image was initially created in Photoshop, but it turned out to be sufficient difficult moment. After searching for similar programs on the Internet, many software products were found that decompose images into square pixels. There are a lot of them, and it’s up to you to choose which is more convenient. The essence of this step is to divide the image by color into squares of a certain size. Then print it on paper.
The next step is to properly orient the LEDs to reduce physical coupling. It would be possible to simply orient all the cathodes in one direction and the anodes in the other, creating a kind of square mask by connecting the power to only two poles, but in practice this turned out to be very inconvenient. Therefore, the connection diagram in this project looks like a connection of rectangular areas, since this does not require the presence of a large number of additional resistors to reduce the voltage supplied to the LEDs, and at the same time reduces the current consumption.
From technical description LEDs, it was found that each LED has a voltage drop of about 2.5 Volts. In order to completely eliminate the use of resistors, it was decided to combine LEDs in a series at the rate of 18.5 Volts / 7 pcs. = 2.6 Volts (LED voltage drop). Thus, one series of LEDs should contain 7 LEDs and at the same time they will glow at maximum brightness.
In our case, we used a template with squares, in the center of which there was a point a certain color. Then, on paper, each color was combined into a series of seven LEDs. It was a very tedious task, but fun in its own way, almost like solving a puzzle. As it turned out in the end, a series of 7 LEDs was not enough to withstand a voltage of 18.5 Volts, so in the end the series had to be increased to 9 LEDs. We strongly recommend that you find out and accurately calculate the permissible voltages for one series. This will save you from redoing the entire circuit again.
Step 3: Jig Soldering (LED Series)
To make life easier, a small matrix was made. Using the same dimensions as for final assembly, a small wooden board was made with a pitch of 5 mm between points. When applying this matrix to a sheet of MDF or fiberboard, it must exactly correspond to the drilling holes. After marking the holes, it is recommended to mark the row and column numbers, this will further simplify your further assembly. Also, on this matrix, in the next step, separate series of LEDs will be assembled, which will then be inserted into the main template.
Step 4: Create Custom LED Series
Now, if you have a convenient template for creating series of LEDs, you can proceed to the next step. We must start from the very beginning, i.e. from the first episode. Place the LEDs of the first series in the required order. Some of the LED legs must be shortened, otherwise they may cause short circuit. Then straighten the legs of the LEDs so that you get serial connection(i.e. plus the previous one with the minus of the next one, etc.). To mark the series, small pieces of adhesive tape were glued with the series number on the anode of the last LED, and the minus was not indicated in any way. After assembling the series, it is checked for functionality, if everything is fine, then you can move on to the next series. This project produced 150 series of LEDs, the work is very tedious and requires attention. Don't forget to check connections after soldering.
Step 5: Preparing the fiberboard
The MDF sheet that was purchased for this project was the perfect size so there was no need to trim it. If you have such a need, then cut the sheet to the required size.
Draw a square grid across the entire sheet, but first make sure that it matches the grid you used to create the LED sections, i.e. corresponds to the preliminary matrix. Be careful if you break the square matrix a bit, i.e. Draw lines that are not perpendicular, it can ruin your entire project!
Then, using the square template drawn on the paper, identify the circular areas in which you need to drill holes. These are not exact areas, they are only needed to understand the outline of the figure. Then mark the exact points for drilling holes.
After this, to make the holes easier to drill, drill all the holes with a drill with a diameter of 1 mm, and then go through all the holes with a 5 mm drill. This step is quite time-consuming, it took approximately 7 hours to drill 1500 holes!
Another extra hour was spent sanding various irregularities and removing burrs.
Step 6: Installing LEDs into MDF Board
This step is quite simple, but again, if you have exactly the same dimensions of the preliminary matrix and the holes drilled in the MDF sheet. If everything is accurate, then simply insert the LED sections from the back of the MDF sheet into drilled holes, according to the paper map. Ideally, you won't need any LED fixing.
Be careful when inserting LEDs into the holes; if the distance is slightly off, there is a chance of damaging the LED lens or pin soldering. Also, don’t rush to remove the tape with section numbers, it will come in handy later!
Step 7: Create Positive and Negative Power Rails
To create power buses, you need to take a regular wire that is used for a voltage of 230 Volts (for example, the cores of a PVA wire), strip it of insulation, and twist it well to avoid delamination of small wires. Each side will require approximately 150 cm of wire. Then secure each of the cores on the back side of the MDF sheet, for example, with plastic staples, on both sides of the sheet vertically. Where the lines of the squares intersect, the wire must be tinned for further soldering (in this case, there were about 60 points on each side).
Step 8: LED Connection
At this step, when all the LEDs are in place, clearly determine where the series is plus and where it is minus. The order in which the sections are connected does not matter.
Start from the bottom row. Solder all sections one by one to the positive and negative power bus. In order to save time, wires and the number of soldering points, consider the possibility of parallel connection of sections - this will significantly save your time and effort. Remember that the wires for connecting to the power buses must be insulated, otherwise a short circuit will occur!
It is recommended to connect line by line, this will greatly help you if you make a mistake. Also, if you wish, you can add a regular power switch to the circuit between the charger and the LED tree; in our case, the project works simply by connecting the power supply to an outlet.
This concludes the production of the project, but remember that this idea is suitable not only for depicting a Christmas tree, you can also implement your own, completely different, ideas.
| quantity | Designation and marking of the part on the diagram | |
| 6 | × | 10K resistor R1, R3, R5 on both boards |
| 6 | × | 330 Ohm - 3K resistor R2 (2K), R4 (1K), R6 (330) on both boards |
| 1 | × | 2K resistor R7 (on one board only) |
| 6 | × | 47uF capacitor C1, C2, C3 on both boards |
| 6 | × | 9014 transistor Q1, Q2, Q3 on both boards |
| 13 | × | Red LEDs D1-D6 on both boards and D19 (only on one board with R7) |
| 12 | × | Yellow LEDs D7-D12 (on both boards) |
| 12 | × | Green LEDs D13-D18 on both boards |
| 3 | × | Printed circuit boards |
| 4 | × | Battery container with fasteners, power socket, switch and USB power cable |
Set contents
2. Diagram of a 3D Christmas tree and the theory of its operation
The numbers of the resistors and their values are indicated on the board; if the values are not indicated, refer to the set composition table. The value of the installed resistor is determined using a color code or by measuring the resistance of the resistor with a device.
Sets of 3D Christmas trees are equipped with pairs of resistors R2, R4, R6 with resistance values different from 1K. In any case, the resistor of the lowest resistance is installed in the power circuit of the green LEDs D1-D6, and the resistor of the highest resistance in the circuit of the red LEDs D7-D12. Adding a low resistance resistor to the green LEDs will make them glow a little brighter. Green LEDs are usually less bright than LEDs of other colors.
Do-it-yourself installation of resistors on the board
Biting off the conductors
4. Installation of transistors
Installing transistors on the board
Soldering the transistor on the board
Install the transistor from the board marking side. The position of the housing must correspond to the picture on the board. Solder transistors quickly without overheating. Solder all six transistors. Next we solder the electrolytic capacitors.
5. Soldering capacitors
Positive electrode is longer
Negative electrode markings
Polarity markings on the board
Radioconstructor capacitors are soldered
When soldering electrolytic condensates, it is necessary to take into account the polarity of the latter. The negative electrode is marked on the capacitor body, and the terminal itself is slightly shorter than the positive terminal. The negative electrode on the board is indicated by a shaded stripe. If there is no picture on the board, then the soldering area for the positive electrode of the capacitor usually has square shape. When installing a capacitor on the board, consider its position on the board. Look at the photo. Next we install LEDs on the board.
6. Soldering LEDs
Installing an LED on the board
LEDs also have polarity when connected. The long electrode of the LED is positive, and the short electrode is negative. Again, note the PCB markings and the square shape of the positive solder pad. When soldering, be sure that all LEDs are the same color. They must be grouped together with a common resistor and transistor, as shown in the diagram. If you solder the LEDs different color, then one color of the LED will glow brighter than another color (and the other color may not glow at all!).
Pay attention to the position of the LEDs relative to the board. We are not installing diode D19 yet. After installing the LEDs, it is time to check the correct installation.
7. Checking the operation of soldered boards
After installing all elements on the 3D tree board (except for the D19 LED at the tip), the board must be tested. To do this, 5 Volt power is supplied to the areas marked “-” and “+” on the tree stump. We insert the batteries into the container and, observing the polarity, touch the conductors to the power contact pads on the board. Watch the video. If all the parts are installed and soldered correctly, then all the LEDs should blink beautifully. If not, CHECK FOR CORRECT INSTALLATION and correct errors. Next, we install the power supply and switching elements on the base board.
8. Soldering the base board
Correct position of the switch on the board
Installing the 3D Christmas tree power socket
Battery container on base board
Soldering battery power conductors
We solder the power switch button of the 3D Christmas tree and the external power supply socket. Attention! When installing the power switch, the cut side of the button should face the nearest edge of the circuit board, see photo!. A piece of cut electrode from a resistor or capacitor is used to secure the power supply socket on the board. Such a loop will firmly fix the sockets on the board. We secure the battery container with screws and nuts on back side base board. See photo. We shorten the conductors from the batteries and solder them, observing the polarity to the printed circuit board. Apply power to the board and check the polarity of the voltage on the pins in the center of the board. Let's begin the final assembly of the Christmas tree.
9. Final assembly
Electronic Christmas tree. PCB assembly key
Connecting the boards together
We assemble two boards in a herringbone pattern, the arrows on the boards should be side by side. Fix the position of the boards relative to each other by soldering one contact pad on the tree trunk.
Connecting three boards together
We insert the tree into the base printed circuit board, observing the polarity instructions (“+” and “-”) on all three printed circuit boards. Make sure the tree is installed correctly and solder the contacts and remaining pads on the tree trunk.
The 3D LED Christmas tree can be powered by a battery pack or a USB power source. When the plug USB power inserted, the battery is disconnected by the internal contact of the socket, so the batteries do not need to be removed when powered by USB.
Be careful when supplying USB power from gadgets and laptops; not all of them can provide power to the Christmas tree. You can purchase a radio constructor set of parts for assembling a 3D Christmas tree at the following link http://ali.pub/2rdf6t . Watch the video to see how the Christmas tree glows
Good luck assembling your 3D Christmas tree with your own hands.
As an addition, you can install only one Christmas tree on the base board. And connect the second board to batteries or via a USB cable, for example, to a power bank. The board can be attached to a headdress or to outerwear. The night will look very cool. Then the set will make two Christmas trees.
On New Year's Eve I want to do something festive! And the most best decoration at home it’s everyone’s favorite Christmas tree.
For achievement home comfort we need: a small piece of wallpaper (or some cardboard), green rain, tape and steady hands.
We roll up our sheet of paper into a cone shape and secure it with tape. Next, fold it and cut the bottom evenly so that it can stand straight. Then we take a little copper wire (0.3..0.5mm) and wrap our cone, securing the wire with tape, this will give it elasticity. We cut it according to height (this makes it easier to install rows of LEDs). After the tiered (they are numbered in the diagram) installation of the LEDs, we fasten the cut with the tape we are familiar with. We also place the board inside the tree. At the next stage, starting from the top, we wrap the cone with green rain so that the LEDs protrude a little. Well, by design everything...
As for the scheme. We supply 7..12V (I think everyone has enough such blocks) to the stabilizer to power the controller and make a common + (not stabilized) which is common to all LEDs. From this common wire, LEDs are turned on in parallel in each tier; we do this so that we do not have to pull two wires to each group of LEDs. At the outputs of the MK, 0 or 1 alternately appear, which go to the bases of the transistors to open them. Transistors are needed, since several LEDs are connected to each port of the MK; the controller may not be able to handle all these currents. By the way, current-limiting resistors can be placed between the MK ports and the transistor bases. The LEDs are connected with the “minus” to the collectors (emitters to the ground), and in front of their “plus” there are current-setting resistors. I think there shouldn’t be any questions regarding the operation of the circuit...
Transistors: BC547 (or any equivalent)
Current setting resistors: 200 Ohm...1kOhm
Capacitors: any (these are power filters) from 0.1 µF
In the diagram, the numbering (1-6) is our tiers of LEDs, starting from the bottom. The 6th is our top, an asterisk or something like that. Do not mix it up, otherwise the glow pattern will disappear!
The application contains the source code in , anyone who wants can rewrite the program at their discretion.
List of radioelements
| Designation | Type | Denomination | Quantity | Note | Shop | My notepad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MK AVR 8-bit | ATmega8 | 1 | To notepad | |||
| Linear regulator | L78L05 | 1 | To notepad | |||
| Bipolar transistor | BC547 | 12 | To notepad | |||
| Resistor | 10 kOhm | 1 | To notepad | |||
| Resistor | ~900 Ohm | 38 | To notepad | |||
| Capacitor | 0.1 µF | 2 |
