Flashing LED

Try Maplin I'm sure they used to do LED's that just connected across the supply and flashed.

You may have trouble sleeping at night though, having deceived all those people in the park so readily.

Have you thought of becoming an MP?

AB

I got one of these on Ebay about six years ago and it's still flashing!!

Perhaps you could have a solar cell array to power it by the sun. Or adapt one of those solar powered garden lights.

You used to be able to buy flashing LEDs at one time for warnings etc. I clearly recall seeing them in an old Tandy cat back in the day when I could see to solder. Brian

JoeJoe expressed precisely :

The CMOS version of the 555 timer IC, combined with just a few components, plus a PP3, might suit your needs.

Several here:

I use regularly use Ebay for components and I've never had a problem- be they coming from the UK or the far east. Obviously, if coming from the far east, delivery time can be perhaps 4 weeks but, if you can live with that, they tend to be cheaper.

Thanks for that.

It won't be easy to provide it with power other than a battery. In the description it mentions "...When a permanent 12V supply..." which suggests that it would probably be too power hungry for a battery.

Thanks a lot - that's what I was after! Easy when you know what to search for...

A bellbox with a flashing LED tells a burglar that you don't have a real alarm.

Bill

Then he finds out that he was wrong when the alarm goes off. There are at least five alarms with flashing LEDs I can see from here that I know are live systems. AFAIK only one is a monitored system.

Mine doesn't have a flashing LED but it does have a red one and its not a dummy either.

As per previous poster, from China 100 slow flashing LEDs for £3.30

They're the slow fading type, not flashing. It'll look less like an alarm box, and more like someone's stuck a chintzy solar garden light on the wall ...

Ah well you will know from my previous posts (re charger) that my electronic knowledge is almost non existent :-(, it may be worth searching on ali express though.

But the purpose of the alarm is deterrence. Once they're in the damage is done. The psychological effect on the resident is the main thing.

Burglars do regard a flashing bellbox as a possible bluff, and are more likely to enter the property than if they see a normal bellbox.

It's the same with CCTV cameras. Never ever install a camera that looks like it might be a fake, even if it isn't.

Bill

Every single external alarm box enclosure on our estate contains flashing red LEDs. They're all installed and running systems. Two different suppliers/brands/styles too as the contract must have been changed half way through the estate build. House builds date from 1997 to 2003.

From looking around the rest of the village, this is far from uncommon.

Our local SCO said "Burglar alarms alarm burglars"

Flashing lights on bell boxes are common on real alarms. Burglars would have to be pretty thick not to know that. They have been common since LEDs were affordable.

Real alarm companies fit them so the burglars know its not a dummy.

Given what you have said then they all look like fakes to burglars. 8-)