Fantastic Atom Expander

Parts

Part	Total Qty.	Description	Substitutions
C1	1	0.1uf Mylar Capacitor	0.1uF Ceramic Disc Capacitor
IC1	1	4017 IC
IC2	1	555 Timer IC
L1-L98	98	Jumbo LED (any colour but blue)
Q1-Q5	5	2N3904 NPN Transistor
R1	1	4.7k Resistor
R2	1	680k Resistor
R3-R7	4	470 Ohm Resistor
MISC	1	PC Board, 9V Battery Snap, IC Sockets

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Author	Views	Views Today	Rank	Comments
	118,537	5		24

anonymous	Fantastic Atom Expander	Sunday, February 10, 2013 6:18:05 AM
Verry lousy schematic do it right or do nothing att all!!!!!!
anonymous	Fantastic Atom Expander	Sunday, May 27, 2012 5:41:48 AM
verry rare .bad drauwing circuit and layout not logic
anonymous	Fantastic Atom Expander	Sunday, August 02, 2009 5:20:54 PM
J means Jumper
anonymous	Fantastic Atom Expander	Thursday, April 16, 2009 10:34:22 AM
What yhe J letter means? It appears like J1, J2, J3, J4, J5 and J6! Thanks!
João Silva Brito	Fantastic Atom Expander	Thursday, April 16, 2009 9:59:32 AM
It's just me or its missing from the parts placement de led place or number 85. From my count is 97 leds not 98!?!? Please advise!
João Silva Brito	Fantastic Atom Expander	Thursday, April 16, 2009 7:02:54 AM
Hello! Could you please send me or improve the showned Schematic because i can't see all the numbers in the ICs. It's really important! Thank's!
ChrisWhewell	Fantastic Atom Expander	Friday, January 23, 2009 10:38:13 AM
Is it a one-shot deal, or does it provide a continuous series of expanding light effect ? Thanks
suraj	Fantastic Atom Expander	Tuesday, October 14, 2008 12:41:35 AM
circuit diagram is not clear
anonymous	Fantastic Atom Expander	Wednesday, April 23, 2008 12:59:36 AM
I built my atom expander following the design on this page. But it didn't work at first because the capacitor was to small. Eventully after trying many capacitors a 220pf(0.22uf) worked and gave me a working project. So i don't know what happend, everything else is right it was just the capacitor. oh well, anybody building the project, if it doesn't work and the ic's are working make the capacitor a bit bigger like a 220pf.
RedWagnum	Fantastic Atom Expander	Saturday, March 15, 2008 8:27:24 PM
This circuit works very well! I bought a couple of these in kit form from electronicsgoldmine.com a couple of years back. I substituted ultra-bright LEDs for the "100 for a buck" red ones that came with the kit. Red on the outer ring, then amber, green, blue, pink (yes PINK), and then an 8mm white in the center. Changed resistor values where needed and it works just great. I've run it from various voltage sources anywhere from 6V to 12V with no problems. The transistors get a little warm but the duty cycle is low enough that it is not an issue.

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Fantastic Atom Expander

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PC Board Layout

Parts Placement

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