Flicker LED indicating comm activity

David Betz

What is a good way to cause an LED to flicker to indicate comm activity? Turn it on for a brief length of time each time a comm packet is sent? If another is sent before the first period times out then the LED looks like it is on solid? Or is there an easier way that doesn't involve timers?

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

On the first comms line transition, turn on the LED for a specific amount of time. Then make it insensitive to further transitions for another specific amount of time. Once that "dead time" is over, start looking for transitions again.

Or ... remember if any transitions occurred during the dead time and start a new cycle right away.

-Phil

David Betz

@"Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)" said:
On the first comms line transition, turn on the LED for a specific amount of time. Then make it insensitive to further transitions for another specific amount of time. Once that "dead time" is over, start looking for transitions again.

Or ... remember if any transitions occurred during the dead time and start a new cycle right away.

-Phil

Sounds like it would work. I'll try it on Monday when I'm back at work. I'm having fun playing with RaspberryPi's these days while I wait for P1 Q44 chips. Then I'll make a board with an ESP32 and a P1. Who knows why. It just sounds like fun. I might use it for a phone app controlled Christmas ornament.