changing Galaxy meter lamps to LED's. ideas???

[loosecannon]

hi all,

im wondering if anyone has come up with a cool way of changing the galaxy meter lamps to LED's.

galaxy uses the PC board the lamp is mounted on for the dimmer circuit, and this board is so close to the back of the meter that a single LED, if it would fit, would only light one small portion of the meter.

im sure lots of people change these to LED's and i bet someone out there has come up with a cool way to make it work.

lets hear 'em!
im open to discussing all ideas, tested or not.
LC

 

[Robb]

(10) 3mm 9 color changing led's.cb radio.cobra.uniden. - eBay (item 250597573496 end time Apr-14-10 09:33:10 PDT)

Kinda different...kinda cool too...

 

[74IN]

I've used 5mm LEDs on Unidens.

The wheat lamp has a rubber grommet that I toss and the LED has a tight fit.

Check the viewing angle of the LED. Very important. 60 degrees is good, but scuffing the LED with emory cloth helps to diffuse the light .

 

[Wire Weasel]

I've used 5mm LEDs on Unidens.

The wheat lamp has a rubber grommet that I toss and the LED has a tight fit.

Check the viewing angle of the LED. Very important. 60 degrees is good, but scuffing the LED with emory cloth helps to diffuse the light .

This works on the older style (and still used) rectangular meters, The Galaxy meters are completely different.

LC, a friend over this way tried the following and it's working well for him:

The backing on the Gal. meter is opaque white. Simply place an any-color high brightness LED behind the meter casing. The light will shine through the casing from the rear and do the job. Do what 74IN suggests and fully scruff up the LED to diffuse the light so it won't cast lines or shadows. You can hold this LED in place by attaching it to a nearby part or other wire with a small plastic zip tie or something. Once it is in a basic position and tied down, it shouldn't move out of place. So ya don't have to deal with actually getting into the meter assembly at all.

Good luck!

 

[loosecannon]

yes, the galaxy style meters are a different animal.

the problem with the LED facing the back of the meter is how close you have to put the LED to it. because of the dimmer PC board location, the LED ends up being right up against the meter and makes a bright spot.

i have done probably three different galaxy LED conversions on my radios, and have had varying degrees of success.

i have no problem getting it to work "ok", im looking for a "cool guy" technique that worked excellent for someone else.

guess its up to me to figure one out. LOL

thanks for the replies so far,
LC

 

[Wire Weasel]

Give it a try anyway LC. It's easy and won't hurt ya to test it. Use a 5-8,000 mcd LED, scruff it up with sandpaper good to diffuse the light and see how it goes. It does not have to be mounted flush against the back meter panel either...it can stand off a bit.

Good luck!

 

[loosecannon]

see thats the problem WW.

there is a PC board mounted near the back of the meter that holds the lamp and the dimmer circuitry.
because of this PC board, a 5mm LED ends up being right up against the back of the meter.

i have done it a few times and the results were less than spectacular.

i finally got it right using three LEDs that were scuffed up and modifying (read: hacking) the dimmer PC board.

i might just have to get some 3mm LEDs and try those.
might be just the thing.

thanks for the replies,
LC

 

[godzilla]

Self adhesive SMD LED ribbons should work great. I've used these on many projects and these LED's seem to have a wider viewing angle so the spotlight effect doesn't seem to be as much of an issue on these. The best thing is that these flexible ribbons have a self adhesive backing so they are easy to mount.

 

[Grey Coyote]

I wonder how much light you might be able to direct to the meter through some home-brewed Plexiglas strips, you know, kinda like fiber optics. Just throwing some ideas out to try and help you with that "cool guy" technique your looking for loosecannon.

 

[loosecannon]

cool idea grey coyote.

i have worked with that technique in the past in other applications.
the kind of plexi that does this is called "mobay", and when you heat polish the edges light shines through with a very cool effect.

as for the galaxy meter light thing, i think i found my solution and that is to use axial LEDs.

just like electrolytic capacitors use either radial or axial leads, so do LEDs.

i just havent bought any yet to test it all out.
should work pretty well though.

i will post here if i ever get around to trying it.

thanks for the input.
LC

 

[Wire Weasel]

I wonder how much light you might be able to direct to the meter through some home-brewed Plexiglas strips, you know, kinda like fiber optics. Just throwing some ideas out to try and help you with that "cool guy" technique your looking for loosecannon.

Yeah I like that. I've thought of swiping some FOC off of some xmas lights, feed with a color changing LED and place them wherever it fits. Neat idea.