Hey Guys,
Let me start off by saying that I am a software developer with only the basic knowledge of circuit design. I have started messing around with some projects to get more familiar. What I am trying to do is flash an LED bright for a short period of time by charging a capacitor with a battery and then when a switch is pressed discharging the capacitor quickly. I have designed a basic circuit with two transistors but I cant seem to get it to work correctly. I just need to know if my basic design is sound. I have used a PNP transistor with a current limiting resistor connected to the base so that when I first connect the battery the capacitor, it immediately charges until fully charged. I have used the NPN transistor so that the LED does not have a connection to the negative terminal. Then when the switch is closed what I was hoping would happen was that the current would flow into the PNP transistor base essentially cutting the capacitor from power and flow into the NPN transistor allowing the LED to connect to the negative side of the capacitor allowing it to discharge quickly. Does anyone see anything completely wrong with my circuit logic ? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
Steve