cell phone antenna light thingies

[dacflyer]

anyone got any info on these light that attach to cell phone antenna on these new phones.. i looked at some, but they use no batteries, and theres no electrical connection to the antenna mount,, it just screws on the phone,, is RF making it light?
they are neat looking red / blue / green / yellow
blinking...they facinate me,, i am attracted to lights like a bug..lol
someone enlighten me,, maybe if possible show a circuit of it too ? thanx

[Externet]

Hi !
I would say they are neon or other gases bulbs, turning on by the RF field.<p>You like lights ? Clip the leads off some neon bulbs an put them on top of a useless compact disk, all this on top of a cup with some water; in your microwave oven...<p>Miguel

[Chris Smith]

Might be fun, but the microwave might not agree with you? This can damage SOME older type of microwave ovens. If your oven is not the type that can take metal, dont do this!

[dacflyer]

BEEN THERE - DONE THAT - GOT THE T-SHIRT !<p>i have just about nuked anything you can immagine in a nukerator !
lightbulbs are neat, but only do it fo about 3-4 sec max, or bulb might explode,, but the gas in the buld is neat to see it turn into plasma,,
floureascent bulbs, like small BIAX lamps glow 10 x brighter in the nuker.. but the glass cracks from heating up too fast,i have the perfect solution to getting rid of them Annoying AOL disk ( free 1,000 hrs ! )stand it in the back of the nuker, set for 5 sec, and enjoy ! makes a awsome cracked glass look to it,, gives new meaning to CD BURNING !, and neon bulbs are cool too,, but the antenna lights are definetly LEDS not neons,, cell phones do not have enough RF to light neons
i looked at them close,, its LEDS...

[moe]

Hello
The one that I have has a IC Chip and 5 led's in it sorry the IC is not marked

[dacflyer]

Hey Moe !<p>but how is it powered?
i seen no connections where it screws onto the phone, so i am guessing is it powered by RF energy ? or?

[moe]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by dacflyer:
Hey Moe !<p>but how is it powered?
i seen no connections where it screws onto the phone, so i am guessing is it powered by RF energy ? or?<hr></blockquote><p>Yes it is powered by the rf of the phones transmitter, it's cool in away to see the transmitter come up and look for a cell site when on the move.

[dacflyer]

how does it work ? is there a small coil inside that acts like a transformer? to produce the energy ? anyone got a schmatis of it?<p>i love light and other flashy things..
i got all sorts of led blinky lights that i made or find here / there {:&gt

[Externet]

Hi Dacflyer.<p>I will try to guess this one...
As they are LED's, I suppose their leads are cut precisely at ¼ wavelenght and function as a dipole antenna. The high efficiency in new led's helps too.
Try the highest efficiency LED you can find, the one you make light with the least current, and clip the leads to ¿900? MHz wavelenght. Try surface mount led's with radial leads 180 deg. apart as a dipole and experiment with positioning over the antenna.<p>So you love lights... Maybe you can tell how those lit kid shoes work... Are they battery powered or piezoelectric ?<p>Miguel

[dacflyer]

ok, i tried that with the leds,, no good,, it is some kind of circuitry in them tiny things,, because the lights blink in a pattern and sometimes randomly.. so i'll keep looking<p>
lit up shoes,, i have seen some and gotten the units out of them,,lol<p>basically they are 3v lithium battery and a centrifical sw. and a few LEDs certain ammount of motion makes them work<p>some have a spring loaded ball in them,<p>some have circuitry to make a light pattern
usually the battery is not replaceable, then again the shoes are usually out grown before the battery goes dead anyway

[jollyrgr]

For those that are not familiar with the light up cell antennas, they ARE LEDs. I have not experimented with one yet but you can see them here:<p>http://www.phones-cellular.com/html/fla ... tennas.htm<p>And they are powered by the radio waves of the phone itself. Go here to read about this:<p>http://www.phones-cellular.com/html/fla ... tennas.htm<p>Hope this helps.<p>[ April 03, 2002: Message edited by: Jolly Roger ]</p>

[Ron H]

The LEDs light when a call is received, but they are not powered by radio waves. They are powered off the phone's battery.<p>Ron H

[forrestgump]

I did a bit of searching I don't like paying full price for things! I found this link <p>http://www.cutepcs.com/detail.asp?phone ... uctID=3286<p>it looks like its an led with a diode and a
spring as a coil. I would like some more info on the type of diode and led they use. I will do some experminting! I might to break down and purchase one?<p>Mark

[dacflyer]

hey all, i found out how they work now,, theres 2 different ones out there,
one actually uses the phones power,but.its just a boring lit led when you talk,,,<p>the 2nd one is the cool one,, it has 4 colors
red
blue
yellow
green micro micro LED's
and they get their power from the phones RF
via a signal dioad.. then that runs the circuitry to make the leds flash & blink,, i actually am using one on my 2-way radio i have at work,,lol<p>NOW YOU KNOW !