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valentines day

2025, everything, pcb, ne555, soldering

the problem

valentines day needed a gift with more effort in it than a card. so: a running light, arranged in a heart shape, on a pcb of my own design.

the approach

a NE555 timer driving the chase sequence, parts sourced from reichelt elektronik, boards ordered at jlcpcb for very little money. runs on a 9V battery.

bare valentines pcb with NE555 footprint

the heart-shaped LED layout starts here, on the bare board.

the outcome

a heart that blinks for my girlfriend. cheap to build, hard to top as a gift.

it still blinks.

assembled board with red heart LEDs

the same board with the components and red LEDs fitted.