Disclaimer: I'm a noob. I've been making lightsabers as a hobby for a couple of years, and have learned enough quick-and-dirty electrical knowledge to allow me to, well, make lightsabers. Still, I do try to pry more knowledge into my tiny brain in order to make cooler lightsabers. I've made three lightsabers that use LedEngin's 10-Watt RGBA and RGGB LEDs, and which allow you to change the color of the blade by mixing and matching the different colors. (Here's my latest, and here's a video of it.) The attached ultra-simplified (?) diagram shows how I do this.
Yes, I do know enough to put the appropriate resistor on each color, though I left them out of this diagram.
The problem is, any time red or amber are on, they suck current (if I'm not mistaken) from green and/or blue, so while the setup in the diagram should provide 15 more or less distinct colors, red and amber tend to dominate, and I end up with an inordinate number of pinkish or orangeish shades that are barely distinguishable from each other. I have gotten vague advice to the effect that I should be able to solve this problem "with a diode." I may not know much, but I know enough to know that there are all kinds of diodes (including LEDs).
Scouring the Internet for info, I found references to "serial resistors," but what I found has not helped me so far.
So here I am. Without using PWM via a microcontroller, such as Pic or Arduino, how can I keep red and amber under control and get nice color mixes?
Many thanks in advance for any help you can offer!
Yes, I do know enough to put the appropriate resistor on each color, though I left them out of this diagram.
The problem is, any time red or amber are on, they suck current (if I'm not mistaken) from green and/or blue, so while the setup in the diagram should provide 15 more or less distinct colors, red and amber tend to dominate, and I end up with an inordinate number of pinkish or orangeish shades that are barely distinguishable from each other. I have gotten vague advice to the effect that I should be able to solve this problem "with a diode." I may not know much, but I know enough to know that there are all kinds of diodes (including LEDs).
Scouring the Internet for info, I found references to "serial resistors," but what I found has not helped me so far.
So here I am. Without using PWM via a microcontroller, such as Pic or Arduino, how can I keep red and amber under control and get nice color mixes?
Many thanks in advance for any help you can offer!