Wiring LED to Driverstation

[sircedric4]

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

Assuming a red LED:

Wire the + side of the LED to +5v pin, and the - side of the LED through a 330 Ohm 1/8 watt (or 1/4 W) resistor to the digital output pin. A "1" turns it off, and a "0" turns it on. You change the ground, not supply power.

Other colors need different ohm values.

Don

Thanks Don,

I have a few new questions given this information now.

Is the digital output pin you refer to the signal pin? I am using the standard 3 wire PWM cables and if I understand you I need to go from +5 V through my red wire of my PWM cable then through the LED than out of the LED through a resistor and then to the signal wire of my PWM cable?

Is this 330 Ohm resistor necessary if I spec'd my panel mount LED to not draw more current than the driverstation can handle? I used Digi-Key part L50141-ND (LED IND LIGHT 6V RED), does that require the resistor you mentioned?

If it does, can you point me to some documentation or website that explains why I need resistors with LEDs and why different resistances to different colors. I saw no documentation on the Driver Station that would send me down this path. I want to understand why I wire LED's up this way to the DriverStation.

Thanks