What is it?

This is a modern map location pin. A reverse mounted LED is shining through the PCB to provide a bright homing beacon. The LED is driven by a 3V CR2032 coin cell through a simple 200 Ohm current limiting resistor. This provides ~5mA for the LED to balance brightness against battery life. A micro-switch can turn the LED on and off without the need to remove the battery, easily accessible on the top of the pin. The batteries I have tested lasted more than 6 hours at very nice brightness. And then it is running for another 48+ hours and still the LED is shining considerably bright through the PCB getting dimmer over time.

The battery is not included in the shipment!

Why did you make it?

I decided to explore the artistic PCB realm and the map location pin became the theme. See also my other map location pin. Classic Map Location Pin

What makes it special?

It glows in the dark and helps you never being lost by always telling you where you are. ;) And it is not a badge. The board and soldering is all lead-free assembled.

A circuit for a quasi-constant current supply is also designed onto the board, to run the LED from 5-20V without a battery. Here the LED can also be controlled by an additional external signal. This requires additional components and wires soldered to the pin and makes it not as mobile but would be a good option for a more permanent wearable installation. Contact the seller for details about this circuit.