| Fairchild FLV102 LED | |
| Written by AnubisTTP on 2017-03-23 |
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Fairchild's first LED, the FLV-100, was a 500ucd point light source that was nearly useless as an indicator. Fairchild was well aware of this shortcoming and quickly released a modified version of the FLV-100; the FLV-102. The FLV-102 is identical to the FLV-100 in every respect, with the exception that the clear red epoxy on the top of the transistor header has been replaced with a diffuse red epoxy blob, in a desperate attempt to improve the visibility of the weak light emitted by the LED die. This reduced the viewing angle, the FLV-100 has a view angle of 80 degrees whereas the FLV-102 has a view angle of only 30 degrees. Unlike the FLV100 and FLV101, Fairchild's FLV102 was a commercial success, and enjoyed a hefty production run for an early LED. The light emitted by the FLV-102, at a partly 1mcd, is only marginally easier to detect than that emitted from a FLV-100 and both are easily drowned out by average indoor incandescent lighting.
Fairchild FLV 102 LED, normal operation.
Fairchild FLV LED family, from left to right; FLV102 LED, FLV101 LED, FLV100 LED indicator, FPT100 phototransistor.
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