Oh snap, dude! What about a bidirectional LED? I haven't seen much in SMD, but after briefly checking on Mouser it looks like they have them in a 0603, which would be pretty boss. The only thing that concerns me about the bidirectionals I see on mouser is the fact that they have recommended forward currents of around 10mA. The current LEDs are running at <1.2mA (which I observed from the schematic. Normally I'd just compare the datasheets, but the current LEDs have really spotty info on mouser). We probably wouldn't run the LEDs at full current, since they're just indicators and power could be a concern, but even a 500% increase of power used for indicators could be a turn off for some people. Bidirectional LEDs would be cool, and I know personally I would go for bidirectionals even if it meant a slight price increase and an 18mW increase on each channel. This idea would probably only be considered if the rest of the people buying this board felt the same way. I'm interested how everyone else values these extra features in terms of power and willingness to pay for the extra parts.
Also, I am a noob to the site, so I might have a completely different idea about how this site works (as far as community contribution of ideas to the projects). If these kinds of things aren't open to community input, just ignore this thread.
Durp, I don't know if this post is in the right place. This is for the ATX power supply board, I clicked on a link from the design overview for it and it took me here.
So I was thinking about getting one of these power supplies and I was reviewing the schematic when I noticed the LEDs. The LEDs are on when the output is functioning correctly (fuse is not tripped) and off when the outputs aren't functioning correctly (fuse is tripped), correct? I was thinking with the addition of a resistor and transistor for each output (looks like there's plenty of room on the board) you could make it so the LED turn on when the fuse trips. Some might not think it's worth the extra money for parts to change this function of the board, but I think it would make it even easier to identify problems.
Attatched I have an example of what I'm talking about.
