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Building a "strobe" is just a matter of putting an LED, some diodes, a resistor, and (optionally) a transformer together.

The idea is that the LED reaches peak brightness (and darkness) at twice the line frequency, just as ye olde fluorescent tubes did. (Or: Skip the extra diodes and have it work at 1x line frequency. I'm not your boss.)

After that, just print a strobe disc and use it.

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Or even simpler, use a Neon bulb. or even a Fluro light.

Indeed.

But little neons are getting scarce (they aren't dear -- they're just much, much less common than they used to be). And working fluorescents (with magnetic ballasts that actually run at line frequency) are pretty much that way are too.

LEDs and resistors, though? Bright, cheaper than chips, and ready for all kinds of modern digital shenanigans.

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