Welcome back, if you've been away. Your name was familiar.  What you
describe as the difference ("standalone") is really the concept of
"embedded".  A very useful word I learned after I'd been doing it for a few
years :)  And although the R. Pi can be set up like that, the bootup times
tend to give it away.

I understand the desire to try things out the simple way, and I recommend
doing it, if only for the education.  The 555 itself is a curious bridge
between analog and digital.  I would suggest putting the 'scope on the
capacitor in the 555 circuit, since that (and pins 2 and 6) is where the
control happens.  Adding to Bob's statement about the on-resistance of the
part, the key in your endeavor is this:  You need a fairly large cap to get
the 1 second delay, and then you need to discharge that cap in a big hurry
(10 us).  That's where the issue lies.
--=20
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