January cata elelg Gi seh Communications security World's|fastest-computers Temperature probe for DMMYou couldn’ ask for anything more complete! he heb in\\ SCR 2065 is the only multi-featured ampli deck in India with Dolby® NR. Atop seller for so many reasons Only Sonodyne audio engineering is advanced enough to design a stereo cassette tape 16% incorporating Dolby NR-anoise reduction system that completely eliminates hiss — ond a host of wonder-working features as well. There's the Tape Selector Switch for instance. Letting loose electrifying sound from your normal, chrome or metal tape. While the Noise Fitter Switch fters ‘outtape hiss, scratches and high frequency noises The soft touch, heavy duty tape mechanism with cue nd review lets you indulge inthe magic of music day affer day, year after year. You can also connect the SCR 2065 to extemal inouts such as a record player, a tuner oran external tape deck. Even direct recording is a cinch, Just depress the Recording Switch, The LED VU-meters instantaneously display tape signal levels during recording and pl k 1g you to precision hone ding levels to capture live as the original. Sound which is precisely reproduced by speakers protected by c hybrid power Module with builin short circuit and overload protection. der wih matching x6 Acomplete stereo system with upgraded SX 505 speakers Put together, these exceptional features make the SCR 2065 a complete stereo system: stereo Cassette tape recorder with a built-in 80 watt ompiifier ana Matching Sx 505 speakers. Allin one compact, power packed bly atan affordable price. Proof that you don't have to ‘compromise on quality for ‘economy. ® Dolby is the registored trademark of Boll Licensing Corporat | SONODYNE’ SCR 2065 Music for your ears, eyes and... wallet!Publisher: CR. Chandarana Editor: Surendra yor Eaitonal Assistance: Adnok Donare GGonoral Manager: J. Ohas Bdvertiing’ 5 M_ Mehta Proguetion: CA. Atha gart Addrone ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS PVT. LTD. 52, C Proctor Road Bombay - 400 007 INDIA Telex: (011) 76661 ELEK IN Overseas editions: Eloktor Electronics Standlast House Bath Pace High Steet. Barnet Hons ENS SXxE UK Editor: Len Seymout Pubiivon Publcacoes Tecnias Lica 2 Iprange 1100, 9 andar CEP’ 7040 S00 Paulo — Brant Editor: Juliano Brea Evcktor sar Route Nationale; Le Seou: 8 P53 50270 Bsileut — Franco Eaitors: 0.8 S Never GC P Raedersdort Eloktor Verlag GmbH ‘Suoterfeld Strate 25 100 Aachen — West Germany Editor: EJ A Krempclsaucr Eloktor EPE Karoskak 1 1872 Voula — Athens — Greece Editor: & xamhouis ektuur BV, Pater Treckpoelsraat 2-4 IGT VK Boek — the Net Editor: ° EL Kersemokor Fereira & Bento Uda RD. Este, 22-1 1000 Lisboa ~ Portugal Editor: Jorge Goncalves Ingook 8.4. AAs Afonso XIN, 1 Modi 18 — Spat Eaitor: 4 Mi Fore In pare Kechorn Holdings PTY Lia CG Fo Vall Road & Kiogle Steet Eaitor: Roger Harrison Electronic Pross AB Box 63 WN Danderya — Sweden Editor: Bill Corum rrpontoty fr ean ace such z., W Copyright © 1986 Etoktuur The Netherlands Electronics Technology Communications security New rival to the world’s fastest computers Atlas, Minerva, Carminat Noise at high frequencies (an important factor) Projects Di Electronic balance al-to-analogue converter for 1/0 bus True-RMS meter Analogue wettmeter Top-of-the-range preamplifier-2 Temperature proble for DMM MW receiver Information News and views New products Licences & letters of intent Year Index-1986 Corrections Guide-lines Switchboard Classified ads Index of advertisers Selex-9 Dimmers Field strength Measuring range extension Continuity tester Volume-5 Number 7 _ January 1987 124 | 1.42 1.49 1-57 1.21 1.26 1.30 1.39 1.44 1.51 1.53 117 1.64 1.70 1.80 1.82 1.75 1.82 = 1.82 1.58 1.59 1.61 1.62 ater stan 1067 1-03,‘a-) DIGITAL A FINE BLEND OF RESOLUTION & RANGE BOTH FOR VALUE & TAN DELTA CT ELECTRONICS Pat) i (op Stand) eu eet ee ha poe eigen6 a PHILIPS { Philips PM 2518. It’s got more aces up its sleeve than any other multimeter Philips PM 2518 starts where the others stop. Extremely sturdy and reliable, i's the ideal choice for | Compact and portable, thisnew digital meterhas.allthe manufacturing and servicing workshops, and quality basic features and performance you'd expect from control and R&D labs. rno-compromise test-bench meters Furthermore, the PM 2518 comes fully backed by the Latte nationwide service network of Philips. An assurance aa ces uric eee rocateepenh Of POD vee: MET Ee | mode on LOD: er information contact | a Temperature measurements with special probe Philips India Guaranteed safety and reliability ‘dust & Electro-Acousties Systems Division 1 Meets IEC specifications Calcutta: Chandra Machab Fad, Calou 13 Uses two batteries — low power consumption New Delhi: 68, Siva arg, New Dei 110015 Fully developed at the totally integrated mode Bombay: Band Box House, 254-, AB, Road, Worliombay 400 026, professional electronics factory in India, the PM 2518 Madras: No. addows Road, Madras 60 008 Incorporates all the advantages of Philips’ advanced Bangalore: 73/1, St. Mark's Roed, Bangolore S60 001 8 technology. | Philips — the trusted Indian household name for over fifty years SS nape any 1987 1-07___IC SOCKETS. _____ HIGHLY RELIABLE_ nese = _ CONSISTENT SUPPLY — ______AT AFFORDABLE PRICES !___ Socket all your IC’s with CHAMPION IC Sockets and MULTIPLY* your PROFITS !!Why use just any Micro()meter when there are 2 great ones around?Get your international conference going without winding yourself up. Just contact AirIndia’s Congresses & Conventions cell. They'll offer you all their advice—absolutely ‘They'll work with you tight feom incepiion by helping you promote your conference. Advising you how to bid for India as your conference venue. Liaising with your delegates. And transporting them to India fon a wide range of low low group and individual fares. course, they're backed by Air-India’s worldwide network of 145 offices. So that your conference gets all the publicity and promotion it needs, And by Delhi’s guperb conference venues Like the Talkatora Stadium or the Indira Gandhi Stadium. Or, the many new hotels in Delhi, most of which offer excellent conference facilities. Or even the ultra-modern Sher-iKashmir International Conference Centre at Srinagar. Attached to the superb 5-star Centaur Lake View Hotel next to Dal Lake. ‘Naturally, with such services, it's no surprise that Air India has been closely involved with the International Lepro: Congress, the World Conference, the World Mining Congress and many ‘The next time you want to host an international conference, don’t wind ‘yourself tense trying to organise one. Get some hi from the professionals in field. he AirIndia Congresses & Conventions 6th Floor, ‘Vandhana’ 11, Tolstoy Marg. NEW DELHE-110 001 Tel: 33112 You host it, We'll help promote it. Member oA International Congress WRAL) & Convention Association = y ser 1-15)Larsen & Touro, Calcutta required a custombuit Hemperature scanner for their NALCO project. (On an analysis oftheir problem, ‘our temperature scanner was modified and a suitable scanner developed CHALLENGE! that’s the name of the game. Topityour sirengtrs against amost impossible odds, and come outa winner. To work together witha client as team, and find the right risers that benefit Doth Build ast relationship step by step ‘we were $5) called upon to design a @ special DC Moror I the battery operated locomotives of Hindustan Construction Company, The DC Another. motor was uch asuccess that a5 fag ctoeete may stents have rowbeen Seed Rectifier designed for supplied to them. EO Electrophoretic Painting This rectifiers the fst ofits These arejust three of the several kindin india Sinitarrecifiesshave customer specific solutions been installed bys at aig Auto. —_from 3 Compeny committed to Pune and Wheels India, Madras. innovation and excellence Each system isdesigned wth the same dedication and expertise that has made Advani- Oerlikon aname. toreckon within a host of other ingustres. ea So if you're looking for customer- ‘Specific, hi-precision electronics LIMITED instrumentation, contact the Where Specialists Interact Spedaists Mutimedia Aquanus/AD29'86 wie sanery 1087 1-19D/A CONVERTER FOR I/O BUS ie To further complete the range of plug-in I/O bus extensions, here is a programmable analogue ouput board. Those many owners of a Cé4, C128, or MSX micro equipped with the 1/0 bus board will, no doubt, appreciate the flexibility of the present extension, which | is based upon the use of a readily obtainable DA converter chip. and a prosotable output voltage | upon he use ofthe Type ZN428 8it spent we believe an extremely | digo analogue converter DAC) Simple t ula module which wil | whose. internal configuration 8 erable programmers 10 put 1 © port appeared inthe December | computer into contact with the real | Ada 185 sue How te universal 1/0 bus | (analogue) weld verted atthe modified to sut operation ofthe latch pulse applied t the wih the MSK series of co i ENABLE input ofthe ehip. The data An é-bit DA will main inthe Itch untl anew converter chip into the device latch controls an as- The proposed D/A board is based S Jong with an as- ‘board, was in wn in Fig. latch loads the byte to be cor: ‘The present D/A converter features Sbit resolution, bulfered outputs, agnitude latched byte, -Suare either at e n Writing 2581 to the DAC latch efore, produces Uxer at the | analogue output, since Hi MU Gall swit Uner), Writing @:» (0x) produces an output voltage of nought, while 128. (@0ies) yields User. In this manner, the chip out put voltage can be stepped through the O-Uner range in 258 21) in ssually connected direct o the ther D/R or A/D converters tem instability due to re coefficients of in led out Circuit description The cigcuit diagram of the D/A con- | verter board is shown in Fig. 3. It is seen that the DAC latch contents are | taken dizect from the 1/0 board | iver 1-21TH TTL databus, DeD: The latch enable pulse is obtained from gate network NeNoNs which has been set up for the logic function EN=(92-$8-W). As already detailed in the article about the 1/0 bus, $8(Slot Select} isa signal which indicates the presence of 2 predetermined block of four ad: Gresses on the computer's address bus. Each slot (ie, board on the 1/0. bbus) is, therefore, accessible to the microprocessor via an appropriate memory read or write operation (PEEK/POKE). The present D/A con: verter board can be written to at any one of its four address locations ‘The DAC reference is fed from the +5 V rail via Ry. Cy has been added to effect the necessary decoupling, ‘The amplification of opamp A: can be set as required by means of DIL ‘switches 51S. Az provides an output voltage that includes an offset level as delined with Ps The values of presets PrP: and as sociated series resistors RoR: aro govemed by the requisite ampli ‘cation, A, of opamp As, according to A=1+Rs/Ro whence Re=Ra/(AD. With Ra=Re=I0K, and an object am- pilification of 4, Rb works out at 3K3. Ro is next divided into a fixed re sistor and a preset, whence Ro=Ro +P, and, in practice, Ro=1K0; P:=SK0, These components ensure reaching the required amplification hao amv eaavG B2otov (a=) er aay farefactor (4) with P, set to roughly the centre ofits travel. The dimensioning ofthe remaining resistor-preset com binations is, of course, identical to the above example with P1-Re. The output voltage range at the A output is O—(AxUres) V, while that at the B output is Vou—(B x Urt#) +Vis V, whore Vos is the offset voltage in- troduced with Ps. Example: a VCO (voltage controlled oscillator) requires to be driven with 0.110 V. The amplification of As must therefore, be 10/Urer=4. With P,=5K0 and Re=IKO (see the forego. ing calculations), write 288» to the relevant slot address and adjust Ps for a DMM reading of 10.00 Vat the B output. Write 0 to the DAC and adjust Ps for a DMM reading of 100 mV at the A output. Construction By virtue of the simplicity of the pres- cent design, anyone with only limited ‘experience in electronics construc- tion should be able to get the board built and operative in a relatively short time. Fig. 4 shows the way in which the various parts are to be firted onto ready-made PCB Type 88312, Do not forget the three wire links, and observe the correct orien tation of the angled 2I-ay buscon- necior. A demo program Table 1 is a listing of a test and emonstation program intended to get the feel of programming the DAC in BASIC. It stands to reason that ‘machine language routines can offer a considerable speed-up as com- pared with BASIC, For stance a pro- Grammable sine wave generator using the DAC board would require the user to be well acquainted with the intricacies of programming at the mnemonics level, which is, and should be, a real challenge in that it stands for mastery of both hardware and software, sl 200 | a 0909070070” [@, TORE HERRERO RRR EERE EE ER ERE REESE 29 REM % TEST PROGRAM FOR 1/0 BUS. * BO REM % SLOT LATCH AT SE120 ~ 57530 * 40 REM & SLOT 1 — SE120 — £123 ~ 57690 — 57000 * 89 REM % SLOT 2 4 — E127 = 67634 — 57637 * 60 REM % SLOT 3 = SE128 £128 = 57638 — 57641 * 70 REM # SLOT 4 = SE12C — EIZF = 57642 — 57645, = OREN OHH RGR RRR Rai 90 REN 100 REM aoe RC He INPUT DATA desi ioe Ara 105 PRINT:PRINT M0 INPUT" WHICH SLOT HOLDS 8-8/T DAC BOARD (1-4)":S 'IB.ON $ GOSUB 1009, 1010, 1020, 1020 120 INPUT" AMPLIFICATION FACTOR A 139 INPUT” OFFSET VOLTAGE vouTs) 0 140 INPUT” REFERENCE VOLTAGE (VOLTS) AV 190 INPUT" OUTPUT VOLTAGE AT A (VOLTS) vO 169 REM B00 REM a€ 4038 4 95 COMPUTE LATCH CONTENTS. a5 310 REM, 220 x1=(VO.0V/A, £380 X2 = (X1/2.56)-2RV 100 340 IF X2>255 THEN X2 255 380 POKE 8,2 260 REM, 400 REM 4 EH EK DISPLAY VALUE HERRERA HERE 410 REM, 420 PRINT:PRINT” VOLTAGE = “:VO;" VOLT"-PRINT:-PRINT 439 FOR |=1 TO 1000:NEXT | “Mo REM 500 REM ORCI ORS LOOP EOE OSR CR CR Ira 510 REM 520 GOTO 150, 530 REM, 1000 6 = 57692:RETURN 1010 8 =57605-RETURN 1020 6 =57640:RETURN 1080 8 -57644.RETURN 2000 END Part ist (Wo nies otherte a= 380% Re... Rs ine, = KO eran = 10K arf =47K Phe Pe incl = 10K 10K mutiturn Co 16 tana Semicond D:De= INA C= 20478 (Fenat Ice PaHcrTIN 0 7H Ca L388 Misalansous: Seine Away DIL switch Ky =Zhsay ang nite? PCB Type B8812(s00 Readers Serices) off salderng prs Seo tox for ‘dinrcknirg, a seiner 1867 1-23COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY The problem of unauthor ized access to information 1 fransit is as oled as mankind itself. Each ad. vance in the means of transferring information has tended to be ac. companies by more soph: islicated possibilities for compromising that infor mation. Thus, in 1986, despite the millions of possible frequency hopping sequences it may possess, the integrity of a modern military radio. which falls info enemy | hands is assumed to be | no more than a few hours. However, there has been a fundamental change in one aspect of this sector in tecent years. Tradition: ally, interest in secure communications was con: fined to the military and | diplomatic communities. Today, creased depen: on the continual exchange of injormation—be it techni all, financial, or sonal—the problem ap plies equally to commerce ‘administration. Consequently, an incu: dedicated to interfering with communication tc minals of all sorts hi evolved, Product able range from loca! and remote telephone bugs, through mi mitiets on terminal keyboards, fo systems that can reconstruct conver: sations trom electromag etic emissions from te minal ict oecess to informa takes many forms, from the | accidental interception of 1 a conversation (as in th case of a crossed tele: phone line), to the planned eleciromagnetic fatlack on a specific com munication system known | fo cary data of a sensi tive nature, Disguising messages In the 20th century, the consequences of com- Promising privileged infor mation vary ftom personal embarrassment te con: siderable pecuniary loss Illicit access to personal nformation—tor example, credi rating—can have serious cumulative effects for the individual con. cemed. Unauthorized ac. cess fo other information— perhaps that relating to impending changes on the stock exchange, pro: prietary processes, or movement of high value cargoes—can result in ob- | vious financial loss. | Malicious modification of information in transit can. aso have dramatic results, The science of avoiding such consequences can be divided into two parts—the protection of the medic and the de- | fence of the message, | In practice, the com: Prehensive protection of modern communications media is not a practical Proposition. Metal com- munication cables, to on extent, act as radiating antennas and the con- fidentiality of trattic can be jeopardised by the use of suitable listening equip- The Plessey Crypt : the executive wi discuss sen tive matters on the (element. The most vulnerable | ype: are the ovethoad ben wite links that ore common in some pars of the world, Soreened ond shielded cables, particu fatty f buried, ore @ more Giticut proposition for he would’be eavesdropper, Bul physical access fo the Cable makes interception relatively stroightiorword fibre optic cable, which Carries photon inslead ot Glectical energy, Goes nol act os 0 radiating Genial. Atempts 1912 into fibre should shut the whale link down, although itis believed thet com siderable sums of money Gre being invested in systems 19 surmount this impediment to eavesdiop- ping, Radio signals can Siso be compromised by senslve recelving systems #5 generalization, the more directional Gnd pre- {ise.a lranemission, the more dificult he pre: Cess of compromising ft Topospheric scatter and meteor burst commun Cations score nigh for some specialized Hatic types These interception risks have focused! increasing _Btlntion fo asguiang The | content of messages, | Voice scrambling involves | the partitioning, rear- | rangement, and permu atan ofthe signe, wh | ing end. An interesting esc Se | from Consumer Microcir- [Serco Digital vs analogue | In essence, the Fx204 is a “two-band frequency inver: sion device that uses | switehed capacitor fillers “10 spilt the voice spectrum “inte high and fow re quency bands, and bel- anced modulators to invort ech frequency bond about its own cenire frequency The split point frequency is externally programmable to 32 diflerent points in the | range 300 to 3000 Hz and makes the FX204 suitable for both fixed program. mabie and rolling code speech scramblers, All filter cut-ott requencies and inversion carriers ‘are derived from a single reference crystal oscil lator and facilities are pro- vided to input and output synchronization tones. where required. Con structed in a §V single | supply, complemeniary | metaloxide semiconduc- | tor (CMOS) process and available in dual-in-line (OIL) and surface-mounted 24-pin packages, the FX204 Is suitable for use in fixed of portable equip: ment, Eneryption schemes, which are usually digital, gre applied to both voice and data signals. They | operate by reducing the signal fo a bil seam which is then permutated and transposed on o bit. by-bit basis according to the dictates of key which is applied at the re- ceiving end. ‘A comparison of ana- logue and digital systems reveals that the former provide a more natural voice ouality and allow speaker recognition Digital systems, by syn- thesizing the original signal, are not as com- petent in this area. In terms of traffic security, it Is recognized that digital systems in general operate at higher levels, although | some analogue arrange: ments are comparable. Some digital systems re- quire dala compression Gnd so are more expens ive for voice than analogue systems which can transmit over conven: tional speech channels | without modification | Analogue signals become dirtier than digital ones | during the course of om- piification on long dis tance metal carri A critical difference be- tween the two lies in the likelihood that an anc: logue system will be vule nerable fo the engineer ‘and the cryptoanalyst, the sophistication of their equipment, and the com: plexity of the original scrambling technique. Digital systems are more readily dealt with by com. puter facilities; here the concems are the key algorithm and the signal Protection standards Advances in technology have made it possible to build complex and sophis- ticated encryption equip: ment for use over the Public switched telephone | network. Plessey Crypto”, for example, has recently iniroduced the Voicelok 400 secure telephone. Voicelok, which uses a patented, essentially ‘analogue time division technique, has 10" poss: ible key settings. is de- signed for high-level security over telephone networks and is available in either multitrequency oF loop-disconnect signal- ling versions. All encryp- tion circuits are contained ‘on a single module within the telephone. Based on the Plessey PET 100 series, Voicelok has hwo oper ating modes—clear and secure. In the clear mode the instrument is a sian dard duplex telephone link. Switching to secure mode by an illuminated push bution initiates a 16 bit key, pseudo randomly generated, and trans. mitted at each trans. mission path reversal, This Involves a transmission delay of typically 600 ms. Plessey has also devel- ‘oped Faxlok, a system using similar technology, for facsimile transmission. Widely used inter. nationally is the Data Encryption Standard (OES) developed in the United Stotes of America by IBM. DES uses keys that are periodically changed, either physically or elec- tronicaily. Due to the American governments restrictions on the export ‘of high technology, there hove been periodic short- ‘ages of encryption de- vices embodying the DES. algorithm. it has also been reported that the American National Secur- ity Ageney (NSA) does not intend to recertify DES when if is reviewed in | 1988. These developments have Jed organizations through: out the world fo develop alternative encryption standards A new encryp- | tion chip, developed by | British Telecom and called B-crypt, is a device that embodies such a standard. BI says that In some respects its B-crypt devices are superior to DES devices. In particular, | data sent over telephone | | tines contain a lot of repetilive elements such ‘9 data address messages or headers. DES encrypls these in the same way as the main data, thereby giving clues to the cryp: foanalyst, while B-cryp! encodes headers in a dit ferent wav. BT Is also wrking ona telecommunications ‘authorities cryptographic algorithm (TACA), de- signed to protect data sent over satellite circuits. (1) Consumer Microcireuits Ltd; Wheaton Road: in. dustrial Estate East: Witham; Essex CMB 3TD. (2) Plessey Crypto; Waver tree Boulevard; Wavertree Technology Park; Liverpool! Merseyside L7 9PE (3) British Telecom Centre; 81 Newgate Street; London, ECIA 7AJ. ioc na Sssoy 1967 1-25,ELECTRONIC oo BALANCE This accurately operating balance, which is entirely composed of electronic parts, features a 342 digit read-out, a tare offset facility, and a weighing capacity of 500 grammes. Based upon the use of a common bass loudspeaker as the weight sensor, this novel household utensil is readily built and extremely useful for a variety of hobby applications, and, of course, for cooking! Like most types of electronic balance, the proposed low-cost ver sion is based on the underlying prin- ciple of electromagnetic {ot compensation. Since the force on a conductor placed ina magnetic field 1 proportional to the coil ct causing the field, the voice coi loudspeaker can be used as a force sensor, if weights transferred ‘onto the cone and thus voice coil. After measuring the cone displacement, an electronic control circuit arranges for a current to be | sent through the voice coil, causing | the initial position of the cone to be | shifted, ie. it is pushed outwards. ‘The current necessary to elfect the counterbalancing cone displace: ‘ment is directly proportional to the force applied to the voice coil. In the proposed design, the loudspeaker is 1-26 ily powerful type with a flexible cone suspension system that ensures adequate repeatability in the stated weight ranges of Oto 200 and 200 to 500 g. Also, the loudspeaker should, be capable of handling considerable and voice coll are treated with care. A pre-heated knife may be used to loosen and remove the dust cover in | the cone centre. Once you have dissipation, as its voice coll is fed | with a direct, rather than an alter nating (AF), voltage. The foregoing considerations regarding the re- uisite type of loudspeaker leave vir tually no other choice than a rugged woofer with a power handling capability of some 100 W. The weight sensor Converting the loudspeaker into an accurate weight sensor is not 100 dif- ficult, provided the cone, membrane gained access to the magnet and voice coil assembly, great care must bbe taken to prevent small metal parts cor even dust from entering the air gap, since this will have a highly | adverse effect on the linearity of the balance. Fig. | illustrates how to proceed with the construction. The light barrier is ‘carefully glued onto the magnet, and its three wires to the control circuit ate left long enough to allow for the maximum anticipated cone dis: placement, before they are fed through small holes in the cone glued into piace, and connected to a terminal strip filed onto the loud: speaker chassis| Part ist ise Fis. 4 wa Semiconductors: Di:De=4v7.04 W ened Most likely, you will find t a tendency to oscillate at low weights with P: adi high P/I ratio, while increasing the | The adjustment screw imegrated (D) portion promotes | should be set to pro oscillation at relatively large weights. | ward cone displacem If attempts to stabilize the cone | on; the wice coil q) movement are unsuccessful, the | should then lie between 10 mA and system may have to be preloaded | 50 mA with a small weight; ho Both weight ranges are calibrated by rw Figs. 3 and 4) for an LCD read- t that tallies with a few standar conto the platform. atively, but with some loss in ,a number of small weights de at home by wrapping 8 into paper and having [qos eevee S Seer aetotanig ae sinensons pertain to Pitpseudspeaser Type AOSOSOAWE manage ire tube to wate weighing able \ Hart scores wm sope-ahe nage be enclosure | It should be bore in mind thatthe f- nal accuracy of the balance depends ‘very much on the damping of the Joudspeaker; since the contiol cir cuit isa proportional integration ype @l, this will be reverted 10), the removal of fairly heavy weights from the platform may be counteracted rather slowly, causing forceful cone displacement and oscillation at very low frequencies. Therefore it is strongly suggested to fit the loud speaker and associated control & supply circuits into an. airtight enclosure so as to improve upon damping. A wooden enclosure is perfectly adequate, both froma tech nical and an aesthetical point of | Circuit description The control circuit in the electronic | balance is shown in Fig 2, Light bar rier IG; funetions asthe its output voltage is determined by the adjustment screw that interrupts | the tight beam from the internal LED | as the cone sinks deeper due to the weight on the platform The currentcontrol loop is based upon the use ofa PI (proportional in- tegration) cireuit, composed of in- tegrator Az and adjustable amplifier As. The former provides a time averaged output voltage, the latter 2 proportional ontput voltage deter mined with feedback preset Ps Both ‘Ax and Aa ate driven by input ampli fier A, while Pe enables setting the amount of integrated or amplified since | © 22 mm man made i ic le ol gH baror signal (P/ ratio) fed to current amplifiers T:-T Potentiometers Ps and P: are set to positions where the control leop output signal is tree from oscillation. As stated above, fit ting the balance in a closed cabinet | the best way to go round this | problem, Current sense resistor Ris drops a voltage in direct proportion to the current passed through the voice Coil. In order to achiove a relatively low temperature-coeflicient and jence optimum repeatability of measurements, Ris should be home: made from constantan wire. Differen- tial amplifier Ae has a gain of 20 dB. | | Note that Ris is at +47 V relative to ‘he supply ground to ensure correct | DC interfacing to the display board. | Resistor Rw should be mounted Jose to the ground connection of Row so as to prevent erroneous xeadings owing to contact resistance in the voice coil cireuit, ‘The cireuit around As is a sample- and-hold arrangement to enable switch-controlled tare subtraction Pressing Sz charges C7 with the out pput voltage of Ae and at the same ime forces a reset of the balance read-out. At poweron, Cy is Gischarged and the + input of Ac is therefore at the same potential as junction RwRss, ie. at +47 V with respect to ground, plus 80 mV | voltage drop across Ris. The 60 xi¥ | drop serves to establish a quiescent | output curzent of about 40 mA if the outputs of Av and As are at equal potential. The exact amount of {quiescent current can be set with the adjustment screw (see Fig. D. The tare/teset button, Ss, is simply pressed after determining the weight of the tray, jar, or any other container whici is to hold the rel. ‘evant substance for weighing. In a similar fashion, Ss can be used to reset the display prior to adding a further ingredient to a mixture, ac cording to the recipe to hand. There are, however, a few important points to observe in the use of the tare fa ily. The first concers the total ‘weight of the load on the platform: this should not exceed 500 g. See: cond, there is a specific time limit for pressing S: hetween tare weighings, as Cras slowly discharged by its in femal resistance and the load presented by As. In the 200 range, fare weight is retained for about 30 seconds, in the 200-500 ¢ range for a much longer time, At relatively low weights, therefore, readings should be taken rapidly for best accuracy. Switch $: is used to select the Previously mentioned weight ranges. Although the 0-200 g range is. more accurate than the 200500 g range, the former calls for S: 10 be pressed prior to any weighing. The [pre-set quiescent current is likely to bbe slightly instable owing to tem- perature chances in the cabinet, caused by voice coil, current loop, and power supply dissipation, which has a negative effect on the sonsi- tivity of the phototransistor, Selection of the higher weight range is accomplished by 1 taking thevoltage from divider network | RoeRirRue, At the same time, the | decimal point on the LCD is | switched to the appropriate position. ‘The digital read-out for the proposed balance is based upon the use of PCB Type 840122, incorporated in the Capacitance Meter, published in the March 198¢ issue of Elektor India, The circuit diagram is shown in Fig. 3, the component mounting plan in Fig. . Note that neither lin 4 nor link B should be fited on the board to suit operation with the balance control circuit. Also note that DeDeR; are in fact the pacts shown to belong to the power supply (see Fig.2; they are most con venient fitted onto the LCD board Functional details of the Type 7108 LOD display driver have been dis- cussed in LCD panel meter, Flekior Electronics October 1981. In bret and with reference to Fig. 3, Rs and Gz determine the internal oscillator frequency of about 45 ke, which is used 0 derive the sample and measurement interval. Capacitor Cx functions as the autozere capaci tance, which, comectly dimen- sioned, ensures 2 reading of 000 on the LCD with both chip inputs at 47. The maximum indication on the LCD is reached at an input vollage of 2Vacr wi; therefore Ps etermines the final sensitivity ofthe isplay board. ‘The power supply for the proposed balance can source up to 18 A and requires adequate cooling. The stated value of R: gives an output voltage of 140, which determines to a large extent the voice coil cur rent at maximum woight, ie. 500 g Network RrDrDs serves to stabilize the LCD board supply voltage, and to create a virtual common rail at +41V above the citcuit ground potential. The +251 potential for sample-hold As is taken from point | GDP onthe LCD board. The voltage | limit prevents the 7106 inpuis from | ti ep eae 0 Na | | | ling capability Setting up ‘To begin with, the Pl contol loop | should be adjusted. This may be a | lite tricky in view of the previously mentioned tendency to oscillation at low frequencies. Moreover, oscil lation may occur with different ‘weigh’s on the platform. Checking for undesizabe oscillation at low frequencies is best done by | monitoring the output of Ar with a | DC-coupled oscilloscope, while the | weight is increased slowly by piling | sugar lumps on the weighing table. | Ayaeaiot sums nevica=casteo a eG Parts list see Fi. 2) Resstor 560 20 ResRre= 100 2 Roath Re=170 6 Reha Rr -220k Re=180k fy Roo Roe= 104195 DOs avia4W¥ acolo S1= SPST mans Srepuoh 0 make Syeminatue DPOT Frances LS ~ bass loudepoake Tochnieal characteristics: Weight ranges: Maximum weight foad Linearity ‘Accuracy: Compensation for of centre placed weights Loutspeaker: Display ‘wont; 8 $200 men, Po 60 W og, Pio 200 9 and 200... 600g. <1% of wead-out 41 digit 0.5% of full-scale indication (= 0.1 gin 200 grange! | en | diameter of 100 mm pic -¥ On display board $200 mm; 60-100 W, 8 ohm. "pete 3), gt awtehed dca point We eit hat no rmady rade PCB i aval for ths part of ner ct saree 967 1229)TRUE RMS METER Determining the RMS value of a voltage or current hitherto required at least a scope, a textbook of basic | electronics, a pocket calculator, and, at times, sheer guesswork regarding the interpretation of resultant figures. This plight has prompted us to design a wideband AF RMS meter featuring technical characteristics to make it | suitable for a wide variety of measuring applications. Se Sea | In electionics lteatue, both atthe | | hobby and the professional level, the ims effective, virtual, and root square are frequently used 10 | ‘Technical characteristics laut ranges 20 mW; 02 V; 2 V; 20-v (a0 4B, an alemating quantity such 20 de 0d: +20 a8) tage or cunent, Riso compo M Accuracy (Un= SUninadl: (1.5% +1 dig) 0-100 ke; nent ratings, maximum permissible {5% 100200 te dissipstion, AP and RF signal levels, che vai Sco 0 re: Ac Ce comedy NVA 34 non nn to name but a few examples, are fre quently stated as being rms values, For relatively lowrequency, pure, sinewaves, the rms amplitude can be read with ample accuracy from an analogue or digital AC voltmeter, since these instruments are gener ally calibrated for the sine wave crest 1:30) wensiate Stuy iatfactor of 2. However determining | the rms value of other periodical signals, such as ramp voliages, ree tangular, or tiangular waveforts is not usually possible with the same [XC volimeter fr lack ofa calibration in accordance with the requisite crest factor, defined as the ratio of the peek value of a periodically varying quantity to the rootmean square value, Without going into mathematical details, Table | sum rmarizes terms and conversion for rulas for some of the most ire quently encountered waveforms (Gee also Infocard 1I4). The proposed meter is based upon the msto-DC conversion principle and fulils a vanety of applications as ithas been designed to accept many xraveforms a wide frequency and in put voltage ranges, ensuring a high input impedance. The instrument combines the functions of ue RMS | rotor and dB (AF inpat voliage level) | meter, offering instantaneous read: ings on a liquid crystal display. ‘As seen from the introductory photo- graph to this article, the RMS meter adds to the Elektor range of ‘measuring equipment housed in a standard Verobox enclosure, Ex- tremely straightforward to operate and fairly easy to construct, the latest addition to the series achieves a remarkable degree of precision at | modevate cost Block diagram Fig. | shows the functional organi ation of the true-RMS meter. The AC ox DC-coupled input voltage is fed 10 an amplifier/atenuator circuit, which ensures a maximum input level of 200 mV for the rms‘o-DC converter. This means thar the input section functions as an amplifier in | Table 1, me oan ogre e] | U,V? 2Up/ aut VPeae ation, | 00ers nu | | |e ' el as i ; ; | M4 a | Zz x WZ eet Ups YeUy PTL) avr | ote | ever] wer | ae | the 20 mV (AC only) and 200 mv ranges (A=10x and A=1x, resp’ ively), while it functions as an amp fier in the 2 V and 20 V input ranges | B==l0x and A=—100x, respect ively) Selection of the relevant range is accomplished with an electron: switch arrangement, which obviates the drawbacks associated with long es at relatively high impedance. The rmstoDC converter provides a linear as well as a logarithmic dire output voltage. With Ss set to the V position, the linear output voltage is, fed direct to the analogueto-digita converter comprised in the LCD read-out circuit. With S: set to the dB pier position, the display unit accepts the HI input voltage from a temperature compensation cixcuit connected t the converter’ lagaritimic output ‘This compensation circuit is based | upon the use of an amplifier whose | cam is temperature-dependent and whose output is applied toa voltage divider to achiove a miVidB gradient with respect to ground. Provision has been made to soloct | either a fixed or a variable (offset) iB threshold (0 dB = 0.775 V V into 600 ohms, see also In focard 801). The taking of linear rms dings is quite straightforward in | merely involves selecting the | Tange LEDs1-82 on appropriate attenuation or ampli cation factor of the input section plus switching the decimal point ox the LC display There is snag, how fever, in the reading of aB levels Assuiming a meter input level of 0.3 (0778 Vers), the rms comerer chip | | 's fed with 775 mv (input atenuation 4s 10 times inthe 2 W/O dB range) and it can be adjusted to yield the cor rect LOD reading. However should the meter be switched to its +20 43 input vange, the input voltage is 2 tenuated 100 times, and the con verter input volage is, therefore LIB mV, which would cause the dis play to read 2Ologse (7.78/77) = ~20 dB rather than stil 0 dB This er ror is corrected by applying —20 mv to the LO input of the LC driver. A similar comection applies to. the —20 4B and —40 aB ranges, in which caso LO is driven with +20 mV and +40 mY, respectively, An overllow/undesfiow circuit pz vides users of the meter with infor mation as tothe preferred range for use with a specific input voltage | level. Should this exceed the maxi mum cisplayable value by about M44B, the LC display gives ar overflow indication, Similaiy, at :n- put level of 30 dB below the set value 's signalled with the underflow sign, prompting the user fo switch to the next lower range for optimum accu racy. However in the —40 dB range of | the meter the underflow circuit is disabled to allow carrying out measurements at very low input || levels It should be borne in mind, however, that the meters accuracy | | | below some —70 dB fas rapidly, as this value approaches the minimum detectable level of the conver chip Finally, a switch shifts the decimal point as required, while LED drivers arrange for the relevant unt indie | cation (mi, V, o¥ dB) to light on the | front panel, | RMS-o-DC conversion In essence, there are two methods for converting an rms level to @ pro portional DC level, which can sub sequently be used to drive a meter indication cizcuit, whether this be a digital or an analogue type. The first method is based on the use of a ther mocouple device, which determines the rms value of measured current or voltage by means of the heating ef fect in a stip or wire composed of two dissimilar metals joined to forma | circuit producing an electromotive force The second method involves | output the legaritmie DC level ‘The squared signal is averaged by 2a - 6120-28 | 190-20 | output voltage is available at chip | pin 10 | External preset Pa provides the bias | for the internal squarer/divider, and the use of semiconductor d which incorporate analogue pro: cessing circuits for the calculation of 2 corresponding direct ouput voltage or output current | hence can be used to elect cal: Figures 2a and 2b show what is in- | bration of the AD363 at 0€B input ide the Type AD636JH rmsto-DC | level. converter chip. It comprises an input ectifier plus voltageto-curtent con fetter, a feedback-current cor: rolled squarer circuit based upon ‘ho use of logaritmic and anti-logar- thmie amplifiers, which are used to Conversion errors It stands to reason that any type of practical rmstoDC converter in- evitably produces a small deviation, from the ideal conversion character- istics. The main orors and their possible cause will be discussed briefly in the following points. Static error. Production tolerances and deviations from the target specifications amount to an accept able level of 1 mV in the case of the ans of a low-pass RC network, of which the capacitor, Cay, is connec- ted as an external par. The averaged value is converted to a proportional direct current by means of a current miror, which passes its output through an on-chip, high-stability, 10K resistor. The proportional direct3 $yoLt ms NPUL 7] | stated converter chip | Bandoedth Theres, unfortanatly | limitation imposed upon the achiev | able bandwidth of the converter chip. | | Fig. 3shows the correlation between put signal ftequeney and the chip output voltage. Note that the com- verter's usable bandwidth i strongly dependent on the level of the ap ied input vollage. I is, therefore adviseble to carry out measurements in the lowest possible meter range DC error. itis readily understood that Cx determines the lowest input | 4 2 Converte signal frequency that produces a | ‘i, faithful dizect output voltage; the | capacitance of Gu therefore re quires due consideration in ée- signing with the ADBS36JH. In the proposed meter, provision has been rade to select’one of two capacitors Cu to achieve an indication response as required by the specific put frequency | Grost factor. As already stated in Table |, the crest factor of a rec: angular wave is inversely _pro- portional to its duty factor. Fig. 4 shows the conversion error percent age as a function ofthe crest factor. The cause for this error lies in the act that, in the case of very low duty iors (needle pulses), Coe has tie daunting task of instantaneously catching” all the energy contained in the pulse, and retain its charge for the averaging process to be com- pleted. Obviously this is very dif cult to achieve in practice, whence the relatively small error, which, however, becomes the more mani fest when added to the previously | ERESTEACTOR (CF) ——* yayo- | | mentioned erors, especially when | reading rms values of signals with a | very high crest factor ie. low duty | factor) he Ty A special difficulty may 4 =| high crest factor signal meters input section. and hence the | converter chip, 10 be overdziven since the resulting waveform distor clipping) and the generat harmonics readily leads to er- | cous display readings. It is, ofcre, suggested 10 fi the peak value of such signals using an oscilloscope, to decide on the comect input range of the truexms Ls Circuit description | | Display unit (see Fig. 5) The LC display driver/Ato-D con- | v is a conventional design based on the Type 7106, whose oper ational details have been covered in Electronic balance, elsewhere in his issue. Fig.6 shows how circuit tera Jone 7 1-33board 84012-2 is to be completed to | The channel selection code is ob make the LC display unit, Point C | tained from two-pole range selector should be wired to ground, while the | Ss-Ss. It is readily seen that the dotted components are not required. | analogue multiplexer is in fact the smiconductor equivalent of a two pole, four-way rotary switch. In this design, where signal levels are rela- tively low, conventional switch wir- ing would readily lead 10 noise being picked up by long cable runs, connected to circuits with a high input or output impedance, It was, therefore, deemed practical to leave: Converter board (see Fig. 2) With reference to circuit diagram Fig. 7, the input voltage enters the meter via a AC/DC selector, S:/Cx Next comes a three-resistor, fre- quency-compensated voltage div: ider, RReRs. Two pairs of FETS, ‘TT: and Ts-Ts, have been connec: fed to function as ultvalow leakage protective diodes on the 20 mV) 200 miV and 2 V input lines. Low-noise opamp IC: is the 10x amplifier for the 20mV (AC only) range. With the range selector set 0 2V or 20¥, Ts takes the non inwerting input of the LF#S6 to meter to a considerable extent ‘multiplexer drives buffer ICs, which ground so as to prevent noise or | serves to provide matching of the | high-impedance multiplexer output cross-alk from being amplified. Also | to the converter chip input, which is Res is de-activated to avoid the mete: input impedance from falling 10 about 10 k (Ra, Selection of the relevant input voltage range is accomplished with a dual analogue multiplexer. De- pending on the binary code appliéd toits channel selection inputs, pins 9 and 10, each section of the IC passes the analogue voltage at the relevant input #3 to the chip output stated to have an impedance of about 6700 ohms. The lower section of the multiplexer provides selection of the comect compensation voltage ap- quisite compensation voltage is de- rived from a tapped resistor ladder network at the four inputs of the lower section of ICs. Switch S: all signals "on board” and to ac- | complish solection with an elee- | uc device ensuring low crosstalk | and good reliability. Moreover, it | Simplifies the construction of the | ‘The upper section of the analogue | plied to the display drivers [0 inpat | during 63 measurements. The we: | selects between a fixed 0 4B level (778 nirns) and a user-defined level (ifset) brought about by turning Ps During linear rms measurements, the LO input of the display driver is taken to ground by Ts, Ree functions to prevent IC2 from being damaged by the viral shortcireuit to ground brought about by the MOSFET. Operational amplifiers Az and A: form the overflow and underflow detector, respectively. Should the voltage at the output of Ay be higher than MOmV (@ V/Ris/Ris), As toggles and drives the HI line with about 8 V, causing the overflow sign to appear on the LC display. Similar 1y, As signals underflow ifthe output of A; drops below ~300 nV. Diodes DsDeDs constitute an OR gate to disable A: from detecting underflow im the —40 dB range. Opamp A; has been included to enable the rms converter output to bbe temperature compensated. To this end, the feedback circuit of A: includes a negative temperature coefficient resistor (NTC), which is ananged to be in thermal contact with the converter chip enclosure. Voltage divider RerRss provides the Previously mentioned 1 mV/dB gra- dient for the AD converter con- tained in the LCD driver, ICs in5) Zzae to enhance the input fre used to drive an analogue meter in arder to observe the tend of measured voltage; the latter nung back to Fig. 3, itis seen thatthe pecially useful for sweptirequency | comverter chip sensitivity begin measurements, where an oscillo- | fall appreciably at that frequency, scope can be used to display curves | when driven with an input signal of ih amplitude readings ven | the order of M0 mV, Where this is considered problematic, IC: may be configured as shown to achiove an amplification factor of about ten (OK /2K2), This modification implies that the converter chip is driven with r | @ higher input signal level so as to improve upon its response to rela- tively high signal frequencies. How- cover it should be borne in mind that it also implies overdriving the chip. since it receives about | Vere rather° oo 000 C068 han 200 riVems, which is stated to be he level for optimum accuracy of conversion. The 2K2 resistor, Ro, at the LIN OUT line has been included keep the display from reading ve times too high rms level. Finally, the decimal point selecti: See, and the three-LED range in- igation, are circuits with a sim plicity to obviate the need for any further detailing | Construction Constructors gto ‘owm PC3 for this project lacquer, since this mater | cause stray resistance | pedance circuit sections. The |p he | inall cases is to order the Type 86120 4 | vided due Pr=8K mutium preset ready-made PCB trom our Readers | PsP 10K mali Services, since this has 2 protective film to ensure rapid soldering as weil | | as extremely high electrical isolation Detmeen tacks and ground plane |, Fig stows the. locaton of the vatious parts on the converter board. | All parts are fied in the normal man | | nex; some, however, should have | “igoy) their leads soldered at both PCB | cis nro tmounte! on PCB G8 cra sides to effect thougih-plating. | C+=40p fl imme Capacitors Gr: and Crs are fitted at (wale rack side, The NTC, Ros, should p of the converter chip sure, using a small amount of heat conductive paste, and taking due event short circuits be- tween NIC leads and the IC can. All resistors the o parts should be through: | 1:1+-acss | | plated with pieces of leftover co: ponent wire. Do not forget to fit Ry or wire jump The display board is mounted onto | the main converter board by means | of four spacers whose lenath allows | \¢ he face of the LC display to be leve! h the enclosure front pan olating washers or nylon screws langous ‘and nuts to 1e boards dwich construction, Prior 10 ting them onto the ng pins should be cut to a length of 3mm to preclude shor: circuits. In the usual manner, the fuseholder, Ss... Seinc mains socket, and the linear and logarithmic outlets are fitted onto the a rear panel The photograph on page | 0 om B12 V; 180 mA mnstruction of the meter. The studs | fer 15 V OI ree in the lid of the Verobox enclosure | should be removed to enable the unit o be closed property | Spersorno closed propery (eee The inside of the enclosure should |, Tuas Sees bo lined with aundniur foto effect | Femme Te screening against stray inductive | Sexi felds, wich would otherwise cause | Ott soca 10S erroneous readings. tis also post | and UN) # wom | le to spray the inside of the box | with conductive lacquer. Whichever | “Avie fom Te screening is used, do not forget to — nity ee ea short-circuits ude earth loop: de by the use of the th line, this should not be tothe circuit ground. Pro are is taken i and wires at n of terminals| | | @ Setting up | Sree ety Saas athe ge Sears ahatie eet ai ncane sa a ato Hons ele isthe De pation ord Gravee thea Vt abjoage Sno the fixed 0 dB level with $3. Apply a the setting up st 1-38 tern | TRUE RMS METER | (Cs andl set: for a display reading of 4B, Next, select the +20 dB range Vand set P: fora display reading 0.0. Verify that the meter reads hen set to the ~20 eB (0.2 V) ary, cortect the indi alue by means of adjusting Ps apply a direct voltage of B range (2 V), and adjust Py for an 2D indication of —20 dB. The input attenuator is preferably an oscilloscope and @ capable of supplying a ngular wave of 1 kHz at 1 Vi Ve. Apply the 1Vi square to the meter input and connect pe to pin 6 of ICs. Set Seto the / range, and Se to DC, Carefully ad- t trimmer C2 for optimam edge cep ‘angular signal; thete should be no undershoot or overshoot on. the leading or tailing edges. Increase | | | | | ss of the displayed rec- | the generator output voltage to 10 Vi and select the 20V meter range; peak Cs like Cz, Redo the trimmer adjustments until both meter ranges offer a satisfactory pulse response. In the absence of an oscilloscope, the input attenuator may be aligned using a sine wave oscillator whose output voltage is known to be ac urate. Set the generator to produce 10 kHz, 1 Vine sine wave, and con- nectits output to the meter input. Sel ect meter range 2 V, DC, and adjust C2 for a display reading of 1.000 V. Select meter range 20 V, DG, and in crease the generator output volt 10 10Vine. Adjust Ce for a dist reading of 10.00 V. Switch between ihe two ranges and each time care. fully adjust the relevant trimmer until the meter reads the correct rms value of the applied voltage. F nally, the attenuator alignment may checked by varying the generator output frequency to see whether the display indication remains in accord. ance with the set sine wave ampli tude. thANALOGUE WATTMETER This simple meter is primarily intended to establish how much power a mains load consumes and thus how much it adds to the electricity bill. We all know that the power com: sumption of electric appliances is generally stated in watts, and that he cost of using the appliance is roughly proportional to its power in from the mains. It would ap: pear interesting to investigate the phenomenon "power" a _ litle urther, particularly since the simple notion that power is the product of current and voltage (P=1-U, whence P=U¥R and P=PR) is not directly applicable to alternating voltage. A brief summary of terms may help io shed some light on the operational principle of the proposed wattmeter. Simply measuring the rms values of alternating current and voltage developed acrossa load R yields the apparent power w= Uens [W} However this method can only be used where the load R is purely resistive; should it consist of a reac- tive part (capacitance, inductance, or both) and a resistive part, as is the | case with most mains loads, the cal ation becomes moze complex, since only that component of the cur rent which is in phase voltage adds to the active power consumed by the load. The greater the phase shift, expressed as an angle, ¢, between the voltage across, arld the current through, the reactive load, the lower the active power, whence P=Urrs-lims-cos w [W]. For purely resistive loads, apparent power equals active power, since Fe) the | there is no phase shift, and hene: cos w=cos 0°=], Our interest, naturally, lies tablishing the amount of active power consumed by an electric ap- pliance, since that quantity, inte grated over the on-time, is faithfully corded by the ever ticking kilo (KWH) meter fitted by the local electricity board A more extensive di theoretical aspects involved Power consumption can be found in What is power?, Elektor India, Jun 1989, . 629 ft Wattmeters Allroads lead to Greenock, Renfrew shire, the birthplace of James Homever the most como! type of wattmeter is the elec: trodynamometer, in which a fixed coil carries the measured current while a coupled moving meter coi accepts the alternating supply | voltage via a series resistor. The | meter deflection produced inthis in iment is proportional to the w age of the load, whether this bo 2 pure resistance or a combination of resistance and reactance. In es sence, the electrodynamic wat | meter provides the average value o | tho instantaneous product of zn current and rms voltage. Itis called thatthe term "instantaneous" relates to the previously mentioned phase it @, between ns and Tins tn an electronic wattmetez, one would need to measure the rms ( fective) value of both voltace and current, a8 well as the phase differ ence, if present. Next, these three data would have to be multiplied to amve al a possibly close approx mation of the active power figu Two difficulties may crop up in this concept: one concerns the rms cal culation for the specific waveform (see True RMS meter, elsewhere in by C Giorden his issue); the other is the practical | realizatio of a phase difference easuring circuit which outputs the cosine factor, The proposed analogue wattmeter goes round these pr may be viewed upon as an elec tronic version of the electrodynan wattmeter, using the same ying principle of measuring the in- sianianeous rms val id voltage, and mul por to time-averaging the produ: of current plying these lems since it The final version of the analogue wattmeter is not intended to pass for a superbly accurate instrument; rather, we set out to keep it cheap, passive (Je. it requires no external ply), and simple to construct. A multiplier circuit Fig.1 shows the basic circuit of a vollage-current multiplier. Initially, curtent I: is assumed nought. Pro- vided the transis have identical characteristics, their base-emitter voltages, and hence their collector currents, are equal. Preset P is used to level out small differences be- tween ler and ler due the pro- uction tolerance of the transistors, ‘The circuit toasacurrer Iam)= Lemma, there is no current flow, shown is often referred mirror. With Is=0 and by, through the meter coil. However any current Is causes a voltage drop, U, difference between the emitters o ‘T, and Te causes a proportional com pensation current, Is, to ow be wes and bs ‘The current factor, {in P=U-1, is ob fained from ler» and lara. The lin ‘ear relation between Is and ly is most readily explained in the knowledge that the transistors’ mutual conduc ross R. The resulting potential the two collectors. Provided the variation in Vbe of T: remains relatively small, there exists, in theory, a linear relation between AU f scr nde Janay 1882 1-38snaoot Sav tance (Afc/AUss) is directly pro- portional to the collector current, With AU constant, therefore, doub- Ing I causes a doubling of the meter current, fb ‘The limitations imposed upon the use of the current mitror mainly con- ‘cer the range of AU and the ratio of the quiescent collector current to the meter current. At AU=20 mi, for instance, the nomdlneanty error amounts to about 4% (see Fig. 2). Nonlinear behaviour of the current mirror also originates from dissimilar tuansistor characteristics, which in practice means that the devices will have to be selected fornear identical operation in the circuit. It should be realized that the base-emitter tem perature coefficient of about —2 mf¥/ *C at Ale=0, is not small relative to ‘AU, and that, therefore, the tran sistors should be fitted in close ther mal contact. Circuit description ‘The foregoing considerations have Jed to a practical circuit, shown in Fig. 3. In order to enable the taking of AC power measurements, and also to go round a meter polarization circuit, Dy and Dz automatically sel- ect the relevant multiplier, Tv or TyTs, Each of these circuits has its own balance preset, Ps or Pe. Ds and. Ds serve to preclude breakdown of ‘base-emitter junctions due to nega tive voltage surges. The collector: emitter voltage of all four transistors is kept low at about 0.7 V, since the bases of T; and Ts have been com: nected direct to the collectors. This implies that the voltage drop across the meter coil may not be so high as. to cause T; or Ts to he driven into saturation, which would lead to er roneous meter readings, At a col re sistance of some I to 15 kile-ohms, the meter drops less than 100 mV, en suring ample drive reserve for the circuit in the case of measuring high ‘current peaks (AC signals with a rela- tively high crest factor) ‘The meter’s range selectors, S: (A) and S1 (V) ensute operation of the multipliers within their linear AU and. | span; the former is kept lower than 20 miV by appropriate selection of a shunt resistor from series network RRs incl. In the 10 A range, the out- pput load current is not carried by S; to avoid having to use a heavy-duty rotary switch, The voltage range switch, S, selects an appropriate total series resistance for the total collector current to be reasonably steady over a large input voltage range ‘The resistors around $1 and S: have been selected for a range factor of10 (~3:16), in order that the wattage can be read from 2 double meter scale (see Fig. 2. The scale factor also affords readings to be taken ‘without the need for calculations; to this end, the wattmeter’s front panel has a U I product matrix (see Fig. 9 Construction ‘The circuit is constructed on a piece of Veroboard. Fig. 4 shows a suggested construction of shunt re- sistor network Ry. ..Re incl, it simply comprises two series connected lengths of ¢ 1mm ($WG20) and $0.5 mm SWG2é) enamelled copper wire, tapped at suitable locations to effect the correct resistance ratio. ‘The resistivity of ¢ 1 mm enamelled copper wire is about 20 mo/m, that of $ 05mm about 8 mQ/m. The | tapped shunt wire may be wound onto a suitable former without a core. At about half way of the winding, re verse the winding direction to lower the overall inductance of the shunt. As shown in the circuit diagram, S1 has been connected such that rela ively high currents @ A, 10 A)are ar ranged to bypass the high resistance section of the shunt, RrRs. This effec- tively prechides the shunt wire heating up and thus increasing its resistivity. The contact rating of S: should be duly observed; if necess ary, use a two-pole rotary switch and connect the poles and contacts in parallel. In general, the shunt sectio: should be made in observance ofthe relatively high currents and voltages, involved, As already stated, the transistors im this cizcuit should be closely | matched types. Fig. § shows test ci cuits for TsT2 (npn) and T:-Ts (pap), in which the transistors can be exam ined for equal thermal character istics. While measuring, make sure that the tansistors are’ in thermal contact, but do not press them together with your fingers. It goes without saying that TT. in the wattmeter should also be fitted in close thermal contact; itis suggested to apply heat conductive compound conto the enclosures hefore these are clamped together with a strip of brass or copper sheet. ‘The meter circuit is best fited in an ABS enclosure as shown in Fig. 6. In view of the possible use of the meter with mains-operated equipment, its very important to use isolated knobs and good quality switches. Also watch out for the meter adjustment screw, if this is a metal type. Setting up and use in practice Apply a direct voltage of about 30 V to the meter input (— to the pole of 6 S4) and zero the indication, Should | Fig. § Basic cir this be impossible, T; and T: are not sufficiently matched, and either one of these transistors needs to be re placed with a better type. This prob Jem may occur in spite of apparently good resulis in the test circuit of Fig.5, since finding the collector currents to be equal for one specific bias level need not imply equal characteristics over the whole range of | Reverse the input voltage polarity and check the performance of T:-Ts as with TT. Apply an accurately known alter nating voltage to the meter input, and connect a suitably dimensioned load to the meter output. Calculate the wattage, and calibrate the meter with Ps Using the meter for DC power measurements requires checking transistor pairs TT and TT. for equal characteristics, For a given in: put voltage and load, reversing the Input polarity should not cause dit: ferent meter readings. However if correct operation is unattainable, fit either another pair Tse or Ts‘Ts While deciding on the appropriate vollage and current setting of the meter, it should be borne in mind that the shunt drop must not exceed. 20 mV. This means that, for instance, in the 10 A range, the peak value of the measured current must not ex- ceed 20A @0A x 1m@ = 20 mV) For direct currents, therefore, the next higher meter range must be selected if the measured current double the range value. For alter nating currents, a factor 18 should be observed, The wattmeter's volt age setting is also rather uncritical the 30V range, for instance, per mits readings to be taken in the 0-100 Vime range. Finally, since the proposed w meter comprises only very few parts, itis well suited for permanent incor poration in appliances such as loudspeakers and light dimmers. ‘The range selectors can, then, be dispensed with, and fixed resistors, may be fitted in accordance with the typical power drain of the appliance. rw | stern ama 989 1-41NEW RIVAL TO THE _ WORLD’S FASTEST COMPUTERS andra Smith Complex n- | graphics Bam we JZTT CTSsupercomputers—ma- Gnd should fall to £50.03. | gramming of parallel pro- | tronspulers together. The can think. In use in | chips cost about £250, out. To simplify the pro- 4 limitless number of | | Shines with greater speed): |/productin ancl demand | censots anew Droatomn. company’s founders are size and speed than lesser | the Tseries’s smallest was developed in 1983, were involved in the | computers—the tronsputer_ machine, the FPS-264, According to world development of the | alos the simulation of ex: | costs under £360000—less | nanspuler expert and co- | transputer chip, | accuracy and memory increase ming language, Occam, | exinmos managers who | | periments formerly poss- | than c tenth ofits nearest | autho: of he Inmos Sago, ible only in laboratories. | rival, the heavyweight Mick McLean: "Like the oe This of course makes these | Cray *. there are only 42 | transputer, the essence of | Recognition processes cheaper than | Cray computers in Brilain, | Occarm is its simplicity’ the real thing, The boon to | costing between £10 Uni now the power and | SYSPEMS engineers is that they can | million and £20 million _versaiilly of parallel com play "what if?” experi each. Up to 1000 linked | puters has been restricted | Miles Chesney, one of the nents with proposed de- | franspulers can pertorm as | by the bulkiness of their | fermer Managers soy. Signs well os he most powerful, | processors. These are Computing Surlace wil Weather prediction isa | Cray. made up of a number of | for example, be used in| | Clossic example of super | Comparisons between _| chips, making their ability | “Pattern recognition | computer application. The | transputerbased mo- a trade-off between power | systems for robots and idea is to periorn the chines and Crays are not and choice of interinking | modelling ihe neural nek simulation much faster _| teliable, however, as itis | pattern. The transputer works of the brainy than nature so thatone | no! comparing like with | eliminates these restric. __| The computer has #50 knows the weather belore | like. A yardstick for such _| tions because it is a com- | ansputers Gnd con I hospens Even one day | comparisons can be the | plele processing element | handle 1200 million forecasts if sufficiently ac- | number of floating point | on a single chip. program instructions a curate, can save lives by | operations or arithmetical second—the sort of per | allowing people to pre- | calculations a supercom. Bene aioe ae ee aa pare for hurricanes puler completes in a sec- i 3 : pases | Ba aaee tani eee can achiev, Yeti cosis Another application that | thousands of miions | techniques only caoulee oot is ‘speeds up time’ is the (gigatiops). the Cray 2 of jeintorg box the size ofc simulation of ways fo ex- | fers one gigaflop and Made by very large-scale | microwave oven, and re- | | tract oil from proven re- | costs between £6.2 million | integration (Vis) techn | ures litle power | serves and £145 million. The | ques, it contains the | Supercompuiers enable —_| seriess largest machine, _| equivalent of 200 000 tran. | constructors to ask ques: | the 140000, has @ top sistors on chip which is | 4. Floating Point Systems | tions about complicated | speed of 262 gigatlops, _| less than 9 mm* and has a | (UK) Lid * Apex House sructures that require a | about 200 times more than | central processor which’ | London Road Bracknell | great deal of planning. | any comparable handles 32 bits of date at | » Berkshire RG12 2TE The answers enable them | machine, and il costs only | & time. It also has a bull fo know about stress fac: | in the region of £4 million. | in memory and high- 2,Inmos Lic ¢ Whitetriars tors; the use of more speed communication ‘* lewins Mead ¢ Bristol suitable materials; aero- links for exchanging data | BS1 2NP dynamic design in Concurrent with other tronsputers. vehicles; healing and vt - Floating Point Systems has | 3. Thorm-EMI PLC * Upper bralion problemsanda =» PNOCeSSING chosen "hypercube" ar- | St Martins Lane London whole range of essential | rengement for its pro- Wo? HED. ae The key to the transputer | cessor interlinking and the T-series is parallel | patterns in which eight 4. Cray Research (UK) Lid or concurrent processing, | transputers link to form the | ¢ Cray House @ Londen | | Design award 30 artay of transputers comers of a oube. The Road « Bracknell | dealing with information | hypercube was found to | Betkshire RG12 28 This year, hwo researchers | in perailel rather than a | be the most efficient for lex arithmetical 5. Meiko Lid « Southgate Hospital, London, won on | Conventional computers | calculations. | # Whitefriors © lewins | award for designing © low Each hypercube is called | Mead « Bristol BSt 2NP. Cost system for modelling | lask al @ time, Parallel G node, two of which the effects of facial plastic | machines process several | housed in @ filling surgery using four tans | different parts of an oper | cabinetsized container, | puters to build @ graphics | ation simultaneously, often | give as much processing | process data serially~one 41 University College | piece at a time com | processor rigged up to the | millions at a time, by link power as a large main- | | host computer already at | ing a number of pro. frame computer. the hospital. cessing elements together. | Io increase processing Hi would not be stretching | This speeds up the process | power, more hypercubes the point to say that the | but creates complex are simply added, up fo a size of projects a country | design and programming | maximum of 2048. can undertake can be | aificulies. the patterns or A machine called Com. | dictated by the maximum | the interlinking of the pro- puling Surface, designed | speed of its supercom-_| cessors determine the by Meiko® of Bristol will | puters. This Is why the low | complexity of the arith: not have such size limi: | Gost tansputer isa revel | metic and data manipula: | ‘ctions ts design wil | tionary development, The | tions that can be carried | allow il, in theory, to link tan ines 1967 1-431-44 wes TOP-OF-THE- RANGE art2 PRE- AMPLIFIER This months instalment of the article deals with the |Gescription of the circuits of the phono and line amplifiers. Constructional details will follow in next months fssue. | Initial considerations In essence, there are only two types of good-quality pick-up cartridge in use nowadays: th MC-and the magneto-dynamic— MD The main difference between | these is the level of output voltage they provide. The signal provided by ‘a modem MC cartridge is 100-400 wv, whereas that of a MD type is 2-5 ni, In the design of an IEC (RIAA) equalization circuit that is suitable use with both types of cartridge there are two choices: one in wi one or more stages of ampliicatio can be switched on or off depending whether an MC or an MD car tridge is used; or one with variab moving coil (orswitch-selected) gain. In the pre: ent preamplifier, the second choice has been adopted This choice makes heavy demands n the input stage, because it is no | easy to achieve a good signalto noise ratio with MC cartridges owing to the combination of low output | voltage and small hum resistance of these elements, At very low hum im: edances (a few ohms), the noise of input stage tends to drown the signal. Fortunately, careful design and the use of specially selected components can reduce the noise factor of the inputs Another requirement of @ uni input stage is that its input capacitance and resistance can be varied: some MC cart be terminated into 47R, others into 100R, while MD cz much higher resistance, around 47x ‘The input capacitance is particularly important when MD cartridges are e toa very low used, because it affects the fre- quency response of these elements between 10 kHz and 20 ki The IEC de-emphasis characteristic is obtained by a welltried combi: nation of a passive low-pass filter and an active lowrequency correction section as shown schematically in Fig. 6. Input stage Ay raises the level of the signal from the cartridge: its ation is matched to the type riridge and the input voltage by witched resistors, The output of Asis passed through a assive low-pass section which has a utoff frequency of 2120 Hz, The signal is then applied to amplifier As, fe feedback loop of which contains a lowlrequency equaliz n section that has cutoff fe- +H; 50 He; and § He, Circuit of the Phono amplifier The input capacitance and resist ance ate selected by Dil, swit S:—see Fig. 9. Capacitors Cs , Cs ind Cr are necessary to prevent any reaching the sensitive MC All capacitances in the ‘are formed by paral! binations of a polypropylene and a polyester capacitor: this wi be further gone into in Part 3. ‘The input amplifier consists of three dual transistors Type MAT2. These are low-noise, carefully matched devices with a low offset voltage (see Table |. Current source Ts vides the DC bias for the tran- ‘The voltage drop across a :Dis used as the reference voltage. | The three transistors are connected in parallel because the base resist- ance of the input transistor generates most of the thermal noise when the signal source has a very low output ipedance: the thermal noise here is, therefore, reduced by nearly 67%. Another type of noise, the so-called hottky noise, is determined largely by the collector current of the input twansistor. Generally, the Schottky noise diminishes when the collector current increases—up to a limit. The collector current here is sot at 1 mA pper transistor; ideally, it should have been 3 mA (according to the manu: facturers), but this value would give Aifficulties with the active offset con- trol, which will be discussed later. A. value of 1 mA is, however, a good smpromise, resulting in excellent signal-to-noise ratios. The value of input capacitors Cs, Cs, and C; also has an effect on the amount of noise. The total value should be of the order of 100 uF to 200 uF for a negligible contribution io the noise at the lowest fre- quencies. Since electrolytic capaci tors can not be used in the signal path (because of their poor perform: ance), a compromise was found em Pirically between the dimensions of capacitors and their noise con ti the measures to reduce the noise to an absolute minimum are for the benefit of MC cartridge users: if only MD pick-ups are used, one MATO2 is, sufficient. The collector current of that one transistor can then be re duced to, say, $60 uA by increasing the value of Res The input stage forms one half of a differential amplifier: the other half is IC, This opamp raises the level of the difference signal at the collec: tors of the dual transistors, Opamp IC: is a high-quality device‘that is not cheap but which gives an | excellent performance: its electrical characteristics are given in Table 2. The negative feedback loop of this | stage—RuRiRieRv—comtains two switches, Sra, Sib, with which the in- [put sensitivity can be set to 0.1 mV: 02 mV, 2 mV; and 4 mV. This arrange- ment enables optimal matching of the dynamic range and the signalto- noise ratio to the output signal of the cartridge. Note the low values of Rrz and Riv which enable the noise at the inverting input of IC: to be kept to a ‘The difference in value between Re and RoR resus in a relatively | [are, unwanted offset vliace This | Dariculany troublesome when an | MC cartridge is used, because the | gain of the input sage is then be tween 40 dB and 46 dB, This problem is resolved by integrator IG, which Provides active offset conection ‘he output of ICi is firs taken through low-pass filter, RovCw, | wilh a cutoff tequeney of 03 Re tnd then integrates by IC. The DC ievel at the bases of the dual trax sistrs is set By IG, Via Ru or Ro de pending on the postion of Sb, toa Q | creates no problems, since the 0} © i » value which res ICs, Since the supply voltage to a Typs LP411 should not exceed 30 V, a 6 resistor—Rrs—has been inserted in the positive supply line to reduce the suppiy to IC: to about +10 V. This in zer0 output of put of the opamp is always negative when the offset is being adjusted: the output current then flows via the | negative supply line ‘The curtent required from ICs is fairly large, mainly because of the low value of Rr (even a small poten tial difference across this resistor re quires a fairly large current). The output current must be 6—8 mA to keep the output voltage at zero. This, explains why the collector current of the dual transistors is arranged at mA; higher values would necessi: tate an even larger current through RieRy. Inereasing the values of the feedback resistors would result in in- creased noise in the input stage. ‘The passive part of the de-emphasis, circuit is formed by RirCxCro: the capacitors are I% polystyrene types. ‘The output of ICs is fed to the non inverting input of a second Type P27 amplifier. The negative feed- back loop of this stage contains the low-frequency correction section of the de-emphasis circuit. All resist ances in the loop are formed by two a % =r ee theo damn S067 1-45,Table |. Main electrical charactenistics the MAT-92 wransistor Table 1 Vee = 18V, le = 10,8, Ta = 25°C, unless otherwise noted, MATO2A/E MAT 028 /F PARAMETER SYMB0L_conpITions MIN TYP MAX MIN T¥P t= 1 mA (Note 1) 500 5 te totpa 500 0 current Gain ne te = 104A 400 00 tk Oe ce x 300 ee Cument Gain March hve Qua Ie< tna, (Note 2) eran ene: Ves = 0 ortset votage ves Ve SOR a = wo ow Otfet Voitoge cq 0 AND PROMETHEUS Not Greek gods but Renault's electronic cars of the future From the closely-guarded research laboratories of Renault, first details have now been released on some of the French com: pany’ spectacular ad- vances into the cars of tomorrow's world, where computers and microchip electronics will take over the “thinking” aspects of motoring — from actual navigation and route: finding to the timing of departure and arrival, selecting alternative routes fo avold traffic Jams, and even pin: pointing the car's location at any given time. All this has evolved into a language of its own, em: bracing words like ATLAS, CARMINAT, CARIN and PROMETHEUS — acronyms fot the various research projects now in hand. The following feature pro- vides a fascinating insight into the current and future slages of “robotic” cars ‘and motoring being de. veloped by Renault and Its European associates Project ATLAS In today’s world, communi cation and information are growing in import ance day by day. This tendency is reflected in the development of the automobile by increased integration of electronics in the passenger compart. ment — an already ap: parent and indisputable evolution, The moiorist now regards his vehicle less as “wheels” and more as an integral part of his environment. In- formation for road users is becoming increasingly | organized with the crea: tion of radlo-guides, organized planning of peak holiday departures Gna the setting-up of Int mation centres. | Asa result, the motorist wants more information — and to be able to com municate, not just with his Vehicle but with the out side world itis agains! this back ground that in 1981 | Renault launched a research programme twhose objective was 10 obtain ca device integrated into the car enabling selected supplementary information fo be given to the diver, and wan evaluation “Yoo!” to detine new automobile equipment, ossociated with tne tliowing % The development of how electronic tech nology (sensors, capacities | for handling information, minigturigation, etc. # the services oflered by organizations outside the cor | & Improvements in re- | * Haptty, through o re duction in the number of components and eentols Used by the drive. Project ATLAS (Acquisition through Telediffusion of Automobile Logistics for Services) is the result of this research, undertaken with Telediffusion of France (IDF) since 1982 ATLAS makes it possible to heat in real time and dis. play on an interactive, fouch-sensitive screen, in formetion for the driver which can be classified under three categories:— Information related to the vehicle itself, said to be endogenous, and gener ated by sensors (warnings, maintenance, diagnostic, nd general mechanical condition). Importantly, only information made compulsory by regulations features on the dashboard (peed, {uel level, mileage, eic)—all other information being available on the screen This redistribution of the siting of information is aimed fo increase the safety of the “transport” function and, at the same time, increase the amount of information available. Pre-recorded information. described as “loaded”, ‘and available on a com: | pact disc, or memory card (for example, the Renault deoler network list, a | practical guide to Renault equipment, extracts trom the car handbook, perusal of microprocessor card, | etc. | | information outside the ve- hicle, categorised as "ex ‘ogenous" which will be transmitted by a teleditiu- sion network (toad infor mation, tratic, alternative routes, weather forecasts | etc). As the amount of in- formation proposed could be very large, itis up dated and transmitted in real time. | Project ATLAS makes cur | rent evolution concrete fact, through: = appearance of new banks of facts; =development of the | ‘automobile product —new expectations of | motorists in matters of comfort and functional dependobilily, and changes in the behav- iour of users, allied to the scope of commun: cations and the evolution of social relations Development of the ATLAS system The first stage of research work made it possible to present Renault's "DIALOG' (voice response) model at the Paris Motor Show in October, 1984. A road: going system on a Renault Espace 2000 was also Presented by TDF at the Montreux Symposium in dune, 4985, Analysis of the first ‘elements obtained ied 1 Renault to centre its tetera amo 1367 1-49)| research work on the pour l'Environnement | impact on the environ: Vehicles will hus receive Gevelopment and treat- | Routier du Vshicule Euro: | ment and increased econ: | information making it ment of "endogenous’ in-_| péen), at the same lime omy, combined with possible to erganize maxi formation and diagnestics | continuing its own work. | maximum satety. mum fluidity of trattic. (collection of information, | Control of the MINERVE This vast programme The specifications contain. treatment and design, roject was enirusied 19 broadens and extends the | ed in ATLAS, MINERVA and ergonomics and inte: Société SAGEM, actions already de- finally CARMINAT signiti- gration into the passenger | scribed. It has been bap- | cantly cover the concepts comparimeni), these Project tised "PROMETHEUS', ‘of PRO-CAR and PRO. aspects are in fact more YECi | acronym for Programme | ROAD coniained in the within the domain of the for @ European Tiatlic with | PROMETHEUS project, and. eens CARNINAT. || ac btepeenselicin || rovetitls prcl ony All matters relating to the | More recently, Philips has | precedented Satety, and | search in micro-elec- 'exogenous” part of Pro. | een working in parallel | falls pertectly within the | tronics, expert systems ond ject ATLAS were entrusted | With ATLAS on the CARIN | framework of the dynamics | diffusion techniques, fo the Société SAGEM Project (Car Information —_| of the European pro. ocisié dApplications | 2Nd Navigation). This pro- | gramme EUREKA, | Generales d'Electricité et | Ject consists of fitting Project PROMETHEUS also | de Méchanique) because | Vehicles with an electronic | brings in the fields of fun- of its competence in on- | ¢0-driver, able to: damental research essen board electronios, syn- = determine the itinerary: | tial to attain the objectives | | The major | thetic images and ar = guide the driver to his | set (micto-electionics, ex | Iiicial intelligence, and aestnation pert systems and artificial | | S1AQES Of pro- navigation — give the position of the | intelligence, and com |e TDF will conjinue ts work |, Yahlela. and indicote it | munication aifusion Tech: Ject ATLAS ‘on the transmission of in- Ct Cay Taree | nology). | mation because of is — and fo supply Infor. | Many European experts | #9 Braration othe, | specific competence in mation on the environ- | gre associated in the pro- | | 49¢9—TDRRENAUET | this field. Contact was | ment or the destination. ject. This is how the follow. | ‘agreement, | also made with Philips in In the first instance, par- ing French institutes are | Renault: study of the | connection with a numeri- | ticular effort was devoted | associated with PRO- | needs of clients Go! information receptor, | 12 navigation end the use| METHEUS as expers | | ea areas Finally" says Renault, it | .@. compact disc in the | “CNRS prinelpally Im | Rae a Bai should be remembered vehicle. The CARIN system plicated in the scientific | move. that systems of the ATLAS | WQS fist demonstrated in| knowledge of artificial in- 4983 : Static model. type have European voca- | 1985. Philips, contacted by | teiligence problems and Renault: verification of tunc- ion, both at the level of _ | SAGEM in relation to the | gdvanced electronics; sional ergonomics. Service (road information, | MINERVE dossier wishes | “INRIA, specialists in TO alanal owlion ‘and mote generally the | like Renault to resolve this | advanced techniques seer whole of the information | Problem on a European —_| of artificial vision and ora tatanel a, given), and at the techni. | scale. identification of forms and working model titles cal level (European mini- The companies decided movements, together with with the ATLAS system mum standards). 10 pool their efforts and the treatment of speech; (Renault 20). “Also, among the tech- experience ina common | — |NRETS, for traffic ques- ee ae bet) nologies developed within | PrS/ect — CARMINAT This | ~ tions and dynamic infor. Paes meee the framework of the ATLAS | Combines the knowledge | mation: fused programme | system, most seem to con. | Sequited through CARIN. | —'CCETT of Rennes (Centre {Renauit 20) | form with the declaration MINERVE and ATLAS, and ‘Commun d'Etudes de — Presentation of the Ol principle adopted by | WS presented within the | yeiacitlusion et de Teles DIALOG modo! al Paris the European Ministers at_|Fomewerk of the EUREKA | communications, special Sig aren | the second ministerial project ists in these areas ree eeiets | conference on the EUREKA | !t should lead, in 1989/90, | automobile equipment ‘eh Me eionces Maier | project at Hanover on to a range of products suppliers and industrialists ‘Show (March, 1985), | November 5/6, 4985: which can be used on in electronics will be as- Presentation of the — transport technology; European vehicles. sociated with the project ATLAS system in work: information and com- atter the one-year prelimi- ihe oon Sta Nericulh Espace 2000 al the munication; nary phase to define the | | — protection of the en. | Project ‘echnological specitice: epee vironment tions resulting from the fol | |4986—Presenelion ol he Thus the ATLAS system wit | PROMETHEUS lowing three axes of re ATLAS system in ork only find Its full dimension On the initiative of search:— ing form on three | on a European scale. In Daimler-Benz, and with the PRO-CAR: development of wart Rca | the same way, it favours active support of Renault a computer "co-driver’, to 2000) ae normalisation ef ranspert in view of fs experience | improve vehicle sotety nd exchange within ine | with the ATLAS project PRONET: development of || pena ut eimnect European Community” | European automobile con | communications networks | sewn avenoe As resull of these siruclors have developed | trom vehicle to vehicle; || tancon wa age Gevelopments, Renault put | an extensive research pro- | PRO-ROAD: development | in hand ¢ dossier within | gramme whose objective | of communication be- | the framework of the is to create concepts and | tween the road environ. | EUREKA project, christened | solutions for fluid traffic ment and the computer MINERVE (Media Intelligent | movements, with reduced | co-driver. 1-50 saaterinsa sonar 108TEMPERATURE | PROBE FOR DMM This article deals with a plug-in temperature-to-voliage converter for use with a digital multimeter (DMM). The design includes a battery test tacility and a home-made probe for ease of measurement. ‘The Type LM3S from National Semi- | Ml Less than 60 wA current drain. conductor is stated to have the fol | ml Low self-heating, 0.8 lowing features:* only a °C 8 Nominessity WM Calibrated direct in degrees Cel: | typical cris (Centigrade | mtowimpedance output, 01.2 for Winear +100 nV/*C scale factor. | mA load, 05°C accuracy at +25°C M350), wiRsted for full 85 to +10°C range eas ia apie concen: |G CeSCHOHOD Operates from 4 to 30 volts Fig.1 shows the circuit diagram o cluded to obiain a circuit ground sed temperature probe. Ds and Dé have been in- | * Data taken from manufacturers data sheet tential which is some 12 V lower Resistor Re ensures that the sens output voltage can be negative with spect fo the DMM ground in the of measuring temperatures below 0°C. Resistor Rs decouples fhe probe output from the high impedance DMM input @n=1M2, | | 10d of constructing | probe is shown in | ph at the head of smponent overlay ar cof miniature PCB Type 86022 ter sensor proper is conto the tip of a iron, whose heating el ement has been removed from the metal tube. The LMtoductory photograph, the probe tip may be insulated with a short length of heat si c ated when Applications 1 unit onto the DMM, a ‘As the LM3S provides a linear output must be fitted onto the Digitast of +10 mV/°C, the DMM display ‘op, This pin is made to protrude | reading is simply the measured tem m the corverter enclosure and perature, provided you have grow: ted for reliable action, accustomed after a while to imagin PCB should bo well insulated | ing the decimal point shifted ig.3, the completed | from the battery to prevent short- | di board and PPS battety are housed in circuits and damage caused by the a transparent plastic case. Although | corrosive battery contents, moulded mains plug | Every c ied lly sealed to temperature . to the right. For example, a reading of 0258V represents a probe temperature of 296 m¥/10 ructorisleft free tomake | 256°C. Similarly, —0307V re for a very simple connection | his own, approximately Scm high, | peresents 307 °C to the DMM input sockets by virtue | converter enclosure, which should Th of the correct pitch, two correctly | have a hole for the probe cable to spaced wander type plugs will alsoAmateur constructors often feel like ‘magicians. It is quite amazing what can be accomplished with very few com- ponents, Take the design for this receiver for instance; an RF amplifier ‘and 2 couple of transistors to bring music to your ears! In any case, many readers felt that it was high time that 4 simple receiver circuit found its way into the EPS list once more. The object of the exercise is to end up with a neat, economical portable radio. One that fits comfortably inside 8 coat pocket and can keep you up to date with the latest news and pop music, a8 you travel around town, Another important factor, of course, ig that a single 9V battery should last as long as possible (a few months at least) When designing such a project, the first choice has to be between AM and FM Nowadays, FM is favourite, but the problem here is that is not so easy for the novice to build, especially if the finished unit is to be really small Elektor does have printed circuit-boards available for something a little larger than that described here, but by no means one that requires so few com ponents, it can be virtually put together with your eyes closed. Which is our main objective, remember We therefare came to the conclusion thet there is nothing wrong with the ‘medium waveband. It certainly has not run out of stations yet and what is more, the set will be much simpler (and. cheaper) to build than an FM radio. It ‘can be far smaller in size and last, but by no means least, it needs no finnicky serial. In other words, it really is a pocket radio. Superhet or superreg? Now that we have decided upon medium wave and the main requirements are {hat it be small, simple to build and conservative on batteries, we need to work ut afew more design parameters The majority of manufactured radio eceivers operate on the superhetero yyne principle. However, most single weband receivers utilise the super jenerative principle. This is, in fact, recipe for a reliable receiver if it is have a fairly high performance and reasonable sensitivity in spite its compact size. Nevertheless, if considerations as simplicity of onstruction and ease of calibration e involved, the ‘super’ part is best ited. This is further illustrated in jure 1. All the most common AM ceiver principles are shown there rst_ the ‘straight-through’ receiver This is comprised of an adjustable tuned cireuit, a high frequency amplifier, a detector, an audio amplifier, ctor, an audio amplifier and a sudspeaker. The RF stage could even jeft out, so that the set would then be a ‘sophisticated’ crystal receiver. If 10 be sufficiently sensitive, how- ever, rather 2 lot of RF amplification aa receive | a straightforward ‘straight-through’ receiver Why should there be a need to construct your own medium waveband receiver? Surely it is far cheaper to buy one at the local supermarket? This may well indeed be true, but it is far more fun to actually build ‘one yourself. After all, many of our readers belong to the younger generation and there is nothing quite like building your first radio — and getting it to work! — as many of our more experienced readers will testify. will be necessary. This is why the RF amplifier usually incorporates an ad: justable feedback network (see dotted line) which enables the set to be ad: justed to the point of oscillation (max: mum sensitivity) for every station. The reflex receiver in figure 1b also offers a reasonable degree of sensitivity Here the RF amplifier stage 's not only sed in the conventional i also amplifies the aud type of receiver used to b: in the days when transistors wer expensive and difficult to obtain Figure 1c shows that even the ‘simple superhet can be quite complicated. The aerial signal is now to that of an oscillator in. the stage. The oscillator produces a somewhat higher jor lower). frequency th signal and is varied simultan the tuning capacitor. This manner, but signal. This v popular he ir constant ‘sum’ or ‘difference’ frequency regardless of the actual frequency of the input signal. This. ‘intermediate’ (IF) frequency is filtered at the output of he mixer and is furt plified. If necessary, the signal can be filtered and amplified’ several times to selectivity. This is because constant frequency of the IF signal makes the tuning of the LC circuits for each station superfluous. Obviously, the receiver will be rather co ted to set up, Straight- through Seeing that practically all the receivers that have been published in Elektr over the past few years were either superheterodyne or superregenerative, four design staff thought that it was time that a simple version was produced. In any event, an IC exists which will fit the bill perfectly, but more about this later. Thus, after due consideration, the recipe illustrated in figure 1a was chosen for the miniature MW receiver, albeit without the feedback stage. The latter, even in the version shown in figure 1b, will make any receiver a lot less portable. Also, construction be ‘comes a critical task, the set is likely to ‘whistle’ and more often than not the receiver will have to be operated with | both hands as the amount of feedback | has to be adjusted for each individual station. If an ordinary ‘straight-through receiver can be built to incorporate enough RF amplification for feedback to become superfluous, without causing it to oscillate, it will have many practi cal advantages. The miniature integrated circuit that we have in mind does just this and furthermore features other useful characteristics, as will be seen later Compared to more usual sets, a simple single tuned circuit receiver (such as this one) will be much less selective and therefore not so sensitive, Since MWY receivers, especially pocket-sized ones, more often than not used for reception of a limited f local radio stations, this di be $0. noticeab| pensated by th ‘over other typ. @ it does not require any alignmen: © it does not include an oscillator thereby avoiding stability problems © no mixing is involved, reducing whistle’ considerablyFigu 1. The three most common types of AM receiver: a sicnightthrough receiver (a) 9 reflex rei (b) and 9 superheverodyne receiver (c) © its sound is of superior quality to that of the average superhet The ZN 414 By far the easiest method of con: structing a straight-through medium, waveband receiver is to use the ZN 414 integrated circuit from Ferranti which was designed specifically for this purpose. Having only three pins, it leaks mare like a transistor ‘than a ‘proper’ IC. Although it has been around for quite some time, it continues to provide the Dest solution for a receiver where a minimum number of components is required. This is clearly illustrated in the diagram in figure 2. It shows the complete MW receiver constructed around the ZN 414, All that is required is a single transistor amplifier stage to provide a first class matchbox receiver. Certain items immediately catch the aye. First, the low supply voltage. The ZN 414 is designed to be oowered from a single battery. Its supply voltage range is between 1.2 and 16V and the current consumption is in order of 0.3 mA, This device could hardly be more economical Also remarkable is the fact that the eail (L1) consists of a single winding, instead of the usual double-wound or tapped inductor, and that the detector diode which one would usually expect is missing. The double wound coil is superfiuous as the IC features an extremely high input impedance (4 MQ) which is only a very slight load for the paralie! tuned circuit, | Not only does this make the coil that much easier to wind, but also it helps to prevent interference from short wave transmitters. As far as the detector diode is concerned, this is already inte grated in the IC in the form of a transis: 1-54 2 Figure 2, What could be simpler? The straight-through receiver using the ZN 614 IC, tor detector which uses capacitor C3 2s the only external component. The block diagram of the mediuin waveband receiver, see figure 3, shows just what goes on inside the case of the ZN414 (see inside the dotted area). It is comprised of a high im: input stage (drawn here as an emitter follower), a (three stage) RF amplifier with 3. frequency range of 1S0kKHz...3MHz and a gain of 72dB, an AM detector and, finally, an ‘automatic gain control (AGC) Too much should not be expected from the latter, as its range is about 20 d8, just enough to smooth out any slight differences in amplitude between the various radio stations, As soon as the unit is in close proximity to a powerful transmitter, however, the automatic gain control will be unable to adjust to the perticular station required. Nevertheless, it is far better to have 20.48 than none at all, as is the case jn some elernentary receivers, Circuit diagram From the block diagram in figure 3 it can be seen how straightforward the complete pocket sized medium wave receiver is. Apart from the parallel tuned circuit, the ZN 414 and the audio amplifier, ali it needs is @ suitable circuit t6 derive the 1.3V required by the ZN 414 from the power supply for the audio amplifier. A simple bleed Figure 3. The block diagram of the miniature MW receiver, The entire section inside the dotted area is incorporated inside » single IC no bigger than « BC 107,Figure 4, Tho cicut diagram of the complete MW receiver featuring reasonable sensitivity, good selectivity and good quality sound, resistor and zener diode would have been more than adequate, but a far better method has been employed here, The complete circuit diagram of the MW receiver is shown in figure 4. The actual receiver section is constituted bby IC1 and the surrounding components and is, of course, identical to the diagram shown in figure 2. The only difference between the two is that the values of R2 and C3 have been slightly modified. This is because they fare based on the ideal supply voltage for the ZN 414, which is between 1and 1.4V. When calculating the value of R2 three parameters have to be taken into account. First, the ratio R1/R2 will affect the automatic gain control. Since the value of RT must be 100 k22, only the value of R2 can be altered. There fore, the value of the latter will also affect the gain of the ZN 414 and, as the voltage supply to the IC must be at 4 constant level, the gain will be reduced if @ relatively high value is chosen for R2, Moreover, it is important that the values of R2 and C3 constitute a low pass filter with @ turnover frequency of around 4kHz, which is necessary for the detector included in the IC. The solution, therefore, is to select the best compromise value’ for R2 and 10 find an effective method of regulating the supply voltage for the ZN 414. This ig why the voltage source constructed ‘around transistor T1 has been added to the circuit, The voltage on the emitter of T1 can be adjusted between approxi: mately 1.2 and 1.45 V by means of the preset potentiometer P2. This may not seem to be very much, but it affects the gain of the IC somewhat considerably. This is an advantage as the sensitivity of the receiver can now be adapted to specific circumstances by presetting the gain of the amplifier as required. Ob- viously, this will be at 2: maximum in isolated areas and lower in the vicinity fof powerful local transmitters so. that the set is not overdriven, which could cause distortion and poor selectivity Batteries spend 2 very brief period of their lifespan at their rated nominal voltage and for this reason, together with the fact that the supply voltage for ICI is critical, the voltage source T1 is not fed directly from the battery. Instead, the voltage is first regulated by @ zener diode (D1) to iron out any fluctuations in the battery voltage Since the receiver also has to be econ ‘omical, the current supply to the zener diode is limited by means of a fairly large series resistor (RG). As the current consumption of the ZN 414 is very low the zener diode will operate very well even at 8 low" voltage than that which it is rated at (about 3.9 V in this case) So much for the receiver section. Now for the audio amplifier. Initially, it was proposed that one of the well-known amplifier ICs should be used. These, however, turned out to rapidly exhaust the smali 9V battery's current supply Instead, it was decided to compine two pnp transistors and two npn transistors to form a discrete amplifier. Very little can be said about this, as it is con: structed enticely according to the ‘four transistor recipe’. It requires very little current and there is virtually no quiesc- ent current for the output transistors T4 and TS. Thus, when there is no input signal the entire amplifier will only consume around 2.6 mA. Since the current requirement for the ZN414_ is also. fairly modest, the receiver will only consume a total of 4mA. A reasonable battery will there: fore last a considerable time, provided the volume is not turned up to an ear-spliting level, that is. The maximum output power of the audio amplifier is in the region of 250 mW. In theory it will produce more from a 9V battery (about 1 W maximum into 80), but the voltage gain of the audio stage is limited so that fhe more than 4 Vip is available across the loudspeaker output even when the output signal from the ZN 414 is at a maximum (approximately 30 mVeff) This maintains the current consumption ‘at a level acceptable to the 9 V battery and also eliminates the need for heat sinks on the two output transistors, Construction The printed circuit board and com ponent overlay for the medium wave band receiver are shown in figure 5. The only components which are not actually mounted on the board are the variable capacitor C1, potentiometer P1 and the 1Figure 5. The printed circuit hoard and component overlay for tho MMW receiver. Pert i Resistors Ri = 100k 2 680 2 R= 47k R4,AT = 56 FS)RO = ka FG)R,AI2 = 3k3 R= 120k R10 ~ 68.0 Fis = a2. Rig = 18 R15 = as17 Pi = 10k og P2= 25k preset Capacitors (C1 = 00 p variable capacitor 2-100 63= 1500 C4,c12.¢18 = 1000 C8= u2/0v 6 = 2 67.08= 22u/10V Co a7 ui8V 610-275 11.13 2204/10 Semiconductors acse78 5490 5578 Ta= AC 127, aC 187, TS= AC 128, AC 188 icr= 2naia D1 = V7 zener aioe, 250 mW or 400 miv Miscetlanaous LS = 8 2/0.2W loudspeaker U1 = 48 turns of 0.3 mm dia ‘enamelled copper wire on afer fof 10mm diameter 10 em fong loudspeaker. The leads connecting the capacitor to the board should, ob. viously, be as short as possible. As you probably already know, the Performance of a parallel tuned circuit is largely dependent on the Q of the tuning inductor. For this reason, the aerial coil, L1, will have to be wound with the utmost eare and sttention. It is best to use the parameters specified, that is, 48 tums of 0.3mm diameter enamelied copper wire on a ferrite fod with a diameter of 10mm and length of 10 em. The ferrite rod can be mounted onto the board by means of two short pieces of string. Holes have alresdy been drilled inthe printed circuit board for this very purpose. It is @ good idea to wind LI around a Paper or cardboard tube so that it can be moved up and down on the ferrite rod later; the permeability of ferrite and ferroxcube material tends to vary, so therefore it may be necessary to ‘trim’ the receiver if the stations are not at ‘the correct places on the waveband, Further remarks. Firstly, something that probably does not need’ mentioning. As the ferrite rod coil is in fact an aerial, it would be unwise to mount the com: pleted receiver in a metal case! Secondly, the zener diode D1 must be either a 250 mW or a 400 mW type, as stated, 88 otherwise the input level for the vol urce 1 (3.9V) will not be correct. This is because the current flowing through D1 is far lower then normal in order to keep the current consumption of the circuit to a min mum. Thirdly, as the output transis. tors do not require any quiescent current, the value of resistors R13 and R14 are fairly critical. If the stated Values are not adhered to the chances are that the output transistors will start to draw current after ali and, as there is no temperature compensation net work, this could well have a detrimental effect on them, Using the values given in figure 4, transistors T4 and TS will not have to be cooled. They can be ordinary types without any need for heatsinks. Results In practice, the miniature medium waveband receiver was found 'to per form very satisfactorily. Being a single coil type, it may require constant re tuning due to the set ‘drifting’ off frequency, especially where distant Stations are concernad. Even so, it is, eminently suitable 2s a ‘stand-by’ receiver for news bulletins ete. which is quite often all that is required any: way. It is only when the owner wishes to listen to a weak station in the neigh: bourhood of @ pawerful one that the MW receiver is going to have problems This can often be remedied by turning the receiver towards the weaker station thereby eliminating the stronger one Local stations can be received very well In unfavourable circumstances, an ex: ternal aerial may be experimented with, This should be connected to the top of the tuning coil vie @ small value capacitor (407). This, however, should hardly ever be necessary. If the input signal is clean enough, the sound quality of the receiver will be suprisingly good. In this, respect it really stands out amongst similar commercial radios. Finally, the receiver is remarkably inexpensive. If, like countless other constructors, you have a ‘junk’ box full of ferrite rods, tuning capacitors and transistors, it will only cost a few pence *Noise in UHF/VHF receivers can be determined by using extensive and expensive test equipment. However, tests with a noise generator can give usable results ata much lower cost. Such a noise generator can, of course, be constructed by the amateur. noise at . (an important factor) What is noise? Noise is caused by highly complicated physical and thermodynamic processes. Briefly, it is the random movement of ‘electrical charge carriers. Noise increases with tise in temperature: at absolute zero (—273°C = OK) noise is zero, for at this temperature all movement is frozen. This is why during certain Critical processes, cryogenic techniques to obtain a certain signal-to-noise ratio at the output. How to determine the noise factor The noise factor in receivers can be calculated in two different ways, either from a. sensitivity or from a noise measurement. In order to test sensitivity | a signal generator is required; however, good quality HF signal generators tend | to be very expensive... Instead of measuring the sensitivity with only fone frequency, we can apply many frequencies at once: use a noise signal in other words, This is how it works. First the basic noise N of the receiver is measured when the noise generator is switched off. Then the noise generator is switched on and the noise level is set (by means of an attenuator) in such a way that twice the input level can be measured at the output. This corre: sponds to a S/N ratio of 3 d8. The nice ‘thing about using noise methods is that the S/N ratio is not dependent on temperature or bandwidth, Circuit | A small_generator can be built with nexpensive and readily available com: ponents as shown in figure 1. A high are used to attenuate the noise factor frequency transistor (T2) is connected i Fe Ne ta a vai Figure 2. Port of the frequoney spectrum of the circuit af figure 1. On the upper trace the froquency is shown horizontally | (100 Miz per cm) and the amplitude | vertically (2 dB per em). The lower prevents the noiss produced by the | ‘spectrum analyser (-97 dBm: O dBm is Figure 1. Circuit diagram of the simple high frequency noise generator, ‘with an impedance of 502), with very low temperatures. However, as a zener diode. It is fed by a DC it is not always practical to go to these voltage source (T1). The noise voltage extremes. and therefore output level is determined The signal-to-noise ratio is the best by the setting of potentiometer Pt known method for determining to what which controls the amount of eurrent extent noise (NN) affects the signal (S). that flows through the zener diode. The This can be done by expressing the output impedance of the circuit is signal-to-noise ratio in dB: SIN = 10 log S/N 48 Taking a certain point in the receiver (after the demodulator for instance), it can be determined how many micro: volts are required at the input in order approximately 50.2. The photograph in figure 2 shows part of the generator’s noise spectrum. Obviously, the circuit cannot be ex: pected ta perform miractos, The stability (temperature coefficient of the voltage ‘ource T1) achieved in the long run 's not ideal, but for comparative (shi term) noise tests itis quite adequate, wr a many 067 1-57| | selex 19 Have you noticed the advertisements for dimmers in the newspapers? There are so many of them now a days! ‘Yes, with these dimmers, we can adjust the light to be brighter or darker Is there a transformer inside such dimmers to in or decrease the voltage output? No. there is no transformer inside the dimmer. It works electronically” ‘You mean there are electronic transformers? It is rather an electronic switeh called TRIAC and it ‘works on the principle of Phase Control Phase? | have heard something about the Phase. It ha something to do with the alternating voltage!” Correct, The waveform of the alternating voltage is a sinewave. This is how it looks know this, the voltage alternately becomes positive and negative. But what does a dimmer do to this ‘The TRIAC inside the dimmer acts as a switch and allows only a part of every half wave to pass through 10 the light bulb. The waveform then looks somewhat like this! 1-58 Dimmers “How does this happen? his happens due to the properties of the TRIAC. It is a switch which can only be switched ON, and it does not switch OFF unless the current flowing through it drops, and the alternating voltage automatically becomes: zero after every half cycle, so the current flow also must become zero every half cycle. Exactly, that is what happens inside the dimmer. We can switch ON the TRIAC at any place over the half wave. and it automatically switches OFF when the waveform crosses the zero level. The process repeats on every half eyele” “But then how dogs the light become darker or brigher?’ For this we just have to adjust the point at which the TRIAC is switched on or triggered. The more the half wave passes through, the brighter is the light. Now | understand, to make the light dimmer, we must allow only @ small part of the half wave to pass through But why is it called Phase Contral ? ‘Because the point of time of a wave is related to the Phase angle and the brightness of the light depends on the Phase angle of the wave at which we switch on or trigger the TRIAC.” ‘And that is why we call it Phase Control" Yes, If we trigger the TRIAC at the beginning of a half wave. we get the brightest light. If we trigger the TRIAC at the end of a half wave we got a vary dim light ‘Wait a minute. It is really useless to trigger the TRIAC before tha peak valve. The maximum value will then always pass through!” True, the peak value will always pass through, but itis not the peak value that decides the brightness. It is the effective value that decides the brightness, “Oh yes, | romember, the effective voltage is less than the peak value ‘The effective voltage depends upon wave that passes through” Then the Phase Control is nothing else but simply. Effective Voltage Control, | always wonder why the electronics experts make things so complicated? the area of theHeng Figure 2 | | revit formed by LI & C2 The Sahich the field strength meter HJooun —__]sarnx.2 1 ime | Figure 3 the signal being meosured Only the furthor part of the eeu ane indicated by the mater Al other the tuned equencies of 13M? Field Strength useful instrument for all those involved in HAM activities and thos involved in remote ontrolled model airplanes | fete For them it is | interesting as well as useful to know, how much energy is being transmitted by the diating antenne, Alsc with the field sirengt meter, one can search for the most suitable antenna for a transmitter, and do the calibration, Itcan also be sed for determining the eryone of us owns a field eength meter in t ‘amplifier system, Though it does not measure any transmitted fie rength, it certainly detects nd amplifies the 50 Hz | nput terminal with a finge you can hear @ loud hum ning from the amplifier in this case, our body jerves as the receiving 2 and the 50Hz isturbance is picked U and amplified. If you the amplifier outside hum vanishes. Inside the house, there is a strong field set up by the current Qutside the house, this field dies down. Another field strength the cor radio. Whon we are passing below 2 high 390 line on the road, i picks up the SOK? Interference and amplifies Once we cross that part | the road the field set up| ¥ the high voltage | ead transmission line ies dawn and the hum from the radio diminishes Meter measurement of an interference fie nt is us instrum ae field useful signals, like of a remote control transmitte the field is very ind then it expands {roe space. The fart we go from th niting the b sth 4 weaker is the ngth. The energy from the ited signal go ing as we go av he transmitte strength of som mote controlled mod he field st nough for the model to act with Our field neter can strength e used to decide upto what distance the field is strong enoug) jeld strength jowever the devic described here indicates just the ratio value, from which a conclusion about the actual field strength can be easily dravwr The Circuit Figure 2 shows the circuit diagram of the field strength meter. It consists of just four passive and one ‘active component, one eceiving antenna and one 0-50 A meter movernent. It does not need a supply voltage, as it draws the energy directly from the field which itis measuring The antenna picks up the HF signal transmitted by the transmitter. The parallel sso nas saan 1947 1-59Measuring Range ExtensionCComponant Lis 1 500 pF, Variable G2 = 1 Coram P? 26 Ko, Potentiometer i= 40 tum of insulated copper wire (dia 0-8 t0.1-2 mm) DEP AA T19 (Germania) M1= Moving Coil moter 0:80 sa. 1 SeLex Pea Fret ‘The component layout ona standard SELES Figure ‘The photooraph shows internal meter wih tne beck cover | resonant circuit, made up of coil L1 and the capacitor C1 Used for tuning to the frequency of the signal Capacitor C1 is a variable type, with a continuous adjustment possibie between zero and maximum value. With the given values of L1 and C1 it is possible to tune to any signal from 13 MH2 to 40 MHz. This range covers both the radio remote contro enthusiasts ‘Along with the antenna, the parallel resonant oircuit picks up the signal to which it is tuned and passes it on to the indicating part of the circuit consisting of the diode D1, capacitor C2, potentiometer P1, and the meter M1, The amplitude of the signal being picked up is maximum at the tuned resonant frequency fr Figure 3 shows this | graphically for 13 MHz and | | 27 MHz. If C1 is moved away from the tuned position, the amplitude suddenly drops down. T ing of the parallel LC circuit depends on the resistive component of the impedance of L and C. With inereasing frequency the resistive component of Coll impedance increases, whereas that of the capacitor impedance | decreases. The circuit | resonates at the frequen fat which the resistive components of hoth the coil ‘and capacitor impedance become equal to each other As in our circuit the coil Li s fixed and C1 is variable the change in resonant frequeney is entirely dependant on the value of Cl. The signal is rectified the diode D1 and a DC voltage is generated across €2. Potentiometer Pt onverts it into suitable urrent for the meter M1 to indicate the value. Setting of Pi decides the sensitivity of the field strength mete: he sensitivity should bs adjusted depending on the fielc ath being measured. The indicator deflection depends on fou factors: the transmitter output capacity, the antenna, the distance between transmitter and the instrument and the vit) setting 0 The instruction The const simple as we have only a assemble. The component ayourt is shown in figure 4. The diode D1 must be of Germanium, which has a threshold voltage of only 0.3 V. As our signal amplitude is very low, a Silicon diode with threshold of 0.7 V will not be suitable The variable capacitor can either be ‘mounted directly on PCB if possible, or it canbe fitted fon an aluminium angle and then the angle can be fixed ‘on to the PCB. The Coil L1 is made by giving 10 turns of insulated copper wire around a pencil, The wire diameter can be 0.8 to 1.2 mm, The pencil can bi taken out after winding the | without disturbing the turns. The turns should bi as close to each other as possible 2 should be of ceramic The advantage of amie capacitors in that they have high stability, low losses and good tolerance. All these affect the ‘measuring range of the field strength meter A moving coil meter with full scale deflection of 50.A s used as an indicator. The antenna. A wire of about 20 to 30 cm length can b availad) Lastly, the entire instrument ‘must be enclosed in a metalic enclosure to shield it from any interference fields and to pick up only the signal to which itis tuned.selex Continuity a | With the last pin soldered, | connection totally and le! me qu 9 iron kep t an be | signal is very small | The Circuit main component of the is iminpn' atime Gp Ame_| elon | Biacartarainnen al pe Col liawtane cee ae | a differential volts. | | ho 2 aan See 1geS on the inverting (Pin | when connected | 2) and the non inverting | Slings The | | | | |selex The Op Amp behaves in the | The oscillations take place | across A and 8 and PI is following manner | as te capacitor C1 is et ala point where the In case of short circuited | alternately charged and buzzer just starts giving an | BY 83 22K02 moasuring tips, the ourput | discharged. This produces a | audible output. Inthis way | 82,10, aca, Gees hah approximately to | sauere wave which drives” thesester wit non neata «| Raa a the supply voltage. Ifthe | the Piezo: Buzzer short circuit even for small) | PY- OKs! Thm Pot test tips are connected | e values of resistors. ba EaxihTam Pot across a resistance of more | Construction & WRcMiH EEE: caine 1 cesee ead than 1. then the Op Amp | Adjustment above. check the PCB Ic1- 781 OpAme output becomes zero [eee aeserny cael, Ave al | 121098 Tetconrerihe ou mat | components used, ihe the components correctly | Ot Pare: voltage into an auclible Construction is quite simple. | placed? Are they all of | si on/OFF Seite ‘output signal, =n oscillator A component layout on correct values? Also check — | | oy miniature Battery is constructed with NI-R7, | SELEX PCB is shown in the voltage at and Bit | Ram arr P2 and C1. The oscillator | figure 2. Correct polarity should be approximately ‘Pct rma Le eto rng bal obuervent Torte about 4.5V on both nents Serco buzzer, Bz. The oscillator is and Pin numbers of ICs ie ote eS ‘and Test Tips. must be properly connected. !ow when terminals A and an astable multivibrator and lod tena produces a 4.6 KH? signal | A QV miniature battery is, The current taken by the] used as the power supply | BE simest equal <0 the ossillater about 31m™A, to | and connected through the | Supply voltage wnen A and | @ ‘ewe the buzzer aeReneT are shorted i The trequency can be The assembled circuit must | Il his isn over and stl adjusted with P2, and the | he tested before fiting inco | {he tester dove nor work, frequency adjustment also | the enciosure For this, ‘ wiring atiects the votume because | purpose, PY and P2 bot iat stort the buzzer works most Should be kept thew Functioning H\ean bu ited athovemly ats resonant | Genco positon On shorting | sto 9 small handy plate froquoney. The oscar is | ponte Ann B, the bureer | caine Such an assembly turned an or eff by te Op | should awe an output Hl | 1S shown in igure 3 0%) Amp output signal. When | huarer does not make any the outputs Ov. ahore is | sound adjust PY ii st no audio output When wt” | starts making a sound! Then Becomes “1 the oseitator | adjust B2 unset the volume Starts driving the buszer and | For correct adjustoent 4 rc gor oY Soontiea actonie ceut bow Indicates 0 short crcut by giving year 7° Ti ie skout ofthe corn uly sae sac | {eeter ean be mounted on a SELEK Sl whew ica = aos wrx PGB. Only the sockets, switch and batery are ited externally The instalation n aplastic | fieovervtning insiae soc nea stosey 1087 1-63ELECTRONIC WEIGHING SCALE [AFCO have developed ar | electronic Precision Weighing J Seale, whien works on the strain guage Laadcell Having 2 capacity of 1999 gms it gives a reading on 9 LCD screen with 1 gm resolution The scale features a detachable deep square pan and a rotary Switch to correct the reading in the deep pan i8 not it Use. Compact in size, it 8 Suitable for use in office Kitchen, laboratory, postal department ete M/S AFCO MARKETING Pv | te Sitaram Mills Compound Bombay 400 011 Phone: 29 89 34/89 64 72 WINDING TEMP. INDICATOR. ECON has doveloped a solid state winding temperature Indicator for power ranstormors. Available from 2 0.4 contacts with repeater and 4-20 mA output for DAS. operations. it can withstand all types of voltage and curren surges prevalent in power plants, This indicator comes for Various voltages upto 250V in both AG & DC. For turther information, contoe POWER ELECTRONICS & CONTROL, For further information comact: CONTE For turther details, please ie Vaniogies ‘contact. M/S PRECISION ELECTRONICS Tilak Road, Vadodara 390 005 i 38-D GIDC Bhoktinagar | SCR ELECTRONIKS RAIKOT-360 002 (Gujarat) | Opp: Fatima High School ir ‘aro! Road, Vidyavihar HUMIDITY SWITCH Hire ee BOMBAY 400 086. switch, the Humiswiteh - 861 VOLTAGE STABILIZERS | Digitech nave developed the instrumentation, LT & HT Powerline servo convated 8c. | coral panels et Ths swich, | AMPLITUDE CONTROL voltage stabieers which =| based on LSitechnolony is | suas Powar Systeme have stabilize the voltage to 230V le, accurate, compact and | See Powe a erenpitudo | :08%In1-dand 400v 05% | Useful for controling humidity | developed solids inthe 3-0 version A number of | 10 ola iis 0 avd toe | ee rating | modes rated trom 0.5 KVA to tisk of Hashover and fenlscec etvahe sel titer JOOKVA are avalleble The | ° pegedacoghaintstsy control eireuit is .C. based and Humiswitch 861 has features a smooth start from 53 LEDs on the panel incicate electronic wransmiter and an | sero tothe fulreapacty, ploy- | the input line status and the electronie control switch d correction being carried out. The elec intype modular cards, voltage 3 connected by a Score cable. | write, acum cateentensee | Correction rate lp 30V/Second Tho eloctronictransmiter for control & tigger citcuits. | Other features ilude. No equipped with sensors & signal | ete ms Namrata nee ditioners for both RH and | ‘dry bulb temperature and.can | bbe used for controlling only | humidity or both humidity and These controllers are upto 800 V DC and 70 amps. adjustability, auto manual ade of operation and voltmeter for voltage | wailable | interference, output voltage ry bulbs temperatures. Where wowswren-aes | 1: ee | moO Oo | For further information, please pee For turther detail, please i M/S STATIC POWER SYSTEMS | pyeirecH ELECTRON pee PVT. LTO. DIGITECH ELECTRONICS f D-1/GF-9 Virat Bhavan D-148 Bonazo Ind Estat Ashok Chakravarty Road ‘Kandivii(W) Bombay 400 107 PHONE: 691173 Dr. Mukherjee Nagar Commercial Complex For further details, conta DELHI 009 M/S INSTRUMENT RES ASSOCIATES PVT. LTO. P.B, No, 2304/1-2 Magodi Rood Bangalore: 560 023 DC CALIBRATOR PRECISION'S Universal | | sms Omnitronix have introduced DIGITAL MEGGER, SSCA Electroniks have developed | based instrument which can | Switch Mode Power supply 2 digtal meager, Digi Meg. tmeosure the output of any with built in automatic voltage ‘Available in two basic versions | standard thermocouple tb Stabilizers for TVs Mains vi LED model suitable for | BEAKRST Ntomtres isolated, i features ine and 230V AC or 12V DC) and LCD | automatic cold junction load regulation. EMI/RFL ‘model (working on 8V battery) | compensation, temperature fitering, line transient the models feature range of | cloplay with # reaototon of supression circult and a tupto 2000 meg ohms, | 0.12C, measurement as well as | Modular construction. | Tesolution of 0.01 meg ohms | simulation of milivelt and For further details, contact rid C1 asailame temeectiont | alblorwere sieve ose he accuracy of: 1%, test voltage | Unit comes in a portable | mvs onmnonex of BOOV DC and 3% digit 0.8" | cabinet with simple panel 5, Armyyot, Ambawradh display (LED or LCD) | controls Abmedabad-380 008Hilversum Cores -all the efficiency and reliability your SMPS needs Murugappa Electronics Ltd offers you high quality soft ferrite cores, manufactured by Hilversum Electronics a name to reckon with The selection of appropriate cores Choke design ~ end Hil plution, Features like never before: gh grade imported raw material red in controlled nitrogen af permeabilities fic AL Values. Manutactured by IHEB vivversum ELectRonics Prop andy Ting of Inia Le Mada, Areas of Application: Power & Pulse Invertars & DC convertor Filter Chokes & SMPS CV's Computers & Terminals Transducers ation are endl MURUGAPPA ELECTRONICS LTD. World Standards in India ers’ application assis tance helps enhance your products’ performance. lrkatad by: MURLIGAPPA EI Mishess Sugar Inara Yet Nos Brenchas @ 52 alo: fo Caieati, Te! Nos my To Wo 20's olor 1986-200 PARY IN @ Allehaba LWTED PARRY HOUSE Sr 49 Moore oes ie 4-301 Tvs Red “e omboy Tol Na 18000 Telex 14 Ce Ney bai fel NOES Tei Nose: PARY IN Sasa 1007 1-65internal relay energises to ‘changvover the cantacts. A |, push button switch is provided | for resetting the time. when connected to a 12V. a8Ah ‘rechargeable lead acid battery The Nitepower has @ maximum switching time of second: lights, fans, telex rack telephone exchanges, ELSOME SANTO Cc Digital Multimeter Ledtron have introduced 2 ‘ Digicone 1210 autoranging | ove fio he contact is rated at 230V/64 Digital multimeter. Measuring | Sengalore-860 047 ‘and tho timers are. available in upto 1000 AC/DC: 20 layed ON. or Mohms: 10 A AC/DC the multimeter ean test diodes and has a buzzer for audible continuity testing. It has a ‘ugged design, is portable and For further imormation contact M/s ALFA PRODUCTS COMPANY. LCR meters gaypa Electronics ting AG-43018 anc G-4303 digital LCR made by Ando Elect Designed for measuring Post Box 4324 components quickly 4.14 Mew Dotty 110 019 Japan | Place Superimposing upto SOV DC liquid in a tank, W ensures that this lovel either does not rise fast GO” NO. Tims of componer parator AG4902, etermmnation | thresholds, tereby protecting the pump from over/under load. The LUC has a compact YOcins x 1Oems control unt with probes attached For details contact. {a8 measured by this probe, the Ste 10 68 ey | oer cele see ‘operation is to be controlled | ups Elsonic have developed Nitepower 200 SN solid state uninterruptible power supoly system. Sometimes referred 10 MURUGAPPA ELECTRON he unit gives 160W of power | 0f 0.01% the timers have ‘wide range of operation Worl Bombay-400 078. The time setting is done through thumb wheel switches and the set 1s displayed on the sw When the timer is switched ON. the LCDs display the count down and as the tme lapses, the Bridge Rectt Solid State Electronics have developed a series of light Delayed OFF ‘models. The models come in 240 4 digit display and blind versions FF-11 Bajan House, 97 Nehru above oF fall below some preset Weight efficient ful wave single phase rectifier bridge ‘Available in two types, PCB mounted oF chassis heatsink | ‘mounting types, they are rated for currents af 1 0.8 Amps for a voltage range of Vrms ti 7ooves. low thermal resistance and low | forward voltage drop. The eclflers ean be used i ert elie tlectronics, business machines, | power supplies ete | For turther details. write to ‘SOLID STATE ELECTRONICS CO. PVT, LD. Plot No. 3/123, Marol Co-op. nd. P.O. Box. 7432, JB, Nagar Post, Bombay-400 059, Electronic Pain Killer | Johari have intraduced an tlectronic pain killer based on Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulation therapy It removes the pain from the nervous system and muscles by sending "}olactrical energy to the The instrument work on @ 9V battery, weighs only 75 gms and comes in'a range of pleasing The device is useful inbackache, migraine, arttyitis, muscular pain, sprains and fatigues, For further information contact M/s. JOHAR! ELECTRO-IECH co. Vandana, 28, neharu park Jodhpur: 342 003. |( ae MOTOROLA THE VMEbus COMPUTER SYSTEM * OEM USER STATION * SINGLE BOARD COMPUTER * PERIPHERAL CONTROLLER * A/D D/A INTERFACE BOARD * CARD CAGE, BACKPLANE * CHASSIS AND POWER : SUPPLY Semiconductor Producis INTEGRATED CIRCUIT, RECTIFIER, ZENER, SCR, PRESSURE SENSOR ELEMENT, UJT, FET, PHOTOELECTRONIC PRODUCT, DISCRETE MICROMINIATURE PRODUCT. brett saecensors) ‘as AD For OS FapomovsTme Bishop Graphics. Inc. eR OTTER Fn COMPU CLARE - Feed Relay wencersrone & Anestor Ey comronens JALCO IF Swish, Connector CAPAETORS,RESSTON KEWONES Meese Modulator OELAY Uns, eheginotic Phar ge ATA ImaeoNeUTRAE OPTIC CABLE "tome sere GEIC GENERAL ELECTRONICS & INSTRUMENTATION CORPORATION (PTE) LTD 101 Kitchener Road #0217. Jalan Besar Plaza. Singapore 0820. Systems Division: Block 6. Syed Alwi Road Telephone: 298 7633 Telex: GEIC RS 24416 Fax: 2910905 00-251, Singapore 0820 Telephone: 2955398Zoro Speod Switch IeC’s zero speed switch is Aesigned for speed control of conveyors, erushers, rolling mills ete. Solid state in nature, Unit is enclosed in a dust & vorrnin proof housing and has 3 ranges of operation: from 5-50 pm, 50-500 rpm and 500-6000 rom. It also features variable 0-18 seconds initia! bypass delay. The unit takes a) input of 280V AC, 50He supply A 230V, BOHs, — (2) Orn RY * M/S. INDIAN ENGINEERING | | Post Box 161 Worl Noka Bombay-400 018. Daisy Wheel Printer Saras Eloctronics i offering a Daisy Wheol Printer, cPO-22 from Japan. The CPD-22 i 22 ‘ps printer eompanibia wth DIABLO and QUME 96 charactors print wheels and | ribbons. Also compatibie with all tho popular computers the CPD-22 uses any paper. fanfold, sheet, envelopes, labels etc, has a form with of maximum 13 inehes and has 6 copy capacity of original +3 Tho CPD-22 has many other features and takes advantage of ‘word processing software Microsoft Word: Lotus 1-2-3, Wordstar and incorporates shadow printing, dauble strike, | 1-70 sui: nta Jon Pe super swift, subscriot Uunderiinings etc For mare stat. please cont M/S. sanas FLecTROM Suto 301, Pure House 144 Mint Steet. Madre-600 O72 Wirewound Resistors KE have introduced Sili ‘coated wirewound resistors type PWR for direct mounting fon PCBS. Available in 3,5, anc Watts, these resistors have 1 completely welded structure ‘and have excellent stability & reliability, Ideal for automa PCB assemblies, these resistors {and telecommunication af For mora details, please write ARADHANA ELECTRONICS (P) iro 10, Srinath complex, SD. Road, Secunderabad-500 093, Advani-Oetlikon nave Jeveloped a solids system named 'ADOR, AMPVERT for variable speed control of AC sau induction motors, | The system enables bidirectional speed control with regenerative braking using the principle of current source inverter. It maintaing a constant voltage frequency ratio | ensuring constant torque ‘operation in the overall range, Ins important feature vs that during reversal of deceleration in either direction, it prevents wastage of mechanical energy This is done by feeding the ‘energy back into the mains ‘supply ‘Modula in construction, the system comprises power components, control switchgear and PCB rack fitted in standard Cubicles. incorporates sae ‘uards like electronic ovorcurrent trip, under voltage, ip, evervottage trip, ete itis. | dosigned to suit 3 phase, 415, 5OH2 AC supply line For more details, quote ref No P3/2/84 and write to Advani-Oerhkon Limited Post Box Nia. 1546 Bombay 400 007 ROTARY SWITCH WITH ADJUSTABLE STOP TRS-12 ‘Comtech’ TRS-12 is a Rotary switch which is offered in 3 models, Firstl 1 pole 12 positions, Second: 2 pole 6 Positions and Third: 4 polo 3 Positions, A stop ring is provided with each switeh to enable the user to adjust the ‘switeh-stop’ position to meet his requirements. Each model is available with printed circuit Gand solder terminals having th low plating to impart quick Solderabilty The body is made up of glass filled Nilon and the contacts are made from brase and phospher bronze. The switeh at present iS. offered with nonsherting ‘contacts (Break before make) having 2 rating of 350 ma at 110 V Ac/De, and with contact ‘resistance of 20 milliohms max. The switch is having » | minimum mechanical lite o 20,000 detent operations. The Shaft accepts any knob suitable for 1/4” diameter For tether details contact COMPONENT TEcHMMQUE 8, Orion Appartment 29-A Lallubhai Park Road “Andheri West) Bombay 400 058 DIGITAL Dc MicRO-VOLT METER vMiVi5, A clever indirect measurement with VMV15 eliminates costly & complicated ELECTROMETER: for conductivity measurement upto few thousand Meg (Ohms. In addition VMVI5, possesses all advantages of Gigital meter over analog, VMV16 has a resolution of 1 micro-volt, With optional HV. probe the range covered is "upto 2000 Volts. Provision of ‘ptional adaptor converts the ‘meter to DC PICO-AMMETER, with 1 PA resolution, Battery operation makes it more Versatile Yor floating measurements, ike that of measuring MICRO-OHMS For details contact VASAVI ELECTRONICS (Marketing Division) 630 Amorim Trade Contre angany SECUNDERABAD 500 003 | PHONE: 70995Ww

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