THE INTERNATIONAL

ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE

u i lexers
Outdoor
-atellite
ment

07

9 770268 1 920
 Are You The ULTImate PCB Designer?
Test yourself against the best in the UK! The
designer who manages to make the best quality
Contest PCB Design (determined by total trace
length and number of vias) will receive an
ULTIboard Advanced Designer, valued at over
f 2,214.88 incl. VAT! 2-10 prize winners win an
ULTIboard Entry Designer valued at f 1,521.63.
Competition Entries will be u ged by
an independent jury, consisting of
experts in the field of electronic design
and production. So that we can judge
your design, contenders need to
provide us with:
an ULTlboard ddf file or
a Gerber (photoplot) file of any PCB
Design System plus printouts that
clearly show trace widths, pad sizes
number of vias and total trace length.
The contest closes on 15th July, 1995.
1995. The 10 Winners will be personally
informed, and the results published. No
correspondance will be entered into
and the judges decision is final!

The contest design may be perfectly designed

with the ULTIboard Challenger Lite a 32 bit ENTRY Please fax of send back this form (one design per entrant only)
to ULTImate Technology (UK) Ltd, 2 Bacchus House, Calleva Park,
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Name
Minimum Hardware requirements are:
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Address
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P111--SYX-
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ii Corporate Headquarters: tel.: (+31) 2159 - 44444 UK/Ireland SalesOffice:
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TECHNOLOGY

In our September issue
Copybit eliminator update
RF tone -dip oscillator
Digital television
Series WM80xx 8 -bit
DACs
Hi-li headphone amplifier
Hexfet power amplifier
update
Dongle safe
and others for your
continued interest.
Front cover
A selection of prototypes of
projects published in this
issue.
Copyright © 1995 Elektuur BV
ABC
AUOIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS
CONSUMER PRESS
Elektor Electronics is published monthly. except in August, by Elektor Electronics (Publishing). P.O. Box 1414. Dorchester, Dorset DT2 SYH. England. The
magazine is available from newsagents. bookshops. and electronics retail outlets. or on subscription at an annual (1994/95) post paid price of U8-00 in the United
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ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
July/August 1995
ON TENTS Volume 21
Number 235
ISSN 0268/4519
£ 4,000+ CIRCUIT DESIGN 75 Programmable frequency divider
COMPETITION 98 Liquid -level gauge
Page 63 99 Motorcycle temperature gauge
100 Soft start switch for d.c. motors
SUMMER CROSSWORD 102 Frequency comparator
Page 121 106 Very -low -drop diode simulator
108 Zero crossing detector
APPLICATION NOTES 109 ZN436 replacement
44 Fault -tolerant CMOs multiplexers 112 Automatic parking light
68 9 V battery life ex -tender 113 Mains voltage detector
68 Low -power quartz oscillator 117 Temperature sensor
111 Simple voltage amplifier 120 SMD-to-DIL adaptors
114 Current meter
114 Programmable sine wave oscillator POWER SUPPLIES & BATTERY CHARGERS
119 Intelligent low -side switch 36 Fast charger for NiCd batteries
82 Switched battery charger
AUDIO & 111 -PI & MUSIC 86 DC -DC converter
16 Active mini subwoofers 89 'Battery low' indicator
47 5th -order Bessel filter 92 6 V motive _battery charger
56 FSK generator 94 3 op amp current source
58 FSK decoder 96 Mains slave
75 MIDI for PC sound card 101 Single op amp current source
78 Splitter for S/PDIF coax/optical 104 Charger for alkaline/manganese
output batteries
94 10th -order Bessel filter
101 Linkwitz-Rile cross-over network RADIO. TELEVISON & COMMUNICATIONS
102 Power indicator 22 Outdoor satellite receiving equipment
107 Front/rear car radio fader 32 Marconi- the father of radio
108 Audio power down 82 Flash key add-on for telephone sets
115 Loudspeaker protection in cars 90 Smart SCART box
116 5th -order Butterworth filter 93 Modified SCART switching box
107 Modulated push-pull crystal oscillator
COMPUTERS & MICROPROCESSORS
54 Battery back-up for RAM TEST & MEASUREMENT
56 Delayed monitor power -on 30 Simple r.f. signal generator
76 Microcontroller development/test tool 54 Video/scope multiplexer
80 CPU ventilator check 100 NiCd-battery tester
88 Simple I/O card 109 Switched voltage comparator
104 Speed-up for printer buffer
110 Game port as PC input MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
118 Line feed add-on for HP Deskjet 520 5 World of electronics
GENERAL INTEREST
70 Readers' services
72 Terms of business
28 Mini robot car 73 Switchboard
48 The Digital Solution - Part 8 122 Buyers' guide
58 Chaos 122 Index of advertisers
 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers

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ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULYL1I -GUST 1995

 From the World of Electronics
THE INFORMATION as it's possible to go." says John Squires. usefully be applied,
SUPERHIGHWAY LEADS TO principal of University College Salford. 'Wha t More broadly, the development of these
SALFORD we're talking about here, among other and other applications must necessarily
Nynex CableComms. one of the three things. is the possibility for a kind of be demand -led, and people are more likely
largest cable operators in the United Open University. Mark 2. that exploits the to think of new products to demand if
Kingdom. is teaming upwith Salford's City benefits of interactivity in an accessible they have already seen the network fill a
Council and universities to malte the area and exciting way: local niche. "No-one is denyingthat broad-
in northwest England a test-bed for ex- For the cable operator. which expects band networks can allow you to be talking
ploring the interactive potential ofbroad- to invest around £20 million in the pro- to the world." says Carl Grose. executive
band cable networks in the provision of ject, it is clearly an opportunity to foster director of Nynex for the north-west. "But
local services. goodwill among the local community. when it comes down to it, you're still
They are not there yet, but the project This can be in short supply for a company talking about people. We're not going to
is already helping to overturn some of that spends most of its time digging up make money offering facilities tat are
the received wisdom where the first lanes streets. as other cable operators in Britain somehow worldwide, but are actually
on the information superhighwaymight have discovered. "The geographical na- anonymous at a local level."
lead in Britain. ture of the franchise system means that Critics bemoan the lack of a `high pic-
The United States -owned cable oper- the operators are very locally focused," ture' in the government's piecemeal ap-
ator- the licencsed cable provider for the says Niall Hickey. press spokesman for proach to re -cabling the United Kingdom
region - has spent the past six months the Cable CommunicationsAssociation. for the interactive era, since It could mean
agreeing the terms of the experiment with "They want to establish themselves as that some parts of the country get left be-
local partners. These are: the City of good corporate citizens." hind. Yet. the Salford projects indicates
Salford, the University of Salford, and that, for all the worries about universal
University College Salford (the latter two Discounted prices coverage, some individual communities
will merge into a single university in the This has led several companies to build could benefit from the rather limited hori-
middle of 1996). up links with local schools and other zons of the companies laying cable in
The three parties plan to collaborate public bodies. In Croydon. South London. their area. Indeed. Salford's first trip
in setting up local experimental broad- for instance. United Artists Communi- down the information superhighway may
band services in a range of public -sector cations, has now cabled up around 85% be just around the corner.
settings. 'We're not talking about the tra- of the local secondary schools at heavily
ditional video -on -demand type stuff." discounted prices. By and large. such
says John Edwards. Nyuex'sregional di- projects have tended to look at how schools "SPREADING" RADIO NETWORKS
rector in Salford. 'The five areas are crime take advantage of cable Low-cost spread -spectrum radio tech-
prevention. community service. health. services that already exists. nology can provide an attractive alter-
education and training. and local busi- But the commercial - and technolog- native to existing hard -wired communi-
ness development." ical - bottom line to all the civic -worthi- cations. including fibre -optics. for both
The choice of sectors emerged from ness is the need to foster demand for point-to-point and local -area -network
discussions with public servants from fibre -optic services which have yet to be (LAN) applications.
all over the city. held earlier this year. The established. The UK cable industry plans Recent work done by the Instrumentation
local police force might sound like an un- to Invest around £10 billion by the end Group of the Central Research Laboratories
likely pathfinder in the information rev- of the decade laying cable networks na- Ltd (cat,) of Britain's Thom EMI Group has
olution. but the acting Chief Superintendent tionwide. resulted in the development of an inno-
of Police was at one of the sessions. He At present. cable providers can earn vative spread -spectrum system. Already.
contributed several ways in which the a return on this investment offering en- a major international computer manu-
force could use the network: everything tertainment. a banned segment of the facturer has licensed the technology so
from sending out high -quality ideniikit market for British Telecom. as well as as to apply itto radio local-areanetworks
images to transmitting DNA records to standard telephone services. But the ban (ELANs).
other stations. will be lifted some time during the next
decade. By then. BT should be able to offer
Pilot projects popular video -on -demand services over
It will be several years before some of the its existing telephone network. All the
more ambitious ideas are translated into cable companies would like to find ways
reality. However. the partners are hoping to earn a return from services which are
to start early pilot projects in most, if not only possible on their (higher -capacity)
all. of the five areas very soon. "There are networks.
anurnber of opportimities thatl think could
be exploited pretty readily." says John WI lis. Comprehensive network
It will be a while before there is a com-
chief executive of the City of Salford. "For
example. I think we could move fairly prehensive network nationwide. so the first
quickly towards using the network to experiments will have to be geographically
supply information about local services confined. The logic of the Salford pro-
more effidently." ject, however. is that finding ways to let
For their part. the two universities are people interact, locally. is notmerelv a stop-
planning to use the project to build on their gap to them interacting with the world out-
established interest in developing com- side. Local public agencies could be a
mercial and educational applications for fertile source ofpotential fibre -optic ap-
the new information technologies. 'The plications in their own right, responsible
Open University, as currently conceived. for a wide range of information and ac- A 2.45 GHz prototype spread -spectrum
has taken current technology about as far tivities to which the new technology could radio transceiver

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

 6 FROM THE WORLD OF ELECTRONICS
= CORRELATED WITH
SPREADING CODE
Waned 4:sal
I
INertarerwe
Mos! o' S.:admen:a swirzl
can be 6.7sedid o.st
Diagram illustrating the spread -spectrum principle.
Operating at 2.45 GHz. the spread -
spectrum radio transceiver (sswr) pro-
vides data rates of up to 1 Mbit/s at a
cost expected to make the application of
such a device viable in a wide range of sit-
uations. This data rate is more than ad-
equate for most applications, including
the secure transmission of graphics data.
There are many cases where high data
rate is not the limiting factor. immunity
from interference and ease of installation
being of greater importance. Whereas
existing UHF narrow -band radio systems
used for remote sensing and process con-
Produced and published by ELEKTOR
ELECTRONICS (Publishing)
Editor: Len Seymour
Technical Editor: Jan Bahian
Editorial & Administrative Offices:
P.O. Box 1414
DORCHESTER DT2 8YH
England
Telephone: (01305)250 995 (National)
or +44 1305 250 995 (Intenuttional 1
Fax: (013051 250 996 (National )
or +44 1305 250 996 (International
U.K. Advertising Office:
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CHELTENHAM 0150 3PE
Telephone: (01242)510 760
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International Advertising Office:
Elektuur B V
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The Netherlands
Telephone: +31 46 38 9444
Fax: +31 46 37 01 61
Subscriptions:
World Wide Subscription Service Ltd.
civilian users, freedom from interference
certainly is.
The wanted simnel appears
as a band of low4evel nose
unti correlated with the coda Robust alternative
in the teCalleilt. In the past. the technology involved was
too complex and thus too expensive to be
An interfering signal has
much lower transferred to the civilian sector. However.
the CRL developments will enable spread -
Freq.eznri spectrum to be used for both RLANs and
point-to-point links in cost -sensitive ap-
plications. Overall, the latest technology
provides a low-cost ad robust alterna-
tive to existing hard -wired communica-
tions and removes the need to install ca-
Narrow te.nd [Nader &MP.
bling. which is costly. time-consuming and
is spread over a aide band
a! reduced power lave . inflexible. In addition. the elimination of
cabling obviates a major source of over-
all system unreliability.
Uncorrelated spread spectrum
As cat. has taken into account the ex-
codes remain spread and al
a low level. isting and proposed frequency alloca-
tions in many regions and individual
r rezoJers:i
countries around the world. the outcome
has a truly international scope. In par-
ticular. operating in the 2.45-GHz band.
the laboratories' system satisfies a wide
range of allocations. including CFR (USA)
and Ers300328 which will supersde ex -
'sting national standards throughout the
trol are becoming increasingly prone to European Union.
interference. especially in large towns With spread spectrum. the wanted
and cities. spread -spectrum enables data signal is combined with a spreading code
to be transmitted and received with much to produce a pseudo -random spread sig-
more confidence and little or no extra nalwhich is used to control the transmitter.
cost. When received. the resultant signal ap-
The technical advantages ofspread-spec- pears as a band of low-level noise except
trum technology have been recognized for to a receiver that uses the same spread-
many years. especiallyby the military. The ing code with which it is synchronized.
benefits include the ability to suppress This receiver is thus able to extract the
interference and deliberate jamming and wanted signal by filtering out the major-
resistance to locating the source of trans- ity of the interfering background signals.
mission and to eavesdropping. While de- In the SSRT. a 31 -bit spreading code is
liberate jamming may not be relevant to used which is long enough to maintain
Unit 4. Gibbs Reed Farm Overseas editions: NETHERLANDS
Pashley Road FRANCE Elektuur BV
TICEHURST TN5 7HE Elektor sari Peter Treck-poelstraat 2-4
Telephone:(01580)200 657 (National 1 Les Trois Ti Heal s 6191 VK BEEK
or +44 1580 200 657 (International ) B.P. 59: 59850 NIEPPE Editor. P.H.M.Baggen
Fax: (015801200 616 (National) Editor: G.C.P. Raedersdorf
or +44 1580 200 616 (International) POLAND
GERMANY Elektor Elektronik
Head Office: Elektor Verlag GmbH 02-777 Warszawa 130
P.O. Box 75 Sagerfeldstr. 25 Skrytka PocztOwa 271
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The Netherlands Editor. E.I.A. Krempelsauer
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Telex: 56617 (elekt GREECE Ferreira & Bentu Lela_
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Deputy N lana ging Director. Editor. E. Xanthoulis
Menno M.J. Landman SPAIN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher LND1A Resistor Elecironica Aplicada SA
Pierre EL. Kersemakers Elektor Electronics PVT Ltd P.. de la Castellana, 212-4* Izda
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ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 FROM THE WORLD OF ELECTRONICS

data security and yet minimize syn- The range of operation is estimated at in the future, the treatment of cancer, and
chronization time. However. to obviate in- 2.5 km in line -of -sight and 50 m within the provision of more channels for sat-
terference from similar nearby systems. a typical office building. These estimates ellite broadcasting and telecommuni-
the spreading code generator is pro- are based on a 400 kbit/s data rate and cations.
grammable so that any one of 16 codes dipole antennas, and take into account The secret of RFSS is a copper -coloured
can be switch -selected. They have been factors such as fading margin, detector cone about the size and shape of a traf-
chosen to minimize cross -con -elation. signmal / noise rationand permissible fic cone. This is a specially -designed
transmitter power. radome. one of the streamlined covers used
Potentially troublesome to protect the radar antennas that pro-
The system operates at a clock rate of Competitive equipment trude from the fronts of aircraft. The
16 MHz to generate direct-seqtftce cad- The SSRT will be prices at around £300 radarprojects beams of microwaves around
spect ru m signals whictiare used to con- to £350, which makes the equipment the aircraft, which are reflected back
trol the digital frequency synthesizer. competitive for a wide range of appli- from other aircraft, targets on the ground
Generating frequencies directly in the cations in both technical and corn mer- or storms looming ahead, all of which
2.45 GHzband avoids the production of cial environment. However, the key issue showup on the radar screen. The radome
potentially troublesome spurious fre- is that the availability ofa standard com- protects the antennas agains damage
quencies (mixing products) as well as mercial product will enable the technol- from hail. rain or birdstrikes.
costs being reduced as no conversion ogy to be adopted at an early stage.
stages or filters are required. For example, in the retail sector, su- Electromagnetic windows
In the initial CRL implementation, the permarkets require immediate access to The radome is made of polyester covered
entire transceiver is built on to a single point of sale data. At the same time, they with a thin layer of copper, which forms
surface -mount printed -circuit board mea- want CO minimize cabling to the check- the frequency -selective surface. The thin
suring about 220x100 mm. This includes out positions so as to have a fbdble store layer of copper is covered with tiny cir-
control electronics, frequency synthe- layout. In addition. data and barcode cles. formed by removing rings of copper
sizers together with one transmitter and readers for stock control are being used each about one centimetre in diameter.
dual receivers. and 'printed' antennas. increasingly. In view of the vast amount revealing the plastic beneath. These cir-
Should OEMS require external antennas. of lighting and referigeration equipment cles acts as electromagnetic windows. al-
coaxial connectors may be fitted. which can generate electrical noise, stores lowing only a very narrow band of radar
A transmit/receive RF switch selects have always been a difficult environment. wavelengths to pass through the radome
one antenna. while the second antenna Another application is in remote teleme- in either direction. This screens out ir-
and duplicate receiver channel provide try where it is often necessary to moni- relevantwavelengths and prevents them
a spatial diversity capability. A diversity tor large numbers of outstations. These from confusing the picture on the pilot's
switch continuously monitors signals are just two of the many applications screen.
strengths to select the stronger signal which will emerge for this innovative Rad omes already produced at Lough-
from the appropriate antenna/receiver spread -spectrum technology. borough are not reconfigurable: theyal-
channel. A data recovery section. linked CentralResearchLabormories Ltd, Dawley low only band of wavelengths to pass.
to the spreading code generator in the con- Road, Hayes, England L1133 1HH. But the next generation, a prototype of
trol section. converts the analogue re- which is now working. will allow the size
ceiver output to digital levelsand moni- if the circles to be varied so that differ-
tors the signal to detect the spread -spec- MAKING TUMOURS VISIBLE AND ent frequencies can be selected and al-
trum synchronization and tracking sig- AIRCRAFT INVISIBLE lowed to pass.
nal levels. Question: What can make aircraft invis-
ible but cancer tumours visible? Patented technology
Maximum flexibility Amnswer: RFSS, that is. Reconfigurable This is done by making it possible to alter
Fast hardware synchronization provides Frequency Selective Surfaces. RFSS is the the diameter of the rings while the radar
initial synchronization in 512 microsec- brainchild of a team led by Dr John is in use. thus altering the frequencies that
onds with tracking then being provided Vardaxoglu at Loughborough Univer- are selected. The technology which makes
under processor control for the duration sity's Department of Electronic and this possible has been patented. and is
of the received data packet. The data Electrical Engineering in Leicestershire. now under further development in the
packet format, error -correction coding. England. RFSS was first developed as away Antennas and Microwaves Laboratory at
and network protocols, are under the to sharpen up a pilot's vine of the world Loughborough.
control of the OEM'S equipment for max- via his radar screen. But is now finding. One use for this could be in advanced
imum flexibility in application. or expected to find, a wealth of other ap- military aircraft with 'smart' RFS sur-
This is not a case of the caL designers plications, including the diagnosis and. faces. A smart skin made of amaterialwhich
abrogating responsibility. In practice. would absorb or reflect any chosen wave-
SSRTs will often need to operate in con- lengths could be tuned to absorb rather
junction with an existing system where than to reflect enemy radar. RFSS may
h. r R ).ig adtsi *ILL* Mika tLr*,
the data protocols have already been es- Mr' PI Pi 06.11111110011111)/1 soon be involved in battles of wits with
tablished. smart radar. in which wavelengths are con-
Consequently, when a master trans- KNIPOLVIIIIIN
stantly altered so as to image aircraft
mits. all slave stationswill receive the data 'IMM/41 with smart skins.
and present it to the user's interface. The A very different use is being developed
user must then determine the destina- with the radiology department of the
tion of the data packet by inspection of Leicester Royal Infirmary in Leicester
the user's address within the data packet. near Loughborough. The aim is to use RFSS
Similarly, when a slave transmits, the as a back-up scanning system to detect
data pacxket is expected to be received deep cancer tumours at an early stage of
by the master, while the other slaves re- development in patients who are being
ceive the same data. but determine that scanned with the use of Magnetic Reso-
the data packet is not intended for them. nance Imaging-mat.
This is achieved by inspection of the Demonstrator RFSS in the Loughborough In MRI, microwaves beamed into a pa-
user's address data within the data packet. laboratory tient's body Ma very powerful magnetic
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 8 FROMTHE WORLD OFELECTRONICS

field stimulate the emission of radiation UK MAINS SUPPLY 5421. Fax 0171 497 3633.
that is characteristic of the type of atom In spite of misgivings in certain quarters
which produces it. This radiation is de- regarding the 'reduction of the mains
tected and processed in a computer to pro- voltage in the United Kingdom. the 38TH LONGLEAT
duce detailed images of soft aswell as hard Institution of Electrical Engineers ad- AMATEUR RADIO RALLY
structures. including tumours. vises as follows. As from 1 January. 1995. The 38th Longteraf radio rally will beheld
the single-phase supply voltage in the on Sunday 25 June. 1995. from 09:30 to
Tissue mass UK has been reduced in statutory legis- 17:00. Participants should follow the
However, there is often uncertainty as to lation from 240 V ±6% to 230 V +10%. brown tourist signs for 'Longleat House"
whether a mass of tissue deep in the body -6% in order to move towards an align- (not the Safari Park) from the A36. There
is a malignant tumour or something else. ment with Europe. European countries will be 150 trade stands and 20 club
if some technique were available that have moved their nominal voltage up stands. Parking is free. and there are
would help to decide whether such struc- from 220 V to 230 V as from 1 January. catering and bar facilities on site as well
tures were tumours or harmless. nor- 1995. as camping and caravanning facilities. There
mal structures, actually during the trust This is a 'papenvork exercise' and the is also a RSGB bookstall and membership
scan, this would enable doctors to pro- actual voltage provided at customers' services stand.
vide the best possible treatment at the ear-
terminals by a UK supply authority will Further information from GordortLiMsay,
liest possibe stage. remain at 240 V for many years to come GOKGL. 66 Jubilee Crescent, Mangotsfield.
The Loughborough team are develop- - there is no agreement to change further Bristol BS1 7 3AZ. Telephone /fax/ an-
ing detectors equipped with RFSS which as 240 V is within the agreed tolerance swerphone 0117 940 2950.
can be tuned to pick up only the precise band. Consequently. there will be no dif-
range of frequencies of infrared or other ference in the operation of domestic con-
radiation produced by tumours. which as sumers' appliances. RESULTS OF IEEIE SALARY SURVEY
a consequence of their high rate of me- Results of the Salary Survey conducted
tabolism act as local 'hot spots' in the last January among members of The
body. They give off tell -tale radiation at HOT BIRD 1 IN ORBIT Institution of Electroncis and Electrical
wavelengths not produced, or produced EUTELSAT'S new television satellite, Hot Intorporated Engineers (IEEIE) show
at much lower levels, by normal tissues. Birdl. was launched in late March and that highest paid Fellows and Members
In a pilot study, this technique has is now in orbit at 13° East where it is co - now earn E 45,300 per annum, and more
been used alongside MRI. The aim is to use located with EUTELSAT 11-F1. than 55% of Fellows and Members earn
itto confirm during an mat scan whether Hot Bird 1's 16 transponders have over 825.000 per year with median earn-
or not masses of tissue imaged by h1111 gone into service in the second half of ings at £ 25.600 against £ 24,000 in
are malignant tumours. The next step April. The satellite is dedicated entirely 1993. Over the two years since the last
may be to use microwaves from a trans- to television and radio channels for re- survey. Graduate Members have moved
mitter fitted with RFSS to treat the can- ception by cable, community and direct - ahead markedly from E 17.100 p.a. to
cer. Selected wavelengths can be focused to -home antennas throughout Europe £ 20.000 p.a. in the public sector and
on tumours to literally cook them to and the Mediterranean Basin and is fully from E 17.000 p.a. tog 18,900 p.a. in the
death. This might even be possible dur- optimized for eitheranalogue ordigital trans- private sector.
ing the MRI scan itself. missions. Turning to academic qualifications.
European Telecommunications Satellite almost 25% of Fellows. Members and
Commercially important Organization. Tow -Maine -Montparnasse. Graduates now have a Higher National
It is possible that the most commer- 33. Avenue de Maine, BP 19, 75 755 Paris Diploma (HND) or UK degree and over 27%
cially important of the many likely ap- Ceder. France. of Technician Members and Associate
plications for RFss will be in making it fea- Members have a Higher National Cer-
sible to provide more channels for broad- tificate (HNc).
casting and telecommunications, in the NEW BROADCAST STANDARDS AND Copies of the survey. which covers not
first place via satellites. Broadcasting SYSTEMS only remuneration -categorized in age and
antennas covered with RFSS on satellites The Institution of Electrical Engineers. level of responsibility -but also areas of
could be made effectively invisible to one IEE. is to hold its Seventh Residential employment. pension provisions, bonus
set of broadcasting frequencies used by Course on 'New Broadcasts and Systems' payments and an analysis ofbenefits re-
other antennas on the satellite. while at the University of Durham from 3rd to ceived by type ofwork are available from
themselves broadcasting in the same d 7th July. 1995. The Secretary. IEEIE. Savoy Hill House.
rection using different frequencies. The course will provide delegates with Savoy Hill. London WC2R OBS. Tele-
In this way, several different broad- an in-depth understanding of the new phone 0171 836 3357.
casters can beam their broadcasts in the broadcast standards, the principles be-
same directions. This could allow a net- hind them and the background to their
work of overlapping radio beams to be used development. BACH ISSUES OF EE
to supplement or replace cable for local It is aimed at engineers alreadywork- In case our Subscription/Back Issue de-
telephony and radio networks. Proto- ing in the broadcast industry, whether in partment can not supply a particular
types at Loughborough are already being equipment design. manufacture and in- back issue of our magazine, it may be
used to develop this concept. stallation, or in programme production that Bookland are able to help. This com-
The development of RFSS at Lough- and transmission. pany holds well over 100,000 specialist
borough is being sponsored bythe British Topics. which will be covered by ac- magazines in stock. among which Elektor
Government through the Physical Sciences knowledged experts in the field, will range Electronics. The also operate a Magtrak
and REngineering Research Council and from digital audio and video fundamen- service whereby they hold customers' re-
by British Aerospace. tals through current studio and systems quirements on computer and check them
Dr John Vardaxoglou. Department of practice, to the use of low bit rate systems against the constant flow of incoming
Electronic and Electrical Engineering, such aSMPEG androvu for the delivery sys- magazines.
Loughborough University of Technology. tems of the future. Bookland. The Fosse. Fosse Way. Radford
Loughborough. Leicestershire. England Further details from Janet McCready. Semele. Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
LE.11 3TU. Electronics Division. 1EE. Savoy Place. CV31 1XN. Telephone 01926 614101.
London WC2R OBL. Telephone 0171 344 Fax 01926 614293.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers 9

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ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

10
than as the VCO in a PLL system for
SIMP4E RF SIGNATIO which it was originally designed by the
manufacturer. The internal circuit dia-
gram of the MC1648 is shown in
GEN ATOR Fig. 1. A low -distortion oscillator is
created by connecting an external in-
ductor -capacitor combination (parallel
tuned circuit) between the TANK and
Bias Pt. terminals. The oscillator in-
corporates positive feedback by cou-
pling the base of transistor Qg to the
collector of Q7. An automatic gain con-
trol (AGC) is incorporated to limit the
current through the emitter -coupled
pair of transistors (Q6 and Q7). and
allow optimum frequency response of
the oscillator. Transistors Q, and Q11
provide the bias drive for the oscillator
and output buffer Q2 -Q3. By setting a
suitable bias level for the buffer, the
MC1648 can be made to supply square
wave output signals, a feature which is
not used here.
A glance at the circuit diagram.
Fig. 2. reveals that the internal buffer
of the MC1648 is not used at all. The
oscillator signal is taken directly from
the TANK terminal. and fed to opamp
IC2 via coupling capacitor C15 and level
control P1. The reason for using an ex-
ternal buffer opamp instead of the
buffer transistors contained in the
MC1468 is (1) that the LT1252 gives
much better performance and (2) al-
lows 50-51 loads to be driven directly.
Also. the AGC of the MC1468 can then
be set for pure sinewave operation.
That is achieved by connecting the
AGC pin to ground via a capacitor. C11.
The oscillator frequency is deter-
mined by the position of rotary switch
Si and the setting of tuning capacitor
C1. The generator has five ranges:

This article proves that building a no -frills RF signal generator 1 200 kHz to 800 kHz
2 660 KHz to 2.7 MHz
has nothing to do with sorcery as many d.c. oriented 3 2.1 MHz to 8.1 MHz
constructors seem to assume. The design is based on two ICs 4 6.5 MHz to 29 MHz
only. and uses ready-made inductors in the frequency 5 18 MHz to 56 MHz

determining sections. All frequencies are approximate. de-

pending on the tolerance and Q (qual-
ity) factor of the inductors used (L1
through L5).
Design by L. Lemmens The maximum output level in
ranges 1. 2 and 3 is of the order of
1.4 Vpp. In range 4. the maximum out-
put level drops from about 1.3 Vpp at
LEl's face it: you can't test a radio 20 MHz. Armed with the present RF the lowest frequency to about
or. for that matter. any piece of RF signal generator and such an oscillo- 600 mVpp at 29 MHz. Similarly. the
circuitry without an appropriate signal scope you are ready to tackle, say, an level in range 5 drops from about 1 Vpp
generator. Fortunately, it is not always FM radio whose 10.7 MHz IF (interme- at 18 MHz to 300 mVpp at 56 MHz. All
necessary to know the generator's diate frequency) section is at fault, or levels were measured with a 5042 load
exact output signal level. as long as find the resonance frequency of an in- connected to the output. Although
you are sure that you are on the right ductor -capacitor combination. or ... range 5 may extend up to about
frequency. and that a reasonably 90 MHz, the output level will not be
strong signal is being injected into the Circuit description stable above 60 MHz or so. and there
circuit under test. This will bring nine is a fair risk of the oscillator quitting
out of ten circuit faults to light. An os- The signal generator is based on suddenly at these frequencies.
cilloscope is then an invaluable tool, Motorola's MC1648 voltage -controlled The LT1252 is a current feedback
as the types used by hobbyists will oscillator (VCO) IC. Here, the device is opamp from Linear Technology which
usually work quite well up to about used as an L -C tuned oscillator rather is marked by a fairly constant signal
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
100

SOFT START SWITCH FOR DC MOTORS

rrhe starting current of hea.vy-dut\-
1 d.c. motors can be 3-8 times as ,^y^
high as the normal operating current. Imii
1111004
which puts a heavy load on the on/off
switch. Also, when the motor is Lal
switched off, a breaking spark occurs RI

which causes erosion and cbddization Iv C3

1.3
11
of the contacts. This obviously short- MIN MI
47n 220.. 47n
ens the life of the switch appreciably. 40V
4004
Moreover. the starting torque is much
greater than the operating torque and FR606
this does neither the motor nor the TI
load to which it may be coupled any R4

good. The usual remedy for this defi- Si 52 --

03
ciency is a series resistor in the motor 0
1=1
C4 BUK416
leads which limits the starting current 115V -100AE
and is short-circuited shortly after the 10005V
._2
11P.

motor has started by a relay. It does 954024 - 11

not nullify the breaking spark, how-
ever.
A better solution is the circuit
shown here, which uses a MOSFET as 54A)

switch. Such a switch can be made to 5 G

operate like a continuously variable re-
sistor. In the present circuit, it allows
the current to the motor to reach nor-
mal operating level within three sec-
onds. The load on the on/off switch is fully on when the gate potential has
a matter of a few milliamperes The cir-
cuit can handle currents of up to 25 A.
but. with suitable cooling, can be used
with currents of 40-100 A.
Since the starting current is limited,
the MOSFET should, of course. not be
rated at the original starting current.
This is a matter of cost, because the
100 A model used in the prototype, the
BUK416-100A. is expensive. Therefore,
for smaller loads. a much less expens-
ive (and lower rated) MOSFET should be
used.
In the quiescent state, S1 is closed,
so that the gate of the MOSFET is virtu-
ally at ground level (via R4). When S1 is
opened. C4 will be charged slowly via
R3 to about 2/3 of the supply voltage.
The MOSFET starts to conduct and is
BUK416-100AE
being switched off: during normal oper-
risen to 5 V. When the switch is closed ation. it prevents inverse voltage peaks
again. C4 is discharged rapidly via arising.
When it is on, T1 has an on -resis- Zener diode D3 makes it impossible
tance. RDson of less than 13 mil. so for the gate potential of Ti to be greater
that its dissipation is small. When the than 15 V.
current through the motor is 20 A. the Capacitor C1 decouples the circuit
dissipation of Ti is 4 W. so that a heat for spurious r.f. signals.
sink of 2.5 K W-1 will suffice. This Voltage -dependent resistor R1 elimi-
rating must, of course, be increased nates any voltage peaks across the
when the motor current is larger. The motor larger than 35 V.
BUK416-100AE need not be isolated Inductor Lt and capacitors C2 and
from the heat sink. Its source and AS C3 ensure a smooth direct voltage
(auxiliary source) pins must be inter - when the motor is heavily loaded and
linked. brush sparks may create pulses on the
Such an expensive component needs supply lines.
to be protected. whence D2 functions Design by W. Zeller
as polarity reversal protection. Diode (954024-1
D4 (an FR606 or P600) short-circuits
the current briefly when the motor is

NiCd-battery tester
A small quartz clock that is powered
riby a 1.5 V battery provides a
simple means of determining the ca-
pacity of a NiCd battery. The circuit
makes use of the property of such a
clock to cease working when its supply
voltage drops below about 1.05 V.
Set the clock to 00:00 and connect
the fully charged NiCd battery to its
battery terminals. Resistor R ensures a
defined discharge current. Assuming
that the nominal battery voltage. LIb, is
1.2 V. the capacity of the battery. K (in
mAh) is given by
where T is the elapsed time in hours
shown by the clock. The calculation is
simplified if R is given a value of 12
The discharge current is then about
100 mA, which means that the battery
loses 100 mAh of Its charge in an hour.
-
1Y2.71-7
If thus the clock stops after 5.5 h. the
capacity of the battery is 550 mAh. It is
advisable to disconnect the battery
954007-11
from the clock at that time to avoid dis-
charging the battery beyond repair.
Design by J. Dietrich
K= Lib / R. 19540071
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 101

LINKWITZ-RILEY CROSS -OVER NETWORK

e Linkwitz-Riley crossover net-
work is known for its homogenous
performance and constant amplitude. RS
The transfer is identical to that of two IC1 = TL082 C3

2nd -order Butterworth filters in se- l en 12n

ries. The Linkwitz-Riley filter is an ex-
ample of an active crossover network
for a two-way loudspeaker system
whose crossover frequency is 1 kHz. It 911991 121269 101733 101909

can be built around one quad op amp

for a two-way or three-way speaker
system and can be converted to pro-
vide alternative crossover frequencies
by proportional adaptation of the re-
sistors.
The design is based on E-12 series
capacitors, which simplifies purchas- AS R10
ing the components. Note that if dif- R12
2k00
ferent values are used, the entire filter ek9463 131167
may have to be recomputed. unless
the values are ten times smaller or
larger.
CS C7

II
C8

II
0
To keep the ratios C1:C2:C3:C4 and 15n 15n tin 15n
r)c_,
1:18:R9:R10:R11 as small as possible, the 15V
AS R11 R13
rk..)
amplification of the buffer is x2 (R5/R6
410944 231410
and R12/R13). The amplification at the
crossover frequency is then 0.
When components with values as
0
specified are used, the sum of the two
filter sections will form a straight fre- 954011 - 11
quency characteristic. Exact resis-
15V
tance values can be obtained only by
series/parallel combinations of re-
sistors. If E-96 series resistors are Design by T. Giesberts
used, that is not too difficult. (9540111

SINGLE OP AMP CURRENT SOURCE

riurrent souces are used in a
k...evariety of applications. They
can be designed in a number of
ways. One of the simplest is a
common resistor. but this presup-
poses a constant load and a con-
stant voltage supply. If those re-
quirements are not met. the cur-
rent will vary according to the cir-
cuit elements. A considerable im-
provement is achieved when an
active element like a transistor is
added to the resistor. Variations
in the ambient temperature and
in the threshold potential of the
p -n junction then determine the
accuracy of the source.
A better idea is to add an
op amp to The circuit as shown in
the diagram. This has the added
advantage of being bipolar. In the dia-
gram. resistors R1. R9 and R5 render
the non -inverting amplifier into a cur-
rent source whose output is given by
Uref/R5. provided that R1 = R3 = R4
and R1 = R2 4- R5.
EI.EKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST1995
results in a voltage at pin 6 of
5V4i 2U,d/3. The current through R5 is
2U,1/3R5. The current through
AS
the (short-circuited) load is
Urd/3 x 103 + 2Urd/3R5. If R5 =
1 kn, the current is Uref/R5.
Although the design is fairly
well controlled, tolerances of the
-110. resistors may cause current varia-
10
tions. If these are unacceptable. a
Rb1
design with three op amps should
be used (see p. 94).
Design by H. Bonekamp
19540121
5V -
The operation of the source is fairly
simple if it is assumed that the load is
a short-circuit. In this rase. a current
of Urd/3 x 10 (3 kil) will flow through
R1 and R2. The potential at the non -
inverting input is then Uref/3. Which
102

SPEED-UP FOR PRINTER BUFFER

printer buffers serve to ensure that
.0 the data to be printed are taken
from the computer as quickly as pos-
sible so that the computer can be BUSY IN
5V
IC1b ICIa 2571C10
used for other purposes. This is why a
large buffer memory and fast commu-
nication between printer "and com-
puter are essential: tlYe buffer pre-
vents the computer having to wait for
the much slower printer.
At the instant the first data are
written into the buffer, the printer
starts to print. This means that the
buffer has to control two matters: the NMI IC1 = 74HCT02
data traffic from the computer and :00n IC2 = 74HCT74
that to the printer. If the printer is 5V
made to wait during the periods when
data are being received, the buffer 11 112
NA10

needs to control only one process at a oL2_ S

time, which saves time. CI ?.1

0 ...
C2 IC2b
To arrange this, the strobe signal IC1
O100n 113
IC2
T1000 *II 7/11>c
must be monitored by the computer. If ICld
R

4113
I

there are strobe signals, the busy line

from the printer must be actuated so 05-1042 -
that the buffer does not send data to MIN 11

the printer. When after about 1 ms no

strobe signals have been received, the
busy line is made low so that the
printer is reenabled. This arrangement When the bistable is set. the Q output that the modified busy signal is ap-
does not work so well when the buffer is low and C1 is discharged via RI. If plied to the microprocessor at the cor-
is nearly full, however. In that case. the strobe is not active for some time. rect location. Connect pins 8 and 9 of
the present circuit may actually delay C1 will be discharged completely. IC1 strobe, STRB IN
matters because the printer is reen- whereupon after 1 ms the bistable is (external buffer) or INT (terminating
abled only after a delay of about 1 ms. reset. card). In other words. the circuit may
This is a good reason for making the The output signal is combined with be used with an internal or an exter-
RANI in the buffer as large as possible. the busy signal. which means that in nal printer buffer.
The strobe signal (STRB IN or lisrrl) the existing buffer the link with pin 7 Design by A. Rietjens
ensures via NOR gate IC1 that the of 1C10 (Busy IN) must be broken. Con- [954042]
bistable is set and C3 is charged. nect ICib and ICI, across this break so

FREQUENCY COMPARATOR
Vven with a good frequency determined by the peak operating
meter. it is well-nigh impossible rate of the bistables. and is here
to set two frequencies to a fraction 5V + about 30 MHz.
of a hertz. It can, however. be done The circuit draws a current of
with the aid of the circuit shown. It IRI around 1.5 mA. which is mainly on
consists of two bistables (flip flops). 0
O
account of the series resistor of the
an xoR gate which functions as a fl IC1a LED. The current is kept low by the
comparator. and an LED indicator. ff>C 01 use of a high -efficiency LED.
The bistables derive from the two -R Design by H. Bonekamp
IC2a
inputs signals with a duty factor of rd 19540431
0.5 and at half the input frequency. 1
=I 3 rouge
The output of the xoR gate is low , rood

when the input frequencies are

equaL When they are not, this is in- 10
dicated by the flashing of the LED. 12
0
When the frequencies are equal. f2 IC1 b ICI = 74HC74
the light intensity of the LED is a c
IC2 = 74HC86
measure of the phase shift between R
ra
them. The brighter the LED lights, 044043 - 11
the smaller the phase difference.
The maximum input frequency is
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUG UST 1995
 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers 103

OWL HART AUDIO KITS -YOUR VALUE FOR

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Every HART KIT is not just a new equipment ac- Specially designed for exacting audio use requir-
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electronic techniques. a logical development from our highly successful
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ter equipment at lower prices than the man in the for any module, such as those in our new "2000"
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for any kit to see how easy it is to build your own supplies and a single 15V for relays etc_ and can
equipment the HART way. The FULL cost can be be used with our K1400 preamp and our K1450 The HART K1450 Magnetic pickup preamplifier kit
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The Hart -eketlet K3565 Power Supply for K1450 RIAA Pickup you will be proud to own. Nevertheless with our step
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Most modern high fidelity amplifiers either do not unit means that it is best powered by our new
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This is the first unit in our 2000 Range of mod- along with a special limited shift earth system for
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Both outputs will drive any standard high quality To fulfil the need for ultra high quality controls we assemble inside the fully finished 228mm x 134mm x
headphones with an impedance greater than 30 import a special range of precision audio pots in 63mm case. Kit includes full, easy to follow,
ohms and the unit is ideal for use with the Senn- values to cover most quality amplifier applications. assembly instructions as well as the Hart Guide to
heiser range. A signal link -through makes it easy to All in 2 -gang stereo format, with 20mm long 6mm PCB Construction, we even throw in enough Hart
incorporate into your system and two extra out- diam. steel shafts, except for the 50K Log which is Audiograde Silver Solder to construct your kit!
puts, one at output level and one adjusted by the 25mm x 6mm. Overall size of the manual pot is 27W £111.58
Volume control are available on the back panel. The x 24H x 27Deep. motorised versions are 72-4mm K1450SA Series Audiophile version with selected
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driver where remote mounted power amplifiers are both types is 8mm diameter. HIGH QUALITY REPLACEMENT
Now you can throw out those noisy ill -matched CASSETTE HEADS
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Very easily built. even by beginners. since all that the control can be operated manually or electri- problem. For top performance cassette recorder
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board and there is no conventional wiring what- may seem odd, archaic even, but it is in fact the only restore performance to better than new! Standard
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even comes with a roll of Hart audiograde silver Hi -F1 system without loss of quality. The values
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TAPE RECORDER CARE PRODUCTS
sion Test Cassette is digitally mastered in real time DEMI Mains Powered Tape Head
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We stock a good range of books of interest to the
Send or "phone for your copy of MU FREE List of these and many Wier Kits & Components Enquiries from Overseas electronics and audio enthusiast. including many
customers are equally welcome. but PLEASE send 2 CRCs if you want a list sent surface post or 5 for Airmail reprinted classics from the valve era. Some were in
Ordering is easy. Just write or telephone your requirements to sample the friendly and efficient HART
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Please ado pan cost 01 carriage and insurance as follows -INLAND Orders up to C20 - C1.50, New this month is the GEC Valve designs book at
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OVERSEAS - Please see the ordering information with our lists. designs. £17.95.

QUALITY 24 hr. SALES LINE ALL PRICES

AUDIO KITS (0691) 652894 INCLUDE
UK/EC VAT grolAVI los 00
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,..ot:
.t 0.0
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 CHARGER litn J.
1CAU N E/MANG N n 11-1
Ls'

Design by K. \Valraven

In spite of several reports published in the past year or so,

there is no possibility of recharging flat dry batteries
of whatever type. This allegation has been finally put to
rest after tests by various international technical and
consumer organizations. What may have confused a
number of people (no doubt driven by the scandalously
high prices of dry batteries) is the emergence on the
European market of secondary alkaline/manganese
batteries which had, however, been known in the USA and
Canada since the late 1980s' (see our May, 1995, issue).
The charger presented here is intended for these
secondary (i.e., rechargeable) batteries.

e construction of secondary alka- Their nominal e m f is 1.5 V and the formation in the batteries, it is important
line/manganese batteries is differ- capacity of an HP11-sized type is not to use a constant, but a pulsating, cur-
ent from that of the well-known pri- 1000 mAh. However, their internal re- rent.
mary (non -rechargeable) alkaline bat- sistance is appreciably higher than A further difference with other sec-
tery First tests in our design depart- ondary batteries is that the alkal-
that of NiCd batteries, so that they are
ment showed that the secondary alka- not able to provide large currents. nine/manganese batteries must not be
line /manganese batteries could be In fact. tests show that if a large cur- discharged too much. otherwise the checmi-
properly charged like NiCd batteries. rent is drawn from them, their capac- cal process can no longer be reversed, which
However, as far as their electrical ity drops within a few charge/dis- means they can not be recharged prop-
properties are concerned. they have charge cycles (see our May. 1995. erly. It is. therefore, recommended by
more in common with primary batter- issue). the manufacturers that they are not dis-
ies than. e.g.. with NiCd batteries. Charging these alkaline manganese charged below an e.m.f. of 1.0 V (the ab-
batteries is also quite different from that solute 'safe' lower limit is 0.9 V).
of NiCd batteries. According to the manu-
facturer's data sheet, charging should The charger
See Crompton's authoritative Battery not be done at constant current, but at
Reference Book. ISBN 0 408 00790 7 constant voltage (i.e.. similar to lead -acid It is clear from the foregoing that sec-
Butterworth Scientific Ltd. 1990 batteries). Furthermore, to prevent gas ondary alkaline/manganese batteries

IC1

4x BC337

DI
IV
61. 4AV5 B40C1500
MONACOR VTR4105 1 DO 11
1K1N4148
R2 R3 T2
02
-D.
- *

R4 .155

*siefie Text
T T S5LICZ5 11

Fig. 1. Circuit diagram of the charger for alkaline/manganese batteries.

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 CHARGER FOR ALKALINE -MANGANESE BATTERIES 105
must be chargedby a dedicated charger.
Unlike NiCd batteries, they have no mem-
ory effect, so periodic completely dis-
charging is not necessary: in fact, it may
well be detrimental, but we have no prac-
tical experience of this as yet.
As already stated, these batteries must
be charged at constant voltage with a
pulsating current. This means that lim-
iting the charging period, as with NiCd
batteries, is not necessary. the upper
limit of the charging voltage is 1.85 V. The
maximum charging current for HP11
batteries is about 120 mA, which is very
close to the well-known value of I / loth of
the capacity.
A first requirement of the charger is thus
a constant -voltage source which limits the
maximum charging potential. Notwith-
standing what has been said, it appears
useful to provide some sort of charging -
current limiting. If the charging current
is. moreover, made pulsating. the basic
requirements are met.
A practical design. intended for charg-
ing up to four HP11 batteries in parallel.
is shown in Fig. 2.
Lo_4 ° ÷- 11 2]
The charging voltage is clamped at Fig. 2. Printed -circuit board for the charger (see p. 70).
1.85 V by integrated voltage regulator
ICI. The L114317 used is about the only read-
ily available regulator that can provide so it should, perhaps be seen as a pro- current is not highly defined, because at
such a low level (since its reference level tection rather than as a limiting. The all times it is determined by the charg-
is even lower at 1.25 V). The output volt- transistors are Type BC337, because ing voltage. However, for a large part of
age is determined by the ratio R1:R2. these can provide rather more current than the charging period, the current drawn
The input to ICI is provided by a tra- the usual BC547, although their gain is from the prototype charger was about
ditional mains transformer and bridge rec- about the same. 100 mA, which is an excellent level for these
tifier combination. A smoothing capaci- Thus, when the batteries are fairly batteries.
tor is not fitted so that the output volt- flat, the initial charging current is limited Since there is no smoothing capacitor.
age of ICI is pulsating. to a few hundred mA. When the battery the output voltage of ICI, and thus the base
Each of the (up to) four batteries to be voltage rises, however, the current drops potential of Ti -T4. is pulsating. This ac-
charged is in series with a transistor, quite quickly to an appreciably lower tion is magnifier) bee:nice the charging cur-
T1 -T4, which functions as a current source, level. When, after about 16-18 hours, rent has to overcome two thresholds: the
and also provide a degree of current lim- the battery voltage has risen to 1.85 V. diode junction of DI and the base -emit-
iting. However, in practice, this limit ap- the current is almost negligible. ter j unction o the transistors. This results
pears to be about several hundred mA. In this design, therefore, the charging in the transistors switching on quite
abruptly, remaining on for about 2/3 of
the time and being off for around 1/3 of
the time. This pulse behaviour accords
with the manufacturers' recommenda-
tions.
It is hoped that this makes it clear that
the transformer and rectifier in no cir-
cumstances can be replaced by a mains
adaptor. Such a device does not provide
a pulsating current, but a smoothed di-
rect current. Also, the transformer must
not provide a voltage higher than 6 V.
because that would make the intervals be-
tween the charging -current pulses too
short.

Construction
The charger is intended to be constructed
on the printed -circuit board shown in
Fig. 3. As will be seen, this should not pre-
sent any difficulties. It should, however.
be noted that ICI should be provided with
a heat sink. Since the metal base of the
LM317 is internally connected with its
input, the base is at the same potential.
Fig. 3. Photograph of the completed prototype PCB. Since the heat sink is not connected to
EI.EKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
106

DIODE SIMULATOR
Tn certain applications It may be de- state (from high to low). resulting in
sirable, in order to limit unneces- 10V the current through the FET being in-
sary power losses, to have the use of a terrupted. In other words, the 'pseudo
diode with a forward voltage lower Cl diode' conducts in only one direction.
than 0.7 V. The present circuit fulfils moo
The drain and source potentials of
that desire. At a forward current of LOOn
the BLIZ1 1 must remain at least 1.5 V
1 A, the total drop across the two below the supply voltage to ensure
(active) components is only 0.04 V - that they fall within the input range of
an appreciable reduction compared the LM393.
with a standard diode. Resistor R1 functions as pull-up re-
Normally, the current in an sistance for the open -collector output
n -channel MOSFET flows from drain to of the comparator.
source. In the present circuit. how- Design by A. Rietjens
ever, it flows in the opposite direction. O 19540891
which conforms to the polarity of the 954969 - 11
internal protection diode between
drain and source. This prevents the
whole circuit conducting in the re- the FET, the voltage drop is then only
verse -voltage direction. 0.04 V.
When the source is positive with re- When the polarity of the voltage is
spect to the drain, the comparator reversed, so that the drain becomes
switches the MOSFET on. At a current positive with respect to the source.
of up to 1 A in the forward direction of the output of the comparator changes

any other parts, insulating vashers are the mains voltage. Therefore, no parts of to high resistances.
not needed. the circuit must be accessible from the A charging time of 16-18 hours is rec-
The finished board should be fitted in outside during operation. Moreover, the ommended (in line with the advice of he
a plastic case, since several parts carry mains input cable should be provided manufacturers).
with a strain relief.
The battery holders should be mounted Parts list
on top of the case. They are linked to the
board with flexible, insulated circuitwire. Resistors:
It is advisable not to use a four -fold bat- RI = 330
ALKALINE BATTERY tery holder. because these normally have R2 = 150 f2
CHARGER series connections which can not modi- R3= 1 kfl
fied easily. R4-R,s = 4700
Finally, the indicator, D2. must, of
course, be clearly visible on the front Capacitors:
POWER panel. C1 = 100 nF
The finished prototype board is shown
in Fig. 4, while Fig. 5 gives a view of the Semiconductors:
opened prototype charger. Di = 1N4148
D2 = LED
Setting up T1-T4=BC337
ED Before the charger can be taken into use. Integrated circuits:
the charging voltage must be set, for ICi= LM317
which a digital voltmeter is required.
Temporarily connect a 100 pF. 16 V, Miscellaneous:
electrolytic capacitor in parallel with C1. B1 = rectifier Type B40C1500
Measure the output voltage ofIC1. which F1= fuse. 50 mA. slow
should be 1.8-1.85 V. 1 off fuse holder
lithe voltage is too high. lowerit by giving K1=terminal block. 2 -way. pitch 7.5 mm
ED R9 a lower value. This resistor need not Tr! = mains transformer, secondary
be removed: simply connect another re- 6'V, 4.5 VA (e.g.. Velleman 1060050M,
sistor. probably 470-1000 L. in parallel available from Maplin)
with it. If the measured voltage is too Heat sink SK104, 37.5 mm (available
lowm a resistor should be connected in from Dau components)
parallel with RI. Case. 120x65x65 mm. e.g. OKW H120
Remove the 100 pF capacitor from
across C1. PCB Order no. 950065 (see p. 70)
The charger is nowready for use. When Front panel foil not available.
950065-F charging batteries. make sure that there (950065)
is good contact between them and the
Fig. 4. Suggested front panel layout. holders. because bad contacts give rise
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JUIN/AUGUST 1995
 107

MODULATED PUSH-PULL CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR

push-pull oscillators have an
tant advantage over conventional
oscillators: they provide appreciably
more power at the same supply volt-
age.
The present oscillator is based on a
pair of gallium -arsenide. GAs. field-ef-
fect transistors. FETs.'Controlled by a
quartz crystal. it operates with capaci-
tive feedback, which ensures high out-
put power and high frequency stability.
The circuit may be used as a power
oscillator or as a small transmitter in
remote control applications. An a.f.
signal may be applied to Ki to provide
amplitude modulation of the oscillator
output.
The highly symmetric design allows
further push-pull circuits to be con-
trolled. Amplifiers, or an antenna
(when the circuit is used as a small
transmitter), can be coupled induc- cuit draws a current of 150 mA to pro- creased accordingly to prevent the FETs
tively to 1.1 by 2-3 turns of enamelled vide a relatively high power output. being overloaded.
copper wire. When a higher supply voltage is used. Design by L. Lemmens
At a supply voltage of 4.5 V. the cir- the values of R3 and R4 must be in- 19540641

FRONT/REAR CAR RADIO FADER

Although most car radio/cassette lar to that in A. but in the extreme po- B:
layers produced in the past five sitions one speaker is on full, while position front/rear ratio
years or so are fitted with a front/rear the other is short-circuited. 1
speaker volume control. there are still Make sure that the switch can han- 2 2:1
many about that have no such provi- dle the power of the car radio. 3 1:1
sion. A simple way of adding this fa- 4 1:2
cility is shown in diagram A. which is A: 5 00
the principle on which many car radio position front/rear ratio
faders operate. This arrangement 1 4:1 Design by J. Seyler
gives a stepped front/rear speaker 2 2:1 (9540851
volume control with step ratios be- 3 1:1
tween 4:1 and 1:4. (Many modern car 4 1:2
radios have a continuously variable 5 1:4
control. however. Editor).
The arrangement has a few draw-
backs in that power is dissipated (un-
necessarily) in the resistors. which
lowers the overall efficiency (down to
83% in positions 1 and 5. but as low
as 67% in position 3). and the load
impedance is lowered to 3 SI in posi-
tion 3 and to 2.67 SI in positions 1
and 5.
A better arrangement is shown in
diagram B. Since this is a series cir-
cuit. the load impedance can not drop
to the dangerously low values met in
A: it varies from 4 SI in positions 1
and 5 to 8 fl in position 3. Since the
dissipation in the resistors is smaller.
the efficiency is higher than in A: only
in positions 2 and 4 does this drop to 95405 - 1113
88% - in the other positions it is
100%.
The volume control proper is simi-
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
108

ZERO CROSSING DETECT R

In many circuits that operate in syn- transformer required. This arrange- briefly, which means that T1 conducts
chrony with the mains. synchroniza- ment is particularly useful in comput- only for a short time. With the speci-
tion normally takes place during the ers in which there is no lowered mains fied value of C1, the sync output will
zero crossing of the mains voltage. An voltage available. be low for about 1 ms. This time can
auxiliary circuit as shown in the dia-During the negative halves of the be varied by changing the value of C1:
gram is then required to detect the mains voltage. C1 is charged via D1. when it is 470 µF, the pulse will last
zero crossing. This pulls tFie output D2. D3 and R1 to a potential of 15 V. for about 10 ms.
briefly to earth at the instant the This charge will leak away via the LED Since the circuit is connected di-
mains voltage becomes positive after in the optoisolator when Ti begins to rectly to the mains, it must be treated
passing through the zero crossing. conduct. This happens when the po- with respect and great care. Note that
The present auxiliary circuit oper- tential on the Live) line is about 1.4 V the optoisolator must be able to han-
ates with the full mains voltage rather higher than that on the Neutral) line dle the mains voltage. The specified
than with a transformed -down poten- (so that base current flows via R1). type is.
tial. This has the advantage that the Since the collector current is fairly Design by J. Schuurmans
zero crossing is detected much more high. C1 will be discharged quite 19540051
accurately. Also, of course. there is no rapidly. The diode will thus light only

5V

it
"
/ Sync.

11

Ct =470n s.... -,144ns I

/0 s
/
/ - .6.,
\ /
/ A
/
1
X
t 1
I %

\ 1
II
I
%

Ss /
%

%
i
S 1
1 Ss l'
0. S
5 _,i Syn C.

Cl = 470 pF 9540Cd - 12

934006 -II
*sae test

AUDIO POWER DOWN

e audio amplifier in a battery -op-
erated scanner or walkie-talkie is
often on standby for long periods. Of
course, in that state it draws a much
smaller current than during normal
operation, but even so. this is a waste
of energy.
A system in which the amplifier is
switched by the squelch circuit is al-
ready a lot better as far as energy
drain is concerned. Unfortunately, the
switching clicks are all too audible.
However, there are special amplifier
chips that have an integral power -
down circuit. which comes into oper-
ation when there has been no signal
at the input for more than 0.5 s. The
current then drops from about 15 mA
to 100 pA. Examples of such tcs are
those in the TLC247x series from
Texas Instruments (see diagram).
The tcs are invariably intended for range to 5 kHz in the
speech. rather than music, appli- TLC24701/24721 or to 3.5 kHz in the
cations. This is because an internal TLC24711/24731.
lowpass filter limits the frequency The devices are also suitable for di-
rect processing of pulse -width -modu-
lated (Pwm) signals. Such a signal is
applied to pins 7 and 8. A potentiome-
ter that varies the potential at pin 2
between 0 and2,/ 3V dd functions as vol- -
ume control. Note that the diagram
shows a circuit that works with an
analogue signal. whose volume is ad-
justed with P1.
The circuit shown draws a current
of not more than 250 mA. With a
supply voltage of 5 V, the output stage
can provide a peak power of 0.5 W.
Design by L. Lemmens
19540031

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

 109

SWITCHED VOLTAGE COMPARATOR

AlLoltage comparator is a device
at monitors whether an input R3

potential is below or above a certain ® 12V

level. Depending on the manner in CI C3
R

which the comparator is switched, its

output is high or low respectively. "1
T2._
5V
100_ 25V 100n
Since a comparator is able to liken ReI
two potentials. many sensor circuits DI
NEM
02
I /I
use one, for example to show when 1N4148 1N4148
the temperature is too high. The out- 1N4148
put of the comparator can then be 51

used to switch on a cooling fan. for in-

stance. When the temperature has RESET
dropped to below its upper limit. the 1)
R2

circuit detects this and switches off O

10k
EIC54713
RI
the fan.
Apart from its application in sensor
circuits. a comparator may also be TOn
used as an event detector. Often it is 9.54005 - 11
,C)
not just important to know whether a
certain limit has been exceeded. but
also when this happened. For such an
application, the comparator must be
cascaded with a bistable (flip-flop). input is then higher or lower than added to the circuit to operate a relay.
This is set at the moment the com- that at the inverting (-) input. If it is but this addition is not necessary. The
parator detects a limit being exceeded. higher, the output will be nearly equal level at pin 7 of ICI can also serve to
This arrangement can also be made to the supply voltage. This potential is drive other circuits. Resistor R.1 is al-
by adding a resistor and a diode to the applied to the input via D2. so that the ways required. however, because ICi
comparator circuit to simulate the comparator retains its state irrespec- has an open -collector output.
bistable operation. tive of the level of the input signal. The circuit draws a current of only
The complete circuit is shown in This situation alters when the switch a few milliamperes when the relay is
the diagram. The input signal is ap- is pressed: the comparator then not energized.
plied to the input of the comparator changes state (returns to its quiescent Design by M.S. Nagaraj
via DI. Depending on the setting of P1, state). (954006)
the potential at the non -inverting (+) As an example. a transistor is

ZN436 REPLACEMENT
Since Ferranti have taken their
ZN436. a 6 -bit digital - R3

to -analogue converter, out of produc- 150_ 12V

tion. the ZN426 has 'replaced' it. This D5 R4
is, however. not a direct replacement, C1 C4
because. to start with, it is an 8 -bit
device. It is also not fully pin compati- 9V1
10,i 100L 25V 100n
ble as the diagram shows. 25V o
03 R el
Note that the ZN426 has a 2.5 V in-
ternal reference source. Therefore, if
the ZN436 to be replaced uses an ex-
D1
1 N4148
D2
1N4148 X Fri -
ternal reference source, this can be
omitted; pins 5 and 6 of the replace- 1 N4148
P1
ment ZN426 should then be strapped S1
IC1
together. To convert the ZN426 to a
6 -bit device. D0 and Di are grounded.
If the device is mounted on a board
0 RESET
5
8
R5
T1

R2 10k
and an external reference is used,
pins 9 and 10 must be connected to 10k
2
--(C)B C547B
earth. If the internal 2.5 V source is O R1

used. pin 5 must, of course, be dis- iC2

0
0
connected from the external reference. WPM
Design by A. Rietjens 10n
(9540101
954006 - 11

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JIILVALIGITST1995

 SIMPLE RFRF SIGNAL GENERATOR

determines the bandwidth. For maxi-

mum stability of the amplifier. this im-
Tank Vcc2 Vcc1 pedance should be resistive. not
12 capacitive. Here. the gain of IC2 is
about x8 (actually. 1+(R2/R3)). Resistor
R1 matches the output of the opamp to
50 -fl loads as usual in RF technology.
The symmetrical power supply is
0 entirely conventional, and based on
02
03
the familiar 7805/7905 three -pin volt-
age regulators. The unregulated input
voltage to the supply should remain
below -±15 V to avoid high dissipation
011 04 in the voltage regulators.
06
010 07
Construction
The RF signal generator is best built
on the printed circuit board shown in
Fig. 3. For an RF project, construction
05 is remarkably simple. The tuning ca-
08 pacitor. C1. and the RF output level
control. Pi. are mounted at the solder
side of the board. The spindles of
4 these parts, however, are at the com-
(ID ponent side of the board. While the po-
Bias Pt. AGC Vee1 Vee2 tentiometer terminals may be soldered
950023.11 directly to the relevant copper spots at
the solder side of the board, the termi-
nals of the tuning capacitor are con-
Fig. 1. Internal schematic of Motorola's MC1648 voltage -controlled oscillator (VCO). nected via two pieces of component
wire with a length of approximately
12 mm. The rest of the construction is
bandwidth at all gain settings. The de- all plain sailing. Although not strictly
COMPONENTS LIST vice is actually a low cost amplifier for necessary, sockets may be used for the
video applications. The linearity of the two ICs. Switch S1 is a 12 -way PCB
Resistors: LT1252 is outstanding. As with all cur- mount rotary switch which is limited
Ri = 4711 rent feedback amplifiers, the imped- to five positions with the 'stop' ring
R2 = 68052 ance at the inverting (negative) input provided.
R3 = 1000.
PI = 221(52 linear potentiometer

Capacitors:
= 500pF tuning capacitor (Conrad
or Maplin) 7805
7905 5V
C2-C6;Cli;CI-5= 100nF
c14 ca C3
C7;C9 = 100pF 25V radial MIN 1=3
CB:Cio = 47pF 16V radial 4 7n 47_ 100n 100n 100"

C12;C13;Cl.t = 47nF IC2

C12 C10 CO C5 C9
Inductors: MIN
MINo
5V 7n 47_
L = 1mH 100n Toon-oo.
16V 25V
= 100pH OUT 100 NC 100
5V® IC3 t C---(:)
7905
L: = 10pH
;cc2 TANK
= 100nH
VIC1648
Semiconductors:
= MC1648P (Motorola)
IC2 = LT1252 (Linear Technology)-IC3
= 7905
= 7805

Miscellaneous:
K1 = BNC socket.
S1 = 12 -way 1 -pole rotary switch, PCB
mount. 900023-12

Printed circuit board, order code

950023-1, see page 70.
Fig. 2. Circuit diagram of the simple RF generator. Note that the RF signal is taken directly
MicroCall (01840) 261678
from the PAC1648's TANK pin, rather than from the OUT pin. A current feedback opamp is used
to buffer the RF signal. and step it down to 50-2 impedance.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICs JULY/AUGUST 11),)5
110

GAME PORT AS PC r p
Parallel inputting of data into a PC is
not straightforward. unless an
8 -bit slot is available into which an
easily available card with two game
ports can be inserted.

._de-
The card consists of an address de-
coder (2x 74LS138 and 741532 for
coding game port address 201) and
a four -fold timer. NE558C. which con-
verts the resistance values of the
single joystick parameters into pulses
of corresponding widths. Many game
port cards only use an 1S138 for the
address decoding. so that addresses
200-207ffu can be accessed. A
741S244 functions as bus buffer and
connects the outputs of the timers
and the joystick to the PC bus.
The four RC networks. four addi-
tional capacitors and the timers must
be removed from the card as shown in
Fig. 1. The timers are replaced by wire
bridges between input and output.
This gives allocations of the joystick
terminals (A - top: B - bottom) to the
set addresses as shown in the table.
Since terminals A and B are connected 1
in parallel, the corresponding alloca-
tions must not be occupied simultane-
ously to avoid short circuits.
*See te.1
The modification described causes *
the card to operate at address 201oa1. + 5V
If another joystick card is already A
a
n Y a
n
used, it should be removed or deactu- 558 n
ate& otherwise the game ports will be
destroyed by the consequent bus con- 2

flict. A second joystick card can be

used only after the standard address
has been altered. To that end. the ad-
dress decoder must be adapted as
shown in Fig. 2. Break the link be-
tween output Qo of the I.BB decoder
and the buffer is and make a new
connection between Q1 and the buffer
tc. The card can then be accessed at
address 2031/Ex (or 208-20FHEx if the 10n 'It
card contains only a single address
decoder IC).
addressdecoder

10 DIM BIN(8)
20 FOR K=1 TO 8
30 BYTE = INP(&H201) 2
40 FOR J=0 TO 7
50 BIN(7-J) = I
60 IF (BYTE AND (WU)) = 0 THEN
BIN(7-J) = 0
70 NEXT) 0
80 FOR L=0 TO 7
90 PRINT USING -#-;BIN(L); 0
100 NEXT L
110 PRINT " "
120 NEXT K
130 PRINT
140 GOTO 20
954040 - 11

Sample program in BAsic

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS ILLI/ALGUST1995

 no
#include <stdio.h>
#include <dos. h> 2
#include <limits. h>
15
# define ADDRESS 0x201
2 14

13 A *see teal
void bit print(int):
12
11
void main(void)
10

int value. i: 9

while (1kbhitll)
i=0: 9

dO 1 IOWR 10 -111. 203 or

208H ... 20FH
value = inp (ADDRESS): /* Read value at port */
bit_print(value): /* Print value bitwise / 12
prIntfr 1: 1ORD 13 -1 -Ito
I while ((i++)1=7):
printf(_ \ n"): 954030 - 12

getch():

void bit_print(int a) Since all inputs of the card are Tri.

compatible. it may be used with most
int i: PCs. The output +5 V and ground may
int n=CI-IAR_BIT: be used for experimental circuits.
int mask = 1«(11-1): Complicated software is not re-
quired. since writing can be done in
for (i=1: i<= n: ++i) I BASIC or c (INP(&1-1201) or Pascal
putchar(((a & mask) == 0) ? *0* : ($201). The sample programs in BASIC
a and c represent the written values on
the monitor.
Sample program Design by N. Koerber
in C [9540401

SIMPLE VOLTAGE AMPLIFIER

e resistive nature of the com-
plementary outputs of a cmos
logic inverter may be used to cre-
ate a voltage gain stage which al-
lows an output swing of almost
the supply voltage. In the circuit
shown. cmos gates are used to ex-
tend an amplifiers output swing
to almost 5 V. The circuit is par-
ticularly useful in 5-V powered ana-
logue systems where improve-
ments in available output swing
are needed to maximize the sig-
nal processing range and drive
margin.
The paralleled inverters are
placed within the LT1013's feed-
back loop, where they effectively
drop the output resistance, aiding
considerably in the swing capability.
The inversion in the loop requires
the feedback connection to go to
the amplifier's positive input.
Network Rt-C2 serves as a lead/lag
compensation. It eliminates os-
operating in its linear region.
Capacitor Ci presents capacitive
5V
feedback to create loop compen-
sation.
The output voltage swing of the
105
circuit is 0 to 4.92 V with a load
IC2
11100. 7
of 5 kfl. A disadvantage of this
V method is the relatively high cur-
rent drain ofthe inverters when the
output voltage approaches the
half -supply level. The application
is intended mainly for d.c. cir-
cuits. because the distortion at
full drive rises to unacceptable
values above 100 Hz or so. Current
drain of the circuit is < 50 mA.
- 10k Linear Technology Application
Note 18
(9540671
1C1 = LT1013CN8
1C2 = 741CM
954067-11

cillation in the inverter stage. which

has a high gain -bandwidth when
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS RILY/AUGUS 11995
112

AUTOMATIC PARKING LIGHT

Tn some countries. it is still obligator\
1.for cars parked in the road at night to
have their parking lights on. if the car light switch
El
is parked well before dark, there is an
unnecessary drain on the battery. This
may be obviated, however, by the pre- CL
sent circuit, which ensures that the DO block

parking lights do not come on until it ignition switch

30 red
gets dark, and are switched off again 5 -ER
31 !:roan
when it gets light. It has integral delays
E19
to prevent the parking lights being I
parking -light switch
switched off by the headlights of pass- 11\;) L 61L> gley:black
ing traffic. The circuit can be enabled 1301 I A EDP greytted
only when the ignition is switched off IPLI
grey
and the parking lights are switched on.
How the circuit is built into the car
electronics is shown in the top dia-
gram. The figures near the various ca-
-12Y
1\
CUT
F7
S7
105
Fa
S6
103,
FL, grey/black
PR > g re-vire-el

bles are standard in most European

cars: the colour codes apply primarily '.'
automatic
to Volkswagen vehicles. parking light 12V 12V 112Y

XX
12V,
The circuit of the automatic parking
Light unit is shown in the lower dia- SW
X 5W 5W 51V.
gram. The ambient -light sensor is a 112 114 113 1111
light -dependent resistor (LDR). RI. The 31 31 :7).
sensor and R9 form a potential divider. - aim - MEI
whose junction is linked to the non -in- ti
rear lights parking light
verting input of comparator ICI)). The 951004 - 11

inverting input of the is is at half the

battery voltage via R9 -R10. Resistor R3
provides a certain hysteresis, which
prevents the comparator reacting to 12V
brief light pulses. Resistor R4 is a pull-
up resistor.
The circuit is made insensitive to
brief darkening or lighting, as the case 5k IC1

may be. by delay network R6 -R7 -C2.

Branch R7 -C2 determines the delay R4 R9 MIN R13
D4 Ro1
with which the parking lights are
switched on. while R6 -C2 determines o
for how long the parking lights remain
1144148
on when daylight breaks. With values -J
R5

as specified. these delays are 15 s and 1224

10 s respectively.
Transistor T1 provides an operating
check by actuating the parking lights
for 15 s after the ignition is switched
off. To this end. C2 is charged via T1 1r141-18
and R3. until the potential across CI.
which Is charged via R8 attains a level RI RIO
at which T1 is cut off. If there is suffi-
cient ambient light, C2 is discharged MINN

slowly via R7. If it is dark, however, C2 LDR 25v 1001'

can not be discharged. so that the po- MIN ICI = TLC272
tential across it stays high. and the
parking lights remain on. Capacitor CI
is discharged via D3 when the supply
voltage is switched off to ensure that
the delay time is available when next which is sufficient to energize an inex- leads to the relay contact should be
the supply voltage is switched on pensive car -type relay. Rel. The tran- heavy-duty wire.
again. - sistor is protected against inductive The tra may be located in any suit-
The delay networks are followed by a voltage peaks by D4. able position on the car where it re-
second comparator. IC lb. whose invert- The entire circuit. except RI. is built ceives ambient light. If the connecting
ing input is also at half the supply level on a small piece of prototyping board. cable to it is longer than 10 m.
via R.8 -R10. Hysteresis is provided by
It needs only three leads to the car's screened cable should be used to pre-
R11. Resistor R13 is a pull-up resistor.
electric system: +12 V. earth and out vent noise on the car's electric system
The comparator controls T2. which These connections are best made causing spurious operation.
can supply a current of up to 200 mA. with car -type in -cable connectors. The The values of R2 and P1 should be
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 113

MAINS VOLTAGE DETECTOR

It is normally easy to tell when the
mains voltage fails because then the CLS
radio stops playing oryou are in the dark. RI
,
key$ = ""
IR
Joking apart, computers and other elec- OUT &I1378. 0
tronic equipment may require a special C
LOCATE 12. 29
signal which provides a simple mains COLOR 7
present/not present indication. Simple K1 PRINT "state:"
Dis
as it sounds, there is mtwe to such a de- IC1 WHILE key$ <> CHRS(27)
tector than you would expect. The main IC2 x% = INPI&H378)
TLC5D5 C411- LOCATE 12. 38
reason is electrical safety, and that is ex-
PC814 IF x% > 0 THEN
actly the key feature of this little circuit, 2 TR
COLOR 0. 7
2 3
which offers total electrical insulation R3 1
CV
5 PRINT " off'
from the mains. Cl C2 ELSE
The mains voltage arrives at the input 1:21 COLOR 0. 2
TOOn
of optoisolator ICI via two relatively high -
value resistors, R1 and R2. Inside ICI are
T .=
PRINT " on"
END IF
954001-11
two anti -parallel LEDs, which light al- key$ = INKEYS
ternately on each half -phase of the mains WEND
voltage. The phototransistor conducts
during (nearly) the entire mains voltage
cycle. The resulting voltage at its emit-
ter is smoothed by capacitor CI. and is
turned into a Tn compatible digital switch -
ing signal by a TLC555 timer, which is
configured as a Schmitt trigger. Capacitor
Ci is discharged via R3.
The output of the circuit is logic 0 (low)
when the mains voltage is present, and
logic 1 (high) when the mains voltage
fails at the input. 95.1001
A simple BASIC program is shown to en-
able a Pc, or indeed any computer capa-
ble of running BASIC, to monitor the out-
put of the circuit. Obviously, the computer
should not be on the same mains outlet
as the detector (so get out your laptops Parts list
and notebook Pcs)! The output of the de- Resistors:
tector is connected to any data line of R1:122 = 150162
the Centronics port on LPT1:, and, of R3 = 151S1
course. to the ground line of the interface. R4 =
The printed circuit board shown here
is unfortunately not available ready- Capacitors:
made through our Readers Services, so C1 = 1pF 16V radial Design : 0. Rennen
you have to make it yourself. or have it [954001)
made. C2 = 100I1F
Warning The circuit should be built into
an all -plastic case to eliminate any risk Integrated circuits:
of the parts at mains potential being ICI = PC814 (Sharp Semiconductors)
touched. It is recommended to use a IC2 = TLC555
mains adaptor case, which comes with
a moulded mains plug. Never work on the Miscellaneous:
circuit while it is connected to the mains. K1 = 2 -way PCB terminal block. pitch
7.5mm

matched to the type of I.DR used. When
it is light, they should provide a voltage
at pin 5 of IC 1b which is appreciably
below the potential at pin 6. When it is
dark, they should provide a voltage at
pin 5 that is appreciably higher than
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
that at pin 6. to charge the capacitor.
The time constants of the delay net- Design by G. Kleine
works may be altered to individual re- 1954004)
quirements. but the value of C2 should
not be so high that the charging cur-
rent through R6 is no longer sufficient
114

CURRENT METER
Measuring the current drawn by
an apparatus is always a rather TL081 BS250
complicated matter. If a shunt resistor
is placed across the positive supply OFFSET /11 5 tiC
rail, the measured voltage has, by def- -Ill 2 Vc
Vcc
inition, an offset equal to the supply
voltage. It is, of course. much simpler -IN _3 6 OUT

to place a resistor in series with the vcc - I n-2175 OFFSET ta Di S

-1111F
4
negative supply line, but, owing to 954062.12
various circumstances, that is not al-
ways possible. A better way is using
the circuit shown in the diagram.
The circuit removes the common -
mode voltage and has variable gain so current through R2 causes a potential
that the transfer ratio can be selected drop across R3, which is proportional
as desired. It draws a current of only to the load current and is referred to
a few milliamperes. ground. Thus. a voltmeter connected
In the circuit. the measurement re- between A and ground gives an exact
sistance is R. The current -dependent indication of the load current. may also be adapted to particular
voltage drop across this resistor is ap- The sensitivity of the meter is de- measurements. If, for instance, the
plied to the non -inverting input of ICI. termined as follows. A load current of load current is small, it is advisable to
The op amp will endeavour to bring its 1 A causes a drop of 100 mV across increase its resistance to 1 SI.
inverting input at the same potential R4. The current through 112 is then A National Semiconductor application
by switching T1 on or off. As a result, 1 xnA, which causes a drop of 1 V [9540821
a current flows through R2 that is pro- across R3. The transfer ratio is thus
portional to the drop across R4 and 1 V A-1. This ratio can be varied by
thus to the current through RL. The giving R3 a different value. Resistor R4

PROGRAMMABLE SINE WAVE OSCILLATOR

Micro Linear's ML2035 monolithic
programmable sine wave generator
is is used here without the usual micro - CTR14 - 7
_ LI

controller to supply the frequency de- IC1

- O_L1147
4
Cl 5V
termining code word. ICI. a 74HC4060 X1 5
4
S
oscillator/counter, supplies both the sine 3.579545MHz 11
RCX 6 6

wave generator's clock and the gating I I

IS
RX
CT
14 10V 11311

13
pulse for shift register IC2. When the Q5 cx MIN C2
15
output of ICI goes high. IC2 starts to shift
eight hard -wired bit levels into the sin (se- CT=0 11 -I- 1007 5v
IOV
rial input data) input of the ML2035, fol- 74HC4060
12

13
lowed by eight Is. The shift -in operation -

is synchronized by the positive -going Rt 4

edge of the clock signal applied to the 11. LAT1
60Hz
6 IC3
SCK pin. When all 16 bits are read, the fre- CLKin

quency determining word is copied into F SCK

ML2035
6

the ML2035's internal data memory on SfiGE

510
Vcc Vss
the negative -going edge at the LATI input. cl(LOADI IC2 15
2
The generator's output frequencYjout is 15 C21-0.
computed from 5V 5V
1-
JCL KIN X (D15 - DQ DEC 0
foul 113 0
16 16
15
IC1 IC2
The lower-orderbyte of the frequency 8 TO0n
determining word is hard -wired at the load
inputs (A through The higher-orderbyte
is always 255 (1111 1111). Because the
0 output of the HC165 is used, inverted
10 `7
logic applies. and the ft uvency determiiiMg 74HC165 954054.11
value should be written as:

ELEKTORELECTRONICSKLY/AUGUST 1995
 115
NOT(1 1 1 1 11 1 1 IIGFE DCBA)
Futym 7-1HC165 Code
The circuit can produce 50 Hz or 60 Hz (MHz) Die ABCD EFGH Error
sine wave signals from an inexpensive %Lir DIO

N'Tsc quartz crystal. The shift register 4.00 50 105 69 1001 0110 0.14%
load values for other popular crystal fre-
4.00 60 126 7E 1000 0001 0.14%
quencies are shown in the table. The gen-
erator's output signal exhibits a maximum 4.194304 50 100 64 1001 1 1011 0.0%
of 0.5% THD.
4.194304 60 120 78 1000 0111 0.00%
Current drain of the circuit is about
7 mA at +5 V. and 2 mA at. -5 V. 6.00 50 70 I 46 1011 1 1001 0.14%
A Micro Linear application
6.00 60 84 54 1010 1011 0.14%
19540541
8.00 50 52 34 1100 1011 -0.82%
Micro Linear. 2092 Concourse Drive.
8.00 60 63 3F 1100 0000 0.14%
San Jose. CA 95131. U.S.A.
Tel. (408)/433-5200.

LOUDSPEAKER PROTECTION IN CARS

e output stages of many car change state. T1 to be switched off. and Relay Re1 may be a miniature type.
radio/cassetteplayers
l have no Re1 to be deenergized (which switches since its contacts seldom handle cur-
switch -on delay for the loudspeakers. off the output stages). rents higher than 250 mA. Relay Re2.
This causes annoying clicks when the The Schmitt trigger inputs of the in- however, should be a heavy-duty type
radio is switched on or off. Usually. the verters ensure faultless switching. whose- contacts can cope with the high
output stages are remotely controlled The supply voltage for the inverters currents flowing through the loud-
via switching voltage outputs of the is stabilized at 9 V by R8 and D7. and speaker coils.
radio. One of these outputs. V. is used buffered by C4. C5. The control voltage All connections are best made via
by the present circuit to switch on the lines are decoupled by C1 and C6. car -type in -line connectors available
amplifier before the loudspeakers and Diodes D1 and D2 short-circuit voltage from all good car accessory shops.
to switch off the loudspeakers before peaks over 12 V and below -0.7 V re- The protection circuit draws a quies-
the amplifier. spectively. thereby protecting the in- cent current of only 4.5 mA.
The realization of this is shown in puts of the inverters against excessive Design by F. Hueber
the circuit diagram. When the radio is potentials. 19540351
switched off, the inverter inputs are at
ground potential via R2. Capacitor C2 is
then discharged, the input of ICI, goes
low. T1 is switched off, and relay Re1. RI
62k
which switches control voltage V,' (out-
put G) is deenergized. The output of DI

!Cie is high. however, so that C3 is

charged and the output of Mid is low. 106
NMI
Thus. T2 is off and the loudspeakers 220;:
35V
are removed from the output stages by
relay Re2.
When the radio is switched on. the
V, input is 12 V. C2 becomes charged 05 R el

and series -connected ICI, and ICib SIM

change state. Transistor Ti then con- D3 ICla
IC1b
ducts. whereupon Re1 is energized, so ff &
that the output stages are switched on. 6 Ira
At the same time. ICle changes BC546B
state. which causes D4 to be reverse 3

biased, so that C3 is discharged slowly

via R6. When the potential at the input LS
of ICid drops. the inverter changes HP
state, so that T2 conducts, whereupon IC1d
Re2 is energized and its contacts con- B.-.
nect the loudspeakers to the output
1C1C
R5
loo__
13 & 0®
6--
stages. _
BC546B
When the radio is switched off. the
output of 1Cie goes high. causing C3 to I c IC1 = 4093
be charged. whereupon ICid changes D1...D6 = 1N4007
'loon
state and T2 is switched off. The loud-
speaker connections are thus broken 954035-11
before C2 has been discharged suffi-
ciently via R3 to cause ICia and 1Cib to
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
116

5TH -ORDER BUTTERWORTH FILTER

utterworth filters have a charac-
.Literistic which is virtually straight
right up to the cut-off point and this
makes them ideal for many appli-
C6
INNS
0
15V
cations. Unfortunately. the tolerance :100n
of the components is critical and
should, therefore. be 1% or better.
The Type TL081 op amp used in the 117

prototype may be replaced by any

good op amp that is stable at an am-
plification of x2 or more. The table
rrIC4
1C1
7
gives values for an amplification of x2
and a cut-off frequency of 1 kHz. Be- R1 TL081
cause of the amplification, the ratio of
the capacitors is as small as feasible.
while that of the resistors is as nearly
equal as possible. The last line gives
theoretical capacitor values for equal
values of the resistors. These are re-
quired if the low-pass filter is to be
converted to a high-pass section.
10 g7
i0
If the amplification presents a prob- TOOn 15V
lem. it can be reduced by converting
R1 into a potential divider. Make sure 954028 - 11
in that case that the output resistance
of the divider is equal to the value of
RI in the table. Resistor R8 provides
bias for ICI when there is no d.c.
coupling at the input. ratio varies little if at all. Because of per cent from the theoretical values.
The table gives resistor values for the rounding off of the capacitor The TL081 draws a current of
all combinations of capacitor from the values to E-12 values. some parame- about 2 mA.
E-12 series whereby their mutual ters of the filter may differ by a few Design by T. Giesberts
[9540281
CI C3 C4 C5 R1 R, R3 R4 R5
(nF) (nF) (nF) (nF) (nF) (kf2) (IQ) (kit) (kit) (kit)

1 10 5.6 8./ 3.9 1.5 33.216 36.632 32.664 29.103 32.864

2 I/ 6.N I 11 4.7 1.8 27.462 30.613 26.568 24.129 27.447
3 15 8.2 12 5.6 2.2 21.710 25.189 22.187 20.526 22.550
4 18 19 15 6.8 2.7 17.261 21.891 17.364 17.049 18.416
5 22 12 18 8.2 3.3 14.059 18.145 14.531 14.231 15.053
6 27 11
15 10 3.9 11.931 14.055 11.926 11.481 12.799
7 33 18 27 12 4.7 9.340 12.147 9.654 9.621 10.713
8 39 22 33 15 5.6 8.158 9.783 7.988 7.509 8.970
9 47 27 39 18 6.8 7.147 7.629 6.755 6.265 7.305
10 56 33 47 22 8.2 6.198 6.137 5.611 5.080 6.011
I) 68 39 56 27 10 5.115 5.099 4.821 4.119 4.917
12 82 47 68 33 12 4.243 4.227 4.001 3341 4.104
13 35.076 19.362 25.933 11.803 4.9125 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

 117

TEMPERATURE SENSOR
Tle circuit described is based on a
rype D51620 temperature sensor
from Dallas Semiconductor. This de-
vice can measure temperature with a
resolution of 0.5 °C over the range -55 All MIMI
DC to +100'C. Moreover. since it con- THERMOMETERiTHERMOSTAT
tains two 8 -bit non-volatile.memories.
it can give an alarm above and below
programmed limits.
The ic has three switched outputs
of which Thi4h is high when the tem-
perature is above the upper limit: Tion
is high when the temperature is below DEMOMIRATION KIT
the lower limit: Tram is low with rising
temperature. becomes high when the
upper level is exceeded. and then be-
comes low again when the tempera-
ture has dropped below the lower
limit.
The limits are programmed via a
three -wire interface. The internal
memories retain their data. so that
the chip after having been pro- DS1620
grammed can be placed into a circuit 5V START REGISTER
CONTROL LOGIC
without losing its programmed infor- 3 D2 DI
3
C3
ml
mation. This makes it possible for a 1/44148
=On TEMPERATURE
stand-alone unit to be designed. Loss 8

Vcc
CLK 2 -0- SENSOR
of the supply voltage has no conse- RST T HIGH 4,
quences. IC1 ADDRESS
Ato HIGH TEMP TRIGGER
Data are written on the leading CLK T COM DO 1

RESET
TH
edge of the clock. Use is made of an DS1620
D0 T LOY.
8 -bit serial format. LSB first. There is G!'0 RST 3
LOW TEMP TRIGGER.
TL
an internal configuration register that Cl
determines whether the chip operates
in a stand-alone situation. In that
D25
4n7 330p
2 \Z \.7
DIGITAL COMPARATOR
LOGIC
case, a conversion can be started via a
pulse at the clock input, or measuring 954076-11
6 -- 7 --5
may be continuous. During a mea- TLOW THIGH TC01.1
surement, which lasts only 1 second. 954076-12

the is draws a current of 1 mA: during

standby only 1 pA.
When the IC communicates with a
PC or microprocessor. instructions
such as 'read the temperature'.
'read/write the temperature or status
registers'. 'start/stop conversion' are
possible. More ics may be accessed in
turn by resets.
To measure the temperature. the
instruction 'vs.n' is sent to the ic. The
master (vc or microprocessor) then in a demokit available from Dallas
emits nine additional clock pulses Semiconductor. The temperature.
and. always at the leading edge. reads switching thresholds, and status of
the data emerging from the ic starting the three switched outputs are shown
with LSB. The temperature is given in via the parallel port with the aid of a
9-bil 2s complement format. Thus. 0 Visual Basic program. It shows clearly
means 0 °, 32H means 50 steps of half how simple the interface can be.
a degree. that is, 25 *, and 1FFH Power is provided to the ic via the
means one negative step. i.e.. -0.5 ". three diodes.
The circuit as shown is contained Design by K. Walraven
(95,10761

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

118

LINE FEED ADD-ON FOR HP DESKJET 520

A fine printer, really, that Deskjet 520 data are distributed across the trans-
rifrorn Hewlett Packard, only it lacks ceiver sections with 'high' enable. The 1 STROBE (STR)
a line feed button! This obvious deficiency line feed command is distributed across 2 DATA 0
3 DATA 1
is made good by the add-on circuit shown the transceiver sections with 'low' en- 4 DATA 2
here. It is inserted in the Centronics link able. 5 DATA 3
between the computerand the printer. and The strobe pulse required to copy the 6 DATA 4
effectively supplies the code* for a line line feed command into the printer is 7
8
DATA 5
DATA 6
feed (OA hex) plus the associated strobe generated by pressing S1. The switch con- 9 DATA 7
pulse. trols a simple timer based on RC networks 10 ACKNOWLEDGE (ACK)
The line feed command is pre -wired as and Schmitt trigger NAND gates. which 11 BUSY
12 PAPER ERROR (PE)
hex code OA on pins 2. 4. 6 and 8 of IC also debounce the presskey. Gates ICab 13 READY
and IC2. The two HCT241 bus trans- and ICS select between strobe pulses 14 NC
ceivers switch between Centronics data supplied by the computer. and the line 15 NC
and the line feed command. The Centronics 16 SIGNAL GROUND
feed strobe pulse. Obviously. the line feed 17 CHASSIS GROUND
18 NC
19...30 GROUND
31 RESET
32 ERROR
ass= -rte 33 NC
5:3111331 / 34 NC
5V ICts 35 NC
K2 36 NC 554848.12
v 11 SV 12-0 0-5'

Ex ICI b
I
-
-
10 0--3
Na/am 377-0 011-
a
:1 0 0

11
o o--24

0 0-
button should not be pressed while the
computer is still feeding data to the printer.
since that would corrupt the file to be
D a r--,1
printed. The length of the line feed com-
13 5031 51 407
15 4 1\ AC 1300 3 1
mand is determined by the discharging
17 07 17
7M 15
'7 of Ci. and is will be at least a few tens of
milliseconds. depending on the time S1
1

05 13 14

is held depressed. The strobe is actuated

5 00ft
11 134 t14 12
...L1L,0 3 03
._3_0 7 07 EN IC 2 3
CC a little later (approx. 25 ps), and lasts about
7 -0 0 3
5 01
3 CO
D. 5 200 ps.
_3_0 1 57803E C0112 The circuit has a current consumption
in the pA region, so that it can be pow-
ered from the 5-V supply voltage which
1C25
is present (in most cases) on pin 18 of the
!j Centronics connector (check to make
11 5 sure!). The input and output connectors
IS
of the circuit are 40 -way boxheaders
=74K7241 which accept 40 -way MC flatcable sock-
12
IC3 =74HCT132
ets. The pinout of the Centronics socket
11 Jf5
I SV Is givenforreference. Note that only pins 1
IC3tl
13
a ff &
and 36 are 'straight through' connec-
./18.
4
IC3c
tions between the boxheaders and the
IC3a Centronics sockets-the rest of the pins
IC3b
344941-11
have no number correspondence.
Design by T. Giesberts
[9540481

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

 119

INTELLIGENT LOW -SIDE SWITCH

Although a digital circuit for driving

load such as a lamp or a d.c. 15V

motor is fairly simple. it has a few

drawbacks. It does not make the lay-
out and construction of a printed -cir- .14-10(.7V.LE Ic1
cuit board simpler. Space needs to be E.itaTDCV.%

reserved for at least one resistor, one TPIC2404

transistor and one diode. If the circuit 15W
consists of a number of such stages,
this can be a problem. It would be far C. IF.111WERKTIAE
bfall:C01
IA AU,
tES1
easier to use an lc that has all these 24 1.1.1.1? 1.

components on board. Several types of

this kind of Ic are available, such as
Texas Instruments Type TPIC2404. IY

The TPIC2404 is a monolithic high -

voltage, high -current, quadruple low -
side switch especially designed for dri-
ving from low-level logic to peripheral
loads such as relays. solenoids, mo-
tors, lamps, and other high -voltage.
high -current loads.
The device has four inverting open - CM12ifffirrEA371.7.4...
igiarD01101

collector outputs controlled by a com-

mon -enable input. When ENABLE is
low, the outputs are disabled. An
error sensing circuit monitors loads
and device faults. When an error is CaY_ATELGE-41.Tt.E.E.-
sensed the FAULT output goes to a low 9.-/T=CRI.1

state. In addition, the device has on-

board Vm overvoltage and thermal
overload protection circuits, and the
outputs are current -limit protected.
The output state is compared with
the input value by four XNOR gates. If.
for instance, an output is shorted to
earth, this will be detected by one of
the gates which causes DI to light. Enable A FAULT
This diode also lights in case of over -
voltage or a thermal overload. Normal operation H H L
TheTPIC2404 has five Trt. or CMOS Open load H L H H
compatible inputs: four for control Short to ground L X H H
and for enable. When ENABLE is high. Overvoltage shutdown H L L L
and switch Si (see diagram) is oper- Thermal shutdown H L
ated. lamps L1 -L4 light simultane- Short to Vm H H H L
ously. The integral current limiting
circuit restricts the current to 1.5 A.
Finally, the device is protected FUNCTION TABLE
against inductive voltages at the out-
puts by four diodes in parallel with
the load. This arrangement enables
the device to switch inductive loads
without any difficulty.
A Texas Instrument application
[954002]

EI.EKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

m TEST AND MEASUREMENTS

The new schematic capture program Lta Lea.. je la h11.1.-- Lr.

a3!ET> fiLLtitrit
Geswin (GESECA for Windows) <3, Tx.u.oils.9-41Ecrs

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414-714---
to retain all its simulation settings, the schematic ._ i... ...
(produced by Geswin) is uncluttered so that you r= Pia.. ii../
1
:

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trill 1
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_ .. _ ._ =._ ._ ._ ... _=_.iiii___:._s
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Geswin has inherited GESECA's speed and ease of
use. You will find it's best -loved "bucket of bits" components' store waiting for your instant use from a
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The voltage regulators do not re-

quire heatsinks. The RF output pins
on the board are connected to the RF
output socket via a short length of 50-
1-2 coax cable (RG58/U or RG174/U).
The completed board may be fitted
into any reasonably sized all metal en-
closure. such that the spindles of Si.
C1 and P1 are accessible from the front
panel. In nearly all cases. the spindle
of C1 will have to be extended. The
power supply is best incorporated into
the case.

Calibration
The tuning scale of the signal genera-
tor is best calibrated with the aid of a
frequency meter or a general coverage
receiver. The output level control may
also be fitted with a 'mVpi; scale made
with the aid of an oscilloscope.
(950023)

Fig. 3. Track layout and component mount-

ing plan of the single -sided printed circuit
board for the RF signal generator (board
available ready-made, see page 70).

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

120

SMD-TO-DIL ADAPTORS
Tese adaptor boards are designed for
readers who find it increasingly dif-
ficult to experiment with certain inte-
grated circuits which are only available
as SMDS (surface mount devices). Also, an
increasing number of ics is no longer
manufactured trim shape, beagreplaced
by SMDS (for example, the 74LS163A).
Obviously, the problems are caused by
the small size of these parts, which require
dexterity, as well as by the fact that SMDs
do not sit in sockets, and thus are not easily
removed from a circuit for a quick test,
or for faultfinding.
The PCB shown (which is not available
ready made) enables you to build three
adaptors. Each adaptor consists of two
sub -boards. First, the SMD is carefully
soldered at the copper side of the board
with the SMD pin layout. Next, pins cut
off from a turned -pin is socket are pushed
through the holes of the centre rows of
the other sub -board, and soldered.
Alternatively, short pieces of stiff wire
can be used. Check that the the pins at
the underside of the sub -board are prop-
erly aligned, and that they can be in-
serted into a regular DIL socket. Then se-
cure the sub -board with the SMD on it on
top of the other sub -board with short
lengths of stiff wire which pass through 1000000001 "b0000000
holes at the outside of the sub - 11

boards. In general, make the adaptor

unit as compact as possible. .

0 660'0'0 bi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0,
The 24 -way adaptor is obviously also
suitable for 18 and 20 -pin ics. provided r0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
there is enough space around the socket OvuOuuuc)
on the PCB for the adaptor to be inserted.
The 16 -way adaptor with the is off- ;10nOn00(1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 04
set from the centre is intended for appli-
cations where there is little space at one
side of the socket into which the adaptor
is inserted.
Finally, before inserting the adaptor. 07044(111Tbo
ascertain the orientation. and be sure
the pin numbers of the SMD correspond
one-to-one with those of the DIL version
of the relevant ic! MET:M889&9888 -
Design by L. Lemmens 88888888
19540161

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

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;;Aportan1 NoticeP- --0Pu4:2Tescle6sph1o9'ne &4 Fax cliallinsgmcode"Changes4-o-nf156 A3pmril 1995 - frz'om7510758 1 to 20 181 - yo0u5scan use ei3t72her up to 105A-p-ri-1119950Ea

PLEASE ADD £1.20 P & P and then 17.5% VAT. OFFICIAL ORDERS from Govt. & Educational Establish-
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77 UPPERTON ROAD WEST VAT Number is quoted. OVERSEAS orders, postage AIR'SURFACE will be charged at cost. VAT is not
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'LEASE PHONE/WRITE FOR ITEMS NOT LISTED Retail Shop: 139, New City Road, Plaistow, London E13 9PX
li.LEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 16

ACTIVE MINI SUBWOOFER frequencies is also taken into account in

recording studios.

Circuit description
Design by T. Giesberts The circuit diagram of the electronics
part of the active subwoofers is shown in
Fig. 4.
The correction filter is formed by ICid.
Most proprietary subwoofers require you to be well-off and IC lc, and IC lb. It is sub -divided into two
strong: the first to be to afford them and the second to be low-pass sections. The first. a third -order
able to lift them. The active unit presentedhere does not cost section consisting of ICid and ICI,. has a
the earth and can be moved readily even if you are not a fixed cut-off frequency. The second. based
on IC lg, has a cut-off frequency that can
trained weightlifter. Even so, its performance stands be varied with P1. This arrangement makes
comparison with many a commercial unit. it possible to vary the frequency charac-
teristic (that is. the amount of bass) to a

loudspeaker system that has be-

ome very popular over the past
few years is a combination of a sub -
woofer and two medium/high speak-
ers. Since human hearing is not (or
hardly) directional as far as low fre-
quencies are concerned. ONE sub -
woofer suffices in most cases and this
may be situated below a settee or a
table without its performance being
affected. Since the medium/high fre-
quency units are also fairly small, the
entire speaker system is ideal where
there is not much space or if you
don't want your living room taken up
by the spaker system.

The drive unit

the drive unit used in the prototype is Type
SPP-110/8 from Monacor. The data sheet
of this unit gives cut-off frequencies combined with that of a 2 litre enclosure
(-3 dB points) of 50 Hz and 8000 Hz. The gives an overall characteristic as shown
frequency characteristic is shown in Fig. 1. in Fig. 3.
A low cut-off frequency of 50 Hz is fine In order to raise the low frequencies.
for good bass performance. However, this a 55 W power amplifier is provided. The
requires an enclosure with a (specified) amplifier also corrects the frequency sen-
volume of not less than 5 litres, which is sitivity of the human ear. Human hear-
what we do not want to use for a MINI ing is much less sensitive to low fre-
subwoofer. The present design uses a quencies than to medium and high fre-
volume of 2 litres, which shifts the low quencies. Thus. more sound pressure
cut-off frequency to 120 Hz. To bring this (read: amplifier power) is needed to en-
back to about 50 Hz, a correction network sure that low frequencies sound as loud
with a frequency characteristic shown as other. higher. frequencies. This re-
in Fig. 2 is used. This characteristic. duced sensitivity of the human ear to low
SPP -11018
250 010 2,6
a a I 11 a I II 5
73 Hz s 100 aao 503 tt
93£047% -11
Fig. 1. Frequency characteristic of the drive unit.
small extent: this is shown for the two ex-
treme positions of the potentiometer in
Fig. 5. The output of the corection filter
is taken from pin 7 of ICI and applied to
the power amplifier via Cg.
The power amplifier consists of an in-
tegrated input stage. IC ia. driver stages
T2 and T3. and output stages T4 and T5.
At the onset of a (sinusoidal) signal
from IC ia. the bases of both T2 and T3
areat zero volts. During the positive half
of the signal. T3 is off and T2 begins to con-
duct when its base -emitter potential rises
above +0.6 V. During the negative half.
the roles are reversed: T2 is offand T3 be-
gins to conduct when its base -emitter
voltage drops below -0.6 V. The wave-
forms of the input signal and the poten-
tial developed across R21 are shown in
Fig. 6. The kinks in the voltage across
R21 show that signal is distorted to an ap-
preciable extent.
This cross -over distortion is elimi-
nated by the use of Ti. Since the degree
to which this transistor conducts is de-
termined by the setting of P2, the tran-
sistor may be considered as a poten-
tiometer-see Fig. 7. This potentiometer
enables the bases ofT2 and T3 to be biased
with +0.6 V and -0.6 V respectively. This
means that even in quiescent operation.
that is, when there is no input signal
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 IIMINI SUB WO OFER

....,
_ ._ 10 I i I I I
__. 1

_ . . dB I 1 ; i ;
i f 1 1 ;
co ; 1
I 1 i
;

I I
(281 ° 1

I _
I I 1 1

I 1 I 1 ;

.... ..
10
II il I
1

_
1 I 1 1

a ce 1 ....... -20 i 1

.
i I
1 i 1

1 1 i 1

to -30
;

I 1 1

t.

111111111
1

.... I
M
le
1-- 1--1-
los
-11
tk 5.0 100
111111111111111
200 500
bequencipb -110 31114.01t IT Hz -I. 5.35047X 14

Fig. 2. Because the drive unit is fitted in too small an en- Fig. 3. The lower frequencies attenuated by the box are
closure, the lower cut-off frequency shifts to about 120 Hz. amplified by a correction filter.

(Um = 0 V). a small current flows through of conduction. This arrangement ensures tentiometer so as to compensate for the
T2 and T3. If then a signal is input. the that the output signal shows no cross -over temperature dependence ofT2-T5. Since
relevant transistor will switch on imme- distortion. T1 is also affected by the ambient tem-
diately. since it was already on the verge Transistor Ti is used instead of a po- perature. the transistor varies the bias
to T2 and T3 in accordance with
temperature variations. This
in turn ensures that the qui-
escent current through the out-
put transistors is kept constant.
The output of the power stages
is applied to the loudspeaker via
a relay. This relay is energized.
after a short delay when the
mains supply to the unit is
switched on. and denergized
immediately the supply is
switched off. This prevents an-
noying clicks to be emitted by
the speaker.
30V
The power supplyfor the elec-
tronics is straightforward and
RI) traditional (see Fig. 8). The
ci 305
supply lines to the op amps
0 must be stabilized and this is
effected by regulators IC, and
I: =THY IC3 in Fig. 4.
01
CI A14
Mil Building the circuit
2 The circuit is intended to be
built on the printed -circuit board
in Fig. 9. Populate the board in
30V
RI the traditional way. starting
a with the wire bridges and fin-
80139 ishing with capacitors C17 and
ICI = T1-074
Cis.
ISV BDT 67
Use solder lips for connections
813139
80140
13 DTSS
TS that carry large currents as
0 shown in the close-up in Fig. 10.
80140
It is also advisable to fit suit-
BOW
10 ccoTisv able solder tags to the (heavy-
duty) wires to the power supply
IA
0
30V
and loudspeaker.
Ref = 533...331-1.0031-4101
MOM -IS The connections to P1 must
be in screened cable to prevent
hum caused by stray fields.
Solder the screen of this cable
Fig. 4. Circuit diagram of the active filter and power amplifier. to the earth point on the board.
E1.EKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
18 AUDIO &111-1.1

Use screened cable also for the link from

Dale V-4.4 '-',.-. - "'It -- .,..-0.1vr= ®© nnte m the input to the board and keep it as
4.1.411
short as feasible.
,.

V:42
....t
----E

',
71:
7 -1 . --.
.
@
.............. When the board is finished (Fig. 11).
.1.1.1, It must be mounted on to the aluminium
ir....s,
back cover of the enclosure as shown in
Fig. 11 and Fig. 13. The heat sink must
4IIIIIIII
be screwed on to this cover on the out-
Lk= side after a rectangular opening has been
made in the cover through which the
! 1

'''''' .IFIL.L1--1--.1--1--1-7.::--1--1--i,.... a fts eve transistors protrude (since these must,

..nquo rrs of course, be screwed to the heat sink. Note
V30047X-ift that they must be insulated from the heat
sink by means of ceramic washers and
heat conducting paste). Awiring diagram
Fig. 5. Overall frequency characteristics for the two extreme positions of P1. for the back cover assembly is given in
Fig. 12. The design is based on the use

30V
Tr
51
2x 22V/IA81 (80VA)

30V

111.11
!ITT! 500mAT

T
i C18

30V
936047X - 20 30V
- t:

Fig. 6. Cross -over distortion is caused by Fig. 7. For clarity's sake, Fig. 8. The power supply must be
the base -emitter voltage threshold T1 is replaced by a built separately since the board does
having to exceed a certain value. potentiometer. not allow for it.

NMI
t
©'0 01 za
Oi ;0 110
vs
F
AO-
0
EDI OZH 10
O000
cs.
Oi SLH 10 ,,

i' 601
O000
0000
L'aP
0000

0 7,7
O0000

O0000
0000

Fig. 9. Printed -circuit board for the active filter and power amplifier.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 AC-rtvrAIINISUBWOOFER 19

Setting up
The setting up consists merely of ad-
justing the quiescent current with P.
This done by replacing fise F1 with an
ammeter, set to the mA range. Short-cir-
cuit the input of the amplifier and switch
on the mains. Note the meter reading, say,
x mA. Vary P1 until the meter reads
(x + 5) mA.

Usage
The subwoofer can be connected to the
left-hand or to the right-hand channel out-
put of the power amplifier, since record-
ings are invariably made so that each
channel has the same bass frequencies
available. Anyone not entirely happy
with this can use the auxiliary circuit in
Fig. 17. The subwoofer must, of course.
be supplemented by two medium/high
frequency speakers as shown in Fig. 18.

Parts list
R1, R11 = 10 kit
Fig. 10. Car -type flat connectors are ideal for use with large currents. R2-114 = 16.9 kn. 1%
R5. R7 = 10.0 ki2. 1%
R6. R8 = 56.2 k12, 1%
of a toroidalmains transformer whichhas types ofwood orwoodboard may be used. Rg, Rip = 7.50 Ica 1%
the advantage of producing only a weak The cutting diagram for the various pan- R12. RI6 = k-Ci
stray field. It is fitted on to the bottompanel els is shown inFig. 15. The finished box. R13 = 18
of the enclosure once this has been com- ready for varnishing or painting, is shown R14. R93 = 220 S2
pleted. in Fig. 16. When the drive unit, finished R15 = 1.2 k52
amplifier and mains transformer have R17, R18 = 5.62 lt11, 1%
Enclosure been fitted, fill the box with with suit- R10, R20 = 120 52
able sound -damping material. fit the alu- R21 = 47 L2. 5W
The prototype enclosure is made from minium rear panel. and make sure that R22 = 150 a 5 W
10 mm thick chipboard, which is strong the box is made airtight (use a proprietary P1= 5 MI. linear. stereo potentiometer
and easy to work with. However, other sealing compound). P2 = 1 kfl preset
Capacitors:
C1 = 270 nF
C2 = 1 pF. 63 V. polypropylene
C3 = 18 nF
C4 = 680 nF
C5, CH. C12 = 100 nF
C6 = 120 nF
C7 = 56 nF
C8 = 330 nF
C9 = 22 pF
C10= 100 pF. 10 V. radial
C13. C14= 10 pF, 25 V. radial
C15. C16= 220 nF
C17. C18= 10.000 µF, 35 V, radial for
board mounting
C10 = 100 pF. 40 V, radial
Semiconductors:
DI, D2 = 1N4002
T1. T2 = BD139
T3 = BD140
T4 = BDT88
T5 = BDT87

Integrated circuits:
ICI =TL074
IC2 = 7815
1C3=7915
Fig. 11. Finished prototype board. Miscellaneous:
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
20 AUDIO &HI-FI

Fig. 12. Wiring diagram of the mini

subwoofer.

I
LS1

cr1

t1-
Fig. 13. One stage in the construction
of the subwoofer
c-:00.110'01 10== I ccmpo
olio* ....It Oli-13
2=0 0=2
'G b 01140 4
4=3 401100
d="
--2L13 cro1100
C=3 .01140

936047 - 21._,

Fig. 14. The completed electronics

part of the subwoofers.
thickness = 1 Omm

In allundnium rear panel

176x12223mm
view A -A 0100

150

936047X 22

Fig. 15. Construction diagram of the enclosure for the subwoofer. Fig. 16. The 'bare' enclosure.

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers UI

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ECAL is either available for a
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Pods can be daisy -chained for
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Ref = relay 24 V. 1100 S-2. F1. F2 = fuse 1A washers (TO -220)

1 make contact Mains transformer. e.g. 1LP 31015: Heat conducting paste as needed
Ls1 = drive unit. Monacor SPPI 10/8 or 2x22 V/1.81 A Audio input plug
equivalent Mains entry plug with integral 19360471
Heat sink (T1-1'5), <1.5 K W-1 fuseholder and switch
e.g. SK71/75 SAS Soldering pins and lugs as needed

Five ceramic
audiopiug

wallunan
4rntfi

headphone 2x 41t7
/ output in plug

'11...:MINE11111111110.1111111
Alf!' audiopiug
mini - jackplug
':1-#ubwtoooferr

eudioplug

21110;7X -23

Fig. 17. The completed box with electronics

fitted. Fig. 18. How to connect the subwoofer to the sound output.
ELEICTOR ELECTRONICS KIX/AUGUST 1995
 OUTDOOR SATELLITE RECEIVING
EQUIPMENT

BACKGROUND TO LNB AND ACTIVE from the dish. To obtain a 90 -degrees ro-
tation of a received wave, the coil should
SPLITTER TEr1-1-Nol_0(---w have a number of turns which produces a
magnetic field strength of about 500 A/m,
depending on the exact specification of
the ferrite material used. A full discus-
At the time of writing this article, the history of receiving sion of the operation of the Faraday or
equipment for communication satellites can be traced over a polarisation rotator is, unfortunately, be-
period of about 10 years. Apart from a series of extended yond the scope of this article. The basics
are, however, explained with reference to
features for satellite TV receivers, developments in the area of Fig. 3 in the inset on the next page.
outdoor equipment, that is. low -noise converters (LNCs), Figure 4 clarifies the way taken by
splitter systems and ancillaries, have moved at a terrific pace. the received signal after passing through
feed horn, and shows the waveguide-to-
PCB transition. The waveguide is rectan-
gular, type R120/IEC153. The probe at
the electrical input of the LNA (low -noise
By R. Badenhausen amplifier) only picks up co -oriented
waves from a HIV (horizontal/vertical)
mixture. The input amplifier and mixer
'VDU may remember those first LNCs surprisingly, they were relatively short- in the LNA are usually based on HEMT
or LNBs as they are sometimes lived, and generally replaced by the more (high electron mobility transistor) tech-
called) used in the Eutelsat era. Indeed, reliable and much faster magnetic coun- nology. The relative ease with which
you may still be using such an LNB to terparts. The photograph in Fig. 1 shows HEMTs can be produced in very large
view satellite TV programmes. The effec- such a polarizer fitted on to a typical volumes has certainly contributed to the
tive length of these units is determined HEMT LNB. fact that satellite TV reception is now
also by the feed horn system fitted in A direct current sent through a coil within reach of the masses. As prices of
front of the LNC. The waveguide flange sets up a field which operates on a small LNCs tumbled, the electrical specifica-
at the input of these LNCs usually allows ferrite rod positioned in the centre of the tions of the LNA section in particular im-
either a mechanical (motor -driven) or a waveguide. The drawing in Fig. 2 shows proved dramatically to a level where a
magnetic polarizer to be fitted. Although this arrangement. A virtually linear rela- noise figure of about 0.6 dB was reached
their operation was fairly easy to under- tionship exists between the strength of coupled to a gain of 13 dB. That was
stand, mechanical polarizers often devel- the induced magnetic field and the rota- about five years ago, when the B:EMT fi-
oped, well, mechanical, problems. Not tion of a linearly polarized wave received nally took over from its Ga-As MESFET
predecessor. At about the same time,
SMA (surface mount assembly) technol-
ogy had evolved to a level where new
ways of producing an LNB could be at-
tempted. The result of all these improve-
ments was the now widely familiar
Marconi LNB. This LNB was one of the
first types which did not require an ex-
ternal polarizer to be fitted in front of its
waveguide input, horizontal/vertical se-
lection being accomplished with the aid
of two direct voltage levels applied to the
LNB via the downlead coax cable. The in-
ternal H/V selector results in a more
compact LNB on to which a conical
shaped feed horn is fitted. The size of
this feed horn is determined mainly by
the construction of the feed holder. These
types of LNB are also marked by several,
independently operating, LNA circuits,
as illustrated by Fig. 5.
If you want to exchange an older con-
verter with a large feed horn against a
Marconi -type LNB, you may run into
problems because the existing LNB
Fig. 1. Typical HEMT LNB with magnetic polarizer. The plastic cover around the polarizer was holder may not keep the new LNB at the
removed for the purpose of this photograph. Inside the LNB. the HEMT input transistor is lo- right focal position. In certain cases, a
cated underneath the small screening fitted upright on the PCB. new LNB holder structure will have to be
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

made to make sure that the Marconi
LNB is correctly focussed. While most
magnetic polarizers require a holder
with an inside diameter of about 30 mm,
the Marconi LNB is usually fitted with
one of two standardized feed horns hav-
ing an outside diameter of 23 ram or
40 ram. In a few cases, 23 -mm Marconi
LNBs come with an adaptor for use with
40 -mm holders.
State of the art converter
technology
When designing HEMT based input cir-
cuits, a compromise must be found be-
tween highest achievable amplification
and lowest noise figure. An important
factor in this design strategy is the
source impedance of the input circuit, in
other words, the matching between the
waveguide-to-PCB transition and the
input of the HEMT. Thanks to the good
dielectrical characteristics of Teflon® cir-
cuit boards, inductors, capacitors as well
BASICS: magnetic polarizers
The plane of a linearly polarized wave may
be rotated by modifying the permeability
of ferrite materials with the aid of a
surrounding magnetic field.
As illustrated in Fig. 3, the ferrite then has
a complex permeability, which requires
two real components to be taken into
account along with two other, imaginary,
quantities, which are not discussed here.
The real components are V. (<1) and p'
(>1). Here, the point of operation is
assumed to be in the non -saturated
regions caused by a magnetic field.
Another analytical assumption is that each
linearly polarized wave consists of two
circularly polarized. counter -rotating
components (positive and negative circular
waves), each having half the amplitude.
In a medium made from ferrite material,
the phase rotation angle, e, of two counter -
rotating circular waves is calculated from
c.',= 217f e =
= -
Fig. 3. Effect of a static magnetic field on complex permeability. The initial permeability. Ili. was normalized at 1.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
ElOUTDOOR SATELLITE RECEIVING EQUIPMENT
winding
as II a (01411.1141 coil former
centring bush
ferrite rod
marker hole
feed horn well
(ra. d turns and tyke citunetu no to s.z.a)
1 cm 1: :: ::
Fig. 2. Typical construction of a magnetic polarizer. The ends of the ferrite rod are tapered to
avoid undesirable wave reflections. The marker hole only serves for production purposes.
leave the medium then becomes
where or, converted to the linear polarized wave,
1= operating frequency (MHz);
k = correction factor (<1, e.g., attenuation); e=r).5
I= effective length of medium in direction of In practice, owing to technical restrictions,
wave propagation; most waveguide is only partially filled with
eo = 8.85-10-12 F m-1; ferrite material. Consequently, some
e= dielectric value of medium; deviations will occur in the above
pr. = permeability constant; 1.26.10 ° H m-1; (simplified) calculation models.
= real permeability values of medium; Ferrite -ceramics in general have dielectric
o = in radians. values greater than 10, and initial
permeability values of up to 1,000. Such
By applying the magnetic field, the positive values are necessary to be able to use
circular wave is rotated by an amount relatively low magnetic bias power levels,
say, below 100 mW. As regards insertion
-=277..f kl N.E0 µop', loss, most manufacturers of magnetic
(ferrite) polarizers indicate a value A.2 dB,
similarly, the negative circular wave is and state a value of at least 20 dB for the
rotated by an amount cross polarization isolation. As an aside,
raising the magnetic field strength by an
= k Neo g' _ amount HF, causes absorption of the
received wave, converting its useful RF
The resulting difference between the angles energy almost entirely into heat in the
of the two circular polarized waves which ferrite material.
FERRITE CERAMICS
10
 24 RADIO, TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS

proval numbers on an adhesive, the indi- Active splitter systems

cation 'twin' or 'dual' is usually missing.
A 'dual' version supplies only one polari-
sation plane on each of its outputs, while
a 'twin' version contains, in principle, two
completely independent V/H converters.
The selection is usually made with the
aid of a few jumpers in a shared circuit.
The Multiswitch signal distribution sys-
tem allows the use of 'dual' type LNBs.
Figure 8 shows such an active splitter,
which allows up to four satellite TV re-
ceivers to be connected. It should be
noted, however. that this splitter system

Fig. 4. A quarter -wave probe is used to cou-

ple the RF signal from the waveguide to the
input of the LNA. Obviously. the polarizer
was removed from the LNB input for the pur-
pose of this photograph.

as filters may be realized virtually loss -

free with the aid of microstrip technol-
ogy. Examples of microstrip sections are
visible in a number of areas at the board
side shown in Fig. 6. At the same time,
the logic and control circuit for the WV
switching is quite extensive, too, as
shown in Fig. 7.
Repair work on faulty LNBs is usually
limited to voltage measurements on the
logic parts and the voltage regulator.
Type numbers being rare on microwave
semiconductors, it is nearly impossible to Fig. 6. The almost completely symmetrical microwave and IF signal paths of the twin LNB are
replace these parts. In most cases, at- clearly visible in this picture. Also seen are the two quarter -wave 'antennas' for the two polar-
tempts at repair are futile and a waste of ization planes. The square pad which joins the probes at the centre of the waveguide serves
time, and a defective LNB is best re- mainly to compensate electromagnetic reflections caused by the LNA input circuitry.
placed by a new one.
Special attention should be given to
the waterproof sealing of the LNB case.
Marconi -type LNBs with two outputs al
and V) are either 'twin' or 'dual' versions.
Although a number of manufacturers of
these LNBs do state the type and ap-

Fig. 5. A 'twin' LNB: two mutually indepen-

dent V/H converters with a shared microwave Fig. 7. For the purpose of this photograph. the PCB was flipped and put back into the LNB
fed system in a single case. Ideal for two case. Most of the components at this side of the board go into the power supply and polariza-
satellite TV receivers on a single dish. tion selection logic.

ELEK'I'OR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

 OUTDOOR SATELLITE RECEIVING EQUIPMENT
is, generally speaking, a passive circuit
as far as the connection of terrestrial TV
signals is concerned. In particular, when
A
more than two participants are con-
nected, it may be necessary to use an ex-
ternal antenna booster to compensate
HORIZONTAL -11//UHFNNF VERTIle.AL the attenuation of about 15 dB in this
l 7- 18 VOLTS 13.14 VOLTS frequency range (40-960 MHz). Also, as

Lynk
0411
regards installation of a Multiswitch, it
should be noted that these units are fit-
ted in a metal enclosure which may not
be fully watertight, although it affords
sufficient RF screening.
The Multiswitch system is often an
3 to 4 way Multi Swkh ideal - and certainly cost-effective - al-
ternative to multi-user satellite TV sys-
40 - 2000 MHz tems in which cables to the individual
users are already present, or when where
ACTIVE re -arranging some of the cables is not
Mani ifautned in ine United Kingdom
problematic. Easy to install, the
OUTPUTS Multiswitch is still a fairly complex unit
2 from a point of view of electronics, as
3 shown in Fig. 9.
A 'twin' type LNB may also be used in
i conjunction with a Multiswitch splitter,
_ I ;1
but only if the latter provides the nor-
malized LNB supply voltages at its in-
puts. Although this is usually the case,
most manufacturers of active splitters
recommend the use of 'dual' type LNBs,
simply because these are less expensive
Fig. 8. An active four-way switch with optional insertion of terrestrial (VHF/UHF) TV signals. and better available.
LNB signals are applied separately for the two polarization planes, for which the Multiswitch HIV converters have input and output
supplies the appropriate supply voltages. markings which resemble those of
Multiswitches. These units supply the
horizontally and vertically polarized sig-
nals in separate bands within the range
950 MHz to 2,000 MHz. This approach,
which is not as cost effective as the
Multiswitch, has an advantage when is
not possible to go round a signal feed to
several participants on a single (existing)
cable. (932005)

=11no r591,:rtr;
ini,.VifreM 1111.?,,ISZt4 -1 1:1+11°.tt
mt. .17011
.0. o
) '"- :I Or.

e-
. Lf
.-
ris _ pen, c,
- ... tr .}
(4 ?fi

1i L .P . is

Fig. 9. A look inside the Multiswitch from Lynk. The Matsushita RF relays switch the LNA IF
signal for the H or V plane to the individual outputs (1-4). under the control of the polarization
selection voltage sent up by the satellite TV receiver.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/:A L GUST 1995
26 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers
ENERGY BANK KIT 1006'x6' 6v 10OntA panels, 100
diodes, connection deter% etc. £69.95 ref EF112
CCTV CAMERA MODULES 46X70X29tm. 30 grams. 12v
100mA auto electronic Antler, 3 Errun F2 lens. COR 5126392
poets video °Vain is 1 v p -p (75 ohm) Works dreayinto a start or
video input on a tv or Vane IR sensitive. £7995 ref EF137.
IR LAMP KIT Sistacre fame above camera enables the camera
to be used in total dannessl ES.% ref EF138
PASTEL ACCOUNTS SOFTWARE. does everything fcr as
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200 page comprehensive manual. 90 days free techatai support
(0345. 32E009 try before youbuyr) Current retell price 18E129.
ours? just E29 ref EF134. SAVE £100111
MINI MICRO FANS 12V sq just E.399 Iradt Ref EF-143
C RON PRINTERS 80 cid.9pinmatreasenerparatel. NLOldraft.
3 man warranty. good caution, £49 ref EF13.3.
MICROSOFT TRACKBALL AND MOUSE Ccrnbtned unit
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OPD MONITORS 9' mono mentor, %Cy cased complete with
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ever:nen% etc Cheapest in the just V-9 95 ref DEC49
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RADIO PAG ERS8 rand new. UK made podetpagers dearance
price is just £4 99 each 100x40x15mm parked with bast Ref SEP5.
BULL TENS UNIT Fury butt and tested TENS (Transculaneous
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OM RON TEMPERATURE CONTROLLERS (E6C2).Brand
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ELECTRIC MOTOR BONANZAI 110x6Ornmerand new
prea son. cap sari (or spin to start). virtually silent and features a
reeving outer case that acts as a fly s heel. Because of their unustal
design we trirer that 2 of these m a titre arta sore nornernade fan
blades mad form the basis fora wind tumel etc. Oearance price is
lust£.499FORAPAIRI(note-thesewi have tobeitired Fn seriesfor
240v operation Ref NOV I_
MOTOR NO 2 BARGAIN 110a9Ontntarrear to the above
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Again you we have to wtre2ln series for 240e use Bargain once is
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OMRON ELECTRONIC INTERVAL TRIERS.
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HY1230S, 12vCC adjustable from 0-30 secs £4.99
,-I Y121014 12vDC adjustable from 0-10 mins £4.99
HY1260M, 12vCC adjustable from 0-60 mins £4.99
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HY241S. 24vAC adjustable from 0-1 secs. 11.99
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Y2414. 24vAC adjustable from 0.3 hours. £2.99
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HY2405S. 240v adjustable from 0-5 secs £4.99
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PC PAL VGA TO TV CONVERTER Comers a corourTV into
a bast VGA screen. Concrete with bull in put lead are shrare
£4995 Idea for laptops ore cheap upgrade. Weals° canstasplyttas
at tom for home assearbry el E34.95 ret ET -54
DRINKING BIRD Remerher Mese? hook onto eine glass (sup -
pied) and they drusit stanclup.drink,starictip 0'0E4 each Ref EF1
EMERGENCY LIGHTING UNIT Canoe& uric with 2 double
big) ficoogrits true in charge/and a Mesa-Joh Full, cased. &BAH
lead acid reqa (secondhand) £4 ref MAGIP 11.
GUIDED MISSILE WIRE. 4.200 metre reel of tetra twin 4 core
instated cad e, 285s breaking stein, less than 1mm tide Ideal
alarms, intercoms taring. does house's etc. £14.99 ret MAG15P5
ASTEC SWITCHED MODE PSU 8M41012 Oyes +5 gg 3.75A
+1201 fA -170 4A 238110, cased. BM41012 099 refAUG6P3
AUTO SU NCHA RG ER 165x311Crnm solar panel sin diode and 3
lead Medici% a cigar plug. 12v ?wet E9 99 ea ref AUGIOP3
FLOPPY DISCS 0300 Top quarry 5 25' discs. these have been
omen M once and are unused Pore d 20 is £4 ref ALG4P1.
ECLATRON FLASH TUBE As used in pace car Tashi:1g Spits
etc, ful spec sapp7nol. 60-100 flashes a min £999 ref APRIOPS.
24v AC 96WATT Cased power w.pply New. £13.99 ref APR14.
M ILITARYSPECG MG ER CO U NTERSLInuselanstrathdrom
Her maiestys forces £40 ref NAG 50P3
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day and autrnaticaly switches on a but in tamp at dusk. Complete
with sealed lead acid eatery et119.99 ref MAR2OP 1.
ALARM VERSION Of above unrt rxmesuith butt in alarm and Or
to deter intruders. Good value at just E24.99 ref MAR25P4.
CARETAKER VOLUMETRIC Narm. we cover the who:et:rue
ground flair agartS forcred with, Ind tees mains paw er sup* and
integral battery redoes Powerful interimt sounder. wit take external
bee it read Read £150+. ass? £49.93 ref MAR50P1.
TELEPHONE CABLE virile 6 core 100m reel complete with a
pack of 100 tips Ideal 'phone extra etc. £7.99 ref MAR8P3.
MICRODRNE STRIPPERS &nal cased tape enves ideal for
shipping lets et useful goof -es inducing a smart case, and lots of
components £2 each ref JUN2P3 Box of 10 lint ES 99 ref EF207.
SOLAR POWER LAB SPECIAL You get1W06166v t3.1nA
scar cells. 4 LEDs. w ire buzzer, switch plus 1 relay ormotorSupert
value at just E5 .99 REF- IrtAG6P3
BUGGING TAPE RECORDER Small voice actuated recorder.
u us micro cassececorrtlee withheadphenes E2599rerMAR23P 1
U LTRAMI N I B UG MIC Strarar3Srrim made byAKG. 5-12eereet
condenser Cost £12 ea Ours? just four ler E9 99 REF MAG10P2
RGB/CGNEGATTTL COLOUR MONITORS 12' in good
corwton. Bad( analsed metal case. £79 each REF JUN79
ANSWER PHONES Returnsorth 2 faults. we give you theta% far
I Mug, you navel:26nd the etter yourself. BT Response 200'sE18 era
REF MAG1EPI PSU E5 re! MAG5P12
SWITCHED MODE PSU ex stip. 60* w5v 05A -5+0.5A
i2v02A.-12v0 5A 1213/220ecased2451:88x5frrantEOnptesocket
E6 99 REF MAG7P1
PLUG IN PSU 9V 247mA CC E299 each REF LIAMP9
PLUG IN ACORN PSU 19v AC 14w . f22.9d REF IIAA.sP 10
POWER SUPPLY fury cased with mains and Yip leads 17v DC
904-n' eutout Bargain price £599 ref MAGSP9
ACORN ARCHIMEDES PSU +5v 04.40. onlorl sw uncased.
selecr.Wle mars smut, 145v100x4forn E7 REF MAG7P2
9v DC POWERSUPPLYStandardpug int)Yel5OnaSti DO v/Eth
lead and CC power On. price to two Is £2.99 ref AL03P4
AA PI ICAO PACK encapsulated pack of 8 AA ricad batteries
(tagged) ex etrp. 55x32hk32men. £3 a park REF MAG3P11
13.8V 1.9A psu cased *Oh feeds_ Just E9 99 REF ALAGIOP3
PPC MODEM CARDS These are high spec plug in cards
for the Amstrad laptcp computers 2400 baud dial up unit complete
wan leads Clearance price is £5 REF: MAG5P1
INFRA RED REMOTE CONTROLLERS onvnaaymade fa hi
sate:tle Nu:went but perfect for ad sorts of remote control
pnoects Our ineararce price jud £2 REF: MAG2
200 WATT INVERTER Comens 10-15,/ DC into either 110v or
240v AC. Ray cased 115x3arl56rran. can-Vete with heavy duty
power lead. cigar plug. AC outlet socketAuto overload shuldo* n.
auto short arced shut down, auto Input riser voyage 5/lute:ran. auto
irputundervortageseutdoen (anti auntie alarm). alienate control.
unit shuts down 11 overheated and sounds auntie alarm Fused
reversed polarity protected ouput frequency within 2%. voltage
*Aran 10% A wed butt ure at ankeen price Just £649G tef AUG65
UNIVERSAL SPEED CONTROLLER KIT Designed by us for
theC5 Foxy outok for any 12v motor up to 30A Corptele with PCB
etc A heat sulk maybe rewired. £17.00 REF: MAG17
MAINSCABLE Frame black 2 core 2 metre lengths ideal for
repairs. pleb etc. 50 metres for £1.99 ref AUG2F7
COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS PACK tut conta/rs 100rn
at 6 core cable, 100 cat* ceps. 2 dna diners with RS232 interfaces
are at connecters etc Ideal low ape melded of commurecalng
between PCs over a long %stance. Complete lot £899.
ELECTRIC MOTOR KIT Comprehensive educatoral kit in-
cludes at you reed to bind an electric m dor £999 rd MAR10P4
VIEWDATA SYSTEMS made by Phlips, complete with internal
1200/75 modern. ke -d. psu etc RGS and compoSte copula,
menu omen. autodader' etc. Eta each Ref EFS&
BOOMERANG High tech. patented poly propylene. 34an wing
span Get out and get some Arose kri-E4.93 ref Ei--33
AIR RIFLES.22 As used byzeChinesearmyfertrairvng puposes,
so there is a lot e....outt £39.95 Rer EFTS 540 pelt.% E4 50 ref EF20.
PLUG IN POWER SUPPLYS Plugsin to 13Asohmt leah output
lead. three types avalatle. 9vdc 152rnA £2 ret 6558. Shec 200ruA
E250 ref EF59, 6.5..3:500nA £3 ref EF61
VIDEO SENDER UNIT. Transmits both audio and video signals
f rem either andeo camera. video ry-ooler. TV or Comp teeretc tea ny
standard TV se in a 10O' range! pine TV to a spare channel) 12v DC
rsOstr, OP Otra PRODUCTs MAT am tIrLICZNSAHLL Or 113 UN
BULL ELECTRICAL
250 PORTLAND ROAD, HOVE, SUSSEX .
WITH NEW COMPUTER INTERFACE £59
UM 5QT. (ESTABLLSIIED 50 YEARS).
MAIL ORDER TERMS: CASH, PO OR CHEQUE A Hand held personal Garr.rro aria X Ray detec-
WITH ORDER PI.117.'s f.3 POST PLUS VAT. tor. This unit contains two Geiger Tubes. hos a 4
1"3..S -k.. ALLOW t 10 DAYS ME DELIVERYF-j-)Gt.:£ Cam, ?s
WELCOME (A.=5,VISA. tislcaCIL AME91:!...tti hEfSi
TEA.: 01273 203500
FAX 01273 323077
op Prfce is EIS REF: ILAG15 12v psu is ES Ara REF: MAO 5 P2
' FM CORDLESS MICROPHONE s`rrras hand reid unit
5()0' range' 2 transmit power :eves Regs P P3 9v battery Turea:
to err)/ FM receyer. Prim rs EIS REF: MAG15P1
LOW COST WALKIE TALKIES Par of battery operated unts
aids a range of abed 200 Ida& for garden use or as an educatona.
toy. Puce is ES a par REF: MAG 8P1 2 x FP3 reqd
IA IN ATU RE RADIO TRANSCEIVERS A carol waAtete:bes
wt.' a range spb2kmin open country. Wits m rwrsure 22t521155rnrn
Inducing cases and earl:ices_ 2ePP3recjd £30.00 pr REF: MAG30
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rate H sync V sync and video. 12v DC E1300 REF: MAG8P2
L03600 PRINTER ASSEMBLIES Made by Amstrad they are
entire michancal punter asserribies incliArg pnntheact stepper
motors etc etc In fact everytting bar the case ant electronics. a goo:
striven £5 REF: MAG5P3 or 2 for £8 REF: MAGBP3
LED PACK of 100 smnewd red 5-ri leas £5 REF MAGSP4
UNIVERSAL PC POWER SUPPLY complete wins Weals
switch, fan elt200* at £20 REF. MAG2OP3 (265x155x125rnm)
GYROSCOPE/thou:3' tigh a cal an excelenteduoationAtcy Wei
ages! Price with instrUclen booklet ES Ref EFIS
FUTURE PC POWER SUPPLIES These are 295k135x60mm.
4 due connectors I motherboard connector. 150fratt. 12v fan, ire
inlet and crtfol switch £12 Ref EF6.
VENUS FLYTRAP KR Dram yourowncarnawrousplantw331MS
simple let £3 ref EF34
PC POWER SUPPLIES (returns) 'faineant 140x150,11crin.c.
pa are 12,12.5 anc1-5v SWIM 12v fan. Trine are returns sothey
may wed need rape ong! £350 each ref 1742
' FM TRANSMITTER KIT housed in a standard working 13A
adapters; the bug runs dr ruey off the mars se lasts femur why pay
£7007 Or pace is El5 REF: EF62 Transmits to any FM radio (this is
In kit form with Nil instruatorss )
' FM BUG KR' New design situ PCB embedded cot fa extra
st.W.4.ty. Works b any FM radio 9v battery red d. E5 REF- MACZ6C.5
' FM BUG BUILT AN DTESTED super:codes/1m tokt Suppled
to detect re egerdes 9v eatery recta Et4 REPT MAGt4
TALKING COIN BOX STRIPPERonpriany made to retti a:0'9
each. these una we designed le convert an ordinary phone into a
paw:bone The um -Shave tretecks missing and sceneran broken
hinges Harreverthey can beadaptedfator anginal user:wintery
someirtng Ase?? Pike is just £3 REF: I1AG3P1
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10 watt 4R Jap made 4' round -wan large shielded magnets Goon
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ate. e so mit es) 2 for £2 REF: MAG2P5 or 4 for £3 REF: MAG3P4
AT KEYBOARDS Made by Apricot tnese questykeraoards need
justa smelter:Ito run en anyAT.they vied perreceib drama -ahem
to put up aim 1 or 2 foreign keycaps' Pace E6 REF: IllAG8P3
DOS PACKS Miacsoft version 3 3 or higher complete with a".
manuals c: once just £5 REF: MAGSPS Worth rt just for the rely
comprehensive manual! 525' or./
GAS HOBS Brand new made by Opuntia. basic three burner
stilatie for siva fat etc bargain price just E29 95 ref EF73
GAT AIR PISTOL PACK Complete vans pled. dares and pate's
£1295 Ref Ef82 extra pedals (500) £4.53 ref EF80.
DOS PACK Microsoftversvon 6 am manual E9.993.5' ref EF209
WINDOWS 3.1 3 5-'w.th manual E24 99 fel EF210.
NOVELL NT EWA RE L RE (network :sheare) F24 SS ref EF211
P IR DETECTOR r.,::e c" famous UK alarm manufacturer tnese
are re spec:, long range internal units 12v coet-an. Sight marks on
case and rebound (although brand new) ES REF: MAG8P5
MOBILECAR PHON E E5.99 Wee amtelconpretern earphone
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madetoOwninalearJi 12v also hest Lem lghtsersorsocksony only
itirninares when dark Totarty oymnang! REF. MAG6F6
6'X12- AMORPHOUS SOLAR PANEL 12v 155x3Ifkram
1314trA Baran, price lust ES 99 ea REF IZAG6P12.
FIBRE OPTIC CABLE BUMPER PACK 10 metres lot £499
ref trtACZP 13 ideal Ice experimenters! 30m for E1299 ref MAG13Pi
H EATSINKS mein T0220, designee' so mou nt vertcaly on a pct
50x406.2drun you Can hare a pack et 4 Ear Et ref JUNIP11.
STROBE LIGHT KT AStotatle from 1 hi rigte up to 60M,
(electronic assount?), /MOM fal instrucoons)Et 6 ref EF28.
ROCK LIGHTS Unusual bungs these. two pieces of rock %Aglow
when nabbed together belied to cause rarrlE3 a pair Ref EF29
AMSTRAD GX4000 games machnes returns untested sr/C as
seen. -list E2 93 ref EF186
NEW HIGH POWER LASERS
15mW. Helium neon, 3 switchabte wave rengIns
_63ecn.1_15Lort 3 39trn
(2 of them are infrared) 5001 polarizer b tilt in so good for nCrOgra-
arty Supplied complete with mains parer sLopty 793A.5Mm Use
%rill EXTREME CA!JT I Of AND QUALIFIED GIADANCE
NEW SALE PRICE TO CLEAR JUST f7249VAT
WE BUY SURPLUS STOCK FOR CASH
FREE CATALOGUE
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PORTABLE RADIATION DETECTOR
digit LCD display with a Pzo speaker, giving or
audio visual indication. The unit detects high
energy electromagnetic quanta with an energy
from 30K eV to over 1.2M eV and a measurinc
range of 5-9999 UR/h or 10-99990 Nr/h. ref NOV1E
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers

KITS AND COMPONENTS FOR ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS PROJECTS

Constructors start here -I s Ant 1995
Stepper motor central
47 GrIF 501 loorprohle 630
The only mail order company totally dedicated to BYV27-203 -350
1195408 175
Efektor Electronics projects. oDSPk1
1.1.1.612n03 145
Prices in Netherlands Guilders (1116). IJIGCC3 MAX23271 595
Contents of kits strictly lo Elektor parts lists. yes O 1111616.5
L6219 39_00
L297 19.75
that's including the PCB and software item(s). 0 Mel 1 L293/I 14 50
Ai Mini catalogue against one !RC.
0 WWI Lt4317T 375
All components are new, from major Ceramicwashers 1 95.2.35
Strfia35
manufacturers, and guaranteed to fit on Elektor 4 -way DIP switch 3.00
11:1 SA421 37 5mm Iseatsink.. 12.50
printed circuit boards.
Glue -on Nassink for 16219.______.2.W
No surcharge an credit card orders. 011E5050N

The one -stop source for Elektor parts and kits. mtC35 Simple faction generator Surround Sound
Trade/volume discounts on request. o SA.0139 101. Met PCB. case and front Processor. We
Darrel toil_ -235.00 wept,' the kit! See
PEP 20.00 (EU) February 1995.
1114151 .040
AD827.111 -34.00
OPA603AP 19 50 0P2496P 9.50 BATSS 0 35
Jul !Au est 1995 AD847,21.._ -21.00
IC37224 3103 Intrared light dimmer 11D11070 500
Fast NiCd battery charger
131W22-100 285 1047207 71 CO Rotary sentries__ -.335 ea 301,1H 3A One 50 5-w _ DIP switch - 325
SP516 LCD t 1,11133215 truth:inner -29.50 680C1500 ... ..400
B UZIOA____ 550 _24.75
5.24263 MHz crystal 74.00 LC750 ea E
7162060 1 SO Sett -loading EEPROM X80684 SLIC
CA.3160 4.00
37.50 PAP 12,50 (Eu) St11506-36 11.50 WC31 71 59
11.13177% _ 3.25 LC960 case
PAP 12.50 rE-,1 P&P 25.00(n=4u) SAA3049 16.75 X138C64 SUC 45-00
C.A3140 9 75
PAP 25.00 (oar- E _ Ct1Y65 4.65 MAX23211 __SAS
Simple RF signal ganamter
Bat detector SLB0587 _9.75 9 -way sub -D FOB mount_ ___3.50
Ma. 1995 LH.S420.3A or ed. 475 mini-DINsockg
500pF tuning carman! 19.50
MIDI analyser 89217 325 MIDI mallthlecor 1131592 Mit matt 4_10
MC1648P 112._
LT1252 the BAT82 085 BC550C 060 Kit. inci PCB and case 12o C.) SLIC design kit __WOO
P.S170 1.55 NE6120 1400 PAP 2010
PCB mount rater? switch 335
TDA7052 .2.75 Debegglog 8031/51 pC systems
Active mini subwooter
74.50
M082500 entre mit_ _ _ _
CR1455 Etter or ed._ _
050
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5pin Dill socket. PCB Trarunt____1 75 1 -M -3 -phase converter MAX232/1 5.95
00787 4.50
60168 4_50 Dialtast aresskey it_ cap_ _3.50 case FOB. CAL 9 -way sub -U PCB mount _3.50
6 Mt!: - ..4.10 Son billed control aod EPRIW 699.00 3 -way jumper 125
V23057415-4101 rely _12.50 0 so
3V - _c holder 80546. PAP 50.00
51'P1 IDS mini woofer - _ 47.50
400
LL116.423 data 5903 f3S0C1500 Decemhzr 1994
P&P 15.00 (Eu)
TS1150 575 Mini audio DAC Ispl.S1 Starter kit
SK71,75SA tiearsink 30.09
11.1358 1 75 Kit irit_ case and PCB ____349.00 Original I war., tart _23500
P&P -1250 (Eu) 89651 Raab programmer
195 Kit. ir_I PCB, Cad?. thSk.-- 40106 . 35 P&P 25.00 PIP 4000
'.eramic wastrel A05220
PRP 15.00 7808 1 45 Polystyrene CS 45 marl
Small protects In this issue BAT82 0 85 V230 -82-A101 rat*, 1250 2pF2 LIK7 50V _2.50 Hovemb.r 1991
B13438 1 70 VTR11112 transformer __15.00 4701 choke 0.85 Solid-state disk
ease enquire!
800451CCA68 BATI35 _285 Kit Mei PC -8, EPROM. OK RAM .215.09
68 -way MCC socket 4 Electronic barometer 1330C1500. .4.00 P&P 15.00
June 1995
MAK232N 5 05 CA31KI; 375 741-10U04 125 611024 RAM (eat) 39110
VGA distribution amplifier
1M3171 150 781.05 1_4.5 YM1623B 85.00
49.50
40 -pin 2W sotto 49.50 L143914 _5.65 PC./.1171011 - .90.00 Simple capacitate meter
741502 _0.90 12.75
Ouartz crystal 14 7456MHz 15 00 TCA965 74HC86 .0.95 Kt, DVI.I module and me__169.00
ARK -0-071 PC card blerket____4.75
Ouartz crystal 4.332151* 15.00 1520 pressure sensor yr. dara_75 DO 11E553211 090 P&P 15.00
15 -way subD PCB mount 6 SO
PC8 terminal block 1.25 l.M3S8I.P-2 5. 375
Electronic audit= NICd battery -quality tester March 1995 613-F112 4.75 8A782........ .065
t, incL PCB and
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nut PCB and mrzrocon-
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86061500
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Telephone -controlled mains switch
4.65
4.00
111133209 trarlatarrrwr
161.1Pacrysti
112896 MHz crystal
.27.50
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-.-9 75
Potyprocritene CS .
TI.C274CP
DVM module
2.45 each
2.85
39 50
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V23037 -A24101 relay.. 9.75 V23642 -A2005-11101 relay 12.50
Digital sinewars generator VTR1109 transformer . 12.50 Casa ESM F 24,114 n_ao
Function Generator _150
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t. :rei PCB. ease and born
P&P 1250 80(535 SBC KIT
:arel 47500 TDA1560030W car audio amp
ML2O36CP 67.00 P.O.S.T. diagnostic card EE Fee 1994. Complete with assembler
P&P 2203 (Eu)
P&P40.00 trion-Eu) PCB mount aucto socket 235 70A15600 _ _ _ __ 22.75 Kit. Incl. PCB and GALs 119.00 course and full '535 data et _.245.00
75.00
PAP 1250 PAP 12.50)
YAX033CPP
WIdeband active loop antenna
3 P249GP 950 62.3-F116 ferrite ring core__ _4.75
;i0708.01 1950
EP161 _235
2/15109 950 40 c,
*sr,srlicioe coy -
oo3lsr4 is.
Fetnua 1995
Surround -sound processor
saes'll'a sa01 ss5
Krt. Inc) case and PCB. excl. mains
yogi se l'Ice 0 dj
transformer ...... 29900
_

P&P 35.00 (Eu)

2pF2 MKT 5nim 2.50
100pF pohystyrene ..... 245
Ili/ I/I/ //II urn cur
100nF cerain 0.40
1pf MKT 5rarn 0.95
47900 2.5V radial 3.75
103µH c1ic4ee. 065 40. COO
1500H choke 085
MV5491A 2-coloor LED 225 te)
11655321l 190
1.1113101 .950
6013008 49 CA
11072CP 1 7c
11657111 121:1 AGMUST ONE 1RC
Thogscp 15
70A1074A 15 Cr C -I Electronics P.O. Box 22089 NL-6360-AB Nuth
DSP FUNCTION GENERATOR 7DA2040 15 00 The Netherlands Fax': (.311 45 241277
dismas, L'E:1;'1:41,.LS Marcn 1995 Pnono socket. gotd-pland 735 _ may be arisre--5 s rari Pik a 1 rail tat va.:* ccr-Oet
Kit, PCB, EPROM, software on disk and manual: NLG 289.00. P&P 15.00 56102 4 75 EndOR IBC with all correspondence Prim are in Netherlands
V73037 -A2 -A101 relay 9.75 sub*t to change without prior noWe,-eociusise of 17.55: VAT and PAP.
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SA57137.5rnm hatsink.. .29.50 Private customers in EEC of3Antilks add BAY is7ires tax) at 17.5'ri Mtn PAP.
ADSP-2105 Mesta:el _ 15.00 4 way DIP SiVarl. 3,i12-CychSrated_315 Ceramic washer AOS220. . .
1.95 P&P cOmponents: 2 50 (outside Eirroce 'iLti 8.50 (Fur ere. PAP bits:
80-cii1PLCC'sockat._ _ 4.75 8 -way DIP sw,tch 4.00 Case ET'32.434.. .54.00 striaid aefeert Ettens;:ve --gigue
4,01851N - 43.00 PC card bracket_ 4.75 P&P15.00
VISA - MASTER - ACCESS - EUROCARO :ers welcome

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

28

MINI ROBOT CAR

This playful project demonstrates the operation of a small nected in parallel with the respective
motor to suppress back e.m.f. surges
electric vehicle which is capable of tracking a line. Inexpensive which are generated when the motor
and easy to build, the project forms an excellent introduction coil is switched off.
to the fascinating world of robotics. Electrical power is furnished by a
set of batteries. the size and type of
which will depend mainly on the size of
the car. NiCd. lead -acid and ordinary
dry batteries are all suitable, although
the rechargeable types are, of course.
preferred because of the environmen-
tal aspect. The battery voltage is not
critical: depending on the type of mo-
tors and the desired 'top speed' of the
car, voltages between 6 V and 15 V
may be used. If you use NiCd cells.
simply put a number of these in series
until you have the desired voltage.

On the right track

In the present measurement and con-
trol circuit, the two reflection sensors.
IC2 and IC3, 'check' if they are looking
at a reflecting surface, for instance, at
either side of a track made from black
tape. The detectors are mounted such
that one of them is always to the right
of the track, and the other, to the left
of the track. Each of the infra -red
LEDs in the detectors then illuminates
a section of the surface underneath.
Design by L. Pijpers The light reflected by the (white) floor
at either side of the track is detected
by the phototransistors. which enable
the relevant motor to be powered.
ROBOT cars in large factory halls lowed on a light surface. When the vehicle swerves from the
Ind their way with the aid of sen- The sensors used are reflection track, one of the phototransistors will
sors and a track in or on the floor. The types. based on a combination of an detect less reflected light, or no light at
track may consist of a white line infra -red LED and a phototransistor. all, and the relevant motor will be
painted on a dark floor, or another re- The sensors. shown in Fig. 2. drive slowed down. Because of the electrical
flective substance. Such tracks can de two small electric motors via some characteristics of the sensors used.
detected with optical sensors. Other electronics. The motors are used to this is a fairly gradual process. i.e. not
variants of track types include metal power the front wheels of the car. an abrupt action, which serves to cor-
strips which can be followed with the rect the direction of the vehicle.
aid of a metal detector. or a slot in the Drive system The circuit diagram indicates that
floor which can be followed by using a the phototransistors in IC2 and IC3 are
probe or another mechanical device. The circuit diagram, shown in Fig. 3, n -p -n types. The collectors are con-
To avoid collisions with personnel indicates a remarkably low component nected directly to the positive supply
and objects, most robot cars have ad- count. The symmetry of the circuit is voltage. The base of the phototransis-
ditional sensors. for instance. infra- quite obvious and not surprising be- tor is not bonded out to a pin because
red detectors, cameras. or a kind of cause the front wheels of the car are the device is driven by light rather
radar based on ultra -sonic waves. powered separately by motors M1 and than voltage. Assuming that a fixed
laser light or radio waves. To enable M2. Because the speed of a normal emitter resistor is used, the amount of
them to be stopped in the (unlikely) electric motor is far too high for the collector -emitter current which flows
event of a collision or malfunction. present application. motors with a through the device depends on the
these robot vehicles usually have a built-in reduction gear are used. Also. amount of light detected by the photo -
number of easily accessible switches. because the motors must turn in op- transistor. The emitters of the two
The miniature robot car described posite directions to move the car phototransistors are connected to
in this article is capable of following a straight on. they receive opposite sup- ground via resistors R2 and R3. and a
black line drawn on a light surface. or ply voltages. section of preset P1. As long as there is
a white line drawn on a dark surface The current through the motors is sufficient light on the phototransis-
(as illustrated by the photograph in switched on and off by darlington tran- tors. they will keep conducting, and
Fig. 1). The description of the opera- sistors. T1 and T2. LEDs Di and D3 are the emitter voltage will be 'high' (nearly
tion of the electronics is based on the provided to indicate activity of the rele- the supply voltage). When the vehicle
assumption that a black line is fol- vant motor. Diodes Dr, and D4 are con- diverges from the track. however. one
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUG-UST 1995
 MINI ROBOT CAR 29

LI.1358 B0679 Kt

* iC last

CtIY70
a
am -
K2

it

IC2
ri
K5 Ff2

- IkI2
Fig. 1. The mini robot car is capable of fol-
lowing a white or a black track on a smooth IC3 Pt
A 194
surface such as cardboard.
a
RS

EID679
1 2 x CtIY70
of the phototransistors will switch off. VRCItx.11
causing its emitter voltage to drop con-
siderably (down to almost 0 V). When
the sensor is exactly above the border
between the dark track and the white Fig. 3. When reflection sensor IC2 detects more 'white' than IC3. motor M1 runs and powers
surface. the emitter voltage will be the front left wheel. The little vehicle then makes a right turn.
roughly half the supply voltage.
The sensor voltages are combined by
two opamps. ICia and IC lb. and then
fed to the motor driver transistors. T1
and T2. The motor associated with the because its base current is removed. just as much current as M9, and the
sensor which sees a 'white' surface (or T2, on the other hand, does receive mini car would drive straight on. In
more white than the other sensor. see base current (via R5), and starts to practice, that will never happen be-
further on) is energized. conduct. Motor M1 stops. and M2 cause of the relatively high gain of ICia
Both phototransistor emitters are starts to turn. Assuming that M1 is fit- and ICib, and the fact that the vehicle
connected to an inverting and a non - ted at the left-hand side of the vehicle. is constantly busy correcting its
inverting input of one of the opamps. and M2 at the right-hand side, the ve- course, which can only be achieved by
Consequently. when the emitter volt- hicle will turn to the left. switching MI and M2 on and off all the
age changes. the output of one opamp As already discussed. each of photo - time. In fact, the vehicle tracks the line
will go low. while that of the other will transistor is connected to two opamps. along a slightly zigzagging course. If
go high. An example: assuming that However. the opposite is also true. i.e.. the vehicle has a constant tendency to
IC2 is suddenly unable to detect a each opamp is connected to two photo - swerve to one direction. that can be
white surface. its emitter voltage drops transistors. Looking at ICia. for in- corrected by adjusting the preset.
low. This low level also reaches pin 3 of stance. it is seen that both inputs of
IC (non -inverting input) and pin 6 of this opamp are actually connected to
ICH) (inverting input). The result is IC2 and IC3. This causes the opamp to Construction and test
that the output of ICia (pin 1) goes low, behave like an ordinary difference am- As far as the electronics are con-
while the output of ICib (pin 7) goes plifier. whose output can be made to cerned, everything fits neatly on the
high. Transistor Ti is then switched off go high by pin 2 dropping low or pin 3 printed circuit board shown in Fig. 4.
going high. In practice. that means This board is available ready-made
that motor Mi is switched on either as through the Readers Services. Before
a result of IC2 detecting more light. or you start fitting the parts. cut the
IC3 detecting less light. Remember, by board in two sections. The small sec-
'light' we mean infra -red light reflected tion is for the detector, and the large
by the white floor. The story is the section, for the motor driver electron-
same for opamp IC 11, and motor M2. ics. The completed driver board is
Summarizing, the operation of each shown in Fig. 5. Once all parts are
motor is governed by the light differ- mounted, run a thorough visual in-
ence detected by the pair of sensors. spection on your solder work and the
rather than the absolute output level values and orientations of all compo-
of the sensor it belongs with. nents.
Because of the electrical coupling Assuming that everything is to your
between the two symmetrical halves of satisfaction so far, you may Intercon-
the circuit, a kind of 'electrical equilib- nect the boards, and connect the sup-
rium' is created. This balance occurs. ply voltage. The motors are not
theoretically, when both sensors de- connected as yet. Their activity is indi-
Fig. 2. The two reflectors mounted at the un- tect an equal amount of light. and P1 is cated by LEDs DI and D3. Stick a piece
derside of the car ensure that the vehicle exactly at the centre of its travel. Only of black adhesive tape on a piece of
stays on the track. in that (hypothetical) ease. M 1 receives white cardboard. and move the sensor
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
30 GENERAL INTEREST

COMPONENTS LIST
IC2 00 0 0 C3 Resistors:
4701-2
(E) cio 00 (To g R2,R3= 181(f2
21d.22
= 1501.2
= 10k0 preset H

Capacitors:
C = 100pF 25V radial
0 00 01
O IC1 an
0000 Semiconductors:
CI Di;D3 = LED, red, 5mm Ilia.
RI 003
0
O 57 OM D2;D.; = 1N4001
O RI 0 T1;T2 = BD679
l o 2. fo"
IC1 = LM358
ca IC2;1C3= CNY70

Miscellaneous:
K1;K2;1<3 =2 -way PCB terminal block,
pitch 5mm.
Fig. 4. Track layout and component mounting plan of the printed circuit board designed for K. = 8 -way SIL pin header.
the mini robot car (board available ready-made. see page 70).
K5 = 8 -way SIL socket
M1;M2 = 12VDC model car motor w.
reduction gear.
S- = on/off switch
sis, pay a visit to a modellers' shop. Bti = 9V to 15V battery set, with
Figure 6 shows the bottom side of the holder.
three-wheeler. The third wheel, which Printed circuit board, order code
is not used to power the car, is fixed on
936069 (see page 70).
a vertical spindle, and serves to im-
prove the steering characteristics. The
two rear wheels are dummies which
are not in contact with the floor.
Once the mini car works, you may
want to experiment with different
types of track. It is best to start with a
narrow black track (which fits between
the sensors) on a light surface.
Alternatively, you may want to use a
Fig. 5. The large board accommodates the wider, white, track (underneath the
darlington transistors which switch the sensors) on a dark surface. In the lat-
motor current. The two reflection sensors are ter case. be sure to swap the wire pairs
fitted on a separate little board. on the motors. In both cases. P1 will
have to be set roughly to its centre po-
sition. Another interesting experiment
is to make the car drive along a single
board to either side of this track. The black/white border. That requires P1
LEDs should come on and extinguish to be adjusted almost fully clockwise
as you follow this track and simulate or anti -clockwise. Arriving from the
diversions. If this checks out. you may left, for instance, the car will faithfully
run the same test with the motors con- track the border. Coming from the
nected to the board (mind the polar- right, however, it will not even be able
ity!). One motor will run at a time. to detect the border!
Adjust P1 if there appears to be a diver- In case the car is unable to 'see' the
gence to one side. track, experiment a little with the dis-
tance between the sensors and the
Building the vehicle track. This distance must be between
1 mm and about 5 mm.
Although you are perfectly free to Finally, a remark about the power
make a model car in the latest Italian supply. Although the prototype was
style. the emphasis here is on a simple powered by a 9-V battery in series with
little vehicle to demonstrate elemen- a couple of 1.5-V 'mono' cells. it is , of
tary robotics. The prototype is actually course, better to use batteries of the
a three-wheeler built from pieces of same type to arrive at the desired volt-
perspex cut and bent to form a basic age. The reason for this choice should Fig. 6. Prototype of the car viewed from un-
chassis. Perspex is easily bent into the be clear: only then will all the batteries derneath. The third wheel at the rear of the
desired shape with the aid of a hot-air be drained simultaneously, so that car improves the steering. The two rear
gun or an electric paint stripper. If you they can also be charged simultane- wheels are dummies which do not touch the
do not fancy building your own chas- ously. (936069) floor.

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

MEASURING WITH THE PC
TiePie engineering_ is a manu- Normally, you have to use more Available are:
facturer of a complete range of than one instrument to take your
measurement. Together with the HANDYPROBE
Computer Controlled Measuring
Instruments. These measuring TiePie instruments a complete 8 bits; one channel; 100 kHz;
instruments can be connected to software package is delivered, in connection to the parallel
a PC (MS-DOS 3.0 or higher) order to realize all four measuring - printer port £ 99.00
which will result in a number of instruments. Your advantage is , HANDYSCOPE
comprehensive test instruments, that you only need ONE measu- 12 bits; 2 channels; 100 kHz;
like: ring instrument! Moreover, you will connection to the parallel
be able to control all instruments printer port £ 299.00
oscilloscope
in the same way. TP5008
All measured data can be stored 8 bits; 2 channels; 200 kHz;
on disk or be printed out. interface card £ 197.00
.* TP208
Because of the many trigger pos-
sibilities you can measure a varie- 8 bits; 2 channels; 20 MHz;
ty of signals, while the powerful - interface card £ 595.00
software enables you to carry out AD128
a multitude of measurements in a 12 bits; 8 channels; 100 kHz;
straightforward manner. Interface card £ 175.00
Application areas: TP112
service; medical research; auto- 12 bits; 2 channels; 1 MHz;
' voltmeter interface card
matic test systems; research and 699.00
development; and education. (Prices excluding VAT)

22SLi PASS
1,w3no
= j mot
I = _I= VERY HIGH SPEED: TP508
The TP508 is a new interface
spectrum analyzer card with a measuring frequency
of 50 MHz!! The resolution of this
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Phenomena shorter than 1 mil-
lionth of a second can still be
measured well. The completely
digitized triggering ensures very
,011130 RI:4=i 1=1 .C.0 I:0,'",714 4=t1 stable triggering with many trig-
0.1=4: a4=0 11=1 271111 ger possibilities. The TP508 has
an input range of 5 mvolt/div...20
transient recorder volt/div (12 steps) and an auto
1TC10- 0=3 - .04 t: calibration function. Since both
24
Cji channels may be sampled simul-
344 t
ILA taneously, phase differences can
-.4E 01
MU
1113
e
a
ti 4 i
be measured very accuratly. Even
10 20 Al single phenomena can be meas-
El 1 1-E
ALE
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4E :4_[131: I a
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tie=". E 1: ..;4 ::rte ,,E1=1[44 li
. =1=4
mar 41:4 = 0.= ' 01-a software is provided. £ 630.00

CALL NOW FOR A FREE DEMO DISKETTE

TiePie engineerint2 (UK)
s 28 Stephenson Road, Industrial Estate, ST. IVES, CANIBS PE17 4WJ
Tel.: (01480) 460028; Fax: (01480) 460340
TiePie engineering, The Netherlands
E3 P.O Box 115, 8900 AC LEEUWARDEN; _ Battenserreed 2, 9023 AR JORWERD
Tel.: (31) 5106 9238; Fax: (31) 5106 9704
 MARCONI - THE FATHER OF RADIO
By Ian Poole

1.his year, it is a hundred years ago resistance path between the electrodes.
that Marconi gave the first demon- This can be used. for example. to sound
stration of a usable radio system near a bell. A small tap is then given to the tube
Bologna in Northern Italy. From these to de -cohere (separate) the filings, and often
beginnings, he went on to become one this was provided by a tapper attached
of the greatest figures in the history of to the bell circuit as shown in Fig. 2. In
the development of radio. There is this way. the bell would sound repeatedly
little doubt that, without his drive and whilst a long signal was present.
innnovation. radio would not be as Not satisfied with the performance of
advanced as it is today. the coherer in this form. Marconi set
about improving it. As_he did not have a
sound mathematical background. he
Upbringing started experimenting with different com-
Guglielmo Marconi was born in Bologna positions of metal and soon found a far
in 1874. the son of a wealthy business man better combination (than used by Branly).
named Guiseppe. In his early years. he In fact. it was Marconi's practical. ex-
travelled widely. accompanying his mother perimental approach that enabled him to
on her trips abroad. During his periods make so many of his discoveries.
at home, he was given private tuition. Soon. Marconi was able to span much
Unfortunately, when he started to at- greater distances with his system using
tend a college. it was found that his pre- a transmitter like that shown in Fig. 3.
vious tuition had been inadequate and For many of his tests. he would operate
he did not show any signs of his future Photograph by courtesy of the transmitter in the house and one of
brilliance.Eventually he abandoned his The InStitution of Electrical Engineers his father's employees would be with the
formal education without any qualifica- receiver in a field nearby. When a signal
tions. was received. this would be signalled by
Despite this, his last years in educa- Using this set-up. Marconi was able to waving a flag. although when they went
tion had left him with a keen interest in achieve distances of a few metres be- out of sight over a hill. a shotgun had to
physics. Seeing this, his mother arranged tween the two circuits. be fired so that its report could be heard.
some tuition with a family friend. Professor Marconi realized that the method of de- Once a range of about 2 km could be
Righi. who was a lecturer at Bologna tectingthe transmitted spark was very in- spanned. the Marconi family decided that
University. It was a a result of reading an sensitive. To improve this. he made a co- it was time to approach the authorities
article by his new tutor that Marconi be- herer. This was a device invented by a to see if they were interested In exploit-
came very interested in the newly discovered Frenchman. Edouard Branly. and later ing the idea. The first demonstration took
Hertzian waves. made into a form that could be used with place in 1895 to the Italian Ministry ofPosts
Hertzian or radio waves by Sir Oliver and Telegraphs. They declined the offer.
First experiments Lodge. an English researcher. however. because they could not see any
Basically. a coherer consists of a glass advantages over the exis ting wire telegraph
Quickly he started to repeat some of tube filled with metal films. At either end. systems they already used.
Hertz's original experiments. In these. electrodes are inserted as shown in Fig. 1. Move to England
Hertz had made a spark jump across a Normally. the resistance between the two
spark gap in the transmitter circuit. This electrodes is very high. but when a spark Marconi was naturally disappointed with
made a more feeble spark jump across a signal is detected. it causes the filings to the refusal by the Italian authgorities.
much smallerspark gap in a circuit nearby. cohere (stick together) and so make a low However. he was not deterred and the

Glass Tube
Electrodes
If;

RELAY
COIL

J Metal Filings -I Stopper -I " COHERER

swam 11

550085 - 12

Fig. 1. Diagram of a coherer. Fig. 2. Circuit diagram of an early receiver.

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 RCON1 - THE FATTIER °FRAM°

Fig. 3. General view and close-up of an early magnetic detector. (From the Journeaux Historic Wireless Section).
Photographs by courtesy of G.C. Arnold Partners.

family decided that there might be more equipment could be opened up. Accordingly. Unfortunately. weather in Newfoundland
opportunities in England where Marconi's Marconi decided to try to make commu- was bad. and the kite supporting the aer-
mother had many roots. nication across the Atlantic. However. ial moved rapidly in the wind making the
Arriving in London in 1896. Marconi this was a major challenge both in terms receiver difficult to tune. In addition to
and his mother were met by his cousing of the technical achievement and the fi- this, the signals were very weak and so
who was himself an engineer. He gave nance needed to carry out the project. Marconi resorted to the use of a 'self -
Marconi an introduction to A.A. Campbell He set up the first ofhis stations in Poidhu restoring coherer' and a sensitive pair of
Swinton. who saw possibilities in the in Cornwall. England. Here he erected a headphones. This type of coherer was an
idea and arranged a demonstration to ring of twenty masts over sixty metres high early form of rectifier which enabled the
Williaam Preece, the then Chief Engineer to support a cone of wires which formed signals to be detected much as they are
for the Post Office. Preece was very im- the aerial. A similar aerial was erected at in manymodem sets. Using this. Marconi
pressed with the demonstration, but bu- the station on the other side ofthe Atlantic and his assistant were just able to detect
reaucracy meant that the Post Office at Cape Cod in Massachusetts. USA. the letter's' being transmitted from the
were very slow in coming forward with any Unfortunately. the design of the aerial was other side of the Atlantic. News of this was
offers. poor and the one at Poldhu was totally de- enthusiastically received by the press
By this time. Marconi had given sev- and Marconi was hailed a hero.
stroyed during a gale. The one at Cape Cod
eral demonstrations. including some to was also found to be unsafe. distorting
the Press. and the response was very in a strong breenze. Further developments
favourable. As a result, he decided to set With typical resilience. Marconi did
up his own company. This was formed in not let this disaster destroy his dreams Whilst Marconi hadproved it was possi-
July 1897 and called 'Wireless Telegraph He set about rebuilding the station at ble to span the Atlantic. he had not yet
and Signal Company Limited'. The for- Poldhu, but this time he used a smaller succeeded in proving that a reliable ser-
mation of the company enabled Marconi more robust design for the aerial. He also vice could be maintained. To achieve this.
to borrow money to further his develop- decided to relocate the American station he set up a station on Cape Breton
ment. Island. Canada. Here again. an aerial
to Newfoundland. Canada. to make the
It didnot take himlong to start on fur-transmission path shorter. It was also collapsed and this proved that more work
ther work. By the end of 1897. he had necessary to use simpler wire aerials was neede to improve the aerial designs.
erected some masts over 40 metres high which would be supported by kites or Shortly afterwards. when he was back
at The Needles Hotel on the Isle of Wight balloons. in England testing out a new aerial. he
so that he could perform tests with a Tests commenced in December. 1901. noticed that a wire on the ground point-
boat steaming up and down the Solent. with transmissions from Poldhu. ing in the direction of the transmitter
From this site. he was able to achieve picked up a better signal. After further de-
distances of over 30 kilometres. velopment. the inverted L or Marconi aer-
Next. Marconi made the first inter- ial was conceived-see Fig. 4. This became
national link. In 1899 he set up stations the mainstay of Marconi installations for
at Wimereux near Boulogne in France many years and is in use even today.
and South Foreland in Kent. England. Apart As it became clear that useful and re-
from the test receiving a large amount of liable communications could be provided
press coverage, a major discovery was between ships and the shore. the num-
made when the transmissionswere picked ber of installations started to grow. The
up at his factory in Chelmsford. Up until first commercial installation on a merchant
then, it had been thought that radio waves VSPARK ship was completed in 1900, and by 1902
could travel only over line -of -sight paths. GAP a total of seventy ships were using Marconi
apparatus: by 1910. this figure had risen
The challenge of the Atlantic to over 250. Many of these installations
used a magnetic detector. This was an-
With this new discovery. Marconi started other of Marconi's developments and was
to think of communications over even more sensitive than previous types. This
greater distances. By proving that com- gave Marconi installations a competitive
munication could be made to ships in Fig. 4. The circuit of one of Marconi's edge over his rivals.
the Atlantic, a whole new market for his first transmitters.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
34 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers

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Shorter waves was in service for over fortyyears. Last years

In the following years. Marconi continued
The first long-distance communication sys- the trend to the use of shorter wave- In later life. Marconi became involved in
tems used very long wavelengths, often lengths. exploiting wavelengths of about politics in his native Italy. He was elected
greater than 2000 metres. However. in the one metre. This was made easier by the to the Italian Senate and undertook many
1920s, experiments were undertaken fact that valves for these frequencies were diplomatic missions for his country.
into the possibility of using short waves. becoming available. However. to prove However. his last years were troubled by
Marconi, too, started some experiments. the viability of these new frequencies. ill health and he died in July 1937 at the
In1923, he set up a transmitter at Poldhu Marconi installed a link between the comparatively early age of 63.
and monitored the signal strength as he Vatican and Castel Gandolfo. the Pope's Such was the impression Marconi had
sailed away. He noticed that. the strength summer residence. made on the technology of radio that on
fell at first. but at a distance of around the day after his death, all radio trans-
4000 km he noted that the short- missions were silenced fortwo min-
wave transmissions were stronger utes in his honour.
than those from the very -high - 1950085)
power long -wave stations. This
was despite the fact that the short- AERIAL WIRE --t A history of Marconi's Wireless
wave transmitter was much less Telegraph Company can be found
powerful. in Setmakers, by Keith Geddes
With proof of the viability of the TRANSMITTING
in collaboration with Gordon
short-wave bands, many organi- AND Bussey. ISBN 0 9517042 0 6
zations started to use them. The RECEIVING
EOLIIPMENT (British Radio and Electronic
British Government required a Equipment Manufacturers'
network of stations to link various Association. LandseerHouse. 19
locations in the British Empire. The Charing Cross Road. London
Marconi company took the contract 950085 - 14 WC2H OES).
and very quickly installed the net-
work. Even though much of the
technology was very new, the sys-
tem proved to be very reliable and Fig. 5. The inverted or Marconi aerial.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 Please nzention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers

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ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

 36

FAST NiCd BATTERY CHARGER

Design by A. Rietjens

A microprocessor -controlled charger is described that surely

meets the requirements of most users of NiCd batteries.
It is fast, suitable for all types of NiCd battery and
affords protection against overcharging

The present charger takes into ac- fully charged. All sorts of temperature into 15 min periods and the initial
count the many comments on pre- effect and pressure effect may then charging current is 2C-see Fig. 2a.
viously published chargers and re- happen. depending on whether the After each 15 min period, the charging
quests for more facilities from a vari- batteries were charged rightly or current is halved, except that the cur-
ety of readers during the recent past. wrongly. rent during the fifth period is the
The charger is fast and offers a In the danger zone, the charger en- same as during the fourth. After the
choice of two fast -charging periods: sures that the charging current is five periods have elapsed. trickle -
1 h 15 Mill and 2 h 30 min. It is suit- brought back to a low level, so that charging is begun. The total charge is
able for charging batteries with a ca- overcharging is prevented. thus
pacity of up to 4 Ah. Up to 10 batter- At the onset the charging current is
ies in series can be charged simulta- fairly high. but this is gradually re- 2C1/4 + I C.1 / 4 + 1 /2C-1 / 4 +)/4 C.1 / 4 +
neously. Overcharging is prevented by duced to keep the process within safe 1 /4C-174 = 1C
the batteries being discharged before limits. Moreover, during the entire
charging can take place and by the charging process. the battery voltage Those who doubt the robustness of
provision of delta -peak protection. is monitored to show up any drop. their batteries and therefore prefer to
After the charging cycle has ended. Such a drop indicates that the batters; play it safe can choose the longer
trickle -charging keeps the battery is fully charged and that charging
fully charged . should cease. This is the earlier men-
The operation of the charger is tioned delta -peak protection.
wholly controlled by a Type ST62T20 Basically. the charger supplies a
microcontroller, which also providescharge for a given fixed time to the C
an indication of the modes of oper- batteries. After that times has
ation and any error conditions. elapsed. trickle -charging is com-
A moving coil meter may be added menced. Owing to this fixed time. it
to give a constant indication of the must be assumed at the onset of
charging current. charging that the batteries are flat.
This is why all batteries are first dis- ,c

Operation charged with a current of 1C until

their voltage has dropped to 60% of its 'f2C
The charging principle is simple and initial value.
efficient and is based on the fact that After the batteries have been dis- t/,,C

when NiCd batteries are being charged. they may be charged in 'iroC
0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 25 3.0 3.5
charged. the danger zone is reached 1 h 15 min or in 2 h 30 min. In the I (h) S3.15 -I Is
only when the batteries are nearly first case, the charging time is divided

2C

5.
DISCHARGE C CURRENT
SOURCE

iC

CHARGE
"Sc

14c
DELTA PEAK
DETECTION
"Sc
/2°C
0.5 1.0 1.5 2-0 2.5 3.0 35
(11)
5,:.74.11. -14n

CURRENT
TRICKLE GRITD/A SINK
CHARGE

M075-17 Fig. 2. Charging time vs current

characteristic for (top) 1 h15 min
charging process and (bottom)
Fig. 1. Block diagram of the charger. 2 h 30 min charging process.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 IMIFAST NICD BATTERY CHARGER

charging period of 2 h 30 min. Again. During the charging and discharge resistors. The MSB is determined by
the time is divided into five periods. processes. the voltage of the batteries PB2 and the LSH by PB7. When only
but now of 30 min. while the initial is monitored constantly. Each step in the MSB is high. the voltage at pin 3 of
charging current is 1C-see Fig. 2b. the process has its own LED indicator IC3 will be about 0.5 V. When all the
The total charge remains, of course. to show at all times what is happen- bits are high. there will be potential of
the same: ing. Optionally, a panel meter can be 1 V. The current through each of re-
added to give a constant reading of sistors R14 -R91 is then 0.5 A or 1 A re-
1C-1/2 + 1/2C -I/2 +1/4C -I/2 +1/5C-1/2 + the current spectively. Changing the number of
1t1c.1/2 = 1C. resistors will thus enable the maxi-
Circuit description mum current through the source to be
Charging at the 2.5 h rake is recom- varied.
mended for batteries that can not In Fig. 3. the microcontroller. IC2, Apart from with R14 -R21. the cur-
cope with heavy charging currents. controls the relay via T3. the LEDs in- rent may also be varied with P1. The
During the final period, charging is at dicating discharging. charging and potential at the wiper of this poten-
I/5C, which is very close to the I/10C trickle -charging. and the DAC. tiometer may be varied from 0 to 2.5 V
rate which all NiCd batteries can han- The charging current is set in ac- or from 2.5 V to 5.0 V. depending on
dle. cordance with the battery capacity by the position of S9. Turning the poten-
The block diagram in Fig. 1 gives a the current source (this will be re- tiometer allows variation of 50% in the
fairly complete picture of the principle verted to), and P1 provides fine adjust- capacity of the battery to be charged.
of operation. The charger goes ment. The charging period is set with which is independent of S2. This
through three successive steps: dis- S2. The battery voltage is monitored switch only determines whether
charging. charging and trickle -charg- by IC4. charging will be for 75 min or
ing. For the discharging. a current The current source consists of IC3. 150 min. If only one resistor of
sink is required and for charging. a Ti. T9 and R14 -R21. Depending on the R14 -R21 is fitted, the current can be
current source. In the present control voltage at pin 3. IC3 will drive varied with P1 such that batteries with
charger. both functions are fulfilled by T1 and T2 to a smaller or greater de- capacities of 250-500 mAh can be
one current source. which is reversed gree until the current through R14 -R91 charged. With each added resistor. the
by a relay. Since there is only one cur- reaches a level at which the potentials range of capacities is extended by the
rent source, a single digital to ana- at pins 2 and 3 are equal. The control same value, that is. three resistors
logue converter. DAC. suffices to define voltage is generated by the DAC. which give a range of 3x 250 = 750 mAh to
the current. here consists simply of a number of 3x500 = 1500 mAh. See Table 1.

IC1 Lio
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133076 - 11

Fig. 3. Circuit diagram of the battery charger. 8e.

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JITLY/AUGUST 1995
38 POWER SUPPLIES & BATTERY CHARGRS
The optional ..1.00 µA panel meter.
M1. enables the current to be moni-
tored continuously. It should. of
course, be borne in mind that the cur-
rent is determined by the number of
resistors. When a battery capacity is
selected with P1. the meter can be set
P2 to half full-scale deflection (f.s.d.)
during discharging of the battery. This
makes it possible to follow the charg-
ing process on the meter. The meter
may be given a new scale extending
from 1/8C to 2C.
The battery voltage is measured by
IC4. a differential amplifier with unity
gain. Thus. the output of IC4 carries
the battery voltage, plus or minus the
drops across the parasitic resistances
in the sockets. These parasitic resis-
tance can cause difficulties with com-
plex charging processes. However, in
the present charger. it is sufficient if
the voltage applied to IC2 via potential
divider R30 -R31 remains below 4.5 V
during the entire process. This is be-
cause the software does not consider
absolute voltage levels. but percentage
IC1 C.
0-
O00
r,
O00 C= 0 C7 Co C.1 CO
00000000 0 2. 0
._.
O0000000 0 00 09.0 0 0 0 0
C3-
I¢ E E E E¢ =
0O 6' 45 5 W o
6.1
Fig. 4. Printed -circuit board for the battery charger.
differences (5/s of the initial voltage accordance with the chosen setting:
during discharging and 1/40 of the peak 1 h 15 min or 2 h 30 min. That choice
voltage in the delta -peak detection). immediately determines the situation
This is elaborated on in Table 2. during the first period: 30 mm at a
current of 1C or 15 min at 2C. The
Software program current is halved (1 = i/2) until the
fifth period is reached. A delta peak
An overview of the software program is
check is carried out during the entire
given in the flow diagram in Fig. 5. charging process. At the end of period
This shows the entire process from 5 (1=1/2bC). trickle -charge indicator D3
start to finish. lights.
It starts with the question whether Note that each of the three LEDs
there are batteries in the holders and has two functions. Their main func-
whether these are inserted properly tions are indicating the discharge,
(BATTERY?) If so, discharging is com- charging or trickle -charging mode,
menced (RELAY ON/SET DISCHARGE) and
D1 is switched on.
Subsequently. a small charginf cur-
rent flows to enable a deeply dis-
charged battery to recover.
When during discharging the volt-
age measurement shows that the bat-
tery voltage has dropped to 3/8 of the
initial value, the relay is changed over
and charging begins (RELAY OFF/SET
CHARGE). whereupon D2 lights. The
manner of charging is then selected in RELAY
SET OSCHARGE
EH OH
I = IC
MEASURE VG
MEASURE Vix
Do D3 010
T2
C1 RELAY Off
0 SET CHARGE
D2 OH
5AIT
Fl
cr r lel et = TUE *SUM
I =2C
STEP =9
SET TULE
ERROR !
STOP CHARGaiG
FLASH 03
- 12
Fig. 5. Flow diagram of the software.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 FAST NICD BATTERY CHARGER 39
depend on the supply voltage, that is.
the- number of batteries -see Table 2.
If varying numbers of battery are to
be charged. the values for the largest
expected number in Table 2 should be
used. The minimum voltage should be
used, however. For instance, for 4. 5
or 6 batteries, the supply voltage
should be 14 V. R30 becomes 6.8 kil
and R94 becomes 49 SI.
The holder for the batteries to be
charged is connected to terminal
block BT1.
It may be a good idea to give the in-
dicator diodes different colours (red.
green and yellow. for instance).
Potentiometer P1 can be fitted di-
rectly on to the board. The connecting
points for charging time selector S3
are located directly behind P1.
If the optional moving -coil meter is
used, this should be connrected.
together with R34 and P9 to and
between C3 and R21.

Assembly and usage

Fig. 6. The completed prototype board with heat sink. The choice of an enclosure will depend
to a large extent on the shape and di-
mensions of the required mains trans-
when they light continuously. When This requires a secondary voltage of former. Fortunately, there is a wide
they flash. something is happening. 10 V and a current of 2.5 A. If. ac- choice of suitable enclosures. What-
When the answer to question "BAT- cording to the table. a peak current of ever, it is important to ensure that the
TErnl" is negative, D1 flashes. When a 4 A is required, it is advisable to rate heat sink can radiate heat freely.
charging time of 2 h 30 min is chosen, the secondary at 5 A. The holder for the batteries is best
D9 flashes. When the delta -peak pro- Whether to use two. four or eight mounted on top of the enclosure. but
tection detects a voltage drop. charg- 1 SI resistors in the R14 -R21 positions it may also be kept separate from the
ing is stopped and D3 flashes. is entirely dependent on the capacity enclosure and be connected to it by a
of the batteries-see Table 1. short cable (and plug and socket).
Construction The values of resistors R24 and R30 Light -emitting diodes 131-D3 must,
The charger circuit is intended to be
built on the printed -circuit board in
Fig. 4. Populating the board is Resistor(s) Battery Charging Maximum
straightforward. although one of the fitted capacity (mAh) time (h) current (A)
long sides needs some extra attention.
This side houses all the components R14 250-500 1.25 or 2.5 1
that dissipate more than the usual R14, R15 500-1000 1.25 or 2.5 2
heat: Ti. T2. D5. 137 -Dm and ICI. R14 -R17 1000-2000 1.25 or 2.5 4
Cooling of these components when R14 -R21 2000-4000 2.5 4
large capacity batteries arc charged at
the 1 h 15 min rate is no luxury.
Since they are at the side of the Table 1. The charging current depends on the capacity of the batteries
board. it is a fairly simple matter of and is decided by the number or parallel -connected resistors R14 -R21.
fitting them all one large heat sink
(see Fig. 6). Note that insulating
washers should be used in all cases. Number of R30 R24 Supply voltage (V)
The secondary of the mains trans- batteries Minimum Maximum
former is connected to terminal block
K1. See Table 2 for various secondary 1 100 Q 49 7 8
voltages. A correct choice of trans- 2 100 a 49 a 9 10
former is important so as to minimive 3 1.5 Ica 49 a 11 12
the dissipation. It is advisable to take 4 3.3 Ita 49 a 12 14
a value equal to the maximum supply 5 4.9 kfl 49 a 12 16
voltage -divided by 1.4. The current 6 6.8 kfi 49 a 14 18
drain from the transformer is shown 8.2 Ica 49 fl 16 20
in Table 1: it Is advisable to round off 10 Ita 15052 18 22
the values shown upward. For exam- 9 12 ka 270 LI 20 24
ple. for charging four batteries with a 10 15 Ita 39011 22 26
capacity of 500-1000 mAh. the tables
show that a supply voltage of 12-14 V
and a current of 2 A are required. Table 2. The number of batteries in series dictates the supply voltage.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST1995
40 POWER SUPPLIES & BATTERY CHARGERS

of course. be fitted- in such a way that

they are freely visible from the out-
side. This means that in most cases
they can not be soldered on to the
PCB. but must be connected to it via
flexible insulated circuit wire. The
same applies. of course, to P1. Si. and
S2. As regards Si. note that although
in the prototype this was a PCB type
switch. it may be advisable to use a
standard push-button type and fit
this on the front panel.
Use of the charger is straightfor-
ward: insert the battery or batteries
into the holder. switch on the mains
and leave well alone for the selected
charging time. To eliminate any likeli-
hood of error, it is good practice to
start the discharge/charging cycle by
pressing reset switch SI. If everything
is in order, the red LED will light. If the
batteries to be charged are really flat.
the discharge period will be fairly
short, which means that the red LED
will go out quite quickly. whereupon
the yellow LED will light.
Finally. since the charging current
range set by R14 -R21 can be varied by
a factor 2 with P1. it is necessary to
set P1 to the exactly required level on
the (optional) front panel meter. If this
is not used. measure the current with
an ammeter in series with the batter-
ies or measure the voltage across P1 = 10 lin
R1 4-R2 1 .
Parts list
Resistors:
R1 = 10 12
R2. R26 -R29. R32. R33 = 10 kU
R3 = 9.09 kit. 1%
R1= 19.1 ka 1%
R5= 39.2 lc.Q. 1%
R6 = 78.7 ka 1%
R7 = 158 kit. 1%
Rs = 316 ka 1%
Rg = 1.0 ka 1%
R10=47052
Rii = 680 SI
R12. R13 = 0.33 2W
R14 -R21 = see text and Table 1
Battery capacity
The capacity of a rechargeable bat-
tery is normally stated on its case in
mAh or Ah. Charging and discharge
currents are relative to this capacity.
A current that discharges a battery
in one hour is. therefore. indicated
by 1C(apacity). A current of 2C thus
discharges a fully charged battery in
half an hour.
A current of 1/10C is normally
taken as a safe charging current.
This level of current needs to flow
into a discharged battery for 14-16
hours to recharge the battery fully.
Even if this current flows for a much
longer time. the battery does not be-
come overcharged. A current of 1/90C
R22=IkU
R93 = 330 SI
R24 = see text and Table 2
R25 = 47 SI
R30 = see text and Table 2
R31 = 3.3
1234 = 2.7 kU (optional)
Potentiometers:
P9 = 5 k.(1 preset (optional)
Capacitors:
C1 = 4700 pF. 25 V
C2. C3, C6. C7. C11 = 100 nF
C4, C5 = 22 pF
Cs, C12 = 10 nF
Cg. C10 = 100 pF. 25 V
Semiconductors:
DI = LED. 3 mm, red
D2 = LED. 3 mm. yellow
D3 = LED. 3 mm. green
D4 = zener. 4.7 V. 500 mW
D5. D7 -D10 = BYW29
D6 = 1N4148
D11 = zener. 15 V. 1 W
Ti. T9 = BUZ10
is normally used for trickle -charging.
Thus, for a battery of (1000 mAh).
C= 1 A: 2C = 2 A; 1/2C = 500 mA;
and 1/i0C = 100 mA.
Fast charging is carried out with
an appreciably higher current and
can only be used with batteries that
are suitable (not all arc: see data
sheet). Also, some battery holders
have a resistance that interferes with
the charging process. especially
when the charging current is a pulse
train.
Finally. keep an eye on the dissi-
pation. particularly when the num-
ber of batteries to be charged is
small, or the number of series -con-
nected batteries being discharged is
large.
T3 = BC547B
Integrated circuits:
ICI = LM317
1C2 = ST62T20 (Order no. 956509
see p. 70)
1C3 = CA3160
IC4 = CA3140
Miscellaneous:
K1. BT1 = 2 -way terminal block.
pitch 5 mm
S1 = push-button switch
S2 = double -pole change -over switch
X1 = crystal 8 MHz
Rei = relay. 6 V. 5 A with two
change -over contacts
F1 = fuse, 5 A. slow with holder
M1 (optional) = moving =-coil meter.
100 pA
Heat sink. SK41 I SA/50 or
SK85SA/50 (Dau)
Mains transformer = see Tables 1. 2
PCB Order no. 950076 (see p. 70)
[950076)

Parameters
Fast charging in 1 h 15 min or 2 h 30 min.
Automatic discharge before charging can commence.
Charging monitored by delta -peak protection circuit.
Suitable for batteries with a total capacity of up to 4 Ah.
Operation affected minimally by parasitic resistance of battery holder.
Circuit adjusted to accord with battery capacity with potentiometer.
Simple, single -sided printed -circuit board.
When charging completed. automatic transfer to trickle -charging.
Modes of operation (charging, discharging. trickle -charging) indicated
by LEDs.
Bad contact indicated by LED.
Error indication by LED.

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST1995

 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers 43

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2746107 £0.60
£0.11 019C SAMEDAY £1113 8E1650 £053
40 7411068 7413244 £032 7815 BC37-16 0/10 80707 £042
£0.17 £0.25
7415245 0080 M1.X233CN0 £688 7905 £0.31 2746491 £138 B130227 £0.10 80708 £1.94 DESPATCH
4076 £0_30 74110373 £039 MAX242CPE 0.51 7912_ 6038
7415247 Electrolytic Radial Ca pacitors Electrolytic Axial Capacitors
--- --
4077 £0.17 7411074 £1140 £11.32
MAX63 I ACP £4.99 £033

----- £0.05
7913

--- 13105
4078 0010 74(07390 1:032 7413251 £024 0038 pF 16s 25s 63s 100h 450. pF 25. 63. 100. 450.
£022 MAX635ACP 0.99 7924 16s
4081
4082 £0.21
7411093
7414C423£037
(038 7413257
7413258
£024
£024 MC1488
MC 1459
£0.46
£0.46
781-05 £025
10.23
1147
1.0 -
£005 £0.07
£0.06 60.15
13.47
1.0 -£0.10f0.I5 -
10.10 £0.10 lia 19
10084.7 -
741_5266 10.14 7E1.03
4085 £028 74110553£042 110302 £.0_56 781.12 £024 2_2 £005 £0.06 £0.13 22 £0.10 MI"
4086
4089
£0.26
1035
Lan
7411063 £048
74H064 £0.48
7413273
7413279
1032
L025 MC3340P
11C45511P
£1.60
£4136
781-15
78124
£024 4.7
£039 10
/au -
10.05 £0.05 £0.06 £0.08 1:0-.44 10
-
-00.09 £0.10 L1110 M.34
-7 011.12 £0.12 10.48
4093
404
404795
[0_3£0.561
74110573 0145
7411074 1045
74110640 £0.73
7415365
74L5367
741336.3
£0.21
£021
£0.21
10/50313P
11V60111P
NE531
0_63
0-97
£1.47
.../9149.
,91.05
79L12
£028
tan
22
47
1110
--
£0.05 EOM £0.09 - -
60116 10.06 £011 -
£0.65 E0.09 £0.l1 -
22
47
100
6012 £0.13 £0.17 0.06
£0.10 £1111 £0.16 £023 -
80.10 £0.13 6021 - -
1029- -- ---
40 0_20 74110588 [0_64 74LS373 33160
1'E.55511 £0.25 79115 E02.3 220 £009 10_12 £031 - - 220 £0.13 0118 £1142 - -
4084 £0.48 7411C4002 £0.16 74LS374 £032 470 0115 611.19 £0.57 - 470 £021 £0.24 £0.69 -
4099 0133 741IC4017 £0.64 7413375 £034 NE55624
NE565
£036
List
791.4 1:1130
A0M666-AN 13.99 1000 6022
£037 £037 1000 L0.33 £0.40 £1.115 -
1:032 £0.64 - - - --
4700 - £1.11 - - -
7413377 £032
4503
4303
4508
£038
£0.40
£1.40
La26
74HC4020 0135
741104040 0145
7411C4049 £0.25
7413373
7413390
£0.62
£0-1.,
NEMANN
70556774
NF -571N
£0.90
£039
047
1.2300/
1296
1387A
£124
0.13
£3.24
2200
Resistors
2200
4700 £090 - -
PCB Production Equipment
- -
4510 74HC4050 F0 23 7415393 60.24 1.112904CT £230 IilV Ca/boo Film 59; El2 Series 1R-1031 Photo -Resist Aerosol Sprayl0Mit £4.47
7413395 NE592 £0.62
4511 0336 74HC4061.110.44
7413399
£0.26
1032 11E553211 10.80 1313177 £0.65 [OM Exh. £0.60 per 100 PCB Flip: Spray 200mf 036
4512 0133 7411C4075 £0.27 11E553447 may 1.3432311 £2.84 34W Carbon Film 54 Eft SetU.s 113-1033 PCB PL11110 Lague Spray 310rril £3.12
4514 £0.77 741104078 £0.16 7413670 £0.69 LADNIZ £135 L002 Each. £0.951ser IQ Des mg / FrAinf Tray £135
£0.98 7414C4511 03.64 Linear ICs CIP070: 11.42
4515 049 032 liW Metal Fdm Pi 024 Senes 100411 PLISIk TV, cezer. .4.0.55
4516 £0_31 741074514 £0.84 AD524AD 04_18 01:27C1 L513331(
131723 fan £0.04 Each. £1.72 per 100 Traufer 8parulx (Alfs:i £0.79
AD548174 £1.69 OPT7GP £3.12
4518 60_42 7411C4538 £0.41 OP97GP £4.14 LP2950CZ 097 Enclosed Presets.. Dm / Vert. IMO - 1740 Transfer Eraser(Altar) £0.55
43M £0.43 74HC4543 £0.90 AD390/11 £6.38 0.15W £0.15 Exh
AD592AN £4.62 OP97FP £4.02 MAX666CPA 0.76 Small Knife sash spare Ma& £0.39
4521 £1162 74LS Series OP113GP 0.04 EERHCP £4.46 Skeleton Num Hare / Vat. 1000 - 1110 PCB Padua? Block £1.34
4526 £040 741.5470 60_25 AD595AQ 0536 rypinGp 1230 REFO2CP f.6.14 0.1W 0111 Each Clear Ckaftine Film i Per A4 I 0144
4527 £0.40 74L30I f0.14 AD620AN £9.88 REFI2Z POTS tir Shaft 25mm 13h 4700 -1332 Opaque Drafting Film l Sheet 1 6046
£12.78 OP1770P n..49 £1.23
4528 £0.40 74L302 £029 A136251N
£3.78 REF195GP £530 tin or Lag £.0.42 Fah Ferric OilortieTelleti 2501(1551 £131
4529 .44 741503 10.29 A063312: £30.88 OP183GP 'Please State Value' Ferric (blonde Pellets 503g Ilia £241
orniloGp £6.81 REF25Z £127
4532 0£0.32 741.304 60.17 AD648.1N .0_97
£633 DI L Sockets Tin PLuing Pus.der- 90' 014) £1193
4534 0_48 741505 8014 AD652AQ 0034 OP213FP fy_gt
EEF5OZ
TL43ICP
£1.23
8 Pin £0.07 14 Pm £0.11 UV Emoune UniL demi. assilabk £7631
4536 £1.00 741508 £0.23 AD654.04 £936 0P375Gp £0.45
£132 16 Pin £115 18 Pm £0.15 Etch Resist am - High Quality Ftne £0.78
£037 741309 1014 AD698AP 07.16 OP282GP 0.63 231417
20 Pin £016 24 Pin £0.19
45341
0P1330P 21145813 £1.89 Hens To Make PCB [Zero VAT) 0_50
4541 £033 741310 £014 A0707774 036 OP290GP
£5.81
024 Diodes 28 Pin £0.22 40 Pin 1.113 also avaibbk Transfers. Lk. eloms. Tails
4543 £0.46 741311 £0.17 AD7081N £736
4555 1034 7415 12 £0.14 AD711.1N 0_16 OP295GP 034 111914 £0.06
Photo Resist - Glass Fibre -Pper
OP2970P 0736 111916 £0.06 Stripboard 0.1" Pitch
4536 £0.40 741513 £0.14 AD712111 13.44 03_06
Size (1.6mm) Single Double SinglesDouble
01:4000P £13_56 1114001. 64 a 25 0127
4560 £1.18 741.514 £025 AD7361N 17.56
£719 09467GP £15.90 1,14M2 £007 4x6' 058 £1.79 £1.33 £1.47 64 a 95tom £0.90
4566 £1.96 741.315 0114 AD795174
OP495GP £11144 114003 L0.07 641 12" £4.62 £5.15 £3.46 £4.29 95 a 127mm £130
4572 10.25 741320 10.16 AD797AN £926 10.07 9 a Er
£024 741521 [0.14 ADM IN £933 P341012GP £633 1 r"4"1" £6.93 E7.77 £5.19 £636 95 x 431mm 0130
45sc Lam I114005 £0.07 100 12-£137 119 a 454nun ULM
4585
4724
£047
10.70
741523.
741526
£0.14
10.14
A13812AN £6.44
AD813AN £10.73
A0317AN £430
11C4136
SAA1027
S035247:
£4.5"
£1.08
I114006
131400'
MIS
10.08
12 ir £9.09
£9.81
£10.19
1678
£613 034
£830
Breadboard
81 a 601mn 030
40106 03.3 I 743527 £014 SG3543 06,85 1744148 £0.05 Glass Fibre -Photo Resist -Copper Clad 175 a 42mm £3.90
40109
40163
40174
£0.461038
£034
741530
741532
741537
£0.14
1014
£0.14
AD320AN C/75
ADS22AN £6.05
ADS264N £6.72
AD1429.1N £3.50
51.486
SI.490
8580117P
0.63
P 63
038
1N4149
3115400£0.09
1115401
£0_06
203 a 114mm
£0.09 220 a 100mm
094
160 a 1001rim
032
£233
30_10
073
V__85
£0.70

1100
- 0.74
£1.05
175 a 67mm £5.96
2203 a 75mm with terminals
& mourning pbte £7.30
40175 £036 741338 10.19 0.87 £0.10 233 a 220min 038 032
40193 60.60 74LS40
741542
£0.14 AD830AN £7.10
A0847.04 17.19
SSM21311'
85812141P 054
1N5*0=
1615404 £0.11 233 a 160mm
£5.67
£399
£6.41
0.41 £1.75 £1.89
No Nlininium
£0.25 SS112142P 6608 IN5406 £0.12 0.8mm Thiel: Photore4st Board Now In Sleek Order Value
ORDERING INFORMATION - All Prices Exclude Vat (171/2%). Add £1.25 carnage & Vat to all orders. Send P.iment with Order. PO / Cheques
payable to ESR Electronic Components. Credit Card Orders Accepted. NO Credit Card Surcharges. Trade discount for Schools & Colleges.

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

44

APPLICATION NOTE
The content of this note is based on information received from manufacturers in the electrical
and electronics industries or their representatives and does not imply practical experience by
Elektor Electronics or its consultants.

Fault -tolerant CMOS multiplexers

A Maxim Application

.x analogue multiplexers act as the mize this effect by driving the body con-
olid-state equivalents of digitally nection of the n -channel mosFor with sig-
controlled rotary switches. But multi- nal voltage).
y-

a
u-cpion
plexers at the interface between an The presence of each device polarity -guar-
TLY D V.
electronic system and its environment antees that at least one of the two mos-
have an additional function-they act t- r, s will conduct for any input voltage be- Lr
as insurance policies against malfunc- tween the supply rails. Thus, the multi-
tion and damage. plexers can handle any signal level that LfGr 1=P:
C

Designers may control the system. but
input multiplexers contend with every -
t h ing outside the system-poor installa-
tion, careless operators. and electrical noise.
They must operate correctly in the pres-
ence of ground loops, electrical interfer-
ence from motors and engines, and un-
falls between the rails.
A multipixer switch ceases to be a
switch. however. when signal voltage ex-
ceeds either supply rail. Each switch in-
cludes two parasitic diodes. intrinsic to 2E0
the MOSFET source and drain structures.
which provide current paths to the rails 200
P -CHANNEL

intentional inputs such as 240 V a.c. (Fig. 2). Both diodes are reverse -biased
In the following discussion, the serial- during normal operation. but any signal 150
MOSFET switch emerges as the most eco- excursion beyond the rails applies forward H -CHANNEL
nomical choice in overcoming these prob- bias to one ofthe diodes. clamping the sig-
100
lems. Other designs offer overvoltage pro- nal at 600 mV beyond the rail. Because
tection alone, but only the serial-mos- the diodes are present when power is re-
E-0
MT approach combines overvoltage and moved. they also clamp (at ±600 mV)
fault tolerance without the need for ex- when the rails are at zero volts. 0
ternal components. Parasitic diodes provide a useful clamp- -15 -10 .5 0 5 10 15
ing function, but they also introduce Vol (V) 9 500 E-6 -1 1 n

Multiplexer construction problems. Excessive current in the diodes

The switches in common multiplexers
have been designed the same way for
nearly twenty years: each consists of an
n -channel and p -channel mosFE-r con-
nected in parallel on a silicon substrate,
and driven with opposite -polarity gate -
drive voltages (Fig. la). This connection
provides a symmetrical signal path through
the parallel source -to -drain resistances.
producing a characteristic double hump
in the curve of on -resistance vs input
voltage (Fig. lb). (Many designs mini-
V.
LC:C 1- C'i
Fig. 2. Parasitic diodes provide a path for fault current when a
conventional analogue switch is exposed to overvoltage.
can cause overheating and damage in
the signal souce as well as the multi-
plexer (Fig. 3). Somewhat lower levels of
current (below that of overheating and dam-
age) can still cause latchup in the mul-
tiplexer. And once it crossesa diodejunc-
lion. the fault current becomes a flow of
injected minority carriers that 'spray'
into the silicon substrate. Collected by other
switching devices. this current can induce
an error voltage in every channel.
Turning on a parasitic diode clamps
the multiplexer output to one supply an output transient (to the rail) caused
L op amp.
-0-
0500.55-13
Fig. 1. The traditional cmos switch
is a transmission gate (a), whose
on -resistance vs signal voltage
characteristic exhibits a double
hump as shown in (b)
rail-an action that can damage external
circuits connected to that output. The
cause of damage may not be obvious, but
by momentary overvoltage at the multi-
plexer can destroy an analogue -to -digi-
tal converter's input, or cause differen-
tial overload and long settling times in an
Protecting the multiplexer
Several design measures offer protection
for a CMOS multiplexer and its associated
external circuits. These measures in-
clude connecting a resistor in series with
each channel input, connecting diode -re-
sistor networks to control the faulteffects.
and choosing a multiplexer whose ar-
chitecture and process technology pro-
vide fault -tolerant properties.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 FAULT -TOLERANT CBIOS NIULTIPLERS 45

V* 7. .1fY

I1L P 001P.c1

c j

PARASMC DIODES SHOWN

V-= -15V

N -CHANNEL P -CHANNEL

WI15-02 =

TriaLci=1150 ritm.ilabn.6-1,SESAMYMArmArnmffiZnimmlinYtp..
WIP IMP was NIP IIIMP
lick =1p
NEW gEr
TR:1y1

SUBSTRATE

950086.12
MV1 PROCCESS

Fig. 3. A closer look at the transmission -gate mOSFETs shows parasitic diodes tied to the supply rails.

The simplest form of protection adds
series resistors that work in conjunction
with the internal protection diodes (Fig. 4).
The resistor values are critical because
they present a tradeoff: larger values give
more protection. but introduce greater sig-
nal errors.
Leakage current into the multiplexer
also flows through the series resistors.
causing an error voltage that worsens
with temperature (the leakage doubles for
each 8 `C increase above ambient). Lowering
the resistor values can reduce this error
to an acceptable level. but the lower value
may allow too much diode current. threat-
ening latchup in the multiplexer. As a
rule, unless othenvise specified in the
data sheet section on absolute maximum
rating, you should limit the diode current
to 20 mA continuous or 40 mA peak.
Low leakage currents can offset this
drawback of large protection resistors. New.
ultra -low -leakage multiplexers like Maxim's
MAX328 and MAX329 have extended the
design limits for series -resistor protection
over those for earlier -generation multi-
plexers. The new devices' low leakage
(±1 pA at 25 °C; ±20 nA at 125 'C) al-
lows bvery high -valued protection re-
sistors. Resistors of 150 kfl, for instance.

P
OUTPUTS

v.

F,-:'
110-5111
LOGIC 1. C11

LOGIC CONTROLS

ft;', INCREASES ME SETTING TIME SKOF/3-. 12V fff fff+4

-12V

FAULT CURRENTS FLOM IN THE EWER MODES

NOT THE MULTIPLEOFFI SUBSTRATE s'50,2E-15

Fig. 4. Adding a series resistor to the switch of Fig. 2 Fig. 5. Fault protection for a conventional multiplexer
limits fault current, but also adds to the switch resistance entails current -limiting resistors, two zener diodes for a
and lengthens settling time. bipolar clamp -voltage network. and dual clamp diodes
for each channel.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
46 APPLICATION NOTE

his.
ANA106 NKR VOLTAGE
v.

02'

t-CHMDIEL I
P-01L1taz.L li-C1411/VEL

-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20

01-01 EaATE fl PAPASITZ C An CK=. MUM IticuT 9.,-4.42--16D

Fig. 6. The 3 -MOSEET switch element of a fault -tolerant multiplexer (a) has an on -resistance
characteristic shaped like a bathtub (b)

admit fault currents of only 1 mA while direct cause isn't mrervoltage: ifs fault cur- aseembly. and inventory. A better solu-
withstanding ±150 V inputs. At ±1500 V. rent (the inkjected minority carriermen- tion is to integrate this protection with the
they admit fault currents of only ±10 mA. Honed earlier) flowing into the substrate multiplexer. on a single chip.
The resistors produce only ±3 my of ad- via one or more protection diodes Eliminate
ditional error at 125 °C. that substrate current and you eliminate Fault -tolerant multiplexers
Note that ±1500 V protectionresistors the gross signal errors.
require 15 W ratings for continuous duty. One way to handle the fault current is Fault -tolerant multiplexers require no
But. in most applications, you can scale to divertit into an external network (Fig. 5). external components. yet are capable of
this thermal rating considerably, be- Two zener diodes produce ±12 V clamp withstanding high levels of overvoltagewith-
cause the overvoltage has a much lower out corresponding high levels of fault
levels. centred within the mulffplexer's -115 V
duty factor. External resistors thus offer supply rails. Then, instead of flowing current. They achieve this protection
flexibility-you can choose different re- through an internal protection diode. the with an internal design that is quite dif-
sistor values for different channels in fault current owingto overvoltage in any ferent from that of conventional multi-
the same device, and scale their power rat- channel flows through one ofthe two ex- plexers.
ings as required. Integrated resistors, on ternal protection diodes for that channel. Each switch in a fault -tolerant multi-
the other hand. are constrained by their Though it offers excellent protection, plexer is actually a series connection of
package power rating; this rating may this technique requires alarge number of three MOSFETS. in the order n -channel/
limit the number of channels that can with- external components. Moreover, the ex- p-channel/n-channel (Fig. 6a). Internally
stand overvoltage at the same time. ternal diodes produce additional leak- generated drive voltages turn the switch
The series -resistor approach protects age current that precludes use of the on by simultaneously driving then -channel
the multiplexer. but it doesn't prevent high -valued series resistors discussed gates to the positive rail and the p -channel
corruption of signals in the selected channel. earlier. The external components repre- gate to the negative rail. The switch then
Thesesignals are at the mercy of overvol t age sent extra board space, not to mention remains on for as long as the analogue
in any of the =selected channels. But the the cost of purchase. test, through -hole signal (which modulates the gate -source

FAIXT VOLTAM n. FAULT CURRENT

area 07: V m V,. OV

-
.
!
MAE? Oft.-Nct = -45V

_
Vcc = -.5V i

F. -C IV MMIIIIIIIIIIII
IIIIMEIIMIIIIIIIIIIIM
MI
Fen,. c.-1

cli
'. la CND

MINI1111111P11111111E .100V
1=11 Ff.,,,,,ER

1111111111111111111 .50V

MIIIIII111111111111B GhD

1:
11111111M111111111111
li
. .
-50V

11111111111111111111I -10W
11111111111Ellii311
9E0 -171

1.000E-12
-150 -100 -50 0 100 150

FAULT VOLTAGE (V)

Fig. 7. The onset of avalanche (fault) current in a MAX388 multiplexer defines a fault -tolerant region of approximately
±100 V (a). A 0 V signal in the selected channel (b. top trace) is unaffected by ±100 V applied to an off channel.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1.99$
 47

5TH -ORDER BESSEL FILTER

Bessel filters have a fairly constant
transit time (delay) over the pass
band and their characteristic thus 0
15V
shows no ringing. This means. how-
ever, that the characteristic starts
falling off much earlier than in. say. a
Butterworth section. Alto, it takes
much longer for the slope of the char-
acteristic to reach the theoretical MIN
value of 30 dB/octave: in a Butter-
worth filter this occurs almost imme- O
diately after the cut-off point.
The table gives various values for
the capacitors and resistors. The cut-
off point for each combination is C5
-40
1 kHz. The last line of the table gives * 1*
theoretical values for the capacitors
for equal values of the resistors -
these are required for conversion to a 700n
high-pass filter.
954027. 11
Design by T. Giesberts
19540271

Cl C, C3 C4 C5 RI R: R R4 R5
(nF) (nF) (nF) (nF) (nF) (kCI) (ki-1) (IQ) (kn)

I 10 4.7 6.8 3.3 1.5 25.036 20.688 25.239 20.291 21.724

2 12 5.6 8, 3.9 1.8 20.375 17.658 20.727 17.333 18.214
3 15 6.8 10 4.7 2.2 16.036 14.552 17.015 14.495 15.003
4 18 8.2 12 5.6 2.7 13.288 12.168 13.990 12.372 12.151
5 ,-) 19 15 6.8 3.3 10.486 10.313 11.060 10.245 10.036
6 27 12 18 8.2 3.9 8.587 8.456 9.359 8.395 8.560
7 33 15 22 10 4.7 7.223 6.668 7.621 6.836 7.092
8 39 18 27 12 5.6 5.955 5.736 6.140 5.686 5.996
9 47 22 33 15 6.8 5.030 4.644 5.084 4.477 4.922
10 56 27 39 18 8.2 4.416 3.689 4.274 3.734 4.023
11 68 33 47 22 10 3.709 2.976 3.558 3.049 3.277
12 82 39 56 27 12 3.093 2.478 3.063 2.451 2727
13 22.671 10.690 16.137 6.9535 3.3489 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0

voltages) remains within limits set by the
n- and p -channel gate -source thresh-
olds.
Typical gate -source thresholds are
1.5 V for n -channel devices and 3 V for
p -channel devices. Therefore, with -±15 V
supplies. the thresholds confine a mul- switch also turns off when power is re-
tiplexer's input signals to the range -12 V
to +13.5 V. Because one of the three MOS-
FETS in a switch begins to turn off as the
signal exceeds either limit. the switch -on
resistance versus input voltage assumes
a characteristic 'bathtub -shaped' curve
(Fig. 6b).
The resulting high impedance in the
off state is very convenient: the switch is
off, blocking the overvoltage, and fault cur-
rent is virtually zero. Substrate (fault)
current flows only as aresukmof avalanche,
which occurs when the overvoltage exceeds
FI EKTORELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
a limit set by the mosFE.-rs geometry and
doping levels.
Below the avalanche limit. signals in
the selected channel remain unaffected
because the overvoltage produces no sub-
strate current (Fig. 7). The series -connected
moved. This behaviour simpLifies the de-
sign of redundant systems. because mul-
tiplexers connected to common signal
lines can be powered down without load-
ing the lines.
The Maxim range of series -structure
multiplexers includes the MAX358 and
MAX359 devices (1 -of -8 and dual 1 -of -4)
which withstand overvoltages to ±35 V.
abd the similar MAX378 and MAX379
that withstand overvoltages to ±75 V.
The MAX368 and MAX369 add latched
address inputs to the basic 35 V -tolerant
models, and the newMAX388 and MAX389
are latched models that withstand ±-100 V.
The non -latched devices are pin -com-
patible with industry -standard multi-
plexers DG508/509: the latched devices
are pin -compatible with the latched mod-
els DG528/529.
Reference: Maxim Engineering Journal.
VoL 12. Maxim Integrated Products (UK)
Ltd.. 21C Horseshoe Park. Pangbourne.
Reading RG8 7JW. Great Britain. Tele-
phone (01734) 845 255. Fax (01734)
843 863.
Maxim products are available, among
others. from2001 Electronic Components
(see advert on p. 67).
19500861
 48
THE DIGITAL SOLUTION
AA recent example of the ben-
efits.. of the digital solution
is the catalogue with data
sheets published by RS Com-
ponents as a CD-ROM. At pre-
sent. customers receive both
the new -style CD-ROM and the
old-style catalogue of nearly
2000 pages weighing nearly
2.8 kg, but we might assume
that eventually the book -form
catalogue will be phased out
with a considerable saving in
production costs, postage,
shelf -space, and woodpulp (an
environmental bonus). The
CD-ROM version also has the
benefit that it can print or-
ders and, if the computer has
a modem, fax the order di-
rectly to the RS Components
local depot.
Taking the word 'computer'
to include mobile telephones,
fax machines and any other
`smart' device which sends or
receives digital data, this
month's article describes how
we move data along a com-
munication channel from one
computer to another. Moving
data in binary digital form
brings advantages and raises
problems. The fact is that
communication by digital
means is rapidly expanding
relative to analogue com-
munication so presumably the
advantages outweigh the
problems.
Transmitting data
There are three main chan-
nels of communication: copper
wire, radio and optical cable.
Copper wires are almost in-
variably used for short dis-
tances, such as between a
computer and a printer, or be-
tween a telephone in the
home and the local telephone
exchange. In BTs experimen-
tal 'Video on demand' in Ip-
swich, England, which also of-
fers services such as shop-
ping, banking, and games, it
has been found that the exist-
ing telephone wires are suit-
able for digital signalling over
typical distances betweena
subscriber's house and the longer distances, optical fibre wires. For international com- consists of a register into
local telephone exchange. For has largely replaced the munications, both radio lespe- which data is loaded eight
Part 8 - Moving data
By Owen Bishop cially satellite radio) and opti-
cal fibre are dominant. We
will look at each of these
In this series we look closely at digital electronics, channels in turn.
One way of sending a digi-
what it is, what it does, how it works, and its tal signal along a pair of
promise for the future. wires is to transmit a succes-
sion of high and low voltages,
representing is and Os. In a
cable connecting a printer to
a personal computer, the high
level is 5 V and the low level
COMPUTER DART UA9T COUPUTER is 0 V. In order to speed up
the transmission of data so
that minimum time is re-
quired to load the printer's
buffer memory, data is sent a
byte at a time through eight
UODEIA
TRANSUISSOM
LIRE
UODEU parallel wires, each wire car-
rying one bit. The printer
910120 - 8 -59 cable also has wires for send-
ing control pulses between
the computer and printer, a
Fig. 60 procedure known as hand-
shaking. This parallel trans-
mission of high -low data is
limited to short distances.
One reason is that it is four
times as expensive to run
eight lines over a given dis-
tance than it is to run two
lines. Also, in the case of
transmission over the tele-
phone network, twin wiring
already exists and it is uneco-
nomic not to use it. For this
940120- 8 - 60 reason, the first stage in
transmitting data to a com-
munication channel is to con-
Fig. 61 vert it from parallel to serial
form. Instead of the eight bits
being sent simultaneously on
Digital Signal eight separate lines, they are
sent one after the other on a
single line. Serial transmis-
sion runs at approximately
LO
one eighth of the speed of par-
allel transmission, but the
economy of using only two
FSK Signal wires prevails.
Hl - One frequently -used plan
for transmitting data serially
from computer to computer is
illustrated in Fig. 60. The-
LO
nunit that converts parallel
940120-0-61 data to serial data or to re-
verse the process at the re-
ceiving end is known as a uni-
Fig. 62 versal asynchronous re-
ceiver/transmitter, abbrevi-
ated to UART. Essentially, it
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 THE DIGITAL SOLUTION - PART 8

bits at a tane.,an.d unloaded

bit by bit. Or, in the reverse
operation at the receiver, ser-
ial data arriving a bit at a
time is accumulated in a reg-
ister until the register is full,
whereupon the bits are fed LO -
NO
out in parallel along an eight - SIGNAL
0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
NO
SIGNAL
line cable. The UART also con- CC
DATA BYTE
>-
STOP
tains circuitry for dealing CC
BITS
940120 - 8 -
with timing and other control
operations.
Voltage levels on a line of
any appreciable length are Fig. 63
subject to attenuation and
other changes I see box), so
that sending signals for long transfer transmits at of is is already odd and the make a cable only a few mil-
distances along telephone 1170±100 Hz. The answering parity bit is 0. But if the data limetres in diameter. This
lines or other wired connec- modem replies with signals at byte is 1101100, which has an makes optical fibre lighter
tions as a series of high and 2125±100 Hz. even number of ls, the parity than copper -wire cable and in
low voltages is not the pre- bit is 1. It is also possible to addition,' it is cheaper to pro-
ferred method. They are sent Asynchronous the UART to work with even duce. These two features
as a continuous tone, the fre- parity. Whether odd or even partly account for the popu-
quency of which is altered to transmission parity is in use is part of the larity of optical fibre for long
indicate is and Os. This is The UART is described as specification of the system distances. Total internal re-
known as frequency shift key- `asynchronous', which means and, like the rate at which flection means that light
ing, FSK, and is performed by that it may begin to receive a bits are transmitted, is de- passing along one fibre does
a unit know as a modem. This byte at any instant of time. In cided before transmission be- not pass through to adjacent
receives a serial train of a synchronous system, the gins. The transmission fin- fibres. Each fibre is isolated
pulses from a UART and emits transmission of bytes is set on ishes with one or two stop bits from its neighbours and acts
one of two tones. While it is a regular time -scale under to signal the end of the group, as separate channel without
receiving a low voltage (0 V = the control of a system clock. after which the signal returns interference. A light -emitting
logic 0), it produces a 1070 Hz For this to be effective, the re- to 'high'. diode, LED, or laser diode at
signal-see Fig. 62. While it ceiver must keep in step with At the receiver, the UARTthe transmitter produces the
is receiving a high voltage the transmitter and needs ac- strips off the start and stop modulated light -beam under
(5 V = logic 1), it emits a cess to the same clock. Other- bits. Then it counts the num- computer control. The light
1270 Hz signal. We say that wise, the receiver will not ber of is and checks that the passes along the fibre and is
the signal is 1170 Hz modu- know when one byte ends and parity bit is correct. If it is detcted by a photodiode at the
lated by ±100 Hz. At the re- the next one begins. Sending correct, it strips it off and receiving end. In a long link,
ceiver, the modem determines clock pulses along with data sends the remaining eight there are repeaters to main-
the frequency of the received pulses is feasible, or the clock bits to the computer as a data tain signal strength. As is
signal and produces a high or pulses can be sent along a byte. If the parity bit is incor- usual with digital signals, it
low output accordingly. The separate line, but the most rect, it sends a message to the is necessary only to discrimi-
receiving modem demodulates practicable approach is to transmitter to ask for the nate between highs and low,
the signal, converting it to work asynchronously. data to be retransmitted. The so the recovered signal is
high and low voltages. The When the UART has loaded parity bit is an elementary identical with the original
fact that. the unit both modu- a data byte, it adds a few though effective way of de- signal. There is no loss of
lates and demodulates gives it more bits to it before sending tecting an error in a single data.
the long name modulator - it out in serial form-Fig. 63. byte. There are numerous Each fibre carries several
demodulator, which is con- During the intervals between other ways of error detection modulated signals simultane-
tracted to modem. At the re transmission of data, the line that are employed in various ously, each modulated with a
eiving modem, the demodu- is held high or, in the case of circumstances to detect and different frequency. At the re-
lated serial data is fed to a transmission by way of a possibly correct multiple -bit ceiver, signals can be sepa-
UART and converted to bytes modem, the modem transmits errors. rated out and routed to differ-
of parallel data. its higher frequency. To begin ent computers. Because light
Communication between its transmission, the UART Optical fibre itself is of extremely high fre-
two computers alonga single sends a low start bit. The ar- quencies, the modulation fre-
channel may be simplex (one rival of this low bit (or lower Optical fibre transmits a quencies can also be very
way), half -duplex (two-way, frequency) alerts the receiv- modulated light -beam in the high, allowing more of them
but only one station can ing UART that data is about to same way that copper wire to be 'stacked' in a given
transmit at any one time), or arrive. Next come the eight transmitsa modulated voltage channel, so increasing the
full -duplex (two-way, both bits of the original data byte, signal, but optical fibre has quantity of data that can be
stations able to transmit si- followed by a parity bit. The significant advantages. A transmitted in a given time.
multaneously). For full -du- purpose of this is the detec- fibre in a typical fibre -optic This is another reason that
plex communication, it is tion of errors in transmission. cable is about 0.1 nun in di- optical fibre has supplanted
necessary for the two modems Before sending the parity bit, ameter. It is surrounded by a wire cables as a communi-
to operate at different fre- the UART counts the number layer of glass or plastic. the cation medium. In addition,
quencies. Otherwise, modems of is in the data byte and cladding, which ensures chat optical fibre is not subject to
would be unable to distin- adds either a 0 or a 1 so as to light striking the surface of electromagnetic interference.
guish between each other's make the total number of the fibre is totally internally In certain circumstances,
signals. By convention, the 1 -bits odd. Thus, if the data reflected. Several fibres are single waves in water travel
modem originating the data byte is 1101000, the number enclosed in a plastic sheath to long distance, regaining their
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 50 GENERAL MEREST

E 95 ceives frames from each coding. In transmitting a pic-

ground station in turn and re- ture, for example, in which
T 47 lays them as a succession of most of the document consists
92 263 - frames to the receiving earth of white paper, it is extremely
45 station where a time demulti- wasteful to encode every

7
I

plexer splits them up and pixeL If one particular value

0 24 168 routes them to their destina- is repeated many times, it is
44 0 tions. sufficient to code it by quoting
N 20
its value and the length of the
76
A 15 Data compression run. For instance, a portion of
32 - a scan lasting 50 bytes (as-
S 10
The need to compress data for suming 1 byte per character
17 storage has already been dis- as in ASCII coding), and if B is
H 7
940120 -8 - 63
cussed, but the topic arises black, G is grey and W is
here in the context of data white, the full code might be:
transmission. Even with the
methods for rapid and multi- BWGWBBBWVM W WWW
Fig. 64. Huffman tree. ple transition already out- MST G BG WGOGGGGGGGGGG G-
lined, the amount of data to BBBBBWWWWWFIG
be transmitted is increasing
shape after they have collided for 1, low or zero amplitude relentlessly. The more we can Run -length coding is preceded
with other waves. This effect for 0); frequency shift keying, compress data before moving by a control character such as
can sometimes be seen in the FSK (as explained earlier); it, the more data can be sent Escape (27 in ASCII code),
wake of a large boat. These and phase shift keying, PSK. in a given time, or the more which we represent by E in
waves are called solitons. A In PSK, the phase of the data can be fed into a single the coded version below. Each
similar situation is found carier is shifted by 180° at channel. The first choice is E is followed by two bytes cod-
with light waves of a wave- each transition between a 1 between lossy and lossless ing the repeated character
length of 1.3 pm, traveling in and a 0. There is a more effi- data compression. Lossy com- and the length of the run:
optical fibre. A short (a few lent variation of PSK known pression deliberately discards
picoseconds) pulse forms a as quadriphase PSK (QPSK), in some of the information (for BGWEB3EW13BGBOWEG12EB6
soliton which travels long dis- which the bits are grouped in - example, by approximating EW5BG
tances in the fibre without pairs and phase is shifted by analogue values with fewer
significant reduction in am- 45', 90', 135', or 1800, de- than the ideal number of This requires only 25 bytes, a
plitude, change in frequency pending on whether the bits bits), so that it is not possible reduction of 50%. At the re-
or change in shape. On a long are 00, 01, 10, or 11. Combi- to reconstruct the original ceiver, this code allows the
cable run (for example, a nations of methods such as data entirely at the receiving original string to be recon-
transatlantic cable), it is QPSK plus ASK are also used end. For many classes of data, structed without loss.
usual to employ repeater sta- to increase data transmission this is perfectly acceptable. Run -length coding is not so
tions every 100 km to detect rates still further. The de- For example, images that do useful with text because it is
the optical signal, convert it scription above applies to a not accurately reproduce the rarely that long runs occur
to an electrical signal, and given channel but, as with op- fine details and the exact (only one occurrence in the
use a laser to retransmit the tical fibre, several hundred colours of the original are sentence before these brack-
'cleaned -up' light signal. The channels at different carrier good enough for video -phones. ets and only two within the
use of solitons makes another frequencies can be combined In the audio field, it is necess- brackets!). The Huffman code
type of amplification possible. into one transmission. This is ary to sample at 44.1 kHz and relies on the frequency with
The signal is passed through known as frequency division with 16 -bit accuracy for CD which tdifferent letters nor-
a special length of optical multiplexing. It requires a recording, but a slower sam- mally occur in text. The com-
fibre a few metres long, doped multiplexer at the transmit- pling rate and fewer bits are moner the letter, the shorter
with erbium. This is 'pumped' ter to collect together signals perfectly adequate for voice its code. Coding depends on a
by a low -power external semi- from many sources, allocating communication by telephone. Huffman Tree, see Fig. 64,
conductor laser, supplying en- each of them to a different In both examples, the human the exact configuration of
ergy to the fibre and so regen- channel. At the receiver, a de - ability to recognize objects, which depends on the relative
erating the soliton. This is multiplexer separates the sig- faces, voices, and words, fills frequency of letters. Here we
amuch simpler system to in- nals in each channel and re- in the 'gaps' caused by loss of use an order based on the let-
stal over long distances, par- lays them to their destina- data. This is similar to the ters ETIONASH, being the
ticularly in trans -oceanic ca- tions. An alternative, known case of movie films and most frequent in English text,
bles and allows signals of as time division multiplexing, videos, in which a succession and assume that the relative
high frequency to be used. is often used in satellite of still frames is interpreted frequencies are as shown in
This technique is in the ex- transmissions. Here, the user in the human brain as a mov- the figure. For text in other
perimental stage at present, may occupy the whole of the ing picture. For other types of languages, or perhaps for par-
but initial results are very bandwidth of the system, but data such as computer pro- ticular disciplines in English,
promising. the transmission time is di- grams, data files, and control frequencies and the structure
vided into time slots. Only data, it is essential that data of the tree would be different.
Radio one user is allowed access at compression is lossless. Loss - Figure 64 is only part of a
each time slot, transmitting less compression generally re- tree; a full tree covers all let-
Radio transmission is the al- frames of data each time their lies on a system of coding at ters of the alphabet.
ternative to communication turn comes round. Data may the transmitter, and revers- To form the tree, the let-
by wire or optical fibre. Digi- be transmitted from several ing (decoding) and recovering ters are listed in order of fre-
tal signals may be modulated earth stations provided that the original data at the re- quency, 95 for E down to 7 for
on to the carrier wave in one each transmitter is synchro- ceiving end. H. Then, the two least com-
of three ways: amplitude shift nized to send its frame at the One of the simplest meth- mon letters are grouped to-
keying, ASK, (high amplitude correct time. The satellite re- ods of encoding is run -length gether: S-FH has frequency 17.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 THE DIGITAL SOLUTION - PART 8

starting on the right and Networks for PC and Mac

Transmission lines Lion of the original square moving along the tree to the Users, Bernard Babani Press,
When a wire is of any length wave. Further, the velocity letter. An upward direction at 1995.
greater than a few metres, it of a wave is dependent on each fork is 0, a downward
begins to have an apprecia- frequency, a phenomenon drection is 1. Thus, the letter Test yourself
ble effect on a signal as this known as group delay. In a N is coded as 1101. The most
passes along it. This applies mixed -frequency signal such common letter, E, requires 1. A modem operating on the
to both analogue and digital as a square wave, the vari- only a single bit, 0. The least standard frequencies is re-
signals, but we shall discuss ous components of the common letter, H, requires sponding to a received
this with special reference to square wave travel at differ- five bits. Note that no letters message by sending a 0.
digital transmissions. A ent velocities; the lower the are coded by 1, 11, 111, or What frequency is its tone?
length of copper wire has frequency, the faster they 1111, and no letter has more
resistance, R ohms per unit travel. Lower frequencies than five bits. These facts 2. The ASCII code for capital
length. Another resistive arrive first, so distorting the make it easier to distinguish A is 65 in decimal. Convert
property is the leakage be- waveform. These are two of the beginning of a new group this to binary, then add the
tween the two conductors, G the disadvantages of using when decompressing. For in- bits to produce the signal
ohms per unit length. The copper wire as a transmis- stance, the word ESTATE is that would be sent by a
capacitance betweenthe sion channel. However, dif- compressed to: UART with odd parity
conductors, C farads per ferent types of transmission
unit length, introduces a re- line vary in these respects. 01111010011101000 3. Using the Huffman Tree of
active component, depen- The local telephone lines Fig. 64, decode this word:
dent on frequency. Finally, have a constant group delay This is 17 bits long. In the
there is another reactive over a wide range of fre- ASCII code, in which each let- 111011_11010011001101101
component, the inductance quencies, which means that ters requires eight bits, the 1111011111.
of the wires, contributing L they can carry high -fre- word would be 48 bits long. By what percentage has it
henries per unit length. R, quency signals without dis- The Huffman Tree is but been compressed in com-
G, C, and L are continuous tortion. This has important one of several compiession parison with an ASCII file?
along the line but, in calcu- implications for local trans- techniques. Like many other
lations, a unit length of the mission of data, including techniques, it is based on Answer to
cable can be considered as a video signals, as in the case probability. In the Huffman
number of separate of the Video on Demand ser- Tree, the letters most likely to Test yourself (7)
(lumped) components as in vice mentioned earlier. occur are coded with the 1. 2: 4.4; 9.68; 14.096; 7.5712;
Fig. 61. The total input im- In order to maximize the smallest number of bits. 9.0886; 10.3556; 7.2208;
pedance of the line to a sig- power passed from the This idea can be extended 6.5938; 6.0245; 5.2866;
nal frequency f is referred to transmitter to the line. the to groups of letters and to 4.7859. The output obvi-
as Z0, the characteristic im- output impedance of the words. Words such as THE, ously dies away to zero but
pedance, and is given by the transmitter should equal Z0. ARE, BIT, and groups forming very slowly.
equation: The same consideration ap- parts of words, such as ING,
plies at the receiving end. If N1ENT, ION, and (417, are more [940120-V1111
Zo = NifiR + jcoL)/(G + koC)1, the input impedance of the likely to occur than other
where w = 2itf. If f is large, receiving equipment is combinations of letters. Some
as it usually is for the trans- greater or less than Z0, the compression methods scan
mission of data, the equa- energy transfer to the re- the text and match it to
tion simplifies to: ceiver is less than the maxi- groups or words that have oc-
mum. Transferring the max- curred previously. Instead of
Zo= 4(L I C). imum power into the re- repeating the groups or
ceiver is not the only reason words, the code refers back to
This approaches a fixed for matching impedances. the previous occurrence, indi-
value at high frequencies, The non -transferred energy cating its length and how far
typically 50 i2 or 75 U. The must go somewhere: when back it occurs.
line impedance brings about the wave energy reaches the
attenuation of the signal. end of the line, part of the The Information
For line transmissions over wave energy is reflected
long distances, it is necess- back. As a train of pulses ar- Superhighway
ary to place repeater sta- rives at the receiver, a train We are living in an age in
tions along the route. These of pulses of lower amplitude which more information is
receive the signal, remove begins its journey back to available than ever before.
noise, amplify it and re- the transmitter. If imped- Not only is it available, but it
transmit it. Since Zo is de- ances are badly matched at is rapidly transferable from
pendent on frequency and the transmitter end, too, almost any part of the world
since square waves of the there is a second reflection to almost every other part.
type found in digital signals back in the original direc- Costs are low and data trans-
contain a rich spectrum of tion. The multiple echoes fer is virtually immediate.
harmonics, passage along a create havoc in a digital sig- This is the beginning of what
copper line results in distnr- nal. has come to be called the In-
formation Superhighway. It is
yet one more product of the
The least frequenct group is group these to make 44. digital solution.
formed by A and S+H. Group Group the two least common
these together to make 32. groups, O+N and A+S+H. Con- Further reading
This leaves the two least com- tinue in this way to produce Daniel, Christine, and Owen
mon letters as 0 and N, so Fig. 64. A letter is coded by Bishop: An Introduction to
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers
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 54
VIDEO/SCOPE MULTIPLEXER
Most of the new, fast cur-
rent -feedback op amps
have an enable input via which
it is possible to switch the de-
vice on and off. Because of
this. the output 'floats% so that
it is permissible to couple se:-
eral outputs. provided -that
only one op amp is active at
any one time. This is a prop-
erty that makes it possible to
construct a multiplexer from a
number of such op amps
which. because of the speed of
-the devices, can switch signals
up to 20-30 MHz. This is ideal
for video applications or, as in
the present design, to multiply
the number of oscilloscope in-
puts. for instance. to make a
two -channel scope from a for video applications, even
single -channel model.
Each of amplifiers ICI and
IC2 processes one of the two
input signals and offset voltage
from P1 and P2 respectively.
Which of the two channels be-
comes available at the output
is determined by the level pro-
vided by rectangular -wave gen-
erator IC3. This level is con-
stantly inverted by gate IC3d, so
that at any one time only one
of the op amps is active.
The frequency can be set
over a wide range with P3. Ex-
perimenting with the value of
C1 is recommended.
Although the supply is specified as
±10 V, it may be any value between
±9 V and ±12 V. Make sure. however,
that the 4093 is supplied from the
positive line.
BATTERY BACKUP FOR RAM
with RAM must always be
Systems
Sconnected to a power supply oth-
erwise the data in the memory get
lost. Any break in the supply can,
therefore, be disastrous. A simple ad-
dition to the system, whereby a bat-
tery automatically takes over when
the normal suply voltage is inter-
rupted can prevent such a disaster
from happening.
There are several ways of inserting
a battery into the system. one of
which is shown in the diagram. The lc
arranges the switch -over in such a
way that the mains -derived supply
line remains unbroken. The circuit
also provides a status indication
which can be used for signalling or for
with a short time base. This ob-
viates the stream of on/off
switching voltages being dis-
played as a series of interrup-
tions in the signals.
Mind the triggering of the
scope, since it may happen
IC1
that, owing to the offset, the
RI
a
4 time base is triggered by the
LT1227 oscillator signal instead of by
one of the measurement sig-
10V nals. Because of this, the use of
an external trigger input is rec-
ommended.
Bear in mind that the de-
sign is not an elaborate exten-
sion of the oscilloscope. For ex-
ample. the input impedance is
only 100 kS1, whereas that of
most scopes is 1 Mn. However,
LT1227 100 ItS1 is already on the high
side. Also, most op amps take
about 1.5 ps to switch over.
IC3a IC3b IC3c The annoying thing about this
5 a
ff& 4
9 lf& 10
is that the switching causes a
peak on the output voltage that
R7
10V
is sometimes displayed vaguely.
like a veil. It may also happen
in scopes with a limited bright-
P3 ness control that the display is
10k
Is. on the dark side.
R8 Finally, it is advisable to
47k limit the level of input signals
IC3 = 4093
10n
953037. 11
10V to 1-2 VpP to make sure that
the amplifiers are not over-
driven.
The circuit draws a current
The rectangular -wave oscillator is of about 15 mA.
not synchronized with the horizontal Design by K. Walraven
deflection of the oscilloscope. It is. 19540471
therefore. best to use a high frequency
with a long time base and a low one
for the battery. The status output.
pin 6 goes high the moment there is
switch -over to the battery. The unbro-
ken mains -derived power supply is
output at pin 1.
Resistor R1 and diode DI are op-
STATUS
tional. They ensure that the battery
remains charged. The resistor has a
value that gives a current equal to the
trickle -charging current of the battery.
These components must, of course.
NOT be fitted when a primary (non -
rechargeable) battery is used.
The tc can handle a current of up
t_o 38 mA at pin 8 and up to 30 mA at
switching off current -draining parts. pin 2.
The Ic has two inputs: one for the Design by H. Bone ka m p
mains -derived power supply and one [9540181
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
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Battery will save user data in RAM for up to 7 months
Serial port up to 115K bauds
'optional extras
2 The Orbit 32 programs 0.3- and 0.6- pitch, EPROMs,
EEPROMs, FLASH and CMOS PROM devices up to 8Mbits
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The most advanced emulation system available using the
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M trade marks are acknowledged and respected
 56

FSK GENERATOR
Mite generator may be of interest to
those who wish to record FSK (fre-
quency -shift keying) signals on their ICI = 74HCTOO 1C2
tape recorder. Such signals consist of IC1 a
ct
CTR
IC1 1C2
pulses at two frequencies. which either 3
C7.0
represent a 0 (low) or a 1 (high). In the In
generation of these pulses, care must
be taken to ensure that no phase er- DIVA

rors occur.
In the circuit. ICI chooses between
the high and low frequency, repre- DIV2
sented at the input by a 1 or 0 respect- 14
ively. A 1 causes f2.16. and a 0. f/*16, 74HCT93
to be connected to the input of IC9.
This makes it clear why these inputs 954060-11
are designated *16: the :16 scaler di-
vides the input frequency by 16. so
that the wanted FSK frequencies are
made fi and f2.
Network R2 -R3 -C2 is a low-pass filter
with upper cut-off frequency f2, and
11 x 16 b
also provides level matching to 1 Vpp,
which corresponds to 0 dB in a tape f2 x 16 c
recorder.
Raising the frequency by a factor 16 d 11 f2 f1 f2 11 f2 fl 12 f1
ensures that no significant phase er-
rors can arise. At the same time, the
divider is reset at each trailing edge,
which prevents half or other submulti-
ple pulses being generated.
The circuit draws an operating cur-
rent of about 10 mA.
Design by A. Rietjens
1954060)
954060-12

DELAYED MONITOR POWER -ON

Tn many computer systems.
Ithe mains for the monitor is
derived from the computer. so
that when the computer is
switched on. the monitor is
switched on also. This can give
rise to such a high current, that
the domestic mains fuse may
blow. This is not Just annoying,
but it can give rise to data loss
and even damage to the hard
disk. This difficulty may be
remedied by a slow -blow fuse. a
separate mains switch for the
monitor or the power -on delay
in the circuit diagram shown.
The power -on delay unit is
connected in the mains lead of
the monitor. It provides a time
delay in the switching of power to the
monitor and thus reduces the initial
peak current and ensures that the mains voltage is limited to 15 V by
mains fuse is not overloaded. zener diode DI. These clipped half
Resistor R1 and capacitors CI, C2
by Cg. From this. an average
current of 20 mA is derived
which charges C4 via R3. When
the potential across C4 has
R2 D2 BC548C reached a certain level, transis-
150k tor T1 is switched on, where-
Cl
ows upon relay Re1 is energized. The
relay contact then connects the
220n
250V- mains to the monitor.
C2 Diode Dg and resistor R2 en-
330n
sure that C3 and C4 are dis-
250V -- charged as soon as the mains is
switched off.
15Y
Diode D4 is a freewheeling el-
ement for the protection of Ti.
IN4007
954031-11 The circuit is best built on a
small piece of prototyping board
and fitted inside the monitor en-
closure. If that is not possible
draw a current of about 40 mA from owing to lack of space. it must be fitted
the mains. The positive half wave of the in a small plastic box of its own.
Design by J. Kirchner
(954031)
waves are rectified by D2 and smoothed
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICSJULY/AUGUST 1995
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-...- COMMUNICATIONS Fax +44 (0)181 4411843
VISA
58

-.SK DECODER
e decoder enables FSK signals, for
example.those from a tape re-
corder. to be converted into digital sig-
nals.
P1
Ib4,J) (D
1C2 IC3 IC4
Input amplifier ICI raises the ana- 250::

logue signal to a level that is symmet-

rical around half the supply voltage.
This is converted into a digital signal
by an HCMOS gate. The switching lev-
els of this gate are at exactly half the
supply voltage (wherefore it must be a
Type 74HC132).
Oil
ICOrt
R2

Since in some tape recorders the

input and output signals are in an- ICI = CA3130 IC3 = 74HCT123
tiphase. Si is provided to change the IC2 = 74HC132 IC4 = 74HCT74
phase of the detected signal. Each
trailing edge of the resulting signal
triggers monostable IC3a. The mono S5.4053-11
C
time is about 3/4 of the period of the
highest detected frequency. This
means that the clock applied to IC4a
generates a clock at the low frequency
when this is still in the '0' state, while
the high frequency is in the '1' state. II
C>
Since the digital signal is applied to
the D -input. a 0 will be clocked in for
the low frequency and a 1 for the
high frequency.
The detected Os and is are avail-
able at the output. from where they
can be processed further. The present
circuit is designed for input fre-
quencies of 2 kHz and 4 kHz. S54055-12
Design by A. Rietjens
19540581

CHAOS
haos is all around us: on the
....roads, in nature, in the weather.
and in everyday life. Electronic sys- CC
tems may also show chaotic behav-
iour. such as the Colpitts oscillator in ih
C31

the diagram. This suffers from what

has been called the multi -oscillation
phenomenon. In this, two or more os-
cillations exist simultaneously in the
steady state. In other words, there are
parasitic or unwanted oscillations ex-
isting together with the main oscilla-
tion. The resultant steady-state signal
is severely distorted. which limits its
application in communication sys-
tems.
The circuit in the diagram is easily
built on a piece of prototyping or simi-
lar board. It needs a supply of ±5 V.
When the probes of an oscilloscope in
the X -Y mode are connected as
shown. its display will show some-
thing like the photograph.
Design by L. Lemmens
19540211

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST199S

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 68

9 V BATTERY LIFE EXTENDER

Often an equipment is supplied by
a battery whose nominal voltage 01
114.1002
is only slightly higher than the re- LI 6...9V
quired supply voltage. The result is Al
1rnH
IR-5 R7
that when the battery is only partly "mai,

discharged, the equipment already

gives a low battery' indicttion and
switches itself off. Only half of the 911

battery capacity. if that, has then R3

HY ST
O
LB R
Lx
0
IC
been used, which is not only wasteful.
but also costly. -v MAX8212
CUT
4

The circuit in the diagram provides
a minimum of 7 V until the 9 V bat-
tery voltage drops to less than 2 V. It
uses a MAX8212 programmable volt-
age detector and a MAX630 micro -
power step-up switching regulator.
The MAX8212 contains a compara-
tor. a 1.15 V band -gap reference, and
an open -drain n -channel output dri-
ver. Two external resistors are used in
conjunction with the internal refer-
ence to set the trip point voltage to the
desired level. A hysteresis output is
also included to allow positive feed-
back to be applied for noise -free out-
put switching.
The MAX630 is a low -power step-
up switching regulator that can han-
dle powers from 5 mW to 5 W. All rily with (battery) supply voltages from
necessary functions are contained in a
compact 8 -pin case: a 1.31 V band -
gap reference, an oscillator, a com-
parator and a MOSFET output stage
that can provide a current of up to
375 mA. The chip draws a current of
only 70 pA. which is virtually inde-
pendent of the output current and of
MAX630
IC2 C3
IMINI
470..
THR LBO V FS 25V
C
C,
100p
R2
C
47p
954087 - 11
the duty factor. Moreover. a special detector [C1 goes high. whereupon IC9
circuit ensures that the quiescent - is enabled. This circuit holds the out-
current drain is limited to 1 µA. put voltage at 7 V. even when the bat-
Consequently, a high efficiency is tery voltage falls further. The 'low bat-
guaranteed even in low -power appli- tery' detector. L BD (pin 8), is used to
cations. The chip operates satisfacto- lower the oscillator frequency when
the battery voltage falls to 3 V in order
2 V to 16.5 V. to increase the permissible output
Input I. pin 6. of IC, is low as long current at this low battery voltage.
as the battery voltage is higher than The circuit may also be used, with
7 V. The chip is then held in the shut- or without the MAX8212. to obtain a
down mode and draws a current of guaranteed voltage of 5 V from four
only 10 nA. When the battery voltage 1.5 V batteries even when the total
falls below 7 V. the output of voltage voltage drops below 2 V.
A Maxim application

LOW -POWER QUARTZ OSCILLATOR

wDady-made oscillators are available raised slightly.
ith standard frequencies only and 5V
Network R4 -C3 lowers the gain at low
usually require a buffer when they are frequencies to prevent overtone crys-
to provide a large circuit with a clock. tals oscillating at their fundamental
An interesting alternative is shown in frequency.
the diagram. It is based on Maxim's Capacitor C4 decouples the supply
analogue comparator Type MAX903. voltage line.
This is draws a current of only 1.3 mA A Maxim application
and the entire circuit only 13 mA. The (9540551
is has a typical transfer delay of 8 ns
and provides a high open -loop voltage
gain. 100n
The oscillator uses a quartz crystal
C2
in the range 10-20 MI-lz and requires a mim
load of about 500 Q. Network R1 -C1
lowers the open -loop gain at high fre- 0-i 2k
03
quencies to reduce the number of spu- R1
C3
rious harmonics: this enhances the Et RIM

symmetry of the oscillator signal. If a 700p

crystal in the range 2.5-10 MHz is 1- 1
IC1 = MAX903
used, the RC network may be omitted.
but the value of C3 should then be
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 m
PROGRAMMABLE FREQUENCY DIVIDER
Tie circuit in the diagram is based
m IC2. which contains a row of se- 5V
ries -connected binary scalers. The
clock input to the tc via K1 will be
available divided by 2 at output go. by TOOn
4 at Qi. by 8 at Q2. and so on. How- 16 Mai 16
10
ever, a closer look shows that Q0 -Q9 O*
0 --=1:7. R4 01 9 ISV

are not used as outptits but as inputs St

CTRDIV10'
DEC
"4-14-1.02 7
1
CTRI2
WR
for the output from IC1. 0
CT -0
2 270:1 R am D3 6
270AR7
Circuit IC1 is a decade scaler with 3
10 R6
dba" CI: 5

the special property that only one out- IC1 2701:

Ds 3
4 CP (I0
put can be high at any one time. de- 4017 5 270,1131
IR10
Pi '26
07
2 5 IC2

pending on the state of the counter. 6 4040 5V

7
Because of the coupling of the two a
0 R13 DDO 12
7

ics. a current will flow from IC1 via 13

270_1' R12'14 -11.1310 14
R3

f
R1 R14 9 9
one of the outputs of IC2 (for as long CT -1S
s1.2 15

as this is low). and the associated re- 0

sistor and LED to ground. (The LEDS I00nT 6 VSS

TI
thus flash. visibly or otherwise, at a
frequency associated with the selected C2
output of IC2).
BC547
The current flowing to ground will 4.17
cause a potential drop across the re-
sistor in series with the supply termi- ;54C.: - I

nal. which is converted by T1 into a

standard logic level. Depending on the
state of counter ICI. the current
through the supply connection will
have a certain pulse rate, which is de-
termined partly by the signal at K1.
Depending on the supply voltage
and the type of ICI used. the maxi -
mum clock for IC2 may be 7 MHz at combination R1 -C1 debounces the
Vdd = 5 V. or 24 MHz at Vdd = 15 V. switch.
The state of ICI is set with SI. Net- Design by M.S. Nagaraj
work R14-05 ensures a defined start- (954008)
ing state (power -up reset), while

MIDI FOR PC SOUNDCARD

On many PC soundcards. the MIDI 5V
(Musical Instrument Digital Inter-
face) is not fully implemented. This is
because MIDI signals are not really TTL ICla ICU
signals. The mini is strictly a current
loop which in the receiver is electri- K5
RI
220:1
1
IC2--,
6 5
1
1x 11 to R2,
t 220n K2

cally separated from the remainder of 1:1 11- 11 TH:11./

the circuitry by an optoisolator. IIC1b 3

Fortunately it is not difficult or
/1
IR
costly to provide a soundcard, such as 3
1 5V.t.--7 22011
13

the Soundblaster Pro 2 used for this 1N4148 4

design. with a complete MIDI as shown CNY17-2
in the diagram. 1.1101 III
The circuit is based on a Type !etc
CNY17/II optoisolator and a 74LS14 R4

TTL driver. and may easily be built on 220' - K3

I
a small piece of prototyping board. It 13 OUT;

is connected to the joystick/MIDI port ICH C

of the card via a 15 -way plug. It Is im- 12 I F.1101 OUT 131 , 12
RS 16 13
portant to note that in the MIDI IN con- 5V - 220.:
nector ground pin 2 (central between 3 IC1 = 74HCT14
pins 4 and 5) must NOT be connected. I0 5V
IC1d
RC
Design by C. Weterings 2 + e
14 I 1`1 2201-6- K4
19540151
14 OUT2
5V
IC1

11_7 t3
5V -1-
954015 - 11

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

76

MICROCONTROLLER DEVELOPMENT/TEST TOOL

Arne involved in the development
d application of microcontroller
systems is aware of the complexities
that can arise during test and fault-
finding. Of course. these do not bother
those who have the use of a
32 -channel logic analyser. but many
readers have no such equipment. For
them, the present tool may provide a
very useful alternative.
It is assumed that the ics in the mi-
crocontroller system are fitted in suit-
able sockets. These sockets are con-
nected to single LEDs via an appropri-
ate plug-in connector, a length of flat -
cable and a double -row pin header.
The LEDS are low -current types that
light at full brightness with currents
as low as 2 mA.
The pin header, in combination
with individual plug connectors,
makes it possible to cater for a variety
of is pinouts and pin numbers.
During test or faultfinding, a separ- K1
ate ground lead is required between
the circuit on test and the tool. All
LEDs that are linked to an ic pin that
is logic high will light. The current of
iDltai -aw

.1)2.
rill -is
_p,
::.__I.m
R1

R2
I
560.2
56011
1

3
6 .Dtt
2

0-14 560_21
360
RO

D10

00 5
560Q1
8_i1 5601111
.

.4* --01.
2 mA per LED can normally be drawn I14 _,--14
-I" 560il1
7
0
R12 ...1_-1P 012

from the microcontroller equipment loIl -1'.41RS

560121-0 (-__,...L10_1......7j22___113 Pr'
9 .41 013
on test, provided its power supply has J:L16 -N__2_..136
560L21 0 0 1214 [ 560.1 1 R1-4-
11 1..L.1
the necessary reserve. 11141_1, R7 560.21 13 0 0Fi_.5.:1..ag.-- P'...I
Since our eye can not follow fast (.21. -a_i_s 1._181 I__.1'A._,a,
0 16
II
_

556600:12 1}11° .41-1P.."

variations in brightness, there is an ,(.121:1'411-255,11-1 0
- 0 18
[ 560i1411.41-
adaptation of the software to be tested -A2521.111 19 20 . Iii'- - PIP.
1 56011
in the form of relevant time delays for
each change in signal. These are. for
.1127_.
-foL)21_13261
-&..1,1 560U1
21

23
0 0-1
.... .22R19
560.41- - 019

instance, functions STIME or LTI ME on

560111
.
00 24
1 560f14R20.1-
-D29 -__Iiii_tqL_1291..1_._(3.2
25 26
0 ./:- Pr-illa2±"1-
diskette Type 1811 (Assembler Course 27 28
1560i!
EASM52 - see Elektor Electronics
1.13(±sa _a_i_. L_I330 .
00 1 56011 nirl- - PP' 022
:6134171 -_:&,F 30 R23
March -June 1994). If one -second 0 I 560.11 .41'j''-- IPI''..C2-
L341141.4
stops are inserted into the software. 360111 0 0----[........482.11-5601/
4-
.0-
signal variations can be followed well.
33
Li-34 Mil
Even better, but more complex to pro- 954114-11
gram. are stops that can only be dis-
abled by the pressing of a switch.
The tool has an undoubted advan-
tage over a logic analyser in that no
presettings are required that increase
the likelihood of error. Variations in 10 801 /8 1°-
--1

the software can be tested immedi-

611
0
ately.
The designer has used the proto-
type tool for more than a year with his
800535 development system without
any problem whatsoever.

Parts list
R1 -R32 = 560 SI
DI -D32 = LED. 10W -Current. WW1
Double -row pin header. 2x16 pins
PCB 954114 - not available ready
made
Design by U. Hinke
19541141

ELEETOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

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ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 78

SPLITTER FOR S/PDiF COAX/OPTICAL OUTPUT

TeIS circuit was originally designed to
nable one S/PDIF output on a CD
player to drive several inputs. The circuit
acts as a 3 -way splitter or format converter
for S/PDIF ('digital') or optical signals. The
function of the circuit is determined with
the aid of two jumpers, as follOws:
JP1 JP2 Function
0 0 optical input to optical and
coax output
0 A opticalinputto optical (buffered)
and coax output
C 0 optical input to optical out-
put, coaxinput to coax output
C A coax input to optical and coax
output
In the selections available, J131 has pri-
ority. The third option indicates that the
circuit is capable of splittingtwo sources
separately, while retaining their formats.
It is not possible to make cross connec-
tions because it is not usually required
to convert from coax to optical. The other
way around, though, is far more usual. 5V -1-
and available with the other three op- I R1*

tions. 5V
1C3
TOTX173
The optical inputs and outputs con- + a

sist of Toshiba 'Toslink' modules, which 1.1

are rrt. compatible. The coax inputs and :1

1
CIO
R15

outputs are formed by RCA -style 'phono' ..1

'Oa
sockets. Both the Toslink modules and
SV
the phono sockets are accommodated on 'Rif;
is
the printed circuit board. (CI
IC1

i
TOTX173
A digital (coax) input signal is first 7

amplified by ICia. Resistor R4 lightly T1V

loads the gate to preventit from oscillating
if no input signal is connected. In some
I-
cases, a resistor with a slightly lower = 74HCUO4

value may be required in this position. Next. 5V

jumper JP1 allows the output of the IC5 Pi X2

amplifier (position 'C'). or that of Toslink TOTX173

receiver IC2 (position '0'). to be selected. 1 2..R2

The Toslink signal is superimposed on a Ct2

RIO
half-supplybias created by R5 and R6, and
165a
then applied to IC lb. The half -supply bias Tea
corresponds to the switching threshold 7.
C
C3
X3
RI I
of ICIb. This allows Toslink transmitters 7P2 1CCa 5_17. 752,
IC3, IC4 and IC5, to be driven from the out-
put of receiver IC9, or from the output of
,ICta lust
n
ICI). Remember, the signal supplied by Is
the latteris cleaned and amplified. Simply
select the option which gives the best re- JAt
0 1
Ii 115
Min
PC'
sults. tea
A
2 IC1b
1
13 IC11
R12 IC4

The buffer formed by the four paral- K1 ci R2

75., -741
#
a 13
lel -connected inverters has sufficient ca _
11 :2

drive capacity to match the lowimpedance R4

of the primary of transformer Tri . The 7 Ca

transformer actually forms the heart of 106
the circuit. The three digital outputs are
electricallyisolated from the input. although
the r. f. signals 'see' the ground level
through capacitors C.I. C5 and C6. Matching
resistors 113, R11 and R13 prevent reflec-
tions at the relevant output from ex- 554015 - 11
ceeding the x I level. Resistors R8. R10
and RI, similarly damp the ringing effects

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUG CST 1995

 SPLITTER FOR S/PDIF COAX/OPTICAL OUTPUT 79
which occur on the non -used see-
ondary windings. The drawing shows K5
-0- C15 0110C13 to
L181 R7
the practical construction of the
1

0 O Q
transformer, which is based on a 633. (Ilk
type G2.3-FT12 ferrite ring core. TR2 0
IC6
This type was chosen because of its 0 00
high bandwidth and coupling factor, C16 Of R4 10 -N
0
factors which allow the primary wind- 0 R5 0
000
0 R5
ing of 15 turns to occupy only about JP2
oo JP1
half the core, while the secondary OA
0
windings of three turns each are 0 i"-)
distributed over the remainder. All
windings are made from 0.5 -mm dia
(24 swG) enamelled copper wire.
The power supply is conventional
and 'on board', consisting mainly of
IL
IC4 IC5 IC2
a 1.2 -VA mains transformer. a bridge
rectifier and a 7805 three -pin volt- 1,4
st147
age regulator. All ics on the board have
individual supply decoupling parts.
Current consumption of the circuit
is of the order of 70 mA. We regret
that the printed circuit board shown
is not available ready-made.
Parts list
Resistors:
12.1:R3:R11:R13 = 7552
R2 = 10052
R3:RI = 101d2
R5;R6 =
R7:Rs:Rio:Ri2 = 22051
R14;R16;Ris = 407
R15;1217;Rig = 81d/2

Capacitors:
C1 = lOnF ceramic
C2 = 1nF ceramic
C3:C7:C9-C13:C15 = 100nF ceramic
C4;C5;C6 = 47nF ceramic
C8 = 1µF 63V radial
C14 = 10µF 63V radial
C16 = 470pF 25V radial

Inductors:
Ll = 270pH choke
L2 = 47pH choke

Semiconductors:
ICI = 74HCU04
IC2 = TORX173 (Toshiba)
1C3:1C4:IC5 = TOTX173 (Toshiba)
IC6 = 7805

Miscellaneous:
JP1:JP2 = 3 -way pin header, w. jumper.
K1 -K4 = RCA style PCB mount socket,
Monacor 1709G.
K5 = 2 -way PCB terminal block. pitch
7.5mm.
B1 = B80C1500 954045-12
Tri = G2.3-FT12 ferrite ring core:
primary 15 turns 0.5mm dia. ecw.
secondary 3x3 turns 0.5mm dia.
ecw.
Tr2 = 9V/1.2VA transformer, e.g. Hahn
BV EI 302 0376; Velleman
1090012M: Monacor VTR1109
(1.5VA); Block VR1109 (1.5VA).
Design by T. Giesberts
(954045)

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

 80

CPU VENTILATOR CHECK

ome of he fastest PCs around these days.
particularly 60 -MHz+ Pentium and 486 - 5V
based machines. have a small ventilator 910
0
fitted on the CPU to help it stay cool. These
ventilators are also available as add-on RI :100n
units for Pcs which suffer from CPU over-
heating problems. The circuiahown in- BLOCKED 0.4 105
dicates whether the CPU ventilator is ac- CA3160
tually running. In fact, the circuit is ca- 2
93
pable of detecting two fault conditions: R2
1k
(1) ventilator not running because of a wiring 7--
3

fault or a burnt motor winding (i.e.. cur- F19 BC547B

rent interruption): or (2) ventilator not run- 1114148
ning because it is jammed.
Both conditions can be detected by
measuring the current drawn by the ven- 911 0
tilator motor. No current means condition 77: ir -4
(1), and too much current means condi- 197
tion (2). These faults are signalled by two 5
red LEDs and a buzzer to alert the user that
there is an acute overheating risk for the
expensive CPU. For peace of mind there
are also two green 'cm LEDs to indicate Drs -
CONNECTED D-I 02
that all is well. CA3160 R5

The motor current flows through R7:.the tc-c1 green

1k
resulting voltage drop across the resistor P1
03

is smoothed by Ril-05. Resistor R7 should

have a value which causes a voltage of R3 8C54713
about 0.5 V across C5 when the ventila-
1N4148
tor is running normally.
When the ventilator current is inter- BC547B
rupted. the voltage at the +input of ICI 0
954032 - 11
rises above that at the -input. Consequently,
the comparator output swings high and
switches on transistor T1. Red LED Di
then lights and the green one. D2, goes
out. C5 011-0-0 01 R11 10 c1 l!!

When the ventilator is jammed. the r2 (71[0-0 C 01[0-0 01 97 10

output of IC2 goes high. and diode D4
lights, while D5 goes out. Provided the
jumper marked 'Bz' is fitted, the buzzer
will sound to signal either of the two fault C10-0-110 c30-0-110
conditions. 01 95 10 01 910 10 0 I A3 1

Preset P1 should be adjusted such that 01 95 10 01 Fk 10 0 I 92 1

both red LEDs stay out when the motor is OL P.4 10 01 P )00 I 91 10
BZ1
running normally. T11:5-0 T2 !.11
The circuit is designed for 5-V venti-
lator units. When a 12-V ventilator is
used, all that is necessary is for R1 to be
increased to 15 ka and R6 and Rio. to lka
00 00
t)22 4
954032-1 SI
The buzzer should then obviously be a 12-V
type. Capacitors: Design by A. Riegens
The printed circuit board shown is not C1:C3:C5 = 100nF (954032)
available ready-made. C2:C4 = 1nF

Semiconductors:
Parts list Di:D4 = LED. red. 3 mm
Resistors: D2:135 = LED, green. 3 mm
R1 = 8ki22 D3:D6 = 1N4148
R2:R6:Rio = 22051 TI:T2:T3 = BC547B
R3 = 4700 -
R4:R5:R8:R9 = Integrated circuits:
R7 = 4.752 (see text) ICI:IC2 = CA3160
R11 = 100152
PI = 11(1.2 preset H Miscellaneous:
Bzi = 5V active buzzer
PCB 954032 - not available ready
made
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers

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ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

82

SWITCHED NiCd BATTERY CHARGER

rrhe charger is designed to charge
1 NiCd batteries with capacities of 150mAh
150-4000 mAh. A potential 5 V higher R1
180mAh
than the nominal voltage of the bat- SI I
2 er222J- 270mAli R2

tery to be charged is derived from an 1:0:11-R3-500mAh

R4
8-15 V mains adaptor by IC1. The 7805
e0t1I--- 600MAil
supply voltage is decoupled by C1 and 130 0-1, 100.1 :I .'700MAil
ICI
0-.;-. 17-5 900mAh
C2. The nominal voltage of the battery .1!.11211, C2
01
0-1)7"---1 :9.. j-- 1500mAh
to be charged, whether this is 1.5 V or C1
INNS
INN Rn
-01700mAh
9 V. has no effect on the circuit. It is 100n
T1
121 11
10 N,
1-- 2 200 mA h
therefore possible to charge n series - 100,.
4000mAh
16V
connected batteries, provided that the 8...15V
supply voltage is (n.1.5 + 5) V. 500mA BF256C
Charging current can reach the
battery in three different ways. Firstly,
a current of 5 mA flows from the refer-
ence terminal of 1C1 to the + terminal
of the battery. Secondly, since the
gate -source voltage of Ti is 0 V. the
LED current of 10 mA flows into the
battery. Thirdly. the charging current
proper. which is provided by the cur-
rent source formed by the regulator Note that in position 1 of the selec- The mains adaptor must be able to
and the resistor specific to each differ- tor switch no 'proper charging current provide a maximum operating current
ent type of battery. The total charging flows, because the LED current and of not less than 400 mA.
current is thoC. so that a flat battery the current from the REF terminal of Design by A. Rietjens
is full charged again within 14-16 the regulator already make up I/10C (954051)
hours. for 150 mAh batteries.

FLASH KEY ADD-ON FOR TELEPHONE SETS

Although most modern telephones. in
particular. those with a number mem-
ory. already have a flash key. there are
many excellent sets around which have
not. This circuit makes these older sets
compatible with a domestic telephone
exchange which requires a flash key on
each extension.
The function of a flash key is simply
to interrupt the line current for about
i/loth of a second. In principle. you could
mimic this by pressing the receiver switch
a few times. but the chances that you
achieve the right pulse length are pretty
small. This circuit does a much better job.
The circuit is connected in series with
the telephone line. When the receiver is
R3 a little smaller to reduce the monotime. It makes no sense to press the flash key
If the pulse is too short, you will hear a while the set is ringing. Do not do it be-
click. but the extension will occasionally cause the high ring voltage (65 V and
not switch properly. The remedy is then more) will arrive at T1 and T2 via C1 and
to increase the value of R3. C3. putting the the transistors at risk.
The circuit reduces the line voltage by The circuit is not type -approved for con-
4-4.5 V. which is equivalent to the effect nection to the public switched telephone
of a really long line. Fortunately. the re- network.
actance of CI is almost nought for the speech Design by R. Jansweyer
signal, which is thus not attenuated. 0540691
C1

lifted, or when the extension is called. the riF14 ri,R3

Di
voltage across the circuit is the line volt- liti
0 -" 100V
-I:
BC556
age or the bell voltage respectively.
Transistors Ti and T.) start to conduct via
C3. This creates a minimum supply volt- 4 C2
C=.1 BC546
age of about 3 V for the 4011 cmos is IC1b IC1c
IC1
BC556
470n
which is wired as a monostable multivi- 6. 9 10._
16V
Si &
brator (MMv). The output of the Ntmv is nor- 0
Si
mally high, kee ping the transistors switched R2 3V
4GOrnVi
on. By pressing the 'flash' key. the NINTV
I gi
is started via C5. During the monotime. --- IC1 = 4011
T1 and T2 are pinched off for about 100 ms, C3

the exact time being determined by C4 and MIN

8C546 100n
R3. If the pulse is too long, the circuit qz40,,-11
may occasionally be disconnected by the
exchange. If that happens. simply make

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AL GUST 1995

 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers 83

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Rattray Head, Peterhead
Aberdeenshire AB42 7HB

PCB Designer
For Windows 3.1
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Niche Software (UK) X 1.000Y:0.0%1min

22 Tavistock Drive, Belmont, Hereford, HR2 7XN. Phone (01432) 355 414 VISA

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

84
ter defined 'knee' in their U/I curve
DIFFERENTIAL VOLTAGE than lower -voltage ones. Still, be pre-
pared to see highly inaccurate behav-
iour at the start of the range you wish
MEASUREMENTS to monitor.

Bridge circuit
Sometimes you wish you had an electronic magnifying glass
to do a really accurate voltage measurement, or watch voltage The schematic in Fig. 2 shows a cir-
fluctuations within a small range. This article shows how that cuit which does far better in respect of
accuracy. What you are looking at is a
can be achieved with a simple circuit.

'
bridge circuit of which one branch is a
reference voltage source consisting of a
zener diode which is being supplied
Design by F. Hueber with a current lz via resistor R7. The
other branch is formed by voltage di-
vider R1 -R2. and also passes a defined
VER accurate they are. ordi- current, Id. A moving coil meter. M. is
Hnary voltmeters have deficiencies connected between the junctions of the
for some applications. For instance. DZ M Rv
two branches. A and B. via a series re-
when dealing with a voltage of 9 V sistor. R.
which is to be kept as constant as pos- uz
The values of R1 and R2 in the volt-
sible. the check should really concen- 9501141 - 11
age divider are selected so that the
trate on a small range on either side of voltage drop across R2 equals the ref-
the target voltage. say, from 8 V to erence voltage. Uz. If that is the ease,
10 V. Should the measured voltage fall the potential difference between junc-
outside this 'window', its exact value is Fig. 1. A voltage magnifying glass can be tions A and B is nought. and no cur-
of no importance because the devia- made with very few components. rent flows through the meter.
tion is too large anyway. In other Unfortunately. this little circuit suffers from When the applied voltage rises to
words. what we are after is: being able poor accuracy. the maximum value, Uninx. the poten-
to see small voltage variations. tial at junction A remains constant.
An accurate read-out of such small while that at junction B rises. depend-
voltage variations is not possible with relatively small range. One of the sim- ing on the ratio R1 /R2. The resulting
the aid of an 'ordinary voltmeter. For plest options available is shown in voltage difference between A and B
instance, selecting the '10-V' position Fig. 1. A moving coil meter. M, is con- causes a current. 4, to flow through R-
on the meter gives vou a range of 0 V nected in series with a zener diode. Dz, and the meter coil. As before. the value
to IO V. in which the desired range. and a resistor. R... The value of the re- of R, is selected to give f.s.d. at Umax.
8 V to 10 V. is simply too small to en- sistor is such that the maximum volt- That completes the theoretical dis-
able accurate measurements. In fact. age (in this case. 10 V). produces cussion of the circuit. In practice.
what we need is a voltmeter with a full-scale deflection (f.s.d.) on the things are a little more complex. When
range from 8 V to 10 V. meter. The value of the zener diode is the applied voltage rises, Id and Iz rise.
Although some modem DMMs do that of the 'low' limit of the desired Unfortunately. 11 then also rises be-
offer the above 'voltage window func- voltage window, i.e., 8 V. cause it flows through Ri and the
tion. it is, obviously, not practicable to The effect of the zener diode is that zener. The effect causes two errors.
incorporate the (expensive) instrument no current flows through the meter Firstly. the reference voltage is
into existing equipment just for the coil until the applied voltage exceeds
purpose of monitoring fluctuations of a 8 V. In other words, the meter's needle
certain voltage. Time to start design- starts to deflect at 8 V, and reaches
ing a 'voltage magnifying glass' tailored the f.s.d. point at 10 V. This is exactly
for the function. what we were after. Resistor R.. takes a
value of
Voltage subtraction with a
zener diode Rv = (Umax-Uzen.-)/1.ter

There are several ways to realize a volt-
meter which limits its activities to a
Unfortunately, the simple circuit of
Fig. 1 has an important disadvantage.
Because the zener diode starts to con-
duct a little just before the actual
zener voltage, and does no act as an
ideal switch when the zener voltage is
reached, the start of the scale is badly
defined. Another problem is that the
zener's temperature dependency de-
grades the accuracy of this measure-
ment circuit. The upshot is that the
circuit of Fig. 1 is not really suitable
unless there is a large difference be-
tween //non and Llindx, and that these Fig. 2. A circuit with much better accuracy
voltages are not too small. The latter than the one in Fig. 1. Unfortunately. prob-
condition is related to the fact that the lems arise if the meter has a relatively high
higher voltage zener diodes have a bet- current consumption.
EI.EKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 DIFFERENTIAL VOLTAGE MAEASURENtENTS 85
changed a little, because the exact
zener voltage depends on the current. 3.4
Secondly. it is hard to avoid the cur- _i. ,-=_...,.".r.i.....t3=iaisias_.: .1 az= ra us
6.4

rent I having an effect on the voltage

at junction B. In other words. the ac- U [V]
3.2
=EIM ..,
iMIIIPM11=1==
MIIIIMINE
MOSIMIFEIMIIIIMIETE,'
.., -r- . - .--. r,7- . _..... ....... I- ,
i 6.2
U1 [V]
3.0 211MMIIMIIMIE 101 . 0, 6.0
curately defined ratio between R1 and gimigysr1=-
. .m. .
R., is disturbed. The voltage divider is 2.8
MM.

5.8
actually loaded, and its behaviour is
then difficult to compute. 2.6
Ple
.
--.....
5.6
The problems caused by. the mea-
2.4
surement bridge are better controlled 5.4

when Id. and possibly I, too. is made , - -:-73=111111110121111.11=i

-----w-E iii'r-
much greater than I. If the current
through the voltage divider is. say. ten
2.2

2.0
MR=
ams :
I=-!' . .
T1 111111111111MT-- - , , =
.Eati=1 it: '.... '
5.2

5.0
times greater than that through the
meter. the latter has hardly any effect
on the voltage at junction B. Problems
1.8

1.6
----- -**
mIlm i411:111111111=1

occur. however, when a fairly insensi- ;0 ,

tive meter. for instance. a 1 mA or
10 mA type. is to be applied. The total
current drain of the circuit then be-
comes so large that it will form a too
heavy load on the voltage source to be
monitored.
There are yet other problems. Some
of the possible candidates for the func-
tion of reference voltage device may
not behave as they are expected to.
The graphs in Fig. 3 tell the whole in the differential voltage monitor is by
story. Especially with low -voltage making the circuit 'active'. in other
zener diodes. the supplied voltage de-
pends strongly on the forward current.
This is illustrated by curve 'a' which
shows the response of a 3-V zener
diode. if you want an accurate low -
voltage reference, a green LED (curve
'b') gives much better results, particu-
larly, if you limit the LED current to
about 1 mA. By the way. the LED does
not light. a condition which never fails
to cause confusion with inexperienced
constructors about alleged non-func-
tioning of a such a circuit. Curve 'c'
shows that zener diodes with a rela-
tively high value are well suited to the
application. This curve belongs with a
5.6 V zener diode (read the value on
the right-hand scale).
Accuracy, by the way. is always rel-
ative. Curve 'd' shows the current de-
pendency of a 'real' voltage reference.
in this case. an LM385 bandgap diode.
The green LED certainly takes a back
seat to the shape of this curve, which
remains a straight line over three
decades of the current range. In fact.
the reference voltage rises only 2 mV The reference voltage is obtained from tolerances may then be compensated
against a current rise from 20 pA to an LM385-2V5 bandgap reference. The by adjusting the preset.
1 mA! Moreover. the temperature co- current which flows through voltage
efficient of the bandgap device is negli-
gible at only 20 ppm/K. Although the
price of the LM385-2V5 is about ten
times that of an ordinary green LED or
a zener diode, the device represents
excellent value for money if you are
after really accurate measurements.
An active measurement
circuit
The best way to eradicate all problems
with cross -effects between components
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
lre1 irelliingernt
1.4
*
0.02 0.05 0.1 0.2 0.5 1 2 5 10 20
a .3-V zener diode C = 5.6-V zener diode I [mA] 950041-14
= green LED d = 2.5-V bandgap diode
Fig. 3. Current -voltage response of a few reference voltage sources. The green LED and the
two zener diodes take a back seat to the extremely stable response of the bandgap diode.
words, by inserting a buffer between
the voltage divider and the meter. As
illustrated in Fig. 4. that is easily ac-
complished by adding one opamp.
The current through the moving coil
meter is now supplied by an opamp.
ICI. whose inputs have such a high
impedance that they hardly load volt-
age divider R4 -R3 -Pi. This eliminates
the problems caused by variations of
the zener voltage and the voltage sup-
plied by the voltage divider, as dis-
cussed above. All resistors are simple
to calculate using Ohm's law. The Fig. 4. Most. if not all. accuracy problems
opamp does not need external parts. with the basic bridge of Fig. 3 may be solved
and almost any ordinary type may be by adding a buffer opamp to drive the meter.
used.
The various component values are
computed as follows, based on these calculated divider current. So.
assumptions:
= 2.5 V/0.0514 mA
Lower voltage. Umin = 6V: = 48.64 kil.
Upper voltage. Um = I2V:
Reference voltage. U01 = 2.5 V: which is conveniently arranged by
Meter f.s.d. current. h = 0.5 mA.
choosing a 5-kcI preset for Pi. and a
47-1(11 resistor for R3. The inevitable
At Umin = 6 V. the voltage difference
divider RI -R3 -P1 is made large with re- between DI and the output of the
spect to the input current of ICI. To re- opamp is nought. As the input voltage
main on the safe side, a factor 10 is rises to the maximum level. Um,.,
used. Resistor R4 then takes a value of (12 V). the input voltage of ICI also
68 At the lower voltage. U. the rises to
current through the voltage divider
equals (Uinax/Umin) x Lroi
or
= (1-iminLID1)/RI = 0.0514 mA (12/6) x 2.5 V = 5 V
The total value of R3 and P1 should A potential difference of 2.5 V then ex-
cause these two resistors to drop the ists between Di and the opamp out-
same voltage as DI at the previously put. Consequently. the meter's series
86

DC -DC CONVERTER
There are frequent occasions in
which a circuit needs a low -cur-
rent supply at a voltage appreciably
higher than the 12 V provided by a
RI
77 5 IC1c
1 II -
22n

standard mains adaptor. A good ex- IC1a 2 3 IC1i3

ample of this is the tuning voltage in a 4x 1N4148
v.h.f. receiver, which is normally of
the order of 24-33 V. DI 33V
IC1d
Oscillator ICia-ICD, generates a rec- 220p
1

tangular signal at a frequency of

about 200 kHz. This signal is applied 12V ICle 10

to a multiplier which raises the signal

level x4. When pin 10 of IC1 is low and 2_2
IC1 IC1 = 4069UB 22n 22n
pin 6 is high. C3 is charged to about 10_
13 IC11
1
6.3v 33V 503mW
12 V. When just afterwards the levels 16V

at these two pins are reversed, the po-

tential at junction C3 -Di -D2 rises to 054054 - 11
almost double the supply voltage. This
voltage is used to charge C2. When
pin 6 becomes high again shortly af-
terwards. the potential at junction
C2 -D2 -D3 is three times the supply Owing to unavoidable losses, for 33 V by D5 -R2. The maximum output
voltage, that is. 36 V with respect to example in the diodes, the practical current is 1 mA.
earth. This voltage is used to charge output voltage is rather lower than the The total current drawn by the con-
C4 to 24 V during the next half cycle. theoretical value. Nevertheless. in the verter is about 18 mA.
so that during the following half cycle prototype, with D5 removed, the out- Design by H. Bonekamp
the potential across C4 is 48 V with put voltage was 46 V. In the practical (9540841
respect to earth. circuit shown, the output is held at

resistor. R2+P2. should take a value The output of the opamp used must be more current are, therefore. unsuit-
which causes f.s.d. on the meter at capable of handling this lower voltage, able for use in the present circuit. un-
that voltage. The internal resistance of so exit the ubiquitous 741. At less. of course. an opamp is used
the meter should also be taken into ac- Uadn<5 V, it is better to change to a which is capable of driving such a
count. As a rule of thumb. this will be 'rail -to -rail' opamp such as the large load.
about 1 kfl for a 100-pA meter. 100 SI CA3130.
for a 1-mA meter. or 10 C2 for a 10-mA When Umax is very large. and ex-
meter. With the meter used here, an ceeds the maximum supply voltage of Final notes
internal resistance of 1 kfl should be the opamp (usually 36 V or -118 V). the The circuit is. in principle. also suit-
observed. The series resistor then be -- excess voltage may be dispelled by able for small alternating voltages -
comes: connecting a zener diode in series with just add a rectifier consisting of. say.
the positive supply. In extreme cases. four 1N4148 diodes and a 220-pF elec-
R,. = (AU//i)-Ri it is better to connect the zener and its trolytic capacitor. Do take into ac-
=. (2.5 V/100 pA)-1 ILO current limiting resistor in parallel count, however, that the voltage across
= 23 kfl with the supply. this capacitor is about 1.4 times
Problems may also arise if the mea- (minus two diode voltages) higher than
Here. too, a combination of a fixed re- surement window is very small. In that the applied alternating voltage. It is
sistor and a preset is used for accurate case, the voltage rise at the input may also possible to omit the electrolytic
adjustment. The actual values of these not be sufficient to enable the meter to capacitor altogether - the rectified
components become: R2 = 22 kfl and reach its f.s.d. The problem may be voltage is then roughly equal to the av-
P2 = 51d2. remedied by wiring the opamp as a erage value of the sine -wave. or about
Adjustment of the 'voltage magnify- 0.9xU. Because of the threshold volt-
non -inverting amplifier. Using a 10-kI2
ing glass' is fairly simple. First. apply age of the rectifier diodes. the circuit
resistor between pin 2 and ground. and
the lower voltage. Urnin, and adjust Pr design is a bit more complicated than
another 10-ki2 resistor in the feedback
for zero deflection on the meter. Next. path, a gain of x2 is obtained. Mind with direct voltage measurements.
apply Um., and adjust P2 for f.s.d. on you, the output voltage of most ordi- The eight or so components which
the meter. nary opamps should remain at least 2 V make up the voltage monitor should
below the positive supply level. not be difficult to fit on a piece of ver-
Special cases Finally, there may be a problem if oboard or shipboard. With some dex-
the current consumption of the meter terity. this board may be secured to
When LJ1, is very small, you should is on the high side. The output current the connections of the moving coil
use a small reference voltage also. for of most opamps is limited to 10 to meter. which results in a fairly com-
instance, an LED or an LM385-1V25. 15 mA. Moving coil meters requiring pact module. (950041)
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers 87

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"No. I for Kite
Whether your requirement for surveillance equipment is amateur. professional or you are just fascinated by this unique area of
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Genuine SUMA kits available only direct from Suma Designs. Beware inferior imitations!
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UTLX Ultra -miniature Telephone Transmitter
Smallest room transmitter kit in the word! incredible 10mm x 20mm including mic.
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Just 17mm x 17mm including mic. 3-12V operation. 1000m range __.113.45 Best-selling telephone transmitter. Being 20mm x 20mm it is easier to assemble than
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1500m range £16.45
VXT Voice Activated Transmitter
Triggers only when sounds are detected. Very low standby current. Variable sensitivity TIC48110 Signalling/Trickle° Transmitter
and delay with LEO indicator. Size 20mm x 67mm. 9V operation. 1000m range 119.45 Transmits a continous stream of audio pulses with variable tone and rate. Ideal for
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SCLX Subcarrier Telephone Transmitter
Multicolour readout ci signal strength with variable rate bleeper and variable sensitivity
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*** Specials ***

DI.TX/D1RX Radio Control Switch
OSX1B0 tine Powered Crystal Controlled Phone Transmitter
As per OLX180 but draws power requirements from line. No batteries required. Size
32mm x 37mm. Range 500m
(IFIX180 Crystal Controlled FM Receiver
£35.95

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unit with decoder and relay output, momentary or alternate, 8 -way dil switches on both setting up. Outpt to headphones. 60mm x 75mm. 9V operation 160.95
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Complete System (2 kits) £50.95 UK customers please send cheques, POs or registered cash. Please acid
Individual Transmitter DLTX 119.95 £1.50 per order for P&P. Goods despatched ASAP allowing for cheque
Individual Receiver DLRX £37 95
clearance. Overseas customers send sterling bank draft and add £5.00 per
Micro Broadcaster order for shipment. Credit card orders welcomed on 0827 714476
Not technically a surveillance device but a great idea! Connects to the headphone output
of your Hi -R, tape or CD and transmits Hi-Fi quality to a nearby radio. Listen to your
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DEPT. EE
SUMA THE WORKSHOPS, 95 MAIN ROAD,
BAXTERLEY. NEAR ATHERSTONE,
"L1:7=7;:t3
I I

DESIGNS WARWICKSHIRE CV9 2LE Tel: 0827 714476

VISITORS STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT ONLY Fax: 0827 714476

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

88

SIMPLE I/0 CARD

The I/o card provides
8 inputs at 711. level;
8 outputs with data memory and
power buffer:
8 preset i/o addresses.
Three sections of dipswitsh S1 are
used for selecting an .i/o address.
When all switch sections are closed
(on). the address is 300H. Other ad-
dresses are given in the table.
Address '4' '2' '1'
(hex)

300 on on on
304 on on
308 on on
30C on
MAU B AV
310 on on ala
ars
314 on ICI 7ai3Ctet
Utti2103
318 on II
CPC

31C -61
.174
_T
72
iti
27 ICi

This address may be used to write to.

and read from, the card. Written data
Or.
-"II I EIZT63C15

14
are stored in ICo and are available via
buffer IC5. The properties of this
buffer are: open collector, maximum IC3,

50 V. maximum 500 mA. Its outputs 7

7C-%
are collectors of darlington transistors
that switch to earth. This arrange- tg ICS?

ment has several consequences. It

"
73

makes it possible for output potentials 11

higher or lower than 5 V to be ,2

switched. Such potentials must be ap- 34 ICD

plied externally. that is. the external L

VI*
loads or pull-up resistors must be ICS?

supplied from an additional voltage Ib

s
121,
tC3
source with respect to earth: pin 20 of 272
F
7413CTS41

K1. The chip has internal diodes that 4 01/

'I \
72

protect the transistors against over - 04

1\
voltage in case of inductive loads. 0!
4
3

These diodes are all connected to 11,

T

pin 10. from which a fast zener diode. *7

lI I

DI. is linked to earth. The rating of DI AN

Art
U_1
must be higher than the level of the 71

external voltage source. The specified

rating of 15 V is all right for an exter- 113
'ci
nal voltage of 12 V. If the external po- At
tential is 24 V. the zener diode must 23

be rated at 30 V. Apart from this, it is 43 I.

good practice to shunt an inductive aI

load with a freewheeling diode.

The inputs at connector K1 are ap- Ica 5v
plied to buffer IC3 via additional pro- .1327
34

72
.4.

tection resistors. Note that this buffer MU A

should preferably be an HC and not an -r e.

1
,.
Ita
1
20
il
IC2 ma
:.
IP
1
a
HCT type. because, when the inputs lI
NM
s
IC4
-

are used to measure the level at the I. r . a s .

darlington outputs. a potential diffi- al -1.

culty arises. Since the output of a 7414CTHE

.36314 77

darlington transistor is never lower

than 0.7-1.0 V, it may happen that an
ncr type does not detect a logic low.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/A. CG UST 1995
 SIMPLE I/0 CARD 89

P O
5888888 8

W?
000000000
00000002 11---g
0 0
- 000022 00
vSal

0000
888888888o
00
0000
0

0000000
8 888888
0 0
0 0
0 0
0

CD- \ MN.
0
CO \ Tral:113 \ \ '

Cr: o
L O
L r

According to manufacturers' specifica- shows the completed board. Integrated circuits:

tions. HCT types detect a logic low only ICI = 74HCT02
if this is below 0.8 V. An HC type has a Parts list IC2 = 74HCT573
slightly higher switching threshold. IC3 = 74HC541
The inputs are at TTL level, which Resistors: IC4 = 74HCT688
means that input signals must not ex- R1. R2, R3 = 10 kfl IC5 = ULN2803
teed 5 V. If necessary. a potential di- RI -R11 = 1 kit
vider can be used at the inputs. Re- Miscellaneous:
sistors R4 -R11 provide additional pro- Capacitors: K1 = 20 -way right-angle box header
tection. but it is doubtful whether IC3 C1, C2, C3 = 100 nF S1 = 3- or 4 -section DIP switch
would survive long if permanent 12 V C4 = 10 pF, 63 V PCB Order No. 954074 (see p. 70)
inputs were applied to it. Design by K. Walraven
The 1/0 card is intended to be con- [9540741
structed on the printed -circuit board Semiconductors:
shown. The introductory photograph D1 = 13Z 03C 15

`BATTERY LOW' INDICATOR

Batteries often go flat at the Ut1 = (RIR3/(R1+R3)+R2)(1.115/R2)
most inopportune moments. Iv]
What's more, frequently. this is not
detected until it is too late, but this and for the lower limit (at which the
can be prevented by the simple cir- at1 01
diode goes out):
cuit shown in the diagram. It en-
ables the battery voltage (here, 9 V) ENE
9V
C1 R3
IC1 Ut2 = l(R2+RI)/R2k1.1 15 [V].
-1 10tH
to be monitored and give an indica-
tion when the potential drops 01' ICL8211
These two equations enable the cir-
below a certain level. R2
cuit to be adapted to any given1:4t-
When the battery voltage drops tely.
below 5.9 V. the LED lights: it will The Type 1CL8211 is a chip from
go out only when the voltage rises T 954017. 11 Intersil. which is now part of Har-
above 6.3 V. The circuit draws ris.
acurrent of about 40 pA when the Design by H. Bonekamp
LED is out, but increases to about [9540171
10 mA when the diode lights. resistors. For the lower limit (at which
The thresholds are determined with the LED lights):
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JYLY/AUGUST 1995
90

SMART SCART BOX

.croblem occurs when you have a offset voltages on the video signal sup- satellite TV timer is distributed between
omfortable chair, a satellite TV plied by the decoder. In particular. the two loads without amplification. This
tuner with only one scART connector, author's Luxcrypt decoder was found to obviously causes signal loss because of
and two decoders, also with only one have a d.c. offset in its output signal. the too low load impedance which then
SCART (loop -through) connection. Such which caused signal leakage through the occurs at the receiver output. To pre-
a situation exists, for instance, in a relevant 4066 switch when a D2mAc sig- vent overloading. you may want to use
setup consisting of a Pace800rd Sat -TV nal with high brightness was present. resistors IR, (start with approx. 82 fl) be-
receiver, a Luxcrypt RTL4 /5 decoder. The tantalum capacitors should prevent tween the video output of the receiver and
and a n2mAc decoder (forivplus). Although this effect. each decoder video input. In some cases.
small SCART boxes are available com- If the smart SCART box is used with however, these resistotsmaynotbe necess-
mercially to connect three SCART appa- two VCRs and a TV set. the VCR at input I ary because the lowersignal level may either
ratuses, manual switching is then re- has priority. be compensated by setting a slightly
quired. in this case, between the Luxcrypt The circuit has one shortcoming which higher gain in the decoder (Luxcrypt). or
and the D2MAC decoder. Obviously, any- is caused by the absence of a power it may not cause problems at all (D2MAC
thing to do with manual switching is a supply. and should not be left unmen- decoder).
dragin this day and age of channel hop- tioned. The video signal supplied by the It is suggested to build the circuit into
ping and remote controls. whence the pre-
sent unit, which selects the actuated
decoder automatically. without the need
to get out of your chair and flick a switch. K1
The circuit shown here offers auto- IC1c
matic switching between two video sources
6
which, when actuated. supply a switch- 2
3
ing voltage at pin 8 oftheirsCART connector.
Most satellite iv decoders. as well as 5 IC1b
video recorders, have sucha function. The 3 _-_
smart SCART box does not require an ex- IC1, IC2 = 4066
Di
ternal supply voltage, or a battery - the D3. D4 = BATH,
internal supply voltage is stolen from the 9 1H4148
previously mentioned SCART switching RI R2

voltage.
The circuit diagram shows a straight- 12
13
forward two -channel switching arrange- 14
ment based on the familiar, low-cost. 15
Type 4066 electronic bilateral switches. 16 IC1d 12
The 39-kil resistors on the switching 17 10
voltage lines prevent undefined levels at C--18 R6
the control inputs of the 4066. 'IV° high - 19
efficiency LEDS show the status of each 23
C
13

decoder. The LED current is kept to a min-

imum to keep the load on the switching 21
10_ K3
voltages as small as possible. The (tan- 16V

talum) coupling capacitors in the video

line. C1 and C2. cancel the effect of any K2 3

IC2c 4

2 ti 5

3 6

7
5 IC2b 8
9
7 10
=
11

9 12
R4 13
11

12 IC2d 15

13 I 02 15

11
15
r4: 12
17

16
AS
16 0 19
13 F., 221
17
15 el 2
R7

17 0
22, H 21

19
10
21 161.1 C2a

967051.11

ELE& FOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

 Please mention ELEA-TOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers 91

Great Sound Dianamic

is a work of art! MPLel 000Tm
The Dianamic MPLCI000 is an industrial
If you want to create your own great specification Programmable Logic Controller with both
sounding works of art, ANALOGUE & DIGITAL I/O capability, at an affordable price.
Speaker Builder can show you how! Very Wide PSU
STARTER KIT CONTAWS: It1PLC, IBM PC
0o input voltage
programming inieriace & compiler, detailed
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0 6-30V
The publishers of Speaker Builder invite you to use your electronics know-
-
how to explore the world of better sound. To subscribe, simply return this PROGRAMMED IN BASIC
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' APPLICATIONS LIMITED ONLY BY YOUR IMAGINATION
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/ VISA NUMBER EXP Measuring just 68mm X 72mm. The MPLC is a stand alone micro computer,
programmable in BASIC. An on board EEPROM stores your compiled
programme and 16 channels of I/O interface to the real world. But that's
NAME
not all -Despite the small footprint, the 16 channels of I/O can be
configured as digital inputs, digital outputs, analogue inputs, or pulse
STREET a NO. counters or any combination thereof. If that is still not enough, the
MPLCI000 has on board timers and can drive LCD displays directly. It can
talk to external devices using the It protocol and also possesses an
CITY COUNTRY POSTAL CODE onboard 9600 baud RS232 interface. You might be forgiven for thinking
that this type of performance comes at a price. Simply put, it doesn't. One
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London House, 100 New Kings Road, London SW6 4LX. Fat: 0171-731.8312

an existing 'dumb' scART box. which is avail-

able cheaply. and saves you the trouble PIN DESIGNATIONS FOR SCART CONNECTORS
of drilling and hunting for three panel -
mount SCART sockets. The component Pin Decoder SCART TV SCART VCR SCART
count being quite low, it should not be a 1 R Audio Out R Audio Out R Audio Out
problem to construct the circuit on a 2 R Audio In n.c. R Audio In
small piece of veroboard. and use wires 3 L Audio Out L Audio Out
to make the connections to the relevant L Audio Out
SCART sockets pins. 4 Audio Ground Audio Ground Audio Ground
Design by F.M. Bemelman 5 Blue Ground Blue Ground Ground
19540611 6 L Audio In n.c. L Audio In
7 Blue In Blue Out n.c.
8 Ext. Decoder Status In AV Status Out AV Status In
9 Green Ground Green Ground Ground
10 n.c. n.c. n.c.
11 Green In Green Out n.c.
12 Serial data I/O Port n.c. n.c.
13 Red Ground Red Ground Ground
14 n.c. n.c. n.c.
15 Red In Red Out/SVHS Chroma SVHS Chroma
16 RGB Status In RGB Status Out n.c.
17 Video Ground Video Ground Video Ground
18 Ground Ground Ground
19 Baseband Video Out Video Out Video Out
20 Video in n.c. Video in
21 Ground (casing) Ground (casing) Ground
(casing)

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

92

6 V MOTIVE -BATTERY CHARGER

eTinmotive -battery charger described
Ref. 1 has met with great interest. 12

particulary among owners of motor cy- LIM

RI
DI
BYV/29-100
cles. In response to many requests from IC1
owners of vintage cars and motorcycles, L200
a modification is described which allows
the charger to keep 6-V batteries in shape 4 x 1N4001
L200 R5
during the winter season, when the ve-
hicle or machine is not used.
The nominal outputvoltage of the L200
regulator is calculated from
R 4 +Pi ) 12 R2
1.41 = U,,f X (I C3
R3 MEN

where Um/ is 2.77 V (typ.). So. change R3 40'I 100n mie

to 2.7 It.Q. and R4 to 1.81Q. and Bob's your 12345 954071-11
uncle. These values allow the charger's
output voltage to be adjusted between 6V
and about 7.7 V. The LBD series resistor.
R5, is lowered to 1
Because of the lower output voltage (6 V
instead of 12 V). the dissipation in the L200
maybe on the high side if the original trans-
former is used. If you need the present
6-V version only, the transformer is,
therefore, best changed into a type with
a 9-V secondary. Suitable types are the
BlockVR13/1/9 (9V/1.44A). the Monacor
(Monarch) VTR12109 (12VA), or the Block
FT13/1/9. The latter is a short-circuit pro-
tected type (more expensive than the
others, unfortunately). All three trans-
formers are rated at 230 V primary volt-
age. and fit on the printed circuit board.
Also do not forget to change the fuse to
a 63-mA type. As with the 12-V version
of the charger, the current limiter is ac-
tuated at a level of 0.5 A. 0 0

Parts list
Resistors:
RI = 1 12
R2 = 150 f2
R3 = 2.7 ki2
R4 = 1.8 kf2
R5 = 1
P1 = 1 kf2 multiturn preset
Capacitors: 0
0 0 0
C1, C2 = 100 nF
C3 = 220 pF. 40 V. radial
C4 = 22 pF. 25 V. radial

Semiconductors:
Di = BYW29- 100
D2 -D5 = 1N4001 transformer. 9 V, 12 VA - see text
D6 = LED, red, 5 mm Enclosure, synthetic fibre
120x65x65 mm (43/4x21/2x21/2 in)
Integrated circuits: Heat sink 5 K W-1, complete with
ICI = L200CV (5 -pin) fitting/insulating kit
PCB Order no. 940083 (see p.70)
Miscellaneous:
K1 = 2 -way terminal block, pitch Design by L. Lemmens
7.5mm [954071]
K2 = 2 -way terminal block, pitch Reference:
5 mm 1. Motive -battery charger, Flektor Electronics
Tr' = short -circuit -proof mains October 1994.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers 93

IF AN BADGER -qA BOARDS

Printed Circuit Boards for Amateur Radio Schools Colleges
'ADVERT IS WRONG, Short Wave Listeners Clubs Hobbyists & industry
A range of Printed Circuit Boards in sock from many of the Projects in Magazines
-7 WHO PUTS IT RIGHT? PRACTICAL WIRELESS 0 SHORT WAVE MAGAZINE CI ELEKTORCI IIRT
RADIO COMMUNICATION
We do. The Advertising Standards Authority ensures tits Projects and Materials for manufacturing your oar boards Artwork and Plotting from
advertisements meet with the strict Code of Advertising Practice_ your own Schematic drawings and also CAD. factliti.z We supply ONE OFF Prototmies
Phone between 9.00am and 5-30pm Monday to Friday for helpful shim and asSitama
So if you question an advertiser. they have to Club talks and demonstrations of Printed Circuit Board manufacture QIIP insvhcment etc
answer to us.
lb find out more about the ASA. please write to
Advertising Standards Authority. 0121 - 384 2473
Department X. Brook House. 80 Clarence Road, Birmingham B23 6AR
Torrington Place. London WCIE 711N_ (Please mention where you spotted this adserusernent)
SA
This space is donated In the Interests of high standards In advertisements.

MODIFIED SCART SWITCHING BOX

e SCART switching box described in
and the way they are wired. channel. The switches used should be me-
PRef. 1 was carefully designed to make In practice. the present version of the chanically coupled (interlocking). which
sure that any input is connected to only SCART box was tested with a setup con- means that only one switch can be de-
one output at a time. This was done to pre- sisting of two video recorders and aiv set. pressed at a time.
vent signal loss and mismatching effects Although some signal loss was noted , no Design by C. Romaldini
on the video and audio signals. A rather serious problems occurred owing to mis- 19540571
simpler design is presented here which matching which is inherent in driving Reference:
lets go of the 1 -signal -to- 1 -output prin- two 7541 loads from one 75-L./source. The 1. SCART switching box. ElelctorElectronics
ciple. The result is a considerable shn- advantage of the design shown here is that December 1993.
plification of. in particular. the switches it is readily extended with one more SCART

SI sq. 92 S4 UM

2 12

2 11 2 11
K6 3_0 010 a
AUDIO 4
II
69
3 i

02_ 6

K7
520E0

000
TV
Ka
K1 K2 K3 KS KS

is C1-=
3

4
TV

K9
5
an a E

7 ,=2. LIMONO

an an I a
o- 10 r=21) 2-1=1
150 10
11
= 11

13
12 12
to
a =_13
12 12

14 74a

tr t3
73 t5 Is
IE 16

IS
10
17 17
la 15 is 46
13 15
= 13 19 19

an
3.3 re 22 251

01

4r 1U4148 .63.7-31 I1

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY' AL 1995

94
1 OTH-ORDER BESSEL FILTER
IC11
O 100n
IC1
C12
100n
Bessel filter has a fairly constant
ansit time (delay) over the pass
band. but its amplitude characteristic
starts to fall off rather earlier than in
a Butterworth filter. Moreover. the
skirts of the amplitude characteristic
are not as steep as those of a Butter-
worth filter. For instance. the -0.1 dB
point in a Bessel filter occurs at
184 Hz. and the -1 dB point at
581 Hz; the same points in a Butter-
worth filter occur at 827 Hz and
934 Hz respectively.
To make the skirts of a Bessel filter
steeper. a 10th -order type may be
used and this can be constructed by
3 OP AMP CURRENT SOURCE
Acourrent source based on
ne op amp can not easily
be made variable, nor is the
current very stable when stan-
dard resistors are used. The
present design may be made
variable and the current is held
within reasonably accurate
limits.
In contrast to a single
op amp source, the current de-
sign uses active feedback. I 11
which serves to make the po-
tential drop across R1 qual to
the reference voltage. The out-
put current is thus Uref/RI.
To keep the output voltage
across R1 constant, differential
amplifier ICib monitors the po-
tential at both ends of the re-
sistor. This potential is applied to the
inverting input of ICia, which corn-
R14
2500
O
111...R10* RI = 91,99115
15V R2 = 8k6429
954025. 11
R3 = 9k0157
R4 =8k1599
R5 = 9k1013
IC1 = TL082 R5 =11k485
* see text
R7=61,9349
R8 = 10k713
R9=105420
15V R10 = 5k4439
cascading two 5th -order sections. The Although not optimal. the specified
two sections can not be taken at ran- values of the capacitors are rounded
dom. however: they must be attuned off to E-12 values and those of the re-
to one another. As the diagram shows, sistors to E-96 values. These values
the resistor and capacitor values in give a small variation in both the
the second section are different from 0.25%) and the cut-off fre-
delay
those in the first section. This is be- quency (990 Hz instead of 1 kHz). If
cause the first section has a fairly these variations are unacceptable. use
high gain at frequencies beyond the combinations of resistors to give
cut-off point, whereas the second has values as shown in the table in the di-
to arrange an early onset of the falling agram.
off of the characteristic. Although the The current drawn by the TL082 is
cascade may be reversed, it is better about 4 mA.
for the signal-to-noise ratio to place Design by T. Giesberts
the higher -gain section first, as shown 19540261
in the diagram.
tial at pin 1 will increase or de-
crease until an equilibrium is
Uret reached whereby URI = Uj.
RI It is necessary that R2 = R3 =
R4 = R5. Also. ICie prevents the
current through R1 being
5V Rb1 loaded by a possible measuring
current, provided its input re-
sistance is not too low. Capaci-
tor C1 is necessary for fre-
IC1 quency compensation since the
delay of the control loop is rela-
tively long.
If these requirements are
5V met, the design provides a good
current source. If a variable
47p 954013 - II output current is required. R1
must be replaced by a combi-
nation of a fixed and a variable
resistor.
pares it with lIref. Depending on the Design by H. Bonekamp
result of this comparison, the poten- [9540131
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers 95

J f3 M Components Ltd Est 1971

BATTERIES All Batteries New And Unused But X Equipment

Batteries RC Nicad 80p per Round Flat

42mm x 22mm 16mm x 65mm
65mm x 14mm 1.2v 1 iv
liv 48mm x 14mm
1.2v

RF Modules MHW 807-2 £10.00 Leather Phone 800mm

PA Modules M67759 -E21 £10.00 Holders 23mm

LC Displays 1 600mm

LM041L £10.00 LM300XM £20.00 £1.00

LMC571-31A .... £9.00 LM215XB £30.00
HZ535 £8.00 FM40X6AA-A £40.00 Lithium Batteries New £0.50
LM032LN £8.00 LM087LN £9.00
H2218 £1 .00 FC20X1RA-AB . £10.00 3V CL2354 23mM x 6mm 0 -

3V CL2032 20mm x 3mm 0 1=1

Power Source
14mm
£10.00 DC -DC Reliability 3Al2KM12-12
Minature Mikes Lead 11
20mm
£20.00 D St GS -R51212 £1.50 to 12 ft

D CONNECTORS 9 way, 15 way, 25 way, Minature Rotary

37 way, 50 way 2.5p - Straight & right angle Switches £5.00

Large selection of IC Transistors Diodes Capacitors

A55P23E999X99/93-37 18 A65A41WOZZX A65 SO9W
A55P21E999X99/93-34 43 A65A07Z073X 110-050
U40X72E999X99/ 50 A65E06Z073X A65H05Z073X
B37A70E025X 640 A35070C1OBK GREBS9210FOOZZ 06/03/
U40P42E999X99/92-35 100 A65A21W060X B2/02/SMB 75 Ohm
50UPanel Socket 135-33-000 3.000 G35141D7/2SSU UG-1094A/U
B35P315999XAX A65G23G022A B35H11022X
Green Pot connectors A65G17Z285A 6947002000
A65G03Z285A99 B37H67JB25X A65G23W060A
B67 H67T062X Plug 43/3G T35E60E012X B37KOH999
B5E06G024X D65NO1J A65S76G999A
BS9210 F0022 06-03-B304E B35H11H022X C65E66G077X
CEG Lot No. 70927 R 75 Ohm B37A74HA25X B37A74HA25X
43 Series B37A96JA25X K70M07H
G65132ASF 5000hm B37A08H025X A65G03G0731A
A65G23W022A A65G23G060A B65B426024X
A65S02W999A99 A65E46WOZZX B65D22G
A65B02Z285X B 37A70E05ZX G37507HBN
065222 A65G17Z073A UG-1094A/U
T10-030 A65A13Z073X

Minimum Orders £10.00 - P&P £3.00 all prices exclude VAT

Mail Orders to: Unit 5b Benbridge Industrial Estate, Heybridge, Maldon, Essex CM9 7XP
Tel: (01621) 892701 Fax: (01621) 891414
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995
 96

MAINS SLAVE
"RThe principle of the circuit is that on quency). This may reduce the sensitiv- The 24-V supply for ICI and the po-
ite basis of the current drawn by a ity, but that can be countered by the tential dividers is derived directly from
mains -operated master equipment an- range of P1. the mains voltage by capacitive divider
other appliance, the slave, is switched Preset P1 sets the level of current C1 -D5. The current through C1 is about
on. Some units that provide this func- through the master at which the slave 30 mA. which is sufficient for the pre-
tion make use of one or more diodes must be actuated. The values of R6, R7. sent circuit. When the mains voltage is
connected in series with the master and P1 give a potential at Junction appreciably different from 240 V. the
power line. This inevitably means a R6 -P1 of about 0.5 V above that at value of C1 must be recalculated. In
loss of voltage to the master and (albeit junctions RI -R5 and P1 -R7. When that that case, do not forget the voltage
slight) interference on the mains. The potential is exceeded. ICI outputs a drop across R1, DI -D.1 and C.I. totalling
present circuit uses a current trans- 50 Hz pulsating voltage. This voltage is about 32 V).
former, which causes a loss of voltage smoothed by D6 and C6 and then used Resistor R1 limits the current when
to the master of only a few millivolts. to switch on T1 via R8. whereupon relay the mains is switched on first. The
The current through the primary of Re' is energized. The relay contacts total dissipation is about 1 W. The
Tri produces a proportional voltage then connect the slave to the mains. relay draws a current of about 28 mA.
across the scondary that is indepen- Potential divider R8 -R9 ensures that It may be necessary with certain
dent of the number of primary turns. when the output of ICI is permanently loads to place a snubber network
Basically, therefore, one turn would low (it can not drop to zero). T1 can not (R = 220 f2. 1 W: C -= 100 nF. 630 V)
suffice, but in practice two turns pro- be switched on across the contact of Rel.
duce a mechanically more stable wind- Diode D6 and C6 provide instant The secondary winding of Tr' is
ing. The prototype reached saturation switch -on, but delayed switch -off, of wound from 0.7 mm enamelled copper
at about 0.5 A. after which the sec- the slave wire. The diameter of the wire for the
ondary voltage no longer increases. It When smaller powers need to be de- priMary winding is determined by the
is thus possible to detect the switching tected. the number of primary turns maximum permissible current to the
on of appliances with a standby power may be increased. This means that the master equipment.
of roughly 100 W. In practice. the value of C2 and C3 must be altered as If the circuit is followed faithfully.
standby power is only a few watts. and well to retain the resonant frequency. the potential difference between the
the ratio of operating power to standby The inductance of the secondary wind- primary and secondary side of Tri is
power will be large. ing is L = AL -112. where AL is a factor de- the sum of the forward voltages of the
The secondary winding and C2 and termined by the the core of the trans- diodes. that is. about 27 V. In most
C3 form a resonant circuit tuned to former (in the prototype: 10 pH ±25%). other cases. the difference may be as
55 Hz. which suppresses maths and and n is the number of turns. The total high as the mains voltage.
r.f. interference, and increases the sen- capacitance of the parallel connection GREAT CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN WHEN
sitivity. With a mains frequency of C2 -C3 = C is given by WORKING WITH THE CIRCUIT SINCE IT IS
50-601-1z, this is fine, but if it deviates CONNECTED DIRECTLY TO THE MAINS.
largely from this, it may be necessary C = 1/(270)2L= 8.4- 10-6-1/L. Design by T. Giesberts
to adapt the number of (secondary) 19540531
turns (fewer turns for a higher fre-

K1

RI
=
R2

CI
24V

220..
470ri
530V

R3 C5 - V23050 -A0105 -A101

1[11.--11 Oi Ret

Tr1 C2 100n

K3
2x Slave
t2))1 (27) 2200.. 1N4148

RCC26r20
L 10V
D2
C3
3C11 25k

D. 134
C4

4x 1144007
0 K2 954033. 11
1000_ "13
40V
0 0 Master

ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULYIA [GUST 1995


A mini Flt transmitter. very high gain preamp.
supplied co milkiest ith FEE electrettnicrophone.
Deigned to cover 88-108 Mhz but it Is easy to
change it to cover 63-1.30Mhs Works with a cora-
mon 9v (PP3)baltery.0.2W RF. 18.22 Klt no 1001.
Electronic siren kit with an Impressive 5 watt
power output- Ideal for caribike alarm etc. 6-
12v dc. mat current 1A. tone frequency 1.211tx
17.05 Kit no 1003.
3-30v Power supply, 'a ar !able. stabilized power
supply for laboratory use. Short elf CUD protected.
suitable for professional or amateur applicatkuts_
24v JA transforms -is also needed to complete the
tit. 116.45 Kit 1007.
Powerful I wait FM transmitter supplied com-
p !tie with piezoelectric microphone- 8-30v de. At
2330,0 ou will get newts 2 waits!. 114.10 Kit no
t 009.
FM/AM Scanner, well not quite you have to turn
the lamb yourself but you will hear things on this
radio (eves 1V that you would not bra: on an
ordinary radio!. Receiver covers50-160V1hz both
AM and Flt. Built In 5 Watt amplifier. 117.62 Kit
no 1013.
Mosquito reveller. modern way to keep midges at
bay! Runs for about a month on a 1-.5v battery.
11.22 Mt no 1015-
.1 channel wireless sound to light system, mains
operated separatesendtivity adjustment breads
channel. 1,200watt povrerhandling. Microphone
Included 116_45 KO no 1014.
Motorbila'r cle trembler alma. adjustable stn.
dtivity. press alarm time, auto reset- Could be
connected to bikes horn etc. 114.10 KR no 1011
0-5 nsimde timer. adjustable from° to Sothis. will
switch up to 2A mains. Perfect for alarm photo-
graphic laboratoriet etc. Ilvdr-81.22 Kit no 1070.
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS KLY/A UG UST 1995
Please mention ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS when contacting advertisers
4 watt FM tranunitter. mail but powerful trans-
mitter, 3 RF stager microphone and an audio
preamp include in 43t. £23.0 Kit no 1028.
25 watt FM transmitter 4 RF stages, preamp
relished (our kit 1068 is suitable). flue to the
complexity of the transmitter it is supplied in
built up form only. £92.82 Kit no 1031.
Strobe nem adjustable frequency from). to 60 lit
(a lot faster than conventional strobes) mains op-
erated. 118.80 hit no 1037.
Ultrasonic radar Ideal as a movement detector
with ararsgeof about 10 metres. alt1M1331t y our cat
flap! 12v operation so Isle a/ for cars. caravans etc.
116.45 KIt 1049.
Liquid Iry el detector useful for detecting fluid
les ell in tanks. fishponds bath:or IS grain or leak
alarm. Will switch 2A mains 15.117 Kit no 1081.
Combination lock 9 key, easily programmable.
will switch La mains. Complete with keypad_ 9v
operation. 111.75 Kit 1114.
Phone bug detector, this device will warn you if
somebody is eavesdropping on your phone line_
17.05 KR no 1130.
Robot voice. Interesting circuit that dirtortsyour
voice! adjustable. answer the phone with a differ-
ent voice! 12vdc 110.57 Kit no 1131.
Telephone bug, small bug powered by the tel-
ephone line, Warts transmitting as soon as the
handset Is 19.40 Kit no 1135.
function generator. produces sinusoidal raw tooth
And 'quart waves adjustable from 20hz-20khz,
separate level controls (or each shape. Will pro-
duce all 3 together. 24vac 117.62 Kit no 1008.
3 Channel light chaser. 800 watts per channel
speed and direction controls supplied with 121e ds
and mains Macs. so you can use mains- light bulbs
if you want 9.15vdc 119.97 Kit no 1026.
r r"
tin.21.3
12vflourescent.A useful kit thatwill enableyou to
light 4' llourescent tubes from your car battery!
(you will also need a 9v 2A transformer, not sup-
plied) 19.40 Kit no 1069.
VOX switch sound acts ated switch ideal for turn -
log tape recorders on and off when sounds are
heard_ Makesthe t ape last a lot longer? adjustable
sensitivity, built In delay. 19.40 Kit 1073.
'near sound to light. Put some atmo sphere in you r
car with this mint 3 channel sound to light. Each
channel has 6 led's. 111.75 KU no 10E4. -
7 watt HI El power amplifier useful powerful
ideal for intercomms, audio systems, car use etc
12-18v dr Xii/m_A. 18.22 Kit No 1025.
Phone call rel to. useful devicethat operates 'relay
when ever the 'phone rings. could be used to
operate more bells or signalling tights etc. %V
switch mains at LA- 111.75 KA no 1122.
Lead acid charger, two automatic charging rates,
visual Indication of battery state, Ideal for alarm
systems, emergency lighting etc. 100mA 12v de_
114.10 Kit no 1095.
*,
Car alarm system, works on voltage drop andior
vibration entry and tilt delays plus adjustable
alarm durationGoodforearx carayanseteL14.10
Kit no 1019.
Portableaiarmwstern. based (ma mercury Aritch.
The alarm continues to sound until the unit is
disabled by the owner. Bust< r Included. L 12.92
Kit no 1150_
I I I By post with either a cheque,
Prramp timer. Input mono mixer, separate bass
and treble controls plus Independent level con-
trols. lavde input sens More. 100m4. 117.62
Kit no 1052. ; FAX 01273 206875
- rst and
97
Mini metal detector. suitable for locating pipes In
walls etc. range 15-20 cm complete with ease. 9v
operation. 19.40 Kit no 1022.
800 watt do* channel sound to light kik mains
operated. add rbyt hm t o your parry for only 19.40
Kit no 1006.
Sound effects generator. produce sounds ranging
from bird chips to sirens. oomp lett with speaker.
add sound effects to your projects for just 110 -5 -
Kit no 1045.
Guitar preamp with tone control% small enough to
th inside anyguitar, based on T1.0112 IC. 9.12v dc.
50mA-19.40par no 1091.
15 wan FM lemmings*. 4 rage high power,
preampreqzdred.12-18vdc.Can use zither ground
plane, open dipole, orliag.huppliedin built form
only at 181.07 Kit 1021.
Telephone amplifier. Very sensitive amplifier
which uses a'phone Wimp coil (supplied) will let
you follow a conversation without holding the
phone. 112.92 Kit no 1059.
TOP 10 BEST SELLLN G KITS CORNER
I. V arable speed control kit for 12v DC motors up
to.10.4.! (you may need a ben dnkfor 30A)119.97.
2. C ompositevideo kit cons tics composite dgnals
into separate It sync, Verne and vIdeo19.40.
3. Geiger counter Ilk contains everything you
need to build a working counter 122.32.
4. Solar energy kit, contains a solar panel, motor,
buzzer and cable for esperime Ins 85_87.
5. Eledronic accupuncture kit, may help with
migrant. poor circulation. backache etc. £8.22.
6. Electrify ing apparatus kit, produces a weak
adjustable high tension of 80-300v from a 9v bat-
tery. Ideal for catching worms et 5119.40.
.9. Adapter bug Lil contains everything you need
to build a professional bug built inside a standard
13A mains adapter! the bug Is mains powered so
It operates all the time the adapter Is plumed in.
Price is 816.45 for the complete kit Including
adapter. Hand tools and glue required.
8. N Iced charger kit automatic charger for cells
from 1.2v to 15v. 7 settings50600roA, transformer
required 18-20s 600m A_ 19.40.
93.10. Inverter kits, p rodu re 240s-acfrom a 121 dc
supply, two versions are available a 15w one at
114.10 and an 801 version at
EXPRESS
,COMPONENTS
how to order
Remember to add f 1.50 p&p.
By phone with a credit card.
postal order or credit card details
By fax with credit card details.
EXPRESS COMPONENTS, PO
BOX 517 HOVE SUSSEX BN3
5QZ. DEPT EL
TEL 01273 771156
Overseas orders please add £3.50
98

LIQUID -LEVEL GAUGE

Qince measuring liquids with a di- whether the relevant LED lights or not. was removed from the ends. The earth
rect voltage quickly leads to catal- It is basically possible to link pin 12 link must, however. be completely
ysis effects and corrosion. the gauge directly to the (inverted) output of IC2, bare.
uses a rectangular voltage. The gauge but this would result in a tiny cos- The gauge is calibrated by immers-
is Intended primarily for measuring metic error. Owing to time constant ing the electrodes to a certain depth
the level in a rainwater reservoir, but 125-C1 the test voltage of a sensor is in, say. a glass of water and setting
can, of course, also be used for mea- retained until just after the next the reference level of IC2 with P1 such
suring other kinds of 'liquid. In the switching action of the multiplexer that the difference between dry and
prototype. eight sensors in the reser-and this causes the first LED to light wet sensors is clearly indicated by the
voir were used. Placing these sensors very faintly although it should have display. Once this is done. P1 may. if
at well -thought-out locations will min- remained off. Gates IC6, and IC6d ob- desired, be replaced by two fixed re-
imize any errors in the measure- viate this happening. sistors of appropriate value.
ments. Gates IC6b and IC6, create a clear Power for the gauge may taken
Counter -oscillator IC4 functions as 'empty' indication: D11 flashes if the from a simple 8-15 V mains adaptor.
the central control of the circuit. The reservoir is empty. In this situation,
oscillator frequency is determined by C7 is charged via R9. whereupon pin 4 Parts list
R1 -R2 -C20 and is here 76 kHz. The test of IC6b goes high. A choice may he
voltage produced by IC4 is applied to made with jumper JP1 whether D11 Resistors:
the sesors via potential divider R3 -R4. flashes in rhythm with the output at RI = 5.6 kit
multiplexer IC5, capacitors C12 -C19 pin 3 of IC4 (about 4.7 Hz) or lights R2 = 56 lin
and K1. continuously. As soon as one of the R3 = 47 lin
The sensors are scanned sequen- sensors is under water. C7 is dis- R4 = 100 lin
tially at a frequency of 76 kHz. When
charged periodically via D2. so that R5. R9 = 1 MS1
a sensor remains dry. the test voltage can not light. R6 = 1 kit
is unchanged. When it is under water. The gauge is intended to be built on R7 = 1.8 MI1
however, an additional load is placed the printed circuit shown, which is. R8. R10 = 150 SL
on potential divider R3 -R4, which re- however, not available ready made. Do P1 = 25 Ica preset
sults in the test voltage dropping to not forget the wire bridges before pop-
some extent. The test voltage is de- ulating the board. Capacitors:
modulated by R5 -C1 -D1 and applied to The sensors may be made from C1= I 1---
comparator IC2. nine pieces of bare wire of increasing C2-C6. C8, C9. C19 -C10 = 100 rIF
Circuit IC3 not only selects the sen- length. The earth link must be as long C7 = 220 nF
sors. but also arranges, in conjunc- as sensor 1 and should not be too far C10 = 220 pF, 16V
tion with IC3, the multiplexing of the from the other sensors. In the proto- CII = 47 pF. 25 V
eight indicator LEDs. For this latter type. a piece of flatcable was used. C20 = 100 pF
purpose. pin 12 of IC3 is 'misused' as whose cores were cut to different
enable input. whose level determines lengths: about 3 mm of the insulation

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EL EKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995

 LIQUID-LEVELGALGI: 99

otir
00 000po;o
M c
C I 6 C17
N.
C19
954062-1
gjo cr- rmml ici IiiiN
f= la 01
calia

01
R2

R1 10 -.2. 1

'ffl'i:
C20 0-110
IIIVIM *

Integrated circuits:
ICI = 7805
IC2 = CA3130
IC3 = 74HCT42
ICi = 4060
IC5 = 4051
IC6 = 4093

Miscellaneous:
JP1 = jump lead
Ki = SIL connector
PCB 954062 - not available ready
made
Semiconductors: D3 -D10 = LED, low current Design by U. Werner
DI. D2 = 1N4148 Di' = LED, red 19540621

MOTORCYCLE TEMPERATURE GAUGE

Many motorcycles have no in the bar -mode by strapping
temperature gauge - pin 9 of the lc to pin 3. and in
which means that their riders 12V + the dot -mode by leaving pin 9
have to guess whether the en- open.
gine is hot, cold or lukewarm D1...D4 = red Bear in mind that, owing to
(by putting their hand on or 05...DE = green
137...010 = yellow L10
the curved characteristic of R1,
near the engine). The present rg the diodes do not give a linear
circuit takes this guesswork SID IC1 display. Some experience, or
away. It uses a linear voltmeter L7 calibrating. is necessary to
is which drives a display of ten know when the engine really
LEDs in a bar- or dot -mode. Rril
175 gets too hot.
REFOUT
The drive voltage (sIG) for the Lt.13914 Ll The current through the
Ic is derived from a potential REFADJ
L3
LEDS is ten times greater than
divider consisting of a sensor. RLO that through R2. At a reference
R1 (a resistor with a negative voltage of 1.25 V. the current
temperature coefficient - N7c). through the diodes will thus be
and preset P1. This combi- 10 mA. In the dot -mode, the
nation is adjusted so that an 954019 - 11
total current will remain below
operating temperature of 80 °C 20 mA. but in the bar -mode it
causes the first green LED to may be up to 100 mA when all
light (arranged with a bowl of LEDS light.
water at this temperature). gine block: these may reach 120 °C. Design by J. Bosman
Several types of N7c-resistor may be The colours of the LEDS can. of (9540191
used. The most convenient is, of course, be varied to individual taste;
course, one with a screw fitting. since those specified are used on the proto-
it needs to be fitted at or near the en- type: four yellow ones for cold; two
gine. Make sure that it can withstand green ones for normal; and four red
the fairly high temperatures of the en- ones for hot. The LEDs are connected
ELEKTOR ELECTRONICS JULY/AUGUST 1995