7MHz CW/AM QRP TRANSMITTER

D. PRABAHARAN

T
he circuit
of a 7MHz
C W / A M
QRP transmit-
ter described here
can be used to
transmit either
CW or audio fre-
quency modulat-
ed signal over a
7MHz carrier.
The carrier fre-
quency oscillator is
crystal controlled
using 7MHz crystal
in its fundamental
mode. The tank
circuit comprises a
shortwave oscilla-
tor coil which can
be tuned to 7MHz
frequency with the
help of ½J gang
capacitor VC1.
Transistor T2
(with identical tank circuit connected sion line for maximum power transfer. For CW operation, switch S1 is to be
at its collector as in case of transis- Suitable heatsink should be used for kept on for bypassing the audio driver
tor T1) serves as a power amplifier. transistor T2. transformer and Morse key is used
The RF output from oscillator stage Tuning adjustments may be accom- for on/off-type modulation. CW would
is inductively coupled to the power plished using a 6-volt torch bulb. Connect be generated during key depressions.
amplifier stage. The output from power the bulb to the collector of transistor T1 For AF modulation, Morse key points
amplifier is routed via capacitor C3 first through a coupling capacitor and should be closed and switch S1 should
and inductor L3 to a half-wave dipole tune ½J gang VC1 for maximum bril- be flipped to ‘off ’ position.
using a 75-ohm coaxial cable. ½J gang liance. (Note: the bulb would light ac- Any suitable mic. amplifier may be
capacitor VC3 along with inductor L3 cording to intensity of RF energy.) Same used to feed audio input to the audio
forms an antenna tuning and matching procedure may be repeated for power am- driver transformer X1. (For transformer
network between the output of power plifier stage and antenna tuning network X1 you may use the transistor-radio
amplifier stage and coaxial transmis- for ensuring maximum power transfer. type AF driver transformer.)

Reader Comments: Vaibhav Kumar air-core tube using 26 SWG wire.

¨ I request the author for the following
clarifications:
1. Please indicate the construction
details of coils L1 and L3 as well as the
inductor which is connected in parallel
to VC2.
2. Can we use any other crystal in
place of 7MHz crystal?
M.A. Kamal
Guwahati
¨ What is the range of this transmit-
ter and what is the output power of this
circuit?
Saharanpur
The author D. Prabaharan, com-
ments:
In reply to the above queries, I
would like to say that the transistor T1
is BF495. Power output of this circuit is
about 150mW. It can be further increased
by using separate power supply for the
power-amplifier stage (24V, 1A).
The coil details are as follows— L1 is
short-wave oscillator coil; L2:14 turns on
1cm-diameter air-core tube using 26 SWG
wire; L3 has 12 turns on 1.5cm-diameter
The frequency allotted for amateur
radio operators is 7.0 MHz to 7.1 MHz.
Hence, any crystal available within this
frequency can be used. Range of this QRP
transmitter depends on propagation condi-
tions. If conditions are good, the range is
about 500 kms in the CW mode and 100
kms in the AM mode.
It is possible to convert this transmit-
ter to 20-meter HAM band. Any crystal
available from 14 MHz to 14.350 MHz
range can be used for the purpose. How-
ever, this conversion needs following

198 ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 19

modifications on coils L1, L2 and L3—L1:
shortwave oscillator coil; L2: 11 turns on
1cm-diameter air-core tube using 26 SWG
wire; L3: 9½ turns on 1cm-diameter air-
core tube using 28 SWG wire.
An ammeter with a range 0-250mA
or a multimeter with 0-250mA can be
connected in-between the positive of the x 250mA
supply and the modulation transformer. = 6watt (the power amplifier draws
Adjust VC1, VC2 and VC3 for maximum 250mA current).
current through ammeter (CW-200mA, DC power input (AM mode) = 24V x
AM-125mA). The power input in CW and 120mA
AM mode is calculated as shown below: = 2.8watt (the power amplifier draws
DC power input (CW mode) = 24V 120mA current).
ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 19 199
 A HIERARCHICAL PRIORITY ENCODER
A
normal priority encoder encodes
only the highest-order data line.
But in many situations, not only
the highest but the second-highest
priority information is also needed. The
circuit presented here encodes both
the highest-priority information as well
as the second-highest priority information
of an 8-line incoming data. The circuit
uses the standard octal priority encoder
74148 that is an 8-line-to-3-line (4-2-1)
binary encoder with active-‘low’ data in-
puts and outputs.
The first encoder (IC1) generates the
highest-priority value, say, F. The active-
‘low’ output (A0, A1, A2) of IC1 is in-
verted by gates N9 through N11 and fed
to a 3-line-to-8-line decoder (74138) that
requires active-‘high’ inputs. The decoded
outputs are active-‘low’. The decoder iden-
tifies the highest-priority data line and
that data value is cancelled using XNOR
gates (N1 through N8) to retain the sec-
ond-highest priority value that is gener-
ated by the second encoder.
To understand the logic, let the in-
coming data lines be denoted as L0 to L7.
Lp is the highest-priority line (active-‘low’)
and Lq the second-highest priority line
ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 22
(active-‘low’). Thus Lp=0 and Lq=0. All
lines above Lp and also between Lp and
Lq (denoted as Lj) are at logic 1. All lines
below Lq logic state are irrelevant, i.e.
‘don’t care’. Here p is the highest-priority
value and q the second-highest-priority
value. (Obviously, q has to be lower than
p, and the minimum possible value for p
is taken as ‘1’.)
Priority encoder IC1 generates binary
output F2, F1, F0, which represents the
value of p in active-‘low’ format. The
complemented F2, F1, and F0 are ap-
plied to 3-line-to-8-line (one out of eight
outputs is active-‘low’) decoder 74138. Let
the output lines of 74138 be denoted as
M0 through M7. Now only one line is
active-‘low’ among M0 through M7, and
that is Mp (where the value of p is ex-
plained as above). Therefore the logic level
of line Mp is ‘0’ and that of all other M
lines ‘1’.
The highest-priority line is cancelled
using eight XNOR gates as shown in the
figure. Let the output lines from XNOR
gates be N0 through N7. Consider inputs
Lp and Mp of the corresponding XNOR
gate. Since Mp = 0 and also Lp = 0, the
output of this XNOR gate is Np = comple-
ment of Lp = 1. All other L’s are not
changed because the corresponding M’s
are all 1’s. Thus data lines N0 through N7
are same as L0 through L7, except that
the highest-priority level in L0 through
L7 is cancelled in N0 through N7.
The highest-priority level in N0
through N7 is the second-highest priority
leftover from L0 through L7, i.e. Nq=0 and
Nj=1 for q<j≤7. Now these N lines are ap-
plied to priority encoder 2 (IC3) to gener-
ate S2, S1, S0, which represent q. Thus
the second-highest priority value is ex-
tracted. Through cascading one can re-
cover the third-highest priority, and so on.
For example, let L0 through L7 = X X
X 0 1 1 0 1. Here the highest ‘0’ line is L6
and the next highest is L3 (X denotes
‘don’t care’). Thus p=6 and q=3. Now the
active-‘low’ output of the first priority en-
coder will be F2 F1 F0 = 0 0 1. The input
to 74138 is 1 1 0 and it outputs M0
through M7 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1. Since M6=0,
only L6 is complemented by XNOR gates.
Thus the outputs of XNORs are N0
through N7 = X X X 0 1 1 1 1. Now N3=0
and the highest priority for ‘N’ is 3. This
value is recovered by priority encoder 2
(IC3) as S2 S1 S0 = 1 0 0.
 ACCURATE ELECTRONIC
STOP-WATCH
H
ere is a simple circuit which
can be used as an accurate
stop-watch to count up to 100
seconds with a resolution of 0.01 second
or up to 1000 seconds with a resolution of
0.1 second. This stop-watch can be used for
sports and similar other activities.
A 1MHz crystal generates stable
frequency which is divided by two stages
of 74390 ICs (dual decade counter) and
another stage employing 7490 (decade
counter) IC to obtain a final frequency of
100 Hz or 10 Hz. Due to the use of crystal,
the final frequency is very accurate.
The output of IC4 (7490) is counted
and displayed using IC5 74C926 (4-digit
counter with multiplexed 7-segment LED
driver). Due to multiplexed display the
power consumption is very low. Switch S2
(2-pole, 2-way) is used to select appropri-
ate input frequency and corresponding
decimal point position to display up to
either 99.99 seconds or 999.9 seconds
maximum count.
For proper operation, first press
switch S3 (reset) and then operate switch
S2, according to the resolution/range
desired (0.1 sec. or 0.01 sec.)/(100 seconds
or 1000 seconds). Now to start counting,
press switch S1. To stop counting, press
switch S1 again. The counting will stop
and display will show the correct time
elapsed since the start of counting.
ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 19 195
CMYK
CIRCUIT
IDEAS
ATMEL AVR ISP DONGLE
„ EFY LAB
A
tmel’s AVR microcontroller
chips are in-system program-
mable (ISP), i.e. these can be
programmed directly in the target cir-
cuit. A special programmer software
is used to download the program from
the PC into the AVR’s flash memory.
Atmel offers a software package called
the Atmel AVR ISP that allows pro-
gramming of the AVR microcontrollers
in the circuit using a simple dongle. A
dongle is nothing but an adaptor cable
that connects the PC’s parallel port
with the ISP pins of the AVR chip for
programming.
For programming, the four lines re-
quired from the AVR chip to the ISP
adaptor (dongle) are:
1. MOSI (Master Out, Slave In):
Data being transmitted to the AVR be-
ing programmed is sent on this pin
2. MISO (Master In, Slave Out):
Data received from the AVR being pro-
100 • FEBRUARY 2005 • ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
grammed is sent on this pin
3. SCK (Shift Clock): Serial clock
generated by the programmer from the
PC.
4. RST (Reset): Reset (low pulse)
generated by the program. The AVR
is programmed while in reset state.
Here’s a dongle circuit for in-sys-
tem programming of Atmel’s AVR chip
AT90S8515 using such software pack-
ages as Atmel ISP 2.65 and
PonyProg2000. Though not exactly the
same, a similar dongle circuit can be
found at the Website ‘www.iready.org/
projects/uinternet/ispdongle.pdf.’
The PC’s parallel-port pins 4 and
5 drive buffer IC 74LS244 by enabling
its pins 19 and 1, respectively. A low
pulse on these pins will allow the
passing of the serial clock and data
during programming. MOSI, LED,
SCK and RST outputs are buffered
from the parallel port’s pins 7, 8, 6
and 9, respectively. The MISO input
from the AVR is fed into pin 10 of the
SANI TH
EO
parallel port.
IC 74LS244 (IC1) acts as a buffer as
well as an isolator circuit when the
AVR is not in programming mode. In
idle mode, all the outputs are tristated
so as not to affect the operation of the
target system.
When the AVR’s ISP mode is se-
lected, the lower half of IC 74LS244
is enabled, pulling the target system’s
Reset line low. Once the target
system is in Reset mode, the SCK,
MISO and MOSI lines are no longer
loaded by the peripheral circuitry, if
any, on the target system. Now, it is
safe to enable the upper half of
74LS244, driving the MOSI, LED and
SCK lines of the dongle. The RST pin
becomes high after the AVR is pro-
grammed. Glowing of LED2 indicates
that the AVR is in programming mode.
There are two standard connectors
for in-system programming of Atmel
AVR microcontroller. One is the 10-
pin header (dual-in-line (DIL) connec-
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
CMYK
tor)) used on the Atmel STK kits. The
other is a 6-pin header (DIL connec-
tor) used in Atmel ISPs. The two loop-
back connections, pin 2-to-pin 12 and
pin 3-to-pin 11 of the parallel port, are
used to identify the dongle. With only
pin 2-to-pin 12 link, the dongle is
called STK300 or AVR ISP dongle.
With only pin 3-to-pin 11 link, the
dongle is called STK200 or old Kanda
ISP dongle. With both links in place,
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
the dongle is identified as a value-
added pack dongle.
Here, we’ve used an 8-pin single-in-
line (SIL) connector and an additional
6-pin SIL connector for the Atmel pro-
gramer circuit. With the buffer and the
40-pin ZIF socket in this circuit, it can be
used as a standalone programmer. The
6-pin SIL male connector is used for
connection between the dongle and the
AVR on the target board. Thus, another
CIRCUIT
IDEAS
6-line cable of about 30cm length is
required for connecting this ISP adap-
tor (dongle) to the target circuit.
If the AVR is not on the target cir-
cuit, you can insert the AVR into the
ZIF socket and program it. Regulated
5V DC is required for the AVR and
the associated dongle circuit, whose
terminals are also provided in connec-
tor CON4. LED1 is used as the power
indicator for the circuit. z
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU • FEBRUARY 2005 • 101
CMYK
CIRCUIT
IDEAS
AUDIO AMPLIFIER FOR
PERSONAL STEREO
„ M. VENK ATESWAR AN
TESWARAN
I
n the output stages of most broad-
cast receivers and some amplifiers,
there is a limit up to which maxi-
mum power can be developed with-
out distortion. In the widely accepted
output circuit, two output transistors
are connected in series between the
positive and ground and biasing is ad-
justed so that each transistor gets half
the supply voltage.
The circuit presented here is a
simple audio amplifier for a personal
stereo system. In this, supply voltage
to each transistor can be enhanced to
produce a larger output. The audio
driver transformer drives the transis-
tors adequately.
A 9V-0-9V, 300mA transformer has
been used in the set-up. Out of
the four diodes (D1 through D4), two
are used for developing the positive
voltage rail (+9V) and the other
two are used for developing the
negative voltage rail (–9V). In the
76 • JANUARY 2005 • ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
pushpull amplifier, each transistor (T2
or T3) gets double the voltage when
activated.
Connect the low audio signal from
the stereo system at input terminals A
and B of the audio amplifier and pro-
vide mains AC to activate the circuit.
During the first half cycle of an AF
cycle, transistor T2 conducts and the
current flows from positive rail to
ground rail (centre tap of transformer
X1) via the loudspeaker coil (connected
between the emitter of transistor T2
and ground) in one direction. While
in the second half cycle, transistor T3
conducts and the current flows from
ground rail to negative rail via the
loudspeaker coil (connected between
ground and the collector of transistor
T3) in a direction opposite to the pre-
vious flow.
Transistors T2 and T3 of the
pushpull audio amplifier should
be matched correctly. If these transis-
tors get heated, change the bleeding
resistor pairs (R3 and R4 for transis-
S.C. DW
IVEDI
tor T2 and R5 and R7 for transistor
T3) so that the acceptable output
without overheating is obtained.
You can also replace these transistors
with another pair of suitable high-
power transistors.
For driving transistors T2 and T3,
a 9V audio driver transformer having
six leads is used. It is readily available
in the market and reasonably matches
the output and input impedances of
the preceeding and succeeding stages.
To test the quality of the audio
output, connect the stereo’s outputs
to the respective terminals A and B.
Now increase the volume level of
the stereo slowly. If you get a
high-level, high-quality sound across
loudspeaker L1, the amplifier is
working well. If the sound quality is
not good, decrease the volume level
until the audio amplifier gives good
results.
Note that this audio amplifier
works well for low-level audio
signals. z
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Auto Reset Over/Under
Voltage Cut-Out
T
his over/under voltage cut-out
will save your costly electrical
and electronic appliances from
the adverse effects of very high and
The circuit utilises comparator 2
for control while comparator 1 output
(connected to reset pin R) is kept low
by shorting pins 5 and 6 of 555 IC. The
positive input pin of comparator 2 is
at 1/3rd of Vcc voltage. Thus as long as
negative input pin 2 is less positive
than 1/3 Vcc, comparator 2 output is
high and the internal flip-flop is set,
i.e. its Q output (pin 3) is high. At
the same time pin 7 is in high imped-
ance state and LED connected to pin
128 ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 20
J. Gopalakrishnan
very low mains voltages. inside 555 timer ICs. Supply is tapped
The circuit features auto reset and from different points of the power sup-
utilises easily available components. It ply circuit for relay and control circuit
makes use of the comparators available operation to achieve reliability.
7 is therefore serving that LED2 just extinguishes
off. The out- when the mains voltage is slightly
put (at pin 3) less than 270V AC. With RESET
reverses (goes pin 4 of IC2 high, the output pin 3 is
low) when pin also high. As a result transistor T2
2 is taken more conducts and energises relay RL1,
positive than connecting load to power supply via
1/3 Vcc. At the its N/O contacts. This is the situation
same time pin as long as mains voltage is greater
7 goes low (as than 160V AC but less than 270V AC.
Q output of in- When mains voltage goes beyond
ternal flip-flop 270V AC, it causes output pin 3 of
is high) and IC2 to go low and cut-off transistor T2
the ED con- and de-energise relay RL1, in spite of
nected to pin 7 RESET pin 4 still being high. When
is lit. Both tim- mains voltage goes below 160V AC,
ers (IC1 and IC1’s pin 3 goes high and LED1 is
IC2) are config- extinguished. The high output at pin 3
ured to function in the same fashion. results in conduction of transistor T1.
Preset VR1 is adjusted for under As a result collector of transistor T1
voltage (say 160 volts) cut-out by ob- as also RESET pin 4 of IC2 are pulled
serving that LED1 just lights up when low. Thus output of IC2 goes low
mains voltage is slightly greater than and transistor T2 does not conduct.
160V AC. At this setting the output at As a result relay RL1 is de-energised,
pin 3 of IC1 is low and transistor T1 is which causes load to be disconnected
in cut-off state. As a result RESET pin from the supply. When mains volt-
4 of IC2 is held high since it is connect- age again goes beyond 160V AC (but
ed to Vcc via 100 kilo-ohm resistor R4. less than 270V AC) the relay again
Preset VR2 is adjusted for over energises to connect the load to power
voltage (say 270V AC) cut-out by ob- supply.
CMYK
CIRCUIT
IDEAS
AUTO TURN-OFF
BATTERY CHARGER
„ Y.M. ANANDAVARDHANA
T
his charger for series-connected
4-cell AA batteries automatically
disconnects from mains to stop
charging when the batteries are fully
charged. It can be used to charge par-
tially discharged cells as well.
The circuit is simple and can be
divided into AC-to-DC converter, relay
driver and charging sections.
In the AC-to-DC converter section,
transformer X1 steps down mains 230V
AC to 9V AC at 750 mA, which is rec-
tified by a full-wave rectifier compris-
ing diodes D1 through D4 and filtered
by capacitor C1. Regulator IC LM317
(IC1) provides the required 12V DC
charging voltage. When you press
switch S1 momentarily, the charger
starts operating and the power-on
LED1 glows to indicate that the
charger is ‘on.’
The relay driver section uses pnp
transistors T1, T2 and T3 (each BC558)
96 • FEBRUARY 2005 • ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
S.C. DW
IVEDI
to energise electromagnetic relay RL1.
Relay RL1 is connected to the collec-
tor of transistor T1. Transistor T1 is
driven by pnp transistor T2, which, in
turn, is driven by pnp transistor T3.
Resistor R4 (10-ohm, 0.5W) is con-
nected between the emitter and base
of transistor T3.
When a current of over 65 mA
flows through the 12V line, it causes a
voltage drop of about 650 mV across
resistor R4 to drive transistor T3 and
cut off transistor T2. This, in turn, turns
transistor T1 ‘on’ to energise relay RL1.
Now even if the pushbutton is re-
leased, mains is still available to the
primary of the transformer through its
normally open (N/O) contacts.
In the charging section, regulator
IC1 is biased to give about 7.35V. Pre-
set VR1 is used for adjusting the bias
voltage. Diode D6 connected between
the output of IC1 and battery limits
the output voltage to about 6.7V,
which is used for charging the battery.
Pushing switch S1 latches relay
RL1 and the battery cells start charg-
ing. As the voltage per cell increases
beyond 1.3V, the voltage drop across
resistor R4 starts decreasing. When it
falls below 650 mV, transistor T3 cuts
off to drive transistor T2 and, in turn,
cuts off transistor T3. As a result, re-
lay RL1 de-energises to cut off the
charger and red LED1 turns off.
You may determine the charging
voltage depending on the NiCd cell
specifications by the manufacturer.
Here, we’ve set the charging voltage
at 7.35V for four 1.5V cells. Nowadays,
700mAH cells are available in the mar-
ket, which can be charged at 70 mA
for 10 hours. The open-circuit voltage
is about 1.3V.
The shut-off voltage point is deter-
mined by charging the four cells fully
(at 70 mA for 14 hours). After measur-
ing the output voltage, add the diode
drop (about 0.65V) and bias LM317 ac-
cordingly. z
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 Automatic Dual-
output Display
T
his circuit lights up ten bulbs an oscillator. The output of this oscillator
sequentially, first in one direction is used as a clock for BCD up/down coun-
and then in the opposite direction, ter CD4510 (IC2).
thus presenting a nice visual effect. Depending on the logic state at its
In this circuit, gates N1 and N2 form pin 10, the counter counts up or down.
During count up operation, pin 7 of IC2
outputs an active low pulse on reaching
the ninth count. Similarly, during count-
down operation, you again get a low-going
pulse at pin 7.

This terminal count output from pin
7, after inversion by gate N3, is con-
nected to clock pin 14 of decade counter
IC3 (CD4017) which is configured here
as a toggle flip-flop by returning its Q2
output at pin 4 to reset pin 15. Thus
output at pin 3 of IC3 goes to logic 1 and
logic 0 state alternately at each terminal
count of IC2.
Initially, pin 3 (Q0) of IC3 is high
and the counter is in count-up state. On
reaching ninth count, pin 3 of IC3 goes
low and as a result IC2 starts counting
down. When the counter reaches 0 count,
Q2 output of IC3 momentarily goes high to
reset it, thus taking pin 3 to logic 1 state,
and the cycle repeats.
The BCD outputs of IC2 are con-
nected to 1-of-10 decoder CD4028 (IC4).
During count-up operation of IC2, the
outputs of IC4 go logic high sequentially
from Q0 to Q9 and thus trigger the tri-
acs and lighting bulbs 1 through 10,
one after the other. Thereafter, during
count-down operation of IC2, the bulbs
light in the reverse order, presenting a
wonderful visual effect.

ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 20

 CIRCUIT
IDEAS
AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY LIGHT
 PRIYANK MUDGAL
T
his emergency light has the
following two advantages:
1. It turns on automatically
when the mains power fails, so you
need not search it in the dark.
2. Its battery starts charging as soon
as the mains resumes.
Operation of the circuit is quite
straightforward. Mains supply is
114 • MARCH 2007 • ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
stepped down by transformer X1, rec-
tified by a full-wave rectifier compris-
ing diodes D1 and D2, filtered by ca-
pacitor C1 and fed to relay coil RL1.
The relay energises to connect the bat-
tery to the charging circuit through its
normally-opened (N/O) contacts. Free-
wheeling diode D3 acts as a spike
buster for the relay.
The charging circuit is built around
npn transistor BD139 (T1). The trans-
S.C. DW
IVEDI
former output is fed to the collector of
transistor T1, which provides a fixed
bias voltage of 6.8V to charge the bat-
tery. When the battery is fully charged,
the battery voltage becomes equal to
the breakdown voltage
of the zener diode
(ZD1). Zener diode ZD1
conducts to provide an
alternative path for the
current to ground and
battery charging stops.
When mains fails,
relay RL1 de-energises.
The battery now gets
connected to the white
LED array (comprising
LED1 through LED6)
through current-limit-
ing resistor R2. The
LEDs glow to light up the room. To
increase the brightness in your room,
you can increase the number of white
LEDs after reducing the value of resis-
tor R2 and also use a reflector assem-
bly. 
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY TORCH
J
ust don’t think that this is yet
another addition to other emer-
gency light circuits published in
EFY earlier. This circuit is a hit different.
Its main features are:
1. Very reliable operation.
2. As transformer is not used, it is
compact and cost-effective.
3. The torch bulb glows automatically
at power off and goes out on restoration
of power.
4. Since Ni-Cd battery is used, no
maintenance is required. Also, battery life
is very long, nearly 4-5 years (though this
depends on frequency of usage and also on
ampere-hour rating of the battery used).
Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Read on
then. The circuit is very simple, compris- charges the battery through resistor R4 and 3. Collector voltage must be 2.0V
ing just a handful of components. This LED D5 combination at about 50mA rate. to 2.2V, i.e. nearly equal to the battery
implies that the circuit operation also is The glowing LED (D5) also gives an indica- voltage.
very simple. The circuit consists of two tion of mains presence. Further, due to the All above voltages should be checked
parts: LED (D5), base of transistor T1 is about with AC mains off. If any of the above-
1. Power supply for charging the Ni- 1.6V (drop across D5) more positive than its mentioned voltages is absent it indicates
Cd battery. emitter. This voltage is more than sufficient that the transistor is bad and it should be
2. Switchover circuit which detects to keep the transistor at cut-off. replaced by a good one.
mains failure and switches the bulb ‘on’. As soon as the mains voltage fails, the Here is a word of caution now. Since
In the power supply section, capacitors base of transistor T1 is pulled low through the circuit is not isolated from AC mains. it
C1 and C2 function as non-dissipating, re- resistor R3 which drives transistor T1 to may be hazardous to touch any component
active impedances which limit the current saturation thereby turning the bulb ‘on’. when the mains supply is on, especially
to a safe value. With the values of capaci- Since the transistor is in its saturated if the supply wires (live and neutral) get
tors as shown, the maximum current that state, the voltage drop across it is very interchanged. It is strongly recommended
can be drawn is limited to about 70 mA low. Hence the bulb glows with full bril- to use an all-plastic enclosure (including
at 230V AC. Resistor R2 limits the initial liance. The bulb can be switched off by the reflector for the bulb) for the circuit.
surge current and resistor R1 assists in the ON/OFF switch, when not required. Also the ON/OFF switch used should have
discharging the capacitors after switch off. With this bulb (2.2V, 250mA) the torch can a plastic lever. Take proper care and pre-
Diodes D1 through D4 form a conventional work continuously for about two hours. cautions while building, testing and using
bridge rectifier while capacitor C3 is the The batteries should be charged for about the circuit, and never ever allow the supply
filter capacitor. Fuse F1 is for protection 14 hours after they are discharged. wires to interchange. It is advisable to pro-
and is very helpful in the event of any You can verify following voltages in vide a plug for the mains input on the box
component giving up the ghost. This sup- the circuit: itself so that it can be plugged directly into
ply charges the battery as long as mains 1. Base voltage of the transistor must a mains outlet. This reduces the chances of
is present. be 1.8V to 2.0V, i.e. about 0.6V less than mains supply wires getting interchanged.
In the ‘switchover’ section, transistor the battery voltage. With proper precautions and a little
T1 is used as switch. Normally, when AC 2. Emitter voltage must be equal to the care, it is hoped that this small circuit will
mains supply is present, the rectifier output battery voltage. help make life a bit more comfortable.

178 ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 19

 Automatic Room Power
Control
A
n ordinary automatic room power
control circuit has only one light
sensor. So when a person enters
the room it gets one pulse and the lights
come ‘on.’ When the person goes out it gets
another pulse and the lights go ‘off.’ But
what happens when two persons enter
the room, one after the other? It gets two
pulses and the lights remain in ‘off’ state.
The circuit described here overcomes
the above-mentioned problem. It has a
small memory which enables it to auto-
matically switch ‘on’ and switch ‘off’ the
lights in a desired fashion.
The circuit uses two LDRs which are
placed one after another (separated by a
distance of say half a metre) so that they
may separately sense a person going into
the room or coming out of the room.
Outputs of the two LDR sensors, after
processing, are used in conjunction with a
bicolour LED in such a fashion that when
a person gets into the room it emits green
light and when a person goes out of the
room it emits red light, and vice versa.
These outputs are simultaneously applied
to two counters.
One of the counters will count as +1,
+2, +3 etc when persons are coming into
the room and the other will count as -1,
-2, -3 etc when persons are going out
of the room. These counters make use
of Johnson decade counter CD4017 ICs.
The next stage comprises two logic ICs
which can combine the outputs of the two
counters and determine if there is any
person still left in the room or not.
Since in the circuit LDRs have been
used, care should be taken to protect them
from ambient light. If desired, one may
use readily available IR sensor modules
to replace the LDRs. The sensors are in-
stalled in such a way that when a person
enters or leaves the room, he intercepts
the light falling on them sequentially—one
after the other.
When a person enters the room, first
he would obstruct the light falling on
LDR1, followed by that falling on LDR2.
When a person leaves the room it will be
the other way round.
In the normal case light keeps fall-
ing on both the LDRs, and as such their
resistance is low (about 5 kilo-ohms). As a

ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 20

result, pin 2 of both timers (IC1 and IC2),
which have been configured as monostable
flip-flops, are held near the supply voltage
(+9V).
When the light falling on the LDRs
is obstructed, their resistance becomes
very high and pin 2 voltages drop to near
ground potential, thereby triggering the
flip-flops. Capacitors across pin 2 and
ground have been added to avoid false
triggering due to electrical noise.
When a person enters the room,
LDR1 is triggered first and it results in
triggering of monostable IC1. The
short output pulse immediately charges
up capacitor C5, forward biasing transis-
tor pair T1-T2. But at this instant the
collectors of transistors T1 and T2 are in
high impedance state as IC2 pin 3 is at low
potential and diode D4 is not conducting.
But when the same person pass-
es LDR2, IC2 monostable flip-flop is
triggered. Its pin 3 goes high and this
potential is coupled to transistor pair
T1-T2 via diode D4. As a result transistor
pair T1-T2 conducts because capacitor C5
retains the charge for some time as its
discharge time is controlled by resistor
R5 (and R7 to an extent). Thus green LED
portion of bi-colour LED is lit momentar-
ily.
The same output is also coupled to IC3
for which it acts as a clock. With entry of
each person IC3 output (high state) keeps
advancing. At this stage transistor pair
T3-T4 cannot conduct because output pin
3 of IC1 is no longer positive as its output
pulse duration is quite short and hence
transistor collectors are in high imped-
ance state.
When persons leave the room, LDR2
is triggered first, followed by LDR1.
Since the bottom half portion of circuit is
identical to top half, this time, with the
departure of each person, red portion of bi-
colour LED is lit momentarily and output
of IC4 advances in the same fashion as in
case of IC3.
The outputs of IC3 and those of IC4
(after inversion by inverter gates N1
through N4) are ANDed by AND gates
(A1 through A4) and then wire ORed
(using diodes D5 through D8). The net
effect is that when persons are entering,
the output of at least one of the AND
gates is high, causing transistor T5 to
conduct and energise relay RL1. The bulb
connected to the supply via N/O contact of
relay RL1 also lights up.
When persons are leaving the room,
and till all the persons who entered the
room have left, the wired OR output
continues to remain high, i.e. the bulb
continues to remains ‘on,’ until all persons
who entered the room have left.
The maximum number of persons
that this circuit can handle is limited to
four since on receipt of fifth clock pulse
the counters are reset. The capacity of
the circuit can be easily extended to
handle up to nine persons by removing
the connection of pin 1 from reset pin (15)
and utilising Q1 to Q9 outputs of CD4017
counters. Additional inverters, AND gates
and diodes will, however, be required.
ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 20
CIRCUIT IDEAS
AUTOMATIC SCHOOL BELL
RAJ KUMAR MONDAL
C
onsider that a school has a total of
eight periods with a lunch break
after the fourth period. Each period
is 45 minutes long, while the duration of
the lunch break is 30 minutes.
To ring this automatic school bell to
start the first period, the peon needs to
momentarily press switch S1. Thereafter,
the bell sounds every 45 minutes to indi-
cate the end of consecutive periods, ex-
cept immediately after the fourth period,
when it sounds after 30 minutes to indi-
cate that the lunch break is over. When
the last period is over, LED2 glows to in-
dicate that the bell circuit should now be
switched off manually.
In case the peon has been late to start
the school bell, the delay in minutes can
be adjusted by advancing the time using
switch S3. Each pushing of switch S3 ad-
vances the time by 4.5 minutes. If the
school is closed early, the peon can turn
the bell circuit off by momentarily press-
ing switch S2.
The bell circuit contains timer IC
NE555 (IC1), two CD4017 decade counters
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU OCTOBER 2004
S.C. DWI
(IC2 and IC3) and AND gate CD4081 (IC4).
Timer IC1 is wired as an astable
multivibrator, whose clock output pulses
are fed to IC2. IC2 increases the time
periods of IC1 (4.5 and 3 minutes) by ten
times to provide a clock pulse to IC3 ev-
ery 45 minutes or after 30 minutes, re-
spectively. When the class periods are go-
ing on, the outputs of IC3 switch on tran-
sistors T1 and T2 via diodes D4 through
D12.
Resistors R4 and R5 connected in se-
ries to the emitter of npn transistor T2
decide the 4.5-minute time period of IC1.
The output of IC1 is further connected to
pin 14 of IC2 to provide a period with a
duration of 45 minutes. Similarly, resis-
tors R2 and R3 connected in series to the
emitter of npn transistor T1 decide the 3-
minute time period of IC1, which is fur-
ther given to IC2 to provide the lunch-
break duration of 30 minutes.
Initially, the circuit does not ground
to perform its operation when 12V power
supply is given to the circuit.
When switch S1 is pressed momen-
tarily, a high enough voltage to fire sili-
con-controlled resistor SCR1 appears at its
VED
I
gate. When SCR1 is fired, it provides
ground path to operate the circuit after
resetting both decade counters IC2 and
IC3. At the same time, LED1 glows to in-
dicate that school bell is now active.
When switch S2 is pressed momen-
tarily, the anode of SCR1 is again
grounded and the circuit stops operating.
In this condition, both LED1 and LED2
don’t glow.
When the eighth period is over, Q9
output of IC3 goes high. At this time, tran-
sistors T1 and T2 don’t get any voltage
through the outputs of IC2. As a result, the
astable multivibrator (IC1) stops working.
The school bell sounds for around 8
seconds at the end of each period. One
can increase/decrease the ringing time of
the bell by adding/removing diodes con-
nected in series across pins 6 and 7 of
IC1.
The terminals of the 230V AC
electric bell are connected to the nor-
mally-open (N/O) contact of relay RL1.
The circuit works off a 12V regulated
power supply. However, a battery source
for back-up in case the power fails is also
recommended.
 AUTOMATIC SPEED-CONTROLLER
FOR FANS AND COOLERS
D
uring summer nights, the tem- shall get AC supply directly, and so it shall high, while at low speed, it will run for a
perature is initially quite high. run at top speed. When output Q2 becomes much longer time period when any of the
As time passes, the temperature high and Q1 becomes low, relay RL1 is four outputs Q5 through Q8 is high.
starts dropping. Also, after a person falls turned ‘off’ and relay RL2 is switched ‘on’. If one wishes, one can make the fan
asleep, the metabolic rate of one’s body The fan gets AC through a resistance and run at the three speeds for an equal amount
decreases. Thus, initially the fan/cooler its speed drops to medium value. This con- of time by connecting three decimal
needs to be run at full speed. As time tinues until output Q4 is high. When Q4 decoded outputs of IC3 to each of the
passes, one has to get up again and again goes low and Q5 goes high, relay RL2 is transistors T1 to T3. One can also get
to adjust the speed of the fan or the cooler. switched ‘off’ and relay RL3 is activated. more than three speeds by using an
The device presented here makes the The fan now runs at low speed. additional relay, transistor, and associated
fan run at full speed
for a predetermined
time. The speed is
decreased to medium
after some time, and
to slow later on. Af-
ter a period of about
eight hours, the fan/
cooler is switched off.
Fig. 1 shows the
circuit diagram of
the system. IC1 (555)
is used as an astable
multivibrator to
generate clock
pulses. The pulses
are fed to decade
dividers/counters
formed by IC2 and
IC3. These ICs act as

Throughout the process, pin

divide-by-10 and divide-by-9 counters,
respectively. The values of capacitor C1
and resistors R1 and R2 are so adjusted
that the final output of IC3 goes high
after about eight hours.
The first two outputs of IC3 (Q0 and
Q1) are connected (ORed) via diodes D1
and D2 to the base of transistor T1. Ini-
tially output Q0 is high and therefore
relay RL1 is energised. It remains
energised when Q1 becomes high. The
method of connecting the gadget to the
fan/cooler is given in Figs 3 and 4.
It can be seen that initially the fan
11 of the IC3 is low, so T4 is cut
off, thus keeping T5 in satura-
tion and RL4 ‘on’. At the end of
the cycle, when pin 11 (Q9) be-
comes high, T4 gets saturated
and T5 is cut off. RL4 is switched
‘off’, thus switching ‘off’ the fan/
cooler.
Using the circuit described above, the
fan shall run at high speed for a com-
paratively lesser time when either of Q0
or Q1 output is high. At medium speed, it
will run for a moderate time period when
any of three outputs Q2 through Q4 is
components, and connecting one or more
outputs of IC3 to it.
In the motors used in certain coolers
there are separate windings for separate
speeds. Such coolers do not use a rheostat
type speed regulator. The method of
connection of this device to such coolers is
given in Fig. 4.
The resistors in Figs 2 and 3 are the
tapped resistors, similar to those used in
manually controlled fan-speed regulators.
Alternatively wire-wound resistors of
suitable wattage and resistance can be
used.

194 ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 21

 AUTOMATIC TEMPERATURE
CONTROLLED FAN
H
ere is a circuit through which the
speed of a fan can be linearly con-
trolled automatically, depending
on the room temperature. The circuit is
highly efficient as it uses thyristors for
power control. Alternatively, the same
circuit can be used for automatic tempera-
ture controlled AC power control.
In this circuit, the temperature sensor
used is an NTC thermistor, i.e. one having
a negative temperature coefficient. The
value of thermistor resistance at 25°C is
about 1 kilo-ohm.
Op-amp A1 essentially works as
I to V (current-to-voltage) converter
and converts temperature variations
into voltage variations. To amplify
the change in voltage due to change in
temperature, instrumentation ampli-
fier formed by op-amps A2, A3 and A4
is used. Resistor R2 and zener diode
D1 combination is used for generating
reference voltage as we want to am-
plify only change in voltage due to the
change in temperature.
Op-amp µA741 (IC2) works as a
comparator. One input to the compara-
tor is the output from the instrumen-
tation amplifier while the other input
is the stepped down, rectified and
suitably attenuated sample of AC volt-
age. This is a negative going pulsating
DC voltage. It will be observed that
with increase in temperature, pin 2 of
IC2 goes more and more negative and
hence the width of the positive going
output pulses (at pin 6) increases lin-
early with the temperature. Thus IC2
functions as a pulse width modulator
in this circuit. The output from the
comparator is coupled to an optocou-
pler, which in turn controls the AC
power delivered to fan (load).
The circuit has a high sensitivity and
the output RMS voltage (across load) can
be varied from 120V to 230V (for a temp.
range of 22°C to 36°C), and hence wide
variations in speed are available. Also
note that speed varies linearly and not
in steps. Besides, since an optocoupler is
used, the control circuit is fully isolated
from power circuit, thus providing added
safety. Note that for any given tempera-
ture the speed of fan (i.e. voltage across
load) can be adjusted to a desired value
by adjusting potmeters VR1 and VR2
appropriately.
Potmeter VR1 should he initially kept
in its mid position to realise a gain of ap-
proximately 40 from the instrumentation
amplifier. It may be subsequently trimmed
slightly to obtain linear variation of the
fan speed.
ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 19 189
 CD-ROM Drive as Digital
-audio CD-Player
A
CD-ROM drive can be used as a
stand-alone unit for playing dig-
ital audio CDs without interfacing
with a computer. The stereo output of
CD player available at the audio jack
can be amplified using audio input fa-
cility which is normally available on a
tape-deck/tape-recorder or a stereo
amplifier. Audio socket on front/rear of
the CD-ROM drive is capable of driving
headphones or speakers of less than 500
mW. Proper stereo jacks for interconnec-
tion between CD-ROM drive and tape
deck are available from computer/tape
recorder spares vendors. The principle of
operation is illustrated here with the help
of block diagram.
The 4-pin power supply socket avail-
able at the rear of a CD-ROM player is
meant for +5V, ground (two middle pins)
and +12V inputs. The power supply can be since it has self-contained power supply is routed using a yellow wire and
easily derived using a conventional power circuit inside. for +5V a red wir is used, while for
supply circuit as shown in the figure. If While there may be minor differ- ground black wires are used with the sup-
you have an external CD-ROM drive, it ences amongst the available CD-ROM ply connector.
can be simply plugged into the mains drives’ external controls, a typical Once the power supply has been
drive’s controls are shown in connected correctly, you will notice
the figure here. Please ensure that LED indicator on the drive starts
that a proper power supply con- flashing. Now the digital audio CD can
nector available from computer be loaded after pushing the eject but-
spare parts vendor is used for ton. A second push of the same button
connection to CD-ROM drive. causes retraction of CD carriage into the
To identify +5V and +12V pins drive. One can change the track (song)
on the drive connector, please on the CD using play switch on the
note that in the computer +12V CD-ROM drive.

ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 20


FLASHING BEACON
ASHOK K. DOCTOR
A
flashing beacon has many uses. It
can be employed as a distress sig-
nal on highways or as a direction
pointer for parking lots, hospitals, hotels,
etc. Here we present a flashing beacon
that uses well-known regulator IC LM317T.
As LM317T regulator can deliver more than
1 amp. A small 12V, 10W bulb with a
high-quality reflector can serve as a good
visible blinker.
A 12-15V, 1A DC supply is connected
to the input pin of the IC. A 12V, 10W
bulb and a combination of resistors and
capacitors are connected between the out-
put pin and ADJ pin of the IC as shown in
CIRCUIT IDEAS
S.C.
DWI
VED
I
the figure. The IC is pro-
vided with an aluminium
heat-sink to dissipate the
heat generated while deliv-
ering full current. Since the
IC has an inbuilt switch-on
current limiter, it extends
the bulb life.
For the shown values
of resistors and capacitors,
the bulb flashes at approxi-
mately 4 cycles per second.
The number of flashes de-
pends on the charge-dis-
charge time of the capaci-
tors. Different values of resistors and ca- crease the number of flashes.
pacitors can be used to increase or de- This circuit costs around Rs 50.
NOVEMBER 2002 ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
 CIRCUIT IDEAS
CLAP SWITCH
MOHAMMAD USMAN QURESHI
H
ere’s a clap switch free from false
triggering. To turn on/off any ap
pliance, you just have to clap
twice. The cir-cuit changes its output state
only when you clap twice within the set
time period. Here, you’ve to clap within 3
seconds.
The clap sound sensed by condenser
microphone is amplified by transistor T1.
The amplified signal provides negative pulse
to pin 2 of IC1 and IC2, triggering both the
ICs. IC1, commonly used as a timer, is
wired here as a monostable multivibrator.
Trigging of IC1 causes pin 3 to go high and
it remains high for a certain time period
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU MAY 2003
S.C.
DWI
VED
depending on the selected values of R7 and
C3. This ‘on’ time (T) of IC1 can be calcu-
lated using the following relationship:
T=1.1R7.C3
seconds
where R7 is in ohms and C3 in microfar-
ads.
On first clap, output pin 3 of IC1 goes
high and remains in this standby position
for the preset time. Also, LED1 glows for
this period. The output of IC1 provides
supply voltage to IC2 at its pins 8 and 4.
Now IC2 is ready to receive the triggering
signal. Resistor R10 and capacitor C7 con-
nected to pin 4 of IC2 prevent false trig-
gering when IC1 provides the supply volt-
age to IC2 at first clap.
On second clap, a negative pulse trig-
gers IC2 and its output pin 3 goes high for
a time period depending on R9 and C5.
This provides a positive pulse at clock pin
14 of decade counter IC 4017 (IC3). De-
cade counter IC3 is wired here as a
bistable.
Each pulse applied at clock pin 14
changes the output state at pin 2 (Q1) of
IC3 because Q2 is connected to reset pin
15. The high output at pin 2 drives transis-
tor T2 and also energises relay RL1. LED2
indicates activation of relay RL1 and on/off
status of the appliance. A free-wheeling
diode (D1) prevents damage of T2 when
relay de-energises.
This circuit costs around Rs 80.
 Colour Sensor
C
olour sensor is an interesting
project for hobbyists. The circuit
can sense eight colours, i.e. blue,
green and red (primary colours); magenta,
yellow and cyan (secondary colours); and
black and white. The circuit is based on
the fundamentals of optics and digital
electronics.
The object whose colour is required
to be detected should be placed in front
of the system. The light rays reflected
from the object will fall on the three
convex lenses which are fixed in front
of the three LDRs. The convex lenses
are used to converge light rays. This
helps to increase the sensitivity of
LDRs.
Blue, green and red glass plates
(filters) are fixed in front of LDR1, LDR2
and LDR3 respectively. When reflected
light rays from the object fall on the
gadget, the coloured filter glass plates
determine which of the LDRs would get
triggered. The circuit makes use of only
‘AND’ gates and ‘NOT’ gates.
When a primary coloured light ray
falls on the system, the glass plate cor-
responding to that primary colour will
allow that specific light to pass through.
But the other two glass plates will not
allow any light to pass through. Thus 13
only one LDR will get triggered and the
gate output corresponding to that LDR
will become logic 1 to indicate which
colour it is.
Similarly, when a secondary coloured
light ray falls on the system, the two
primary glass plates corresponding to the
mixed colour will allow that light to pass
through while the remaining one will not
allow any light ray to pass through it. As
a result two of the LDRs get triggered and
the gate output corresponding to these 1. Potmeters VR1, VR2 and VR3 may The coloured glass filter should be fixed
will become logic 1 and indicate which be used to adjust the sensitivity of the in front of the LDR as shown in the
colour it is. LDRs. figure. Make three of that kind and
When all the LDRs get triggered or 2. Common ends of the LDRs should fix them in a suitable case. Adjust-
remain untriggered, you will observe be connected to positive supply. ments are critical and the gadget perform-
white and black light indications respec- 3. Use good quality light filters. ance would depend upon its proper fabri-
tively. Following points may be carefully The LDR is mounded in a tube, cation and use of correct filters as well as
noted: behind a lens, and aimed at the object. light conditions.

ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 20

 COMPUTERISED MORSE CODE
GENERATOR / TRANSMITTER
PUNERJOT SINGH MANGAT

T
he circuit given here can
be used to send telegraph-
ic messages via compu-
ter. The message data entered
through the computer keyboard is
converted to corresponding Morse
code and transmitted via the cir-
cuit attached to any IBM compat-
ible computer’s printer port.
Morse code pulses from the
computer appearing at pin 3
of the 25-pin parallel port are
routed to the base of transistor
T1(CL100) which in turn switches
on the audio frequency oscillator
built around IC1 (NE555) for the
duration of each pulse. The frequency of As stated earlier, this circuit is con- various characters appears under the
the oscillator can be varied by adjusting nected to the parallel port of the PC. Only function ‘write(ch)’ of the program wherein
potmeters VR1 (20 kilo-ohm) and VR2 (50 pins 3 and 25 of the ‘D’ connector are used. ‘di’ represents a short duration pulse and
kilo-ohm). Pin 3 corresponding to data bit D1 of port ‘da’ represents a long duration pulse. The
The audio output from pin 3 of IC 378(hex) carries the Morse Code data from program is interactive and permits varia-
(NE555) is connected to an FM transmit- the computer to the circuit while pin 25 tion of speed. The program can be modified
ter comprising transistor T2 (BF194B) and serves as common ground. to read and transmit the text files or one
the associated components. The frequency The circuit should be powered by +5 can even make a TSR (terminate and-stay-
of the transmitter can be changed with volts regulated power supply. It should resident) program.
the help of trimmer capacitor VC1 or by be fixed inside a metal box to reduce in- It is hoped that this circuit idea
changing the number of turns of coil L1. terference. would prove to be of great value to the
The FM modulated signal is coupled to The program, written in TURBO government’s telecom department, defence
a short-wire antenna via capacitor C7. The PASCAL 7.0, accepts the message via services, coast guard, merchant navy and
signal can be received using any ready- the keyboard, converts it to correspond- amateur radio operators as well as all
made FM receiver tuned to the frequency ing Morse code and sends the code to pin those who make use of Morse code for
of the transmitter. 3 of the printer port. The Morse code of message transmission.

PROGRAM LISTING IN TURBO PASCAL 7.0

{$M $450,0,0} procedure di; START:
uses crt,dos: begin clrscr;
label port[$378]:=2; color(11,1);
main,endpro,output,message,startmessage, delay(pause); gotoxy(15,4);
speedselect,fileiput,dosshell port[$378]:=0; write(‘PUNJABl UNIVERSITY PATIALA-147002‘);
,start; delay(pause); gotoxy(1,7);
var end; color(10,3);
s:array [1..14] of string [76]: procedure da; gotoxy(10,18);
pause,x,y,i,b:integer; begin write(‘==========================’);
sl:slring[l]: port[$378]:=2; gotoxy(10,19);
ch:char: delay(pause*3); write(‘Fl = Increase Speed ‘);
procedure color{a,b:integer); port[$378]:=0; gotoxy(10,20);
begin delay(pause); write(‘F2 = Decrease Speed ‘);
textcolor(a); end; gotoxy(10,21);
textbackground(b); begin write(‘F3 = Output to Device ‘);
end; pause:=100; gotoxy(10,22);

190 ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 19

write(‘F4 = Message Input ‘); begin if ch=’Y’ then begin da; di; da; da; end else
gotoxy(10,23); if y=1 then goto message; if ch==’Z’ then begin da; da; di; di; end else
write(‘F5 = Dosshell y:=y-1; if ch=’1' then begin di; da; da; da; da; end else
‘); x:=76; if ch=’2' then begin di; di; da; da; da; end
gotoxy(10,24); end else
write(‘F6 = Quit ‘); else if ch=’3' then begin di; di; di; da; da; end else
gotoxy(10,25); x:=x-1; if ch=’4' then begin di; di; di; di; da; end else
write(‘==========================’); delete(s[y],length(s[y]),1); if ch=’5' then begin di; di; di; di; di; end else
color(14,1); gotoxy(x,y); if ch=’6' then begin da; di; di; di; di; end else
gotoxy(25,2); write(‘ ‘); if ch=’7' then begin da; da; di; di; di; end else
write(‘PROGRAMMED BY’); gotoxy(x,y); if ch=’8' then begin da; da; da; di; di; end else
gotoxy(21,3); goto message: if ch=’9' then begin da; da; da; da; di; end else
write(‘PUNERJOT SINGH MANGAT’); end; if ch=’0' then begin da; da; da; da; da; end else
color(10,3); if(x=76) and (y=14) then goto message; if ch=’.’ then begin di; da; di; da; di; da; end else
gotoxy(26,17); write(ch); if ch=’;’ then begin da; di; da; di; da; di; end else
write(‘CONTROLS ‘); s[y]:=(s[y]+ch); it ch=’:’ then begin da; da; da; di; di; di; end else
gotoxy(35,19); goto message; if ch=’,’ then begin da; da; di; di; da; da; end else
write(‘SPEED’); end; if ch= ” ‘ then begin di; da; di; di; da; di; end else
color(10,3); OUTPUT: if ch=’?’ then begin di; di; da; da; di; di; end else
gotoxy(35,20); begin if ch=’-’ then begin da; di; di; di; di; da; end else
write(pause); gotoxy(2,25); if ch=’_’ then begin di; di; da; da; di; da; end else
MAIN: write(‘ Sending output to the MorseDevice... if ch=’/’ then begin da; di; di; da; di; end else
window(1,1,80,25); Press any key to stop... ‘); if (ch=#39) or (ch=#96) then begin di; da; da;
gotoxy(2,25); color(12,1); da; da; di; end else
color(0,7); window(3,2,78,15); if (ch=’(‘) or (ch=’)’)then begin da; di; da; da;
write(‘Waiting for the command... ‘); clrscr; di; da; end else
ch:=readkey; for i:= 1 to y do if ch=’ ‘then delay(pause*6);
if ch=#0 then begin if key pressed then goto main;
begin for x:= 1 to length(s[i]) do end;
ch:=readkey; begin end;
if (ch=#59) or (ch=#60) then goto speedselect s1:=(copy(s[i],x,1)); goto main;
else ch:=upcase(s1[1]); end;
if ch=#61 then goto output else delay(pause*2); SPEEDSELECT;
if ch=#62 then goto startmessage else write(ch); begin
if ch=#63 then goto dosshell else if ch=’A’ then begin di; da; end else if(ch=#59)and(pause>50) then pause: =
if ch=#64 then goto endpro; if ch=’B’ then begin da; di; di; di; end else pause+2;
end; if ch=’C’ then begin da; di; da; di; end else if(ch= =#60) and (pause < 190) then pause: =
goto main; if ch=’D’ then begin da; di; di; end else pause - 2;
STARTMESSAGE: if ch=’E’ then begin di; end else color(10,3);
begin if ch=’F’ then begin di; di; da; di; end else gotoxy(35,20);
gotoxy(2,25); if ch=’G’ then begin da; da; di; end else write1n(pause,’ ‘);
write (‘ Enter the message and press ENTER if ch=’H’ then begin di; di; di; di; end else goto main;
KEY...’); if ch=’I’ then begin di; di; end else end;
color(12,1); if ch=’J’ then begin di; da; da; da; end else DOSSHELL:
window(3,2,78,15); if ch=’K’ then begin da; di; da; end else begin
clrscr; if ch=’L’ then begin di; da; di; di; end else color(7,0);
for x:= 1 to 14 do s[x]:=’ ‘ ; if ch=’M’ then begin da; da; end else clrscr;
i:0;x:=1;y:=1;b:=0: if ch=’N’ then begin da; di; end else write1n(‘Type EXIT to return to pro-
end: if ch=’O’ then begin da; da; da; end else gramme...’);
MESSAGE: if ch=’P’ then begin di; da; da; di; end else swapvectors;
begin if ch=’Q’ then begin da; da; di; da; end else exec(getenv(‘comspec’),”);
x:=wherex; if ch=’R’ then begin di; da; di; end else swapvectors;
y:=wherey; if ch=’S’ then begin di; di; di; end else goto start;
ch:=readkey; if ch=’T’ then begin da; end else end;
if ch=#13 then goto main; if ch=’U’ then begin di; di; da; end else ENDPRO:
if ch=#8 then if ch=’V’ then begin di; di; di; da; end else color(7,0);
begin if ch=’W’ then begin di; da; da; end else clrscr;
if x=1 then if ch=’X’ then begin da; di; di; da; end else end.

ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 19 191


PC INTERFACED AUDIO
PLAYBACK DEVICE: M-PLAYER
N.V. VENKATARAYALU AND M. SOMASUNDARAM
S Hardware
ounds of various kinds have always
fascinated human beings. Many de-
vices have been invented for re-
cording and playing back the sounds—
from magnetic tapes to DVD (digital ver-
satile disc), from Adlib cards to high-per-
formance sound cards with ‘surround
sound’ capability. For personal comput-
ers (PCs), there is a wide variety of such
devices. A modern PC, generally, has a
‘Sound Blaster’ card installed in it. If your
PC does not have a sound card, here is
a low-cost audio playback circuit with
bass, treble, and volume controls to cre-
ate your own music player.
The playback device ‘M-player’ (i.e.
media player) described here uses mini-
mal hardware to achieve a moderately
good-quality audio playback device.
The software that accompanies the hard-
ware is meant for a PC running under
MS-DOS or a compatible operating sys-
tem. This device can play a simple 8-bit
PCM (pulse code modulation) wave file
with some special effects. The PC is con-
nected to the device through the PC par-
allel port.
Fig. 1: Circuit of M-player audio playback device
52
C O N S T R U C T I O N
S.C. DWIVEDI
The circuit functions as an 8-bit mono
player, i.e. the sound files (with .WAV
extension) with sound quantised to eight
bits or 256 levels can be played. In
case of files with 16-bit quantisation, these
are re-quantised as discussed under ‘Soft-
ware’ subheading. Thus, only eight bits
are sent to the card through the printer
port.
Since there is no duplex communica-
tion necessary between the player card
and the PC, it is sufficient to use the eight
output data lines of the port 378H (pins 2
through 9 of 25-pin D-connector). This 8-
bit digital output is converted into an ana-
logue signal using DAC 0808 (IC1) from
National Semiconductor.
The output current from the DAC
varies with the input digital level
(represented by bits D0 through D7),
the reference voltage (Vref), and the value
of series resistor R1 connected to Vref
pin 14 of DAC0808 IC. The output cur-
rent Io (in mA) is given by the relation-
ship:
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU ❚ MAY 2000
where Vref is the reference voltage in volts
and R1 is the resistance in kilo-ohms.
The output current from the DAC is
converted into its corresponding voltage
using a simple current-to-voltage con-
verter wired around one part of the dual
wideband JFET op-amp LF353. The out-
put from IC2(a) is the required audio sig-
nal that has to be processed and ampli-
fied to feed the speaker. The part follow-
ing the I-V converter is the bass- and
treble-control circuit employing RC-type
variable low-pass and high-pass filters
connected to the input of audio amplifier
built around the second op-amp inside
LF353 [IC2(b)].
The frequency response of the filters
can be varied using potentiometers VR1
and VR2. The low frequencies or bass can
be cut or boosted with the help of poten-
tiometer VR1. Similarly, high frequencies
or treble can be cut or boosted with the
help of potentiometer VR2. At low fre-
quencies, capacitors C2, C3, and C4 act
as open circuits and the effective feed-
back is through 10k resistors (R4, R5,
and R6) and potentiometer VR1.
The audio amplifier IC2(b) acts as an
inverting amplifier and the amplification
(or attenuation) of the low-frequency bass
signals depends on the value of potenti-
ometer VR1. The frequency f1 at which C
= C2 = C3 becomes effective is given by
the equation:
 C O N S T R U C T I O N

ohm speaker. The

output-end audio
At frequnecies higher than f2 (f>f2, power amplifier is
high end of audio range), capacitors designed to give a
C2 and C3 overcome the effect of potenti- gain of around 50.
ometer VR1. As C2 and C3 behave One can also use
as short, potentiometer VR1 has no LM380 in various
effect on the output response. Now, the other configurations
gain is controlled by treble potentiometer as per one’s require-
VR2. The frequency f2, below which ments. Another
treble potentiometer VR2 has no popular configura-
effect on the response, is given by the tion is the ‘bridge
equation: configuration’—in
which two LM380s
can be used to ob- Fig. 2: Actual-size PCB layout for M-player
tain larger power
The output of this module is sent to output with a gain
the final 2-watt audio power amplifier of 300.
(LM380) stage through potentiometer VR3
Parallel port
which is used as the volume control. The
power output of this module is fed to an 8-
The output of the
PARTS LIST parallel port is TTL
Semiconductors: compatible. So, logic
IC1 - DAC0808 8-bit D/A converter level 1 is indicated
IC2 - LF353 JFET input wide-band by +5V and logic
op-amp
level 0 by 0V. The
IC3 - LM380, 2-watt audio amplifier
current that one can
Resistors (all ¼watt, ±5% carbon film, unless
sink and source var-
stated otherwise)
ies from port to
R1 - 4.7-kilo-ohm
R2, R9 - 47-kilo-ohm port. Most parallel Fig. 3: Component layout for the PCB
R3 - 1-kilo-ohm ports can sink and
R4-R6 - 10-kilo-ohm source around 12 mA. verted into mono 8-bit PCM data. This
R7, R8 - 39-kilo-ohm The software assumes 0x378 (378H) software is accompanied with a CTUI-
VR1 - 100-kilo-ohm potmeter to be the base address of the parallel port based interface.
VR2 - 470-kilo-ohm potmeter
to which the device is connected. Another The wave file format is probably the
VR3 - 50-kilo-ohm potmeter
possible base address is 0x278 (278H). It least undocumented sound format since
Capacitors:
is advised to modify this address of the there are different schemes with differ-
C1 - 1µF, 25V electrolytic
C2, C3 - 0.05µF ceramic disk
parallel port in the software program, af- ent number of chunks of related informa-
C4 - 0.005µF ceramic disk ter checking the device profile. tion in the file. Even the chunks can be
C5-C7 - 2.2µF, 25V electrolytic Actual-size PCB layout for audio play- of variable size. Therefore it is difficult to
C8, C9 - 470µF, 25V electrolytic back circuit of Fig. 1 is given in Fig. 2 get documentation on all available
Miscellaneous: and its component layout in Fig. 3. chunks.
- 25-pin D connector (male) This software can be used only on

Software
- Loudspeaker 8-ohm, 2W PCM data with data chunk. Every wave
- Power supply: (a) +12V, 500mA file has some minimum chunks (see Table
- (b) –12V, 100mA
The software accompanying this construc- II). These chunks will be present in every
- (c) +5V, 100mA
tion project is written in Turbo C/C++ for wave file. Then there are other chunks
DOS. It can be used to which are actually non-standard. In PCM
TABLE I
play simple 8-bit PCM itself, the above chunk may be followed
Relevant Details of Parallel Port
wave files. 16-bit wave either by DATA chunk or by LIST chunk
Pin No. Pin No. SPP signal Direction Register
(D-type 25) (centronics) in/out files are converted into 8- which, in turn, has lots of sub-chunks.
bit PCM data before pro- (Any information obtained on these
2 2 Data 0 Out Data
3 3 Data 1 Out Data ceeding. chunks by the readers may please be
4 4 Data 2 Out Data Even stereo wave shared with the authors.)
5 5 Data 3 Out Data files can be played; but During playback, the speed with
6 6 Data 4 Out Data
not the stereo way. Only which the processor in the PC can ex-
7 7 Data 5 Out Data
8 8 Data 6 Out Data one channel is chosen. ecute the main loop is first studied using
9 9 Data 7 Out Data Up to six-channel PCM a dummy loop and thus the delay is
18 - 25 19-30 Ground Gnd data can be read and con- adaptively varied with respect to the speed

ELECTRONICS FOR YOU ❚ MAY 2000 53

 C O N S T R U C T I O N

TABLE II The software does not include mouse support.

Wave File Format can be used to play
Conclusion
From byte Number Information with the following
of bytes effects:
RIFF chunk: • Play normally We have presented a simple sound card
0 4 Contains the characters ‘RIFF’ • Play with a to playback .wav files with bass and treble
4 4 Size of the RIFF chunk different playback controls. Though the current design
rate, i.e. play it fast plays only mono files (stereo files are
WAVE chunk:
or slow converted to mono), a stereo file player
0 4 Contains the characters ‘WAVE’
4 Variable The FORMAT chunk • Fade-in or can be designed in a similar manner. The
fade-out the volume software can be modified to play audio
The normal FORMAT chunk:
levels either linearly files other than .wav files without any
0 4 Contains the characters ‘fmt’
or exponentially change in the hardware circuit. The en-
4 4 Size of the FORMAT chunk
8 2 Value specifying the scheme • Reverse the coding format of the other audio file types
1-PCM, 85-MPEG layer III wave file and then (like .ra, .mp3) is only to be known. With
10 2 Number of channels play that, those files can be decoded and raw
1-mono, 2-stereo, etc. The menu items digital 8-bit data can finally be sent to the
12 4 Number of samples per second. can be selected us- hardware device. The hardware device can
This gives us the playback rate. ing keyboard keys even be permanently mounted inside the
16 4 Average number of bytes per second. Alt+F for file, Alt+E PC with all the power supplies (+12V, +5V,
This field is used to allocate buffers, etc. for effects, and and –12V) tapped from the system’s
20 2 Contains block alignment information. Alt+O for operation. SMPS.
22 Variable This field contains format-specific data.
Apart from the soft- Note: The complete source code con-
For PCM files, this field is 2 bytes long
ware, the hardware sisting of Mplayer.cpp, Sounds.h,
can be used to vary Globals.h, the executable file Mplayer.exe,
of target processor. This is one of the bass, treble, and volume for the wave file and a sample wave file are likely to be
methods to achieve invariance of the play- that is played. Thus, the hardware and included in next month’s CD (optional)
back speed over a wide range of proces- software complement each other to pro- accompanying EFY.
sor speeds available. vide a good music player. The software

Program Listing
MPLAYER.CPP cprintf(“%c”,205); delay(75);
#include “Sounds.h” for(j=y1+1;j<=y2-1;j++){ gotoxy(3,13);cprintf(“ ”);
void DisplayTip(char *string) gotoxy(x1,j); delay(75);
{ cprintf(“%c”,186); gotoxy(3,14);cprintf(“ ”);
text_info tinf; gotoxy(x2,j); delay(75);
if(strlen(string)<75) cprintf(“%c”,186); gotoxy(3,15);cprintf(“ ”);
{ } delay(75);
gettextinfo(&tinf); gotoxy(x1,y1);cprintf(“%c”,201); gotoxy(3,16);cprintf(“ ”);
textbackground(LIGHTGRAY);textcolor(RED); gotoxy(x2,y1);cprintf(“%c”,187); delay(75);
gotoxy(2,25); gotoxy(x1,y2);cprintf(“%c”,200); gotoxy(3,17);cprintf(“ ”);
for(int i=0;i<75;i++) cprintf(“ ”); gotoxy(x2,y2);cprintf(“%c”,188); return;
gotoxy(2,25); if(caption!=NULL){ }
cprintf(string); textcolor(WHITE); void MenuInitialise(void)
textattr(tinf.attribute); gotoxy(x1+2,y1); {
gotoxy(tinf.curx,tinf.cury); cprintf(“%s”,caption); int i;
} } // The FILE menu option
return; textattr(tinfo.attribute); Menu[MNU_FILE].nextMenu=MNU_EFFECT;
} return; Menu[MNU_FILE].prevMenu=MNU_OPERATION;
void Window(int x1,int y1,int x2,int y2,char } Menu[MNU_FILE].Child=FALSE;
*caption,int BackCol,int TextCol) void DrawScreen(void) Menu[MNU_FILE].num_items=4;
{ { for(i=0;i<4;i++)
text_info tinfo; textbackground(LIGHTGRAY);textcolor(BLACK); {
int i,j; clrscr(); Menu[MNU_FILE].Enabled[i]=TRUE;
gettextinfo(&tinfo); Window(1,2,80,24,NULL,BLUE,WHITE); Menu[MNU_FILE].subMenu[i]=NONE;
textbackground(BackCol);textcolor(TextCol); gotoxy(1,1);cprintf(“ File Effects Operation”); Menu[MNU_FILE].String[i]=(char *)malloc(15);
for(j=y1;j<=y2;j++){ textcolor(RED); Menu[MNU_FILE].Tip[i]=(char *)malloc(50);
gotoxy(x1,j); gotoxy(3,1);cprintf(“F”); Menu[MNU_FILE].OptionID[i]=1+i;
for(i=x1;i<=x2;i++) gotoxy(12,1);cprintf(“E”); }
cprintf(“ ”); gotoxy(24,1);cprintf(“O”); Menu[MNU_FILE].Enabled[1]=FALSE;
} textbackground(BLUE);textcolor(LIGHTBLUE); strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FILE].String[0][0]),“Open”);
gotoxy(x1+1,y1); gotoxy(3,10);cprintf(“ ”); strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FILE].String[1][0]),“Save”);
for(i=x1+1;i<=x2-1;i++) delay(75); strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FILE].String[2][0]),“-”);
cprintf(“%c”,205); gotoxy(3,11);cprintf(“ ”); strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FILE].String[3][0]),“Exit”);
gotoxy(x1+1,y2); delay(75); strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FILE].Tip[0][0]),“Open the
for(i=x1+1;i<=x2-1;i++) gotoxy(3,12);cprintf(“ ”); *.wav file”);

54 ELECTRONICS FOR YOU ❚ MAY 2000

 C O N S T R U C T I O N

strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FILE].Tip[1][0]),“Save as a (char *)malloc(15); if(subMenu[0]!=NULL) longLength+=3;

*.wav file”); Menu[MNU_FADEIN].Tip[i]=(char *)malloc(50); for(i=1;i<num_items;i++)
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FILE].Tip[2][0]),” “); Menu[MNU_FADEIN].OptionID[i]=31+i; {
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FILE].Tip[3][0]),”Quit the } length=strlen(String[i]);
program”); strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FADEIN].String[0][0]),“Linear”); if(subMenu[i]!=NULL) length+=3;
Menu[MNU_FILE].AtX=2;Menu[MNU_FILE].AtY=2; strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FADEIN].String[1][0]),” if(length>longLength) longLength=length;
// The EFFECT menu option Exponential”); }
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].nextMenu=MNU_OPERATION; strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FADEIN].Tip[0][0]),“Apply textbackground(LIGHTGRAY);textcolor(WHITE);
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].prevMenu=MNU_FILE; Linear attenuation or amplification”); for(i=StartY;i<StartY+num_items+2;i++)
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].Child=FALSE; strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FADEIN].Tip[1][0]),“Apply {
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].num_items=5; Exponential attenuation or amplification”); gotoxy(StartX,i);cprintf(“ ”);
for(i=0;i<5;i++) Menu[MNU_FADEIN].AtX=33;Menu gotoxy(StartX+longLength+5,i);cprintf(“ ”);
{ [MNU_FADEIN].AtY=2; }
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].Enabled[i]=FALSE; // The FADE-OUT menu option StartX++;
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].subMenu[i]=NONE; Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].nextMenu=Menu gotoxy(StartX,StartY);cprintf(“%c”,218);
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].String[i]= [MNU_FADEOUT].prevMenu=NONE; for(i=0;i<longLength+2;i++) cprintf(“%c”,196);
(char*)malloc(15); Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].Child=TRUE; cprintf(“%c”,191);
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].Tip[i]=(char *)malloc(50); Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].num_items=2; gotoxy(StartX,num_items+StartY+1);cprintf(“%c”,192);
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].OptionID[i]=11+i; for(i=0;i<2;i++) for(i=0;i<longLength+2;i++) cprintf(“%c”,196);
} { cprintf(“%c”,217);
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_EFFECT].String[0][0]),“Fade Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].Enabled[i]=FALSE; for(i=0;i<num_items;i++)
In”); Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].subMenu[i]=NONE; {
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_EFFECT].String[1][0]),“Fade Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].String[i]= if(String[i][0]!=‘-’)
Out”); (char *)malloc(15); {
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_EFFECT].String[2][0]),“-”); Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].Tip[i]= textcolor(WHITE);
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_EFFECT].String[3][0]),“Reverse”); (char*)malloc(50); gotoxy(StartX,StartY+i+1);cprintf(“%c ”,179);
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_EFFECT].String[4][0]),“Playback Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].OptionID[i]=41+i; if(Enabled[i])
Rate”); } textcolor(BLACK);
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_EFFECT].Tip[0][0]),“Reduce strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].String[0][0]), else
volume with increasing time”); “Linear”); textcolor(BROWN);
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_EFFECT].Tip[1][0]),“Increase strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].String[1][0]), gotoxy(StartX+2,StartY+i+1);
volume with increasing time”); “Exponential”); for(j=0;j<longLength+1;j++)
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_EFFECT].Tip[2][0]),“ ”); strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].Tip[0][0]),“Apply if(j<strlen(String[i]))
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_EFFECT].Tip[3][0]),“Reverse Linear attenuation or amplification”); cprintf(“%c”,String[i][j]);
the wave file”); strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].Tip[1][0]),“Apply else
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_EFFECT].Tip[4][0]),“Vary Exponential attenuation or amplification”); cprintf(“ ”);
the Playnack Rate”); Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].AtX=33;Menu textcolor(WHITE);
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].subMenu[0]=MNU_FADEIN; [MNU_FADEOUT].AtY=2; cprintf(“%c”,179);
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].subMenu[1]=MNU_FADEOUT; } }
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].AtX=11;Menu[MNU_EFFECT]. void RemoveMenu(int MenuID) else
AtY=2; { {
// The OPERATION menu option int i,j; textcolor(WHITE);
Menu[MNU_OPERATION].nextMenu=MNU_FILE; textbackground(BLUE);textcolor(WHITE); gotoxy(StartX,StartY+i+1);cprintf(“%c”,195);
Menu[MNU_OPERATION].prevMenu=MNU_EFFECT; gotoxy(Menu[MenuID].AtX,Menu[MenuID].AtY); for(j=0;j<longLength+2;j++) cprintf(“%c”,196);
Menu[MNU_OPERATION].Child=FALSE; for(i=0;i<30;i++) cprintf(“%c”,205); cprintf(“%c”,180);
Menu[MNU_OPERATION].num_items=3; for(i=1;i<=Menu[MenuID].num_items+2;i++) }
for(i=0;i<3;i++) { }
{ gotoxy(Menu[MenuID].AtX,Menu[MenuID].AtY+i); for(;;)
Menu[MNU_OPERATION].Enabled[i]=FALSE; for(j=0;j<30;j++) cprintf(“ ”); {
Menu[MNU_OPERATION].subMenu[i]=NONE; } DisplayTip(Tip[CurSelect]);
Menu[MNU_OPERATION].String[i]= return; textbackground(GREEN);
(char*)malloc(15); } if(Enabled[CurSelect])
Menu[MNU_OPERATION].Tip[i]= int ShowMenu(int MenuID) textcolor(BLACK);
(char*)malloc(50); { else
Menu[MNU_OPERATION].OptionID[i]=21+i; MENU *menu; textcolor(BROWN);
} int *subMenu; gotoxy(StartX+1,StartY+CurSelect+1);
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_OPERATION].String[0][0]),“Play”); int nextMenu, prevMenu; cprintf(“ ”);
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_OPERATION].String[1] char **String, **Tip; for(j=0;j<longLength+1;j++)
[0]),“-”); int *OptionID; if(j<strlen(String[CurSelect]))
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_OPERATION].String[2] BOOL *Enabled; cprintf(“%c”,String[CurSelect][j]);
[0]),“Record”); char IsChild; else
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_OPERATION].Tip[0][0]),“Play int num_items; cprintf(“ ”);
the file that was opened”); int longLength,length; ch=getch();
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_OPERATION].Tip[1] int StartX,StartY; if(ch==0) ch=getch();
[0]),“ “); int i,j; ch+=300;
strcpy(&(Menu[MNU_OPERATION].Tip[2][0]), int CurSelect=0,ch,RetVal; switch(ch)
“Record sound through the microphone”); menu=&(Menu[MenuID]); {
Menu[MNU_OPERATION].AtX=23;Menu num_items=menu->num_items; case ESCAPE:
[MNU_OPERATION].AtY=2; String=menu->String; RemoveMenu(MenuID);
// The FADE-IN menu option nextMenu=menu->nextMenu; return(-1);
Menu[MNU_FADEIN].nextMenu=Menu prevMenu=menu->prevMenu; case ENTER:
[MNU_FADEIN].prevMenu=NONE; subMenu=menu->subMenu; RemoveMenu(MenuID);
Menu[MNU_FADEIN].Child=TRUE; IsChild=menu->Child; if(Enabled[CurSelect]==TRUE)
Menu[MNU_FADEIN].num_items=2; OptionID=menu->OptionID; return(OptionID[CurSelect]);
for(i=0;i<2;i++) Tip=menu->Tip; else
{ Enabled=menu->Enabled; return(-1);
Menu[MNU_FADEIN].Enabled[i]=FALSE; StartX=menu->AtX; case LEFT_ARROW:
Menu[MNU_FADEIN].subMenu[i]=NONE; StartY=menu->AtY; if(IsChild==TRUE)
Menu[MNU_FADEIN].String[i]= longLength=strlen(String[0]); {

ELECTRONICS FOR YOU ❚ MAY 2000 55

 C O N S T R U C T I O N

RemoveMenu(MenuID); } ButtonDisplay(45,7,ENABLE_NOTACTIVE,“Cancel”);
return(0); void ButtonDisplay(int x1,int y1,char state gotoxy(x,y);
} char *caption) break;
else { case 1:
{ text_info tinfo; _setcursortype(_NOCURSOR);
if(prevMenu!=NONE) gettextinfo(&tinfo); ButtonDisplay(25,7,ENABLE_ACTIVE,“ Ok ”);
{ int i; break;
RemoveMenu(MenuID); if(state==ENABLE_NOTACTIVE) textcolor case 2:
return(ShowMenu(prevMenu)); (YELLOW); ButtonDisplay(45,7,ENABLE_ACTIVE,“Cancel”);
} if(state==ENABLE_ACTIVE) textcolor(WHITE); ButtonDisplay(25,7,ENABLE_NOTACTIVE,“
} if(state==DISABLE) textcolor(LIGHTGRAY); Ok ”);
break; textbackground(CYAN); break;
case RIGHT_ARROW: gotoxy(x1,y1);cprintf(“ %s ”,caption); }
if(subMenu[CurSelect]!=NONE) textbackground(LIGHTGRAY);textcolor(YELLOW); ch=getch();
{ cprintf(“%c”,220); if(ch==0) ch=getch()+300;
RetVal=ShowMenu(subMenu[CurSelect]); gotoxy(x1+1,y1+1);for(i=0;i<8;i++)cprintf(“%c”,223); ch+=300;
if(RetVal!=0) textattr(tinfo.attribute); switch(ch)
{ } {
RemoveMenu(MenuID); void ButtonPushed(int x1,int y1,char *caption) case TAB:
return(RetVal); { Control=(++Control)%3;
} text_info tinfo; break;
} gettextinfo(&tinfo); case ESCAPE:
else int i; _setcursortype(_NOCURSOR);
{ textbackground(LIGHTGRAY);textcolor(WHITE); ButtonPushed(45,7,“Cancel”);
if(nextMenu!=NONE) gotoxy(x1,y1);cprintf(“ ”); ch=1; Control=2;
{ gotoxy(x1,y1+1);cprintf(“ ”); break;
RemoveMenu(MenuID); textbackground(CYAN); case ENTER:
return(ShowMenu(nextMenu)); gotoxy(x1+1,y1);cprintf(“ %s ”,caption); _setcursortype(_NOCURSOR);
} delay(250); ButtonPushed(25,7,“ Ok “);
} gotoxy(x1,y1);cprintf(“ %s ”,caption); ch=1;Control=1;
break; textbackground(LIGHTGRAY);textcolor(YELLOW); break;
case DOWN_ARROW: cprintf(“%c”,220); case SPACE:
textbackground(LIGHTGRAY); gotoxy(x1,y1+1);cprintf(“ ”);for(i=0;i<8;i++) if(Control==2){_setcursortype(_NOCURSOR);
if(Enabled[CurSelect]) cprintf(“%c”,223); ButtonPushed(45,7,“Cancel”);ch=1;}
textcolor(BLACK); textattr(tinfo.attribute); if(Control==1){_setcursortype(_NOCURSOR);
else } ButtonPushed(25,7,“ Ok ”);ch=1;}
textcolor(BROWN); BOOL DisplayDialog(char mode) break;
gotoxy(StartX+1,StartY+CurSelect+1); { case BACK_SPACE:
cprintf(“ ”); int Control=0,ch; if(Control==0 && i>0)
for(j=0;j<longLength+1;j++) int x=29,y=5,i=0,N=0; {
if(j<strlen(String[CurSelect])) char TempStr[40];TempStr[0]=0; gotoxy(—x,y);
cprintf(“%c”,String[CurSelect][j]); switch(mode) cprintf(“ ”);
else { i—;
cprintf(“ ”); case FILE_OPEN: Window(10,3,70,9,“Open TempStr[i]=0;
CurSelect++; File”,LIGHTGRAY,YELLOW);break; gotoxy(29,5);
if(CurSelect==num_items) CurSelect=0; case FILE_SAVE: Window(10,3,70,9,“Save cprintf(“%s”,TempStr);
while(String[CurSelect][0]==’-’) File”,LIGHTGRAY,YELLOW);break; }
{ case PLAYBACK_RATE: Window(10,3,70,9,” break;
if(CurSelect==num_items) Playback Rate”,LIGHTGRAY,YELLOW);break; default:
CurSelect=0; } ch-=300;
else ButtonDisplay(25,7,ENABLE_NOTACTIVE,“ if(ch<300 && i<N)
CurSelect++; Ok ”); {
} ButtonDisplay(45,7,ENABLE_NOTACTIVE,“Cancel”); TempStr[i++]=(char)ch;
break; textbackground(LIGHTGRAY);textcolor(YELLOW); TempStr[i]=0;
case UP_ARROW: gotoxy(13,5); gotoxy(29,5);
textbackground(LIGHTGRAY); if(mode==FILE_OPEN || mode==FILE_SAVE) cprintf(“%s”,TempStr);
if(Enabled[CurSelect]) { x++;
textcolor(BLACK); cprintf(“Enter Filename: ”); }
else strcpy(TempStr,sFileName); break;
textcolor(BROWN); N=39; }
gotoxy(StartX+1,StartY+CurSelect+1); } if(ch==1) break;
cprintf(“ ”); else }
for(j=0;j<longLength+1;j++) { textbackground(BLUE);textcolor(WHITE);
if(j<strlen(String[CurSelect])) cprintf(“Playback Rate : ”); for(ch=3;ch<=9;ch++)
cprintf(“%c”,String[CurSelect][j]); strcpy(TempStr,sPlayBackRate); }
else N=5; gotoxy(10,ch);
cprintf(“ ”); } for(i=10;i<=70;i++)
CurSelect—; textbackground(BLUE);textcolor(WHITE); cprintf(“ ”);
if(CurSelect<0) CurSelect=num_items-1; cprintf(“ ”); }
while(String[CurSelect][0]==’-’) gotoxy(29,5);cprintf(“%s”,TempStr); if(Control==1)
{ i=strlen(TempStr); {
if(CurSelect<0) x+=i; if(mode==FILE_SAVE || mode==FILE_OPEN)
CurSelect=num_items-1; for(;;) strcpy(sFileName,TempStr);
else { if(mode==PLAYBACK_RATE)strcpy(sPlayBackRate,
CurSelect—; switch(Control) TempStr);
} { return(TRUE);
break; case 0: }
} _setcursortype(_NORMALCURSOR); return(FALSE);
} textbackground(BLUE);textcolor(WHITE); }

56 ELECTRONICS FOR YOU ❚ MAY 2000

 C O N S T R U C T I O N

void SetEnvVariables(){} printf(“———————\n”); attn1=exp(i*step);

void SaveFile(){} printf(“\tM.Somasundaram - msoms@vsnl.com\n fputc(128+(unsigned char)((long double)(fgetc(fp)-
void main() \tN.V.Venkatarayalu - v_rayalu@vsnl.com\n\n”); 128)*attn1),fpt);
{ break; }
int ch; } fclose(fpt);
textbackground(BLACK);textcolor(LIGHTGRAY); } fclose(fp);
clrscr(); } unlink(“test.aud”);
_setcursortype(_NOCURSOR); SOUNDS.H rename(“tmp.aud”,”test.aud”);
DrawScreen(); #include “Globals.h” }
MenuInitialise(); /////////// Playback Sounds /////////////// /////////////// Reverse Wave File ////////////////
sFileName[0]=0; void mPlay(void) void ReverseWave(void)
strcpy(sPlayBackRate,”22400"); { {
for(;;) FILE *fp; FILE *fp, *fpt;
{ unsigned char Sample; long double i;
DisplayTip(“Ready”); clock_t t1; fp=fopen(“test.aud”,“rb”);
ch=getch(); long k=0,t=0,i=0; fpt=fopen(“tmp.aud”,“wb”);
if(ch==0) ch=getch(); fp=fopen(“test.aud”,“rb”); for(i=0.0;i<NoSamples;i++)
ch+=300; t1=clock(); {
switch(ch) while(clock()-t1<18.2){ fseek(fp,-(long)i,SEEK_END);
{ if(k<RateOfPlayBack){ fputc(fgetc(fp),fpt);
case AltF:ch=ShowMenu(MNU_FILE);break; fgetc(fp); }
case AltE:ch=ShowMenu(MNU_EFFECT);break; outp(0x37a,0); fclose(fpt);
case AltO:ch=ShowMenu(MNU_OPERATION); if(feof(fp)) break; fclose(fp);
break; t++;} unlink(“test.aud”);
} k++;} rename(“tmp.aud”,”test.aud”);
switch(ch) i=k/(RateOfPlayBack+2000); }
{ k=0;rewind(fp); /////////////// Set Playback rate ///////////////
case FILE_EXIT: t1=clock(); void SetPlayBackRate(long rate)
ch=AltX; while(clock()-t1<18.2){ {
break; if(k%i==0){ if(rate<65535)
case FILE_OPEN: fgetc(fp); {
if(DisplayDialog(FILE_OPEN)) outp(0x37a,0); if(rate!=0)
if(mOpen()) if(feof(fp)) break; {
{ t++; rate=atol(sPlayBackRate);
for(int i=0;i<5;i++) } RateOfPlayBack=rate;
Menu[MNU_EFFECT].Enabled[i]=TRUE; if(k>0) k=k; }
Menu[MNU_OPERATION].Enabled[0]=TRUE; k++;} ultoa(RateOfPlayBack,sPlayBackRate,10);
for(i=0;i<2;i++) i=k/(RateOfPlayBack+2000); }
{ k=0;t=0;rewind(fp); return;
Menu[MNU_FADEIN].Enabled[i]=TRUE; while(feof(fp)==FALSE) }
Menu[MNU_FADEOUT].Enabled[i]=TRUE; { /////// Open a wav file and set parameters ///////
} t1=clock(); BOOL mOpen(void)
} if(k%i==0){ {
break; Sample=(unsigned char)fgetc(fp); void DisplayTip(char *);
case FILE_SAVE: outp(DATA_OUT,Sample); int TYPE_OF_OUTPUT=MONO_OUTPUT;
/*if(DisplayDialog(FILE_SAVE))mSave();*/ t++;} FILE *fsource, *fdest;
break; k++; fsource=fopen(sFileName,“rb”);
case FADEIN_LINEAR: } if(fsource!=NULL)
FadeCommon(FADEIN,LINEAR); fclose(fp); {
break; outp(DATA_OUT,0); fdest=fopen(“test.aud”,“wb”);
case FADEIN_EXP: } RIFF riff;
FadeCommon(FADEIN,EXPONENTIAL); ///////////// Fade Common Function //////////////// WAVE wave;
break; void FadeCommon(char far InOrOut,char far DATA data;
case FADEOUT_LINEAR: Type) fread(&riff,sizeof(riff),1,fsource);
FadeCommon(FADEOUT,LINEAR); { fread(&wave,sizeof(wave),1,fsource);
break; FILE *fp, *fpt; fseek(fsource,20+wave.fmt.fLen,SEEK_SET);
case FADEOUT_EXP: long double i; fread(&data,sizeof(data),1,fsource);
FadeCommon(FADEOUT,EXPONENTIAL); long double step; if(strncmpi(data.dID,“FACT”,4)==0){
break; long double attn1; fseek(fsource,data.dLen,SEEK_CUR);
case REVERSE: fp=fopen(“test.aud”,“rb”); fread(&data,sizeof(data),1,fsource);
ReverseWave(); fpt=fopen(“tmp.aud”,“wb”); }
break; step=1.0/NoSamples; if(!(strncmpi(riff.rID,“RIFF”,4)==0 && strncmpi
case PLAYBACK_RATE: if(InOrOut==FADEIN) (wave.wID,“WAVE”,4)==0 && strncmpi(data.dID,
if(DisplayDialog(PLAYBACK_RATE)==FALSE) attn1=0; “DATA”,4)==0 && strncmpi(wave.fmt.fID,“fmt
SetPlayBackRate(0); else ”,4)==0 && wave.fmt.wFormatTag==PCM &&
else { wave.fmt.nChannels<=6))
SetPlayBackRate(1); attn1=1; {
break; step=-step; printf(“\a”);
case PLAY: } DisplayTip(“Unrecognizable Format -Not PCM
mPlay(); if(Type==LINEAR) 8-bit.”);
break; for(i=0.0;i<NoSamples;i++) return FALSE;
} { }
if(ch==AltX) attn1+=step; unsigned long dlen=data.dLen;
{ fputc(128+(unsigned char)((long double)(fgetc(fp)- char array[6];int arrayi[6];
_setcursortype(_NORMALCURSOR); 128)*attn1),fpt); int nChannels=wave.fmt.nChannels;
textcolor(LIGHTGRAY); } SamplingFrequency=PBR=RateOfPlayBack=
textbackground(BLACK); else wave.fmt.nSamplesPerSec;
clrscr(); for(i=0.0;i<NoSamples;i++) ultoa(RateOfPlayBack,sPlayBackRate,10);
printf(“MPLAYER Ver.1.0\n”); { NoSamples=(dlen/nChannels)*TYPE_OF_

ELECTRONICS FOR YOU ❚ MAY 2000 57

 C O N S T R U C T I O N

OUTPUT;dlen=NoSamples; break; #define AltE 318

BOOL bits16=FALSE; case 4: array[0]=(char)((long)(arrayi[0]+ #define AltF 333
if(wave.fmt.FormatSpecific==BITS16) bits16= 32768)*255/65535); #define AltO 324
TRUE; fputc((int)array[0],fdest); #define AltX 345
if(bits16==FALSE) if(TYPE_OF_OUTPUT==STEREO_OUTPUT) #define LEFT_ARROW 375
while(dlen>0) { #define RIGHT_ARROW 377
{ array[2]=(char)((long)(arrayi[2]+32768)*255/ #define UP_ARROW 372
fread(array,1,nChannels,fsource); 65535); #define DOWN_ARROW 380
switch(nChannels) fputc((int)array[2],fdest); #define ESCAPE 327
{ } #define ENTER 313
case 1: fputc((int)array[0],fdest); break; #define SPACE 332
if(TYPE_OF_OUTPUT==STEREO_OUTPUT) case 6: array[1]=(char)((long)(arrayi[1]+ #define BACK_SPACE 308
fputc((int)array[0],fdest); 32768)*255/65535); #define TAB 309
break; fputc((int)array[1],fdest); #define PCM 1
case 2: fputc((int)array[0],fdest); if(TYPE_OF_OUTPUT==STEREO_OUTPUT) #define IN 0
if(TYPE_OF_OUTPUT==STEREO_OUTPUT) { #define OUT 1
fputc((int)array[1],fdest); array[4]=(char)((long)(arrayi[4]+32768)*255/ #define LINEAR 0
break; 65535); #define EXPONENTIAL 1
case 3: fputc((int)array[0],fdest); fputc((int)array[4],fdest); #define FADEIN 0
if(TYPE_OF_OUTPUT==STEREO_OUTPUT) } #define FADEOUT 1
fputc((int)array[1],fdest); break; #define DATA_OUT 0x378
break; } #define BITS16 16
case 4: fputc((int)array[0],fdest); dlen—; #define BITS8 8
if(TYPE_OF_OUTPUT==STEREO_OUTPUT) } #define STEREO_OUTPUT 2
fputc((int)array[2],fdest); } #define MONO_OUTPUT 1
break; fclose(fsource); typedef char BOOL;
case 6: fputc((int)array[1],fdest); fclose(fdest); typedef struct{
if(TYPE_OF_OUTPUT==STEREO_OUTPUT) return TRUE; char rID[4];
fputc((int)array[4],fdest); } unsigned long rLen;
break; else }RIFF;
} { typedef struct{
dlen—; printf(“\a”); char fID[4];
} DisplayTip(“The file is not available!”); unsigned long fLen;
else return FALSE; unsigned int wFormatTag;
{ } unsigned int nChannels;
NoSamples/=2; } unsigned long nSamplesPerSec;
dlen=NoSamples; GLOBALS.H unsigned long nAvgBytesPerSec;
while(dlen>0) #include <stdio.h> unsigned int nBlockAlign;
{ #include <dos.h> unsigned int FormatSpecific;
fread(arrayi,2,nChannels,fsource); #include <process.h> }FORMATCHUNK;
switch(nChannels) #include <conio.h> typedef struct{
{ #include <string.h> char wID[4];
case 1: array[0]=(char)((long)(arrayi[0]+ #include <math.h> FORMATCHUNK fmt;
32768)*255/65535); #include <stdlib.h> }WAVE;
fputc((int)array[0],fdest); #include <time.h> typedef struct{
if(TYPE_OF_OUTPUT==STEREO_OUTPUT) #define FALSE 0 char dID[4];
fputc((int)array[0],fdest); #define TRUE 1 unsigned long dLen;
break; #define ENABLE_ACTIVE 1 }DATA;
case 2: array[0]=(char)((long)(arrayi[0]+ #define ENABLE_NOTACTIVE 2 struct MENU
32768)*255/65535); #define DISABLE 0 { int subMenu[10];
fputc((int)array[0],fdest); #define NONE -1 char *Tip[10];
if(TYPE_OF_OUTPUT==STEREO_OUTPUT) #define MNU_FILE 0 char *String[10];
{ #define MNU_EFFECT 1 int OptionID[10];
array[1]=(char)((long)(arrayi[1]+32768)*255/ #define MNU_OPERATION 2 BOOL Enabled[10];
65535); #define MNU_FADEIN 3 int num_items;
fputc((int)array[1],fdest); #define MNU_FADEOUT 4 char Child;
} #define FILE_OPEN 1 int AtX,AtY;
break; #define FILE_SAVE 2 int nextMenu;
case 3: array[0]=(char)((long)(arrayi[0]+ #define FILE_EXIT 4 int prevMenu;
32768)*255/65535); #define FADEIN_LINEAR 31 } Menu[5];
fputc((int)array[0],fdest); #define FADEIN_EXP 32 long RateOfPlayBack=15000,PBR;
if(TYPE_OF_OUTPUT==STEREO_OUTPUT) #define FADEOUT_LINEAR 41 long double NoSamples=76455;
{ #define FADEOUT_EXP 42 double SamplingFrequency=44000;
array[1]=(char)((long)(arrayi[1]+32768)*255/ #define REVERSE 14 char sFileName[40];
65535); #define PLAYBACK_RATE 15 char sPlayBackRate[6];
fputc((int)array[1],fdest); #define PLAY 21 ❏
} #define RECORD 22

58 ELECTRONICS FOR YOU ❚ MAY 2000

CIRCUIT IDEAS
DC MOTOR CONTROL USING A SINGLE SWITCH
V. DAVID
T
his simple circuit lets you run a DC
motor in clockwise or anti-clockwise
direction and stop it using a single
switch. It provides a constant voltage for
proper operation of the motor. The glow-
ing of LED1 through LED3 indicates that
the motor is in stop, forward rotation and
reverse conditions, respectively.
Here, timer IC1 is wired as a
monostable multivibrator to avoid false
triggering of the motor while pressing
switch S1. Its time period is approximately
500 milliseconds (ms).
Suppose, initially, the circuit is in
reset condition with Q0 output of IC2
being high. Since Q1 and Q3 outputs of
IC2 are low, the outputs of IC3 and IC4
are high and the motor doesn’t rotate.
LED1 glows to indicate that the motor is
in stop condition.
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU SEPTEMBER 2004
When you momentarily press switch
S1, timer 555 (IC1) provides a pulse to
decade counter CD4017 (IC2), which ad-
vances its output by one and its high state
shifts from Q0 to Q1. When Q1 goes high,
the output of IC3 at pin 3 goes low, so the
motor starts running in clockwise (forward)
direction. LED2 glows to indicate that the
motor is running in forward direction.
Now if you press S1 again, the high
output of IC2 shifts from Q1 to Q2. The
low Q1 output of IC2 makes pin 3 of IC3
high and the motor doesn’t rotate. LED1
glows (via diode D2) to indicate that the
motor is in stop condition.
Pressing switch S1 once again shifts
the high output of IC2 from Q2 to Q3.
The high Q3 output of IC2 makes pin 3 of
IC4 low and the motor starts running in
anti-clockwise (reverse) direction. LED3
glows to indicate that the motor is run-
ning in reverse direction.
EDI
S.C.
DWIV
If you press S1 again, the high output
of IC2 shifts from Q3 to Q4. Since Q4 is
connected to reset pin 15, it resets decade
counter CD4017 and its Q0 output goes
high, so the motor does not rotate. LED1
glows via diode D1 to indicate that the
motor is in stop condition. Thereafter, the
cycle repeats.
If you don’t want to operate the motor
in reverse direction, remove timer IC4
along with resistors R5 and R7 and LED3.
And connect ‘b’ terminal of the motor to
+Vcc.
Similarly, if you don’t want to run the
motor in forward direction, remove timer
IC3 along with resistors R4 and R6 and
LED2. And connect ‘a’ terminal of the mo-
tor to +Vcc.
The circuit works off a 9V regulated
power supply for a 9V DC motor. Use a
6V regulated power supply for a 6V DC
motor.
 CIRCUIT
IDEAS

DIGITAL AUDIO/VIDEO
INPUT SELECTOR
IVEDI
S.C. DW

„ T.K. HAREENDRAN

N
eed to connect more than one
audio-video (AV) source to
your colour television? Don’t
worry, here’s an AV input expander
for your TV. It is inexpensive and easy
to construct.
The working of the circuit is simple
and straightforward. Whenever 12V
DC is applied to the circuit, power-on
LED1 glows. Now reset the decade
counter by momentarily pressing
switch S2 to make Q0 output of IC1
high. LED2 glows to indicate that the
circuit is ready to work.
Switch S1 is used for selecting a
particular audio-video (AV) signal. To
select the first AV signal, press switch
S1 once. To select the second AV sig-
nal, press switch S1 twice. In the same
way, you can select the other two sig-
nals.
Momentarily pressing of switch S1
once results in clocking of the decade
counter and relay driver transistor T1
conducts to energise relay RL1. Now
normally opened (N/O) contacts of
two-changeover relay RL1 connect the
television set’s inputs to the first AV
signal (marked as Video-In 1 and Au-
dio-in 1). LED3 glows to indicate this.
When you press switch S1 twice,
the Q2 output of IC1 goes high. Con-
sequently, 2C/O relay RL2 (not shown
in the circuit) energises and television
inputs are connected to the second AV
signal (not shown in the figure). LED4
(not shown in figure) glows to indi-
cate this.
Similarly, pressing switch S1 thrice
makes the Q3 output of IC1 high. Con-
sequently, 2C/O relay RL3 (not shown
in the figure) energises
and the television inputs
are connected to the
third AV signal source.
LED5 (not shown in the
figure) glows to indicate
this.
Again, pressing
switch S1 four times
makes the Q4 output of
IC1 high. Consequently,
2C/O relay RL4
energises and the TV in-
puts are connected to the
fourth AV signal source
(marked as Video-in 4
and Audio-in 4). LED6
glows to indicate this.
Further pressing of switch S1 resets
the decade counter and LED2 glows
again. Thereafter, the cycle repeats. The
circuit is wired for four-input selec-
tion, therefore the Q5 output of IC1 is
connected to reset pin 15 of IC1.
Enclose the assembled PCB along
with the relays in a cabinet with the
input/output sockets and indicators
mounted on the body of the cabinet. z

PCB FOR 8085

Available at:
MICROPROCESSOR KIT
Kits‘n’Spares
(EFY NOVEMBER 99) 303, Dohil Chambers, 46, Nehru Place,
New Delhi 110019; Phone: 26430523,
26449577; E-mail: kits@efyindia.com
WITH ALL ITS ICs

108 • MARCH 2005 • ELECTRONICS FOR YOU WWW.EFYMAG.COM

CMYK
 DIGITAL DICE WITH NUMERIC
DISPLAY
T
he circuit described here is that
of a digital dice with numeric dis-
play. Timer IC 555 wired as an
astable multivibrator produces pulses at
about 48 kHz rate. These pulses are fed
to pin 14 of the decade counter IC 7490.
The oscillator is activated by depression
of switch S1.
Using different connections tor pins 2,
3 (reset to zero inputs Ro(1) and Ro(2)) and
the binary output pins 12, 9, 8 and 11 of
IC7490, various count ranges can be set.
For the given circuit the count range is set
as 0 to 5 by connecting QB and QC outputs
to Ro(1) and Ro(2) inputs, respectively.
At the count of 6, QB and QC outputs
of IC2 go high and counter is reset. The
188 ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 19
binary output pins of the counter IC2 are
connected to corresponding input pins of
4-bit binary adder IC3 (7483) which is
wired to give binary output equal to bi-
nary input+1. Thus the output of the dice
ranges from 1 to 6. For obtaining other
dice ranges, reset pins 2 and 3 connections
may be made as per Table I.
The binary summation outputs from
IC 7483 are connected to IC4 (7447) which
is a BCD to 7-segment decoder/driver.
The output from IC4 is connected to a
7-segment common-anode LED display
(LTS542).
When switch S1 is depressed, the LED
(D1) glows and the number displayed at
the 7-segment display changes at a rate
TABLE I
Dice range Connect Connect
pin 2 to pin 3 to
1 to 2 pin 9 +5V
1 to 3 pin 9 pin 12
1 to 4 pin 8 +5V
1 to 5 pin 8 pin 12
1 to 6 pin 8 pin 9
1 to 8 pin 11 +5V
1 to 9 pin 11 pin 12
of about 48,000 times per second. As soon
as the switch is released, the last (latest)
number remains on display. Thus the
circuit performs the function of a random
number generator with the displayed
number lying within the selected (wired)
range.
 DIGITAL MAINS VOLTAGE INDICATOR
C
ontinuous monitoring of the mains
voltage is required in many ap-
plications such as manual volt-
age stabilisers and motor pumps. An ana-
logue voltmeter, though cheap, has many
disadvantages as it has moving parts and
is sensitive to vibrations. The solidstate
voltmeter circuit described here indicates
the mains voltage with a resolution that
is comparable to that of a general-pur-
pose analogue voltmeter. The status of
the mains voltage is available in the form
of an LED bar graph.
Presets VR1 through VR16 are used
to set the DC voltages corresponding to
the 16 voltage levels over the 50-250V
range as marked on LED1 through
LED16, respectively, in the figure. The
LED bar graph is multiplexed from the
bottom to the top with the help of ICs
CD4067B (16-channel multiplexer) and
CD4029B (counter). The counter clocked
by NE555 timer-based astable
multivibrator generates 4-bit binary ad-
dress for multiplexer-demultiplexer pair
of CD4067B and CD4514B.
The voltage from the wipers of pre-
sets are multiplexed by CD4067B and the
output from pin 1 of CD4067B is fed to
the non-inverting input of comparator A2
(half of op-amp LM358) after being buff-
ered by A1 (the other half of IC2). The
unregulated voltage sensed from rectifier
output is fed to the inverting input of
comparator A2.
The output of comparator A2 is low
until the sensed voltage is greater than
the reference input applied at the non-
inverting pins of comparator A2 via buffer
A1. When the sensed voltage goes below
the reference voltage, the output of com-
parator A2 goes high. The high output
from comparator A2 inhibits the decoder
(CD4514) that is used to decode the out-
put of IC4029 and drive the LEDs. This
ensures that the LEDs of the bar graph
are ‘on’ up to the sensed voltage-level pro-
portional to the mains voltage.
The initial adjustment of each of the
presets can be done by feeding a known
AC voltage through an auto-transformer
and then adjusting the corresponding pre-
set to ensure that only those LEDs that
are up to the applied voltage glow.
(EFY note. It is advisable to use ad-
ditional transformer, rectifier, filter, and
regulator arrangements for obtaining a
regulated supply for the functioning of the
circuit so that performance of the circuit
is not affected even when the mains volt-
age falls as low as 50V or goes as high as
280V. During Lab testing regulated 12-
volt supply for circuit operation was used.)
ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 22

DIGITAL STOP WATCH
C.H. VITHALANI
H
ere’s a digital stop watch built
around timer IC LM555 and 4-digit
counter IC with multiplexed 7-seg-
ment output drivers (MM74C926).
IC MM74C926 consists of a 4-digit
counter, an internal output latch, npn
output sourcing drivers for common-
cathode, 7-segment display and an
internal multiplexing circuitry with four
multiplexing outputs. The multiplexing cir-
cuit has its own free running oscillator,
and requires no external clock. The
counter advances on negative edge of
the clock. The clock is generated by timer
IC LM555 (IC1) and applied to pin 12
of IC2.
A high signal on reset pin 13 of
IC2 resets the counter to zero. Reset pin
13 is connected to +5V through reset
S.C.
DWI
VED
I
push-on-switch S3. When S2 is momen-
tarily pressed, the count value becomes
0, transistor T1 conducts and it resets
IC1. Counting starts when S2 is in ‘off’
condition.
A low signal on the latch-enable input
pin 5 (LE) of IC2 latches the number in
the counter into the internal output latches.
When switch S2 is pressed, pin 5 goes
low and hence the count value gets stored
in the latch. Display-select pin 6 (DS) de-
cides whether the number on the counter
or the number stored in the latch is to be
displayed. If pin 6 is low the number in
the output latch is displayed, and if pin 6
is high the number in the counter is dis-
played.
When switch S2 is pressed, the
base of pnp transistor T2 is connected to
ground and it starts conducting. The emit-
ter of T2 is connected to DS pin of IC2.
CIRCUIT IDEAS
Thus, when switch S3 is pressed, reset
pin 13 of IC2 is connected to ground
via transistor T1 and the oscillator does
not generate clock pulses. This is done
to achieve synchronisation between IC1
and IC2.
First, reset the circuit so that the dis-
play shows ‘0000.’ Now open switch S2
for the stop watch to start counting the
time. If you want to stop the clock, close
switch S2.
Rotary switch S1 is used to select the
different time periods at the output of the
astable multivibrator (IC1). The circuit
works off a 5V power supply. It can be
easily assembled on a general-purpose
PCB. Enclose the circuit in a metal box
with provisions for four 7-segment dis-
plays, rotary switch S1, start/stop switch
S2 and reset switch S3 in the front panel
of the box.
JULY 2004 ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
 DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER
T
his instrument displays the speed
of the vehicle in kmph. An
opaque disc is mounted on the
spindle attached to the front wheel of
the vehicle. The disc has ten equidistant
holes on its periphery. On one side of
the disc an infrared LED is fixed and on
the opposite side of the disc, in line with
140 ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 19
NARENDRA WADHWANI
the IR LED, a phototransistor is
mounted. IC LM324 is wired as a
comparator.
When a hole appears between the
IR LED and phototransistor, the
phototransistor conducts. Hence the volt-
age at collector of the phototransistor
and inverting input of LM324 go ‘low’,
and thus output of LM324 becomes logic
‘high’. So rotation of the speedometer
cable results in a pulse (square wave) at
the output of LM324. The frequency of
this waveform is proportional to the
speed.
Let ‘N’ be the number of pulses in
time ‘t’ seconds and numerically equal
to the number of kilometres per hour
(kmph). For a vehicle such as LML
Vespa, with a wheel circumference of
1.38 metres, and number of pulses equal
to 10 per revolution, we get the
relationship:
N pulses
= N kmph
t
Nx1000
= metres per second
3600x1.38
Nx1000x10
= pulses per second
3600x1.38
Therefore, time ‘t’ in seconds
= 0.4968 second.
As shown in the timing diagram, at
t=0, output of astable flip-flop IC1(a) i.e.
½556 goes low and triggers monostable
multivibrator IC1(b) i.e. ½556. Pulse
width of monostable IC1(b) = 0.5068 sec.
For IC1(a), t(on) = 0.51 sec. and t(off)=
0.01 sec. The outputs of IC1(a) and
IC1(b), and the signal from the
transducer section are ANDed. The
number of pulses counted during the
gating period (0.4968 sec.) is the speed
N in kmph (kilometres per hour).
At the end of the gating period,
output ‘B’ of monostable IC1(b) goes low
and B goes high. The rising edge of B is
used to enable the quad ‘D’ flip-flops IC6
and IC7.
At this instant, i.e. at t=0.5068 sec.,
the number (speed) N will be latched
corresponding to the ‘D’ flip-flops and
displayed. At t=0.52 sec., output of
astable flip-flop IC1(a) goes low and
remains low for 0.01 sec. This
waveform is inverted and applied to
the reset terminals of all counters (ac-
tive high).
Thus the counters are reset and

counting begins afresh at t=0.53 sec. up
to the time t=0.52+0.2068 sec. However
the ‘D’ flip-flops are not enabled and the
previous speed is displayed. The
new speed is displayed at t=0.52 +
0.5068 sec. In this way the speed
will be updated every 0.52 sec.
This speedometer can measure
up to 99 kmph with a resolution of
1 kmph. The range can be increased
up to 999 kmph by adding another
stage consisting of one each of ICs
7490, 74175, 7447 and a 7-segment
display. The voltage supply required
for the operation of the circuit is
derived from the vehicle power
supply (12V).
The calculations shown above are for
LML Vespa and Kinetic Honda. The cal-
culations for using this speedometer for
Yamaha, whose circumference of wheel
= 1.8353m, can be obtained in a similar
fashion. The gating period will simply
vary in direct proportion to the wheel
diameter. It will be 0.6607 sec. for
Yamaha.
The same speedometer can be used
for other vehicles by making similar cal-
culations. In all the calculations it has
been assumed that the speedometer
cable makes one revolution for every
revolution of the wheel of the vehicles.
Note that on/off periods of the wave-
forms have to be precise. High quality
multiturn pots and low temperature co-
efficient components should be used in
the timer ICs.
ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 19 141
 ECONOMICAL PUMP CONTROLLER
T
he automatic pump controller quick response, no wear and tear, and cannot be used for purely non-conducting
eliminates the need for any no mechanical failures. The circuit fluids. For non-conducting fluids, some
manual switching of pumps in- diagram is shown in Fig.2. The device modifications need to be made in the fluid-
stalled for the purpose of pumping wa- performed satisfactorily on a test run level sensors. The circuit can however be
ter from a reservoir to an overhead tank in conjunction with a 0.5 HP motor kept intact.
(refer Fig.
1). It auto-
matically
switches on
the pump
when the
water level
in the tank
falls below
a certain
low level
L), provided
the water
level in the
reservoir
is above a
certain level
(R). Subse-
quently, as
the water
level in the
lank rises
to an upper
l e v e l ( M ) , Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of pump controller.
the pump is
switched off automatically. The pump and pump.
is turned on again only when the water The sensors used in the circuit can
level again falls below level L in the be any two conducting probes, preferably
tank, provided the level in the reser- resistant to electrolytic corrosion. For
voir is above R. This automated action instance, in the simplest case, a properly
continues. sealed audio jack can be used to work as
The circuit is designed to ‘overlook’ the sensor.
the transient oscillations of the water The circuit can also be used as a
level which would otherwise cause the constant fluid level maintainer. For this
logic to change its state rapidly and purpose the probes M and L are brought
unnecessarily. The circuit uses a single very close to each other to ensure that the
CMOS chip (CD4001) for logic process- fluid level is maintained within the M and
ing. L levels.
No use of any moving electro- The advantage of this system is that
mechanical parts in the water-level it can be used in tanks/reservoirs of any
sensor has been made. This ensures capacity whatsoever. However, the circuit Fig. 1: Block diagram of pump controller.

184 ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 19

 Electrical Equipment Control
Using PC
P.V. Vinod Kumar

H
ere is a novel idea
for using the printer
port of a PC, for con-
trol application using soft-
ware and some interface
hardware. The interface cir-
cuit along with the given
software can be used with
the printer port of any PC for
controlling up to eight equip-
ment. for only one device, being controlled by
The interface circuit D0 bit at pin 2 of the 25-pin parallel port.
shown in the figure is drawn Identical circuits for the remaining data

ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 20 179

 CIRCUIT IDEAS
Electronic Jam
RAJESH K.P.
T
his jam circuit can be used in
quiz contests wherein any par-
ticipant who presses his button
(switch) before the other contestants,
gets the first chance to answer a ques-
tion. The circuit given here permits up
to eight contestants with each one al-
lotted a distinct number (1 to 8). The
display will show the number of the con-
testant pressing his button before the
others. Simultaneously, a buzzer will
also sound. Both, the display as well as
the buzzer have to be reset manually
using a common reset switch.
Initially, when reset switch S9 is mo-
mentarily pressed and released, all out-
puts of 74LS373 (IC1) transparent latch
go ‘high’ since all the input data lines
are returned to Vcc via resistors R1
A.P.S
. DH
ILLO
N
through R8. All eight outputs of IC1
are connected to inputs of priority en-
coder 74LS147 (IC2) as well as 8-input
NAND gate 74LS30 (IC3). The output
of IC3 thus becomes logic 0 which, after
inversion by NAND gate N2, is applied
to latch-enable pin 11 of IC1. With all
input pins of IC2 being logic 1, its BCD
output is 0000, which is applied to 7-
segment decoder/driver 74LS47 (IC6) af-
ter inversion by hex inverter gates in-
side 74LS04 (IC5). Thus, on reset the
display shows 0.
When any one of the push-to-on
switches—S1 through S8—is pressed,
the corresponding output line of IC1 is
latched at logic 0 level and the display
indicates the number associated with
the specific switch. At the same time,
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU n  JUNE '99
output pin 8 of IC3 becomes high, which
causes outputs of both gates N1 and
N2 to go to logic 0 state. Logic 0 output
of gate N2 inhibits IC1, and thus press-
ing of any other switch S1 through S8
has no effect. Thus, the contestant who
presses his switch first, jams the dis-
play to show only his number. In the
unlikely event of simultaneous press-
ing (within few nano-seconds difference)
of more than one switch, the higher
priority number (switch no.) will be
displayed. Simultaneously, the logic 0
output of gate N1 drives the buzzer via
pnp transistor BC158 (T1). The buzzer
as well the display can be reset (to
show 0) by momentary pressing of re-
set switch S9 so that next round may
start.
Lab Note: The original circuit sent
by the author has been modified as it
did not jam the display, and a higher
number switch (higher priority), even
when pressed later, was able to change
the displayed number.

ELECTRONIC MOTOR STARTER
T.A. BABU
T
his motor starter protects single-
phase motors against voltage fluc-
tuations and overloading. Its salient
feature is a soft on/off electronic switch
for easy operation.
The transformer steps down the AC
voltage from 230V to 15V. Diodes D1 and
D2 rectify the AC voltage to DC. The un-
regulated power supply is given to the pro-
tection circuit.
In the protection circuit, transistor T1 is
used to protect the motor from over-volt-
age. The over-voltage setting is done using
preset VR1 such that T1 conducts when
voltages goes beyond upper limit (say,
260V). When T1 conducts, it switches off
T2. Transistor T2 works as the under-volt-
age protector. The under-voltage setting is
done with the help of preset VR2 such that
T2 stops conducting when voltage is below
lower limit (say, 180V). Zener diodes ZD1
and ZD2 provide base bias to transistors T1
and T2, respectively. Transistors T3 and T4
are connected back to back to form an SCR
configuration, which behaves as an ‘on’/
‘off’ control. Switch S1 is used to turn on
the pump, while switch S2 is used to turn
off the pump.
CIRCUIT IDEAS
SUN
IL KU
MAR
While making over-/under-voltage set-
ting, disconnect C2 temporarily. Capacitor
C2 prevents relay chattering due to rapid
voltage fluctuations.
Regulator IC 7809 gives the 9V regu-
lated supply to soft switch as well as the
relay after filtering by capacitor C4. A suit-
able miniature circuit breaker is used for
automatic over-current protection. Green
LED (LED1) indicates that the motor is
‘on’ and red LED (LED2) indicates that
the power is ‘on’. The motor is connected
to the normally-open contact of the relay.
When the relay energises, the motor turns
on.
OCTOBER 2003 ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
 Electronic Scoring Game
Y
ou can play this game alone
or with your friends. The
circuit comprises a timer IC,
two decade counters and a display
driver along with a 7-segment
display.
The game is simple. As stated
above, it is a scoring game and the
competitor who scores 100 points rap-
idly (in short steps) is the winner. For
scoring, one has the option of pressing
either switch S2 or S3. Switch S2,
when pressed, makes the counter
count in the forward direction, while
switch S3 helps to count downwards. Before ‘Y’, is summarised below: above and notes down his new score (say,
starting a fresh game, and for that matter 1. Player ‘X’ starts by momentary X2). He adds up this score to his previous
even a fresh move, you must press switch pressing of reset switch S1 followed score. The same procedure is repeated by
S1 to reset the circuit. Thereafter, press any by pressing and releasing of either player ‘Y’ in his turn.
of the two switches, i.e. S2 or S3. switch S2 or S3. Thereafter he presses 4. The game carries on until the score
On pressing switch S2 or S3, the switch S4 to read the display (score) attained by one of the two players totals
counter’s BCD outputs change very and notes down this number (say X1) up to or exceeds 100, to be declared as the
rapidly and when you release the switch, manually. winner.
the last number remains latched at the 2. Player ‘Y’ also starts by momen- Several players can participate in this
output of IC2. The latched BCD number tary pressing of switch S1 followed game, with each getting a chance to score
is input to BCD to 7-segment decoder/ by pressing of switch S2 or S3 and during his own turn.
driver IC3 which drives a common- then notes down his score (say Y1), The circuit may be assembled
anode display DIS1. However, you can after pressing switch S4, exactly using a multipurpose board. Fix the
read this number only when you press in the same fashion as done by the first display (LEDs and 7-segment display)
switch S4. player. on top of the cabinet along with the
The sequence of operations for playing 3. Player ‘X’ again presses switch S1 three switches. The supply voltage for the
the game between, say two players ‘X’ and and repeats the steps shown in step 1 circuit is 5V.

ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 20

 CIRCUIT IDEAS

ELECTRONIC SECURITY SYSTEM S.C. DWI

VED
I

K. BHARATHAN output of
t h e

T
his reliable and easy-to-operate elec- Darlington
tronic security system can be used pair drives
in banks, factories, commercial es- the loud-
tablishments, houses, etc. speaker
The system comprises a monitoring sys- whose out-
tem and several sensing zones. Each sens- put volume
ing zone is provided with a closed-loop can be con-
switch known as sense switch. Sense trolled by
switches are fixed on the doors of premises potentiom-
under security and connected to the moni- eter VR1.
toring system. As long as the doors are Capacitor
closed, sense switches are also closed. The C1 serves
monitoring system can be installed at a as a filter
convenient central place for easy operation. capacitor.
Fig. 1 shows the monitoring circuit Y o u
only for zone 1 along with the common can alter
alarm circuit. For other zones, the the alarm
monitoring circuit is identical, with only sound as
the prefixes of components changing desired by
as per zone number. Encircled points A, changing
B, and C of each zone monitoring circuit the con-
need to be joined to the corresponding nections of
points of the alarm circuit (upper half IC1 as
of Fig. 1). shown in
When zone 1 sensing switch S11, zone the table.
on/off slide switch S12, and system on/off T h e
switch S1 are all on, pnp transistor T12 circuit con-
reverse biases to go in cut-off condition, tinues to
with its collector at around 0 volt. When sound the
the door fitted with sensor switch S11 is alarm until
opened, transistor T12 gets forward biased zone door Fig. 1: Monitoring circuit along with the alarm circuit
and it conducts. Its collector voltage goes
high, which forward biases transistor T10
via resistor R10 to turn it on. (Capacitor
C10 serves as a filter capacitor.) As a re-
sult, the collector voltage of transistor T10
falls to forward bias transistor T11, which
conducts and its collector voltage is sus-
tained at a high level. Under this latched
condition, sensor switch S11 and the state
of transistor T12 have no effect. In this
state, red LED11 of the zone remains lit.
Simultaneously, the high-level voltage
from the collector of transistor T11 via di-
ode D10 is applied to VDD pin 5 of siren
sound generator IC1 (UM3561) whose pin
2 is grounded. Resistor R3 connected across
pins 7 and 8 of IC1 determines the fre-
Fig. 2: Physical layout of sensors and monitoring/alarm system
quency of the in-built oscillator. As a re-
sult, IC1 starts generating the audio signal is closed (to close switch S11) and the The system operates off a 3V DC bat-
output at pin 3. The output voltage from reset switch is pressed momentarily (which tery or recharging battery with charging
IC1 is further amplified by Darlington pair causes transistor T10 to cut off, returning circuit or battery eliminator. If desired,
of transistors T1 and T2. The amplified the circuit to its initial state). more operating zones can be added.

MARCH 2003 ELECTRONICS FOR YOU

 CIRCUIT IDEAS

Alarm sound Circuit connections for respective ing to the zone glows to indicate that the
zones in closed door of the zone is open. The alarm and
IC pin 1 connected to IC pin 6 connected to position. Also the LED indication will continue even af-
Police siren NC NC keep zone slide ter that particular door with the sensing
Ambulance siren NC VDD switches S12, S22, switch is immediately closed, or even if
Fire engine Sound NC VSS S32, S42, etc in that switch is removed/damaged or con-
Machinegun sound VSS NC ‘on’ position. This necting wire is cut open.
puts the system in Any particular zone in the monitoring
Note. NC indicates no connection
operation, guard- system can be put to operation or out of
ing all the zone operation by switching on or switching off
Initially keep the monitoring system doors. the corresponding slide switch in the moni-
switch S1 off. Keep all the zone doors fixed Now, if the door of a particular zone toring system.
with sensing switches S11, S21, S31, S41, is opened, the monitoring system sounds The circuit for monitoring four zones
etc closed. This keeps the sensing switches an audible alarm and the LED correspond- costs around Rs 400.

ELECTRONICS FOR YOU MARCH 2003


ELECTRONIC WATCHDOG
TAPAN KUMAR MAHARANA
H
ere’s an electronic watchdog for
your house that sounds to inform
you that somebody is at the gate.
Fig. 1: 38kHz IR transmitter circuit
Fig. 2: Receiver circuit
transmitter is derived from the receiver
circuit by connecting its points A and B
to the respective points of the receiver
circuit. The receiver is powered by regu-
lated 6V DC. For the purpose, you can
use a 6V battery.
The transmitter and receiver units are
aligned such that the IR beam falls di-
rectly on the IR sensor. As long as IR
beam falls on the sensor, its output re-
mains low, transistor T1 does not conduct
S.C.
DWI
VED
I
The circuit comprises
a transmitter unit and
a receiver unit, which
are mounted face to
face on the opposite
Fig. 4: Mounting arrangement for transmitter and receiver units
Fig. 3: Pin configurations of
TSOP1738 and UM66
and trigger pin 2 of IC2 remains high.
When anyone interrupts the IR beam
falling on the sensor, its output goes high
to drive transistor T1 into conduction and
pin 2 of IC2 goes low momentarily. As a
result, IC2 gets triggered and its pin 3
goes high to supply 3.3V to melody gen-
erator IC3 at its pin 2, which produces a
sweet melody through the speaker fitted
inside the house. Output pin 3 of IC2
remains high for around 30 seconds.
CIRCUIT IDEAS
pillars of the gate such that the IR
beam gets interrupted when someone
is standing at the gate or passing
through it.
The transmitter circuit (see Fig. 1)
is built around timer NE555 (IC1),
which is wired as an astable
multivibrator producing a frequency of
about 38 kHz. The infrared (IR) beam
is transmitted through IR LED1.
The receiver circuit is
shown in Fig. 2. It comprises
IR sensor TSOP1738 (IR RX1),
npn transistor BC548 (T1),
timer NE555 (IC2) and some
resistors and capacitors. IC2 is
wired as a monostable
multivibrator with a time pe-
riod of around 30 seconds. The
melody generator section is
built around melody generator
IC UM66 (IC3), transistor T2
and loudspeaker LS1. Fig. 3
shows pin configurations of IR
sensor TSOP1738 and melody
generator IC UM66.
The power supply for the
Fig. 4 shows mounting arrangement
for both the transmitter and receiver units
on the gate pillars. To achieve a high di-
rectivity of the IR beam towards the sen-
sor, use a reflector behind the IR LED.
After both the units have been built,
connect 6V power supply to the receiver
circuit. You should hear a continuous
melody from the speaker. Now connect
6V power to the transmitter also and
orient IR LED1 towards IR receiver. The
NOVEMBER 2004 ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
CIRCUIT IDEAS

melody should stop after about 30 sec- door, the IR beam is interrupted and the Using preset VR1, you can set the volume
onds. Now the transmitter and the re- alarm sounds for 30 seconds. The alarm of the loudspeaker.
ceiver units are ready for use. keeps sounding as long as one stands This circuit can also be used as a door-
When somebody enters through the between the transmitter and receiver units. bell or burglar alarm.

ELECTRONICS FOR YOU NOVEMBER 2004

 FLUID LEVEL DETECTOR
H
ere is a simple but versatile cir-
cuit of fluid level detector which
can be used for various applica-
tions at home and in industry.
Circuit is built around 2-input NAND
Schmitt trigger gates N1 and N2. Gate
N1 is configured as an oscillator operat-
ing at around 1 kHz frequency. When
the fluid level reaches the probe’s level,
the oscillations are coupled to the diode
detector stage comprising diodes D1 and
D2. capacitor C4 and resistor R2. The
positive voltage developed across ca-
pacitor C4 and resistor R2 combination
is applied to Schmitt NAND gate N2 be suitably interfaced to any external detector circuit. Since high frequency AC
which is used here as a buffer/driver. circuit for indication purposes or driving is used for the electrodes, there is no cor-
The output of gate N2 is connected to any load as desired. rosion of the electrodes which is normally
opto-coupler MCT2E. The output across Use of opto-coupler ensures complete observed with DC being applied to the
pins 4 and 5 of the opto-coupler can isolation of the load from the fluid level electrodes.

196 ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 19

circuit
ideas

Guitar Effect Pedal Power

edi
s.c. dwiv
 Raj K. Gorkhali connecting points as shown in Fig. 2.
The circuit (Fig. 2) can be divided

A
friend of mine plays guitar with into two sections: power supply and
several guitar effect pedals. He signal handling. The power supply regulators. This supply is more than
had a problem with battery section is built around transformer X1, enough for the five effect pedals.
eliminators and cables of the pedals regulators 7805 and 7905, bridge recti- The greater the voltage drop across
cluttering the stage and so he asked fier comprising diodes D1 through D4, the regulator, the lower the output
for help. The solution is simple as de- and a few discrete components. The current potential. Resistors R1 and
scribed here. signal-handling circuit is built around R2 provide a constant load to ensure
A small box is fitted to the rear of two OP27 op-amps (IC3 and IC4). that the regulators keep regulating.
the amplifier providing a 9V output for The power supply of about 9V Capacitors C3 through C8 ensure that
the effect pedal. The amplifier section for the effect pedals is derived from the supplies are as clean as possible. It
gets 9V through step-down transformer X1. MOV1 is a is very important to use proper heat-
a pedal switch metal-oxide varistor that absorbs any sinks for IC1 and IC2. Otherwise, these
(refer Fig. 1). large spike in mains power. could heat up.
This power out- IC 7905 (IC1) is a -5V low-power Working of the circuit is simple.
put and guitar regulator. By using a 3.9V zener diode The input signal stage uses a basic
signal input (ZD1) at its ground terminal, you get differentiation amplifier to accept the
lines are com- -8.9V output. The same technique is incoming signal and a voltage fol-
bined into a also applied to IC 7805 (IC2)—a +5V lower to buffer the output to the power
Fig. 1: A typical guitar
single unit with regulator to get 8.9V. Use good-qual- amplifier. The differential amplifier is
pedal switch multi-way cable ity components and heat-sinks for the built around IC3. It works by effective-
ly looking at the signals
presented to its inputs.
If the input signals are of
different amplitudes, IC3
amplifies the difference
by a factor determined
by R4/R3 (where R4=R6
and R3=R5). If the input
signals have same ampli-
tudes, these are attenuat-
ed by the common-mode
rejection ratio (CMRR) of
the circuit. The value of
CMRR is determined by
the choice of the op-amp
the auxiliary components
used and circuit topolo-
gy. You can use standard
resistors. With the values
shown, you get an overall
gain of unity.
The combination
of resistor R7 and C13
serves as a passive low-
pass filter, progressively
attenuating unwanted
high-frequency signals.
Fig. 2: Pedal power circuit The second op-amp (IC4)

1 0 8 • D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 0 • e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u w w w. e f y m ag . co m

forms a simple voltage follower (its
output follows its input), providing a
low output impedance to drive into the
standard power amplifier.
Assemble the circuit on a general-
purpose PCB and fit it to the rear of an
amplifier. The unit must be compact,
yet robust. So use a very sturdy alu-
minium extrusion for the cabinet in or-
der to neatly house the assembled PCB.
To ensure simple operation, there
are only three connections to the unit.
circuit
ideas
First, mains power is tapped from the
transformer. The second lead carries
the 9V output to the amplifier. The
third is the guitar signal input at the
five-way socket for connection to the
effect pedal. 

w w w. e f y m ag . co m e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u • D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 0 • 1 0 9
 Handy Zener Diode Tester
H
ere is a handy zener diode
tester which tests zener diodes
with breakdown voltages extend-
ing up to 120 volts. The main advantage
of this circuit is that it works with a volt-
age as low as 6V DC and consumes less
than 8 mA current.
The circuit can be fitted in a 9V battery
box. Two-third of the box may be used for
four 1.5V batteries and the remaining one-
third is sufficient for accommodating this
circuit. In this circuit a commonly available
transformer with 230V AC primary to 9-0-
9V, 500mA secondary is used in reverse to
achieve higher AC voltage across 230V AC
terminals.
Transistor T1 (BC547) is configured
as an oscillator and driver to obtain re-
quired AC voltage across transformer’s
230V AC terminals. This AC voltage is
converted to DC by diode D1 and filter
capacitor C2 and is used to test the zener
diodes. R3 is used as a series current
limiting resistor.
After assembling the circuit, check DC
voltage across points A and B without con-
necting any zener diode. Now switch S1
on. The DC voltage across A-B should vary
from 10V to 120V by adjusting potmeter
VR1 (10k). If every thing is all right, the
circuit is ready for use.
For testing a zener diode of un-
known value, connect it across points A
and B with cathode towards A. Adjust
potmeter VR1 so as to obtain the maxi-
mum DC voltage across A and B. Note
down this zener value corresponding
to DC voltage reading on the digital
multimeter.
When testing zener diode of value less
than 3.3V, the meter shows less voltage
instead of the actual zener value. However,
correct reading is obtained for zener diodes
of value above 5.8V with a tolerance of ±10
per cent. In case zener diode shorts, the
multimeter shows 0 volts.
ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 20
 CIRCUIT IDEAS
HIT SWITCH
T.A. BABU
T
his versatile hit switch is the elec-
tronic equivalent of a conventional
switch. It can be used to control
the switching of a variety of electronic
devices.
The circuit of the hit switch uses a
piezoelectric diaphragm (piezobuzzer) as
the hit sensor. A piezoelectric material de-
velops electric polarisation when strained
by an applied stress. The hit sensor makes
use of this property.
When you hit or knock the piezo ele-
ment (hit plate) with your fingertip, a small
voltage developed by the piezo element is
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU DECEMBER 2004
SAN
I THE
O
amplified by transistor BC547 (T1). The
combination of transistor T1 and the bridge
rectifier comprising diodes D1 through D4
acts as a voltage-control switch. The in-
verter gates of IC CD4069 (IC1) together
with associated components form a
bistable switch.
IC CD4069 is a CMOS hex inverter.
Out of the six available inverter gates, only
three are used here. IC1 operates at any
voltage between 3V and 15V and offers a
high immunity against noise. The recom-
mended operating temperature range for
this IC is –55°C to 125°C. This device is
intended for all general-purpose inverter
applications.
Initially, the input of gate N1 is low,
while the input of gate N2 is high. Trig-
gering the voltage-control switch by hit-
ting the sensor pulls the input of gate N1
to high level and causes the bistable to
toggle. The capacitor gets charged via re-
sistor R1 and the circuit changes its state.
This latch continues until the bistable
switch gets the next triggering input.
Every time the hit plate receives a hit,
the voltage-control switch triggers the
bistable circuit. That means every subse-
quent hit at the sensor will toggle the state
of the switch. The red LED (LED1) con-
nected at the output of gate N3 indicates
‘on’/‘off’ position of
the switch. Relay
RL1 is activated by
the hit switch to con-
trol the connected
load.
The circuit works
off 12V DC. It can be
constructed on any
general-purpose PCB.
For the desired re-
sults, proper connec-
tions and installation
of the hit sensor are
necessary. Remove
the cover of the
piezobuzzer and connect its two leads to
the circuit. Mount the plate such that it
receives the hit properly. The piezoelectric
material on the plate can easily get dam-
aged, so hit the switch gently.
 HOUSE SECURITY SYSTEM
H
ere is a low-cost, invisible laser
circuit to protect your house
from thieves or trespassers. A
laser pointer torch, which is easily avail-
able in the market, can be used to oper-
ate this device.
The block diagram of the unit shown
in Fig. 1 depicts the overall arrange-
ment for providing security to a house.
A laser torch powered by 3V power-
supply is used for generating a laser
beam. A combination of plain mirrors
MALAY BANERJEE
M1 through M6 is used to direct the
laser beam around the house to form a
net. The laser beam is directed to fi-
nally fall on an LDR that forms part of
the receiver unit as shown in Fig. 2.
Any interruption of the beam by a thief/
trespasser will result into energisation
of the alarm. The 3V power-supply cir-
cuit is a conventional full-wave recti-
fier-filter circuit. Any alarm unit that
operates on 230V AC can be connected
at the output.
The receiver
unit comprises
two identical
step-down transformers (X1 and X2), two
6V relays (RL1 and RL2), an LDR, a
transistor, and a few other passive com-
ponents. When switches S1 and S2 are
activated, transformer X1, followed by a
full-wave rectifier and smoothing capaci-
tor C1, drives relay RL1 through the
laser switch.
The laser beam should be aimed con-
tinuously on LDR. As long as the laser
beam falls on LDR, transistor T1 re-
mains forward biased and relay RL1 is
thus in de-energised condition. When a
person crosses the line of laser beam,
relay RL1 turns on and transformer X2
gets power supply and RL2
energises. In this condition,
the laser beam will have no
effect on LDR and the alarm
will continue to operate as long
as switch S2 is on.
When the torch is switched
on, the pointed laser beam is
reflected from a definite point/
place on the periphery of the
house. Making use of a set of
properly oriented mirrors
one can form an invisible net
of laser rays as shown in the
block diagram. The final ray
should fall on LDR of the
circuit.
Note. LDR should be kept
in a long pipe to protect it from
other sources of light, and
its total distance from the
source may be kept limited to
500 metres.
ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Vol. 22 119
 CIRCUIT
IDEAS
INFRARED BUG
„ T.K. HAREENDRAN
T
his circuit can be used to de-
tect the presence of modulated
infrared signals in its vicinity
from any electronic source, for in-
stance, an IR handheld remote control-
ler. It can also be used for testing IR
burglar alarm systems.
Fig. 1 shows the circuit of the in-
frared bug. Besides the power supply
(one 9V PP3/6F22 compact battery
pack), it consists of an infrared
signal detector-cum-preamplifier
followed by a melody generator
and a tiny audio amplifier. The cir-
Fig. 1: Infrared bug
100 • MARCH 2006 • ELECTRONICS FOR YOU
cuit, in principle, con-
verts the IR signal pulse
trains into noticeable au-
ral notes.
S1 is used to switch
on/off mains power and
LED1 indicates power-
‘on.’ Resistor R4 and
zener diode ZD2 form
a low-current voltage Fig. 2: Pin configurations of LM386, BC547/337 and UM66
stabiliser for providing
steady 5.1V DC to the small signal-
preamplifier circuit. IR LED1 is the
main sensing element.
The IR signal detected by IR LED1
is amplified by npn transistors T1 and
CMYK
S.C. DW
IVEDI
T2. The amplified signal is fed to the
melody generator via resistor R5. The
output of the melody generator is fed
to LM386 low-power audio amplifier
(IC2) via variable resistor VR1, which
works as the volume control.
The loudspeaker sounds to in-
dicate the presence of IR signal
near the circuit.
IC LM386 is wired as a
minimum-parts amplifier with
a voltage gain of ‘20,’ which is
sufficient for this application.
Capacitor C3 is used for
decoupling of the positive rail
and the R-C combination net-
work comprising C4 and R7
bypasses high frequency to
ground.
The circuit can be easily
wired on a small veroboard or
any general-purpose PCB. Pin
configurations of IC LM386,
transistor BC547 and melody
generator UM66 are shown in
Fig. 2. A miniature metallic
cabinet may be used for enclos-
ing the gadget. z
WWW.EFYMAG.COM
 CIRCUIT IDEAS
INFRARED PROXIMITY DETECTOR
K.S. SANKAR
T
his proximity detector using an
infrared detector (Fig. 1) can be
used in various equipment like au-
tomatic door openers and burglar alarms.
The circuit primarily consists of an infra-
red transmitter and an infrared receiver.
The transmitter section consists of a
555 timer IC functioning in astable mode.
It is wired as shown in the figure. The
output from astable is fed to an infrared
LED via resistor R4, which limits its oper-
ating current. This circuit provides a fre-
quency output of 38 kHz at 50 per cent
duty cycle, which is required for the infra-
red detector/receiver module. Siemens
SFH5110-38 is a much better choice than
SFH506-38. Siemens SFH5110-38 is turned
on by a continuous frequency of 38 kHz
with 50 per cent duty cycle, whereas
SFH506 requires a burst frequency of 38k
to sense. Hence, SFH5110-38 is used.
Fig. 1: IR proximity detector
ELECTRONICS FOR YOU JANUARY 2003
The receiver section comprises an in-
frared receiver module, a 555 monostable
multivibrator, and an LED indicator. Upon
reception of infrared signals, 555 timer
(mono) turns on and remains on as long
as infrared signals are received. When the
signals are interrupted, the mono goes off
after a few seconds (period=1.1 R7xC6)
depending upon the value of R7-C6 com-
bination. Thus if R7=470 kilo-ohms and
C6=4.7µF, the mono period will be around
2.5 seconds.
Fig. 2: Proposed arrangement for
separation of IR LED and receiver module
in the proximity detector
SUN
IL KU
MAR
Both the transmitter and the receiver
parts can be mounted on a single bread-
board or PCB. The infrared receiver must
be placed behind the infrared LED to avoid
false indication due to infrared leakage.
An object moving nearby actually
reflects the infrared rays emitted by the
infrared LED. The infrared receiver has
sensitivity angle (lobe) of 0-60 degrees,
hence when the reflected IR ray is
sensed, the mono in the receiver part is
triggered. The output from the mono may
be used in any desired fashion. For ex-
ample, it can be used to turn on a
light when a person comes nearby by
energising a relay. The light would auto-
matically turn off after some time as the
person moves away and the mono pulse
period is over.
The sensitivity of the detector depends
on current-limiting resistor R4 in series
with the infrared LED. Range is approxi-
mately 40 cm. For 20-ohm value of R4 the
object at 25 cm can
be sensed, while for
30-ohm value of R4
the sensing range re-
duces by 22.5 cm.
(Note. The au-
thor procured the
samples of Siemens
products from
Arihant Electricals,
New Delhi, the dis-
tributor of Siemens
in India.)
This circuit costs
around Rs 125.
 CIRCUIT IDEAS

INFRARED REMOTE CONTROL TIMER S.C.

DWI
VED
I

Fig. 2: IR receiver section

DIPANJAN BHATTACHARJEE whose frequency may
be varied with the help

T
his infrared remote control timer can of potmeter VR3.
be used to turn an appliance on/off When switch S1 of
for a period of 0.11 second to 110.0 the transmitter is
seconds. pressed, the modu-
The circuit comprises two sections, lated IR rays are gen-
namely, the transmitter section and the erated, which are re-
receiver section. ceived by photodiodes
Fig. 1 shows the IR transmitter sec- in the receiver section
tion. The astable multivibrator NE555 (IC1) and amplified by the
is used to generate a 10kHz modulated IR amplifier circuit. The
signal. The output of IC1 is connected to output of op-amp goes
the base of pnp transistor T1 via resistor low to trigger the
R2. Two infrared LEDs (IR1 and IR2) are monostable. Then high
connected in series between the collector output at pin 3 of IC3
(via resistor R3) and ground. activates the two-
When switch S1 is pressed, the IR LEDs changeover relay RL
transmit the modulated IR signal of 10-11 via transistor T3
kHz. This frequency can be changed with (BC548) for a preset
the help of VR1 potmeter. time.
In the receiver section shown in Fig. The on/off time
2, two photodiodes (IR3 and IR4) receive can be set in the timer
the IR signal transmitted by the IR trans- with the help of VR3
mitter. Transistors T2 and T3 amplify the and C10. Switch S2 is
weak signal. The amplified signal is fil- used to reset the
tered by capacitors C6 and C7. The ampli- monostable. If you
fied and filtered signal is now fed to the want to turn the appli-
inverting input pin 2 of op-amp IC2 (IC ance on for a preset
741). The output of IC2 is further con- time, connect the ap-
nected to trigger pin 2 of timer NE555 (IC3) pliance via relay RL(a).
that is used as a monostable multivibrator On the other hand, if
you want to
turn the appli-
ance off for a
preset time,
connect the ap-
pliance via re-
lay RL(b). The
timer can be re-
set by pressing
reset switch S2.
The circuit
works up to 3
metres without
using any fo-
cusing lens.
However, you
can increase
the operating
range by using
focusing lens.
This circuit
costs around
Fig. 1: IR transmitter section Rs 100.

MAY 2003 ELECTRONICS FOR YOU