Schematic Reference: August 2012

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

1.5 - 35 Volt DC Regulated Power Supply

Here is the circuit diagram of regulated power supply. It is a small power supply that provides a regulated voltage, adjustable between 1.5 and 35 volts at 1 ampere. This circuit is ready to use, you just need to add a suitable transformer. This circuit is thermal overload protected because the current limiter and thermal overload protection are included in the IC.

Picture of the circuit:

1A 1.5 volt to 35 volt dc Regulated Power Supply Circuit Schematic

1A Regulated Power Supply Circuit Schematic

Circuit diagram:

1A Regulated Power Supply Circuit Diagram

Transformer selection chart:

Transformer selection Guide-Table For Power Supply

Parts:

IC = LM317
P1 = 4.7K
R1 = 120R
C1 = 100nF - 63V
C2 = 1uF - 35V
C3 = 10uF - 35V
C4 = 2200uF - 35V
D1-D4 = 1N4007

Features:

Just add a suitable transformer (see table)
Great to power your projects and save money on batteries
Suitable as an adjustable power supply for experiments
Control DC motors, low voltage light bulbs, …

Specifications :

Preset any voltage between 1.5 and 35V
Very low ripple (80dB rejection)
Short-circuit, thermal and overload protection
Max input voltage : 28VAC or 40VDC
Max dissipation : 15W (with heatsink)
Dimensions : 52x52mm (2.1” x 2.1”)

Technical Specifications

Input Voltage = 40Vdc max Transformer
Output Voltage = 1.5V to 35Vdc
Output Current = 1.5 Amps max.
Power Dissipation = 15W max (cooled)

Note:

It has not to be cooled if used for small powers. 28 Volt AC max is allowed for the input voltage.

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Monday, August 27, 2012

Low Cost Battery Condition Indicator Circuit Diagram

This design combines power-on and low-battery indication, can operate with any battery voltage up to 15V, has very low current drain (2mA or less) and costs less than $3.50 with new parts. When the battery voltage is above a predetermined minimum, power on is indicated by what appears to be a steadily lit LED. In fact, the LED is being pulsed by a free-running relaxation oscillator formed by IC1c, one gate of a 4093 CMOS quad Schmitt NAND. The frequency of this oscillator should be at least 50Hz, so that it appears to be continuously on while at the same time drawing far less average current than a steadily lit LED.

Circuit diagram:

Low cost battery condition indicator circuit schematic

Low Cost Battery Condition Indicator Circuit Diagram

The series resistor for the LED needs to be selected for each battery voltage, to limit the current to a safe vale or you could use a fixed resistor and a series trimpot for flexibility. Low battery voltage is indicated by the LED pulsing at around 1Hz. The battery voltage is monitored by transistor Q1 and trimpot VR1. Once the voltage at its base falls below 0.6V, Q1 turns off and Q2 turns on to enable the 2-gate oscillator formed by IC1a and IC1b, which runs at 1Hz. The pulses from this oscillator are inverted by IC1d to gate the LED oscillator on and off. Calibration can be done with a variable bench power supply set to the lowest battery voltage you will accept. Power up the circuit and adjust VR1 until the LED pulses once per second.
Author: Peter Wilson - Copyright: Silicon Chip

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Solar Battery Protector Circuit Diagram

This circuit prevents the battery in a solar lighting system from being excessively discharged. It's for small systems with less than 100W of lighting, such as several fluorescent lights, although with a higher rated Mosfet at the output, it could switch larger loads. The circuit has two comparators based on an LM393 dual op amp. One monitors the ambient light so that lamps cannot be turned on during the day. The second monitors the battery voltage, to prevent it from being excessively discharged. IC1b monitors the ambient light by virtue of the light dependent resistor connected to its non-inverting input. When exposed to light, the resistance of the LDR is low and so the output at pin 7 is low.

Circuit diagram:

Solar battery protector prevents excessive discharge circuit schematic

Solar Battery Protector Circuit Diagram

IC1a monitors the battery voltage via a voltage divider connected to its non-inverting input. Its inverting input is connected to a reference voltage provided by ZD1. Trimpot VR1 is set so that when the battery is charged, the output at pin 1 is high and so Mosfet Q1 turns on to operate the lights. The two comparator outputs are connected together in OR gate fashion, which is permissible because they are open-collector outputs. Therefore, if either comparator output is low (ie, the internal output transistor is on) then the Mosfet (Q1) is prevented from turning on. In practice, VR1 would be set to turn off the Mosfet if the battery voltage falls below 12V. The suggested LDR is a NORP12, a weather resistant type available from Farnell Electronic Components Pty Ltd.

Author: Michael Moore - Copyright: Silicon Chip Electronics

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Sound Activated Lights

This diy sound activated lights circuit turns a lamp ON for a short duration when the dog barks (or a relatively strong sound) giving an impression that the occupants have been alerted. The condenser microphone fitted in a place to monitor sound and generates AC signals, which pass through DC blocking capacitor C1 to the base of transistor BC549 (T1). Transistor T1 along with transistor T2 amplifies the sound signals and provides current pulses from the collector of T2. When sound is produced in front of the condenser mic, triac1 (BT136) fires, activates lights and the bulb (B1) glows for about two minutes.

Assemble the sound activated lights circuit on a general purpose PCB (circuit board) and enclose in a plastic cabinet. Power to the sound activated switch circuit can be derived from a 12V, 500mA step-down transformer with rectifier and smoothing capacitor. Solder the triac ensuring sufficient spacing between the pins to avoid short circuit. Fix the unit in the dog’s cage or close to the sound monitoring spot, with the lamp inside or outside as desired. Connect the microphone to the sount activated lights circuit using a short length of shielded wire. Enclose the microphone in a tube to increase its sensitivity.

Caution. Since the sound activated lights uses 230V AC, many of its points are at AC mains voltage. It could give you lethal shock if you are not careful. So if you don’t know much about working with line voltages, do not attempt to construct this circuit. We will not be responsible for any kind of resulting loss or damage.

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Electronic Fuse for DC Short Circuit Protection

This is an electronic fuse that protects the load against short circuit.

Project Description

Relays must be chosen with a voltage value equals to the input voltage. Don’t omit using the 100uF capacitor with appropriate voltage value with respect to the input voltage. If you can’t provide, you can use C106 instead of BRX46.

You can adjust the current with using 10K potentiometer. If you will use the fuse with very high currents, lower the 0R6 5W resistor value (ex. 0R47, 0R33, 0R22 or 0R1). Watt value of the resistor should be increased also.

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LED Workbench Lighting

Here is a very useful workbench lighting unit for electronics hobbyists. The portable inspection lamp circuit consists of an on-board voltage regulator and a high-bright 5mm white LED. Any 9 to 18 volt dc rated ac mains adaptor, capable to source about 100 mA of output current can be used to power this portable inspection lamp.

After construction the led workbench light circuit should be enclosed in a suitable plastic bottle cap as illustrated here. The miniature lens shown is an optional component. In the prototype, plastic made lens lifted from a discarded torch was used!

LED workbench lighting lamp circuit schematic

The adjustable 3-pin voltage regulator IC1 (LM317L) in TO-92 pack, is here tuned to supply an output of near 4.5 volt dc. This supply is directly fed to the white LED (D2) through the current limiter resistor R3 (51 Ohm). Diode D1 (1N4001) works as an input polarity protection guard and two small electrolytic capacitors (C1 and C2) connected at the input and output pins of IC1 improves the overall stability of the regulator circuit. Use a standard RCA or EP socket as the input terminal J1.
http://schematicm.blogspot.com/

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Saturday, August 18, 2012

FM Tuning Indicator Circuit

Here is an add on circuit to your FM radio for precise tuning of stations. Usually an LED indicator is provided in FM radio to see whether the station is tuned or not. But it is difficult to see the precise tuning points since the variation in the LED brightness cannot be detected easily. This circuit solves the problem.
Circuit diagram :
FM-TUNER Circuit diagram

Precise FM Tuning Indicator Circuit Diagram

The circuit uses the Op Amp IC CA3140 as a differential amplifier to sense the voltage level between the terminals of the tuning LED. The output of IC1 drives two LEDs one Red and one Green to indicate whether the station is precisely tuned or not. If both LEDs remain off, it indicates precise tuning. If anyone LED is on, it indicates that tuning is not precise. If both LEDs remain on, it indicates that there is no signal.
First tune the FM receiver in a station having strong signal. The tuning LED will light brilliantly. Then connect point A and B to the soldering points of the tuning LED observing polarity. Adjust VR till both the Red and Green LEDs turn off. Slowly change the tuning knob position. Any one LED will light up. So the circuit is working. Now glue the wiper of VR using adhesive to prevent its position change. Disconnect the tuning LED from the board. Now the circuit is ready to use. Power for the circuit can be obtained from the power supply of FM radio.

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Solar Lamp using the PR4403

The PR4403 is an enhanced cousin of the PR4402 40 mA LED driver. It has an extra input called LS which can be taken low to turn the LED on. This makes it very easy to build an automatic LED lamp using a rechargeable battery and a solar module. The LS input is connected directly to the solar cell, which allows the module to be used as a light sensor at the same time as it charges the battery via a diode. When darkness falls so does the voltage across the solar module: when it is below a thresh-old value the PR4403 switches on. During the day the battery is charged and, with the LED off, the driver only draws 100 µA.
Circuit Diagram :
Solar Lamp-Circuit Diagram

Solar Lamp using the PR4403 Circuit Diagram

At night the energy stored in the battery is released into the LED. In contrast to similar designs, here we can make do with a single 1.2 V cell. The PR4403 is available in an SO-8 pack-age with a lead pitch of 1.27 mm. The other components are a 1N4148 diode (or a Schottky 1N5819) and a 4.7 µH choke. Pin 2 is the LS enable input, connected directly to the solar module. According to the datasheet, it is possible to connect a series resistor at this point (typ. 1.2 M) to increase the effective threshold voltage. The LED will then turn on slightly earlier in the evening before it is not completely dark. Pins 3 and 6 of the device must be connected together and together form the output of the circuit.

Author : Burkhard Kainka - Copyright : Elektor

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IC 555 Design Note

The popular Timer IC 555 is extensively used in short duration timing applications. IC 555 is a highly stable integrated circuit functioning as an accurate time delay generator and free running multivibrator. But one of the serious problem in 555 timer design is the false triggering of the circuit at power on or when voltage changes. The article describes how IC555 is designed perfectly to avoid false triggering.

555 IC pin functions

Pin1 Ground
Pin2 Trigger
Pin3 Output
Pin 4 Reset
Pin 5 Control voltage
Pin 6 Threshold
Pin 7 Discharge
Pin 8 Vcc

Functional aspects of pins

Trigger Pin 2

Usually pin2 of the IC is held high by a pull up resistor connected to Vcc. When a negative going pulse is applied to pin 2, the potential at pin 2 falls below 1/3 Vcc and the flip-flop switches on. This starts the timing cycle using the resistor and capacitor connected to pins 6 and 7.

Reset pin 4

Reset pin 4 can be controlled to reset the timing cycle. If pin 4 is grounded, IC will not be triggered. When pin4 becomes positive, IC becomes ready to start the timing cycle. Reset voltage is typically 0.7 volts and reset current 0.1 mA. In timer applications, reset pin should be connected to Vcc to get more than 0.7 volts.

Control Voltage pin 5

Pin5 can be used to control the working of IC by providing a DC voltage at pin5. This permits the control of the timing cycle manually or electronically. In monostable operation, the control pin5 is connected to ground through a 0.01 uF capacitor. This prevents the timing interval from being affected by AC or RF interference. In the Astable mode, by applying a variable DC voltage at pin 5 can change the output pulses to FM or PWM.

Threshold pin 6 and Discharge pin 7

These two inputs are used to connect the timing components- Resistor and Capacitor. The threshold comparator inside the IC is referenced at 2/3 Vcc and the trigger comparator is referenced at 1/3 Vcc. These two comparators control the internal Flip-Flop of the circuit to give High or Low output at pin 3.When a negative going pulse is applied to pin 2, the potential at pin2 drops below 1/3 Vcc and the trigger comparator switches on the Flip-Flop. This turns the output high. The timing comparator then charges through the timing resistor and the voltage in the timing capacitor increases to 2/3 Vcc.( The time delay depends on the value of the resistor and capacitor.

That is, higher values, higher time).When the voltage level in the capacitor increases above 2/3 Vcc, the threshold comparator resets the Flip-Flop and the output turns low. Capacitor then discharges through pin 7.Once triggered, the IC will not responds to further triggering until the timing cycle is completed. The time delay period is calculated using the formula T= 1.1 Ct Rt. Where Ct is the value of Capacitor in PF and Rt is the value of Resistor in Ohms. Time is in Seconds.

How to eliminate false triggering?

The circuit diagram shown below is the simple monostable using IC 555. To eliminate the false triggering resistor R1 and Capacitor C1 are connected to the reset pin 4 of the IC. So the reset pin is always high even if the supply voltage changes. Moreover capacitor C3 connected close to the Vcc pin 8 acts as a buffer to maintain stable supply voltage to pin 8. Using this design, it is easy to avoid false triggering to a certain extent.

555 Monostable Circuit

A ready recknor to select timing resistor and capacitor

Theoretically long interval is possible with IC 555,but in practical conditions, it is difficult to get more than 3 minutes. If low leakage Tantalum capacitor is used, this can be increased to 5 minutes or more. If the value of the timing capacitor is too high above 470 uF, charging time will be prolonged which will upset the timing cycle and the output remains high even after the desired time is over.

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Electronic Cricket Match Game

This electronic cricket is a present for Kids. This simple battery powered circuit can be used to play Cricket Match with your friends. Each LED in the circuit indicates various status of the cricket match like Sixer, Run out, Catch etc. The Circuit uses two ICs ,one in the Astable mode and the second in the display driver mode. IC1 is wired as an Astable Multivibrator with the timing elements R1, R2 and C1. With the shown values of these components very fast output pulses are generated from the Astable.

Output from IC1 passes into the input of IC2 which is the popular Johnson Decade counter CD4017. It has 10 outputs. Of these 8 outputs are used. Output 9 ( pin9) is tied to the reset pin 15 to repeat the cycle. When the input pin 14 of IC2 gets low to high pluses, its output turns high one by one. Resistor R3 keeps the input of IC2 low in stand by state to avoid false indications.

Electronic Cricket Circuit Diagram

When the Push Switch S1 is pressed momentarily, the Astable operates and all the LEDs run very fast sequentially. When S1 is released, any one of the LED stands lit which indicates the status of the match. For example, if LED D7 remains lit, it indicates Sixer and if LED 8 remains lit, it indicates Catch out. Label each LED for its status as shown in the diagram. Pressing of S1 simulates Bowling and Running LEDs indicates running of Batsman.

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Garage Door Closing Circuit Just using Relays

Because I’m old school, I wanted to build a Garage Door Closing circuit without relying on integrated configurations (555 timer etc) to keep it simplistic. The circuit closes the garage door after two minutes with C3 and four minutes with the addition of C2. The timer relay is surprisingly accurate (+/- five seconds). Another feature is to ensure that the garage door actually did close, such as if it’s stopped mid-operation by the user.

Description:

S3 (magnetic N.C.) is located at the garage door and activates the circuit when the garage door opens.
RL1 is the reset timer. It’s maintained in the “on” position for two minutes by C3 while the trigger capacitor, C4, is charged. RL2 is the conduit, directing C4 to either RL3 or R1 to ground when off. Purpose of R1 is to prevent arching across contacts and a fast discharge. RL3’s contacts are connected to the Garage Door’s Momentary Switch and is sustained “on” for a half second by C5.

When C3 discharges to the cutoff voltage of RL1, it turns off and resets. C4 charges C5, which turns on RL3 and initiates the garage door. Because C4 does not have the time to fully discharge, it should be at least three times the value of C5. If it does not close, RL1 in countdown mode will reset and open the door. When it resets again, the door will close.

Turning off the circuit, C1 maintains RL1 “on” slightly longer to ensure that RL2 is set to discharge C4 to R1. If this is not done and C4 is not discharged, the garage door will not open until it discharges naturally and falls below the trigger voltage for RL3. The circuit would be useless for several days.

Notes:

Time delay of RL1 after reset drops 15 seconds because of the short charge time.
To boost RL3 to a one-second delay, increase C5 to 1000uF.
D2, D3, and D4 isolate the crucial sections of the circuit.
Relays do not turn off at the same rate. I conducted a test by tripping the circuit on and off at a high rate and discovered the possibility of C4 turning on RL3. The addition of C1 solved this.

Author: Roland Segers email@:speedmail-at-gmail.com

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