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J U L Y1 9 7 8

V o l u m e3 1 N o . 1 1

PublishedMonthly
(2nd of precedingMonthl
First Published | 947
lncorporating

The Radio Amateur

Editorial and Advertising Offices


57 MAIDA VALE LONDON W9 ISN
Telephone
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InternationalMoney Order.
Technical Queiles, We regret that ws
aro unable to answer quoriesother than
thos arising from articles appearing
.advise in
this magazine nor can we
on
modifications to quipment described.
queries
regret
that
We
such
cannot be
answerod over tho telephone; they
be
must
submitted in writing and
accompanied by a stamped addreesed
lor
reply.
onvelop6
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Offset.

P u b l i s h e di n G r e a tB r i t a i nb y t h e P r o p r i e t o rasn d
P u b l i s h e r s ,D a t a P u b l i c a t i o n sL t d . 5 7 M a i d a
V a l e , L o n d o nW g ' l S N
The Radio & Electronics Constructor is orinteb
b y S w a l e P r e s sL t d .

JTILY 1978

652

NEWS AND COMMENT

656

3-WAY TOUCH BUTTONS


- Suggested Circuit by G. A. French

658

ULTRASOUND DISPLAY SYSTEM


by Michael Lorant

661

SINGLETUNED CIRCUIT F.M. RECEIVER


bv P. R. Arthur

662

DECIMALRANDCVALUES
by R. D. Smith

668

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

670

C M O S D I G I T A L F R E O U E N C YM E T E R Part 1 (2 parts) by R. A. Penfold

672

T H E R M O M I G R A T I O N b v M i c h a e lL o r a n t

681

SHORT WAVE NEWS b y F r a n kA . B a l d w i n

682

Talegrams
Databux,London

'' Data Publications Ltd.. 1977. Contents


may only be reproducedafter ':btaining
prior permissionfrom the Editor. Short
a b s t r a c t s o r r e f e r e n c e sa r e a l l o w a b l e
provided acknowledgement
of source is
given.

Pto d u ctio n.-Web

CORDLESSHEADPHONE RECEIVER
by A. P. Roberts

For DX Listeners

WATCH THE WEATHER bv T. F. Weatherley

684

CLOCK AUTO-DIMMER bY R. A. Penfold

68G

BOOK REVIEW

689

SCAN AND FLYBACK RECTIFICATION


- In Your WorkshoP

690

RADIO TOPICS by Recorder,

696

iii
E L E C T R O N I C SD A T A N o . 3 5
(For The Beginner- Simple Measuring Bridges)
T H E A U G U S TI S S t . ' E
W I L L B E P U B L I S H E DO N
3rd JULY

CORDLESS
HEADPHONE
RECEIVER
By A. P. Roberts

* A unique design mounting the


electnonicsonto the headphones
* Caseonly 2t*2x1in.

app.

* No trailing wires

Although initially designed and built for its


A.M. RECEIVER
novelty value, this receiver does have advantages
over sets which feed a pair of headphonesor an
Obviouslythe output of the setwill not be of true
earphonein the conventionalway. this little set Hi-Fi quality as the receiveris an a.m.model.AIso,
differs from conventionin that the electronicsare
the output is only
monophonic, with the two
-wired
built into the headphones,
or perhapsit would be
headphonesbeing
in series.Nevertheless,
more accurateto sav that thev are built onto the
results are goodwith regard to quality, and the set
headphones.
A case-whichm'e-asures
only ?1.5 by
comparesvery favourablywith most otherportable
49 by 24.5mm. housesa completelyself-contained receiversin this respect,regardless
ofwhetherthey
fully tuneable medium wave receiver,including a
are of the loudspeaker
or elrphone output varieti.
-course
ferrite aerial and battery. As can be seenfrom fhe
It would of
be pbssible to^ feed moit
accompanyingphotograilhs,the set is mounted on
monophonic-receiversinto-a pair of inexpensive
one ,earpieceof a pair of inexpensive8o stereo stereoheadphonesand obtain very similar iesults,
neaopnones.
but there would then be the disadvantageof a trail652

RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR

Fig. l. f he circuit of tha


headphone
receiver.
The
headphones dre two 8Q units in series and give adegudte volume after the a.f.
provided
amplification
by
TRI

zN4t4
L6d-outs

ing lead between the headphonesand the receiver.


Ordinary simple earphone receivers, with which
this set is roughly comparable in complexity, also
suffer from the same disadvantage.
One might expect this radio to be rather difficult
to build due to the small size into which the electronics must be condensed. However, this is not
really the case, and construction of the project is
quite simple and straightforward. All the components are standard readily available items, and
power is obtained from a single HP7 1.5 volt cell.
The set is therefore very economical to run, esneciallv when one considersthat the cell will have a
iong liie even if the receiver is used extensively.

TRr
BCrO9C

BC rO9C
Lcod-outs

taken by the output stage.Someconstructorsmay


be worriedby the fact that a standingcurrent from
the output stage flows through the headphones.
This current is not sufficiently high to adversely
affect the performanceof the headphones,
evenin
the long term. The transducersusedin inexpensive
stereoheadphones
are almost invariablesimilar to
miniature 8o loudspeakersof the type that are
found in small radib sets,cassetteriiorders and
similar items.

T H EC I R C U I T
As can be seen from Fig. 1, the circuit of the
receiveris extremelysimple, and is basedon the
popular2N414 integratedcircuit.This devicecontains most of the componentsfor a sensitive
medium wave t.r.f. receiver,including the r.f.
amplifier, detectorand a.g.c.circuitry.
A ferrite aerial and tuning capacitor are required,and theseare Ll and VCl respectively.Cl
nrovidesan earth return oath for one side of the
tuned circuit, and Rl is ihe bias resistorfor the
2N414.R2 is its.loadresistor,and it is acrossthis
component that the audio output signal is
develoned.C2 is an r.f. filter canacitor.
The'2N414 providesan audio output level of
about30 millivolts r.m.s.from a sourceimpedance
of a few hundredohms.This is not really sufficient
to adequatelydrive 8(l headphones,
and someadditional audio amplification must be employed.
The amplification is provided by TRl, which is
wired as a high gain common emitter amplifier.
TRi is biasedby R3, and the headphones
form the
collector Ioad. C3 provides interstage coupling
betweenthe 2N414 and the transistor,whilst C4
rolls off the high frequency response.This is
necessary
as the frequencyresponseof TRl would
otherwiseextendwell into the r.f. spectrum,which
would almost certainly result in instability
(especiallywhen one considersthe very compact
componentlayout which must be used).
S1 is tire on-offswitci"r,
and no supplydecoupling
componentsare required. The current consumption of the receiveris about 8mA. most of which is
JULY 1978

Resistors
Rl 100ko ! watt 51h
R2 2.2ko pre-setpotentiometer,0.1 watt
skeleton,horizontal
R3 47kcrI watt 5%
Capacitors
Ct O.Otpntype C280 (Mullard)
C2 0.l1tF type C280 (Mullard)
C3 0.1pFtype C280 (Mullard)
C4 3,300pFceramicplate
VCl 20-250pFtrimmer (seetext)
Inductor
L1 ferrite aerial (seetext)
Semiconductors
1cl 2N414
TR1 BClOgC
Switch
S1 s.p.s.t.sub-miniaturetoggle
Miscellaneous
Verobox type 75-1469-L
Stereoheadphones,
8cr per headphone
Veroboard,0.1in.matrix
Trimmer converter(seetext)
Control knob
1.5 volt cell type HP? (Ever Ready)
Ferrite rod, 2] x fin. (seetext)
32 s.w.g.enamelledcopperwire (for Ll)
Insulatingtape, soldertags,wire, etc.
653

are cut to about 50mm. in length, and then the


enamel insulation is scraped off the ends of these
Ieads so that they can be tinned with solder.
If difficulty is experienced in obtaining |in.
ferrite rod, it is in order to use the more readily
available rod having a diameter of Smm. This is cut
down from a longer piece in the same manner as
the iin. rod, and the winding has the same number
of turns. There is iust sufficient room in the lavout
for 8mm. rod.
Bondsof insulotiontope
Fig. 2. Details of thc ferrite rod aerial winding

FERRITE
AERIAL
Commercially produced ferrite aerials all seem
to be far too large for the present applicaticn, and
so it is necessary for the aeriaf to be homeconstructed. Details of this component are provide d' fihneF i g . 2 .
aerialis wound on a 2l by lin. ferriterod. It
w i l l p r o b a b l y n o t b e p o s s i b l e - t oo b t a i n a r o d o f t h e
required Iength, and so it will be necessaryto cut a
piece from q longer rod. Ferrite is an extremely
hard and brittle substance which cannot be easilv
cut through with, say, a hacksaw. It should b-e
possible to cut a deep groove around the circumferenceof the rod at the point where it is to be
cut, after which the rod can be easilv broken at this
point by tapping it gently against ihe edge of the
bench. This does not always produce a very neat
break, but any rough protruding edgescan be filed
off, and any general roughnesswill not affect per[ormance.
The winding consists of 80 turns of 32 s.w.g.
enamelled copper wire wound around the middle
third of the rod in a single layer. The turns should
be spaced as closely together as possible. If it is
found that the length of the winding is slightly
different from the fin. shown in Fig. 2]so thaiit is
not fully central on the rod, this is not of importance. Bands of insulating tape are used to hold the
lead-out wires in position and to thus prevent the
winding from springing apart. The lead-out wires

CONSTRUCTION
Most of the components are assembled on a
0.1in. matrix Veroboard panel which has 14 holes
by 7 copper strips. The component layout of this
panel is shown in Fig. 3.
Start by cutting out a panel of the required size
using a small hacksaw, and then make the single
break in the copper strips. No mounting holes are
drilled in the board. Then solder the components
into position. Note that R2 is a skeleton potentiometer having 0.2in. spacing between track tags,
and 0.4in. spacing between track and slider tags.
The general arrangement of the receiver can be
seen from the accompanying photographs. A
Verobox type 75-1469-L is used as a housing, and
as the receiver has been designed to fit into this
case it is probably best not to attempt to use an
alternative.
The ferrite aerial is glued in position at the top of
the case using a good gap filling adhesivesuch as an
el)oxv type. The HP? cell fits into the space opposite this at the bottom of the case.A 250pF mica
compression trimmer is used as the tuning
capacitor, and this is fitted with a "trimmer converter" which replaces the adjusting screw and has
a ]in. shaft for a knob. The trimmer and the
trimmer converter are available from Home Radio
(Oomponenls) Ltd. The tuning capacitor is mounted
on the extreme right hand side of the case, and its
two tags must be bent forwards slightly so that they
are not obstructed by the ferrite aerial. The tuning
capacitor is mounted by the bush and nut which
are situated at the rear of this component. It does
not matter which way round the connections are
made to the tuning capacitor and to the ferrite
aerlal.

RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR

S1 is mounted towards the top of the left hand


side panel of the case, and it is important that this
be a sub-miniature toggleswitch as there is very little space to accommodate it. An entrance hole for
the headohone lead is made in the side of the case
-i u s t b e l o w S 1 .
When all this has been completed the component
panel can be wired up to the rest of the unit. The
banel fits into the spice in the centre of the case.
The headphone lead is crtt down to only about 5in.
or so in length, and then it is soldered into the circuit. Only two of the three wires in the headphone

Bottcry pos

Bottcfy

:; /:
frl- [n'
t

tot

to

|tela| t YI _ H.
vD
-

I
to

oto

neg

headohone lead may initiallv make temporary connectiirns from the 6oard to its jack plug. The wire
mav then be cut and finally fitted after tests have
beeh comuleted.)
The baitery leads are terminated in 68A solder
tass and theie are held against the appropriate
baiterv terminals with the aid of a rubber band'
Take 6are to ensure that the cell is connected with
correct polarity. The cell terminals will be marked
with their respective polarities.
'fhe
lid of the case must be drilled with a ftin.
diameter hole through which the trimmer converter
shaft can nass. Thd case lid can then be screwed
into nositidn and the trimmer converter shaft fitted
with'a small control knob. However, this cannot
finally be done until R2 has been adjusted to the
correct settlng.
When com*pleted,
' wthe
h i c hreceiver is -glued to the
the headphone lead
headnhone from
.*"rner. It will need to be mounted fairly low down
so that it does not obstruct the headband assembly,
ancl it is nreferable for it to be mounted on a flat
surface. Ho*eve., if an epoxy adhesive, or other
tvn
e h a v i n q a s o o d e a p - f i l l i n g - a b i l i t y ,i s e m p l o y e d
'should
be p*ossible'toobtain a good bond to a
ii
if necessarY.
surface,
curved

ffiffi?
o la
o\

?*,
oo

ADJUSTMENT
R2 shouldbe adjustedsothat its slideris at apB
n
E
F
G

proximately the ientre of its track - before the


is" initially switched on and tested. If
i;;"i;;;
,u.uftr .""- to be Jatisfactory,adjustingthe slider
,,1 ttz slichtlv in an anticlockwiiediriction will
pr,,ll;rlllvIr,,ducea srnallimprovementin sensitivitr,,rn<lseiectivity.l)o not adjustR2 too far in the
, r i r t i c l o c k w i s ed i r e c t i o n , t h o u g h , a s t h i s w i l l
lr,'rrlt irt the circuit becoming unstable.Also,

Fis.3.Mostorthacomponentsarawiredup-o.7
f"ri,l
i:,,[,,]';til:11]f,,"t*tr:".3$iffit"?'rnltt;;
thetaYout
emptovins
asmattveroboard,Panet'
ii;fll,tlrj:i.,.';lixr*lxwznirl:tut'u"tt

:
I
p

cableare actuaily connected;the commonleadbeinnin"o*d. It is possibleto determinewhich leadis


the iommon one by inspectingthe wiring at the
iack plug. The commoniead iJthe one which conhecis'to[he main part of the barrel of the plug,and
who
ii is usuallv coloui codedblack. (Constru6tors
preferto check out the receiverbeforecutting the
Jt LY 1978

If there is any sign of instability when first


testingthe receivLr(iuch as a whistling sound as
the set is tuned acrossa transmission),ther R2
slider should be adjusted slightly in a clockwise
directionto eliminatethis instability.Do not adju.st
it any.furtherin the clockwisedirectionthan is abthis wotlld causea needless
solut-elynecessary,^as
degradationof performance.R2 should be set up
rvith a new HP7 cell connected.
ri55

NEWS

AND

A N A L O G U E M A G N E T I C T A P E R E C O R D E RL O G S
VITAL DATA IN SEA WAVE ENERGY RESEARCH
An EMI'lechnology high-performance magnetic
tape recorder is playing an important role in the
I)epartment of Energy's continuing R&D
programme for winning power from the waves
around Britain's coast. One of their portable
S87000 analogue instrumentation recorders is bei n g r r s e dw i t h e q u i p m e n t p r o v i d e d b v T h e N a t i o n a l
M a r i t i m e I n s t i [ r r t i r( N M i ) a n d t h e B r i t i s h H o v e r craft Corporation for experiments being undertaken in.the.Sole^nt
by Wavepower Ltd., a io-pu.ry
comprising Sir Christopher Cockerell (inventbr of
the Hovercraft) and E.W.H. Gifford and Partners
( < r o n s u l t i negn g i n e e r s ) .
The Wavepower project* is concerned with
evaluating the effectivenessof the 'Cockerell Contorrring Rafts' (seediagram). These have a seriesof
hvdraulic motors/pumps situated between each
raft in order to convert the energy of the raft motion into high pressurein a fluid. Initially, trials of
g_thscale ralt strings were conducted by fhe British
Hovercraft Corporation in test tanks oir the Isle of
Wight, and- now {th scale trials are being held at
seain the Solent.
The recorder is being used to monitor a number
o.f.critical parameters relating to the design, efficiencv and survival capabilily of the Coikerell
O o n t o u r i n gR a f t s ( C C R ) . B a s e d o n a n a n a l y s i s o f
the data obtained, a full size prototype riill be
d e s i g n e df o r f u r t h e r e v a l u a t i o n .
For the fith scale experiments the SE7000 is
housed, together with all the other measuring and
real-time data analysis equipment, in a 20-to; ISO
container secured in the hold of a moored 60ft seagoing barge. This barge is linked to the CCR by
means of an electrical'umbilical' cable.
The tape transport is being used to record pulse
code modulated (pcm) signalsderived from 64data
channels. With such a large number of channels,
conventional analogre tape recording would have
fg.n - prohibitiv-ely expelsive; pcm techniques
(developedby Microconsultants Ltd in association

,r'',i"li'^ii".'9!ll3il''lt
ii5io"".
The Cockerell Contouring
Rafts are
hydraulicl electrical systems whereby the waveinduced movdments of the articulated sections
are converted into a hydraulic pressure, which
is then itself converted into electrical energy
using an altemator.
with

the NMI)

were therefore

used. since these

enable up to 21 data channels to be recorded on


only one track of the 14-track recorder.
The measurements being monitored relate to environmental conditions such as wind and currenr
speeds and directions, tide and wave heights and
directions (using a device developed bv th.-eBritish
Ship Research Association), baiomeiric pressure
etc. Other parameters being recorded include the
mooring fgr.ceson the CCR pontoons, loadings on
ttre raft hinges, hydraulic pressures, electlical
power output and so on. Analysis of the recorded
data is finally carried out at one of the NMI's land
bases, using Honeywell mainframe computers.
* I-n all, four
- each based on a
R&D projects
different mode of wave-to-mechanical
energy.transfer- are being financed by the
s2j-million DofE wave inersv resdarch
programme. The other three - 6eine undertaken by both private industry and Government bodies - concern the-use of Salter
Ducks, Oscillating Water Columns and the
Russell Rectifier.

M U L T I C O R E S O L D E R SA T T H E
BRITISH INDUSTRIAL
EXH|B|T|ON, HONG KONG

Picture shows H.R.H, The Duke of Kant discussing Mufticore Solders Limited Solder
Creams with Gordon Arbib the company's
Managing Director. Also shown are four axecutives from Multicore's Hong Kong
Distributors Rory Electric Co, Ltd

It wasa questionof History repeatingitself when


H.R.H. The Duke of Kent met Gordon Arbib,
ManagingDirector of Multicore SoldersLimited,
at the British Industrial Exhibition in Hong Kong.
His Royal Highness stopped at the Multicore
Solders' Stand to see demonstrationsof their
Oxide-FreeSolder Cream and specialsoldersfor
the solderingof aluminium.
Twenty-eightyears ago QueenMary visited a
Multicore Soldersexhibition stand at the Radio
Showin Londonwhereshemet Mr. Arbib's father,
the late Richard Arbib.
The Hong Kong exhibition attracted exhibits
from 120 British Companies.
RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR

COMMENT
ADDIITGSOUND TO CANCET NOISE
Oneof the problemsof workingin
industrial environments is that of
noise, and the usual approach
towards obtainine a reduction in
this particular field of audio pollution has been the use of soundproofing materials,baffling and the
like. Plus, of course, attempts to
reduce the level of noise generated
at the sourceitself.
All such devicesare of a passive
nature, and it is of considerableinterest to learn. from the National
Research Development Corporation, of stepsto reducenoiseby an
active method. A further noise is
added to the original noise and
achievespartial cancellationof it.
To date, the technique has only
been developedto the state where
noise at low frequencies can be
dealt with.
The work carried out has beenon
the low frequency noise from gas
turbines, which have presented
what has always up to now seemed
to be an insoluble problem.
However. recent research at
ChelseaCollegeinto a systemdevised by Dr. M. A. Swinbankssuggests
that the answer mav lie in absorbing soundby generatingadditional
sound to interfere with and cancel
the offending frequencies.
Work on the Swinbankssystemis
currently being financed by the
National Research Development
Corporation and. at the present
state of development,the method
appears to be particularly appropriate for absorbingsoundin air
ducts and fluid pipelines.
It is commonly acceptedthat a
loudspeakercan be used to cancel
soundwavesin one direction at the
expenseof doublingthe soundlevels
in another. but the fact that a

to abloudspeakercan be employed
-forming
a
sorb iound energy (thus
"sound sucker") is lesswell known.
Assuminsthat the noisefrom a fan,
for insta-nce,is travelling alo4g a
duct and that it is required to
silencethis noise before it reaches
the area servicedby the duct, the
following method is adopted.
Two microphonesare placed in
the duct and their outputs are combined to detect only the sound
arriving from the noise source.The
microphonesignal is electronically
processedand is thpn fed to two
Ioudspeakersmounted on the wall
of the duct. These operate to
produce a "plane wave" which
travels down the duct towards the
zoneto be silenced but not towards
the original noisesource.The plane
wave has identical amplitude but
oooosite ohase to the unwanted
sound and the end result is silence
in the duct downstream from the
l o u d s p e a k e r sw i t h a n u n a l t e r e d
sound field upstream. Under such
circumstancesit can be shownthat
the sound energyis first "trapped"
between the loudspeakers,and is
then progressivelyabsorbedby the
loudspeaker nearer the mlcrophones.
The experimental system has
sicnificantlv cut random noiseover
th-eranee of gO to 200H2 in a duct
measuring approximatelv 300mm.
square.WittL i fan havirig a broad
noise peak at 160H2,the attenuation over the rangewas t4dB. The
precise attenuation and frequency
iange of operationis largely governed bv the need to ensure accurate
repr6duction of the initial sound
fidld; for example, 20dB attenuation correspondsto 907oaccuracyin
the operation of the loudspeakers.

IUEW SCIEilTIFIG
CALCUIATOR

The student rnarket is particularly


well cateredfor with the introductionof
Commodore'snew scientific calculator.
which represents a breakthrough in
calculator features/price: Model
SR4912is an 8+2 digit tED calculator,
and undoubtedlv regresents fine valuein students'scientificmodels.At a price
of s12.50,it features 50 key functions
including log and trig, mean and standard deviation, polar rectangular conversionand many more power keys.

the^
Followingupon the aboveinterestingnewsitem we ex-press
hopethat souridpollution from radios-etc.will not be a featureof
ouldoor life this-summer. The position has certainly improved
sincethe first advent of transist6r portables,and we can all set a
good example.

PRIIUTEDCIRCUIT BOARDS AVAIIABLE


Messrs. Ramar Constructor Services of Masons Road,
Stratford-on-Avon,Warwickshire CV37 9NF, inform us that
they can provide printed circuit boards for the 'Duette' Stereo
Amplifier describedin our January issue and for the 2 Metre
Converterdescribedin our Februarv issue.
'Duette' are
The p.c.b.'s for the
frriced at 82.45the pair including'VAT and postage.The boards being in fibreglass,roller
tinned and fullv drilled.
The p.c.b. foi the 2 Metre Converteris produced as a double
sided 6oard, one side being plain for scieeningon fibrqglass,
roller tinned and drilled. Tf,e-price is 2.38incl[ding VAT and
postage.
JULY1978

tce page &


bo,

3-WAYTOUCH
BUTTONS
By G . A . French

'f

he current availabilitY of
CMOS digital i.c.'smakes it possible to rnake up a nu.m.berol slmple
foci; citcuiti whit'h would be
relaiiuetv difficult to- bring into
o r a c t i c a lo p e r a t i o nw i t h t h e e a r l l e r
i . t . i . d . u i . . t . A l s o , - C M O Si ' c ' ' s . h a v e
the advantages of not requlrrng a
iezutatedpoier suPPIY.and of havini rvtt.tm'etticalinput and output
.*it.iling from higtr to low voltages
.na ui.. versa, excePtionallY low
c u r r e n t c o n s u m p t i o na n d v t r t u a l l y
infinit. gate input resistance' On
the debii side is'the fact that many
CMOS gates have a low outPut
EapabilitY, with the result
*ri."t
ihut .*t.tital discrete transistors
are required if a CMOS device is to
controi a load having a current requirement in excess of a few
rnilliamps.
;ihe
circuit to be described in this
Circuit' article
-*ttt'.'suggested
highlights hith these advantages
and the disadvantage.
LATCHING CIRCUIT
!'ic. I shows a theoretical
lat"hT"s circuit incorporating three
2-inrrut-NAND gates. As readers
*itt'U. aware, the qutPut of .a 2(postttve)
inout NANI) gateis high
when either both its inPuts or onlY
of its inputs is low (negattve)'
one
'fh.
NAND gate output goes ,lo.w
o" n l v w h e n b o t h i t s i n P u t s a r e n t g n '
i'n the circuit the outPut of gate A
connectsto one input o-Jsgle g apo
to one input of gate C' Slmllarly'
the outPul of gate B connectsto one
and t-'ne inPut of
i"""iirgate"A
gate (
sale C, whilst the output of
lonnects to one inPut ol gate A ano
of gate B'
one
' " r h input
;'
cir.uTr has three stable
staiei: either the outp-ut of gate A is
low and the outputs ol the other two
nui.i ui" hieh, or the output of gate
bD6

dition on its own, as may the outPut


of sate C. Whatever gate output ls
l o w , t h e r e m a i n i n gt w o g a t eo u t p u t s
a r e h i g h r e i n l o r c i n g ,a s i t w e r e , t h e
of the first gate.
low output
'circuit
of Fig. I has little
The
Dractical use because, once the
suoolv has been switched on, we
.uhhoi chanse it from whichever of
the three staTesit chooses to select'
if we attemPt to forceanYinPut low
trr hieh we will' find that we are
short-circuiting a gate output to-an
,rppositepolarity from that which it
ttiia., *itn a consequent risk of
damase to the gate and, certainlY,
the flow of excessive cunent.
;fhe
situation alters dramatically
if we introduce three current
the
iirr.ritineresistors in series with
'l'hes.e
outptrti, as we do- in l'ig...2.
vDo
r e s i s t o r sh a v e v a l u e s w h l c h l l m l t
current to a safelY
the sate
' v a l uoutput
e
when it is desired to
low
c h a n s et h e s t a t e o f t h e c i r c u i t ' A l s o
inclJded in lhe circuit is a llying
lead frorn the negative VSS suPPlY
.uit inr the gates.Let us say that the
( ) u t D u to f e a t e C i s l o w a n d t h a t u e
* ^ n t t o a l t e r t h e s t a t eo t t h e c i r c u i t
so that it is gate B output.which is
l o w . T o d o t h i s w e a P P I Yt h e t l Y t n g
l e a d t o P o n t Y , t h e r e b Yt a k i n g t h t s
circuit trointlow. Although the outr-rut of eate B is high, the current
which fiows from it is still at a sate
Ievel because of the series current
limitine resistor. The negative connection'to point Y causesone input
oi eate C io go low, whereuPo-nits
outiut eoeshi"eh.The output of gate
A, ;hi;h is already high' remains
u n a l t e r e d .I n c o n s e q u e n c eb. o t h l n vss
puts of gate B go high and its outPut
coes low. When the negative connection is taken from point X. gate
B output is low and remains low'
Fig. 1. Theoretical circuit in'
with the other two outPuts high'
corporating three CMOS
Note that the outPut of gate B is not
NAND gates. The circuit has
three stable states
fttrt'L'd \ow bY the negative connecRADIO AND ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR

B on its own is low, or the outPut of


gate C on its own is low' The oPe-raliun of the circuit can be readilY
visualised. If, for instance. the outout of gate
'gateB is low, so also is one inA and one inPut of gate
ilut of
C. crr.rsittethe outputs of gate A and
gate C to be high. These high.outputs connect to the lnputs ol gale b.
iirmlv latching its output in the low
cnndition. Siirilar reasoning .will
show that gate A output may allernativelv be latched in the low con-

tion to point Y. The sequenceof


operations is that the negative connection causesboth its inputs to be
high by way of the other iwo gates,
whereupon its output goes low
following standard NAND gate
principles.In practice,the negative
connectionto point Y may be of a
momentary nature only. If we next
want to make the low output that of
gate A, we momentarily apply the
negative connection to point X.
Subsequentlyapplying thi negative
connection to point Z will then
make the output of gate C go low.
Should we apply the negativeconnectionto. say,-pointK when the
output of gate A is already low
nothins happens;both ends of the
current limiting resistor
associa"ied
are at the same potential and the
circuit state is unaltered.
The circuit of Fig. 2 can be made
to operate with t.t.l. gates but the
choibe of current lim-iting resistor
value is rather critical if we are to
ensure that sate output current
and that
ratings are no1 exceed-ed
gateinput current requirementsare
5atisfied. Also, the presence of
resistors between one gate outPut
and the input of anothergatemeans
that the circuit is not operatingto
proper t.t.l, standards. None of
itreie difficulties is present with
CMOS gates.The fact that virtually

Vgp

Fig, 2, Addlng output cunent limiting resistors anahles the circuit


to bc changed from one srate to another

TRt
BC2t4L
Outputs

Touchbuttons

BC2r4L
Lcod-outl

R1-R9 l/4wott

too/o

one of the
Fig. 3. A ptracticalcircuit in which three outputs can be provided by momentarily touching
threa touch buttons
JULY 1978

659

vpg 9v+

zerocurrent flows into a CMOS gate


input means that the resistorscan
have any value above that which
limits gale output currents to a safe
value.
TOUCH BUTTON
OPERATION
One obviousapplication for a 3wav CMOS latch is as a touch-button
switch. in which one of three outputs can be selectedby applying a
finger to the appropriatetouch button-.A working S-way touch button
circuit is illustrated in Fig. 3, where
it will be seenthat the CMOS i.c.
emplovedis a quad 2-input NAND
eati tvoe CD40i 1. Onlv three of the
Eatesin the i.c. are useil.The fourth
has its inputs at pins 12 and 13
taken to the negative rail, and no
connectonis made to its output at
pin 11.
The three remaining gates are
connectedin the circuit of Fig. 2,
the three current limiting resistors
beinsRl, R2 and R3. If the circuit
is traled throughit will be seenthat
the output of each gate connects
first to its current limitins resistor
and then to one input of eachof the
other two gates.
In Fig. 2 the right-hand ends of
the curient limiting resistorswere
taken negativeby meansof a direct
In Fig.3 the corresponconnection.
dine circuit points are taken
negitiue by way of the touch buttons; bridsing the two contacts of
anv touch-button with a finger tiP
provides the negativb coupli4g.
Althoueh the resistancescross the
touch button will be of a relatively
hieh valueit will still be much lower
thin the valuesof Rl, R2 and R3,
therebytaking the appropriategate
inputssufficientlylow to changethe
circuit state.R4. R5 and R6 are included in the touch button circuits
to limit anv input currents which
may flow b6cauieof static voltages
to L level which can be reliably
handled by the protection diodes
inside the i.c.
The gate outputs also connect,
via R7.R8 and R9. to the basesof

vss the three p.n.p. transistors.TRl'


TR2 and TR3. When any gateoutput goes low, the corresPonding
transistor passescollector current.
and can supply outPut loads uP to
some 30mA or so.
When touch button 1 is touched,
oins 9 and 2 of the i.c. are taken
low. The output of the remaining
eate.at pin 4,-alsogoeslow, causing
TRL to turn on. If touch button 2 is
bridged,pins 8 and 5 go low, as also
then doesthe remaininggateoutput
at pin 3. TR2 is therebymade conduitive and output 2 is turned on.
Bridcine touch button 3 takes the
negaliuJcoupling to pins I and 6 of
thd i.c.. wittr the result that pin 10
goeslow and TR3 conducts.
It is a little difficult to devise a
simole meansof biasingthe circuit
such that a particulai outPut is
alwavsthe first one to be turned on
which maY
when -poweris applied,
be a desirable feature in some
applications.In practice,however,
it would seem that this facility is
automatically provided by the
nature of the circuit itself, since
there must be a difference in the
current gains of the three gates.
With the p,rototypecircuit it was
found that ihe same output alwaYs
came on first wheneverthe suPPlY
was applied. Such a performance cannot be guaranteedwith
all CD4011i.c.'s,of course,and the

oarticular output which comeson


hrst will varvbetweenone i.c' and
the next.
The outputs to be controlled depend upon the requirementsof the
bonstructor.If a r6lay is to be used
in an output circuit, it will reguire
the usual reverse connecteddlocte
across its coil, as is illustrated in
Fig. 4.
"Thethree touch buttons will need
to be home constructed,each consistinsof two small piecesof metal
a shinv surface which gives
havine
"contacts
to the skin of the
sood
Iineer. The heads of two nickelola"tedbolts of around 4BA or 2BA
mounted close to each other on a
oiece of insulating material can
brovide a simple a-ndeasilYmade
louch button.- The touch buttons
themselvesshould be sPaced'aPart
such that there is little risk of two
buttons being inadvertentlytouched at the same gime' This will not
cause any damage to the i.c. but
mav prevent correct output selecwhich the
tiori. If the equipmentin 'emPloYed
touch button circuit is
has a chassis which is at earth
ootential. this mav be made common with the touch button negative
supply.
On no accountmust the circuit be
so used with equipment having a
live chassisconnectedto the mains
supply, aSoccurswith manY televiI
sion receivers,

Mail Order Protection Scheme


If a mail order trader fails. readersare advisedto
The publishersof this magazinehave given to the
lodgea claim with the AdvertisementManagerof this
Director General of Fair Trading an undertaking to
magazinewithin 3 months of the appearanceof the
refund monev sent bv readers in responseto mail
advertisement.
order adverti6ementsfilacedin this malazine by mail
order traders who fail to supplv goods or refund
For the purpose of this schememail order advermoney and who have becomeihe-sulject of liquidatising is definedas:
tion or bankruptcv procbedings.These refunds are
made voluntarilv and are subiect to proof that pav"Direct responseadvertisements,display or
ment was made to the advertiser fof goodsord-er6d
postal bargainswhere cash has to be sent in
through an advertisement in this magazine. The
advanceof goodsbeing delivered."
arrangementdoesnot apply to any failure to supply
Classifiedand cataloguemail order advertisingare
goodsadvertisedin a catalogueor direct mail solicitaexcluded.
tion.
RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR

ULTRASOUND
DISPLAY SYSTEM
By Michael Lorant
X-ray-like TV displays employ colour changes to indicate varying
d e n si ti e s i n human tissue.
John E. Jacobs, executive director of the
Northwestern Universitv Institute's Biomedical
EngineeringCentre in the United Stateshas, with
a team of graduatestudents,developedthe first ultrasound imaging systemcapable of producing Xray-like coloured imageson a television screenof
the inside of a human finger, muscle or any other
livins tissue.
Clearly discernible blood veisels in the fingers
of a hand appear as pulsatingblue, greenor orange
lines. The array of colours shifts as the hand

Working with the first ultrasound colour imaging


system, John E. Jocobs,
director
of
executive
University
Northwestam
lnstitute's
Tdchnological
Engiieering
Biomedical
Centra, watchds the image
on tha colour TV screen
oiven bY the hand of the
braduat6 student on the left.
The student's hand is immersed in a tank of water
contaihing
tha 3.58MHz
ultnsonic r*eiving
(ln
tha
transducar.
American N.T.S.C. colour
TV system, 3.58MHz is the
chrominance
subcarrier
frequency,)

7::/..,..

'174ir,,,,,:,:

/7' ,z
I

changesposition in a tank of water containingthe


transducer device.
The colours do not representreal colours in the
internal structure ofthe}and. Instead,they represent varying rates at which ultrasound waves pass
through-the hand when it is dipped in a tank of
water in the path of the waves.
A normal unimpededsound showsup on the TV
screenas red. Sound wavesarriving slightly later,
and therebv at different phases.appearsuccessively as purfle, blue, gre'enand oiange. All hues
JULY 1978

recognisableby the human eye on a standard


colour scale appear as the sound wave phase
patterns alter.
Ultrasound wave interference patterns are set
up by the varying arrival times of the waveson a
two-inchround quartzplate operatingat 3.58MH2.
The plate is part of an imaging tube at one end of
the tank which translates the ultrasound waves
emanating from the other end into the different
colours seen on the TV tube.
There are three important advantagesof the

Tbnt

svstein which will allow it to be used as a medical


diagnostic tool. First, it can produce bright
simultaneousimagesof pulsating blood vesselsin
muscle and other tissues not normallv visible bv
conventionalX-rays. Second,the colour televisioir
svstem is 20 to 40 times more sensitiveto tissue
changesthan existing black-and-white displays of
ultrasound images. Finally, by using scattering
and reflecting techniques, similar to those
employed in SONAR, the systemcould be used to
diagnosediseasedconditions in human tissue. I
661

SINGLE
TTJNED
CIRCI-]IT
F.M.
RECE,IVER

ri
.l

'i
i
I

By P. R. Arthur

Local Station v.h.f. receiverusing the synchronous


detector principle.
Simplev.h.f. broadcastreceiverscan make an
alternative to the more usual a.m.
interestirie
-broiect.
They provide good quality
receiver
of B.B.C.and
relativelvinteiference-fieeleception
commeri:ialstationsin areas of reasonablygood
of a simple
simal strength.The main disadvantage
v.-h.f.set islhat it is not really suitable for use in
mediocreor poor receptionareas.A simple v.h.l.
detectorcan be very sensitive,but tuning and adiustmentbecomeeicessivelycritical on very weak
iimals. and thereis a markedlossof audioquality.
T[e orototvpe is used approximately 25 miles
awav'fromihe B.B.C. Wrotham transmitter, and
excellentresults are obtained.
The receiver uses four transistors including a
Jugfet,and it providesan output which is suitable
crystal earearheadpnones or a crystal
impedanceheadphones
hish lmpedance
for"hish
tbr
reasonablysenreas.onably
sensen;
piece.
drive any
drive
any reasonably
piece.-In
it wtll
will even
will
evendnve
faci tt
faci
ln tact
oiece.-In
3itive pair

of

low

or medium

impedance

The set has a telescopicaerial and is


headohdnes.
poweredfrom an internal PP3 battery. It is thus
iompletelv self-contained.
This is-not intendedto be a miniature pocket
tvne receiver,and the unit is built into a case
*tricn measuresapproximately 185 by 109 by
60mm.This, coupledwith the useof varicapdiode
tuning, enables good freedom from hand
capacitanceeffects to be obtained'
662

THE CIRCUIT
The circuit of the receiverappearsin Fig. 1. It
a synhas four stages:a groundedgateinput stage-,.
chronousdelector,a common emitter audio preamplifier and a commonemitter output stage.
Whilst the groundedgateJugfetin the TRl position providesa srnall amount of gain, its primary
funcfion is to isolate the aerial from the detector,
becausethe detecTR2. Suchisolationis necessarv
-the
result ttrat- lhp
tor is oscillating in use, with
receiver could otherwise radiate a signal which
would interfere with other sets. Rl is the source
bias resistorfor TR1 and no input tuned circuit is
emnloved as the aerial couples directly to the
.ource.Ll is a low value r.f. chokewhich forms the
drain load fbr TR1, and the output from this stage
is coupledto the detectorvia C1.
detectorand appearsin a
TR2 is the sSmchronous
srounded base Colpitts circuit which is adjusted,
bv meansof VR2, tb the point whereit is just gentlv oscillatine.In this statathe oscillatorwill tend to
lock onto iny similar or very close frequency,
which in this caseis an f.m. transmission'
As the innut sisnal deviates around its central
frequencvthe oscillatorfollowsit, resultingin fluctuationsin the amplitudeof the oscillationsand,.in
turn, the current cbnsumptionof the oscillator circuit.'The oscillatorcurrent flows through R4, the
RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR

CrO0.rpF typeC280(Mullard)
(Mullard)
iype
tvpe C280
C280(Mullard)
Cl1 0.015pF
0.015r2F

Resistors
(All fixed valuesi watt 5%)
R1 lkn
R2 1ko
R3 120ko
R4 2.2ka
R5 18kn
RG 10krr
R7 220a
R8 1.2Mo
R9 4.7ko
R10 220CI
R11 2.7kct
R12 560kn
R13 56 r)
R14 lk n
VRl 1Okolinear, with insulatedspindle (see
text)
VR2 sko log, with switch51

Semiconductors
TRl BF244B
TR2 BF194
TR3 BC1O9
TR4 BC1O9
Dl BZY88C7V5
D2 BA1O2

Capacitors
Cl 1.8pF ceramicor silveredmica
C2 226uFelectrolvtic,10V. Wkg'
C3 220uFelectrolytic,l0V. Wkg.
C4 0.011Fcliscceratrtic
C5 4.7pF ceramic
C6 0.001rI"disc ceramic
C7 0.41iF-electrolvtic,1t)V.Wkg. (seetext)
C8 100rF electrolytit'.10V. $'ke.
C 9 0 . 0 l l F d i s ct ' t ' r r i r t t i i '

MisceLlaneous
Plastic case,185 by 109 by 60mm. (seetext)
9 volt battery type PP3 (Ever Ready)
Battery connector
Telescopicaerial (seetext)
Veroboird.0.1in.matrix
18 s.w.g.aluminium sheet
2 control knobs
Enamelledwire, resistor,for L1, L2 (seetext)
Grommet, nuts bolts etc.

1001F electrolytic,10V. Wkg.


C12 100aF
10! Wkg.
C13 100pF
1001lFelectrolytic,10V.
TCI 25pF trimmer, type C801 (Jackson)

Switch
S1 s.p.s.t.,part of VR2
Sochet
SK1 3.5mm.jack socket

*ou

[:"3

dgs

B F2 4 4 8
Lqd-o!ts

tlLl

B FI 9 4
Leod-outs

Fig. l. The circuit of the singte tuned circuit f.m. receiver.


dioda D2

JULY 1978

)'P4

e /---\b
/o o\

\-v.
BC l09
t-?od-ou ts

Tuning is carried out by VRI and varicap

663

voltageacrosswhich varies in sympathy with the


then
or.iii"uioi curtent, and thesevoliage chan-ges
detector'
theof
output
audio
the
constitute
CapacitorC4 providesr.f. filtering and decoupling'
The detector is tuned over the t.m' band Dy
diode D2 which, in company with the
u"ri."o-tti.n*er
TC1 and' L2, completes the os..ri..
cillator tuned circuit. R2 and D1 form a zener
ihunt t"gtt"tor circuit which providesa.slrbilized
uottae.-?orthe tuning potentiometer,VR1. The
uoit"Eetapped off bv VRt slider is applied to D2
throu?h R3, and the circuit can be set up for a tunine ra*nseof about 88 to 100MHz.
"CZcdupletthe audio output from the detectorto
TR3. R? and C9 provide additi.onalr'f'
-utta
the baseof
tni. is necess'arysince both audio
fiii.;i";.
;1;;; ftt; responseswhich eitend into the v'h'f'
Insfability could easilv -result if a
;;;?tit;.
.i*iii.unt amount o-f oscillator sigiral were to be
alTowedto enter the audio stages.The filter comnonentsalso provide the necesiaryde-emphasisto
in.- *ai" simal. This de-emphasisis. merely a
.iit"ti-utii"uni of treble attentuation which como."."t.. for the treble boost (pre-emphqlis)
'I'he
ipplied to the audio signalat the transmitter'
rman
provtde
piripose9f t{re pre-emphasisis to
ratlo.
proved
slgnal-to-nolse
'Both ilie audio stagesare conventionalhigh gain
.o--on emitter circ-uits.R'13,the emitter resistor
i;; tR4, is unbypassedand providesq.measureof
nueutiuif".dbalk in the output stage.This reduces
;ir?'l r ;ih;;wise a marginallv.excessivegain, and
also sliehtlv improvesthe audto quallty.
-.
Stpptv d"conplittgin the varioussectionsof the
provloeooy C2, C3,C8, RtQ pn-4Cl2' 51
crrcurtrs -ofi
switch and is ginged
i. tt* ot
-the with VR2' The
receiver-it -qPtuiient consumption of
the PPU
whereupon
only'
6mA
oroximatelv
batterv has a reasonablylong life.
COMPONENTS
The telescopicaerialemployedwith the receiver
has a cioted length of 1?6min. qn-dan extended
for operation at
t""*tft of t.t meties, and is hin-ge-da-ifiaii"i aneles. This is available from Maplin
nieittonic Silpplies. It has a bracket on the lowest
...tio" *tti.his not requiredh-ere;this bracketcan
ry aritting out the two rivets which
il;;;";td

secureit to the aerial. Other telescopicaerials of


."me tengttrwith the hineg't facility and
"l"t'itit!
a 4BA tapped hole in the centre of the basesnoulo
''also be suitable'
as 0.47wF electrolytic 10V'
-b";i;
bf"it""'tp."ined
practice
it will be found verv diffiwil..
.uit- io oUtain an electrolytic capacito: of thts
a lo* working voltage' It will be
rii"""
having a much
o-ttli to use a capa"citor.
;;l;; i""t".ricii

uott"g",evenas-bishas 100volts'
tilh;;;;;filg
for T.Ri. is available
speci?ied
f fi;"^BFt4+ii-Juppliets,
including .EIectroi;;;";;ial
value. The 185 by 109 by 60mm' plasttc caseIn
is assembledis retailed by
;ili;il ihe
"eceiu"er
giian
Finally, the C801 trimmer
Reed.
J'
fvi"ttt..
for TCl cln be obtained from
;;;";it";;pecified
Home Radio.

COMPONENT PANEL
Most of the componentsare-assembledon a
o.iii,. *jit.tt Veroboardhaving32 holes!v 1-4gtrips'
V"."Ui"ta is not often usedln r'f' and v'h'f' conprojects as thera.pacitance between
r;u;;i";i
strips can causeproblems' This was not found to
6" ttt" case her-e,and an eqlly prototvpe was-

ur.ilid.i"l t-Dec! Ddtailsof the panel


J,i.""".inrirn
the other

rtt"*""i" Fig. 2, which also illustrates


"t.
*tfi:ft
L1 and L2 are home-constructed comoo"u"lt. h consistsof about 40 trrr-nsof 0'18mm'

ei;;;;;-("i-eo

goPpe1
..*.g.) ename-ll-e4
:vi:g

;;;;bi;-;outtd - o.t anlrdinarv- 270k o,r watt 10%


;;;iffi:- The iesi.tor has a bodv diameter of
u.ou"d 0.1in.The endsof the-winding,alter scraPti"ning, are solderedto- the resistor leadi"n
""a
ttt" resistorbodv, so that the win;;?;i;;t;i;;"ib

;i#;;;;;;.i'i"!rfi.1.

wiresof the
rhe lead-out

then act as ftte lead-out wires of the choxe'


-ualue
resistor
of the resistor is not important' proTtt"
it it ioot'n or more' since,it is merely
"^ia:.a'iir"i
being used as a former'
L2-is a tuned winding and has to be wound with
'wiie 0'9mm (ot ?9
r.r*"lUt.-piecision. It employs
qld is selfcopper
rlile.t- ;"^';iit.a

is woundon
.itiri"iti"il it ffi exactlv4 tur.ns"and
coil
a temDorarv *tn. diamdter coil former' The
holes in the
and passthroug!.
;;;;;-b;;t'dow"
'I'he turns are
apart'
0.3in.
are
which
Veroboard

RADIO AND ELECTRONICSCONSTRUCTOR

\o

ooo
o

: : : :::'*;";,'

[o

ooo

:i:j
I('._":: l: | :
t"ltt
T']'d;T;l'tl
ffiTT-l[J
oooooo
o

o o o

"

\
o\

.@-

C1

- -il":

m-H,

co

I'

(tlt'.'dI

o
o
0
o

r.^otkilql.

'h
o
?o

l'^3GSl.rP t I o
o o"f, o o I o

t9

ooaooooo

2l

23

o
o

25

;t.l

27

29

3l

aaoooooooaooa

6
a

o
E
F
G
aaaaa

J
K
M
ooooooooooooooooo00

Fig. 2. The wiring

of tha receiver.

Nearly

alt the pafts

are assembled

on the Veroboard

'l'he
coil ends are
snacedout over this lensth.
sbrapedclean of enamel ind tinned before being
;;id;tedlotheappropriatestripsof theVeroboardl
The Veroboaidpahel is initially cut to sizeby

the copperstrips over which they pass.In fact, the


lead-out wires of all componentsin the r.l. circuitry should be no lonjer than is reasonably
necessary.

mounted'and solderedin
b;;rd'6;p;"J"t.
"r" and C5
are mountedon the
-Their
iliti""- N;te that C4
lead-out wires
;;;;;; ;id; ;a ah"- p"n.t.
;fi;td be tepi a" rttoif aspossible.Thoseof C4 are
;itti ri"ruitrg to i.euetrt short-circuits to
;;;;d

. Ttt.photographsfelntoshowthegenerallavout
inside the case,qld.lt is strongly recommended
that this is not ra.dicallyalteredin any way. In this
applicationthe lid of the casebecomesthe rear
phnel, with the controls,output socketand aerial
appearingat the upper face' VR1 can be mounted

LAyour
r':.:tlTfcAsE
:*'lni'ly8
r,ffi'"iJ
fi.xTei\'ltrTgr
tli;-;"pd.;;arips are tn." -ad., after which the

1
I

l{
tt
I

t,.

ts"

panel

JULY 1978

Detail illustrating

the Veroboard

assembly more closely. The boarr! was not holted to the case when
t h i s s h c t l _ 1 , : . f. ,. ) r o 4

direct to this upper face,but greater freedom fiom via this tag. The aerial passesthrough a suitable
hand capacitanceeffectswill be givenif it is a type hole in the top of tlre case,and a groirmet can be
having a long plastic spindle and if its body is fitted hcre to prr-rduce
a near finislr.
positionedlower down, fitted to a metal bracket.
The comnonentnanelis securedto the bottom of
This bracket is made up, as shown in Fig. 3 (a), the case b! meani of two lin. long counte;sunk
from 18 s.w.g.aluminium sheetand it is bolted to tiBA screws.Spacing rvashers,or"spacing
^ensuienuts
the baseof the caseby two countersunk4BA bolts suitably positioired,ire employed to
that
with nuts. It shouldbe positioned.as shownin the the copperside is clearof the centrebottom mounphotographof the interior, such that there is just ting pillar. The board is oriented such that the
room for the PP3 battery betweenits upright sec- holesin row No. 1 of Fig. 2 are nearerthe aerial.It
tion and the adiacentcorner nillar of the "case.It is not finallv mounted until all connectionsfrom it
will be necessaryto alter the fength of the upright have been made to the other components.As can
sectionof the biacket if the spiridle lencth bf [ne be seenfrom Fie. 2. C2 and C3 are mountedon the
pol;entiometerdiffers from thdt of the c6mponent tagsof VR2, Dl-and RZ on the tagsof VR1 and C13
usgdby the author,and this point shouldbe check- on one of the taes of SK1.
edrbeforemaking up the bricket.
As alreadv mentioned.the batterv fits between
ilhe mounting bracket for TCl is also made the braclietirr VFil and the adiaceirtside mounfrcim 18 s.w.g.aluminium sheet,and this is shown, ting pillar of the case.A piece of foam rubber or
in Fig. 3 (b). The trimmer is securedto it by two plasticwill hold it in positionwhen the rear of the
short-6BAbolts and care should be taken to ensure caiieis screwedon.
that the adjusting spindle and bush do not touch
thb insideedgeof the centralhole.The capacitoris
mDuntedwith its moving vane tag pointing au'av - A D J U S T M E N T S
from the bend in the bracket. The bracket is glued
Initially, TCI should be adjusted for almost
torthe inside surfaceof the front panel with a good maximum capacitance(i.e. its vanes should be
quality adhesivesuchas an epoxytype. Those-who nearlv fullv inmeshed). With an earphone or
ptefer to do so may alternativelydrill two holesin headphoneiplugged
into SK1, the set ca'nthen be
.-d o:i ...;,"\ '' ' r,lvanred.It will probablynot
the panel and the bracket to take countr:i'sru:1.:
I RA
r
, ' r ' .l '
, ' i ' I r ' l , : v m c a n so f V R 1 u n bolt-swith nuts. but this will mean :r.
hgadswill be visible from the front ol tire sei.
til ';iiz is weii advanc'rri,
ii VR2 is advancedtoo
The aerialis bolted.in the positionshownin the far it will not be possibleto producea properaudio
photographs,to the bdttom ofthe caseby meansof output from the set as the oscillating detectorwill
a 4BA countersunk screw. A solder tas is fitted not lock on to the carrier ofthe receivedsignal,and
over this screw between the bottom oflhe aerial all that will be heard is the beat note produced by
alrd the case,and connectionto the aerial is urade the carrier of the tr l:rission heterodyningwith
66rj

.' i-, iii,UC'l'RONICS CONSTRUCTOR

5h6"aio

ttl2"

ttti'

t\z'n
]

l
I
rtd

tttt

! lvst

'lA

-l
__l

L!

-ilil
n::;,

Altcr bcnding-

tl_____]

Fig. 3. (a) The mounting bracketforVRl.


lf this
component has d non-stdndard spindle length.
bracket dimensions may need to be modified
as described in the text
r) The mounting bracket for VCI

I
i$

i&

.,

Two of the r'f' bYpass capacitors

JULY 19?S

are sotdered

mto circuit

on the copper

side of the

board

667

where oscillation ceasesthe audio outPJI level will

#;;1h;;^ld
;;;"C;;"ilI'

qqqlilv
ii'a
-iswiil be a little
for op""W"tofvRz needed
adjustment

results.
iimum
-'il;fu;ii;-"it

r.-. broadcasttransmittersuse
"p"I"
ti, ot'" tta .o thete Iescopi c aer i aI
n" ii'"""it?ii
"Ti "
ratherthanleft in a
.t;;ff;;.I;;i.a
to the.posi"[+r'a"gtees
rotated
be
it
shoull
il;ti;;i;;itT;nl
in
il;^;hi[h
iit". ttt" strongestsignal, bearing as
critical
less
Vn2f,ecomes
in?..ti"i"f
"ri^tia'iiiit
rrgii"t".itttgit i"-"t?u*.. A strongsignalalsogives
broader
"'T;id and eastertunlng'
;;nse at the ldw frequencv end of the

#;'il4;;;;1iea-uv-tct'

rcl for inAdjustind

rre-;;J ."p".it"tt.""extends tfie range in the low

i? iG rangedodsnot extend
Hffi;;tT;;;i;;.
-A; *itii tci at pqli-mpm capacitance'
i"i""ii,"iigtt
its
be compressedslightlv to increase
;;ii t
inductance.
'^'Ot;;;ilIy,
when there is insufficient covemge
i" ttt"-itiei'tfi6qnettcyditection, \2 g"\be stretch-

;d ;1 ;ii;i';itl;;;a;"

In
its i{rductance'
to reducg

adjust TC1. for decreased


ini. .itu^1ioti, ao
"o[
would reduce the overall tuncaia;iffi;;;'i.ittit

Another view of tha receiver' The telescopic


aerial is stightly more than ona metre in langth
when it is fullY extended

the oscillatinsdetector.VR2 should then be lgrned

i;ff;ffi;;;'i':iii

withoytoscillation
i' possible

"' wh6n oscillationhas beenlost


i"i.ine. ti is obvious
than backgroundnoise, are
other
u.-no-timuls,
point
;;"4;.;J. ii Vnz is adjusted too closeto the

lng range.

"'fffr"fr o". considers


the simplicityof the circuit'
Is very
very
p-rototypetq
the prototype
+ho
orrdin nrrqlitv
of the
quality orrtnut
output of
the audio

o Edadphones
headphones

impedance-16
t"* I*p.dance'16
to*
il;iii;"4;ili
il;d ii;"4;lii
-^'
Alihough
il;dphones. Alihough
hioh l;;"d"r,""
irnnerlance
4.0iib'; h;;dphones'
- 4,oiib';
:;"ti;i'
a
with
as
nof
sood
are
y,ill ^3
qo3d
.il'i'?I."pT"nt t, t-.*-.
..itt.. a notlceaDly
.3t
.
ticea-blyreduced
q
edrPiece.This gves
crvstal earpiece.
crystal
;;J;;;1;';;;--idaL
."Uj;"ii".iv,

TltiP

which'
?equency resPonse

results in a'lower signal-to-noiseratio'

DECIMAL R AND
C VALI]ES
By R. D. Smith

"round number"
Combining two El2 resistors or capacitors to obtain
decimal values.

We occasionally require -resistanceand


."o"iit""." valuesritrictrire in the deiimal series
;;i0:t0: 50,+0,so,60,?0,80 a-n{90,andit canbe
wi rina that theonlv com*t
;ii;i;il".tiatihe
have
hddo'tan P-urchasi
;; "n
;o#ffi;;^h;"".
you
will
series''T^his,
ptlr"tred"
E12
itt.#il;i"
r0,ri,15r
;#fi, il#;" iri.r.itt6*i"g-;;;;i'
1q'
no provi47,56,68and82.There-is
Ti,1i ,'g5,-gg,
.i-,i" i6t tit" deciinal'valuesof 20 to 90'
If. however,we ar" preparedto use tyo EJ2
rn serres
resistorsin parallelor two E12 capacttors
which
combinations
up
e
-"t
i"i'Jitv
^pt*iJ.tv
ffi
ffi'
it a d'ecimalvalue, or which
J""r."i"i.

of
calculate at the decimal value with an error
0.5% or less.
SERIES-C
PARALLEL-R
'
in
vaG of two resistorsin parallel' as
til;;"I
is
Fig. 1,
RlxR2

R:rTEz
where R1 and R2 are the values of the individual
resistors.

Fig. l. Two resistors connected in parallel

Fig. 2. A serias combination

of two capacitors

TABLE

Parallel-Ror
Series-C

Total Value

22 and220

20

33 and 330

30

47 and270

40

100and 100

50

100and 150

60

82 and 470

70

100and 390

80

180and 180

90

JULY 1978

The Table showshow two E12 valuesof parallel


resistanceor seriescapacitancecan be combinedto
give total values in the decimal series.Two of the
entries are glaringly obvious; 100 and 100 must
give 50, and 180 and 180 must give 90. Not quite so
obvious,at first sight perhaps,is that 100 and 150
give exactly 60.
It is a minor matter of mathematical moment
that22 and220 give precisely 20, and that 33 and
330 give precisely30. The remaining valuesare not
quite so exact.47 and270 gsve40.0to three significant figrres, the calculated value working out at
40.03. 82 and 470 work out to 69.8 instead of 70
precisely;the error is 2 out of 700 or two-sevenths
of 1%.100 and 390 are the worst,thesecalculating
out to 79.6. Compared with 80, this representsan
error of 4 out of 800 or one-halfof l%.ln practice,
not too much to lrorrv about.
Lets try out the Table with a few examples.If we
want a 4.0ko resistancewe mav use a 4.7kO
resistorin oarallel with a 2?ko resistor.If we want
a 30pF cipacitance we can connect in series a
33pF capacitorand a 330pF capacitor.Another example: an 800d. resistanceis conveniently given
by the parallel combination of a 1ko. resistorand
a 3.9k o- resistor.
You may find it convenientto cut out or copy
out the tdfle and put it up on the wall of voui
workroom. It could-save vou ouite a little h-eadscratchinein the future. pdrticularlv with the more
awkwardiombineddeciiral values-of20, 30,40,?0
and 80.
I
669

. v J'
o P - A M P S - T H E I R P R I N C I P L E SA N - g A P P L I C A T I O N S B
diirn"iitice. 96 pig"s, 215 x 135mm. (8{ x af,in.) Publishedbv
NewnesTechnicalBooks.Price f2.25.
integra-tedcircuit. operational
ln terms of time, it is not so long ago when one of the first
This was in 1965, and the 7O2 was
amplifiers, the 702, was introduceO ti ttri electronic scene.
13 vears is a very extended
iJif"*"J, inlgOSTOO, Uv tf'" immensely successful 7O9' But
concerned. and the presentis
development
circuit
"".i"
p"iioO ,o f.|. as the exubeiant tiefO of integrated
devices' each havmonolithic
of
range
dav user of i.c. operational amplifierscan choose from a wide
characteristics.
ing its own individual
and very informative style'
Mr. Dance's book deals with current op-amps in an uncomplicated
complete with component
The approach is non-mathematical, and ihere are numerous circuits

values.
of the 741' which is inexThe first part of the book covers operational amplifier basics in terms
principles'.Other
wilh and readily demonstrates operational amplifier
pensive,is easy to
The book then
compensation'
frequency
is
"rp"iit"nt
also
as
witil,
dealt
ift"n
integrated circuit op-ampt .t"
These are
pre-amplifiers'
audio
lownoise
and
turns to devices witfr t.e.[.-inputs,audio power circuits
good
index'
a
glossary
and
by
a
followed
work with operational
The book will be of excellent value to anyone who is commencing
in particular to the non-academic technician and the home constructor'
amplifiers,and will
"pp""i

H t G H P E R F O R M A N C EL O U D S P E A K E R SB. y M a r t i nc o l l o m s 2. 4 6
pug"r, ZIS ^ f gSrr. iatr t s{in.) Publishedby PentechPressLimited'
Pricef8.95.
perimprovem.ents.in
has resultedin considerable
The developmentof high fidelityloudspeakers
all other
virtually
with
as
well
as
these
with
deals
tnit'book
OEcaOe,
formanceover the fast
lt hardlyneedsto be statedthat
"nO
and their enclosures.
aspectsof modernhigh qualityloudspeakers
is the componentwhich is most dependent
in the highfidelitycnaindi repioductibnthe loudspeaker
functioning
loudspeaker's
on subiectiveevaluation,aitnougftit is possiblenowadaysfor much of a
to be iudged by objectiveanalysisand measurement'
radiators,practical
After a,$eneratreview,ttre book dealswith theoreticalaspectsof diaphragm
drive radiators'
direct
moving-coil
analysis,
system
frequency
low.
diaphragms,acousticloading,
chapteris
Each
performance'
loudspeaker
crossoversystems,enclosurisand the assessmentof
originatingin the U'S'A"
in
work
takes
book
the
and
references,
of
listing
extensive
an
by
followed
J a p a na n d A u s t r a l i aa s w e l l a s i n t h e U ' K '
to studentsof
The book will appealio-r *iO" rangeof readers,from do-it-yourselfenthusiasts
professionalloudspeaker
to
valud
it
of
make
will
wtricn
.l"ptX
ti
wriiten
is
anO
electronics,
There is a minimum of
designers,studio engineersand technicalwriters on hi-fi subiects'
in practical
personal
involvement
mathematics,and the work clearly reflects the author's
manufacture.
and
design
loudspeaker

, . S c .1 3 6
M O D E L R A D I O C O N T R O LT, h i r dE d i t i o nB. y P a u lN e w e l l B
frg"r, 21O x 14Omm. (8+ x s{in.) Publishedby Radio Control
PublishingCo. Ltd. Pricef2.95.
Radiocontrolof models,includingin particularmodelaircraft,hasitsownspecialfascination'The
reierencein the U.K.and appears,enlargedand re-visedinits
oresentbook has becomea standar-d
fh; book is availablefrom model shops or may be obtained direct from Eadro
Il*-iftiiJ"liii;;.
Berks,SLS 0NF'
Modelter magazine,High Street,Sunningdale,
The book siartswhhi Uti"t historicalsectionthen proceedsto its maintheme,proportionalcontrol systems.Theseare consideredin greatdetail,and includedare chapterson digitaltransmitters,
Jigit.l-i"""i"ers, digital decodersand-digital servo amplifiers.The text is accompaniedby clear
of modelsand equipment'Furtherto be found
Jiifrr.r, and theriis alsoa wealthof ph-otographs
are circuitsand printed board layoutsfor an advancedi.c. digital system.
This is definitely a book for the radio control buff.

AND ELECTRONICSCONSTRUCTOR

CMOS DlGtTt
FREAUENCY N
Part | 2 partd

BvR.A.Pen

Range: lOHz to 42MHz


For the ultimate in accuracyand convenience
in
use, a digital frequencymeter easily betters the
alternative methods of frequency measurement.
The unit which is described here is capable of
measurementsfrom low audio frequenciei up to a
typical maximum of about 5OiMHz (42MHz
minimum) with a minimum resolutionof 10H2.
The accuracyof the unit is largelydependentupon
the adjustment of the clock oscillator, and should
be within 0.1%.The unit is quite sensitiveand at
middle frequenciesrequiresan innut level of onlv
about 20mV r.m.s. However.the'sensitivitvdoei
fall away somewhattowards the upper and-lower
Iirnits of the operating range.
Digital frequencymeters tend to be rather complicated instruments,and although this particular
unit has beendesignedto be as simple as possible
without sacrificingaccuracyor sensitivity,it is still
quite an involvedprojectwhich is only suitablefor
the more experiencedconstructor.The circuitrv is
largely based on eleven CMOS i.c.'s, but tliree
otheri.c.'sand ten transistorsare alsoemployedin
the unit. An r.f. sisnal seneratoris reoirir6d for
checkingand adjust-ingtfie meter after if has been
completed.
BASIC PRINCIPLE
The.manner in which a digital frequencymeter
operatesis very simple. In fact, in this respectit is
probably the most simple form of frequencymeter.
The block diagram of Fig. 1 shows the basic
arrangement.

The input frequency is displayed on an electronic counter which showsthe answerin ordinarv
denary form. There are severaltypes of digital diiplay which can be used in this application, and the
type actually used here are seven-segmentl.e.d.
displays. The functioning of these displays has
been described a number of times in previous
issuesof this journal and soneed not be considered
further here.In the presentunit a four digit display
is employed.
An electronic switch operating as an enabling
gate appearsat the input of the counter, and this
only allows the input signal to pass the counter
when a suitable pulse is applied to a secondinput
of the gate. A pr-ecisionpulse generatorfeedst'his
secondinput, and it is the length of the pulse that
this geneiates which deteniines the'range of
measurementprovided by the unit. If, for example,
the length of the pulse is-l secondthen a four digit
counter will operate as a 0 to 9.999kH2frequency
meter. A little considerationwill show that this is
the case.If the input signal were lkHz then 1,000
input signalpulseswould be fed to the counterduring the 1 secondperiod. The counter will then display 1,000H2or 1.000kH2accordingto the position
of its decimal point. It follows thaf the miximum
frequencywhich can be measuredis 9.999kH2,as
any frequency higher than this will cause the
counter to overflow.
Higher rangescan be provided bv using shorter
gateenablep-ulses.
A gatetime of 10b milliseconds,
or 0.1 second,would increasethe range to a max-

Electronic switch

Fig. l. The basic form of a


digital frequency meter, The
enabling gate is held closed
for a pr*determined period
and the counter then displays the number of inPut'
signal cycles which have
passed through

672

Electronic countcr

Input signol

RADIO AND ELECTRONICSCONSTRUCTOR

IL
qETER
ll

old

Crystalcontrolledgating pulse
Printed circuit modular construction
imum of 99.99kH2as therewouldbe onlv one-tenth
of the previoustime for the maximum iount to be
reached,-andthereforete! times the input frequency would be neededto ach_ieve
this. Shbrteningthe
gatetime to 10 millisecondswould producea range
of up to 999.9kH2, further shoftenine it to "1
millisecondwould increasethe rangeto g:gggMHz,
and so on.
In. the present unit the frequency ranges have
figure-s of __99.g'ilkH;, 99"9.9kH2,
TgIlIlyJn
9.999MH2 and 99.99MH2. As was mentioned

earlier.this last range


iloperable in practiceup ro a
typical figure of SOVgz.
ACTUAL ARRANGEMENT
A practical digital frequency meter tends to be
v.erymuch more complicate-d
-than the diagram of
t wgul{.suggest.This will beco*e i--Eaiateiy
liq..
appare.ntwith referenceto the block diagram of th'e
unit which is shown in Fig. 2.

Dividc by O
pfa6colar
ond
intartoca
Clock
cnoblc

Rcrt !

I
^

q
F

Fig' 2' ln practica the frequencY meter is moro compticated than is evident
from Fig. | . However, the
use of integrated circuits simptifies construction to a considerabte
extent
JULY I9?8

673

]
.. "f,

{t',Y"

,:ifuk

',lll
. i;'
i

The display and counter sectionis basedon four


4026 CMOS i.c.'s. each of which drives a DL704
commoncathodel.e.d.display.The 4026 contains
all the necessarydecodingand driver circuitry to
enableit to directly drive an l.e.d.display.It also
has a divided-by-ten output which is used to drive
the input of thi subsequent4026. Thus the first
4026 ieeds the units display, the next only increasesthe displayed count by one for every ten input pulses and so diaplays the tens on its l.e.d.
ieadout, the next countei displays the hundreds,
and the last one the thousands.Note that in practice the l.e.d. displays are not mounted in the
fashion shown, Uui witn the units display at the
right and the thousandsdisplay at the left, so that
the output is shown in conventionalmanner.

iL

GATE PULSE

Not only is it necessaryfor the gatepulse to haie


a hieh decreeof accuracv. it must also have good
LC and RC circuits do not have-the
repe"atabil"ity.
One problem with the 4026i.c. is that it will only
operate up to frequenciesof about 5MHz, which necessarylong-term stability, and it is doubtful
meansthat frequenciesabovethis figure cannot be whetherthey would evenhave adequateshort-term
stability. The gatepulse is, therefore,derived from
handled as the first 4026 in the chain would fail to
operate.This can be overcomeby usinga prescaler, a crvstal oscillator and divider chain.
H-ere,a singletransistor lMHz crystal oscillator
which is merely a divide-by-ten circuit which is
feedsa seriesof six divide-by-ten circuits via
stage
added ahead of the counter circuitrv. To satisfv
The latter is neededto ensure
-sutficient
normal amateur requirementsit is ne6essaryfor air a birffer amplifier.
input signalto drive the first
instrument such as this to operate up to at least that there is
30MHz, and this can be accomplishedby usingan divider stage reliably. Each of the divider stages
SN7490ANt.t.l. decadecounter.This will operate usesa 4017CMOS i.c.
Another 4017 i.c. is used to convert the conat frequencies up to at least 42MHz, and will
tvpicallv function at frequenciesof about 50MHz tinuous output signalfrom the dividers into a single
gate pulse. The 4017 is not just a straightforward
oi'so. Thus, the input frequencyis divided down to
a level which can be satisfactorilyprocessedby the divide-bv-tencircuit. and anart from the ordinarv
carry oui output it hd'sten other outputs.Thesear-e
CMOS counter circuitry.
numbered "0" to "9", and they each go high, for
An interface circuit between the prescaler and one complete input cycle, in sequence.
':,
the counter circuitrv is neededbecausethe t.t.l.
reset push-button switch is
the
Thus,
when
prescaleroperatesfiom a 5 volt supply (which is
operated,the four countersbre resetto zero andiso
the normal supply voltagefor t.t.l. devices)and the is'the seventh401? i.c. The "0" output of this i.c.
CMOS counter circuitry needs to operate from a
goes high until the next positive edge input 'is
higher voltage than this in order to drive the dis- received from the divider chain. The "0" outpllt
plays with adequate current. In this case the then returns to the low state and the "1" outpgt
CMOS circuitry is fed froin a 12 volt supply. The goeshigh for one completeinput cycle,and precisepurposeof the interface circuit is to raisethe peak- ly one input cycle. It is this ou@ut which is usedto
to-peakoutput voltagefrom the prescalerto a level control the input to the counter circuitry. Thereiis
which will properly drive the CMOS counter.
no need to use an external gate,as the 4026i.c. has
There are reaily three sectionswhich comprise an internal clock enable gate. Since this has to be
the input circuit. First, there is a buffer stagewhich taken low to enable the counter to operate,an inis designedto provide the unit with a high input im- verter is incorporated after the "1" output of the
6?6
JULY19'8

PRESCALER

pedancesothat it placesas little loadingas possible


bn the equipment irom which the input signalis heing drawn.'Second,there is an amplifier section
*fri"h provides the'instrument with a reasonably
hieh sehsitivitv. Third, there is a Schmitt trigger
ciicuit which frovides an output signalhaving fabt
rise and fall times, even when the input signalis a
type which doesnot. such as a low frequencysine
wave.The Schmitt trigger is an essentialpart of the
unit, as without it the prescalerinput will not be
cleanly switchedfrom onelogic stateto the other dn
slow wave forms. and this would result in 'a
malfunction with-probably more output than input
pulsesbeing produced.

NN."
J\
:i

,N) N*

{irllowinsinput capacitanceand which would gteatlv recluclthb sensitivityof the unit at suchfrequenc"^"&
les.
couplesthe output from TRl sgq1geto the
baseof the commonetititter amplifier, T&2' This is
io the emitter fbllower,-TR3, with
ii;.;l'.;;pled
resistorcontrolling-bothstages'
bias
a
fr'a *titts ls
Ai frr.f .t'igttt,an emitter follower at the output of
itt" amnllfier mav seem superfluous, since it
;;;"i,1;.';; voltagdgain. The ioad resistorvalues
it
t"Tn"i on the low side.-However,
il;;';t.;';;"-r'.t-ir" remembered that this amp-lifier has to
i"".ii"" ui-it"qu"""ies up to-about50MHz,-q!d so
it'h;; l"-.;plov high sireedtransistors(TR2 to
'l'R6
have an fT of 500MHz) which ,requrrecomhigh operatingcurrents'Also, the input
"ototiu.tu
-rithe subsequentstages-tends to lall
imoedanie o"f
tiigti frequencies.arldso the use of
i'"tl.iJ"i'"tit"
f"lio*ei buff6r stagehelps to maintain
;;;;itt.;
hieh frequencYresponse.
the
""Ti{i'""a'
foim a fairly. conventional
tn6 -circuit,
and this .drives the
S"tt-itt-Ttigger
;;;;;;1". uu ii"u"toof another emitter follower, TR6'
produce the best possible senfrg it
the set"llGteJ
low radio frequencies
*il"ltu.If
"tia
particularlv
""aio
no!
potentiometer
is
i-hi.
;i;;'";i
.iiii.ut, but in'order to obtain good sensitivity at
;;;;hfuhliequencies it must be set up Quite acC6' is a speed-up.capa-citor which
"ui'^t"ti.
at high frequeniies ahd provides an
Rii
b;;J.
irirbroved high frequency response'
'Ihe SN7490AN decade counter actually contains a divide-by-five and a divide-by-hro counter.It
must be connectedto first divide by five and then
bv two as the divide-bv-five counterwill operateup
to at least 2MHz,-whereas the divide-by-two
INPUTCIRCUIT
counterwill only operateup to about-16MHzor so.
The circuit diagram of the input and prescaler It must be noted that an orilinary SN7490Ndecade
stagesis shownin Fig. 3rT.h.inpu!.[qffelamplifier
'fhis- 'stage counter is not suitable for use in this circuit as it
is The Jugfet source follower, TRl.
will only operatesatisfactorilyup tg about 16MHz.
lMsr as
providesa'highinput im.pedanc.e-of.abo'r,t
tne SNz,ig0AN can be obiaiired from Maplin
Cl givesd.c.blockiu.tt u. a low input'capacilance.
Electronic Supplies,who can also supply the tranine at the indut, anC Rl' Di and D2 provide sistors tvpe 2TX313 and the voltage regulators
With high levelinputs the two
ov?rloadprote'ction.
snecified'for IC1 and IC14. The remaining
at TRl-gateto about 1'3 volts
signal
the
clip
diodu.
semiconductordevices.apart from the l.e.d. diswilh Rl rrrovidingcurrentlimiting'
oeak-to-n^eak,
plays, are available frbm Maplin Electronic
f u..u lirse input signallevel would be neededto
Supplies and from other suppliers.
C2.bypasses
ariy of ihe input components.
dama"ge
TR7 is a common emitter amplifier which
Ht aitrietr frequencies,thereby preventinga top
betweenthe t't.l' and CMOS
p.oliicies'itttitfacing
the
given
Rl
and
by
be
cut filteriffect which would
1978

4017. It is only necessary to connect the inverted


control oulse tL the clrrcli enable input of the firsl
c o u n t e r s i n c e ,i f t h e i n p u t s i g n a l i s b l o c k e d a t t h e
first counter it c,buic,uslvcannot reach any subsequent counter. The three other 4026 i.c.'s therefore
have their clock enable inputs permanently conn e c t e d t o t h e n e g a t i v es u p p l y r a i l .
The 401? i.c. aiso has a clock enable input, and
its "2" output is connected to this i.nput' During
c i r c u i t n p e r a t i o na s s o f a r d e s c r i b c dt h e " 2 " . o u t p u t
i s l o w , a l l o w i n gt h e 4 0 l 7 t o o p e r a t en o r t t l a l l y ,b u t
after the "1" output has gone higlr fol one output
c v c l et h e " 2 " o u t p u t g o e sh i g h . I t l h e r e b y t a k e s t h e
a " O t Zc l o c k e n a h l l i n i i u l h i g h a s w e l l , a n d t h e c i r c u i t l a t c h e si n t h i s s i a t e r v i t h t h e " 2 " o u t p u t h i g h
and the input clock signal received from the
divider chain blocked.
The length of the output pulse of the 4017 i'c'
depends upon the position o-f the range switch' If
this switch conneit. a lHz clock signal to the
device, then obviou,sly an output pulse.of one secona (i.e. the length-of one inp-ut cycle) will be
produced. 10H2, i00Hz and -1kllz inPut frequenbies oroduce output pulses of 100 milliseconds, -10
rnilliseconds and i millisecond respectively'
Therefore, allowing for the fact that the- input
signal is diulded by ten by the prescaler, the unit
f"our ratt"ge.: 0' to 99.99kH?,- g-!o
iri.'iit."f"tt"*ing
999.9kH2, 0 to'-9.999MH2 and 0 to 99.99MH2
.{sain, it must be carefully noted that the upper
to be much lessthan
limit on the last range is lik-ely
-explained,it is detergg.SgN4H,since, as*already
mined by the capability of the prescaler and the
first counter stage t.c.

H
'r'-l o
$i
x-./?s!

c)E
oo
G1"
Io 16

..1"

xl

kE
J

"E$i

a-@

-9

o-

circuits. This transistor is poweredfrom the main


12 volt supply line so that it providesvirtually 12
volts peak-to-peak for the following CMOS
counter. R15 Iimits TR? base current to a safe
value and C10 is a speed-upcapacitor.
The prescalerand ihput stagesare poweredfrom
a 5 volf line which is ddrived fiom th6 main 12 volt
supply by means of the monolithic voltage
CONSTRUCTOR
RADIOANDELECTRONICS

regulator,IC1. R17 lowersthe voltageat the input


of the rezulator and thus reducesits dissipation.
C3, C7, C8 and C9 are the usualsupplydecoupling
capacitors.It should be mentionedthat somedata
tables show the sourceand drain lead-outsfor the
2N5245 transposedfrom the layout given in the
lead-out inset. The 2N5245functionssatisfactorily
with the lead-out connectionsgiven in Fig. 3.
677

4llzo,

a *Ep_*@"'

.,m
ry
F{
"m
ffi"oF
w rt@-ft,"-fii'

,il$,W*;$6$,
:@Y,
nt

{'f{H$il$+'+**
a$@'wf
-+\s);

[l *ffi$"
Q[WCI\s
Fig,4. Component and copper sides of thc printed board on which are assembled the input, Schmitt
trigger and prescaler sfrges. The board is reproduced full size

CONSTR UCTI ON

D I S P L A YA N D D I V I D E R S

all the componentsare mounted on four


Nearlv
-circuit
orinted
boardi. One board containsthe inbut and nrescaler circuitrv. whilst the others are
ior the mains power supply, the counter/divider
chain circuits and the Le.d. displays.
Details of the input circuit and prescalerprinted
circuit board are shown in Fig. 4. This showsboth
the componentlayout of the board and the copper
backine oattern. The diaeram is reproducedactual
sizesoih'at it can be easily copied.This board, like
the other three which will be described later, is
fairly complex,but it is not difficult to produceif a
p.c.b-. etch reeist pen having a fine point is
available. The two mounting holes are drilled for
,68A clearance.
67E

The circuit diagram of the oscillator, divider


chain, counter and display sectionsof the unit is
shown in Fig. 5. TR8 is the crystal oscillator, and
this usesthe well-known Pierce configuration.Cl1
enablesthe oscillator frequency to be trimmed to
within less than 1Hz of the nominal crvstal frequency.TR9 is a buffer stage,and this is a straightforward common emitter amolifier.
The six 4017 integrated circuits, IC3 to IC9 inclusive, form the lMHz divider chain. The input
signalis applied to the clock input (pin 14) of each
device,and the divided output is obtainedfrom pin
12. The clock enable (pin 13) and reset (pin 15) terminals of each i.c. are-simplytaken to the negative
supply rail, and the ten unused outputs are igCONSTRUCTOR
RADIOAND ELECTRONICS

Il

o(
ol

$r

-=

F.
E

TI

()Oul<A

0
N9
o..d c
ci ct ct

JULY 19?8

6?e

.,,,/K;Kffi

nored, w_ithno connectionsmade to their ,pins.


Sl(a)(b) is the range switch, and this connects
the output of the appropriate4017 divider to the
4017 pulse generator,IC9. The manner in which
IC9 ploduces the control pulse has already been
discussed,and go will nof be considerediurther
here.The commonemitter amplifier, TR10, functions as an inverter stage. R24 limits its base
current to a safe value and C15 is a speed-up
capacitor.
It is essentialthat Sl(aXb) is a break-beforemake type. If a make-before-breakswitch were
employed,two of the divider i.c. outputswould be
briefly short-circujted together when changing
from one rangeto the next. Sincethe outputs coulii
well be at o[posite logic states when this occurs
there would be a high risk of damageto the i.c.'s
concerned.Break-before-makerotar*vswitchesare
cur_rentlylisted by Maplin Electronic Supplies,
and the type employedshould be a 3-pole-4-way
swltch, wrth connectionsmade to onlv two of the
poles.
The 4026 decoder-driveri.c.'s can drive the
seven-segment
l.e.d.displaysdirectly, and there is
no need to use output cuirent limitine resistors.
With the 12 volt supply which is usedhe.-re,
an output current of about 1OmAper segmentis obtained.
This is more than adequatefor high brightnessdis680

plays such as the DL704 devices which are


specified.The Ietters"A" to "G" aroundeach4026
apply to the appropriate display segments.
Each 4026i.c. has a display enableoutput, but
only that of IC12 is used her6.This outprit drives
the applicabledecimalpoint via S1(b),which is, of
course,part of the range switch. Incidentally, the
DL704 displays have a right-hand decimal point.
32 is the reset switch, and when this push-button
is operatedthe resetterminalsof IC9 lo IC13 are
connectedto the positive supply rail. This resets
them all to zero,and they areh'eti in this stateuntil
the switch is released. The unit then makes a
measurementof the input frequencyin the manner
describedearler.
R26,R27 and R28 are includedto ensurethat at
no time is an input of any i.c. left floating.This
could otherwisebccur with the modular f6rm of
constructionwhich is employedhere if it happened
that externalconnectionitoiheprinted boaid were
not completed.A floating i.c. input is highly undesirable as CMOS i.c.'s can be damagedif high
static voltagesappear at an input.
Oneadvantageof CMOS i.c.'sis that they havea
high degreeof lmmunity to noiseand ther6forerequire very little in the way of supply decoupling.In
this case only one decouplingcomponent is used,
this being C16.
RADIO AND ELDCTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR

NEXT MONTH
In next month's concludingarticle we shall carry
on to the construction of the printed board oir
which is assembledthe circuitrv of Fis. 5.
For conveniencea full ComponentsList accompanies this article, although it will be appreciated
that the functions of somecomponentswill not be
fully apparent until they are de-altwith in the constructionaldetailsto be givenin next month's issue.
Nevertheless,some notes on the componentshere
will be of value.
The availability of the semiconductors has
already been deali with. The mains transformer
employedin the unit is the type "MlN TR 15V"
retailed by Maplin ElectronicSupplies.The lMHz
crystal arid holder are available'fiom severaloutlets. The display filter is an optical filter suitablefor red
displaysand that emplovedbv the aurhorwas the
Electrovaluetype PNF2i. Th6 author's frequency

meter was assembledin a Veropak casetype 491470L,which has dimensionsof it Uv l.l bv'g.ein.
This has a p.v.c. clad steel shell anf, an a-nodised
aluminium front panel, and should be available
from stockistsof Vero casesor from Retail Department, Vero Electronics Ltd., Industrial E6tate,
Chandlers Ford, Hants., SO5 3ZR. Other metal
casesof the samedimensionsor larger mav alsobe
used. The DL704 displays can be"obtairiedfrom
Ambit International.
Dealing with smaller matters, switch S3 should
be suitable for switching mains voltages. The
horizontal skeletonpotentiometer,R9, shouldbe a
type having 0.2 in. spacingbetweentrack tags,and
0.4 in, spacingbetweentrack and slider tags.The
18 s.w.g. aluminium sheet is used for making a
chassis,a bracket and a heat sink, and details of
these will be given next month.
(To be concluded)

THERMOMIGRATION
New doping procosscould herald a fantastic advance in semiconductor manufacture.

by Michael Lorant

Dr. Thomas R. Anthonv and Dr. Harvev E.


Cline, staff research scientists of General Ele-ctric
Research and Development Centre. Schenectadv.
N.Y., have developed an entirely new techniqu-e,
called "Thermomigration", whicli reducesthe time
required to fabricate a semiconductor device by as

Badiant
Heat
Sowce
/

This drawing demonstrates General Electric,s


'Thermomigration"
process. Droplets of dopant in the silicon wafar migrate frcm the cold
side of tha slice towards tha hot side, taking
one-thousandth of the time needed lo( the intoduction of dopants with prcvious techniqueg

much as a thousand.fold.In addition the novel


technique,which relies on a temperature gradient
to drive a liquid dopant through a silicon wafer,
reduces fabrication temperatures and increases
processingyields.
The patented innovation is also expected to
result in another important by-product:^a significant savingof energyin the production of semiconductor components.
In the manufacture of a semiconductordevicea
crystal of silicon is first gxownat the highestpossible purity and is then slicedinto thin wafers.Next,
preciseamountsof an impurity, called a "dopant",
are introduced into the wafer to change its electrical properties and turn it into a semiconductor
device with n and p regions.
In the new processone side of the silicon wafer is
heated whilst the opposite side is cooled. The
temperature difference forces the dopant, in the
form of a droplet of liquid, to migrate through the
wafer from the cooler side to the hotter side.
The thermomigration technique can be accomplished in minutes. By contrast, the best
previouscommercialmethod for equivalentdoping
of wafersrequiresnearly a weekof processingtime.
Also, the new process can be performed at a
temperature several hundred degreesFahrenheit
below that requiredup to now.
With established techniques, excessivewafer
breakageis often a problem becauseshallow dopant penetration, of around two to three
thousandthsof an inch, necessitates
the use of correspondinglythin wafers.With the new approachit
is possible,by manipulating wafer alignment and
temperature,to control the size,Shapeand concentration of doped regionsin the wafer.
The end result of this new technolog3'can be the
creation of whole new classesof semiconductor
deviceswhich never existed before.
I

6Er

By Frank A. Baldwin

We 0ommence this month by listing some


stationson the LF' bands for the interest of the Dxer, much that liriio',';:;lrcing on the higher frequenctes.
O
- CHINA
RadioPekirt:;r-'rr446O at22lO,YL in Chirtesein
I progratnme,scheduledht'rt:
the DomesticS;i,r'.'icc
from 2000 to 2300 with this transmission.
RadioPekingon 48OOat 2110,YL in Chineeein
sameprograllrrrleas above.
the
---Harbin,'Hillongjiang,
on 484O at 2113,-YLin
from 0825 to 1430 nnd
sch6huli'is
The
Ctiines".
*from 2040 to 06i)5.
Gnchow, Gansu,on 4865 at 2215,OM and YL
alternatein Chinese,scheduledhere from 0950 to
2120to 0100 and from 0320 to 0600.
1600,
at1728,signing'off
Xinjiang, on 49?O
Urumchi,'renditiori
of the 'Internationale'.In adwith ch,rral
dition to local pro{ratnmes,this transmitter relays
the Peking Doriestic Service in Kazakh,--the
scheduleii'frnm 2300 to 0030 and from 0130 to
1730.

North America in parallel on 11666, 154O6 and


1?815 and to Asia on 16670.
.- E. GERMANY
Berlin on 21540 at 1241, OM with annuii"."-""ts and identification at the end of the
bnslish proffrailme to South East Asia. Announced
i r , i i a r a l i eo
l n 15115 and 17880.
O
- SOUTH AFRICA
in
iofr^..u.burg on 21636 at 1356,progr-amme
blnslish about lrocodile conservation,identificacheck at 1400 followed by a local
li"f;-".a-ti-e
iirj*t.u.t. Announced in parallel on 110OO and
t5220.

O
- COLOMBIA'
Emisora Nuevo Mundo, Bogota, on 4766 at
041?. Latin American music, OM with song in
Snanish.This stationhasra 24-hourscheduleand a
p6*ut of lkW, sometimesidentifying as Radio
Caracol.
--Ona^"
del Meta, Villavicencio,on 4885 at0245,
'OM
with iri+ntifit':rliunin Spanish and into a

O
- NORWAY
?i*t";; zlzgo at 1405,oM and YL with a talk
about Norwegian affairs in English. Identification
at 1411.
O
- EGYPT
L767o at 1419,local-typemusic, YL
c"fi;
u"J iitvt in AraUicin the DomesticSCrviceGeneral
scheduledfrom 1300 to 1830 on this
Ft"nt"--.,
;ith-piostutntn"s intended fo-r the Arab
;ffi;I
ffi;ia: East ind" Central Africa and Southern
!)urope.

O
- PORTUGAL
LirU". on f Zggf at 1608,YL with newsof Port,reu"r" ;ffuirs in-ttre English programmedirected
, t i . ' ' : , ! ' ,l " 1 r i i r t n f e l l ' t ! t s i c :T h e
pfogt",,.
ir''t-n" Mlaale East, sche?uledfrom 1600 to 1630
'ictrJdul , ,,;
and the priwel is
(nr.rt
ii{,,ri i :}(Jir1r:iL}i;t.t{)
Sundays).
'gz+O ut 2030,OM with identification
t irU""
1kw.
"ri
bv the news in English for Europe.,
f"ll";;d
scheduledfiom 2030to 2100(Englishprogramme)
a VEN iiZUEL,r'
and in parallel on 6O25.
at
0232,
RadioFrontera,SanAntonio,on 476O

pops,6M announcer'
YL with songsin
local-stvle
'J'heichedrrle
is from1000to 0300andthe
Spanish.
pirweris 1kW.
A R O U : ' . r ,1! ' : i i ' ' i , i i t- ISRAEL
-English, on 215O0 at1220,pops'commercials
"t"t,it"tern
and into
identification,announceme+lls
in
and
Europe
Western
to
Attno,rnced
uiiz30.
Fiu-n.Tr682

.- TURKEY
on 9515 at 2!32, OM with a local
Attt
".^
nu*..*lln-ihe-English programmeto Europe and

i.t;;h-A;;'1"i, *f,.a,il;d F;; zrgoto 2255and

in
- parallelon 7170.
f;;kiu; FolisRadvosu(TurkishPoliceRadio),
a"lu.^."on ogaO uf tstg, local-typemusic,YL
RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR

with songs,OM in Turkish. Scheduledfrom 0600to


1100,1200 to 1600and from 1TB0to 1900.

O BRAZIL
Radio Relogio,Rio de Janeiro,on 4gOE at 02b8i:
OM in Portuguesewith announcements,
time piffi
O GREECE
off at 0302 without National Anthem.
Athens on 1?88O.at 1582,.typical local_type
A Voz do Oeste,CuiaUa,on'+Zi{-it001b, OldJ
r-nryrc,
OM and YL alternate,i,itt{innouncements with identification in Portuzuese.local-stvlemusicr
ln ureek.
Schedule is from 1000 to bgOOand the power fil
O PAKISTAN
_-Karachi on 62Bb at 1943,OM with a talk in
Urdu.in the World Serviceto ftre U.X.-r"a nuroo".
schedyledhere aqd.in_paraliefo" 47i8 ;;;06;
trom -1915to 211bin Urdu and from 2t I; t"-zt6
in Sylheti.
. W. GERMANY
., Cgloqle.on 6lOO at 0130,OM with a newscastin
tne-!:nghshprogrammeintendedfor the East Coast
ot North ASner-ic_a,
scheduled from 0130 to 0200
ancttransmitted from the relay station at Cyclops,
Malta, on this channer.
O AUSTRALIA
Melbourne on llgo0 at tblg, yL with the
'Australian
Editorial Opinion' in
RroqTa.mme
Flnglrshtransmissionto Asia and the-pacific. ihe
Time
9.h""l1.5prp. and a newscastin EGIish after sta_
uon lclenttfrcation
at 1600.
Melbourneon llZOb at 0g46,yL with listeners
leco.r-qLeguestsin the English brog."--"
to the
f;acific Isfands.
_ Melbourne on SBZO at 14b0, OM with the
ppslish programmeto Papua/Ne* Gulnea,ider,_
trllcatronand world news at 1b00.
. 'Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
on 1182O at 0900, OM with time
$eql., station identification and the news in
English.
O PHILIPPINES
(fgr
Company)
,l.Fq,BC
^East Broad^c_asting
Manila on 11766
at.0918,OM with a religiols
programme to Australia, New Zealand and -New
Guinea.
,Radio.Veritas,I{a.nilq, orr llgbb at 141b,yL
wrth a talk on travel in t-heFar East in the English

5#ffi;i-",
t'\

scheduled
from 1400to 15-00
on"this

. CHINA
je.king on gg4b at 118b,yL in Viet_
-^1{i"
namese,.Uhlnese
music in a programme for Viet_

n4.pr,scheduledhere from tt50 t"oiiiio,


fr"_
1330.to 1430.
"li"
gg2o
at 1480,OM and yL in
.,,,fi.a$,ioPeking on
propramme Domestic Minority
il-1..1^"tifh.
Fr!up-s,schecluletiom 1400to 14bb.
,fadjo , Peking. on 9880 ^i- :/LZs, Chinese
9rFnestratpu-slg in a programmeintended for In_
oonesra,scheduledfrom 1400to 1480.
. Radio.Pekingon 9B9O at ta+0, Vi;; Tagalogto
the Ph.ilipJines-,
schedut"a frbm' f igOio^ i soo.
*,K,qd,toPekrng on_1165O at 1429, OM irr the
programmefor South East Asia, scheduled
5,.ngllsh.
tlorn
1400to 1500.
'
Radio Peking on lt69b at 1433,OM with a
plgsgmme for Cambodia,scheduled'fr;m 1400t;
1500bn this channel.
JUI,Y1978

1.skw.

Radio Pioneira, Teresina, on a measuredb016


at 0242, announcementsin Portugtrese.OM with
ballad. Schedule is from 0800 to 033b and the
power is 1kW.
Radio Ribamar, Maranhao, on 4786 at 0126,
folk musicand sonss,identificationbv OM at 0180.
The scheduleof this one is from 1100 to 0400 and
the power is 5kW.
Radio B_orborema,
Campina Grande,on 6O26 at
02_10,OM in Portuguesb, several mentions of
"Campina Grande". Scheduleis from 0830to 0b00
and the power is 1kW; sometimegwandersdown to
5023 and/or identifiesas A Princesado Sul.
- Emiso-ra Rural, Santarem, on 4788 at 0238,
local-style music, love song by OM in Portuguese
- quite a torried affair I gathered!The scheduleis
from 0830 to 0400 and the power is 5kW.
! t',

. WORLD RADIO TV HANDBOOK


i,
There must be many readers of these columnS;
who would like to know more about the world of
short wave listening and the short wave station$"
mentionedhere month by month but do not knor+i"
where to obtain such information. It is to this tvpe
of readerthat the followingreview is presentei.'.,
The 1978 issue (32nd Edition) oi the World'
Radio TV Handbookcomprises512 paeespacked.
with facts, figures and iirformation- aboui shoit'
wave stations, frequencies,schedules,interval.
signals, addresses,callsims, powers and per:l
sonalities.Quite apart from c6mpletedetailS of'
Long and Medium wave stations and TV
transmitters, there is also a wealth of information,'
about such matters as DX Drosrammesof the
world, maps completewith tim'e-c6nversion
charts,
broadcastsin English, frequency lists, standard
frequencyand time-signalstations,solar activity
Ibr 1978,co-operatorsand monitors and co-operating'
operating DC clubs, together with much othei,
information of assistanceto the modern-davshort'
wave enthusiast.
Also included betweenthe coversof the WRTIf
is a separatesectionentitled Listen to the World,.
the contents of which include the followinA
chapters - Eight New Short Wave Receivers(d
review of receivers currently being offered to
SWL's); Antennas for Broadcasting Reception
(several practical aerial designs suitable foi thq
stated purposes);DXing in Paraguay (listening
resultsobtainedby Tony Jones,a well-knownDxel
residentin that country); FrequencyCountersfo{
the Dxer (learn all about measuringfrequencies);
Build Your Own Log-PeriodicAntenna (}ieh-eain
switchableor rotata6leaerial svstemsfor thd SWIr!
and Unofficial Radio (all aboirt radio pirates and
'i
suchlike).
The 32nd Edition of the World RadioTV Handj
bookis thoroughlyrecommended
to all who operate
over the short wave spectrum and it is available
direct from The Modern Book Company, 19-21
PraedStreet,LondonW2 lNP at e8.16inciusiveof
postage.

1i
688

WATCH
THEVVEATHER
By T. F. Weotherley
Red sky at night . . . seaweed,rain before seven,
all are traditional ways of telling the weather but
today thingsare different. Today there are weather
satellitescontinually sendingcloud cover pictures
of the earth from f,0oo mi6s up. These irictures
can be receivedhere on earth bv anvoneequipped
with a groundstation to receiveihem and it neidn't
cost a fortune. A sophisticatedsatellite receiving
station can be built for less than e50.
The interestedreader should first write to the
Home Office Radio Regulatory Dept for permission to receive satellite signals from satellites
operatingin the 135-138Mhz band and a letter
grantingauthority will allow;
"authority to receivesignalsemitted by
artificial earth satellites engaged in
scientificspaceresearchfor the purpose
of making observationson the technical

NOAA

5 visible

light

deprassion

off Greenland

characteristics of such sisnals or


otherwise carrying on techiical investigationsinto radio technique."
Obviously a receiver to receive this band is required. The author's route was to feed the output
from a converter into a VHF receiver.A suitable
converterfor the satelliteband can be purchasedor
built. The 2M converter in the RSGts handbook
can be readily adjustedto cover 136-138Mhz.
At the present time (1977) there are two
American satellitesin orbit NOAA4 and NOAA b.
T-h_e_p_rlpe
gqtellr_teis NOAA 5 transmitting on
137.5Mhz with NOAA 4 as back up on 137.62Mhz.
The signal from the satellite is tiansmitted as a
wideband FM signal with a 2.4 Mhz AM subcarrier, to the ear this sounds like 'lub-dub'. The
satellite passesoverhead at about 10.30 am local
time each dav.

NOAA 5 Same depression over UK

RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR

The Display unit

Actrve
fi lter

Timc- bose
i drivcrs

Block diagram
'
Receiving

of Sateilite
set up

- The block diagram (Fig. 1) showsthe sectionsof


the displayunit.-Onreceivethe unit generates
a 2.4
Mhz referencetone which is recorde-don one track
of a ste_reorecording while the satellite signal is
recordedon the other. In the displav mo-dethe
received-s.ignal
and the referencetone dre replayed
into the display unit. The receivedsignalis cieaired
up with an active filter and is used to brighten the
trace on a CathodeRay tube. The referenle signal
is phaselockedand usedto generatethe horizo'ntal
time baseG I 5 Hz\ . The verticaltime baseis seven
minutesand is resetwith a switch.
With sucha slowpicturebuild un a conventional
CRT will not displaj,a picturebut'an ex radar tube
with an orangephosphgrgivesa reasonablepicture
in a darkenedroom. The picture is best reiorded
JULY T978

NOAA 5 Composite of two photos cloud cover


over Westarn Europe and UK at night
photographedin lnfrc Red Light

photographically and the photographs show some


of the results to date.
The interested experimenter will find the
"Weather Satellite Handbook" published by 73
Magazine gives much useful constructional informatron.
I
bdi)

I
t

CLOCK
AUTO-DIMMEN
By R. A. Penfold

A neat little unit which dims digital clock display brightness under dark conditions.
This device has been designedprimarily as an
add-on unit for the "Single I.C.-Disital-Clock"
-issue.
which was described in last month's
Some
digital clock i.c.'s have an auto-dim facility built
in, so that very few external discrete compbnents
are required to add this feature. However,such is
not the casewith the AY-5-1224A devicewhich is
employedin the "Single I.C. Digital Clock", as this
i.c. was chosento cater for a goodand very simple
basic clock design.
The auto-dimmercircuit to be describedis quite
simple and can easily be added to the clock with a
minimum of modification to its desim. The experienced constructor could probablf
-clocks adapt the
circuit to operatewith similar
incorporating
the AY-5-1224A,but this has not beencheckedbv
the author and should not be attempted by anyone
who is not fullv competent.
The purposeof the'auto-dimmer is to reducethe
brightness of the display under verv
dark con-display
ditions. Under such conditions the
can
become a little difficult to read due to glare, and
the facility is especiallyuseful if the clock is to be
used in a bedroom.

Pos.
(lC.pin 2)

Output
to clock
N.9.
( l C . p i n5 )

Fig. l. How the auto-dimmer unit functions. lt


takes up the positive and negative outputs of
the clock powar supply and then varies the
positive supply voltage fed to tha clock itself
686

THE CIRCUIT

Fig. 1 shows the manner in which the autodimmer is added to the clock. It is connected
between the positive output of the clock power
supply and thi positive iriput to the clock circuit.
The dimmer has two output states:one where the
output voltage is virtudlly equal to the input
voltage, and one where the output voltage is. at
about half this level.The former is the normal state
of the circuit. and the latter occurswhen the clock
is in almost total darkness.It will be apparentthat
the circuit doesnot just reducethe voltagesupplied
to the clock display but it also reducesthe operating
voltage for the entire clock. In practice this does
not a-dverselyaffect clock operalion providbd the
dimmed outbut voltage is irot made excessively
low. (It *ay be noted that in Fig. 1 the positiv-e
supply rail is showh above the negative rail,
whereasin the clock circuit in last month's issue
the positive rail was the lower one.)
The complete circuit of the auto-dimmer
appearsin Fig. 2. Here, a photoconductivecell type
ORP12 is coupled to the input of the Schmitt
trigger consistingof TR1, TR2-and their associated
components.The output of the Schmitt trigger
couplesto the emitter follower TR3.
The circuit is arrangedsuch that TRl is turned
off in the dark condition, with its base-emitter
voltagebeing below the 0.6 volt level required for a
silicon transistor to pass collector current. TR2 is
then made conductivi by way of the basecurrent it
receivesvia R3 and R4. In a more conventional
Schmitt trigger R7 would have a value which is
much higher than that of R6, so that the oulpgt
voltage at TR2 collector would be only slightly
oositive of the nesative rail. But in the present
ipplication the ouiput voltageneedsto fallio only
abbut half that on-the positive rail, and this requirement is achievedwi-ththe valuesof R6 and R7
which are specified. The resistor values around
TR2 are, also, such that this transistor does not
turn hard on when it becomesconductive, as is
CONSTRUCTOR
RADIOANDELECTRONICS

Pos. in

BFY5I
Leod-outs

Fig. 2. The auto-dimmer


circuit. TRI and TR2
form a Schmitt trigger which is actuated by the
voltage on TRI
base. TR3 is an emitter
follower
feeding the ctock circuit

usual with the more common. versions of the


Schmitt trigser.
If .the voltage at TRI base is caused to so
p o s r t r v ea, l e v e l w i l l b e r e a c h e da t w h i c h T R I c o r i _
mences to pass collector current. This will cause
the base current available to TR2 via RB to be
reduced, whelgqpoq a .lower voltage is dropped
Across R6. This further increasis the 6aseernitter voltage of TRl
and a resenerative
a c t i o n t a k e s p l a c e w h i c h c o n c l u " d e sw i t h
'fRl
turned fully on and TR2 cut off. The
change of state in the transistors takes place, of
course, in a minute fraction of a second and is
triggeredwhen the appropriate voltage is applied to
TRl base. With TR2 cut off the output voltage of
the auto-dim circuit is only slightly lower thanlhat
on the positive rail.
The circuit will revert to its previous state if the
base of TRl is taken negative, but the voltage at
which the changeoveroccurs will be lower thanthat
at which TR1 was turned on. This hvsteresiseffect
is a characteristic of Schmitt triggeioperation and
is useful here as it ensuresthat the trigger does not
continually change states for very small changesin
input potential.
The output current available from TR3 when
TR2 is turned off is that flowing through R7 multiplied by the current gain of the transistor. Despite
the relatively high current drawn by the clock circuit the voltage drop acrossTR3 under this condition is only about 0.7 volt, which is not significant.
The base of TR1 is fed from a potential divider
circuit of which one arm consistsof the photoconductive cell PCCl and current limiting reiistor R1,
rvhilstthe other arm consistsof the pre-set variable
resistor,R2. Under light conditions PCCl exhibits
a low resistance, this increasing to a very high
value, in xcess of several megohms, under very
dark conditions. In consequence,light condition-s
cause the base of TRl to be taken sufficiently
positive for this transistor to be turned on and TR2
to be cut off, whereupon the auto-dimmer output is
J U L Y1 9 7 8

n
*

I Resisfors
| (All fixed valuesj wart 5%)
I R l 2 . 2 ka
I R2 50k o or 47k a pre-setpotentiometer,0.2S
watt horizontal
I
I R3 3.9o
I R4 22ko
I R5 12ko
I RG 390 o (seetext)
R7 r-160
0
I
I Semiconductors
I TRl
'fR2 BC109C
| 'fR3 BC1OeC
BFY51
|
CeIl
I Photocondu,ctiue
i PCC1ORP12
I Miscellaneous
I Printedboard materials
I Wire, solder,etc.

at its maximum level. If PCCI is in a dark situa-.


tion its resistanceis high, and TRl basegoessuf-'
ficiently negative for il to be turned off and the.
Schmitt triggerto changeover to its alternatestate.
The darknesslevel at which the Schmitt trigger
operatesis chosenby adjustingR2.
CONSTRUCTION
The auto-dimmer is constructed of a small
printed circuit board, and the copperpattern and
componentlayout of this are illustrdted, actual

The auto-dimmer
assemhled
components
their printed board

on

687

size,in Fig. 3. Note that R2 is a standardand not a


mrniature pre-set potentiometer.It is advisableto
mark up the three holesit requiresfrom the tagsof
the actual component,as these mav varv sliehtlv
from the hole positioning shown iri the diadani.
I ne two mountrng holes are 3 to 3.5mm. in
diameter.Insulated leads about 1b0mm.long are
connectedto the board at the points where if will
eventuallyconnectto PCCI and the clock circuit.
The photoconductivecell is,grountedon the rear
panel of the clock case, between the zero reset
switch and the adjacentend cheek.It is mounted
by first drilling two holesof about 3mm. diameter
throug.lJ.
which its leads,-coveredby
-insleeving,can
pass. The photgcell.is the_nglued
positi"oirby
meansof.a good_qualityadhesivesuch is an epoxy
type. Make absolutely certain that its lead-ou^ts
dir
not short-circuitto the case.
The printed circuit board is mounted on the inside of the right-hand end cheek of the case,using
two small short woodscrews.It is necessaryto fii
several washers qver these screws betwein the
board and the case,as otherwisethere is a strong
risk of the board cracking when the mountin[
screwsare tightened.

CLOCKMODIFICATIONS
After the board has been fitted in position it can
be connectedto the photoconductivecell lead-outs.
AII the insulated leads from the board are shortened as necessarywhen they connectto the cell and to
the main printed board of the clock.
process is to modify the clock,
-The next -becomes
whereupon it
necessarvt6 consult the
printed-circuit board diagram which was published
ag Fig. 5 in the article describing the clbck. First
identify th9 coppertrack which calries the negative
supply rail. In the view of the copper side of the
board this is the track which runs dl-onethe bottom
and up the right of the board, conne-ctingto the
emitters of TRI to TR4. Drill an additional hole
through this track at anv convenient point and
solder the negative input lead from ihe autodimmer board to the track.
At the qpper centre edge of the diagram of the
copper side of the main clock board islhe positive
supply track, which connectsto the -break
positiveleadout of Cl and to C3. Make a small
in this
track between the connections to these two
capacitors. The break can be made quite easily
with a sharpmodellingknife. Drill additionalholes

h0

Mounting holc6

N /7\J
G-------./

(-_-----1

F _:
{/\

----o

-\'

tS

NcA. in

Flg, 3. Details of tha printed board, which is raproduced fult size


6E8

RADIO AND ELECTRONICSCONSTRUCTO

...:

"'i'\

$
throughthe track on either side of this break.The
hole nearer C1 positive lead-out provides the
positive input to the auto-dimmer ind the hole
nearerC3 takes the auto-dimmerpositiveoutput.
This completesthe modificatioirsto the main
printed board of the clock. The board can now be
remountedin the case.
R2 may next be set up, althoueh in most instanc.es
.it will probably be foundlatisfactory to
simply leave it with its slider at about the centre
positionof the track. The reasonis that the most
usualrequirementof the auto-dimmerwill be that
it shouldoperatewhen the clock is in virtually total
darkness,and this will be achievedat almost anv
settingof R?, It- is, however,possibleto adjust R2
so that the display will dim rinder semi-darkcon-

cell beingbrightly illuminatedduring the dav bv


sunlightor an electriclamp. This is be6ausethe cefi
will then exhibit an extremelylow resistance,
giv-the
ing a slight risk of excessivecurrent flow in
potentiometertrack. The risk disappearsif the
potentiometeradjustmentis suchthai it alwaysin_
sertsabout 5k o or moreof resistanceinto cirtuits.
5k o is, of course,just one-tenthof the total track
resrstance.
. If desired,it is possibleto vary the dimmed display brrghtness
to someextentbv alteringthe value
in
9f R6. Raising its value will causean i"ncrease
brightn_ess,
and reduci-ngit will have the opposite
effect.Its value shouldnot, however,be increased
to more than 470o or reducedto lessthan 800 o.
TR3 will run rather warm but thereis no needto
dltlons.
fit it with a heatsink,even if the clock circuit has
R2 slider should not be turned fully clockwise, been modified to providc an increaseddisplay
whereuponminimum resistance
current (as was describedat the end of the articli
is inseitedinto circuit, if thereis a possibilityof the photoconductive on the clock).
I

BOOKREVIEW
T E S T E 0 U I P M E N T F o R T H E R A D I O A M A T E U R ,s e c o n dE d i t i o n .
, . E n g .M
, . l . E . EG
. , 2 B U p .1 5 1 p a g e s , 2 4 Sx 1 g 5 m m .
P f H . L . G i b s o nC
(9f, x 7f,in.)Published
by Radiosocietyof GreatBritain.pricef3.7s.
The amateur radio transmitting enthusiast require.sbasic test equipment not only for servicing
but also to ensure that he is satisfying his licence conditions. Furtheriest equipment is desirable
and
much of this can be home-constructed with a corresponding saving of cost and increase in experience.The book under review gives detailed information oir the biriloing of tesr
equipment and
the manner in which it may be used. The present second edition has a completely revised text
and
has
n e w d e s i g n s , i n c l u d i n gd i g i t a l i n s t r u m e n t s a n d m i c r o w a v e t e s t g e a r .
.many
The test equipment covered includes everything that can conceivably b! required for normar
amateur work, and takes.in the measurement of voltage, current, frequency, r.f. power, noise, aerial
standing waves and many other quantities. The book also has the aitractiue well-drawn diagrams
which are associated with R.S.G.B. publications. The price at the head of this review ij tnat
a p p l i c a b l ei n t h e U . K . , a n d t h e v o l u m e m a y b e o b t a i n e d d i r e c t f r o m R a d i o S o c i e t yo f G r e a t B r i t a i n ,
3 5 D o u g h t y S t r e e t , L o n d o n ,W C l N 2 A E , a t t h i s p r i c e p l u s ( a t t h e t i m e o f w r i t i n g ) 6 7 p p o s t a g ea n d
packing.

JULY 1978

n@H
y0uril
u|0r
$mr
U
{

Cheerfully, Dick plugged an


aerial lead into the 14 inch black
and white television receiver, after
which he inserted its PIug into one
, r f t h e m a i n s s o c k e t sr a n g e d a l o n g
the rear r-,fhis bench. He switched
the set on, whereuPon the sound
sisnal frcm one of the local u.h.f'
channels became audible from its
soeaker. Expectantlv, he waited for
the cathode rav tube to warm uP
and the consequentaPPearanceof a
uicture.
There was no
Nothing' nhappened.
ot
even a blank unoicture:
nrodulated raster.
He leaned forward, located the
brightness contrr!,I,and aijusted. it
e x n e r i t n e n t a l l vT. h e s c r e e nr e m a l n e d ^ b l a n k a t a i l s e t t i n g so f t h e c o n trol. Returning it to a central po-sition, Dick frowned as he mentallY
totted up the faults which could
cause the loss of raster and picture:
a faultv tube, a fauitv tube heater
. u r r p l v , a f a i l u r e i n t h e e . h . t 'v o l t a g e
. u i l b l v t o t h e t u b e f i n a l a n o d e ,i n c , , i i e r l to n e r a t i o no f t h e l i n e o u t p u t ,
line oscillator or line driver stages,
or an unsetviceablesupply to any of
the remaining tube electrodes.
"Rlimev." he rnuttered glumlY,
g to be a stinker"'
" t h i s o n e t s g o i n-off
the receiver. At
He switclied
once the screen of the tube lit up, to
fnde awaY into its Previous
darknessafter a few short moments.

B R I G H T N E SC
SONTROL
I n c r e d u l o u s l y ,D i c k g a P e da t t h e
receiver. Witlr i trembl-ing hand he
turned it on again, with the result
that the sound-'signalbecame audible once rnore. The face of the Pict u r e t u b e r e p e a t e di t s ,p e r f o r m a n c e
irnd retnatneclcompletely olanK'
Dick waited for a minute then turn690

Scan and
Flyback
Rectification
+iu'iil[-$
$ililil$
'lhe
screenbecame iled the set off.
luminated for a brief period before
it returned to its previous darkness.
"Hey, Smithy!"
The Serviceman, preoccupied
with a dismembered music centre
on his own bench, gave no indication that he had heard his assistant.
"Hev. SmilhY/"
lrritibli', Smithy Put down his
test nrods.
"For goodness' sake, what is it
r1()w i

"I've eot a set here that's


haunted. it only comes on when I
switch it off!"
With a sigh,Smithy got up from
his stool and walked over to Dick's
bench.
"Show me."
l)ick dernonstratedthe behaviour
of the receiver. Smithv watched.
unimpressed.when the screencame

momentarilyto Iife as Dick switched the set off.


"There's nothing verY comn l i c a t e dt h e r e , " h e c o m m e n t e d".l
ihould look for a snag in the
briehtnesscontrolcircuit' In fact, I
strriirtdcheck the brightnesscontrol
o o t e n t i o m e t e ri t s e l f . P e r h a P s
ihere'san open-circuitbetweenone
end ol the tiack and its tag.You can
do a simple d.c. ohms test there."
With which words, SmithY
stumnedback to his music centre'
Deflated, Dick took the television
.et plue' from its mains socket,
..-nued the back of the receiver
and. after maniPulation of the
orintedboard,foundhimselfableto
ieach the tags of the brightness
p o t e n t i o m e t e i .H e s w i t c h e d h i s
iestmeter to an ohms range and
applied its test cliPs to two of the
o b i e n t i o m e t et ra g s .( F i g ' 1 ( a ) ' )

Brightncss control

(o)

(b)

Fig. | (a). Following Smithy's bidding' Dick checked the continuity


oi the brightness control potentiometer track in his faulty
monochrome TV raceiver
lb). When he checked between the slider and the track tag. when
the control was turned fultv cloclrwise he found an open-circuit
between thd tnck end and the tag
RADIO AND EI,ECTRONICSCONSTRUCTOR

Frcm video
output stoge

ill
lll
lll
ill
ttl

To tlywhccl
sync stoge

l2V bottcry -

Fig. 2. Line output stagd of a monochrome


mains/battery
television receiver. (This is a stightty
simplified version of the circuit emptoyed in the Thorn
lsbo-lsgl
Seriis or television
receiverc.)

He turned the control in an anticlockwise direction. The meter needle fell to a near-zero reading as the
potentiometer slider reached the
end of its track. He transferred one
of the clips to the other end of the
track, then adjusted the controt so
lhal its slider approached and
reached the fully ilbckwise end of
its track. This time the meter continually indicateda high resistance
reading. It was obvious that
Smithy's d.iagnosiswas completely
c o r r e c t .( F i g . 1 ( b ) . )
. "Hey, Smithy! You must be havtng me on!"
Absent-mindedly, Smithy looked
rouno.
"I bee vour pardon."
"I_ said'you must be having me
on. You must have had a look at
this set yourself, because the fault
]v?s.an open-circuit to the
.bnghtness control track. exactly
like vou said."
_"Was it?" said Smithy, pleased.
"Desp.ite. my declining year., I
haven t lost my grip then. No, I
haven't examined the particular set
vou've got there but I-do know the
model fairly well. I made a guessat
the snag, working from that
knowledge,and it looks as thoush
my guess was pretty inspired." "
JULY 1978

"But I don't get it," wailed Dick.


"How on earth can the symptoms of
the screen lightine up at switch-off
lead you io d-ir6ctly to the
brightness control pot?"
Resignedlv, Sniittrv rose and
walked over to the filing cabinet in
which the service sheetswere kept.
Afler some moments he removed a
manual, carried it over to Dick and
laid it alongside the television
receiver.-He opened out the pages
bearrng the receiver circuit and indicated the line output and picture
t u b e s e c t i o n .( F i e . 2 . )
"I need the reieiver circuit to be
ahle to answer your question," he
remarked. "Now. if vou look at that
circuit you'll see there's a winding
o n t h e l i n e o u t -pulses
put transformei
which feeds scan
via a rectifier diode to a lpF electrolytic and
the brightness control pot."
"Here, hang on a minute, what's
all this about scan pulses? And
what's a winding doing on the line
output transformer providing these
sc-anpulses, anyway? I thouglt that
all a l-ineoutpui transformer"is supposed to do is to feed the line scann i n g c o i l s a n d g e n e r a t ee . h . t . f o r t h e
final anode of ihe picture tube."
"Even
in
dn
ordinarv
monochrome receiver where the h.[.
is derived direct from the mains.

the line output transfbrmer does


more than just that. It so happens
that the set you have here is one of
the popular current models which
can run either from the mains or
from a 12 volt battery. If you connect a battery to ii the- batterv
voltagepassesto a stabilizingciicuit which providesa regulateiloutput of around 11.5volts.And when
you connect the mains to it, the
mains is passed to a step-down
transformer and a rectifier and
smoothing circuit, the output of
which 4lso goesto the stabilizlngcircuit. So, whether it's mains or
battery operatedthe set still has to
work with a supply of only 11.5
volts."
BOOSTED H.T. SUPPLY
"Humph," gruntedDick. "Well,
!g-t].gg back to the ordinary type of
TV where the power supply ii obtained direct from the mains.What
extra job does the line output
transformer do in these sets?"
__"It providesboostedh.t.," replied
Smithy promptly. "The simplest
example here is given with the
earlier sets having line output
valvesrather than line outout trhnsistorsbecausethe circuitrv is a little easierto understand.H6re'spart
691

B@stcd HT+

oscillator and do similar iobs where


f a i r l v h i g h v o l t a g ew a s n e e d e d . "
"Is there a boosted positive supply in this transistor circuit?"
Srnithy pointed to the circuit in
t h e s e r v i c em a n u a l . ( F i e . 3 ( b ) . )
"'Ihere it is," he stated, "right at
the top of the line output
transformer primary winding, just
as with the valve version. Since the
supply voltage in this set is only
altout 11.5 volts, the boosted voltage
is correspondingly low. In practice
it's approximately 25 volts, and it's
rrsed for supplving the i.f. stages
and part of the video amplifier. But
it does not supply the video output
stage,which requires a much higher
v o lt a g e ".

+25V boostcd
voltogc

(200v
opprox.)

Boost Rsrvoir
coPoc[or

Port ol line
oUtput
tronstormer

tii
lil eortor rinc
output
lil

lilt'on"o""'

H r r r n g r l r ,r"e p e a t e dI ) i c k .
He thought for a rnomenl.
" \ V h ; r l v o l l a g e s .h e a s k e d , , . d o e s
.
t h e l r r r er ) u l l ) u tl r a n s f o r m e rp
- sr u, rpvpi ldye
other than the boosted
vol tage?"

Linc output
volvc

'tr
Fig. 3(d. A look at one of the earlier valve line output stages readily demonstrates the formation of a boosted h.t. vottage. With the
h.t. voltage shown, the boosted h.t. voltdge would be of the order
of 5OO volts
(U.

Virtually

the

same circuit
is given
semiconductor
version

ofa typical valve line output stage."


Smithy pulled Dick's note-pad
towards him, took out a pen and
sketched out a circuit on its too
p a g e .( F i g . 3 ( a ) . )
"We haven't got time to go
through the whole line output
cycle," he went on, "but, as we're
only interested in the boosted h.t.
supply we need only consider part
of it anyway. And I need only show
transformer
vou the line outout
-which
primary winding,
produces
the boosted h.t. Now, during the
latter half of the scan section of the
line cycle, when the spot is being
deflected horizontally across the
screen of the picture tube, the line
output valve is on and is drawing a
continually increasing anode
current from the positive h.t. rail
through the booster diode, and
through the line output winding
below the cathode of the booster
diode. Since the lower end of this
winding is negative of the booster
diode cathode, simple transformer
action causesthe top end ofthe winding, above the booster diode
cathode, to be positive. The result is
that the boosted h.t. reservoir
capacitor charges up, causing a
voltage which is considerably
positive of the h.t. positive rail to be
available on the terminal of the
capacitor which connects to the top
end of the winding."
"And that's the boosted h.t.
voltage?"
692

the

more

modern

"lt is," confirmed Smithy. "The


capacitor losesa bit ol' its charge
d u r i n g t h e l ' i r s tp a r t o f t h e s c a n s e c tion of the cycle but it still retains
enough to provide a voltage which is
considerably positive of the h.t.
p o s i t i v er a i l . W i t h s i m p l e l i n e o u t put transformer circuits you
- p o s ican
tive
alwavs find the boosted
voltage, because it's sitting at the
top end of the winding whose bottom end goes to the line output
valve. Or. nowadavs.to the line outpu1 transistor. In-the older sets the
boosted h.t. voltage was normally
used to supply the frame timebase

"As vou've already mentioned,"


said Srnithy, "it supplies the extra
high tension voltage for the final
anode of the oicture tube. In this
particular circuit the e.h.t. is
provided by its own separate winding. Since the current drawn by
t h e f i n a l a n o d e i s q u i t e s r n a l l ,b e i n g
rrllorra
l tenth of a milliamp or so,
t h e w i n d i r r ci s c o n n e c t e ds o t h a t i t
fceds positive-going flyback pulses
to the e.h.t. rectifier. The conseq r r c n t e . h . t . v o l t a g e ,w i t h t h i s s e t , i s
then allout i 1kV." (Fie.4.)
"F-lvback pulses I can understand," complained l)ick, frowning. ",lust now, though, you were
talking about scan pulses."
"Ah ves," said Smithy, picking
r u ph i s p e n a g a i n . " W e l l , l e t ' s n e x t
take a look at the voltasewhich is
induced in that e.h.t. windine. It
w i l l l r a v e n w a v e s h a p e. o m e t h i n g
like this, with spaced-out high
voltage pulses appearing at flyback
ancl long cornparatively flat sections
between these pulses. The average
voltage of the waveform will be just
slightlv above the flat sections,
w h i c h r e p r e s e n tl h e s c e n n i n g p a r l
of the line output waveform during

ill
c H

I,OOOpF

winding

Fig.4. The e.h.t. section of the line output stage. ln most receivers
the e.h.t. resentoir capacitor is given by the capacitance between
the inside and outside graphite coatings of the picture tube. ln this
receiver a I,OOOpF capacitor is added in parallel
RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR

Averogc

LolJle:
Scon

Flybock

(o)

Averoge
vol toge

Fig. 5. Acgording to the way


connactiong are mada to it
e windlng on a llrto oupt
tnnsform&
mdy pmduce
flybac* puls*
which tn
positiva-golng wlth rcspect
to crrdsstc, ds in bL or wDn
pulsas which .ra p6tltlv*.
going. as in (b)
.

which the spot travels across the


picture tube screen."
Smithy drew the waveform with
its average voltage carefully. (Fig.
5(a).)
SCAN PULSES
"Now that waveform." said Dick
musingly, "is the one that's passed
to the e.h.t. rectifier."
"That's right," ageed Smithy,
"and, as we've already said, it's got
positive-goingflyback pulses."
An agonised expression creased
Dick's face.
"I think I'm beginning to understand what this scan Dulse business
is about," he stated ilowly. "Am I
right in saying that it is all right to
pass spaced-out positive-going
flyback pulses to the e.h.t. rectifier
because the e.h.t. current is so
small?"
"You are. The e.h.t. reservoir
capacitor is charged up by each
pulse, and the smhll e.h.t. iurrent
only discharges it a little bit before
the next pulse comes along."
"Right," said Dick briskly. "Now
what happens if we want the line
output transformer to supply a circuit that requires a high current?
could we do that by turning the
waveform uoside-down so that the
flyback pulies go negative?" (Fig.
5 ( b ) .)
JULY 1978

"We could."
"Blimev." remarked Dick
delightedly. "I think I've discoveredsomethinghere! If we turn
the waveform upside-downso that
the scan sectionsare positive-going
and then apply fftrs to the rectifier,
we'll also get a positive rectified
voltageoutput. The positiveinput
to the rectifier will be presentnearly all the time too, won't it? That is
to say, not spaced out like the
flyback pulsesare. This meansthat
the rectified output will be much
better regulatedand will be able to
supply quite a high current with
only a small value of reservoir
capacitor."
"You're exactlv rieht."
"Am I? Gosh!'-'
"To use the usual terms." continuedSmithy, "you cangeta much
higherrectified output current from
scanrectificationthan vou can from
flyback rectification. But there's a
snag.
"When isn't there?"
"Can you," askedSmithy gently,
"see it?"
"Let me think about it." said
Dick. "Now, when we have flyback
rectification the peak rectified
positive voltagewill be the voltage
by which the flyback peaks go
positive of the waveform average
voltage.I think that's right, isn't
it?"
"Apart from the very small
forward voltagedropped in the rectifier, which can be ignored here,
you're completelyright,"
"Good," said Dick, encouraged.
"Then, when we use scan rectification, the peak rectified voltageis the
maximum amount by which the
scan part of the waveform goes
positiveof the averagevoltage.For
a givenline output transformerwinding this will be very much smaller
than the peak flyback rectification
voltage.Now, what doesthat bring
us to?"
Suddenly his face lit up.
"I've got it!" he said excitedly.
"I've got it! If you want a certain
rectified voltagewith scanrectification vou need a lot more turns on
the line output transformerwinding
than you do to get the samevoltage
with flvback rectification."
"That," remarked Smithy approvingly, "is it precisely.The last
thine the TV set-makerwants to do
is to'put an unnecessarynumber of
turns on the line output transformer
and so,if he wantsto obtaina supply voltagefor a low current circuit,
he uses flyback rectification. It is
only when the supply voltagehas to
feed a high current circuit that he
usesscanrectification.The polarity
of the waveform is governed, of
course,by the end of the winding
which is connectedto chassis.In
this particular TV circuit we've
already seenthe flyback rectification for the e.h.t. supply. Can you
see another case of flvback rectification?"

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693

the line output transformer circuit


sives scan- rectification and a
ielatively high voltage, of the order
of 95 voits, ippearsicross the lPF
reservoir ca[dcitor following the
rectifier. This voltage feeds the
collector load of the video output
transistor. It also feeds the
brishtness control pot, which is the
one vou found to be faulty. It will be
almost certain that the track was
open-circuit at the high brightness
end, where it connects to chassis."
"That's right," agreed Dick. "It
was the end where the knob was
turned fully clockwise. Which
reminds me all over again: how on
earth did you know that the fault
was there?"
"Recause this particular set has a
rather unusual on-off switching circuit which we ha.ren't talked about
vet." reolied Smithv. "The on-off
iwitch has three poles, two of which
switch the mains supply whilst the
third switches battery negative to
chassis when the set operates from a
12 volt battery. When this third pole
'ofl" position it connects
soes to the
ihe slider of the briehtness control
pot to chassis, whereupon the tube
Dasses a fairlv heavY current
between cathode and fihal anode,
and larselv discharges the e.h't.
reservoii cioacitance. The result is
lhat vou don't get that little sPot
anpeiring on ihe centre of the
*.ieen aiier vou switch off whilst
the tube cathode is still hot. Also,
vou don't have a lot of e.h.t. volts
i r a n g i n ga r o u n d . "
"0f cour*e. of course. I see it
nowl" said Dick. "When the set was
on, the open-circuit to the pot track
rneant that the tube cathode was
alwavs highly positive with respect

Fig. 6. Ftyback rectificdtion is used to feed the tube first anode and
the focus Potentiometer

FOCUS CIRCUIT
f)ick peered anxiously at the
circuit.
"Could it," he asked eventually,
"be after the winding which
supplies the focus pot circuit?"
(Fie. 6.)
"You've nlt lt llrst go. l)ear me,
vorr're in verv good form today."
"l rnust admit." stated Dick
modestlv. "that t have the occasionai Ilash of genius."
"Right,then..."
"l)own at.loe's Caff, for instance,
t h e l ' L r t r ku p o n m e a s b e i n g e x c e p tionallv brainv."
"Ok-av. so lbt's . . ."
"Naturallv. I have to draw a
cloak over mv brilliance."
"This flvbick rectification . . ."
"Ottrerwise people might look
uoon
' " W i lme
l as heing big-headed."
v o u f l a r n i n g . w e l lb e l t u p l "
"Ulimv, Smithy. what's up with
'vou I
"I want to set on with this discussion," retorted $mithy heatedly.
"Not listen to you and Your
mouth."
"Fair enough," replied Dick
equabl5'."Well, if you remember,
we weie talking about the flYback
rectification bit which, as I just
oointed out, is used in the focus conirol circuit."
Smithy slowly simmered down.
"And," he grated, "you were
risht in pointing out that flYback
rectification is used there. Now, let
me collect my thoughts. Ah yesl
The associatedwinding on the line
output t ransformer aPPlies
oosiiive-eoineflvback pulses to the
iectifier' ,nd the follbwing l0lF
reservoir capacitor, and the resultant positivi voltage then supplies
the focus oot. the slider of which
connects to the focus electrode of
the tube. The rectified voltage,
which is around 300 volts, also goes
to the first anode, incidentally. The
first anode and the focus electrode

both draw very small currents and


so flyback rectification is quite in
order here."
"There's another rectifier,"
remarked Dick, "and that's at the
bottom of the same winding which
passespositive-goingflyback pulses
i,r the'focus pot circuit rectifier'
't'here's
a chassis tap into the *ind i n c i n b e t w e e n ,t o o . " ( F i g . 7 . )
''And that," remarked Smithy,
"is the scan rectification circuit I
rcferred to right at the beginning.
Frorn the way that the comPlete
winding is drawn in the diagram
v,rrr worrld expect the wavefortn at
its hottom end to be of opPosite
polaritv to that at the top end. And
s o , i n l i r n c t i c e ,i t i s . T h i s l a s t p a r t o f

llllllllr

Scction
on-off

of
switch

Fig. 7. The higher current 95 volt supply for the video output stage
is provided by scan rectification. The cross indicates the position
of the open-circuit in the faulty brightness control potentiometer
ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR

If

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Fig. 8. Yet some further outputs from the line ouvut trdnsformer.
The tap in the lowar winding provides line blanking pulsas for the
picture tube grid together with nagative-going flyback pulses to
tha flywhdel sync stage

to the tube grid regardlessof the


positionof the pot slider.Switching
off shortedthe pot slider to chassis
and took the tube cathode sufficiently negative for the tube to
passcurrentand light up the screen.
It's obviousnow, when you look at
it."
POWERHOUSE
"Exactlv." chimed in Smithv.
"Taking ihe tube cathode highly
positiveof the grid causedthe tube
to cut off. becausethis is the same
as taking the grid highly negativeof
the cathode. As vou can see from
the main circuit, ihe grid is held at
potentialby way of the 10kO
chassis
and 33ko resistorswhich coupleit
to the chassis.So there vou are.
Dick. You'vegot a TV setin front of
you which hasa positivesupplyrail
of only 11.5 volts feedingthe line
output stage. And the line output
stage,with its transformer,acts like
a veritable power house.It knocks
out a boosted supply voltage of
around 25 volts for the i.f. stages
and some of the video circuitry, it
producesan e.h.t. voltage of about
1lkV for the final anodeofthe tube.
it generatessome 300 volts for the
tube first anode and the focus
potentiometerand, finally, it gives
95 volts for the video output transistorand the brightnesscontrol circuit. That's not bad going for just
one stage."
"I'll say it isn't," agreedDick.
"Stap me, Smithy, I've just noticed
anotherdiode! "There's a tap in
that last windingwe dealt with and
it connectsvia a 4,700pFcapacitor
anda 100koresistorto this diode.It
also goes by way of a 0.1pF
capacitorto anotherpart of the circuit. Blimey, there's no end to the
JULY 1978

external circuits which are tacked


on to this line output transformer!"
( F i g .8 . )
"That last diode," chuckled
Smithy, as he glanceddown at the
service manual, "is in the line
blanking circuit, and it clampsthe
waveform with positive-goingscan
oulses so that the most positive
parts are held at chassispotential.
The result is that the grid of the
tube is at chassispotential during
the scan period and then goes
negativeduring the flyback period,
caisins the tube to be cut offduring
that period. And the waveform
passedvia the 0.lpF capacitorgoes
back to the line flywheel sync
diodes.The important parts of the
waveform in this case are the
n e g a t i v e - g o i n gf l y b a c k p u l s e s .
These make the flywheel sync
diodes conductive, but I don't intend to start diesing into tftof part
of the circuit no-ri.tsspeciallyarithe
only thing that started off this particular gen session was a faulty
brightneis control pot!"
"Well," said Dick, "You've certainlv openedmY eyesso far as the
line 6utbut stageof this set is concerned.It's a v-erybusy little stage,
isn't it?"
It certainlv is," rePliedSmithY'
"Which reminds me that it's time
that I became busY too, and got
back to mv work instead of sPending my time nattering awaY like
this."
"Still, it's nice to have a little
break from work everY now and
again."
""I
Smithy'
supposeso,"conceded
"provided it doesn't haPPen too
often."
"With us." crinned Dick, "it onlY
I
happensoncel month!"

rs wtll

as irtstrrrclion l)ooks.

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Radio Topics
By Recorder
A R A L D I T EP A C K S
I should imagine that few readers
will reouire an introduction to that
excellent adhesive, Araldite. In the
Recorder household, for instance,
this enoxv resin has been used fbr
manv'jolis ranging from the mounting of radio components on a
chassisto the successfulblockins of
holes in. of all things, an enamel
bucket. In industry, Araldite is
widelv employed for the potting of
comnonents and small electronic
assemblies.And it is made up by
cornbining the requisite amounts of
resinand hardener.
Araldite has been available in
two-part sachets containing 500
sramsof the material for industrial
p o t t i n g a y r p l i c a t i o n s ,a n d t h e
t n a n r r f a c t r t r e rn o w a n n o u n c e s t h e
introduction of smaller 200 grarn
'lhese
s:rchets.
should be of special
interest to userswho need to employ
l r o t t . i n gr e s i n s o n l y o c c a s i o n a l l y ,o r
w h o s ea l l l l l i c a t i o n sd o n o t r n e r i t t h e
rrse of an automatic metering
rnachine t() obtain the correct mixt r r'l'he
r eo f r e s i n a n d h a r d e n e r .
200 grarn pack is in two

Araldite from a 2OO gram


sachet being poured to form
a small potted
assembly.
The resin and hardener are
in separate halves of the
sachet,
being
brought
together just before use by
removing a clip

p:rrts, one containing the resin and


the other the hardener, with the two
sections kept apart by means of a
clip. When the clip is removed the
two comDonent materials come into
contact with each other and can be
t h o r o u g h l vr n i x e d b y m a n i p u l a t i o n .
'l'he
bag is then pierced at one end
lnd t,hemixture squeezedout to be
rrsedas required. In the photograph
it. is being poured into a can cont a i n i n g e l e c t r o n i c c o m p o n e n t s .A s
cllr lle seen,there is no requirement
firr the operator to come into
llhvsical contact with the mixture at
all.
'f
he performance of epoxy resins
cart depart from specification if the
trvo components ate not mixed in
the correct ratio, and the two-part
sachet is a good way of ensuring
lh;rt optimum performance is
achieved. The resin and hardener
differ in colour, whereupon the
operator has a visual means of
checking that they are thoroughly
rnixed beforeuse.
'l'he
rnixture consistsof CW 1404
(lR resin and HY 956 hardener.
'l'his
has a low shrinkage on curing,
low exotherrnic temperature rise
end a low coefficient of thermal exp i r r r s i o nA. s w i t h o l h e r e p o x y r e s i n s ,
thc electrical properties are particrrlarlvgood.
'fhe
hardener was chosen to give
the mixture rapid curing properties
at moderate temperatures, and it is
therefore particularly suitable for
'lhe
s.mall castings.
mixture will
cure fully rrt 25'C in 24 to 36 hours,
but will cure in as little as 3 hours at
{i0'(-'.Once mixed, the system has a
life at 25"C of about 2 to 3 hours.
Further details on the 200 eram
sachetsmay be obtained from Ciba('leigv Plastics and Additives Com1ranv, [)lastics Division, Duxford,
O a r n b r i d g e ,C B 2 4 Q A .

Central Electricitv Generating


Board, are precisely defined in
terms of time. It may be that the
time element becomes PartlY
hidden because virtually all the
measurements are expressedas the
number of cvcles which exist within
of 1 second. The
the fixed period
-terminology
from cycles
change of
per iecond to Hertz may also be
responsible for shifting the time
qo n c e p t , r n e l a v e r l o w e r i n o u r
thinking.
We can control the timing of electronic circuits by mechanical
rneans. as with a quartz crystal, or
hv purelv electronic means. In the
latter casewe take advantage of the
llrollerties ot capacitanceand incluctance, of capacitance and
resistance or inductance and
resistance. When we combine
canacitance and inductance we
have. of corrrse, a tuned circuit.
(-arrncitanceand resistance can be
directlv related to time becausewe
can make un bscillators which are
rlependent ulron the time taken for
ru capacitor to charge or discharge,
via a resistor. to a specific voltage.
Notable examples here are the twotransistor sllmmetricaI multivibrator and circuits incorp o r a t i n gt h e 5 5 5 t i m e r i . c . I t i s a l o t
more difficult to give an example of
timing control bv inductance and
resistance, so far as generating an
rrlternating voltage is concerned,
Irt'causeit is irnpossible in practice
to ohtain inductance on its own
without self-capacitance stealing
o n t o t h e s c e n e .A b l o c k i n e o s c i l l a t o r
ittcrrrporating an ir-on-cored
Ir:ln\{i)rller is a rough approximation to frequency control by means
of inductance and the inevitable
r e s i s t a n c ei n t h e i n d u c t a n c e , a n d
t h e i n d u c t a n c eo f a T V l i n e o u t p u t
l r ; r n s f o r m e r( a n d t h e l i n e s c a n n i n g
t''ils) cert;rinlvcontrols the timin[
ol a line output stage during the
s c a n n i n gs e c t i o no f t h e l i n e o u t p u t
cvcle.

l'erhzrlls the most fascinating of


time controlling circuits are those
emlrloving Capacitance and
resistance.because it is so easy to
select the tirning by choice of
c a p a c i t a n c ev a l u e . I f y o u h a v e n ' t
g o t a n o s c i l l o s c o p ea v a i l a b l e a n d
vou want to seethe waveform given
irr'. sav. a 555 oscillator,you can
. i r r r p l v s l o r vi l d o r v n a b i t b y u s i n g a
l:rrge value electrolytic for the
c r r r r a c i t a n c e .S e v e r a l h u n d r e d
DOING TIME
rnicrofhrads in coniunction with
r e s i s t a n c e si n t h e o r d e r o f l 0 0 k O
Although we do not always pav
can give an overall cycle lasting
much attention to the fact. as soon
s o n r el 0 o r 2 0 s e c o n d s . , I u sct o n n e c t
r r s w e c h a n g e ,i n a n v e l e c t r i c a l o r
r r v o l t r n e t e r a c r o s st h e o u t p u t o f a
c l e c tr o n i c w o r k . f r o r n d i r e c t v o l t a g e
iir.-r slorved dorvn in this manner
:rrrd current to alternating voltafe
rrrrd r,'oucall see its waveshape.
and current we are introducing-'a
t',,tnllletelynew dimension. All
I l i r i r r ' . e v e r v r l ( ) wa n d a g a i n j u s t
a l t e r n a t in g q u a n t i t i e s ,w h e t h e r t h e v
1 , ,r e r n e r r r b et hr a t a l l t h e a l t e r n a t i n g
l r e t h e u . h . t . t e l e v i s i o ns r g x a l v o ' u
i-olt:rges:rttd cr.trrentswe deal with
p i c k u p o n t h e r o o f - t o pa e r i a l . i h e
;rre all accurately determined in
auclio orrtput from a hi-fi amplifier,
r r l r ; r ti . p e r h a l t st h e m o s t e p h e m e r a l
,'r the mains supply which is
all: tinreitself.
rlirnenri,rn,,f-them
h r r , r r g h t1 , r r r s b y c o u r t e s y o f t h e
I
RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR

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