Professional Documents
Culture Documents
V o l u m e3 1 N o . 1 1
PublishedMonthly
(2nd of precedingMonthl
First Published | 947
lncorporating
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
656
658
661
662
DECIMALRANDCVALUES
by R. D. Smith
668
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
670
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
682
Talegrams
Databux,London
CORDLESSHEADPHONE RECEIVER
by A. P. Roberts
For DX Listeners
684
68G
BOOK REVIEW
689
690
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
app.
* No trailing wires
zN4t4
L6d-outs
TRr
BCrO9C
BC rO9C
Lcod-outs
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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^
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.
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
Vgp
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+
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
7::/..,..
'174ir,,,,,:,:
/7' ,z
I
Tbnt
SINGLE
TTJNED
CIRCI-]IT
F.M.
RECE,IVER
ri
.l
'i
i
I
By P. R. Arthur
of
low
or medium
impedance
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.
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
JULY 1978
)'P4
e /---\b
/o o\
\-v.
BC l09
t-?od-ou ts
663
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-
ei;;;;;-("i-eo
goPpe1
..*.g.) ename-ll-e4
:vi:g
;i#;;;;;;.i'i"!rfi.1.
wiresof the
rhe lead-out
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
\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
of tha receiver.
Nearly
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
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
5h6"aio
ttl2"
ttti'
t\z'n
]
l
I
rtd
tttt
! lvst
'lA
-l
__l
L!
-ilil
n::;,
Altcr bcnding-
tl_____]
I
i$
i&
.,
JULY 19?S
are sotdered
mto circuit
on the copper
side of the
board
667
#;;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'
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
i;ff;ffi;;;'i':iii
withoytoscillation
i' possible
lng range.
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
DECIMAL R AND
C VALI]ES
By R. D. Smith
"round number"
Combining two El2 resistors or capacitors to obtain
decimal values.
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.
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
. 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
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
672
Electronic countcr
Input signol
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
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
iL
GATE PULSE
PRESCALER
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
H
'r'-l o
$i
x-./?s!
c)E
oo
G1"
Io 16
..1"
xl
kE
J
"E$i
a-@
-9
o-
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
Il
o(
ol
$r
-=
F.
E
TI
()Oul<A
0
N9
o..d c
ci ct ct
JULY 19?8
6?e
.,,,/K;Kffi
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
Badiant
Heat
Sowce
/
6Er
By Frank A. Baldwin
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
in
- parallelon 7170.
f;;kiu; FolisRadvosu(TurkishPoliceRadio),
a"lu.^."on ogaO uf tstg, local-typemusic,YL
RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR
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_
1.skw.
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
Actrve
fi lter
Timc- bose
i drivcrs
Block diagram
'
Receiving
of Sateilite
set up
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 )
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
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.
The auto-dimmer
assemhled
components
their printed board
on
687
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
...:
"'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-
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
$mr
U
{
B R I G H T N E SC
SONTROL
I n c r e d u l o u s l y ,D i c k g a P e da t t h e
receiver. Witlr i trembl-ing hand he
turned it on again, with the result
that the sound-'signalbecame audible once rnore. The face of the Pict u r e t u b e r e p e a t e di t s ,p e r f o r m a n c e
irnd retnatneclcompletely olanK'
Dick waited for a minute then turn690
Scan and
Flyback
Rectification
+iu'iil[-$
$ililil$
'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
Brightncss control
(o)
(b)
Frcm video
output stoge
ill
lll
lll
ill
ttl
To tlywhccl
sync stoge
l2V bottcry -
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
B@stcd HT+
+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
the
more
modern
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
"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?"
THE
MODERN
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(BOOK
END CI{ASSIS)
T h e D U E ' l . T ES l e r e o A m p l i f i e r u s e s o u r G B I
case and can be supplied punched or unpunched. The P.C. Boards for this oroiect are
also available:For details of this and our
stanclard range of cases send 1Sp
(refundable) to:
H. M. ELECTRONICS
275a Fulwood Road
Broomhill
Sheffield S10 3BD
Ril[0tlfltulsffi
693
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
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
BY THE B
M E T H O! D
Tlrrse colrses.
which
have been sold for
ovcr 2 3 year.; havt: been proved rnany times
l
)
e
to
the fastest Inethod of learning Morse.
Y()il slarl riqlrt away by learninA the SOUndS
()f llrt various letters n1'nbers etc.. aS yo'
will in fat:t Lrse thern Nol a series of dols an(l
r l i r s l r r r sw l r i c h l a l e r V o r r w i l l h a v e l o t r a n s l a t e
iilli) l{,llpr:t arrrl worcis
lJsrnr; sr:ienlifically prr:parerl 3 speecl rccords
V()| dillorudlically learrr to recoqnise the
lrrrio RIiYTHM
wilhoul
lranslatinq
You
r : i r r rI l r r ' l p i l l l s a s e a s y n s l c a r n i n q a t u n e
in 4 weeks .lua6r)teed
1B WPM
Tlli' (l()rJrt)li,tI C()llrse c()nSiSts of three
rllorrls
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
rs wtll
as irtstrrrclion l)ooks.
F o r C o m p l e t eC o u r s es e n d f 5 . O 0 p l u s p a r t
postage5Op {overseassurtacemail C1 extra).
Norv available Shrouded Morso Kovs
f2.7O inc. UK Postage
THE MORSE CENTRE
Box 8, 45 Green Lane, Purley, Surrcy.
I c r r r : l o sI e5 0 O r l r l a r q es a e f o r e x p l a n a l o r y
booklet
Name..................
Address.............
GAREX
2-motre RECEIVER NR56: fully tunable
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r 8P;
5 + : 1 5 p P 1 2 5 9 U H F P l u g & R e d u c e6
5+: 6Op; SO239 UHF Socket Panelmtd.
5 5 p ; 5 + : 4 5 p N i c a d T e c h a r g e a b l e sp h y sically equiv. to zinc-carbon types: AAA
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(switches
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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