TECHNO TE(A)CH

INTRODUCTION:

Hello guys, hope you went through enough troubles with the decade counter presented
in the last issue. Did you notice, even though going through all the pains of reading the IC’s data
sheets the LEDs glowed without any clock signal? This is what we call practical difficulties. So all
that which is imagined (written through expressions) in theory is completely not possible in
practice. But don’t give up hope the mission of engineers like us is to try and reduce the gap
between theory and practice.

APPLICATION:

The last project that which we saw is not exactly a project because; the circuit did not
have any particular use. But this time we are going to meet with an application. It’s well known
to you all that (that’s what I hope) the decade counter is used as a logic switch every time a
clock pulse is fed to it. The output 1 of 10 pins goes high there by switching LEDs to give a
chaser circuit. Well if you think the chaser is the only application then think again because the
next thing that which we are going to discuss may be far over your heads and put your minds in
fire.

THE LANGUAGE:

It’s very essential isn’t it? Communication serves multiple purposes; similarly in order to
communicate with an electronic circuit the output indicating devices are very essential (you
didn’t forget the LEDs, did you?). Last time the LEDs served the purposes of indicating an
increment in the clock pulse. The only thing is that the LEDs didn’t mean any thing in specific.
The last project was not communication at all, it was only information. For example, a LED in
your TV near the switch mearly ‘indicates’ that the TV is on. But communication is a two way
process that requires the language and that fortunately happens to be binary language

Remember, if at all you are good at binary language then dealing logic circuits is a
problem for you. Enough of threatening and lets learn how to communicate with your logic
circuit. Now let me present you with a table, study that and try to make out a relationship:
 DECIMAL BINARY

0 0000

1 0001

2 0010

3 0011

4 0100

5 0101

6 0110

7 0111

8 1000

9 1001

10 1010

11 1011

12 1100

13 1101

14 1110

15 1111

Got it, if not try reading this paragraph: the number system that we use in our day to day life to
count and manipulate math is by using the decimal number system. But unfortunately the
digital world didn’t find enough space and time to teach the logic gates the number system that
which we know. The binary world only consists of 0s and 1s. See how 7 is represented! This way
of representing is called 4 bit representation. If it were 8 bit representation then 7 is
represented as 0000 0111. Each position in the binary word is called a bit. Eight bit is one byte
and four bit is a nibble. 1024 byte is a kilo byte. 1024 KB is 1MB; 1024MB is one 1GB. Think how
many bits your hard disk has? (GB is not the limit! search and tell me what’s next to GB)
 The basics starts like this: in binary there are only two choices 0 and\or 1. With several
different combinations any variety of data such as alphabets, numbers, and fractions can be
given as input to any digital appliance. For example take your DVD player, it flashes ‘WELCOME’
on its screen every time you turn it on. But it really does not know what its doing. According to
it it’s just outputting some binary numbers stored in its MEMORY through some conversion
circuits (more on this later) but it appears as though the DVD is responding to us. Similarly our
circuit also is going to respond to us in a logical fashion with out knowing what its doing. So we
are going to cast a trick using circuit knowledge and fool the little devil (CD 4017 BE).

I DON’T GET IT?

Why the binary system has to be like this? Yeah, I have asked this question many times
to my teachers none provided me with a proper response. “So what?” I asked this question to
my self and started building circuits that uses this binary system and does wonders in my day to
day life. One day you will also feel the same way about binary.

A simple method to remember the coding is like this. “The cup won’t spill unless it’s full”
try and remember this line to remember binary, what “I don’t get it?” well here is the
explanation. The representation of 0 is very simple 0000 (I am talking about nibbles) so the next
number is 1 so start pouring 1s in the cup of zeros like 0001. The next digit is 2 so fill the cup
0010 (now don’t ask where the first drop went? Just read and you WILL GET IT) next is 3 go on,
there is one more combination allowed 0011 now the initial two spaces are filled (the cup is full
careful it’s going to spill) so the next digit four is represented as 0100. Now again the cup is
empty fill it with 1s. so it will be 0101 for 5 and 0110 for 6 and 0111 for 7, now the cup is full so
spill the 1 and it will become 1000 that is 8 and it goes till 16 which is 1111.

For some matured ones the 2 bit positions can have four combinations like 00, 01, 10
and 11. So when ever this overflow occurring just shift a carry to the next bit position like this
0000,0001,0010,0011 and 0100 got it. Now practice it in a separate sheet to master all the
binary codes. It’s enough if you make a 4 bit cup, full. So the first two bits go through this cycle
and they change the positions of the next two bits. This cycle continues up to 1111.

THE PROJECT:

This time let us handle the TTL \LS ICs, in that series we shall handle the simple 4 bit
binary code generator the IC specification is called 74LS90, BINARY COUNTER. These IC
increments its output according to the clock pulse fed as input. For each clock input the output
increments by one binary count. Initially it is 0000 and for next transition it’s 0001. Similarly,
the output keeps incrementing till the output reaches 1111. We can also wire the circuit to
replay the whole order. Construct the circuit in your bread board and see the LEDs glow in a
definite fashion. Please try to remember that last time in the decade counter the output just
incremented along with the clock pulse; but this time the output has a definite meaning and it’s
demonstrated in the given circuit. Check it out! The LED that glows is represented as logic 1 and
that which is off is logic 0.

BCD TO DECIMAL DECODER:

This IC converts the input binary to decimal number system. So now let us see another
IC called the 74LS42. This IC is called the BCD to decimal decoder. Note the word decoder; it is
otherwise called as diversifier. It converts few inputs to many outputs. I introduce this IC
because the same decade counter is related with this. Since you are most familiar with the
decade counter I thought this circuit will really entertain you. You can notice that the count is
only up to 9 (1001) after which the IC resets (recycling based on wiring).Try the following circuit
and post your comments. The working, configuration and pin details can be downloaded from
our blog spot. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start your work. Catch you soon.