Circuit book free

With just a low cost DC adapter and the circuit described here it is possible to build a low cost stabilized, uninterruptable 9V supply. On the grounds of safety and economy, a simple unstabilized 12V D.C. adapter is used as the power source, a universal adapter with its output set to 12 V will do equally well. The output voltage of an adapter under low load conditions (up to approximately 1/3 of the rated output current) is over 15 V, even at the rated output current, there will be sufficient voltage to supply a 9 V voltage regulator. The rating of the DC adapter should be chosen according to the output current required at 9V. Common values are 300mA, 500mA and 1A.

The 9V voltage regulator used in this circuit has a built in thermal shutdown mechanism so that if too much current is drawn from the device, it simply turns off as it overheats and will not supply any current until the case temperature returns to normal. If the unit is intended to supply more than say 150-200mA then to prevent thermal shutdown it will be necessary to fit a heatsink to the voltage regulator. The rule of thumb used to calculate the size of heatsink is that you should be able to touch it during operation at maximum load, without burning you finger. When choosing the DC adapter, it is always better to select one with a higher current rating than is needed this will ensure that its output voltage is high enough to be able to also charge the 12V cells.

As long as mains voltage is on the DC adapter, the voltage across C1 will be higher than the voltage of the cells. Charging current will flow through R1 and D1 to the cells. Current also flows to the voltage regulator and out to the load connected at the output. Diode D2 in this situation will not conduct because the voltage at its cathode is greater than that at its anode When the mains voltage fails or is turned off, diode D2 conducts and current will now flow from the Nickel Cadmium cells to the voltage regulator, thereby automatically keeping the output voltage at 9V. The value of resistor R1 is chosen so that a charging current to the cells is not greater than 1/10th of the cells capacity (if the cells are rated at 1100mAh, the charging current must not exceed 110mA).

From the point of view of cell longevity it is better to reduce this charging current even further (1/20 or 1/50 C). When calculating this resistor, the value of the no-load voltage should be used. This will give the highest charging current. To calculate the charging current using R1 with a value of 180 Ω. The cells measure 13.8 V when fully charged and the no-load output voltage of the DC adapter is 17V. Charging current is given by the formula: (17V – 13.8V – 0.7V) / 180 = 13.9mA. Substituting the actual measured values in this formula will enable you to calculate the value of R1 to give the correct charging current for the cells.

This circuit uses a thin piezoelectric sensor to sense the vibrations generated by knocking on a surface; eg, a door or table. Basically, it amplifies and processes the signal from the sensor and sounds an alarm for a preset period. In operation, the piezoelectric sensor converts mechanical vibration into an electrical signal. This sensor can be attached to a door, a cash box, cupboard, etc using adhesive. A 1-1.5m long shielded cable can then be connected between the sensor plate and the input of the circuit. The signal generated by the sensor is amplified by transistors Q1-Q3 which are wired as common-emitter amplifiers.


The signal is then rectified by diode D1 and amplified by transistors Q4-Q6. As shown, the output from Q6s collector is fed to pin 4 (reset) of 555 timer IC1. This is wired as an astable multivibrator. Each time Q6 turns on, its collector goes high and IC1 activates and produces an alarm tone in the speaker. The alarm automatically turns off 10s after knocking ceases - ie, the time taken for the 22µF capacitor on Q4s emitter to discharge. Finally, note that it may be necessary to adjust the 470O resistor in Q6s collector circuit to ensure that IC1 remains off in the absence of any perceptible knock. A value somewhere between 220O and 680O should be suitable.

This circuit uses standard components and shows a method of indicating the fuse status of mains powered equipment while providing electrical isolation from the mains supply. A standard miniature low power mains transformer (e.g. with an output of around 6 V at 1.5 VA) is used as a ‘sense’ transformer with its primary winding (230 V) connected across the equipment’s input fuse so that when the fuse blows, mains voltage is applied to the transformer and a 6 V ac output voltage appears at the secondary winding. The 1N4148 diode rectifies this voltage and the LED lights to indicate that the fuse has failed.

The rectified voltage is now connected to an RC low-pass filter formed by the 10 kΩ resistor and 100 nF capacitor. The resulting positive signal can now be used as an input to an A/D converter or as a digital input to a microcontroller (make sure that the signal level is within the microcontroller input voltage level specification). The 1 MΩ resistor is used to discharge the capacitor if the input impedance of the connected equipment is very high. As long as the fuse remains intact it will short out the primary winding of the ‘sense’ transformer so that its secondary output is zero.

The circuit described here counts the number of times that an infrared beam is interrupted. It could be used to count the number of people entering a room, for instance, or how often a ball or another object passes through an opening (handy for playing shuffleboard). The heart of the circuit consists of - you guessed it - a light gate! Diode D1 is an IR diode that normally illuminates IR transistor T1. The light falling on T1 causes it to conduct to a certain extent. The resulting voltage on the collector of T1 should be just low enough to prevent the following transistor (T2) from conducting. This voltage can be adjusted within certain limits using P1.

As soon as an object comes between D1 and T1, the light shining on T1 will be partially or fully blocked, causing the IR transistor to conduct less current. As a result, the voltage on its collector will increase, producing a brief rise in the voltage on the base of T2. This will cause T2 to conduct and generate a negative edge at IC1. This negative edge will trigger the monostable multivibrator, which will then hold the output signal on pin 3 ‘high’ for a certain length of time (in this case, one second). At this point, two things will occur. First, a buzzer will be energized by the output of IC1 and produce a tone for approximately one second.

When the buzzer stops, a negative edge will be applied to the clock input of IC2, causing the counter in IC2 to be incremented by 1. IC2 is conveniently equipped with an internal binary-to-BCD decoder, so its outputs only have to be buffered by IC3 and T3 to allow the state of the counter to be shown on the 7-segment display. Switch S1 can be used to reset the counter to zero. If a one-second interval does not suit your wishes, you can modify the values of R3 or C1 to adjust the time. Increasing the value of R3 lengthens the interval, and decreasing it naturally shortens the interval.

The same is true of C1. When building the circuit, make sure that T1 is well illuminated by the light from D1, while at the same time ensuring that T1 ‘sees’ as little ambient light as possible. This can best be done by fitting T1 in a small tube that is precisely aimed toward D1. The longer the tube, the less ambient light will reach T1. The sensitivity of the circuit can be adjusted using P1.

This "Super Light Sensor" responds to minute fluctuations in light level, auto-adjusting over the range from about 200 lux up to 60,000 lux (ie, from a modestly lit room to direct sunlight). It has lots of potential uses - eg, detecting a car entering a driveway, a person moving in a room, or wind rustling the leaves of a tree. At the same time, it has a high level of rejection of natural light variations, such as sunrise, sunset and the movement of clouds. While it is a "passive" system, it can also be used as an "active" system - ie, used in conjunction with a light beam.

Its great advantage here is that, since it responds to fluctuations in light level rather than the crossing of a specific light threshold, it is much more flexible than other typical "active" systems. It can be placed within the line-of-sight of almost any light source, including "vague" ambient light, and simply switched on. As shown, the LDR is wired as part of a voltage divider so that, between darkness and full sunlight, its output at "X" varies between about one-quarter and three-quarters of the supply voltage. A wide variety of sensors may be used in place of the LDR, including photo-transistors, photo-diodes and infrared and ultraviolet devices.


The signal from the sensor is fed to the inputs of comparator IC1 via two 150kO resistors. However, any signal fluctuations will be slightly delayed on pin 3 compared to pin 2, due to the 220nF capacitor. As a result, the pin 6 output of the comparator (IC1) switches low during short-term signal fluctuations and this triggers monostable timer IC2. IC2 in turn switches on transistor Q2 which activates Relay 1. It also lights LED1 via a 1.5kO current-limiting resistor. Trimpot VR2 allows the monostable period to be adjusted between about 3s and 30s.

As with all such circuits, the Super Light Sensor may not work as well under AC lighting as under natural lighting. If AC lighting does prove a problem, a 16µF (16V) electrolytic capacitor can be connected between the sensor output and ground to filter the signal to the comparator. When pin 3 of IC2 goes high, FET Q1 also turns on and pulls pin 2 of IC2 high. This transistor remains on for a very short period after pin 3 goes low again due to the 100nF capacitor on its gate. This "blanking" is done to allow the circuit time to settle again after the relay disengages (and stops drawing current).

LDR placement:
The "blanking" also makes it possible to run external circuits from the same power supply as the Super Light Sensor, without upsetting the circuit. The current consumption is less than 10mA on standby, so that battery operation (eg, 8 x AA batteries) is feasible. After building the circuit, switch on and wait for the circuit to settle. Its then just a matter of adjusting VR1 so that the circuit has good sensitivity without false triggering. With some experimentation, its possible to set the circuit to change seamlessly from natural to AC lighting. If maximum sensitivity under natural lighting false triggers the circuit under AC, then adjust VR1 to give maximum sensitivity under AC (and vice versa).

In daylight, the Super Light Sensor will typically detect a single finger moving at a distance of 3m, without the use of any lenses. It will also detect a person crossing a path at a distance of more than 10m, again without lenses. And when used as an "active" system, it will typically detect a person walking in front of an ordinary light source (eg, a 60W incandescent light-bulb) at more than 10m. Note that these ranges are achieved by placing the LDR (which is used as the light sensor) in a black tube, as shown in Fig.2. A single lens will double these distances, while the use of two lenses in an "active" system will multiply the basic range by 6 or 7.

This 8V DC power supply was designed for use with an expensive piece of electronic equipment. It features full over-voltage protection as a precaution against regulator failure, either in the supply itself or inside the equipment it is powering. The circuit uses a conventional full-wave rectifier, followed by a 3-terminal voltage regulator (REG1) with appropriate filtering. When power is applied and switch S1 is in the "Run" position, REG1s output is fed to the load via a 500mA fuse and Schottky diode D3.

This also lights LED2 (yellow) and LED3 (green), which respectively indicate the presence of the unregulated and regulated voltages. D3 is there to protect the circuit against external voltage sources (eg, charged capacitors). A "crowbar" circuit comprising ZD1 and SCR1 provides the over-voltage protection. It works like this: if a fault develops (eg, REG1 short circuit) which causes the output voltage to rise above 9.1V, ZD1 turns on and applies a voltage to the gate of SCR1.


If the voltage then continues to rise, SCR1 turns on (at about 10V) and "blows" the fuse. Zener diode ZD2 provides emergency over-voltage protection in case the "crowbar" circuit develops a fault. Switch S1 is provided so the operator can occasionally test the "crowbar" function. When S1 is switched to the "Test" posi­tion, the load is disconnected by S1b and the unregulated supply voltage is applied by S1a to the "crowbar" circuit, thus causing it to trigger. When this happenS, LEDs 2 & 3 (green and yellow) extinguish and LED1 (red) lights to indicate that the SCR has triggered. The SCR turns off again when S1 is switched back to the "Run" position.