Helical Notch Filter Schematic

4 MHz Amplitude Modulated Oscillator

• The only tuned component is the crystal operating in fundamental mode.

A while back I needed an amplitude modulated signal source at 4 MHz. This circuit was literally thrown together with parts laying on the bench. I built it dead bug style on a piece of copper clad board. It should work for you with little or no modification, other than the selection of the crystal, for use at other frequencies. At lower frequencies you might have to increase the capacitor values to get it to oscillate, and at higher frequencies, you might have to reduce the capacitor values a little. Just be aware that the crystal will be operating in its fundamental mode. Overtone crystals will work, but they will oscillator at their fundamental frequency.

Output level can be raised by biasing the audio amplifier's output stage to a higher voltage. This can be accomplished by placing a resistor from the base of the grounded-emitter transistor to ground. As voltage to the oscillator is increased, the voltage swing to achieve a given level of modulation will have to be increased as well.



The gain of the audiio amplifier is determined by the ratio of the 1 K ohm input resistor to the 56 k Ohm feedback resistor, and is limited by the open loop gain of the grounded-emitter stage. The open loop gain can be estimated by looking at the voltage drop across the 1 K ohm collector resistor. The voltage gain will be (in theory) about 38 X the voltage across the 1 K collector load. Thus, a 2 volt drop would give you an open loop gain of about 76:1 at audio frequencies, so the closed loop gain will be dominated by the feedback as described above.

The low frequency roll-off of the input singal will be approximately 1/(2Pi*3.3 uf * 1,000 Ohms ), which comes out to about 50 Hz. The input impedance of the amplifier at the summing node is sufficeintly low enough to allow as assumption of zero ohms to be sufficient for a design using 5% resistors .

Be aware that the antenna has DC on it and shorting the antenna to ground might destroy some of the parts. You can use a small (.001 uf for example) capacitor in series with the oscillator output if you want. If you use an antenna with this device, make is a really short one as RF emissions are regulated in most if not all countries. Besides, the waveform is pretty rich in harmonics.

This circuit generates a low power test signal and should not be used as a transmitter. Make sure you are within the law in the locality in which you operate this.

As this was built from parts laying on the bench, it isn't optimized, but it does demonstrate that it is very tolerant of component choice. A lot of small signal transistor will work. Look up the 2N4401 -its not that special.

Simple Electronic Lock Project

There are six (or more) push switches. To 'unlock' you must press all the correct ones at the same time, but not press any of the cancel switches. Pressing just one cancel switch will prevent the circuit unlocking. When the circuit unlocks it actually just turns on an LED for about one second, but it is intended to be adapted to turn on a relay which could be used to switch on another circuit.

Please Note: This circuit just turns on an LED for about one second when the correct switches are pressed. It does not actually lock or unlock anything!

Parts Required

* resistors: 470, 100k ×2, 1M
* capacitors: 0.1µF, 1µF 16V radial
* red LED
* 555 timer IC
* 8-pin DIL socket for IC
* on/off switch
* push-switch ×6 (or more)
* battery clip for 9V PP3
* stripboard 12 rows × 25 holes

Traffic Light Project

This project operates red, amber and green LEDs in the correct sequence for a single UK traffic light. The time taken for the complete red - red & amber - green - amber sequence can be varied from about 7s to about 2½ minutes by adjusting the 1M preset. Some amber LEDs emit light that is almost red so you may prefer to use a yellow LED.

The 555 astable circuit provides clock pulses for the 4017 counter which has ten outputs (Q0 to Q9). Each output becomes high in turn as the clock pulses are received. Appropriate outputs are combined with diodes to supply the amber and green LEDs. The red LED is connected to the ÷10 output which is high for the first 5 counts (Q0-Q4 high), this saves using 5 diodes for red and simplifies the circuit.

Parts Required

* resistors: 470 ×3, 22k, 100k
* capacitors: 0.1µF, 1µF 16V radial, 10µF 16V radial
* diodes: 1N4148 ×6
* LEDs: red, amber (or yellow), green
* 1M preset, horizontal
* 555 timer IC, such as NE555
* 4017 counter IC
* DIL sockets for ICs: 8-pin, 16-pin
* on/off switch
* battery clip for 9V PP3
* stripboard: 20 rows × 21 holes

Digital Dice

This digital dice project is an interesting project that will display in random the number from 1 to 9 on the 7 segment display. This is an alternative device that can be used to replace the traditional dice when you are playing games such as snake ladder, monopoly etc. The generation of clock is done by using a 555 timer which is connected in the astable mode at a frequency of approximately 50 Hz. This clock signal is fed into the decade counter which outputs are connected to 4 bit binary adder which provides a binary output equavalent to binary input + 1. The outputs are then connected to a BCD to 7 Segment Decoder which is used to drive a common anode 7 segment display.

As shown in the schematic above, when push button PB is pressed, a square output will be generated from the 555 timer which gives a frequency of approximately 50 Hz to the 7490 decade counter IC. The frequency of the astable 555 timer is calculated by using the standard formula of the timer.

f = 1.44/(1K + 2*1K)(0.01uF) = 48 Hz.

The output from the 555 timer is then connected to the input of U1 7490 decade counter. When the decade counter reach the count of 9, the outputs of QA and QD will go to logic "1" and the counter is reset. The 7447 BCD to 7 segment decoder is used to drive the 7 segment common anode display.

Automotive Speed Indicator

The speed of an automobile can be indicated by detecting the pulses generated by the ignition system and causing an LED to light. The circuit utilizes a quad NOR gate IC chip. Two of the gates are configured as a one shot multivibrator which produces a fixed duration pulse each time the primary circuit of the automobile ignition system opens the circuit to the ignition coil. The other 2 gates are used as buffers which provide an accurate rectangle pulse. As the number of pulses per second increases, the voltage fed to the base of of the NPN transistor becomes high enough to cause it to conduct and turn on the LED. The speed at which the LED lights is set by R4. The input of the circuit is connected to the distributor side of the ignition coil or to the tachometer connection on those cars that are equipped with electronic ignition.

Plant Moisture Meter

Stick the metal probes into a freshly watered plant and adjust R5 for a mid-scale meter deflection. The meter will monitor the soil wetness and the meter will indicate whether it is to moist or to dry. This circuit uses a dual power supply which could be created by two 9 volt batteries.