Stepped Volume Control

Louder music, sirens or speech in response to higher ambient noise levels? This simple circuit has the answer, and it may enable your robot to be at least as noisy or loud-mouthed as the others in an arena. The circuit consists basically of a microphone, a level detector, a 4-state counter and four analogue switches connected to a resistive ladder network. Looking at the circuit diagram, the signal from electret microphone M1 is amplified by T1 whose collector voltage appears across a potentiometer. M1 gets its bias voltage through R4. Depending on the setting of P1, the 4040 counter will get a clock pulse when a certain noise level (threshold) is exceeded.

Circuit diagram:

Stepped Volume Control Circuit Diagram

The counter state determines the configuration of the four electronic switches inside the 4066 and so the series resistance effectively seen in the audio signal line. The circuit should be powered from a 9-V regulated supply or a battery and will consume a few milliamps only. Switch S1 allows the counter to be reset, switching all 4066 switches to off, i.e., the highest attenuation will exist in the audio path as in that case none of the 1-kΩ resistors are shorted out. To calibrate the circuit, disconnect the 4040 clock input (pin 10) from the wiper of P1, and temporarily ground it through a 100 kΩ resistor. Now pulse the clock input by briefly connecting it to the +9 V line; you will see the counter outputs change state and with them, the bilateral switches in the 4066.

Author: Raj K. Gorkhali Copyright: Elektor Electronics 2007

 

 

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Converting a DCM Motor

We recently bought a train set made by a renowned company and just couldn’t resist looking inside the locomotive. Although it did have an electronic decoder, the DCM motor was already available 35 (!) years ago. It is most likely that this motor is used due to financial constraints, because Märklin (as you probably guessed) also has a modern 5-pole motor as part of its range. Incidentally, they have recently introduced a brushless model. The DCM motor used in our locomotive is still an old-fashioned 3-pole series motor with an electromagnet to provide motive power. The new 5-pole motor has a permanent magnet.

We therefore wondered if we couldn’t improve the driving characteristics if we powered the field winding separately, using a bridge rectifier and a 27 Ω current limiting resistor. This would effectively create a permanent magnet. The result was that the driving characteristics improved at lower speeds, but the initial acceleration remained the same. But a constant 0.5 A flows through the winding, which seems wasteful of the (limited) track power. A small circuit can reduce this current to less than half, making this technique more acceptable. The field winding has to be disconnected from the rest (3 wires).


A freewheeling diode (D1, Schottky) is then connected across the whole winding. The centre tap of the winding is no longer used. When FET T1 turns on, the current through the winding increases from zero until it reaches about 0.5 A. At this current the voltage drop across R4-R7 becomes greater than the reference voltage across D2 and the opamp will turn off the FET. The current through the winding continues flowing via D1, gradually reducing in strength. When the current has fallen about 10% (due to hysteresis caused by R3), IC1 will turn on T1 again. The current will increase again to 0.5 A and the FET is turned off again. This goes on continuously.

The current through the field winding is fairly constant, creating a good imitation of a permanent magnet. The nice thing about this circuit is that the total current consumption is only about 0.2 A, whereas the current flow through the winding is a continuous 0.5 A. We made this modification because we wanted to convert the locomotive for use with a DCC decoder. A new controller is needed in any case, because the polarity on the rotor winding has to be reversed to change its direction of rotation. In the original motor this was done by using the other half of the winding. There is also a good non-electrical alternative: put a permanent magnet in the motor. But we didn’t have a suitable magnet, whereas all electronic parts could be picked straight from the spares box.

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DRM Direct Mixer Using an EF95/6AK5

This hybrid DRM receiver with a single valve and a single transistor features good large-signal stability. The EP95 (US equivalent: 6AK5) acts as a mixer, with the oscillator signal being injected via the screen grid. The crystal oscillator is built around a single transistor. The entire circuit operates from a 6-V supply. The receiver achieves a signal-to-noise ratio of up to 24 dB for DRM signals. That means the valve can hold its own against an NE612 IC mixer. The component values shown in the schematic have been selected for the RTL2 DRM channel at 5990 kHz. That allows an inexpensive 6-MHz crystal to be used. The input circuit is built using a fixed inductor. Two trimmer capacitors allow the antenna matching to be optimized. The operating point is set by the value of the cathode resistor. The grid bias and input impedance can be increased by increasing the value of the cathode resistor. However, good results can also be achieved with the cathode connected directly to ground.




 

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Negative-Output Switching Regulator

There are only a limited number of switching regulators designed to generate negative output voltages. In many cases, it’s thus necessary to use a switching regulator that was actually designed for a positive voltage in a modified circuit configuration that makes it suitable for generating a negative output voltage. The circuit shown in Figure 1 uses the familiar LM2575 step-down regulator from National Semiconductor (www.national.com). This circuit converts a positive-voltage step-down regulator into a negative-voltage step-up regulator. It converts an input voltage between –5 V and –12 V into a regulated –12-V output voltage.

Note that the output capacitor must be larger than in the standard circuit for a positive output voltage. The switched current through the storage choke is also somewhat higher. Some examples of suitable storage chokes for this circuit are the PE-53113 from Pulse (www.pulseeng.com) and the DO3308P-153 from Coilcraft (www.coilcraft.com). The LM2575-xx is available in versions for output voltages of 3.3V, 5 V, 12 V and 15 V, so various negative output voltages are also possible. However, you must pay attention to the input voltage of the regulator circuit. If the input voltage is more negative than –12 V (i.e., Vin < –12 V), the output voltage will not be regulated and will be lower than the desired –12 V.


The LM2575 IC will not be damaged by such operating conditions as long as its maximum rated input voltage of 40 V is not exceeded. High voltage (HV) types that can withstand up to 60 V are also available. Although the standard LM2575 application circuit includes circuit limiting, in this circuit the output current flows via the diode and choke if the output is shorted, so the circuit is not short-circuit proof. This can be remedied by using a Multifuse (PTC) or a normal fuse. There is also an adjustable version of the regulator with the type designation LM2575-ADJ (Figure 2). This version lacks the internal voltage divider of the fixed-voltage versions, so an external voltage divider must be connected to the feedback (FB) pin. The voltage divider must be dimensioned to produce a voltage of 1.23 V at the FB pin with the desired output voltage. The formula for calculating the output voltage is:

Vout = 1.23 V × (1 + [R1 ÷ R2])

The electrolytic capacitors at the input and output must be rated for the voltages present at these locations.

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Two-Cell LED Torch

It sometimes comes as a bit of a shock the first time you need to replace the batteries in an LED torch and find that they are not the usual supermarket grade alkaline batteries but in fact expensive Lithium cells. The torch may have been a give away at an advertising promo but now you discover that the cost of a replacement battery is more than the torch is worth. Before you consign the torch to the waste bin take a look at this circuit. It uses a classic two-transistor astable multivibrator configuration to drive the LEDs via a transformer from two standard 1.5 V alkaline batteries.

The operating principle of the multivibrator has been well documented and with the components specified here it produces a square wave output with a frequency of around 800 Hz. This signal is used to drive a small transformer with its output across two LEDs connected in series. Conrad Electronics supplied the transformer used in the original circuit. The windings have a 1:5 ratio. The complete specification is available on the (German) company website at www.conrad.de part no. 516236. It isn’t essential to use the same transformer so any similar model with the same specification will be acceptable.


The LEDs are driven by an alternating voltage and they will only conduct in the half of the waveform when they are forward biased. Try reversing both LEDs to see if they light more brightly. Make sure that the transformer is fitted correctly; use an ohmmeter to check the resistance of the primary and secondary windings if you are unsure which is which. The load impedance for the left hand transistor is formed by L in series with the 1N4002 diode. The inductance of L isn’t critical and can be reduced to 3.3 mH if necessary. The impedance of the transformer secondary winding ensures that a resistor is not required in series with the LEDs.

Unlike filament type light sources, white LEDs are manufactured with a built-in reflector that directs the light forward so an additional external reflector or lens glass is not required. The LEDs can be mounted so that both beams point at the same spot or they can be angled to give a wider area of illumination depending on your needs. Current consumption of the circuit is approximately 50 mA and the design is even capable of producing a useful light output when the battery voltage has fallen to 1 V. The circuit can be powered either by two AAA or AA size alkaline cells connected in series or alternatively with two rechargeable NiMH cells.

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Temperature Reference

It is often difficult to properly calibrate a temperature sensor since there is no suitable aid for doing so available. This article, which describes a temperature reference source, aims at putting this right. Since the source is made variable, the reference temperature may also be used for adjusting thermostats correctly. This may prove useful in the case of the recently published Titan 2000 audio power amplifier. The diagram shows how a Type BDV64 power transistor, T1, is used to provide a regulated-heat source and a calibrated sensor Type LM35 (IC2) monitors the resulting temperature. The two devices are mounted on a common heat sink.


At the same time, good thermal coupling between IC2 and the sensor to be calibrated is of paramount importance. Circuit IC1 functions as an on/off switch and actuates the power transistor (heater) when the temperature drops below the set value. The desired temperature is set with potentiometer P1. The better the thermal coupling, the smaller the hysteresis of the system. The circuit operates as follows. The output of IC1 controls power transistor T1. The specified values of resistors R4 and R5 ensure that the current through the transistor is not greater than 0.5mA.

This results in a dissipation of not greater than 6W. Sensor IC2 is powered by a regulated 5 V supply. Its output is a direct voltage of 10 mV °C–1. With component values as specified, the temperature may be set with P1 between +20 °C and +74 °C. Given these data, it is fairly simple to construct a suitable scale for the potentiometer. Almost any power transistor in a TO3P case and an amplification factor of ≥ 1000 may be used for T1.

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Mains Voltage Detector

The detector is intended to sense and signal to another circuit that an appliance is connected to the mains voltage. For this purpose, an optocoupler, IC1 in the circuit, is used. The light-emitting diode in this device is connected across the mains voltage rectified by bridge B1. The mains voltage is applied to this bridge via potential divider R1-C1-R2. When the capacitor has a value as specified in the diagram, the current through the diode is about 700 µA (for a mains voltage of 230 V). This results in sufficient light to make the photo-transistor conduct. The drop across the LED is about 1V.


The detector draws a current only when the monitored equipment is switched on. It is intended to be built into the appliance whose mains connection is to be monitored and must, of course, be connected behind the mains on/off switch. A possible application of the detector is in the preamplifier described in this blog (‘DIY: From vinyl to compact disc’). When it senses that the record player is being switched on, it can be used to link the Line-In input of the soundcard automatically to the preamplifier. Another possible application is its use as a power-on reset circuit in a protection system.


Transistor T1 can switch currents of up to 10mA; in the prototype, the knee voltage of the transistor was around 200mV at a current of 20mA. The maximum permissible switching voltage of the optocoupler is 30 V. Fuse F1 is added to allow a fuse to be omitted on the monitored appliance.


Resistors:

• R1,R2 = 100Ω
• R3 = 100kΩ
• Capacitors:
• C1 = 10nF 250VAC (class X2)
• C2 = 47µF 25V radial

Semiconductors:

• B1 = B250C1500
• T1 = BC547B
• IC1 = CNY65

Miscellaneous:

• K1,K2 = 2-way PCB terminal block, pitch 7.5mm
• F1 = fuse holder with fuse (rated as required)

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