Low Cost Deaf People Doorbell

This circuit provides a delayed visual indication when a door bell switch is pressed. In addition, a DPDT switch can be moved from within the house which will light a lamp in the door bell switch. The lamp can illuminate the words "Please Wait" for anyone with walking difficulties.

Circuit diagram

Notes:
The circuit uses standard 2 wire doorbell cable or loudspeaker wire. In parallel with the doorbell switch, S1, is a 1N4001 diode and a 12 volt 60mA bulb.

The bulb is optional, it may be useful for anyone who is slow to answer the door, all you need to do is flick a switch inside the house, and the bulb will illuminate a label saying Please Wait inside the doorbell switch or close to it.

The double pole double throw switch sends the doorbell supply to the lamp, the 22 ohm resistor is there to reduce current flow, should the doorbell switch, S1 be pressed while the lamp is on.

The resistor needs to be rated 10 watts, the 0.5 Amp fuse protects against short circuits.

When S2 is in the up position (shown as brown contacts), this will illuminate the remote doorbell lamp. When down, (blue contacts) this is the normal position and will illuminate the lamp inside the house. Switch S1 will then charge the 47u capacitor and operate the transistor which lights the lamp.

As a door bell switch is only pressed momentarily, then the charge on the capacitor decays slowly, resulting in the lamp being left on for several seconds. If a longer period is needed then the capacitor may be increased in value.

author: Andy Collinson
e-mail: anc@mitedu.freeserve.co.uk
web site: http://www.zen22142.zen.co.uk

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Low Cost Digital Code Lock

Many digital code lock circuits have been published in this magazine. In those circuits a set of switches (conforming to code) are pressed one by one within the specified time to open the lock. In some other circuits, custom-built ICs are used and positive and negative logic pulses are keyed in sequence as per the code by two switches to open the lock.

Digital Code Lock Circuit diagram :

A low-cost digital code lock circuit is presented in this article. Here the keying-in code is rather unique. Six switches are to be pressed to open the lock, but only two switches at a time. Thus a total of three sets of switches have to be pressed in a particular sequence. (Of these three sets, one set is repeated.) The salient features of this circuit are:

1. Use of 16 switches, which suggests that there is a microprocessor in-side.

2. Elimination of power amplifier transistor to energise the relay.

3. Low cost and small PCB size.

An essential property of this electronic code lock is that it works in monostable mode, i.e. once triggered, the output becomes high and remains so for a period of time, governed by the timing components, before returing to the quiescent low state. In this circuit, timer IC 555 with 8 pins is used. The IC is inexpensive and easily available. Its pin 2 is the triggering input pin which, when held below 1/3 of the sup-ply voltage, drives the output to high state. The threshold pin 6, when held higher than 2/3 of the supply voltage, drives the output to low state. By applying a low-going pulse to the reset pin 4, the output at pin 3 can be brought to the quiescent low level. Thus the reset pin 4 should be held high for normal operation of the IC.

Three sets of switches SA-SC, S1-S8 and S3-S4 are pressed, in that order, to open the lock. On pressing the switches SA and SC simultaneously, capacitor C3 charges through the potential divider comprising resistors R3 and R4, and on releasing these two switches, capacitor C3 starts discharging through resistor R4. Capacitor C3 and resistor R4 are so selected that it takes about five seconds to fully discharge C3.

Depressing switches S1 and S8 in unison, within five seconds of releasing the switches SA and SC, pulls pin 2 to ground and IC 555 is triggered. The capacitor C1 starts charging through resistor R1. As a result, the output (pin 3) goes high for five seconds (i.e. the charging time T of the capacitor C1 to the threshold voltage, which is calculated by the relation T=1.1 R1 x C1  seconds). Within these five seconds, switches SA and SC are to be pressed momentarily once again, followed by the depression of last code-switch pair S3-S4.

These switches connect the relay to out-put pin 3 and the relay is energised. The contacts of the relay close and the solenoid pulls in the latch (forming part of a lock) and the lock opens. The remaining switches are connected between reset pin 4 and ground. If any one of these switches is pressed, the IC is re-set and the output goes to its quiescent low state. Possibilities of pressing these reset switches are more when a code breaker tries to open the lock.

LED D5 indicates the presence of power supply while resistor R5 is a cur-rent limiting resistor.

The given circuit can be recoded easily by rearranging connections to the switches as desired by the user.

Source : www.ecircuitslab.com

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A Low Cost Hearing Aid Circuit

Small and portable unit, Useful for old men and old women

This low-cost, general-purpose electronic hearing aid works off 3V DC (2x1.5V battery). The circuit can be easily assembled on a veroboard. For easy assembling and maintenance, use an 8-pin DIP IC socket for TDA2822M.

Circuit Diagrams:

 A Low Cost hearing Aid Circuit

Parts:
P1 = 10K
R1 = 2.2K
R2 = 330K
R3 = 680R
R4 = 33R
R5 = 100R
R6 = 4.7R
R7 = 4.7R
R8 = 220R
C1 = 0.01uF-10V
C2 = 100nF-63V
C3 = 47uF-10V
C4 = 10uF-10V
C5 = 0.01uF-10V
C6 = 100uF-10V
C7 = 100nF-63V
C8 = 100nF-63V
D1 = Red LED
Q1 = BC547
IC1 = TDA2822M
EP1 = Mono Earphone 32R
SW1 = On-Off Switch

Circuit Operation:

In this circuit, transistor Q1 and associated components form the audio signal preamplifier for the acoustic signals picked up by the condenser microphone and converted into corresponding electrical signals. Resistor R5 and capacitor C3 decouple the power supply of the preamplifier stage. Resistor R1 biases the internal circuit of the low-voltage condenser microphone for proper working. The audio output from the preamplifier stage is fed to the input of the medium-power amplifier circuit via capacitor C2 and volume control P1.

The medium-power amplifier section is wired around popular audio amplifier IC TDA2822M (not TDA2822). This IC, specially designed for portable low-power applications, is readily available in 8-pin mini DIP package. Here the IC is wired in bridge configuration to drive the 32-ohm general-purpose monophonic earphone. Red LED (D1) indicates the power status. Resistor R8 limits the operating current of D1. The audio output of this circuit is 10 to 15mW and the quiescent current drain is below 1 mA.

Source by : Streampowers

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Low Voltage Alarm Circuit Schematic With explanation

This low voltage circuit can be used to monitor batteries and other volatile sources of current for problems. The circuit sounds an alarm and lights an LED, but can be interfaced to any number of other circuits for many different uses.

Parts

Part Total Qty. Description Substitutions R1, R3 2 1K 1/4W Resistor R2 1 5K Pot U1 1 LM339 Op Amp IC D1 1 1N5233B Zener Diode D2 1 LED BZ1 1 Piezo Buzzer MISC 1 Board, wire, socket for IC

Notes

1. The circuit will operate from 9V to 12V.
2. Adjust R2 until the alarm goes off at the correct voltage.s

Source : aaroncake.net/

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ESR Low Resistance Test Meter

As electrolytic capacitors age, their internal resistance, also known as "equivalent series resistance" (ESR), gradually increases. This can eventually lead to equipment failure. Using this design, you can measure the ESR of suspect capacitors as well as other small resistances. Basically, the circuit generates a low-voltage 100kHz test signal, which is applied to the capacitor via a pair of probes. An op amp then amplifies the voltage dropped across the capacitor’s series resistance and this can be displayed on a standard multimeter. In more detail, inverter IC1d is configured as a 200kHz oscillator.

Its output drives a 4027 J-K flipflop, which divides the oscillator signal in half to ensure an equal mark/space ratio. Two elements of a 4066 quad bilateral switch (IC3c & IC3d) are alternately switched on by the complementary outputs of the J-K flipflop. One switch input (pin 11) is connected to +5V, whereas the other (pin 8) is connected to -5V. The outputs (pins 9 & 10) of these two switches are connected together, with the result being a ±5V 100kHz square wave. Series resistance is included to current-limit the signal before it is applied to the capacitor under test via a pair of test probes. Diodes D1 and D2 limit the signal swing and protect the 4066 outputs in case the capacitor is charged.

Circuit diagram:

 ESR & Low Resistance Test Meter Circuit Diagram

A second pair of leads sense the signal developed across the probe tips. Once again, the signal is limited by diodes (D3 & D4) before begin applied to the remaining two inputs of the 4066 switch (pins 2 & 3 of IC3a & IC3b). These switches direct alternate half cycles to two 1μF capacitors, removing most of the AC component of the signal and providing a simple "sample and hold" mechanism. The 1μF capacitors charge to a DC level that is proportional to the test capacitor’s ESR. This is differentially amplified by op amp IC4 so that it can be displayed on a digital multimeter – 10Ω will be represented by 100mV, 1Ω by 10mV, etc. To calibrate the circuit, first adjust VR1 to obtain 100kHz at TP3.

Next, momentarily short the test probes together and adjust VR4 for 0mV at pin 6 of IC4. That done, set your meter to read milliamps and connect it between TP4 and the negative (-) DMM output. Apply -5V to TP2 and note the current flow, which should be around 2.1mA. Transfer the -5V from TP2 to TP1 and adjust VR2 until the same current (ignore sign) is obtained. Remove the -5V from TP1. Again, set to your meter to read volts and connect it to the DMM outputs. Apply the probes to a 10W resistor and adjust VR3 for a reading of 100mV. Finally, ensure that all capacitors to be tested are always fully discharged before connecting the probes.

Author: Len Cox - Copyright: Silicon Chip Electronics

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