ai ge ee Peay PaaA se Aes aM ENR =i SN eS s Se woe ie a Rea a) ro) pane neon) Se . ail as cal nes A AUTTT RATA A OND (OT TESTE) OH Ds ROO ae une ne nim atic oe104 Easy Projects for the Electronics Gadgeteer By Robert M. Brown No. 524 95FIRST EDITION FIRST PRINTING—APRIL 1970 SECOND PRINTING —MARCH 1971 THIRD PRINTING—AUGUST 1972 Copyright © 1970 by TAB BOOKS Printed in the United States of America Reproduction or publication of the content in any manner, with- out express permission of the publisher, is prohibited, No liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information herein, Hardbound Edition: International Standard Book No: 0-8306-0524-X Paperbound Edition: International Standard Book No: 0-8306-9524-9 Library of Congress Card Number: 72-114714Oe ee & GODS = © 69 © = 6 C1 S 69 DS = Contents Introduction 2 Homebrew Light Meter 13 Tubeless/Transistorless Code Practice Monitor 14 Electric Combination Lock 15 Super Crystal Radio 16 Surplus Relay Lamp Flasher 7 Signal Generator 19 Electronic Thermometer 20 Audio Frequency Meter 21 Dry-Cell Rejuvenator 23 Flashgun Tester 24 Ultra- Cheap Signal Generator 25 TV Set Radio Receiver 27 Hi-Fi Tuner 28 Inexpensive Early Morning Alarm 3018 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 29 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Double Battery Supply For The Car Sonalert Intrusion Alarm Hi-Fi In The Car A “‘Whistler’’ Listening Device TY Ghost Eliminator Adjustable Noise Generator Professional Hygrometer Perpetual Flasher Tone Compensator For Tape Recorders Electronic Tone Generator 9-Volt Battery Charger Super Field Strength Meter Telephone Intercom Adapter Neon Bulb Oscillator Add-On Noise Limiter Full-Wave Noise Limiter CB-To- Auto Antenna Adapter Audio Wattmeter 31 32 33 34 36 37 38 40 41 42 43 44 46 47 48 51 5233 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Inexpensive Auto Battery Charger Simple Crystal Detector Super Band Spreader Tunnel Diode Oscillator Signal Blinker Loudspeaker- To- Mike Converter Electronic “‘Coin Toss” Inexpensive Voltage Tripler Line Voltage Control Unit 1000- Volt Buzzer Power Supply Blow-Out Protector For Loudspeakers Inexpensive Transistor Checker Free- Power Batteryless Power Supply Electrostatic Speaker Converter Two TY Sets With One Antenna Tube Rejuvenator Oscilloscope Calibrator Sequential Neon Flasher 7 58 539 60 61 63 64 65 67 69 71 72 74 75 77 7951 52 93 54 99 96 o7 98 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 Electrifying Worm Turner Power Supply From Filament Transformers Color TV Picture Roll Stopper Electronic Anemometer Bubble Lamp Night Lite Scratch Filter For 45 RPM Discs Subminiature Power Supply The Mystery Alarm Junkbox Modulation Indicator Darkroom Timer Control Effective 6-Meter Antenna Coupler Tubeless Audio Squelch All-Purpose Battery Charger “‘Beeper” Transistor Tester Simplest Field Strength Meter Electronic Reflex-Action Game Kilowatt RF Voltmeter FM Tuner To Hi-Fi Adapter Unit 80 82 83 84 86 88 89 90 7 93 95 % 7 99 100 101 103 10469 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 $1.50 Light Dimmer SCR Diode Checker Mechanized Polarity Reverser “Instant-On” Appliance Adapter Cheater Cord Cure-All Automatic Frequency Finder World's Cheapest Intercom 150-Volt Universal Power Supply An Electronic Shaver Converter Shave-In- Your-Car Adapter Romantic Light Dimmer Taped CQ’ER Device “The Vacationer’’ Automatic House Switch 9-Volt TR Battery Eliminator Simplest Noise Limiter Slide-Switch Loudness Control 99¢ Stroboscope 12¢ Lightning Detector 105 106 108 109 110 ue n3 114 15 116 V7 119 121 122 123 124 126 12787 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 Neon Bulb AC/DC Voltmeter Simple RC Tester Hi-Fi Notch Filter Tubeless/Transistorless AM Modulator Automatic Photo Slide Projector Handy Tube Tester AC Line Alarm Super-Regen S Meter Tubeless Loudspeaker CPO Light Bulb Power Measurer RF ‘Sniffer’ Probe Cheap Push- To- Talk Relay Direct- Reading CB Power Wattmeter Voltage Regulator Hash Trap Universal AC Relay Silencer Bike Generator AC- To-DC Converter Foolproof Sequential Switching Adapter Shortwave Trimmer- Booster For Vintage Receivers 128 129 131 132 133 135 136 138 139 140 141 142 143 145 146 147 148 149INTRODUCTION This could very well be a publishing first—a book devoted to the premise that most of the real fun in electronic tinkering is derived from scrounging and swiping, trial and error, and good, old-fashioned cheap - skating. You'll be surprised at the useful and fun things you can put together with a little imagination and available components. You'll be even more surprised when you realize what can be done without tubes or transistors! The purpose of this book is to give you some food for thought along these lines and to clue you in on some tricks of the trade in getting the most for the least. THE CIRCUITS The circuits presented in this collection have been selected and designed to use as many garden-variety common elect- tronics parts as possible. The components are generally found in old TV sets and other household electronics instru- ments. We have used few actual components in each circuit so that even if you went out and bought everything new, it shouldn't run you more than $4 or $5! But don't get the idea that these circuits are straight from some company's design labs, representing hundreds and thousands of dollars worth of engineering and research. For the.most part they are a collection of gizmos which were whip- ped together by the authors out of sheer necessity to filla particular application. You will find that many ofour circuits may be combined with each.other to form an entirely new de- vice. Those of you with some previous experience in electronics will undoubtedly look at some of these circuits and say, "Why doesn't this particular circuit have two or three more com- ponents to give it double the efficiency," or double the power," or "to enable it to perform such-and-such extra task."' Well, 9or all achieve any particular plateau of sophistication. By all means, if you can modify or otherwise improve them you are invited to do so. (Be sure to let us know the results.) Since few of these circuits are of "criticaldesign," it should be pointed out that the components shown in the parts lists represent the ones we used when building the original working model. You should, therefore, not panic when you come across a part having a specific value which you can't readily locate. If we show, say, a 47K resistor, the circuit will undoubtedly work just as well with any number of other re- sistors having values in the same general region; they might very well work with a resistor having a greatly different value. Any critical components are indicated "Do not sub- stitute’ somewhere in the text; otherwise, you're welcome to be your own Edison. OBTAINING PARTS The best source of parts for building these circuits is right around your own home. Most of us have basements, attics, or closets which are chock full of junky pieces of electronics gear which will probably never again be used; this includes TV sets, AM and FM radios, audio gear, tape machines, record players, etc. These are goldmines of components and should be attacked vigorously with wirecutters and screw- drivers. Take everything, cannibalize them right down to the bare metal chassis, Drill out the rivets holding down the sockets, pry up the IF cans, take out the terminal wiring strips, even the knobs. All resistors and capacitors should be cut loose, leaving the leads as long as possible. When removing wired-in diodes, transistors, and neon bulbs (such as the little NE-2s), try to unsolder them, but be sure to place a pair of tweezers on each lead while unsoldering so that the heat will not travel up the lead and damage the component. (This is a good trick to re- member when putting them into a circuit, too.) Ifyou don't have any equipment which you feel like butchering, then go down to your nearest radio-TV service shop. They undoubtedly have a whole slew of such sets gathering dust with which they will gladly part for a dollar or two. 10BULBS AND DIODES The first thing you, as an experimenter par-excellence, must get is a thorough industrial electronics catalog (we use Lafayette, Allied, and Cramer Electronics; the address for Cramer's 528-page monstrosity is 320 Needham St., Newton, Mass. 02164) which will tell you which pilot lights, neon bulbs, SCRs, selenium rectifiers, and crystal diodes youcan switch around and substitute in any given circuit. Addition- ally, there isa substitution guide in the back of thisbook which should come in extremely handy when you're caught without a 1N38B. In the event you simply can't locate the desired component or an acceptable substitution, then you are going to have to buy one. Before you dash out and purchase a name - brand bottle, check out the dealers handling surplus electronics parts. PARTS, IN GENERAL Until you build up a fully-stocked junk parts box (it takes a few years), you may find that a few parts will have to be bought that would normally be considered available, such as SPST toggle switches, 3-amp 117v AC fuses, hookup wire, resistors, potentiometers, capacitors, etc. For your in- formation in locating the needed part at the best possible price, we are including a list of the major low-cost compon- ents suppliers. This includes parts distributors, surplus dealers, even major mail-order suppliers who can offer low prices because of the large volume of business they do. Our suggestion is for you to invest a dollar or so and dash off a postcard to each and ask to be placed on their catalog mailing list. This will enable you to shop with ease for the very best deal. CHASSIS Most of the projects in this book were constructed in and on upside-down baking tins, a few were built in tuna cans, cigar boxes, on Vector Boards, and even 8 x 5 file card boxes, al- though we have in some instances suggested appropriate chas- sis dimensions as a general guideline. Of course, you can buy a ready-made chassis if you want. llCIRCUIT HINTS You'll notice that each schematic usesa more or less stand- ard format for listing the parts values. Resistances are in ohms and unless otherwise indicated all resistors are rated at 1/2 watt. Resistors marked "K" are in thousands of ohms, and those marked "meg" are in megohms. A certain value resistor followed by "pot" signifies that this is a potentio- meter or variable resistor. All capacitive values are either in microfarads, signified as "mfd," or picofarads, "pfd."" In case you may be accustomed to some other style, rest assured that 'mfd" is the very same as "mf" or "uf," and "pfd" is the same as "mmf." In the diagrams you'll notice that one capacitor plate on each com- ponent is curved, a fact you can usually ignore, although on electrolytic types this tells you that the curved end is the eventually - grounded or "minus" side. The straight plate is the "plus" or positive side. Electrolytic capacitors, which are frequently used in these circuits, have a voltage rating. An example of this might be "16 mfd, 150 WVDC electrolytic." This means that the ca- pacitor, which is generally much larger physically than other types, has a mazimum working voltage DC of 150.. The volt- age rating depends entirely on the DC (battery) voltage. Al- ways use the next highest rating than the voltage used in the circuit if you can't match the requirements suggested in the parts list. Always watch electrolytic polarity carefully. If you're not sure which end ("plus" or "minus") is which, look for the curved plate—you're key to the minus sign—and you're in the ball park. Also watch polarity on all diodes! Note: On circuits employing AC in direct contact with elec- trolytic capacitors, double the next highest rating (WVDC) of the capacitor if you can't meet what we've suggested. This is a safety factor that may save you a lot of aggravation later on. 12HOMEBREW LIGHT METER A light meter, with proper calibration, has a number of use- ful applications for measuring illumination levels in the office, home, and outdoors, as well as indoors. Additionally, it can be effectively employed with printing boxes and photographic enlargers in the darkroom. This remarkably inexpensive gadget can be put together in an hour, yet provides all the important features of commer- cial light meters—and at a fraction of their cost. While we have suggested your using an International Rectifier Corp. Type B5M or DP-5 self-generating photocell, practically any high-output type can be applied just as satisfactorily. Your 0-1 DC milliammeter canbe calibrated in footcandles for each range of the switch by comparing your homebrew meter with a commercial type having similar calibration. PARTS LIST tional Rectifier B5M or DP-5 R1—5Kpot. Ohmite CU 5021 M1—0-1 DC milliammeter SW1—Low-power SPDT. Oak PC1—Photocell. Interna- Type 189 lever switch 13You canbuild this gadget into a surprisingly small metal box and, if you so desire, equip it with a handle for added versa- tility. (NOTE: With the components suggested here, 150 foot- candles will deflect a standard 55-ohm 0-1 DC milliammeter to full scale.) 2 TUBELESS/TRANSISTORLESS CODE PRACTICE MONITOR Studying for your Novice Class amateur radio license? Or do you just like to experimentwith the International Morse Code? Whatever your reason, here's a dandy CPO (short for code practice oscillator) that you can puttogether in afew minutes, using standard junkbox parts to provide a clean tone whenever you depress the key. The neon bulb "blinks" each dash and dot at the same time you hear the tone in your earphone, thereby familiarizing you with not only the sound of International Morse, but also with what it "looks" like. RL Key Tl C1 a aK EARPHONES [| J2 PARTS LIST J1, 2—Tip jacks. Amphenol B1—90v DC 350-61001 C1—.0022 mfd R1—1 meg pot. Ohmite CU I1—NE-2 neon bulb 1052 You can build this CPO in a pillbox (you can get several of these gadgets into an empty cigarette pack if you're handy with close, sub-miniature construction techniques). The battery 14can be anything from 90 to 125v DC. You may want to string five inexpensive 22 1/2v DC hearing-aid batteries in series for the required voltage, use a single Burgess-variety cell, or even avoltage quadrupler as shown in Project 102. NOTE: If you'd like afixed tone, replace R1 with a fixed 407K resist- tor. 3 ELECTRIC COMBINATION LOCK An electric combination lock can be very useful for a much- used door, such as the one into the workshop or garage. And magnetic-type door releases are quite inexpensive these days. A number of pushbutton switches can be connected in series in such a manner as to actuate the door release when all switches are closed. Though simple in schematic form, the trick is in arranging the switches in a patternso as tofool anyone not familiar with the "secret combination." It's allin how you mount them. You can twist around the switches so that what wouldnormally ap- TO MAGYETIC DOOR RELEASE LD ‘| a files eae ee apa oe SUL sue SW3 Swa ‘SWS PARTS LIST SW1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6—SPST B1—DC as required for door pushbutton switches. Oak release mechanism Type 175 15pear to be an "on" position (to the right) is actually an "off" and vice versa. And you can mix up the arrangement, say, into two columns of three switches each. Whereas normal inclination would be to assume that the first switch in the left hand column is switch 1, it is actually switch 4, ete. Only you know the combination. Word to the wise: Keep an extra "combination cribsheet" tucked away somewhere where youcan findit inan emergency. Otherwise you may be stuck in the rain someday for an hour andahalf, trying to remember the proper switching sequence ! 4 SUPER CRYSTAL RADIO Everyone at some time or another has built a crystal radio receiver, but we'll bet you've never tried this one! In opera- tion this configuration is just one step short of being a high- quality fixed-tuned AM tuner, suitable for hookup to any good hi-fi amplifier. This set is different, essentially, because it incorporates a switch, permitting you to "switch" to your favorite stations instead of slowly tuning them in. Its function is something like a pushbutton AM car radio—pre-set to those stations you listen to most of the time. PARTS LIST L2—Loopstick antenna coil. Cl, 2, 3—500-pfd trimmer Miller #6300. Screw the C4, 5—175-pfd trimmer slug all the way out of coil. C6—.0047 mfd Cut off a length of insulated C7—.0022 mfd wire which is soldered to D1—1N38B the coil before installing. J1, 2, 8, 4—Phone-tip jacks. PL1, 2, 3, 4—-Phone- tip Amphenol 350-61001 plugs. H.H. Smith 108 L1—5 turns of hookup wire SW1—Double-pole, 5-posi- wound around one end of L2 tion rotary switch 16EARTH GROUND TO EARPHONE Use a good antenna and ground (an outdoor pipe drivenat least four feet into the earth or a nearby cold water pipe), and a conventional magnetic earphone or headset rated at 2000- 3000 ohms. Presetting the trimmer capacitors is easy. Just switch to the first capacitor and adjust it until the station you desire is coming in loud and clear. Mark the station's call letters on your switchplate and then proceed to switch position 2. Fol- low this same procedure all the way through, and you're actually set for life. Unless your station goes off the air or changes operational frequency, you'llnever again have to tune the radio. SURPLUS RELAY LAMP FLASHER Here's a unique lamp-flashing system you can put together for little or no cost. Nearly all the parts can be scrounged from v7the junkbox. Heart of the flasher is a standard 2000-ohm sur- plus relay such as can be found in numerous pieces of discarded Army/Navy control units and equipment such as hams often modify for their own use. If you can't come up with the re- lay, invest 48¢ and getone mail-order from a surplus dealer. PL2 PL3 __ 117 VAC SW1 TO LAMP PLL S0z K1 117 VAC PARTS LIST PL1, 2, 3—AC wall plug. C1—500-mfd 50 WVDC elec- Amphenol 61-M11 trolytic R1—25K pot. Ohmite CU D1—117vAC 35 ma selenium 2531 rectifier $01, 2—AC socket recep- K1—Surplus DPDT relay. tacle. Amphenol 61-M1P- See text. 61F Using the parts values shown, your flasher will cut in at the rate of approximately once each second, although you can reg- ulate this to a great extent by varying the setting of R1. If you don't have the rectifier handy, forget about 117v AC operation and simply hook any handy power pack (of up to 300 volts) across the input. Readjust Ri and you're in business! Note: Key to guaranteed success is a fresh capacitor. If your flasher isn't up to par, replace Cl. 18SIGNAL GENERATOR Here's another trick using a neon bulb that not too many people are aware of—a code-practice oscillator configuration that doubles as a great signal generator, providing you know how to use it. Connect the minus side to the chassis of the unit under test and apply the positive probe to the stages of the set under study, starting with the output and working back. Try the speaker voice coil first, then the speaker transformer, the output tube (plate and grid), etc., until a point is found where you hear no oscillation in the speaker. At this point you've successfully isolated your problem and can proceed by check- ing the various components (tube, resistor, capacitor) for the culprit. Tl + og | > ouTPuT SUL PLS PARTS LIST PL2, 3—Phone tips. H.H. Smith 108 R1—300 ohms, 1 watt. Oh- mite "Little Devil" R2—510K. Ohmite Devil" C1—16 mfd, 150 WVDC elec- trolytic "Little C2—.0022 mfd D1—75 ma selenium rectifier I1—NE-2 neon bulb Jl, 2-Standard tip jacks. Amphenol 350-61001 PLI—AC wall plug. Am- phenol 61-M11 R3—1 meg pot. Ohmite CMU 1052 SW1—Single pushbutton AC power switch. Oak Type 175 T1—1:1 ratio isolation trans- former 19Incidentally, you can make a fierce siren out of this thing by adjusting R3 while you've got the output feeding into ahigh- wattage audio amplifier. A great gadget if your mobile CB rig has a provision for public address (PA switch)! 7 ELECTRONIC THERMOMETER While conventional wall thermometers are inexpensive and handy, have you ever taken note of temperature readings on a group of identical types in a store? One five-and-dime we visited had 15 on a display rack, with only two agreeing as to the temperature! From the highest to the lowest there was anil-degree gap! By the same token, younever know whether the tiny thermometer on your home's thermostat is telling the truth either. The solution can be found in the circuit shown here. Sub- stituting a thermistor for amercury thermometer, this elec- tronic device can measure temperature variations to a small fraction of a degree with surprising accuracy. The trick is in calibrating your 0-1 DC milliammeter so it reads in degrees. Obviously, you will have to depend on a trustworthy thermometer for this, although if you take enough pains, you'll wind up with an electronic thermometer that'll PARTS LIST R38—5.1K. Ohmite "Little Devil" B1—30v DC R4—50K pot. Ohmite CMU Mi—0-1 DC milliammeter R1—500K pot. Ohmite CMU 5041 R2—11K. Devil" Ohmite "Little 20 5031 Swi—Pushbutton. Oak Type 175 TH1—31D7 thermistor or equivalentultimately relegate your old mercury-type to the scrapheap. For this purpose you can either place a "read-out" cribsheet alongside the meter panel or tear into the meter itself and make a new face for it. Regardless, all you'll have to do is push SW1, and presto! Instant electronic temperature read- ing. AUDIO FREQUENCY METER With only two capacitors, two resistors, and a dual potentio- meter you can make this easy-to-build audio frequency meter and measure any audio frequency between 50 and 10, 000 cycles (Hz). For convenience's sake, we suggest you build this into a sufficiently large Minibox to permit your installing a pointer dial knob with a large "swing" area on R4-R5. This is neces- sary because you'll want to calibrate R4-R5 to some detail in order to interpret the incoming audio. R1, your "fine tune" adjustment, shouldbe mounted on the side of the box and more or less preset. You shouldn't have to adjustthis very often. For calibration purposes it is easiest touse a reliable audio oscillator and merely copy the proper frequency reading onto your R4-R5 dialplate. If you don't have an audio oscillator but do have an ohmmeter, however, you can hook the ohmmeter across either R4 or R5, take readings, and convert these to a1audio frequencies (see Table). You can later approximate fre- quencies between larger markings for a more accurate read- out. OHMMETER CALIBRATION CHART Cycles Ohms 50 320, 000 100 160, 000 300 53, 000 500 32, 000 800 20,000 1000 16, 000 3000 5300 5000 3200 8000 2000 10, 000 1600 Finer degrees of calibration can be determined by us- ing proportionate figures between those shown above, although visual approximation from the calibrated dial- plate is usually sufficient. Note: Use this method (of taking ohmmeter reading of either R4or R5) only if good quality audio oscillator is not available. To use your audio frequency meter, merely attach a pair of headphones across the output to monitor what's coming in. Once asignal is heard, adjust R4-R5 until you've successfully tuned it out. When no further tone signal is heard, the read- out on your calibrated dialplate indicates the proper audio fre- quency. Simple? 22PARTS LIST R1—2K pot. IRC 11-110 R2—1.1K. Ohmite "Little C1, 2—.022 mfd Devil" Ji, 2, 3, 4—Phone-tip jacks. R3—2.1K. Ohmite "Little Amphenol 350-61001 Devil" PL1, 2, 3, 4—Phone — tip R4, 5—1 meg pot. Ohmite plug. H.H. Smith 108 CCU 1052 9 While there are many circuits for battery chargers, too few of them are capable of true cell rejuvenation. Often they will recharge some batteries temporarily, only enough so that they'll function briefly, but often the amount of applied current is insufficient to really give the cells alegitimate boost. This circuit, however, is designed for the truly "tough jobs''—the batteries that just can't be putback to use withordinary charg- ing methods. Designed to handle even the truly heavy dry cells (up to the big 67 1/2-volt jobs), this charger supplies a healthy amount of current as well as voltage. Notice that resistor R1 can be adjusted so that any number of resultant voltages can be provided. If you desire, substi- tute a heavy (10-20 watt) potentiometer for R1 and measure the resultant voltage with a voltmeter prior to placing the battery or batteries in for charge. Always make certain that the volt- age youarrive at is always abit higher than thebattery's rat- DRY-CELL REJUVENATOR 23ing. For example, if you are charging a 9-volt TR battery, you can feed in about 12v DC (measured at no-load condition). With the values shown, the charger is ready to handle the 67 1/2-volt types. Notice that the minus side of the rejuvenator is above ground. This mustnot be handled or touched, since asevere shock can result. It should be mentioned that this is the same circuit many builders use to "freshen up" batteries that have been on the shelf for some time. Do not attempt to use this circuit as a rejuvenator on wet cells, since the current rating required to do the job is not supplied here. It is sufficient, however, to charge several batteries in series or parallel which are of the dry-cell variety. DJ ‘ + t >t 117 Siry TO DRY CELLS Ma ) RL a wa > PARTS LIST D1—75 ma selenium rectifier R1—2.25K, 12 watts. Oh- mite "Brown Devil" Type 1743 PLI—AC plug. Amphenol 61-M11 SW1—DPST. Oak Series 200 10 FLASHGUN TESTER Nothing is so exasperating for a camerabug than to have one of those never-to-be-repeated scenes lost because of the failure ofaflashbulbtofire. Yet this seems to happen to almost every - 24one at one time or another. Take heart, friends! For less than $1. 50 (and nothing if your junkbox is a good provider) you can build this simple tester that will tell you ahead of time whether or not your flashbulbs will flash. The secret of this project is the base of a used flashbulb which is remotely wired to the tester. Simply crack off the glass, leaving the socket intact, and hook this as shown in the dia- gram. Prior to taking your picture, slip the wired flashbulb base into the flashgun and cover the lens so as not to expose the film. Now close the shutter. If the neon bulb flashes, so will your flashbulb. If nothing happens, you've found your trouble. Thoroughly clean the contacts and check the battery clips. Also check the condition of the batteries. Now try it again. Only when the neon lamp lights can you be assured against failure. YL 6.3 VAC WINDING sol PARTS LIST I1—NE-51 S01—Old flashbulb base T1—6. 3v AC filament trans- former. Triad F-14X ULTRA-CHEAP SIGNAL GENERATOR Looking for areliable signal generator you can throw together inside of an hour from junkbox parts? Well, give this project some thought. The buzzer generator can be built into practi- 25cally any container you like, has no critical components, and will do an admirable job of pumping buzzer-tone oscillations into your receiver. This one has been designed to cover the 540-1700 kHz AM broadcast band, but you can modify the circuit by simply changing the values of L1-L2 and C2 to resonate at practically any frequency range that you might desire. Simply check the LC combinations with a good grid-dip meter prior to final in- stallation, and you're in the ball park. Hint: To some extent you can halve the specifications shown every time you wantto double the output frequency. For example, if you want to hit 2.40 MHz, you can use a 175-pfd variable for C2 and merely use half the windings called for in the parts list for L1-L2. A GDO should still be usedforfinal pruning, however. To sweep to the correct frequency, justtune capacitor C2 until you hear the generator zero-beat with the signal you're listening to. C3 ‘te TO RCVR C2 co | ' | ! al PARTS LIST to the short, adjustable sleeve and remove the en- B1—3v DC tire sleeve from the form. BZ1—3-volt buzzer Wind anew primary of 9 1/2 C1—. 22 mfd turns of hookup wire over C2—360-pfd variable the cold end of the coil. C3—.022 mfd This is Ll. Remainderof L1, L2—Single Miller 20-A the coil serves as L2. RF coil modified as follows: SwW1—Single pushbutton clip the fine wires leading power switch.Oak Type 175 2612 TV SET RADIO RECEIVER Few people are aware that their living-room TV set often comes with a phono input jack through which you can play a record player, FM tuner, or even a subminiature AM radio. Indeed this project is just that—a tiny yet tunable broadcast band re- ceiver which is constantly "on." Making use of one of the TV antenna twinlead wires for signal pickup, the small diode receiver couples directly to the phono input through a standard RCA phonoplug so that you can remove the receiver whenever you like. If installation adversely af- fects TV reception, isolate the pickup wire by inserting a 15- pfd capacitor between the radio add-on and the antenna lead. You'll find you can conserve space by employing a small mica trimmer capacitor instead of a conventional variable. Addi- tionally, you'll probably find that you will want to listen to a TO TV "ANT" CONNECTOR D1 Jl PLL TO PHONES cl i J2 PL2 PARTS LIST Li—Ferrite core. Miller 6300 C1—365-pfd trimmer L2—35 turns of #28 enameled D1—1N38B wire wound over L1 Jl, 2—Standard phone-tip PL1, 2—Phone-tip plugs. H. jacks. Amphenol 350-61001 H. Smith 108 27particular station when you switch the set into the "Phono" po- sition, so you can simply preset the LC circuit to that station and leave it at that. Suggestion: Many local stations are now offering "24-Hour- News" broadcasts. Why not tune into one of these stations? This way you'll always have a source for instant news. All you do is flick the switch! 13 HI-FI TUNER Here's a selective AMtuner that will receive the full range of frequencies broadcast by local stations, yet cost youvery little to build. Since it uses no tubes or transistors it requires no EXT, GROUNDPARTS LIST Cl, 4—Included with L1 and L2 C2—2 pfd C3—.002 mfd C5, 6—865-pfd variable, double - ganged tuning ca- pacitor c7—.047 mfd D1—1N38B J1, 2, 3, 4—Standard phone- tip jacks. 61001 Li, 2—Miller 242A (includ- ing Cl, 4) TRF coils L3—Miller EL-55 mutual coupling coil PL1, 2, 3, 4—Phone - tip plugs. H.H. Smith 108 R1—110K. Ohmite "Little Devil" R2—1 meg pot. Ohmite CMU 1052 Amphenol 350- power supply, yet it provides ample output across the entire AM band. Aligning the receiver is quite simple. Connecta good antenna and ground to the unit and plug the output into your hi-fi ampli- fier. Incidentally, if you have a reliable preamp, you'll find that it will allow you to pull in the weak stations you wouldn't ordinarily hear. Adjust your tuning dial so that it reads at the extreme low edge of the band when the capacitor plates are fully meshed. Now tune in a strong station near the high end of the band (say, from 1300 to 1650kHz). Does your dial read correctly? Ifnot, adjust the small trimmer capacitors mounted on the sides of C5-C6 to shift the frequency of the station towards the proper point on the dial. Continued trial-and-error (ad- justing both trimmers ateach try) will allow you to relate your receiver to the most demanding commercial dial mechanism you can buy. If youdon't require anelaborate tuning dial, you can set up your own calibration a lot simpler. By the way, if you live in a rural area far from congested metropolitan broadcasting, you can add a 17-pfd capacitor across terminals 1 and 3 of coils L1 and L2 to bring in more signals. Although this boosts sensitivity immeasureably, some degree of loss of selectivity will result. In any case, simply add the 17-pfd capacitors without removing C1 and C4.14 INEXPENSIVE ALARM Here's a unique project that is bound to get you to work on time in the morning. Essentially, it consists of a photocell and an inexpensive Mallory Sonalert alarm hooked to a 25v DC source. By running a pair of remote wires to anearby window where sunlight is bound to strike inthe AM, all youhave to dois turn SW1 to the "on" position the night before. Next morning, pre- pare for a screeching howl that will continue blasting until you walk over and shunt the device off! Incidentally, you can string three 9v DC transistor radio batteries in series to power the unit. The Sonalert can take the resultant 27v DC in stride, although your cheap morning alarm will be all the more alarming for your trouble. Suggestion: Check with the weatherman the night before. (Otherwise you'll be known at the office as Sunny Day Sam.) 25 VDC PARTS LIST B1—22 to 28v DC SA1—Sonalert. Mallory SC- PC1—Cadmium sulfide pho- 628 tocell. Lafayette 99 C 6321 SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 3015 DOUBLE BATTERY SUPPLY FOR THE CAR Many hobbyists these days are overloading their automobile's electrical system with such accessories as ham radio units, citizens radio tranceivers, cassette recorders, etc., to the detriment of the overall system. One solution, however, is simply to add another battery to the car. Two high-current, low- voltage silicon diodes can be employed as one-way switches as shown in the accompanying schematic. Be sure to mount the diodes on heat sinks in as cool a place as can be safely accomplished near the batteries. Use heavy interconnecting wire. There will be a slight voltage drop across the diodes (about one-half volt), so you may wish to readjust the voltage regu- lator accordingly for a slightly higher output. This may or may not be necessary, however. REGULATOR HAM RIG, CB XCVR, RECORDER STANDARD AUTO ACCESSORIES PARTS LIST D1, 2—1N1396 silicon diodes, mounted in heat sinks. ST 31SONALERT INTRUSION ALARM The new Sonalert devices offer some distinct advantages when employed as an integral part of a home intrusion alarm. For our purposes the prime features are the Sonalert's ability to function well off low-voltage supplies, plus the added advant- age of producing a high, penetrating sound that can be heard over some distance. The handy burglar alarm shown here employs a "fail-safe" double-check system. If the AC current should fail for some reason, the alarm will sound. The only way to stop the alarm is to turn off SW1. In order to start the alarm again (reset) switch SW2 must be momentarily pressed. Switch SW3 is merely a "test" switch designed to check battery condition from time to time by shorting the Sonalert on. The window pane shown can be just about any kind of conductive circuit: door or window contacts, foil patterns on windows, fine wires which might be broken by a burglar, etc. PARTS LIST Ohmite B1—27v DC; three 9-volt TR R1—1200. Devil” "Little batteries in series D1I—GE 2N885 SCR J1, 2—Phone-tip jacks. Am- phenol 350-61001 K1—6-volt SPST relay PL1—AC plug. Amphenol 61- Mil PL2, 3—Phone-tip plugs. H. H. Smith 108 32 SA1l—Sonalert. Mallory SC- 628 Sw1A, B—SPDT SW2—Normally-closed push- button SwW3—Normally - open push- button T1—6. 3vAC filament trans- former. Triad F-14XWINDOW CONDUCTIVE PAINT ADHESIVE FOIL 17 HI-FI IN THE CAR The usual rear-seat speaker arrangement inacar is connected in parallel with the front speaker to provide an on-paper hi-fi effect. Unfortmately, though, this doesn't normally happen because the driver hears more sound from the front speaker than he does from the back, and the base notes invariably are behind him with "tweeter" notes coming from the dashboard. So why not take advantage of this fact? If you balance both speakers with a 100-ohm potentiometer and equalize the level at the driver's seat, you can obtain a "poor man's hi-fi," providing it's done properly. 33If youuse a 2. 2-mfd capacitor in series with the output trans- former, you'll have an amazingly good attenuation of frequen- cies below 2000 Hz on the front-seat dashboard speaker. The remainder, of course, will feed on to the rear-seat woofer. If you like, you can "tune out" the violins, trap drums, and coronets and listen to the bass fiddle and viola, or vice versa, all at the flick of your new potentiometer. ORIGINAL "THEETFR" ORIGINAL Ayre CAR RADIO "MOOFER" SPKR REAR SEAT TRANSFORMFR 6x2 PARTS LIST C1—2.2 mfd R1—100 ohm pot. Ohmite CMU 1011 A “WHISTLER" LISTENING DEVICE "Clicks," "chinks," "tweeks, " and other weird sounds that fre- quently resemble a "dawn chorus," abound inthe world of radio whistlers. Scientists are still trying to figure out what they are, but at this writing they still don't know much more than they did 20 years ago. Even without elaborate equipment you can hearthe mysterious signals if youhave a hi-fi phono sys- tem with a reluctance pickup head anda separate preamplifier. Combine these with a good-sized loop antenna and the filter circuit shown here, and you'll soon be eavesdropping on some of the most unusual radio signals known to man. 34FROM PREAMP TO AMPL. PARTS LIST C1—.022 mfd PL1, 2—Mike receptacles. C2—. 0022 mfd Amphenol 75-3 Jl, 2—Mike plugs. Am- R1, 2—24K. Ohmite "Little phenol 75-MC1F Devil" Using any convenient spool of fine, insulated coil wire, wind 20 to 30 turns in a loop around a doorway. This can be easily accomplished by thumbtacking fairly large tacks into the four corners of the door and using this as your "coil form." Next, hook the filter shown in the schematic between the preampli- fier and main hi-fi amp. This serves to minimize AC hum pickup. Now, remove your coil loop from the doorway and suspend itin the same vertical position by means of string taped to the ceiling. Hang it in such a way that the two free end wires of the loop dangle over your record player. Connect the wires to the cartridge input prongs on the record player arm, dis- connecting the cartridge temporarily. Now you're ready for action. Turn on the amplifier (as loud as you want) andsee what you can hear. If youstill hear some AC hum, simply revolve your suspended loop antenna until the noise is "nulled" out. The weird "tweeks" and other noises heard faintly as you "tune" the hi-fi's gain control are genuine whistlers. The only thing really known about them is that they seem to come in best during early morning hours and whenever you are within 600 miles or so of a thunderstorm. 3519 TV GHOST ELIMINATOR Anyone who uses a highly-directional TV antenna to boost re- ception (as opposed to rabbitears, for example) knows quite well one fact the salesman never talks about—that ghost images accompany performers on the screenfrom time to time. Tech- nically, the only way out is to equip the rooftop mount with a separate antenna for each TV channel, each aimed withfan- tastic accuracy at the actual distant transmitting tower. This dandy attenuator, however, may save you this cost and bother. Construction of this ghost eliminator is quite simple and straight-forward. It can be built into any handy Minibox or container and, if you like, switched in and outof the TV feed- line as desired. To adjust your finished eliminator, set potentiometers R3 and R4 until they are electrically off. Then adjust R1 and R2 until the ghosts are eliminated. Now turn R83 and R4 back on again and adjust them for the clearest picture. TO ANT TO Tv ANT. TERMINALS PARTS LIST R1, 2—10K pots. Ohmite SW1—SPST on R3. Ohmite CMU 1031 cs-1 R3, 4— 2.5K pots. Ohmite SW2—SPST on R4. Ohmite CMU 2521 Cs-1 3620 ADJUSTABLE NOISE GENERATOR For aligning and troubleshooting receiver circuits, a useful bit of equipment is anoise generator. Shown inthe accompanying diagram is an easy-to-construct version that produces noise from below the AM broadcast band on up through 450 MHz. Output can be adjusted by means of potentiometer R2. Be sure to keep all leads as short as possible. To alignareceiver, feed the outputfrom the generator to the antenna fitting. Now, simply adjust the receiverfor minimum noise while retaining maximum sensitivity. You may wish to simply turn the generator on and off while aligning the re- ceiver. If so, you can install an inexpensive single - pole single-throw switch between the battery and R2. OUTPUT PARTS LIST Amphenol 83-1RTY B1—3 to 9v DC R1—47. Ohmite "Little C1—.002 mfd Devil" D1—1N21 R2—175K pot. Ohmite CMU J1—SO-239 coax fitting. 7531 3721 PROFESSIONAL HYGROMETER What's a hygrometer? Essentially, it is a device which makes it possible for you to measure relative humidity (RH) in your home, in the kiddies' room, in the refrigerator, outside the house, or just about anywhere where air moisture is import- ant. Heart of the unit is a plastic sensor unit that is supplied with a resistance vs RH curve that can be used to interpret readings (both Lafayette and Allied Radio supply these with their units). You'll notice that the hygrometer shown here is equipped with a hi-low switch. This permits your reading 30 to 100% on one scale and from about 15 to 32% on the other. The graph accompanying the sensor shows how the element's resistance changes with varying humidity. For example, at 100,000 ohms across the sensor you're seeing 32% humidity. Although you can remote-line your sensor element, you'll probably want to install itinside the hygrometer. In this case, mount the unit carefully and drill numerous holes to achieve proper ventilation and sensitivity. Calibration is very simple. Switch to the full-scale reading (High) and prepare to make a curve on graph paper which you will want to mount on the side of your completed hygrometer. Break the circuit at the Xin the schematic and insert the first of a series of resistors across the connection (this series should correspond with those listed on the graph that comes with the sensor; for example, 6K to 1 meg). On your graph paper es- tablish RH on the horizontal axis and microamperes on the vertical, so that when you're finished inserting various re- sistors and taking their readings (checked against the original sensor graph) you have a curve of your own. Now do the same thing after switching over to the Low position, using resistors ranging, say, from 100K to about 1.5 megs. Take the two graphs and recopy them neatly so that they can be glued to the sides of your hygrometer's case. Spray with Krylon to insure that they don't wear. 33117 VAC sult t Le pam PARTS LIST Di—tTest instrument type bridge rectifier. Conant Labs Series 160B, yellow code I1—Pilot bulb M1—0-50 DC microammeter PL1—AC plug. Amphenol 61- Mill R1, 2—5Kpots. Ohmite CMU so21 SENSOR PLATE R3—110K. Ohmite "Little Devil" R4—75K. Ohmite "Little Devil" R5—22K. Ohmite "Little Devil" SW1—DPST. Oak Type 175 SW2—DPDT. Oak Type 175 SW3— Pushbutton T1—12.6v AC filament transformer with centertap at 6.3 volts Now you're ready to go! Always start in the High position, switching over to Low only when the reading indicates an RH below 32%. Out bet is that you'll be right on the nose with the U.S, Weather Bureau every time.22 PERPETUAL FLASHER Well, it may not really work forever. But you might have to take annual checks on your finished perpetual flasher from time to time if you want to catch it not working. Actually, this neat circuit is the ideal "mystery box" or amusement for the kiddies in that it can be jarred, exposed to nearly all kinds of weather, yet continue flashing happily for the normal shelf life of the battery. If you're not concerned with perpetuality and would like to take advantage of some of those bargains going around in 9 and 22v DC batteries, you can simply string them in series to come up with the required voltage. But if you'd like to have this guy constantly flashing at you, latch onto one of those large Burgess 90-volt "B" batteries and watch the action. (If you like, you can tie two hefty 67 1/2-volt cells in series for even longer life and increased bulb brilliance.) PARTS LIST I1—NE-2A B1—90 to 125v DC R1—11 meg. Ohmite "Little C1—. 047 mfd Devil" 40Control for this relaxation oscillator is governed primary by R1, although if you so desire you can substitute a 15-meg or 25-meg potentiometer for the ll-meg shown in the circuit This will permit your adjusting the frequency of flashes. As you decrease the resistance, you increase the flash rate. 23 TONE COMPENSATOR FOR TAPE RECORDERS Cassette tape recording can be a fascinating hobby in itself, but it's even more exciting when you can actually control the amount of bass or treble that is put onto the tape. The circuit shown here will do this and more. This is the technique em- ployed by professional recording people, although most re- corders sold today provide onlyfor your adding bass or treble TREBLE CONTROL OUTPUT TO TAPE RECORDER 92 See Parts List foot qe Next Pages 5 C6 41PARTS LIST R1—510K. Ohmite "Little Devil" polars ta R2—110K, Ohmite "Little c3—.0022 mfd perar C4—.022 mfd R3—1. 1 meg. Ohmite "Little C5—.011 mfd Devil" C6—.0047 mfd SW1, 2—Four-position ro- J1, 2—Audio receptacles. tary switches. Oak Series Amphenol 75-3 20 after the tape has been cut. This is sufficient for most en- thusiasts, but for the truly discriminating person it is far from adequate. If you're putting your records on tape, this unit will allow you to"tune out" the scratches ahead of time. If your records are cleanbut amite weak in highs, this gadget will bring them out. If you're crazy about booming bass fiddles, take heed: This gadget will increase bass notes by a full 10 decibels. ELECTRONIC TONE GENERATOR Have use for a reliable, AC-powered tone generator that you can throw together completely from junkbox components? By using a simple neon bulb in an oscillator circuit anda variable resistor (potentiometer), you have one of the finest little in- struments you'd ever desire. You canbuild this handy gadget into just about any convenient housing, although a 11/2 x 21/4 x 3" Minibox is recom- mended to prevent accidental shock from exposure to unpro- tected components. Remember that you're dealing with house- hold currents; check all solder joints carefully anduse rubber grommets where leads pass through the chassis, and you're in the ball park. If properly constructed, there need be no fear of shock, since an isolation transformer is employed with this in mind. 42Once completed, you can use our electronic tone generator to checkamplifiers and speakers, to check modulation of your ham or CB rig, or even for code practice! 17, VAC PLL PARTS LIST C1—40 mfd, 200 WVDC elec- trolytic C2—.0047 mfd D1—25 ma selenium recti- fier I1—NE-2 PL1I—AC plug. 61-M11 Amphenol R1—51K. Ohmite "Little Devil" R2—2.5 meg pot. Ohmite CMU 2552 SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 TI—117v AC isolation trans- former T2—Transistor radio trans- former. Utah 1755 9-VOLT BATTERY CHARGER In case you're looking for a really good charger/rejuvenator for 9-voli TR batteries and don't want to go around modifying other circuits (such as shown in Project 9), here's a terrific little gem that you can put together in less than 15 minutes if you're at all handy with a soldering gun. Your junkbox should yield everything you'll need, except perhaps the TR-battery clip, which you can either steal from a junked TR radio or buy from the corner supply store for less than 25¢. In many respects, this charger is better than most since it has been especially designed for 9-volt batteries. For this reason the charging is accomplished at approximately 17 mil- liamperes—somewhat conservative for most cells but just 43the ticketfor many nine volters. Do not attempt to charge any other kind of batteries with the device. Depending upon the condition of your battery, it can be brought upto near full ca- pacity in less than an hour or left charging overnight. Note: Do not use this circuit as a battery eliminator. Un- fused circuits hooked to this device (such as most TR radios) might result in severe damage to critical components. PLL op} -w—_ + SW1 + DR oe 117 l= VAC PARTS LIST 61-M11 B1—9vDC battery undertest R1—4.5K, 8 watts Ohmite D1—200 PIV silicon rectifier "Brown Devil" Type 1544 PL1—AC plug. Amphenol SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 26 SUPER FIELD STRENGTH METER You may think that a field strength meter's a field strength meter. Yet a glance at some commercial surveillance and communications catalogs will confirm that a professionally- made FSM that'll handle the job this one will rum into big money! The trick is in giving the standard FSM a hot front end, achieved in this circuit by critical coils switched in and out and tuned with Cl. Why so many bands? Simply because of the common shortcomings most conventional field strength meters display, such as the inability to distinguish between a harmonic and a fundamental frequency, inability to dis- 44NON-SELECTIVE 60.150 MHz 18.75 MHz 5.25 MHz, 1.3.5.5 MHz OFF PARTS LIST C1—360-pfd variable C2—.0047 mfd C3—.0022 mfd D1—1N38B L1—1/4" diameter single loop of #20 bare hookup wire with leads (which are 1/4" long) spread apart 1/2" at the ends L2—5 turns of #18 enameled closewound on a 5/16" form L3—2.4mh RF choke. J.W. Miller 4606 L4—24 mh RF choke. J.W. Miller 4626 M1—0-50 microammeter SW1—2 pole, 6-position ro- tary switch. Oak Type A tinguish between your signal and the 50, 000-watt AM broadcast station 10 miles away, etc. This circuit, actually a well-designed absorption wavemeter, will cross this barrier in accordance with the following fre- quency ranges: 1.3-5.5 MHz, 5-25 MHz, 18-75 MHz, and 60-160 MHz. Should you desire wide-open FSM operation, simply flick the switch to position 1 and you're in business. Coils should be wound exactly as specified in the parts list, although afew liberties can be taken if you have a grid dipper handy. Mount the coils right on the switch. 45TELEPHONE INTERCOM ADAPTER Those great buys in surplus telephones are fine, but gener- ally limited in application to use as an extension phone, if you don't mind violating most traditional telephone company poli- cies with regard to "foreign instruments.'' Many suppliers now have these phones for as little as $6.95 and $7.95, com- plete in every respect. So whynot turn them into a handsome, functional intercom. All you need to start is two phones, some cabling to connect them with, and the intercom adapter shown in the accompany- ing schematic diagram. The adapter connects to the yellow, green, and red wires and furnishes all the power you'll need to realize full operation of the phones. Many people prefer to omit SW1 altogether, since current drain when the phones are not used is nearly nil. Using the components suggested here, you can power up to three telephones, all connected together on a party-line cir- cuit. You can assign each phone with a special code. (For example: 3 rings for phone three, 1 ring for phone one, etc.) To get your party, simply dial the number corresponding to the number of times you want the phones to ring. PARTS LIST PL1—AC plug. Amphenol 61-M11 C1—1000 mfd, 25 WVDC Ri_43. Ohmite "Little electrolytic Devil" D1, 2—30 PIV, 500 ma sili- con rectifier K1—6v DC SPDT relay. Pot- ter & Brumfield KASDY 46 SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 T1—125 and 6.3v AC trans- formerTO YELLOW WIRE RL TO RED WIRE Remind all phone users that they must not answer the in- strument until the phone has stopped ringing. The reason for this is that you must allow time for relay K1 to remove the ring current after dialing stops! NEON BULB OSCILLATOR While several applications ot neonbulb relaxation circuits are presented in this book, here is the raw configuration itself— just in case you'd like to apply it to a gadget of your own de- sign. Essentially, this arrangement starts the neon tube flashing very rapidly, although you might not guess that it is intermittent by simply watching the bulb. The flashing-rate is quite high, causing an audible oscillation of tone when mon- itored by a pair of headphones. If you take it strictly as presented here, you'll have a por- table oscillator adaptable to any number of purposes. If you like, you can make a field code telephone system out of it, 47using 4-wire cabling permitting simultaneous transmission of question and answer (if you're fast on the draw). Or it can be fed into a standard transistor amplifier module or 3-stage assembly for loudspeaker operation. Additionally, it can be used to modulate CB transmitters as a wireless coding system, facilitating your "finding" your buddy's signal in the @RM. Hams can easily wire this as is into their modulators for professional-sounding MCW opera- tion on the VHF bands. ean cz R3 OUTPUT os sul Bl Fal PARTS LIST B1—90v DC R2—160K. Ohmite "Little C1—.0047 mfd Devil" C2—.15 mfd R3—510K. Ohmite "Little I1—NE-2 Devil" R1—1megpot. Ohmite CMU SW1—SPST on R1. Ohmite 1052 Ccs-1 29 ADD-ON NOISE LIMITER Here's a jim dandy of acircuit, one which many manufacturers are now considering incorporating into some of their top-of- the-line communications receivers andCB gear. Unlike most conventional noise-limiting circuits, this one takes the audio going to your headset, removes the noise, and sends only the pure signal on its way. 48RCVR AUDIO EARPHONES PARTS LIST Bl, 2—1 1/2v DC D1, 2—1N34A R1—1 meg pot. Ohmite CMU 1052 SW1—DPST. Oak Type 189 By effectively clipping out loud noise pulses, you hear only the steady signal you're actually after and not flourescent buzzing, ignition noise, and the rest of man-made interfer- ence that often seems unsurmountable tothe eager ham, CBer, or SWL. You canbuild your noise limiter in a small Minibox equipped with jacks to accommodate your headset plug and a line to the receiver. You'll find you can vary the amount of clipping by simply adjusting R1 to a point where best noise reduction is realized. Although primarily designed for headset operation, you can use this on a speaker if you keep the volume down. Better yet, install an audio amplifier (a one or two-transistor cheapy will do) inside the speaker enclosure and feed the output of your noise limiter to it. In this way you won't overdrive the crystal diodes, yet you'll still be able to enjoy room-filling volume. 4930 FULL-WAVE NOISE LIMITER Here's an efficient full-wave series noise-limiting circuit you may be able to add to an existing receiver or transceiver. Once the circuit is added (there's no reason, of course, you couldn't add a switch to cut it in and out of the receiver's cir- cuit), however, you'll want to use the volume control as your overall limiting adjustment. Generally speaking, the volume control must be set for the proper level to effectively clip noise peaks without destroying basic audio intelligibility. The limiter can be installed at the second detector of the re- ceiver or at the input to an audio amplifier stage to accomplish much the same thing. The values of R2 and R4 canbe experi- mented with for optimum performance. cL o1 De R2 C2 AUDIO -BIAS PARTS LIST C1, 2—.047 mfd D1, 2—1N56 R1, 3, 4—1 meg. Ohmite "Little Devil" R2—100K. Ohmite "Little Devil" 5031 CB-TO-AUTO ANTENNA ADAPTER One of the handiest little gadgets we've ever come across is this simple circuit, borrowed from a commercial antenna matcher we opened after plunking down $6.95 for it. So what was inside? Perhaps $1.75 worth of parts—if everything was purchased brand new. What this gem does is permit you to use a standard AM car radio antenna as a CBtransmit/receive antema, thereby sav- ing you the expense of a second 27-MHz radiator and the ag- gravation of drilling holes in the family buggy. No, the car radio antenna isn't as efficient as a full-size CB whip, but it will do an admirable job if properly matched to the rig. We simply built ours intoa clear areainthe rear of the glove compartment, although you may want to enclose it in a small plastic box to be tucked away behind the car radio. Use stand- ard auto antenna plugs and jacks and you'll save yourself a lot of headaches, although you'll probably need one PL-259 to couple to the output connector on your CB rig. Once installed, hook an SWR bridge into the feedline and throw the transmit switch on the CB rig. With an eye on the meter, adjust the height of the telescoping car antenna for minimum SWR and leave it there. Next, tune L1 for the same thing (minimum reflected power). Now retune the final load- ing control a mite and repeat the above process until the ab- solute minimum has been reached. If you still find SWR a bit high (say, above 2.5:1), shorten or lengthen the coax between the adapter and the CB rig and repeat the tuneup procedure. Finally, mark this spot on the telescoping antenna with a thin ring of electrical tape or other means of marking so that you'll always know the proper height to set the antenna. Lastly, readjust the AM car radio front end by tuning the trimmer capacitor for best overall performance with the adapter. No, you don't have to open the radio. This trimmer is generally accessible through a small opening on the side of the radio near the antenna jack. 51If you notice an increase in ignition noise on the car radio or CBset, shield the adapter by enclosing it (if you have room) inside the CB unit. Better still, build it into a tiny metal Minibox in the first place and run a ground strap to a con- venient grounding point under the dashboard. This should completely eliminate the noise. : AUTO RADIO PARTS LIST C1—.0047 mfd L1—27-MHz slug-tuned coil. Lafayette 32C0911 R1—510 ohms. Ohmite "Lit- tle Devil" 32 AUDIO WATTMETER Here's a gadget you won't find in the stores, yet it will ac- curately measure your hi-fi's output in watts automatically by aflash of a bulb! Nothing is critical about construction, although it should be mentioned that potentiometers R1, R3, R5, and R7 can be mounted inside the housing, with only the neon lamps anda pair of wires with alligator clips on the ends protruding. To calibrate your wattmeter, adjust the output voltage of the calibrator supply to 11 volts (as measured on voltmeter) and adjust R7 so that I4 just lights as this voltage is applied 52WATTMETER T1 MPL. AupTO ouTPuT TO WATTMETER CALIBRATOR TO VOLTMETER T2 PLT Su1 | PARTS LIST R2, 4, 6, 8—110K. Ohmite C1—. 22 mfd "Little Devil" D1—100 ma, 400 PIV silicon rectifier. Lafayette SP-196 Tl, 2, 3, 4—-NE-2 PLI—AC plug. 61-M11 Rl, 3, 5, 7—1 meg pots. Ohmite CMU 1052 Amphenol R9—150 pot. 1511 SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 T1—Universal Output trans- former. Lafayette TR-12 T2—12.6V AC filament trans- former Ohmite CMU to the wattmeter input. Now I4 will light whenever 15 watts of audio is received. Bear in mind, of course, that all bulbs up to the one that indicates the input power will light. Con- versely, you can set I1 for 3-watt firingby feeding 5 volts into the wattmeter and adjusting R1 so that the bulb just lights. For your own settings, use the formula E equals W x Z, where E is voltage you control by adjusting R9, W is power in watts, and Z is the amplifier's output impedance. (If your hi-fi feeds 8-ohm speakers, Z is 8.) 53To use the formula, just decide how many watts you want a particular neon bulb to respond to, and take the square root of that figure times the impedance (normally 4, 8, or 16 ohms). The result is what you feed into the wattmeter from the calibrator supply as measured on your voltmeter. Once you've set all the bulbs, mark the chassis so you'll remember what bulb relates to what power rating, and you're in business. 33 — INEXPENSIVE AUTO BATTERY CHARGER Here's a powerful battery charger for the budget- minded hobbyist. With all new parts, it'll set you back $7—only $4 if you omit the meter. With a good supply of junkbox com- ponents, however, you should be able to get by for next to nothing. The trickin this design is the use of cheap, junkbox- variety 6.3v AC filament transformers, which are switched in such a way as to deliver either 6- or 12-voltcharging cur- rents for the widest possible variety of applications. Though not designed to compete with $60 booster/chargers, this charger will deliver one heck of a lot more power than some $15-$25 trickle chargers, although if you attempt tooverdraw from the supply (say, if you want to rejuvenate a nearly- completely-exhausted 12-volt cell), you will have to tempor- arily short the circuitbreaker until the battery begins to come back to life and causes less drain. Allow plenty of ventilation holes for the diodes, although you'll want to insure that no moisture gets into your charger. For this reason you may want to form bent-lip vents instead of holes which will allow rain, snow, etc., to merely run off. When you notice that M1's needle has returned to a near- normal (no-load) position, your battery is probably fully charged. No damage will result if you leave the charger on overnight. Always check the battery cells' fluid levels prior to charging and after you've removed the charger. A fully rejuvenated battery is indicated by a gentle bubbling in each 54XPL-d pels ‘tow stojsuety quawely Ov Ag‘9—s ‘LL 00% sd4L 480 “Ldad—zms SLI edhL ¥LO “LSAS—IMS ull4ed aT. swYO “MOTI—TY TIN-T9 Jousydury “Snjd Ov—TTd JapouUWeTT ITU Od OOT-O— TL ¢-dN—T1 v-o Wey “Te “LoyBoiqymodtg— TA Sialfljoo1 UOOTIIS dute-% ‘Ald SS—y ‘€ ‘2 ‘Id 9194] 013 -99]2 OGAM 02 ‘PFUA08—TO adaieyo dapun = fiayeq = =oy—ta LSIT SLYVdcell during charge. (Always remove the battery caps during charge, replacing them when M1 indicates the job is finished. ) Incidentally, in case youforget to check, the circuitbreaker will disconnect the charger when the job's done. Should it break open early in the game, it may be a sign that the bat- tery's beyond hope. In any case you can short it as indicated earlier, but if this repeats itself after a couple of tries (cir- cuitbreaker still won't hold), the battery has had it. 34 SIMPLE CRYSTAL DETECTOR Probably you've assembled more than your share of conven- tional crystal receivers in your time, but we'll bet you've never tried this one! In most crystal circuits, the diode acts like a half-wave rectifier. Yet we all know that full-wave rectification ismore efficient from a performance standpoint, hence the circuit shown in the accompanying schematic. If you observe proper germanium diode polarities, you'll be amazed at the results you'll get with this tiny receiver. For best overall results, use high-impedance crystal or magnetic earphones. PARTS LIST C1—360-pfd variable C2—110 pfd D1, 2, 3, 4—1N38B L1l—Ferrite loopstick coil Jl, 2—Tip jacks. Amphenol 350-61001SUPER BAND SPREADER Here's a project that's really a modification, as opposed to a separate gadget you build into a Minibox. Using very inex- pensive Amperex 1N3182 varactor diodes, this circuit can make the most battered, inexpensive shortwave receiver sound like a $400 model just taken off the shelf. Frequently it is next to impossible to find a particular DX station listed in one of the hobby magazines because of other stations that appear to be cluttered around the same spot on the dial. The key is in spreading out the stations so that you can separate them more clearly as you're tuning the dial. Yet this conversion is by no means limited to shortwave re- ceivers; it will do wonders for CB transceivers as well. Once installed, you'll have a new control to fool with when- ever the going gets rough—potentiometer R3. This will serve as a "fine-tuning" adjustment and will make all the difference in the world when it comes to hearing those weak ones. Incidentally, don't worry about B-plus voltages. The varac- tors can handle currents found in all receivers. 57EXISTING RCVR CIRCUIT OSCILLATOR SECTION? C1 PARTS LIST C1—10 pfd D1, 2, 3—Varactor diode. Amperex 1N3182 R2—11K. Devil" R3—15K pot. 1541 Ohmite "Little Ohmite CMU R1—130K. Ohmite Devil" "Little R4—75. Devil" Ohmite "Little 36 TUNNEL DIODE OSCILLATOR Here's a simple project to construct, yet one that should pro- vide hours of fun for the experimenter who would like to see what a tunnel diode can do. Shown in the accompanying schematic is the circuit for an easy-to-build broadcast-band oscillator. Coil-capacitor com- bination C1/L1 resonates over the entire AMband and the fre- quency can be adjusted by simply tuning the 365-pfd capacitor to the desired spot. To demonstrate its operation, simply tune in a fairly weak AM station on a nearby receiver. After turning SW1 on, hold the tunnel diode oscillatornear the broad- cast antenna and tune C1 until a whistle is heard. At this point the oscillator is tuned to the frequency of the received station. 58SW1 PARTS LIST Li—Ferrite loop antenna. Miller 6300 1B1—1 1/2v DC R1—300. Ohmite "Little i\C1—365-pfd variable Devil" iD1—Tunnel diode, 1N29390r R2—30.Ohmite "Little Devil'| 1N2940 SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 Bear in mind, of course, that the unmodulated signal from the oscillator will not be audible unless the receiver is tuned to a weak AM station. The heterodyning action of the two sig- nals beating together produces the audio tone. 37 SIGNAL BLINKER Ever wish you had atruly brilliant emergency flasher for use on the highway when the car is disabled? Or perhaps a signal light to mount near the driveway or sidewalk after you've finished laying wet cement? Well, this blinker is guaranteed to top them all. Unlike conventional flashers, this thing is designed for max- imum efficiency out-of-doors. It can be built in any forrn you 59feel suitable, and it is entirely portable, since it is powered by a 6v DC source. Should you find that your blinker doesn't fire frequently enough or to your satisfaction, replace capacitors Cl and C2 with brand-new components. Sometimes aging junkbox types will fall down on such a demanding job as this one. If you'd like more versatility, install a 2-watt 1-meg potentiometer at the point indicated by an "X" in the schematic. SEE TEXT ]pto—™ 31 swt PARTS LIST I1— Red flourescent tube K1—SPST 100-ohm relay, B1—6v DC normally-closed contacts C1—.3 mfd SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 C2—2500 mfd, 25 WVDC T1—Audio output transform- electrolytic er LOUDSPEAKER-TO-MIKE CONVERTER Here's an extremely useful gadget to have around when you get caught in a pinch without a good microphone. It permits your converting a permanent magnet speaker into a micro- phone with amazing efficiency. Incidentally, this is the same 60METAL SHIELD r \ PM ! SPKR PARTS LIST R1—51K. Ohmite "Little T1—Audio output transform- Devil" er from an old radio set circuit used by many walkie-talkie manufacturers in their top- of-the-line 2- to 5-watt models. The transformer can be the kind used as an output trans- former in small radio receivers. Be sure to shield the works as shown in the diagram, however, or an annoying hum will be induced into the modulator or amplifier you are using. Although the circuit will work without R1, you will find that better frequency response is possible with it in the circuit. If you like, you can substitute a 100K potentiometer and ad- just it until tonal quality and response is exactly to your lik- ing. 39 ELECTRONIC “COIN TOSS" Even though it's common procedure to call out either heads or tails and then flick the coin to decide a debate, arrive at a decision, etc., the experts have proven that heads will come up more frequently than tails if tested for 100 tries. So what? Well, this gadgetis electronically programmed never to make an error; to be fair and square all the time. 61Operationally, you merely mark the chassis where the neon bulbs protrude with "heads" and "tails," one for each light. When you throw the power switch (SW2) both bulbs will light. But when pushbutton switch SW1 is depressed, only one will stay lit. The governing factor is exactly when the button is hit; since, al ough both bulbs appear to be constantly on, they are actually alternately flashing at a very fast rate. The instant SW1 is closed, the one bulb that was on during that millisecond stays on. The other will go out. Incidentally, you can adjust the circuit for perfect balance by setting potentiometer R1 so that both lamps glow for equal lengths of time. In this way, you can simulate a balanced coin. 117 VAC PARTS LIST R1—2.5 meg pot. Ohmite C1—.047 mfd CMU 2552 C2—8 mfd, 200 WVDC elec- R2—240K. Ohmite "Little trolytic Devil" D1—25 ma selenium recti- R3—51. Ohmite "Little fier Devil" I1, 2—NE-2A Swi—Pushbutton, normal- PL1I—AC plug. Amphenol _ ly-open type 61-M11l SwW2—SPST. Oak Type 175 62Construction is simple and straight-forward. Just observe proper polarities, and make certain your NE-2A bulbs are good. A0 INEXPENSIVE VOLTAGE TRIPLER Here's a simple way of achieving high voltage without the trouble and cost of buying hefty power transformers and rec- tifiers. The circuit shown here will triple the AC voltage of anything appearing at the secondary of T1 (providing you don't exceed 35 volts) and provide you with rectified DC ready for any application you have in mind. The best part, however, DC OUTPUT -—> PARTS LIST PLI—AC plug. Amphenol 61-M11 SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 C1, 2,3—10mfd,50 WVDC T1—6.3vAC filament trans- D1, 2, 3—1N38B former. Triad F-14X 63is that it uses junkbox-variety 1N38B germanium diodes and a standard 6.3v AC filament transformer. In the circuit shown you'll wind up with approximately 18v DC output. Other transformers could be substituted for T1, with, of course, proportionately higher or lower DC outputs. Make sure you observe proper diode, and capacitor polarities and you'll have no trouble whatever with this gadget. Al LINE VOLTAGE CONTROL UNIT Nowadays, circuits abound for "dimmers" and other hi-low controls for 117vAC lines. Here is one, though, which makes use of a standard autotransformer to actually adjust the volt- age from 0 to maximum (117 volts). Almost any junkbox con- tinuously - variable autotransformer will handle the job, with the most often-encountered (and inexpensive if bought brand- new) being the Superior Type 10 Powerstat. Using a 0-200v AC meter you can monitor the output voltage exactly as itis being passed on to the lamp or whatever is be- ing controlled. A wordto the wise, however. Check your autotransformer's wattage capability before attempting to use the control unit on a heavy-drain device (such as electric heater, toaster, etc.). Most lower -priced autotransformers are in the 125-200 watt maximum range, and will be damaged if overloaded excess- ively. The Superior 10is a 125-watt type. PARTS LIST R1—Powerstat. Superior Type 10 M1—0-200v AC meter SO1—AC output socket. Am- PLI—AC plug. Amphenol phenol 61-M1P-61F 61-M11 SW1—DPST. Oak Type 200 64117 VAC Use heavy wire throughout, making certain that in no in- stance does the wiring (which should be insulated) come in contact with the metal housing. If youhave in mind the dimmingof several low-wattage room lamps, youcanadd more AC sockets to the control unit, which can be unobtrusively hidden behind the couch. 42 1000-VOLT BUZZER POWER SUPPLY Using standard junkbox components plus a conventional 6-volt high-frequency buzzer, this project provides an almost un- believable 1000 volts output at 60 to 70 microamperes DC. It's ideal for science lab experiments, geiger counter power supplies, fence chargers, shock rods, etc., and you can probably put the whole thing together in less than two hours. The power supply is driven by four Size D flashlight cells wired in series. The unit will provide a constant 1000-volt 65€Z8E-V LoouRIg *“LaWI0y -suedj yndyno [estoAlUQ—T.L GLI sd&L, ¥LO “LSdS—TMS OOT-¥ TeuoC!, -BN ‘ayoyo YW G*Z—TOdY dH6s = daYoOoY peuoyeUreT *dalyyjoed wuntuejes AH—TA 20A OOOT PIU L00°—FO pyar g°—€ ‘20 py ST*—T9 O0F-FTT 9d4L uosuyor *Lazznq jJOA-9—T ZA Od 49—Ta LsIT SLYVd 66output for 60 hours if left running continuously and 150 hours if you use it for only an average of 2 hours per day. When you've finished construction, turn on SW1. Now, ad- just the buzzer for the highest-pitched note while at the same time striving for highest possible output voltage. A word of caution: This power supply is no plaything. It'll give one heck of a nasty sting. For this reason be sure that all contact points are well insulated and that it is well-housed in a protective case above ground. 43 BLOW-OUT PROTECTOR FOR LOUDSPEAKERS Although it's often assumed that loudspeakers supposedly never blow out, if too much power is pumped into them they'll literally split at the seams. In normal use, of course, this seldom happens. But if you're a teenager who likes to "turn on" with full-blast music or a hi-fi addict who appreciates heavy volume, this gadget may save you a great deal of trouble. Many people don't realize that the distortion they hear in old car radios and some hi-fi sets is not at all the fault of the final audio tube, but in fact the sad result of an over-driven (blown out) loudspeaker. Worse yet, the audio tones respon- sible for all the damage are frequently those out of range of the human ear. So, while you're pushing up the volume to hear the lead singer, you may be overdriving the speaker without realizing it. The instrument shown in the accompanying schematic will signal, by the flashingof a neon bulb, when you are approach- ing this critical point if you program the thing correctly. First off, you must determine the actual power handling cap- ability of the speaker. For purposes of illustration, suppose your speaker is rated at 25 watts and is of the 16-ohm impedance variety. Using the same formula employed in Project 32, we can see, then, that this wattage represents 20 volts at the speaker voice coil 67100 WATTS 12 WATTS 6 WATTS DIAL PLATE FOR R2 USE JUMPER HERE FOR 4-ohm TO 4,8 or T1 Lee oN | OPERATION ou PARTS LIST I1—NE-2 R38—20K. Ohmite "Little R1—80K. See text. Ohmite Devil" "Little Devil" T1—Audio output transform- R2—250K pot. OhmiteCMU er. 8-ohm secondary, 7K 2541 primary. Stancor A-2213 68terminals. By inserting the blow-out protector, the trans- former steps up this voltage by a 30:1 ratio to 600 volts de- veloped across R1, R2, and R3. Since the neon lamp requires only 65 volts to flash, we adjust R2 so that just a mite over 10% of this voltage is felt by the neon bulb. Simplifying the procedure, you just set R2 to approximately 7 to 9K up from the 20K resistor end of the potentiometer so that the total resistance across the two is on the order of 25K. Other wattage settings are arrived at in the same manner. For added accuracy, if you're using a4-ohm speaker elimi- nate R1 altogether; if using an 8-ohm speaker, use a 51K re- sistor instead of the 80K suggested, or if you have a 16-ohm speaker, use a 121K resistor. If you want to incorporate the dialplate shown, use the resistive values just specified. 44 INEXPENSIVE TRANSISTOR CHECKER Here's a very inexpensive transistor checker that will save you a lot of frustration and expense in your project building. It performs some basic checks which will rapidly tell you if a transistor is excessively leaky or if it has become internally short-circuited. Additionally, the checker will tell the ap- proximate beta value, frequently referred to in catalogs and manufacturers' literature. In this way you can see how your transistors stack up against the spec sheets. Essentially a very simple instrument, not only to build but to operate, the main control switch is more or less halved to permit testing of both PNP and NPN types. Make sure of the transistor type before inserting it in the checker. For the most part, the lower the amount of leakage the better the transistor is. Understandably, however, the higher-priced transistors will register lower leakage than the 8-for-88¢ variety. To check gain (beta) switch to the "Gain" position and notice the difference in meter readings. If there seems to be an excessive amount, the transistor is probably shot. 69youIms Arey -o01 uontsod-y ‘ajod-gs— TMs ul }4oq AL. IULYO "0zI—Z ‘TH Jayouurel Iw Od T-O—TW od 49—Ta LSIT SLUVd NIV9 NAN a yvaT NAN" £ VET dNd 2 NIV dNd Asa NOILISOd 130908 YL UB LLIW3 ° ave ~ ¥O13IT09 70Here are some representative readings on common garden- variety transistors: For a 2N107, you should register 0.1 on "Leak," and 0.5 on "Gain"; for a 2N137, check for 0.1 on "Leak" and a 0.7 on "Gain"; for a CK722, look for a 0.1 "Leak" and 0.3 "Gain". The many substitutes will also fall fairly close to these readings. 45 FREE-POWER BATTERYLESS POWER SUPPLY Anyone who's read earlier hobbyist project handbooks will remember the famous free-power radios which went on to fame in connection with electronic eavesdropping in "The Electronic Invasion" and later in magazine articles and TV shows. Although the concept has been blown way out of pro- portion, the simple fact is that it is possible to convert radio signals to rectified DC., 3 VDC OUTPUT PARTS LIST D1—1N60 L1—Vari-loopstick C1—10 mfd L2—4-henry choke C2—360-pfd variable R1I—1K. Ohmite "Little C3—.0022 mfd Devil" 71The simple circuit shown in the accompanying diagram, however, will provide enough power to drive a small tran- sistorized amplifier, receiver, or even a tiny subminiature electric motor! During tests conducted off 20-mile-distant signals we've been able to obtain 3 volts at 300 microamperes, or 1 volt at nearly 1000 microamperes. If you live really close to 250, 000-watt radio transmitter, you may get results even better than this. The circuit is essentially a radio receiver (crystal detector) tuned to the loudest signal on the band. For science fair work, a 0-500 DC microammeter tied across the output makes a dandy impression. Incidentally, don't forget to use a 0-5 volt voltmeter. 46 ELECTROSTATIC SPEAKER CONVERTER Any dyed-in-the-wool audiophile knows that an electrostatic speaker is just about next to the "ultimate" in tweeter designs, capable of reproducing the highest "highs" possible. Although complex designs are available commercially, a great deal of success has been experienced in converting an existing hi-fi setup to an electrostatic type by simply adding the speakers to the present configuration. Sound unscientific? Not with the converter setup shown here. All you need are two rela- tively inexpensive electrostatic speakers (available at rea- sonable cost from such suppliers as Lafayette Radio, Olson Radio, Burstein-Applebee, etc.), a transformer, anda hand- ful of junkbox-variety resistors and capacitors. The trick to all of this is in reversing the normal hookup arrangement of Tl, astandard-type audio output transformer. What would ordinarily be the voice-coil secondary is used as primary in our design. By the same token, the input leads now serve as the secondary. The crossover network is com- posed of R1, Cl, and C2. 726186-V Jooueyg ‘190 -WLojsued} yndyno olpny—T.L 91T/S-H-LS sotutetad ploy -UWly ‘sdeyeeds 01783802} -o9]2 ‘aepnduvjooy—z ‘Tds ale TNT. HHUYO “MoPZ—E ‘ZU 745 T¥O0S AWD awyoO ‘yod YOS—Ty PRU 2Z°—F ‘EO Py L400°—@ ‘TO LSIT SLUVd Wid ONILSIX3 73It is suggested that you build your converter right into the cabinet or baffle used to house the electrostatic speakers. Only a B-plus line need be run off to power the unit (this can be anything in the 200-300 volt range) assuming your grounds are common. Connect the two transformer leads to the 16- ohm tap of your amplifier. From this point on, you have only to adjust R1 and you're in for the best speaker system you've ever heard! TWO TV SETS WITH ONE ANTENNA Everyone has seen two-set TV antenna couplers from time to time in service-repair shops or electronic parts distributors' showrooms. But did -you know that most of these couplers consist of only three quite inexpensive carbon resistors? The trick, of course, is the circuit configuration—which is de- picted in the accompanying schematic. Only one overall suggestion: Keep resistor leads short and use 300-ohm standard TVfeedline right up to the solder joints. This will insure proper impedance matching. Benefit of suchacoupler, of course, is the isolation achieved and minimal interaction between two operating TV sets. oe TO SET 41 TO SET #2 + —> 70 TV ANTENNA L_—__» te PARTS LIST R1, 2, 3—910. Ohmite "Lit- tle Devil" 74TUBE REJUVENATOR Want to know the secret behind any of those "bargain tubes" you see in some of the leading electronics monthlies? Well, here it is: A little-known rejuvenator that does an amazing job of bringing "dead" tubes back to life. Why pay $1.00 apiece for standard radio and TV tubes when you can restore them yourself? Providing the tube isn’t burned out altogether (most aren't), you'll be amazed at what this little gem can do! In use, switch SW1 to the TEST position and see what hap- pens. Neon bulb I1 will light immediately unless the filaments are burned or open. Discard any tubes that fail to register a light onI1. Next, take the tube (with the good filaments) into either position A, B, or C on SW1. This is determined by the tube's specifications, which can be found in any stand- ard tube manual. The rejuvenator will work only with tubes containing 6.3v AC heaters (6AU6s, etc.), although if you add another 9-pin socket with pins 4 and 5 soldered together as one filament terminal and pin 9 as the other, you can charge up the 6.3/12. 6-volt tubes such as 12AT7s, 12AX7s, etc. Here's what to do: After consulting the manual, observe that SW1 position A provides .6 amp of current, position B provides .3 amp, and position C provides .15 amp. Merely select the proper current rating based on what you've found in the manual, and proceed. Allow your tube to cook for 10 minutes in the rejuvenator before replacing in the original unit or checking with a good tube tester. If it's still weak, repeat the process. Although this unit's batting average is extremely high, there'll always be a few rotten eggs that just cannot be revived. In any case, follow the three-strikes-you're-out philosophy before dis- carding any tube that gets a good light on the neon bulb.OSI8-d TOoUR}g ‘IoUIIOy -suedy JOURTY OV AZI—TLL A£aej01 uoyisod - G¢—TMS 60%-6S Toueyd -wy ‘yeyoos ud-6—sos X8-8g [oueqd -uy *jeyoos = [8}O—ZOS 00S-L6T Tousyd -uy ‘yeyoos uid-1—TOS uTed OTT. aqruyo “syem Z ‘88—SU aTTA0 OTTT, Onur -4O ‘sHeMm Z ‘SI—p ‘8 ‘2H all4ed WI. oFWYO “AZI—-TH TIIN-19 jousyduy ‘Snjd OV—TId 91-IN—TI LSI SLUVd €0S 4330S. NId-G eae 0 1320S NId-Z 7649 OSCILLOSCOPE CALIBRATOR Here's a gadget that can enhance the performance of your oscil- loscope 200%, yet cost you next to nothing to put together. While oscilloscopes are great for telling you just about all you need to know about a device under test, suppose you want to see the actual peak voltage of a waveform closeup? Just hook our handy calibrator in between the unit and your scope and you've got it made. How do you use it? Well, suppose you wanted to measure voltage being fed to the oscilloscope. First thing you'd do is switch SW1 to the CAL position and (for the sake of discus- sion) the PEAK-TO-PEAK control to the 10-volt setting. Ad- just the scope to provide a specific number of "boxes" on the screen. If you like, adjust so that you get 10 boxes. Now you can see that 10 volts from the calibrator equals 10 boxes on the screen. Obviously, then, when you switch over on SW1 to the SCOPE position, you'll have a visual voltmeter reading in direct proportion. If, for example, you now see 15 boxes, you've got 15 volts going in. Suppose you adjusted the scope (when the calibrator was on CAL) so that you saw only one box. Then if you switched over to SCOPE and saw, for example, 6 boxes, you'd know you were feeding 60 volts in. As with any precision device, our calibrator needs to be calibrated itself before it can be effectively used. Refer to the "Calibrator Calibrator" circuit in the accompanying dia- gram. The idea behind this thing is to feed 17.8 volts into the calibrator, since this corresponds to a peak-to-peak voltage of 50 volts which we use to calibrate the oscilloscope. Once again get 10 boxes on the oscilloscope screen with SW1 in the SCOPE position. Now switch over SW1 to the CAL po- 77R2 CALIBRATOR v 50 J spenKeto-renk” NTI pd CONTROL c2 1 CAL PSEnRESSEEEEESSEEEESS SCOPE CALIBRATOR tL TO CALIBRATOR INPUT ADJUST FOR 17.8 VAC ON VOLTMETER PARTS LIST R4—62K. Ohmite "Little Devil" Cl, 2—2 mfd R5—18K. Ohmite "Little I1—NE-30 (or NE-32) with Devil" internal resistor removed R6—3.3K. Ohmite "Little M1—AC voltmeter Devil" PL1, 2—AC plugs. Amphenol R7—1.1K. Ohmite "Little 61-M11 Devil" R1—9.1K, 1 watt. Ohmite R8—50K pot. Ohmite "Little Devil" CMUS031 R2—250K pot. Ohmite CMU SW1—DPDT. Oak Series 2541 200 R3—20K. Ohmite "Little SW2—3-position rotary.Oak Devil" series 20sition with the PEAK-TO-PEAK control in the 50-volt setting. Now adjust R2 until you get the same ten boxes on the oscil- loscope screen. To check your settings, switch the PEAK- TO-PEAK switch to the 10-volt position without touching any- thing else. Now you should see two boxes on the oscilloscope. SEQUENTIAL NEON FLASHER Have you seen some of the high-style ripple effects the auto- makers are producing in rear-end taillights? The desirable sequential flasher they use operates on a principle similar to that shown in the schematic here, only this project is sort of a scaled-down model of the Big Three's. PARTS LIST Il, 2, 3, 4—NE-2 R1, 2, 3, 4—560K. Ohmite B1—90 to 125v DC "Little Devil" Cl, 2, 3, 4—.5 mfd | SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175You can make attractive displays from the arrangement shown here, providing all bulbs are good and the battery supply is in fair shape. Incidentally, you can string a series of cheap 9-volt TR batteries to obtain the voltage necessary for this project, add a couple of 67 1/2-volt "B" cells together, or put together the inexpensive voltage quadrupler shown in Pro- ject 102. In any case, it makes a dandy amusement device for the kiddies and a perpetual conversation piece for the adults. By the way, if you like, installa1-meg potentiometer across the plus and minus wires leading from the batteries. In this manner you can, to some extent, regulate the frequency of the flashes, slowing them down and speeding them up at will. Regardless, however, the bulbs will always go on and off in sequence. 51 ELECTRIFYING WORM TURNER Before youconclude that the authors have blown their editorial cool, consider the fact that some of the most dignified elec- tronics publications have presented complex and elaborate methods of flushing out nightcrawlers prior to’ a relaxingday's fishing. Construction is quite simple, but bear in mind that you're dealing with 117v AC, and above-ground wiring is the key to success.Heavy insulated wire should be used throughout, in- cluding the cabling to the probes. The probes can be made in any fashion you like, but the material you select should be strong enough so they can be inserted a good foot and a half into the soil. Be sure to equip your probes with non-conducting rubber handles. In use, both bulbs should light only if the two probes acci- dentally come in contactwith one another. Under normal use, the 15-watt bulb will light dimly all the time the unit is on. Place the two probes deep into the earth spaced about three feet apart. Then switch SW1 to the "on" position, wait a few moments, and start picking up the nightcrawlers. If nothing happens, try again somewhere else in the lawn. If results are nil, pack up the worm turner, probes and all, and moisten 80the earth with a good hosing. Then try again. Only in ex- tremely dry weather should you have to hose down the soil. CAUTION: Never attempt to "plant" or move the probes when the worm turner is on. RUBBER HANDLES HOLLOW WOODEN PROBES METAL TIPS a PARTS LIST PLI—AC plug. Amphenol 61-M11 SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 I1—15-watt household bulb SW2—Normally - closed (117v AC) pushbutton 12—60-watt household bulb T1—Isolation transformer, (117v AC) 117:117v AC (1:1 ratio) 8152 POWER SUPPLY FROM FILAMENT TRANSFORMERS Ever need a good low-voltage supply in a pinch? This one de- livers a full120v DC plus filament voltagesfrom cheap, junk- box filament transformers hooked back-to-back. Ideal for powering some of the neon bulb projects in this book, plus a multitude of other devices (novice ham transmitters, short- wave converters, etc.), the entire power supply can be built onto a very small chassis and equipped with binding posts for added versatility. Incidentally, this design is just the ticket as a "quick-slap" replacement power supply for garden-variety AM/FM radios. One of the authors accidentally blew a power transformer ina PL. | ska 117 VAC PARTS LIST L1—50 ma filter choke PLI—AC plug. Amphenol C1, 2—16 mfd, 200 WVDC 61-M11 electrolytic SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 D1i—70 ma selenium recti- T1, 2—6.3v AC filament fier transformer. Triad F-14X 82Japanese FM set and simply hooked this power supply in place of the original. True, B-plus is a bit lower than the circuit called for, but you'll never convince the most descriminating listener of any changes. By the way, the entire power supply fit neatly inside the receiver. 53 COLOR TV PICTURE ROLL STOPPER If you live within a reasonable distance from a television sta- tion, chances are you often are receiving a signal far in ex- cess of what the tuner in your TVis capable of handling. And, with the advent of color television antennas—which, for the most part, do anexcellent job of increasing overall gain—the result is frequently that your picture may darken and roll to the right of the screen between station breaks or whenever the picture contrast control is advanced. One solution is to construct the roll stopper shown in the ac- companying schematic diagram. Resistance values chosen should be determined by the degree of attenuation (in decibels) you wish to achieve. If you're unsure, you can experiment with potentiometers in place of the fixed composition resistors shown until you get a handle on your requirements. Generally, however, here are our recommendations for values, starting at minimum attenuation: 1) for 5 db attenu- ation, use 47-ohm resistors for Rl, 2, 4, and 5 and a 510- ohm value for R3; 2) for 10 db attenuation, use 82 ohms for Rl, 2, 4, and 5 and a 220-ohm resistor for R3; 3) for 15 db attenuation use 120 ohms for all resistors; 4) for 20 db at- tenuation use 120 ohms for R1, 2, 4, and 5 and 62 ohms for R38: 5) for 25 db attenuation use 150 ohms for R1, 2, 4, and 5 with a 36-ohm resistor for R3; 6) for 30 db attenuation use 150 ohms for R1, 2, 4, and 5 in conjunction with a 22-ohm resistor for R3. Bring your 300-ohm feedline leads directly to the roll stopper interconnection joints for the best overall performance. 83R1 R2 TO cageeoteeeeseeeT SET ANTENNA R3 R4 R5 PARTS LIST R1, 2, 4, 5—47, 82, 1200r R3—22, 36, 62, 120, 2000r 150 ohms, Ohmite "Little 510 ohms, Ohmite "Little Devil." See text ELECTRONIC ANEMOMETER Normally when one thinks about an anemoneter, a wooden- cross affair comes to mind, whirling around like some kind of a horizontal windmill. This version, however, employs no moving parts, yet permits reading wind velocity from a meter with amazing accuracy. Actually, a combination of an electronic thermometer and hygrometer, the electronic ane- mometer uses two rugged thermistors to ''sense" the wind on Devil." See text PARTS LIST R6—510. Ohmite "Little Devil" B1—4v DC R7, 8—11. Ohmite "Little M1—0-2 DC milliammeter Devil" R1, 5—240. Ohmite "Little Devil" R2—100-ohm pot. Ohmite CMU-1011 R3—3.3K. Ohmite "Little Devil" R4—1K pot. Ohmite CMU 1021 84 R9—500-ohm pot SW1—DPDT pushbutton SW2—Pushbutton, normal- ly-open TH1—Matched thermistor pair. Victor Engineering Corp., Type A-33 (25° C types) or equivalentRL Re: ROOF SENSOR THERMISTORS, HOLES BAKELITE CALIBRATION CHART 1.4 1.2 1.0) 0.8 0.6 METER READING 0.4 0.2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 MPH (WIND SPEED) "VOLTAGE" THERMISTORS 85the roof and a simple decoding unit inside that interprets what's happening. Although you can buy a matched pair of thermistors already mounted, it is also possible to mount them yourself by re- packaging them in small polystyrene vials. Drill (or better yet use a "red hot" heated sewing needle) four tiny holes in one of the vial-enclosed thermistor housings, leaving the other vial completely sealed. Now, mount both vials on a piece of polystyrene or bakelite (as a base plate) with glue. Do not drill. Wire as shown in the diagram, and the job's half done. The circuit for the rest of the unit is simple, but requires calibration, whichis best accomplished with a controlled wind that can be checked againsta meter reading. One way of doing this is to get in the car (preferably with someone else driving) and allow the thermistor assembly to get plenty of wind as you drive along. By taking note of how much reading you get at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, etc., MPH you'll be able to calibrate your instrument by means of a graphic curve. You can use our chart if you like, but you'd better check it against your own instrument's performance before you-accept it strictly "as is." The reason for this is that you may have made the four holes in the top of one of the vials smaller than we did. In that case, enlarge them sufficiently so that, say, a60 MPH speed corresponds toal ma reading on your meter. BUBBLE LAMP NIGHT LITE Here's a simple project that makes for a truly fascinating night light for the kiddies. In a darkened bedroom the constant bub- bling has a strangely hypnotic effect, and the dim light provides reassurance to children. Best of all, the whole thing can be put together from available junkbox parts plus a bubble lamp assembly "'stolen" from the attic's supply of Christmas lights. While mounting can be accomplished in just about any fashion you like, it is well to remember that children are un- predictable. Consequently, it might not be a bad idea to use a completely enclosed metal box with only the toggle switch 86XMAS TREE "BUBBLE" LIGHT PARTS LIST PL1I—AC plug. Amphenol 61-M11 Il—Christmas tree bubble SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 lamp (and socket) T1—6. 3v AC filament trans- R1—1-meg pot. Ohmite CMU former, under 1-amp rat- 1052 ing. Triad F-13X and bubble lamp protruding. All wiring mustbe above-ground and well insulated, and the 117v AC line cord should pass through a rubber grommet going into the unit. Additionally, it would be a good idea to tie the cord in asolid knot just as it comes in through the grommet as a precautionary measure. Bear in mind thatthe bubble lamp works on the heat principle. If you have trouble getting it to bubble, screw the bulb more firmly into the socket and check that the bubble tube is tight in place against the bulb. Frequently replacing the bulb works wonders. Lastly, R1 can be installed inside or outside the housing, or omitted altogether. It serves only todim the bulb. 8756 SCRATCH FILTER FOR 45 RPM DISCS If you're like most people who collect 45 RPMhit records, you seldom keep them in their dust jackets. Far worse, however, is the frequency of small "accidents" that inevitably tend to produce scratches on the surface of the records. The circuit in the accompanying schematic introduces acure for much of the annoying ills caused by surface scratches. When connected as shown, it permits adjustable filtering of the audio before it becomes amplified. Rule of thumb: When surface noise is slight, capacities of 100-225 pfd will suffice; when scratches are more severe, full capacity will be required. Adjust the trimmers to suit. As more capacity is introduced, the bass response of your records willbe somewhat enhanced. The result, however, is still more pleasing than the 'clacks" of the needle passing over a gouge in the surface of the disc. PARTS LIST Cl, 2—500-pfd adjustable mica trimmer R1, 2—470K. Ohmite "Little Devil"57 SUBMINIATURE POWER SUPPLY Looking for a good source of low-voltage DC (9 to 12 volts)? Well, you've found it. This excellent little power supply can be used for any number of purposes, such as to power some of the projects in this book, as a supply for diode voltage triplers and quadruplers, or what-have-you. Perhaps the primary governing factor in this project's size (it can be built into a 21/2 x 2x1 1/4" plastic case) is the fact that it uses a standard transistor audio transformer for the main power conversion. But don't take just any audio transformer. The one you use must be capable of handling 117v AC, the iron core must notrun into saturation, primary impedance must be high enough at 60 Hz to keep current at a minimum under no-load conditions, and the primary-to- secondary ratio must be sufficient to furnish a reasonable amount of voltage when used for the purpose intended. We found that several Argonne types meet these requirements perfectly. For general, all-around transistor project building this little power supply comes in mighty handy! PLI 2 11.5 VDC + = OUTPUT 117 VAC SL + PARTS LIST PLI—AC plug. Amphenol C1—20 mfd, 50 WVDC elec- 61-M11 trolytic SwW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 D1—1N38B T1—Argonne AR-10058 THE MYSTERY ALARM Here's a circuit which will baffle your electronics-oriented friends, amuse the kiddies, yet provide a good time for all, Although some so-called experts may tell you that this thing can't possibly work, we suggest you build it in a transparent case so that the wiringis clearly visible and watch their jaws drop as you throw the switches. In operation, the mysterious alarm works exactly the re- verse of what you'd assume after studying the attached sche- PLI |117 vac! PARTS LIST BL1—6v DC bell BZ1—6v DC buzzer D1, 2, 3, 4—15 PIV (or higher), 1-amp silicon rec- tifiers 90 PL1—AC plug. Amphenol 61-M11 SW1, 2—SPST. Oak Type 175 T1—6. 3vAC filament trans - former. Triad F-14Xmatic. If youwantthe buzzer (BZ1)to sound, you throw switch SW1 (near the bell). Conversely, if you want the bell (BL1) to ring, you throw switch SW2. Impossible? Try it and see. Standard junkbox parts are the order of the day. The only thing to watch for is that diodes D1 through D4 be at least of the 200 PIV type and be capable of handling at least 1 amp of current each. If you like, you can use subminiature Inter- national Rectifier Type 804s. For more fun, build this in three sections, each in a clear plastic case connected together exactly as shownhere. They'll never figure it out! TT JUNKBOX MODULATION INDICATOR Here's adirt-cheap modulation indicator that instantly checks both the quality and percentage of audio you're pumping into your ham or CB rig. It evenflashes a warning light whenever distortion or overmodulation is reaching your final amplifier! You can also monitor your modulation on a pair of headsets if you'd like tohear exactly what you sound like at the other end. For best results, build this gadget into a separate Minibox connected by cables to your transmitter (it canbe housed quite well ina 51/4 x21/2 x 2 1/2" utility box). Mount a jack on the transmitter to accommodate the inser- tion of the modulation indicator's three-wire cable, taking pains that the suggested in-transmitter circuit shown here is carefully added to the transmitter exactly as in the accompany- ing diagram. The value of R1 depends on the power of your transmitter (see chart). Notice that .7 maonyour indicator meter represents exactly 100% modulation. By the same token, other readings show percentages of this in direct proportion. A .28 reading, for example, represents 40% modulation, while a .56 indicates 80%. In use, throw the transmitter on with the indicator coupled in and the modulation control all the way off. Now push SW1 91260M 1a YLWX OLNI LINDYID 40 NOILYOd SIHL GTING ™e 7 408! 002 T109 YNVL YO I4Y 2 ONIONIM N33M13@ YW4X YOLYINGOW 40 dOL 440 3XW1 “YLWX NI ANIOdG334 +8 G3LVINGOW OL NOE! oss AOI 00h Ne Sze Neo 0Sz N6E 0s) swyg a6 Ds]OA 24D[q Jou! by bel hai wdOLVOTONT la GNId OL MOH NOILW7NGOK wwe 3NOHdYW3 wNOTLYVYSI WI. ou 92PARTS LIST C1—70 pfd C2—10 mfd, 25WVDC elec- trolytic C3—110 mfd, 15 WVDC elec- trolytic D1, 2—1N2070 silicon rec- tifiers I1—NE-2A M1—0-1 DC milliammeter R1—See chart R2—3.6K. Ohmite "Little Devil" R3—7. 5K. Devil" R4—1.1meg. Ohmite "Little Devil" R5—10K pot. Ohmite CMU 1041 SW1— Pushbutton, ly-open Ohmite "Little normal- and simultaneously adjust R5 for a 1 ma meter reading. Re- lease SW1land start talking into the microphone while advanc- ing the modulation control on your transmitter. Keep talking until you reach .7 ma on the meter (100% modulation). Now to check overmodulation, whistle into the mike and watch I1 flicker. Finally, plug in the headset and see what you sound like! 60 DARKROOM TIMER CONTROL If you've ever done any photographic work, youcan appreciate that your success ultimately depends on near split-second timing. In the darkroom prints canbe ruined unless the proper exposure time is adhered to; hence, the multitude of mechani- cal and electrical timing devices currently available (some at pretty steep prices) in the camera shops. This project, though, consists of a reliable timer you can make with junkbox parts that willprovide accurate timing for all printing and enlarging requirements. An extremely simple item to build, the only point worth elaborating upon is the calibration. Using a clock with a sec- ond-hand (in a dimly-lit room) adjust R4 slowly until I1 is 93blinking at exactly one-second pulses. Now adjust R5 until 12 is blinking at 5-second intervals. Finish up by slowing tuning both R4 and R5 (ever so slightly) until the bulbs are in sync with each other. For proper timing, you need only count the number of 1- second and 5-second pulsed flashes. For 23 seconds, for ex- ample, watch for four flashes of 12 and three of Il. PLL 117 VAC SW1 PARTS LIST C1—10 mfd, 250 WVDC elec- trolytic Cc2—.11 mfd C3—.022 mfd C4—.5 mfd D1—25 ma selenium recti- fier Il, 2—NE-2 PL1—AC plug. Amphenol 61-M11 R1—1.1K. Ohmite Devil" R2, 3—18 meg. Ohmite "Lit- tle Devil" R4, 5—5 meg. Ohmite "Little Devil" SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 T1—1:1 ratio, 117v AC iso- lation transformer "Little 9461 EFFECTIVE 6-METER ANTENNA COUPLER Though the ham books and amateur radio magazines seem to abound with an impressive array of antenna couplers and matchers for the low-frequency bands (to 10 meters), when it comes to 50 MHz someone seems to have forgotten the lowly technician. The sad truth is that because of this, many final tubes are burned because of high SWR, and manufacturers either have to ignore this factor altogether or add it intotheir transmitters at the factory, consequently adding to the final price tag. As you can imagine the breakdown is something less than 50/50. OUTPUT v1 °& qweut +2 cl PARTS LIST diameter. 16 turns per inch. B & W 3015 C1—150-pfd variable C2—40-pfd, two sections, variable J1, 2—SO-239 coax recep- tacles. Amphenol 83-1RTY L1—3 turns of #16 wire, 1" L2—7 turns of #14 wire, 1- 3/4" diameter. 4 turns per inch. Tapped 2 turns from one end. B & W 3021 M1—0-2 amp RF ammeter. Weston 507 95Strick adherence to the specifications shown here, however, can cure your matching problems once and for all. Not one of those "all-around VHF couplers," this one's been designed expressly for the 6-meter enthusiast who's looking to get the utmost out of his system. Hooked to a conventional 52-ohm line, tune-up is accom- plished as follows: Using a good SWR bridge (Heathkits are excellent for this purpose), adjust the transmitter final and coupler for maximum meter reading on the bridge. Now, switch to reflected power (SWR) and tune slowlyfor minimum. Repeat this several times, and you'll be amazed how low your SWR will drop! TUBELESS AUDIO SQUELCH Here's a dandy receiver squelch you can throw together in no time with a minimum investment of parts. The only things you may have to buy are the GE #49 bulbs, whichare generally used as pilot lamps and quite inexpensive. It should be noted, of course, that the bulbs are instrumental to proper operation of the tubeless squelch and not in any way functional as flash- ers or what-have-you. For this reason, you can build the whole thing into a convenient spot under the receiver chassis, although if you wish it can be constructed outboard. You'll notice that two potentiometers are employed in this circuit. If possible, you may like to gang them for single- control operation. Actually, though, after a bit of trial-and- error with normal speaker volume you may elect only to use R2, setting Rlto a predetermined point thataffords R2 a"full swing" for your particular receiver. If your receiver's output speaker is something other than a 4-ohm type (which it probably isn't), you may have to install a matching transformer for maximum efficiency and perform- ance of the audio squelch. By the way, this thing is great for 2-meter enthusiasts lack- ing aBFO for catching those weak stations at the low end. Just adjust R2 for a slight above-the-noise-level break - in point, and you're in business! 96TO TR SWITCH 3-4 ohm SPKR PARTS LIST Il, 2—#49 bulbs R1, 2—100-ohm pots. Oh- mite CMU 1011 C1—.47 mfd ALL-PURPOSE BATTERY CHARGER Here's a battery charger unlike any other you will find in this book or elsewhere. Not only does it do an excellent job on any number of batteries (from 1 1/2 to 9v DC) commonly used in transistor circuits, but it also has been designed specific- ally with nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries in mind. A glance at the schematic will reveal that two separate out- put levels are provided: one for "regular charge" (the 150 ma contact points), and one for "super charge" (the 500 ma connector). Care should be exercised in selecting which you wish to use, since too many 500 ma whallops may ultimately shorten the recharging lifespan of your cells. If you're using ni-cads, check the manufacturer's sheets be- fore inserting the batteries. You'll notice that for best per- formance the ni-cads are supposed to become completely dis- charged at leastfour times per year. Additionally, the charg- ing rate is specified clearly, based on a 15-hour recharging 97XSP-A Pell *Laulsojsueqy quowely LO OV AR—TL SLT ed4L 0 *\LSdS—TMS LITO ed&T, oyUAYO *sHEM -Z/T ZT ‘yod wyo-90s—s ‘ZH ullaeq aM, uYOQ | “MIS—TH TIIN-19 Jousyduty = “Bnid OV—TTd r34 ~oMUIBTTTFA Od OST-0—ZIL 194 ~OMUIBITTH OG 00S-0— TT vé-aN—II asny due g¢°—z ‘Ta L6T-dS a0Key -By ‘due-t ‘Ald 00OT—z ‘Ta PFU L700°—T9 LSIT SLUVd + ADYWHD WW OST 39¥vH YW 00S OWA LIT Tdperiod. Never give a battery rated for a 150-ma charge a "super charge" unless you want to see a small explosion. You can monitor how your battery charge is progressing by eyeing either M1 or M2 (or both). Yes, it is possible to run both sections at once with no sacrifice. When the needle ap- pears to have leveled off, test your battery. It's probably ready to use again. “BEEPER” TRANSISTOR TESTER Here's a transistor tester for the realelectronics experimenter who could care less about various specifications but just wants to know whether the transistor he has on hand is "good" or "bad" before he uses it to build a project. c 277 TRANSISTOP ro UNDER L4e TEST C1 4--46 i Bl PNP Si NPN +T SPKR PARTS LIST B1—3v DC R1—4K. Devil" R2, 4—1.1K. Ohmite "Lit- tle Devil" R3—50K pot. Ohmite CMU 5041 Ohmite "Little Ohmite R5—360. "Little Devil" SW1—DPDT. OakSeries 200 SW2—SPST on R3. Ohmite CSs-1 T1—TR radio output trans- former, 5K:100 ohms. Ar gonne AR-111 99Well, this little gadget does just that. If you hear a shrill "beep" in the speaker, your transistor is good. No sound at all and the transistor can be thrown on the scrap pile. Construction is simple and straight-forward. The unit can be made to mount quite neatly in a 7 x 4 x 2" bakelite case with a metal lid that screws down. Notice that switch SW1 allows you to alternate the circuitfor both PNP and NPNtransistor types. Always check firstto see what type your questionable transistor is. In operation, merely adjust R3 until a "beep" is heard. This is best accomplished by starting from a wide-open position and slowly "tuning" backwards towards zero-resistance. 65 SIMPLEST FIELD STRENGTH METER This little monitoring gadget is hard to beat for its simplicity and general, all-around versatility. With it you can detect any local source of radio-frequency (RF), and get a meter reading solely dependent upon how close you are to the trans- mitter or antenna. It can be used for tuning up ham and CB rigs (adjusting for maximum indication on M1), for finding sources of annoying interference (you may wind up right next to the upstairs TV set), or even for unearthing hidden eaves- drop or "bug" transmitters! M1 + PARTS LIST = D1—1N38B M1—0-1 DC milliammeter D1 100The whole thing can be built into a case exactly the size of the meter. Subminiature meters often come with small tri- angular-shaped bakelite cases that are idealfor this purpose. Many experimenters ignore the "case" idea altogether and simply carry the device aboutby the meter. The antenna you'll want is dependent upon how far you are from the RF source. If you'll be doing close test work on ham transmitters, a single 10-turn coil of wire with one end connected to the meter will do the job. For unknown transmitter finding and antenna tune-ups, you might want to use a TR-radio type telescoping whip. 66 ELECTRONIC REFLEX-ACTION GAME Perhaps this project could be called a 'fast-on-the-draw" game, too, or any number of other possibilities. The princi- ple is interesting; it's based on the famous 15¢ horse race games at Coney Island, and many traveling carnivals, where the contestants (usually a minimum of 4) are tested for their reaction to a horse-race taking place on a brightly-colored screen in front of them. When a buzzer sounds, the player first hitting the switch sees his horse (and no other) advance one length toward the goal. Then music is pumped through the PA system and sud- denly the buzzer signals another race to the switches, which are generally large levers or pushbuttons. Whoever gets to his switch first gets another length ahead in the race for a box of stale salt water taffy. Inthis project there areno racing horses, butof all the lights presented on your board only one will light and that will be- long to the player who hit his switch before all the others. After the first light, nothing happens regardless of how fast the other players may be. This circuit reacts to voltages switched in microseconds. And it can't be fooled. For ex- citement, offer a prize to the first player to get three con- secutive wins. Then sit back and watch the action. 101SLT sed&L yeO “LsdS—? ‘s ‘2 ‘TMS alF40d 9141T.. ayo AI WaAWId III YaAWId “M001—9 “6 ‘8 {2 Il YaAWI1d a “g * ¥ ‘e SO ‘TH -AN—Zr ‘TT ‘OT 9 ‘¢ y ‘6 ‘3 “II 1 YaAWId Od 406—Ta LSIT SLUVd 10267 KILOWATT RF VOLTMETER Here's adevice guaranteed to warm the heart of any ham radio operator: An in-line RF meter that will handle the full legal power level—1000 watts—as well as lower-powered trans- mitters in the 20-watt-and-under classification. Also, the meter permits your seeing exactly what's going up to the an- temna as opposed to an FSMwhich may he reading stray RF or a harmonic instead of the actual output signal. METAL BOX PARTS LIST M1—0-1 DC milliammeter Rl, 2, 3—2.4K, 2 watts. C1, 2—.0047 mfd Ohmite "Little Devil" D1—1N38B R4—5K pot, 2 watts J1, 2—SO-239 coax recep- R5—10.1K, 2 watts Ohmite tacles. Amphenol 83-1RTY "Little Devil" 103Built into a small universal-type meter box (which can mea- sure 4 3/4 x 41/4 x 41/4"), the voltmeter is outfitted with two standard SO-239 coax connectors. The device can be used with any matched 75-ohm or 50-ohm antenna system. In use, merely adjust R4 for a comfortable setting and tune the transmitter's output loading controls for a maximum read- ing on M1. If you use a long-wire antenna, ground the box to your transmitter with a section of heavy copper wire. Notice that R4 must be a composition (conventional) type po- tentiometer—not one of the wirewound variety. 68 FM TUNER TO HI-FI ADAPTER UNIT You say you haven't got a professional FM tuner to hook into your new hi-fi system? Our betis you have but just don't know it. - By closely following the circuit modification shown in the dia- gram, you should be able to convert any good FM radio into a tuner at the flick of a switch (SW1). The idea is simply to temporarily disconnect the radio's audio amplifier section from the RF tuner and feed the signal on to an outboard hi-fi instead. Care should be taken to insure that no AC hum is added to the signal in the process. One way is to use inexpensive shielded microphone cable between the hi-fi amplifier andthe FM radio —all the way up to the volume control. The same is true for the switch (SW1) which should be mounted on the rear of the FM radio and not at the amplifier for best results. PARTS LIST SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 104FROM FM DETECTOR BREAK ORIGINAL + TO AUDIO IT crrcu vi * STAGES VOLUME TO HI-FI AMPLIFIER 69 $1.50 LIGHT DIMMER Although most hardware stores, electronic parts outlets, and electrical supply stores will sell you a commercial version of this project, chances are it will cost quite a bit. Diodes rated at 3 amps with PiVs of 200 and higher are being distributed through many surplus houses for around 88¢ these days, and even brand-new from a major electronics company they shouldn't run over $1.50. Chances are, however, that you'll have this one somewhere in your junkbox just waiting to be pressed into action. To make this effective light dimmer work, all you need is a replacement-type double wall switch upon which you can mount D1 as indicated in the accompanying diagram. Once completed, you have converted the switch into a lamp dimmer that looks no different than a conventional wall switch. In operation SW2 (lower switch) will turn the lights on and off; SW1 will dim them to one-half normal brilliance when it is open and provide maximum light when closed. The 3-amp rectifier can control a maximum total wattage of about 250. 105HOUSEHOLD \ WALL SWITCH TO CONTROLLED FIXTURE PARTS LIST D1—200 PIV, 3-amp silicon diode rectifier SW1, 2—Household AC wall switches 70 SCR DIODE CHECKER Here's another junkbox great: a fail-safe silicon rectifier diode tester that performs the one function important to any true electrons experimenter—telling you if the SCR is good or bad. No nonsense, no computing, no complicated graph interpretations. Just plug it in and find out what you want to know. For expediency's sake, we've used Westinghouse 1N1217 diodes for D1 and D2. You may want to substitute, but before you do we suggest your checking with some of the companies listed in the back of the book. All other components are fairly conventional types, easily scrounged from anumber of sources, 106XPI-d Pelt ‘rourroy -sued} quoweply OVAE*9—TL SLI sd4L, YEO “LSdS—TMS uTH4ed OTT, aqWYyO"*syEM Z ‘TI—S ‘FU LOST dK ,, ‘THAed uMorg,, aywyO ‘syemM g ‘ZI—Zu uTTA0 O11 ayo "swem Z ‘9¢—E ‘TH TTIN-T9 Joueyduy “Bnd OVy—TId sqing yo11d 2b#—€ ‘2 ‘TI seporp LIZINT esnoysuyysamM—zZ ‘TA o1AJoOeTO OGAM SZ ‘PFU OOOT—zZ ‘TO LSTl SLUVd uN3d0u IMS Jd0HLVS i Ta TaBefore throwing switch SW1, make absolutely sure of proper diode polarity. If you are in doubt, refer to any SCR hand- book, ARRL handbook, or industrial catalog or spec sheets. Generally, polarity is indicated by a schematic imprint on the case itself, although the rule-of-thumb seems to be that the protruding shaft with a hole in it is the anode, the case itself being the cathode. Unless you get a firm "good" indication on the tester, best send your SCR to the corner scrap heap. MECHANIZED POLARITY REVERSER Here's a device you can't buy commercially, yet one with a great many applications in view of today's increase in the acceptance of transistorized power converters and the often- encountered difficulties such installations sometimes result in. Our polarity reverser permits the DC polarity to be al- ternated easily when placed between a transistorized converter (or inverter) and the DC power source. Additionally, itserves to insure against damage that is sometimes caused by the ac- cidental application of an incorrect polarity. The beauty of this circuit is that regardless of the polarity of the power source the output will always be correct, as shown in the accompanying diagram. The unit can be as- sembled on just about any chassis form you have available, and the actual components used are determined pretty much by the currents and voltage coming from the main power source. As usual, watch the polarity of your diode rectifier or you'll wind up with a reverse-action polarity reverser ! PARTS LIST D1—International Rectifier Type 10B1 silicon rectifier KI—DPDT relay. Pottery & Brumfield MR11D 108OUTPUT “INSTANT-ON" APPLIANCE ADAPTER Being accustomed to all kinds of "instant-on" appliances, it's somewhat disconcerting to have to wait 20 seconds or longer for your old tube-type radio to warm up. Hence the current rash of commercial items selling anywhere from $2.95 to $8.95 as "instant-on" converters. Such devices are fine if you want to spend the money, but we prefer our own homebrew concoction that does the same job entirely with junkbox parts. You're probably wondering how this thing works, but since this is not a textbook you'll have to dope it out yourself, if you're so inclined. Suffice to say that this adapter's been de- signed for garden-variety AC/DC kitchen radios and that the NE-2A is strictly an indicator to let you know that the radio's warmed up. (It's not functional in any way in the instant-on circuit.) Incidentally, you can have a lot of fun by building this circuit into the AC/DC (omitting the neon assembly), disguising D1 as an electrolytic. The result (if you don't mind having the set warmed up all the time) is guaranteed to baffle your electronic- minded friends—particularly the so-called "experts." 109C D1 " STANDBY! 117 VAC PARTS LIST R1—220K. Ohmite "Little D1—200 PIV, 2-amp silicon Devil" rectifier SO1—AC socket. Amphenol I1—NE-2A 61-M1P-61F PLI—AC plug. Amphenol SW1—SPDT householdswitch 61-M11 73 CHEATER CORD CURE-ALL If you've ever done any TV servicing, you know what a nuis- ance those interlocks are when it comes to removing the back of the set. What usually happens is that you have to remove the back, disconnect the AC line from the wall socket, hunt about for a cheater cord and try tofind an outlet close enough to hook up the cord (which is usually too short) and your test instruments and soldering gun. This simple project, however, will put an end to such frus- tration and fuming. Complete with a neon-assembly pilot light that tells you when the Cure-all is on, the control box contains its own AC socket. Hence you've just eliminated 20 minutes of scrambling every time there's a servicing job, plus a multitude of extension cords. 110The Cure-All can be designed to fit into just about any size container you have handy, since the biggest item physically is the accessory socket. If you like, you can string two or three accessory sockets into the circuit, thereby doubling and tripling the versatility of your finished unit. CHEATER CHORD 117 VAC PARTS LIST PLI—AC plug. Amphenol 61-M11 I1—NE-2A4 SO1—AC socket. Amphenol R1—51K. Ohmite "Little 61-M1P-61F Devil" SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 74 AUTOMATIC FREQUENCY FINDER Here's a circuit that's been making the rounds in certain VHF ham circles for years, yet has an application for just about any tinkerer who likes to roll his own. What it does is deter- mine the resonant frequency of just about any parallel L/C (coil-capacitor paralleled) circuit you have going. All it re- quires is a 0-50 DC microammeter, a single 2600-ohm re- sistor, a .0022-mfd capacitor, and a run-of-the-mill-type 111diode detector (1N38B). Connect the Frequency Finder to any available RF signal generator and you're in business. In operation the signal generator is tuned very slowly through its entire range of frequencies as you watch fora sudden peak reading on the meter (M1). Exact frequency of the tuned cir- cuit is determined by the exact peak point in that reading. Peaks will occur not only at the resonant frequency but at harmonics of this frequency as well. However, the peak at the resonant frequency will be considerably larger than the others. After you do a couple of these, you'll be skilled in recognizing this frequency. If you want to go all out and fancy, you can substitute a 5K potentiometer for R1, which will permit you to adjust the gen- eral level of M1's needle prior to the "home-base" rise. + Rl UNKNOWN CIRCUIT PARTS LIST C1—.0022 mfd D1—1N38B M1—0-50 DC microammeter R1—2.7K. Ohmite "Little Devil" 11275 WORLD'S CHEAPEST INTERCOM Though you may have not been aware of the fact, acceptable intercom performance canbe achieved with only apair of PM loudspeakers connected together. That's right! No transis- tors, ICs, tubes, or other components required! Trick to optimum performance, however, is in selecting PM speakers with the largest magnet available (typically, these range from 0.66 to 1.5 ounces or more). The heavier the speaker magnet, the more volume youcan expectfrom the intercom. Of course, the volume is not to be compared with intercoms containing several stages of amplification but it is sufficient, generally, for quiet locations, such as in most households. It is not recommended, obviously, for noisy factory areas. To boost output, you can install universal 500-ohm primary and 3:2-4-ohm secondary line-to-voice coil transformers at the speakers (primary to speakers, secondary to intercon- nection wires). But first, try your intercom without the trans- formers. You may be surprised at the performance! PM SPKR PM SPKR 'TALK/LISTEN TALK/LISTEN PARTS LIST 2—Four - inch diameter PM loudspeakers with large Al- nico-V magnets. See text ET 11376 150-VOLT UNIVERSAL POWER SUPPLY Here's a dandy power supply which can be whipped together in no time almost completely from junkbox materials. It can be designed to fit any available chassis and will save you hours of exasperation when facing a construction project involving a 1- or 2-tube circuit requiring 150v DC B-plus voltage. Initi- ally constructed to power a VHF converter, it wound up as a receiver supply for a 2-tube 80-meter project. The filter capacitors, which are electrolytic, can be placed individually, or as a multi-section can. Values are not criti- cal so long as you watch WVDC ratings. Ifyou like, youcan add a 3-watt 65Kbleeder resistor across the B-plus output and ground. This will be helpful if you're not feeding into a constant-load. Additionally, you can rig up apilot lamp across the filament winding or even a neon bulb assembly across the primary of T1. The author suggests bringing the output to a three-screw terminal strip for maximum versatility. PARTS LIST L1—8-henry choke C1—40 mfd, 350WVDCelec- PL1—AC plug. Amphenol trolytic 61-M11 C2—20mfd, 350WVDCelec- R1—51, 2 watts. Ohmite trolytic "Little Devil" C3—25 mfd, 350WVDCelec- SW1—SPST. Oak Type 175 trolytic T1—150 & 6.3v AC. Merit D1—325 PIV, 60-ma silicon 114 P-3046PLI 117 VAC SW1 D1 Tl AN ELECTRONIC SHAVER CONVERTER Many people believe that the best way to get a really good shave with an electric razor is to power the device with DC instead of the conventional household 117v AC. The reason many give is thatthe shaver runs more efficiently and smooth- ly, which is said to result in a greatly- improved morning shave. This device, while extremely simple to build, has been designed to supply your electric razor with half-wave DC. If you doubt the concept, we dare you to build it and give the Shaver Converter a comparison check with normal AC use. Our bet is you'll never go back to old-fashioned (converter- less) shaving. Bear in mind that your converter will be used in the bathroom where it is very likely to get wet, if not extremely moist. Seal the converter thoroughly and place it where the kiddies won't find it (if that is possible !). Final note: Mark clearly on your chassis "For Shaver Only." Connecting other appliances to a rectified DC source could prove disastrous. 115PARTS LIST PLI—AC plug. Amphenol 61-M11 C1—20 mfd, 250 WVDC elec- RI—110K. Ohmite "Little trolytic Devil" D1—200 PIV, 800 ma sili- SOl—AC socket. Amphenol con 61-M1P-61F 78 SHAVE-IN-YOUR-CAR ADAPTER If you don't plan on plunking down $29.95 for a commercial transistorized power inverter for your automobile, yet still like the idea of being able to shave on your way to work in the morning, this gadget is for you. Operating on the same gen- eral principle as the converter in the last project, this in- expensive adapter makes use of your car radio's B-plus cir- cuit to power the shaver. Of course, if you're using a new transistorized radio that runs completely off 12v DC, forget it. But check the schematic of the radio (pasted inside the removal back plate) and see. A great number of these radios still use power ranging to 150v DC, achieved through trans- formers and solid-state vibrator replacements. Regardless, see if you can tap off at least 117v AC. 116Should you happen to have a tube radio or CB set from which you can steal 250 volts B-plus, you can use this, too. Simply adjust R1 for a voltmeter reading that does not exceed 120v with the accelerator floored. Even if the most you can steal is 80-90 volts, don't despair. You'd be surprised what a shave you'll get anyway. TO RADIO GROUND ACROSS RCVR B+ SUPPLY PARTS LIST R1—5K pot. Ohmite CMU 5021 SO1—AC socket. Amphenol 61-M1P-61F SW1—SPDT. Oak Series 200 ROMANTIC LIGHT DIMMER Undoubtedly you've seen the rheostat-type wall light switches which permit your dimming the overhead lights to any desired level at the flick of the dial. Unfortunately, however, these things seem to retail at prices that generally start at $7.95 and go all the way to $16.95 for some outlets. Naturally, not desiring to go this route, we checked out some of the whole- sale components people (see this list in the back of the book) and found that by careful buying we could rollour own for con- siderably less. With junkbox parts and wholesale - priced 117SCRs it shouldn't run you more than $3.00 tops. A further saving is realized by employing NE-83s (see the schematic). For dimming fluorescent lamps, always "start" the tube by beginning at maximum brilliance, then slowly dimming it until the desired level is attained. CAUTION: Never use on high- wattage loads. Incidentally, list price of the RCA 2N3528s is $1.63. But careful shopping should turn up some for at least half this price. 117 VAC PARTS LIST C1, 2—.22 mfd D1, 2—2N3528 SCR. 1.3 amp, 200 PIV D3, 4—1N4002 Il, 2—NE-83 13—Incandescent or floures- cent bulb to be regulated, up to 200-watt rating PL1I—AC plug. Amphenol 61-M11 R1—100K pot. Ohmite CMU 1041 11880 TAPED CQ'ER DEVICE Here's a contester's delight: an adapter which will allow you to call "CQ Contest" to your heart's content automatically by means of an endless loop on your tape recorder. Nothing new? Perhaps not at first glance (VHF phone men have been doing it for years), but a close inspection reveals that we're talking about a device for CW! The adapter, which can be built into your transmitter or as a separate unit altogether, converts modulated pulses into a relay action that in turn keys the transmitter. To operate, you merely program a"CQ CONTEST DE K2ZSQ" type endless tape (a continuous loop) of CW stamped out on a goodcode practice oscillator. The output (MCW) is then coupled directly to the adapter, where it actuates the relay. After the system has been hooked up, all that remains is for you to adjust the volume control of the recorder for proper relay ‘response. It should be noted, of course, that a key will still be necessary for you to interject your long "K" sign- off, although this can be eliminated if you elect not to use a continuous tape but instead a single "CQ DX" tape that runs to the very end of the reel. This can usually be accomplished by making the recording, playing it back, and snipping the programmed section of the tape (perhaps 5 to 7" worth). This should then be inserted as a separate tape into the recorder with the end of the tape firmly affixed to the spool by means of Scotch Tape. In this way you won't lose your tape when it runs out. If you have an automatic cut-off feature on the re- corder, you're in business. If not, you'll have to shut off the mechanism manually. This isn't any real problem, how- ever, because by this time you're getting replies to your CQ and the other chap could care less about the recorder. It's done its job! 119A slightly more sophisticated approach that is particularly applicable at the VHFs is to program an entire tape with "CQ CONTEST DE K2ZSQ (three times) K" followed by a30-second pause and then beginning again. The pause, which you can vary to suit your own tuning habits, serves as the time during which you will listen for replies. A VOX circuit is directly hooked to the recorder output (paralleled with the keying adapt- ter) which keeps the recorder running only when it is sending your transmission. During the pause periods, it shuts off your transmitter completely and switches you to receive. If you don't get a reply, it automatically starts the transmitter again and kills the receiver B-plus (standby switch). If you do, you simply stop the recorder. n 2 TAPE “43 ele. XMTR KEY JACK OUTPUT Ey 2=* D1, 2—125 PIV, 50-ma sil- icon K1—2.5K SPDT relay. Pot- ter & Brumfield GB5D T1—Universal output trans- former. Lafayette 33G7505 120“THE VACATIONER" AUTOMATIC HOUSE SWITCH Want afoolproof method for foiling would-be thieves and van- dals? This inexpensive gadget makes use of a photoelectric cell to "sense" darkness and to turn on small lamps through- out the house come evening, thereby automatically giving the impression that the occupants are indeed home and active. 117 VAC PARTS LIST I1—Household lamp or lamps, to 100 watts total K1—24v DC SPDT relay. C1—4 mfd, 350 WVDC elec- trolytic D1—RCA 40265. 400 PIV rectifier 130 ma, Newark 60F1749 PC1—Photocell R1—16 R2—11K, 3 watts 121Actually, you'll notice that the circuit says something dif- ferent. What really happens is that the lamps are always on, except when sunlight hits the photocell. The inexpensive re- lay functions as the trigger which in turn breaks contact to the electrical circuit. Of course, you could adapt this automatic switch arrange- ment for some other purpose, or in fact use it to power any 117v AC device which doesn't draw more than 100 watts. Be sure that the photocell is placed (yes, you canremote it over a considerable distance) in such a position that it al- ways gets sunlight. You wouldn't want the lights to come on at 2:30 in the afternoon when the photocell "moved" into a shady spot! Construction is simple, yet remember that you're dealing with house current—not 9-volt TR batteries. Make certain that R2 is at least 3 watts and nothing smaller. Incidentally, the "vacationer" by itself draws almost no power. You may wish to leave it hooked up the year 'round. 82 9-VOLT TR BATTERY ELIMINATOR Here's a project that just about explains itself—a simple, 9v DC transistor battery eliminator. It's designed for applications just about anywhere you normally find yourself using (and con- stantly replacing) nine-volt batteries. For example, substituting this circuit in an electronic camera flash unit will prove exceptionally productive, at least it has for the author. In some transistor radios, however, a slight degree of AC hum is liable to be introduced, since the circuit PARTS LIST PL1I—AC plug. Amphenol 61-M11 C1—30 mfd, 150WVDC elec- R1—51, 1 watt. Ohmite trolytic "Little Devil" D1—30- or 50-ma selenium R2, 3—6.8K, 2 watts. Oh- rectifier mite "Little Devil" 122shown in the accompanying diagram employs a half- rather than a full-wave rectified supply. In other radios we experi- mented with, however, no traceable hum was detected. In any case, exercise caution; you will be dealing with 117v AC and will want to keep all leads insulated. House the whole unit in such a way as to preclude accidental shock. rt D1 R2 7 117 VAC 83 Here's an amazingly effective noise limiter you can put together in about 15 minutes, yet it will save you plenty of frustration if you're an avid DXer or SWL. Using two inexpensive zener diodes comected more or less back to back, the limiter will eliminate some of those ear- splitting occasions when a strong local signal suddenly plops in on frequency right on top of your S2 DX station. Addition- ally, it'll allow you to tune to your ownfrequency when trans- mitting CW (to monitor your signals and keying) withoutneces- sitating your dashing across the table—spilling the 807 all over the logbook—to turn the volume nearly all the way down. Merely connect the gadget between the receiver and head- phones and you're in business. Chassis? Any plastic box or pill container will do. SIMPLEST NOISE LIMITER PARTS LIST D1, 2—6. 8-volt, 400-milli- R1—11K. Ohmite "Little watt zener. Motorola 1N957 Devil" 123TO RCVR PHONE JACK SLIDE-SWITCH LOUDNESS CONTROL When you've been suddenly called away from the record player and reduce the volume to take a telephone call, did you ever notice how the bass and treble response no longer seem as good? Seldom is this caused by any defect in your player's electronics; rather, it is inherent in human hearing that cer- tain volume levels (higher, generally, than low background music) are necessary before the ear "hears" the presence of bass and certain treble notes. The circuit shown in the accompanying diagram, however, takes this into consideration. Since bass notes are most often adversely affected by a sudden loss in volume, they are boost- ed the most. What happens, then, is that as SW1 is switched on the loudness control takes over, simultaneously lowering volume from concert hall levels to soft, background presence while retaining the bass (and treble) proportions to which you were accustomed at the higher volume setting. 124Inconstruction, keep leads short, house the unit ina shielded chassis, and use shielded mike cable to interconnect between your preamplifier and final amp. If a single-chassis preamp-amplifier is the case, disconnect the lead presently wired to the arm (center terminal) of the volume control and connect this wire to the input of the loud- ness control. The output, of course, goes to the volume con- trol. PARTS LIST (receptacles), Amphenol 75-3 C1—.0015 mfd Rl, 2, 3— 33K. Ohmite C2— 500 pfd "Little Devil" C3, 4—.015 mfd R4, 5—Ohmite "Little Devil" Jl, 2— Audio connectors SW1—SPDT. Oak Type 200 12585 99* STROBOSCOPE You couldn't ask for a much simpler project than this one. It calls for a single 1-watt resistor, one crystal diode, anda neon bulb, yet provides stroboscopic action. If you like, you can substitute a 75K or 100K potentiometer for Rl. This will permit your adjusting the flashes of bulb I1 somewhat. Although a number of various housings can be made for this dandy gadget, our favorite is to build it into a "cleaned-out" fountain pen, with the bulb protruding just where the pen point normally would appear. This arrangementfacilitates all kinds of testing and makes the instrument just that much more versa- tile and portable. I R1 PLI 117 VAC D1 PARTS LIST PLI—AC plug. Amphenol 61-M11 D1—1N38B R1—36K, 2 watts. Ohmite I1—NE-48 "Little Devil" 12612* LIGHTNING DETECTOR Ridiculous as this may sound, some experienced amateur radio operators are not even aware of this simple trick. The key to best results with this 12¢ detector is a good, wet ground and a long, high antenna wire. The longer the antenna, the further away you'll be able to detect lightning. If youfind it necessary (as K2ZSQ once did, hookinghis neon bulb to a 1200-foot long-wire antenna), you may want to add a 25K potentiometer across the antenna and ground, permit- ting you to adjust the brightness and flashes of the bulb under overload conditions. If you're very close to the storm (or simply have a darned good antenna), you'll find that the neon flashes seem to meld together into one long continuous glow. In this case, add some resistance by adjusting the pot. PARTS LIST I1—NE-2 12787 NEON BULB AC-DC VOLTMETER Here's a test instrument that at first glance seems similar to Project 84, until you realize that this gadget requiresno power supply of its own. Instead, it merely samples both AC and DC voltages to tell you what kind of currents you're fooling around with. By building it with a faceplate similar to that in Project 84 (pointer knob and all), you can construct it in a small plastic parts box and wind up with atruly pocket-size, portable test- ing device. Calibration is identical to that described in the previous test- er, except that you can make it simpler if you wish just by feeding in a known voltage and marking this on the faceplate. If you have a variable-voltage power supply handy, you're in business. If not, you'd do best with the technique shown in Project 84. In use, adjust R1 until the neon light just lights, then read out the voltage on the dialplate. Incidentally, you can identify voltage polarity by keeping an eye on which electrode inside the neon bulb lights. Clue: The one that glows is invariably negative. PARTS LIST C1—.22 mfd T1—NE-2 R1—5 meg pot. Ohmite CMU 5052 R2, 3—110K. Ohmite "Little Devil" 128SIMPLE RC TESTER No, this gadget won't tell you a thing about remote control airplanes, but if you need a gadget to help find values for junkbox resistors and capacitors, this baby's for you! It is another pocket-size test instrument that requires no elaborate meters or what-have-you, yet will read out satisfactorily a wide range of capacitance and resistance values to help you in locating that urgently needed component. What'll it do? When accurately calibrated this simple tester willread resistances between 2.5 and 20 megohirs and capaci- tances between .022 mfd and 1.0 mfd. Following earlier de- scribed techniques, make two separate face (or dial) plates for SW1 and SW2, marking the SW1 plate with ".05,"'".1," 25," and". 5," (mfd) andthe plate for SW2 as "2.7," "5.1," "11," and "22" (megohms) to correspond to appropriate switch positions. After completion, hook the RC tester to a power supply fur- nishing about 125v DC. This isn't critical; you can godown to about 95v DC and up to about 150v DC with no difficulty if you like. For resistance finding, hook the unknown resistor across BP3 and BP4. Switch SW1 (on the capacitor side) to".05 mfd." Now turn the power supply on, switch SW2 to the "R" position and watch the blinking of I1. Now rotate SW2 until you get the same pulse rate as you did with the unknown resistor across BP3 and BP4 (on position "R"), and you've got the value of the resistor. Simple? If the pulse rate is toohigh, try another setting with SW1. Incidentally, use common sense if all else 129“4d Ol +— +48 OL ullaeg ST OUYO “Bou 2z—FU altaod, AIT, eyo “Sour TI—eu ullAed 217 “WT, eyMyO ‘Sou T*s—zu uTH40q 213 “WT, oyUYyO “Bou 4 °7—TY Ig-GN—Il1 py ¢*—4O yur ¢z°—€9 PRU T*—Zo Py Go°—TO sqsod Suipuld—F ‘e ‘2 ‘Idd LSTI SLUVdfails. If the pulsing rate is about twice what you're getting at the "2.7 meg" setting, chances are the resistor's a 1. 25- meg job. If the pulse rate seems to be something between, say, the 11 and 22 meg resistors, chances are it's on the or- der of 15 megs in value. For capacitors, hookthe unknown value across BP1 and BP2. Set SW2 to the 2.7-meg position and notice the pulse rate at which I1 blinks while SW1 is in the "C" position. Now switch to the calibrated positions from .05 to .5 mfd, respectively, and match the pulse rate using the techniques just described. When you attain the same blinking rate, you've nailed down that previously-unknown capacitor's value. If youhave trouble matching the blinking, try another position (not "R") on SW2. 89 HI-Fl NOTCH FILTER Here's a filter that is technically not a filter at all but rather a "nulling" device. It's main purpose in life is to provide you with a cheap way of filtering (or nulling): out unwanted AC hum that invariably is introduced in even the best hi-fi sets. To OUTPUT PARTS LIST R1—500K pot. Ohmite CMU 5041 R2, 3—2 meg pots. Ohmite C1, 2, 3—.0047 mfd CMU 2052 131