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9 Circuits Ebook

9 Circuits eBook

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Saulius Banys
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
340 views60 pages

9 Circuits Ebook

9 Circuits eBook

Uploaded by

Saulius Banys
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 60

Introduction

This book is intended as a practical book for improving your electronics


building skills. It starts off with an introduction to circuit diagrams and how
breadboards work. Here you'll get you step-by-step instructions on how to
build a simple circuit on a breadboard. After the introduction, the book
presents 9 circuit diagrams of increasing difficulty for you to build.

For each circuit you'll get the circuit diagram, the parts list, and a description
of what to expect when you've connected the circuit correctly. I will not show
you exactly how to connect each circuit on the breadboard, because the point
of this book is for you to practice figuring out how to do that. Understanding
how to build something from a circuit diagram is an extremely useful skill.

For each of the circuits I've created a web page where you can ask questions
about the circuit. You can find all these pages here:

https://ohmify.com/9circuits/

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 2


About The Author
Øyvind Nydal Dahl is a maker, programmer, writer, speaker, blogger, author,
tech enthusiast, guitar player and more.

He has a Master’s degree in electronics from the University of Oslo, helps


companies develop new products, and travels the world while teaching
electronics workshops. He is the founder of the beginner-friendly blog
www.build-electronic-circuits.com and the membership site ohmify.com.

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 3


“I was born in Lillehammer, Norway in 1984.

My interest in electronics started when I was around 14 years old. One day I
started thinking about how you could make a light blink. The curiosity started
to grow in me and I just had to figure it out. In such a situation it was good to
have a father with electronics experience.

And that's how my journey in electronics began. Throughout my teens I kept


trying to build stuff. I remember going to the library on Saturdays and just
read lots of books on electronics.

I went on to study electronics and computer science at the University of Oslo


from 2004. I learned lots of theory, but there was almost no practical work!

After I finished my Master's degree in Microelectronics, I started an


electronics company with a friend. During that time I learned a lot about how
to solder, how to debug a circuit, how to get circuit boards made really cheap
and lots of other hands-on experience of building electronic circuits on a
budget.

In 2012 I decided to quit the company and pursue my passion of teaching


electronics in the simplest possible way.”

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 4


Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................2
About The Author.........................................................................................................................3
How To Build The Circuits In This Book...............................................................................6
Build Your First Breadboard Circuit....................................................................................13
Circuit 1: The Touch-Enabled Light.....................................................................................21
Circuit 2: The Steady-Hand Game.......................................................................................25
Circuit 3: The Cookie Jar Alarm............................................................................................31
Circuit 4: The Dark-Enabled Light........................................................................................34
Circuit 5: The Blinking LED......................................................................................................38
Circuit 6: The Two Flashing LEDs.........................................................................................43
Circuit 7: The Party Lights.......................................................................................................46
Circuit 8: The Homemade Musical Instrument..............................................................50
Circuit 9: The Running LED Light Show.............................................................................54
How To Understand And Build Your Own Things?......................................................59
Resistor Color Codes................................................................................................................60

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How To Build The Circuits In This Book
For each circuit in this book, you'll see a circuit diagram with a parts list.
Circuit diagrams are drawings of how to connect components to build
something specific with electronics. The parts list tells you which component
values you should use.

Each component has a symbol. The symbols are connected with lines that
show you how to connect the components. After seeing a few circuit
diagrams, you’ll quickly learn how to distinguish the different symbols.

What The Components Look Like


There are many versions of the symbol for each component in electronics.
Below I've listed the ones you'll meet in this book.

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Battery

Resistor

Capacitor Non-polarized

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Capacitor Polarized

Light-Emitting Diode (LED)

Transistor

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Pushbutton

Speaker

Buzzer

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Integrated Circuit

Note: For some integrated circuits it's normal to use a symbol that represents
its function instead of the above box. Like this schmitt-triggered inverter:

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Building Circuits On A Breadboard
A breadboard is a really simple tool for building a circuit. You don’t have to
solder, just plug in the components. This means you can reuse the
components as many times as you want for building something else later.

Breadboards have two areas for placing components and two power supply
areas. I've labeled these four areas in the photo below. The five holes of each
row in a component area are connected with metal inside the board. The rows
on the left component area are separated from the rows on the right
component area.

To make a connection between the pins of two components, you plug the

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 11


pins you want to connect onto the same row in one of the component areas.
If it's not possible to connect them on the same row, you can use a wire from
one row to another to make the connection.

In the figure below the lower pin of the resistor and the upper pin of the LED
are connected on the same row (Row 7). That means these pins are connected
to each other. The upper leg of the resistor and the lower leg of the LED are
not connected to anything.

In the supply areas, the holes are connected column-wise instead. This means
that if you connect the plus of your battery to the top-right hole of the supply
area on the right, all the holes from top to bottom of the right-most column
of this area will be connected to the plus.

Note: On bigger breadboards the supply areas are sometimes divided into
four areas; Top-right, top-left, bottom-right and bottom-left.

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Build Your First Breadboard Circuit

Part Value Description


Battery 9V Standard 9V Battery
Battery Connector To connect the battery to the board
Breadboard A breadboard with ~400 holes
Resistor 470 Ω Resistor to reduce the current in LED
LED Red Standard Output LED

This is a simple circuit to light up a Light-Emitting Diode or LED. All you need
is a battery, a resistor and an LED. The resistor is there to reduce the amount
of current that flows through the LED. You always want a resistor in series
with an LED. Without the resistor there's a good chance your LED will break.

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Step 1 – Connect The Resistor
In this circuit you’ll need a resistor of 470 Ω. If you look closely at a resistor,
you can see it has several color bands. These colors tell you the value of the
resistor. At the end of this book, I’ve added a table that shows the color-
coding of a resistor. To find a 470 Ω resistor, you need to look for a resistor
that has the following color bands:

Yellow – Purple – Brown – Gold/Silver

Connect the 470 Ω resistor from the top row on column F down to row 7 on
the same column, as shown in the figure below. It doesn't matter which leg
you place where.

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Step 2 – Connect The LED
Now you’re going to connect your LED. An LED has a plus-side and a minus-
side and you must connect it in the right direction for it to work.

Look closely at your LED. Does it have one leg that is longer than the other? If
yes, then that’s the plus side. If no, look more closely at the round edge at the
bottom of the plastic housing. On one side it is flat. The flat side is the minus
side. If it’s hard to see, lay it down on a flat surface and roll it. This should
show you the flat side.

Connect the leg on the plus side of your LED to column H on row 7. Now this
leg connects to the resistor, just like it does in the circuit diagram. Connect
the other leg, the minus side, to column H on row 10. Check your connection
against the figure below.

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 15


Step 3 – Connect To The Power Supply Columns
Now, you're going to connect wires from the supply area on the right to the
columns you want plus and minus in the component area.

If you look a the circuit diagram for this circuit again, you can see that the
plus from the battery should be connected to the top-most leg of the resistor.
You’ve connected this leg to the top row of the breadboard on the right
component area, so this is where you need to connect your plus. The minus
should be connected to the negative leg of the LED, which you've connected
to row 10. This is where you need to connect your minus.

Connect one wire from the top row of the right component area, to the left
column of the supply area on the right. This will become plus from the
battery.

Connect another wire from row 10 of the right component area to the right
column of the supply area on the right. This will become minus.

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Step 4 – Connect The Battery
You have your components in place, so all that is left is to connect the
battery.

First connect the red wire from your battery clip into the left-most column of
the right supply area. This is the column marked with a red line. Then, connect
the black wire from your battery clip to the right-most column, the one
marked with a blue line.

Now, connect your battery to the battery clip and see the LED light up!

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 17


What If The LED Does Not Light Up?
If your LED is not lighting up, start by going through your connections on the
breadboard. Did you connect everything exactly as described in the steps
above?

If you’ve connected everything correctly and it’s still not working, you might
have connected the LED the wrong way. Flip it around and try again.

If it’s still not working, check the resistance value of your resistor. It should be
470 Ω. Use the Resistor Color Codes table at the end of this book to check the
value.

Still not working? Well, then your LED might be dead unfortunately. This can
easily happen if you connect it directly to the battery. Replace with a new LED
and try again.

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 18


You're Ready To Build The 9 Circuits!
Now that you've built your first breadboard circuit – it's time to get started. I
recommend you to play around a little with the above circuit. Try to really
understand why those connections make the circuit work. You’ll need to
understand this to be able build the circuits in this book. A good test is to see
if you can build the circuit again on the left component area, just by looking
at the circuit diagram..

For all the circuits in this book you’ll need a breadboard, a battery, and a
battery connector. But, for simplicity’s sake you won’t see them in the parts
list.

The circuits are sorted by difficulty, starting from the easiest. The challenge is
to figure out how to connect each of the circuits on the breadboard. The first
ones should be easy once you understand how the breadboard works. The
last ones might be challenging if you have no previous experience, but the
trick is to not give up.

For each of the circuits, I've created a web page where you can ask questions
if you're stuck. You can find these and other resources for this book at:

https://ohmify.com/9circuits/

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 19


The 9 Circuits

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Circuit 1: The Touch-Enabled Light

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The Circuit Diagram

Part Value Note


R1 100 Ω A standard resistor
LED ~2V Standard output Light-Emitting Diode
Q1 BC547 Common purpose NPN transistor

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 22


About The Circuit
The first circuit you're going to build is a touch sensor. You'll create a
touchpad from two uninsulated wires. By using a transistor, you can detect
and turn on a light when someone touches the touchpad. The transistor you'll
use in this circuit is called an NPN transistor.

These are the pin names of the transistor:

• Top pin: Collector

• Middle pin: Base

• Bottom pin: Emitter

The transistor will let current through from its collector to its emitter when a
little bit of current flows from its base to the emitter. When nobody's
touching the touch-pad, the base is left unconnected and no current will flow.

When somebody touches the touch-pad, the resistance in the finger will
connect the base of the transistor to the plus of the battery. This creates a
flow of current from base to emitter, which will “open” the transistor so that
current also can flow from collector to emitter. Now, current can flow through
the LED and the resistor, making the LED light up.

To create the touchpad, clip off a bit of the legs of one of your components.

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 23


Then place these horizontally on two rows. Leave one hole open for
connecting the touchpad to the rest of the circuit.

Common mistakes when building this circuit are:

• Mixing up the pins of the transistor

• Connecting the LED backwards

• Your finger is too dry (try wetting your finger a bit)

Are You Stuck?


If you are struggling with this circuit, you can ask questions and make
comments at this page:

https://ohmify.com/9circuits/touch-enabled-light/

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 24


Circuit 2: The Steady-Hand Game

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The Circuit Diagram

Part Description
Buzzer Buzzer that works with 9V
Steel Wire Bare and stiff wire, for example from a clothes hanger
Metal Ring Bare metal ring, for example from metal can
An old pen An old pen for mounting the metal ring
Tape Electrical tape is best, but any tape should work

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 26


About The Circuit
One time in Mexico, I won myself a free drink from this game. It's a really fun
game where you have to move a ring through a course of steel wire, without
touching the ring to the wire. You’ll have to have a steady hand. If you get the
ring all the way to the other side without touching, you win. If the ring
touches the wire, the buzzer sounds and you lose.

The circuit works on the basic principle that for anything to happen in
electronics, there must be a closed loop; a path from the plus to the minus of
the battery where the current can flow. When the metal ring does not touch
the steel wire you don't have a closed loop, so nothing happens. When the
ring touches the steel wire, you get a closed loop and the buzzer sounds.

The circuit itself is pretty simple. You just need to connect the buzzer and the
battery (black part of the circuit diagram) to the breadboard. Make sure you
place the plus-marking on the buzzer closest to the plus of the battery.

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 27


Then use a steel wire from a clothes hanger to create the game track. You can
connect the steel track to the breadboard using a jumper wire and some tape.

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 28


The metal ring can be made from those rings to open cans. Tape it to the end
of an old pen with a jumper wire and make sure the jumper wire has a good
connection with the metal.

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 29


Common mistakes when building this circuit are:

• Not getting a good connection between the jumper wire and the track

• Not getting a good connection between the jumper wire and the ring

• Buzzer connected the wrong way

If you prefer a noiseless game that you can play without bothering other
people with the beep, you can modify this game to use light instead of sound.
Just replace the buzzer with an LED and a resistor like in the introduction
circuit.

Are You Stuck?


If you are struggling with this circuit, you can ask questions and make
comments at this page:

https://ohmify.com/9circuits/steady-hand-game/

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 30


Circuit 3: The Cookie Jar Alarm

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 31


The Circuit Diagram

Part Value Note


LDR ~10k to ~1 MΩ Light-Dependent Resistor / Photoresistor
Q1 BC547 Any general purpose NPN transistor will work
R1 1 kΩ Standard resistor
Buzzer Active buzzer that works with 9V

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 32


About The Circuit
Do you want to keep people from steeling cookies from your cookie jar? Or
maybe you have some other type of box that you don't want people to snoop
around in? Then this circuit is for you.

This circuit stays quiet when it's in a dark place, such as in a cookie jar with
the lid on. But once you open the lid and let light inside, the circuit turns on
the buzzer and creates an alarm sound that should scare off the cookie
thieves.

The circuit uses a Light-Dependent Resistor (LDR) to detect light. This is a


type of resistor whose resistance change with the amount of light detected.
The more light the LDR detects, the lower the resistance.

The LDR and R1 make up a voltage divider that sets the voltage on the base
of the transistor, and thereby turns it on and off depending on how much
light is detected.

Common mistakes when building this circuit are:

• Too high or too low resistance value for R1

• Transistor connected the wrong way

If you want to make the circuit more sensitive or less sensitive to light, replace
R1 with a higher (more sensitive) or lower (less sensitive) resistance value.

Are You Stuck?


If you are struggling with this circuit, you can ask questions and make
comments at this page:

https://ohmify.com/9circuits/cookie-jar-alarm/

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 33


Circuit 4: The Dark-Enabled Light

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 34


The Circuit Diagram

Part Value Note


LDR ~10k to ~1 MΩ Light-Dependent Resistor / Photoresistor
Q1 BC557 Any general purpose PNP transistor will work
R1 100 kΩ Standard resistor
R2 470 Ω Standard resistor
LED ~2V Standard output Light-Emitting Diode

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 35


About The Circuit
Do you want to find things in the dark? This circuit turns on an LED when it
gets dark. You can use it to light up things that you might want to find in the
dark. Place it by the keyhole of your front door, or by a glass of water for
when you wake up in the middle of the night. In the day, the LED will be off,
but once it gets dark the LED will turn on and light up the thing you want to
find.

This circuit uses a BC557 transistor, which is a PNP transistor. It works similar
to the NPN that you used in the previous ciruit, just that the current flows in
the opposite direction. So, when you have current flowing from emitter to
base, you “open” the transistor and let current flow from emitter to collector.

Its legs are setup like this:

Common mistakes when building this circuit are:

• Too high or too low resistance value for R1

• Wrong transistor used

• Transistor connected the wrong way

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 36


• LED connected the wrong way

You can change the sensitivity to light by using a different value resistor for
R1.

Are You Stuck?


If you are struggling with this circuit, you can ask questions and make
comments at this page:

https://ohmify.com/9circuits/dark-enabled-light/

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 37


Circuit 5: The Blinking LED

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 38


The Circuit Diagram

Part Value Note


U1 74C14 Hex Schmitt Trigger Inverter (Alternative: CD40106)
C1 100 µF Polarized capacitor
R1 10 kΩ Standard Resistor
R2 470 Ω Standard Resistor
LED ~2V Standard output Light-Emitting Diode

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 39


About The Circuit
One of the first things I wanted to learn in electronics as a kid was how to
blink a light. There are several ways of doing this, but this circuit is probably
the easiest way to do it when it comes to number of components. You only
need three components for the blinking part. Then add the resistor and the
LED to be blinked.

The circuit works around an inverter. An inverter is a component that outputs


the opposite of what it gets in. If it gets a high voltage in, it gives a low
voltage out. And vice versa. A high voltage is a voltage close to the supply
voltage. A low voltage is a voltage close to zero volts.

In the circuit diagram you can see that the output of the inverter (U1) is
connected back to the input with a resistor. This means that if there's a high
voltage on the input, the output will be low. But since the output is connected
back to the input, the input will be low. Now that the input is low, the output
will be high. That means the input will be high again, and so on… This
jumping back and forth between high and low is called oscillation.

To slow down the oscillation, you have a capacitor on the input of the
inverter. The charging and discharging of the capacitor will slow down the
time it takes for the input to go from low to high and from high to low. The
resistor R1 controls how much current that goes back to charge and
discharge the capacitor. The size of the resistor R1 and the capacitor C1 will
therefore determine the speed of the oscillation.

The inverter you're going to use is a Schmitt trigger inverter. This just means
that the threshold for switching from high to low is different from the
threshold for switching from low to high. This also helps in slowing down the
oscillation.

The Schmitt trigger inverter comes as a 14-pin Integrated Circuit. The


numbers next to each pin in the circuit diagram represents the pin number on
the integrated circuit. Here's how the pins are arranged on the 74C14 IC:

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To connect an IC to a breadboard you need to connect it across the two
component areas. This will give you connection for pin 1 to 7 on the left
component area, and connections for pin 8 to 14 on the right component
area.

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Common mistakes when building this circuit are:

• Forgetting to connect VDD (pin 14) to plus of the battery

• Forgetting to connect GND (pin 7) to minus of the battery

• Connecting the IC the wrong way

• Connecting the LED the wrong way

To decrease the blinking speed, increase the capacitor value and/or the
resistance value of R1. To increase the blinking speed, decrease the values.

Are You Stuck?


If you are struggling with this circuit, you can ask questions and make
comments at this page:

https://ohmify.com/9circuits/blinking-led/

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 42


Circuit 6: The Two Flashing LEDs

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The Circuit Diagram

Part Value Note


R1, R4 470 Ω Standard Resistor
R2, R3 47 kΩ Standard Resistor
Q1, Q2 BC547 Any general purpose NPN transistor will work
C1, C2 10 µF Polarized Capacitor
L1, L2 ~2V Standard output Light-Emitting Diode

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 44


About The Circuit
In this circuit you’ll make two LEDs flash in an alternating pattern. You can for
example use it for a model railroad crossing, or for eyes on a toy robot.

This is a classic circuit, called an astable multivibrator. The basic idea here is
that the two transistors alternate between turning each other on and off. To
be able to really understand what's going on in this circuit you need to have a
good understanding of the basics of electronics, especially around how
voltage and current behave in circuits with capacitors and diodes.

When building this circuit, there's a lot of connections and it's very easy to
make a mistake. I often do mistakes building this one myself, even though I've
built it plenty of times.

Common mistakes when building this circuit are:

• Using 470 Ω resistors where you need 47 kΩ and vice-versa

• Connecting the LED the wrong way

• Mixing up the transistor legs

If you want to change the blinking speed, try replacing the two capacitors
and/or the resistors R2 and R3 with other values.

Are You Stuck?


If you are struggling with this circuit, you can ask questions and make
comments at this page:

https://ohmify.com/9circuits/two-flashing-leds/

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 45


Circuit 7: The Party Lights

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 46


The Circuit Diagram

Part Value Note


R1 10 kΩ Standard Resistor
R2 100 kΩ Standard Resistor
R3 100 Ω Standard Resistor
C1 4.7 µF Polarized Capacitor
L1 to L6 ~2V Standard output Light-Emitting Diode
U1 NE555 555 Timer IC

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 47


About The Circuit
Do you want to make something cool for a party? This is the circuit for you.
This is a simple way of blinking many lights at the same time. If you add the
LEDs to a long wire, you can hang them in a window or use them to decorate
a tree.

The circuit uses a 555 Timer, which is a classic integrated circuit that makes is
really easy to make things turn on and off repeatedly. R1, R2 and C1 sets the
blinking speed while R3 sets the current that goes out to the LEDs.

Here's the pinout of the 555 timer IC:

Common mistakes when building this circuit are:

• Connecting one or more of the LEDs the wrong way

• Connecting the 555 Timer the wrong way

• Mixing up the pin numbers of the IC and connecting things to the


wrong pin

You can add or remove LEDs by changing the value of the resistor R3. For
example, if each LED needs 10 mA and you want to use 5 LEDs, you need 5 x

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10 mA = 50 mA through the resistor. You can use Ohm's law to figure out the
correct resistor value:

The law states that the voltage divided by the current will give you the
necessary resistance. In our 5 LED example, that translates to:

Note: A standard 555 Timer can only give out up to 100 mA in total.

Are You Stuck?


If you are struggling with this circuit, you can ask questions and make
comments at this page:

https://ohmify.com/9circuits/party-lights/

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 49


Circuit 8: The Homemade Musical
Instrument

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The Circuit Diagram

Part Value Note


R1-R3 1 kΩ Standard resistor
R4 10 kΩ Standard resistor
R5 1 kΩ Standard resistor
C1 0.1 µF Non-polarized capacitor
C2 10 µF Polarized capacitor
U1 NE555 555 Timer IC
S1-S4 Momentary ON Tactile Pushbutton
SPK1 8Ω Mini speaker that can handle at least 0.25W or more

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 51


About The Circuit
Creating sound is fun! In this circuit you'll build a musical instrument. It will
have four buttons for playing different tones.

The circuit uses a 555 Timer to create a voltage that goes on and off
repeatedly. To make sound you need to send a voltage that turns on and off
repeatedly to the speaker. But, you need the voltage to turn on and off really
fast. Like a few thousand times a second.

The value of capacitor C1, resistor R5, and the resistance between pin 6 and 7
will set the tone of the sound. The pushbuttons have resistors in between
them so that the resistance between pin 6 and 7 will be different depending
on which button you push. This results in a different tone being played for
each of the buttons.

The best way to connect pushbuttons is across the gap between the two
component areas, like this:

Common mistakes when building this circuit are:

• Connecting the pushbutton the wrong way or not using the correct pins

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• Connecting the 555 Timer the wrong way

• Mixing up the pin numbers of the IC and connecting things to the


wrong pin

If you want more than four buttons on your instrument, you can add more
pushbuttons and resistors.

Are You Stuck?


If you are struggling with this circuit, you can ask questions and make
comments at this page:

https://ohmify.com/9circuits/musical-instrument/

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 53


Circuit 9: The Running LED Light Show

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 54


The Circuit Diagram

Part Value Note


R1, R2 10 kΩ Standard resistor
R3 470Ω Standard resistor
C1 4.7 µF Polarized Capacitor
L1 to L10 LED Standard Light-Emitting Diode
U1 NE555 555 Timer IC
U2 CD4017B 4017 Decade Counter

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 55


About The Circuit
This circuit is a fun light-show project where you have 10 lights «running»
along a line.

Pin 3 of the 555 timer has a voltage that goes on and off repeatedly, like
you've seen in some of the previous projects. This signal is connected into pin
14 of the 4017 IC. The 4017 IC counts each time the voltage on pin 14 goes
from low to high. It has 10 outputs that represents how many times the
voltage has gone from low to high (0 to 9). For example, after 3 counts output
Q3 is high while the others are low. On the 10th count, the counter starts from
0 again.

The running speed is set by R1, R2 and C1. Change one of the values and the
running speed of the lights will change.

This is a large circuit, and it's pretty easy to connect a wire or a component in
the wrong place. I suggest connecting only the 555 timer part first, and
adding a 470 Ω resistor in series with an LED between the output on pin 3
and the minus of the battery. You should see the LED blink really fast. When
you see this, you can disconnect the LED and resistor again. Then, continue to
connect the rest of the circuit.

Here's the pinout for the 4017 IC:

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This circuit includes a lot of connections in a small area. I recommend you use
one of the columns of the left supply area to connect the minus side of the
LEDs. This will save you some space.

Common mistakes when building this circuit are:

• Connecting one or both of the ICs the wrong way

• Mixing up the pin numbers of the ICs and connecting things to the
wrong pin

• Connecting one or more of the LEDs the wrong way

• Connecting a wire or component one row above or below where it


actually should have been connected

Are You Stuck?


If you are struggling with this circuit, you can ask questions and make
comments at this page:

https://ohmify.com/9circuits/running-leds/

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 57


Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 58
How To Understand And Build Your
Own Things?
Congratulations, you’ve made it all the way to the end!

If you've built all the nine circuits, you should have a good practical
foundation for building great things with electronics. If you’re new to
electronics, you probably did not understand the details of all the circuits in
this book, and that’s okay. This book was all about building circuits and
improving your practical circuit-building skills.

If you also want to understand how these circuits work and how you can build
your own – then keep reading:

I’m constantly creating new learning material to help people build their own
ideas with electronics. Whether you want to build an automatic cat door for
your house or the next must-have gadget for the world, there are some steps
you need to take to build up the skills and knowledge necessary to build your
own inventions with electronics.

To help people from all backgrounds learn these steps, I’ve created Ohmify.
It’s an online electronics builders club with lots of courses and resources to
learn electronics such as:

• 25+ courses on skills such as soldering, Arduino programming, basic


electronics and more.

• Roadmaps that show you what the next step is for you, depending on
your background.

• Forum for discussing ideas, asking questions and getting un-stuck with
your projects.

Learn more about Ohmify here:

https://ohmify.com/join/

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Resistor Color Codes

Copyright © 2017 www.build-electronic-circuits.com 60

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