En 1993 06
En 1993 06
En 1993 06
Electronics
NOW
Combined with
Electronics
Radon
TELEPHONE
AUTO- COUPLER
Connect your projects
to the phone line
automatically
UNIVERSAL
REMOTE CONTROL
Turn your PC into an
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RC FILTERS
Learn how resistors and capacitors
combine to form a wide variety
r 5-DIGIT 95067
of frequency -selective filters .X".Y.'.X'.X'.X'.Y:.Y.'.X'.X'.Y.".X'.X'.Y.'.X'
3031766Rf:P0667397 06 P62
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06 APR 94
CHRIS PARKER RE
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ON THE COVER
Music's in the air at Elec- portable FM receiver, with no ca-
Electronic'
El+ïnapnl.
tronics Now this month!
the beat going strong, we have
To get bles or separate power sources.
Finally, our Musician's Friend, the
BUILD THE THUMB DRUM
This tun etectrna¢ arum the ThumbDrum on page 33. The Perfect Pitch, helps you hone your
output either audio
musical skills. The micro-
Can
Signals or MIDI data!
electronic drum set turns finger -
BUILD THE MUSICMH S FRIEND
Woo. picas
vi one !catmint. tapping into real drum sounds that processor-based device com-
you can output as either MIDI or bines an instrument tuner, a
audio signals. The Wireless headphone amplifier, and a met-
Guitar Transmitter, on page 40, ronome. Musicians can put it to
lets you move freely around, with- good use in practice sessions,
out tripping over a mess of cords. and everyone else can use Per-
RC FILTERS
LAMM The transmitter plugs into your fect Pitch to get the most out of
coot:one to forgo a variety
guitar's output jack and plays other audio-based projects. Turn
s V'
-
/ RC FILTERS illelrrNof. god lleasa1U1111.'
PC BASED aPEaaaa,
UNIVERSAL
REMOTE
CONTROL Understand
¡rp
s01:Ve-cep.ariM7
filters and learn how to use
them in your projects
cod experiments
l _ ß_1.[ _
Since some of the equipment and circuitry described in ELECTRONICS NOW may relate to or be covered by U.S. patents, ELECTRONICS NOW disclaims any liability for the infringement
of such patents by the making, using, or selling of any such equipment or circuitry, and suggests that anyone interested in such projects consult a patent attorney.
ELECTRONICSNOW, (ISSN 0033 -7862) June 1993. Published monthly by Gernsback Publications, Inc., 500 -B Bi-County Boulevard, Farmingdale, NY 11735. Second -Class Postage paid
at Farmingdale, NY and additional mailing offices. Second -Class mail registration No. R125166280, authorized at Toronto, Canada. One -year subscription rate U.S.A. and possessions
$19.97, Canada $27.79 (includes G.S.T. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. R125166280), all other countries $28.97. All subscription orders ayable in U.S.A. funds only,
via international postal money order or check drawn on a U.S.A. bank. Single copies $3.50. C 1993 by Gernsback Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to ELECTRONICS NOW, Subscription Dept., Box 55115, Boulder, CO 80321 -5115.
A stamped self- addressed envelope must accompany all submitted manuscripts and/or artwork or photographs if their return is desired should they be rejected. We disclaim any
responsibility for the loss or damage of manuscripts and/or artwork or photographs while in our possession or otherwise.
Output audio signals or MIDI data with this electronic drum. Larry Steckler, EHF, CET,
John Simonton and Kent Clark editor -in-chief and publisher
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
40 WIRELESS GUITAR TRANSMITTER Brian C. Fenton, editor
Get rid of those patch cords with this handy FM transmitter. Marc Spiwak, associate editor
Dinesh Batia Neil Sclater, associate editor
Teri Scaduto, assistant editor
47 MUSICIAN'S FRIEND Jeffrey K. Holtzman
The Perfect Pitch is an instrument tuner, headphone amplifier, and computer editor
metronome in one compact package. Robert Grossblatt, circuits editor
Larry Klein, audio editor
Fred Eady David Lachenbruch
contributing editor
63 PART -68 INTERFACE Don Lancaster
Add an autocoupler to the MPC -2 interface. contributing editor
Mike Hagans and Kyle Magrill Kathy Terenzi, editorial assistant
ART DEPARTMENT
Andre Duzant, art director
Injae Lee, illustrator
Russell C. Truelson, illustrator
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
58 RC FILTERS Ruby M. Yee, production director
Learn how they work, and how to use them in your projects. Karen S. Brown
Ray Marston advertising production
Marcella Amoroso
production assistant
( ,
` Lisa Rachowitz
editorial production
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT
Jacqueline P. Cheeseboro
68 PC -BASED UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL circulation director
Use the Invisibot to operate all your IR- remote -controlled gear. Wendy Alanko
Jon Bek circulation analyst
Theresa Lombardo
circulation assistant
Michele Torrillo
reprint bookstore
Typography by Mates Graphics
Cover photo by Diversified Photo
6 VIDEO NEWS 82 AUDIO UPDATE Services.
What's new in this fast- Loudspeaker power ratings. Electronics Now is indexed in
changing field. Larry Klein Applied Science Technology Index,
&
AMPLIFIERS
In plastic and ceramic packages, for low -cost solu- Unit price $ (25 qty)
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MAV-4
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and reel packaging, off- Notes: + Frequency range DC- 1500MHz ++ Gain 1/2 dB less than shown
the -shelf availability, with
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VIDEO NEWS
What's new in the fast-changing video industry.
DAVID LACHENBRUCH
HDTV "grand alliance." Commission use its authority under the system in a three -year project at
Negotiations are under way among the All- Channel Act to require that a cost of more than $25 million,
proponents of the four digital HDTV all television sets made after a cer- "working with various Russian tech-
systems on the possibility of getting tain date be able to tune HDTV as nology institutes." According to
together and developing a single well as standard NTSC channels. Samsung, a disc -based camcorder
system combining the best features The group argues that since the would have portability advantages
of all four. As of our deadline, "se- FCC will make HDTV broadcasting over tape, and "the video -rental in-
rious talks" were under way, but mandatory, it should also mandate dustry would benefit from the com-
there appear to be plenty of snags in that sets be required to receive the pact size and durability of the disc."
the path to any such alliance. broadcasts (but not necessarily in The D -VDR, said Samsung, will
The prime mover in the push to- high definition). It proposes that have two to three times more stor-
ward a single compromise system HDTV reception become mandato- age capacity than "the next genera-
is Richard Wiley, chairman of the ry no later than six years after an tion of magneto -optical disc."
FCC's Advanced TV Advisory Com- HDTV standard is adopted.
mittee (ATAC). One report indicates That's ridiculous, replied Zenith in Big tubes grow. The largest
that all proponents except the Ad- comments to the FCC. Zenith said picture tubes in general consumer
vanced TV Research Consortium that studies have indicated "a retail use became increasingly popular
(ATRC), composed of Philips, price premium in the area of $500 last year, according to figures from
Thomson, NBC, and others, have per set [for] receiving, demodulat- the Electronic Industries Associa-
agreed in principle on the idea. The ing, and decompressing digital tion. As prices gradually came down
other three systems could combine [HDTV] signals in a non -HDTV re- and interest in home -theater in-
to present a united front against ceiver." Zenith added, "It is clear stallations increased, sales of color
ATRC. Of course, many hurdles re- that a $500 premium would put mil- TV sets with 35 -inch picture tubes
main. For example, how does one lions of Americans out of the market increased by 52% over 1991. Com-
compromise between interlaced for new TV receivers," in view of the pared with total color-TV sales of
and progressive scan? fact that 70% of all TV sets are pur- 22.4 million sets, the 35 -inch
Because the tests have shown no chased for less than $350 each. number was relatively small. Never-
digital system markedly superior to theless, some 244,000 sets with
any other digital or analog system, Video disc recorder. While 35 -inch tubes were sold last year.
ATAC has decided on a new round of Japanese manufacturers discuss Sets with tubes 30 inches and
tests, which will be conducted if the standards for a new generation of larger totaled 787,000 in 1992, and
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COMPUTER LANGUAGE PRINT, INPUT, and so on), and runs Wiring a single light so that it can
I was a bit late getting inter- a series of low -level instructions be controlled by two switches is a
ested computers, but I got a PC that implement the statements. The common practice. A trip to your lo-
last year. I'm now interested in tradeoff made for ease of program- cal hardware store will show you
learning about programming. ming is a loss of control over how that there are switches and dim-
I've been studying BASIC but things are done -it's a "Take the mers designed specifically for this
I'm wondering whether I ought bus and leave the driving to us" kind purpose. The only difference be-
to spend my time getting famil- of situation. tween these specially designed de-
iar with some of the other com- The lower the level of language, vices and their single -control
puter languages such as as- the more control you have over how cousins is that the single ones are
sembly language or C. Is any things happen, but the more work two -wire switches and the others
one of them better to know or you have to do when you're writing a are three -wire switches.
more powerful than any of the program. In general, the approach Simple switches are single -pole,
others, or are they all equally to low -level programming is to single -throw devices, and the more
useful ? -G. Benjer, Faffel, IN create subroutines that do common complex ones are single -pole, dou-
Learning how to program is the tasks (such as putting stuff on the ble -throw switches. Working out
best way know to take the mystery
I screen), and then calling them as the wire layout so a single light can
out of computers. Picking the lan- they're needed. In a certain sense be controlled by two separate
guage to use, however, is far from you try to structure things as if you switches is an interesting exercise
being a clear-cut issue. The decision were dealing with a high -level lan- in logic but, to save you the trouble,
ultimately has to be based on what guage in the first place. the schematic for the circuit is
you want to do with the software There is no computer language shown in 1.
you write, how much time you want that's best suited for all jobs and all As you can see, when the light is
to spend on it, and, most important, programmers, and choosing the off, it can be turned on with either
how much you already know about language to use is as important a switch, and when the light is on, it
the inner workings of computers in decision as deciding what the pro- can be turned off with either switch.
general. gram is going to do. You always Switches and dimmers designed for
All languages are designed to have to weigh the requirements of this application have three wires
give specific instructions to the mi- the job against the time you can connected to them, and the center
croprocessor and other hardware spend to make it happen. If you're pole is identified with a different
that make up your computer. It usu- programming for your own amuse- color. When you wire them, make
ally takes a lot of these individual ment, you can pick any language sure you use cable that has three
instructions to get a task done. A you want. But if you have a client wires as well as the ground wire. All
good example of that is getting a breathing down your neck to get the three wires have the ability to carry
character typed on the keyboard to job done, the choice of language current so make sure you don't use
appear on the screen. A simple GET can mean the difference between the bare ground wire for this pur-
statement in BASIC has to read the getting paid for a job well done and pose.
keyboard, transfer the typed getting sued. Tell the person behind the hard-
character that's found in the key- ware counter exactly what you want
board buffer to the appropriate loca- TWO SWITCHES, ONE LIGHT to do, and they'll tell you which
tion in video memory, and then put I'm having a problem rewiring switches and cable are the right
that character on the screen loca- the lights in my house. In some ones for the job. When you're play-
tion of the cursor. of the rooms I want to be able to ing around with house wiring, the
High -level languages have state- control a single light from two most intelligent course to follow is
ments that can do a lot of work for different switches. In rooms to make sure you know exactly what
you and, as a result, program de- with two entrances, I want to be you have to do before you start
velopment is usually a lot faster and able to turn the lights on from doing it.
easier. Things are easier because switches at both doors. I know Most localities require that all
high -level language statements are this is a simple problem but I electrical work be done by licensed
often English -like and intuitive. haven't been able to figure out a electricians and that it be inspected
When a language like BASIC ex- solution. Can you show me a afterward. There's a reason for that:
ecutes a program, it takes each of schematic for this ? -F. Stone, miswiring electrical switches can be
12 the program statements (such as Albany, NY catastrophic.
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AUDIO UPDATE OPPOSITION grounds, that such differences can't Practices. also study the sche-
I
lowed himself to spout a mixture of that are in the space between my them.
"factoids" and opinion that have no ears. JOHN BERGLUND
place in a reputable publication for Because, in the final analysis, I Quincy, IL
electronic hobbyists. can't listen to music through Mr.
To put it more bluntly, some Klein's ears, am not calling him a
I ANOTHER VIEW
equipment for reproducing record- liar. am certain that he cannot per-
I I'm writing in response to the
ed music just sounds better -in ceive any difference between a anonymous reader whose letter at-
other words, it reproduces music $799 shopping -mall rack system tacking Larry Klein's methods of
more accurately as perceived by the and a Stereophile "Recommended evaluating audio equipment ap-
extremely sensitive but inherently Class A" system correctly matched peared in the March issue of
subjective human ear-than some and set up-but can. I Electronics Now. I'd like to establish
other gear. Come to think of it, might even I my credentials: I've been in the au-
Some of that difference can be prefer the rack system, although dio industry many years, and in the
explained by measuring such pa- that's very unlikely, but I'm quite early 1970's manufactured what
I
rameters as frequency response, confident that there would be a big were then state -of- the -art "home
power, bandwidth, slew rate, total difference. speaker systems."
harmonic distortion, intermodula- don't own class -A-rated units.
I At that time, a typical "Faber Sys-
tion distortion, and several other My system consists of speakers tern" cost about $800 for two satel-
tests that are industry standards. from a reputable up -scale manufac- lites and a subwoofer. That might
However, as much as Mr. Klein and turer (purchased used for a reason- sound like a lot for the 70's, but at
others might not like to hear it, able price), a pair of power that time such a system did not ex-
some of that difference simply can- amplifiers built on a discarded pub-
I ist until introduced it at the 1972
I
not be explained by such tests. lic- address amplifier chassis with Consumer Electronics Show in Las
That doesn't make the concept of surplus and flea market parts, and a Vegas.
measuring performance objectively preamplifier made by an upstate The design of those systems was
invalid. Nor does it make the current New York manufacturer not consid- the result of many years of work.
battery of tests useless. And it ered to be a favorite of the sound Simply put, agree with the letter-
I
doesn't mean that there is anything experts. writer about the ability of the drivers
supernatural or inexplicable about I have replaced every resistor and and crossover network to affect the
why amplifier Y and preamplifier X capacitor with surplus parts; use I solid -state amplifiers being made
and CD player V driving Z speakers speaker wires and interconnects today. Even the choice of speaker
makes a string quartet sound far that bought from commercial elec-
I cable affects the overall sound.
superior in my living room to some trical supply shops for less than a But think that most audiophiles
I
other set of components (each of dollar a foot. Each of these choices who have become accustomed to
which might make better measure- was made after many hours of lis- the smooth sound of tube -type am-
ments in one parameter or another tening and testing. If couldn't hear I plifiers with audio -output transfor-
than its equivalent). any difference, it would have wasted mers and speakers matched to the
It does mean that Mr. Klein might my time and money, wouldn't it? system are bothered by the new sol-
not be able to hear -or compre- Finally, what find most galling is
I id -state equipment. They seem to
hend that he is hearing -or even Mr. Klein's shameless plug for one be annoyed by direct -coupled ampli-
admit to himself or anyone else that audio magazine. regularly read or I fiers that connect directly to a
he can hear any difference between peruse Stereophile, The Absolute speaker system capable of re-
sound systems. He simply is not Sound, The Sensible Sound, Audio producing even the most complex
16 justified in saying, on scientific Amateur, Glass Audio, and Sound audio waveforms.
Established 1945
(800) 645 -9212 COMPONENTS
K E L V I N (516) 756 -1750 MiC & VISA '2o(Tde um
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KELVIN 110097 '1.35 ea
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Pre-art, Pe Stlppd
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KELVIN 94 The Ultimate Meter
Stock No. 320037
WALL TRANSFORMERS 11.25 ea
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LCR -Hz- dBm - True RMS - Logic Probe e DIGIT LED DISPLAY ern.; DECIMAL POINT
$ .89 ea / 20« Oty
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Stock No. 720099 5189$5
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to 20MHz Res: 10 Hz, LCR -Inductance CENTER NEGATIVE
150 MU, RF SIGNAL GENERATOR transmitter
Tester Res: 10 uH, DC /AC Voltages STOCK NO. TYPE- P., -S. 100KHz b 1509510 COVERAGE
45064Hz IN HARMONICS, AM MODULATION,
and receiver
Res:0.1 mV, Ohm Meter Res: 0.1 ohms 220084 9V DCJ500 mA $3.95 ee INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL 0 100%
Stock No. 260061
ENGINE
ANALYZER
Standard Features plus -
TEMP,TACHOMETER &
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PROBES
e0 MHz,
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WITH ANALOG DISPLAY METER
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$.45
ea
/20.
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ay
Model95 #990112 DUTY CYCLE, 10M OHM 150 WO, X10 18V / 1 A Single Output
IMPEDANCE, ANALOG BAR 700073 $39$5 acct N.. M0040 $155 PUSH -BUTTON SWITCH
$1 9995 GRAPH, K -TYPE TEMP
PROBE, ALLIGATOR CLIP
IC CLIPS
18V /1A, 30V / 0.5A Duel Output
a... N.. 680041 $215
PUSH -ON, PUSH -OFF
Stock No 270021
TEST LEADS, INDUCTIVE
'
8.55 ea
SOLDER TYPE
PICKUP CLIP, 6'TEST LEADS SPRING LOADED
LOGIC PROBES $ .49 ea / 100. Oty
Sock Ne. COLOR COST 25+ Oly
& DELUXE CARRYING CASE t .65 MEASURES TTL, OIL RTL, OROS
990104 BLACK es t .50 ea SUB- MINIATURE MOMENTARY
Standard Features - Models 94 & 95 $80105 RED 3.65 e 3.50 es Stock No. Modal YOUR COST
SWITCH
DC /AC VOLTMETERS AC /DC CURRENT 740071 LP10A - 17 MHz $19$5 Stock No. 800002
OHM METER DATA HOLD RELATIVE MODE IC TEST 740087 LP25A - 25 MHz $39$5 1.35 ea
FREQ COUNTER to 4 MHz (Model 95) LEAD SET 740088 LPSOA - 50 MHz 149$5 $ .28 ea / 100. Oty
5 COLOR CODED
AUDIBLE CONTINUITY TEST DIODE TEST MINIATURE TOGGLE SWITCH
1e- LEADS WITH LOGIC PULSER
MAX/MIN AVERAGE MEMORY RECORD e1M1ATDIE 00015 -011
SWITCHABLE 0.5/400 PULSE RATE 100eS 3.90 No.
PEGO AT 110111 EMDS
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AUTO SLEEP & AUTO POWER OFF noise 18.95 ea 18.25 740073 PR41 $4985 $.79 ea/ so. ay 17
CIRCLE 179 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
A1!b 7A0 That setup generally results in a
technically correct musical output,
over California. After listening
through their switching systems, I
but it does not allow for the fact that determined that nothing could
most instruments are "close touch the correctness of the output.
ELECTRONIC miked" when in a recording ses-
sion. Because we do not normally
However, we could see the tech-
nical differences with an oscillo-
COMPONENTS listen to instruments with our ears
pressed against them, an extremely
scope. In other words, both Mr.
Klein and his unnamed critic are cor-
Whether you order 1 part or sharp grating feeling is created by rect to a degree. It depends on how
all 42,398...MOUSER stocks long exposure to a musical score you define "correct audio" to the
and...ships same day!! played on those exacting systems. listener.
The mass of air between the lis- believe that in our quest for tech-
I
CALL... tener and the instrument is missing. nical perfection we have lost sight of
The air acts like a massive spring objective -pleasing the listener.
(800) 992 -9943 and modifies the sound, slightly, Some people enjoy ultra -sharp
rounding off the "sharp edges." In highs and the harmonics associated
for your normal operation tubes with trans- with them. They turn their volume
FREE former output amplifiers provided controls "full on" to create clipping
that effect. Therefore, although not and extreme driver overloads. Per-
CATALOG technically correct. they did give the sonally, enjoy music that sounds as
I
amplifiers and the speakers de- I plifier, and a compact disc player.
Sales & Stocking Locations Nationwide
signed from recording studios to up- And yes, Mr. Unknown, CD's do
scale audio equipment retailers all sound better than records for more
CIRCLE 117 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
reasons than Mr. Klein mentioned in
his article. (It would take a book to
explain them all.) A properly tuned
18
PROBES, INC. TPI Toll Free: 1- 800 -368 -5719 LELAND R. RABER, C.E.T. 269
Elk Grove, CA i2
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
.10 .
aaaa
'CD
O
O CD
O ci) At 500 Megasamples /sec, our ne
c4.
= ß
ci)-
f
- time scope.
Tektronix
i .11111r-
3672P 518.95
-memn
3795H 529.95 41438 522.95
Softcover
BOB GROSSBLATT'S
GUIDE TO COMPACT Build Your Own
CREATIVE DISC PLAYER PostScript -
CIRCUIT !U1mff18MG Ano
RGPete Laser Printer
DESIGN and Save a Bundle
TItUUHLhsIP a 111](,
,AU) H1-.P.AIkI"+l.i
2i5t century N6b1M1111b SOI JD STATE Tvs
ELECTRONIC .,.nxl I:Jnknt
IPROJECTS MOM
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if b
M4.r x,r,f.
2724P 517.95 2880P $14.95 3804P $19.95 4000P 59.95 2613P 518.95 37778 -XX 532.95
So'Icover
36278 529.95
Softcover Softcover Softcover Soft cover Counts as 2
ROBOT BUILDER'S
- sosaa..0 v h
troubleshooting
BONANZA I-iit,$IIt1 ELECTRONIC
---r =curls
E
801103 113 PBOIECTS TRIGCGERED- $1NEEP
OSCILLOSCOPE
r-i-r.
---,,,,r,
3258P 519.95
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28000 517 95
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3632P 510.95
Softcover
3669H 527.95
rrr1938HXXX
Counts as
$60.00
3
d
If coupon is missing, write to: Electronics Book Club, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294 -0810
As a member of
the Electronics Book Club ... Electronics
you'll enjoy receiving Club bulletins every 3 -4 weeks
Book Club® Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294 -0810
containing exciting offers on the latest books in the field YES! Please send me the books listed below, billing me for just $4.95 plus shipping/hand-
at savings of up to 500 /o off of regular publishers' prices. ling & tax. Enroll me as a member of the Electronics Book Club according to the terms outlin-
If you want the Main Selection do nothing and it will be ed in this ad. If not satisfied, may return the books within 10 days without obligation and have
I
If you select abook that counts as 2 choices, write the book number Name
to one box and XX in the next. If you select a Counts as 3 choice, write
the book number in one box and XXK in the next 2 boxes. A ship- Address
ping/handling charge and sales tax will be added to all orders. All books
are hardcover unless otherwise noted 1993 EBC City /State
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
When the measurement matters,
take matters in hand.
With a Tektronix 220 Series scope, you can count on getting
IsolatedChannelTM ARCHITECTURE.
Two fully isolated input channels ensure sate,
easy floating measurementswith no danger to
you or your equipment.
Useful Storage BW
FAMILIAR FRONT PANEL. The logical grouping of front panel controls
Single Shot 1 MHz 1 MHz 1 MHz makes operation remarkably intuitive.
Repetitive 60 MHz 10 MHz 10 MHz
AUTO SETUP. Just push a button for signal acquisition and display.
Channels 2 2 2
AUTO TRIGGER. Automatically locates trigger points and selects the correct
Sensitivity 50 my - 50 mV - 5 mV - voltage for a stable display of complex waveforms, even in video and motion
Range 500 V/div 500 V /div 50 V/div
control applications.
Max. Sampling Speed 10 MS/sec 10 MS/sec 10 MS /sec
SAVE/RECALL. Pre -define and store up to four front -panel displays, and
Record Length 512 bytes 512 bytes 512 bytes recall them instantly.
Vertical Resolution 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits SAVE REFERENCE MEMORY. Acquire up to four waveforms for later analysis.
Timebase Range 20 sec - 50 ns 20 sec - 50 ns 20 sec - 50 ns RUGGED CONSTRUCTION. High- strength, impact -resistant plastic gives
Horizontal Magnifier x10 xio x10 ample protection in harsh environments.
Glitch Capture too ns 100 ns 100 ns DETACHABLE PROBES. An attached carrying case provides convenient
Custom Triggers video motor storage and prevents loss.
N/A
rn Price
a>
6 kV peak surge
$2750
6 kV peak
$2950
surge
z0
U)
U
C
o
Ú
w Tektronix
i
24
Copyright O 1993, Tektronix, Inc. All rights reserved. 40W- 283 -444
CIRCLE 92 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
Just pickup or above, VGA or EGA dis-
play, 3.5 megabytes of
the phone! available hard disk, and ei-
ther a 1.2 megabyte 51/4 -
inch or 720 kilobyte 3Y2-
Take matters in hand: call your authorized
inch floppy drive. A mouse
Tektronix representative or distributor and
will be a handy accessory.
order your 220 Series scope today. The program also in-
Frigid North, ALASKA, (907) 561 -4633
cludes electric cars, diesel
engines, four-wheel drives,
Jensen Tools, ARIZONA, (800) 426 -1194
and on -board car comput-
Metermaster, ARIZONA, (800) 366 -3837 ers. It offers useful advice
Carlton- Bates, ARKANSAS, (800) 482 -9313 on how car owners can re-
duce air pollution, and his-
Instrument Engineers, CALIFORNIA, (800) 444-6106 CIRCLE 19 ON FREE
tory of the automobile and INFORMATION CARD
ITC Electronics, CALIFORNIA, (800) 225-5482
its impact on society. Util-
Marshall Industries, CALIFORNIA, (800) 877-9834, ext. 422 ities for printing, searching pacitance, and 60 -Hz AC
Mitchell Instrument Co., CALIFORNIA, (619) 744 -2690 for parts locations, and ex- fields. High- and low- resis-
porting graphics to PCX tance limits verify the pres-
EMSCO Division /Hammond Electronics, FLORIDA,
(800) 275-3554
files are included. ence of the wriststrap's
Auto Insight is priced at current -limiting resistor
Dow Electronics, GEORGIA, (800) 627 -2910
$79.95.- Informative necessary to protect the
Tycom Industries. Inc., GEORGIA, (404) 378 -6160 Graphics, 706 East Bell wearer against shock.
Joseph Electronics, ILLINOIS, (800) 323 -5925 Road, Suite 207, Phoenix, The GAM -7 has a com-
Klaus Radio Supply, ILLINOIS, (800) 545-5287
AZ 85022; Phone: mon point ground, two
602-971-6061; Fax: pairs of red and green
Allied Broadcast, INDIANA, (317) 962-8596
602 -971 -1714. LED's, an audible alarm and
Electronics Supply, KANSAS, (800) 669 -3752
continuity tester, a resis-
HARCO Electronics, MARYLAND, (800) 638 -7616 ESD WORKSTATION tance -test button, a six -
TESSCO, MARYLAND, (800) 638 -7666 MONITOR /TESTER. Pilgrim second disconnect delay,
Electric's Model GAM -7 and a six -foot line cord.
Contact East, MASSACHUSETTS, (508) 682 -2000
ESD monitor/tester is test The price of the GAM -7
MSB Tool, Inc., MASSACHUSETTS, (617) 551 -0190 instrument for maintaining ESD monitor /tester is
Kendall /Great Lakes Electronics, MICHIGAN, the effectiveness of elec- $169. -Pilgrim Electric
(800) 321-8434 trostatic discharge (ESD) Company, 76 Summit Ave-
R.S. Electronics, MICHIGAN, (800) 366-7750 protective tools, accesso- nue, Sea Cliff, NY 11579;
Instrumentation Services, Inc., MINNESOTA, (612) 544 -8916
ries, and facilities. It can Phone: 516- 674 -3649.
measure the resistance of
Stark Electronics, MINNESOTA, (800) 334 -6154
shoe ground straps, con- GLOBAL POSITIONING
Olive Electronics, MISSOURI, (314) 997-7709 ductive shoes, work sur- SOFTWARE. DeLorme
Beta Lambda, Inc., NEW JERSEY, (800) 282 -5632 faces, antistatic smocks, Mapping is offering its
toteboxes, grounded tools, GPS MapKit SV, software
Brownell Electro, NEW JERSEY, (800) 828 -1552
and packaging and ship- that permits personal com-
Transcat, NEW YORK, (800) 828 -1470
ping materials. puter users to link Global
Electronic Parts, NEW MEXICO, (800) 456 -0057 The line- powered Positioning System (GPS)
Inotek Technologies, NORTH CAROLINA, (704) 527 -5000 monitor/tester can verify satellites to maps. Data
the polarity of an AC outlet from one of the many popu-
NW Test & Measurement, OREGON, (503) 645 -9000
to which it is connected. It lar- priced GPS satellite re-
Leff Electronics, Inc., PENNSYLVANIA, (412) 351 -5000 can also determine the in- ceivers is processed so
Sunshine Instruments, PENNSYLVANIA, tegrity of the ground straps that it can place a blinking
(800) 343-1199 and other grounded tools symbol on a computer-gen-
Dixie/Resource Electronics, SOUTH CAROLINA, (803) 779 -5332 and appliances at ESD -pro- erated map to represent
tected workstations to as- the location of the receiver.
EnTest, TEXAS, (800) 955 -0077
sure that they comply with A standard laptop corn -
Inotek Technologies, TEXAS, (800) 492-6767
OSHA's regulations for op- puter linked to a CD -ROM
Radar Electric, WASHINGTON, (206) 282 -2511 erator safety. drive and a GPS receiver
Dist -Tron, Inc., WISCONSIN, (608) 835 -5527
The wriststrap monitor- will permit users to display
ing circuitry allows the in- their locations anywhere in
For more information, you can also
call Tektronix toll-free: 1-800-426-2200.
strument to measure all the United States on de-
conventional operator tailed maps. The GPS
grounding wriststraps with MapKit SC includes a map
Tektronix
i coiled cords, operator ca- database of all roads, 25
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
counting, frequency syn- mium batteries on the
thesis, coincidence modem board.
alarms, or complex pulse The system is sold with
generation. Monicor's TurboLink 2.0
The boards are both operating system that ac-
compatible with industry commodates up to 48 ter-
standards for registers and minal nodes. It resides in an
CIRCLE 20 ON FREE
connectors. They offer 1- EEPROM on the modem
INFORMATION CARD or 5 -MHz internal clocks board. However, users can
for application flexibility. install their own operating
streams, and lakes in the Many different internal fre- systems. The output level
United States, even in rural quency sources and out- can be set from 1 milliwatt
areas. In major metro- puts can be selected as for connectivity of ten feet
politan areas, street ad- inputs for individual coun- CIRCLE 22 ON FREE to 2 watts for two miles or
dresses can be located. ters. Each counter can be INFORMATION CARD more.
A GPS receiver is con- gated by hardware or under The System 200 is
nected to one serial port of
an IBM -compatible porta-
ble computer with Win-
software control. They can
be programmed to count
be specified.
The price of the BCL-1
up or down in either binary loop antenna is $125 plus
priced at $465 per set
quantities of 1000.
Monicor Electronic Corpora-
-in
dows 3.0 or higher (2 or BCD. The counters can $5 for shipping and han- tion, 2964 NW 60th Street,
megabytes of RAM, 4 also be connected to- dling.- Electron Process- Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309;
megabytes of hard -disk gether by computer soft- ing, Inc., P.O. Box 68, Phone: 305 -979 -1907;
drive with VGA graphics) ware to form 32 -, 48 -, or Cedar, MI 49621; Phone: Fax: 305 -979 -2611.
the second serial port is 80 -bit counters. 616- 228 -7020.
connected to a portable The five -channel WIRE- TRACING SYSTEM.
CD -ROM drive. The map CTRTM -05 is priced at OEM RADIO MODEM TheAmprobe AT-2000
database is contained on a $255, and the 10- channel BOARD. Monicor Elec- wire -tracing system will lo-
single CD -ROM disk. CTRTM -10 is priced at tronic's System 200 is a ra- cate opens, ground faults,
The system can be used $390.- Analogic Corpora- dio modem board set that and shorts in wiring and ca-
in a moving verhicle or air- tion, 360 Audubon Road, allows computer and pe- ble systems (including
plane. By monitoring the Wakefield, MA 01880; ripheral manufacturers to
moving symbol on the map, Phone: 508 -977 -3000; ext. eliminate the interconnect-
the system can display 2089; Fax: 617 -245 -1274. ing cables in their systems.
such information as speed, It consists of a set of two
direction, and altitude. AM BROADCAST LOOP AN- boards that can communi-
The GPS MapKit SV is TENNA. The Electron Pro- cate any RS232C port and
priced at $795. -DeLorme
cessing's BCL -1 indoor it allows computer systems
Mapping, Lower Main loop antenna can improve to be mobile.
Street, P.O. Box 298, Free- your reception of distant ra-
port, ME 04032; Phone: dio stations in the crowded
207 -865 -1234. AM broadcast band. It is
said to have excellent di- CIRCLE 25 ON FREE
COUNTER TIMER BOARDS. rectional and low -noise INFORMATION CARD
Analogic's CTRTM Series characteristics, making it
of counter timer boards suitable for receiving weak LAN's), metal piping, and
for IBM PC /AT- compatible signals. metal -shielded fiberoptic
computers offers either 5- The BCL -1 is a compact cable. The modular system
or 10- channel general pur- 8 x 8 -inch square un- CIRCLE 24 ON FREE is available in four different
pose 16 -event counters. shielded loop that brings in INFORMATION CARD
configurations with compo-
They are intended for event standard broadcast band nents that are interchange-
stations from 530 to 2000 One of the boards is a able to permit the user to
kHz without picking up ex- digital transmitter /receiver upgrade a basic system to
cessive noise. An internal and the other is a modem. meet future needs.
30 -dB signal intensifier The two are linked by flexi- The AT-2000 includes
preamplifier boosts incom- ble cable that carries only three handheld primary
ing signals. The antenna is low- frequency signals and components: receiver, sig-
powered from the 120 -volt direct current. The sys- nal generator, and transmit-
AC line by means of an tem's power requirement is ter. The receiver has a 20-
adapter. A jumper cable for 7.5 volts DC, 250 milliam- foot range, high noise im-
connecting the antenna to peres, maximum, supplied munity, and a display that
CIRCLE 21 ON FREE your receiver is included by the RS -232C connector can be read easily in bright
26 INFORMATION CARD and its end connector can or rechargeable nickel -cad- sunlight. The signal gener-
ator is suitable for making
tests on any circuit that car-
ries between 9 and 600
NEW LIT
volts AC or DC.
According to the man- Use The Free Information Card for fast response.
ufacturer, the power to any
circuit being traced need
not be interrupted, so the Multimedia: Making It Work; from scratch, and how to
tracing not cause any sys- by Tay Vaughan. Osborne find and select the right
tem downtime. The wire McGraw -Hill, 2600 Tenth text, sound, graphic, and
tracing equipment does Street, Berkeley, CA 94710; video elements for a
not generate RF so the in- Phone: 800 -227 -0900; unique presentation. It also
strumentation will not af- $27.95, including 31/2cinch explains how to perfect
fect sensitive electronics. diskette. your original concept.
The transmitter and its This book with its in- The disk, a special edi-
clamp -on accessory can in- cluded diskette gives you tion from Mathematica, in-
duce a signal on any line, information you need to (_ IRCLE 40 ON FREE cludes two programs:
INFORMATION CARD an image -editing
whether or not it is ener- make decisions on how to TEMPRAOIF,
gized. set up a multimedia system and video elements face an program, allows you to cap-
The basic AT-2000 kit is and use it to create profes- overwhelming array of ture, paint, edit, and print
priced at $439.85, but the sional multimedia presen- choices. There are dozens images in popular industry-
complete AT-2004 system tations. Multimedia is the of multimedia hardware standard formats, and
(pictured here) is priced at hottest trend in computers products on the market, TEMPRA SHOW is a multimedia
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Road, P.O. Box 329, computing environment. Vaughan's handbook ex- video, graphics, text, ani-
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Phone: 516 -593 -5600; want to combine text, ani- ments, how to design and into all of your interactive
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Tektronix i 27
CIRCLE 188 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
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Software Engineering Tools This book provides ideas to solve interference prob-
Catalog No. 6; from BSOFT and guidance for amateur lems presented to or orig-
Software, Inc., 444 Colton radio operators who want inating from your ham
Road, Columbus, OH 43207; to operate their gear with- station. Because many
Phone: 614- 491 -0832; Fax: out attracting attention. If low- profile stations depend
614 -497 -9971; free. you are a ham operator on indoor antennas, the
This engineering soft- who lives in an apartment, complete guidelines of the
ware and hardware tool condo, or dormitory, set- ARRL Bioeffects Commit-
catalog for personal com- ting up a traditional ham tee are included.
CIRCLE 38 ON FREE
puters and IBM compati- INFORMATION CARD shack might not be possi-
bles offers professional, ble. Moreover a standard The Phone Book; by Gerald
low -cost, stand-alone engi- covered include network- setup is not feasible if you Luecke and James B. Allen.
neering programs and ing, optimizing battery life, want to get on the air from Prompt Publications, How-
hardware designed for en- computing in foreign coun- your car or while you are on ard W. Sams & Company,
gineers, technicians, and tries, on -line tips and a camping trip. 2647 Waterfront Parkway
hobbyists. tricks, faxing, memory ex- Kearman's book begins East Drive, Indianapolis, IN
pansion, and attaching with an historical review of 46214 -2012; Phone:
color displays. spies who have managed 317 -298 -5710; Fax:
The 31/2 -inch disk con- for decades to keep a low 317- 298 -5604; $16.95.
tains the Roadside As- profile while operating a
sistance Kit, powerful lap- transmitter. The book goes
top utilities software worth on to show you how to set
more than $325 including: up an operate an amateur
Applicon 2.2 lets you station in an apartment,
set up applications files condo, or campesite with-
loaded into memory any- out attracting unwanted at-
where on the screen. tention or annoying others.
CIRCLE 39 ON FREE Dynodex 2.0.1, an elec- The author recommends
INFORMATION CARD tronic Rolodex and address low -power operation, but CIRCLE 36 ON FREE
book. INFORMATION CARD
Programs are offered for QuickKeys for Nomads
drawing schematics, sim- that lets you toggle back- This book explains the
LOW PROFILE
ulating logic- control cir- lighting ON and OFF, spin ,1b1,YPl'sUll
RADIO basic principles of tele-
cuits, FFT analysis, and down the hard drive, shut phones and how they work.
Opo.ating a Mom Station
circuit analysis. CAD pro- down or put the Power- from Almost Anywhere
It also provides guidelines
grams for structural analy- Book to sleep, and locate to help you evaluate exist-
sis, circuit design, and PC- the cursor instantly. ing phone systems.
board layout are also of- SuperClock! 3.9.1, a util- According to Luecke
fered, along with new PC ity that displays a clock in and Allen, a telephone in-
bus board products for the menubar. stalled in your home by the
control and data acquisi- Synchro, a file sorting phone company, or a com-
CIRCLE 37 ON FREE
tion applications. utility. INFORMATION CARD plete phone system in-
A demonstration version stalled in your office by a
PowerBook: The Digital of AgentDA 2.1.2, a per- this is not another QRP private contractor can be
Nomad's Guide; by Andrew sonal calendar /appoint- CW book. He discusses expensive and involve long
Gore and Mitch Ratcliffe. ment book program. the problems you will en- waiting periods for service.
Random House Electronic Spiral 1.0, a RAM -resi- counter in operating the This book will help you
Publishing, 201 East 50th dent notetaker that works digital modes with low avoid those problems. It in-
Street, New York, NY 10022; like a word processor but power and hidden anten- cludes instructions and ex-
Phone: 800 -733 -3000; also allows you to add tab- nas. He also describes tensive illustrations on how
$24.00, including diskette. bed sections with tables of techniques for low-power to install a single phone or
This combination book contents linked to specific voice, CW, RTTY, AMTOR, complex, multi -line sys-
and disk package explains passages in a designated packet- radio, and VHF/ tems. Detailed information
how to turn the Macintosh section. UHF radio operation. is also given on modular in-
PowerBook laptop into a You'll find out how to stallations, wiring new sys-
total mobile office. Written Low Profile Amateur Radio: obtain a good RF ground in tems, installing business,
by two Mac Week editors, Operating a Ham Station a tall building, and how to private home, and apart-
the book applies to all the from Almost Anywhere; by install a rig in a compact ment installations as well
latest models, including the Jim Kearman, KRIS. The car. The book also de- as modem operation. A
160, 180, and PowerBook American Radio Relay scribes small HF and VHF separate chapter covers
Duo models. League, 225 Main Street, antennas for apartment troubleshooting and sys-
28 The wide range of topics Newington, CT 06111; $8.00. dwellers, and explains how tem checks.
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um
Let your fingers do the tapping with the ThumbDrum.
e] rum
JOHN SIMONTON and KENT CLARK
PLAYING THE DRUMS MAY LOOK Underneath each rubber The output of sensor PZI is
easy, but ifyou've ever picked up thumb pad is a piezoelectric wired to trimmer R2, which
a pair of sticks and tried to play transducer. or sensor, which is controls the sensor's output
real drums, you probably realize normally used as a buzzer. level. The trimmer can compen-
that it takes a littlé practice to These piezoelectric discs de- sate for differences in individu-
sound like Buddy Rich-or even form or distort when a voltage is al sensor outputs or differences
Ringo Starr. On the other hand, placed across them. More im- in finger strength.
you probably sound great when portant for our purposes, they After attenuation, the piezo-
you finger-drum on a table top. produce a voltage when they are electric output is processed by a
That's the idea behind the physically deformed by a me- simple peak -detector consisting
ThumbDrum. a controller that chanical force. of D5, C3. and R3. That con-
converts finger drumming into
real drum sounds.
MIDI (Musical Instrument
Digital Interface) users will
want to build the Thumb -
Drum's computer board. which
turns taps on the Thumb -
Drum's foam percussion pads
into MIDI NOTE -ON. NOTE -OFF,
and VELOCITY data which can
control sounds from MIDI key-
boards, sound modules. and
many MPC (Multimedia Person-
al Computer) computers.
Would -be drummers who are
not interested in MIDI will want
to build the ThumbDrum tone
board, which contains analog
circuitry for creating a drum kit
with bass, tom-tom. snare, con-
ga, wood -block, clave, and syn-
th drum sounds. The tone
board uses ringing oscillators, a
noise source, and diode "tricks"
to get a classic -or at least re-
tro -set of electronic drums
that can plug right into guitar
amplifiers or hi-fi equipment.
Sensor board
The sensor board is common
to both MIDI and analog ver-
sions. It converts the force of a
finger striking a pad into volt-
age pulses with peak ampli-
tudes that are proportional to
how hard the pad is hit. The
schematic is shown in Fig. 1.
Because the same basic circuit
is repeated eight times, we'll
look at only the circuitry around
verts the transient signal from plication of the 8031 micro - the processor's TxD output is
the transducer into a more pre- controller. The 12 -MHz crystal buffered by IC6 -a and IC6 -b, two
dictable pulse with an almost XTAL1 is the timing source for of the six inverters in the
instantaneous attack and a the microcontroller's (IC3) 74HC04 package. A third inver-
slightly slower decay. The peak clock, and R1 and C3 provide ter (IC6 -c) drives the SEND AC-
level of the pulse is proportional power-on reset. TIVE indicator LED1, which is a
to the force of the strike, which A 74HC373 octal latch, IC2, convenient means for seeing
makes the pads touch -sen- under control of the ADDRESS that data is actually being out-
sitive. The signal is then buff- LATCH ENABLE Output (pin 30) of put.
ered by IC1 -d and becomes the the 8031, demultiplexes the ad- On the MIDI input side,
trigger output for that channel. dress and data lines and pro- ground isolation required MIDI
The arrangement of R4, where vides the lower eight address is provided by an HIIA1 op-
the output is taken from within bits to the 2764 EPROM (IC4) toisolator, IC7. The output of
the feedback loop, permits indi- and optional RAM (IC5). A IC7 is routed to the 8031's UART
vidual outputs to be wire-oRed 74HC138 1 -of -8 decoder (IC8) input, RXD. There are provi-
together to drive a single out- changes the states of the ad- sions on the circuit board for a
put. One reason for that ar- dress lines Al2-A14 into one of second MIDI input (J4, IC9,
rangement is because it's easier eight ENABLE lines. etc.), but these are not used in
to do drum rolls on two pads TWo NAND gates (IC10 -c and this application -and are
than one IC10 -d) combine one of the shown in the schematic to be
A light- emitting diode, LEDI, ENABLE lines (IC8 pin 15) with consistent with the circuit
serves two functions: it acts as a the processor's read (Kb) and board artwork. Similarly, the
power indicator and also pro- write (wR) lines (pins 17 and 16, general -purpose indicator
vides a simple way to calibrate respectively) to select and con- LED2 is not used.
the sensitivity of the sensors trol IC11, an ADC0809 eight -in- The eight inputs to the ADC,
without test equipment. The put analog -to-digital converter which are the outputs from the
voltage dropped across the di- (ADC). Address lines AO -A2 sensors, as well as the 5 volts
odes D1 -D3 causes the junction select the ADC's input to be con- needed to power the processor,
of D3 and D4 to be at about 3 verted. The remaining two NAND are fed from the sensor board to
volts with respect to ground. gates (IC10 -a and IC10 -b), along the computer board through 14-
When the output of IC1 -d with R11, R12, and C13, form pin DIP connector J5. Expan-
reaches a voltage slightly less the 500 -kHz clock that is re- sion connector J1 provides ac-
than 4 volts, D6 is forward bi- quired by the ADC. cess to the processor's control,
ased and begins to add current Serial MIDI data streams are address, and data lines. The
to the current already flowing handled by a UART (universal connector isn't used in this
into LED1 through D1 -D3. As a asynchronous receiver /trans- project, but is provided for fu-
result the LED glows more mitter) that is built into the ture expansion.
brightly. The increase in bright- 8031. MIDI data coming from The software for the comput-
ness becomes noticeable when er board is contained in IC4, a
the output of IC1 -d begins to ap- 2764 EPROM. The computer's
proach its maximum allowable SENSOR BOARD PARTS LIST
biggest job is monitoring the
output of slightly less than 5 All resistors are e. -watt, 10%. eight peak- detector outputs for
volts. R1-1500 ohms rising and falling voltages that
Because the sensor board is R2, R5, R8, R11, R14, R17, R20, R23- indicate that a sensor has been
required for both analog and 100,00 ohms, trimmer potentiometer hit. The outputs are monitored
MIDI versions, the power supply R3, R6, R9, R12, R15, R18, R21, R24-1 on a scanning basis, so that no
megohm
is located there. Power from a R4, R7, R10, R13, R16, R19, R22, R25- pulses are ignored while an-
12 -volt DC wall- mounted adapt- 1000 ohms other input is processed: each
er is switched by Si, filtered by Capacitors input gets checked about every
Cl, and becomes the unregu- Cl, C2-100 µF, 15 volts, Electrolytic 2 milliseconds.
lated + V supply for the op- C3-C10 --0.01 µF, ceramic disc To find the maximum value of
amps. The 7805 5 -volt reg- Semiconductors the sensor -board outputs,
IC1, IC2-LM324 quad op-amp
ulator, IC3, provides power for IC3 -7805 5-volt regulator which is used to calculate ve-
the MIDI computer or is used as DI-D3, D5 -1N914 diode locity, the firmware looks at the
an internal audio ground for the D4-not used last two readings from the ADC.
tone board. The individual sen- LED1 -red light- emitting diode If a reading is larger than the
sor outputs and power are Other components previous one, the old value is
routed to a 14 -pin DIP header, S1-SPST slide switch
T1 -12 -voll DC wall transformer thrown away and the new one is
J1, which serves as the connector PZ1-PZ8---piezoelectric disc saved. When the software sees
to the MIDI or tone boards. transdcuer two consecutive readings that
J1 -14-pin DIP socket are smaller than the largest
MIDI computer Miscellaneous: PC board, foam -rub- reading, the pulse is assumed to
A schematic for the MIDI com- ber pads, double-sided tape, wire - be decaying, and the largest
puter is shown in Fig. 2. The wrap wire, ribbon cable, project case,
hardware, solder
ADC value is saved.
34 circuitry is a traditional ap- Since the ADC is an eight -bit
+ 5V
+V
LED1 Ar R1 J1
150051 14t +5V
1
0
+ 5V 2--0 1sT f
D1 D2 D3
111914 111914 1N914
POWER/
á
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5-0 O0--10*
OVERLOAD
J
I R2
D5
111914
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-
+V
4 .
4
R4
1K
yy jRl4
D13
111914
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12
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14
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R7 D15 R19
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00K
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PZ6
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-
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R18
D8 1MEG D16
.01
111914 111014
D9 R10 D17
jK
111914 1K 111914
R8 3
Wl R20 3
1C1-a 100K 1C2-a
LM324 LM324
0 1/4
PZ7
1/4
TPZ3 C5 R9 R21
C9
-
1MEG D10 1MEG D18
.01
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1/1914
FIG.1-THE SENSOR BOARD converts the force of a finger striking a pad into voltage
pulses with peak amplitudes proportional to how hard the pad is hit.
device and the MIDI data word As the input pulse decays, the P12.and 1'13 of IC3) and sends it.
for velocity is only seven bits, firmware sends a MIDI NOTE -ON Finally, the velocity data is
the least -significant bit (LSB) of message; the MIDI channel fetched and either sent directly
the ADC output is discarded. number is determined by the or used as a pointer to a log-
The second least -significant bit four DIP switches connected to arithmic value in a look -up ta-
is also ignored so that the value lines P14 -P17 of IC3. The firm- ble depending on the lin /log
is well above the "noise floor" of ware next fetches the MIDI note option selected by the last DIP
the sensors. The rest of the bits number assigned to the sensor switch (connected to line Plo of
are saved to determine the ve- in the map (selected by the DIP IC3). After about '/1 second, the
locity. switches connected to lines P11. firmware sends a NOTE -OFF 35
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
o
message to cancel the NOTE -ON. sion instruments generated Acoustically, the biggest dif-
The firmware checks for addi- drum sounds with the "ringing ference is that, while real drums
tional RAM and sets remapping oscillator" approach that is (and all "natural" instruments)
capabilities accordingly. It also used here. When sampling in- generate a complex spectrum of
merges the NOTE ON /OFF struments were first intro- subtle overtones, electronic
messages generated by sensor duced, the realistic sounds drum circuits generate a fairly
activity with MIDI data appear- resulting from playing what is pure tone. They sound like
ing on MIDI In Port 1. We'll see essentially a recording of a drums because they capture
why merging and remapping drum made electronic sounds what is the essence of all percus-
are important when we talk unfashionable. But, what goes sion instruments, an envelope
about using the system. around comes around, and now that rises rapidly to some peak
the electronic units are regain- when the instrument is first
Tbne board ing popularity because they struck (the definition of "per-
In the days before digital sam- don't sound exactly like drums. cussion") and then log-
36 piing, most electronic percus- Go figure! arithmically decays back to O.
+ 5V 8 AO RD
+5V ni
NSI XTAL1
+ Cl íG5
R1
103 XTAL1 C2 41.-1 4l
C3 330
8031 C"' 12MHz 0118
10µF 4.7K 18 330 27 A2
A2
FA XTAL2
22 Urv PON ADO 9
11 ADO A3
PSEN 0 .101
S1 t
12 AD1 A01 10
DEFAULTS 0, 4
C IC4 A02 AD2
11 13 11
PIO ALE C OC 2784 03 DO3 A5
ADO_ 3 15 AD3 13 ADO 7
10 10 10 AO 04 AD3 DO4 A6
P11 P30/RXD
16 AD4
P12 P31/TXD 2D 20 Al
12 17 AD5 AD5 15
P32/INTO 3D 30 A2 D06 Al
P13
3 8 A06
P33/IÑT1 4D 40 A3 D07 AY
P14
19 AD7
P15 P34/T0 50 50 A4 D08 A1O
P16 P35/Ti 6D 60 A5
P17 P36AÑR 7D 70 A6 W
AD7 14
P37/RD 8D 80 A7
15
P00/ADO P20/A8 Al
62 A9
P01/AD1 P21 /A9
1r
37 A10
P02/AD2 P22/A11
18
P03/AD3 P23/A11 Al
R13* 10 24
68013 8 9 25
YV
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IC11
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2
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05
06
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IN?
3
4
13
: D7 IN4
J2 3 AO
ADO INS
114
MIDI
OUT 6800
4 6 5
IC6-c +5V
Al
A2
AD1
AD2
166
167
MIDI
%IYlED1 /e 74HC04 CV
R6 SEND ACTIVE 2 STCNV
115 INPUTS
IN 1 1
iA
K
22013 3.3K CLK
B6 3 C4 C11
OE +5V
CMIN
2 IC7 .1
02 1010 -a 2
111914
3
DIME 1/4 7411002 C13 REF+
5 16
1001E REF-
R7 +5V
011
100K 5 100K
R9* R8*
2200 3.3K
03* 6 012
111914 3.9K 015 018 C17 018
1010 -b
01µF .010 .010F .010
1/4 7441902
1410
1001( * OPTIONAL
FIG. 2 -THE MIDI COMPUTER BOARD is used if you want the ThumbDrum to be MIDI -
compatible.
Although the schematic for and the circuit oscillates at the source is an avalanching base -
the drum circuits shown in Fig. frequency set by the filter com- emitter junction of NPN tran-
3 might seem imposing at first, ponents. As gain is reduced, the sistor Q1. The low-level noise
notice that it's primarily one cir- circuit will stop oscillating, and from the transistor is amplified
cuit duplicated six times. That it acts as a resonant bandbass by op -amp IC2 -b.
basic building block is typified filter-but not a very good band - High -level noise is then gated
by the circuit built around IC1- pass filter because of its tran- on by IC2 -c by the simple expe-
a, one of four LM324 op -amps sient response. If the filter is hit dient of having the trigger pulse
within IC1. with a pulse input, it tem- bias the op -amp out of satura-
This circuit, which is de- porarily breaks into oscillation tion into a linear operating
signed to sound like a wood and rings like crazy. However, range. Components C25 and
block, is basically a "twin -T" what's not good for a bandpass R44 stretch the relatively short
notch filter (R3, C2, and R4 filter is great for producing pulse from the drum sensor to
makes up one "T" and C3, R5, drum sounds. Input pulses are hold the noise burst on a little
and C4 make up the other) in coupled into the circuit by Cl longer than the sensor pulse
the inverting feedback loop of and Rl. alone would.
an amplifier. DC gain of the The snare drum sound starts Be aware that this technique
stage is set by R6 and R7. When with a burst of white noise to is not universally applicable to
the gain is high, it overcomes simulate the rattle of the snares switching audio because the
the losses in the filter section, when the drum is hit. The noise change in DC level at the output 37
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
J
R3 R4 R10
+V R11
t
2.2MEG 2.2MEG
1
2
0-
0
74S +5V
13 }
'
2
J2
18
15 C2t
2.2MEG
M
C8
M
2.2MEG
3
O 0 .01 04 C8
12 3 14 .01
O
1/T
J
8
10 5 12 R5 BASS
6 0 9 6 ó _ 11
WOOD BLOCK .001
C3
10K
C7
4700pF
R 2
15K
7 o-10 --4A44--+5V
o
R1
R8 7
1K
K M 3
1C1-a
K
5 +
1C1-b
Cl V41.11024 C5 '/4 LM824
.01 R2
1M R7
.01
R9
3
of 1114
10K
R8 -S 100K 10K7
R3 7100K
3.9MEG 2.2MEG 1
+5V +5V +5V +5V
R32 R33 R17 R18 D2 D1 R24 R25
2.2MEG
C19ñC
2.2MEG
M C10t M
2.2MEG 2.2MEG
l 1144148
N
1N4148
14
2.2MEG
C147S
2.2MEG
TOM-TOM
K
020
R34
CONGA
K C11
R19
+SV
C17 R29
K.
K
C15
t+5V '
W
R35
IC2-a
1/4 LM824
tt R36
it00K
C9
.01
R15
33011
M
R16
10K i
13
12
M
R20
+/fC1-d
14
'/4 LM324
ttR21
$100K
D3
15414
C13
01
1122
33K
M
R23
10K
9 10 +
R27 /4
3.9MEG
8
ICi-o
LM324
4100
1128
+5V +5V.K
D4
1N4148
+5V t 3.9MEG V +5V 3.9MEG r
+5V +5V
SNARE
R47 R48
R52 1159
M
2.2MEG 2.2MEG
M M47K 22K
C27
C29 1153
580pF
560pF 47K
v t+ 5V v .
CLAVE R54
C28 R49 C30
5600
-yy 47K
+5V
47K .005
1145
7
330II
K W. 1C3-0
C26 '/z 5582
.01 R48
10K
R50
M 1151
IOOK
IC2-c
2.2MEG
'74 LM324 +5V +5V
R44
1MEG
FIG. 3 -DRUM CIRCUITS. One circuit, basically a "twin-T" notch filter, is duplicated
six times.
áyi- .é P
c
roQe
e
1
1 I
.
pates much of the energy in the fi} i
deil I,
l
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TONE BOARD PARTS LIST MIDI COMPUTER PARTS LIST
All resistors are 1/4 -watt, 10 %. All resistors are 1/4 -watt, 10 %.
LA=3,
FM VHF
CARRIER
VW
DISTORTED
CJ ;3 X4.8 ANTENNA
1/4 INCH,, - LEVEL
INPUT
PLUG
TO GUITAR BUFFER DISTORTION TONE
HIGH
VHF FM
IMPEDANCE
OSCILLATOR
LOW
IMPEDANCE
ti
TUNE
FLIP- CLEAN VOLTAGE
FLOP REGULATOR
40 separate channels for the distorted and clean sound and the VHF FM oscillator.
Build a wireless
FM guitar transmitter
that is better than what you
can purchase
-and save money.
TER
the guitar is played. The latest
commercial wireless guitar
transmitters include modifica- Capacitor C2 attenuates un-
tions of companding that re- wanted ultrasonic frequencies,
duce background noise and while capacitor C3 lowers the
suppress "breathing," but that impedance of the bias voltage at
improvement has increased audio frequencies to yield a
their price. cleaner bias -voltage supply. Ca-
A transmitter must have a pacitor C4 performs the same
high signal-to -noise ratio (S/N) function on the supply voltage
if it is to be used with a distor- for IC1.
tion- effect unit because it is es- can expect a consistent 60 -dB The clean signal is then
sentially a high-gain audio am- overall S/N. routed to IC2, a CD4066 CMOS
plifier. Therefore, if the distor- Figure 1 is a block diagram of switch, and
tion effect is inserted after the the Guitar Transmitter with also amplified from 1 to 214
receiver (as in typical wireless typical waveforms shown at times by IC1 -a, depending on
guitar transmitters), all sound various stages of signal process- the setting of DISTORTION control
including background noise ing. Notice that the complete potentiometer R7. Resistor R6
will be amplified. The result is a transmitter has three func- and capacitor C5 establish a
lower overall S/N ratio. tional circuits: distortion, low- frequency roll -off (i.e., at-
Typical S/N ratios for wireless touch switch, and VHF FM volt- tenuation of low frequencies) of
transmitters rarely exceed 70 age-controlled oscillator (VCO). approximately 160 Hz.
dB unless some form of corn - lb produce a distorted signal
panding is present. However, if How it works from IC1 -a, three 1N4148 di-
you assume that a commercial Figure 2 is the schematic di- odes, D1, D2, and D3 clip the
wireless transmission system agram for the Guitar 'ß-ansmit- amplified voltage at asymmetric
has an S/N of 100 dB and a dis- ter. The plus and minus signs levels of about 0.7 volt and -1.4
tortion effects unit is inserted on the schematic near the po- volts, producing a distortion
between the receiver and ampli- tentiometer symbols indicate similar to that obtained with
fier, the overall S/N will drop to that clockwise rotation is from an overdriven vacuum-tube
about 54 dB. This is based on the minus sign towards the amplifier.
the assumption that voltage plus sign. The distorted signal is then
gain is 200, therefore: This circuit will produce both sent to the tone- control sec-
S/N reduction = 20 log (200) = undistorted and distorted audio tion centered around IC 1 -b
46 dB output. The undistorted output where frequencies above
The Guitar Transmitter dif- is produced by non -inverting about 1KHz are attenuated
fers from the latest commercial amplifier IC1 -d with a gain of: when TONE control potentiome-
products because it has a dis- R4/R5 +1 = 68K/18K +1 = 4.8. ter R10 is set full counter-clock-
tortion- effects unit which pre- Capacitor Cl blocks the DC wise (i.e., the wiper is at the
cedes its transmitter. As a components of the input signal, non -inverting input of IC1 -b.
result, the effects unit amplifies and resistors R2 and R3 form a This stage amplifies frequen-
only the pure guitar signal and voltage divider to bias the input cies above 1KHz when R10 is
not the background transmis- of an LM324 operational ampli- fully clockwise.
sion noise. Therefore, noise is fier IC1 at about half of its sup- Resistor R8 and capacitor C6
reduced, component cost is ply voltage of 9 volts. Resistor Rl form a low -pass filter that at-
lower because no companding sets the input impedance of the tenuates the high- frequency
circuity is required, and you circuit to 1 megohm. components of the clipped 41
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PLI +V
INPUT
K
R1
Cl
0.1µF
C2
+
IC1-d
100pF LM324 + 4
+
C4
1011F
= R8 C9
4Ak
R12
1K
C
10K TONE + 1µF R13
IC1-a 3
1MEG + 4 p IC2-c B
LM324
2 IC1-b LEVEL CD4066
+V C5
11 LM324
TO +V/2
R3 R5 / VV`
R4
.01 RF
'
+V/2 22K 18K . 68K
- Ccv '4M-* R21
R7 R10 10K
O .001NF R11 R22
100K
47K 100K
R2
22K
^ + C3
10µF R6
4.7K
,t
_1VM/EG+
I } D3
104148
R9---.-1(
1K
C8
.001µf Cl
.
R14 .0022µF
-Of DISTORTION
47K L1
D1
C5 11
1N4148 D2 C7 10µH
9 0.1 µF A
R15 0.01µf
B 7' 47K 41N4148 IC2-b
10 CD4066 C12
1C2-d 6
0.1µF
CD4066 C
OV A 12
C13
7 8 R25
3.3pF
2 R16
47K 7
+V
-L-
w
100K
IE--
10 R20
1. 1M
+V
R17
47K
`O 4
2.2K
D4
R23
110K MPSA05
Q1
N.C.
L2
.08µH
LEDI 'VW 00
(RED) 1N751A TUNE
R18 +V
4.7MEG
R19
ANTI ~CF15
13 10pF
C
IC2 a 14
CD4066 + 470K C18
B 22pF
K OUT A
C14
n1
TOUCH
C10
0.11F +V
0.041E1
R24
C21
.001µF
R27
10K
.44A IC4
C17
22pF
SENSORS P' 110K N E602 C16
2
R9 22pF
IC3
K
B1
1----VI LM2931AZ-5.0V0 .01µF 3
GND + C20 C22
- POWER 10µF 0.01µF á ND W.
Vcc R27
8 22K
FIG. 2- SCHEMATIC FOR THE WIRELESS GUITAR TRANSMITTER. The touch sensors
permit fingertip control of the sound.
Now, if IC2 -a were closed mo-
waveform produced by IC -a. feedback resistor R16. The ref- mentarily (pins 1 and 2 short-
High- frequency roll -off for ICl -b erence for this voltage corn- ed), IC1 -c would change state
is set by C8 and R11. The AC parator is set slightly higher (i.e., output drops to zero volts).
voltage gain is determined by re- than half the supply voltage by Resistor R15 provides the inver-
sistors R9, RIO and R11. R16 and R17. se of the output level of IC1 -c
The output level from IC1b is The entire comparator circuit from IC2 -d, keeping IC1 -c in
controlled by LEVEL control po- performs a flip -flop function by static equilibrium. Then C10
tentiometer R13. Capacitor C9 combining an inverter IC2 -d discharges through R19 and
AC- couples R13 from the output and R14 with low-pass filter R19 once discharged, IC2 -a closes
of IC -b. Resistor R12 limits the and C10. That filter has a time momentarily, causing IC1 -c to
maximum output voltage to constant of 47 milliseconds to change state again.
prevent overmodulation of the prevent false triggering and This process causes a "push -
transmitted carrier. high- frequency oscillations. pull" action, thus forming a
To understand the operation "touch-on/touch-off' switch.In
Touch control: of this flip -flop, assume that practice, the touch sensors will
livo sections of IC2 switch be- C10 is initially discharged, be shorted by a finger tip, caus-
tween the clean and distorted IC2 -a is open, and IC1 -c is in its ing control input pin 13 of IC2 -a
signals. Sections a and b of IC2 true state (the voltage at the in- to be grounded, opening the
are operated as complementary verting input is less than at the switch.
switches by the touch -control non -inverting input; thus its The EFFECT /BATTERY LED 1
section of the transmitter. Oper- output is at supply-voltage level. lights only when the distorted
ational amplifier IC1 -c forms a Capacitor C10 charges through sound channel is selected.
voltage comparator with hys- R19 to a value higher than the Zener diode D4, resistor R20,
42 teresis produced by positive reference voltage. and LED1 form a measuring cir-
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REAR REAR
cuit to indicate when battery VIEW
CW
LED15 VIEW
CW
o
0000 0
oo èèèèèè
0
o-oo
0
change of transistor Q1 as seen o o bo 0
by the inductor-capacitor tank o
0
0
o
0
0 0 oo
000
tuning section made up of vari- 0 0 0
able coil inductor L2 and capac- 0 0 0 0.0
itor C15. 0 0 00 0 o
00 00--0
The tank limits the frequency 0 00 0
deviation of the FM carrier to a Q,__ ,O.poo
00 000000091
maximum of ± 75 kHz in accor- RadioAOli 0.00 0
dance with the Canadian De- rRANSYITrER
O O O
0
00
partment of Communications (<) 1991 dB(
(DOC) and the U.S. Federal 17he INCHES { i' 17118 INCHES
Communication Commission COMPONENT-SIDE FOIL PATTERN for SOLDER -SIDE FOIL PATTERN for the
(FCC) regulations. The VHF FM the two -sided circuit board of the guitar two -sided circuit board of the guitar
sinewave is generated by the in- transmitter. transmitter.
ductive- capacitive tank section,
and amplified and buffered by C21, which also helps to mini- Building the transmitter
IC4. This signal is then AC cou- mize antenna loading effects on Most of the components in
pled to the antenna by capacitor IC4. the Guitar Tl ansmitter are stan- 43
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PARTS LIST
input effect/
tune batt
All resistors are '/8-watt, 5 %, un- C13 -3.3 pF ceramic Philips 09338
less otherwise specified. or equivalent
R1 -1
megohm C15-10 pf ceramic, Philips 10109
I+ R2, R3, R26- 22,000 ohms or equivalent
R4- 68,000 ohms C16, C17, C18-10 pF ceramic, Phi-
FM L_ L.1 R5-18,000 ohms lips 10229 or eqivalent
R6 -4,700 ohms
I
Inductors
Effect R7 -1 megohm miniature potenti- L1 -10
µH, fixed, 5% Toko FL-4 or
ometer equivalent
R8-10,000 ohms L2-0.08 µH variable molded, Q =
R9 -1000 ohms 130 @ 100 MHz, Toko MC -120 or
lo hi R10- 100,000 ohms miniature po- equivalent
tentiometer Other components
Dist Tone Level R11, R14, R15, R16, R17- 47,000 81- battery, 9 -volt, alkaline tran-
(+) ohms
R13- 10,000 ohms miniature po-
tentiometer
R12-1000 ohms
tr-
sistor
S1- switch,
SPDT
subminiature slide,
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to solder leads on both sides of
the board to assure a sound sol-
der joint. If you do not want to
make the board yourself you
can purchase a finished circuit
board from the source listed in
the Parts List or build the cir-
cuit on perforated board.
You can obtain the full perfor-
mance capabilities of the circuit
with perforated board if you are
aware of the possible pitfalls in
building an RF circuit on that
substrate -and take extra care
in placing components and
dressing wires. Nevertheless,
the use of perforated circuit FIG. 4 -PHOTO OF THE COMPLETED guitar transmitter circuit board showing wiring
board stock is not recom- to off -board components. Note the star-shaped tuner body.
mended.
When building the transmit- capacitance and inductance in- Mechanical assembly
ter, refer to schematic Fig. 2 and troduced by the interconnect- After all of the components
Parts Placement diagram Fig. 3. ing wires. are inserted and soldered on the
Follow standard practice in in- Do not use IC sockets for any PC board, refer to exploded as-
serting the components and of the ICs because all lead sembly drawing Fig. 4 as well as
soldering them in place. Use a lengths must be kept as short as the Parts Placement diagram
grounded, 15- to 30 -watt, pen- possible. The components can Fig. 3 for the location and orien-
cil -type soldering iron, es- be inserted and soldered in any tation of off -board components.
pecially for soldering the semi- order, but it is a good idea to If you purchase the case and
conductor devices to avoid check off each part on the Parts cover from the source given in
damaging or destroying the de- List after you insert and solder the Parts list, all holes will be
vices with excess heat or elec- it. drilled.
trostatic discharge (ESD). Observe all polarities shown If you elect to provide your
There is a choice of three dif- on the schematic for the diodes own case, use the cover tem-
ferent values for capacitor C15 and tantalum capacitors. plate provided to drill:
because the tuning coil L2 for Mount all resistors vertically, Three control potentiometer
this transmitter has a high Q and mount all capacitors flush mounting holes.
(130 at 100 MHz). The letter Q against the circuit board. After Four 3/32 -inch holes for the
-a
stands for quality factor ref- soldering, trim all lead lengths touch sensor.
erence to the ability of the cir- as short as possible to reduce One 'As-inch hole for access to
cuit to present a well defined os- stray noise pick-up in the au- tuner L2.
cillator frequency. The higher dio- frequency section of the One 3/32 -inch hole for LED1.
the resolution, the smaller the transmitter. Then drill a 0.39-inch diame-
tuning range if the range of the ter hole centered in the end wall
tuning slug is limited to the Antenna length of the case for plug PI,1, taking
length of the coil body. Cut a 38.2 centimeter (15.3 - care that the plug fits snugly.
Variable coil L2 specified in inch) length of black stranded (The plug will be the sole sup-
the Parts List has a tunable fre- 28 AWG insulated hookup wire port for the completed transmit-
quency limit of about 15 MHz. for the antenna. Trim one end ter when it is plugged into the
Because the FM broadcast band and solder that end in position guitar, so it is important that it
spectrum is 20 MHz wide (from as shown in Fig. 3. The Guitar be rigidly mounted.)
88 to 108 MHz), select one of Transmitter operates at 98.00 Finally, cut a slot in the op-
three standard values for C15: MHz, so one wavelength equals posite end wall of the case for
10 picofarads gives a tuning 3.0612 meters. switch Si, and drill one or two
range 15 MHz wide centered at Transmitted signal strength holes beside the slot, as neces-
approximately 98 MHz. (The is generally proportional to an- sary, for fastening the switch to
ends of the FM broadcast band tenna length up to one wave- the case. With a hacksaw, cut a
can be obtained with slightly length, but if its length is more slot about 'As-inch deep in the
higher or lower values for C15.) than 76 centimeters (30 inches) end wall of the case near the
12 picofarads permits tuning the transmitted carrier will ex- switch slot for the antenna wire
in the lower end of the band. ceed the maximum allowable to permit it to pass under the
8.2 picofarads permits tun- signal strength level specified by cover without interference
ing in the upper end. the DOC and FCC regulations. when the cover is closed.
The exact tuning range ob- That's why the 38.2 centimeter Assemble the touch sensor
tained will vary with each trans- antenna length was selected for from four 1/4 inch, No. 4 -40 Phi-
mitter because of the parasitic this transmitter. llips -head screws with match- 45
KNOB CASE
COVER
COVER
SCREWS BATTERY
(4) CLIP
9 -VOLT
TUNER BATTERY
ACCESS
RED
/B (
HOLE A
ANODE
TONE
CATHODE
R10
iC 6\¡
+
BLACK
SLOT ANTENNA
3114 TOUCH 7
SENSORS
S1
SWITCH
GND
CASE
INPUT PLUG
FIG. 5-
EXPLODED VIEW OF THE TRANSMITTER showing the locations of the off-
board components and wiring. The input plug attaches the transmitter to the guitar.
and solder them to the PC
ing nuts. (1Wo of the four nut - tom to permit making the con- board. Bend the leads of LEDI
bolt combinations will be non- nections.) Then crimp the bared 90 °, insert the LED in the
functional.) However, be sure ends of the off-board wires drilled hole in the cover, and ce-
that the two to be wired as active around the lugs of the potenti- ment it in position with epoxy
sensor elements are electrically ometers, and the leads of the cement. Carefully check all wir-
isolated. LED and plug before soldering: ing to be sure that you have
Assemble the three miniature The terminal lugs of potenti- made no mistakes, and make
control potentiometers R7, R10 ometers R7, R10, and R13 (as any corrections necessary.
and R13 to the underside of the shown in Figs. 3 and 4): 8 wires. Position the circuit board as
cover with the ring nuts pro- Light-emitting diode (LEDI): shown in Fig. 4, being certain
vided, orient their terminals as 2 wires. that the top of inductor L2 is
shown as shown in Fig. 4, and Input plug PLI: 2 wires. aligned under the access hole
tighten the nuts. Insert plug Insert capacitor C23 between drilled in the cover. Apply one
PLI and secure it in position the terminals of potentiometer drop of RTV silicone (or other
with its nut. Insert switch Si in R7. (It reduces the possibility of appropriate adhesive) to each of
the case and fasten it with one audible feedback in the high - the four corners of the circuit
or two rivets or self- tapping gain distortion stage.) Solder all board on the solder side, and
screws. wires to the potentiometer lugs position the board correctly in
and the leads of LEDI. the bottom of the case. Also
Off -board wiring Loosen two of the touch -sen- place a drop of adhesive in the
Cut 6- to 7 -inch lengths of sor nut -bolt combinations, and slot for the antenna wire cut in
standard multicolored ribbon wind one turn of the bare end of the edge of the case, and posi-
cable (28 AWG 7 x 36 stranded the "ground" wire around one of tion the wire in the slot to keep
tinned copper), strip about 1/16 - the screws and one turn of the it in position. Allow time for all
inch of insulation from the bare end of the "touch" wire adhesives to set.
ends, and insert one set of wires around the other screw. Then Snap a fresh 9 -volt alkaline
in the board and solder them in tighten both nuts to clamp the transistor battery to the battery
position. (As many as ten wires wire ends securely in place. clip. Check to see that the
can remain bonded together for Cut, and strip the ends of EFFECT /BATTERY LED lights
most of their length if they are about 3 -inch lengths of the red when you bridge the screw
46 separated only near top and bot- and black battery-clip wires, continued on page 87
Hone your musical skills with Perfect Pitch, the
microprocessor-based instrument tuner, headphone
amplifier, and metronome.
FRED EADY
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imum, with the usable resolu-
i 32 tion of our circuitry ending at
OSCILLATOR
AND
33 just below 62 kHz. The 1- second
TUNING 34
timebase is implemented in
XTAL2 35
software, which allows easy
PORT PORTO customization or fine tuning if
36
0 it's necessary for your particular
37
application.
31
38
64K BYTES
EA
30 BUS
39 The LCD
ALE
EXPANSION 8 The Perfect Pitch display is a
PSEN CONTROL
7
16- character x 1 -line dot -ma-
6
trix LCD module that is based
vcc 40 4K BYTES
on the HD44780 controller and
20
EPROM
PORT
5
PORTI
driver chip. The 8751H (ICI)
vss
1
provides ASCII data and associ-
RST ated control sequences to the
128 BYTES 2 HD44780, which controls the
RAM
display of alphanumeric
RXD 28 characters on the LCD. Con-
11
I/O
PORT 27
trast control is provided by po-
TXD
12 3 26
tentiometer R2.
INTO
13
There are several advantages
PORT 3
SECONDARY SERIAL Iro 25
to using an LCD instead of
T 14
PORT
PORT 24 PORT2 LED's. For one, they are easier to
FUNCTIONS 0 2
23 interface to a microcontroller.
16 TIMER/ 22 They also have alphanumeric
COUNTER
21 output capability, and are low in
power consumption.
FIG. 1 -THE 8751 BLOCK DIAGRAM: The 8 -bit microcontroller
contains four 8 -bit I/O Processing/conditioning
ports, 4K bytes of EPROM, 128 bytes of RAM, two 16-bit timer/counters, and Boolean If you were to take a snapshot
processing. of an electric-guitar signal on
an oscilloscope, you would see
can be used for timer /counter The resolution of Timer 0 is 1 that the base or fundamental
inputs and gates, serial com- microsecond. Thus, if 1000 frequency exhibits the max-
munications, or control of exter- microseconds were counted in imum peak -to -peak amplitude,
nal memory access. Perfect Timer 0 during one complete cy- and all of its harmonics would
Pitch takes advantage of the cle of a sampled signal, the fre- be distributed around its center
timer /counter functions pro- quency of the measured signal line at reduced amplitudes. lb
vided by bits 2 and 4 of Port 3. would be computed by Perfect get an accurate frequency deter-
Bit 2 of Port 3 (INT.) is organized Pitch to be 1 kHz. The frequency mination, only the fundamental
by software to provide the gat- would be computed using the frequency should be measured.
ing function for timer/counter 0 formulaf = 1/T, wheref is fre- And to get the most accurate
for period measurement. which quency in hertz and T is one readings, it is necessary to mea-
is used for tuning. Bit 4 of Port 3 cycle time in seconds (the sure the desired signal peaks as
(T0) is the input for the frequen- period). This is a very fast and many times as possible during
cy- countingfunction. accurate way to determine the the life of the signal.
Period measurements are frequency of a signal that varies Perfect Pitch begins at the
made while a TTL high state is in amplitude over time, as first cycle and measures and
present at INT.. The program guitar signals do. Perfect Pitch displays the frequency of a sig-
loads a bit pattern into the requires only 1 cycle of the in- nal until the amplified signal
8751H TMOD (Timer/Counter coming signal at proper ampli- amplitude is too low to drive the
Mode Control) register to enable tude to determine its frequency. input of IC4 -d. If there is no sig-
or gate Timer 0 when a high For frequency counting, the nal, or if the amplified signal
condition is detected on INTO. To counter input detects 1 -to -0 negative peaks cannot reach the
(Both source code and executa- transitions of an incoming TTL 0.8-volt threshold of IC4 -d, the
ble code is available from the signal on a timebase of 1 sec- software embedded in the
Electronics Now BBS, ond. Those transistions provide 8751H provides an auto -zero
516- 293 -2283, 1200/2400, 8N1, the logical trigger that incre- function that automatically
as a self- extracting compressed ments Timer /Counter 0 on each zeros the display. That allows
file called PERFECT.EXE. A pre- transition. Since the timer/ multiple repetitive readings
programmed microcontroller is counter registers are 16 bits without manual intervention.
available from the source men - wide, the maximum count is The software also suppresses
48 tinned in the Parts List.) limited to 65.535 kHz max- the display of leading zeros.
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+5V +5V + 5V
+ 5V
14
31 40
2
18 15 LEDI
X2 E RS LIQUID
GATE LED IC4-a
19 1/4 741314 7
X1 RW RW R2
XTAL1 RS E CRYSTAL 5K
12MHz CONTRAST
DO DO
C2 D1 D1 DISPLAY
27pF
D2 D2
D3
MODI
D3
Cl HD44180
IC1
27pF +5V 8751H
D4 D4
C3 + PROCESSOR D5 D5
10
RXD AUDIO /HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER AUX INPUT C5 w
+5V .i
R11 IC5-d 10
10K +9VDC 1/4 LM3900
INPUT 6 11 R6 .t
+ 5V J3 1M 1MEG
OUTPUT 5 IC6 C6 1 C4 R5
C7
LM388 3 .1 iv .1 100K
2200 4
J1 1
SIGNAL
I
FIG. 2-
PERFECT PITCH SCHEMATIC: The complexity of the design is reduced be-
side in a "dead zone" where they
cause the 8751H instruction set and internal hardware structure is efficient and
powerful. cannot trigger IC4 -d. Only the
fundamental frequency will
Most electronic instruments and the Schmitt trigger, you can have enough amplitude to tog-
and microphones emit audio produce clean TTL- compatible gle the output of IC4 -d. That en-
signals in the millivolt range. square waves that will be suit- ables you to use signal peaks as
An average electric guitar pro- able as input to the 8751H pro- timing markers to calculate
duces a 65- to 100-millivolt sig- cessor. your results.
nal into a high- impedance Because musical instru- For the 74LS14 Schmitt trig-
input. That is plenty of ampli- ments can generate many har- ger, the dead zone is nominally
tude to drive an audio amplifier monics that will also be ampli- 0.8 volts wide with a minimum
preamp circuit, but far below fied, and possibly converted and positive -going threshold of
the level needed to drive a TTL analyzed, you have to get rid of +1.6 volts and a minimum
gate (in our case, IC4 -d, a the harmonics. "Filtering" is negative -going threshold of
Schmitt trigger). The incoming the first thing that comes to + 0.8 volts. Audio amplifiers are
signal must be amplified so that mind, but in this case that normally designed to allow the
it can be converted to a TTL- would be complicated and re- output signal to swing sym-
compatible waveform that the quire additional circuitry. Am- metrically around a DC value of
8751H can interpret. A voltage plifying the input signal one half of the power-supply
gain of around 25 is the mini- enough to force signal clipping voltage. But since you want to
mum required. would be another solution, but convert your signal to a digital
An LM3900 quad Norton am- that generates even more un- pulse with a Schmitt trigger,
plifier (IC5) is configured as a wanted harmonics. You can sol- you can waive the symmetrical
two -stage audio amplifier with ve the harmonic problem easily output rule.
an overall voltage gain of 27. by using a feature inherent to Ideally the center line should
Given a sinewave with an ampli- the Schmitt trigger: hysteresis. be set at or above the + 1.6 -volt
tude of 65 millivolts or greater, As shown in Fig. 3, in effect, you DC level because that will pro-
an amplifier with a gain of 27, will force the harmonics to re- duce a TTL high level at the in- 49
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TTL HIGH
TTL LOW L
PERIOD
TTL LOW
FUNDAMENTAL
(OFFSET)
HIGH TRIGGER
POINT
U
Jó 1.9 r^
n`/ HARMONICS
.8 o
o
TIME
PERIOD
FIG. 3-HARMONICS ARE FORCED to reside in a "dead zone" so that only the
fundamental frequency will have enough amplitude to cause the output of IC4 -d to
toggle.
PARTS LIST
All resistors are'/4-watt, 5 %, un- IC6-LM386 audio amplifier plugs and jacks, ribbon cable,
less otherwise noted IC7 -7805 5 -volt regulator or rocker switch)-$59.00 +
R1- 10,000 ohms LED1-light- emitting diode, any $5.00 S &H
R2 -5000 ohms, trimmer potenti- color Programmed 8751H micro -
ometer Q1- PN2222A NPN transistor controller- $25.00 + $2.50
R3-33 ohms Other components S &H
R4 -1000 ohms MOD1- Hitachi H2570 16- Blank 8751H micro -
R5, R13- 100,000 ohms character x 1 -line LCD module controller- $18.00 t $2.50
R6-1 megohm (uses HD44780 controller chip) S &H
R7, R11, R12-10,000 ohms XTAL1 -12 -MHz crystal PC board only -$20.00
R8- 27,000 ohms S1 -SPDT center -off momentary 2.50 S &H
R9 -2200 ohms rocker switch 8751H source code on 5.25 -
R10-82,000 ohms J1-J3 -audio jacks and plugs of inch diskette -$5.00 postpaid
Capacitors your choice 8751H modification plans for
Cl, C2 -27 pF Miscellaneous: PC board, project 874X programmer (includes
C3-10 µF, 16 volts, Tantalum case, ribbon cable, 9 -volt DC source code, terminal pro-
C4, C5, C8-C17-0.1 µF power supply (500 mA), hard- gram, and schematic)- $10.00
C6 -1000 µF, 16 volts, electrolytic ware, IC sockets, solder postpaid
C7 -220 µF, 16 volts, electrolytic Note: The following items are
rn
°' Semiconductors
IC1 -8751H microcontroller (must
available from Fred Eady, PO
Box 541222, Merritt Island, FL
874X programmer kit and
8751H modification plans
$59.95 + $5.00 S &H
-
be programmed) 32954:
IC2-not used Kit of parts with a pro- Please send check or money
z IC3- 74LS74 D flip -flop grammed microcontroller and order only
IC4- 74LS14 Schmitt trigger PC board (does not include For technical assistance call
IC5- LM3900 quad op -amp batteries /power supply, case, (407) 454 -9905
w put of Schmitt trigger IC4 -d. offset resistor R10, which sets the minimum positive -going
You can set that center line by the output of IC5 -c. The data threshold value is + 1.6 volts,
50 adjusting the value of output sheet for the 74LS14 states that and the maximum positive -go-
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ing threshold value is + 1.9
volts. 'Ib compensate for devices
that toggle at the + 1.9 volt val- 0
ue, the output of IC5 -c is set at
+ 1.9 volts. Note also that a TTL I 4p
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Audio amplifier
o
O
00
0
a o So far we have discussed the
signal -processing circuitry con-
o
0
0000 00 o taining IC5, an LM3900 quad
Norton amplifier, IC3, a 74LS74
00 o o o o D flip -flop, and IC4, a 74LS14
o o o 000000 Schmitt trigger. Although Per-
o o fect Pitch displays the musical
o o 0o p000000
note and its frequency, the user
O
00
o
° .o
O 000000-,
4000000 q00000000
olo
o- o
still has to be able to hear the
note. Therefore, headphone am-
plifier IC6 is included in the cir-
cuit. The amplifier also allows
o o O 000000 oog000 op external audio to be mixed in at
its noninverting input.
o o ór0000000ob0000000000 Note the absence of volume
O 00 and tone controls. Most elec-
tronic instruments have their
own volume and tone controls,
00 ó0 0000000000000 0000000 so why not use them? The same
oo
o 0 00000000000000 o 0 O
goes for the auxiliary input: mix
with the controls provided on
00 O 0 the auxiliary device. If you re-
O 00 o o quire a volume control, put a 1K
o o potentiometer in series with the
output of IC6 pin 5.
38/4 INCHES
0
0000000 prototype is composed of eight
1200- milliampere /hour sub -C
00 0000 rechargeable nickel-cadmium
8 006 bl
(Ni -Cd) cells. Perfect Pitch
draws about 200 milliamps and
battery life averages 4 to 5
00 hours. You can use smaller Ni-
Cd cells but battery life will de-
tt crease accordingly.
00 00 0 1 Construction
1
0--8 l 4 Because we are combining
audio and digital circuitry in
° 11 close proximity, parts layout is
critical. PC board construction
o o is recommended. You can fab-
ricate your own PC board or pur-
Sap INCHES chase a factory-made version
SOLDER -SIDE foil pattern for Perfect Pitch.
from the source mentioned in
the Parts List. If you decide to
Schmitt trigger IC4 -a drives amplitude to cross IC4 -d's breadboard or wirewrap, the au-
the base of transistor Q1 which + 0.8 -volt threshold on negative dio sections will be more sus-
provides a path to ground for peaks. Keep in mind that period ceptible to digital noise from the
LED1, the gate indicator; LED1 and count measurements are processor and the LCD. Use
is illuminated when the ampli- made only when LEDI is illumi- short lead lengths and shielded
56 fled audio signal has sufficient nated. cable. Regardless of the method
you choose, you can mount all should reveal a pulsating dis- When you turn on Perfect
components in a case of your play that can be made to oscil- Pitch, the "PERFECT PITCH"
choice. late faster or slower with banner is displayed, followed by
Figure 4 shows the Parts "FASTER" and "SLOWER" ap- the first menu selection,
Placement diagram. Begin con- pearing as you toggle and hold "TUNER." At this point you can
struction by installing the Si. If all is well at this point, scroll through the remaining
power components IC7, C6, C8 remove power and install LED1 two menu items (Counter and
and C15. Mount IC7 with the with an appropriate length of Metronome) or select any of the
metal heatsink tab against the two- conductor ribbon cable. three when displayed using Si.
heatsink pad on the PC board. Using shielded cable and the As pointed out earlier in the
Use No. 6 -32 nuts and bolts to audio jacks and plugs of your construction section, "00000
secure IC7 to the heatsink pad. choice, connect the input and Hz T" or "00000 Hz C" appears
Be careful with C6's polarity. headphone jacks to the PC when the 'Diner and Counter
lèmporarily attach a 9 -volt DC board as shown. The prototype mode are selected, respectively.
supply, and verify + 5 -volts DC has standard 1/4 -inch phone Connect the audio source and
at the output of IC7 (pin 3). jacks. The prototype has an in- select Tuner or Counter and pro-
Next, install all resistors and re- put jack (J1) that contains a ceed. Only the Tuner mode will
check your 5 -volts DC. Install all DPDT switch which applies display notes on the musical
capacitors, being careful to note power to Perfect Pitch when a '/c- scale along with frequencies.
the polarities of C3 and C7. In- inch phone plug is inserted. A An added feature places a" + " or
stall Ql and XTAL1, and again recharge jack that disconnects - " immediately following the
recheck the 5 -volt DC line. power to Perfect Pitch when the note to designate one cycle
Install the IC sockets and ver- charger is plugged in is also in- above ( + or below - ) the mu-
) (
ify that 5 -volts DC is present at corporated in the prototype. sical note shown in the display.
all pin locations shown in Fig. 2. Install IC6, the LM386 audio For example, "A - 439 Hz T" de-
Once you are sure the power dis- power amplifier. Plug a set of notes a signal that's one cycle
tribution is correct, connect an headphones into headphone - below the universal A 440 Hz.
appropriate length of 14 -con- jack J3 and apply power. Touch Conversely, the display 'A+ 441
ductor ribbon cable between the ungrounded input conduc- Hz T" denotes 1 cycle above A
the LCD display module and PC tor of J1; you should hear a buzz 440 Hz. The Tuner mode's musi-
board using the pin- connection or pop that corresponds to your cal -note identification function
information given in Fig. 4. Use touch. If not, recheck the work spans from C 32 Hz to C 1046
a 3- conductor ribbon cable to done in the audio -amplifier sec- Hz, or five musical octaves.
connect contrast- potentiome- tion. Install a jack for the auxili- Above a frequency of 1046 Hz,
ter R2. If you expect to adjust ary input (J2), and perform the only frequency is displayed.
the contrast often, mount R2 so touch test on it. In the Counter mode, Perfect
it is accessible without having Install IC3, IC4, and IC5. Con- Pitch is a frequency counter.
to open the enclosure. The nect a signal source to J1 and You can also bypass IC5 com-
lengths of the ribbon cable headphones to J3 (the signal pletely and feed TTL signals di-
should not be excessive, but source can be a guitar, elec- rectly into pin 9 of IC4 -d. You
should allow for easy access to tronic keyboard, etc.) Apply can also use the Tyner function
the PC board when you open the power and select the Tuner if you bypass IC5 in favor of TTL
enclosure. function. When notes are inputs. Be sure to remove IC5 if
Install ICI, the 8751H, and struck, strummed, or keyed, you choose to run TTL only.
apply power. "PERFECT PITCH" you should see the gate LED il- The Metronome function,
should appear on the display for luminate and hear the audio in which alternately turns on the
a few seconds and then your headphones. The LCD left and right sides of the LCD,
"TUNER" should appear and re- should show a reading other and is the only function that
main on the display. than "00000" and possibly a you can control in real time; Si
Use a three -conductor ribbon note will appear at the far left of selects either "FASTER" or
cable to connect S1 to the PC the LCD. If so, everything is OK "SLOWER" while the function is
board. Apply power and wait for and you can mount Perfect invoked. A visual metronome al-
"TUNER" display to appear. Pitch in a permanent enclosure. lows you to keep time without
Center-off switch S1 will let you Figure 5 shows the inside of the having an audible tone or click
toggle through the menu selec- author's completed prototype. mixed into the headphones
tions "TUNER," "COUNTER," with your music.
and "METRONOME," in one di- Using Perfect Pitch The auxiliary input (J2) is ex-
rection and select the displayed Perfect Pitch is as easy to use clusively for mixing in head-
function in the other. If you se- as it is to build. There are only phone output from a radio, CD
lect the liner function, expect one switch, two inputs, and one player, or tape player. Inputs at
to see "00000 Hz T" on the dis- output to deal with. The con- J2 will not reliably trigger the
play. The same legend appears trast adjustment is usually counting circuitry. By adding
for the counter function except made once and forgotten. Use another output jack to the exist-
that "T" is replaced by "C." Se- your own judgement with re- ing output jack, you and a
lecting the Metronome function gard to contrast. friend can practice as a duet. n 57
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./ _ RC FiLTERS
Fj44
Understand
resistive-capacitive
filters and learn how to use
them in your projects
and experiments RAY MARSTON
THE TERM FILTER DESCRIBES A ters in greater detail. The big simple RC, low -pass filter that
wide variety of frequency-selec- advantage of active filters is that passes low- frequency signals
tive circuits. Certain frequen- they do not require inductors, but rejects those with higher
cies pass through a given filter which can be large and heavy at frequencies. Resistor R1 is in
while others are attenuated. low frequencies. Active filters series with the load, and capaci-
There are four basic filter need only R and C components, tor Cl, the reactive element,
types:low -pass, high -pass, but they require some kind of shunts the load. This filter ex-
bandpass, and band rejection power supply. hibits a gradual rolloff begin-
or notch. Filters composed of re- A capacitor by itself has inher- ning at the upper cutoff
sistive (R), inductive (L), and ca- ent filtering capability for alter- frequency where capacitive re-
pacitive (C) elements are called nating current because capaci- actance equals the value of re-
passive filters. Activefilters in- tive reactance, Xc, is inversely sistor R. Because it is a low-pass
clude high -gain operational am- proportional to frequency filter, there is only one cutoff fre-
plifiers with passive filter feed- fe = 1 /2nRC quency, and it can be deter-
back networks.
Filter circuits that contain
only resistors and capacitors
It blocks direct current com-
pletely and opposes the passage
of low- frequency signals al-
f
mined by the formula:
= 1 /27(RC = 1/6.28RC =
0.159/RC
are called resistive -capacitive though signal passage becomes The cutoff frequency (fe) is
(RC); those that contain only in- progressively easier as frequen- that frequency at which the sig-
ductors and capacitors are cy increases. nal output voltage is 6 decibels
called inductive -capacitive (LC). (dB) below its peak level.
Filter circuits generally com- Low-pass and high-pass Table 1 lists the formulas for
bine inductive and capacitive Filters contribute to the oper- determiningfc, R, and C for the
components because inductive ation of many different circuits schematics in this article that
reactance increases with fre- by screening out unwanted fre- do not include component val-
quency, and capacitive reac- quencies and allowing only the ues. In these formulas 2n has
tance decreases with frequency. wanted ones to pass. Resistive - been converted to the number
The two opposing effects permit capacitive filters are better suit- 6.28.
many possibilities in all filter ed for low- frequency filtering The cutoff-frequency can also
design. (up to 100 kHz), whereas induc- be measured at the half-power
However, this article will tive- capacitive filters are better points as shown in Fig. 1 -b.
focus on RC filters and applica- suited for high- frequency filter- These are at 70.7% of the peak
tions. Later articles will review ing (above 100 kHz). power with the real power dissi-
58 LC filters and look at active fil- Figure 1 -a is the circuit of a pated at 50% of maximum. The
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half-power point is the upper that a band of frequencies not
cutoff frequency of a low-pass R1 stopped by either filter is
filter. VIN
passed.
Cl A typical bandpass filter re-
High-pass filter sponse curve, as shown in Fig.
The high -pass filter passes 5 -b, has a generally trapezoidal
high frequencies and opposes shape with a positive slope on
or blocks the passage of low fre- the low- frequency (left) end in-
quencies. As shown in Fig. 2a,
Od B
dicating the limit of the high -
the simplest high -pass filter -3dB pass stopband and a negative
consists a single capacitor in se- Vow slope on the high- frequency
ries with the load and a resistor VIN
SLOPE
6dB /OCTAVE
(right) end defining the low-
that shunts the load. Capacitor pass stopband. The flat top of
Cl opposes current flow that the curve (0 dB) indicates con-
0
stant signal gain.
varies inversely with frequency.
The higher the frequency, the
o
FREQUENCY -I. The bandwidth of the filter is
smaller the opposition, mea- the frequency difference be-
sured in ohms. The filter com- FIG. 1-LOW-PASS RC FILTER circuit (a), tween the half-power, or - 3dB
pletely or partially blocks sig- and frequency response curve (b). points. These are the points
nals at low frequencies, but
permits their passage as fre-
quency increases. TABLE i
Figure 2 -b shows the positive FORMULAS FOR DETERMINING
FILTER COMPONENT VALUES
slope at the high- frequency end
of the frequency vs. gain re-
sponse curve for a high -pass fil- High- and Low -Pass Filter (Figs. t to 5)
ter. The pass band is defined as Balanced Wien Tone Filter (Figs. 6 to 10)
the area under the curve and 'Win -T Notch Filter (Figs. 11, 14, and 15)
the stop band is the area to the
left of the curve.
The high -pass filter cuts off or 1
fc=kHz
blocks all frequencies below the fc =
6.28 RC
cutoff frequency, fc, permiting 1
all those above that frequency to R= R = kilohms
pass. The half-power ( -3dB)
point of a high -pass filter is the
C=
6.28fcC
1 } C = microfarads
lower cutoff frequency. Both
6.28 fcR
high -pass and low -pass filters
have just one cutoff point, but
as will be explained later, both
bandpass and band-reject (or about 'ha of the product of R and
notch) filters have two cutoff fre- C. Thus the complete circuit
quencies. has a loop shift of 360 °, and it
Both of the filter circuits will oscillate at this frequency if
shown in Figs. 1 -a and 2 -a have the op-amp has sufficient gain.
a single RC stage and are known An op -amp with a gain of about
as a first -order filters. If a x 29 will compensate for filter
number (n) of these filters are losses and yield a loop gain fe
cascaded, they will form what is greater than one. 0dB ;
Filters can be effectively cas- justed to give a clean output VIN SLOPE
FREQUENCY-
circuit for a third-order, high - Bandpass filter
pass filter that converts an op- A bandpass filter passes a
amp into a phase -shift os- specified frequency band while FIG. 2-HIGH -PASS RC FILTER circuit
cillator. The filter is inserted be- rejecting adjacent frequencies (a), and frequency response curve (b).
tween the output and the input above and below that passband.
of the inverting (180° phase - A bandpass filter can be made where the filter response is 3 dB
shift) amplifier. by combining (or cascading) a down from the maximum point
The filter will provide this high -pass filter with a low -pass on the curve. The bandwidth is
phase shift at a frequency of filter as shown in Fig. 5 -a so between fil (high pass and fc2 59
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Figure 6 -a is a special band -
pass filter called the Wien -tone
filter made by cascading a low -
pass and a high -pass filter with
the same cutoff frequencies.
This permits the filter to select R1=R2
tones with minimum attenua- Cl =C2 a
tion at a single frequency.
Resistors R1 and R2 have the 9.5d B
same values and they are equal
FIG. 3 -THIRD-ORDER HIGH -PASS
as a component in a
filter
phase -shift os- to the capacitive reactances of 1
cillator. Cl and C2 at the desired cutoff Vour
zero.
VIN
SLOPE
The Wien- bridge band -reject
6dB/OCTAVE filter network can close a loop
10
i
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ganged switch Si permit fine
tuning and decade switching
tions above and below
Both the balanced twin -T and
f .
tions as a x 3 non -inverting am- when its components have the 1 0.1 .01
R6
plifier, and that the circuit is precise ratios shown in Fig. 1 500s1
tor values. Figure 10 is the shown in Fig. 11 -c. The filter has 2. 150Hz TO 1.5kHz
3. 1.5kHz TO 15kHz
schematic for a wideband (15 Hz zero phase shift at fer, but that
to 15 kHz) variable -notch filter. phase shift changes sharply to FIG. 10- VARIABLE -FREQUENCY,
Ganged potentiometer R3 and + 90° or - 90° for slight varia- Wien- bridge notch filter (15 Hz to 15 kHz). 61
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tively at f
At the same time, the
.
62 AGRAM of the balanced twin -T filter. tively unbalanced twin -T network. the sharpness of the tuning. n
PHONE -LINE
AUTOCOUPLEA
//
+
- / \j..
/'c
-:_./ff`.'ir.-t ar
-
` %"'¡
1I I
1
~- `i
-
``- \ `Ñb 1 £
i7'\
-
-'
°zs t
Build this autocoupler
and you can automatically connect
your telephone line to a variety of projects.
MIKE HAGANS and KYLE MAGRILL
LAST MONTH WE DESCRIBED THE phone coupler that incorpo- lease the line to be ready for the
MPC -2 telephone interface. The rates an entire MPC -2 circuit. next call.
MPC -2 provides ring detection, The autocoupler's logic The autocoupler contains an
line- current detection, a caller- monitors the RING DETECT and isolated relay that can signal the
ID compatible audio path, and LINE -CURRENT DETECT lines from beginning of a call, or that can
all the isolation, audio limiting, the MPC -2 circuit and causes it stay latched for the duration of
and protective elements to to "pick up," or go off -hook, the call to control external
make it-and anything con- after detecting an incoming equipment. Remote pick -up
nected to it-
comply with the ring. When the line- current de- and hang -up switches can be
connected to the autocoupler,
FCC's Part 68 rules. This month tector signals that the calling
we'll discuss and build an auto - party has hung up, the auto - and LED's can indicate ring and
answer /auto-disconnect tele- coupler forces the MPC -2 to re- on -line conditions. 63
á Electronics Now, June 1993
IC6
Vcc
6 1111M1
JUMPERS
R13 < J3-10 >
JUl -AUTO PICKUP ENABLE. 1K
yV J3 11
EXTERNAL ENABLE SIGNAL
R15
REQUIRED WHEN Off. 6 1K
JU2 -AUX RELAY MODE SELECT
1 -2 = MOMENTARY
HANG UP
J3-5 t-
J2 2 9
R2 I D4
AUDIO IN/OUT1 10 IC3-c R8 S
1K VCC AUX RELAY I 1114004 100K
600 OHMS V4 4011
R11
LINE SEIZE 8
+ J2-8 JU2 ¡ 5.1K
1 1
° 62
D3
AUX MODEI I 2114401
12VDC 3 11
1114084 I 01
RELAY POWER
2114401
_ J2-6
12
IC5-0
13 1/4 4093
4
OFF o. oS1
HANG UP
o
AUDIO IN
o
POWER IN
12 7018 VAC
--/
FIG. 2- PARTS-PLACEMENT DIAGRAM. Voltage -regulator IC7 should be heatsinked. The duration of the 555
Note that the MPC -2 section must be built exactly as described to be type-approvable.
timer's high output is con-
trolled by C8 and R3, and lasts
Circuitry timer (IC4), which is set up in for about half a second. The
A stand -alone MPC -2 board monostable (one-shot) mode. 555's output turns on two tran-
can be connected to the auto - The cleaned -up ring- detect sistors; Q2 is the open-collector
coupler board with an 8 -wire signal from IC5 -a also feeds the momentary output that ap-
ribbon cable or the parts for the ring- detect LED circuit consist- pears on J3 pin 3; Q3 is one of
MPC -2 section can be installed ing of IC5 -b and IC5 -c in paral- two transistors (selectable via
directly on the autocoupler lel. The inputs of those two Jumper JU2) that can operate
board. Figure 1 shows the auto - gates are pulled high during a the auxiliary output relay. The
coupler along with the MPC -2 ring, causing their outputs to 555 also feeds NAND gate IC3 -b,
circuit. go low. When that happens, ring which is set up as an inverter.
The RING -DETECT output of the indicator LED2 turns on. When A set -reset latch is formed by
MPC -2 interface is pulled up by manual -pickup switch S1 (a NAND gates IC3 -c and -d. One in-
resistor R6 and conditioned by momentary SPDT switch with put of each gate is tied to the
capacitor C6 and IC5 -a, a 4093 center-off) is activated, pin 2 of output of the other, and the re-
Schmitt-trigger NAND gate con- the 555 gets pulled low as if a maining two inputs (one on
figured as an inverter. The hys- ring had occurred. The 1K re- each gate) are pulled high by re-
teresis action of the 4093 sig- sistor (R16) connected to Si lim- sistors R8 and R9. Before a ring
nificantly cleans up the RING DE- its C7's instantaneous current occurs, the latch's output (pin
TECT signal, presenting a flow when the switch is acti- 11 of IC3 -d) is low, and stays that
square wave (high during the vated, protecting IC5 -a. way because it holds one input
incoming ring signal) to one Jumper All is located be- of IC3 -c (pin 9) low, which
side of capacitor C7. That ca- tween pin 3 of IC5 -a and C7. If causes IC3 -c's output to be
pacitor is normally charged JU1 is left open, optocoupler high. That output keeps pin 12
through the 100K pull -up re- IC6 provides the pickup-enable of IC3 -d high, and the circuit is
sistor (R7) while the output of signal. The two inputs to the in stasis until triggered by the
IC5 -a is low. When the output of optocoupler (pins 1 and 2) are previous stage (IC3-b) after an a
IC5 -a goes high, C7 discharges. connected to pins 10 and 11 of incoming ring. á
When IC5 -a's output goes low the DB -25 connector J3. An ex- Pulling the SET input of the
again at the end of the ring, C7 ternal AC or DC voltage from 5 latch (IC3 -d pin 13) low causes
momentarily loads down R7 (as to 30 volts will turn on IC6, en- IC3 -d's output to go high. That
it charges). The momentary low abling the ring signal to trigger causes IC3 -c's output, and the
triggers the input of the 555 the 555. other input of IC3 -d. to go low. 65
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phone line current is estab-
lished again.
When the coupler is on -line,
the only time the latch's RESET
line should go low (and cause a
reset) is when both inputs of
IC5 -d are high. That happens
only when the 555's output is
low and the output of the line -
current detector (IC1) is off, or
high, as happens briefly when
the telephone company's cen-
tral office signals that the call-
ing party has hung up.
The output of the latch, when
set, turns on transistors Q1,
Q4. and Q5. Transistor Q1 sup-
plies ground for the line -seize
relay RY1, Q4 can turn on the
auxiliary-output relay RY2 (if se-
lected by jumper JU2), and Q5
turns on the on -line indicator
LEDI through current -limiting
resistor R12.
FIG.3-AN ASSEMBLED, type -approved autocoupler board. You can purchase an Construction
assembled one from the source in the Parts List. You can make your own dou-
PARTS LIST
All resistors are 1/4-watt, 5 %. Q1 -05- 2N4401 NPN transistor (0.1" jumpers for JU1 -JU3)
R1- 22,000 ohms BR1 -DT102 DIP bridge rectifier Note: The following items are
R2, R12, R13, R15, R16 -1000 (1A, 100V) available from CircuitWerkes,
ohms LED1, LED2- light- emitting diode, 6212 SW 8th PI, Gainesville, Fl
R3, R5, R7, R8, R9- 100,000 ohms any color 32607 (904) 331 -5999:
R4.-2700 ohms Other components
R6, R10- 10,000 ohms
R11 -5100 ohms
J1- RJ -11c right -angle, PC -mount
telephone jack (must be 50
Double- sided, silkscreened
autocoupler PC board only
$14.95
-
R14-47 ohms micro -inch gold -plated) Autocoupler PC board with
Capacitors J2 -8 -pin male header, 2 x 4, pre -built Part-68 registered
C1 -0.56 µF, 250 -volts, Mylar matching female IDC connector, MPC -2 section -$39.95
C2, C5, CO 0.01 µF, 50- volts, ce- and ribbon cable (optional, see Complete autocoupler kit
ramic dise text) with pre -built Part -68 regis-
C3, C4-0.1 µF, 250 -volts, Mylar J3- short -style right -angle PC- tered MPC -2 section (no en-
C6, C8-4.7 F. radial electrolytic mount DB -25 connector closure)-$69.95
C7, C12 -0.1 .F, metal -film JU1, JU3-1 x 2 jumper block Fully assembled and tested,
010, C11 -100 µF, 35 volts, radial JU2 -1 x 3 jumper block Part -68 registered autocoupler
electrolytic T1 -Telco line- isolation transformer (no enclosure)-$99.95
Semiconductors (Dale TA- 40 -01) Screen- printed black plastic
IC1, IC2, IC6- H11AA1 AC -input MOV1- 300 -volt axial metal -oxide enclosure with machined end
optoisolator (GE) varistor panels for the autocoupler-
103 -4011 CMOS quad NAND gate RY1, RY2 -12 -volt DPDT relay $26.00
104-555 timer (Midland Ross 190- 22B100) Include $3.50 for shipping and
105 -4093 CMOS quad Schmitt - Miscellaneous: PC board, three 6- handling. Add $4.50 for COD
trigger NAND gate pin DIP sockets, one 8 -pin DIP (cash or certified funds only).
IC7- LM7812T 12 -volt regulator socket, two 14 -pin DIP sockets, Arizona and Florida residents
D1, D2 -1N270 germanium diode T0- 220-type stand-up heatsink must include appropriate sales
D3, D4- 1N4001 diode (for IC7), three shorting blocks tax.
The circuit remains in that con- pin 12 of IC5 -d low, preventing ble -sided PC board using the
dition until the RESET input the latch from resetting for the foil patterns we've provided, or
(IC3 -c pin 8) goes low, toggling duration of the 555's pulse. purchase one from the source
the latch back to its original After about a quarter of a sec- mentioned in the Parts List.
state. This takes us back to in- ond, the line- current detector Kits are available from the same
verter IC3 -b whose output does (IC1) prevents the latch's RESET source.
two things: It triggers the SET line from going low by holding Note that two 2 x 4 -pin head-
66 input of the latch, and it holds pin 13 of IC5 -d low while tele- ers with mating IDC connectors
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uuuuuuuuuuuu sink. The indicator LED's can
OD either be board -mounted or
D O o 0 panel- mounted and connected
0 o
00 D
o °
00D ° with wire jumpers. When the
00 board is finished, insert the IC's
o o 0 into their respective sockets.
O o o o o
o o
000 0 o
Figure 3 shows a completed
ooo o
o 00 o unit.
o o
O o o0
D o o
NN
zu o o Initial testing
D-
U
0 o o o Verify that all IC's are properly
ID
o0 o installed and that polarity -sen-
JZ o
o sitive devices are oriented prop-
o o
00 D 000 o o erly before connecting power,
0 0 oD
o o°0 audio, or a phone line to the au-
o o D tocoupler. Then, you can con-
o
te
o nect 12 to 18 volts (AC or DC) to
o
00 the board's power -input pads.
o o When power is applied, the two
o o relays will energize for about a
o D half second, and then drop out.
o That indicates the initial opera-
D o 0 0 0 o D tion of the one -shot and latch
circuits. If the unit is connected
Vie INCHES to a phone line when powered
COMPONENT SIDE for the autocoupler board. up, it will seize the line and hold
it until a line current zero- cross-
ing occurs, at which point the
unit will drop the line.
Almost every modern central
office in this country generates
a zero -crossing in the tele-
phone -line battery voltage less
than a minute after dial tone is
applied to the line-if no ac-
tivity is detected in that period
of time. That also occurs after
the calling party hangs up. If
your local central office is one of
the rare systems that does not
support that signaling, you
might have to include a preset
timer or, preferably, a dial -tone
detector that will hang up your
autocoupler automatically.
If the initial power-up occurs
as has been described, you are
ready to test the device on the
phone line. Remember that the
phone line carries voltages that
are high enough to give you a
Os INCHES nasty shock if you happen to be
1.<
SOLDER SIDE for the autocoupler board.
touching the tip and ring con-
ductors on the bottom of the
and a piece of 8- conductor rib- board. Otherwise, you can MPC -2 coupler section during a
bon cable can be used to attach mount all of the parts on the ring.
a stand -alone MPC -2 board (see autocoupler board. Connect the RJ -11 jack to
Electronics Now, May 1993) to Solder the components on the your phone line with a standard
the autocoupler board, and board following the Parts- Place- modular cord, and have some-
then you would just leave out ment diagram in Fig. 2. one call your line. As soon as the
the MPC -2 parts on the auto - Voltage -regulator IC7 should phone starts ringing, you
coupler board. An 8 -pin header have a heat sink attached to it. should see LED2 light up. The
can also be used to mount the Be sure to apply heat-sink com- coupler should answer at the
MPC -2 board as a daughter pound on the back of the reg- end of the first ring: when it
board on top of the autocoupler ulator before attaching the heat continued on page 72 67
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www.americanradiohistory.com
\ \\\\\
\\\\\\\\\.. s
a\\\\\\\\ s ; ..'
\A\\\\\u\\\ ..a..a,a\\ d
q
ur computer into an invisible household robot!
::::::üü:
,......,............,,,.,.,.
\.\\. \..\.\\.\ ..,.\,....,\.
.,,,...,,..:::
......., ... ...., .,\,,..
...,
a..::::.....\\%1
........ .............. .. :-a
PC BASED .® :
UNIVERSAL
REMOTE
CONTROL
o
JON BEK
INVISIBOT IS THE NAME OF THE AU- "smart" units that can control The other type of "smart" re-
thor's home -control system. It several devices, even ones from mote is preprogrammed with
stands for Invisible Robot. In- different manufacturers, but the signal patterns for many
visibot started off by combining the thought of buying yet one popular devices. lb set up a pre-
X-10 control with a voice- recog- more remote holds limited ap- programmed remote, you enter
nition and synthesis system. peal. Invisibot was created to a code corresponding to the
That gave the author the ca- eliminate the need to push any model of TV or VCR you want to
pability to say things like remote -control buttons again. control; henceforth, the remote
Please dim the lights, and have will use those codes. The advan-
Invisibot respond accordingly. Universal remotes tage of the preprogrammed re-
(Note that our sidebar contains There are two types of univer- mote is that it's faster and
detailed information on the sal remote controls: learning simpler to set up; in addition,
X -10 and voice -control parts of and preprogrammed. Typically you can use one to replace a lost
the system.) both can remember the codes or damaged original. This proj-
The one thing he wanted In- for several devices. In addition ect uses a Memorex AV-4 pre-
visibot to do that wasn't avail- to its infrared transmitter, the programmed "smart" remote,
able "off-the- shelf' was to con- "learning" control also has an IR that can be purchased from a
trol TV's, VCR's, and other IR- receiver that it uses to learn how corner drugstore for about $40.
controlled consumer -elec- to control your devices. You put
tronics gear. Even though we all the universal remote into a Rows and columns
have several remotes to control "learn" mode, point your other The AV-4 consists of one IC, a
these toys, they always seem to remote at it, and press a button. few resistors, several diodes,
hide under seat cushions, in The universal remote then the infrared transmitter LED's,
magazines, and other unlikely memorizes the pattern it re- a capacitor, and a simple row-
places. When we do manage to ceives. That pattern can be as- by-column, or matrix keyboard.
locate a remote, it's usually the signed to a button on the Picture a tic -tac -toe board with
wrong one, or the batteries are learning remote so that each columns labeled 1, 2, 3, ... and
dead. We're sure you've experi- time you press that button in rows labeled A, B, C, Each
enced the same problem. the future, the remote will send button on the keyboard corre-
se Of course, there are the the corresponding pattern. sponds to one letter/number
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pair. The goal was to devise a only a single uo line. combination to all five 4051's,
circuit that would connect to an The computer's parallel port but as long as the software driv-
existing PC simply and inex- connects to J1. Of the eight es only one of the five ÉN lines
pensively, and activate the rows lines, three form a bus that high, only a single row-column
and columns of the keyboard drives the address inputs, and connection can be made at any
matrix under software control. each of the other five lines driv- one time.
A standard parallel port pro- es a separate EN input on the To understand how the cir-
vides a suitable interface. All 4051's. That arrangement pre- cuit works, let's go through an
signals run at five volts, so con- sents the same binary input example. Assume first that the
necting to the remote is PC has set all the ÉN lines high,
straightforward. In addition, so all the 4051's are off, and no
the printer port is directly ad-
dressable, even in BASIC, so
SUPPLY -V
POSITIVE 16
4051
Vss
7 NEGATIVE
SUPPLY
row-column connections exist.
Now assume that we want the
programming wouldn't be a 13
0 ÉN
6 CHIP computer to "press" the key cor-
challenge. The only' problem 14
ENABLE
responding to intersection Al in
was how to control a 5 -by -8 15
1
the matrix. That corresponds to
2 I/O -3 a binary value of 001 at the ad-
switch matrix using only the 12
eight bits that comprise a stan- INPUT j 3 dress inputs. By driving AO high
dard parallel port. Five CMOS CHANNELS - .
4 AO
11
and the other two (Al and A2)
4051 8- channel analog multi- 5
5 Al
10 ADDRESS
INPUTS
low, we obtain 001.
plexers make the job easy. 2
6 A2
9 With the 4051's still disabled,
The 4051's, shown in Fig. 1, 4
7 GND GROUND
the PC drives the line of ICI
have three address inputs (Ao. Al, low, which turns the device on.
and A2), eight channel inputs FIG. 1 -THE 4051's have three address
That makes the connection be-
(0-7), and an input/output (uo) inputs, eight channel inputs, and an I/O tween row A and column 1, just
pin. Each 4051 internally con- pin. One of the eight channels is con- as if we'd physically pressed
nects one of its eight channel nected to I/O pin. that key.
lines to its uo pin. The channel
selected depends on the com- MY FRIEND, INVISIBOT
bination of signals applied to
the input -select lines. I've always been fascinated by robots. Modules vary in price and func-
The address inputs are Since the first time I saw "Forbidden
Planet" as a child, I was certain that
tionality, but their average cost is about
$12. You can purchase compatible mod-
weighted in a binary fashion (Ao someday one of those electronic ser- ules from Radio Shack, Sears, and
=1, Al = 2, A2 = 4). You select the vants would cater to my every whim. I Stanley hardware dealers.
desired channel by applying still don't have anything that looks like The CP290 controller attaches di-
"highs" to the appropriate ad- Robby the Robot, but do control many
I rectly to the serial port of your PC, and is
dress inputs. For example, to se- of the lights and appliances in my house sold with software that allows you to start
lect input channel 5, you would with spoken commands -and my invisi- controlling your home immediately. The
ble robot responds verbally as well! CP290 typically sells for about $40; you
apply + 5 volts to the AO and A2 The primary elements of "Invisibot" can purchase one from Egghead Soft-
address inputs. The three ad- came as two off-the -shelf accessories ware or Radio Shack. I was fortunate
dress inputs provide a total of for my PC: the X -10 CP290 computer enough to be able to purchase mine
23, or eight combinations, interface, and the Covox Voice Master some time ago for $19 on a close -out
ranging from 0 to 7. Key system. sale.
The 4051 has one other in- The X -10 product has been around for The other major component of the In-
visibot consists of a Covox Voice Master
put, chip enable, or i-N for short. years; it consists of a master control unit
Key, which provides both speech recog-
and one module for each appliance you
When i:N is brought high, the IC want to control. The modules can be nition and synthesis. The Master Key
prevents any connection be- installed in place of normal light switch- plugs into a standard PC bus; it can
tween 1io and the input chan- es in the wall, or plugged in between the record and play back speech or other
nels, regardless of the states of AC power outlet and the device being sounds, and includes an excellent
the address inputs. controlled. speech -recognition package.
The X -10 system communicates corn - A memory- resident software module
mands to the control modules by taking allows you to store a set of commands,
Circuit details advantage of the fact that higher fre- each of which can be sent to DOS when
The complete circuit, shown quencies can piggyback on top of lower the board recognizes a given phrase.
in Fig. 2, consists of five 4051's, frequencies. The power service in your For example, when speak the com-
I
some pull -up resistors, and a home is low- frequency 60 -Hz alternat- mand, "Oh butler, brighten the den," the
connector. Note that the eight ing current. The X -10 system injects system sends the proper commands to
high- frequency signals via the power DOS to: 1) Play back a prerecorded
columns from the remote's key- outlet on the 60 Hz. The information en- voice file containing the words, "Yes sir!
board form a "bus" to which the coded in those high- frequency signals Right away sir!" and 2) Run the X -10
eight channel lines of all five then travels over your existing house control program with the proper param-
4051's are connected in parallel. wiring to the control modules, which de- eters to increase brightness in the den to
Also note that each of the re- code and act on it. 100%.
mote's five rows connects to the Each module must normally be set to Not being content to control things
through X -10 modules, I then designed
uo line of a different 4051. Thus, a unique address; the control module
the universal remote control project de-
sends one command at a time to a
all the channel lines will be se- unique address. scribed here. 12
lected simultaneously, but with 69
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COLUMN PC board patterns are provided.
+6V The following are instructions
AV-4 KEYBOARD MATRIX
13
0 Vec
16 t for disassembling the remote
r
14
1 I/O
3 control, mounting its PC board
15 6 on a piece of perforated board,
r 2 EN
wiring the 4051's, making the
/ 12 11
8
IC1
1
3
4051
AO
10
remainder of the connections,
4 Al and installing the device in a
9
r
5
5 A2 suitable enclosure.
r
2
6 GND First, remove the PC board
r
4
7 Vss from the AV-4 and clip off the
metal battery contacts, leaving
+6V long power leads. Next, identify
r
13
0 Vcc
16 t the row and column locations of
14
I/O
the keyboard matrix. Then,
15 6 using a hobby knife, carefully
r IC2
ÉN
scrape a small patch of insulat-
12 11
4051 AO
ing paint from each trace of the
10
4 Al matrix, leaving its shiny copper
5
/ A2 surface exposed.
r
2
GND Carefully solder connecting
r
4
Vss
7 wires to the exposed traces of
the AV-4 board. Cleaning them
+6V with a new rubber eraser or al-
13 16 cohol swab will help make a bet-
Vcc
14 ter solder connection. Tinning
I/0 the wire and the traces before
15 EN 6
r
12 IC3
11
J1 soldering will also help.
r 4051 AO DB-25
Mount the components on
/ 4 Al
10 19 the perforated construction
/
5
A2 AO
board, leaving enough space for
GND 8 the AV-4, as shown in Fig. 3.
/ 4
3
Mount five 16 -pin DIP sockets
4 for the 4051's, and a sixth to be
Vss 7
+6V
o used as a socket for the eight
13 16 t 6
pull -up resistors. Then make all
cc
14 3
connections, using Fig. 2 as a
/
15
ua
6
wiring guide. Remember to con-
12
IC4 EÑ
11
nect pin 16 of each IC to Vcc,
r 4051 AO
131 R3 R5 R7
9 and pins 7 and 8 to ground.
/ Al
10
2.2K 2.2K 2.2K 2.2K Connect the power leads of
/
5
A2
9 the circuit and the AV-4 to the
r
2
GND
8 wall -mount transformer, care-
/ 4
Vss
R2 R4 R6 R8 fully observing polarity. Bend
2.2K 2.2K 2.2K 2.2K the resistor leads to fit cleanly
+6V into the DIP socket, remove ex-
13 16
cess lead length, and insert the
14
cc resistors. Now insert the 4051's,
I/0
15
/ IC5 EN
6
12 4051 AO
11
+6V PARTS LIST
10 Vcc
/ 4 A1 R1 R8-2200 ohms, '/a-watt
5
A2 IC1IC5--4051 CMOS -of-8 decoder
1
2
GND J1-25-pin female DB -25 connector
4 7
6-volt DC, 300 mA, wall-mount trans-
Vss former
Six 16-pin DIP sockets
FIG. 2-
INVISIBOT DRIVES A UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROLLER with five 4051 1- Perforated construction board
of-8 multiplexors. Universal remote control (Memorex
AV-4 or equivalent)
6 -foot male -to -male DB -25 ribbon cable
Remember that until i-N goes Construction Metal project case large enough to ac-
high again, the remote control Because of the simplicity of commodate construction board and
will act as if the key remains the circuit, the prototype was remote control
PC -board standoffs and mounting hard-
pressed. Hence the software built using wire -wrap and ware
70 must reassert point -to -point techniques. No
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observing normal rules for han-
dling electrostatic discharge -
sensitive devices. Now we're
ready to test the controller.
Important: Always apply
power to the interface before at-
taching it to the PC, and discon-
nect it from the PC before
turning off the controller. Be-
cause the interface draws very
little power, you might want to
leave it on all the time.
Use a nibbling tool (or a drill
and a file) to make openings in
the project enclosure for the
DB -25 connector (J1), the
power cable, and the AV-4's in-
frared LED's. Mount the board
in the enclosure using four
stand -offs, and the interface is
complete.
Programming considerations FIG. 3 -MOUNT THE CONTROLLER AND CIRCUIT BOARD in the case as shown here.
We don't have enough space
to present a complete listing of
the entire program. Moreover, if LISTING 1- LISTING 2 -STALL ROUTINE
you don't use an AV-4 and a INVISIBOT CONSTANTS REM * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **
Sony TV, the commands won't REM * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **
REM * STALL ROUTINE
REM *
work for you anyway. However, REM * INVISIBOT INTERFACE CONTROL
* * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
** REM * make a URC keypress long *
we present enough information REM
REM
REM * enough to ensure command
REM * gets sent, then clear the *
*
so that you can test the unit and REM 1pt 1 port = 378h = 888 decimal REM * keypress and allow circuit *
REM data lines: A = 1, B = 2, C = 4
modify the command structure REM chip inhibit lines: chip i = 8,
REM * to settle
REM * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **
to suit your needs. In addition, REM
REM
chip 2 = 16, chip 3 = 32,
chip 4 = 64, chip 5 = 128
stall:
the code will be posted on the REM hold the button down
REM for a time
Electronics Now BBS REM * *
chipl
* ***
= 255
chip ENABLES table * * * * *
- 8 - 7
FOR i = 1 TO 1500
NEXT i
(516- 293 -2283, 1200/2400, chip2 = 255 - 16 - 7
8N1) as a file called chip3
chip4
=
=
255
255
- 32 - 7
- 64 - 7
REM
REM
let all buttons up and wait
for a time ...
NVISIBOT.BAS. All code was de- chip5 = 255 - 128 - 7
OUT 888, 255
veloped in Microsoft Quick - REM * * * * ** data channel table
REM
REM
FOR i = 1 TO 5
NEXT i
BASIC. data° = 1
datai = 2
The interface uses only the data2 3
RETURN
REM * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **
data lines of the port, and ig- data3 = 4
data4 = 5
nores the control lines, so the data5 = 6
data6 = 7 OUT 888, ROWA + COD
software does not use the famil- data? = 0
iar LPRINT command. Instead, REM * * * * ** chip correspondence * * **
Next execute a short delay, and
it uses the OUT instruction, REM 1 chip# 1URC Row then disable all rows and col-
which sends a byte of data di- REM
REM 2
1 A
B umns. Listing 2 shows a sub-
rectly to the specified port. REM
REM
3 C
D
routine that delays processing
Listing 1 shows a set of con- REM
4
5 E after "pressing" a key, followed
stants that makes it easy to rowa chipl
by a "release" of all keys.
specify different rows and col- rowb = chip2 Listing 3 shows a demonstra-
umns in the software. The first rowc
rowd
=
=
chip3
chip4 tion routine that selects the TV
group (Chip1- Chip5) provides rows = chip5 mode of the AV-4, turns on the
the values to enable each 4051; REM * * * * ** data correspondence * * * * TV, ramps up the volume,
the second group shows the val- REM
REM
ABC
000
URC Column changes the channel, and turns
ues to enable each row of the REM 001
1
2 the TV off again. Unless you use
matrix; and the third group REM
REM
010
011
3
4
an AV-4 and a Sony TV, these
shows the values to enable each REM 100 5 commands probably won't work
column. Enabling a particular REM
REM
101
110
6
7
for you.
position in the matrix is simply REM 111 0 Listing 4 shows a diagnostic
a matter of executing an OUT routine that enables each row
statement. (Editor's Note: Deter- LPTI at an address of 0378 and column of the matrix, re-
mining the address of your LPT hex, or 888 decimal.) 'R) enable questing that you press Enter
port can be tricky; more on that position Al in the matrix, ex- after each position. The routine
below. For now, assume use of ecute the command: will be useful for verifying that 71
AUTOCOUPLER
LISTING 3- LISTING 4-
EXERCISE FUNCTIONS SONY TEST COMMANDS continuedfrom page 67
REM * * * ** ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **rrr REM the next piece of code
REM the following code exercises REM initializes the URC for
REM some basic command functions REM a SONY TV (000) does, LED1 will light up. Con-
REM select the tv
REM the "INPUT x" statements
REM aren't necessary, they're nect an audio source to the au-
REM as the device to control REM just here so you can dio leads and try sending some
REM observe each command.
PRINT "sending tv: a5"
OUT 888, rows 4 col5 REM The AV -4 has a surface - audio down the line. Your call-
GOSUB stall REM mounted LED that blinks
REM once as each command is
ing party should hear it loud
INPUT x
REM received, and multiple and clear. Next, connect an am-
REM turn on the tv
PRINT "sending POWER: e6"
REM times when e valid device
REM code has been
plifier and speaker, to the audio
OUT 888, rows + col6 REM successfully programmed. port and listen to the calling
REM
GOSUB stall
INPUT x PRINT "sending A: e5" party. Shortly after the caller
OUT 888, rowe + col5
GOSUB stall
hangs up, the coupler should
REM crank up the volume
FOR k - 1 TO 20 automatically drop the line.
PRINT "sending VOLUME UP: b6" INPUT x With your amplifier still con-
OUT 888, rowb + col6
GOSUB stall PRINT "sending V: e3" nected, pick up an extension
INPUT x
NEXT k
OUT 888, rowe + col3
GOSUB stall
phone; you should hear the dial
tone through your off-line cou-
REM change the tv channel
PRINT "sending CHANNEL DOWN: c6"
INPUT x
pler. That confirms the audio
OUT 888, rowe + col6 PRINT "sending 4: el"
OUT 888, rowe + coil
pass- through from the MPC -2
GOSUB stall
INPUT x GOSUB stall section that makes the coupler
REM turn off the tv INPUT x
caller-ID compatible.
PRINT "sending POWER: e6" The remote connections can
OUT 888, rowe + col6
GOSUB stall
PRINT "sending #0: b2"
OUT 888, rowb + col2 be tested with a VOM. When the
GOSUB stall coupler first picks up, pin 5 of
END
INPUT x the DB -25 connector will go low
PRINT "sending #0: b2"
for a moment. Depending on
OUT 888, rowb + col2 which way you set jumper JU2,
GOSUB stall the contacts of relay RY2 (avail-
INPUT x able at J3, the DB -25 connector,
the circuit is wired properly. You PRINT "sending #0: b2" pins 1-4) will close either mo-
should see a change in the state OUT 888, rowb + coil
GOSUB stall
mentarily or will latch as the
of each line as it is tested. unit picks up. A ring signal will
'lb determine which LPT port INPUT x
REM * * * * * * * * * * ** end URC snit
produce a high output at pin 9
to use, run the program shown of J3.
in Listing 5. It will display the You should be able to force the
decimal and hexadecimal ad- coupler to pick up by momen-
dresses of those parallel ports tarily grounding pin 13 of J3 via
that are installed on your ma- LISTING 5-LPT ADDRESSING switch Si. Be sure you don't
chine. REM display addresses of 1pt ports
ground pin 13 directly (R16
REM jkh 2/21/93 must be in place) or you might
DEF SEG = &H40
Adapting for other devices 1ptl - 8118: 1pt2 = &HA: 1pt3 = &HC damage IC5. You can force the
When writing your own con- a = PEEK(lptl) + 256 * PEEK(lptl + 1)
b - PEEK(lpt2) + 256 * PEEK(lpt2 + 1)
coupler to hang up by ground-
trol program, keep the following c = PEEK(lpt3) + 256 * PEEK(lpt3 + 1) ing pin 8 of J3 via Si. Tèst the
in mind: Because the interface PRINT "Decimal ", "Hex"
PRINT "LPT1: "; a, HEXS(a)
external inhibit by connecting
does not include a backup bat- IF b > 0 THEN PRINT "LPT2: "; b, HEX$(b) pins 11 and 12 of J3 together.
tery, the control program should IF c > 0 THEN PRINT "LPT3: "; c, HEXS(c)
Then remove JU1 and have
send the proper setup com- someone call the coupler; it
mands for your particular de- should not answer. Next, con-
vice when you first start the pro- not specific to the Memorex nect pin 10 of J3 to ground; the
gram. Because the PC can AV-4; it could be attached to al- coupler should answer.
"press" the remote control's but- most any device with a 5 x 8 or
tons much faster than a human smaller keyboard matrix. Conclusion
being, you could even program With only slight modifica- The couplers can send or re-
it to send keystrokes on-the -fly, tions, it could control much ceive audio signals and they
each time you send a command. larger layouts. One way to in- have been used as outgoing
Doing so would allow you to crease the capacity of the inter- message centers, listen lines,
overcome the four-device limit face while still using only eight and remote -control interfaces,
typical of inexpensive remotes, data lines would be to add more just to mention a few. Youil find
allowing you unlimited control 4051's. With additional decod- that it is an excellent and ver-
over TV's, VCR's, CD players, ing, the five control lines could satile telephone -line interface
video -disc players, and other IR- control 25 = 32 different 4051's. suitable for automatically con-
controlled devices. That's a 32 x 8 matrix, or a necting your telephone line to a
72 The circuit described here is whopping 256 keys! it variety of projects. ci
HARDWARE HACKER
Communication trade journals, micropower oscillators, thermodynamic
basics, steam calliope sources, and avoiding energy scams.
DON LANCASTER
Electronics cannot stand on its field has been studied to death, and Heat energy always travels from
own. It has been built on the there are tons of readily available higher temperatures to lower ones.
underlying foundations of literature out there. Systems always move toward their
math, physics, chemistry, and engi- Unless you can bring something most chaotic and lowest energy -
neering disciplines. truly new to the table, the chances level states. Energy can neither be
This month, figured I'd take a
I are that your "new" heat -engine created nor destroyed in any ther-
back -to- the -basics tack over a topic concept has been thoroughly modynamic process.
that has been causing more than its trashed decades ago. Or even cen- If you do build a heat engine, only
share of helpline grief lately. In turies before. a small fraction of the total energy
short, we are long past overdue in For instance, got this model heat
I can ever be recovered as useful
taking a close look at the... engine in the mail. It was a clever work; the rest is irretrievably lost as
example of how crucially important waste heat.
Fundamentals of reversibility is in preventing you from Ah yes, that fraction. How big and
thermodynamics getting useful economic benefits. just how much? Enter one of the
As Fig. shows, a heat engine is
1 Reversibility is a very sticky ther- most brilliant hardware hackers of
some device or machine that ac- modynamic problem that was first all time, a French scientist named
cepts thermal energy at a high input solved in a brilliant analytic break- Sadi Carnot. Like most hardware
temperature TH, performs some through by James Watt in 1784. hackers, Carnot did not have the
useful mechanical work, and finally foggiest idea what he was really
loses its remaining Thermodynamic It took the establishment de-
to a sink at a lower temperature TL. Any study of thermodynamics cades to understand how utterly
Nearly all auto and airplane power starts off with the laws of ther- profound and fundamental Carnot's
sources are heat engines, as are modynamics. To the best of my discovery was.
most electrical generators. Varia- knowledge, nobody has ever been Typical heat engines depend on a
tions on the heat -engine theme lead able to find any exception to these working fluid. The more important
us to heat pumps, ice makers, vac- laws. At least not on a practical heat -engine fluids include air,
uum systems, refrigerators, and scale. steam, ammonia, freon, mercury, ni-
compressors. And, for that matter, Countless individuals have blown trogen, hydrogen, helium, and even
to life itself. incredible amounts of their time and liquid sodium. The working fluid
The study of heat processes is money trying to crack those ther- goes through a number of individual
known as thermodynamics. While it modynamic laws. And all of them steps or processes to trace out a
is more of a mechanical engineering have failed miserably. Without any cycle. A heat -engine cycle must
topic than an electrical one, elec- exception. close upon itself and return to initial
trical- engineering students are usu- The laws are pretty fundamental, conditions so that the gngine can
ally required to take at least one and they range well beyond heat en- continue to produce useful work.
thermodynamic course. That's be- gines. For instance, cell biology, the These thermodynamic cycles can
cause nearly all modern heat en- very life process itself, photo- usually be plotted in your choice of a
gines need lots of support elec- synthesis, all chemical reactions, pressure- volume 1p -v) diagram or a
tronics, and many home -power and and solar power all must rigorously temperature -entropy It-s) diagram.
new energy- recovery schemes are obey these laws. The area inside the cycle on ei-
actually heat engines in disguise. ther a pressure- volume or tempera-
Knowing the fundamentals of ther- ture- entropy diagram is related to
NEED HELP? the amount of useful work that can
modynamics lets you instantly sort
out the perpetual- motion rip -offs be extracted from your heat engine.
and the outrageous pipe dreams Phone or write your Hardware The efficiency of any engine is the
from the realities of physics and Hacker questions directly to: ratio of the useful work you extract
real -world economics. Don Lancaster compared to the energy that must
We should note up front that Synergetics be dumped as waste heat ex-
more people have spent more time Box 809 pressed as a percent.
Thatcher, AZ 85552 Many different heat -engine cy-
hacking heat -engine ideas than on
(602) 428 -4073 cles have been dreamed up. The 73
any other engineering topic. The
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Otto cycle applies to gasoline en- In both examples, you have an
gines, while the Diesel cycle ob- irreversible process. But your sec-
viously applies to diesel power ond one is clearly much better. As a
plants. Electric -power turbines use third try, put a feather on the piston.
a Rankin cycle. Or some multi -stage Wait till things settle, and then put
improvement on it. A lot of alternate - another feather on the piston. Re-
energy people get real excited over peat this until you have accumulated
a Stirling cycle, since it is a kind of eight pounds of feathers, and you
"external combustion" engine that will also end up with the gas com-
can accept heat from diverse or low- pressed by a foot. And only 4.0 foot -
grade sources. pounds of total work will be needed.
Every few years or so, somebody This is a reversible process and the
reinvents the old Stirling engine, FIG. 1-A HEAT ENGINE accepts energy best you can do. And twice as effi-
from a high -temperature source, does
and then builds a bunch of pro- useful mechanical work, and then re- cient as your first attempt.
totypes that just barely miss. Then jects a portion of that energy to a lower- One more time: You must be able
they will just barely go bankrupt. To temperature sink. Only a fraction of the to undo what you just did. At all
date, the old Stirling cycle has available energy can ever be converted. times, you do have to be willing and
Most electronic devices must also obey
largely proven to be both a sucker able to stuff the Genie back into the
the same thermodynamic laws that
bet and an economic rathole. Ex- govern heat engines. bottle. That's what reversibility is all
cept possibly for arcane cryogenic about.
cooling applications. engine must be able to undo any- There are several important rever-
Carnot asked two questions: thing it just did without losing any sible processes. One of them is
What is the finest theoretical ther- heat to friction or other losses. That called an isothermal process, where
modynamic cycle you could possi- means "no sudden moves" and "no everything takes place at a constant
bly create, and what are the rapid changes," with everything temperature. The heat -energy re-
efficiency limits to that cycle ?" changing as incrementally and as ceiver must be at a temperature
It was obvious that each part of a slowly as possible. That also means only a tad lower than the energy
Carnot cycle had to be lossless. zero friction, lossless seals, and source. And the heat source must
More precisely, all the processes perfect insulation. Figure 2 helps to be so large that taking a small
involved had to be reversible. A heat explain the concept of reversibility. amount of energy out of that source
you want to use a piston does not significantly change its
to compress the gas inside a non - temperature.
NEW FROM insulated cylinder. Some work is A second one is an adiabatic pro-
DON LANCASTER needed to reduce the gas to a re- cess, in which heat energy is nei-
HARDWARE HACKER STUFF
quired volume. Any work above that ther added nor removed. For full
Hardware Hacker Reprints II or III 24.50
is lost as waste or exhaust heat. reversibility, any compression or ex-
Midnight Engineering Reprints 24.50 Let's say you build up your cylin- pansion of a working fluid should be
Resource Bin Reprints 16.50
Incredible Secret Money Machine 18.50
der and throw an eight pound weight adiabatic.
CMOS Cookbook 24.50 on it. You note that this particular At any rate, the Carnot cycle
TTL Cookbook 24.50
Active Filter Cookbook 24.50
piston happens to drop by a foot, obeys fully reversible processes to
Micro Cookbook vol or II
I 19.50 doing work to compress the gas. In trace out the best approximation of
Lancaster Classics Library 119.50
this case, eight foot pounds of work the theoretically ideal heat -engine
POSTSCRIPT STUFF are expended, because the eight - cycles. Figure 3 shows some more
Ask The Guru Reprints I, II or Ill 24.50 pound weight dropped by one foot.
PostScript Secrets (Ile/Mac/PC)
Carnot cycle details. Once again,
39.50
PostScript Show & Tell 39.50 Is this the best you can do? If this is the best possible one you can
Intro to PostScript VHS Video
PostScript Beginner Stuff
39.50 instead, you put a one -pound ever build. Why? Because of the full
39.50
PostScript Cookbook (Adobe) 18.50 weight on the piston, waited until eversibility. You just can't get better
PostScript Ref. Manual II (Adobe) 28.50 things settled down, added another
PostScript Program Design (Adobe) 22.50
than this.
Type Font Format (Adobe)
I 15.50 one -pound weight, and so on, you In the Carnot cycle, one starts
LaserWriter Reference (Apple) 19.50 now have the first pound pushing with a working fluid at a low temper-
Real World Postscript (Roth) 22.50
PostScript Visual Approach (Smith) 22.50 the piston a full foot and the final ature. Then the gas is adiabatically
Thinking in PostScript (Reid) 22.50 pound pushing the piston down only compressed by doing work on it.
Undst PS Pgrmmg (Holtzgang) 29.50
The Whole Works (all PostScript) 349.50 an eighth of a foot. Your total work is Typically, the new external energy
8/8 + 7/8 + 6/8 + 5/8 + 4/8 + 3/8 + 2/8 required can come from a flywheel
BOOK-ON- DEMAND STUFF
Book -on- demand resource kit 39.50
+ 1/8 = 4.5 foot -pounds. or a second cylinder in the engine.
GEnie PSRT sampler (Ile/Mac/PC) 39.50 Yet, in each case, you corn- Compressing the fluid raises its
FREE VOICE HELPLINE VISA/MC pressed the gas by the same temperature and reduces its vol-
amount, raising its energy state by ume. Extreme care is needed so
SYNERGETICS the same value. The extra 3.5 foot - that heat energy is neither added
Box 809 -RE
Thatcher, AZ 85552 pounds of work has dropped nor removed during compression.
(602) 428 -4073 through that irrecoverable low - The temperature rise has to result
74 CIRCLE 205 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD grade heat rathole. solely from the volume reduction.
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Compression will continue until a grees above Fahrenheit. Absolute Or a mere 8.5 percent, under ide-
temperature very slightly under that degrees Kelvin are 273 degrees alconditions. That's assuming a per-
of the heat source is reached. After above Centigrade. And any efficien- fect Carnot cycle. In the real world,
compression, an isothermal pro- cy is a hundred times the efficiency you'd be lucky to get a tiny fraction
cess transfers its heat energy into stated as a fraction from 0.0 to 1.0. of that -say three percent net. For
the fluid, expanding it, and increas- Down my street is an impressive every kilowatt hour generated,
ing its pressure. The temperature, artesian hot well that's spewing thirty-two are thrown away!
of course, stays the same. In the forth mightily at 125 degrees F. Sadly, it makes sense to ignore
third step, the gas adiabatically ex- Could we get some electricity out of some $20,000 worth of electricity
pands while delivering useful output it? each year just by dumping it into the
work. The fluid volume goes up and Assume the local average ground Gila River. Why? Because any prac-
the temperature goes down. A final temperature is 75 degrees (The well tical recovery project of this size and
isothermal process dumps the re- sits in the Upper Sonoran life zone.) temperature differential could never
maining heat energy to the waste The best possible energy recovery pay for the engineering, materials,
heat sink, reducing the volume and efficiency here would be... operating costs, flood zone risks,
closing the cycle. ((125 + 460) (75 + 460))/ and the time value of money needed
Once again, that area inside the (125 + 460) = 0.085 to do the job properly.
curve on the pressure -volume di-
agram determines how much work
is delivered.
Because every process is reversi-
ble, one can introduce heat energy
As one process in a heat engine cycle, assume
you have a fluid you wish to compress by adding
at a high temperature to produce
weight to the piston such that your piston drops
mechanical work output. Or, one
by exactly one foot...
can apply mechanical work to pump
heat from the low side to the high
side.
A gas engine runs "forward." A
refrigerator runs "backward." And a
heat pump can either heat or cool, On your first try, you throw an eight pound brick
by swapping the heat from the high - on the piston and note that the piston does in fact
side to the low -side. drop by one foot. You have done 8.0 foot pounds
When you go through the math of work. As we will shortly see, this is a useless
(the derivation takes a full lecture and BADLY IRREVERSIBLE process, because
one -half of your work will get lost as irrecoverable
hour in any university physics low grade heat...
course), this stunningly elegant and
simple result pops out...
eta = (TH TL) /TH
On your second try, you place a one pound rock
Restated in English: The very on the piston, wait till things settle, and then add
best possible efficiency that can be another one pound rock. You will still need eight
obtained from any heat engine is pounds of rocks, but this time, the work needed is
determined solely by the ratio of its only 8/8 + 7/8 + 6/8 + 5/8 + 4/8 + 3/8 + 2/8 + 1/8
source temperature to its sink tem- = 4.5 foot pounds of work. This is a useful but
perature-no matter what cycle, MODERATELY IRREVERSIBLE process in which
fluid, or engineering is used! And one -eighth of your work gets thrown away...
my key point: To get useful work out
of any heat engine, lots more ener-
gy must be thrown away as irrec-
overable waste heat. On your third try, you place a feather on the
For example, a modern auto en- piston, wait till things settle, and add another
feather. You still need eight pounds of feathers,
gine has a theoretical efficiency of
but this time the work needed is only the tiniest
55 percent, with something like 38 amount above 4 foot pounds. This is a FULLY
percent being a typical real -world REVERSIBLE process in which virtually none
value. That is at the engine's of your work gets thrown away...
flywheel. The actual efficiency of
the automobile as a transportation
system is far lower. Any fully reversible scheme to compress or expand a fluid is also
Oh yeah. One minor gotcha. Ab- called an ADIABATIC process. Heat is neither added nor removed
solute temperatures must be used in any reversible adiabatic process.
for the Carnot formula to work. Ab- FIG. 2 -AN EFFICIENT HEAT ENGINE absolutely demands that all of its processes be
solute degrees Rankin are 460 de- fully reversible. Here are some good and bad examples of reversibility. 75
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insertions $925 each. Closing date same as regular rate card. Send order with remittance to
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11735. Direct telephone inquiries to Arline Fishman, area code -1- 516- 293 -3000. FAX
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CIRCLE 318 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD CIRCLE 325 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD do something useful with the re-
jected waste heat. Say by heating
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CIRCLE 319 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD CIRCLE 326 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD A solar panel that also heats
water should have much better eco-
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these are sometimes called
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very hot topic indeed. There's even
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600 Community Drive 610 Washington Street
Manhasset, NY 11030 Dedham, MA 02026 A reality check
(516) 562 -5000 (617) 326 -8222 FAX
CIRCLE 321 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD CIRCLE 328 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
So, how do you separate the
"real" heat engines from the scams
Data Communications Teleconnect and the wishful- thinking
1221 Avenue of the Americas 12 West 21 Street daydreams? First, calculate its Car -
New York, NY 10020 New York, NY 10010 not efficiency and see what that re-
(212) 512 -2000 (212) 691 -8215 veals about the claims involved. Be
CIRCLE 322 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD CIRCLE 329 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
76 especially suspect of statements
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Earn Your B.S. Degree
in
isothermal
ELECTRONICS
heating or
COMPUTERS
P adiabatic
adiabatic
R compression
expansion
E
S
S
U isothermal
R cooling
E
VOLUME
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+2 to +7 vdc output
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publication for this month is the
Industrial Laser Review. A good
Building and testing circuits is fast and Includes two independent modules:
source for steam calliopes is Analog Module with passive and active
Ragtime. It offers a $5 catalog. easy with Electronics Workbench. Just
components including transistors, diodes,
Free samples of Volara, Volextra, click-and -drag with a mouse to add and op- amps; a function generator, an
and Minicel foams are available from parts, run wires, and adjust oscilloscope, a multimeter, and a Bode plotter.
instruments. The traces on the Digital Module with gates, flip-flops, adders,
Voltek. Ask for their specifier kit. aword generator, a logic analyzer, and a
A reminder here that have auto-
I
simulated instruments are the sanie as unique logic converter and simplifier.
graphed copies of my Incredible Se- you'd get on real equipment.
cret Money Machine ll here for you DOS Professional Version - $299 Call (416) 361 -0333
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908 Niagara Falls 700 King St. W., Ste 815
about my Hardware Hacker Round - Canada only. Macintosh and D05 Personal Plus versions are in Boulevard Toronto, Ontario
monochrome only. All trademarks are the property of their North Tonawanda, NY Canada
Table on GEnie PSRT at (800) respective owners. 14120-2060 xi5V 2Y6
638 -9636. And our no- charge tech-
nical helpline is found at (602)
428 -4073. Best calling times are
8 -5 weekdays, Mountain Standard
time.
Most of the items I've mentioned
appear in our Names & Numbers or
Communications Trade Journals
sidebars. Be sure to check here first
before calling our helpline. Let's
hear from you. 1t
tnsnnFn
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arn
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Fred then realized that he fi rgot to build
in an off button.
OS o,` $vcvok
79
CIRCLE 184 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
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LEARN VCR WHAT'S NEWS
continued from page 4
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AUDIO UPDATE
Loudspeaker Power Ratings: What do they mean ... and how do you
avoid problems?
LARRY KLEIN
Do you have a sense of im- speaker system, it is also the fre- Damaging circumstances
pending disaster involving quency of the signal and length of Because of the unequal power
smoke and flame because time it is applied. distribution to the drivers within a
your expensive speakers rated for The reasons become clear when system. a tweeter designed to with-
50 watts are being driven by a 100 - you examine the the features of the stand 4 watts of power within its
watt amplifier? The salesperson drivers in a typical system. To tweet frequency range is considered to be
who sold you the system claimed effectively at the upper end of the a fairly heavy-duty unit suitable for
that you'd have no problem, but nev- human hearing range, a high -fre- use in, say, a system rated for 150
er explained why. You recently read quency driver must have a small, watts. But if that 4 watts were ex-
that CD recordings of reed instru- low -mass radiating surface. The ceeded for a sustained period,
ments such as clarinets and sax- smaller a tweeter's diaphragm, the damage is likely to occur. So al-
ophones can produce enormous wider its dispersion. And the lower though comparatively little energy
instantaneous signal peaks. Will the mass of the device, the greater reaches the tweeter with the normal
those peaks drive your amplifier to its efficiency. playing of music, there are several
speaker-damaging levels? In short, Unfortunately, miniaturization re- circumstances that can effectively
given your setup, is it possible to sulting in such low mass implies char-broil its voice coil.
have absolutely safe sax? both fragility and the speaker's in- For example, the same 10 -band
ability to handle a lot of potentially octave equalizer that shows how
Speaker power: min destructive heat. Where does the much audio energy is being fed to
and max heat come from? As in most your tweeters can also blow them
Most speaker-system specifica- powered products, heat results out if you use it to boost the upper
tion sheets expound at length about from inefficiency; it has been shown octaves excessively on loud materi-
their computer- designed fourth - that typically more than than 95% of al. Pink noise can also cause
order Butterworth filters with an amplifier's output fed to a speak- damage if applied carelessly-as I
phase- compensated 24-dB- per-oc- er ends up doing nothing more than discovered by blowing out a pair of
tave slopes, and so forth. That kind heating the drivers and crossover very expensive beryllium -dome
of language might be meaningful to network. units during some acoustic tests.
speaker designers, but it certainly Fortunately for tweeter design- As recall, the tweeters didn't seem
I
doesn't mean much to the typical ers, music energy is not distributed to be producing very much sound
speaker buyer. uniformly throughout the audio -fre- before they suddenly weren't pro-
On the other hand, significant in- quency range. The spectral display ducing any sound at all!.
formation such as a speaker's of music viewed on a 10 -band real - Marginally unstable amplifiers
power rating usually gets short time analyzer (as found in many au- can be a mysterious source of
shrift in specifications with such diophile equalizers) shows that tweeter blowout. When connected
brief cryptic notations as "Power most musical energy is concen- to a reactive speaker system, such
rating: 10 watts minimum, 70 watts trated in the midrange of the audio killer amplifiers will, under certain
maximum. "To that bare -bones spectrum. In addition, the display signal conditions, oscillate ultra-
specification some manufacturers shows that the frequencies which sonically and /or generate large
add "RMS" or "Peak," as if that normally reach the tweeter, except high- frequency transients.
clarified anything. for a few high -level transients, are An underpowered amplifier driven
Aside from the near impossibility both low in amplitude and short in into severe signal clipping is likely to
of being able to buy an amplifier with duration. be more dangerous to the health of
a power rating as low as 10 watts, You can confirm that distribution their speaker systems than a high -
what have you been told? Not for yourself by placing your ear powered unit with sufficient head-
much -and here's why. A speaker close to the high- frequency driver in room to avoid clipping. An over -driv-
system's maximum power rating an operating three -way system. If en amplifier operating in the hard -
necessarily includes amplitude, fre- the crossover to the tweeter is suffi- clipping region produces far more
quency, and time. In other words, it ciently high, very little sound will be high- frequency energy than can nor-
isn't just the strength of an incoming heard compared to the sound at mally be found even in loud program
82 audio signal that can damage a midrange. material.
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
/SUPER 12 HOUR RECORDER
CALL TOLL FREE
CLIPPING netic structure-an inefficient pro-
t! cess at best. However, in 1977 the Modified Panasonic Slimline,
situation improved dramatically 6 hrs per side
when ferrofluid was introduced to 120 TDK tape furnished.
loudspeaker manufacturing. Today AC/DC Operation.
ferrofluids are at work in more than Quality Playback.
200 -million speakers. .4111111111111111111111111111.
Digital Counter. d
Technically, the ferrofluid used in
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FIG. 1- LOUDNESS PEAKS of amusical
loidal suspension of magnetite
waveform shown reaching an amplifier's PHONE RECORDING ADAPTER
maximum rated power level, (a). When (Fe304) particles in a low- vapor-
Starts & Stops Recorder
the amplifier is driven harder to achieve pressure carrier fluid. It was origi- Automatically When
greater loudness, the tops and bottoms nally developed as a highly stable Hand Set is Used.
of the peaks are clipped as shown. When
lubricant for aircraft turbines. Solid State!
viewed on an oscilloscope, clipped
areas appear as bright spots on the Ferrofluids consist of about 5% FCC Approved $28.50*
trace, (b). microscopic, coated, spherical sub - VOX VOICE ACTIVATED CONTROL
micron -sized magnetite (about 0.02
Solidstate Adjustable
The high level of this spurious en- micrometer in diameter) suspended
Sensitivity. Voices &
ergy, combined with the high -fre- in synthetic lubricating oil. The coat- Sounds Activate Recorder
quency oscillations that frequently ing on the magnetic particles con- Adjustable Sensitivity
accompany hard clipping, is a com- trols clearances, preventing the Provisions for Remote
mon cause of tweeter failure. It is particles from clumping together. Mike $28.50*
likely that more tweeters have been Thus ferrofluids are rather like sub - * Add for ship. & handling. Phone Adapter & Vox
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plifiers. (I once solved a tweeter- In practical applications, a mea-
Boulder, CO. 80303
popping problem for a discotheque sured drop of ferrofluid is deposited Phones (303) 499-5405 1- 800 -926-2488
owner by recommending that he in the voice -coil gap where, re- ` FAX (303)
Mon -Fri 8 -5 MTN. TIME
MT N. TIM
use higher power amplifiers.)
In short, tweeters are seldom de-
stroyed by playing music too loudly.
Some unusual circumstances such
sponding to the tweeter's normal
magnetic flux field, it instantly dis-
perses uniformly throughout the
gap where it is held in place magnet-
----
CIRCLE 108 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
as those mentioned are usually in- ically. In brief, ferrofluid is a special Learn VCR
volved. Incidentally, overstressed
tweeters don't go out with a bang;
magnetizable fluid that provides effi-
cient heat transfer between the repair at home!
they usually don't even whimper. tweeter's voice coil and its sur- MAKE GOOD MONEY IN YOUR
They just quietly quit working. For rounding metal structure. OWN FULL- OR PART-TIME JOB
that reason, days might pass before Ferrofluids not only provide heat
you notice that the highs are miss- transfer without interfering with nor- Professional -
ing from a defunct tweeter in a mal speaker performance, but they level home study
three -way system. can also improve other variables.
course. You will
master easy-to-
For example, their viscosity can be learn, high- profit
The magnetic solution adjusted to provide a desired de- repairs with-
On the subject of power handling, gree of voice -coil damping. out investing
woofers and, to some extent, mid- Ferrofluids also provide stability in in high -tech
ranges have a large advantage over voice coil centering. During speaker instruments
tweeters: Their cone movements construction ferrofluid is injected or a costly
pump air around their cylindrical into the voice -coil gap. The material workshop.
wire voice coils and help carry off stays there because of the intense Want more
some of the heat that inevitably magnetic field.
independence
and higher
builds up. With tweeters, the dia- Recently manufacturers have be- income? Send
phragm movements are so minute gun using ferrofluids in woofers and or call today!
that there's no convection or forced sub -woofers. The latest fluids can
air movement to provide cooling. withstand long -term operation at Free career kit:
Conduction doesn't help either 200 °C.
because there's only a pair of thin Next month we'll conclude our 800 -223 -4542
wires connecting the tweeter voice discussion of power ratings with a Name
coil to the rest of the structure. look at midrange and woofer power- Address
City State Zip
About the only way that the voice handling capabilities, sources of
coil can cool itself is by radiation of distortion, and the meaning of mini- The School of VCR Repair
heat to the surrounding metal mag- mum power ratings. d2 2245 Perimeter Park Drive 83
Dept. VG342 Atlanta, Georgia 30341
ROBERT GROSSBLATT
Before we close this subject during active video (when the pic- cause any problem. If had to make
I
(for the time being at least), ture was showing up on the TV), but a guess as to why the "woop -dee-
you all should be aware that that has changed. The video wave- doo" has been added to the hori-
the SSAVI system is several years form in Fig. -a shows the state of
1 zontal interval, I'd say that it's to
old and has undergone some the horizontal interval as of fifteen keep people from doing what we're
changes. The basic principles are minutes ago (as of this writing) on doing-adding a single sync pulse
the same, and the circuitry we've my cable. I've drawn it with an un- to restore the signal.
developed is the way to go if you scrambled horizontal interval so you When was designing the section
I
want to descramble it, but the can see how the scrambled signal of the descrambler that put the hori-
chances of building our design, relates in time to the normal one in zontal sync pulse back in the inter-
hooking it up to your TV, and seeing Fig. -b. A change has been made to
1
val, I had to modify the circuit
an unscrambled picture, are about the 4.7- microsecond position nor- slightly to make it work. Basically, all
the same as finding any intelligent mally occupied by the horizontal Idid was add some gates to the
life on Pluto. sync signal. There are also two 1- output of the 4040 line counter to
The two most significant changes microsecond spikes at the very be- create a pulse that started 2 micro-
in the SSAVI system involve hori- ginning and end of the horizontal seconds into the horizontal interval
zontal sync and picture inversion. interval. If you watch a scrambled and had a width of 4 microse-
The first is no problem, but getting picture, you can see these at both conds -the approximate length of
around the second one is going to ends of the interval as it weaves its the horizontal sync pulse. used it to
I
take a bit of brain activity on your way down the middle of your screen. gate the incoming video, com-
part. These spikes peak at 100 IRE pletely eliminate the change from
In the original SSAVI system, units but since they're not really in the transmitted signal, and make
horizontal sync was never inverted the horizontal interval, they don't sure that the only thing that ap-
peared in that section of the line was
the generated horizontal sync from
/oo IRE Iv- the phase -locked loop.
During the vertical interval, of
course, this entire activity was dis-
abled to allow the transmitted sync
o IRE .av - (which is still being sent in the clear)
to be passed through the de-
- NO IRE OV
scrambler.
The polarity indicator for the pic-
CONTR OL - P/C TL/RE ture still works as described, but
I
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
Using Windows' 3.1
How to handle this problem de- codes as well as being able to
and your sound cod
pends on the nature of the change the format of the codes
scrambled signal in your area. You themselves.
can decode the marketing code and If you go through the trouble of
Audio Frequency
figure out which bits indicate the building something to detect the
correct line to examine for deter- state of video by looking at line 20, it
mining the polarity of the following can all be made useless if the cable FUNCTION
video frame, but that is an involved company moves the information
subject and there's just not enough somewhere else. Restoring hori-
room here to go into it. It's also not zontal sync is pretty much locked in GENERATOR
the best approach since there's stone, but can definitely think of a
I
nothing stopping the cable compa- few ways that even that could be
nies from putting the code some- changed.
where else or, to make matters even Remember that large- capacity
worse, change the encoding al- EPROM's are cheap, and there's Sal 435 piss 43.50 Nipping G Wing
gorithm. nothing stopping the cable compa- (SIM resilits pious ill Wu taw)
A second way to deal with the ny from putting several encoding I ye lc woof wig ta:
problem is to examine the vertical techniques in the chip. To guarantee TEYNHAM AUDIO SYSTEMS
interval on a scope, see where the your work against obsolescence, 7120 Wyoming NE, Suite 349
polarity- indicating lines are, and the techniques you use to clear up 87109
Albuquerque, NM
work out some circuitry that exam- inverted video have to depend on
ines them all. Remember that what things that can't be easily changed
has changed is the location of the by the cable company.
Or *cc 1 -800- 793 -1150
line (it now moves around from There's a much more interesting
way to deal with the problem. for information or COD Orders
place to place), and not the struc- I
ture of the line. In essence, if there haven't worked out the circuitry yet, (we gnat ark seapd)
are three lines to examine, a high in but I'll pass it along for all of you to
the second half of any of them kick around. Pkrw Yliliate 354' w 5W lkk
would indicate that the next video The vertical interval provides a lot
frame is inverted. That's the ap- of information. One thing we haven't CIRCLE 192 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
ALE!
tion can pass along to you is that,
I
again in my area only, the video is has excellent circuits to clamp the
always inverted. Check the signal in levels and condition the video signal
your area and see if that's true for before it reaches the sync sepa-
you as well. If it is, the design of the rator. I've found that if feed the
I
1
their system, I'd put a bunch of alter- you can integrate the picture part of FOR ORDERS ONLY
the line to get the average DC volt- For technical & customer service: 305- 749 -3122
nate encoding methods in the ALL SHIPPING 8 HANDLING FEES AT CUSTOMERS EXPENSE
EPROM. They would include the age of the signal. That's the same
ability to store the inverted -video in- sort of thing we had to do to isolate CABLE WAREHOUSE
10117 WEST OAKLAND PARK BLVD., SUITE 515, SUNRISE, FL 33351
dicator directly in the marketing vertical sync from the composite NO FLORIDA SALES 85
CIRCLE 180 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
sync signal. If it's below the black
level, you know that the line has
GET THE LATEST ADVANCES been inverted, and if it's higher, then
you know that the line was normal.
You'll probably have to filter out the
IN ELECTRONICS chroma and look at the luminance
(DC level) of the line, or else the
WITH A SUBSCRIPTION TO circuit might have a hard time telling
the difference between a dark nor-
mal video line and a bright inverted
line.
Electronics
E/ecrrvnicsA
Rí1dm ith
If you do that, one other clue that
will help detect an inverted line is
that the picture's DC level should
never get below about 20 IRE. If it
does, the TV's vertical sync detec-
tor might sense it and falsely trigger
a vertical retrace. That's the sort of
thing that frequently happens when
you try to view a scrambled video
signal -even if the transmitted sig-
nal isn't doing anything to the origi-
nal vertical interval.
Since video is inverted (or not) by
the cable companies on a frame-by-
frame basis, it's safe to assume that
finding an inverted line means that
the next one will be inverted as well.
ENJOY THE WORLD OF Remember that the descrambler is
Electronics
^VA
ELECTRONICS EACH completely reset during the vertical
WORLD BAND RECEIVER
MONTH! interval when vertical sync is de-
DIGITAL VOICE CHARGER
tected.
Subscribe to the best electronics There's no way that can provide
I
REMOTE PC
POWER CONTROL
SSA DESCAAMBLING
magazine -the one that brings
you the latest high -tech
construction projects, feature
you with an absolute method to de-
scramble the video in your area -
there are just too many subtle varia-
articles on new technology, tions that can be added to the basic
CRYSTAL OSCILLATORS
practical troubleshooting SSAVI system. The ones just de-
I
FOR FASTER SERVICE CALL TODAY you are schematics, block di-
agrams, concise descriptions of the
1- 800 - 999 -7139 problem you're having, and I'd like
either scope photos or drawings of
86 the video signal. 12
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
and "distorted" audio signals. NA srtronirs
GUITAR TRANSMITTER
continued from page 46
Verify that the DISTORTION. TONE.
and LEVEL controls are function- brM
ing properly. The DISTORTION 1, .... . .., ,,,.,.,. AM
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
COMPUTER CONNECTIONS
A confluence of technologies
JEFF HOLTZMAN
Many believe that computer fits together. Viewed this way, the production, delivery, and presenta-
technology is the prime activities in Fig. 1 industries cut tion of information takes hold.
mover in the merging of across the information -delivery pro- Early evidence of these changes
publishing, telemommunications, cess shown in Fig. 2. For example, is visible. One emerging area is
consumer electronics, and enter- the entertainment industry is pri- called Disktop publishing; it involves
tainment, with computer tech- marily concerned with the capture extremely low -cost production and
nology, but it turns out that the real and creation of information; tele- distribution of information with flop-
locomotive is digital technology. In communications is primarily con- py disks and CD -ROM's as media.
last month's column the business cerned with the transmission and, For example, a recently formed
side of the computer industry was to a lesser extent storage of infor- company called Allegro New Media
discussed. At the end of that col- mation on film and tape. Publishing has developed Turbo Books -elec-
umn it was suggested that you visu- traditionally has been focused at the tronic books intended to be read on-
alize a diagram of those five ends of the process- creation and screen under Microsoft Windows.
important economic activities with presentation of hard copy. Initial titles include a business travel
computers in the middle-as shown But changes in commerce and guide, science fiction books, corn -
in Fig. 1-
indicating some areas society are forcing the publishing puter reference works, books on Ja-
where they overlap. In effect it industry to pay more attention to the pan and college selection, and
shows a confluence of five endeav- transmission and storage of infor- more. All are floppy- based; prices
ors. mation in formats other than the range from about $25 to $50.
Confluence is defined as ''a flow- printed page. Consumer elec- Who wants to read books on-
ing together of two or more tronics has been primarily con- screen? Perhaps children, perhaps
streams, or the point of juncture of cerned with presentation, but the visually impaired, perhaps the
such streams." That definition is recent partnerships have moved it person forced to kill time in waiting
taken from the latest in information into the area of creation as well. rooms. A business traveler can now
interchange, The American Those who earn a living in the pack a travel guide in a laptop corn -
Heritage Dictionary, Houghton computer industry tend to have a puter. A translation dictionary will
Mifflin, 1987; Microsoft Bookshelf, "computer- centric" view of the help to interpret a foreign language,
1992, a dictionary on a disk. The world, as shown in Fig. 1. But in and can encourage and simplify the
confluence of the business ac- reality, the computer industry is task of learning useful words and
tivities diagrammed in Fig. is exert-
1 doing little more than supplying the phrases for those who have no in-
ing a tremendous influence over the hardware for the digital- technology- tention of studying another lan-
way we work, play, and learn. While based changes sweeping society. guage formally. Electronic games
the computer industry is central to The computer industry is respond- can help the traveler pass "dead
this concept, some people believed ing to a need, not creating new time" in airports or on trains.
that it was the only driver in the styles for business and living, as There is a huge potential market
merger. some think. here, but the user interface -the
It has now become apparent, presentation aspect -needs a lot of
however, that digital technology is Disktop publishing work. And that's where Apple Com-
the true cause of these changes. The traditional publishing industry puter and the Japanese consumer
What is digital technology and how (including newspapers, books, and electronics inductry could succeed
does it relate to these changes? magazines) has resisted change un- and the rest of the worldwide com-
less it is forced on it. It did not em- puter industry fail.
Digital technology brace computer typesetting with In 1993 several more CD -ROM
Digital technology is the creation, enthusiasm, and accepted it only formats will be introduced, along
capture, storage, transmission, and after it found that it could reduce with portable display /interaction
presentation of information in a bin- staff (typesetters, printers, copy devices. Sony has already intro-
ary format (text, graphics, sound, editors) and perhaps break the hold duced one; look for others from Ap-
animation, or video), irrespective of of entrenched unions. ple, Toshiba, Sharp, Casio, and
the system on which it was created, Electronic publishing, on the Tandy. Expect high prices, limited
captured, stored, transmitted or other hand, is growing rapidly in title availability, and total incom-
presented. popularity, accessibility, and utility. patibility with existing systems. If
88 Figure 2 shows how this definition Look for big changes -as digital you think the VHS vs. Betamax war
www.americanradiohistory.com
www.americanradiohistory.com
RESOURCES
Turbo Books, Allegro New Media,
387 Passaic Avenue, Fairfield, NJ
07004. (201) 808 -1992.
CIRCLE 41 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
FIG. 1- LEADING ACTIVITIES ARE CONVERGING to meet increased demands for Microsoft Word for Windows &
information. Bookshelf, Multimedia Edition
($595; academic and upgrade
prices available), Microsoft Corpo-
ration, 16011 NE 36th Way, Box
///i%//íGr; 97017, Redmond, WA 98073-9717.
(206) 882 -8080.
CIRCLE 44 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
FIG. 2-HIGH -TECH INDUSTRY is merging as a result of a growing appetite for two 64- kilobit data channels and a
information. Entrepreneurs will make and losew fortunes controlling the major steps
of the process. 16- kilobit signaling channel) to every
phone jack in the world.
was a disaster, get ready for the cally in the next decade; en- That should pronounce the death
upcoming blood bath in consumer trepreneurs will probably make and knell on analog modems, presage
CD -ROM formats. lose fortunes in these ventures, but more efficient data transfer, and
The many host -based services they could spin -off a lot of interest- pave the way for videophones, effi-
such as CompuServe, Prodigy, and ing new technical jobs. cient access to host -based pub-
America Online are other forms of The integration of telecom- lishers, increased use of telecom -
electronic publishing. If you haven't munications with the other digital - muting, and even lead to electronic
subscribed to one of these services information technologies is about to town meetings.
recently (or ever), you're cheating explode on the scene. But it's not Some believe that ISDN suffers
yourself. CompuServe offers an in- here yet. However, different from the too -little- too -late syn-
credible variety of services includ- branches of the telecommunica- drome. It simply cannot supply
ing shareware files, "forums" or tions are engaged in a wide variety enough bandwidth to move the tre-
meeting "grounds" for discussions of experiments in storing and trans- mendous amounts of audio and vid-
on subjects of mutual interest: com- mitting information. For example, eo data required in a multimedia
puters, politics, human sexuality, there are about a half dozen experi- information environment. This has
art, literature, sports, language, ments in interactive TV across the led to proposals for replacing the
news, stock quotes, etc. United States. In France a nation- nation's wired telephone and cable -
The other services don't offer wide interactive system is already TV infrastructure with optical fiber,
CompuServe's depth, but they cost operational. thereby providing gigahertz of band-
less and are more user-friendly. In ISDN Integrated Services Dig- width (vs. the kilohertz of basic
general, as with Disktop publishing, ital Network has not lived up to ex- ISDN). But the cost of such massive
there is a huge potential market for- pectations because of the stagger- projects scares many who wonder if
on -line services. ing technical, political, and cost consumers will pick up the tab.
impediments it must overcome. The Clinton administration has
Telecommunications However, it now appears poised to announced that it favors a "national
The transmission of information take off. It is expected that ISDN will data highway." Parts of that highway
in digital form will grow astronomi- provide a digital conduit (comprising would certainly support gigahertz 89
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www.americanradiohistory.com
95
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EXPERIMENTS WITH r-
HANDBOOK OF
EPROMS CE SE
rWMa
FILE
I
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pletely revised and updated ver- display of video signals in this theory, plus 15 different pro- every type of question you're how to avoid both under-using
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PRINTED
COMPUTER Lenk's RF CIRCUITS ELECTRONIC
COMMUNICATIONS
TECHNICIAN'S Handbook WORKBOOK
HANDBOOK Ope2lron JMI Tloubéurooaaq
1rd Edition SERIES
7."111111111111111
MIS
ENGINEERING
John O. Lenk
327911 $36.95 03750411 $39.50 012742P-XX $26.95 3365P $24.95 009522H $49.00
Perform routine maintenance Packed with simplified, circuit - This sourcebook brings you Both a professional reference Stressing practical know -how,
and diagnose and repair any kind by-circuit troubleshooting up-to -speed on all the latest and a study guide for the aspir- this unique guide helps you
of computerized device. This examples, this handbook pro- printed circuits manufacturing ing technician, this is a well- select and properly use the right
popular reference covers large vides the practical know-how tools, techniques, and processes. illustrated introduction to test equipment. It's organized by
dynamic RAMs, 32 -Bit proc- you need to operate and 230 pp., Mus. Softcover modern communications. Use it electronic function and includes
essors, 80286, 80386, and troubleshoot modem RF equip- Counts as 2 to prepare for your FCC General separate sections on analog and
Z8001 -Z8002 processors. ment. 352 pp., 150 illus. Radiotelephone Operator Lic- digital instruments, signal
570 pp. ense or CET exam. generators, and oscilloscopes.
704 pp. Softcover 320 pp., Mus.
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bandwidth, but other parts would be The new version 2.5 adds many reference works. A CD -ROM and a
expected to support lower data enhancements to its mathematical sound card are needed to access all
rates that could be received by con- functions and user interface. In ad- its multimedia features. Following
sumers. We can expect to see dition, its publisher has introduced the extensively hyperlinked material
some resolution of this concept in an extended version, Derive XM, can keep one fascinated for hours.
the next 12 to 18 months. that runs on a 386 -based computer Multimedia Word for Windows is a
Cellular Digital Packet Data or higher. It can handle as much as 4 must -have item for any serious writ-
(CDPD), a related technology could gigabytes of memory to solve large er or researcher.
provide universal wireless digital problems. No student should be The market for portable Ethernet
connectivity. But there's a lot of in- without Derive! adapters is exploding. In response,
fighting in the CDPD community Contact the company for its cur- several companies have introduced
about how to do what needs to be rent listing of more than a dozen low -cost, but capable units. For ex-
done. But there's no question that it books about Derive that will be ample, Katron's PE -300B (BNC)
does need to be done! helpful in learning algebra, trig- and PE -300T (10Base -T) has a list
Similarly, several firms are now onometry, and calculus. price of $225, and is sold with a
marketing simple programs that al- Outside In is a Windows file view- complete set of drivers: Novell, Lan -
low messages to be sent from a er with a twist: it allows you to copy tastic, TCP /IP, PC -NFS, and NDIS
computer to a beeper. And MCI and paste data out of the file being (for Windows for Workgroups). You
Mail has announced a service that viewed. That's handy when you've don't get a pass- through parallel
will deliver text -based messages got a file created by someone else port, but at that price, who cares?
from its Email service to beepers. in a format you don't have. Sup- Good stuff!
Computer networking faces a re- ported files include dozens of word
lated set of problems: How do you processors, spreadsheets, Newsbits
interconnect several geographically databases, and graphics. MS -DOS 6.0 should be available
dispersed local -area networks effi- These include Word, WordPer- when you read this, but sans some
ciently so that it will serve different fect, Excel, Lotus, Quattro, dBASE, networking, Email, and disk -corn-
parts of one company -or even sev- Paradox, BMP, GIF, PCX, EPS, TIFF, pression capabilities. Microsoft's
eral companies? The recent newly and WMF. Outside In even allows application programming interfaces
coined concept of the Virtual Cor- you to view the contents of ZIP files (API's) are multiplying like fruit flies.
poration could be the answer. (See (however, the new version 2.0 of Originally there was the standard
the February 8, 1993 issue of PKZIP is not yet supported). The Windows API, which was subse-
Business Week or the book by the company should make it available quently joined by Win32, the 32 -bit
same name for more information.) for more users on a BBS or Corn - basis of Windows NT.
Why can't worker A at company X puServe network. Then Microsoft introduced
simply send a message to worker B Microsoft has released a "multi- Win32s, a subset of Win32 that
at company Y without a hassle? media" version of Word for Win- would run 32 -bit code in the 16 -bit
That kind of transparent con- dows on a CD -ROM. The CD -ROM Windows 3.x environment. Now we
nectivity is urgently needed, but it's contains the complete word pro- have Win32c, ostensibly for the
still a long way off. cessor which includes several ver- "Chicago" version of Windows,
To sum up, the long -term objec- satile extras: a drawing module, an due in 1994, that splits the dif-
tive of telecommunications is to equation editor, and a charting mod- ference in capabilities between 3.x
provide an easy-to -use, high -band- ule, among others. It also contains and NT, including an object- oriented
width, on- demand connectivity be- an incredible amount of documenta- file system, and preemptive multi-
tween every node in a country-and tion accessible through the Win- tasking.
perhaps eventually an integrated dows help engine, and half a dozen The U.S. Semiconductor industry
global network. reference works. has staged a comeback, with sales
Next month the computer and en- These include The American moving slightly ahead of those of
tertainment industries will be exam- Heritage Dictionary, Roget's The- Japan in 1992. Projections look
ined and this discussion will be saurus, the Hammond Atlas, the even better for 1993. General Mag-
wrapped up. Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, ic, an Apple Computer spinoff, has
the World Almanac 1992, and two attracted the attention of several in-
Product watch books of quotations. The reference ternational heavy- hitters in comput-
Probably the mot unusual soft- works include many sound, anima- ers and consumer-electronics; their
ware program ever reviewed here is tion, and video clips integrated with focus will be on a scripting language
a small masterpiece called Derive the word processor. for personal communicators. More
(see the July 1990 installment of A send button permits the send- later.
this column for an in -depth review). ing of all or part of an article to the IBM has recently brought its mul-
It is a symbolic math program that word processor, complete with a timedia- related development
can solve equations numerically and footnote citing the source. Con- groups and partnerships (including
symbolically. Unlike most of the pro- versely, one can highlight a word in Kaleida and the venture with NBC)
grams in this genre, Derive can run the word processor, press a button, together under an umbrella organi-
on low -end machines. and see a definition in one or all zation called Fireworks Partners. a
94
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MARK V ELECTRONICS, INC.
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Metex Digital Jameco Solderless Function Fiber Optics Kit
Multimeters Bread Generator Kit
' Handheld high accuracy
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transistor hFE 6R27158
coordinates and are
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' One -year warranty backing with voltage and grounding posts. circuits, whether analog or digital! principles of fiber
Produces sinusoidal, triangular optics data communications.
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Also measures frequency and capacitance Part Terminal Bus Contact Price (saw -tooth), and square wave -forms at
No. Strips Strips Points 1 -9 frequencies continuously variable from transmitter and receiver circuit
-Part
-No. Description Price I kHz to 100 kHz.
boards, fiber optics cable and all
6R20343 0 2 200 $3.49
5R27078 3.5 digit multimeter $59.95 connectors for interfacing cables
6R20600 1 2 400 4.95 (Requires 12 VDC supply or ±6 VDC with the circuit boards. Either a
íR27086 3.5 digit multimeter
w /frequency & 61120669 split supply; recommended power square -wave or TTL signal from
I 0 630 5.95
capacitance 74.95 supply #20626) 200 Hz to 5 kHz can be input.
6820722 1 2 830 6.95
5R27115 3.5 digit multimeter 39.95
6R20757 2 1 1,360 12.95 Part No. Product No. Price Part No. Product No. Price
5R27140 4.5 digit multimeter,
w/tach/dwell 59.95 6820773 2 4 1,660 17.95
6R20685 JE2206 $19.95 6R21135 JE310 $19.95
5R27158 4.5 digit w/frequency &
capacitance & data
hold switch 99.95
61120790
61120811
3
4
5
7
2390
3,220
24.95
32.95
See our Catalogfor more kits
Crystals Radial Lead Carbon Film 1/4 Watt 5%
Electrolytic Capacitors Resistor Assortments Other Jameco
Resources
Part No. Description Price Test/Measurement
6R10719 each 70 values (every other value From RIO ohu,- and Prototyping
meJ 1/4 Watt C.F. Resists Values(.tSO pa.)
'art No. Product No. Frequency Price
61110663
RS.6
100 each (27 values) 1/4 Wan C.F. Resisto,,
$9.95 Equipment
íR14533 CY3.57 3.579545M1-lz$1.19 RIO thm RI OM (2.700 po.) 39.95
íR14592 CY4 4.0000MHz 1.19 Pan No. Cap. Volt. Price Computer Upgrade
1 /2 Watt Linear and Accessory
íR14681 CY6 6.000MHz 1.19 61129831 1µF 50V $.12
íR14402 CY12 12.000MHz 1.19 6829891 101,1F 50V 13 Products
íR14517 CY20 20.000MHz 1.19 61131114 470 50V 15 Taper- Single Turn
mw. 61129962 100µF 50V 19 Cermet Full line of Integrated
6R30015 10001F 16V 35 Potentiometers Circuits and Electronic
mt.mo.. Components
Dipped Tantalum Part No.
6842964
Ohms Price
Call for kit pricing
I K $.89
Clock Oscillators Capacitors 6R43001 10K 89
61143027 IOOK 89
'an No Product No Frequency Price 6842981 MEG
I 89
íR27861 OSCI 1.0000MHz $3.95
íR27991
íR27941
OSC8 8.0000MHz 3.95
Part No. Cap. Volt. Post
Order toll -free 1.800.831.4242
OSC32 32.0000MHz 3.95
íR77489 OSC80 80.0000MHz 4.95 6R33486 .111F i5V $.19
61133662 1µF 35V 25
6R33734 2.2µF 35V 25
Integrated Circuits' 6833806 4.70 35V 45
Call or write for your
'art No. Product No Price FREE 1993 Annual Catalog.
íR48979 7400 $.29 Machine Tooled
íR49015
íR49040
7402
7404
39
39 Low Profile Tin
1.800.637. 8471
íR49091 7406 45
Plated IC Sockets
íR49120
íR49146
íR49189
íR49728
7407
7408
7410
7417
45
45
29
35
JAM ECG ELECmOMC COMPONENTS
íR50008 7420 29 For International Sales, Customer
íR50235 COMPUTER PRODUCTS
7432 45 Service, Credit Department and all
íR50420 7447 89 other inquiries: Call 415.592.8097
íR50551
1355 Shoreway Road
7474 25 Part No. Pria
Pias between 7AM -5PM P.S.T. Belmont, CA 94002
íR50593 7476 59 6R51625 8 pin $.55
SR50665 7486 39 CA Residents please add applicable FAX: 1.800.237.6948 I Ia,mruic)
íR50681 6R37196 14 pin 59
7489 2.95 sales tax. FAX: 415.592.2503 (Intrma,iona4
íR50690 7490 79 6R37401 16 pin 69
íR49322
íR49912
íR49939
74121
74192
74193
49
99
99
61139351
61140328
6R41136
24 pin
28 pin
40 pin
99
1.09
1.25
$30.00 Minimum Order
Terms: Prices subject to change without notice. Items subject to availability spins
® Mention
V.I.P.,
3.
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INDEX
i
W & S System (Div. of 1 -(5161 293.3000
h
Westinghouse) # VCM -2001 Larry Steckler, EHF /CET
The VCM -2001 video control
module allows you to record
from a cable converter or other
\ Electronics Now does not assume any
responsibility for errors that may appear
President
15
advertising assistant
7
Receiver: #EFR- RU640K25.
0.63" dia. X 0.48 ".
CIE 5 31
Kelly Twist
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12 VDC 500 MA Nu -Tek 98
Northfield, IL 60093 -1214
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Optoelectronics
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Fax 1- 708 -559 -0562
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People's College 95 PACIFIC COAST
2.1 mm co -ax plug
with center negative.
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Joe Shere
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182 The School Of VCR Repair 83 National Representative
Call or Write For Our P.O. Box 169
105 WPT Publications 76
FREE 64 Page Catalog Idyllwild, CA 92549
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Handi-
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