Mini Bench Supply

IC2
LM7815
+18V...+24V

R17
C1 4 C2

0733
IC1
100M 10M R18
11
40V 25V 1k
R19 C8
1k
R1 R5
min. 100n
3k3

10k
P2 13
14
I R20 IC1.D T1
CC 12
10k R21
D1 R3 2k
3 max. 1k
10k
1 BUZ22
IC1.A R4 R12 C6
2
10k 1k
D3
D2 100n R15
R11 C4
CV

0733
1N4148 10k
100n
0V..+14V
9
0A..0,8A
R2 P1 6 8
R7 R9 IC1.C
7 10
3k3

IC1 = LM324 U R6 IC1.B 10k 10k

5
10k
20k R8 R13 R14
1k 1k
1k

T2
R10 R16
C3 C5 C7

10k
100k

100n 100n 10M

2N7002 25V

080326 - 11

Alexander Mumm
the need for an expensive transformer and cuit reliable even with a large capacitor at
Every electronics engineer is familiar with accompanying smoothing. No negative its output, and negative feedback of the DC
the anxiety of the moment when power is supply is needed, but the output voltage component is via the low-pass filter formed
first applied to a newly-built circuit, won- is nevertheless adjustable down to 0 V. by R14 and C6. This ensures that the volt-
dering whether hours of work are about to age drop across R15 is correctly compen-
be destroyed in a puff of smoke. A high- A difficulty in the design of power supplies sated for. C7 at the output provides a low
quality power supply with an adjustable with current limiting is the shunt resistor impedance source for high-frequency
current limit function is an excellent aid to needed to measure the output current, loads, and R16 provides for the discharge
steadying the nerves. normally connected to a differential ampli- of C17 when the set voltage is reduced with
fier. Frequently in simple designs the ampli- no load attached.
Unfortunately power supplies with good fier is not powered from a regulated supply,
regulation performance are expensive which can lead to an unstable current regu- Current regulation is carried out by IC1D.
and homebrew construction is not always lation loop. This circuit avoids the difficulty Again to ensure stability, the bandwidth
straightforward. Many of the ‘laboratory by using a low-cost fixed voltage regulator of the feedback loop is restricted by R19
power supplies’ currently on the market are to supply the feedback circuit with a stable and C8. If the voltage dropped across R17
low-cost units based on switching regula- voltage. This arrangement greatly simpli- exceeds the value set by P2, the current
tors which, although certainly capable of fies current measurement and regulation. limit function comes into action and T2
delivering high currents, have rather poor begins to conduct. This in turn reduces
ripple performance. Large output capaci- To generate this intermediate supply volt- the input voltage to the voltage regulation
tors (which, in the case of a fault, will dis- age we use an LM7815. Its output passes circuit until the desired current is reached.
charge into your circuit) and voltage over- through R17, which measures the output R7, R9 and C3 ensure that current regula-
shoot are other problems. current, to MOSFET T1 which is driven by tion does not lead to output voltage over-
the voltage regulation opamp IC1C. Here shoots and that resonance does not occur
The power supply described here is a sim- R11 and C4 determine the bandwidth of with inductive loads.
ple unit, easily constructed from standard the control loop, preventing oscillation at
components. It is only suitable for small high frequencies. R15 ensures that capaci- The controls of the power supply are all
loads but otherwise has all the character- tive loads with low effective resistance do voltage-based. This means, for example¸
istics of its bigger brethren. Between 18 V not make the control loop unstable. The that P1 and P2 can be replaced by digital-
and 24 V is applied to the input, for exam- negative feedback of AC components of to-analogue converters or digital poten-
ple from a laptop power supply. This avoids the current via R12 and C5 makes the cir- tiometers so that the whole unit can be

106 elektor - 7-8/2008

driven by a microcontroller. IC1B acts as a the features of a top-class bench supply. 2SK1428 could be used for T1, for exam-
buffer to ensure that the dynamic charac- IC1A and its surrounding circuitry can be ple, and a BS170 could be used in place
teristics of the circuit are not affected by dispensed with if the mode indication is of the 2N7002. The capacitors should all
the setting of P1. not wanted. be rated for a voltage of 35 V or higher,
IC1A is used as a comparator whose out- and R15 and R17 must be at least 0.5 W
put is used to drive two LEDs that indicate A type LM324 operational amplifier is sug- types. The fixed voltage regulator and T1
whether the supply is in voltage regulation gested as, in contrast to many other simi- must both be equipped with an adequate
or current regulation mode. If D2 lights lar devices, it operates reliably with input heatsink. If they are mounted on the same
the supply is in constant voltage mode; voltages down to 0 V. Other rail-to-rail heatsink, they must be isolated from it as
if D1 lights it is in constant current mode, opamps could equally well be used. The the tabs of the two devices are at different
for example if the output has been short- particular n-channel MOSFET devices used potentials.
circuited. The power supply thus boasts all are not critical: a BUZ21, IRF540, IRF542 or (080326-I)

Servo Control
G. Baars that with a pulse duration of 1-
2 ms it rotated through an angle
This circuit lets you control a of 90 degrees. However, by shor-
servo in a simple way. It is built tening the pulse duration a little
around a cheap and common more, to about 0.6 ms, there was
logic IC. Together with a few a further 30 degrees of rotation.
resistors, capacitors and a diode The component values in the
this circuit can certainly be cal- circuit were chosen so that the
led simple and can be built on a pulse duration can be set from
small circuit board. 0.6 to 2 ms with P1 and the total
NAND gates IC1A and IC1D are rotation amounts to about 120
used to build an oscillator which degrees. Since the S3003 servo
produces negative pulses with has a not inconsiderable tor-
a repetition frequency of about que of 4 kg·cm, at can be used,
50 Hz. These very narrow pulses for example, to remote control
are used to toggle the output of the tuning capacitor of a so-cal-
the SR (set/reset) flipflop, which led ‘magnetic-loop’ RF antenna.
is built with gates IC.1B and IC.1C, The current consumption of the
every 20 ms. With every set-pulse the out- of IC1B, which repeats every 20 ms and the servo depends on the torque that needs to
put of IC1C goes low, which causes C3 to be duration of which can be adjusted with P1. be delivered and varies from a few tens to
discharged via P1, after which the situation From experimenting with this circuit and an several hundreds of milliamps.
reverses. This results in a pulse at the output S3003 servo from Futaba it was observed (080026-I)

+5V COMPONENTS LIST

K1
Resistors:
+5V +5V R1 = 180kΩ
IC1A R2 = 47kΩ
1 IC1B R3 = 10kΩ
3 4 K2
2 & 6 P1 = 50kΩ linear potentiometer
5 &
C2
P1

Capacitors
R2 D1 100n C1,C2 = 100nF
R3 IC1C C3 = 47nF
C1

9
1N4148 8
C3

10 &
R1 R2 P1 +5V Semiconductors
IC1

180k D1 = 1N4148
50k
47k

IC1 = 74HCT00
R1D1C2

R3
IC1D 10k 14 C1
11
13
IC1
Miscellaneous
K2

& 12 C3 K1 = 2-way SIL pinheader

7 100n
K1

IC1 = SN74HCT00N K2 = 3-way SIL pinheader

47n PCB, # 080026-1 from www.
+5V thepcbshop.com
080026 - 11

7-8/2008 - elektor 107