Long Range Cordless Burglar Alarm

This long-range cordless burglar alarm circuit makes use of a cordless telephone (CLT) unit with paging facility and a few low-cost discrete components. The circuit is so simple that even a novice can easily construct it without any difficulty. When the ‘page’ button on a CLT is pressed and held in that position, the handset starts beeping to indicate that somebody is calling. This function is used here to build the gadget. The system consists of three sub-assemblies:

1. Wireless beeper. The handset of the CLT.

2. Infrared transmitter. A number of IR transmitter circuits based on the well-known 555 chip have been published earlier in EFY. Just select one circuit with a modulating frequency of 36 to 38 kHz and assemble it on a veroboard. After that, enclose it in a proper cabinet. (EFY note. A typical IR transmitter circuit used during testing is shown in Fig. 1.)

 

3. Infrared receiver-cum-control unit. The circuit diagram of this unit is shown in Fig. 2. Front end of this block is Sharp’s GP1U561X integrated infrared re-ceiver module (or TK1836/ TSOP1836 from Temic/ Telefunken, etc). This mod-ule can demodulate 36kHz modulated IR beam to pro-duce an active-similar  ‘low’ output. You may also use any other module, provided it has an active-‘low’ output. The modulated IR beam from the transmitter is received by the receiver module and its output at pin 2 goes ‘low’. The rest of the circuit is in sleep mode as it does not get power for its operation. The SCR here plays the role of an electronic switch. 

When the infrared beam is interrupted, the output of the receiver module goes ‘high’ to apply a forward bias to the base of transistor T1. As a result, the gate of SCR gets sufficient forward bias to conduct (and latch). The astable multivibrator built around IC1 starts working to control the  ‘on’/‘off’ relay timings. Diode D1 prevents the relay from latching and diode D2 works as a free-wheeling diode.

Normally open (N/O) contacts of the relay are used to close the  ‘page’ button contacts until the circuit is reset by pressing push-to-off switch S1 (N/C type). One may replace switch S1 with a key-lock switch to avoid its unauthorised operation. The astable circuit helps the hand-set user to distinguish between a normal paging call and an intrusion warning alarm.

After construction, fix the transmitter and receiver modules at opposite sides in the door frame as shown in Fig. 3. Carefully open the CLT and solder two wires to the  ‘page’ button terminals with their free ends connected to the relay contacts (N/O). Now your cordless burglar alarm with a wireless monitoring range of about 500 meters (actual range is based on the CLT’s paging range) is ready to detect an intruder.

EFY note. The author has success-fully tested his prototype with the following CLT makes:

• Panasonic KX-T 3611 BH (made in Japan)
• Panaphone WT-3990 (made in China)
• Citizen JRT-5400 (made in India)
  

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Outdoor Lighting Controller

When you step out of your brightly-lit house  into the darkness, it takes a while for your  vision to adjust. A solution to this problem  is this outdoor light with automatic switch-off. As a bonus, it will also make it a little bit  easier to find the keyhole when returning  late at night. Often no mains neutral connection is avail-able at the point where the switch-off timer  is to be installed, which makes many circuit  arrangements impractical.

However, the circuit here is designed to work in this situation. The design eschews bulky components such as transformers and the whole unit can  be built into a flush-mounted fitting. The circuit also features low quiescent current consumption.

Outdoor Lighting Controller Circuit Diagram :

The circuit is star ted by closing switch (or  pushbutton) S1. The lamp then immediately receives power via the bridge rectifier. The drop across diodes D5 to D10 is 4.2 V, which provides the power supply for the delay circuit itself, built around the CD4060 binary  counter.

When the switch is opened the lighting sup-ply current continues to flow through Tri1. The NPN optocoupler in the triac drive circuit detects when the triac is active, with antiparallel LED D1 keeping the drive sym-metrical. The NPN phototransistor inside the  coupler creates a reset pulse via T1, driving  pin 12 of the counter. This means that the  full time period will run even if the circuit is retriggered. The CD4060 counts at the AC grid frequency.  Pin 3 goes high after 213clocks, which corresponds to about 2.5 minutes. If this is not long  enough, a further CD4060 counter can be cascaded. T2 then turns on and shorts the internal LED of opto-triac IC2; this causes Tri1 to  be deprived of its trigger current and the light  goes out. The circuit remains without power until next triggered.

The circuit is only suitable for use with resistive loads. With the components shown (in particular in the bridge rectifier and D5 to  D10) the maximum total power of the connected bulb(s) is 200 watts. As is well known, the filament of the bulb is most likely to fail at the moment power is applied. There is little risk to Tri1 at this point as it is bridged by  the switch. The most likely consequence of overload is that one of diodes D1 to D6 will  fail. In the prototype no fuse was used, as it would not in any case have been easy to change. However, that is not necessarily recommended practice!

Circuits at AC line potential should only be constructed by suitably experienced persons and all relevant safety precautions and  applicable regulations must be observed during construction and installation.

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Easy Build a Cat and Dog Repeller

Nowadays, just about every house has an outside lamp with a motion sensor. Such a device eliminates the need to feel your way to the front door, and it apparently also scares away intruders. The only problem is that free-running dogs and cats in the neighborhood have little regard for such lamps and continue to deposit their excrement in the garden, once they have found a habitual location there for this purpose. This gave rise to the idea of connecting a sort of siren in parallel with the outside lamp to clearly advise dogs and cats that they are not welcome.

Naturally, it would be nice to avoid startling the entire neighborhood with this alarm signal. Here we can take advantage of the fact that dogs and cats have a significantly better sense of hearing than people. Not only are their ears more sensitive, they can also perceive significantly higher frequencies. With people, the upper limit is around 18 kHz, but dogs and cats can hear frequencies in excess of 20 kHz. We can take advantage of this by building a siren that emits a frequency just above 20 kHz.

Cat and Dog Repeller Circuit diagram :

 

This will scare off dogs and cats, but people will simply not hear it. All we need for this is an oscillator with an amplifier stage and a tweeter that can reproduce such high frequencies, such as a piezoelectric tweeter. The schematic diagram shows how easily this can be implemented. The power supply for the entire circuit is formed by the components up to and including C2. The 230-V leads are connected in parallel with the motion-sensor lamp. C1 and R1 provide capacitive coupling to reduce the 230 V to an acceptable voltage. 

A DC voltage of approximately 9.1 V is generated from this voltage using a bridge rectifier and D1, filtered and buffered by C2. The oscillator is built around R3, C3 and IC1a.The frequency of this oscillator is rather dependent on the specific characteristics of IC1, so the values shown here should be regarded as guidelines. If the oscillator frequency is too high, it can be reduced by increasing the value of R3 and/or C3.

If the frequency is too low (which means that the siren tone it is audible), the value of R3 and/or C3 should be increased. The square-wave signal from the oscillator is applied to the input of an H bridge composed of several Schmitt triggers in combination with the final output stages (T1–T4). This approach causes the peak-to-peak value of the square wave signal to be twice the supply voltage. As a result, a respectable 18 V is obtained across the piezoelectric tweeter, which is sufficient to produce a quite loud whistle tone. When building the circuit, you should bear in mind that it is directly powered from 230 V and not electrically isolated from the mains network.

It is thus necessary to avoid contact with all of the components when the circuit is in use. In practice, this means that the circuit must be fitted into a well-insulated, waterproof box. If you want to test the circuit, it is a good idea to first discharge C1 using a resistor, since it can hold a dangerous charge. You must also ensure that components F1, C1, R1 and B1 all have a mutual insulation separation of at least 6 mm!

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Portable 9v Headphone Amplifier

High Quality One-IC unit, Low current consumption. After several requests by correspondents, the decision of designing a 9V powered Headphone Amplifier was finally taken. The main requirement was to power the circuit by means of a common, PP3 (transistor radio) alkaline battery. So, implementing a low current drawing circuit was absolutely necessary, though preserving a High Quality performance.

Portable 9v Headphone Amplifier Circuit Diagram

Parts:
P1 = 22K
R1 = 18K
R2 = 68K
R3 = 68K
R4 = 68K
R5 = 18K
R6 = 68K
C1 = 4.7uF-25v
C2 = 4.7uF-25v
C3 = 22pF
C4 = 220uF-25v
C5 = 220uF-25v
C6 = 4.7uF-25v
C7 = 22pF
C8 = 220uF-25v
J1 = 3.5mm Stereo Jack
B1 = 9V Alkaline Battery
IC1 = NE5532-34
SW1 = SPST Toggle Switch

The appearance of the 5534 low-noise op-amp at a reasonable price was much appreciated by audio designers. It is now difficult or impossible to design a discrete stage that has the performance of the 5534 without quite unacceptable complexity. 5534 op-amps are now available from several sources, in a conventional 8-pin d.i.l. format. This version is internally compensated for gains of three or more, but requires a small external capacitor (5-15pF) for unity-gain stability. The 5532 is a very convenient package of two 5534s in one 8-pin device with internal unity-gain compensation, as there are no spare pins.

The 5534/2 is a low-distortion, low-noise device, having also the ability to drive low-impedance loads to a full voltage swing while maintaining low distortion. Furthermore, it is fully output short-circuit proof. Therefore, this circuit was implemented with a single 5532 chip forming a pair of stereo, inverting amplifiers, having an ac gain of about 3.5 and capable of delivering up to 3.6V peak-to-peak into a 32 Ohm load (corresponding to 50mW RMS) at less than 0.025% total harmonic distortion (1kHz & 10kHz). If we consider that the mean current drawing at a power output of 15mW per channel is around 12-13mA (both channels driven), this Headphone Amplifier will become a must for many DIY enthusiasts needing a High Quality, High Performance portable device.

Technical data
Sensitivity:
    200mV RMS for 15.6mW RMS output
    350mV RMS for 50mW RMS output
Maximum undistorted output: 3.6V Peak-to-peak
Frequency response: flat from 40Hz to 20KHz; -2.3dB @ 20Hz
Total harmonic distortion @ 1KHz: <0.025% at all power outputs up to 50mW RMS
Total harmonic distortion @10KHz: <0.02% at all power outputs up to 50mW RMS
Total current drawing @ 9V supply (both channels driven):
    Standing current: 8.5mA
    Mean current drawing @ 15mW RMS per channel: 12mA
    Mean current drawing @ 35mW RMS per channel: 17mA

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Car Battery 12v Charger

The usual chargers of battery automotive, are simple and cheap appliances that charge continuously the battery, with a rythm of few amperes, for the time where the appliance is ON. If the holder do not close in time the charger, the battery will overcharge and her electrolytic faculty are lost with evaporation or likely exists destruction of her elements. The charger of circuit exceeds these faults. It checks electronic the situation of charge of battery and it has circuit of control with retroaction, that forces the battery charge with biggest rythm until charge completely. 

Car Battery 12v Charger Circuit diagram:

 

When charge completely, it turns on one RED led (LD2). The charger has been drawn in order to charge batteries of 12V, ONLY. What should watch it from what it manufactures the circuit, they are the cables that connect the transformer with the circuit and in the continuity the battery, should they are big cross-section, so that heat when it passes from in them the current of charge and also they do not cause fall of voltage at the way of current through them.

 

Adjustment:

 

After assembling of the circuit, adjust TR1 to null value, power-up and make the following adjustments :-

1. Without connecting the battery check that the 2 LED?s are turned on.
2. Connect a car battery to the circuit and check that LD2 is OFF and a current (normally 2A to 4A) is flowing to the battery.
3. Adjust TR1 until LD2 turns ON and the charge current is cut.
4. Adjust TR1 to null value and charge the battery using the hydrometer technique (if you do not have or do not know how to use a hydrometer, then use a good condition battery and charge).

Carefully adjust TR1 so that LD2 begins to turn ON and the charge current falls to a few hundred milliamps (mA). If TR1 is set correctly then in the next round of charging you will noticed LD2 begin to flicker as the battery is being charged. When battery is completely charged, LD2 turns ON completely.TR1 does not need further adjustment anymore. Q1 is connected in line with the battery and is fired by R3, R4 and LD2. The R2, C1, TR1 and D2 sense the voltage of the battery terminal and activate Q2 when the voltage of the battery terminal exceeds the value predetermined by TR1.

When an uncharged battery is connected, the terminal voltage is low. Under this circumstance, Q2 is turned OFF and Q1 is fired in each half cycle by R3, R4 and LD2. The Q1 functions as a simple rectifier and charges the battery. If the battery terminal voltage is increased above the level that had been fixed by TR1, then Q2 shifts the control of Q1 gate. This deactivates Q1 and cuts off the current supply to the battery and turns LD2 ON indicating that the charge has been completed. Q1 and bridge rectifier GR1 should be mounted on heatsinks to prevent overheating. M1 is a 5A DC ammeter to measure the charge current.

 

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Speed Limit Alert

This circuit has been designed to alert the vehicle driver that he/she has reached the maximum fixed speed limit (i.e. in a motorway). It eliminates the necessity of looking at the tachometer and to be distracted from driving. There is a strict relation between engines RPM and vehicle speed, so this device controls RPM, starting to beep and flashing a LED once per second, when maximum fixed speed is reached. Its outstanding feature lies in the fact that no connection is required from circuit to engine.

Circuit operation:

IC1 forms a differential amplifier for the electromagnetic pulses generated by the engine sparking-plugs, picked-up by sensor coil L1. IC2A further amplifies the pulses and IC2B to IC2F inverters provide clean pulse squaring. The monostable multivibrator IC3A is used as a frequency discriminator, its pin 6 going firmly high when speed limit (settled by R11) is reached. IC3B, the transistors and associate components provide timings for the signaling part, formed by LED D5 and piezo sounder BZ1. D3 introduces a small amount of hysteresis.

Speed-limit Alert Circuit Diagram:

Parts:
R1,R2,R19_______1K 1/4W Resistors
R3-R6,R13,R17_100K 1/4W Resistors
R7,R15__________1M 1/4W Resistors
R8_____________50K 1/2W Trimmer Cermet
R9____________470R 1/4W Resistor
R10___________470K 1/4W Resistor
R11___________100K 1/2W Trimmer Cermet (see notes)
R12___________220K 1/4W Resistor (see notes)
R14,R16________68K 1/4W Resistors
R18____________22K 1/4W Resistor
R20___________150R 1/4W Resistor (see notes)
C1,C7_________100µF 25V Electrolytic Capacitors
C2,C3_________330nF 63V Polyester Capacitors
C4-C6___________4µ7 25V Electrolytic Capacitors
D1,D5______Red LEDs 3 or 5mm.
D2,D3________1N4148 75V 150mA Diodes
D4________BZX79C7V5 7.5V 500mW Zener Diode
IC1__________CA3140 or TL061 Op-amp IC
IC2____________4069 Hex Inverter IC
IC3____________4098 or 4528 Dual Monostable Multivibrator IC
Q1,Q2_________BC238 25V 100mA NPN Transistors
L1_____________10mH miniature Inductor (see notes)
BZ1___________Piezo sounder (incorporating 3KHz oscillator)
SW1____________SPST Slider Switch
B1_______________9V PP3 Battery (see notes) Clip for PP3 Battery

Notes:

• D1 is necessary at set-up to monitor the sparking-plugs emission, thus allowing to find easily the best placement for the device on the dashboard or close to it. After the setting is done, D1 & R9 can be omitted or switched-off, with battery savings.
• During the preceding operation R8 must be adjusted for better results. The best setting of this trimmer is usually obtained when its value lies between 10 and 20K.
• You must do this first setting when the engine is on but the vehicle is stationary.
• The final simplest setting can be made with the help of a second person. Drive the vehicle and reach the speed needed. The helper must adjust the trimmer R11 until the device operates the beeper and D5. Reducing vehicles speed the beep must stop.
• L1 can be a 10mH small inductor usually sold in the form of a tiny rectangular plastic box. If you need an higher sensitivity you can build a special coil, winding 130 to 150 turns of 0.2 mm. enameled wire on a 5 cm. diameter former (e.g. a can). Extract the coil from the former and tape it with insulating tape making thus a stand-alone coil.
• Current drawing is about 10mA. If you intend to use the car 12V battery, you can connect the device to the lighter socket. In this case R20 must be 330R.
• Depending on the engines cylinders number, R11 can be unable to set the device properly. In some cases you must use R11=200K and R12=100K or less.
• If you need to set-up the device on the bench, a sine or square wave variable generator is required.
• To calculate the frequency relation to RPM in a four strokes engine you can use the following formula: Hz= (Number of cylinders * RPM) / 120.
• For a two strokes engine the formula is: Hz= (Number of cylinders * RPM) / 60.
• Thus, for a car with a four strokes engine and four cylinders the resulting frequency @ 3000 RPM is 100Hz.
• Temporarily disconnect C2 from IC1 pin 6. Connect the generator output across C2 and Ground. Set the generator frequency to e.g. 100Hz and trim R11 until you will hear the beeps and LED D5 will start flashing. Reducing the frequency to 99 or 98 Hz, beeping and flashing must stop.
• Please note that this circuit is not suited to Diesel engines.

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LM3940 1A Low Dropout Regulator for 5V to 3.3V Conversion

LM3940 1A Low Dropout Regulator for 5V to 3.3V Conversion

General Description :
The LM3940 is a 1A low dropout regulator designed to provide 3.3V from a 5V supply.
The LM3940 is ideally suited for systems which contain both 5V and 3.3V logic, with prime power provided from a 5V bus.
Because the LM3940 is a true low dropout regulator, it can hold its 3.3V output in regulation with input voltages as low as 4.5V.
The T0-220 package of the LM3940 means that in most applications the full 1A of load current can be delivered without using an additional heatsink.
The surface mount TO-263 package uses minimum board space, and gives excellent power dissipation capability when soldered to a copper plane on the PC board.

Features
■ Output voltage specified over temperature
■ Excellent load regulation
■ Guaranteed 1A output current
■ Requires only one external component
■ Built-in protection against excess temperature
■ Short circuit protected
Applications
■ Laptop/Desktop Computers
■ Logic Systems

Typical Application

Connection Diagram

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