Laser Level Detector Circuit Diagram

This is a simple project of Laser Level Detector Circuit Diagram. Rotating laser levels, which are very handy  for setting objects in a room or garden at the  same height, are available at prices of a few  dozen pounds. At relatively large distances  and for outdoor use, the light from the rotating laser beam is often not easy to see, and  the laser beam detector described here can  be useful in such situations. The detector  works well at distances up to 50 metres (150  feet) and consists entirely of standard components. The detector is housed in a plastic case  that can be fixed to an object (such as a post  or a beam). It has three LEDs and a beeper that  indicate whether the object should be raised  or lowered.
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LEDs with a transparent package and integrated lens (round surface) are used as sensors. The top and bottom detection zones  each have five LEDs and two opamps (IC1a &  IC1b or IC1c & IC1d), which drive the ‘Move  Up’ and ‘Move Down’ indicator LEDs. The middle sensor LED drives the ‘OK’ indicator LED  via two opamps (IC2a & IC2b).  The rising edges of the opamp output signals  trigger three separate monostable multivibrators (type CD4047). If desired, the circuit  shown inside the dashed outline (one gate of a  CD4044 quad RS latch) can be used in place of  each of the monostable multivibrators. In this  case the output signal has the opposite polar-ity, so the BS170 N-channel MOSFET must be  replaced by a P-channel type.
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The monostable time of the middle retriggerable MMV should be longer than the rotation period of the laser (e.g. with a 2 rpm laser  it should be longer than 500 ms) so that the  beeper will emit a continuous tone. Most  rotating laser levels have variable speed, so  this can also be achieved by adjusting the peed if necessary. The monostable times of  the upper and lower MMVs are dimensioned  to generate clearly distinguishable short and  long beeps, respectively. The three MOSFETs  (T1, T2 and T3) are configured as a wired-OR  gate to drive the shared beeper. The fourth  MOSFET (T4) drives the ‘OK’ LED.

The circuit can be housed in an enclosure  together with three penlight cells.

Author : Cyriel Mabilde – Copyright : Elektor

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Pipe Locator Circuit Diagram

Sometimes the need arises to construct a really simple oscillator. This could hardly be simpler than the circuit shown here, which uses just three components, and offers five separate octaves, beginning around Middle C (Stage 14). Octave # 5 is missing, due to the famous (or infamous) missing Stage 11 of the 4060B IC. We might call this a Colpitts ‘L’ oscillator, without the ‘C’. Due to the reactance of the 100-µH inductor and the propagation delay of the internal oscillator, oscillation is set up around 5 MHz. When this is divided down, Stage 14 approaches the frequency of Middle C (Middle C = 261.626 Hz). Stages 13, 12, 10, and 9 provide higher octaves, with Stages 8 to 4 being in the region of ultrasound.
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Circuit diagram :

Simple Oscillator/Pipe Locator Circuit Diagram
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If the oscillator’s output is taken to the aerial of a Medium Wave Radio, L1 may serve as the search coil of a Pipe Locator, with a range of about 50 mm. This is tuned by finding a suitable hetero-dyne (beat note) on the medium wave band. In that case, piezo sounder Bz1 is omitted. The Simple Oscillator / Pipe Locator draws around 7 mA from a 9-12 V DC source.

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LDO Regulator circuit Diagram

Recently the author had to adapt  a standard circuit configuration  (which often uses an npn bipolar) so as to operate as a low-dropout (LDO) regulator. The circuit shown here uses that rarity,  a depletion-mode MOSFET to implement the LDO function. What to do when you have to derive an analogue supply voltage  (close to +5 V) from an existing ‘digital’ 5-volt rail, ensuring sufficient decoupling between the two? One answer is  to step up and then use a linear regulator to step back down. However, if around 4.5 volts will suffice then an alternative is a home-made LDO regulator. The circuit is usually a fairly  standard shape typically a npn transistor (with base-current limiting resistor) is used.

Circuit diagram :

 

LDO Regulator Circuit Diagram

Initially, it would appear that this design suffices after all, the text books say the saturation voltage  is around 0.2 V. Unfortunately,  this is no longer true when the collector is tied directly to the positive supply. An enhancement-mode  MOSFET suffers  similar disadvantages: with the drain tied High you need greater than  drain  potential at the gate to achieve low RDS(on). Enter that seldom-used beast the depletion-mode MOSFET! Depletion-mode MOSFETS are ‘on’ even  when  V gs = 0,  and  you have to back-bias the gate  to achieve an increase in channel resistance.In the circuit shown the BSS139,  an NMOS depletion device, operates with the gate forward biased. With a load of 10 mA, the measured FET resistance was  38 ohms.

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Smoggy Circuit Schematic

This is a simple project of Smoggy Circuit Schematic . Even if your good old (Sony) Walkman  sees little use nowadays it would be a  shame to get rid of it altogether. The more  so when just removing the tape head  would allow the built-in audio amplifier  to become an outstanding electrosmog  detector for a variety of purposes. Looking at the schematic, readers with RF  experience will have no difficulty in recognising the diodes and coils of the two  detector-receivers, which serve to capture and demodulate RF signals. With its  coil of four turns (L2) one receiver covers the higher frequency range of the  electromagnetic waves, whilst the sec-ond detector takes care of the lower frequency range. 

Circuit diagram :

Simple Smoggy Circuit Diagram

For this reason a coil with a  greater number of turns is required: L1 is  an RF choke of about 250 µH. The precise  value is not critical and it could equally be  220 µH or 330 µH. The outputs of both detector-receivers  are connected to the cables disconnected  previously from the tape heads, feeding the  right and left channel inputs to the Walk-man’s audio amplifier. Please note here that  the screening of the tape head cable does not  have to be absolutely identical to the ground connection of the amplifier circuitry. As  we are dealing with a stereo amplifier,  we are listening into both channels and  thus both RF ranges at the same time.

One channel of the amplifier can also be  used to demodulate low-frequency magnetic alternating fields  via a capacitor  (C3) bypassing diode D1 and connecting either a third coil (L3, for instance;  a telephone recording adapter) as the  pickup device or else a long piece of wire  for acquiring low frequency AC electrical fields. Sources like this are discernible mainly by a distinct 50 Hz (or 60 Hz)  humming in the earphones. Predicting what you may hear down to  the very last detail is difficult, since every  locality has its own, individual interference sources. Nevertheless, with practice  users will succeed in identifying these  interference sources by their particular  audio characteristics. 

To sum up, four different ‘sensors’ can be  connected to the inputs of this circuit:  ANT1 (approx. 50 cm long whip antenna),  ANT2 (3.5 cm short stub antenna), ANT3  (approx. 1 m long wire antenna for low frequency electrical fields) and a coil for magnetic fields. Finally, two more tips:

1. Use only ‘good old’ germanium diodes for  D1 and D2. Sensitivity will be much reduced if  silicon diodes are used, as these have a higher  threshold voltage.
2. Smoggy does not provide an absolute indi-cation of field strength and even more so can-not provide any guidance whether anything  it detects might be harmful. Its function is to detect electromagnetic signals and compare  their relative magnitude.

Author : Tony Ruepp  - Copyright : Elektor

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Universal Tester for 3-pin Devices Circuit Diagram

Most 3-terminal active components can be  tested statically using just an ohmmeter. But  when you have a lot of these devices to test,  the procedure soon becomes boring. That’s  where the idea came from to combine fast,  easy testing for these types of device into a  single instrument. 

The unit described here enables you to test  NPN and PNP bipolar transistors, N-or Pchannel FETs or MOSFETs, UJTs, triacs, and thyristors. Regardless of the type of device, the  tests are non-destructive. Universal connectors allow testing of all package types, including SMDs (up to a point). The unit lets you  change from one type of device to another in  a trice. It avoids using a multi-pole switch, as  they’re too expensive and hard to find. 

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Universal Tester for 3-pin Devices Circuit diagram :

Universal Tester for 3-pin Devices Circuit Diagram
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Here’s how to build a versatile instrument at  a ridiculously low cost. IC1 is a 4066 quad CMOS switch which will let us switch between bipolar transistors and FETs. LEDs D1–D4 tell us about the condition  of the test device, when we press the ‘Test’  button. The 4066 can only handle a few milliamps, not  enough for the other component types to be  tested, hence the reason for using relay RE1.  This 12 V relay offers two NO contacts. The  first applies power to the UJT test circuit, the  second applies it to the triac and thyristor test  circuit. 

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Extensive testing has shown that the best way  to test UJT transistors is to do so dynamically,  with the help of a relaxation oscillator. Net-work R11/C1 sets the oscillator frequency to  around 2 Hz. On pin B1 of the UJT we find a  nice sawtooth, which is not of much interest  to us here. However, pin B2 gives good but  very short pulses. IC2, wired as a monostable,  lengthens these pulses so they can be clearly  seen via LED D5. 

The relay’s second pole is going to drive the  thyristor’ sortriac’s trigger pin. The value of  R18 is a good compromise with respect to the varying trigger currents for this type of  device. Resistor R17 is important, as the hold-ing current must be high enough for a triac;  250 mA is a good compromise. LED D6 tells  you if the device is in good condition or not;  but watch out, the test result must be con-firmed by briefly cutting the power in order  to reset the triac. 

On the web page for this article [1] you’ll find  the author’s CAD files (PCB layout and front  panel) along with some photos of his project.  On the prototype, the LEDs and the ‘Test’  button were wired onto the copper side of  the PCB. The six female connectors for the  devices being tested were salvaged, but there  are lots of models available on the market (the  pitch is standard). The test cable crocodile  clips must be as small as possible for testing  SMD devices.

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