rapier fae RE Cae IR remote control 7 pra sretewrnts re: tecte(se occurs. RE ritn ts Cra ¥sletor may 1988 AIR-MAIL Copy selektor .. 5-19 wattmeter . : 5-22 This circuit will be of interast to anyone whose wallet feels decidedly light after paying the electricity bill. No... it cannot be used to make money, but it can help you to control your electricity usage and thus save money. ASCII keyboard . i Keyboard projects are always popular and this is an advanced design incorporating many features not normally found in this sort of project. It includes: a separate hexadecimal keyboard, extra function keys, the com: plete ASCII set, the possibility of using other codes, auto-repeat, shift lock, capital-lock and RS 232C compatibility. It is,in fact, comparable to many professional keyboards used by computer manufacturers. ae ms 5-26 Prelude p.s. Ft aaa 5-33 Those of you who have been following the Prelude project will now have quite a few, hopefully complete, printed circuit boards. This article gives 2 few final tips and some details which have not yet been mentioned. Also included are the technical specifications of the Prelude. multitester at Several 5-36 (€. Osterwick) A simple circuit with a multitude of uses. Its small size makes it particu- larly useful, especially as it can be used as a logic tester for TTL levels, a voltage supply checker, a clock pulse detector and because it has an acous- tical indication, all you have to do is listen, maestro (part 1) ..... wae Ee a A remote control unit similar to that used for television sets In this case, however, it is used to control the whole Prelude system, adjusting volume, balance and tone, switching all the ancillary equipment on and off and selecting any input desired. All this and much more, without moving from the confor of your amet \ ‘ what is power? . ete COAT, Our wattmeter can help ‘tell you how much’ power is being used. This article gives some insight into the ‘whys and wherefores’ of power con- sumption parallel-serial keyboard converter ......... 550 Intended for use with our ASCII keyboard this parallel serial converter allows the keyboard to be used with any computer which has serial input, with particular reference to the RS 232C. morse converter ee, eae o suai dtr Gee) (R. Unterricker) Morse ‘translation’ is @ skill which many people would like to have but it is often not really worth the effort. In fact it is much easier to ‘teach’ acom- puter (in this case with the 6502 processor) to read morse, which is just what we have done. 78L voltage regulators... and 79L ........... a 5-59 ‘A brief description of these very useful components and hints on how to use them morse decoding with the Z80A, eae eine 5-60 (P. von Bera) Our second morse decoding program, this time with particular application to the Elektor Z80A card and using the Elekterminal and a CW signal forming circuit. market . . switchboard ... EPS service advertisers index ... . 5.03advertisement elektor may 1983 You cant beat The System. The Experimentor System” —a quicker transition from imagination through experimentation to realization. Expesimentor solderless breadboard Experimentor Scraicnboard'" workoads. Experimentor Matchboard” ore-driled PCBs. When you have a circuit idea that you want to With Experimentor Matchboard you can go from make happen, we havea system to make ithappen _ breadboard to the finished product nonstop! We've quicker and easier than ever before: The matched our breadboard pattern again, this time on Experimentor System printed circuit board, finished and ready to build on. All for about £1.50 ‘There's even a letter-and-number index for eac hole, 80 you can move from breadboard (where they're moulded] to Scratchboardrv (where they're .aardr (where they're silkscreened You already know how big a help our Experimentor solderless breadboards can be. Now we've taken our good idea two steps further We've added Experimentor Scratchboard printed) to Mat workpads, with our breadboard hole-and-connection onto the component side) and always know wh pattern printed in light blue ink. To let you sketch up you are a layout you already have working so you car When you want 10 save time and energy, you can’t reproduce it later, beat The Experimentar System SP ONPG whch aouieg ae tem TP ach pede teetane [QE BH whe nceler noone irae ene $.Sye icles afon 8 4. oii on £150] wonpaas en7s| tess beads ‘aol we peceeeeeeeeec===--4 (GLOBAL SPECIALITIES CORPORATION DEPT. 2W GLOBAL SPECIALTIES CORPORATION a ‘Una 9. Sh i Estate, Setfron Waldon, Essex I £259 | £288 Tonclosecheave PO tor GaSe Bt dnl eee ' ods e136 eS Miaaa I Telephone: Saffron Walden (079) 21682 j 611advertisement © SOLDERING I RONS: AND ACCESSORIES | Reatraneoact elektor may 1983 BIG NEWS from EMOS VAST STOCKS OF COMPONENTS AT RIDICULOUSLY LOW PRICES MAIL ORDER we offer the best component prices in the business, and no order is too small to receive our first class attention, COMPONENT WAREHOUSE we have a huge warehouse full of components, test equipment — in fact virtually everything you will ever need. Come and have a browse around Tyre 1 iswatt_| 5.46] 35p Model D SOwatt temp controlled 14.20 | 35p STAND for abovel 4.99 [1.00 Model H 7Owatt [13.23 [1.10 Model H_150watt] 20.42 [1.10 Solder Tow mete] 94p] 20p Open Mon. to Sat. — 9am to 4pm. You will easily find us opposite the John O'Gaunt Hotel on the A45. ‘SEND A LARGE S.A.E. FOR OUR FREE COMPREHENSIVE CATALOGUE EMOS 3: HIGH MARCH, DAVENTRY INTRUDER ALARM CONTROL UNIT |NFRA-RED CA1250 SYSTEM Acre ae Units PS aD IR 1470 Fully built & tested — Power Supply & Relay Hardware Kit HW 4012 rom Bt. to 25 Fally uit B tested OvGITAL VOLIMETER MODULE OvM 316 uit & tested ieee i) ems Paces coe een on eeeelektor may 1983 advertisement NUMDE@ZE(VICCE Sieibeenl sche a. ees St eae oe Back numbers of Elektor currently available are detailed above, with a brief description of their contents. Send for your copies now, using the pre-paid Order Card inside the back cover of this issue, Prices are as follows: any one issue (except July/August) Tee. canhee £1.30 additional issues, each . .. eT IO July/August (Summer Circuits) £2.60 Prices include postage and packing. Overseas orders requiring airmail postage add £ 1.50 per issue (£ 2.00 for July/August, issue) (Prices subject to change without not 514advertisement elektor may 1983 SPECIAL OFFER DIGITAL CAPACITANCE METER LCD DIGITAL MULTITESTER MINIATURE AUTORANGING D.M.M. Kbe1s DM 2350/¢ DM6013 DIGITAL CAPACITANCE METER £52.75 acy measurement of eapacitance over a wide range of values, Fast sample time, easy to read LCD display. Display Qi igit LCD x 13 mm to 1999 Femuret:: Zero adjustment; overload protection, side Renee: B ranges, il scale volver 200pF 10 2000uF Snitehes for tine handed ope’at'on Sampietime OS secone air est lnc eth aligator elo, sare (use Measurement 1X3 varery (mot supa K0615 LCD DIGITAL MULTITESTER £39.99 Multifunction 3¥- 1% de. Amps:- —0.2mA\~2mA'™ 20mA — 200m ‘Transistor eheck:= hE 0 — 1000 PNP or NPN; IgE 10uA, $12%,108 4 2%. Vee 28V fe. Volts:= 200790 3 1.2 — Impedance 5M ims 196 «83 « 42mm DM2350/¢ MINIATURE AUTORANGING D.M.M. £52.00 Super compact autoranging digital multmeter featuring continuity buzzer and large (10mm) clear 3/-digit display. Full fuse overload protection. Carrying case, leads, battery, spare fuse and instruction manual supplied. Ge. Amps: 0 ~ 200mA 1.25; 208 wath ee. Vols. 220 ~200 —600V + 1.0% hunt included inspedonce 108 012" 2""'20 ~ 200 — 000 Resitance:- 200 ohms — 24 ~ 20k — 200k + 08% © 0.8%. Impedance 100" 2M ohme 22% 0 = 200ma 1 4%, 20 with Dims: 130568 » 20mm hunt Gneiuded) B.K. ELECTRONICS... 3 UNIT 5 COMET WAY, SOUTHEND ESSEX .SS26TR # SAE for current lists. # Official orders welcome. # All prices include VAT please phone 0702 527 517Electrical language of fish Man has known about electric fish at least since the ancient Egyptians decorated the walls of tombs with fishing scenes that depicted the formidable electric catfish of the Nile. But millions of people in cen- tral Africa eat large numbers of another type of ‘Wweakly-electric’ fish, which use their discharges to ‘communicate with each other and find their way about in complete darkness, Electrolocation Weakly-electric fish produce electric organ discharges (EODs) of only two to three volts continuously through- out their lives. Each discharge, emitted by a special electric organ in the fish’s tail up an instantaneous electric field in the surrounding water. Objects in the near vicinity distort this field in a predictable way, thereby informing the fish of their size, conductivity and relative movernent. Thousands of electra-receptors constantly moni: tor the pattern of current flow around the fish. The receptors form conductive pores in the otherwise highly resistive skin of the fish so that current generated by the electric organ tends to leave the fish by those routes, returning along curved paths to re-enter the fish at its tail. The sensory cells at the base of the electroreceptors encode the current intensity directly into nerve impulses, which show the greatest modulation in the area of skin closest to the nearby object. This local modulation has been sned to projecting an electric image of the object on the surface of the skin. Continued study revealed several different types of electroreceptor. Socalled ampullary receptors mon ‘tor the surroundings for low-fre- elektor may 1983 quency electrical signals generated by the swimming muscles of non- electric fish and insect larvae, pro- viding information about predators and prey. The sensitivity of such receptors is so great that navigation by measuring induced electric cur- rents as the fish swims through the Earth’s magnetic field has been shown to be possible. ‘Ampullary receptors cannot, how- ever, respond to the high-frequency content of electric fish signals. They are used only in a passive way and it seems that it is others, known as tuberous receptors, which are de- signed for the job of active electro- location. If tuberous receptors code the fish's ‘own electric field, it seems likely that they should at least be useful for detecting the EODs of other electric fish, A rich variety of messages, regarding species, age, size and sex of electric neighbours ‘can be communicated \ e Figure 1. Simplified section through » typical setsup a current flow through the fish and surrounding wate ] ~®- Non-conducting Electric ergan J=—Condustina Suppor 5 elactrie fish, Th a High-tesitance: outer skin ; (LLL. |. Group ot suncory calls Nerve synapses Electorecaptor nerve ties ectric organ in the fish's tal produces a low-voltage discharge which Linas indicato the current flow out through the low resistance electro: receptor pores, concentrated at the head ond, and in at the tip of the tail. Objects of lower or higher conductivity than the water distort the fild lins in a predictable way, ring voltages across the skin in the adjacent regions, shown by bars. The inset shows the basi structure of an elactroreceptor. A pore in the high-resistance outer layer of the skin channels current to the sensory cells, which translate the variations in the electric eld into nerve impulses. 519lektor may 1983 tims bm Gymparchus ‘ote Grathoneras ‘The other, mormyrid, pulsetype fish serve ple fish, tho intervals between pulses are Head positivity is shown upwards. Figure 2. Electrical discharges of some of the more common African Mormyriforme fish. At the left is the only ‘wave’ species on the [African continent Gyennarchus niloticus the subject of Lissman’s classi experiments in which electrolocation was first demonstrated. forms between species, As with the gymnotoi highly variable and they overlap; in some species, discharge rates as low as 1 He occur. highlight tho striking differences in we electrically, as are signals of threat, submission and readiness to mate. Eleotrocommunication Two groups of weakly electric fish can be broadly classified into ‘pulse’ and ‘wave’ species. Pulse species generate brief EODs separated by relatively long and variable intervals. By contrast, wave species produce pulses separated by very short inter- vals, approximately equal to the pulse width itself. Wave fish also hold their EOD frequency amazingly ‘constant, with variations of less than 0.1 per cent. Species ditforonces Within the pulse and wave classes ‘there are also quite clear character- istics that are specific to the EOD of every species. The waveform is fixed by the anatomical arrangement of the electrocytes, or generating cells of the fish’s electric argan. Variations in the innervation and physico- ‘chemical make-up of the electrocytes alter the pulse waveform recorded outside the fish. The diversity of the EQDs of sympatric species of electric fish (that is, those sharing ‘a common habitat) is quite astound- ing. Of the 30 or more mormyrid EODs which have been recorded we find variations in the number, dur ation, polarity and relative amplitude of the pulse components. The most impressive differences are in the duration of the EOD, which had a range of 60 us to 10 ms. Although the ranges of intervals between pulses are species-specific, there is considerable overlap and it 5-20 seems that the form of the EOD alone is ample for species identification and is a vital block to interbreeding, thereby keeping the species genetic- ally pure, Sex and ago differonces It has been found that the waveform varies even between individual fish. Each has its own, discrete EOD, as characteristic as a fingerprint. Fur- thermore, the variation falls into two distinct classes corresponding to the sex of the individual. This obviously has important impli ‘ations for electric communication and suggests that the difference in ‘waveforms between the sexes plays a part in attracting @ mate. Is information about the age of the fish contained in the EOD? It has been discovered that the larval EOD is quite different from that of the adult. It is of the opposite polarity ‘and 20 times as long as the EOD of, ‘adult fish. The first pulses appear between eight and ten days from hatching and the larval EOD con: tinuous for the first 40 days of life, after which it is replaced by the normal adult EOD. ‘As well as signals identifying species, sex and age, more complex infor: mation can be sent electrically. It is not coded by altering the pulse shape (which is fixed for individual fish) but by modulating the pulse rep- etition frequency. The effectiveness of certain pulse sequences as sus: pected signals can be assessed by playing back the patterns, using a model fish. Messages of threat are coded in all species by sudden increases in fre- quency. Mormyrids, for example, normally discharging at around 10 Hz, sometimes produce sharp fre~ ‘quency increases of up to 100 to 120 H2 for a short time. Such signals are often seen when a fish receives the playback of an intruder fish. A typical response to a threat signal is to stop discharging altogether. Submissive fish turn off their EODs fora short time such as half a second; in extreme cases, for example, where the fish has been injured, the elec: trical silence may last as long as 30 minutes. This signal is highly effec: tive and a dominant fish rarely con- tinuous attacking an electrically silent partner. Its effectiveness is probably partly due to the fact that turning of the EOD renders the fish more or less undetectable: it is as ‘though it were hiding electrically. Silent fish generally remain very still, probably to avoid detection; more: ‘over, because they are then electri- cally blind and unable to electro: locate, they are afraid of crashing into things! One big problem with this dual- function electrosensory system is that there are many instances in which electric communication is either incompetible with or else upsets the efficiency of the electro: location system. Turning off the EOD is obviously incompatible with active electrolocation; but just listening to other electric fish can cause difficulties. At worst, the electrosensory system may be com- pletely jammed if another electric fish is discharging synchronously nearby. This is seen most clearly in wave species where another fish with. an identical EOD frequency severely upsets electrolocation. The fish have a built-in jamming avoidance response, or JAR, speciallyelektor may 1983 2mm Figure 4. Gymnotus carapo reacting aggressively towards a plastic dipole model playing back simulated bursts’ threat Signals. The fish is attacking the eoctrical ‘ead’ of the otherwise symmetrical model Reversing the polarity of the playback basis of electrical cues. to avoid this problem. When a fish is confronted by another fish with a similar EOD frequency, it simply shifts its discharge rate away from that of the intruder. The JAR is triggered at quite a distance, long before the discharge of an approaching fish becomes intense enough to affect electro- location, Interference from other species is not a problem because EODs from other species are filtered ee fe com Tims Figure 3. Top: Adult mala mormyrid, Pollimyrus isidori, with (right) typical male and female dischargos. Bottom: Eight-day old fry of P. isidori with its larval pulse recorded only a few hours after the first discharge, ‘the adult, and its polarity is reversed. The waveform lasts 2 lot longor than that of out at a peripheral stage. JARS in pulse fish involve sudden jumps in discharge frequency as attempts are made to avoid im- pending coincidence of discharges. Another trick is to lock on toa neighbour's EOD and discharge at a short fixed delay, rather as an echo, thereby completely avoiding any possibility of simultaneous dis: charge. Mormyrid pulse species appear to be exquisitely well-designed to solve interference problems. Firstly, the tuberous receptors are of two types, The Mormyromasts respond only to the fish’s own EOD. The Knollen- organ functions solely in electri ‘communication and, because of its high sensitivity, is well suited to detect distant fish of that species, and is tuned to the species-specific EoD. The Mormyrid has solved the jam- ming problem by time ~ sharing the two functions of the electro- sensory system, rejecting communi- cation signals during electrolocation and attending carefully to them during the relatively long interval between pulses. Dr. G.W.M, Westby, Spectrum 181. (e598) Stereo TV sound BBC finds dual FM system workable, but digital systom might be bettor Towards the end of 1982 the BBC conducted over-air tests to establish whether 9 twocarrier sound-with: television system can be compatible with normal UHF reception. These tests took place out of normal service hours and were observed by staff from the BBC, ITV and receiver manufacturers in the area served by the Crystal Palace transmitter. A total of 414 questionnaires was com- pleted, and the analysis of these is now complete. The system tested is a variant on ‘that used for stereo TV sound in Germany, in which the additional sound signal is carried on a second FM carrier set at around 7 dB below the main sound carrier and separated by some 300 kHz from it. The results | confirmed the expectation that cross talk from the second sound signal into the first is not a problem, and that patterning caused by beats be- ‘tween the sound carriers can be kept 10 a tolerable level if the amplitude of the main sound carrier is reduced a little. They also showed, however, that buzz-on-sound can be a problem with existing receivers, regardless of the level of the second carrier, and that this buzz problem is increased by turning the main sound carrier down, Buzz is to some extent re ceiver-dependent, but the main fac: tors affecting it are multipath pro: pagation, which can cause the re- ceived sound-towision carrier ratio to vary by + 5 dB or more, and the spectral content of the picture. All in all it appears that a system of this type might give a largely satisfactory service, but investigations are con: tinuing into alternative possibilities. Stereo TV sound will be available from 1986 vie DBS in digital form, and broadcasts of this sort might precede terrestrial two-channel sound with television. It is thus important to establish whether a digital sound package could satisfactorily be re ceived from terrestrial transmitters as perhaps a better alternative to @ second FM carrier.Preliminary assess- ments indicate that the digital option could give a better compromise between compatibility and rugged- | ness. A thorough examination of the | digital system has therefore begun, | ‘and this will call for further over-air tests in due course BBC Engineering Intormation Department, (867s) 521wattmeter flektor may 1983 How much current is drawn by a dimmed light-bulb? Does the extractor fan actually ‘consume’ the rated power specified by the manufacturer? What output power can | expect from my home-made windpowered generator? Or even: What is the power consumption of my super hi-fi FET power output stage? Alll these questions, and more, can be answered simply, using an electronic wattmeter. wali-mefler measuring electric power the electronic way! Figure 1. Simple block diagram of the wattmeter. ‘The voltage drop across fosd X and the current ‘through it are applied to 2 four-quadrant multiplier via two input stages. The Voltage and currant, and ‘drives the meter which indicates the average power. 5-22 If the wattmeter is expanded to a kilowatt- hour meter by adding a suitable extension circuit (this will probably appear in the June issue), the user will also be able to answer the following questions: How much can I save by placing the refriger- ator in a cool room and what is its average consumption per week? What contribution to energy saving is made by insulating the electric boiler? What is the cost of a ‘machine wash’ at 90°, compared with one at 60°? ‘The wattmeter can be used simply and safely as an intermediate socket between the load and the mains socket. The terms ‘power’, ‘energy’, ‘t.ms. voltage and cur rent’ are explained in a separate article in this issue, Block diagram ‘The operation of the electronic wattmeter is best explained on the basis of the block diagram in figure 1. The (average) power is. equal to the mean product of the instan- taneous voltage actoss load X and the instan- taneous current through it. The alternating mains voltage u(t) is brought to the proper level by an input stage (A1) and fed to the input of a four-quadrant multiplier. A volt age is developed due to the load-current i(t) flowing through a shunt resistor (Rsh). This voltage is fed via a second input stage (A2) to the other input of the multiplier. The multiplier forms the product of the alter- nating voltage and current and supplies a current as a measure of the instantaneous power p(t). A moving coil meter takes the average of the current and indicates the average power. Why do we use a four-quadrant multiplier and not, for example, a two-quadrant mul- tiplier? "This requires some explanation: during multiplication of alternating voltages and currents four different situations can be encountered: instantaneous voltage and instantaneous current are simultaneously positive (quadrant 1); the instantaneous volt. age is negative and the current is also nega- tive (quadrant III); the voltage is negative and the current is positive (quadrant Il) and vice versa (quadrant IV). Figure 2 shows these possible situations. If the instantaneous power is positive (I and TI), power is being consumed. If the power is negative (II and IV), the load returns power to the mains on account of its capaci- tive or inductive characteristics. This can also be expressed as follows: if the average power (product of the mean values over one period of mains voltage) is positive, we are dealing with a load, The multiplier supplies a positive output current and themeter indicates a positive power (average). A centre-zero meter indicates negative if the device to which the wattmeter is connected. isa ‘generator’ (ie. delivering power to the mains), Let us return briefly to the block diagram: the purpose of the two LEDs is to indicate when the wattmeter is being overdriven by an excessive voltage or current. The reading 4s then incorrect. Overdriving cannot be seen on the meter itself, A curious situation can therefore arise, in which the pointer deflects only slightly but the LEDs light up. The circuit This appears considerably more complicated than the block diagram. The part of the cir cuit containing A4 and A6 (a VCO) is pro- vided to allow for future expansion to a kilowatt hour counter. ‘The input stages consist of Al, A2 and the associated components, A voltage divider (R1/R2/R3) reduces the mains voltage to ‘one which is suitable for the wattmeter (mains voltage divided by 60). Since a 11/8 W resistor can only withstand a low volt- age, two resistors are connected in series, 2 hete to make up one resistor of the voltage divider. The measuring current is taken from shunt resistor R4. Although overdriving is indicated by two LEDs, additional protec- tive circuitry is still needed, Diodes D1/D2 and D3/D4 are protective elements. If the input signal is greater than 12 V the diodes conduct, thus the maximum input voltage is limited to approximately 12 V. wartmeter tlektor may 1983 Figure 2. Depending on the instantanoous values of voltage and current, ‘the instantaneous power ‘can be positive or negative. the average power (aver ‘age of the instantaneous values) is positive, the dovica is drawing power ‘and isa load. & negative average power indicates that the device is delivering (generating) power. Figure 3, The four-quadrant of the (OTA (AS). Tho sensitivity can be solected at input stages Al and AZ with two jumpers (A and 8). The VCO circuit based on Aa and A6 is only required when the instrument is 10 be expanded to a kilo: watthour meter. 7 LED indicators based on {A7 and AB indicate over: driving of the wattmetor. a ir oLt=Le § EE y 523elektor may 1983 Figure 4, Equivalent ‘ircuit diagram of an OTA configured as a four ‘quodrant multiplier. i= =(8¥S0) xu * ais So = slope at us = 0 S= kx ui (k= constant) i= thx ut +80) Ris Sox un + 3 Hf P2 i adjusted so that So = 1/15: Ris * R15, =k xu Xue Important note Excessive lon current can damage the sunt resistor Ra. The poner dissipated in this sexist PR=RA*lins “The load current can be estimated before con- necting tho meter Plosd_ Hrs * Trine SOF 6 The value given (09247, 5 W) should be sate for Joads up to 350.W (msins- powered). For higher Toads, the value of R4 must be decreased, Figure 5. Track pattern ‘and component layout of the printed circuit board for the wattmoter. Since the chasse earth will bo ‘connected to the mains during measurement, the pew, must bo installed Ina well-insulatod cate, 5.24 ‘The amplification factor of the input stages can be set to 1 or 10, Fora factor of 1, the terminals at A and B should be jumpered; otherwise the amplification factor will be 10. The choice of amplification factor depends on the load voltage and current. If desired, switches can be used for selecting the amplification factor, instead of actually connecting wires at A and B. This is a con- venient method to use as then it is easy to change the amplification factor if the meter deflection is too low or if the multiplier is overdriven. To minimise power dissipation in 4, A2 should be allowed to operate at maximum gain (omit jumper B), ‘The output signals of Al and A2 are fed to the four-quadrant multiplier AS. OTA 13600, which we met in the April 1982 issue, is used here. Readers interested in the oper- ation of this IC can consult that issue, The OTA amplifies the differential voltage ap- plied to its inputs (pins 18 and 14) and supplies a current at its output (pin 12). The amplification factor is quoted in mA/V and is referred to as ‘slope’. This slope is rela- tively linear and varies as a function of the (control) current flowing in at pin 16. Thus the OTA multiplies two variables and pro- vides a current as the product. In this case, one variable is the voltage derived from the mains and converted to control current by P2 and R16, and the second variable is the voltage which results from the load current through R4. The situation is clarified by figure 4. The OTA is represented as an amplifier with slope , The voltage derived from the mains is designated u, and the voltage derived from the load current is designated u;. The slope S of the inverting OTA is adjusted with 2. This circuit produces current i, which flows to chassis earth (or virtual earth, to be precise). This current, in turn, is pro portional to the product of u, and ua. This means that if one of the two factors is zero, no output current will flow because zero multiplied by another value is zero. If the OTA has no u, input signal, this condition is met so there is no gain and therefore no current, The slope is adjusted with P2, so that j, plus i is equal to zero when u; is zero, According to the rule of nodes, i, is then also zero. If neither voltage is zero, an output current is, proportional to the product of u; and tu, is produced as a result of the linear characteristic of the OTA. The fourquadrant multiplier is followed by a stage with a virtual earth input. We refer to this asa ‘Virtual earth’, because the non-inverting input is connected to earth and the voltage difference between non- inverting and inverting inputs of operational amplifiers is assumed to be zero. Integrating network R28/CL1 forms the mean value of, the alternating output current of AS and drives meter Ml via DS or T1 In the description of the block diagram, we said that the meter takes the average of the alternating current. Network CL1/R28 ‘would therefore seem to be superfluous, In fact, the meter does not take the average of the current but of the torque, ie, the force which moves its coil. The VCO circuit (with ‘A6 and A4) is provided to allow expansion to a kilowatt-hour meter; since, however, this cireuit can only process an average current, we have to include network R28/ cu For use asa wattmeter (without VCO exten- sion) a centre-zero moving-coil meter canindicate both positive (absorbed) and nega tive (delivered) power. Since the VCO cir- cuit can only process positive currents, the wattmeter expanded to a kilowatt-hour meter will also only be capable of indicating positive power readings, In order to measure the power of a generator, the input of the watimeter is connected to the generator. ‘Two LEDs are contained in the circuitry of A7 and AB to indicate overdriving. These circuits operate as fullwave rectifiers. Posi tive voltages are applied via Dé (Dé") and negative voltages via the inverting input of the operational amplifier and D7 (D7") to transistor stage T2/T3 (T2/T3'). If the signal level filtered by C8 (C8) is sufficiently high LED D8 (D8’) lights to indicate that the wattmeter is being overdriven, Construction and alignment ‘nce the components have been fitted to the printed circuit board (figure 5), the active part of the extension circuit (Ad and ‘A6) is also complete because A4 and A6 are already contained in IC1 and IC2. The passive components of the VCO circuit (C1, R19, R20, R21 and PA) can be omitted for the time being, Voltage divider R1/R2/R3 is designed for a mains voltage of 220 V. It may be necessary to select another value for R4, to suit the load current, The power rating for the resistor is calculated as follows: Py = R4 lms. Since one of the ‘mains voltage lines is connected to the circuit negative supply, the printed circuit board must be installed in an insulated plastic case. If the wattmeter is tobe expanded to a kilowatt-hour counter, a larger case and a bigger transformer will be needed. Three 2-core mains cables are inserted into the case: one with a plug for connecting the power supply of the circuit, a second one with a plug as the ‘test cable’ and a third ‘one with socket as the output of the cireuit. If itis only desired to measure the power drawn by a mains-powered load, the voltage for the power supply can be obtained directly from the wattmeter input. There is therefore no need for a special mains cable (see photograph). Please take note of the following warning before beginning alignment Do not touch any component when the circuit is connected to mains. Use a well- insulated screwdriver to adjust the preset potentiometers, Insert jumpers A and B or close the corre sponding switches (if used). Connect pin 5 of Al to chassis earth and pin 3 of A2 to the positive pole of a 1.5 V battery (negative pole to earth). Switch on the mains voltage. Adjust PS to its extreme anti-clockwise position (most sensitive setting), and adjust P2 so that the meter indicates zero. Switch the mains off again. Disconnect pin § of Al from earth; remove the battery and connect the mains voltage to the input of the watt- meter. Switch on the power supply and adjust Pl so that the meter indicates zero. Repeat this procedure (first adjusting P2, then Pl) several times so that the presets are set to an optimum. Now remove jumper B or open the relevant switch, Connect a 60 W bulb to the output of the wattmeter and adjust P3 to its extreme clockwise position (east sensitive position), Plug the ‘test cable’ into a mains power socket. Switch on the mains and adjust P3 50 that the meter reads exactly 0.6 mA (= 60 W). Asa further check, this adjustment can be made with other bulbs. With high- grade bulbs the power indicated will agree with the rating printed on them. A more precise method is to measure the voltage across the bulb and the current through it, Multiply these values to obtain the power, then set this figure on the meter. After ‘alignment of the wattmeter, the power can be read off in divisions of 10 W per 0.1 mA. If voltages lower than mains are to be measured frequently, the sen- sitivity of the wattmeter can be increased by a factor of 10 by removing jumper A. W lektor may 1983 Parte list Resistors (all 1/8 W, except Ra): R1,82,R22,822" 23,823" = 100k R3= 3K3 R4= 047 0/5 W R5,A7,AO.RI1 = 18 6,R10,.24,A24" = 242 F8|RI2 = 1k8 R13,R15,R20 = 10k R14 = 4K7 R16,A18 = 6x8 A17= 820.0 RI9= 22k 21,827,827" = 1k R25,R25) PLPa= 1k preset P2= 50 k preset P4 = 500 2 preset Capacitors: ci=160 62,03 = 220 w/25V 64,C8,c8,08"= to w/16V 66,67,69,C10 ~ 100 n 11= 10 p/63V Semiconductors 81 = bridge rectifier aoce00 D1... 06,06", 7,07" = 1NA148 8,08" = red LEO Ti = BC557B ‘12,72'.73,73' = BC547 let = TLosa 1G2 = 13800 or 13700 Ica = 78L12 Ica = 79112 1e5,105"= 741 Miscellaneous: TH1 = mains transformer 2x 18 V/0.2 A see. (1 for expansion) F1 = fuse, 0.2 A slow M1 = 1 mA moving-coil 4.way terminal block (pcb. type) Plastic case | 20r3 mains cables 5:25ASCII-keyboard, flektor may 1983 separate hexadecimal keyboard f= extra funetion keys = complete ASCII set other codes possible = suto-repoat 1 shiftlock = capitallock RS 232 compatible complete with hexpad 526 | Our first ASCII keyboard was published in November 1978 (Elektor No. 43) and proved to be extremely popular. However, times change and the field of electronics and computers has taken several steps forward, It was therefore considered that it was board includes both alphabetic characters and decimal characters (numbers), as well as all the punctuation marks. In order that the ‘computer and the terminal can ‘converse’ they must obviously speak the same language; to do this several codes have been devised which give a specific binary word to each alphanumeric character. The best known and most widely used format is the American Standard Code for Information Interchange, usually abbreviated to ASCII. This is an 8-bit code which uses the most significant bit (MSB) as a parity bit for error detection. The remaining 7 binary digits provide 128 different combinations, so even when all decimal, alphabetic (upper and lower case) and punctuation marks are coded we still have a fow codes left for control functions. Table 1 shows the com plete set of ASCIT characters, including command functions. This table also shows that there is a logical connection between specific groups of characters; so for example bit 5 is logic ‘1’ for lower case and logic ‘0" time for a new design that was a little more sophis- ticated than the old one. ASCIT- © keyboard for upper case. Table 2 lists various abbrevi- ations used and their meanings. Keyboard circuit Even though it is theoretically possible to have a keyboard with one key for each of the 128 functions, this could be rather confusing To sidestep this difficulty every Key is normally given a double (or triple) function and, in the same manner as sientific calculators, a shift key is added to the keyboard to select which particular function associated with a key is oquired. When a key is pressed the corre sponding ASCII code word is formed by a coding IC. This simply consists of a ROM ‘containing all the ASCII codes, and is addressed by the keyboard via two counter circuits whose outputs form a matrix The RC network connected between pins 2, 3 and 40 of the decoder/encoder IC d imines the frequency at which the matrix is seanned (in fact, the counter clock fre quency). One of the counters delivers itsASCII-keybosrd elektor may 1983 i { THTHT Nt .wt=tea=4ory is a, nea particular code to lines XO... X7, and the other sends its binary code to lines YQ. . Y16, this then forms the address of the ROM in the encoder IC. Not all the lines for the ROM are addressed by the second counter circuit: in fact two of them are tiod to the SHIFT and CONTROL keys. Table 3 shows what function is achieved with what key, and Table 4 lists the control functions available, The RC network connected to pin 19 ensures that contact-bounce is liminated. ‘The inputs at pins 6 and 20 of the encoder IC are wired to either logic levels ‘0’ or Normally they are both logic ‘0’, but if both are wired to logic ‘1’ then the data- and strobe-outputs (c) and the parity bit (b) respectively are inverted, Features of the keyboard Rather than using a supplementary repeat key we prefer to use automatic repetition. The strobe pulse provided by pin 16 (eventu ally inverted — see table 5), acts as.a trigger Figure 1. The design of ‘the now ASCII keyboard pulse for the oscillator around N6. The only slightly in combination of R4-C3 ensures that the oscillator starts after a delay of about Ya second. When a key is pressed briefly the strobe pulse arrives via N7 and N6 through connections f and h (or via N7 and connec- tions f and h where it is inverted) and the oscillator doesn’t even have time to start. However if a key is held for a longer period the oscillator outputs a repetitive strobe pulse, so that the character present will be repeated for the time that the key is pressed. ‘The CAP-LOCK key is an interrupt with two stable positions; when it is operated bit 5 is inverted by gates N1....N4 so that the ASCII codes output are all for upper case (CAPital) letters, This is very convenient for BASIC programmes. ‘The keys on the hexadecimal board, @. ..9, A...F and the decimal point are connected in parallel with the same keys on the alphanumeric keyboard. Keys Fl .. ._. F6 simply provide logic levels defined by the user and are usable for special functions. Another notable aspect of this new key- ‘minimum and the same 52376 encoder as before is uso. 5:271 eg eee Haas pe eeeer arate Ts stipe: “ae So Geer ceeanemesinary Sahoo kd lean & =m Se gf ia foie ames a : HR 2 of Gee & eee ser bE 8 1 Bea 8 fo ge gs 2. ee ei -8) | BERS ese UTR kat Sie & tere pate : EE of | ase 8 ee es et : eB Logg eer me 5 ature ee ge Se 8 My Meee eke ernie? (Ce agente, S] Gr tam Bie a crane Rm att ge eas 2 a ea ae cern eeraan | ore cen 2 eae ee ee ar ae 0 ee ares iS . See e ce Sei 2 erin, ot) clmegetticees ooptunen © Se 2 ee es mate See ey ee i ® oie? bi MUL nls Sou = staat tenn ene STX — start of text S: shift 1 y2 v8 v4 vB 7 yB ya vio Ce eat ak Sri v0 v= 12) | VM eaee V7 Vo vey EDt = ander arian freee? @ NUL SoH STK ETK EOT ENO ACK BEL DCT OLE SI scare xo § Mut Sou Six efx for Ena AcK set Bet B= ey % NUL Som S1X Ene FOT ENG Ack BEL Bel FO 8S Sika DLE VT fF SO. CR Wax SYN ETB CAN EM gu HT — horizontal tabulation x1 § DLE, \ A | NAK SYN ETS GAN EM SUB tr = ines nu BtEk LOM hak Siw Ere Gav em S08 Yo <3 ese niete c NUL FS GS RE US NUL NUL NUL SP NUL US ee Souci re ces ns Ue sce” fae aaa! ne see ee ee SP > Sim C NUL NUL DLE US NUL BS EC GS CR LE EL DLE — data link escape x3 S$ NUL * DEL Bs { } cR LF DEL Bet = dencncontal Rie ee ey 1 oR Lr bet Bee = Sones convol bez G MUL NUL NUL NUL Gm So STK SYN ETK CAN SUB = StS convo ee A Rete vine xa Bet = donc covots : ; Ce ee ee ee NAK — negative acknowledge 3 : s si Sin = fyncwarourige © FF vr UF aS BEL ACK EOT DoD SoH FE Ese fiat edcitomiintick x5 SL KG HG fe 8 A AP bee aN ~ Soe Ree ahs ge ei at eit eee EM cnet mami ¢ Sl_HT NAK EM not 0c? ENO ETB DCI HT VT SUE ie ee PAGERS GclnuoU.. Yolete in Meb i Wy Gl MU gM. Eee nrarrea (i eee ee eget ere Eich Mra age 6 = pow apeor ¢ NUL UL NUL NUL NUL NUL NUL NUL NUL AS FS Re = moana See oan Su Senta aan Gs = iets coc, cmeeepa ee ines ees Be = Sew a) os \rORMFEED) «CTRL L = FE = Nomwcinortnmeckor DATA STROSE_—_comtevon (ine Fee) emus} Hee : (HORIZONTAL TAB) CTRL+ | cursr“* neal pea a Bree (VERTICAL TAB) cTRL+ K cursor t _ ere i (CARRIAGE RETURN) CTRL+ M = CR + erasure to end of line see (BACK SPACE) CTRL+ H = BS = cursor+ ee ESCAPE) crat+ LC = ESC= srollup a (Eiteseranaton) Grace 2 FS = homeconor . 5-28ASCII-keyboard elektor may 1983 Figure 2. The location Figure 2a shows the normal QWERTY contigur ation which can be changed at will by including @ code. conversion EPROM in the Output of the encoder ‘The hoxadecimal keys (Figuro 2b) are placed at the same nodes in the matrix as their counter: parts are on the big key- board. ‘Table 1. The complete [ASCII code in binary (7-bit) and hexadecimal (09... 7F) forms. ‘Table 2. The CONTROL (CTRL) key combined with certain other keys allows special functions (see also Table 3). Table 3. A number of keys In the keyboard provide special funetions when Used in conjunction with ‘the SHIFT (upper case) or CTRL keys. Table 4. Some functions ‘that are used frequently are provided by an independent-key.. ‘Table 5. The active logic lavels of the data signal- strobe and parity aro usar programmable. board is the posibility of locating the keys wherever you like on the keyboard, thanks to the option of code conversion shown in part of Figure 1. The ASCII information provided by the keyboard converter is applied as an address to an EPROM (2716) ‘The EPROM is programmed such that a iven input (in the form of an address) corresponds to a particular code which appears as data at the EPROM output. The ribbon cable from the computer or terminal connects to the data lines of the | EPROM through a 14-way DIL pin head. 2a ~~ on ow wow NaN = ‘The EPROM can be divided into sections by means of connections at m, n, 0, P, 59 in one 2716 we can have 16 different ‘combinations of 128 characters. If only the normal QWERTY keyboard with no code conversion functions is required then the EPROM should be omitted and the address inputs connected directly to the corre sponding data outputs. A paralleV/serial conversion to provide RS 232 compatibility is a very interesting possibility with this keyboard. It is discussed in greater detail elsewhere in this isue. Ll aieaven eae [1 t NaN \ i 5:29ASCII-keyboard flektor may 1983 3 «lilslelslzlele ieee] = 1 lelel-d- cm jo fw ritiviufifofelig| t | [ool e |e | re wa fads fofefefulis fx felt yt dd leu efofale |r wee | 2 |X| Soe mn Oss els [eee [ele ealatale - |= foe! [oe]. [2] ]- Figure 5. When the keys are mounted in the manner shown here, the result will bea ‘terraced’ keyboard, inclined at about 15°, under your fingers Figure 6, Positioning the space bar isa little more involved than the other keys caps but will pose ro problem if this drawing is used. 5:32 Construction Before starting construction you should look at Figure 5, which clearly shows that the inclination of the keys and that of the caps are different. This gives a ‘terraced’ keyboard with a inclination of about 15° to the horizontal. The positioning of the space key is illustrated in Figure 6. Don't solder in the keys right from the start. Better just to solder one pin, which makes ‘moving them easier later on. Supply voltages to the keyboard are carried via the ribbon cable used for data transfer between the keyboard and the terminal or computer. Note also that the SHIFT-LOCK and CAP. LOCK keys have two stable positions and should not be confused with the other keys. ‘The wiring for the 8 function keys is left to the initiative of the user according to his needs, the printed circuit board design enables each of these keys to be connected to any point in the keyboard matrix. Finally, regarding the choice of a case for the keyboard, bear in mind that the printed circuit board ‘will be inclined at 15° so the ‘case should accommodate this. The case size will be governed by the dimensions of the printed circuit board in Figure 4. The BOT 8806 from West Hyde is an example of a suitable casePreluce ps ‘lektor may 1983 Readers who de the completed Prelude. jed to construct the Prelude preamplifier from the earlier series of articles will by now have a total of ten printed circuit boards hopefully in the throes of ‘final assembly’. It is a fairly complex undertaking and, although everything should work perfectly, there may be one or two questions that could arise. It is intended in this summary to cover the problem areas where confusion may occur and also to put forward a few ideas on the use of Prelude p.s. pro's and con's of the Prelude ‘Missing Link In the circuit ofthe tone contro! (april ise, page 453, igure 1), R16 and R16" are shown as 68, ‘This shoul be 1k, The parts list was correct. It may be of interest to know that the com- plete Prelude consists of 10 printed circuit boards, 141Cs, 106 transistors, 11 diodes, 262 resistors, 26 potentiometers, 149 ca- pacitors and'13 switches, Undoubtedly of more interest however, is what can be achieved when all these components are united into one big circuit called the "Prelude". Probably the first question that will be asked is "how does it all perform?” Rest your mind on this because there should be no reason why any Prelude (constructed on Elektor printed circuit boards) should not meet the specifications given in Table 1 These are reasonably conservative figures and itis likely that your Prelude will improve on this performance, if it has been con: structed carefully. It has been suggested by those in the know that Rome wasn't built in a day and we firmly suggest the same for the Prelude. Poor workmanship and over- eager assembly is a quick way to dearade the performance Not only must the Prelude be constructed cotrectly, it must also be used properly in order to achieve the best results The case for presets ‘The Prelude departs from conventional preamplifier design in one major aspect, Table 1 Harmonie distortion [also holds good for headphone output; class A range) Frequency range: RIAA deviation Input sensitivity impedance and that is the positioning of the volume control in the circuit. Contrary to the normally accepted ideas, the volume level control is situated at the output of the preamplifier. Initially this may seem a little odd but it does have one significant advantage. Any noise that may be generated in the preamplifior stages will be attenuated together with the volume level at the output of the preamp. This of course would not be the case with a volume control at the front of the preamp. A good idea but where is the snag we hear you say and, of course, there always is a snag, With no means of limiting the input levels the tisk of over. driving the preamplifier into ‘clipping’ could be very high. We would then be trading a reduced noise level for increased distortion — not what we had in mind at all! ‘The gain of the line amplifier is approxi- mately x 20 (the fixed attenuation of the balance control in midposition is 6 dB, so that the total line amplification is about 10 times). The maximum line amplifier output voltage of approximately 26 Voy corresponds to a maximum input level of approximately 1.3 Vp, or approximately 460 mVrms. The output voltage of the tone control amplifier can be higher than the output voltage of the tone control; how ude (max. 4.8 Vins! 1 Vis $4008 < 0.018% (1 V from 202... 20 kH2) GHz...60 kHz 4 dB <0.5 dB (20 Hz... 20KH2) Me: 0.1 mVpm/100 2 MM1,MM2: 2 .mVsmg/120 k//10 p (impedance programmable) other inputs: 100 Verng/45 k (When using Interlude 30 k) Tone control Low (400 Hz) = 12dBar 50Hz Low (800 Ha) © 12¢Bat 100 Hz High (2 kHz) = 1248 at 10kHz High (4 ka): 212.48 at 20 kH2 ‘Signal noise ratio (unweighted! Mc: > 6068 naa a: > 8008 other inputs > 9508 Mating 2048 Balance control +608... —=dB Crose-talk: MC, MM, 2: 60.48 (20 Hz... 20kH2) other inputs: ~60.4B (with input buffers, 20 He... 20 kHz) 45 dB (without buffers, 20 Hz... 20 kHz) 5:33much depends on the position of the high and low control. In other words, the tone control stage is also sensitive to being overdriven. ‘The answer to the problem is to-use presets for a number of the inputs. The phono inputs are not provided with presets because there is a more elegant way to set the phono input amplification (if required at all). In this case the gain is set by selecting the value of R7 and R7’ of the magnetic cartridge preamp up to a maximum of 390 2. However the presets are a necessary evil and it would be better to get rid of them com: pletely if at all possible. This is easy with a modern receiver, say, that is equipped with a built in, low impedance AF output level control. Bear in mind also that a 250 k® preset can be replaced by a voltage divider consisting of two resistors as long as the input voltage level is known. A total resistance value of 5 to 10 times the (nor mally low) output impedance of the corre- sponding audio voltage source is quite sufficient and will even help to reduce ‘crosstalk and noise level. ‘Under all circumstances make sure that the input level of the tone control amplifier (tone control switched ‘on’) or line amplifier (tone control switched ‘off’) does not exceed 100... 150 Vrms; this corresponds to 1... 1.5 Vems at the output of the Prelude, which is more than enough to drive any output amplifier One minor advantage of presets is that they can also be used to limit the output level; handy if you object to your house being ‘turned into a disco in your absence! The assets of low impedance! In spite of the large number of switches and potentiometers and the rather long track runs in some cases, the cross-talk between the channels is surprisingly low. It is not helped by the ‘bus board’ concept with inputs and ‘outputs on the same ‘plug in boards’ facing each other. However, the cross-talk level is still much better than the DIN standard minimum requirement which is $0dB in the frequency range of 250 Hz .. . 10 kHz. This is generally an acceptable level but it can be improved by the use of the buffer stage in Figure 1. This circuit was originally intended for use at the tape and auxiliary ‘outputs but it can also be used to replace the 250 k presets. A point to note: it is a waste Of time inserting a buffer for the phono inputs due to the fact that the output of the MM amplifier is low impedance anyway (crosstalk attenuation is at least 60 dB). But why buffers? The answer is simple: ‘buffers ensure that the inputs to the tone control and line amplifiers are low im- pedance. This is desirable because the lower the impedance the lower is the cross-talk since the interaction between the channels is mainly capacitive, The wiring of mode-switch S11 must be changed if a buffer is connected in series with one or more inputs. Figure 2 (a and b) show how this should be done. During the ‘mono’-mode the resistors Ry and Ry’ see to it that one buffer is not loaded by the low 5:34 Preluce ps. slektor may 1983 output impedance of the other buffer. These resistors are switched off during ‘stereo’ and ‘reverse-stereo' operation, other- ‘wise they could be the cause of a still higher line impedance. Construction ‘There are some points of note regarding constriction: 1. The wiring data for a number of switches situated on the bus board (see March fssie) are not always clear. That is why this particular section of the component side of the bus board is repeated here (see Figure 5). After witing $3 and S11 use an ‘chm-meter to check that they are switching properly. 12, The bus board. contains 3 wire links which cross the connection board (see Figure 3). Connect these (insulated) wire links to the copper side of the bus board, Figure 1. The circuit illustrated hore can ba usod ‘2 buffer for the 100 mV inputs of the Prelude and ‘output butfer for the tape recording and auxiliary outputs. The ‘actual emitter follower consists of a ‘super tran sistor’, formed by the cascode TT and T2. Ce- pacitor C2 ensures that the base of T2 follows the emitter voltage of T1, Which is very favourable for its modulation ‘behav- jour’. Tho supply for the emitter follower is pro: vided by 2 current source, Which is also connected as scode (T3 and T4); i increases the (already high) linearity of the ‘emitter follower consider ably.after the connection board has been mounted. Don't forget the wire link that is half hidden by S3. 5. The case can be earthed either at a point somewhere around the supply or at the ground of the MM inputs. One point will produce less hum than the other. Earth the case at one point only and make sure the the switches and potentiometer shafts on the bus ‘board and especially the socket for the headphone are electrically insulated from the metal front panel. 4, As fat as the case itself is concerned, it is best to use a 19 inch type. It’s no problem whatsoever if the housing is 5 em deeper than the length of the printed circuit boards; in fact some of the connection plugs, situated at the rear, will then be better protected against possible damage, 5. The supply transformer of the Prelude ‘can be mounted at the right side of the housing, just behind the signalling board. Especially if you want the MC amplifier builtin it is recommended that a small ring core transformer is used. First of all its stray field is less than for ordinary transformers, and secondly, this type of transformer is much smaller. The supply transformer can be enclosed in a metal housing, as long as it gets adequate venti: lation, so that it does not run hot. 6. A final note repeated from our March issue, Don't forget to mount Cx and Cx’ onto the line amplifier board! K 3 Prelude ps. elektor may 1983 Figure 2. The circuit diagram (a) and the wiring (b) of mode-switch $11 rust be changed when using one or more input buffers of Figure 1. Figuee 3. A section of the component side of the bus board illustrating the wiring of soma of the ‘switches. Ps, If there is sufficient interest, we wil include p.c.board design for the boffer circuit (figure 1) in the coming July/August 5:35rmultitertar flektor may 1983 E. Osterwick = A logie tester for TTL levels = Avoltage supply checker = Acclock pulse detector ‘= Acoustical indication Figure 1. The circuit of the Mubttostor contains very few components besides the three ICs. Tho basis of the circuit eon: sists of two oscillators, N2and N3, and the ‘counter IC3. 5-36 Any type of test equipment is useful but they can take up a fair amount of space, especially if the workshop is quite small. The design here counters this problem by combining a number of simple test circuits into a single package, Basically it contains a logic probe, a clock pulse detector and a simple voltage level detector. It is made even simpler by the absence of visual displays of any sort, The output indication is made audible by the use of a small speaker. itester ‘The Multitester is a very simple circuit with ‘many useful points — not the least of which is its extremely low cost. Basically the circuit consists of little more than three ICs and a small loudspeaker. Its simplicity ‘however does not prevent it from being able ‘to check for four different parameters at any point in a circuit under test. 1. A voltage level below 0.8 V, interpreted as a logic '0'. 2. A voltage level between 1.8 V and 5 V, indicated as a logic ‘L’. 3, A test point that has an undefined level (a tri-state output) or is open circuit. 4, The existence of a clock signal or pulse ‘train, Alll these conditions are indicated by a different acoustic signal. The existence of a logic ‘0’ is announced by a low tone while a logic ‘1’ isa high tone. With an undefined level, or open circuit, the speaker will remain silent, If a pulsed signal is detected, such asa clock signal, the Multitester will produce an audio output that oscillates between the [1 = N1,N2,N3 = 4093, ic2= Na’ NO = 4050 reLos a i i] alll 2 4 anmawhigh and low tones at the frequency of the detected signal. These four unambiguous acoustic indications provide a quick and easy method of simple fault tracing. The cirouit diagram The simplicity of the Multitester is clearly illustrated in the circuit diagram of figure 1. ‘Two oscillators, gates N2 and N3, and the counter ICS form the basis of the circuit ‘The detector probe is connected to the junction of R2 and R3. If the probe touches a point in the circuit under test that is at 0 V resistor R3 will be short circuited. This will cause the voltage level at the junction of resistors RI and R2 to fall. The output of gate NI will rise to logic ‘1’ to activate the oscillator formed by gate N2. If the probe is taken to +5 V the oscillator formed bby N3 will be switched on. ‘The existence of high frequency pulse signals at the probe will not affect either of the two oscillators but they will reach the counter (IC3) via C3, By frequency dividing the pulse train the counter will convert the high frequencies into audible tones. The dividing factor of IC3 can be selected by deriving the output from pin 13 (divide by 128), pin 14 (divide by 512) or pin 15 (divide by 1024). Although it is not shown in figure 1, it is of course possible to select these outputs by means of a rotary switch. ‘The frequency of the oscillators N2 and N3 are determined by the values chosen for the time constants set by C1/R4 and C2/RS. Obviously, changing the value of any of 820502 these components will alter the frequency of the oscillator should it be considered necessary. Bear in mind that to make it easier to distinguish between the high and low tones it is advisable to keep the fre- ‘quencies as far apart as possible. The outputs of buffers N4....N9 are connected in parallel and fed to the minia ture loudspeaker. The three electrolytic capacitors C4, C5 and Cé are included to protect against d.c. voltage levels appearing ‘across the speaker (it would not appreciate this at all!). Do not forget to tie dowm the inputs to the unused gate N1O. The power supply If necessary, the Multitester can derive its power supply directly from the circuit being tested. However, this is far from ideal and it would be better to make it fully independant and provide it with its own power source. This presents no problem at all, Since the supply required must be +5 V a voltage regulator will be needed even if batteries are used. The 78L05 voltage regulator IC will be adequate for the purpose. ‘There is a slight disadvantage with the use of the regulator. Without it the circuit hasa quiescient current consumption of only 0.3 mA but this rises to 2.4mA when a regulator is used The completed circuit together with a miniature speaker can be mounted in any convenient case — with the accent on ‘small’ ‘The easier it is to handle, the more useful it will be! « mutttester lektor mal 1983, Figure 2, This drawing illustrates how the Multi- ‘ester can be constructed In this case, small is beautifull 537maestro (part 1) In the April article we said that the elektor may 1983 Interlude can be controlled remotely. The remote control unit necessary is described here. We call it ‘Maestro’. Without leaving his armchair the music lover can listen to music played just as he likes it, and the Maestro takes care of the ‘conducting’. Volume, balance, treble, bass, input selection, power on/off to other equipment, and even a tape recorder are all controlled, Alll the functions of the receiver are clearly shown Topical note: To prevent confusion arising between our Maesiro ‘and that of another well known manufacturer, ‘ours does not have any wieis- and anyway, | using various LEDs and two Se nousheet ihe mts {iret So therel 7-segment displays. (part 1) armchair conducting A. remote control unit must always consist of two parts: a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter is usually no more than a number of keys and a transmitting section which sends the infra-red signals to the receiver, At the receiver the signals are picked up and converted to usable control signals. For the Interlude eight control channels in all are needed: four variable (or analogue) channels for volume, balance, treble and bass, and four logic channels for the input selection circuit. The level of each analogue signal is shown on a two-digit display as some value between 0 and 99. With the logic signals, a choice can be made between phono, tape, tuner and auxiliary. These are the basic functions of the remote con- ‘wol. ‘There are also a whole lot of extras included in our design, There is a preset button which will set the balance, treble and bass controls, 5:38 to their centre positions, and the volume control to a preset level. The mute button will tum the volume down to zero ~ a very useful asset when answering the telephone or front doorbell! The volume can be re- tumed to its previous level by the volume- reset button, It is also possible to control three 240V supplies enabling the power to the amplifier, tuner or tape recorder to be switched on or Off, A further seven keys are included for the remote control of a tape recorder. The seven accessory outputs of the receiver will go to a logic ‘1’ when the associated key is pressed, With an interface (be- ‘tween these outputs and the tape recorder) the relays of of the recorder can be directly controlled. Fi- nally there are two more keys with ‘which the receiver of the remote control can be switched to ‘stand-by’ and ‘on’ again. In the stand-by mode almost all the LEDs and the displays are switched off, but the digital section of the circuit is still powered so that the levels of volume, balance, tone controls and the se- lected output are still shown. The stand-by and power LEDs remain on, The output connections for external equipment @stro (power 1, 2 and 3) also remain on so that it is still possible to use the equipment while the remote control is on stand-by. The transmitter ‘The transmitter circuit diagram in figure 1 ‘uses the Plessoy SL490 in a similar circuit to the 16 channel remote control that was published in Elektor 90 (October 1982 page 10-40). This IC contains the coding logic for the keypad and the complete transmitter circuit. Its output is passed to the infra-red ower stage (consisting of transistors T1 and. 772) in the fomn of a Pulse Position Mod lated’ (PPM) signal. ‘The keyboard can have up to 32 push bbuttons and the position of each in the matrix determines its coding (in EDCBA format) and therefore its function. On reaching the IC the code is converted into aba ‘ pe a 2 (eal rc coe ‘ dala 001 at Sh al Fact 33) sa] 15] coo vol s 42|_13| 14] 45) % on b tier to —2{_v|_ la a so 20 2201 So sno —24{_25| 20] 27 [ee tn 2829] sola a wf fe) ove °F ea> ool or cayee/ tbarrwn maestro (part 1) lektor may 1883, 32x yd SL.490 Code= EDCBA series of six narrow pulses which are passed conto the output stage. The coded infor. mation is contained in the pulse intervals; a short interval represents a logic ‘1’ and a longer interval a logic ‘0’. The current con- sumption of the infrared LEDs during trans- mission of the pulses is very high, in the onder of about 8 amps, and therefore the buffer capacitor C4 is required. The IC also contains its own internal ‘power-down’ switch which ensures that the IC is only switched on for the time that a key is pressed. The quiescient current in the power- down mode is only a few microamps and therefore a separate supply on/off switch is not needed. The receiver The basic receiver section of the circuit diagram of figure 2 is the SL 480 (IC1), again from Plessey. It contains a series of three amplifiers which convert the received signal into a usable waveform for further processing, The receiver diode (D1) cur- ent is controlled by the current source and combined low pass filter formed by transistor T1. This makes the diode less sensitive to interference from ambient light and other sources of low frequency signals such as incandescent lights and fluorescent tubes, ‘The PPM output signal of the SL 480 is fed to two decoder ICs, IC2 and IC14. These are the ML 926 and ML 927 from Plessey and, together with the Si480 and SI. 490, form a complete set of infra-red remote control ICs from this manufacturer. The decoder ICs, 1C2 and IC14, return the PPM. signal to the original EDCBA code that originated in the transmitter. The code of table 1 is divided into two parts that are dealt with separately by IC2 and IC14. The first part, codes 00001 . .. 01111 (E = 0), Figure 1. The circuit for the transmitter is vory simple. A Plessey IC takes ‘are of almost all the ‘electronics, from coding Fight through to trans- rmitting. A small power ‘age, consisting of T1 ‘and 2, drives the Intra: Reed LEDs. 539maestro (part 1) 3 ‘elektor may 1983 Figure 3. The control and a display section of the ee ft receiver. Here the controlmaestro (part 1) tlektor mey 1983 Parts list Transmittor Resistors: R= 1009 Capsctors: c1= 2200 c2= 447/10 ean C4= 100u6V Semiconductors: Ti= 80328 T2= 80433, BD435, ap4a7, 1,02 cav99, ubari) Ici =sL.490 Miscellaneous: 30 push buttons (see txt) Reflectors for transmission diodes Battery clip with 9V battery Parts list Display board Resistors: 2B... RAT= 1 Capscitors: 628,627 = 100n ‘Semiconductors 5-42 is decoded by IC2 while the second part, 10001... 11111 (E= 1), is decoded by IC14, Codes 00000 and 10000 are not de- coded and for this reason key positions 0 and 16 on the transmitter cannot be used. ‘The functionsdecoded by IC14are stand-by, on/off, tape recorder control and relay con- trol for the external mains powered equip- ment. The oscillator frequencies of the decoder ICs can be tuned to the fixed transmitter frequency by the preset poten- tiometers P1 and P2. ‘The ourput codes of IC2 are passed to IC11 and IC12. With no key pressed at the trans- mitter, the QO output of IC12a will be at logic ‘1'. In this condition the oszillator formed by the circuit round Né will be running at the fairly low frequency of a few He (determined by R20 and C13). This is ‘the clock signal for the D/A converters Ic17.. . 1C23. When a transmitter key is pressed for any function in the upper part of table 1 the Q0 output of IC12a will go to logic ‘0". Now the output of N4 will change state and, after a few seconds (determined by the values of R20 and C13), transistor T2 will switch on, ‘This puts resistor R19 in parallel with R20 ‘and causes the oscillator frequency to in- ‘crease, When the key is released QO goes to logic ‘1', the output of N4 goes low and capacitor C12 is discharged via D2 and R21. ‘Transistor T2 now switches off and the oscillator returns to its lower frequency. ‘The sequence, then, in brief. A key for volume, balance, treble ot bass is pressed. The counter display begins counting (up or down depending on the key pressed) slowly at first and then speeding up after a fow seconds, As soon as the key is released the counter stops. This is an elegant method of achieving both a fine resolution and large adjustments in a short time. This, of course, only applies to the analogue controls men: tioned. We move on now to the digital controls of this section, These are the input selection controls for the Interlude and appear at the output of ICI3 (D1... .D4). This IC is a 4 bit latch and it is able to retain data at its outputs when the information at its inputs has ceased to exist. The latch control isrif (4 OAS ae oesteo (part 1) flektor may 1983 Figure 4, ‘Two for the price of one!” Hare wo show the printed eircult board layouts for the transmitter and display sections. It may prove tuseful to soparato the two before starting to build carried out by the OR gate N6 which clocks the new information into IC13 when a pulse appears at any of the outputs of IC12b. A visible indication of the selected input is provided by LEDs D4 . . . D7 via transistors T3...76. ‘The remaining control functions of table 1 (the lower half) are decoded by IC14, a 4 to 16 line decoder. This has a very similar function to that of IC13 but has 16 lines out instead of just 4. Here the latch control iscarried outby gate N7. Qutputs Ql... Q7 are used for the control of the cassette or tape recorder. Q8 to Q15 are fed directly to the inputs of IC16 which contains four R/S flipflops. The outputs of this IC will remain in the state dictated by the associ ated keys. The Ql, Q2 and Q3 outputs of IC16 are used to control the three re. lays Rel...Re3 which in tum switch power to the external mains powered equipment. The LEDs D9 to D1 provide an indication of the condition of the relays. ‘Output QO of IC16 is the stand-by switching line for the receiver and its condition is in dicated by LED D8. Of all the outputs discussed, one remains unmentioned so far: the QO output of IC15! ‘This is unused and there is a very good reason for it, but we will leave that for you to puzzle over! That concludes the description of the re ceiver and decoder section of the circuit diagram. We can now move on to cover the analogue controls and the seven segment LED displays shown in the circuit diagram of figure 3, The analogue control outputs ‘The length of time for which the keys con. cerned with volume, tone and balance are hheld down must be converted into a number of pulses and stored in a memory. To do this wwe use the clock oscillator (N8) and a num- ber of presettable BCD up-down counters. For each of the functions there are two counters connected in series, This is necess- ary as a count of 100 is needed and each ‘counter refuses to count beyond 10! Taking the controls in order they are: ICs 17 and 18 for volume, ICs 19 and 20 for balance, ICs them! Table 1 L490 ‘code EDCBA dec, function 00000 «0 notused (00001 1_—reset volume, balance, trgblo, bass 00102 Volume mute 000113 volume preset 00100 4 _ input D1 on (phono) 00101 §_ input D2on (tuner) 00110 6 input D3 on (aux.) 00111 7 input 4 0n (tape) ML926 01000 8 volume down oi001 8 oio10 10 0101111 balance right 0110012 bess down: 0110113 bass up. 0111014 treble down O11 15 tebleup 10000 18 not used 10001 17, Qton 1001018 Q2on 10011 19 Q3on 1010020 Q4on 1010121 aSen 10110 22 Q6on 10111 23 Q7on ML927 4 11990 24 remote control on 11001 25 remote control stand-by 11010 26 power 1 on 41011 27 power 1 off 11100 28 power on 11101 29 power 2ott 11110 30 power3on J1111 31 power 3 off 21 and 22 for bass and, finally, 1C23 and 1024 for treble. A key pressed for one of these functions ‘causes the counter associated with that function to begin counting the clock pulses from the oscillator N8. Depending on ‘whether the key has an up or down function, the clock pulses will be added or subtracted Table 1. Transmission codes and the associated functions. This also shows which codes are decoded by the ML $26 and which by the ML 927. 5-43maestro (part 1) flektor mey 1983 Possible functions: Volume * and Balance < and Treble t and Bast and Volume mute Volume preset Proset Phono Tuner Tape ‘Aux Power 1 onfott Power 2 on/ott Power 3 on/ott On Stand-by, 21,02, 03,04, 05, 06, 07 eels Figure 5, Some design examples of posible koyboards. 544 Transmitter Battery 23081 58 ‘Transmitter Battery 2081 sb 08 oorsce oct o—oe05 002 e009 ‘Teanemitter ‘ransmittorfrom the initial figure. This is determined by the logic level at the A output of IC2 which finds its way to each of the counters, The range of the counters is between 0 and 99. This is to say that the count cannot jump to 99 when 0 is reached. This is achieved by «gating out the clock signal when both coun- ters of a function give a carry-out signal (CO). This operation is performed by gates NIL. ..NI8. ‘The contents of the counters is converted to an analogue signal by means of a set of precision resistors at the outputs. For example, the D/A converter for the counter IC17 and IC18 consists of R51... RS3, R63, R67, R71, R75, R79 and R&S. T logic’ signals of ‘the eight Q outputs are summed by the resistors. The maximum. level of the output signal is determined by a resistor in series with a potentiometer, in the example we are using this is R87 and PS. ‘The four outputs then, H, K, L and M, are control voltage levels that are variable in 100 steps from zero to a maximum, When power is first applied to the circuit a preset command is given by the small net- ‘work consisting of R23, C15 and N23. The same command, given by the transmitter, ultimately arrives at the Q1 output of IC12a, ‘The preset command provides a preset-enable signal to the counters which then go to a preset level. In this case of the balance, treble and bass this will be the centre value of 50 on the display, determined by the logic levels present at the PO... P3 inputs to the counter ICs, The preset level for the volume control however, can be programmed by tying the PO... PS inputs to either ground or +5 V. Each input represents a decade in BCD code therefore, if PO is connected to +5 V and the rest of the inputs to ground, the preset level will be 10. Connecting only Pl to +5 V will give a level of 20, P2 is 40 and PS is 80. (Other combinations are also possible up to a maximum of 90. For example, if P1 and 2 are taken to +5 V and PO and PS are grounded, the reset level will be 60. In any event, none of these inputs must be left floating. The volume will always go to the preset level when the unit is powered up or the preset key is operated. ‘The volume level can also be set to zero by ‘means of the ‘mute’ key on the transmitter. ‘This signal eventually arrives at the reset inputs of [C17 and IC18. It is returned to the preset level at the command via the QS ‘output of IC12a and N19 and N21. The display ‘The contents of each counter can be in- dicated by means of the two seven-segment isplays. These will indicate a number be tween 0 and 99 to represent the control voltage for the volume, balance, treble or bass. The outputs of each pair of counters are connected to the inputs of a pair of 4into-1 multiplexers IC26 . . . IC29. Each of these ICs contains two multiplexers. Their outputs are passed to [C30 and IC31 which have the grand title of ‘BCD to 7-segment latchdecoderdrivers’. These two ICs drive and control the two commoncathode dis. plays LD] and LD2. Their cathodes are taken down to earth via the Darlington tran- sistor T15. When the remote control system is switched to stand-by, the displays are tured off by this transistor. It also switches maestro (part 1) laktor may 1983 off LEDs D4... D7, D12... D15 via the "V" connection points shown in the circuit diagram. ‘The multiplexers are controlled by the ci cuit containing the gates N9 and N10. The displays will indicate the volume level until one of the keys for balance or tone control is operated, When this occurs, one of the QL... Q3 outputs of ICI 12 will be taken Tow and the corresponding capacitor, C16 = C18, will discharge rapidly through its associated diode (D16, D17 or D18). Thus, via the gates N9 and N1O, the associated multiplexer will be driven’ by the relevant ‘counter to display the level of the function of the key that was operated. On releasing the key, the capacitors will charge relatively slowly through a 10M resistor (R24... .R26) and eventually the display will revert back to indicating the volume level. To summarise briefly: The display nor- mally indicates volume level until cone of the keys for balance, treble or bass is operated. ‘The corresponding level indication ’ is then is played for the period of time that the key is held, reverting back to volume level a few seconds after the key is released. Four LEDs controlled by ICL, via tran- sistors T11 'T14, show what output level is being dis- played: The entize system is powered by a single 15 V regulator 1C25, That completes the description of the cir ccuit diagram. It will be obvious that if all the functions are desired, then all the com- ponents shown must be used. Construction of the transmitter ‘As can be seen from the printed circuit ‘board layout in figure 4, the transmitter can be made quite small. Do not be confused by the printed circuit for the display board which is shown in the same figure. It was decided not to produce a printed circuit for the keyboard in order to allow an open choice to use any key switches that may be available. It also allows a choice on the size cof the case used for the transmitter. ‘Three suggestions for design ideas for the keyboard layout are given in figure 5. The basic criteria behind these designs has been 5-45maestro (part 1) (lektor may 1983 Figure 6. This is an imstration of the Maestro {front panel. The with is kept the same as the Prolude front panel so that ‘the two can be positioned ‘one on top of the other. 546 to keep the essential control functions to the left and the ‘extras’ (which relate to IC14) to the right, A 50 key transmitter is shown in figure 5a. The printed circuit board and battery can be mounted in front of the key- board, Another possibility is the design of figure Sb using 15 keys and an additional ‘function select’ key. Pressing this key and. ‘one of the function keys wrill result in selecting the ‘second’ function. This method still provides the possibility of 30 functions. A third option is given in figure Sc where 30 normal function keys or 15 double fune- tion keys (and a ‘function select’ key) can be used. An idea may be to use a calculator key- oard, after all, itis possible to buy a cal- culator cheap enough for the keyboard alone! Constructing the receiver ‘The receiver printed circuit board is double sided with plated through holes and is slightly smaller than Eurocard size (113 x 255 mm). The board layout will be pub- lished in the next issue. However, knowing the board size enables a suitable case to bi built. The display section containing the two displays, 1030, IC31 and the associated com- ponents, is mounted on the printed circuit board shown in figure 4. The case need not bbe unnecessarily latge. If it is to be used with the Prelude it would be aesthetically better if both cases were of the same type. ‘The design for the front panel that is avail- able for the Maestro is shown in figure 6 to the same scale as that for the Prelude. Do not forget to allow sufficient room for the transformer. ‘The front panel, available through the Elek- tor readers service, is manufactured from flexible plastic sheet and is self-adhesive. It is obviously necessary to complete all drilling and cutting (for the display window and LED mounting holes) and to fit the printed circuit boards, by means of counter- sink screws, before fitting the front panel. To prevent errors, it will probably be as well to wait until the last possible moment to fit the front panel. Remember, Murphy's Law will strike at the slightest opportunity! ‘Here endeth the first lesson. ..', or, in this case, the first part of the Maestro. The second instalment, together with the prom- ised printed circuit board layout, will be published in the next issue of Elektor. In the meantime, you could get in some prac- tice with the transmitter... ! «what is power? eloktor may 1983 kilowatt-hours affect our wallets! hours. ‘Watts’ have got something to do with power, watt-seconds with energy and The arithmetic is as follows: measured ‘watts’ multiplied by hours of operation equals watt-hours, This is then divided by 1000 and the result (or units of electricity on our electricity bill). When this figure is multiplied by ‘the unit price the result is the cost to the consumer. This issue also contains an article on a wattmeter for those readers interested in measuring kilowatt- lowatt-hours In this article we shall discuss the difference between energy and power, the meaning of r.m.s. value, and the reason why multimeters are not usually suitable for measuring non-sinusoidal voltages. what is power ? a brief study of the theory If a current I flows through an electrical conductor of resistance R during time t, the energy W released in this conductor is pro- portional to the value of the resistance, time and the square of the current. (W = [Rt or W= Ult). This statement (or one with very similar wording) was made by the English physicist Joule asa result of his observations involving electrical energy. In his honour, the unit used for electrical energy is the joule (1 J= 1 Ws). When cal- culating electricity consumption we use the unit ‘kilowatt hour’ (kWh) in order to keep the figures lower (1 kWh = 3,600,000 Ws) But this has no effect on the price we have to pay for the electricity! The phrase ‘energy consumption’ has become established in everyday usage, but in fact energy cannot be consumed, It can, of course, be converted to ‘another form (according to Einstein it can even be converted to mass and vice versa). It is not lost. This conversion of energy into another form over a particular time is known. as power. Power is therefore energy (con- version) per unit of time. (P= WitorP = Ul) Power can be calculated quite simply: when a direct current flows through a resistance, ‘we multiply the voltage by the current. Since the voltage is constant in this case, the current is also constant. The power has the same value at any moment of time. This situation is shown in figure 1 in the form of three characteristics. The d.c. voltage is switched on at time to (a). A current now flows through the resistance (b). If the two characteristics are multiplied (point by point) the result is the power asa function Of time (c). With a voltage of 24 V and a current of 2A, the power is 48 W (watts) Since both the voltage and the current are constant, the values of power at time ty and time to are also constant. The power line is therefore flat as a function of time (c). By caleulating the power rating of a load, we obtain the ‘consumed’ electrical energy as the product of power and on-time, The cross-hatched area in figure 1c represents the electrical energy which is converted to heat by the resistance, from the time it was tumed on until time t). This area is the product of voltage, current and time, and therefore represents energy. Thus a kilowatt: hour meter for d.c. current simply consists of a voltmeter, an ammeter and a clock! Unfortunately, this simple formula cannot be used to calculate a.c. power. The mains supplies an alternating voltage, and therefore an alternating current: it is relatively sinus- idal at a frequency of 50 Hz. The first problem is to express mathematically the values of voltage and current varying over time, This is further complicated by a situation in which the alternating current does not flow through a resistance but through a coil (with an inductance) or capacitor (with a capacitance). In these cases the alternating current is not in phase with the voltage. The puzzling result of this is that a ‘positive’ current flows whilst a ‘negative’ voltage is applied. Some loads even draw a non-sinusoidal current although a sinusoidal voltage is applied! Furthermore, there are cases in which only a part of the mains voltage is applied to the load ~ as with triac control systems (light dimmers), for example, In this way, curious current forms are produced in loads which are not purely resistances. ‘The simplest task is to determine the a.c. power drawn by a resistance. Figure 23 shows the periodically varying mains voltage. ‘The amplitudes vary sinusoidally. If this voltage is applied to a resistive or ‘constant’ load (a heating filament, for example), the current which flows is also sinusoidal (figure 2b), If the voltage and current values at a particular time are multiplied, the power at that moment of time is known. This pro: cedute is followed point by point over time: figure 2c shows the result. To able to express this power in a simple value, we must deter mine the average power in a period T. The average power in the other periods is the same. Let us refresh our memories by taking another look at the definition of energy: ‘power multiplied by time. The power is therefore the energy per period T. But the enetgy is none other than the cross-hatched area in figure 2c (see also figure 1c). If the period is subdivided into an infinite number of times At, both the voltage and current are constant in this short time. The energy can therefore be calculated as though a direct, current were flowing in time At. 547‘hat is power? elektor may 1983 Figure 1. The values of direct voltage (a) and direct current (b) are constant st any momont of timo, The product of these two values is a constant power (c). The crosshatched ares represents the enersy (power multiplied by time) which is converted to heat in a resistaneo, during the timo to t0 ty. current (b) is drawn. Tho power curve (e) ean be ‘drawn after determinir the “instantaneous power for short durations of time At over the period T. The aver be caleulated Integral calculus. the equivalent LL the current ‘behind the vottage (a). The result i ‘negative power’ {marked in black). The difference betwoon the lack areas and the crass hhatehed areas isthe energy, Which is converted to heat in the resistance. 5-48 D.C. energy: W AC. energy: w Av = uit When added, all these instantaneous values of energy Aw result in the total electrical energy applied to the resistance in time t. If this value is divided by T, the final result is the average power P. This addition is performed with integral caloulus, but there is a simpler method in practice, For this purpose the root-mean: square (rm.s.) value was introduced and defined as follows: The rms. value of an altemating current produces the same heat (© energy) in an ohmic resistance as would bbe produced by a direct current of the same value. Expressed more simply: the r.m.s. alternating current has the same effect as the direct current, If the rm.s. value of the alternating current is known, the power is obtained by multiplying I/,,, by R. 2 P= lms Urme ‘Unfortunately we need integral calculus to calculate the r.m.s. value of a current and of a voltage, For sinusoidal voltages and cur- rents, however, there is a simpler relationship ‘between peak value and r.m.s. value. For example, the peak value of mains voltage is 338 V. The r.m.s, value is obtained by mul- tiplying 338 V by 0.71 = 240 V: a familiar ‘Most multimeters are designed so that the t.m.s. value of a sinusoidal current and sinus- dal voltage can be read off using the alter. nating current and voltage ranges. No cal- culation is therefore needed, However, many loads do not behave like pure resistances but like coils or capacitors A phase shift between voltage and current takes place on them, The current leads the voltage or lags behind it. Figure 3 shows an example of alternating voltage applied to an inductive load. In this case the current lags behind the voltage by time ty — to. The angle is used to indicate the phase shift. ‘The a.c. power in figure 8c is formed in the same way as previously: i.e. the values are multiplied point by point, Strangely enough, we also obtain ‘negative energy’ in this case (marked in black). This content is retumed to the mains by the coil. This energy is not ‘consumed’ and must therefore be subtracted from the ‘positive, consumed’ energy in the energy calculation. The explanation is as follows: in addition to drawing useful energy, the coil also draws energy in order to develop a magnetic field. When this field decays, the ‘field energy’ flows back into the mains. Since it does not affect the ‘consump- tion it is referred to as reactive energy and reactive power (as opposed to active power). By multiplying the rms. values of currentwhat is power? itor may 1963 Figure 4. In a TRIAC control system the voltage is partly blocked (2), resulting in a non-sinus- cidal currant (b). The ‘average power ean only be ealeulated with com: plex mathematical methods (c) mounted on the ‘voltage coil’ Ly +R which rotates within the ‘current coil Li. ‘Meter deflection is pro- portional to the avorage product of current and voltage. and voltage, the result is the apparent power S (unit = VA). ‘Apparent power: $= Urms lems Active power: P= Urms Irms cos 0 The active power P is obtained by multi plying the apparent power by cos y. The cos p Value at rated load is specified on the rating plates of many electrical appliances, so that the active power can be calculated quite simply. The consumer is only charged for this active power on the electricity bill For this reason, electromechanical kilowatt- hour meters are designed so that they mul- tiply the active power by the time The cosy value of a load is between 0 and 1. Zero signifies a purely inductive or capacitive load, because cos 90° = 0. The phase shift between voltage and current is therefore 90°. Thus the active power is P= Unms Irms x 0= 0. No energy is ‘con sumed”; the kilowatt-hour meter is stationary although a current, ie. the reactive current is flowing, Of course, the electricity generating board is not prepared to ive away electric power for nothing, For this reason, it specifies a mini mum cos y value for large or industrial con- sumers. If the resistive content of an inductive ot capacitive load increases, the cosy value rises also. With 2 purely resistive load the current and voltage are in phase. ‘The cosy value is 1 in this case, because cos 0" = 1. Unusual current and voltage forms are produced in a TRIAC control system (see figure 4). The formula for calculating the ums, value from the peak value of a sinus- oidal voltage or current does not apply here. However, the average power can be calcu. lated quite easily if the so-called firing angle @is known. But even formulae are of little use if the current cannot be described math- ‘matically. For example, the type of motor employed in vacuum cleaners and power drills produces such an unusual current form that the active power consumption can only be determined by measurement, ‘A meter that is capable of measuring the active power (in watts) irrespective of the type of load, must therefore be able to evaluate widely different voltage and current forms. In principle, the meter continuously determines the instantaneous power from the product of instantaneous voltage and current, and indicates the mean value of this ‘calculation’. In the electromechanical watt meter (see figure 5), the ‘instantaneous product’ of current and voltage is formed by an electrodynamic measuring system con- sisting of high-resistance ‘voltage coil’ Ly + R and a low-esistance ‘current coil’ Li. The pointer is mounted on the voltage coil which rotates within the stationary current coil, The voltage coil is connected in parallel with load X, and the current coil in series with it, As a'result of the magnetic field in the current coil, a force which exerts a torque acts on the voltage coil (or, to be more precise, on the magnetic field of the coil). This torque is proportional to the product of instantaneous voltage and instan- taneous current (= instantaneous power), ‘The measuring system has considerable inertia, so that rapid variations in measured variables are not registered. The average figure is therefore obtained from the instan- taneous values and the meter indicates the average power. The meter only provides a reliable indication when the current through the voltage coil is in phase with the voltage across the load. For this reason, compen- sation by means of a capacitor across R is usually necessary (drawn with dashed lines in figure 5). However, this compensation is only valid for one frequency. Non-sinusoidal current forms produced by the load contain many harmonics at multiples of the funda mental frequency (e.g. §0 Hz). The compen- sation therefore does not apply to these fre- quencies and the reading for non-sinusoidal signals are less accurate. ‘The problem can be solved electronically. Elsewhere in this issue there is an article desoribing an electronic wattmeter for home- construction, This allows the power con. sumptions of all electrical loads in the home to be measured, The meter can be expanded to a kilowatthour meter by adding an extension circuit (to be published later), ‘The cost of running the kitchen refrigerator, for example, can then be established quite simply. « 5-49parallel-serial keyboard converter Figure 1. This diagram shows that, with a very small number of compo: rents, this extra parallel: ‘can be achieved. standard baudrates: 75 600 19200 110 1200 38400 150 2400 300 9600 5-50 ‘This parallel to serial converter makes the keyboard RS 232C compatible (with a con- nection at k the serial output is at TTL- level, with a connection at lit is at RS282C- level). Thus the keyboard can be connected to any computer with serial input. Parallel-to-serial The positive strobe-pulse from the keyboard triggers FF1 (IC5). A. ‘0’ level at pin 8 of this flipflop acts as a ‘load signal for pin 1 of IC6. The information output from the EPROM (IC4) is then loaded into IC6. In IC6 the parallel-serial conversion takes place when a squarewave is applied to pin 2. STROBE As we have already said in the article on constructing the ASCII keyboard, there is another option for the computer hobbyist who wants more. This option allows serial ASCII in both RS 232C and TTL form. Provision for this has already been made on the printed circuit for the keyboard. ‘The frequency (read: baudrate) is determined by the circuitry surrounding IC7. The fre- quency is set with potentiometer P1;it can be checked with a digital frequency meter connected to pin § of the 555. If desired, the range (at present up to about 400 Hz) can be changed by making C5 smaller, Because the baudrate is equal to the number of bits per second (thus making the baudrate directly proportional to frequency) this adjustment isa very simple task. The (clock-) output of the timer is also connected to the clock-input of flipflop 2. ‘The latter receives the bits from IC6 to its data input. The serial signal appears at pin 5 of this flipflop, and the output is >subsequently sent to Tl. Also connected to pin 1 of ICS is another RC combination acting as a ‘power-on reset’ for FF2. This flipflop ensures that the start bit is always same width as the other bits in the signal ‘The parallel-serial conversion starts, as we have already said, with the aid of FFI. The positive edge of the strobe signal from the keyboard loads the shift register through the action of FF1. The load-pulse is ex- ‘tremely short, due to the feedback from Q7 (1C6) to the clear-input of FFI. This makes very high demands on the quality of the strobe signal (any spurious spikes or *bounce’ can cause problems), and must be taken into account as regards applying this converter to other keyboards. ‘The output of the circuit delivers a serial signal with one start bit, seven data bits, and a stop-bit-value between two characters. Since the clock signal is always present, the circuit actually keeps sending stop bits until the next character appears. In practice this is only noticeable if the baudrate is compar. able to printing speed. Finally, connections j and i make it possible to tie the break-key either to ‘0’ or ‘1 Very little needs to be said about con- struction, Figure 4 shows how the con- stituent parts are mounted. If no code. conversion is desired some wire links must be included (see p.c. board design). « 4 1. Protective Ground 2: Transmitted Data . Received Data Request to Sond lear to Send Set Ready 181 Ground Carrier Dete 4 Not Used od Bit Clock 24, Tranumitad Bit Clock 28, Not Ured 3 om UU SI SO SSS parallel [oareees LS eaten thiftsarocognizd dot or | 4256,” EA‘ EACEA 0 calls FIG A and The start address is 4900. Since the DOS Junior has a different mem. ‘ory structure to that of the expanded Junior, two versions of the Morse program ‘are accommodated in one EPROM. The EPROM is plugged into the socket for IC4 on the Junior extension card. With the extended Junior it is located in address range 0800 to OFFF. With the DOS Junior, on the other hand, it is located in address range E800 to EFFF. Before program can be started it must be copied from the EPROM into the RAM. The necessary copying routines are already contained in the EPROM. The start addresses of the copying routines are speci- fied in table 1 Once the program has been copied from the EPROM into the RAM, some bytes must be changed manually by typing in the specified bytes at the addresses mentioned, on table 2 or 3. After this operation the program can be started; it can also be written from the RAM conto a cassette or floppy disk (with the DOS Junior) to facilitate future reuse. ‘Those readers wishing to program a type 2716 EPROM with the Morse program themselves will find the hex dump listing in table 4, The ready programmed 2716 is available from Technomatic Limited.Parts ist Capacitors: C1= see text and table c2= 3300 63-100 ‘Semiconductors I= 78Lxx (gee text and table) ‘40 V/200 ma bridge rectifier loktor may 1983 vollage regulators .and 79L Imax. 100 mA Your | 192 mae nt sna os.act 784.08 Lurme.osace oe Ca ears wanes sav] sv} iooomney mann tae sane gv /rauoe | 73v | 103 | rooowey gate IANS eee sv |mtas| sav | i2ov| ‘eomasy Geminer gies ace wv | ratio | row | taav| avomasy rman Unetstes Uiheakee muster vav | 7aui2| ra1v | as2v| soom/25v 18¥ | 7aL15 | 182v | 173v| so0m/25V i8v | 7aLia| 1725v | 195v| s00u/a5V zav | raza | aio | 237] sa0ua5v Low-power IC voltage regulators of the 78L seties offer the advantages of good regu. lation, current limiting/short circuit pro- tection at 100 mA and thermal shutdown in the event of excessive power dissipation In fact virtually the only way in which these regulators can be damaged is by incorrect polarity or by an excessive input voltage Regulators in the 78L series up to the 8 V type will withstand input voltages up to about 35V, whilst the 24V type will withstand 40 V. Normally, of course, the regulators would not be operated with such a large input-output differential as this would lead to excessive power dissipation. A choice of 8 output voltages is offered in the 78L series of regulators, as shown in table 1. The full type number also carries a letter suffix (not shown in table 1) to denote the output voltage tolerance and package type. The AC suffix denotes a voltage tolerance of + 5%, whilst the C suffix denotes a tolerance of * 10%. The letter H denotes a metal can package, whilst the letter Z denotes a plastic package. Thus a 7BLOSACZ would be a 5 V regulator with a 5% tolerance in a plastic package. All the regulators in the 78L series will deliver a maximum current of 100 mA provided the input-output voltage differential does not exceed 7 V, otherwise excessive capacitor, Cl. The capacitance/voltage pro- power dissipation will result and the thermal duct of these capacitors is chosen so that shutdown will operate. This occurs at a _any one of them will fit the printed circuit dissipation of about 700 mW; however, the _board without difficulty. metal-can version may dissipate 1.4W if A similar range of regulators exists for fitted with a heatsink. negative voltages: the 79L series. Even A regulator circuit using the 78L ICs is _ though the pinning is different, the same shown in figure 1, together with the layout. basic p.c. board layout can be used. The of a suitable printed circuit board. The regulator is mounted ‘backwards’ in the to obtain the rated output voltage at a _plastic position; ‘+’ then becomes the ‘current up to 100 mA are given in table 1, _negative output, and the positive end of together with suitable valuesfor the reservoir C1 is supply common. « 5:59morse decoding with the 2808 elektor may 1983 including a program by P. von Berg (ON6XK) ‘Spoken language is a code made up of sounds and it describes reality. Written language is a graphical coding of spoken language .. . and morse is an audible coding of written language. Not to mention written morse which is a graphical coding of an audible code . . . and so on, In short this is a mental feat which is left more and more to machines. We already have the necessary machines; now all we need is the software to drive them. That is what we have here, designed specifically for the Elektor | 280A CPU card. morse decoding with using the Elektor Z80A card, the Elekterminal anda CW signal forming circuit Figure 1. This cireuitis ‘the interface between the ZB0A CPU card and 9 display terminal such as the Elakterminal. The numbers in parentheses are for the Z80A card connector. The Elek terminal connections have an alphabetic rotation clearly marked fon the printed circuit ppublishod in Decembor 4978 (Eloktor nr. 44) page 12-23). 560 the Z8OA In this issue we are presenting two CW numeric signal which has been converted decoding programs; one for the Junior from analogue. The interface, between Computer and other 6502 systems, and receiver and microprocessor, needed for this the other, described here, for Z0A sys conversion is the same for the 6502 and the tems, We will refer to the other article 280A: it is desoribed in the article on soft for information on the nature of a ware for the Junior Computer. The circuit morse signal, the difficulties posed by its description, construction and calibration will automatic decoding, and consequently the _not be repeated here, since they are indepen- requirements for the program to decode the dent of the software used. 1 NI... N4= 1¢3= 74L802 TORE 108) 0 mate 280A CPU CARD cr ‘om 10), pa t103 0———> 1s 1 l ! i i 1 1 LCarbererer rary ooo: 32 52 a8 c2 8A an 08 G10: 81 Ci C8 Se 21 93 98 920: D8 Ce CO 78 68 28 3E B30: Coa. 28 79 a8 08 ae O40: 21 A a6 28 on 5a 28 950: Cb @3 £7 09 7A 7 44 i l4 aa ad aa AB 8 Ba 60 G0 ve ee Bo 30 OL ce 25 6) 09 le De 21 A7 BG 28 73 87 92 30.01 32 38 IA CD AA CE 28 82 18 08 26 08 co a9 18 8 18 3 Cy ee Pe Se eo 2 83 pe 47 m 2 88 a 2 be a oe 20 a * oe a 58 56 oe 2 ee ° ee be ee ee 3 3 te 2 a we a 39 a a a oe a Software for the 280 The program works by incrementing an 8 bit binary word at 250 Hz (it counts from 0 to 256). For this the Z80A clock must run at 4.43 MHz. A different clock frequency may be used by changing the program at addresses $0041 and $0042 and also $9094 and $0995, so that the D register is in- cremented at 250 Hz in spite of the modified clock frequency. (Incrementing is carried out in $00SE and $008E), Telegraphy can be decoded for speeds varying from 5 to 50 words per minute (75 words with automatic control), If we raise the fre- quency at which the D register is in cremented, we can make the operating rate greater: for example from 12 to 120 words/ minute — note the factor of 1/10 which is constant. The CW is input to the data receiver, and is modified to form the equiv- alent of a TTL numerical signal (see the interface circuit in the article on Junior Computer software). The TTL signal (high logic level in the rest state!) is applied directly to the 280 CPU, via its interrupt input (pin 16). Memory area $0890... $0859 must be RAM. The program is designed for the 280A. card published in May 1982 (Elektor no. 85, age 5-28), consisting of CPU, a 2716 EPROM, and at least two 2114s, This card does not include the input/output functions, so we have designed a small interface which should be placed between the CPU bus and the Elekterminal (or any other display terminal). Latching the ASCII data ‘Three inexpensive integrated circuits are needed to adapt the Elekterminal to the 280A card (and vice versa). In figure 1, an B.dit latch (IC1) joins the Z80A data bus (DO... D6) to the display driver of the terminal (BQ. . .B6). The latch is driven by a monostable (IC2) whose calibrated pulse of 10 ms is triggered by the combination of the TORQ and WR signals of the CPU while the ASCIi data is preset on the bus; more- over the Q output of the same monostable (74121) inhibits the Z80 during data transfer, and signals the atrival of a new character on the display driver bus (via pin 16, the point marked "T” on the circuit of the Elekterminal). Thus the Z80A tunes its speed to that of the terminal. The software side As they are divided into two groups, the 280 can only work on 6 registers at a time ‘The groups are interchangeable at any time using the instruction EXX $D9. The func- tions associated with the registers are listed in the margin. In its present form the program starts at $900 and finishes at $0159, not for- getting, of course, the ASCII data at $0220... $0251. Relocating it would re- quire extensive modification: the absolute jumps would have to be changed. Further more, the subroutines at $0008, $9029 and $0030 are called by RST instructions. If located elsewhere, these routines would have to be called by a more usual instruction (CALL). Such a modification to the jumps Fequires a complete restructuring of the program, Applying the CW signal to the interrupt input of the CPU makes for a shorter pro- {gram (there is no need to program an input/ output circuit), but it requires the use solely of memory locations $0988 and its immediate successors (this is the principle of mode 1 interrupts). Any other interrupt method requires the use of a PIO. x ‘morse decoding with the 2808 flektor may 1983 ‘Table 1. This program is stored in the EPROM on the Z80A CPU card when the latter Is used for ‘morse decoding. The ‘text gives sevoral important notes referring to program modi ‘oF relocation, B: always 00. : only bits @ and 1 used; bit @ set to "1" if the word contains ‘more than one letter, bit 1 set 10 "1" if the word consists of more than 8 dots or dashes D: desynchronisation control ‘code formation Hand L: general use {timing and memory management} Bisalways 00 ature of last spacing Dr:mensure of incrementation time E's telerence spacing Hr smeasure of last tone (Got or dath) ference tone 561Membrane keypads Velleman announce the introduction of new range of membrane keypads available with 12keys (type KB12) or 16 keys [type K816). Both versions are offered with standard legend or with blank keys to ‘enable customer to print their own legend, ‘These multi-layer keyboards are manufac: tured by Velleman. using high quality materials with the top layer being poly- carbonate film which resists scratching ‘dust and water Termination is by insulated flat eable and a suitable PCB connector with 2.54 mm (0.1 ineh) spacing is supplied. Ratings are 24V max. and 25 mA max, A data sheet With full technical specifications is aval Able upon request. Velleman will also manufacture special keyboards to cus tomers own design. Velleman (UK) Limited, P.O. Box 30, ‘St. Leonardson-Seo, East Sussex, TNS? 7NL. Telephone: 0424.753246 (2647 m) Sound with Sinclair BLPAK have now introduced a sound ‘generator for usa with all Sinclair com puters. Designated ZON X the unit is seit contained in a black plastic case with a loudspeaker and manual volume control No power supply or batteries are required 562 to power the unit ~ it simply plugs into the rear of the Sinclair Computer The new unit offers = wide range of sound effects, These are obtained using the three-channel plus-noise sound chip ‘and Is designed so that the pitches and volumes of the three channels and overall attach/cecsy envelope can be controlled by simple basic statements, This means that Pianos, Oroans, Bells, Helicopters, Lasers, Expiosions ete., can be simulated and added to existing programmes, For use with the Sinclair Spectrum Cam: puter there is a furthey plug-in adaptor for the ZON X which houses a crystal and Other ‘electronic devices needed t0 give unlimited sound facilities, ZONX for use with ZX81 and Sinclair ‘Timex 1000: € 25.98. ZON X plus special adaptor for Sinclair Spectum: € 32.75. Spectrum adaptor only: £6.80, All above prices include V.A.T., and postage BLPAK Semiconductors, P.0. Box 6, Were, Hertfordshire S612 9AG Telephone: 0920,3442/3182 (2635 M) Cased transformers ILP announced the availability of 15. VA. transformers — all fully encased in. ABS Plastic shells with easy fixing by an M4 bush at the base, Test runs have proved the demand for both the lower VA rating and the encased toroid, ‘This facility will be extended throughout the year to cover transformers up to 120A UP Electronics Ltd, Graham Beil House, Roper Close, Canterbury, Kent C72 7EP. Telephone: 0227.54778 (2643 my Dynamic displays Regisbrook hove added another neve line to their range of display systems. They een now offer TEXT-LITE. promotional displays with an optional five years serview uacante TEXT-LITE displays are designed to continuously display messages of up to 450 words. The package includes a sixteen: lektor may 1983, segment display board 82mm Jona, each segment being a 4x 5.5mm mavrix of 35 light omitcing diodes, The bright red LED's provide continuous scrolling cross fof up the screen, Messages can also be halted, flashed and jumped into the display, while # non-volatile memory con: tains the toxt whon the power is switched off With the display comes a 47 key pro- gramming board on a detachable ribbon cable. The keyboard provides 2 full alphanumeric set, extensive punctuation {including foreign symbols) and editing facilities, while specially defined keys allow the user to program special screen ftfects, such as vertical rolling and ‘modifications to the display speeds. TEXT-LITE displays are particularly ap propriate for shops, offices and exhi Ditions, although their 12 volt “consump tion permits them to be used in ears, boats and caravans Regisbrook Limited, ‘Studio House, 215 Kings Road, ‘Reading RGI ALS, Borkshire Telephone: 0734.665955 (2648 m) New test clip sizes Saffron Walden, Essex AP Products brings to market two new sizes of IC Text Clips, 48 & 64 pin alips for troubleshooting Very Large Scale Integration chips. TC-48 fits chips with .6'" to .6'* rowo-row spacing. TC-64 fits chips with "spacing They ore manufactured with nail head pins ‘that keep probe hooks from slipping off fends oF with long, headless, test lead pine for connection to AP Jumper Cable sevemblies, All Test Clips are available With either Alloy 770 oF gold-plated Contacts, They are constructed of gineering grade thormoplastic moulded round contact pins and feature a long: lasting steel pin and hinge design AP Products Lid, 2.0. Box 19, Sattron Walden, Essex Telephone: 0799,22036 (2640 m)sloktor may 1983, Telephone keypads Ambit's KEA series miniature telephone Keypads are examples from the broad ‘ange offered by ALPS, with minimum life expectancies ranging from 100,000 oper |fexieestiee ion, These low cost keypads are available with a cross reference that lists each ALPS type ‘against the cocresponding dialer IC, in cluding Gl, MOSTEK, AMI, Intersil Motorois, National et. ‘Ambit is stocking a selection based on popular types, although any keypad configuration can be supplied to customer order Ambit ntarnational, 200 North Service Rosd, Brentwood, Essex CMT4 456, (2642 m) Illuminated pushbutton switches A second range of small sized, illuminated Bushbutton switches and matching in icators is now available from NSF. Specifically designed for Samp appli cations they are marginally larger in i than the Series KB but, at {7.8mm square end with a body depth of 21.5 mm, Series LB aro svll smaller than those currently available Features incluce = Compact illuminating area for bright ‘and positive visual properties, Choice of illumination soures New ‘spotlight’ button variant ‘Snap.action mechanism. Easy insallation, = Epony sealed terminations Single and double pole, double throw models are available with momentary oF push-push actuation, Rated at 3A 126 oF 260 V ac (resistive), contact resistance Is {50 millionms maximum at 0.1.8 2-8 V de, insulation resistance is 200 megohme minimum at 500 V de, and @ mechanical life of 1 million operations (momentary) ‘9f 200,000 for push-push models. The square shaped actuator and in- dicawore combined with a choice of illumination sourees, incandescent lamps and LEDs — I element and 4 elements, Provide a very wide choice of colour coding, Of special interest is the ‘spot illumination’, design of actuator, This comprises a small window in the coloured button through which LED illumination (red, yellow or green) provides a visual Information, Snap-in mounting is into @ panel cutout of 16.2 mm square, End terminals are of silver plated brass, MSF. Limited, Keighley, West Yorkshire 8021 5EF. Telephone: 0535.61144 (2636 m) DMM transistor and diode tester With the increase in demand for con: venient low cost component testing, House of Instruments are introducing the MIC-3300A into their range of digital multimeters Similar in style and appearance to the already successful MIC 6000Z the new 33000 offers the user excellent Transistor FE roasurement facilities for both NPN. ‘and PNP devices. With a hFE range of Oto 1000 this 3% digit LCD. Multimeter dlitectly indicates the hFE value of the device under test, with approximately 10 microamp of base current and 2.8 V of Voe, Overload protection is 1000 V DC and 760.V rims. A.C. Diode test fac ties give a maximum o/¢ 3.2 V and 0.2 mA test current, Other functions include: AC and DC volts, OC current to 1Qamps and re sistance t 20M ohms — Auto 200, polarity and low battery indication 800 hours bartery life from a single 9V cell — Measures 170 x91 x 40 mm and weighs, 320 grams. Included are test leads, handbook and 1 year quarantee, Just ask Quiswood Limited, 30 Lancaster Road, St, Albans, Hertfordshire ALI 4&7. Telephone: 0799.24922. (2644 M) Wow and flutter meter ‘A now Wow and Flutter Meter, model Wn 1A from Bang and Olufsen, has a high ability erysta-controlied 3.15 kHz oscillator for very accurate measurements ‘Available from David Bisset Ltd, itis for Use by sound recording and broadcasting studios and by suppliers of audio pro- duets The meter features a wide choice of filters and detector characteristics. It is capable of servicing and testing high quality sound recording and playback equipment, studio sound equipment, tape recorders, video Fecorders and turntables. Far professional ‘equipment, it measures wow and flutter down to + 0.003%, Drift, ie. speed deviations, are measured from = 0.03% to + 20% on the driftmeter relative to a reference 3.18 kHz crystal controlled signal Wow, i.e. very low frequency changes from 0.2 Hz to 10 Hz, fluter from 10 Hz to 300Hz, or wow plus flutter from 0.2Hz to 300 Hz ean all be measured linearly or weighted. The unit includes © frequency spectrum analyser which makes it possible 10 determine which wow and flutter fre quencies are dominant. Thus it is possible to predict which rotating components — Idlers, beltrive, motor, bearings, etc, — should be repaired or replaced. David Bisset Limited, 52 Luton Lane Reobourn, Hertfordshire ALS 7PY. Telephone: 058285,2637. (2651 M) 563ALPS DIP Switches | Ambit has introduced the entre range of new Alps dualindine switches to its ‘current industrial stock range. This in: cludes tape sealed, open and covered types with versions from 210 10 ways. ‘The switches are constructed using Alps’ Insert molding processes, thereby prevent flux ingress during soldering — znd. the contact is notable for both gold plating and a 2 point contact system for improved resistance to mechanical shock. These switches a also a goad des! arrover (7.6mm at the widest point) than many DIL switehes, enabling close stacking and complete compatibility with IC packages Ambit International, 200 North Service Road, Brentwood, Exsex CM14 486. (2652) Miniature electrical power tools Minicraft has introduced a new range in the U.K. including five different portable electric drills, each with the electric motor encased in ‘a tough Polyamid plastic hhousing, Features of the range include a spindle lock burton whieh grins the spindle when tightening the chuck 30 | wrenches are not required, an. onoff button, an eyelet hanger built into the motor body, and a long eoil card. ‘The motor spindle of the top of the range Gril (Buffalo) has tno miniature. ball bearings for full power, coo! running and 3 5.64 Jong life. Used with a transformer, the drill has @ 9-16 volt capacity (DC), between 20, and 100 watts, a 17,000 RPM maximum ‘and a torque of 14 Nem (2 amp). In addition to the drills, @ miniature orbital sander is also available along with 2 rill press, lathe, router attachment, 3 lig saw and & miniature table saw. All se the durable Minicraft motors. In. the accessorigs ine there is a complete range of alls, grinders, buffers, polishers, ‘cutters and saws ovailable [AL the top of the line is @ 50 piece home workshop kit complete with dril, sander, and jig £3 along with an adaptar for al transformers, 36 sccesiories for cutting, driling, polishing, sanding, grinding, de: rusting, routing, and engraving, plus 10 pieces of sandpaper for the orbital sander ‘There are five drills in the range selling from £ 12.60 to £26.95, with the router attachment soling at £7.95 and the jig sav at £22.95, the lathe attachment at £2595, the drill press at € 21.75, and the ‘miniature table sayy at £32.96, The home workshop kit in a tough plastle carrying case retails at £83.95, Nathan Shestopal Ltd, 1 Grangeway, Kilburn, London NW6 28W. Telwphone: 01-328 3128 (2639 m1 Low cost thermal printer The 0111 consists of an industry standard PU1800 20 column thermal mechanism mounted on an interface board. The microprocessor based board controls al timing and drive requirements of the printer and accepts ASCII encoded data in parallel and serial form, Thora is @ Centronics compatible parallel input RS232C, 20™mA current loop and. TTL serial inputs Software commands include expended ize, programmable line feed and back: space. Two supply voltages of 19 V de and SV de are required. The system is eatily installed as only four mounting serews are required lektor may 1983 Different modes can be set using a DIL switch, Normal or inverted printing it selectable hence panel mounting is easily accommodated. In RS222C serial mode baud settings from 110 to 4800 are selec table together with 7 or 8 bits/character and parity options. The 20 mA section ‘operates from 110 to 600 Bau ‘The D111 prints at 2character lines/second fon standard. size 60mm wide thermal paper and oceupies only 140mm (WW) x 140 mm (0) x 60 mm (Hh, DED, 47 Station Road, Lyd, Kent TN29 9ED Telephone: 0679.20636 (2680 m) Soldering kit Litesold have recently introduced a com- plete solderingidesoldering it for the electronics hobbyist. The kit is centred round a high efficiency 18 watt mains iron, constructed to latest electrical Standards, and fitted with a 3.2mm copper bit, There are also two alternative bits of 1.8 and 2.4mm included. Also provided are 9 reel of 3 metres of 18 sw.9, fluxcored solder, stainiess steol tweezers, three. double-end ing aide ans tel of de-soldering braid, The new SKIB kit provides ll that is required for soldering and de soldering on ‘almost any electronies project, and is eal for beginner or expert. The kit comes ina clear PVC wallet, and is available direct from Litesold at a very special mail order price of £14.56 inclusive of postage and var. Light Soldering Developments Limked, 9789, Gloucester Read, Croydon, Surrey CRO.2DN, Telephonw: 01.689.0574 (2638 m)elektor may 1983 advertisement Beat the price increase... SUBSGCRIBESIOREUEKIIOR now! SPECIAL OFFER — get 77 issues, PLUS binder, FOR OMY £73.50 June ‘83 to December ‘84 issues incl. *Price includes P&P in the U.K, only. Subscribers abroad please add £ 1.50 for seamail post, or £ 18.75 for airmail DON’T FORGET — THIS OFFER INCLUDES OUR BUMPER ‘SUMMER CIRCUITS’ ISSUES FOR ‘83 AND ‘84 ‘The cassette style binder will help to keep your copies of Elektor clean and in order, even though you refer to them time and time again. The chamfered corner of the cassette allows instant re cognition of each month's issue without the need to thumb through pages of pre- vious months’ issues. Because no wires or fastenings are used copies can be easily removed and replaced and each cassette will hold one year’s volume of Elektor. the Elektor binder FREE with this offer Complete the coupon below and post, with your remittance, to Elektor Publishers Ltd., 10 Longport, Canterbury, Kent CT1 1PE, Telephone (0227) £4439. IL would like to subscribe to Elektor from June '83 to December '84 1 | enciose my cheque/Postal Order, made payable to Elektor Publishers Ltd, for € (include P8P/Overseas) BL authorise you to debit my ACCESS account withthe amount of £. .... . ACCESS no Senin a) nee : : Bh vame a : ' ADDRESS ene Ree ee ee ee ee ee ee eedadvertisement elektor BUYERS GUIDE elektor may 1983 ETI ESON ELECT! RONICS 158 Lower Green Poulton-e-Fyide BLACKPOOL Tel: 885107 Electronic Component Specialists BI-PAK P.0. BOX 6, WARE, HERTS. SHOP AT 3 BALDOCK STREET, WARE, HERTS. TEL. (0920) 3182. ACCESS & BARCLAYCARD ACCEPTED. WATFORD ELECTRONICS Egy Mr Gees et) ML CR rea Tel. Watford (0823) 40888. Telex: 8956095 ELEKTOR PROJECTS ~ we stock most of the part. ACE MAILTRONIX LTD., 3A, COMMERCIAL STREET BATLEY, WEST YORKS, WF17 5HJ PHONE 0924-44112 TELEX. 51458 COMHUD G for CHABLE circuits. Excitement, entertainm Complete with printed circuit board and Resimeter Further adventures and circuits coming soon starring Resi & Transi, of course! d., Elektor House y CTH TPE, Elektor Publis 1d 13,30 8.30 - 12.30 ar 6.30, ELECTROWIC WORLD CLonaraeanets Republic of Ireland Tel, 0861-41233 FRANK MOZER LTD. Specialists in all Electronic, Television and Radio Component Parts 5 Angel Corner Parade Edmonton, N.18 ‘Telephone 1-807 2704sloktor may 1983 mergaihayen Seircenee tae eg i Eanes metein cimeace eeetad peor Soy eens Sarees reas gralumewe «037310 new cea ees cee wen fapornelcoper ios, ES8O1 658 13 ORDERING INFORMATION Payment must be in advance. 1 For UKandal pune nce USn ry net £0.59 pote ad pc tte eRe ae cael Rta OR sn ae 2. Fora Ua cnr meee yur Scum any Sar pyaar e Bate Pla i Bao rerio {Ghat Pong ee kn Se SSONT RC we SOU Pe Nase a RessOlivetti for £7121 and 2 mechines which permite typewriter tobe used a3 INTERFACE. ASSEMOLEM COTTON ei DISASSEMBLER (row net ations auponed toe ‘rg or the Sena Cour relia teachmeroprcessing, MENT SOLLERn teow right ke any thr 280 wpa ih praca, Ja application in ROBOTICS. ‘Feauresinclude CASSETTE POWER SUPPLY and COMPREHENSIVE MANUAL wim SOURCE Ct oF ua SOFTY EMULATES AND PROGRAMS??"6 256, ODE LISTING. leat to ecuipment whic si for ovr £500 ‘STAND.AI” “ROM PROGRAMMER.SSS hs FOR ZX81 and VIC20 Allophone (extended phoneme) system gives unlimited vocabulary. Can beused with unexpanded VIC20 or ZX81— does not require large areas of memory. In VIC20 version, speech output is direct to TV speaker with no additional amplification needed. Allows speech to be easily included in programs. Complete kit only £24.95. Order As LKOOA (VIC20 Talk-Back). LKO1B (2X81 Talk-Back). Full construction details in Maplin Projects Book 6. Price 70p. Order As XA06G (Maplin Mag Vol. 2 No.6). project books Isues 110 5 6p e3e ue 8 706, Im Book 1 (KAGIB) 120W ems MOSFET Combo: ‘Ampliter@ Univetaa Timer with 18 program times and ‘oupurs © Temporature Gauge # Six Vers Proj. (OHSOK) Pree £250, In Book 2 (XAO2C) Home Security Sytem @ Train 2x81 (no soldering in 2X81) : : inet (eY938) £99 80 Console for 16 ains on one ecu @ Stepwateh with Complete wah Cectones fo mate “Shi tac, DeMmocasete XA E1.99 ‘rpie maces © es por Gaton Meter uncton” and “Grapnies 2” single key solctons «Powered (wih 2dag%0r supp) from ZXBNs cn Sande'd power Supoiy In Book 3 (KAO3D) 2X81 Keyboard wth eletonic ‘Storeo 250 MOSFET Ampliir© Dopler Rader Invuser se Se aia 6 Detector @ Rernate Contel for Train Conreler, Be In Sok nao erage 8 on Pts area Satur Dlr 6 U6 Pon fr exo Car Bur ta *# Ove 26W/charnelinioBoat hHebor channels ‘Alarm @ Remote Control for 26W Stereo Arp. ‘Frequency response 20H2 10 40sH 18, {Low distortion, low noise and hgh reliability power ‘3-Channel Sounds Generator (Dstals in Book 5 5 (KAOSF! Modem to European standard Order As LDEE Price £10 96, Eee 20 AC inert @ Send Geert for 2X 2X81 Sound On Your TV Set (Oats in Book 6 + Entomol 00) to Bul Almost everthing fon ak encale © Pane Buta or Grider Ae LKO2C Price £12.95 poh cuttnginterwrng to jst 7 wes (ps tro fadel Trin Projets @ Timer lor ZKBI 1/0 Pont gives two bi-directional 8 ports Itanslocmor and yains load vrminatons Details n Book ‘Complete kt contains everthing you need inclina In Book B{XAOEG) Sperch Synthesiter for 2X81 & (Graer As UN76H. Price £9. [re diled ond printes chasse and wocsen cabinet. Y\e9eK SUEACER! Speech Syntnentt Sees ZiEI Extend wi accept 18K RAM and 3 other Full dean Prec Book 3. Price 6Op(XA030) to maka 9.2801N Amp "2X81 Sound on your T Pca ‘Onder As GBOBM Price £2.22 Bete Sas el Ove $80 pags packed ‘Six independent channeis- 2 MAPCARO gues you CANES) viens and incising ora ware operoion, Exaral ral pening power ~ re ove 1000 rw ter hen High degree of grote > Spto 2 times Te Onsen a ances ton andforg worm rly ‘monty paren. om snsaarn Fillets nProwes Sook? rary Pree acc ree top 4 Wiss ORI shod rn bur 5 FoR aoe Post this coupon now! Please send me a copy of your 1983 catlogue. | encioso £10 ine pp Item not completely eased | may return the catalogue you and nave ‘ny maney refunded. # youve cutie the UK sendé1 906rTOinternations Realy Coupons Akiess e583