ELECTRONIC

TODAY INTERNATIONA

Low cost data acquisition for IBM PCs & compatibles

A unique range of easy to use data acquisition products designed for use with IBM compatible
computers. Combined with the software they allow your PC to be used as a host of useful test and
measurement instruments, or as an advanced data logger.

lnstalled in seconds they simply plug into the parallel port (except the ADC-16 which connects to the
serial port). They are seltcontained, require no power supply and take up no expansion slots.
Each device comes with a comprehensive manual. C, Pascal and Basic drivers are included for users
who wish to write their own software. Software supplied on 3.5" disk.

PicoScope

PicoLog

"Virtual instrument" software

package. Storage oscilloscope with trigger, timebase,

rulers and offset functions.

min/max values or scaled

i values (linear, equation. table

Realtime spectrum analysis

with min/max frequency and

look up). Report types: monitor

signal averaging. Multiple

Scope, voltmeter,
spectrum analyser

Collect, store, display and print

data from 1 sample per ms to 1
per day. Record average,

(with min/max alarms), yl

meters on screen (digital and

bargraph).

graphs, x-y graphs, tabulation.

Advanced data logging software package

Printer and file hand ing support

NEW 4D0100

virtuat lnstrument
Dual Channe! 12-bit resolution

NEW
f

The ADC 100 offers both a high

sampling rate (100kHz) and a
high resolution. lt is ideal as a

Ptco

general purpose test instrument

either in the lab or in the field.
Flexible input ranges (* 200mV
to + 20V) allowsthe unit to
connect directly to low output
sensors such as"microphones or
to high level signals (+ 200V
with a x10 scope probe).
with PicoScope tl99
PicoScope & PicoLog t209

O Digital Storage Scope

O Spectrum Analyser
O Voltmeter
O Frequency Meter
O Chart Recorder
O Data Logger

4D0t@

Channe!8-bit

O Lowestcost
O Up to 22kHz sampling
O 0-5V input range
The ADC 10 gives your
computer a single channel
of analogue input

Simply plug into the

parallel port and your
ready to go.

4D0l0with

,,

4D0 ft

,{D010
1

O
O
O

rom

4D012

11 ChannellO-bit

Digitaloutput

Up to '18kHz sampling
0-2 5V input range

O
O
O

Channell2-bit

High resolution
Up to 17kHz sampling
0-5V input range

4De

8 Channel 16-bit f sign

O Highest resolution

O
C

22}Hzsampling

- 16-bit
The ADC 12 is similar to
The ADC 16 has the
channels of analogue input the ADC 10 but offers an
highest resolution of the
in a case slightly larger
improved 12-bit (1 part in
range, it is capable of
than a matchbox. lt is ideal 4096) resolution compared detecting signal changes
for portable data logging
to the ADC 10's 8-bit (1 part as small as 40pV. Pairs of
using a "notebook"
in 256).
input channels can be
computer.
used differentially to
reject noise. Connects to
.,1D0ll wilh
4D0t2with
serial port.
The ADC '11 provides

2Hz sampling

11

PicoScope t49
PicoScope t85
PicoScope [85
z(D016with
PicoScope and
PicoScope and
PicoScope and
Picolog
tl15
PicoLog t59
PicoLog t95
PicoLog t95
PicoLog for ADC 10111112 t25. Oscilloscope Probes (xl , x10) E10 Carriage UK f ree. Overseas e6

T'E'i:.6'dd[-Eti'7T6',

Hx*I'.dut]'jii*i ;'tU

TUrbo Speed

lndicator

ffiffi

ffiW

This little add-on indicator circuit

from John Lanigan can be added to
any PC and will show which clock
rate it is running at.

Bite Alarm

ffiffi

Those lazy days fishing will never be

the same again, after you construct
Bob Noyes' project to sound an
alarm whenever a fish has taken
the bait.

PG Glinic

dt% gM

%Sffi

Part 3 of the sertes that shows

readers how to repair, matntain,

upgrade and build circuits for their

personalcomputers. ln this issue,
we look at the CPU, coprocessors,
cache memory and making good use
of the BIOS software.

Volume 23 No.7

Uideo Light Meter

ln this project, Terry Balbirnie

shows how to build a small light

meter that should help video users
to produce better images.

Magnetism and
Magnetometers

An lntroduction

to MID!

&&
ffiffi&
ww

ln Part 3 of this series, Roberl

Penfold continues his introduction to
the mysteries of MlDl - the now
universally accepted standard for
communications between electronic
musical instruments.

Regulars
News and events diary 6
Balbirnie's Workshop
Terry Balbirnie divulges some more
practical hints and tips for the electronics enthusiast.

Talkback

65

Your letters, dnd ideas, plus club

NEWS.

ffi&

ffiw

PCB

foils

Open

Forum

68
74

ln Part 1 of this two parl article, Keith

Ganvell looks at the design of sensi-

tive instrumentation that can detect

minute changes in the Earth's
magnetic field.

Wherc on Earth
Am l?
Global Positioning Systems rely on a
complex fusion of space technology
and electronics to give a position
accurate to just a few metres. We
look at how such systems work and
now that their price has dropPed to
just a few hundred pounds, how theY
are being used.

Gar Lights
On Reminder

&ee

dm

#Ah@
w-w

Build this cheap and simple project

from Len O'Connor and you need

never worry about leaving your lights
on and running down your car's
battery.

Micrcprccessor
Motor Control

Gompetition
ln this issue of ETI we

Hot on the heels of his FORTH

programmable Experimenter's
Computer project, Jim Spence
shows how to use this processor
board to accurately control a number
of stepper motors.

have another great

ffi@

competition

for readers to enter. Win a Maplin

Blood Pressure Monitor, worth t75.
ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

8 CAVANS WAY,
BINLEY INDUSTRIAL ESTATE,
COVENTRY CV3 2SF
Tel: 0203 650702
Fax: 0203 650773
Mobile:0860 400683

Packard 5342A Microwave freq. count. 18GHz .

....e1400
Packard 7402 Recorder with 17401A x 2 plug-ins
... .C300
Packard 80058 Pulse generator
....C250
Packard 80114 Pulse gen.0.1Hz-2oMHz .......
.....$00
Packard 80138 Pulse gen. 1Hz-sOMHz
......8750
Packard 80128 Pulse generator
....C750
Hewleil packard 8406A Frequency comb. generator
.........C500
Hewletl Packard 8443A Tracking gen/counter with lEEE
....C450
Hewletl Packard 8444A Tracking Generator.
........C750
Hewlett Packard 84458 Automatic presetter
........C700
Hewlett Packard 8601A 11oMHz Gen/sweeper 11oMHz
......e350
Hewletl Packard 8620C Sweep oscillator mainframe
... .. ... .9500
Hewlett Packard 8750A Storage normaliser
.........C400
Hewlett Packard 938A Freq. doubler .
.....f250
Keithley 197 20MHz with 1EEE.
. . . .C400
Lyons PG73N/PG75/PG2B/PG Pulse gnerator
.1rcm1225
Marconi 2019A 80KHz-1040MH2 sig gen. ...
......t1850
Marconi 2432A 500MHz digital freq. meter ..
.... ....f,200
Marconi 2337 Automatic dist. meter
........POA
Marconi 2356 20MHz level oscillator.
......[,300
Marconl 2306 Programmable interface
.. . ..500
Marconi 2610 True RMS voltmeter
. .. ....8900
Marconl 2830 Multiplex tester...
.........e1250
Marconl 2831 Channel access switch
......e500
Marconi 6920 Power sensor . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . .e400
Phlllps 5390 lGHz signal gen ....
.........81250
Philips PM 5167 10MHz function gen.
......e400
Philips 5190 LF synthesizer w/th G.P.|.B.
. .... ... ...0800
Philips PM 5519 ColourTV pattern gen
....f,400
Philips PM 2525 MultimeterWF lEEE
......S850
Phlllps 5716 Pulse generator high freq. MOS. . .
... ..f600
Philips PM5770 Pulsegen. - lMHz-10oMHz ...
.....C150
Philips PM 6672 lGHz timer/counterWF 1EEE.
.....e650
Phlflps PM 8272XYf chart recorder
.......e500
Photodyne 800 Fibre optic attenuator
......f350
Proleclina CH9345 Microscope
....8800
Racal 9009 Modulation meter ..
....e225
Racal Dana 202 Logic analyser + 68000 disassembler.. . .
....f250
Racal Dana 9242D Programmable PSU 25V-2A .
....$00
Racal Dana 92465 Programmable PSU 25V-10A.
. ...e400
Racal Dana 3100 40-130MHz synthesiser
... .. ... . ..e750
Racal Dana 5002 Wideband level meter
....t650
Racal Dana 5003 Digital m/meter
. .... . . ..8150
Racal Dana 9000 Microprocessing timer/count. 52MHz
......e550

Hewlett
Hewlett
Hewlett
Hewlett
Hewletl
Hewlett

(Premises situated close to Eastern-by-pass in Coventry wlth easy access

to M1, M6, M40, M42, M45 and M69)
Gould 1602- 2 Channel D.S.O. . .
Gould 1604 -4 Channel D.S.O. ..
Gould 1421 -2 Channel D.S O. ..
Gould OS4000, OS4200, OS4020, OS245 .
Hewletl Packard 17404,1741A,17744A,100MHz dual
Hewletl Packard 182C - 100MH24 ch......

HewletlPackard1TOTA,1TO7B-75MHz2ch
Hilachi V.U22 - 40 MHz Dual Channel
Nlcolet 3091 - LF D.S.O..

... .. . .. . .e1300

...... ....C1750
.. .. ...... .8375
....

irom

ch .. . .. ..trom

....

Cl 25
C350

........C350

.......iromf275

......1300
... ... .. .C1100

Philips 3055 - 60 MHz Dual Channel

........f,550
Tektronix 2201 -2OMHz D.S O. dual ch. .....
.......C675
Tektronix 2213 60 MHz Dual Channel
.....9425
Tektronix 2246 IOOMHZ-4 channel .
... ... ..(as new) f.995
Tektronix 2215 60MHz dual trace
..........C450
Tektronix 2235 Dual trace 100MHz (portable)
.......e800
(portable)
Tektronlx 2335 Dual trace looMHz
.......C750
Tektronix 2225-SOMHz dual ch..
...........e450
Tektronix 465/4658 -100MHz dual ch. .
........from 1350
Tektronix 475 - 200MHz dual ch .
..........e450
Tektronix 468 -100MHz D.S.O. dual ch. .. ...
... .. ...e850
Tektronix 7313, 7603, 7613, 7623, 7633, 100MHz 4 ch . . . . . . . . . . .from f300
TektronixTTO4-25OMHZ 4ch ...
.....|romf650
Tektronix 783417844 - 400MHz 4 ch ...
........lrom 9750
Teklronlx 7904 - 500MHz
.....from [850
Phillips 3070 -100MHz 2+ 1 channel + cursors, as new .
......8900
Phillips 3206, 321 1, 32'12, 3217, 3226, 3240,
+
(2ch
3243,3244,3261,3262
4 ch.)
. ...lrom e125 to e350
Solartron Schlumberger CD1740 - 20MHz 4 ch ... .
..... ... ..f250
Other scopes available loo

Ailtech 727 -20GHz

.....i22OO

3.5GHz
..... . . . .. ... ..e4500
HewletlPackard35S0A--5HZ-50KH2....
.........e1250
HewlettPackardS590A-10KHz-1 sGHz-(asnew)
........e4500

Advantest TR4131 -10KHz -

HewletiPackardlS2TwithS559A(10MHz-21GHzl
Marconi 2370- 110MHz
Hewlett Packard 4953 Protocol

analyser

Teklronix 492-21GHz
Tekironix 7L18 with 7603 main frame
Texscan AL51A (4MHZ - lGHZ)

1 5 GHZ

........83750
..........C1250
. i. ... .....[2500

..........e6000
....$500
..........e1300

Anritsu ML93B/ML92B Optical power meter with sensor

Anrilsu ME538C Microwave system analyser (BX + Tx)
B&K 2511 + 1621 Vibration test set .
B&K 2511 Vibration meter . .

t B&K 2515 Vibration

......
....8550
104MHz
.........e450
generator
. .. .. .. ..1t275O
meter
.. .... ..e650
9341 LCR databridge
.........C250
9500 Universal timer/counter 100MHz.
.... .... ..e200
9917 UHF frequency meter 560MHz.
....e175
9919 UHF frequency meter lGHz
.......1275
Rohde&SchwarlzBN36TllDigitalQmeter..
......e400
Rohde & Schwarlz URV5 - 18 GHz R/F Millivolt-meter (with various
probes) .
.......[,1850
Solarlron Schlumb 1170 Freq. response analyser.
...........e250
Teklronlx TM503, SG503, PG506, TG501 Scope calibrator ..........f2000
Tektronix 834 Data comms analyser
.. ... . ..E500
RacalDana9081 Synth sig gen 520MHz

18GHZ.

analvser

Dalron 1061A Autocal di'gital multimeter (61/2 digits)

Daymarc 1735 Transistor tester/sorter (with all jigs)

Racal
Racal
Racal
Racal
Racal
Racal
Racal

.. ..2000

.....f,3500
.......C2000
..

.. ..f,1500

.....[,4500

........850
... .. . ..e5000
... ..... ..e250
....t175

Dranetz 305 Phase meter

Dymar 1585 AF Power meter ..
Dymar 2085 AF Power meter . .
. . . .e200
Farnell RB 1030-35 Electronic load 1Kw
....t450
Farnell AMM/B Automatic modulation meter...
... ..e150
Farnell 2081 R/F Power meter, ..
...........POA
Feedback TWG300 Test wavefdrm generator
... ....e200
Fischer Betascoge2O4O12O6O Cbating thickness computer & non
destructive coating measurement instrument & many jigs and extras

+ AFG5101 arbitrary function generator. . . . . . . . . .el750

W&G SPM12 Level meter 200H2-6MHz
... ..t500
W&G PS12 level generator 200H2-6MHHz
..........500
W&G SPM60 Level meter 6KHz-l8.6MHz
. .. ... .. . ..e500
W&G PS60 Level meter 6KHz-18.6MH2
. . . . .500
W&G SPM6 Level meter 6KHz-l8.6MHz
. ...f250
W&G PS6 Level generator 6KHz-18.6MH2
..... ... ..f250
W&G SPM6 Level meter 6KHz-18 6MHz
Wayetek 157 Programmable waveform synthesier
Wayne Kerr 8424/N LCR Component meter set
Wayne Kerr 4250 LCR
. ....(as new)
Wayne Kerr 642 Autobalance universal bridge .
Weller D801/D802 Desoldering station .
Weller D900 Desoldering station .
... .......f,
Wlltron 352 Low freq. differential input phase meter ..
... ... .C
Hewlelt Packard 86408 with OPT 001
Marconl 2O22E (10KHZ- 1.01GHZ) SIG GEN
..............f

Fluke 515A Portable calibrator

. .. ..f,500
Fluke 8010A Digital multimeter . ... .
.......1125
Fluke 8922ATrue RMS voltmeter .......
...........POA
Fluke 95020 Current shunt
........POA
Gay Mllano FTtl|C/FTM3C - FTM - Fast transient monitor .. .........e250
General Rad 1658 LCR Digibridge
.. .......e250
General Rad 1621 Precision capacitance measurement system .,... ..POA
Hewletl Packard 180TR Display unit with 87558 swept. amp. an. . .. ..e350
Hewlett Packard 32008 VHF oscillator, 10-5000MH2
.........el75
Hewlett Packard 3400A RMS voltmeter
. .. ..e150
Hewlelt Packard 3406A Broadband sampling voltmeter
......[175
Hewlett Packard 3437A System voltmeter.
. .. ... ....8350
Hewlelt Packard 3456A Digital voltmeter
. ... ... ... .e650
Hewlett
Hewlett
Hewlelt
Hewlett
Hewlett
Hewlett

Packard
Packard
Packard
Packard
Packard
Packard

9084 Synth. sig. gen.

9087 1.3 GHz low noise sig.
9303 True RMS/RF level

Teklronix TM5003

Fi;i;iilirA'r;;itl,,,i"t",ireiil':.:::.:.::::.::::...:.:.':.:::i'.i":?33

HewlettPackard3476Digitalmultimeter.

Dana
Dana
Dana
Dana
Dana
Dana
Dana

meter

SPECIAL OFFERS - Phoenix 5500A Telecoms analyser, ex. demo. as

new with 12 months calibration + 12 months guarantee fitted with V24
interface. A variety of interface options available - Ring/Fax lor details.
Naytel 9440 Protocol analyser, ex demo as new 88000 new - cost now
C3500. Naytel 9410 PCB based protocol analyser ex. demo. as new f3000
new - cost now f1500.

...........8100

3478 Digital voltmeter, 4 wire system, 1 EEE . . . . . . . . .e650

37O2B(37OSN3710A/3716A Microwave link analyserf,1500
3730A Down converter (with 3738A or 3737A) ... ....e200
3760/3761 Data gen + error detector
. ..each 9300
3762/3763 Data gen + error detector
. . .each e350
3777A Channel selector
...........f,250

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

tlt

v,

tI!

Price list & order lorm lor CVC PREMIUM Audio Valves
UNIT PRICE

QTY.

UNIT PRICE

TOTAL PRICE

QTY.

TOTAL PRICE

CARRIED FORWARD.

PPF- AI\/IP VAI I/F',S

ECC81l12Atf7
FC.C82t12AU7

500
400

RECTIFIERS

ECC83ll2AX7

5.00
4.00

a72ll\

ECC85

450

EF86

E81CC(GOLD PIN)
E82CC
E83CC
E88CC

5.00

500

5.00
4.00
6.00

ECC88

ap L

v?1-tT

600

3.20
3.50

SOCI'ETS

6.00
7.00

B9A (PCB)
B9A (CHASSIS)

160
160

ESOF

900

E83F
6SL7GT
6SN7GT
6922

s.50

OCTAI (CHASSIS)

1.15

400

4 PIN (UX4)

3.00

4.20
5.00

4 PIN GOR 27t + 845

11.00

MATCHING CHARGES*
POST & PACKING (UK)

300

TAIAL-EXE.VAI

PO\VERVALVES

vrJI_@_lJ_!m

(UK & EEC)

t.4,3 (4 PrN)

14.00
14.00

2A3 (OCTAL)

EL8-+r189A
KT66

22.00
50 50
9.50
29.90
7.50
4.00
5.10
9.20

KTAT

t2.o0

xT:8

12.50

KTSS r@LD Q)
5L6CC

18.50

211

imB
311A

il-i
EL_3-1/6CA7

EL8-1/68O5

6L6\\ CrC/5881

10.20

40 00

0.\

11.00

5_<,<0.\-s

r3.50

561.{

11.00

TOT.{I CARRIED FORWARD

QUADS

or

QCTETS

Allow [1.00 per valve for this service.

Make CHEQUES payable to

'CHELMER VALVE COMPANY or

PaY bY

ACCESS/MASTER CARD/VISA, give details:

Evni

800
500

i-16-1

6_<_<

*MAICHING, if required; state valve types & if PAIRS'

6.50

5\'5GT
6 i-:68
5

TOTALTO PAY

N
Address

Posf Code

IFI[IFGfiTTiII,IIGrcrc[

TTIr,

;YJTTIE'7E

TII]]N iAt tlt!ilarttIIIItttJrEl

II'lj

ELECTRONICS

TODAY INTERNATIONAL

PGB

software for Windows

Pentica Systems of Wokingham has launched a new entry level version of its powerful Tango circuit design and board layout
software, which runs under Windows and offers users work-station class performance at one fifth of the cost. TangoPRO
Schematics Lite and TangoPRO PCB Lite are both sub-sets of the higher end TangoPRO software, with the benefit of the
Windows environment. Their capacity and features are suitable Ior 80% of PCB designs being produced today.
TangoPRO Schematic Lite offers powerful placement and editing tools, keyboard short-cuts and instantaneous netlist generation. There are over 20,000 unique library components and new components can be created on the fly. Advanced features
include intelligent wires and busses and support for user defined attributes.
Junctions and bus entries are placed automatically. Capacity is up to 200
components, 500 nets and three sheets per design.
The PCB design program includes a CuUCopyiPaste capability for moving
selected items to and from the Windows Clipboard. design error indicators
with on-screen highlighting, enhanced report formats and improved attribute
editing, with the ability to change reference des,gnators on previously placed
components. The 32 bit database gives imperial and metric support down to a
tenth mil, or 10 microns. Capacity is for 200 cornponents, 500 nets, and six
layer designs.

TangoPRO Lite Schematics costs e I75 and the PCB design program C685.
For further details on these two products contact Pentica Systems on Ol34

792101.

7OW Titanium

Gomposite Tweeter
The latest product to be added to the fully comprehensive
range of speakers and sounders from Maplin Electronics is
the 70W Titanium Composite Tweeter. This is a dome
tweeter, where the diaphragm is made from pure titanium
which is ion deposited onto an advanced, glass-fibre reinforced, soft polymer 1in diaphragm. The composite that
results offers increased stiffness with high internal damping,
combining the advantages of pure metal domes while
retaining the low distortion of soft dome, leading to detailed
sound reproduction for the best musical quality. Efficiency is
up to 93dB
and the voice
coil is ferrofluid
cooled. The
Faceplate is of
a fibre reinforced
polymer.
This tweeter
is available

from all
branches of
Maplin

Electronics and
costs f 1 3.95.
For more
details ring

0702 552911.
ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

Guttin$ PGBs
by laser
Ine Berkshire based company Tracks
CAD Systems has launched a multifunc: cn laser prototyping machine which is
: -ed at anyone who involved in the
:e,,e lopment or production of high
is"slty Printed Circuit boards, in partic-

ties of highly polluting aqueous chemical

solutions,

The system can be installed in anY

normal laboratory or production area
and, apart from power, compressed air
and water has no special requirements.
A floating focus system is used on the
laser, to eliminate risk of optical hazard.

- a':hose used with surface mounted

r:.'ces. Modern PCBs call for closely

s:a:eC pins and conductor or isolation
c:*-^s. three or more times finer than
:'3ss trat have been traditionally
c':":-:ed using chemical etching or
-:cianical cutting. With its laser system,
T'a:<s ras been able to easily cut seven
co^c-cior paths, separated by 40pm
s3 ai :" cnannels between two lC pads,
the rasr -aving a cutting resolution of
''1
lnl a.c an accuracy of 2pm.
Ths aser system will cut standard
FB4 PCB materials or copper coated
ceramic material with equal facility and all
track edges will be clean and square to a
degree impossible to achieve in any other
way. The laser vrill not wear, so maintenance is simple and repeatable quality
assured. ln addition, the system does
away with the need to treat large quanti-

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

7

The system can be directly driven from a

PC CAD system for flexible prototyping.
With more poweful laser cutters, it can
be used to cut metal stencils, cut and
score ceramics, make board corrections
and label products.
For more information, contact Tracks
CAD Systems on 0344 55046

386 system on an STEbus

board.
Arcom Control Systems has developed a powerful new 386SX single board
computer for embedded control applications, which fits on a single standard
STEbus board. Compatible with PC based development and debug tools and
offering a DOS like, but royalty free, stand alone operating environment, it delivers
far superior real time performance to conventional embedded PCs. Called the
SClM386T, the board provides a complete hardware solution for many embedded
tasks, but is also highly configurable, offering a choice of three expansion routes STEbus, SCIM mezzanine bus and signal conditioning system.
The board is available with 25 or I6MHz versions of the 386SX CPU. Eight
surface mount memory sites allow up to 4MB of dynamic RAM to be fitted. This
can be extended to 16MB, using the SCIM mezzanine bus expansion facility.
Further hardware includes a 32 pin EPROM socket for the stand alone operating
environment
and application
firmware,
keyboard interface, real time
clock, a
parallel port
and two serial
ports,
For more
information,

contact Arcom
Control
Systems Ltd of
Cambridge on
0223 411200.

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

8
I

-^+ :4l;S;1

t=li-r.."

wi

orocesso

.appr.

lolntl

rit,

uoJ

r.ngm

by Acorn
tt

bltsw Karean

Low cost microcontroller development kit

Mitsubishi has introduced a new low cost Designer's Kit which will enable users
to cost effectively develop 16 bit microcontroller applications. The easy to use
kit comes as a complete system and is simply installed on a PC with a text
editor. At the hearl of the kit is a DB16 designer board which incorporates an
M377O2S1ASP chip that is representative of the Mitsubishi 16 bit range and
boasts the widest range of features available in single chip mlcrocontrollers.
The on-board device operates in microprocessor mode and together with
an M5M82C55 l/O expanded mapped in page zero, preserves the l/O operations by replacing the ports used as data and address buses. Ample space is
provided for user software by 64KB each of battery backed RAM and EPBOM'
A decoder chip select is also included. Other on-board features include 52 l/O
lines, together with eight 8 bit analogue to digital inputs. There are two serial
porls with RS232 drivers, eight 16 bit multifunction timers and a watchdog
timer, three external and 16 internal interrupts.
The software provided with the kit is a relocatable assembler which allows
software to be written in pure Assembly language with user defined macro
functions. Example programs in source code format can be used as templates,
including those of the on board Debug monitor. This monitor includes facilities
to examine and set processor registers and memory contents, upload
programs from host to RAM, go to program from an address, set break point in
RAN/, fill memory and read analogue por1. Drivers are also provided for serial
and analogue to digital Ports.
The designers kit operates from 5v supplies and comes complete with serial
cable and 9 to 25 way adaptor, comprehensive documentation, software and the development board. The kit costs 1299 and
for details of suppliers contact Mitsubishi in Hatfield, Herts., on o7o7 276100.

27-29 {,Uiie
4-7 July..
240 187r
o7t
' F::i"
I:

5 July

14 Juty
16 July

fr-24

July

13 Nov-

,,-.,

Et,ry4draiclu
081 Sg9 5732.

1921 July

,. r'.."'-,....

DiPlrtct
shlioo-l;

Talkohp
bpboief E
6th Elecffonic

!r

re-ti o7o7

F,eFph

Engineeri.iigiin'6daa?Egiraphypo qi,lnstitute
o?f'

lr*+,i

ur

Hadio

^TrG;

eil

rally

Emringharn. Uoore qpen at .l0ifn;

edmld

oJ

church

Ti17,3,.,
,eetlatr,Fttlli{::$li

EleQtTFaJrElgln

;:A7t:zilfr

ill

re Gentte; Slaflg

Ir

. For further details dnU Ge.ir 42.2 g7,$?,9r,0.?1:*43:I.iF.9

(evenings only).

gerrdfull details to ETI*

fr! Elent Diary

lf you are organisi*g afl evq

Ius House, Bou+dary Way;
ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

SEALED LEAD ACID Battery, 6v 8cy.too AH made for BT, ex

equipment bul ok E45 each retAPR4T ldeal electric vehicle etc
ASTEC swtIcHED t\.,loDE psu cives +5 @g]sA, +12@1 5A,
-12@AA 23U1lO, ased, BM41012. 9 99 ret ApR1Op3.
TORROOnL TX 3GO30 48oVA, perlect for Mosfet amptifere
etc. 120mm dia 55mm thick.818.99 refApRlg
tlOD WIRE Perfect for repairing pcB,s, wire wrap etc Thtn
insulated wiE on 500m Eets Our price just 9 99 ref ApRlOpS
12Y MOVIilG LIGHT Controler Made by He[a. o channets
raled al govratts @ch Sped contrd, casd E34 99 ref ApR35
ELACTROl{ FLASH TU BEAs u*d in pdie riashing tighrs
etc. full +ec supplied, 6G100 fl ashes a min E9 99 ref ApRl Op5
24v 96WATT cased power suppty New e13 99 retApR.l4
STETHOSCOPE Fulty funciioning stethoeope, ideat for tistening to herts, pipes, motors etc e6 ref MAR6P6
R PATH LIGHT captures suntight dudng
illy switches on a buill in lamp at dusk.
lead acid battery etc.E 9.S9 ref MAR2OPl.
ALARI, VERSIOil of above unil @mes with buitt in atam and
pir to deter intruders [24 99 ref MAR25P4
CLOCKMAKER KJf Hours of fun making your own ctock,
completeinstruclions and everylhingyou need E7 99 relMARgp2
CARETAKER VOLUMETRIC Aam, wil cryer the whde ot
lheground iooragainstforcred entry. lndudes mai ns powersupply
and integral battery backup. powedul intemal ounder, will taf!
extemal bell if req'd Retail 't50+, ouE? E49 99 Ef MARsOp.t
TELEPHONE CABLE White 6 @re .l@m ret @mplete with a
pac* of 1m dips ldl 'phone enns etc E7 99 ref MARBP3
VIEWDATA RETURilSC6 madebyTandata, indudes 1 2oo 75
modem, k/td, RGB and @mp o/0, pdnterport No pSU E6 [.,tAG6p7
1

lBlll PC CASE A1{ D PSU tdeat ba* forbuitding yourwn

Ex equipment but OK. e14.00 each REF: ilAci4p2

pc

SOLAR POWER LAB SPECIAL you set rwo 6.x6. 6v

130mA slar ells, 4 LEOS, wire, buzzer, sitch plus 1 relay or
motor.Superb value kitjust 5.99 REF: ijlAG6pS

SOLID STATE RELAYS wiil switch 25A mains. tnput 3.+26v

DC 57x43x21mm with teminat screws e3.99 REF MAG4plO

DTP
landspe, 12mx1
interlace with your
3OODPI A4

NEW BULL ELECTRICAL STORE

SPEAKERWIRE Brtrn

WOLVERHAMPTON
BRANCH

LEO PACK d

he
signs,di$o

that glow green

panels,

applied. Good for

Returns with 2 fautts, we give you the bits

have to find the other youEelf. BT Respons 2OOs
AG18P1. pSU ES ref MAG6p.t2.

SYVIfCHED IyIODE PSU ex equip, 6ofl +5v @5A, -sv@.sA,

+1^@2A,- 1zt@.5A 12Ot2N cased 245x88x55mm lEcinput
sod(et E5.99 REF i,,lAG7Pl
PLUG 11{ PSU 9V 2oomA rc 2 99 each REF MAG3Pg

PLUG lN ACaRt PSU 19v Ac 1aw , e2 e9 REF MAG3pto

POWER SUPPLY futty sed wilh mains and cr'p teads 17v DC

ou$ut Bargain price e5 99 ref l\IAG6p9

ACORI{ ARCH tl EDES PSU +Sv @ 4 4A on/otrsw uned.
900mA

selectable mains input, 'l45x100x45mm E7 REF

i,lAc7p2
GErcER COUilTER KIT Low c6t pofcsional twin

complete with PCB and @mponents 829 REF MAG29P1

13'wheels completewith tube, tyre and qyde
beadng E6 @ REF MAG6P10

SIICLAIR c6

INFRARED LASER NIGHT SCOPES

Second generation image intensifier
complete with hand grip attachment
with built in laser lamp for zero light

conditions. Supplied with pentax

42rnm camera mount, l.6kg, uses
1xPP3,SxAA's (all supplied)8245+Vat

NEW HIGH POWER LASERSI

15mW, Helium neon. S switchable

(2 of them are infrared)

sve

(tagged) ex equip, 55x3262mm e3 a pack REF i,4AG3p1 l

13.8V 1.9A psu ca*d with teads Just E9 99 REF i.tAG1Op3
360K 5.25 bEnd new hatf height floppy driv6 tBM@mpatjbte
industry standard Just E6 99 REF MAG7P3

PPCMODETICAR
laptop
Clearan@

dugincardsmade
al up unit @mplete
1

ll{FRA RED REIIIOTE @1{TROLLERS oisinaily madefor

hi spec satellite equipment but perfest for all erls ol rmote
prcjects Ourclearanceprice is juste2 REF: MAG2

contrcl

ToI'YERS ITTERiIATIONAL TRA]ISISTOR GUIDE. A

very usful booklorlinding equivalenttEnsistors, leadouts, specs
tlAG2oPl
Slt{CLAIR Cg MOTORS We havea tew tefr without gea6oxes.
The*are'l2v DC 3,300 rpm 6'x4,, 1/4. Op shafr. 2S REF: t AG25
etc. E20 REF:

UI{IVERSAL SPEE
fortheabovemotorbut
with PCB etc. A heat si

our television into

5OO:l

AMSTRAD I512DD
BASE UNIT AND KEYBOARD AND TWO
5.25" 360K DRIVES , ALL you NEED ts A MoNnoR
AND POWER SUPPI.Y WAS'59.00
NOW oNLY s3g.o0
REF: MAG39

3FI X IFT IOU'ATT SOLAR PANELS

l4.5vi 700mA
NOW AVAILABLE BY MAIL ORDER

c33.95
(PLUS 52OO

Complete

: itAGtT

ue oras an edu@tional
x pp3 req,d.
RADIO TRAI{SCE|VERS A pair of wathe
me,tres in open country. Unlts
out 2m'. ldeal for garden

'M|I{ATURE

E
Zsa

measuE
req'd. E30.00 pa

COMPOSIIE VIDEO KIf.

gpl
with

SPEC|[ PACUGTNO

standard wofting

ca*sand piees. app3

Converts @mposire video into

separate H sync, V sync, and video 1? DC eB OO REF: ilAc8p2.
LQ35OO PRINT
enlire mehaniel
motoE elc etc n ta

l3Aadaptei.l

ile

1O

watt 4R Jap made 4. rcund with targe shietded magnets

Good quality. E2 each REF:

ilAc2p4

or 4 tor eO

ff0ffffwE

BI]Y SURPLUS STOCKff{Jfff

TURN YOUR SURPLUS STOCK INTO CASH

IMMEDIATE SETTLEMENT WE WILL ALSO QUOTE FOR

nef: ileClpZ

TWEETERS 2' diameter good quatity tweter j4OR (ok with the
above speaker) 2forE2 REF: MAG2P5 or4 forE3 REF: itAc3p4

AT
ust

haY

rc

ilE
COfl HODORE H ERODRME SYSTEM mini storase
devie for C64 s 4 tim6 f6ter than die drive, 10 tmesiaster
tMn t@6 Cmptde unil j6t E12 REF:MAG,t2pl
SCHOOL STRPPERS We have quite a tr of the above

unE which are'returns' as they are quite @mprehensive units

thy.@uld be usd fd other prqects etc. Let us know how manyyou
need at just 50p a unit (minimum 1O).
HEADPHOl{ ES ExM(inArantic BpaiEtore2 REF: MAG2pg
aE mall pCB's with what look
end and lots ofcomponents on
teads. packot53 REF: itAG:

over the earpie@ of

,Jtryefl on the cabte

t"
ru

DOS
manu
comp

rsion 3.3 or higher comptete with all

itAGspS Worth

it

just for the very

only.

DOS PACK Microsofr veEion

S Originat

softwaE but no manu-

orkwiththeCPC4M
work with other ma-

PIR DETECTOR Made byfamous UKalam manrrfacturerthe*

are hi spec, long

and unboxed

cae

WIXDUPSOLA

wilh hand chaEer

COflHOIIORE 54 TAPE DRIVES

Customer rerurns at E4
REF: MAG4P9 Fullytested unitsare.12 REF: IIAG12p5
tAIXS CABLES Th6e are 2core standard black2metre mains
ed6 fited with a 13A ptug on one end, bte the other ldeat for
prqeds, lw @d manufaduring etc pack of 1 Olore3 REF: MAG3P8
Pek c, 1mE20 REF: MAG2Ops
M

lcRqYAVETf

lo make enlaEertimer

ER Etestronictjmer with rday oueut suitabte

etc4 REF: MAC/P4
ete in car
nder

sel

trIHtr
bell box but @utd be used for Gravans
1? op"rli:;tT:l
connecl up and it ll6hes regutady) e5 REF:
"1".
MAG5Pi 1

EL High quatity metat Gsed

q{CE)

IOP OUAI.ITY AMORPHOUS SIIICON CEI.I.S HAVE ATMOST A

TIMEI,ESS TIFESPAN WITH AN INFINITE NUMBER OF POSSIBLE
APPLICATIONS, SOME OF WHICH MAY BE CAR BATTERY
CHARGING, FOR USE ON BOATS OR CARAVANS, OR ANY,
WHERE A PORTABI,E l2V SUpply tSREOUIRED. REF: MAG34

y. Comes with electronics but

MACP6

REIIIOTE COI{TROL PCB These are receiver boards tor

us? 4 @ REF: [,lAG4ps
6'X1Z' AIIIORPHOUS SOLAR PAI{EL 12v 1s5x31omm
garage dooropening systems Another

130mA Bargain pri@ just E5 99 6 REF MAcOpl2

FIBRE OPTIC CABLE BUIUIPER PACK 1 o metres for 4 ee
idlforqperimenleE!30 m torE.l2 99 ref MAGl3pl
LOPTX Line ouFut transfomers believed to be for hi 16 colour

ref MAGsP13

COMPLETE FACTORY CLEARANCE

monitoE but uselul ,orgetting high vollages lrm low onesl E2 each
REF: MAG2P12 bumper pad( ot 10 tor a12 REF: [.4AG1 2p3.

1994 CATALOGUE.

BOTH SHOPS OPEN 9.5.30

SIX DAYS A WEEK

ned by us

'Fill CORDLESS IUIICROPHONE Smail hand hetd unitwith a

500' rangel 2transitpowerlevels. Reqs pp3 gvbattery Tuneable
to any FM reeiver. Prie isE,t5 REF: ifAGtspl
ALKIE TALKIES pair ot battery opem.ted units

talkies with a

basic VGA screen,

I512

PLEASE SEND 45P ,

pair REF: tAG

perfect for laptops, saves lugging

monitors about or just as acheap
upgrade. Intro price 849.99 +Vat.

tube,

pack of 8 AA nicad batteries

for the Arn strad

with leads.

Just plug in and it coverts your col-

perstip. 25 ref

HOilES

AA 1{ICAD PACK enepsutated

(23r4;3;ii,

housed in

stock, 12x1Ocm screen, delayed

'PC PAL'VGA TO TV CONTVERTER

12 ea,

'FI, TRAI{$l ffTER

sweep, I Mohm/25pfinputs, modeschl, ch2, add, chop, alt, dual. 460 x

3O5 x 2OOmm, I 7kgs, f,262 +yat includes insurance and carriage.

C64COMPUTERS Retums, eokforsparesetcEg retijlAcgp2

FUSEI-AGE LIG
y4'panet 1/8.lhi

@ndensr. Cost

@mptere wfth

sT TEL 0902 220,39

ommx3.smm made by AKG,.!.t2v

Our?fourfor9.99 REF irlAG.lOp2
RGB/CGA/EGA/TTL COLOUR MOitfORS 12. in good
condilion. Back anodisd metal ca*. 899 each REF [.4AG99pl
GX4000 GAlllES illACHll{ES returns
ok for spares or
repair E9 each (no games). REF MAGgpl

ULTRAIIIIl{l BUG llllC

electret

UI{MERSAL PC POWER SUppLy

switch, fan etc. Two types availabte 1mw at Eis REF:tu

(23re3x23mm) and 2OOw at.2O REF: MAG2OP3

1OOMHZ OSCILLOSCOPES nou, in

polarizer built in so good for holog5aphy. Supplied complete with mains

power supply.T9O)65mm. Use with
EXTREME CAUTION AND UNDER
OUALIFIED GUIDANCE. SB49+Vat.

rcuil diag to hetp you

EF i,,tAesp1

2 6re ioof@t hankE2 REF

standard red 5m teds e5 REF ilAc5p4

NOW OPEN AT 55A WORCESTER

wave lengths .63um, 1. I Sum,S.S9um

TTUECL iNPUtS, 15'

lOO

A4 SZED

SAE FOR YOUR FREE COPY

10

(rucE ?sG

TO

STOG QUOTAn

sA@.

BULL
ELEC
250 PORTLAI{D.ROAD
8il3 5AT

tvlAlL ORDER TERMS: CA$H PO OR

strippei 5 REF:

PORTABTE RADIATION DETECTOR

t49.99
A Hond held personolGommo ondX Roy detec
tor. This unit contoins two Geiger Tubes, hos o ,
digit LCD disploy with o piezo speoker, giving on
oudio visuol indicotion. The unil detects high
energy electromognetic quonto with on
from 30K eV to over l.2M eV ond o
ronge of 5-9999 UR/h or l0-99990 Nr/h, Su
complete with hondboo k,

REF: MAGSO

ELECTRON ICS TODAY I NTERNATIONAL

10

ll-ll\S IO-\IZER KlT. Very usefirl

** in:-eases the flow of negative

i-m

;-ro

bdps clear cigarette smokg dus1,

reduce stress aud

;tiJa a; Help

:-"tia-1r.rr1 problents.

uL

tl5. kil,

I20

COIIBI.\ATION LOCK. Eleclronic

i" r= ;ombination lock suilable for
alr=s- cars,houses elc, easily program-

-.rte

lncludes mains 2Arelay o/p. 9v

:g<arion Il0 kit, [14 built.

r-.\RI.{BLE POWER SUPPLY.

>atslzed, sho( circuit protected. Gives

l-lr! DC at 2 5.A, ideal for workshop

;rLd>rralory t.14kit,lI 8buill 24VAC

r=quired

LL{DACID CIIARGER.

Two at[omaric charging rates(fast and slorv),

r sul indication of battery state Ide al
rbr alarm systenls,emergency lighling,
banery projects etc. tl2 kit,tl6 built.

PHONE LINE RECORDER.Device

Lbat connecls lo the'phone liue and
acdvates a cassette recorder when the
harxlset is lifled. Ideal lor re,cording
phone conversalions etc!. 18 kit, [.12
h,rr:h.

ROBOT VOICE. Tums yorr voice

rnro a robol voice! alrswer lhe pholle

rith a differenl

voice!. 9 kit,

Il3

buitL

PHONE BUc DETDCIOR. This derice will wam you if somebody is

*r

esdropping ou your'phone line

1J6

!9 built.
PIIONE BIIG. Srnall bug porvered by

Lir

lbe telephoneline. Only transrnits rvhen

De phone is used. Popular survcillalce product 8 ki1, I12 built

LIGIIT Bright strobe light

with an adjustablefrequency of l-60h2.
(a lot fasterthan conventional slrobesl)
STROBD

tl6

kit, t20 built.

4W FM TRANSMITI'ER.

audio preamp. 12-l8vDC. Medium

powred bug [20 kit, [,28 built
3 CTIANNEL LIGIIT CIIASER. 3x

25W FM TRANSMITTER.

preamp will be required. (Our preamp

below is suitable) t79 builr.(no kits).

SOUND EFFDCTS GENERATOR.

Produces any lhing fronr bild chips to
sirerrs! add sounds 1o all sorts ofthings
19 kil rl3 built.
FM/AM SCANNER. Well not
quite,you haveto turn the knob yourself
bul you will hear things on lhis radio
(even TV) lhat you rvould not hear on
an ordinary radio! A receiver that covers 50-l60MIIZ bolh AM and FM Built
in 5w amplifier ll5 kit, 120 built.
CAR ALARM SYSTEM Works on
vibration and/or voltage drop from door
etc being opened. Entry and exit delays
plus adjrslable alarnr duation Low cost
protection! t,12 kil, t,l6 built.

built.
PHONE

CALLRELAY

Very ueful
kit thar incorporates a rclay that operares x hen the phone rings. Can be used
10 operale more bells, signalling lights
erc- Good for noisy environrents or if
r ou have your headphones on! tl0 kit,

; IJ built

PORT.{BLE ALARI\{ SYSI'EM.

Small 9v alamr sysl.eur based on

mer-

curl sNitch The alann contilues to

sound until disabled by the olner.
R:zzer included. Il I ki1 f,15 btrilt
gN\\, I\IUSICTO I,IGHT ETIIECT.
{dd rhlrhm to your music with this

50 larger electrolytic mixed

capacitors

DIODE PACK
100 assorted diodes

RESISTOR PACK NO I
250 low wattage resistors, ideal for
most projects etc. Just

ll

00

RESISTOR PACK NO 2
Hi wattage pack, good seleclion of
mixed wattages and values 50 in all,
bargain price just f, I .00
PRESET PACK
Nice seleclion of25 rnixed preset
pots for just another f,l !

RELAY PACK NO

mixed relays for

ll,

thals just l7p

for

connectors etc. Yourc forjusl f1.00

forjrst t,1.00

LED PACK
20 light emitting diodes for f, I 00
TRANSISTOR PACK
50 mixed transistors, anoilter bargain
at tI.00

BUZZER PACK
l0 things that make a noise forjust
t.t.00!
POT PACK
l0 pots for t.l, (5 difftrent types)

snip at 11.00

each.

DISPLAYS
1.00

FUSE PACK NO I
40 mixed 20mm fuses, ideal for
repaini etc, or just to stock up the

ORDER 10 PACKS OR MORE

AND CTIOOSE ONE FREE

rW FM TRANSIIIIITER. 2 stage including preamp and nric. Good geueral

purpose bug. 8-30VDC.
f,l2 kir,t.l6 builr.

t I buill.

3 CIIANNEL SOUND TO LIGIIT.

fi.
controls for eaeh

channel,

MINI METAL DETECTOR.

Detects

spares boxl Just

f,l

00

LI,VEL DETDCTOR.

Useful itern, can be used 1o detecl

fluid levels in watertanks, baths, ponds
fishtanks etc. Could also be used as rain
alarm with an easily constructed sensor. l5 kit, f9 built.
I,'M TIIANSMITTIiR, Mini FMlransmitter 2 transistor, conres witlr FET
minalure mic and is tuneable fronr 63 to

l30MHZ. L7 kit, t,l I built

FUNCTION GEND,RATOR (iener-

Ll2 built.
0-5 MINUTE TIMER. Simple time
switch adjustable fronr 0-5 rnins,rvill

5 WATT SIREN. Powerful siren kit

switch 2.4 nrains load. l2v op. Ideal for

laboratory, photographic projects etc.
17 kit, t,I I builr
7 WATT III FI AMPI,IFIER. Useful,

with an impressive 5 watts output. Ideal

for alarms elc. f,6 kit t.l0 built.
TELEPIIONE AMPI,IFIER VEry
sensilive amplifier wh ioh using a'phone
pickup coil (supplied) will let you fol-

powerful anrplifier 20hz-l1hz, 12l8vdc. Good for intercoms, audio sysetc t7 kit Il I built.

terns, car

INCAR SOIIND TO LIGIIT.

Put

soure atnrosphere in your car wilh this

kit..Each chamel hru 6 led's lhut create
a beautiful lighling elTect! tl0 kit, t.l4

built

\IOSQUITO REPELLER lvlodent

*ar to keeptllemidges arvay! Runs for

PACKII
FREE COMPONENT CATA-

LOGUE WITTI EVERY ORDERII

ates sinusoidal, saw tooth aud sqttare

waveforms fronr 20lu upto 20khz. Separale level controls for each rvavefonn
24vac. LlS kit, t20 built

pipes,wires eto up to 20cm deep. Usellrl before you drill those holesl [,8 kit,

ters, CB's, tape recorders e1c. Adjustable sarsitivity, built in delay. Mic inpul. 17 kit, f,1 1 built.

buih-

l0 different conneclors, again lbr f,l

VOX SWITCII This is a sound activated switch, ideal for use on lransmit-

kit

I,LEC'TROLYTIC PACK

high powerbug.You willneed a preamp

tbrthis (seeour preamp below which is
ok) f,69 buil1. (ro kits).

18 kit, [12

sinrplcound to liglrt

SLEEVING PACK
100 assorted pieces ofsleeving

l0 seven segment displays for

l,200Wpowerhandling. Microphone
included. ll4 kit, ll9 built

car,shed,caravan alamr elc.f,l4 kit, f,19

capacilors jusl [.1.00

WIRE, PACK
25 Metres of insulated wire for jrsl
f,l 00, good for projrxts etc

CONNBCTOR PACK

kit,rl6 buill
TLTRASONIC RADAR. A project

metres,l2vDC. Cood basis for

FUSE PACK NO 2
30 mixed I 25" fuses again ideal for
spares etc. Jusl f,I.00

rsw FM TRANSMITTER. 4 stage,

Can be used anywhere as no connection

Separate sensitivity
is made to hi

about l0

ELECTROLYTIC I'ACK I
100 small mixed electrolylio

4 stage, a

bikes etc, adjuslable sensitivity, preset

alarm lime, auto reset. Could beadapted
for all sorts of"borrowable" things f,12

can be used as a movernent deteclor

Good mixed pack of 100 capacitors

for just !1.00

800w output, speed and direction controls, can be used with 12 led's (supplied) or'I'RIACS for mains lights (also
supplied). 9-l5vDC. l7kit, [23 built.

about a month on one

l.5v ballery. Frequency is
set lo drive away mosquitos etc f,7 kit,

i-n an enclosed space. Range

|
price! |

CERAMIC CAPACITOR PACK

3 RF stages,

PREAMP I\{IXER. 3 channel input,

i-njependenl level and tone coutrols.
Ideal'for use with the hi power FM
l.ransmitlers. 015 kit, t,l9 built
TREMBLER ALARM. Designed for

tlut

1.50

50 UC,s forf
Nice mix of chips at a bargain

low a lelephone conversaliolr

holding the handset to your ear!
f,15 built.

!l I kil

SWITCH PACK

l0 switches for just Ll.00

l2v FLOURESCENT. Auselirl kit thal
will enable you 1o light large
tubes from your car ba1tery etc 9v nrai

lranstbrmerrequire<t f,8 kit,

ll2

KNOB PACK
10 knobs

forjust

f,1.00

REMEMBERI YOUR FREE COPY

OF OURCUT PRICE COMPO.
NENTS CATALOGUE SEN'[
WITII EVERY ORDERIII

How to place your order

By phone. .........0273 771156
By FAX... ........0273 206875
By Post...PO box 517 Hove Sussex BN3 5QZ
Psyment by ACCESS,VISA, CIIEQUE OR POSTAL ORDEtt'
Cheques and postal orders should be payable to Express Conrponents'
ALL PRICES ARE SUBIECT TO 99p POST AND VAT' Some of our products
be urlicensable for use in the UK (particularly the FM trausmitters )

cr. land based, radio beam navigation systems, such as the well
-.-or'.,n Loran in America and the Decca in Europe. These had been
r3'reloped during and after World War ll for maritime navigation

---

3 --COSeS,

--he designated function of Navstar GPS was, like Loran and

to provide an accurate all weather naval navigation system.
-.,',,ever, this function was broadened as a result of its being merged
,', .- the US Air Force 6128 programme, to provide highly accurate
,-'ee dimensional positioning which could be used not just by naval
,
-sels, but also by aircraft and for the new generation of smart

i:::a,

55ilU>.
-^^it^^

The GPS concept was the subject of an enormous amount of very

:areful design work, both from the practical aspect and from the
sirategic aspect. The system had to be capable of very high accuracy,
cut also had to be proof against jamming by an enemy. The result of this
Cesign work was the launch of a test satellite in June 1977.
The first test system was sufficiently successful to persuade the
Pentagon to go ahead with launching a network of GPS satellites. The
flrst of these were launched from the USAF's rocket launch facility at
Vandenburg Air Force Base in California, in 1978 and a limited two
d mensional positioning system was first possible in October of that
year. Three dimensional positioning was demonstrated two months
ater.
This early system relied on just a small number of sate Ites and
thus provided only a few hours of operation each day, f o give a 24

hour global, high accuracy, three dimensional positionlng capability

required the launch of a lot more satellites, so that at any time at least
one and preferably more satellites were above the horizon at any position on Earth. These have been launched over the years, using the
space shuttle or Delta rockets.
At the moment, the GPS satellites system can provide full two
dimensional high accuracy positioning, 24 hours a day, anywhere on
the suface of the Earth, but it is still only capable of providing about
22 hours per day worth of.full, high accuracy, three dimensional positioning, depending of course on latitude and altitude. The network is
expected to be completed'and fully operational wilh 24 hour three
dimensional positioning capability by mid 1995.
The only real problem which remains is the fact that GPS signals
will not penetrate buildings or rock and consequently a GPS receiver
can be effectively shielded from the satellites, thus reducing its ability
to give an accurate position. This can lead to problems with accurate
positioning in built up or mountainous areas, Another source of problems is ionospheric distortion, a signal distortion which can easily
account for a positional error of 20 or 30 metres.
The signal shielding problem can, to a degree, be overcome by use
of advanced software techniques in the receiver, coupled with an
increased number of GPS satellites. The ionospheric distortion
problem, on the other hand, is overcome by having the satellite
produce two signals at different frequencies. Since the degree of
distortion varies with signal frequency, it is thus possible to compare
the two signals and compensate for the ionospheric distortion. Again,
this is a problem which requires advanced software in the receiver for
a satisfactory solution.

codc

thc

civilian

n$litif* i

Each satellite has its own

Ggs
1O23,

rne

is

The military and civilian modes

The fascinating thing about the US military GPS system is that it is
probably the only military system which civilians are allowed to use.
lndeed, the US government has guaranteed free access for civilian
users until at least the year 2005 and probably longer. However, they
are not giving civilian users unlimited access, othenvise they would be
handing over the technology to any potential enemy.
The result is that, although a GPS system in stand alone mode has
a positional accuracy of about 20 metres, this is degraded to 100
metres in civilian systems. Civilian systems can, however, be used to

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

13

the.secret highlt acsur?Ie,:

s lnlory?3lrslll
peatcd joncr -

are undenrvay to incorporate it into the #S network with the

development of combined GPS/GLONASS receivers. Such
combined receivers will have the benefit of afar larger number
of satellites and thus be less prone to error.

achieve much higher accuracy when used in other modes,

Thus, a five metre accuracy is possible when used in differential
mode with corrections from a reference receiver at a known
location. Even greater accuracy, down to a few millimetres, is
possible when the system is used with carrier phase tracking.
The prlmary military and civilian use for GPS systems is in the
form of real time, stand alone systems, rather than those
involving llnkage with other receivers and a considerable
amount of post processing. For this reason, it is the stand alone
mode which is degraded in the civilian versions.
This degradation, known as 'Selective Availability' is
achieved by use of a secondary code, the P or 'precise' code,
that is transmitted by the satellite along with the conventional
positional and time data. This P-code contains the information
which allows far greater positional accuracy to be obtained. This
P-code can be changed at regular intervals to prevent enemy
access and has also been designed so that an enemy can not
generate spurious GPS signals and thus deceive the receiver
into giving a false location.
Of course, as one would expect, the Russians have an
equivalent GPS system known as GLONASS. To date, this
Russian system has not been used commercially, but moves

The commercial application of GpS

A practical GPS system consists of two components, the radio
receiver/antenna system and the signal analysis computer.
Thanks to the military origin of the system, the radio
receiver/antenna system ls already available as highly integrated
units, indeed GEC Plessey Semiconductors has produced a
single chip which contains most of the receiver electronics.
Similarly, the analysis computer can be one of the high power
microprocessor chips that are nol widely available and here the
Transputer seems to be a common choice. All this means that
the actual hardware for a basic commercial GpS system can
now be obtained for just a couple of hundred pounds.
The relative low cost of commercial GpS systems has meant
that over the last few years there has been an enormous boom
in the sales of sets. As one would expect with a system that
was initially conceived as a maritime navigation aid, the first big
market to appear for commercial GPS v/as amonq professional

175MHz FILTEF

.{ Pl
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\\
Basic circut for the hearl of a GPS receiver based on the GEC plessey Gp101O

a-a amateur boat owners. Boat owners were also the first to
:eneflt from 24 hour GPS coverage, because the wide, uninter-

-rcted horizon at sea allowed position fixing with a network of

=ewer satellites, while sailors did not need the more complex

:rree dimens'onal positioning capability of the full GPS system.

There was initially considerable competition from the existing
-cran and Decca navigation systems, but as the price of GPS

^as come down, it has become more popular, pafticularly in the

crofessional market and with the serious yachtsman. lndeed,
cne only has to pick up a copy of any on of the yachting magaz nes to find dozens of adverts for GPS equipment, at prices
'anging from three or four hundred to several thousand pounds.
This increasing popularity is due to a combination of factors.
Firstly, the decreasing cost and secondly, the integrat on of
GPS systems with electronic charts and course plotting software that will run on personal computers. Amongst cerlain
professional users the very high accuracy of differential and carrier
phase tracking GPS systems has been employed with considerable success. For example, oil rigs are now routinely positioned
n oil fields such as the North Sea with enormous accuracy,
thanks to GPS, in fact so accurately that a production platform
can be exactly positioned above the we I head left by a drilling rig.
Ferry companies are amongst the other users of GPS

systems that require high accuracy. ln many busy and confined

navigation channels, such as the Channel and large navigable
rivers like the Mississippi or the Rhine, GPS systems can be
used to accurately keep a vessel in navigable channels and also
in the correct channel to avoid collisions with vessels going in
the opposite direction.
The maritime emergency services have also started to make
considerable use of GPS, Here, the International Maritime
Organisation was one of the first to realise that search and
rescue operations could be made much more effective if a GPS
system was used to give an accurate position of a vessel in
distress. lt is now an IMO requirement that all commercial
vessels carry a GPS receiver, which means that search and
rescue craft can be sent directly to a site and locate it using
their own GPS receivers.
Private and commercial pilots were also quick to realise the
potential of GPS as an additional aid to navigation. For years
they had been relying upon a network of VHF radio beacons to
provide accurate fixes, while commercial jets also had an Inertial
Navigation System, or lNS, for navigation across oceans. Pilots
used a combination of these two position location systems, with
radar, altimeters and of course voice links with air traffic control,
to provide accurate navigation.

GPS on a chip
For anyone interested in experimenting with GPS
systems, GEC Plessey Semiconductors has made
life a lot easier with the development of a single lC,
including all the active circuitry needed to convert

-20.0

$
E

global positioning information in rf spread spectrum

form to a 4.309MH2 if form, that can be used for
subsequent processing. The diagrams in this box
show how this chip, the GP1 01 0, functions, as well
as a basic applications circuit.
For more information on the GP1 01 0 contact GEC
Plessey Semiconductors, in Swindon on 0793
51

n0.0

-so.o

B
q

F
f

5
o

-40.0

-50.0

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.\

-60.0

.70.0

8000.

FREOUENCY MHz

lF output spectra for a GPI 0l 0 based GPS receiver

'l75MHz FILTER

35MHz SAW FILTER

AGC
LEV

40MHz PROCESSOR CLOCK

AGC
CAP

Block diagram of a GP1010 GPS chip

*i,'a6r

no:.r+t

-*s

rbpAv

1ri'ttEfi h,ATro NAL

SAMPLE MAG
CLOCK

The problem with the network of beacons is that it automatically creates a system of lanes in the sky, along which aircraft
travel from one beacon to another. The result is a localised build
up of aircraft in a pafticular part of the sky, thereby putting limits
on the number of aircraft which can safely fly a particular route.
The other limitation is that many leisure flyers, such as microlights, small aircraft and balloons may be unable to properly
utilise the beacon system.
This is less of a problem over oceans, where there is no
beacon network and pilots have to rely upon their lNS. But INS
systems are notoriously inaccurate and can quite often register
a drift of one degree per flying hour, a drift which can result in a
serious positional error after a long ocean flight.
The use of GPS systems solves all these problems. They can
give accurate positional fixes to within 100 metres on the horizontal and 150 metres in the verlical, which means that there
need be no positional drift over oceans, deserts, etc., and
where air traffic is heavy, many more lanes can be created and

a wide range of non military applications. However, the development of GPS applications is still in the early stages and we have
yet to see some of the most exciting of these developments,
which look likely to have an impact on the lives of nearly all of us.
The application which will undoubtedly have the widest
impact is the development of GPS systems for cars. All round
the world, the major motor manufacturers are working on such
systems. These products range in sophistication from a simple
emergency beacon to full scale navigation systems, complete
with electronic map displays. Prototype in car navigation
systems are already undergoing tests in Japan, the US, the UK
and Germany.
Probably the most sophisticated of these projects is being
developed by a consortium of Japanese car companies. lt
involves storing a high precision 50,000:1 vector map database
in the car as part of the GPS system, which is displayed on a
PC quality flat screen display. This database is linked to a
sensor system, allowing the car to be precisely positioned on

the separation between aircraft reduced. Furthermore, because

GPS systems are cheap and lightweight, they can be installed in
any type of aircraft, even microlights.
Perhaps the most spectacular use of GPS systems in terms
of accuracy is in ground based surveying with the aid of carrier
phase tracking. Besides being used in building and civil engineering construction surveying, it can be used to create
extremely accurate maps. Maps that are being combined with
satellite images to provide information on a wide range of
geological, economic and environmental subjects. They can, for
example, be used to accurately measure movements in the
tectonic plates of the Eadh, or in a major fault line and thus help
predict earthquakes.
Stand alone GPS systems are also being used by freight
companies to accurately locate the position of heavy goods
vehicles, trains or even nrdividual freight containers. These
systems involve linking.the GPS to either existing voice VHF
networks for automatically relaying vehicle position within a local
area, or via the lnmarsat satellite system for global position
location. This not only enables the operator to accurately locate
the vehicles in a fleet, thereby optimising their use, but it also
allows them to track any stolen vehicles. This is a particularly
important feature of the system when one considers that goods
*,vehicles
and their freight loads worth over E5O0 million are
stolen every year and most of them are never located.
Automatic location of mobile units with the aid of GPS
systems is also proving useful to the various emergency
services, since it allows police, ambulance and fire services to
locate the nearest appliance to an incident and thus reduce the
time taken to reach it. A similar system is also being deployed
by the London cab company, Computacabs, to enable them to
get a cab to a customer as quickly as possible and also via VHF
links to warn drivers of problems on the roads, check customer
credit cards and advise on optimum routes. Other potential
users of such systems include bus companies and service/maintenance vehicles for power and telecommunication companies.
Surprisingly enough, GPS systems are also being used in
applications which do not involve position location. In fact, GPS
systems can also be used as very accurate time and frequency
sources (the satellites all contain highly accurate atomic clocks)
and moreover, as a time source which is globally synchronised.
The BBC time signal is no longer derived from a time source in
Greenwich, but from a GPS receiver.

the map with the aid of dead reckoning and map constraints, all
based upon a GPS reference. This gives the navigation system
far greater accuracy than is possible wrth the GPS system alone.
Because the navigation system must not distract the driver,
the Japanese system will only function when the car is
stationary or moving at under ten miles per hour. At higher
speeds, it will simply display trunk roads without any finer detail.
The problem of driver distraction has led some European developers to propose a purely voice command system (l can see
this driving people mad very quicklyl, Ed.),
Car navigation systems based on GPS could be on the
market today and, indeed some simpler systems are, but their
further development is constrained by one major factor - the
lack of high precision electronic map data for many areas of
potential use. lt is the availability of such maps that has allowed
the Japanese to gain an early lead in this market.
Car navigation systems may well prove to be the big
commercial market for GPS systems but the future for this technology is no less exciting in other areas, For example, in
maritime applications, experimental GPS receivers are now
being linked with communications systems that utilise the low
flying COSPAS SARSAT satellites to continuously report on a
vessel's position. ln future they will probably be linked to
geostationary satellites as paft of a system which will allow
accurate control of shipping movements.
Moves are also afoot to use GPS systems to replace some
elements of air traffic control and permit planes to fly much
closer to each other. Again, this will rely upon GPS systems on
the plane continuously reporting exact positions to air traffic
control, via a geostationary satellite. Problems associated with a
failure of the actual GPS system have now been overcome and
the safety aspect of relying on GPS has been satisfactorily resolved.

Another aeronautical application for GPS is for precision

approach and landing systems. This is a particularly important
development, since it will considerably improve safety at countless airpofts, particularly in the third world, where no MLS
system is installed.
This article has, I hope, shown that satellite base global positioning systems are likely to have a considerable impact over
the coming decade in a wide range of different non military
applications. GPS should improve efficiency and safety in a
great many transporl operations, and allow scientists and engineers to measure minute movements in the environment,
providing vital clues to climatic changes or impending earthquakes.
This is one piece of military expenditure for which we should
all be thankful!

The future of GPS

As we have seen, GPS systems are already being employed in

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

16

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ffi

ffiffiffiffi- ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffim

This month, Jim Spence looks at an application for the

ETI Forth Experimenters Computer - using it to accurately control the rotation of a stepper motor.
for next to nothing. The old daisy wheel printers

ave you ever experimented with a stepper motor?

Did it work? Were you
pleased with the results? This
is a practical article, the intention of which is to tell you how to
use stepper motors and make them work
for you in your application Described is an
unusual way of driving the ordinary stepper
motor and obtaining a much improved
pedormance. Stepper motors seem to be
used everywhere - in printers, disk drives,
robots, fruit machines, in fact anywhere
where mechanical positioning is important.
This is good news for the average electronics enthusiast, if there is such a thing.
Why is it good news? Well, you can pick
up at a car boot sale, or better still at a
Radio Rally, 'junk' disk drives and printers

Figure 2:

2x75463lCs as drivers

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

ta

(if

you can lift

possible or practical with an ordinary motor.

With these propedies, the motor lends itself to 'positioning'
applications such as plotters and CNC (computer numerically
controlled) machines, the main advantage being that there is no
feedback required as to the position of the machine This is
known as an open loop system. For example, all you would
need to do is to tell the motor to advance a ceftain number of
steps and this would cause an exact and repeatable location to
be realised.
In practice there is always some kind of feedback, even in an
open loop system. Take a pen plotter. At switch on, how would
the controller know where the pen was if there wasn't a 'home'
position? There could also be an intermediate monitoring position so that whilst plotting, if this position was crossed. The
controller could work out if it should have been there or not,
issuing an error if an anomaly occurred.
The point is that in a system like this, the monitoring is
m nimal. ln contrast, a closed loop system requires a constant
update of the position A closed loop system is 'safer' in the
sense that if external forces interfere with the motor, e.g. you
stick your hand in the machine, the effects are known immediately and corrective action can be taken, whatever that may be. An
open loop system would not know if anything had gone wrong
until the monitoring position, if any, which may be too late.

:^e) have about 5 stepper motors in and these would have cost
a'crlune to buy new.

TVpes of stepper motor

-re two most common types of stepper motor are unipolar and
: polar. The type you are most likely to encounter is the
in two types, 5
re and 6 wire. Bipolar motors only have two windings and
:^erefore 4 wires (Figure 1d), while modern motors have B wires
and can be wired either as unipolar or bipolar (Figure 1c).
Before you can use one of these motors you must establish
.,ro things. Firstly the common connection, as in the case of
: gure 1 a and 1 b, and secondly the sequence of the phases.
The colours of the wires are of no help, as every manufacturer
appears to have their own scheme.
The first step can be achieved with a meter. Usually, the

-ripo ar, which is shown in Figure 1 . They come

,',

rnotor windings will be between about 6 and 150 ohms.

Obviously, the resistance between two windings will be twice
that of the resistance between the common connection and a
winding.
Having established the phases, you must determine which
phase steps the motor to which position. Do this by wrapp ng a
piece of stiff wire round the shaft of the motor, to act as a kind
of clock hand or pointer. Connect each phase in turn to a
power source and mark the top of the motor. You will easi y
establish the sequence of phases this way.

Fundamentals of stepper motor control

Although this text is of a practical nature, there are a few fundamental things about stepper motors which must be covered in
order to make sense of the rest of the text and to enable you to
put your 'junk' motor to good use

Ilpica! Motor Gharacteristics

Basically, a stepper motor is a motor capable of revo ving in
fairly accurate discrete steps, a kind of digital motor if you ke
Stepper motors have definite characteristics, they are good for
some things but not for others. To begin with, they are not very
fast in terms of RPM. An average stepper motor wi go up to
about 1000 steps per second if driven correctly and th s transates to 150 RPM for a 1.8 degree per step motor, driven in half

Steps
lvlost stepper motors, you are likely to encounter, will step
either 7.5' or 1.8" per step This will give 48 and 200 steps per
revolution respectively. Ninety degrees per step is also common
but these are usually geared down. Obviously, the smaller the
step, the better the resolution that can be obtained for a given
gear ratio.

step mode. Now for a ballerina that's fast, but for a motor t isn't
and it certainly wouldn't be suitable for use on the end of a
garden strimmer! Having said that, modern motors are capable
of quite reasonable speeds, as high as 10,000 steps per
second without appreciable loss of torque,
Stepper motors also need special arrangements to make
tnem work. You can't simply connect them up to a battery and
them go round. As you will see later, the arrangements
'nratch
for driving this type of motor can make all the difference.
So what's the good news? Well, in spite of the special
arrangements needed for driving, for positioning type applications they make life very simple because there is no need to
f ave a constant feedback (as in closed loop), They can also be
,rery accurate. For example, you can do things like move in
extremely small increments. All of these options are simply not

Pull-in and Pull-out Rate

The pull in rate is the maximum switching rate at which a loaded
motor will start without losing steps. The pull-out rate is the
maximum switching rate a loaded motor can go at, The pull-in
rate is always lower than the pull-out rate and from this statement it can be seen that, if you want to drive a motor at its full
speed, the pull-out rate, then you must progress to this, stepping slowly at first and increasing gradually to the pull-out rate.
This is called ramping.

O=afrYa-frn<
OFlfrWryYn{

o-.fffrY!r^.1-

OF--ffYaYfn{

o.arrfrYrrh

OF-.fffrYff't{

(b)

UNIPOLAB TYPES

Figure 1: l\,4otor wlndlng types

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

19

5O0mA PEB PHASE

1A PER PHASE

Figure 3: Using an ULN2803 as a driver

Resonance

i,OTOR

Certain operating frequencies

cause the motor to resonate,
You can actually hear this and
it may cause the motor to lose
steps. These frequencies
should be avoided.
Figure 4: Forcing resistors improve motor performance

General
There are, of course, many
other parameters but for practical purposes the above will
suffice. lt is also impor:tant to
realise that the motor will
behave very differently when
installed in a machine than it
does when it is driving

WITH RESISTOR

Figure 5: 3 types of drive arranqement

nothing.

Motor drivers
How you drive a stepper
motor can make all the difference. You may be able to stop
a motor with your thumb and
finger when it is driven by one
method, but take the same
motor and drive it differently
and it will be unstoppable and
probably consume less
average current.

Unipolar
As mentioned earlier, there are
two broad types of motor unipolar and bipolar. This,
however, refers as much to
the way motors are driven as
to the way the motors are
constructed. Some motors are
designed to be driven either
way. For example Figure 1c.
The term unipolar, meaning

SENSE2

SENSEi

Figure 6: Driver circuit

ELECTRON ICS TODAY I NTERNATIONAL

20

CHOPPER DRIVER

:-:

lrection through the windings.

-^e old fullheight 51/4in disk drives have a small 12V'

:.=.cer motor to position the heads. This is driven very simply

:- :,',o 75463 driver chips (see Figure 2). This is a very simple
-:- . indeed and I am sure that no attempt is made to get the
-

-: i 'r-rum performance from the motor. However, for this appli-

-,=--:r it obviously fits the bill.

i more practical and modern circuit for driving a stepper
-,:::. this way is to use an octal driver chip, ULN2803. This
-:'=Cible device has eight Darlington driver outputs capable of
.,-< rg 5O0mA each, at up to 50V. The outputs may also be
-,--,- eled to give greater output current and all this for less than
:- see Figure 3). Be warned here however, the device is an 18
: - lll with no heat sink, so don't put your finger on the top to
=- f it's getting warm. I still have a blister!

Hore performance

--:

main problem with the circuits shown so far is in obtaining

;ull pull-out rate (maximum speed). lf the motor is fed with
.. 'ated current at a low 12V voltage, it may take, say 10 ms,
'-':re winding to become fully energised. This will be the deter- ng factor for the maximum speed, In order to get more
::icrmance, the motor can be driven with a higher voltage but
a resistor to limit the current. The effect of this is to

:-:

:':rgh

-=:-ce the time taken for the winding to reach its maximum

=-:'gy and thus

increase the maximum speed. lt is common

:-a:tice to use a resistor, which is generally called a Forcing

resistor. Using a resistor also gives improved torque and as a

rule the higher the value the resistor, the better the improvement, providing the current is maintained.
The jargon used is UnR, where nR is the sum of the external
resistance plus the winding resistance R. The idea is to maintain
the rated current but with a higher voltage. For example a 20
Ohm 10V motor (0.5A per phase) driven in U4R mode would
have a 60 Ohm series resistor (60+20=80=four times phase
resistance) and be driven with a 40V supply, thus maintaining
the 0.5A. See Figure 4.
It is normal practice for manufacturers to quote torque in the
performance figures using a particular UnR value.
The forcing resistor needs to be fairly hefty and the above
example would require a 20W resistor which would get quite
hot, therefore probably requiring a heat sink. This is the mdn
problem with the forcing resistor arrangement, it is very inefficient. The alternative is to dispense with the resistor but still
use a high voltage and monitor the current in the phase
winding, Just as the current begins to exceed the rated value,
switch off the supply. As the current falls switch the supply back
on again, so on and so forth at high speed. This is called chopping, see Figure 5. This is the best arrangement of all and
because of the near ideal waveform, gives very much improved
pedormance. For unipolar types of drive, it is usually adequate
to use either direct or UnR types of driving arrangement.

Bipolar
This method of driving stepper motors gives quite a remarkable
improvement in performance over unipolar. The phases need to
be driven in opposite directions and so the driver circuit needs
to be able to source current as well as sink it. ln the unipolar
arrangement, the unwanted phase is simply switched off. ln the
bipolar arrangement the phase is either connected to ground or
+ve. The main disadvantage, in the past, has been the difficulty,
and complexity of the driving circuits, but there are now lCs
available which take care of all the driving complexities.

Chop lt
The maximum performance which can be obtained from a
stepper motor will be achieved with a bipolar circuit and some

Figure 8: Power supply circuit

GND

D0 D1 D2 D3

+5V

Figure 7: Driver circuit 2

ELECTRONICS IODAY INTERNATIONAL

21

I
I

form of chopping mechanism driving a motor designed for

bipolar operation, This can be achieved faidy simply using just 2
lC's, Figure 6. The first lC (L297), is the controller lC and the
second (L29BN) is the driver lC. This is very similar to the L293,
except the package enables it to handle greater currents. The
two sense lines monitor the voltage across the motor windings
and cut off the current at a predetermined value. This value is
set by the input Vref , lt is beyond the scope of this arlicle to go
into the details of this circuit, as the circuit proposed in Figure Z
performs almost as well. For a lower cost system, the added
expense of the chopper circuit will make no practical difference.

common, twice as much torque is available. lf phase 1 and

phase 3 are opposite each other, physically on opposite sides
of the motor, one will be pushing and the other will be pulling so
to speak. This gives double the torque that can be obtained
from a unipolar system. A five wire motor also works driven by
this method. Although current is flowing through the other two,
unused phases, it has the same magnitude and direction. They
therefore cancel each other out and do not mechanically affect
the operation of the motor. This is not ideal, but it does give
good results, A b polar motor only has four wires and this circuit
is ideal for driving one of these.

The Gircuit

Construction and Testing

The philosophy behind the circuit in Figure 7 was to construct a

general purpose high per.formance stepper motor driver,
capable of working with as many different types of motor as
possible. The circuit is configured to drive a bipolar motor, but
as you can see, a unipolar motor is shown connected. We can
get away with this by leaving the common connections unconnected. The circuit will even work with a 5 wire type although
some losses can be expected and the 5 wire motor may not
reach its maximum performance. lt will, however, perform far
better with this circuit than it will with the unipolar circuit.
lCl is a general purpose motor controller capable of supplying
1A per channel, which is more than adequate for a lot of motors.
The board has an on board variable voltage regulator which will
need a heat sink. This is so that the current can be adjusted to
suit the particular motor. Also, there is a Link on the board
which is for an ammeter. Four output lines from the computer are
needed as well as +5V and ground. This is provided by the 6 way
connector Only 4 wires are needed for the motor (see How lt
Works) and two pins are provided for the power input.
In practice, the circuit will supply about 1A for short periods
without getting too l-rot, 300 to 500mA is a realistic figure for
continuous operation and you will be surprised how powerful
some motors can be at this current.

Use of the PCB is highly recommended, unless very low

currents are to be used You will notice that the pCB has large
areas of copper connected to the ground pins and this is to
help dissipate the heat from the lC The chip is physically
bonded to the ground p ns for this purpose.
It goes without saying thai for once an lC socket should not
be used. Solder in all the components except the lC, taking
particular care over the orientat on of the diodes,
Connect up a power supply and check that the regulator lC
is working and varies the voltage as you turn VRi lf evefihing
is functioning correctly, solder in the lC Ma<e absolutely certain
you get it the right way round,
After completing the board, connect a motor to the 4 way
connector, a suitable power supply to the trvo p ns +5V and
ground, to the six way connector and an Ammeter across the
pins marked Link.
With nothing
connected to D0PH1 PH2 PH3 PH4
D3, there should
al
be no current
flowing. Connect
D0 to the +5V pin
and adjust VRl to
give about
1 50mA. The
motor should jerk
at this point, indicating current
flowing through it.
The actual current
depends very
much on the type
of motor you have
connected.

Power Supply
Modern stepper motors have winding resistances as low as 1 to
2 ohms. A low voltage supply can therefore provide adequate
currents. Older, cheaper motors however, have winding resistance's of 50 ohms and up, Connecting unipolar motors to run
in bipolar mode effectively doubles the resistance. The practicality of the above means that to drive motors with a high resistance, a high voltage supply is needed. The circuit shown in Figure
B will provide about 35V, which is the maximum rating of lC1 .

How lt Works

I50mA

REGl is a virtually indestructible variable voltage regulator,

Resistors Rl to R3 limit the current to about '1 .5A and VR1

is a fairly

safe starting point,

controls the voltage output, which will swing between 3 and

36V. Cl and C2 help to reduce the noise caused by switching
the motor windings. lC1 is an L293 which is intended as a
general purpose motor driver, not just stepper motors. Diodes
Dl to DB prevent the normal voltage spikes exceeding the 0V
and 36V rails, usually associated with inductive loads. There
exists a variation of the lC, L293D, which has the diodes

Figure 9: PCB component overay

lC1

l'293 or L293D

REGl

L2OOCV

R1, 2, 3

1R 0.25W
820R 0.25W
10K lin pre-set
C1,2 0.1uF
Dl-D8 BYW98-100 4 x PCB pins, 1 x 6 way PCB connector, 2 xpCB 2
way terminals
' Diodes must have a Tn of less than 2O0ns, not
needed if type L293 is used.

R4
VRI

already built in. lf you are using this chip, then the diodes are
unnecessary.
As mentioned earlier, only 4 wires are required. The common
connections are simply not used (see Figure 7) Figure 7 shows
a 6 wire unipolar motor connected to lCl , ready to be driven in

.,-

bipolar mode, Because current flows through two phases, for

example from phase 1 to phase 3, rather than from phase 1 to

"

,.':,',:,..
,,'

;'

:..,

i,.,',' : :,,.'', ktL-r -lonth

tut ftti

!"jjLl the_

., ,;,: qr$ut dgscrroec u

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

22

fq

-".
-"..

driving the slspper motor

tni$ month'i article,

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ln this month's PC proiect, John Lanigan shows how to build a simple tiltle display which
will indicate how fast your PC ,s running.

he old IBM XT spends more time in bits on my

desk than in one piece running software. lt's the

one that gets all the tinkering, adding this,

tweaking that. lt starled out as a Portable with twin floppy drives

and a built-in mono monitor. Now it is in a new case with
uprated power supply , 3-1/2in and 5-1/4in floppies, hard disk,

NOTE:

lc1

LEDo and

SW1

sN7400 0R srMrLAH
CC 7.SEG LED DISPLAYS
EXISTING TURBO'

Fig. 1, Turbo indicator circuil

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

match that of the permanent segments. This is necessary

because 5 of the permanent segments are driven by each of the
remaining 2 gates. lf the current to the switched segments was
not limited they would be noticeably brighter than the rest.

Assembly and Testing

Before starting this project you should determine the switching

levels on your turbo switch, SW1 . Almost certainly, it will be
switching between O and 5V, but it is always more comfortable
to be sure. You need to find the 'high' side of the switch for
connecting up anyway. You can check this with a 2Ok-ohmA/
meter set to the 10V range. You should connect the common
lead to a known ground such as the chassis metalwork. lf you
have more than 5V, (up to 15V), on your turbo switch, you must
4+a
use a potential divider network to reduce it to 5V. Use high
value resistors to minimise the current drawn down the network.
Assembly should not present any problems with only a few
:: our display and turbo motherboard. lt was while lwas
components. Start with the low profile parts, the resistors, then
: -iting in the turbo board that I thought about digital speed
^ J cators, like those on
the lC followed by the 7segment displays. While
AT
the
flashier
.:rre of
soldering, do not
lt
is
not
necessary
:nes.
14t312fi109
concentrate on one
.: build a counter and
device at a time. Move
:ecoder-driver circuit to
N1
from
one to another as
: splay the two speeds at
N2
this will avoid over,'.rich turbo boards
-:rmaly run. All we need is
heating and possible
1234567
damage. This is particu, switching element (a turbo
logic
table
larly important if you
Fig.
3,
7400
Pin
out
and
=,vitch for example) and a
have difficulty with one
. e hard-wired logic.
joint. Do not keep trying to complete it in one go, move to
The 7-segment display provides a crude but universally
'ecognisable rendering of the digits 0 to 9 by illuminating 2 or
another component so that the first can cool.
-rore bars of its 7 bar array. For any given 2 digits, several of
When all the parts and the leads are in place, connect to a
DC supply set at less than 5V. I usually use 3.5 or 4V, in case
.re illuminated bars will be the same. For example, 0 and 8,
have forgolten a current limiting resistor that should be
,',,here the only difference 1s the centre bar. The board I used for
protecting something either expensive or impossible to replace
.re XT had a base speed of 4.77 and in turbo mode 9.54 MHz.
-o show 4.8, and in turbo irode 9.5, 10 of the segments
on a Sunday afternoon! Now connect the lead that goes to the
rvolved remain unchanged, including the decimal point of
turbo switch, SWl , to a l0k resistor and then to the supply. lf
you get the expected response - a dim 4.8 on the displays 3ourse. A 4 becomes a 9 by adding one more segment and an
you can take the supply up to 5V. Grounding the lead to SWl
3 is made into 5 by removing 2 segments (see Figure 2). lf we
should change the display to 9.5.
oan hold the unchanging segments on and switch only those
:nat change, we can produce a display of the
CPU speed with a simple logic circuit.
I

FRONT PANEL MOULDING

How lt Works
SWI open, the 2
nputs of lCl a are held high, giving a low output.
This keeps LED1 a turned off and at the same
time holds the inputs to lCl b low. A low on both
inputs switches lCl b output to high, so lighting
the segments LEDOb and 0e. A truth table is
given in Figure 3 and the display segments are
identified in Figure 2.
lCl c and lC'1 d have permanent high outputs,
because their inputs connect to the 0V line.
These outputs drive the segments LEDOa, c, d, f,
g and LED1b, c, d, p, f, g. They are the permanent segments.
Closing SWI pulls lC1 a inputs low and consequently the output goes high, lighting segment
LED1 a. The same 'high' connects to the inputs of
lC1 b causing its output to go low and turn off the
segments LEDOb and 0e.
The 2 resistors, R2 and R3, in the lines to the
switched segments adjust their brightness to
ln the diagram (Figure 1), with

FRONT CHASSIS PANEL

FRONT PANEL FIXING SCREWS

MOTHERBOARD

Fig

Mounting inside A Pc

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

25

LED Shot?
tions on the board and compare to the diagram. lf you don,t
have a display at all, even when you turn up to 5V, then switch
off and start checking the power supply connections.
Meanlngless shapes or unexpected numbers on the display
mean that the connections to the segment pins are incorrect. lf
you are using a socket for the lC and/or displays, then look
carefully to ensure there are no bent pins. Of course, you didn,t
insert lCs the wrong way around did you? (yes so did l.)
Those of you in-the-know will have realjsed that NAND gates
are not essential for this project. lt will work perfectly well with
inverters, like SN7414, as that is exactly how a NAND gate
behaves when both inputs are connected together. fheT4OO
however, has just the right number of gates and it was on the
top of the 'bits box' when I starled work on the prototype.
Some applications may need to show different figures from
those given, but the How lt Works section should allow the
confident beginner to alter the circuit to display any value from
O.O

drive power supply but make sure you don,t pick the i 2V linel
use a lot of 5A screw or block connectors for this sort of thing.
For the switch, it is probably easiest to solder direcily to the
switch terminal. lf you have one of the older pCs whose hard
disk drives do not self park on power off, park your disk heads
before dismantling or moving the case. This precaution will save
you from considerable anguish later. Do not use the switch lead
for your 5V supply. lt may work, but more likely you will be trying
to draw more current than was expected of the switch.
I

lf the circuit does not perform as expected, trace the co.nnec-

il I

to 99.

Micro Surgery
It is not possible to describe fitting the board into all of the
possible case types They are, however, largely similar and the
metalwork should not be too difficult.
Most cases have a lift and slide-off top, secured with a
number of screws around the base of the unit. Under this is a
chassis of sheet steel to which most of the sub-assemblies fix.
The front panel moulding is held by screws to the front of the
chassis from inside (see Figure 4), so some of the peripheral
devices and driver cards may have to be removed first. There is
usually a void between the front panel and the metalwork to
which it mounts. This is where we will be fitting the new circuit
board. You need to find a place for the circuit board that puts
the 7 segment displays near to the front panel moulding. lt may
be necessary to mount the board on stand-offs or spacers,
depending on the distance from the moulding to the chassis.
The prototype was mounted on a sub-chassis that eventually
made it easier to fit. lf possible, pick a space where there is
some room for a little adjustment This will allow you to align the
board/assembly when all the surgery has been completed.
u When you are satisfied with the position of the board, fit it
temporarily and measure from a fixed point on the metalwork,
such as one of the holes for the front panel moulding fixing
screws, to the LED display. Take care, as this dimension
locates the cut-out in the front panel. Mark out the hole on the
front of the panel and cut it out.
This ls best done by drilling in the corners and cutting
between them, then filing or scraping to your marked lines.
Better still, if you know a toolmaker or machinist, ask them to
do it for you, because the results of any poor craftsmanship will
be visible on the front panel!
To flnish off the front panel, cut a piece of tinted perspex and
either glue or heat-stake (melt the panel and the perspex
together with a soldering iron) it in place, over the hole. lf you
have been unlucky cutting the hole and have made less than a
perfect 1ob, it may be useful to fix the window on the outside. ln
this case, you will have to glue it of course. A useful ,dodge, is
to use a bezel to cover the hole, so it is not so impodant to cut
a good hole. With the front panel back on, you will need to
adjust the position of the circuit board to align it with the
window.
There are 3 connections to make - to SW1 , the 5V and OV
lines. The supply is fairly easy just connect to the nearest disk

sw1

Fig

0v

+5V

PCB Ccn'Donent overlay

None of the components are difficult to obtain. Only

the 7-segment displays are important ln that they are
low current, high brightness types.

Resistors

Rl
R2
R3

]k
220R

68R
(all 1/8 W 5% carbon fitm)

Semiconductors

Cl

LEDO

SN7400 4 2-input NAND gate

and I
low current, high brightness,

common cathode 7-segment LED display (MApLlN

oY54J)

Miscellaneous
PCB or suitable Veroboard
Machine screws, nuts, washers and spacers
Connecting wire

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

26

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builds three different bite

detectors for anglers,
designed for varying
stages of the National
Curriculum.

|NSULATOA

FILE TO

\
CUT OFF CABLE CLAMP

his project has been

CUT JACK COVER AS
SHOWN AND USE TO
HOLD DETECTOR ARM

designed to be compatible
with the new National
Curriculum ideals, where
students of varying ability face

Jack p ug modificat on

BOTATE JACK SOCKET

TO SET THESE POSITIONS
THEN DO IT UP TIGHT

LINE HELD

POSITION

POSITIONB

DETECTOH SW OPEN.

DETECTORSWCLOSED

FISHING LINE HAS PULLED ARM UP

FROM REST TO MAKE CONTACT ON
THE JACK SOCKET SETTING OFF ALARM

FISHING LINE LOOSE

DETECTOF ARM ON
REST POSITION

Detector mechanics

the same problems but choose different

levels of technology to overcome them.
The object in this case is to indicate
audibly, via a beeper and visually through
an LED, when a 'bite' is detected while
fishing This can be extremely useful,
either when using two rods as a monitor
for the second, or for night fishing.
There are three versions of this alarm
to allow for the varying abilities of students,
but all three use the same detector, box,
LED and beeper, although the electronics varies from a couple of components to a dozen or more. Here are the
three models, together with their appropriate levels within the National
Curriculum and as assessed by the CDT
Head of Department at Denefield School,
Reading.

Model 1000 - very basic, no active electronics, suitable for pupils working at
level 3, minimum.
Model 2OOO - simple two stage circuit
using a thyristor and a 555 lC, suitable
for pupils working at Level 6 or at a range

of levels lrom 4-7, provided they use the

circuits and data supplied for justifying
their solutions.
Model 3000 - a digital approach using 3
CMOS lCs. The complexity of this circuit
is such that pupils using it could, if it is
used as a basis for their own development of a bite alarm, achieve the highest
levels. With the right description and
folder work, this model is suitable for
pupils working at Level 7 or higher.

General Background
There are a lot of good quality bite alarms
on the market, but their prices seem well
out of the reach of many enthusiasts.
Several of those looked at seem to draw
a fair amount of current when switched
on but not indicating, which means
battery replacement would be a frequent
occurrence and with a good quality PP3
costing 12 a go, also expensive. So here
are my cheaper, low current versions.
The single most important part of the
Bite Alarm is the detector. Somehow,
this must detect the increased tension

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

28

caused by a fish pulling on the line but be

able to ignore the constant tension due
to current or wind. Many of the ready
made units use a disc, which the line
rotates when pulled tight and an opto
detector is used to monitor dark and
transparent sections of this disc. The
manufacture of this rotating disc module
in production terms and quantities is relatively easy, but trying to make a one off
with tools readily available to the amateur
is quite a different matter. The most difficult problem is making a spindle to run
freely, but strong enough to take the
punishment handed out during a day's
fishing in all weathers and to survive the
average fishing box. Several attempts
were made, but all ended up using tools
or materials not always available to the
amateur. Another approach was required
and this was to use a standard 1/4in
mono jack plug socket. This, with slight
modification, was found to be ideal cheap, strong and effective.
The spring contact of the socket on
the sleeve terminal is bent slightly backwards, to reduce the pressure it exerts
on the jack plug. The tip contact on the
plug is filed to produce a flat (as per
diagram), so that when it is plugged into
position A, no contact is made with the
socket tip contact, but when the plug is
rotated to position B, contact is made.
By loosening the shaft contact, by
bending it back slightly, we have reduced
the current handling capacity of the jack
plug/jack socket, but this is unimportant
as we are only going to pass a few
milliamps through it.
All three versions of the Bite Alarm
use this type of detector switch. By filing
different amounts off the tip contact on

NOTE:
TOP OF BOX
POWEB

57mm

I
ARM STOP
BOLT HOLE
3mm CLEAR
POStTTON

TO SUIT

ffi
.re jack plug, the
cistance between
:re position A and B

:an be varied to suit.

lare must be taken

-ct to file away too

.ruch or the tip

:onnection is broken
as this goes up the
:entre of the jack
o,ug. To reduce the

BASE OF BOX USED AS TOP

SCREW-ON PANEL IS BACK

counterbalance weight, making this

heavier and effectively decreasing the
1000/2000/3000 ALL usE SAME SIZE BOX
force required to turn the lever. Too
TERRY CLIPS BOLTED ON BACK OF BOX TO SUIT
heavy and it keeps the lever in position B,
ROD BEST
too light and it only detects Great Whites
- quite rare here on the Thames.
The fishing line is passed under the
detector lever arm in position A so that
when the line is pulled taught by a fish,
the lever moves to position B. ln order for
3 BEEPS /CONT SWTTCH
this to happen easily, the bite alarm is
. NOT USED ON 1OOO
clipped on to the rod rest by a couple of
# ONLY USED ON 3OOO
small terry clips. The top of the rod rest
has a short bar mounted on it, which has
two uses. Firstly, it stops the Bite Alarm
from rotating on the rod rest and
secondly, it holds the rod in the correct
position above the detector arm, to the
lett of the Bite Alarm. All three versions of
Box Drilling
the alarm use this
type of detector
JACK PLUG IS SHOWN E{ POSITION A
DETECTOR AFM
switch, as well as
(coNTAcT
nP
NOT
tlAoE)
(sEE
WITH
TE)o)
cuT To slzE
using the same type
JACK PLUG FILED AWAY
PPs BLACK
PP3 FED
POWER
+9V
0V
of box. The switches
JACK
SWITCH
SOCKET
are all mounted in the
same position where
applicable - this is to
SOUND ON/OFF
allow an upgrade at a
DETECTOR ST1TICH
BEEPER
TIP AND SLEEVE TERMINALS
B1
later date if skill and
II?VBUZ,ZERI
CONNECTED TOGETHER
560R 1/2W
REAF OF LEO
^
confidence increase
(J
o*,
.-ps o 2"
(FLAT"o.6u*
SIDE OF BASE
during the life of the

=:rce required to turn

:re jack plug in the
sccket, a simple
:ver is used. The length of this lever can
. ary to suit, but remember the longer the
:ver, the less force is required to turn the
.ack plug, but the further the lever must
:e moved. For practical purposes,
several levers can be made to suit condi. cns, short for fast moving water and
:nger for water that is still or slow
-cwrng.
The jack plug top is also modified.
re two connectors are cut off as near
:c the base as possible to allow them to
:e soldered together. The screw thread
^as two flats filed in it in order to stop the
jack
=,'er turning without turning the

HOLE SIZES TO SUIT SWITCHES AND LEDs USED

The position of the jack plug on the

lever arm is also important as the metal
to the right of the jack plug acts as a

SHOWS.VE SIDE)

sional look, These come n different

colours and can be used to instantly
recognise which one is most suitable for
the conditions, e g, blue for slow water
and red for fast water, etc.

is thought that it might disturb the fish or

other people nearby. All versions have
been extensively tested and their varying

USE BATTERY CLIPS

JACK SOCKET MOUNTEO AT AN ANGLE

TO SET POSITIONS A AND B
ANY COLOUR wlRE CAN BE USED
COLOURS GIVEN AS GUIOE ONLY

Jg.
A short length of the screw cap is cut

BOLT HOLDING ARM BEST PILLAR

POSITION TO SUIT ARM

to cover these shorted connections

'-l to hold the lever arm in place. lf only
l'e arm is going to be used on each

-;

ack plug, it is advised that it is glued to

:-e jack plug to give added support.
=emember several lever arm jack plug
:ssemblies can be made. The top of the
-^crt length of screw cap can be filled
,', ih glue gun glue and a small screw cap
^sed can be fitted to give it a profes-

alarm.
All three versions
have a LED as well
as switchable sound which indicates a
'bite'. The sound can be switched off if ii

+VE RESISTOR SIDE

Ie

ov

stoe

SLEEVE wlRES
AFTER SOLDERTNG

NOT ORILL HOLE FOR RESET

AS IT IS NOT USED ON THE 1OOO

BASE W]TH GLUE GUN

SMALL HOLES MAY BE DRILLED

IN BASE TO IMPROVE SOUND OUTPUT

Wiring layout for 1000 version of Bite Alarm

ELECTBONICS TODAY INTEBNATIONAL

29

complexity only determines the way a

bite is indicated. lt doesn't affect the
sensitivity of detection, which remains
the same in all three. Each version is
equally useful, something not usually
found in graded ability prolects.

Bite Alarm lOOO

This is the simplest version, but is still a
very rewarding pro1ect which effectively
has no active electronics.

How

lt Works

When the Power switch is On, the +9V

from the PP3 battery goes to the jack
socket tip terminal. lf the jack plug on the
detector lever is in position A, i.e. fishing
line loose, the circuit is effectively broken
PP3 BLACK
as no contact is made to the tip of the
jack plug. However when the jack plug is
Circut diagram for vers or 20:O cf Bfte a arm
rotated to position B
-E
3 x MOUNTING HOLES M3 CLEAF
by the action of the
contacts close,
line being pulled
+9V VIA POWER SWTCH 'A,
switching 9V to R4. R4
taught by a fish, the
DETECTOR SLEEVE CONTACT 'B'
and R5 produce a
tip contact of the
9V TO BEEPER AND LED 'C'
voltage
divider and
jack plug make
current limiter, essential
contact with the tip
to the safe operation of
DETECTOR TIP COMACT'O'
contact of the jack
the thyristor.
BATTERY -VE OV'E'
socket and a circuit
Thyristors vary
NOT USED'F'
is made. The jack
considerably in their
plug must have its
sensitivity and if a
two terminals
TAKE CAFE FITTING Cl AND Ci}, O,I, ICl
different one is used, it
MUST BE FITTED CORRECT WAY ROUND
connected together
must have a similar
for version 2000 of Bite alarm
as shown in the
diagram. The +9V now flows into Rj, the
current limit resistor and into the positive
side of the LED. The negatjve side of the
LED (the lead nearest the flat on the side
of the LED) completes the circuit to
battery 0V.
lf the Sound switch is On, 9V is also
passed to the positive side of the beeper,
tl'e red lead. The black lead goes to
battery 0V. A low current, low price
buzzer rated at 12V is used in my
projects although any small low current
piezo sound (active type with oscillator
Wring d agram for Vers on 2OOO of Bite alarm
built in) will do.
Although in this version there is plenty
distinct parts, both of which use compo_
specification. C2 is used to try to remove
of room, it is recommended that the
nents commonly found in school pro1ects
any RF (radio frequency) signals that may
alarm is built to the drawing and the
- the latch, built around a thyristor and
be present, shorling them down to OV. lf
controls fitted roughly where indicated the oscillator, built around the 555 timer.
present in any quantity they could cause
this then allows the project to be
the thyristor to tum on, giving a false indicaupgraded if required later, as the other
How Works
tlon.
prolects use the same box, etc.
The latch parl of the circuit uses the
When the detector lever is in position
Although this is the simplest of the
properly of a thyristor that once it is
B and the alarm power is switched On,
three alarms it does have the advantage
turned on it stays on, even if the input
the thyristor turns on, effectively going
that when the detector lever is in position
signal is removed. lt will stay on until the
from open circuit to short circuit. This
A, not indicating a bite, no current flows
current passing through it is taken away.
turning on to a short circuit condition will
at all, so increasing the life of the battery.
The input signal comes from the detector
remain, even if the detector lever drops
Current is only drawn while indicating.
switch which, when in position A,
back from position B, removing the gate
receives nothing as the switch is effec_
signal from the thyristor. From now on,
Bite Alarm 2OOO
tively open. When rotated to position B
the thyristor applies 9V to the S55.
This circuit can be broken down into two
by a fish on the line, the detector
In the oscillator, the 555 is connected

lt

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTER NATIONAL

30

Cl
=: a standard, slow rtlnning oscillator.
--:-, be altered to suit anything from
- 2'-tF 16V Io 221,tF 16V. The speed of
-

>: I ation will change accordingly - the

'-:er the capacitor the slower the oscil=, cn,

A LED with its current limit resistor

=' is connected to the output of the

-soillator pin 3 and will then flash, indi-.a: ng a bite. lf the sound is switched On,
---: beeper will pulse. This pulsing is
-.:re distinctive than it being on continu, -sly, as in the 10OO model. To stop the
=rrm the detector arm must be returned
.- oosition A and the reset button pressed.
The reset button bypasses the
^_.'istor, so the current flows through the
-=set switch and not through the
--, ristor. Electricity always takes the path
-' east resistance, so reducing the
- -'rent through the thyristor turns the
= a'm otf. Usually, the current through the
- , ristor is reduced Io zero by breaklng
^: circuit, using normally closed
- -rtacts on a press switch. The thyristor
off by pressing the switch and
= :lrned
:::ning the normally closed contacts,
:-,s breaking the circuit. ln our case,
:.,3assing the thyristor has the added
=:.antage that it can be used as a'test'
: -:ion. When the alarm is in the fishing
:,:x without the detector lever and iack
- -g plugged in, simply switching the
'-'m On and pressing the reset button
=-:.lld starl the oscillator. This is
_.l3use the reset switch'bypasses the
-. -stor and applies power directly to the
- , :. but only while the reset button is
:e ^g pressed The beeper should sound
' =,', tched on and the LED should flash
--= crilliance of the LED and volume of
.-= oeeper should show if the battery is
JACK

OK. Some batteries deteriorate quite

quickly even thought they are not being
used, so it is a good idea to check it
before going fishing. lt is easy to see the
advantage of using this method of resetting over the method normally used.
It is recommended that the layout is
followed to allow for a later upgrade to
the 3000 if so required.
There are more wires connecting uP
this alarm PCB than in the 1000, but if
different coloured wires are used, there
should be no difficulty, They should be
connected one at a time, checking with
the circuit. Small holes are drilled under.
the alarm to allow the sound out, as in
the 1000 unit,
A good quality PP3 battery, i,e. an
alkaline type is recommended, more
expensive but they don't have to be
changed so often, Although unplugging
the detector arm should reduce the
residual current florr,r to zero, it 1s recommended that the alarm be switched off
when stored and, at the end of the
season, the battery should be removed
to prevent it from leaking, Despite what
the manufacturers say, batteries still leak
when left in damp cond tions.

Bite Alarm

3OOO

This is the most sophisticated of the

three alarms and hence the most complicated. lt gives the option of only having 3
beeps to indicate a bite. or wi I indicate
continuously at the flick of a snttch. The other
advantage is that it may be reset either

automatically after 3 beeps or manually,

even though the lever is n position B.
This alarm works by us ng 3 digltal
CMOS lCs and processing the signal

SLEEVE

+9V

JACK

TIP

-c2

c3

ELECTRONICS IODAY INTERNATIONAL

3l

received via a series of logic functions,

these include D type RS stat, NAND Schmitt
gates (must be Schmitt type for the oscillator to work) and a walking I counter.

How lt Works
This alarm, with all these extra features,
still uses the same detector switch as the
other versions, but the inclusion of R2,
R3 and Cl makes its operation slightly
different, by allowing the alarm to be
reset in the active B position.
When the lever is in position A, i.e. the
detector switch is open circuit, C1
charges up via R2. This is passed to the
detector switch and is at 9V when
charged. When the lever is in position B,
this 9V in Cl is applied to the clock input
of lCl a, the D type stat, via the detector
switch. This is normally held down by R3.
The charge held by Cl allows the clock
input to receive a logic 1 before the
action of R3 discharges C1 back to a
low, via the potential divider action R2,
B3 6B0K to 27K - 25:1
This somewhat complex action is
required to allow the reset of the stat to
operate and not be retriggered by the
lever moving from B tc A or even staying
in position B.
Once the clock input has received a
low to high transition and assuming the
stat is not being reset, a 1 will appear on
the Q output pin 1 of lCl a. This 1 , or 9V,
will stay on the Q output until reset by a
reset signal on pin 4. The Q output is
used to enable an oscillator which
.

supplies the pulses for the LED and beeper.

The oscillator is built around lC2d and
is fed to the input of the counter lC3, as
well as being inverted by lC2c and used

to drive the output transistor e1 to

power the LED and beeper. A transistor
is required to amplify the current output
of the CMOS lC which can only supply
l mA or so directly.
The counter lC3 is a walking 1 type,
which means that when the first pulse is
received, assuming the counter has
previously been reset, the output corresponding to count 1, pin 2 goes high, all
the other remain low. On receiving the
second pulse from the oscillator, the
count I output goes low and the count 2
output pin 4 goes high. On receiving the
third pulse from the oscillator pin 7,
count 3 output goes high and pin 4 goes
low. The pulses, as well as going to the
counter, go to the LED and beeper, if
switched on. So far, 3 flashes on the LED
along with 3 beeps will have passed. The
fourlh pulse will cause pin 10 of lC3 to
go high and pin 7 to go low. Assuming
the 3 beeps option has been selected,
pin 6 of lC2 will be high, pulted up by R7.
Now the 4 output on the counter pin 1O
makes pin 5 on lCl b high. Two highs in
on a 2 input NAND makes the output go
low, so lC2 pin 4 goes from a high to a
low - this is fed to lC2 pin 2, the input, to
another NAND gate. Any low into a
NAND causes its output to go high,
regardless of the other inputs. This high
on the output of lC2a pin 3 resets the
counter as well as the D type, returning
the bite indicator to its start position,
regardless of the position of the detector
lever. All this from the geneiation of the

Hode!
Rr
LED1

tCISG
560
Red or green, O.2in

round LED
12V buzzer
I Jack socket (mono)
1 Jack plug (mono)
1 box
1 On/Off switch, i pole On/Off
1 On/Off sound switch, 1 pole
On/Off
2 small Terry clips to suit
1 battery connector
1 battery, PP3

Model 2OOS
ReslstorE

B1
R2
R3
R4
R5

560

47K

27K
4K7

]K

Gapacitors

Cl
C2
C3

1OpF 16 V Rad Elect

0.1;rF 2SV Ceramic

fourth pulse happens so quickly that the

beep is never heard, so it is cancelled
before it hab had time to sound or even
illuminate the LED.
lf the 3 beeps function is not selected,
lC2 pin 6 remains low (switched to 0V by
the selector switch), ensuring a high on
the output pin 4 no matter what is on pin
5 due to the counter, so the oscillator will
run on until reset by pressing the reset
button. This puts a low on lC2 pin i
causing pin 3 to go high, resetting the
counter and D type.
Dl , RO and C4 form a switch on reset
so that when the alarm is first powered
up from the power switch, C4 from being
fully discharged by Dl , charges up via
R6. So to stad with, lC2 pin 1 is low until
C4 charges up to above 60%o of rail, or
about 6V. During this charging up time,
pin 3 is high, resetting lCl a, the D type
and lC3 the counter, but as soon as pin
.1
reaches 60% of rail it is seen as a .l and
lC2 pin 3 goes low, cancelling the reset.
lf all this seems a bit complicated, it is
advised that the truth tables are
consulted on the NAND operation.
Although lC2 is a NAND Schmitt, its truth
table is identical to a normal NAND, like
the 401 1. The difference is only in the
hysteresis allowing it to be used as an
oscillator, unlike a normal NAND gate,
lCl b is not used in the circuit but. as
is required by all CMOS lCs, all unused
inputs are either tied up or down, i,e.
connected to rail or 0V and. not left
unconnected to float.

llliscellaneous
lcl
NE 555 timer
1
8 pin lC socket
T1
thyristor 2N506i or similar
LED1 red or green 0.2in round
1 Jack socket (mono)
1 Jack plug (mono)
1 buzzer
1 On/Off switch, 1 pole On/Off
1 On/Off sound switch, 1 pole On/Off
1 press to make switch
1

box

1 battery connector
1 battery, PP3

Vero pins 0.1 in to suit

Sfiodefi S$ffO

Ccr-cc-erl

cverlay for version 3OOO of Bite alarm

a^d good luck with the fishing tool

Capacitons

Cl
C2
C3
U
C5

0.22pF
2 p2 TANT 16V
47pF t 6V Radial
1pF 16V Radial
47pF 16V Radiat

lCs

lCi 4017 CI\4OS

tc2 4093 CrVOS
rc3 4013 CMOS
Hiscellaneous
lC holders, 2oII14 pin, 1 off 16 pin

Q]
Dt

BC1O7

tN4]48
1 On/Off switch, 1 pole On/Off

1 On/Off sound switch, 1 pole On/Off

3 beeps switch, 1 pole On/Off
1 press to make switch
I box
1 Jack socket (mono)
1 Jack plug (mono)
1 buzzer
1 battery connector
1 battery connector
1 battery, PP3
Vero pins 0.1jn to suit

Resistors

Rl
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7

It will be noted that the first beep is

longer than the others - this is due to the
fact that C2, the timing capacitor for the
oscillator, charges up to rail volts, i.e. gV,
when the osclllator is off, so C2 must
discharge from 10O% to 40% of rail,
taking longer than continuous oscillation
where it only charges from 40-60% and
back to 40%.
Although three possible options are
given in this article, there are several
other approaches to overcome the Bite
Alarm problem. Even following one of the
suggested circuits, there is still a lot of
experimentlng to be done with the lever
length and shape, where to mount the
lack plug, even the possible use of a
counterbalance weight and so on.
I have experimented with making a very
small alarm, actually mounted on the rod.
Although it adds weight to the rod it still
works, even if it does get in the way a litfle.

560
6BOK

27K

470K
15K

47K
47K

47pF 16V Rad Elect

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

32

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ELECTRON ICS TODAY I NTER.NATIONAL

34

EW

E]

II

ll
This month in PC Clinic, we examine the heart of every PC - the CPU.
We look at how it can be made to work faster with the aid of
coprocessors, clock doublers and cache memory. We will also be
looking at the BrOS software and its Power On Self Test routines, which
enable us to track down system faults.

generation of processor chip every 44 months, but under

competitive pressure from manufacturers of new very powerful
RISC based processors, this development rate has been accelerated. Peak power from the Pentium will be more than doubled
later this year with a 1SOMHz version and the next generation,
code named the P6, is already undergoing testing prior to
launch next year, only 30 plus months after the Pentium. The P6
looks set to at least double the power output of the best

t the very heart of every personal computer, no

matter what its make or design, there is a
processor chip of some sort. In the IBM PC and
all compatibles, this processor chip will be ong to
the lntel x86 family of processors, the familiar 8086,
:1286, 80386, 80486 and most recently the Pentium. These
: -Joessor chips were all originally designed and manufactured
:, the US semiconductor giant lntel, although the processor in
.:;r PC will not necessarily be manufactured by lntel, but
-ay,be by one of the half dozen or so, mostly US based, manu-=riU[e[S of 'clone' processors. These 'clone' processor chips
,',' al run the same software as those from Intel, but often have
different performance ratings.
=-rtly
le function of the processor chip, or Central Processing
^
- . - CPU for short - is to execute the sequence of instructions
,,- :h make up the program code. This code and its associated
;,=:a s stored in memory and accessed by the CPU under
- -^:r'ol of the clock timing signals. ln general, the faster the
- :,:< can be made to run; the more instructions can be
given period and therefore the more powefful the
= ' =:uted in a
-'-"ressor is in computational terms.
r'cgram instructions and data are all stored in memory and
-:,:essed within the CPU in binary form
=-: Je organised in units of eight bits, or
-= 3y,te. Since most instructions and data
: - : -cy more than one byte, a processor
:.- :e speeded up by handling two or
- --= cy,tes in parallel. Thus, a 16 bit
:--,_:ssor is approximately twice as fast as
.- : : t processor and likewise a 32 bit
-: - s four times faster, assuming of
- -=: that they are all running at the same
-

_'

Pentium.
So why do we need more power? The answer is simply that
new software applications, particularly those which are highly
graphics oriented, need more and more power. Try running
Windows or a CAD/DTP package on an old 8MHz 286 and then
compare it with the same software running on a 66MHz 486.
On a slow machine, such software is virtually unusable, it
cannot pedorm all the calculations and update the screen sufficiently qu ckly to prevent the display hardware having to wait for

the processor.
This means that if you want to have a more powerful
computer, but do not want to buy an entirely new system, then
you will need to look at upgrading the processor. On the
follow ng pages we will show some of the ways in which this

PHICE AT LAUNCH/
CUBRENT PRICE

NUMBER OF
TBANSISTORS

J
29,000

atu.

-^:

)@

processing power of a personal

-ter is thus dependent upon a combi-= -- 3f clock speed and the number of
- -: . lan access from memory and
-':,-.:s during any one clock cycle. This
: - -::s ng power is most commonly rated
- --_.s of Millions of Instructions Per
:=- - ^: or MIPS. The very first processor
- - : -a'rge, the lntel 8086, was launched
-- = ' 978 and had a power rating of just
',' rS. Five generations of processor
:' =. : the Pentium, launched in March
-,=: . rating of 112 MIPS. This is about
- -:s the processing power of the
- ':--c in the very first IBM PCs.
- -.:-oally, lntel has launched a new
-

MIPS/
MIPSATLAUNCH
HIGHEST

-:

34,000

@@@
275,000

@@@@@@

@o@@@@
1.2 million

@@@@@@a
3.1 million

Generations of lntel CPUs

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

35

Goprocessors
A coprocessor is essentially a piece of hardware, we
could call it an assistant processor, which is designed
to pedorm h gh speed operations which would other_
wise have to be executed using much slower software
routines, monopoIsing the main processor lt is called
a coprocessor because its hardware is very closely

integrated with that of the main processor so that

tn

essence it extends the processor,s instruction set wilh

a number of new spec al purpose instructjons, that

can replace frequently used software routines,

Thus, a coprocessor might perform a specific

function in two or three instruction cycles which would

otherwise need a code sequence lasting fifty instruc_

trons ln specific appilcatlons. a coprocessor can give

enormous improvements in processJno speed
lvlost people, when they ta k about coprocessors,
think about maths coprocessors, a coprocessor
designed to perform a range of compiex arithmetic
operations which are not normally included in a
processor's instruction sel, such as calculations
involving sine and cosjne, However, coprocessors can
also be used for other operations.
Some networking and communications systems
use special coprocessors to relieve the main
processor of the overheads inherent in communica_

tions and error checking Similarly, advanced multi_

media systems that are designed to handle video
images use special image compression and decom_
presslon coprocessors Indeed, literally hundreds of
ditferent types of coprocessor have been designed for

REPLAGING AND UPG

ln theory, we can improve the performanoe of a system by changing
the cpU, A faster processor
with a wider data width will give us more processiflg power, so if we
swap a 2g6 for a Gg6 we
should get about five times the processjng power. sirnitady, by changing
from a 286 or eariier
processor to a 38E or later, we can overcome the rnemory lirnitations
thatwere inherent in lhese
earlier systems
But, unfortunately, changing processors is not that easy ahd in
all but the most recent systems
it is certanly not a ease of simply rernovir one chip and plugging
in another, The problem is that
there are too rnany suusystems ard interrefated components for

us to simpry be abte to change

the cunent processor for a more poweri;f one.
we therefore have to thlnk about the complde systeffr, about the faat that
the clock circuitry
will be the wrong f'equency ard about the fact that the ad&ess,
data, and c{ntrol lines of the new
processor could be e*-rtirely dfierent. Not fdgettirg tle
sin@e frct that the processor

chip could

be a drfferent size and have a iot nore pins.

What this means is that simply charging the processor chip nlcre
often than not also involves
changing the whole mothericoard. However, we can inprole the processing power
of a systern [n
certain applications with th aid of a maths coprocessor. lte t/re
of apptications rar116re this wifl be
of value are those which involve a lot of mathemat'x=l calculations,
rather than simfly mwing and
maniputating data bytes - in other words applications such as image transforms
in 3-D GAD Back
ages, or system simulations.
Thus if you are running this type of mathematically intensrve application
on a 286 or GB6 based
PC, then a ooprocessor of some sort will giye quite a considerabte
boost in performanoe 6inc6 it
will allo\M calculaljons to be performed using hardware rather than
software. The re$uft is a reduction in the number of processor cycles needed to perfom a speciflc calculation
and thus an overall

improvement in thespeed al whichthe apptication works,

With the 486 and Pentium processors, the sitLlation is slightly different
since both chips were
deslgned to include a maths coprocessor integrated on the same stice
of silicon as the processor.
However, when the 486 was f rst taunched there were apparently
some probbrns associated

the 80x86 CPU family alone,

The most commonly encountered coprocessor is
the maths coprocessor and there are two prlncip e
types - the lntel 80x87 range and the Weitek range

sure that the power is disconnected before installing

coprocessor chip comes w th a diagnostic program

and that any slatjc is fully discharged Before

The Weitek maths coprocessors offer a better perfor_

then run this, otherwise enter the system,s CMOS set_

up program and check that it indicates that a maths

pins are bent or damaged, lf they are bent, genfly

mance than a typical Inte version, but programs wil

strarghten them with pointed nose pliers. Then make

have to be special y written to take advantage of t

Although the 486DX has a math coprocessor on the
CPU chip, some systems also have provision for inslal_

the socket is

lation of a Weitek 4i 67

by be ng over enthuslastlc

As one can see from the two diagrams accompa

attempting to insert it in the socket, first check that no

sure that the board under

we supported

when pushing a ch

431

simple, with the 387 being mapped into the high l/O

the orientation of the chip

address space of the 386 (A31 high and M/lO low),

Address line 2 distinguishes command transfers from

correct by matching the dot

dot or notch on the socket

closely coupled Weitek extended maths coprocessor

or the motherboard

] "..."r"

READ,/l,\,RITE

ADORESS STROBE

ERROH

Having carefully done

and data bus, thereby allowing commands and data to

be transferred simultaneously, This interface rneans

chip f rmly in place On

that the coprocessor runs about three times faster

s0me motherboards, it will

PROCESS EXTERNAL REOUEST

all these things, press the

than the conventional 382 interface and it ls thus worth

be necessary to set a

checking to see if your motherboard supports lt,

jumper or DiP switch to

The most common choice of maths coprocessor is

ADDBESS LINE 2

on the top of the chip to the

data transfers, Far more efficienl is the much more

makes fuli use of both the address

ii/to

p nto a

socket, Finally check that

i1

READ OUT

as it ls easy to crack a track

nying this section, the 386/387 interface is re atively

intedace, since

chip is installed, lf it does not, then switch ott and

carefully recheck that the chip is installed properly

ADDBESS ANO
COi/mrAND

CHIP
SELECT

OECOOER

inform the system that a

the lntel family and adding one to a 286/386 system is

coprocessor is installed

relativeiy easy, since nearly all motherboards destgned

You will have to check your

386

for these processors have a dedicated coprocessor

motherboard documenta

socket When choosrng a coprocessor, it is important

tion for detalls on which

that it matches the system rnto which it will be

instalied Thus, if it is going into a 201\,4H2 386 system

jumper or switch needs to

then the coprocessor will have to be a 20N,4Hz 387, a

25MHz 386 will require a 2SlVlHz 387 and so on

done check it by swltching

the PC on and checking for

When installing a coprocessor chip, always make

any error messages lf your

be set, When this has been

ADDRESSiOATA
READAI/RITE
ADDRESS STROBE
OATA BUS
(32 B|TS)

Coprocessor inteffacing

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

36

WEITEK
wTLl 167

ING THE GPU IN A PG

,,ii ti coprocessor ard rather than withdrawing the chip, it was decided simply to disble he
:,:ororessor and relabel the device the BO4BOSX, as opposed to the B04B6DXwhich has the
::{]rocessor.
Apart from the presence or absence of the coprocessor, these two 486 chips are identical,

.: adding

a maths coprocessor to a 4B6SX based system is simply a matter of removng the SX

::;p ard r@lacing

it in

he same socket with a DX chip

of the same speed

At this stage in the development of the BOxB6 family of processors, Inte introduced a new
^iircvation which allows the user to increase the power of a system by simp y replacing the

:,'3cessor chip. This technique is known as clock doubling (noiv we also have clock tripling
clock quadrupling) and overcomes a ot of the earlier prob ems associated with the ctose

:rd

'=:atlonshlp between the processor and al ied systems

The clock doubling technLque is an ingen ous one, srnce rt a ows the processor to run at
:.+be the speed (a clock triper runs at three times the speed, and so on) that would othenrrise
:= permissible, This means that, for example, a processor could run at 66MHz on a motherwhich is only rated for 33MHz. ln this way, a processor chip is upgradab e without havrng
=:ard
:.-. upgrade the whole motherboard and, equally important, all the problems assoclated w th

--signing and building very high speed motherboards are overcome, Board desrgners can thus
:olrmise their design to give the best speed at the lowest cost
System manufacturers have also discovered that this gives them a great ftexibility, a single
-,ctherboard design can be used in a range of different models simply by changing processor

a.d perlpherals This of course reduces the need for expensive stock holdlng a ows them to
-:spond quickly to the development of new processors and new system requirements lt also
f.ts as a good sales incentive to be able to sayto customers that a systern is reatvely future

Using a DX ehip
Ae ban bb s6en frorn ihe cha{.on page 35, the
80x86 family of processor chips has b,ecome
higfier, rircre poWetful arid inuch iaster This pose!
an enormorJs problem for systern desi0ners, the
proce$spr was Getting loo fast lor the systerrl,
Memory access limes woro bgcorning too fast for
the type of rnemory chlps which could economically
be used on a P0, high clock $peeds were startlng
lo givs. ri$e t0 board design pr0blems due t0 such
factors as $ignat propagati$n d6lays.
. . ' .Thtsc Iaolors dlt meaflt that, although it was
Teasible to build much fasler system troards, rt was
uneconomic to push motherboard clock speeos
mH6h b,oyond th6 30MHz area. lteitfir was it prac-

tical

bo do so, $ince the nu*jber of wail states

entailed in deoes.sing standard memory chips wouh
D{fectivety stow the systero fiack down tD that sort

of levelr
Pr+cg$spr mflnrifacturei$ were nevertheless

capab'e.ot making their processor chips run at

substantialli highet Spdeds. Furtherrno,e, users and
sottward producers had an iflsatiabt dernaid for
more powet There ere of course only two ways in
which processing power can be increBsed +0r a
givefi lypeol pracessor. One way 1S tc incfease
clock spsed and the oth6r iE to increaG6 the dirta
bus width, but data bus width iccrease also adds a
substantia+ overhead to system tloard productioR
co$tB and wsuld sntait the use of an entirely new
oxpansion bus inlelfacg,
The so{ution to these prob}ms ln\iolved care-

c..cof and can easily be upgraded, a factor which has encouraged a great many manufacturers

{ully exarriflir}g the systefl and fooking at whioh

parts of the circuit needed to operate at high sileed
and whlch coutd cont+flue t0 opratB at lowcr
-ac acement very easy
spi;ed. The high speied components would then be
integreted ont0 the sarne slice of sillcon as th
GPU, thereby qllowiflg the procssot lo work at
ffaxirflum sped.
Tlie resirlt was the DXZ, or olook doutrtirig chip. which is in every way compatible with a DX chip liut runs lwic6 ?s ia$t lnlernAlly The bus inte rfabe un t cn a
f,X2 chi# dllows the processor to work with the lowr sped exterflal circuitry with a 2:1 speed reductibn, so thai in such situations, the DX2 functions Bxactly like
a OX. Howevori th6 area o, fierflory currently beiilg accessed is mapped onto sn 8K block of memory within the DXz chip, tt'le procegsor cache, so that whnsver
:he processor ne6ds to aeeess ihis memory- use ils iflternal registers or porforrn a ftoaiing point operatlon, it san do s0 at {wic the xternat cloek Bp6ed.
ln praetice thio clook doubling tchaique means that a proGessor oan efiectl!'ely spend 90 to 95% oJ its tim
the'higher gpeed, thus effectivety increasing th processlng power of a system by between
"pera'tihg'dt
r0atrd.dti%!.lride6d. ,this iB a lechniqu which can be exlsnded Bviln fufthe{, lntei llas luet
:aunchedlts elook lripting series of DX4 plocossors {not as ofl wqutd
;.qicalty.exi)+ct,'qLlidruptingl) offering tnternal qlock speeds pf up to
:OOMHZ,

h thoory ttlerefore, ofte can $imply dorlblp the proce$sing.power

+:. say,"a 25MHz 486DX by rplacinE th6 DX chip wlth a 5oMllz DX2
.hip. Oil some rnotherboar{s this simply involvds replacing
ltle DX chlp with a corresponding SX?. Many newer designs
+1 molhorhoard have ZtF soekets for the procosi]or chip,
ihLs making iemoval and replacemenl very easy.
tlbtat+ mothdrboards are the same and on older baards ther+ iS an
?lditioG*i $6ket tor what is called an OVerDrive chlp, the function ot
*tich borFe$ponds to that ol a DM 6nd flot, as some verldcrs woul.d
raye ona beli6v6, a coprocessor. Another lype ofoverdrive sockot
isufld on rnaliE {ccer.}t 4BS system boards is the P24T soeket,
'#r,ih allows the system lo be upgraded to a Pentiurn Doing
3. wilt sir*pty involve putting the P24T chip into the 238 pin
s,.cket providd for it on ths,motherboard, whioh will th6a preetBpt the
'
Ex:sti*g 48$
i. tf e.case,ot'an ortghal4E6SX with a malhs copfoce$sor $ocket. it is
i+ssib+e i0 some cases to upgrade the system to run a DX2 chip. Thus, a
:cMHz 48SSX could bo roplacEd by a 40MHz Dx2, This will ertail carofully
oul tfre old CPU ohip and replaciiig it wlth theaewoBe, butbeforeattempting
=::sing
1: do thi$ and cerlaiftly belare huying th rplactsmnt prscessor chip. it is a good
'jea lo check wrth ihe manu'acturer thdt srrch an upgrade rs feasio e
iir practice, upgrading from a DX to a DX2 is 1.r,0t quite thal slmple.
.

processor-

an

C:ie nrajor problem is that an inerease in prooessor speed also means

:acrease in power consumplion ahd thus in hsat outpul, A D.XZ chip consume$'about 40% moye p#WelJhan liqequfyglq.nt PXand gutpuJ$
ngiy
ial
.:.:rcased amounl o[ heat. Thrs means. that if you upgrade from a DX to a DX2 you witi need
dissipate the additioral heai.
can bo ieadlly ohtained fforn th many
A miniaturo fan whicfl is mcuflted directly on top 0f the processor chip is one solutiori to
.-'+-5ors of PC upgrade equipment. Sinoe cverheating, where the chlp ter*perature
cafi
e the proqessor ohip (and bear in mind that
.hundre{1pi itis alio a good.ided to use an audible
::s :s prs52tr|y the most expensive component iE the syste.m ard a irew oneran eost
:
++iitor to indicalewhen the 6yster.I i.s'overheatins.weuill sl'19w-hpi.v lo"pli{q"qgcq:q rngTilor:in.riqxi,i*q.itl61&ET[,,
:

to
th
exoedd
yoi

a.co.rtB

m
IrrO
easily

':

lnside an lntel CPU

The Pentium is the most powedul member of the lntel 80x86
family of processor chips, By every standard it is a truly massive
chip, the packaging is a pin gate array (PGA) and measures
2.1 3in square wilh 273 pins Inside the packaging is a 0.8
micron fabrication technology BiCMOS chip with 3.1 million
transistors etched on it and at 66MHz it draws over 13W of
power. All of which allows it to deliver 1 12 MIPS of processing
power. On these two pages we take a look at what is inside a
Pentium chip and compare it with a typical 486DX.

lnstruction decode
At the heart of every processor is an area of circuitry which
conveds the instruction code into a sequence of operations
which are pedormed by the other parts of the CPU. The
circuitry which performs this function works at two levels.
Simple instructions, such as moving a byte of data between
registers, are initiated directly by the circuitry, but more complex
instructions require a more sophisticated approach: In essence
these instructions are executed by small programs stored within
the microcode ROM, which is part of the decode circuitry. They
are stored as sequences of simple instructions. lt should be
noted that nearly all simple instructions are executed in one
clock cycle, whereas complex instructions usually take two or
more.

Gode cache
To overcome the need to use wait states when accessing relatively slow RAM, the Pentium has a high speed 8KB instructions
cache.

Gode TLB
Translation lookaside buffers for the code cache.

Clock driver
This circuitry provides the complex synchronisation pulses, all

NO BRANCH PREDICTION

32.BIT INTERNAL
AND EXTERNAL

PBEFETCH BUFFERS

ABY FPU

PATHWAYS

derived from the main system clock,

which are necessary to ensure that the
processor works properly.
BUS INTERFACE UNIT

Bus interface logic

This interface logic connects the address,
data and control buses of the main
system to those within the CPU.

Data TLB
Translation lookaside buffers for the data
cache.
SINGLE
FIVE-STAGE
INTEGER
PIPELINE

REGISTEBS

Data cache
To overcome the need to use wait states
when accessing relatively slow RAM, the
Pentium has a high speed 8KB data cache.

Block diagram of a 486

ELECTRON ICS TODAY I NTERNATIONAL

38

predictions. lf the BTB prediction is wrong, then the pipeline is

flushed and the correct instruction fetched, thereby causing a 3
clock cycle delay.

Gontrol logic
The control logic circuitry handles the processor control bus
and things such as interrupts, l/O requests, etc.

Gomplex instruction suppoil

This is the parl of the instruction decode circuitry which handles
complex instructions that rely upon the BOM microcode. This
circuity can be regarded as a processor in its right, but one
r,vhich is embedded within the much larger processor.

Pipelined FPU
This is a pipelined floating point arithmetic unit with dedicated
addit on. multiplication and division circuitry. The use of dedicated circuitry means that no matter what the precision of the
caLcu atlon, addition and multiplication is performed in just 3
c ock cycles Division will produce 2 bits of quotient per clock
cr cle, However, because of the pipelined architecture, it can
aciually achieve one addition or multiplication per cycle after the
. i,ai two cycle latency to fill the pipe is complete.

Superscalar integer execution units

'^ -he Pent um, there are two parallel five stage integer pipelined
a.rhmetic ogic units. The fact that there are two integer ALUs

-eans that the processor can fetch and decode two

integer

astr.rctions at a time and, if possible, execute them in parallel.

-i 'rs means that when processing simple instructions, the
prccessor's power can be considerably increased thanks to this
carallelism

BRANCH PREDICTION

PARALLEL FlVE-STAGE
INTEGER PIPELINES

lnstruction fetch

-trere are two 32 byte instruction prefetch

cuffers, which process instruction

aCdresses sequentially until it reaches a
oranch instruction. lt then calls upon the
cranch target buffer to find the new instruc:rcn address.
64.8]T INTERNAL

Branch target buffer

Ire

BTB contains information about

crevious branches and predicts whether
:re prefetched branch instruction will result
r a branch or not. lf not, then the prefetch
,',ill continue sequentially, otherwise the
second prefetch buffer will begin to
crefetch instructions based upon the BTB

AND EXTERNAL
DATA PATHWAYS
BEGISTERS
PIPELINED FPU

SEPAFATE
8 KB CACHE

Block diagram of a pentium

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

39

BIOS

what is it and how can it be used?

When any processor is first powered up, or when it is reset by the reset circuitry, it
is incapable of using programs straight from disk. ln fact, it will know nothing about
the system of which it is a part. lt will not even be able to input data from the
keyboard or output data to the screen. The only information that the processor has
coded into it is a single memory address where it expects to find the start of a
program, or a pointer to the staft of a program.
Because the processor cannot yet load data from disk, this power
up/reset system initialisation program has to be stored in non volatile
memory, Because it perlorms the task of actually defining the system
and because it is permanently stored in ROM, it constitutes what is often
referred to as firmware.
The PC is no different to any other computer system in this respect
and this initial program is known as the system BIOS lf you look carefully
at the motherboard you should be able to locate the one or two ROM
chips in which it is stored (they often have a printed label stuck on top of
the chip which identifies the source of the BIOS),
The name BIOS stands for Basic lnpuVOutput System. lnitially, the
BIOS was developed by lBM, but comparable versions of BIOS are now
produced by a number of other manufacturers, foremost of which are
AMI and Phoenix The different types of BIOS are all more or less iden
tical, although the system has changed slightly overthe years and old
versions of BIOS may not work properly with some modern software,
The first function of the BIOS program is to test the system, to check

that all its various components are working properly Th s rs the so ca ed

Power On Self Test, or POST, feature lf any fai ures are found then they
are repoded as coded signals output on a special POST output pod (this
can only be accessed if you have the approprate hardware) Errors are
also s gnalled as coded beeps from the system's nternal speaker,
Having checked that the system is running properly, the BIOS soft
ware then sets up a basic inpuVoutput system which allows user

programs to have easy acc-ess to all the system components, by

simply communicating with the BIOS lio routines. This gives all
PCs a universal software interface, irrespective of the actual
system design and thus allows software to be easily moved from
one PC to another without any compatibility problems. lt also
makes it far easier for the programmer, since he does not have to
qrite specialist routines to directly communicate with disk drives,
video cards, etc.
The final function of the BIOS program is to act as a bootstrap
loader for the rnain operating system. ln most pCs, this would be
MS-DOS, but it could equally well be DR-DOS, one of the many
different flavours of UNIX, or OS/2. The bootstrap loader searches
for the operating system on disk, loads it and then transfers control

to

systems, rn pad cular Windows 3,x. This is because the BIOS

handles swrtching between real and protected mode operation
and these early BIOSs were written before specifications on this
operation were standardised
Replacing the BIOS chjp with a more modern version will unfor_
tunately not do the trick and allow one to run this type of software
- you will also need to replace the keyboard controller chip, since it
seems that thls chip is also invo ved in switching modes.
Unfortunately finding any details of how the BIOS actually works is
extremely difficult, a task made even harder for anyone living outside
the US since all the BIOS producers are American.
However, unless you are involved in desgning pC systems at
firmware level, it is not really necessary to know about the inner
workings of BIOS What is important, however, is the fact that
BIOS is the lowest level at which the system will operate A system
will run BIOS even without any functioning keyboard, display, or
d sk drives This means that we can use BIOS to help us when
attempting to repair a faulty system.
We can thus remove all the adapter cards and monitor the
POST codes to prove that the motherboard is functioning properly,
thereby provrng that the fault lies in one of the adapter cards lf the
motherboard is fau ty we can use the POST codes to tell us where
the fault ies A knovr' edge of BIOS can also be of considerable use
!./hen Ce\e opr.g hardvr'are and software which interfaces directly
to the PC - i s :he mosi fundamenial level at which the system
operates

$ome of the moFe coiltillon POSf,

it.

One thing to remember is that BIOS routines can be extended

and regularly are. The video display card will probably have a ROM
containing a set of routines which extend the function of standard
BIOS so that it can handle the hardware of the particular video
display Similarly, a hard disk controller may have a BIOS extension
on the card. These applications card extensions of BIOS allow the
operating system and hence application programs to utilise these
devrces, despite the fact that they are all probably very different
from each other
As has already been mentioned, older versions of BIOS can
cause problems. A fairly general problem is that they can restrict
the type of hard disk that can be used. Other problems are more
applications oriented, but on some older 286 ATs the BIOS may
cause problems when attempting to run advanced operating

Problem

area

Sistemboard

Effot code

nr

100-199

Error

rnber

port

4O1

Ftoppy diskdrjve
Reference disk 602

600-69S (exc6Bt 60g)

'

'l
66rial port
.1 OO-.l299
Hsrd disk driv6 1 700-1 7s9
System board video
24C0-24W
Pcinting devicecSoo

99

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

40

j'
'.,

'

Battery error 161

Configuratlon error
162
Time and date error
163
System optiofls not set 1 65
Memory error 200-299
Koyboard 301,303,3O5
Keyboard tuse 305
Parallel

rr

'

:,.

,;. -,r ;,.,

Using a POST probe card to check

processor status
,', rren you boot up your PC, one of the first functions of the BIOS
-:Jtlnes is to perform a range of Power On Self Test, or POST, routines.

-^ese POST routines will check every part of the PC, the memory, the
::mmunications pods, the keyboard, video display and the disk drives
you will in most cases not be aware that
-1less your machine is faulty
place.
the way that your keyboard lights
Remember
.-e tests are taking

'ash and the double beep before the hard disk is accessed and DOS
:aded? These are the POST routines at work However, if your
-achine is faulty, POST error codes could provlde you with a valuab e

::

There are three different ways in which the BIOS POST routines will
L us what is wrong with the system The first is that it will generate a

>3quence of beeps on the internal speaker, with the beep sequence

--ughly indicating the fauli area. The second way relies on the v deo

r splay functioning, and POST generates one or more error messages

,', rich indicate where faults have been located.
The third way is probably the most powerful, since it can be used to

r agnose faults in a motherboard without functioning video display or

,3yboard. Here, the error codes are output through an l/O port (on

-cst EISA and ISA systems this is port B0) and can be d splayed using
, special plug in adapter card, commonly referred to as a POST card,
-^e error codes displayed on the

down, Shorts are a major source of problems and using the area indicated by the POST error code can be further traced with the aid of the
logic probe.
First check the supply voltage and ground leads to the suspect chip.
lf a voltage ls missing, then trace the line to its source. Shorts may be
produced by defective resistors, lOs, or decoupling capacitors. ln fact,

such capacitors should always be checked, since this can be the cause
of the failure,

accurate guide as to what is wrong

'^d

adapter cards one by one, except the POST card, reapplying power
between each card removal. lf the symptoms stay the same then the
motherboard is probably failing. lt is here that the POST card really
comes into its own, since without it, problems can be very hard to track

POST card's two dig

t hexadectma

: splay can be used to accurately pinpoint a fault to a specf c area of

:-e motherboard, or even a specific component
At some stage in their lifetime, most PCs will generate some sod of
rCST code error This is particularly likely to happen when adding or

W th a POST card, it is a lot easier to track down and repair faults on

a PC system board and it is surprising how often a fault is caused by
ihe fai ure of a very cheap and easily replaced component. lf you know
what you are looking for, there is often every chance that a faulty board
can be successfully repaired - forget those people who say that it is not

rvorlh do ng and far better to just chuck the board away and replace it

rvih a new one

Noie that this table can only be approximate, since the exact error
codes used are different for each type of BIOS and for each type of
-aro\,i are olaiform Thus POST code 04 in Phonex BIOS signifies an
e..cr vi:h ile 8253/4 programmable interval timer chip, on the C&T
BICS :'a: Le 8237 DMA controller has failed and on AMI BIOS that
:here s a fau t e iher with the 8259 programmable interrupt controller or

\r/1't1e

C|',4OS BAN/,

o'oer io get deta led information from the POST codes, it is

essential to have a list of the codes
and their associated errors for the
version of BIOS installed in the

-:'rroving expansion boards or altering the

::nfiguration. lt is
'so likely to

system under test. ln most

cases, the BIOS POST diag-

-aopen when

nostics are very accurate,

.-^e internal

since individual versions of

: attery fails

BIOS are specifically

-^C needs

tailored to individual hard-

-:c acing.

ware designs. However,

--e fact that

-:se can all
--.se

it should be noted that

some versions of BIOS,

in particular AMI

POST

:-'crs means
-a, whenever a

rlST

BIOS, are written for

a wide variety of

error is

boards with the

=-oountered, the
=-s: step is to

same chipset,
meaning that
although gener-

--eck that the

:a:teries are OK,
.-ai

ally correct,

all adapter

some codes
may point to

:;*-ds are inserted

:-:oerly, as are

all

the wrong

::-.oles and that

-:

-'ai on

l^

error.

system configis correct.

For anyone involved in

y then should

--e

serious PC maintenance and

repair a POST card is a good investment since it makes
tracking down most faults on a PC a lot easier. A good example of such
a card is the Micro 2000 POST Probe card and its associated diag-

start looking for

The first step in any fault

:,:ating procedure using a

is to check the power supply to the system board (with the
'.' :r-o 2OOO POST card this is easy since the card has a built in logic

=lST card

:':be

and voltage test circuitry). Next, try removing and reinserting

llaoter cards in order to ensure that they are not the cause of the
:':clem (not forgetting to switch off the power every time you remove

-"einserl

a card)

nostic software, with which one can track down faults at all levels of
functionality, even faults on boards unable to produce POST codes.
For more details on the POST Probe card contact Micro 2000 in
Letchworlh, on 0462 483483.
Watch out in future issues of ETI for our special build it yourself
POST card projectl

lf you still have no luck, then power down the system, remove all the

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

41

Gache Memory
Over the last few years, we have seen processor clock r.ates go
up from l2MHz on a 286 AT to 66MHz on a pentium or
486DX2 system. At the same time we have seen the amount of
RAM in a system go up from 640K to 4, g, or even 16+ MB,

and the amount of hard disk storage go up from 20MB to

200MB or more. By any standard, a modern pC is thus an
extremely powerful computer.
However, despite the powerful processor, lots of memory
and a big disk we can no longer say that the performance of
one make of PC is much like another, simply because it has
the same processor, runs at the same speed and has the
same general architecture. You only have to look at the bench_
marks published by some of the pC magazines to realise this.
The truth is that, as well as bringing enormous processing
power, high speed systems have also brought with them a lot
of problems for the computer system designer. problems
which, in the way that they are solved, or are not solved, can
make enormous differences to the performance of seemingly
similar systems.

The problem with botUenecks

The main reason for these design problems lies in the botflenecks which can occur in the flow of data and instructions
between the processor and the various types of memory used
in the system. Bottlenecks can seriously reduce the actual
processing power of the system, compared with its theoretical
potential power and are moreover exacerbated by processor
intensive applications such as Windows, CAD and DTp
systems.
The reason that these botflenecks exist is fairly simple, They
are due to the fact that parts of the system are working much
faster than data can be accessed from, or stored to, other part
of the system. Thus, the access time of a standard BAM
memory chip is longer than the fetch cycle of a 66MHz 4g6,
the result being that the processor has to wait maybe two or
three clock cycles for memory to be accessed. lf we take
statistical standard usage of a system wlth standard reasonably fast RAM, then the effective speed of a 66MHz system is
reduced to an equivalent of one running at less than 55MHz,
simply because the processor has to wait for memory.
., The result of having a processor that is too fast for the avail_
able memory is quite a serious reduction in power. Computer
system designers try to overcome these slow access speed
related bottlenecks by using a special type of memory known
as cache memory.
Cache memory is simply a block of memory which works at
a higher speed than the ordinary RAM memory. By transferring
the block of data and/or instructions currently being used into
this cache memory, it is possible to eliminate a high
percentage of the delays that would othenvise occur. This
makes it possible for the system designer to more closely
approach the theoretical maximum power of a given
processor.

Memory hierarchy
ln order to understand how cache memory works, we need
to look at how a computer uses different types of memory.
We can divide the memory resources of a computer into a

hierarchy and on most systems there are two levels _ short

term, fast access RAM memory and long term, slow access,
disk memory.
No programmer would attempt to write a program which
ran directly from disk memory, in theory it could be done, but it
would be terribly slow. lnstead, the program stored on disk is
transferred to RAM memory and run from there. The same
applies to data - rather than slow down the system by
accessing the disk direc|y for each byte of data, a whole block
of data is transferred to RAM memory and accessed there.
The function of a CPU cache ls to add another one or two
levels to that hierarchy, which lie above RAM memory. At the
highest level is the primary, or on chip, cache. The 4g6 has an
8KB cache on the processor chip and the pentium has two
8KB caches. The level below this and immediately above RAM
memory is the external or secondary CpU cache, which
consists of between 64K and i MB of very fast static RAM.
If we think of RAM memory as being short term memory,
then the primary and secondary CpU caches are a type of
selective memory in which are stored the most commonly
requested pieces of program code and data. Thus, when the
processor accesses instructions or data from main memory, a
copy is simultaneously transferred to cache memory and all
future accesses to that information will be to cache memory
rather than main memory. This means that only the first access
will be slowed down, all subsequent accesses will be at top
speed. So, the more primary cache memory that is built into
the actual processor chip, the better the overall improvement in
performance. There are, however, limits to the amount that can
be put on a processor chip, and anyway it is pre-set by the
chip manufacturer, hence the need for external cache memory.
Once again, a simple statement such as ,the system has 256K
of cache' is insufficient to indicate performance quality,
although of course, broadly speaking, the larger the cache the
better the performance improvement.

Cache operation
The type of cache design used is very important, since there
can be very signiflcant dlfferences in performance between
different designs, especially when the cache is fairly small.
There are three commonly used secondary CpU cache
designs, fully associative cache, direct mapped cache and set
associative cache. Of these, the fully associative cache is too
slow for today's processors.
The cheapest and easiest design for a manufacturer to
implement is the direct mapped cache, but this will only offer
good performance if it has been properly designed. lndeed, if
badly designed, a direct mapped cache can actually degrade a
system's pefformance so that it is worse than a cacheless
system. This is the result of a process called thrashing and can
be a really serious problem when running multi-user operating
systems.
Set associative cache offers all the best features of the
other two designs but with few of the associated problems. lt
is fast and flexible and this technique has been used by the
lntel designers for the primary processor cache on the 486 and
Pentium. lt is also the favoured design among top range pC
manufacturers and is parilcularly good with multitasking oper_
ating systems.

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

42

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lct
lc2

IC3

01

LM78L05
LM3914

lO.BARREDLEDDISPLAY
MEL12

i
N

Video light meter circuit

ls it bright enough for

good camcorder pictures?
Terry Balbirnie,s tight
'meter' will tell you instantly!
odern camcorders will
operate in extremely low
light levels. However, the
picture quality is often not
very good under these conditions - a fact avoided in the advertising
hype. Although some models do pedorm
better than others, insufficient light
shows ltself with grainy pictures and
degraded colours. The black-and-white
viewfinder picture gives little indication of
performance. Poor recordings will only
show up when the tape is played back
through a full-size colour W and it may
then be too late for a re-take. lf the
camera operator had been made aware
of the problem at the outset, some extra

light could have been laid on or the

shots, arranged to exploit the existing
light more effectively. Wjthout a lot of
practice, the eye itself is not good at
judging light intensity, because of its
ability to adjust to the conditions.
This Video Light Meter will indicate the
ambient light level and hence the performance to be expected from the
camcorder. ln use, it will normally be
pointed from the subject position
towards the light - that is, it measures
incident light. When a push-button
switch is operated, one of the LED bars
in a display glows to indicate the
brightness. Since no current is drawn
until the switch is pressed, and even
then less than 30mA, a miniature
battery will have a very long life.

Gircuit Description
The Video Light Meter comprises
four main parts - the light sensor
itself, bargraph driver, LED display

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

and stabilised supply for the light-sensing

section.
Figure 1 shows the complete
circuit diagram. The
light

adw

f*&,

CUT OFF SHORT

t-

=z
BE(,)

VOLTAGE
REGULATOR
(LOOKTNG AT'FLAT')

PIN DIAGBAM OF

PIN DIAGRAM OF
PHOTOTRANSISTOR
(LOOKTNG AT P|NS)

P n d agrams

S1

n
81 +

sensor is phototransistor, Q1 , which has

a window in the end that allows light to
enter and strike the base-collector junction. The effect is equivalent to a photo
diode and the light causes a small
current to flow, whjch is subsequently
amplified by transistor action The
brighter the light, the higher this current
will be, up to a point. Increasing light
intensity will therefore cause an
increasing current to flow through load
resistor, Rl , and this will result in a
greater voltage being developed across
it. A falling voltage will then appear
between Ql collector and emitter, lt is
this reducing voltage which operates the
rest of the circuit. Note that no bias is
needed for the specified phototransistor,
so the base is left unconnected,
The circuit is powered by a 9V or 12V
battery, However, the phototransistor
section is fed from a 5V supply derived
from voltage regulator lC1 . Without this,
the voltage between Q1 collector and
emitter would decrease as the voltage
available from the battery fell with age.
This would be interpreted by the rest of
the circuit as brighter light and would
upset the bargraph operating points. As
it is, the circuit will operate correctly until
the regulator fails to deliver a 5V output
This will happen when the battery voltage
drops below 7V approximately. After that,
the regulator output voltage will fall in
sympathy. lt is therefore necessary to check

the battery every so often and the method

for doing this is described at the end.
With phototransistor
Q1 in bright light,
approximately 0 7V will
be developed between
its collector and emitter.
As the light level falls, it
will approach that of the
supply, ie. 5V. This
voltage is scaled down
by the potential divider
consisting of fixed
resistor, R2 and preset
potentiometer, VRl lt is
then applied to the
input, pin 5, of bargraph
driver lC2. This device
accepts a smoothly
changing voltage so
that as it increases,
successive outputs 1 to
10 (pin 1, then pins 1B
to 10 respectively), go
low in turn to provide
current sinks The first
output operates at
0.1 25V and the tenth
one at 1 25V, so the

Wirng diagram

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

45

voltage provided by Q1 collector needs

to be divided by four. This is achieved
when VR1 wiper is at approximately midtrack position. However, the voltage at
the wiper may be adjusted through wide
limits. This provides the adjustment for
the correct operating levels and will be
made at the end of construction.
Capacitor C1 promotes stable operation.
The bargraph display, lC3, consists of
ten horizontal LED bars. All the positive '
(anode) ends - pins 1 1 to 20 respectively
- are connected together and hence to
the positive supply rail. The other
(cathode) ends of the LEDs (pins 1 to 10)
are connected to the corresponding lC2
outputs. As each output goes low, the
corresponding LED bar glows. No
conventional series resistors are required
since current-limiting is carried out on
chip with R3 determining the LED operating current, in this case 13mA approximately,

Construction
Before proceeding, decide on the type of
box to be used as an enclosure. This will
depend on the size of battery being
used. Any small 9V or 12V battery will be

suitable. In the prototype unit, a subminiature cylindrical 12V battery of the

type used in cigarette lighters was
chosen (see Parts List). Using this allows
the small plastic box specified in Buy
Lines to be used. A PP3 battery may be
used if preferred, but the box will need to
be larger.
Construction is based on a singlesided PCB and Figure 2 shows full
topside details (parts placement
diagram). Drill the two mounting holes
then solder the two lC sockets into position. Follow with all fixed resistors (flat
with the board), capacitors, C1 and C2
(observing the polarity of C2), preset VRI
and voltage regulator lCl (taking care
with the orientation, see Figure 3). Cut
Ql base lead short and gently bend the
other two leads at right-angles (see
photograph). Solder Q1 into position, so
that its top points to the left Do not
insert lC2 or lC3 into their sockets yet.
Adjust VR1 to approximately mid-track
position.
Solder 8cm pieces of light-duty
stranded connecting wire to the pads
marked 'S1 ' and 'Batt -'. lf a PP3 battery
is being used, solder the negative wire of

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

46

the battery snap to the pad marked 'Batt

-', Dril the holes n the case for the
swtch and for c rcuit panel mounting.
Insed lC2 and lC3 into their sockets. lt
wou d be wise to touch something which
is earlhed, such as a water tap, before
handling C2 p ns, because this device is
static sensitve. The product lettering on
lC3 as used in the prototype was on the
right hand s de - if it is inseded the wrong
way round, it will not work.
Mount the circuit panel temporarily
and carefully measure the position of lC3.
Make a hole in the lid of the box directly
above this and the same size. Mount the
panel on short stand off insulators so
that wnen the lid of the case is in position, the display is level with the face of
the box, Mark the inside of the box
opposite Q1 position, remove the circuit
panel again and drill a hole with the same
diameter as Ql at this point. Fit the
switch and complete the wiring as shown
in Figure 4. Replace the circuit panel and
adjust the phototransistor leads so that
its face protrudes slightly through the
hole drilled for the purpose.
lf the sub-miniature 12V battery is
used as in the prototype, mount it in the

-ee area of the circuit panel, as shown

in

:re photograph, using a pair of Velcro

x ng pads. The connecting wires may be

soldered to its terminals using minimum

reat from the soldering iron. A PP3
cattery could be secured to the base of
.ne box in the same way.

Testing

S1
B1

Rl 470
R2 56k
R3 lk
vRl 47k

Miniature push-to-make switch

Miniature alkaline 12V battery
type GP23A or PP3 battery and
battery snap (see text).

Capacitors

C1
C2

A basic test can be made by pointing the

sensor towards bright light and pressing
:he switch. By slowly covering the hole

trolytic.

,vith a finger, there should be a response

rom the LED bars. lf this test works, it is

Q1
IC1
lc2
lC3

:hen only necessary to adjust VR1 for

lorrect operation. The lid of the case will
reed to be in position (although not
screwed down yet) so that Q2 receives
ght only through the hole. Adjustment to
/R1 is made in a series of small steps
,vith the lid replaced after each one.
3over the sensor with black tape to
crevent all light reaching it. lt will probably be found to be impossible to adjust
,/R 1 so that all LED bars are off. lt will
:nerefore be set for the first bar to represent total darkness. Press the button and
adjust VRI so that the first bar is on and
;st before the point of changing to the
second one.
Set the camcorder on a tripod and
zoom in on a detailed picture such a
oolour magazine advertisement pinned to
a wall. Vary the amount of light in the
'com and make some test'recordings to
:etermine the level at which picture
:uality just begins to degrade. Point the
sensor towards the camera from the
subject position and note which bar
lperates. The other bars may then be
rterpreted and labelled. Colour-coding
:ould be used, possibly red, orange and
3reen, but this was not thought worth,'rhile in the prototype. Note that it is
rormal for there to be a slight overlap so
. s possible for two adjacent bars to be
luminated at once. After making any final
adjustments to VBl , it only remains to
secure the lid and put the Video Light
)v4eter into service.
The device may also be used in
'elected light mode, by pointing the
sensor towards the subject. Experiment
:o flnd out which method gives the best
'esults.

Miscellaneous

Resistors

470n ceramic
47yt 16Y PCB elec-

18-pin d.i.l. socket; 20-pin d.i.l.

socket. PCB materials, plastic box

Buy Lines

Semiconductors
MEL12
LM78LO5

LM3914
10-bar red LED

display

Most of the components for the Video

Light Meter are freely available. The
MELl 2 phototransistor may be obtained
from Maplin. The box used in the prototype was type T2 size 75 x 56 x 25 mm
from Maplin. A larger one will be needed
if a PP3 battery is used.

OUT
COMM
!N

Battery Check
The condition of the battery should be

:hecked every so often. To do this, cover

.re sensor so that no light can enter.
rress the button and observe the display.

le

first bar should light. lf a higher one

llows, the battery must be replaced.

81 -ve
Vidio liligt meter component overlay

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

47

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Magnetism is a subtle and mysterious force that influences a tot

ol things around us, Keith Garwelt embarks on a practical exploration of how to measure minute changes in a magnetic field
or the radio enthusiast, changes in the earth's

I magnetic field can be used to indicate likely

changes in propagation. For the astronomer, the
same changes are likely indicators to the advent of
auroras and similar heavenly signs. Down to earth, measurements of local magnetism are very helpful to the archaeologist,
amateur or otherwise. Unfortunately, while one can go into
many a local shop and buy a combination
voltmeter/ammeter/ohmmeter for only a few pounds, one
cannot easily go into one's local emporium and buy a
magnetism meter (magnetometer) and certainly not for a few
pognds. Hopefully, I am about to
redress this balance, at least in
part.
Before delving into the nitty
gritty, it may be as well to know
something of what we are talking
about,
The first dreadful shock to
older readers will be to discover
that Gausses are out and a new
unit is in, to whit the Tesla. This
is a very large unit - the field
which would generate 1V along
a wire I m long moving at
I m/sec.
lf you cast your mind back to
the classroom, you will hopefully
remember that the earth's
magnetic field has a horizontal
component that appears just
West of North. lndeed, if you look at your friendly large scale
Ordnance Survey map you will find a note giving the deviation
between true North and Magnetic Norlh, the Magnetic North
being currently some 5 degrees West of true North.
You may also be able to remember something about the
'angle of dip'.
lmagine an ordinary magnetic compass mounted on its side
so that the needle could point downwards. Orienting the
compass case North/South would leave the needle pointing
downwards at an angle of some 67. to the horizontal.
Remember, these are approximate UK figures, they differ both
locally and globally.
lf you think about it, this is all fairly reasonable as the Norlh
Pole isn't really where the compass is pointing when it is hori-

zontal, because t will be at a tangent to the earth,s sur-face and

the earth belng a sphere, it will be pointing out into space. Only
if it were pointing downward as well would it be pointing to the
true (weJl, neary) orgin. However, everybody is used to
compass needles wh ch only rotate in the horizontal plain and
it's much more convenrent too.
Figure I suggests the situation, Unfortunately, if drawn to
scale the situation gets worse, The line set by the dip angle
points to the interior of the earlh In fact the source of the
earth's field is believed to be due to some form of dynamo
effect within the eafth's core which has a very high iron content.
This is expected to be a fluid or
semi fluid movement which will
perhaps account for the continuous change in position. My
Ordnance
Survey map shows the
67"
yearly change as 9 minutes of arc

to the East.
The eafth's field, or to give it its
more usual name in exalted circles,
the geomagnetic field, is quoted as
two vectors with respect to true
Nodh and a true horizontal
(tangent). Where l'm sitting, these
are 18.5 micro Teslas at 5.3" West

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

50

of North and 48.6 micro Teslas at 67.6'. Fufther North, for

instance, at Eskdalemuir, the figures are 6,3 West and 69.3'
(Ref. Dr D R Barraclough. British Geological Survey. Edinburgh).
These figures are from time to time upset by disturbances
wh ch have various effects on our environment. The changes
are quite small, primarily being a change in direction. There is a
small daily variation of around I5 minutes of arc in the horizontal, but a disturbance (often referred to as a magnetic storm)
may amount to as much as one degree and last for a day or
two. The corresponding variation in field strength is normally
about 4 nano T for the horizontal and maybe 2OnT for the
vertical. A 'storm' may produce a change of a few hundred nT,
This

suggests
that, for
those interested in the
earth's field,
the equipment should
be able to

show
changes of a
few minutes
of arc, not

MIRROB

It is now possible to obtain semi-conducting versions of the

Hall-effect device. For simple indications of magnetic intensity
this type of device is convenient and portable, but the linearity of
the devices is more or less in direct proportion to their cost and
sensitivity. For example, in the Electromail/RS catalogue one
available at around #8 generates 9mV per mT. Changes in the
earth's field are rather beyond them and they are not inherently
suitable for determining direction. However, they are very small
and simple to set up and are thus ideal as probes for investigating magnetic circuits.
The most versatile is the fluxgate magnetometer and modern
electronic components have really brought this type to the fore.
A fluxgate magnetometer is
podable, its sensitivity is good
and with care in construction
can be very accurate, reading
NON.MAGNETIC
down to nano Teslas. lt is also
TRANSPARENT
-/
direction sensitive, which has
ENcLosuRE
the
advantage that it can
^/'
distinguish more than one field
and unwanted fields, such as
the earth's, can be balanced
SUSPENSION

necessarily in

out.
Briefly, it consists usually of
two ferrite rods, each of which
carries a winding. The rods are

absolute
values.

flpes

Of

MAGNET

Magnetometer And Their Gharacteristics

There are several types of magnetometer, some more sultable
for a particular kind of task than others, They can be c asslfied
by the basic principles on which they operate,
The oldest type and one of the simplest to construct is the
moving magnet. lt consists of a simple magnet. operat ng in the
same way as a compass except that the rnagnet s suspended
by a thread either of a metallic but non magnetic materlal such
as phosphor bronze, or in this day and age nylon or s milar. The
most important features are that t must not have a tw si n lts
construction, discounting threads such as cotton and it must be
thin enough to allow free movement of the magnet,
This type of device is not really porlab e because of the
flimsy nature of the suspension. lf it is to be poded, then some

COPPER CRADLE

FERRITE

arranged side by side and the windings excited by a pure (no

harmonics) AC drive. Around the pair of rods is arranged a third
winding, the sense winding. Any external field causes the
second harmonic of the excitation to be generated and it is this
harmonic which is used to indicate field strength. The construction of this type will be discussed in a fairly simple form in detail.
The earth's horizontal field (18.5pT) will give an output of around
3V DC on the divide by 10 range. The windings don't have
many turns (300 is the most) and the electronics can be assembled on strip board. This will be followed by the enhancements
which can be made to improve it further.
There is one other type that must be mentioned, which
depends on atomic behaviour - the proton precession magnetometer. This also has the advantage that it is portable and it
measures total flux from whatever direction. lt is useful in that a

special feature must be incorporated to suppotl the magnet

whilst in transit. Consequently, this type is popular for f xed
stations where the interest is primarily in changes of direction in
the geomagnetic field. As it is always aligned with the field, t
cannot show change in magnitude. I shall discuss later the
design of such an instrument in two forms - one that is read by
a visible indication and one that is read electronically.
One of the latest types makes use of the Hall-effect.
Consider a block of some conducting material (Figure 2) the
three visible faces being A, B and C. A current is maintained
between face A and its corresponding hidden face, with the flux
to be measured applied to face B. This flux will cause electrons
to diverge towards the C face or its hidden counterpart, estabishing a voltage between the two faces (l seem to remember
Fleming had a rule about the direction of motion).

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

5t

general survey of flux density can be carried out, without the

necessity of pointing it in the right direction. The other side of
the coin is that it is unable to distinguish more than one source
of flux.

The principle is that a small container of liquid, usually

alcohol, is subjected to a strong steady field, the polarising field,
perhaps by means of a coil wrapped round the container. This
field is switched off and the frequency of precession of the
protons is measured by means of the same coil, or a second
one. This frequency indicates the flux strength remaining after
the polarisation is removed. The effect dies away in a few
seconds, allowing measurements to be repeated fairly rapidly.
As it has a limited, use I am not proposing to give more detail in
this article.

Moving Magnet Magnetometer

The MMM is constructed fairly easily from items to be found in
most bits and bobs boxes. A fair bit of patience is needed with
the setting up and a bit of dexterity in making it, but otherwise it

WALL

copper wire. The fixtures in the fishing line are best sealed by
heating. The big advantage of copper wire is that the joints can
be soldered and Figure 4 suggests a possible construction.
The type of magnet is not dramatically important. The longer
and more powerful it is, the better it will align itself in the
magnetic field and the small magnets used to operate read
relays and security switches may be too small. However, I can
see no reason why severa should not be set end to end until
the available length is four or five inches.
I tried cheating, with quite good results. As it happened,
had some small disc magnets about a half an inch in diameter.
A ferrite rod about 5in long was cut in half and the magnet
arranged in the centre, Incldental y ferrite rod is extremely hard
and you will not be able to saw through it without a diamond
saw. Much simpler is to make a smal notch at the centre with a
hack-saw, then put pressure on this point until it snaps. Maybe
was lucky, but having made the shal ow notch I held it against
the thumbs of both hands with my fingers and just applied
thumb pressure. lt snapped with quite a clean break, but in any
case the two original ends
were quite square so they
were used as the inside
ends against the magnet. A
cradle or stirrup was made
from thick copper wire as
shown and some Araldite
wALL or similar resin wlll
complete this part of the
I

exerctse.

The next requirement is

a small bulb with preferably
a straight filament, because
we shall have to use the
image of the filament as the
ndicator, A round MES

should be fairly straightforward. Don't make a start until you

have read the whole of this section, as there are one or two
points which are critical
It consists of a suspended magnet to which a small mirror is
attached. lf you know a dentist, then the small surface silvered
inspection mirror is ideal. Failing that, a small mirror can be cut
from a back silvered mirror, about 3/4 of an inch square will do.
The device will be very susceptible to drafts and therefore
must be enclosed within a suitable draft proof enclosure. lt must
also be transparent, of course. Figure 3 suggests the arrangement. Sweet jars, jam jars and unused gold-fish bowls are all
typical of the type of container which is suitable, The gold-fish
bowl will require a lid. Don't use any absorbent material such as
wood, because it is not dimensionally stable and of course iron
or steel is out. The amateur electronic engineer,s favourite aluminium - is ideal.
Since the modus operandi is to shine a light on the mirror
and use the reflection as the indicator, moulding marks on
glass jars can be a nuisance. However, you will be very unlucky
if you cannot find a large enough clear patch as the movement
is very small. lt may just be necessary to experiment a litfle
when you come to set it all up An excellent scheme if you are
handy with Perspex is to make a case up and there is no need
for it to be circular,
The suspension can be either fine fishing line or very thin

MIRROR CEMENTED

COPPER CRADLE

12V is probably the best. Run lt from a suitable transformer and

either adjust the voltage down or add a series resistor, to
extend the life of the bulb and limit any filament movement. Only
enough light to see the projected image cleady is needed.
A lens will be required which is capable of projecting an
image of the fllament onto a surface 2 or 3 metres awav. This is

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

52

SUSPENSION

PHOTO-TRANSISTOR
OR
DIODE
MIRROB

COPPER CRADLE

BLADE

MAGNET

R4
1M

cheap plastic eye glass lenses? Alternatively, a small laser

would do the trick. And set you back about e60!
Figure 5 suggests the layout in plan view. Before any
construction starts, it is essential to decide on the location to be
used. There are one or two restrictions, The first depends on
the minimum distance D between the mirror and the scale, the
very least is 2m, 4m is nearer the mark. The arithmetic behind
this statement comes in a moment.
Just as imporlantly, there must be absolutely no movement
between the support for the magnet, i.e. its enclosure, the lens
assembly and the scale. lf it's at all possible, much the best
arrangement would be to mount the assembly on an aluminium
shelf fastened to a brick wall. Then fasten the scale on the
brickwork also as suggested in Figure 5.
A wooden building would be unsuitable because there would
be too much movement dependant on weather conditions.
However, if there is no option, the only suggestion I have is
either a rigid aluminium frame to which all the parts are
attached, or to mount the magnet assembly and lamp on a
concrete base and arrange that the spot from the mirror shines
in through a window,
Figure 5 is drawn as if it were attached to a wall which runs
due East-West, in which case the magnet will be slewed by just
5' and Figure 5 will work like a charm. ln practice walls are not
built conveniently and accurately in this way, so as a consequence the mirror may have to be attached at an angle to the
magnet. This can best be done by rehashing Figure 4 slightly,
so that the stirrup is extended vert cally by a piece of the same
copper wire, cementing the mirror to a piece of brass tube and
sliding it over the extension, Then attach the extension to the
suspension, The mirror can then be turned relative to the
magnet until it all works and then be fixed with a dab of cement.
See Figure 6 for the alternative to Figure 4.
Now some fairly simple arithmetic.
The sorl of movement we are looking for is around 5 minutes
of arc or less and up to 1'. To arrange that '1 minute of arc gives
one mi imetre of movement on the scale:
1 minute = 1/(360 x 60)th part of a circle and this must be
mm, The circumference of a circle is 2m, but in our particular
case the distance D in Figure 5 is the radius, so the circle is 2nD
and this equals 1/(360 x 60).
So, D=360 x60/2x n = 3438mm.
However, the reflection from the mirror will turn through
twice the angle of the mirror movement so in fact the above
distance can be halved to 1719mm, say 1.72m.
The minimum D of Figure 5 is 1.72m and in fact it would be
easier to read changes if it could be made greater than this. To
cover the general case therefore, given the distance D in
metres, one minute of arc will be represented by D x 0.582mm.
(D x 4000 xn/36O x 60). lf it's more convenient the other way
round then, if there are M millimetres of scale per minute of arc,
then the required distance D in metres will be M x 1.72.
.1

also a matter of experiment. I happened to have one or two

ienses in my 'photographic' box and an old projector lens

Setting Up

seemed to be best.
Bemember, the lens will of necessity be separated from the
mirror by the 'anti draft' container. lt is best to make a mock up
cf this part of the device so that you are sure it will work.
Cleady, the more elegant the lens, the clearer the image of the
ilament will be. However, the object of the exercise is really to
g ve a patch of light that has some clearly defined point which
can be used as the reference, not necessarily a perfect image of
ihe lamp filament.
lf you don't have lenses, how about trying one of the fairly

There are no shoft cuts, it's just a painstaking job of getting the
magnet assembly and lamp lens assembly together on a rigid
non magnetic base as the first step.
It may need a fair bit of patience to set the mirror so that the
reflection appears in the right place - after the magnet assembly
has finished swinging! lf the mirror is movable in respect to the
magnet, use a dab of cement (one of the resin glues is good)
which is not quick setting so that you have time to adjust it
before the cement hardens.

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

53

E
?

Don't take the readings too seriously for a day or so as it

does need time to setlle.

Making The Moving Magnet Magnetometer

Machine Readable

have to be changed. A little experimentation may be called

for.
The next step ls to
ith the magnet
free to move and when it
inting North,

move
ha
the output from the op-amp

dle between
the limits noted above.
lf using a cover, it may up the readings when fitted. Try
carefully moving the device c kwise or anticlockwise to see if
the reading can be restored.
One point which I nearly forgot and
may not be obvious. The 12V supply
must be regulated. The current
consumption is very small, about 20
mA, so the power supply need not be
anythln g very extravagant.

The MMM as built so far can only be read by inspection.

However, as we now all have charl recorders (ETl April 94 ei
seq), a much better picture of the way the geomagnetic field
changes can be obtained if the readings
are recorded lt also heips to avoid the
slightly embarrassing moments when in
the middle of a soclal evening one has
to announce "Excuse me a few
moments, ljust have to go and read my
magnetometer".
A quite simple arrangement is
The Fluxgate
suggested in Figure 7, in which the ends
Magnetometer
of the magnet have been extended with
Those who are have worked with
thin aluminium blades. One of these
magnetic amplifiers or mag-amps will
intercepts the light from an LED shining
find the workings of the flux gate
onto a photo transistor and there is no
magnetometer familiar, The FGM to be
absolute need for a blade at each end of
described illustrates all the princlples
the magnet, it's just a simple way of
involved, but leaves the enthusiast
making sure it remains balanced by
room for experiment and enhancement.
adding an identical weight at each end
It is also designed to bre adjustable in
It is best to use infra-red devices
gain and offset so that it can be a bit of
encapsulated in black infra-red transa jack of all trades, but with adjustment
missive plastic to reduce the effect of
and enhancement at least master of
ambient light. Even so, you may find it
some
necessary to enclose the device in a
For example, its sensitivity is such
light proof cover
that it gives about 3V for the horizontal
One can obtain the two infra-red
component of the earlh's flux, with the
devices in one moulding, which makes
des gn sensitiv ty reduced by 1O lf
mounting much easier. However, be
reol red, iherefore, the gain can be
careful - some of these are switches,
a ierec sc tiat it gives 5V for SOmT,
the detector includes a trigger so the
I0lT ce. ,,,olt Th s rs a convenient scale
device does literally switch from one
yrh-ore Cri-ect readings of field
strength
state to the other. Such a device is not
are required, enabling both horizontal
suitable for this application as the
and vefticai components to be
detector must be a linear device.
measured,
Fgure
9a: Plan view of Fluxgate l,4agnetometer
A suitable circuit is suggested in
Sim lar y. its circular sensitivity is
showing
sense winding arangement
Figure B. This shows a photo transistor
about 3V for 7' as developed,
as the sensor but a photo diode is a
(TmV,iminute) This sensitivjty to rotation
suitable alternatlve. Two cornments are valid here, A photo tranmeans that the normal smal changes in the earth,s field (5 to
10
sistor frequently does not have its base connected and the base
mins of arc) would produce an output change of 35 to Z0mV.
connection is often not available. Secondly, the photo diode is
usually operated in the reverse biased mode
I suggest the value of R1 as IK for the fjrst trial R2 and
R3
are 100K and i0K respecilvely and B4 is l OM. Using a CA3l40
as lC1, output can swing between O and approximately 9V. Aim
for somewhere round the middle of this range when setting up.
Setting the device up is quite tricky, as the blade of the
magnet has to just intercept the beam To do this, note the
maximum and minimum v tages at the output of the op_amp.
One is with the blade fully overing the photo device and the
other with the blade fully withdrawn. R3 can be adjusted to help
get this right. lf this is not sufficjent, then the value of R4
may
Figure 9b: End view of Fluxgate Magnetometer

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

54

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ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

55

Don't let your car battery go llat by

forgelting to turn ofl your lights. L.S.
O'Connor builds a lights-on reminder for
your vehicle,
Fig 'l .Car lights on test block diagrams

exit your vehicle with the

car lights still on. lt has a
variable volume control,
enabling you to set your
own desired volume level
and is built from three
separate modules Monitor Lights checks
whether the lights are on
or off, the Monitor Door
checks whether the door is
open or shut and the
Switch, which is activated
if the lights are on and the
door is open, switching on
the two oscillators that
drive the plezo sounder
(see Figure 1).

How !t Works
The circuit is based upon a
quad two input NAND

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

Gonstruction

gate, lcl , and a dual version of the 555 timer, lC2. lC1 a is
connected as an inverter and checks whether the door is gpen
or closed. With the door closed, the door switch is open circuit
and Rl pulls the input high, so the cutput is low (see Figure 3
for truth table), However, when the door is opened, the door
switch grounds the input of lC1a, changing the output to a high.
This is fed to one half of the input of lCl b, the other half
being connected to the car's side lights
power feed. R7 is a pull
down resistor and ensures
(e
that the input is low when
the lights are switched off.
,
The output of lCl b remains in '.:
a high state until both the
:
nputs are taken high so with
:
ihe lights switched on and the
(m
door open, the output would
change to a low. This is fed to
lCl c wired as another
nverter, which is used to
provide the correct logic level
.equired by the lC2a and lC2b

The prototype used an ABS box from Maplin (Part no: YU52G).
This has slotted walls to accept the PCB and internal dimensions of 49,5 x 99.5 x 40mm. The Veroboard was cut to fit the
slots and was 39 strips x 14 holes. Using these dimensions, cut
the tracks at the various points (see photograph of layout). Next, solder the appropriate
links and then the components (smallest first).
When complete, solder suitable lengths of
cable from the various points on the circuit
board to reach the fuse holders and the 4
way terminal block, where they are to be
fitted.
The terminal block was mounted to the
{ry}
lid on the inside,
using two 684

nuts and bolts

and the fuse
holders at
either end of the
box. These were
done last to ensure that neither
fouled the PCB. lnsert the PCB as
near to one side of the box as
possible and mark the position of the
piezo sounder, so you can drill a suitable amount of holes to allow the sound
through the box. Also mark the positions of your fuse
holders and the 4 way terminal block, ensuring that they do not
block the PCB. An additional hole was drilled at one end and a
grommet fitted, to allow for the through cables connecting to
the various points of the car.
Finally, with the fuse holders and terminal block in place,
solder the positive feed from the terminal block (position 1) to
the fuse holder FS1 , and from FSl to the positive cable from
the circuit board, Solder the lights from the terminal block (position 3) to the fuse holder FS2 and from FS2 to the lights feed
cable, from the circuit board. Connect the -ve cable from the
circu t board to Position 2 and the door switch cable from the
circuit board to Position 4 of the terminal block.

'eset pins.
Both lCl a and lCl b are
:onnected as astable multivibrators,
croducing square wave outputs.
C2a ls operattng aI 4Nz and is deternined by the formula
1,44/(R2+2?4)C1, while lC2b is operating at 1.8KHz 1.44/ (R3+2R5)C2. Both
C2a and lC2b are held switched off by
.he low output from lCl c, connected to the reset pins 4 and I0,
so therefore they are only allowed to oscillate when the reset
c ns are taken high. This only occurs when the lights are on and
-re door is open. The output oI lC2a is fed via R8 to the control
rput of lC2b, which has the affect of modulating the output of

''

Testing
With the unit fully assembled, testing can be carried out as
follows. Using a PP3 battery or similar, connect the positive
terminal to Position 1 of the terminal block and the negative
terminal to Position 2. Link Position 3 to Position 1, which
simulates the lights being switched on. Now momentarily link
Position 4 to Position 2 to simulate the door being opened

)2b
,,,

by changing the threshold set internally, giving us the

arbling affect.
The output of lC2b is passed through C3 and VRl to

:rve the piezo sounder directly, with VBI setting the desired
clume level.
Dl protects the circuit from reverse polarity connections
andZD2 clamp any high voltage spikes
':d R6, inR9,ZD1
.resent car electrical systems to a safe level. C4 and C5
s^rooth the supply.
FS1 and FS2 are there should the circuit start to draw an
:xcess of current due to a fault.
,

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

57

R2,3,4,5
R6, I
10
R8 100K
VRl lOK

and the sounder should now be operating.

Remove the link from Position 3 to 1 to simulate the.lights
being switched off. Momentarily link Position 4 to Position 2 and
the sounder should remain silent.
lf any of the above tests fail, then check all your connections,
the cutting of the tracks and that all of the components have
been inseded the correct way round. Finally, check the fuses.

1K2

Gapacitors

Cl
C2
C3
C4
C5

lnstallation
There should be no problem with the installation, provided that
you follow these procedures. You will require a suitable multimeter in order to make the correct connections.
Normally, I would recommend disconnection of the car
battery prior to fitting, but due to the ever increasing number of
car radios that are security coded and cars fitted with microprocessor controlled management systems which require a
constant source of power for their operation, it would be advisable to do the installation with the battery still connected.
Ensure that both FSl and FS2 are removed and that the car
ignition switched off. Locate a constant source of power and
using auto type cable, connect to Position I of the terminal
block, housed inside the control box. lf you use the ScotchLock type connectors, this will allow you to crimp your cables in
parallel with the existing cable and so avoid the need to break
the existing cable. Next, find a suitable earlh and connect to
position 2 of the terminal block.
Now connect position 3 of the terminal block to the ive feed
of the car's side lights. Switch on your side lights and they
should still come on, even with the ignition switched off. I found
the best place to make a connection was down by the side light
itself, unless of course you have easy access to behind the side
lights switch, in which case you can make your connection

100pF 25V DC Radial

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ABS Box (lnternal) 49.5mm x 99,5mm x 40mm
2 x Fuse Holders 2Omm Flush
2 x Fuses 100 NA Q/Blow 20mm
I x Rubber Grommet
Stripboard 0.1 in Matrix, 39 Strips x 1 4 Holes
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Bequ'ed ength
UI HJLU \]dU E

their.
Wherever you decide, check with your multimeter that it is
the live feed for the side lights, by switching the lights off and
observing that the power is indeed removed.
Connect Position 4 of the terminal block to the door switch
on the driver's side, which operates the car's interior light. lf
there is a single wire on the door switch, this means that
the switch is earthed by the cars' chassis and operation
of the switch connects this wire to eadh and completes
the circuit. All that is required is to make your connection to that single wire. lf, on the other hand, you have
two wires attached to your door switch, then this means
that the switch is of the plastic type and that there is a
separate earth to the switch. Operation of the switch

':

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Cost: 88,00
Log c tor

just connects the two wires together and you need to

make your connection to the non-earthed wire, which
can be found by switching your multimeter to the ohms
position and attaching one probe to the car's chassis
and the other to either of the two wires. Make your
connection to the wire that breaks the continuity when
the door switch is operated.
Making sure that the side lights are now switched off,
insed both FS.1 and FS2 into the fuse holders, switch
the lights back on and open the door. You should hear
the sounder emitting the reminder tone. You can now
adjust VRI to the desired volume level. When you either
switch the lights off or close the door, the sounder
should cease.
Finally, fit the lid and tuck the control box up under
the dashboard. lf any of the above fails, then re-check
all your connections and fuses,
R1,7 47K

Component layout

on stripboard and track cutting positions

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

5a

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I
I

ln Part 3 of Robert penford's series on MrDr, he takes an in depth rook

at channe, messages

n last month's article, the subject of MlDl modes

was covered, and a start was made on the related
subject of

slightly perplexing one, but in this context a ,program, is

normally a set of sound generator parameters. This message
is
therefore used with a
channel
synthesiser to change
messages. ln this article
ALWAYS 1
from
one sound to
we will consider all the
CHANNEL PRESSUBE CODE
another.
For instance,
CHANNEL
NUMBER
remaining channel
this message could
+
messages in some
be used to change an
1
1
0
1
x
x
detail. These are the
x
x
HEAOER BYTE
instrument from a
most lmportant
trumpet
sound to a
messages, since they
ALWAYS O
guitar
sound.
EXAMPLE VALUE 121
are the ones that are
=
Although this might
used to play notes,
not seem to be
provide touch sensitivity
PBESSIJRE VALUE DATA BYTE
particularly
useful,
and pitch bends,
most
instruments
will
change to a different
Fig.1 The program change message is a simple two by,te type
respond to this type
set of sound generator
of message very
settings, etc. Every MlDl .user needs to know what channel
rapidly, making it possible to use program changes mid_
messages are available, and have at least a fundamental under_
sequence. This is a form of channel message and it is therefore
standing of the way in which they function. Anyone who is
possible to individually change the sound of each
voice of an
involved in the writing of MlDl software and/or the design of
instrument operating in mode 4 or a multi-mode. This may
still
MlDl hardware needs to
seem
to
be
a
clever
understand every bit of
but not particularly
every MlDl channel
useful
feature, but it
ALWAYS
1
Tessage. Full details of
can greatly enhance
PITCH WHEEL CHANGE CODE
MlDl channel message
the capabilities of a
CHANNEL NUMBER
coding will therefore be
+
sequencer system,
provided, for those who
1
particularly a budget
1
0
x
x
x
x
HEADER BYTE
need it. lf you are not
system.
Suppose you
into do-it-yourself MlDl
have
an
eight channel
ALWAYS O
software or hardware,
instrument
operating
EXAMPLEVALUE
this sort of detailed
=15
in mode 4. On the
information is of purely
face of it, this system
PITCH CHANGE VALUE (LSB)
academic importance.
can only operate
As note on and note off
using eight different
ALWAYS O
messages were fully
instrument
sounds
EXAMPLE VALUE
=99
.covered in last month's,
(one per MlDl
article they will not be
channel). However,
PITCH CHANGE VALUE (MSB)
considered agaln here.
by using program
change
messages it is
All Ghange
possible to use
Program change
several times this
TOTAL PITCH CHANGE VALUE ((99 x 128) + 15 12687
messages are one of
=
number of sounds. A
the most simple forms
channel
could play a
of MlDl channel
piano sound first,
message. The name of
then a cello sound,
this message is a
Fig 2. Pitch wheel change messages provide l4 bit resolution
then a bass guitar

ELECIRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

60

and so on. By having several different sounds on each channel,

with each one being played in turn, it is quite possible to have
eight channels but a total of a hundred or more different
sounds.
There is an obvious limitation in that our example system can
provide no more than eight different sounds at any one time.
For most users, this is not a major drawback though, since they
would not wish to use large numbers of sounds simultaneously.
Of course, even with a system that has a separate voice
assigned to each of the sixteen MlDl channels, program change
messages are still a useful means of squeezing a little bit more
power out of the system.
Although only envisaged originally as a means of switching
an instrument from one sound to another, program change
messages can be used to change any MlDl device from one set
of control settings to another. These messages could therefore
be used to control a lighting unit, MlDl patchbay, audio mixer,
d gital effects unit, or any MlDl equipped device. Some nonnstrument MlDl units do make use of program change
messages, but it is only fair to point out that this method of
control is not always
rsed. There seems
.o be an increasing
rse of system exclus ve messages to
:ontrol patchbays,
-nixers, etc. Where
an instrument or
:ther MlDl unit can
ce controlled via
crogram change
ressages, this is

performances. The slave units have to be carefully set up so

that they always provide the correct sounds, as they follow the
program change messages from the master instrument. lt
should always be possible to assign any set of sound generator
parameters to any program number and many instruments have
facilities that make it easy to copy a group of settings from one
program number to another. Getting evefihing set up correctly
may not be very time consuming, but it is advisable to have a
'dummy run' to ensure that evefihing will be all right on the
night,

General MlDl
The original MlDl specification did not make any recommendations about the type of sound assigned to each program
number, There probably seemed to be no point in doing so at
the time the MlDl specification was devised, but more recently,
music has become available in the form of standard MlDl
sequencer files, which can be played on a MlDl sequencing
system.

The problem with this approach to recorded music is that it

gives a different result
on each system, due
ALWAYS 1
to different sounds
PBOGRAM CHANGE CODE
being assigned to each
CHANNEL NUMBER
program number.
Program 23 might be a
HEADEB BYTE
grand piano sound on
the system used to
ALWAYS O
produce the
EXAMPLE VALUE = 120
sequencer file, but it
could be a banjo,
PROGRAM NUMBER BYTE
saxophone, jet plane,
or anything on the
:ften a very easy and
systems used to reproform
of
aftertouch
Fig 3 Overall key pressure is the more s mpre
:onvenient means of
duce the sequence. lt
:ontrol. Generating
to
add
a set of standard
necessary
particularly
deemed
was
therefore
difficult,
.re right system exclusive messages can be
this
is
known
as General MlDl.
to
MlDl
and
you
asslgnments
to
sound
trying
piece
are
that
of
equipment
' t is a slightly obscure
present time,
pursue
further
at
the
will
we
is
not
a
subject
This
:cntrol.
but if you wish to produce Standard MlDl files that others can
Practically any MlDl controller can produce program change
p ay back properly on their systems, you must adhere to the
-essages. Most keyboard instruments can be set up so that
standard sound assignments. lf not, you are free to assign
.ey will transmit the appropriate program change message
whatever sound you like to any program number.
:ach time they are set to a new program number.
A program change message is a two byte type which uses
lcnsequently, there should be no difficulty in getting the slave
-struments to follow changes implemented on the master
the method of coding shown in Figure 1. The header byte has
the program change code (1 100) in the most significant nibble
^strument.
potential
and the channel number in the least significant nibble. This is
great
in
have
Program change messages
followed by the program number, which in decimal numbering is
-:quencing work, but their usefulness in 'live' performances
in the usual MlDl data range of O Io 127. Note that equipment
-"ould not be overlooked either. For any user of program
points
manufacturers do not necessarily number programs from 0 to
which
important
are
a
couple
there
messages,
-iange
'1
-'. rst be kept in mind. One of these is simply that this is a form
27. Some use numbers from 1 to 128, others have sounds
arranged in banks, giving program numbers such as A-1 and D-' channel message. lf you have several instruments or voices
you
7. The equipment manuals should clarify the relationship
,= nstruments operating on different MlDl channels and
-:qu re them all to switch to a new program number, a different
between the manufacturer's method of numbering and the true
program values.
This
--3gram change message is needed for each channel.
This is not just of academic importance. When using equipthat
has
the
slave
system
--:blem does not arise in a simple
-siruments in an 'Omni on' mode, or all operating on the same
ment from several different manufacturers it is quite easy to end
up selecting the wrong sounds due to differences in the
, - annel.
numbering methods. Most modern instruments have the full
Sequencing using program change messages is usually
complement of 128 different sounds, but many older instru: - ;e straightforward. lt is not normally necessary to become
- ,clved in getting a certain sound assigned to a particular
ments only have 63 or 99. Again, it is a matter of checking the
manuals to determine exactly what each instrument
equipment
--rgram number. There should be no difficulty in using the
With some modern instruments, there is the luxury
can
achieve
the
appropriate
-='ault settings of the instrument and using
-rJram
of sound data, with each one containing 128
banks
of
several
program
The
same
messages.
change
:
numbers in the
different sounds.
. ^ft true for those who use these messages during 'live'

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

61

Pitching ln

improved control over the dynamics of an instrument. lt is a

feature that is certainly more than a llttle desirable.
Velocity sensitivity was not common in the early days of
by any means other than operating the pitch wheel of an instru_
MlDl, and any form of after touch was virtually unknown. Things
ment. This message is a three byte type which uses the method
have changed over the years and it is probable that all current
of coding shown in Figure 2. The header byte has the pitch
MlDl keyboard instruments implement at least basic velocity
wheel change code (1 1 10) in the four most significant bits and
sensitivity. Most now have some form of after touch as well. Of
the channel number in the other four bits. The seven blts of data
course, after touch is not restricted to keyboards and it can be
in each of the next two bytes are combined to produce a i 4 bit
implemented on practically any form of MlDl controller. MlDl
value.
guitars represent the only common exception. With a gultar, it is
The first data byte
only possible to control
provides the seven least
ALWAYS 1
the dynamics of the
significant bits - the
KEY PBESSURE CODE
notes by plucking the
second data byte
CHANNEL NUMBEB
strings more or less
furnishes the seven most
+
hard. This can be
significant bits. ln decimal
0
1
0
x
x
x
x
HEADEB BYTE
handled by the velocity
terms, the total pitch
values in note on
change value is obtained
ALWAYS O
messages and after
by multiplying the most
EXAMPLE VALUE 31
touch does not really
=
significant byte by 128
apply to any sound that
and then adding the least
NOTE VALUE OATA BYTE
is percussive in nature
significant byte. 14 bit
and of relatively short
resolution gives a pitch
ALWAYS O
duration. lt only applies
wheel value in the range
EXAMPLE VALUE = 35
to sounds that can be
0to 16383. Thezero
sustained for a long
pitch change value js
PRESSURE VALUE DATA B
period (wind, organ,
81 92 (01 000000000000
strings, etc.).
in binary). Sending higher
Fig.4. Po yphon c key p.ess!.e s a .-..e c!1e message
MlDl provides two
values gives an increase
versions of after touch,
in pitch and lower values give a decrease in pitch.
and the r-rore basic form is channel after touch. This type is also
The human ear is very sensitive to changes in pitch and can
knov,rn as 'overa ' after touch. The data value in this type of
readily detect stepping rather than smooth changes. Even so,
message s a sort of average figure for all the keys that are
14 bit resolution almost certainly provides a substantial amount
being p ayed on tiai pa( cular MlDl channel. Although this gives
of overkill. ln practice, it is unlikely that varying a pitch wheel
only a rather unreflned n-re:hod of control, it is stiil a great
would result in a serles of MlDl messages having the data value
improvement on hav ng no aftertouch fac ity at all.
incremented or decremented one at a time. Doing this would
Thls after touch message ts a srmp e two by,te type. Figure 3
almost cerlainly result in a severe case of MlDl choke. pitch
shows the bit-by-bit make-up cf a channel key pressure
wheel changes are a potential cause of MlDl choke anyway,
message, The header by,te carles the channel key pressure
and this type of message is probably best used in moderation.
code (1 101) and the channel number, The second byte is the
channel pressure data b),te. A value of O is used for no pres_
Under Pressure
sure, through to 127 for maximun pressure.
As explained in the previous article, MlDl accommodates touch
The other form of after touch message is the polyphonic key
sensitive keyboards via the velocity values in the note on and
pressure type. This provides individual after touch for each note
note off messages. These values are a measure of how hard a
that is played, which clearly provides very precise control of the
key is pressed initially and how quickly it is released.
dynamics of a piece. In theory at any rate, in terms of the
MlDl has provision for additjonal touch sensitivity in the form
amount of expression that can be put into your playing, it
of 'after touch' messages. The data value in an after touch
makes electronic instruments the equal of any acoustic instru_
message reflects the amount of pressure applied to the key.
ments. Although polyphonic after touch was a rarity until quite
After touch messages are only transmitted for notes that are
recently, it is now becoming much more common. lt is even to
sustained for a reasonably long time and they are therefore only
be found on some low cost MlDl keyboard instruments.
sent after a key has been held down for a suitable length of
Polyphonic after touch is a three byte message which uses the
time. This would typically be after a key had been pressed for
arrangement shown in Figure 4, The header byte contains the
about half a second to one second. Any significant changes in
polyphonic key pressure code (1 0i 0) and the channel number.
the pressure applied to the key thereafter will result in further
The second byte contains the note value. The system of note
after touch messages.
values used here is identical to the one used for note on and
I suppose that a keyboard could implement after touch
note off messages. The third byte carries the key pressure
without having normal (velocity) touch sensitivity, but in practice,
value.
any keyboard that has after touch will also have velocity sensi_
tivity. The latter controls the initial volume of a note and might
ln Gontrol
also have some effect on the filtering or other sound generator
Last and by no means least, we reach the MlDl control change
settings. lf a note is sustained for long enough, after touch then
message, Originally this type of message was used to control
takes over and varies the volume of the note in sympathy with
any aspect of an instrument which was not covered specifically
changes in the pressure applied to the key. Compared to just
by one of the other MlDl message types. Thls included control
having velocity sensing, this system clearly gives greatly
over the sound generator circuits. An update to the MlDl specifi_
ln theory, a pitch wheel change message can be generated by
any MlDl control unit, but in practice it is unlikely to be produced

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

62

switching type, but the value in the third byte is the new setting
cation banned the general use of control change messages to
for the control. This normally works on the basis of 0 for
control the sound generator circuits, but control of the sound
minimum and 127 for maximum.
generator circuits via these messages is still permitted, provided
we
The two exceptions to this are controls 8 and 10, which are
it is done strictly in the prescribed manner. This is something
the balance and pan controls. These have 64 as
respectively
will consider in detail later,
0 as full left volume and 127 as full right
central
setting,
primarily
the
as
a
means
of
used
are
now
The MlDl controls
volume, lf more than 7 bit resolution is needed, controls 0 to 31
controlling such things as master volume and switching bu lt-in
are paired with controls 32 to 63, so that up to 14 bit resolution
effects units on and off, ratherthan as a means of -ao -J1-:
can be accommodated. Control numbers in the range 0 to 31
adjustments to the sound generator circuits, lVhen -s -9 a MID
carry the most significant bytes, while those from 32 to 63 carry
instrument that is not as young as it used to be, 5ea'
the least significant
that it might not
bytes. Control 0 is
conform to the
ALWAYS 1
paired with control
current MlDl
CONTROL CHANGE CODE
NUMBER
32, control I is
CHANNEL
recommendations
paired with control
could
use
and
33,
and so on
MlDl controls for
HEADER BYTE
through to control
practically any
31 which is paired
purpose.
ALWAYS O
EXAMPLEVALUE =15
with control 63.
Theie are two
This works in a
broad categories
manner that is
CONTROL NUMBER BYTE
of MlDl control
similar to the way
change message,
in which the pitch
ALWAYS
O
These are the
EXAMPLEVALUE
wheel
message
and
switching
=14
provides 14 bit
continuous
resolution.
CONTROL CHANGE VALUE (MSB)
controller varieties.
However, the pitch
The switch type is
wheel change
ALWAYS 1
only used to
CONTROL CHANGE CODE
message carries
switch something
CHANNEL NUMBEB
the two 7 bit bytes
on or off, such as
in one message,
some form of
HEADER
BYTE
whereas
they are in
effects unit. The
separate messages
continuous type
ALWAYS O
for a control
provides variable
EXAMPLE VALUE = 47
change.
control and is used
Note, however,
for something like
CONTROL NUMBER BYTE
that it is perfectly in
a volume or
order to change
balance control.
ALWAYS O
only the higher
A switch type
EXAMPLE VALUE =64
control number if
control is operated
only minor adjustusing a three byte
CONTROL CHANGE VALUE (LSB)
ment of a control is
message. The first
required. Control of
byte is the header
the most significant
type, which
TOTAI CONTROL CHANGE VALUE ((14 x 128) + 64 = 1856)
and least significant
contains the
bytes is totally
control change
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
independent.
code (101 1) and
Figure 5 shows an
the channel
example
six byte
number. The next
which
sequence
byte is the number
of
a
high
resolution
control.
gives
both
bytes
I28
changes
,','
cn
some
.'1which
must
ae
the
control
of
a:)This method of obtaining high resolution control has proved
different controls numbereo =':- -'.: 2l Tl-le switch type
to be something less than universally popular and many
controls are those having r.- 1;': ' '.'= 'arge 64 Io 127 , but
consider it to be an inefficient way of handling things. Few
some of these now have,rc:- 1 '-'-'. --s and operate in a noninstruments seem to utilise the higher control numbers and have
standard fashion. This nc lces 2 =3,', ,','r ch operate as contin7 bit resolution for the continuous controls. ln fact some do not
uous controls. We will noi co^s rs' :.es special cases at the
even implement 7 bit resolution and only utilise the five or six
present time. The third b5re co-:'c s :ne on/off setting. Originally
'off'
most significant bits of the coarse control. However, there are a
rg.e,
were
for
0
only two values were reccg^'seo
'.'thich
'on'.
few
instruments which do use the full 14 bit resolution, or somethis
M
D
Specificat
on
altered
127
for
The
Deta
ed
and
thing close to it.
and recent equipment shou d accept values from 0 to 63 as
'off' and 64 to 127 as'o. , MlDl controls having numbers from
0 to 63 are the continuous types, but these are used in pairs. lf
only seven bit resolution s adequate, only controls from 0 to 31
are used. The message then takes the same basic form as a

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

63

ELECTRONICS
TODAY INTERNATIONAL

ln this month,s ETI competition you could win a

sophisticated electronic blood pressure monitor from
Maplin ElectronicsWith the increasing popular awareness of the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, it is hardly surprising
that
electronics systems are being employed to monitor body function and wain the user ot impending probiems,
'
without the need for a lot of medical knowledge and othemise complex measuring techniques.
example
of this kind of electronic device is the newly released Maplin Blood pressure Monitor.
This is an easy to use digital blood pressure tester which has been specifically designed to remove the
complexities of measuring blood pressure and pulse rate, particularly for those who are not familiar with the
technique The monitor takes readings from the left index finger and shows the systolic and diastolic pressures, as well
as pulse rate on an LCD display.
The system is very easy to use and at various stages in operation wll display a 'ready to measure' and 'heart'
symbol to indicate the current stage of the
operation. The monitor has its own pump, so no manual pumping is required, it will iutomatically inflate to a pressure
of around 2OOmmHg and then
start decreasing the pressure gradually.

X C N Y E U C w R P
V V L N P E V U B w N T D T
F U a K Y o D I S D E w V T
M C T T V H o N H C o o C M
H G I w F L T F I K T o J V
x E B L I R B L S K o V C o
M F L J o P o A A S G U E D
M M E E U T R T Y E x M X B
B A tr M S N S E I H H D L Y
L E P Y. Y L C A S N K o I L
T I S L N D U E I S o G I o
N K B N I w H P V D U M w L
H K D o S N Y C o w T R E L
V J I o R w Y R F R H T E B
o N x F Y L L M K E V V N M

B B S G G

R
F

I
I
o
E
F

H
V
G

D
Y

Once measurement is complete, the

monitor bleeps, deflates automatically and
then displays the blood pressure and
pulse rate. These alternate every few
seconds until the monitor is reused or
switched off. Also shown is the ,ready to
measure' symbol. lf it is not reused immediately the monitor will switch itself off
automatically after 1 1/2 minutes, to
conserve power.
To win this sophisticated blood pressure
monitor, valued at E75, simply find all
twelve of the hidden words in the
following puzzle.f o make it easier we will
gve you one clue - all the hidden words
come from the text on this page.
Send your list of the words you have
found, written on a postcard or the back
of an envelope, to: ETl, Blood Pressure
Monitor Competrtion, Argus House,
Boundary Way, Hemel Hempstead, Hens.
HP2 7ST
All entries must be receled before August
3oth when a draw will be made from all
correct entnes to decide the winner.
Rules. The competrtion is open to all UK
residents other than employees of ASp
and Maplin or their families. The prizes are
as stated and there is no cash alternative.
The editor's decision is final and no correspondence can be entered into.

ATTEN7'ON ALL
NORIH A}//ERI CAN READERS'
Did you know that you can order an
annual subscription to this magazine

direct from our official U.S. subscription

rePresentative?
For more information and rates contact:
Wise Owl Worldwide publications,
4314 West 23&th Shreet,
Torrance, CA 90505

Please add fl 50 for post/pacing

JOHN MORRISO\ (MICROS) Deot f,TI.
4 REIN GARDENS, TINGLEY, WEST YORKSHIRE WF3 IJR

Tel: (310) 3ZS 62gg

Telephone 0532 537 507

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

64

ELECTRONICS
TODAY INTERNATIONAL
Ashley, tel: 0304 812723.

Dear ETI

developed a small circu: .',* :.' --=:+- :- : - l-: =^J

useful, Thiscircuit monitors ar 3 :. .=--a :- : >;- := l::: -:s,
and latches the peak value or:: --'--.'+- ==-' )='= -:-: - s
output could be processed furl-:' :- :: s- -.',- -=--= :; -s+i
to drive two seven segment d,SC :_" -: :: :;-= -= -.--. -' ':'
such a circuit would be, for exa-: : = . a'a -- -:'-.a" )
system where the peak vibratic- -.- =-. :,a - --- -=':l: :- :e s::'ed
and displayed.
The circuit is based arounc za-)-' -:-:,1'=-:- l: a-: a
latch, lC'1 . The comparator co-s,a-:'. ::-:;--:s --= ^: -: ;ata,
.:-= rput
on inputs P, with the current c?-1, .z -= -- -:--= I
r
data is greater than the currer: :':.a' .: -E -".- :a --:''-ater
than.. Q linefrom the compara.J- lt;-:: : ', - -:-- ='.3- gate,
:= .-.--=. -:: lC1
lC2a, inverts this signal, caJS,.i -.'=
=='=- ln order for the start-up to be :':=-'. : :-E - r---: :'-a< value
to bezero, aresetupon pov,'e' -: : :--,'ti: :-. =- l' and
lc2b.lC4 and lC5 are hexade: -1 l:: . t-,== ->?l:o
.-display the higher current val'-:
- =S
t',vs:
The component values us3l - :-: : ---::':::':

lf you run a club that is concerned with some aspects of electronics and computing we would like to hear from you so that
we can include your club in our regular listing.

tc1
tcz
tc3

G - Magnetism and magnetometers

H - Car lights on reminder
| - An lntroduction to MlDl

I have

5
RN]
B1
R2,3
Cl
Vcc
lC4,

Feedback
Here at the editorial offices of ETI we want to provide you, our
readers, with the soft of magazine that you want to read. We
can of course guess what you would like to see in each issue of
ETl, but a far better way is to rely upon feedback front readers.
To help us in this process we are instituting a new concept, the
'Feedback Box'. We are asking readers to take a few minutes
and write down on the back of a postcard the ratings which
they would award to each article in this issue. Ratings should
vary between 1 and 10, with 1 being poor and 10 being brilliant.

A - Where on Eadh am l?
B - Computer controlled stepper motor
C - Turbo speed indicator
D - Anglers bite alarm
E

74L5273
74LSO4

74LS684
Hex Display (RS 586--:3K resistor SIL

Just write the article letter followed by your score for that article
and send to
Feedback Box August 94,

330K
330ohm

ETI,

1t-tF

Argus House,
Boundary Way,
Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP2 7ST.
To add an ertra incentive, all replies received before August
30th 1994 will go into a draw and the winner will receive a
'goodies bag' of electronic components.

+5V

T.B.Grant. Glamorgan.

Club contacts
Our regular list of amateBritish Amateur

- PC Clinic

F - Video light meter

Electrcr:s

L:

Contact the club secreta-, '.'J.F.Davies on 0606 883-12

Crystal Palace and D s .'
C/ub, tel: 081 099 5732

:: = =: -

Lincoln shorl Wave Fa: Lincoln. Iel: 0427 7tri:a

I -:

London Live DIY Hl-F 3': = ---'-=--.

Launcelot Dow. 7 R,--== 3=':=-=
South, Lower Edmo'::- -:-::- \.9
9NT.

Midland Amateur Rz: -- S:: =:.

--ai
O21 4229787 or 02'r-1:

::

(evenings only).

Sudbury and Distrlct Pz::

Amateurs, tel: 0787 3'32'Z
Thanet Electronics C -: - .;-:i
group for school age QoDre in East
Kent. Contact the club secretary Boy

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

65

ly
Health and Safety
Last month, we looked at the siting of a workshop inside the
house. However, this will not be possible for many readers. An
alternative idea is to use a partitioned section of the garage or a
garden shed. This will be relatively inexpensive to set up, but the
drawback is that such places are likely to be damp and certain

eaking

terminate in a small consumer unit from where it will feed the

circults for power sockets, heating and lighting.
There wl be a double-pole switch and separate fuses - SA
for ighting, 1OA for heating and 15A for power sockets (only 5A
if used for leyT-per.'.,eT exper mental equipment). Rather than
conventronal fuses, -iniature c rcuit breakers (MCBs) will be
found more con\,/e1 e.i oecause they can be instan|y reset.
Earthing must be ef c 3": ard any exposed metalwork earlh
bonded according :3 aies: ,iE .egulations.
For safety reascns :i: .c-s-l-rer untt must be of the type
contarning a BCD rRes c-a C-r-e-: Device) - see illustration - or
have separate RCDs ior eac- : -c-- The Hg8 powerBreaker
BCBO units are useful, beca-se :-e.. comb ne minrature circuit
breakers with RCDs Thes: =.g a.a )L= - .alngsfrom 64to
A fluorescent light, ratheliha^ :^e i.rngsten fi ament, variety
should be used because t s .ea: .e , snador,ry free and
promotes safe working A spor g-i ccu d a so be used for close
work. lf a heater is needed, use ire tnfra-red bathroom type
rather than a free-standing one -Ihis should be wall-mounted,
as high as possible and operated ihrough a cord switch.
You should fit a smoke detector n case the soldering iron or
other equipment is left switched on and touching something,
causing insulation to melt and burn, This must be of the type
which can 'repeat' in the house, An add-on circuit which can
provide a repeat facility using an ordinary cheap smoke detector
will be given as a project in a future issue,
Another must is to provide some means of communicating
with the house in an emergency, A simple bell push with a loud
buzzer in the house will do, but more usefui s a two-way system
with a buzzer at each end. This can be built using 3-core wire as
shown in Figure 1. Of course, a cheap intercom is even better
It is essential to provide a good lock on the door - this will
prevent a child entering in your absence you are likely to leave
things lying around with their lids removed and this could injure a
child playing. They could end up with a very nasty burn trying
their hand at soldering! ln addition to a lock, it may be necessary
to provide an intruder alarm arranged to give a warning inside
the house. A circuit for such a simple alarm will also be
described as a project in a future issue.
Where a mains supply must be avoided, either because of
the cost of installing it or on grounds of safety, then some alternative means of operating the workshop will need to be found
We shall she how this can be done next month.

aspects of safety must be taken into consideration if mains electricity is to be used.

First decide if mains electricity is really needed. lt is possible
to operate a workshop without it and if there is any hesitation
over safety, this must be the course to follow Such a mains-free
workshop will be discussed next month.
lf you do decide to lay on mains power, you should use a
qualified electrical contractor to provide advice on how to install
it. Unless you know your IEE Wiring Regulations you should not
attempt this job. lf a supply already exists, it must be checked
by a competent electrjcian to ensure that it was properly
installed in the first place and is fit for the purpose. The
Electricity at Work Regulations apply to private houses as well
as work places - the person installing the supply is responsible
for the safety of those using it.

Considerations
These are the most important points to consider The wiring
from the supply must be of adequate current rating, carry an
eafth conductor and be of the correct physical type. lt must

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

66

New frcm Argrs

ful<s!

SCANNERS 3 T

Putting scanners -::

by Peter Rouse.
=:'. -^!aaa*96&$e
@&&s&6ee4si
lr
ra]a
This is the 4th revisec :-: :.-E s:i I -pdated edition of
Scanners. This new ec 1 a- ies S,n tne largest ever

number of changes arc a:r-.'o,ns :c :ne p,oint of being a

virtual rewrite, and co-= -S s r ?rri. ng you need to know

to put your scanner to be::=n use

. . -- --.

-: bycoastalstations
Jy coastal slat ons 3
3---..
1st time is a sectio- : -:
istings 10r these se', :=inc uding cord ess a- repeaters, beacons .=.=

weather, including C J,.'

Fully i lustrated thrc-: - ,
actual scanners c,.':Th s book lnc udes a :-practice

: .:: -::

-: : :

: ::

frequency

.- --',',NZ are

:l:
-- -,:.:^
-:

- Putting Scarmm mtr ts

D Scanners 3

-cudedforthe

- ..--,d

g ven,

a'Iateurradio
ra,Jigationand

--'3a:Uring the

.I

aHc,

lsBN 1 854A6 1066 9 t9,95

p&p + loolominimum el. U K mry Orys=eas - 2Gq
Tetephone orderc 0679 66ffi.
I enc ose
D

'ry re1

sl'.but o^ and

lla -

se'c

..

::

.acetoBarey
'

'.'?s:ercardA/isa

Expiry Date
Name

Address
Completedetailsand.eluhtc
En ( ktu;il
I! Mountlield Hoad Estate! Xew *}ffi
l"M- -E
I are made payable to Bailey B-.@@.
Err

-E
H-

h6.r-!LrcydFoad,
rru
re
th'at all clieques

to h'Y otb"'
tVVE-'-'

rr--n-o.u7

rr-r

-l

,l::l;"J5JfJH",T::hl[.'Jlr',,flr]::l:::l'T::T"lL""li;t
ofitYr
subscribrs
'.;;;""c

]e. vs"

I '*'''''0"

tsre.T::*iE6on I ''o""*n""
o"
:l:H:;;"I'* --;;
"' ' :::::'i::?i
to.,,w You']il be
i
ilfi:x'ffi

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

67

ELECTRONICS

TODAY INTERNATIONAL

Turbo speed

Car lights

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

68

Stepper Motor control

t1do Egffi meter

Bite alarm

2OOO

Bite alarm

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

69

SOOO

+,^

ss*d
eaa=-c';-a;

i.

aa

at
at
at
ll

fsg*

i.r;;;;::

__,: * Fritf de3iffi

* Back

tic)+

3-l'i_3 |

{}Flqece
/c\J,o)a
tl

,,

,//
ft

::--;l
* r *l
a

Airpax A82903-C large stepping motor 14v 7 5'step

27ohm 68mm dia body 6 3mm shaft
.C8 95 or
1200 00 for a box of 30
Polyester capacilors box type 22 smm lead pitch
0 guf 250vdc
18p each '14p 100+ 9p 1000+
1uf 250vdc . .. . .. .. 20p each, 15p 100+, 10p 1000+
2.2u1 2sludc 127.sfrm pitch) 30p each, 20p 100+,
15p 1000+

100vdc

3 3uf
1u[ 50v bipolar

30p each, 20p 100+, 15p 1000+

leads 15p each,
7 5p 100+
0 22uf 250v polyester axial leads tS0 eacn,17Ol!

eleclrolylic axial

tMI
I@,;^TB
HAMRADICDTODAY

Polypropylene 1 ul 400vdc (Wima [rKP10) 27 5mm

pitch
32x29x17mm case
75p each 60p 100+
Philips 123 series solid aluminium axial lads
33u, 10v & 2.2u1 40v .. ... .. .. 40p each, 25p 100+
Philips 108 series 22uf 63v axial .. .. 30p each, 15p
1000+

Multilayer AVX ceramic capacitators all 5mm pitch

00v
100pf, 1 50pf, 220p1, 10,000pf (10n) '10p each, 5p 100+
3 5p 1000+
500pf comprssion trimmer 60p
1

40ul 370vac motor start capacitor (dialectrol type

containingnopcbs).

..

. i595or!49501or10

Welwyn W23 9W 120ohm 35p each 20p 100+

680 ohm 2W motal lilm rosistor 4p 100+,2p 1000+
Solid carbon resistors very low induclance ideal for
RF circuits
27ohm 2W,68ohm 2W 25p each 15p each 100- we
have a range of 0 25w 0 5w 1w and 2w solid carbon
resistors please send SAE for lisl

PC

400W PSU (lntel

pail

There are features on construction,

conversions, packet radio and club news to
appeal to experts and novices alike.

201035-001) with

slandard motherboard and 5 disk drive connectors,

fan and mains inleyoutlet conneclors on back and
swilch on the side (top for tower case) dims 212
x 149 x 149mm excluding switch
!26 00 each
!138 0O for 6
MX'180 Digital mullimeter 1 7 ranges 1 000vdc 750vac
2Mohm 200mA lransistor Hle 9v and 1 5v baltery

test

f12 95

AMD 27256-3 Eproms !2 00 each, 1 25 100+

DIP switch 3PCO 12 pin (ERG SDC-3-023) 60p each
40p 100+
Oisk drive boxes lor 5 25 disk drive wilh room for
a power supply light gry plastic 67x268x247nm
!7 95 or !49 50 for 10
Hand held ullrasonic remote control C3 95
CV2486 gas relay 30 x 10mm dia with 3 wire
terminals will also work as a neon light 20p each
or 17 50 per 100
A23 12v battery for car alarms or lighters 75p each
!50 00 per 100

All products advertised are new and unused unless

otherwise slated
wide range ol CMOS TTL 74HC 74F Linear
Transistors kits rechargable batteries capacitors
lools elc always in stock
Please add el 95 towards P&P vat included io all

Order your copy from

newsagent now or
subscribe and we'll
deliver every issue FREE!.
ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

70

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John P@
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ELECTRON ICS TODAY I NTERNATIONAL

71

LEN
GOOKE
ENTERPRISEIS
max f31.9O f6
f44.53 inc V
max
f41.15 t7
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- PLEASE STATE

Open Forum
It is normal practice today for

they are men who have faith in their vision and

electronics system engineers to

the technical and commercial acumen to turn

incorporate microprocessor

that vision into reality.

systems into their designs.

Indeed, you will probably find a

lf a country is

nology manufacturing then it needs people like

microcontroller chip embedded into the most

this. People like Bill Gates

mundane of products Doing so makes the

design simpler, cheaper to make, quicker to

whose vision of what personal computers should

rn

the US, a man

be and how they will be used, coupled with his

own commercial and techn cal genius has, in
just twenty years, allowed him to build from

design and, of course, easier to change in the

face of changing customer needs.

scratch the world's largest software company

and in the process become one of the world's

It is hardly surprising, therefore, that chip

desgners are moving in the same direction

Rather than design a complex chip from
scratch as a purely hardware implementation,
is often much quicker and cheaper to use a

ELECTRONICS
TODAY INTERNATIONAL

to succeed in high tech-

richest men. Or, on this side of the Atlantic

in

the UK, another example is someone like

it

Robed Madge, a man who foresaw the future

dedicated embedded microcontroller to do the

job, Chip manufacturers have found that such
an approach allows complex products to be

demand for computer networks and developed

the technology for them, An outstanding busi-

quickly developed to exploit new niche markets

company valued at over e300 million from

ln the face of this trend, it is good to

discover that a British designed and produced

nothing, in underten years Just as ARM has

microprocessor is being adopted by two major

interyention, so the above two examples and

nessman and engineer, he has built up a

been successful without government aid and

semiconductor manufacturers as their choice

for an embedded processor to be employed in

many more like them, have also been

future chip designs.

successful without and often in spite of,

governments, civil servants and their like.

The British company is ARM, the RISC

processor manufircturer set up jointly by Acorn

Indeed, if the government really wants to foster

the growth of new high technology industries,

Computers, Apple and chip manufacturer

then it should provide the appropriate encour-

VLSI. The two big semiconductor producers

lBM, who besides being still the world's largest

agement for such individuals.

These people are the modern equivalent of
the great Victorian engineer industrialists, such

computer company are also, surprisingly, the

as Parsons, Bell and Eddison. Such people are

world's biggest semiconductor company

rare, but not that rare. Governments should

With licensing agreements like these, ARM

has placed itself among the top players at the

help them by freeing them to do what they do

are Samsung, one of the wbdd's top ten, and

best, build high technology businesses,

very leading edge of semiconductor and infor-

Governments cannot direct the develop-

mation technology, lt shows what is possible,

ment of high technology, however much they

since this is a company founded by men of

might like to think that they can, They just

technical vision as well as men of commercial

don't have the expertise for a start

acumen lt was not founded by UK Government

or EEC directives, or aided by subsidies,
This is a typical high technology venture,

Fudhermore, committees of so called expeds

will never agree on the proper direction for the
application of grants and subsidies, the

one that may have seemed risky to the man in

compromise agreements of such committees

the street and extremely risky to the average

bank manager or civil servant, but not to the

will always be wrong. Leave such decisions to

the engineering entrepreneur, give him tax

founders, the men who have the technical Msion

breaks and free him of red tape, but don't tell

that others so often lack. Equally importantly,

him what to do,

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ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL

74

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M,,del OSl0lO illusrmred Jbove

OS-9020A G\flo3D &269.e5

_
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Maplin Electronics are pleased to

announce their superbnew range
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The range stafis with the super
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The dual-trace. IOMHz Oscilloscope.

OS-9O+RD. is similar in specification
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EVERYTHINGYOU NEEDTO
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E LECTRON

The Base Manual contains information on the following

subjects:
BASIC PRINCIPLES: Symbols, components and their

characteristics, passive component circuits, power supplies,

acoustics and electroacoustics, the workshop, principles of
metrology, measuring instruments, digital electronics,
operational amplif iers, timers, physics for electronics.
CIRCUITS TO BUILD: Construction techniques, radio, telephony,

microcomputing, measuring instruments, vehicle electronics,

security, audio, power supplies, electronic music (over 25
different projects).
REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE: Basic circuit operation for

radio, television, audio/hiJi, telephones.

nnnnnnnnnn

ICS!

PCBs

o Comprehensive subject range

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DATA: Diodes, transistors, thyristors and triacs, digital and

linear i.c.s, microprocessors.
The Manual also covers Safety, Specialist Vocabulary with
Abbreviations and Suppliers.
OVER 1,fl)0 pages, with over 900 diagrams and photographs, A4
looseleaf format weighing over 3.5k9.
ALL-IN-ONE AND EASY-TO-USE: A sturdy ring-binder allows you
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all your information is there at a glance.
EXTENSIVE GLOSSARY: Should you come across a technical
word, phrase or abbreviation you're not familiar with - simply turn
to the glossary included in the Manual and you'll find a
comprehensive definition in plain English.

G\ilAB ANO lElE nflJnnnrunnnrunnnnimrnnnmnrunnnnnnnnnnnnflnnnnn

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baby alarms - plus

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EIHIH:lllil$"

Unlike a book or encyclopedia, the

Manual is a living work continuously extended with new
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There's nothing to beat the

satisfaction of creating your
own project. From basic
principles to circuit-building,
the Manual describes clearly,
with appropriate diagrams,
how to assemble radios,
loudspeakers, ampl if iers, car

circuits, filters, IBM PC and

compatibles (including
updati ng/expand i ng PCs).

Supplements are sent to you

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Each supplement contains approximately 160 pages - all for only t23.50
+ t2.50 p&p. You can of course
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projects, measuring
instruments etc.
The revised edition of The
Modern Electronics Manual
contains practical,
easy{o-follow instructions for
building a wide range of
projects. lt shows you how to
make fun gadgets such as a
remote control door opener
and a digital rev. counter for
your car. lt also tells you how
to construct useful devices
like test gear, security and

We are able to provide you with the

most important and popular, up to the

minute, articles in our supplements.
Our unique system is based on readers

THE MODERN ETECTRONICS IULANUAI

Revised Edition of Basic

Work: Now contains over 1,000 pages of information.

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in largeA4 format (297mm x 2l0mm)
Price of the Basic

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Work: 839.95 + E5.50 p&p (to include a recent supplement freel.

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