http://www.zen22142.zen.co.uk/Circuits/Power/tps.

htm

Web-masters Note:
I have had several requests for a power supply project without using a power supply. This can save the expense of buying a transformer, but presents potentially lethal voltages at the output terminals.Under no circumstances should a beginner attempt to build such a project. Please also read the Disclaimer on this site.

Important Notice
Electric Shock Hazard. In the UK,the neutral wire is connected to earth at the power station. If you touch the "Live" wire, then depending on how well earthed you are, you form a conductive path between Live and Neutral. DO NOT TOUCH the output of this power supply. Whilst the output of this circuit sits innocently at 12V with respect to (wrt) the other terminal, it is also 12V above earth potential. Should a component fail then either terminal will become a potential shock hazard. Below is a project by Ron J, please heed the caution above and Ron's design notes.

MAINS ELECTRICITY IS VERY DANGEROUS.

If you are not experienced in dealing with it, then leave this project alone.Although Mains equipment can itself consume a lot of current, the circuits we build to control it, usually only require a few milliamps. Yet the low voltage power supply is

frequently the largest part of the construction and a sizeable portion of the cost. This circuit will supply up to about 20ma at 12 volts. It uses capacitive reactance instead of resistance; and it doesn't generate very much heat.The circuit draws about 30ma AC. Always use a fuse and/or a fusible resistor to be on the safe side. The values given are only a guide. There should be more than enough power available for timers, light operated switches, temperature controllers etc, provided that you use an optical isolator as your circuit's output device. (E.g. MOC 3010/3020) If a relay is unavoidable, use one with a mains voltage coil and switch the coil using the optical isolator.C1 should be of the 'suppressor type'; made to be connected directly across the incoming Mains Supply. They are generally covered with the logos of several different Safety Standards Authorities. If you need more current, use a larger value capacitor; or put two in parallel; but be careful of what you are doing to the Watts. The low voltage 'AC' is supplied by ZD1 and ZD2. The bridge rectifier can be any of the small 'Round', 'In-line', or 'DIL' types; or you could use four separate diodes. If you want to, you can replace R2 and ZD3 with a 78 Series regulator. The full sized ones will work; but if space is tight, there are some small 100ma versions available in TO 92 type cases. They look like a BC 547. It is also worth noting that many small circuits will work with an unregulated supply. You can, of course, alter any or all of the Zenner diodes in order to produce a different output voltage. As for the mains voltage, the suggestion regarding the 110v version is just that, a suggestion. I haven't built it, so be prepared to experiment a little. I get a lot of emails asking if this power supply can be modified to provide currents of anything up to 50 amps. It cannot. The circuit was designed to provide a cheap compact power supply for Cmos logic circuits that require only a few milliamps. The logic circuits were then used to control mains equipment (fans, lights, heaters etc.) through an optically isolated triac. If more than 20mA is required it is possible to increase C1 to 0.68uF or 1uF and thus obtain a current of up to about 40mA. But 'suppressor type' capacitors are relatively big and more expensive than regular capacitors; and increasing the current means that higher wattage resistors and zener diodes are required. If you try to produce more than about 40mA the circuit will no longer be cheap and compact, and it simply makes more sense to use a transformer. The Transformerless Power Supply Support Material provides a complete circuit description including all the calculations.

Ron J (http://www.zen22142.zen.co.uk) Fuente de poder de 12 voltios implementada sin transformador. Se puede alimentar de 110 o 220 VAC cambiando slo dos elementos. Circuito que permite obtener 12 VDC, con una entrada de voltaje en AC, sin necesidad de un transformador. Importante: Este circuito, por sus caractersticas, obliga a tener un cuidado especial pues no existe aislamiento con la entrada de voltaje (VAC). No tocar las salidas de la fuente (12 VDC). Este circuito entrega aproximadamente 20 mA y no consume ms de 30 mA. Es especial para circuitos y proyectos pequeos. Para reducir el voltaje se utiliza una red RC (R1 y C1), crendose una reactancia capacitiva que causa la cada de voltaje. Los dos diodos zener (ZD1 y ZD2) conectados en sentido opuesto reducen la seal

AC a un mximo de +/- 16 voltios. Esta seal, AC de menor valor, es aplicada al puente de diodos (pueden ser diodos rectificadores individuales) que funciona como rectificador de onda completa. La salida de este es aplanada por el capacitor C2 y regulada a 12 voltios con ayuda del diodo zener ZD3 y del resistor R2. Se puede reemplazar el conjunto ZD3 y R2 por un regulador monoltico tipo 7812 para obtener los 12 voltios DC. Notas: C1 debe de ser del voltaje apropiado (ver el diagrama) especial para conectar directamente a la tensin de entrada. (No tiene polaridad) FR es un resistor fusible (fuse resistor). Protege al circuito contra picos de corriente. Se puede utilizar en conjunto con el fusible para mayor seguridad, pero no es obligatorio. Ver artculo original (en ingls) Enlaces relacionados: Fuente de poder. Diagrama de bloques Regulador con diodo Zener Circuito RC serie Constante de tiempo Condensador y la corriente alterna

Circuit : Andy Collinson Email :

Description
This RF probe can be used at High Frequency (HF) or Ultra High Frequency (UHF) on both 50 and 75 ohm coaxial cables. In addition the RF voltage can be measured under load or no-load conditions which allows the circuit to double as an RF Watt meter. The RF probe can be used for oscillators and small transistors for powers up to 2 Watts.

Circuit Notes
The circuit is a simple half wave rectifier. In this circuit it works at radio frequencies (RF) and converts any RF signal to a DC voltage, in addition S1, allows a resistive load to be switched in or out of circuit. S1 is a single pole, double throw switch with a Centre off position. The centre position is no load, and left and right positions1 are for 50 and 75 ohm measurements. First, a small section on measuring RF voltage, current and power, then I'll describe how to use this simple test instrument.
Measuring RF Voltage

Digital and analogue multi meters can already measure AC voltages so why can't they be used at radio frequencies? The reason is that they can only measure with accuracy a limited frequency range. My Maplin meter measures frequencies up to 400Hz with 1% accuracy, and up to 20KHz at 4%. This also requires that the waveform is a sine wave. At frequencies above 20KHz, accuracy is not reliable.

To measure radio frequencies (RF) a simple diode detector circuit is all that's needed. The detector in this probe is an OA91 germanium diode, but any germanium diode will work. Germanium diodes have a low forward voltage drop (about 0.2V) and are preferred to silicon diodes which have a higher (0.6 - 0.7V) voltage drop. The diode rectifies the RF signal and converts it to a DC voltage, which can be read by a multimeter with good accuracy; the 1nF capacitor is there to smooth the rectified DC signal presented to the meter.
RF Power, Voltage and Current

When measuring any AC or RF signal, the currents and voltages are only in phase if the load is purely resistive. All transmitters are tested with a dummy load which are resistive. This simplifies the calculations and the pie chart for Ohms's Law at AC can now be used.
Typical RF Voltages

For example, a 1 watt transmitter delivers an average power of 1 watt into a 50-ohm resistive dummy load. Transmitter power is measured in RMS or root-mean-square. As power, P = V2/R, then re-arranging, V(rms) = sqrt(P x R). Power is also found from P = I2R and re-arranging in terms of current, I(rms) = (P / R) Peak values are simply 1.414 x the RMS values. So for a 1 W transmitter V(rms) = ( 1 x 50) = 7.071 Volts. and current, I(rms) = ( 1 / 50) = 0.141 Amps. Power Output 2W 1W 0.5 W 0.2 W AC Volts RMS 10 V 7.07 V 5.0 V 3.16 V AC Amps RMS 0.20 A 0.141 A 0.100 A 0.0632 A AC Volts Peak 14.4 V 10.0 V 7.07 V 4.47 V AC Amps Peak 0.283 A 0.200A 0.141 A 0.0894 A

0.1 W

2.24 V

0.0447 A

3.17 V

0.0632 A

RF Probe Functions
S1 allows a 50 or 75 ohm resistive load to be switched in and out of circuit. This allows the probe to read loaded and no-load voltages. However as the load has a fixed resistance (50 or 75 ohm) then power delivered to the load can also be worked out. Finally because the probe has a fixed resistance and can measure loaded and no-load voltages then it is possible to measure output impedance of a transmitter, see also Measuring Input and Output Impedance may also be of assistance. The RF probe has four functions:
1) Unloaded Transmitter Voltage

In all cases, connect the RF probe between the circuit under test and the meter. The circuit under test could be a transmitter, RF oscillator or other signal source. As the OA91 diode and 10n capacitor are a half wave rectifier, the RF value measured will be a peak value. As V(RMS) = V(peak) / 2 then: Vpeak 2

V(RMS) =

= 0.7071 x Vpeak

To measure unloaded RMS transmitter voltage switch S1 to off and multiply the meter reading by 0.7071.
2) Loaded Transmitter Voltage

To measure a transmitter voltage under load switch S1 to either 50 or 75 ohm position. Normally this will be 50ohm, but for Band II ( 87.5MHz - 108MHz) 75 ohm impedance should be used. To measure loaded RMS transmitter voltage switch S1 to either 50 or 75 ohm and multiply the meter reading by 0.7071.
3) Measuring Output Impedance

To measure the output impedance of an unknown circuit or transmitter you first need to take two readings, one unloaded

and then a reading under load at either 50 or 75 ohms. The output impedance can be found from the following equation:

Z=

R ( VNL - VL) VL

where: Z = output impedance of circuit in ohms R = resistance of probe ( depending on S1 this is either 50 or 75 ohm) VNL voltage RMS reading with S1 in centre position (no-load) VL voltage RMS reading under load
4) Measuring Output Power

The output power in Watts can also be calculated. Output power is the loaded (RMS) output voltage squared divided by transmitter impedance:

P=

VL2 Z

where: Z = output impedance of circuit in ohms VL voltage RMS reading under load
Output Power and SWR

The output power as measured by the probe will not be exactly the same as the radiated power by the antenna. This is because there are losses in the antenna system and the Standing Wave Ratio (SWR). When an antenna and feedline do not have matching impedances, some of the electrical energy cannot be transferred from the antenna cable to the antenna. Energy not transferred to the antenna is reflected back towards the transmitter. It is the interaction of these reflected waves with forward waves which causes standing wave patterns. An SWR meter can be used to measure the SWR ratio in order to obtain the best match between antenna and the feedline.

Important Note About Resistors

The components in the circuit are all readily available, however there is one Important consideration. The resistors used Must be carbon type and not wirewound types. The reason is that wirewound resistors contain inductance due to the coiled wire, this is not normally important except at very high frequencies, as in this circuit.
PCB or Veroboard Layout

A circuit this small with very few components is hardly worth the trouble of producing a PCB. However because of its small size it took me about 14 minutes, to draw the schematic and produce the PCB in Kicad. The 3D rendered components are all created by Renie S Marquet, more in the simulation section. PCB 3D view

Enlarged Component Side

Actual Size copper track view.

If you are thinking of using this PCB layout first printout the actual size copper track view on paper, then you can match up the components to see if they fit the pads. This is the same for any PCB program. It does not matter if its open source or the program cost several thousand pounds, the components that you use must fit the footprints on the PCB board. As sizes of components vary wildly then this is a problem for all PCB layouts.

As drawn in the schematic.

Circuit : John Samin VK1EME Email : jwsamin@mrx.com.au Web : John's own website

Description
What can you use to test how effective your antennas are for 2.4 Ghz? Which antenna has the best gain or, how do you know that there is any 2.4Ghz RF transmitted? Here are the details on how to build a general purpose 2.4Ghz Radio Frequency Field Strength Meter. This one was built using the microwave rated diode from a MICROTEK solid state microwave leakage detector (purchased from Dick Smith Electronics for around $24) these diodes can be more expensive than that if purchased in single units from electronics suppliers. There may be other suitable diodes available. Electronics stores also sell Schottky Hot Carrier Diodes that will probably also be suitable for this application.

The antenna is a 2 element quad. I've orientated it in the diamond configuration so it should be effective for both horizontal and vertically polarised signals. You could build the antenna in the vertical or horizontal sense if you like. The antenna was constructed on a right angled BNC connector, however I'm sure you could come up with a different sort of plug setup that would still provide good results. Just keep the lead lengths to a minimum to reduce losses. I have used an attachment that allows the BNC connector to be inserted into my Voltmeter. I switch the Voltmeter to Millivolts, point it at the 2.4Ghz RF and read the result. The yellow plastic cylinder is used to keep the antenna separation at 10mm. I cut a channel into the plastic to allow the wire to sit tight, and pushed some liquid nails into the hole to hold it. The bottom of the reflector loop is held to the BNC connector with another dolop of glue.

The detail of the antenna plugged into my Voltmeter.

Above is the antenna plugged into the Volt meter. It works pretty well, pointing it at the SUN also gets a reading! Point it at the microwave oven and it will exceed the Millivolt scale! With a little work I'm sure you could build a radar detector... I tuned the capacitor with a plasitc screwdriver to get maximum reading from a 2.4Ghz RF source. You should use a Wireless LAN card as the source.

Here is the schematic detail (not to scale), you should make the elements of the antenna as close to the correct size as possible. This will ensure maximum energy is absorbed at 2.4Ghz. The elements should be spaced around 10mm apart. The antenna will display some gain and uni-directionality, so point the smaller antenna loop (driven element) towards the RF source you wish to measure. I tried connecting the antenna directly to a microamp moving coil meter, however there was very little meter deflection from a Wireless LAN card. The electronic voltmeter is far superior.

DIODE Update!
The original diode in the Microwave detector has been hard to find. I have found a supplier for the diodes.... Purchased here:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~barendh/Cateng/Cateng_diode.htm Site Main Page : http://www.xs4all.nl/~barendh/Indexeng.htm This site has many GHZ rated Diodes you may want to check out... Here is a quote from the website: "Following point contact diode for Ghz usage are originally marked units. Being detectors for frequencies up to 12GHz depending upon type numbers these are also excellent noise sources, because of the extremely high cutoff frequency. Technical details are available on ordering. Stocked: 1N21B 1N21D 1N23ER 1N416B 1N416E from $3.58" Questions? Email jwsamin@mrx.com.au