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Chapter 28

A LITTLE POWER AMPLIFIER:


CHEAP AND SIMPLE

You will need:


Something to amplify: a guitar, a cassette or CD player, etc.
A breadboard.
Audio Power Amplifier chip, LM386.
Assorted resistors, capacitors, and pots.
Assorted jacks and plugs.
A small speaker.
Some solid hookup wire.
A 9-volt battery and connector, or four AA batteries and a holder.
Hand tools.
Whether in pursuit of a self-contained electronic instrument or some form of sound
sculpture, one day you will tire of choosing between some putty-colored mini-amplifier
and a bulkier, more expensive (and potentially more dangerous) amplifier and speaker.
There are a number of kits available from online retailers that include the essential Inte-
grated Circuit, associated passive components (resistors, capacitors, etc.), and a printed
circuit board (see chapter 1). But if you want to save a few dollars and get some more
design experience, consider soldering up your own using the LM386 (see figure 28.1). At
less that $1.00 retail, this chip, combined with a few other components in a very simple
configuration, makes a cheap but decent low-power audio amplifier. It is the heart of many
mini-amps, andonce soldered upcan be substituted accordingly.
The basic configuration shown in figure 28.2 gives a gain of 20 and is best for line-level
signals such as CD players, computers, your oscillators, etc. By adding a 10uF capacitor
between pins 1 and 8 the gain rises to 200 (see figure 28.3), which is more suitable for
contact microphones, coils and guitar pickups. You can add a switch to bring the capaci-
tor in and out of circuit to select high or low gain for different input sources, as shown
in figure 28.4.

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188 HANDMADE ELECTRONIC MUSIC

Figure 28.1 LM386 amplifier pinout.

The + voltage from the battery connects to pin 6, and the /ground connects to pin
4. Youll want to add a power switch as well, or disconnect the battery from its clip when
not in use, since this circuit drains more power than a lot of the others weve made. Pin
1 is also tied to ground, and the input signal goes to pin 3 after passing through a poten-
tiometer used as a volume control. The 0.05uF capacitor and 10 Ohm resistor shown at
pin 5, and the .1uF bypass capacitor at pin 7 are optional parts, to be added if the circuit
oscillates and whines by itself.
This circuit puts out about 1/4 watt of audio power, and can be used to drive small
speakers or headphones. It runs nicely off a 9-volt battery or a set of four AA batteries
(the latter will last longer). It can drive a piezo disk at pretty high sound levels using the
backwards output transformer trick shown in chapter 8. This amplifier can also drive
directly a small motor (such as the vibrating motors from cell phones and pagers, also
discussed in chapter 8) or a low-power solenoid or relay.

Figure 28.2 Amplifier with gain of 20.

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A Little Power Amplifier 189

Figure 28.3 Amplifier with gain of 200.

Figure 28.4 Amplifier with switch-selectable


gain of 20 (open) or 200 (closed).

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