from all current audio sources, lt won't have have been calculated to reproduce the inverse tainer) which
ainer) which acts as both case and screen.
quite such perfect quality as a real line input,
for two reasons.
Firstly, our circuit is bound to introduce a
slight reduction in the signal-to-noise ratio
(5NR), as it attenuates a high-level signal and
then amplifies it back up again. Secondly,
minor linearity 'hiccups' are inevitable, as
the correction it produces is not precisely the
reverse of the RIAA correction applied bythe
preamplifier but it is still perfectly accept-
-
able, especially if it is only for playing MP3
signals!
Our circuit diagram is extremely simple, as it's
just a simple passive filter whose components
Pulse Receiver
Siegfried Borst (Germany)
The compact circuit presented
here is perfect for receiving
the signals from pulsed fixed-
frequency transmitters. Chest
straps from several well-known
brands (Polar, Huger, Kettler,
Crane, Outbreaker, ...) transmit
a short signal burst with a fre-
quency of 5.3 kHz. These sig-
nals can be received and used in
your own projects, as the author
shows on his website I11.
The circuit uses a ferrite rod with
1000 turns of 0.2 mm enam-
elled copper wire and a (tun-
ing) capacitor to receive the sig-
nals. The value of the capacitor (22 nF) has
been selected for use at a frequency of about
AC Power lndicator
Jacob Gestman Geradts (France)
The AC powerline indicator presented here
has a complete galvanic isolation from the
grid. The indicator is an LED that lights up
when a current flows, although the cur-
rent can be measured more accurately
with an AC voltmeter set to its mV range.
The detector is a transformer taken from
an old mobile phone charger. The value of
the secondary isn't important because we
only make use of the primary 230 V (115 V)
winding. The (extension) cable through
which the current has to be detected should
74
RIAA curve to that in the preamplifier, i.e. the
same as that used when cutting discs. lt's per-
fectly simple to build, but to avoid degrading
the signal-to-noise ratio too much, we rec-
ommend using metalfilm resistors, which are
less noisy than their carbon counterParts.
What's more, since the preamplifier mag-
netic pick-up input applies a great deal of
bass amplification, because of the RIAA
equalization, the circuit is extremely sensi-
tive to induced interference, especially from
AC powerlines, and so it will need to be very
well screened. We built it'in the air' and fitted
it into a salvaged metal tube (a medicine con-
5.3 kHz, butthis can ofcourse be adapted for
use at different frequencies. The received
have an as short as possible section of its
outer insulation removed. The wires should
then be moved apart. The blue wire should
be placed on top of the transformer and
the brown wire underneath, or the other
way round. The brown and blue isolation
shouldn't be removed, so there is no danger
of the AC line voltage becoming exposed. lf
there is a green/yellow wire as well, this can
be placed on either side of the transformer.
The brown and blue wires should be in par-
allel with the windings on the transformer.
The secondary winding(s) should be left
Given the components used, and although it
does ofcourse depend somewhat on the sen-
sitivity of the magnetic pick-up input of the
amplifierwith which it is used, signalswith an
amplitude of 200-600 mV,., can be applied
to this circuit without fear of overloading the
preamplifier.
(oyo75-l)
signals are amplified by opamp
(lC1), after which a NAND gate
(lC2) turns them into a nice
waveform with straight edges.
For the supply you can use any
DC voltage source in the range
Vsc of 9to 18 V. There is a board lay-
out available tzl, which can be
I ordered via ThePCBShop I:1.
(o8oo93)
Web links
mxhome.
[ 1 ] http://peterborst.
g
de/sigiborst
[2] http://www.elektor.
com/080093
[3] www.thepcbshop.com
open circuit so that they don't attenuate
the measured signal.
ln our prototype we found that an alternat-
ing 50 Hz voltage of about 2 mV was induced
when a 30 watt soldering iron was connected
to the extension lead. With higher-powered
devices the measured voltage rises propor-
tionally. Since it is unlikely that the iron core
of the transformer will ever become satu-
rated, the relationship between the meas-
ured voltage and the currentflow should be
fairly linear.
718-zolo elektor