IunftmctsffincHlulnrrnr

LEDBARGRAPH(E/P)
Thiscircuitdrivesten LEDsin response to an analogvoltageappliedto its
inputandcan be usedto providea visualindication of the instantaneous
powerbeingdeveloped lt canalsobe usedto provide
by an audioamplifier.
visualindication
of variable
eventsin scienceexperiments.
Youcanextendtheprojectby usingtwochipsandyou'llbe ableto continu-
theaudiooutputpowerof bothchannels
ouslymonitor ofyourstereosystem.
Thecircuitcanbe usedwithamplifiers
rangingfrom0.1to 100watts.
In somecasesyoushouldusea smalltransformer, wiredas in Figurc1,to l
isolatethe inputandmatchimpedances.Thisls necessarywhentheampli- j
fierhasa low-outputimpedance.
ResistorR, is chosenaccordingto theout- I
putpowerof theamplifier.
ValuesaregiveninTable1.

Table1
Amplifier
OutputPower Rx
-
0.1 to 1 watt

1 to 5 watts 10 ohms, ll2watl

5 to 20 watts 22 ohms,1 watt

20 to 50 watts 47 ohms,1 watt

50 to 100 watts 100ohms,2watts

A schematic
diagramof the LEDbargraph is showninFigure2.Thecircuit
usesan LM3914lC to drivethe LEDs,converting
voltagesintooneof ten
outputs.
Thecomponents areplacedon a printed-circuit
boardas shownin Figure3.
lf youd liketo buildyourcircuitthesameway,youcanetchyourownboard
usingthesolderandcomponent-side templates
shownin thisfigure.
 F!|ffi 2t llDlrlrruh
I

(-)SEETABLE 8:1000o
TRANSF'RMER

Figure I

+6112Y

18 't7 16 15 14 13 12 11 . 10
tcl
1M3914
5
D1 R1
1N914 10K

Figure2

fn
HmHdcctslrrilcHpilmmu

Figure 3

P2 adjuststhe dynamicrangein whichthe circuitoperates.P1 adjustssensi-

Youcansetthevalueto a fixedpointby
tivityanddependson the application.
usinga trimmerpotentiometer.

Audiocomesfrom the loudspeaker outputof the amplifier.Any smalltrans-

formerwith a high-impedance coil and a low-impedance coil can be used.
Any smalltransformerwith a 117VAC primary,secondaryratedfrom 5 to
12.6volts,and currentratingsbetween100and 500 mA can be used.

Positionof the polarizedcornponents,

suchas LEDs,diode,and electrolytic
capacitor,shouldbe observed.

Bass responseis providedby C1.Youcan alter this componentwithinthe

rangegivenin the schematicdiagramto achievebestperformance.

Rememberthatthe highestappliedvoltageto the inputshouldn'texceedthe

powersupplyvoltage.

ltf
 FililGct28 ltB hntiln

PartsList - LEDBargraph
lC1 - LM3914Integrated
circuit(National)

LEDs - Commonred,yellowor green

D1 - 1N914or 1N4148generalpurposesilicondiode

Rl - 10,000ohm, 114W,5%
resistol

R2 - 470ohm,114W,5%
resistor

P1 - 10,000ohm potentiometer

P2 - 4,700ohmtrimmerpotentiometer

C1 capacitor- see text

- 1 to 10 uF,12 WVDCelectrolytic

ldeasto Explore
To learnmoreaboutthe circuitor to get betterperformance:
o Determinethe voltagelevelthat turns on each LED usinga DC
powersupplypluggedto the inputof the device.

. By wiringprobesat the positivepowersupplyline and the input

meter.
you can usethis circuitas a digitalresistanceor conductance

SciencepQects:
o Thiscircuitcan replacethe commonmultimetertoindicatevoltage
The visualetfectis better.
variationsin experiments.
o lt can alsobe usedin the outputof a lb detectoror bio-feedback.

o Conectan LDRbetweenthe inputand (+)for a digitalphotometer.

wire an NTCbetween(+) and the input.
Fora digitalthermometer
o Thiscircuitcan also replacethe LEDand resistorin the Continuity
Testerandthe sameexperiments, withadvantages,can be performed.

fl5