Wah Pedal Guitar Effect Circuit

This is a design project for guitar effect called Wah Pedal Effect. Wah Pedal has been desing around since at least the early 60’s. The Vox is one of brand guitar effect which  is give beautiful sound and simple, only a couple of transistors and an inductor. The really pertinent question that had puzzled many people - including especially me - is how do you get a moving resonant frequency out of a fixed inductor and a fixed capacitor? How does that silly two-transistor Wah Pedal circuit get a moving band pass out of a circuit that changes neither the inductor value or the capacitor, but only what amounts to a volume pot? This  is the figure of the circuit;

Signals Logic Tester Circuit Using Display 7 Segment

Here’s a design of  signals logic tester that is using indicate on a common cathode seven-segment display, if entry is at logic level "1" (one H on the display) or logic level "0" (one L on the display). If an undefined level is detected will display an "n". When the input is "0", T1 locks and T2 and T3 drive. A level of output X IC1a and "0" on that of IC1b therefore segments d, e and f will be lit. Here’s the figure of the circuit;

When entry is logical "1" is saturated T1 and T2 and T3 are blocked. IC1a's output becomes "0" and that of IC1b becomes "1". Besides segments e and f, already lit will light b, c and g, which results in displaying an "H". When entry is in an undefined state, or is not connected, all transistors are conduction (due to R1, R2 and R3) and the icon displayed is a "n" (undefined). Switching thresholds of the tester are 1 V and 3 V (3 V threshold may be reduced slightly by increasing the resistance R4). Input impedance tester is 5 k, so it does not affect the circuit being tested.

Mains Slave Switcher Circuit

There are many situations where two or more pieces of equipment are used together and to avoid having to switch each item on separately or risk the possibility of leaving one of them on when switching the rest off, a slave switch is often used. This circuit is design to used for minding that are a computer/printer/scanner etc or audio amplifier/record deck/tuner combinations or perhaps closest to every electronics enthusiast’s heart, the work bench where a bench power supply/oscilloscope/soldering iron etc are often required simultaneously. This circuit is called main slave switcher circuit. Here’s the figure of the circuit;

This circuit, which is intended for switching power to a work bench when the bench light is switched on, avoids resistors or any modifications to the lamp or slave appliances by sensing the electric field around the lamp cable when this is switched on. The lamp then also functions as a ‘power on’ indicator (albeit a very large one that cannot be ignored) that shows when all of the equipment on the bench is switched on. The field, which appears around the lamp cable when the mains is connected, can be sensed by a short piece of insulated wire simply wrapped around it and this is amplified by the three stage amplifier which can be regarded as a single super-transistor with a very high gain. The extremely small a.c. base current results in an appreciable collector current which after smoothing (by C3) is used to switch on a relay to power the other sockets. Power for the relay is obtained from a capacitor ‘mains dropper’ that generates no heat and provides a d.c. supply of around 15 volts when the relay is off.

The output current of this supply is limited so that the voltage drops substantially when the relay pulls in but since relays require more current to operate them than they do to remain energized, this is not a problem. Since the transistor emitter is referenced to mains Neutral, it is the field around the mains Live which will be detected. Consequently, for correct operation the Live wire to the lamp must be switched and this will no doubt be the case in all lamps where the switch is factory fitted. In case of uncertainty, a double-pole switch to interrupt both the Live and Neutral should be used.

Linear Optocoupler Circuit

Here’s a design circuit for linear opto coupler circuit that is based on MOC5010 and can be used to isolate a circuit from main grid, audio interface, in medical electronics and many other applications. Here’s the figure of the circuit;

MOC5010 transforms an input current variation into an output voltage variation. The linear optocoupler circuit presented here has an amplification factor of 0.75. The input must not overcome 2 Vef while bandwidth is 118 kHz at -3 dB. Amplifier A has a transfer resistance of 200 mV/mA resulting in a total amplification of 0.6 … 0.8 (-4.5 … -2 dB). The output impedance is not higher than 200 Ω so you can connect an external amplifier at pin 4. If the input voltages are higher than 2 Vef then connect a potentiometer as voltage divider like showing below optocoupler circuit diagram. If the global amplification is too small use a regular transistor instead of FET T1. It is important to mention that 2 separate power supplies are required: both the +12 V terminals as well the 0V (ground) must be isolated from one another. In many cases it is possible to use a 12V voltage for the transmitter part from the connected device.

Signals Logic Tester Circuit Using Display 7 Segment

Here’s a design of  signals logic tester that is using indicate on a common cathode seven-segment display, if entry is at logic level "1" (one H on the display) or logic level "0" (one L on the display). If an undefined level is detected will display an "n". When the input is "0", T1 locks and T2 and T3 drive. A level of output X IC1a and "0" on that of IC1b therefore segments d, e and f will be lit. Here’s the figure of the circuit;

When entry is logical "1" is saturated T1 and T2 and T3 are blocked. IC1a's output becomes "0" and that of IC1b becomes "1". Besides segments e and f, already lit will light b, c and g, which results in displaying an "H". When entry is in an undefined state, or is not connected, all transistors are conduction (due to R1, R2 and R3) and the icon displayed is a "n" (undefined). Switching thresholds of the tester are 1 V and 3 V (3 V threshold may be reduced slightly by increasing the resistance R4). Input impedance tester is 5 k, so it does not affect the circuit being tested.

Rolling Shutter Motor Control Circuit

This is a circuit for an electrically operated rolling shutter usually has a standard control panel with a three-position switch: up, down and stop. If you would like to automate the opening and closing with a time controlled switch, a few additional wires will have to be connected. Typically, the controls are implemented as indicated in the schematic ‘Normal Situation’. This is the figure of the circuit;

If this is indeed the case, then you can see in ‘New Situation’ how the shutter can be automated with a timer. There is only one method to determine the actual schematic of your control circuit, and that is to open the control box and using an ohmmeter, pencil and paper to check out and draw the circuit. Make sure you turn the power off first though! Connect a 230-V relay (with both the contacts and the coil rated 230 VAC) to the timer. The changeover switch between automatic and manual control needs to be rated 230 VAC as well and may not be a hazard for the user. The relay and switch are preferably fitted in a plastic mains adapter enclosure with built-in plug, which is plugged into the timer. It is a good idea to check first if this will actually fit. Because of the manual/automatic-switch, the operation is completely fail-safe and misunderstandings are out of the question. The switch prevents the issue of conflicting commands (with disastrous consequences) when, for example, the shutter is being automatically raised and manually lowered at the same time.

Mains Manager Circuit

Very often we forget to switch off the peripherals like monitor, scanner, and printer while switching off our PC. The problem is that there are separate power switches to turn the peripherals off. Normally, the peripherals are connected to a single of those four-way trailing sockets that are plugged into a single wall socket. If that socket is accessible, all the devices could be switched off from there and none of the equipment used will require any modification. Here is a mains manager circuit that allows you to turn all the equipment on or off by just operating the switch on any one of the devices; for example, when you switch off your PC, the monitor as well as other equipment will get powered down automatically. You may choose the main equipment to control other gadgets. The main equipment is to be directly plugged into the master socket, while all other equipment are to be connected via the slave socket. The mains supply from the wall socket is to be connected to the input of the mains manager circuit. The unit operates by sensing the current drawn by the control equipment/load from the master socket. This is the figure of the circuit;

On sensing that the control equipment is on, it powers up the other (slave) sockets. The load on the master socket can be anywhere between 20 VA and 500 VA, while the load on the slave sockets can be 60 VA to 1200 VA. During the positive half cycle of the mains AC supply, diodes D4, D5, and D6 have a voltage drop of about 1.8 volts when current is drawn from the master socket.

Diode D7 carries the current during negative half cycles. Capacitor C3, in series with diode D3, is connected across the diode combination of D4 through D6, in addition to diode D7 as well as resistor R10. Thus current pulses during positive half-cycles, charge up the capacitor to 1.8 volts via diode D3. This voltage is sufficient to hold transistor T2 in forward biased condition for about 200 ms even after the controlling load on the master socket is switched off. When transistor T2 is ‘on’, transistor T1 gets forward biased and is switched on. This, in turn, triggers Triac 1, which then powers the slave loads. Capacitor C4 and resistor R9 form a snubber network to ensure that the triac turns off cleanly with an inductive load. LED1 indicates that the unit is operating. Capacitor C1 and zener ZD1 are effectively in series across the mains. The resulting 15V pulses across ZD1 are rectified by diode D2 and smoothened by capacitor C2 to provide the necessary DC supply for the circuit around transistors T1 and T2. Resistor R3 is used to limit the switching-on surge current, while resistor R1 serves as a bleeder for rapidly discharging capacitor C1 when the unit is unplugged. LED1 glows whenever the unit is plugged into the mains. Diode D1, in anti-parallel to LED1, carries the current during the opposite half cycles. Don’t plug anything into the master or slave sockets without testing the unit.

GFI Ground Fault Interrupter Circuit

I always wondered what was inside one of these clever devices, so I found one in my junk box and popped the lid—it was from a defunct blow hair dryer—never throw one of these away because the GFI unit long outlives the hair dryer and has many experimental uses. To get it apart, I had to make a special screw driver bit to remove the tamper resistant screws. Here’s the figure of the design circuit;

You will notice that the parallel power leads make a single turn through the primary of the current transformer (CT). The flux field of the source lead is cancelled by the flux field in the return lead so the net result is zero and the CT sees no primary current. Should these currents ever become unequal (as in a ground fault condition), the CT senses this difference and induces current into the 1000 turn secondary. The secondary current is low, but the load resistance is 1M, so it develops significant voltage. This voltage is sufficient to exceed the comparator threshold voltage of the IC and fire the SCR. When the SCR fires, it energizes the solenoid coil and jerks an iron slug toward the center of the coil. Attached to this iron slug is a stainless steel pin that actuates the mechanical release for the electrical contacts. When the contacts are open, the ground fault current is interrupted and the appliance is off-line. It remains off until the mechanical reset button is pressed.

Atmel AVR ISP Reset Circuit

This is a design circuit that Atmel recommend that a diode is fitted between Reset and Vcc as shown here, but we have not found it necessary in practice. Note their recommended resistor and capacitor values are slightly different, but these values are not critical. A capacitor between 10nF and 100nF and a resistor between 4K7 and 10K will be fine. This is the figure of the circuit;