f BUILD A STEREO f HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER ~* ELEMENTARY pA [9 i RGH-APRIL 75c Ue TL Bihisidaipeaadi viet Ell le a ne aLAFAYETTE RADIO ELECTRONICS Over 500 Pages #3» TW Tubes and Parts 4 « Electronic Parts © Test Equipment * Citizens Bard Sa . Tools 4 Yasy © Ham Gear f, : -) # Stereo Hi-Fi a D «rape Recorders 7" 6 Walkie-Taikies # Auto Accessories 1966 CATALOG NO. 660 Featuring Everything in Electronics for © HOME © INDUSTRY ¢ LABORATORY from the LAFAYETTE’S MAIL ORDER & “World's Hi-Fi & Electronics Center” E LONGSISLANDE LAFAYETTE Radio ELECTRONICS | uf Dept. DEEC-6, P.0. Box 10, Syosset, L.I., N.Y. 11791 sie Jee tere cat et nd ma coupe fr PEE ate atl conse Locarions mm I rte ES new omega st AS CHORE, TL West 45 St Plaza 7 Shopping Centar BROOKLYN, NEW YORK NEWARK, NEW JERSEY Please rush free copy of 1965 Catalog 2365 Bedford Avenue 24 Cental Avenue NEW YonK, NEW YORK PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY Name Trinjon Seuare We 130 West 2'steet (eon 1S st) PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY TAMAICA, NEW york Tae Routd 17 Address 1eS0e livery Avenue rot aARTFORD, CON , ESt"Genal Alene amnen, CONN = city p _.. State baonx, New YORK freer Pia 542 € Fordham Roaé “BOSTON, MASS. ‘584 Cormonweaith Averue HYATTSVILLE, MO. NaTICk, MASS. Read 1400 Worcester tre ME. RAINIERY 1 1 1 ! 1 I SCARSDALE, NeW YORK Gishop's Cor. Shop. Center ! 1 1 1 3191 Queens Chi Cast your ballot for a successful future! 253 1.6.8. COUR LG.S. is the oldest, largest cor- practical application. Complete respondence school, Over 200 lesson and answer service. No courses. Business, industrial, en- — skimping. Diploma to graduates. gineering, academic, high school. _ Send for the 3 free booklets of- One for you. Direct, job-related. fered here and find out how LCS. Bedrock facts and theory plus can he your road to success. accounTine Sita aneing | Meh Sod Snel | nde ning TEXTILES Merete es Stone tepeee | HENS Stites | Edn ‘Rite Wetec) EN ENSI Seta | Fue a nese | ESRF nd Spier scree emacs) Sa Hi Ses ih Paciatfntre’ | byes Hag Be pusiness | ROAETING ing |tanguages” |fecmctin , | engi Sin Cast Recounting poten, Dorner fatiag by Goch, ‘Conaltioning ‘Tene Technology. as Seely contar | Bete fea Oan | sere fet te LEA Rei. cuning | Busnes hamnaitaton | Electra! Going” tan Spam | Steam rie ‘eatin i oper isatieAcooning | Peja paraceren’& | Een fraietine | LEADERSHIP See ae hae Reva ‘dosnt Kroes | Sates neat Pub eae eeene | Tae Reeent etl Accounting DU Progamming | wechaniel Orting | | Parannetiabor fenton | PUD &Fuber Making | TV manic. Ghee cout | ac ig" JmatHematics | SALESMANSHIP | ELECT Rotics amare TeX | ova Ms & i nb Stout |Remueamacris; | Grate seroma, | Eames eh poet "aera Viconuacte'® | aitcisaetedins | eatgetesste™e_| Fete ngonmtae paicisenine | emtapyeee | senile ‘ete Ei Hise Fans Sra Bugis cuntog ioopiot | ELECTRICAL, Martietedag™™* | seoneranian | exevoneTontamentag Sai ratsion | EShetacnea | metal brie | Eee oeeeeaanaet See Heelies | geist oncae | Meggetimininy | Ee FS fadiaonat Heseeeacte” | cea font, | MSS Hefei, | enue pnts came, |"Hueutee" |uecnamen [Eesti |e eve ‘ice hata caegsteneonion) | Aigeal Power Pent Steourphic Encwe Solder twee | Premio Stas | Eaetniecee Ye | et sag | Yoon uate etian paige iar Computers Industrial Electrica! Tees, | Industral Instromentation | SHOP PRACTICE | Fist Class Raciotelephone psoecte rhraming te 18 140 | Fein eset and eens Bri our Seow re (Rearemne™ | ema Gert | Qe cant TLR | Menta! tog eat | 8 es ‘sae eieaThamane | facta fetian | Tle aes ae hen chine to Pacey | wit la ot Sued Prine contactor Seige, | eee PeTRoLeum Ape Sng Paces a | MS od a EERE RN Btits | Seen actees | Se Bans Hello a | dent sttagaerne | laetar eons Reneindte sciest | Marans engineering — | “wats a degen! Bean re cee "a QFE eee | nl RSRe opr | auc fate ac Srtens_ | SMEMIGAL Felum peacln | line iting Sartor | peda Es vale Stoned tanner Fefgeon Seucton | Mal ens inn ant Stem eet unt Penta ope, | Rohe! Miahioe | eee Ra NV Ener ‘Amateur Artist Operations. Pibehne Easnperba Rzading Shop Prints Prices of Regi Commercial Art ENGLISH AND tee Regine ectronse Teemetry ents Ertonor Weiring A”, | peastics: Ae taerne Teer | pg art Sonate See er ECT, ny | Htetmtat write | PLUMBING, | TEEPE ory | Rafe Semit win “ta Hoserntetor dries | BEARINGS ALR, | Noung Eimer Toe, | caper ang ne 8 Desiamiog | CAviL. ‘Preeti Capt ‘Kir Conditioning STEAM AND TY Servicing with Stechingarartne | ENGtWeeminG | Sore sry wring Aréonationne Maia | DIESEL POWER — | Equsren Tsing Auromorive, | étesncei Hin scroor | Séaecvtsnemt | lela sect Cs tl MieghtRacntee | Enmrcteetisneenne | turthcraces | STvEE asi ng ora les fino tbeenat™™* [Min Sel Gata) |noneticteraenion | eta see Snoes orcatt ecyteoutane| Badr arog | stesso, | eve ror am couaeuing | Yea ae "erate en) fealimartacsis | Tang [Nett £m connor | Stern Sects | “ee tone ‘Adstabls Gagne Tans Up | Sewage Bont Spear | "naieong Swen | tau ieEansinine | Satoary Sesorae, | FY fect -S., Scranton, Penna. 18515 ASiarst Hotere Clip coupon—and take your first big step to real success! 1 we 23 * 33 4 we 45 wm 51 ve 57 ELEMENT A RY MARCH/APRIL 1966 ELECTRONICS THEORY High-Voltage Electrical Charges Frequency Measurement All About Tape Bias CB Selective Call Controlling Audio Volume Controlling Audio Tone CATV Today Power Transfer Theorem Servicing Home Entertainment Equipment CONSTRUCTION 85 * 87 * 91 102 107 “Unitize” Your Home Brew-Projects Transistorized Headphone Amplifier 6-Meter Super-Regen Amateur Receiver Stereo Phasometer Stereo Crystal Cartridge Checker FEATURES 22 62 63 69 14 6 That's a Moiré Reader Questionaire EICO 435 Oscilloscope Test Report Lafayette HA-230 Receiver Test Report High School Co-ed Builds Robot B&K 1245 Color Generator Test Report DEPARTMENTS 10 18 116 NewScan Ask Me Another Literature Library ELEMEnrary ELECTRONICS:IN ELECTRONICS AND ELECTRICITY THIS AMAZING NEW SLIDE RULE SEPARATES THE MEN FROM THE BOYS! NOW. . . take full advantage of what you know about electronics and electricity . . . solve complex problems. in seconds while others plod along the old-fashioned “pad and pencil” way! LOOK WHAT YOU GET... YOU GET... 2 patented*, high-quality, altmetal 10” electronics slide rule.’ “Your computer in a ‘case’. Has special scales for solving sticky reactance and resonance problems .. . an exclusive “fast- "decimal point locater - . . widely-used elec tronics formulas and conversion factors. PLUS . all the standard scales you need for non-electronic ‘computations such as multiplication, division, square roots, logs, etc. YOU GET... 2 complete, “AUTO-PROGRAMMED”” selftutoring instruction course. Four fast-moving lessons with hundreds of easy-to-understand exam- ples and diagrams. You'll {earn how to find quick, accurate answers to complex electronics problems +. s00n be your outfit's slide rule “expert”. Free examination and consultation service if you want it plus a Graduation Certificate! THIS COURSE ALONE IS. WORTH FAR MORE THAN THE PRICE OF THE COMPLETE PACKAGE! READ WHY OTHERS CALL THIS REMARKABLE NEW SLIDE RULE PACKAGE TODAY'S BIGGEST BARGAIN IN ELECTRONICS, The Editor of Popular Electronics, Mr. Oliver P. Ferrell sa “Why didn't someone think of this before. The con- venience of having a relevant formutas imprinted right ‘on the slide rule saved me time the very first day!” A student, Mr. Jack Stegleman says: “Excellent, I couldn't say more for It. 1 have another higher-priced rule but like the CIE rule much better because it's a lot easier to use.” The’ Head of the Electrical Technology Dept., New York City Community College, Mr. Joseph J. DeFrance says: “1 was very intrigued'by the ‘quickie’ electronics prob- Tem solutions. Your slide rule is a natural.’ YOU GET. . .a sturdy, handsome carrying case. It's made of genuine top-grain leather, doubly reinforced at the “wear-spots", features heavy duty finer for extra slide rule protection, has a removable belt loop for convenient carrying. “‘Quicklip" cover makes it easy to get your rule in and out of the case. Stamps ‘you as a real “pro” in electronics. A $50.00 VALUE FOR LESS THAN $20.00! “Under U.S. Patent #3,120,342 ANYONE WHO SENDS INTHIS COUPON WILL RECEIVE, ABSOLUTELY FREE, A HANDY POCKET ELECTRONICS DATA GUIDE. W's a useful, pocket-sized electronics “en- cyelopedia””* © Jam-ull of valuable facts, formulas and other heipful information. Car: ry it with you . .. when it comes to electra Its, you'll be the “man-with-the-answer”! Cleveland Institute of Electronics Dept EL-103, 1776. 17th St, Cleve, Ohio 44114 ACT NOW! SEND SPECIAL ‘‘NO-RISK"’ COUPON TODAY! ! cl Cleveland Institute of Electronics | ! 1776 E. 17th Street, Dept. EL-103, Cleveland, Ohio 44114 GET | | me - — ELECTRONICS [fy — cour. | i ca STA. SLIDE RULE |] 1 A leader in Electronics Training...since 1934 ——_— | a a a ee Mancu-Arni, 1966 7Get Your First Class Commercial F.C.C. LICENSE and earn your A.S.E.E. DEGREE Grantham School of Electronics can pre- pare you quickly for a career in electronics. In 4 months you can prepare for employ- ment as a communications technician, or in 8 months as a television technician, or in 18 months as a highly-trained electron- ics technician holding an Associate in Sci- ence in Electronics Engineering degree. The Grantham degree curriculum is de- signed in such a manner that the first se- mester (first 4 months) prepares you for a first class F.C.C. license and for technical employment in communications—or that the first two semesters prepare you for em- ployment as a television broadcast or serv- ice-shop technician. Therefore, if you should decide to discontinue Grantham training at any time after the first semester, you can still enjoy a profitable career in electronics. Daytime and evening class schedules are available. Also, F.C.C. license preparation and other degree-credit courses are avail- able by correspondence instruction. How- ever, no more than three semesters of the degree credit may be earned by corre- spondence. Get complete details by writing or tele- phoning the school at one of the addresses listed below. Ask for Catalog EE-6. Grantham School of Electronics 1505 N. Western Av., Hollywood, Cal. 90027 (Phone: HO 9-7878) or 818-18th St, NW, Washington, D. C. 20006 (Phone: 298-7460) ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICS MARCH-APRIL 1966 Vol. 2 No. 1 JULIAN M. SIENKIEWICZ — Baitor WA2CQUKMDASTS WILLIAM HARTFORD Teckel Editor KKO7A32 ELMER C. CARLSON ANTHONY MACCARRONE IRVING BERNSTEIN EUGENE F. LANDING RON STAFFIE; (over Art Director JACQUELIN JAYNE Art Anotiane ELUOT §, KRANE “Advertising Director JM CAPPELLO “Advertsing Monager LEONARD F. PINTO Production Dire CARL BARTEE Production Menever HELEN GOODSTEIN CLIFF SHEARER JOSEPH DAFFRON “Asniatont Production Manager ‘Brvcutioe Bator lent and Pudlishor B. @. DAVIS. ‘Rsovutive Vien President and Avsstont Publisher SOEL DAVIS ice President and BdUtoral Director HERB LEAVY, KMD4529 ELEMENTARY EIECTRONICS, Vol, 2, No. 14778 is publhed bi rronthly by SCIENCE & MECHANICS PUBISHING CO. o sbrisory (of Dave Ablation, ine, Elton busines ord subscription aces 50s Pork Ave, New York, No. 10022" One year subscription Is issied"=$4.00; tworyear subscription 12 ines!—$7.00; an Three Yyeorsubscrison {18 eses!~$10-00. Aad $1.00 per Year for portage Sotise the USA. ond. Canada, Advertiig alfices New Yara 08 Bork Aver, PL 6300, Cheagor 220 N. Michigan Av. $27-0330; Los ‘Angeles: 253 Holywood Biv, 219-489-5140, Aono, Pim & Brown, ‘3108 ladon Ra, AL, #04 28.4729: Long ila. Lon Osten, ? Gordon Street, Great Nock, fi, S16-87.S808, Southwestern adverising Tepresonotive: lim Wright 4N. Bight 81, Soule, CH 11968 EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS must be accompanied by retun portage ‘ond willbe honled wit reasonable care, however, publiseroxsomes ino responsbitty for retum or zoely of manoxrpts, of wort, oF Photogranhe All coniabtlons should be ddressed Io the Estar, ELBVENITARY ELECTRONICS, 505 Pork Avense, New York,NY. 10022. Application for socond:clss poste rates is pending ot Now York, Now York ond ot addfonel ming lice. Copyright 1966 by Sets (nd Mechanic Publting Co, ‘Exementary ELEcrnontcs ee aa> BIG MONEY CHRISTY- TRAINED TV & ELECTRONICS ete ee Vel CORNERS OF THE WORLD e CHRISTY OFFERS COMPLETE TRAINING Big pay, interesting work, and speedy success await the man who is thoroughly trained in all branches of electronics. The Christy Master Shop-method Home Training Course enables you to obtain this knowledge without leaving home — and without leaving your job. You learn radar, sonar, television, radio, and industrial electronics. Whats more, you learn them thoroughly — step by step, from the first basic principles right up to the most advanced equipment and techniques known today. This complete, comprehensive training means that more jobs will be open to you and that you will receive higher pay. Christy training is the best because it’s the only complete course. Why be satisfied with less? . . . i's your future that’s at stake! YOU GET 19 TRAINING KITS! With your complete Christy Master Shop-method Home Traine ing Course we send you a Multi-tester, Oscillator, Signal Tracer, Oscilloscope, Signal Generator, Electronic Timer, Regenerative Radio, 27-inch Television Set (optional) and other valuable equipment. This equipment makes your training clear, simple, and easy to understand. You work with your hands . . . you learn in the most practical, thorough way possible—by doing. In a few months of simple home study using the Christy system you learn what used to take years of hard work to master. Just put in a few hours of your spare time each week and before you know it you're ready for a BIG-PAY job as an Electronics Technician or for a profitable TV repair business of your own. CHRISTY TRADES SCHOOL, INC., Dept. T-2¥ 3214 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago 60625 EARN AS YOU LEARN MAIL COUPON TODAY You won't have to worry about payments because the Christy method_! enables you to begin : earning money after only i a few hours. 3 FREE BOOKS give full facts. Write for them today. CHRISTY TRADES SCHOOL, INC. Dept. T-2Y 3214 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, Il. 60625 BE Pleate send me, without cost or obligation, your 3 FREE BO f telling all ebout the CTS Master Shop-Method Home Training Course in radar, soner, television, radio, ond electronics, and two somple lessons, ‘Marce-Apntt, 1966 9TRIGGER POSITIONS GIVE HIGH AND LOW HEAT (Only Weller Soldering Guns have it) This exclusive Dual Heat feature permits instant switching to either of two soldering tempera- tures. There's low heat for most of your elec- tronic soldering, yet high heat is immediately available when you need it. Weller guns also reach full soldering tempera- ture up to 40% faster than other guns. They deliver more heat per rated watt, resulting in the greatest soldering efficiency. This is why professionals insist on Weller. Be sure you do, too. Weller Dual Heat Guns and Kits come in watt age ranges from 100 to 325, priced from $6.95, to $12.95 list. WELLER ELECTRIC CORP., EASTON, PA. In England: Hersiom, Sune. WORLD LEADER IN SOLDERING TECHNOLOGY 10 Pot with Light Control Electrical isolation of remote controlled po- tentiometers looms as a significant circuit appli- cation now being developed at the General Electric Tube Department engineering labora- tories. Photoconductive cells with their own light sources are sealed inside their metal cases with the light source next to the photosensitive surfaces, permitting the cells to be operated as variable resistors by changing the voltage on the tiny lamps enclosed, Varying the lamp voltage raises or lowers the lamp byilliance and thus controls the resistance of the photocon- ductive cells. Photocell-lamp (PC-L) combinations can eliminate the need for motor-driven potentiom- eters or long, shielded “in-circuit” remote con- trol cables. Another significant advantage is that they do not develop scratch noise common in mechanical potentiometers. Such scratch noise is caused by friction and wear between the moving contact arm and resistive surface of the mechanical potentiometer. Though PC-L combinations are not unknown in the industry, the General Electric models | General Electric's new photocell has its own sealed-in light source. High reliability lamp permits cell to operate as a variable resistor, with changes of voltage on the lamp. Exementary ExgctronicsBUILD 20 RADIO CIRCUITS AT HOME ~ with the New Improved 20" fel PROGRESSIVE RADIO “EDU-KIT”® Ce cers ‘Now Includes tk No Knowledge of Radio Necessary Sor hansmirse k No Additonal Parts ot Tools Needed & EXCELLENT BACKGROUND FOR TV >* EXE a Sold In 79 Countries PROGRESSIVE “‘EDU-KITS” INC. 1186 Broadway, Dept. 511DJ, Hewlett, N.Y. 11557BR LEARN ELECTIONS ‘NOT-FOR-PROFIT COYNE ELECTRONICS INSTITUTE Degree (2 Vis) Diploma (40 Wis) Diploma (80 Ws Diploma (80 Wis] Diploma (32 Ws) ‘FOUNDED 1659 Electronics Engineering Technology = Electrical-Electronies Technician — WeRadio Electronics Technician — Combined Electronics Technician — Pratical Electrical Maintenance. — Practical Refrigeration le Conditioning ‘and Appliance Repait —— Diploma (24 Wks, ‘Specialized Indusval Electronics Diploms (16 Ws) Inoucon to Elesety Elecronies — Carteate Was) FCC First Glass Radioteloghone Special finance plans. Part time employment service while in school. Also Free graduate em- ployment service, ‘COYWE ELECTROMICS INSTITUTE, Dept. of Eietroies 26 1501 W. Congress Parkway, Chicagy,ivls 60607 am Address. Phone___ tcty____zone__state___ Unlike mot cher shal, we do nok employ eaten ¥ THE BIG BOAT SHOW ISSUE OF BOATCRAFT is now on sale—$1.00 BOATCRAFT'S experts pick the 10 top boats | —the 25 outstanding accessories for ‘66. Subscribe to this exciting publication. 6 big issues for $5.00—Write, BOATCRAFT 505 Park Avenue/New York, N. Y./10022 NEWSCAN | feature excellent seals for protection against moisture and the use of tiny aircraft-type lamps. These high-reliability lamps measure about one- eighth inch in diameter and one-fourth inch jong, Both 5-volt and 28-volt lamps are being used in the developmental PC-L units. Isolation of control circuits from functional circuits also is particularly helpful in audio feedback and compression circuitry. Engineers at the General Electric laboratory in Owens- boro, Ky., say, too, that PC-L's are being con- sidered for use in ballast controls and to sim- plify wiring in learning machines. In the G-E types under development, re- sistances range from as low as approximately 25 ohms with the enclosed lamps at full bril- liance to “dark resistances” of about 1 megohm. The cadmium sulphide photoconductive ele- ments of G-E’s developmental PC-L’s have maximum dissipation ratings of 30, 50, 100 and 350 milliwatts, Cadmium selenide "elements also can be provided for applications where fast response is critical. PC voltage maximums are either 30 or 60 volts, again depending on type. Either neon or incandescent lamps cin be enclosed to meet specific requirements of circuit and equipment designers. One unusual PC-L unit has two 5-volt lamps enclosed, permitting the PC resistance to be varied by either or both of two isolated lamp circuits. Two Bucks to Mars A two-dollar strip of magnetic instrumenta- tion tape was used to bring home to the world the “awe inspiring” photographs of the planet Mars. Mariner Four, the spacecraft that flew by the red planet July 14, was launched from Cape Kennedy November 28, 1964, During its Unique recorder captured "near per fect" photos of Mars on 3M magnetic instrumentation tape. During manu- facture, engineers passed the tape through 100 quality contrel tests. ‘Exewentary EvecronzcsAOM-200 Series INTERNATIONAL AOC MULTIVIBRATORS... ‘AOM-100 Series b ‘AOM-301 @ FREQUENCY MEASURING #® BAND MARKERS @ GENERATING ACCURATE TIMING PULSES AOC Multivibrators are free running saw- tooth oscillators designed to lock on a | unr pescriprion stabilized signal source for division of 10. AOM-I01 100 Ke Multivibrator units may be obtained in a POS number of combinations or single units. | AoMiot 100 608 Each multivibrator has isolation amplifier pontine AP cps. to stabilize lock. Complete series allows : cps. 1,000 ke crystal to produce a 1 cycle per ROM ce LO eee second pulse. Both 1,000 ke and 100 ke | AoM301 —100'cps, 10 cps; i eps, crystal oscillator units are available. AOM-100X 100 kc oscillator. AOM-1000X 1,000 ke oscillator. Crystal oscillators AOM-100X and AOM- Shi eal 7 1000X provide a stabilized signal source to spina weil ris drive the multivibrator chain. Each oscilla~ tor has regulator tube and crystal oven to insure maximum stability. Short term sta- : a CE Ee N bility, 1 part in 10°, INTERNATIONAL CRYSTAL MFG. CO., INC. 18NO. LEE + OKLA, CITY, OKLA, 73108 Marcr-Apat, 1966 3TT Ta MANY U.S. GOV'T SURPLUS EXPLORE THE FASCINATING WORLD OF MAGNETISH NEW 23 MAGNET VARIETY KIT a1 SHAPES! MANY COMPOSITIONS! Eversipenfomatong by, magnets Serene wattle mie cones souve NEW WORKING MODEL DictraL COMPUTER seer ACTUAL MINIATURE VERSION rater atecTRoR eR a aa cred ES, ASTRONOMICAL HEADQUARTERS U.S.A. eep Pace’ With the Spat tee nents fia Hfapts laces gud. yourown wie, Every sceegtony rnd New, Quick-Charge, Industrial surplus NICKEL-CADMIUM BATTERY Unban wee ee Order by Stock No Send Check or M. EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO,, EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO., Barrington, N. J. & ei Ts8 anes. NEWSCAN ——— 228-day flight, Mariner Four’s 138,000 com- ponents fimetioned admirably to place the spacecraft on a path that took it past Mars at a distance of 6,118 miles. Photographic success of $120 million Mariner Four program depended on small, thin strip of Scotch instru- mentation tape, on which pictures were recorded. This photo was recorded from 7,800 miles away. Area covers 170 wiles east to west, 150 miles north to south. More than 60 of Mariner's subcontractors provided 21 million dollars worth of hardware and instruments, More than 1,000 other firms provided another 19 million dollars worth of procurements, Officials of the National Acro- nautics and Space Administration (NASA) esti- mate the entire cost of the Mariner Four flight at 120 million dollars. But in the end, Mariner Four’s photographic success depended on the ability of that one strip of magnetic tape-thinner than a razor blade, not quite as wide as a pencil and about as long as a 15-cent spool of thread—to record and faithfully reproduce photographs of Mars, The tape was 3M Company's Scotch instrumen- tation tape, which was also used in Ranger Kight and Ranger Nine to record and reproduce thousands of photographs of the moon. ‘As Mariner Four passed Mars, a single tele- vision camera took 21 black-and-white pictures described as “near perfect.” The pictures were stored on the tape in digital form for later play- ack. This was necessary because, while pic- ture data was recorded at 10,700 binary digits per second, the radio transmission rate from ‘Mars was an extremely slow 8.33 bits per Euementany ExecraonicsYO R NE FREE! For fun and pride in assembly, for long years of pleasure and performance, for new ad- ventures in creative electronics mail the coupon below and get Conar's brand new catalog of COPY IS duality do-dt-youreelf and assombled its and equipment. Read about items from TV set kits to transistor radios . .. from VTVM's to scopes WAITING +. from tube testers to tools, And every item in the Conar catalog is backed by a no-nonsense, a no-loopholes, money-back guarantee! See for yourself why Conar, a division of National Radio Institute, is about the fastest growing entry ‘ON, AR in the quality kit and equipment business, SME MAIL THIS COUPON NOW Mim H conar Aveo 8939 Wisconsin Ave., Washington 16, D.C. Please send me your new catalog. Name Address City_____State___Z-Code___ second. The slow transmission was needed to achieve reasonable picture quality over the 144 million miles of communications distance. Tape length was held to 330 feet by the recorder’s ability to operate at the extremely slow speed on one-one-hundredth of one inch er second. Back on earth, the telemetry transmissions of the photographs and engineering information was received through 85-foot antennas of the deep space network and was recorded on much the same kind of 3M tape. A 3M Mincom recorder-reproducer was in use, among other | ground equipment, to record transmission from | the spacecraft. | Photographs were reproduced by running the | | ground-recorded tapes through a video kine- scope system in much the sane manner as Ranger Nine’s moon pictures were processed. Although “the Mars photos were recorded from thousands of miles out in space, they were so clear they showed details of the Martian surface down to about two miles in diameter. id Name ‘Speakers, Changers, Tubes, Tools, Stereo Amps, Tuners, CB, and other Vale ves. tredit pion available. Name___ | Bp pooness. | city______z0ne_state_____ 1 If you have friend interested in electronics. sone his name ond address for @ FREE subscription also To China with Love Via Hopped-up Watts Millions of watts—those tiny bits of electronic energy that can transmit the human voice around the world—will punch thousands of holes in the “Bamboo Curtain” in the near future OLSON ELECTRONICS etteead 448 S. Forge Street Akron, Ohio 44308 Manci-Arnit, 1966 usFREE mane NEW CATAL 100's OF BIG PAGES CRAMMED WITH SAVINGS Ti EEL, 101 McGee, Kansan City, Mo. 64106 powe [Ci issn me FREE i006 Dea Catalog. En [Name 10 ABT E5S oan 1 | City... Cero Ae NOW! 4 NAW Way 10 LBARN—1.H, 6. 1, WAY, Avatmlete howe study cote in electrons Yaa 16 ‘heap tl ge the postion You want MONE! MONEY Nair wise Sobieh Pasrdnep py coutnoR pnoressons $Eeigetings You set ct howe ave, east 8 "YOu sien No conrRacts ay ens eatixnod “on awe i eo SOME to exant Whe IRBIANY Hole SPoby INSTIEU TS COU. IN uaornosig Math, Pre AORUE Ne you fin vow, a retresher course in Write or Rrochare—No ODiigetion THE INDIANA HOME STUDY INSTITUTE Dopt. EE-S, P. 0. Box 1189 Panama City, Fla, 32402 a0 0 ME ih A ie GER ec EN, Sale 4 Gate” Wg aah ed irr of ne Ti, ion a ne Seats Ma oS ai. SII ‘Wile for Free Catalog TRANSISTORS UNLIMITED COMPANY 462 deceho Turnpike, Minecla, L, New York 1501 LEAR Engineering AT HOME Fix TV, deslgp automation systems, Ieam traneetore, complete lccfories, Colle level Home Study eoures taught 0 You cot ‘Gatos AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY 11398 West Fullerton Parkway Chicago, ilinals 60614 16 NEWSCAN to tell the uninformed peoples of Asia that there is another way of life. ‘The Voice of America, the United States In- formation Agency's radio reporter to the world, has contracted for the construction of a trans- mitting “farm” in the Philippines that will beam 2d-houra-day, seven-day-a-week broadcasts in dozens of languages and scores of dialects in a sweeping arc from Southeast Asia up through Asiatic Russia, ‘The “barnyard” center of this broadcasting complex will be a building containing ten 250,- 000-watt transmission units now under con- struction by Hughes Aircraft Company at its Fullerton, Cal. facility. Surrounding the “barn” will be a “farm” of 2,000 acres sprouting 50 or more antennas, each capable of sending its signal as far as 5,000 miles—which reaches be- yond the “curtain.” Hughes engineers, who have developed and have been refining the high power systems for These coil and sheath assemblies are vital parts of a 250-thousand-watt transmitter, 10 of which are being built by Hughes Aircraft Company for the U. S. Information Agency's Voice of America for radio penetration of the "Banboo Curtain" from Southeast Asia to Asiatic Russia. These unique assemblies will simplify automatic changes of transmitting frequency, necessary because of varying atmos- pheric conditions at night and day and during different times of the year, and can be used to avoid "jam- ming’ by other stations. ‘Exementary ELEcrnonicsmany years, say that the total 2%-million-watt output of the ten transmitters is the bare mini- mum. If it were necessary, because of at- tempted signal jamming, it would be possible to tune all the 10 transmitters to the same fre- quency and direct the output at the Pekin area, pouring one billion watts of effective radi- ated power. ‘The VOA’s newest penetration of the Bam: boo Curtain will rely on “sheer brute power” and concentrated directional beaming. Maxi- mam power of American clear-channel AM stations is 50,000 watts. The signal, or broad- cast program, is omnidirectional. It is distrib- uted in a 360-degree radius and can be received at a distance of 100 to 200 miles. FM radio reception, also omnidirectional, is good for 50 to 60 miles. Short-wave broadcasts, also AM, can be tuned in at much greater distances because they are “bounced” off the ionosphere layer, 100 miles to 250 miles above the earth. ‘Although VOA operates several radio. sys- tems beamed to varions countries around the globe, engineers report that the Hughes trans- mitters incorporated in the new complex in the Philippines offer these additional advantages: © Operators can push a button and, within 20 seconds or less, the transmitting of a spe- cific program can be switched from one fre- quency to another * Oceupies less space than any similar sys- tem with comparable output. © Higher over-all efficiency, requiring less power input from local sources, thereby greatly reducing operating costs. * Remote control from as far as two miles away, also reducing operating costs Til Drink to That! A General Electric reliability manager drinks water produced as a by-product from the fuel cell batteries on test (shown at right), These batteries will produce electric power for the two-man Gemini spacecraft by combining hydrogen and oxy- gen, and deliver water for the astronauts to drink, Rigid checks will assure the quality of this water. Marcn-Arrm, 1966 now...@ dozen tools for Hozens of jobs_ Ce ee interchangeable blades and an pasa rarer ed ae ar eee cee eT fee ea a aCe ENE eae rr Paes 2 SLOTTED SCREWDRIVERS: teen 2 PHILLIPS SCREWDRIV:RS: Dns Conta} peer ame Aen ore ana eer a XCELITE INC, * 80 BANK ST., ORCHARD PARK, N. ¥. ‘Send Catalog 162 with information on 9978-50 address 4 uwry ea Yolo) receuns TUBES ca "ai Toes fot auntaTy tage nn da «At Sout onion Bohne ly + Ai rae SaipreD fot GLASS Save GAY Rett suite tte tn co Bit HOMEOWNER? PROSPECTIVE HOMEOWNER? SMALL HOME PLANS, now on sale at your newsstand—$1.25—packed with inval- uable tips on costs, the best house for you, plus 100 tested plans. DON’T MISS IT. Like anything else, when you know how to do some- thing, it's easy! And the easiest way to learn the basics of electronics, is through the easy-to-read pages of ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICS. Whether the subject is test equipment, your cars ignition system, intercom. systems, electronic data processing; whether it's about antenna theory com- munications or TV color operation; no matter what the subject, if it has electronics as its basis, you'll find the right information, the right way to do it in ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICS. Subscribe today. ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICS 305 Park Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10022 Begin my subscription to ELEMENTARY ELEC- TRONICS right away. Tam enclosing ......$4.00 | for 1 year; ......$7.00 for 2 years. (Foreign: add 75¢ for postage and handling.) BET76 Name Address... City. 18 By Leo G. Sands Elementary Electronics brings the know-how of an electronics expert to its readers. Leo G. Sands, | columnist for Radio-TV Experimenter, will be happy to answer your question. Just type or print your unsolved problem on the back of a 4¢ postal card and send it to“ Ask Me Another,” Elementary Electronics, 505 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10022. Leo will try to answer all your ques tions in the available space in upcoming i Elementary Electronics. Sorry, Leo will be unable to answer your questions by inail. The Cat’s Meow For at least five years I have been asking what is the frequency of the energy being emitted by the brain which is detected, am- plified and the resultant waveforms thereof exhibited visually by the use of the electro- encephalograph? I have been trying to isolate a “brain wave” using an oscilloscope and I am beginning to believe these emis- sions lie beyond the frequency range of the instrument or perhaps the instrument is not sensitive enough. Cats react in a very pe- culiar fashion every time I get drunk. I would like (0 measure the voltage, amper- age, wattage and frequency of the energy which travels from my brain to the cat's brain. 1 would certainly appreciate any information. —D. D. B., Mira Loma, Calif. My Siamese cat acts in a peculiar fashion whenever I drink orange juice from his bowl. The amount of energy radiated by the brain is so minute that you need much more than a scope. Sorry, couldn't even make a wild guess. Perhaps another reader might know. But don’t worry, Pussy Cat, I know a guy with a wooden leg and he has dog problems. Calling CB How can 1 modify a CB set so 1 can use it for paging? —J.C. P., Newark, N. J. ‘ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICSFACTORIE & a y MAKE MONEY RIGHT FROM THE START ‘Many of our students pay for their course before they complete it. How? Because right from the beginning ‘they are shown how to make actual repairs! Thousands testify the CTS course is easy to understand. ELECTRONIC TESTING KIT FURNISHED £4 SEND FoR FREE BOOK «tells you how to do it! ouTPUT TRANSFORMER te 8 TocaTHonEs OF TRANSMITTER TUBES The speaker circuit of a typical CB set is shown in the left drawing of the two sche- matics. When the transmit-receive relay (or switch) $ is in the R (receive) position the speaker is connected. In the T position, the speaker is disconnected and the cathodes of the transmitter tubes are grounded. To modify this circuit for paging an s.p.d.t. switch is added and the circuit is rewired as shown in the right schematics. Here SI is the transmit-receive relay (or switch) and S2 is the added switch, When S2 is in the “normal” position, the set operates as before. When set to the PA position, the set's own speaker operates when receiving and the ex- ternal paging speaker operates when the transmit switch is pressed. But, the transmit- ‘Marcit-Aprit, 1966 CHRISTY TRADES SCHOOL INC., Dept. A-6Y 3214 W. Lawrence Avi App ARE TURNING OUT MILLIONS OF APPLIANCES DAILY .. . WHO WILL REPAIR THEM? eT Le NMIPTN ELECTRICAL APPLIANCE REPAIRING EARN WHILE YOU LEARN — Since 1935 Christy Trades School hos been teaching the profitable Appliance Repair business. You learn by working with your hands. Your Christy Tester locates trouble, CTS course shows you how to fix it, what to charge, how to. solicit business. READ WHAT MR. PIPPIN SAYS! Mr. Marion A. Pippin, Decatur, Ill, writes: “My busi- “Mi. Pippin is build Chicago, Mineis 60625 RUSH FREE book on America’s fastest-arowin ourput NORMAL, TOCATHODES OF TRANSMITTER TUBES ter won't go on the air except when S2 is in the “normal” position and the transmit but- ton is pressed. Hm mm mmm T get a lot of hum on my AM-FM radio. Is there any way of getting rid of this kum? T do a lot of taping from the radio. =A. S., Cleveland, Ohio With the tape recorder disconnected, if the set still hums, chances are that it is due to dehydrated electrolytic filter capacitors or insufficient filter capacity. Try connecting a new filter capacitor across each section of the filter capacitor (one at a time) and note if there is any decrease in hum. On the industry, eee SRopeiring, end special form for paying from earn- ings while learning. 19. . Going Camping? See what's new in the big March/April issue of CAMPING JOURNAL—$1 Take a look at the exciting, new trail- ma; ers and pickup j campers for *66— all the new gear for campers, about 100 new products— read the fascinating “Camping The In- termountain West.” EE776 CAMPING JURNAL 505 Park Ave./New York/10022 CAMPING JOURNAL sounds great. I'm enclosing Gi $4.50 for 1 yr. subscription, [) $9.00 for 2 yrs. (Foreign: add 75¢ for postage & handling.) Name______. ‘(ease print) Adare: City, State__7ip. Learn all about the many business opportunities —the ways and means of going into business— the successful methods used to succeed in busi- ness, ‘The March/April issue of INCOME OPPORTU- NITIES will be on sale February 1, Pick it up at your newsstand—75¢ INCOME OPPORTUNITIES 505 Park Ave/New York, N. Y./10022. BE776 Itd like to subscribe to INCOME OpporTUNITIES. Enclosed is $4.50 (check or money-order) for my 1 year subscription, Name (EASE Paint) Address City ___state__zip__. 20 me another other hand, if the hum is present only with the tape recorder connected, make sure that all of the cable shields are correctly grounded, Preamp Power Supply How can I build a power supply for a preamplifier requiring 125-135 volts DC at 7 ma. and 6.3 volts AC for the filament of @ 6CB6 tube? —G. W., Toledo, Ohio A circuit diagram is given below. Pick diodes with a PIV (peak inverse voltage) rating of around 350-400 volts for maximum reliability. Mount the transformer in a metal chassis so the heat will be conducted away. CHI STANCOR. roy | | | ‘63 voLTs Lywst_Jos Jo FILAMENT QW OFF STANCOR Swit Ps-aais It Ain't Easy I would like to change my 30-50 me band FM receiver to cover the 152-174 mc band. Can this be done? W.C., East McKeesport, Pa. It probably can be done by changing the RF, mixer and oscillator coils. Try coils with about one-fourth as many turns. You will need a good RF signal generator to permit adjusting the coils (number of turns and spacing of turns) and re-aligning the trim- mers. You can set the tuning range limits with the signal generator. Be a UHF Copycat What type of antenna is best for reception of weak UHF translator TV stations? F. B., Las Vegas, Nev. A parabolic, Yagi or corner reflector an- tenna will give you considerable gain but must be accurately aimed at the station. Since these antennas have relatively narrow fre- quency range, they cannot be used to cover the entire UHF TV band. These antennas Exementary ELEctRonicsare fairly inexpensive ($5 to $25). Stick To Dry Cells Can you draw a diagram and give me a parts list for a power supply for a portable tape recorder which uses two 1.5-volt cells? J. G., Galveston, Texas be ourpur ah ~ oer STANCOR Wel era You can use a 6.3-volt filament trans- former and a pair of diodes with low for- ward voltage drop as shown in the diagram. However, you might inject hum into the tape recorder. In view of the low cost and ong life of flashlight cells, you might be bet ter off staying with the batteries. 7 Time Shrinker A 24-hour day shrinks to only 14 seconds on this analog computer developed in Honeywell’s temperature-control_ labora- tories. The computer electronically simu- lates temperature, humidity, wind, sun- shine—even hills and trees—to help engi neers like Honeywell researcher Lorne Nel- son (above) design building control sys- tems for the future. In 24 hours’ actual time, the computer could give a building control system the equivalent of 17 years’ use. Devices called “function generators” electronically duplicate changing weather conditions; solid-state resistors and tran- sistors simulate building shapes, sizes, number of windows, type of construction, ‘even geographic location. ‘Marcu-Aprit, 1966 CAN YOU QUALIFY FOR FEDERAL AID? Read how YOU can actually borrow money from the Federal Government under a new law just signed by the President; how the vocational-school student can borrow up to $3000 for tuition and other school-con- nected expenses. This and other helpful informa. tion can be found in the Spring/ Summer issue of HOW TO SUC- CEED THROUGH HOME STUDY, ON SALE NOW at your news: stand. $1.00 Or write the publisher for your copy. HOME stuDY ‘505 Park Avenue/New York, N. Y./10022 Please forward my copy of the Spring/Summer edition of HOW TO SUCCEED THROUGH HOME STUDY. | am enclosing $1.25 wihich includes postage and handling charges. Nome- ‘plese Br Address cy. State Zip. 7 LEARN HOW TO ADJUST YOUR NEW COLOR TV SET and save money too! In the Spring/Summer Radio TV REPAIRS—at your newsstand February 8th.—75¢ If you already own @ or if you plan to buy one, “OLOR this fecture story on TV SET ADJUSTMENTS" portant to you. In easy-to-nderstond language, ‘with {Hlustations, color TV adjustments. are 1d. This ond more can found in the new RADIO TV ner RADIO TV REPAIRS/505 Pork Ave,/New York/10022 am enclosing $1.00 (includes postage & handling). Please send me my copy of RADIO TV REPAIRS. NAM PLEASE PRIN ‘Apress. cu. state___21 21Read the absorbing article “It’s A Double Barteled Bomb’" in the March issue of ScrENCE & MECHANICS. It's all about the new ‘Wankel engine—a powerplant with no cyl dders-—no pistons - and it runs on any fu Don't miss the concluding article, Part 3, on How The Russian “Space Walk Was Faked.” Provocative reading each and every month in Science & MECHANICS. “SCIENCE & MECHANICS ere 505 Park Ave. / New York / 10022 Begin my subscription to SCIENCE & MECHANICS, Enclosed js $4.00 for 1 yr.; $8.00 for 2 yfs, Bill me (Outside USA & Cansds, add $1 per yr. for postage & handling). NaMé ADDRESS cmy___state__zp. (PLEASE PRINT) NOW ON SALE— 75¢ Can Electronics Control Your Emotions? A controversial story that reaches out to foresee the future applications of electronics as it relates to the ‘control of personality . . . electronically. Read how, for only $9, you can purchase the compo- nents for ‘an ingenious relay circuit that will end your cold weather car starting problems. RADIO-TV EXPERIMENTER E776 ‘505 Park Avenue New York, N. ¥. 10022 Begin my subscription to RADIO-TV EXPERIMENTER im- mediately. | am enclosing (1 $4.00 for 1 yr.; (1 $7.00 for 2 yrs. [Bill me. (Foreign: add 75¢ a yr.) Name ........ * Gpiease print} Mi The titles of each of our major articles in this issue are emphasized by a different geo- metrical design. These patterns are called moiré (pronounced mwa-reh—but if you can't quite wrap your tongue around your lips to get the correct pronounciation mor-ray is close enough). There are moiré patterns all around us, although the term was first applied to the shimmering silk fabric produced in ancient China—moiré silk shimmers like water and came from the French word for watered. These patterns have become “OP Art” as well as important scientific tools. Mathema- ticians compare these patterns to the more complex calculations of Fourier analysis. Despite the usefulness and beauty of the patterns some people strive to avoid them. Television performers can’t wear striped clothing—the scanning lines would transform other small stripes into constantly changing moiré patterns at the slightest movement. Pity the poor architect who finds that the moiré patterns, produced by the window screens and their reflections in the window glass, move madly about for the slightest breeze. You can perform your own experiments in moiré patterns with the Experimenter’s Moiré Kit (Catalog No. 70,718; $6—postpaid), from Edmund Scientific Co. 101 East Glos- ter Pike, Barrington, N. J. 08007. With the kit you will be able to make your own “OP Art” masterpieces, learn how to interpret moiré patterns in terms of projective geome- try, their applications to physics and electron micrography and special measurements that can be made with the many screens that come along with the book The Science of Moiré Patterns by Dr. Gerald Oster of Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. 7 Exementary ELsctronics@ Walk across a carpet on a winter day and touch a door knob and you'll undoubtedly get a shock. As you walk on the carpet you develop an electrical charge. The carpet acts as an insulator which prevents the charge from leaking off too quickly. You get a shock because there is a potential differ- ence (a voltage) between your body and the door knob. It was generated by friction as you walked on the carpet. This kind of shock is irritating. It can be avoided by holding a key or other metallic object in your hand and touching the door knob with it. You may see a spark jump from the metal object to the door knob, but you probably won't feel the shock. The voltage that causes the spark is very high, perhaps several thousand volts. But the cur- rent is very small and the duration of the spark very short. Thus, the amount of pow- er in terms of watt-hours is extremely small. This phenomenon was used for training a cat to stay away from a caged parakeet. The cat was carried across a carpet to the bird cage. When the cat moved its nose toward the case, zip went a spark from the nose to the cage. The cat, thereafter, pre- ferred to keep its nose out of the bird’s busi- ness. This is static electricity, so-called because it seldom serves a useful purpose. It is static ‘Mancu-Apeit, 1966 You get shocks every day! Some are quite harmle: Others can be lethal. Charges By Leo G. Sands, W7PH when it is an electrical charge, but it becomes dynamic when it discharges. Electricity which flows through wires and other con- ductors is called dynamic electricity. Hundreds of years ago, men discovered that pith balls and other light objects are attracted by a rod of amber or other mate- rial when rubbed. Run a comb through your hair on a dry, cold day and you will find that it attracts bits of paper like a magnet at- tracts nail: Fig. 1. A hair-raising experience. The secret— make contact before voltage builds up on dome.24 @ @ HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL CHARGES insulated from each other, will find that when one touches the other's skin lightly with a finger, the skin feels slightly raspy. But, if the two hold hands tightly or otherwise make firm contact with each other, the raspy effect disappears, When they touch only lightly, there remains an electrical potential between the two. But, when their hands make firm contact, they are both at the same electrical potential. Touching the glass tube of a fluorescent bed lamp, while lying on a bed on a cold, dry night can sometimes cause the lamp to glow fecbly around the point of contact This fern-like pattern was produced when @ 3,000,000-ey (electron volt) beam fractured a plastic block. TRe electrons, affer puncturing surface of plastic block, flow like water from a broken dam. Effects of sail errosion and topographical map of river tributaries or watershed area produce similar branched pattern. Tesla coil is another device for producing high-voltage arcs. Some ‘nits uso vibrafor-type spark coils but for higher frequencies and more power radio-transmifter circuits Gre used to drive the Tesla coil. Unit shown is Edmund Scientifie Co., Catalog No. 70,301—cost: $42. when the lamp is turned off, The effect dis- appears when a metal bed post is touched with the free hand. It is believed that all objects are charged to some electrical potential and polarity. If one object is charged to 15,000 volts positive and the other to 15,000 volts negative, or any other combination to produce a 30,000 volt difference in potential, a spark is apt to be produced when the objects are brought to within one inch of each other. While it is difficult to measure electro- static potential, the results can be quite real- istic, For instance, while testing a transistor ‘Exemenrany ELecrnontcsFig. 3. A typical Yon di Groat generator (above; available from Edmund Se entific Co,, for $39.50 (Cat. No. 70,264). Correct con nections (left) are for th operator's personal safety {ENERATOR BASE SHOULD BE GROUNDED in a power-line operated transistor checker, an experimenter temporarily took his hand off the transistor and scuffied about on the carpeted floor. When he again touched the transistor, the charge in his body discharged through the transistor to ground and punc- tured it. Lightning is static electricity of amazing power. Discharges from one cloud to an- other are said to have spanned as much as 100 miles. The potential difference between a cloud and a grounded object is several mil- lion volts. The current flow through a con- ductor struck by lightning can be several Marcxi-Arrit, 1966 0 ‘TOP COLLECTOR g TERMINAL —— e TERMINAL —*" . Fig. 2. Basic view of what goes on inside of the Van de Gract generator. Mechanism is very simple. thousand amperes at the peak of discharge. lightning Arrestors. For the sake of lightning protection, all radio and TV an- tenna systems should be equipped with a lightning arrester. This is merely a spark gap. Ordinarily it is an open circuit. But, when the static potential of the antenna ex: ceeds a certain level, with respect to ground, a spark jumps the gap and discharges the static. The static charge on an ungrounded an- tenna can become extremely high. When a VHF base-station antenna was being in- stalled at a railroad-yard office in Atlanta, a spark several inches long, jumped from the connector at the end of the antenna’s coaxial cable to the radio equipment cabinet when the smoke from a steam locomotive envel- oped the antenna some 60 feet above the ground. When the antenna coax was con- nected to the radio equipment, which was grounded, the static problem was eliminated because the antenna was now at ground po- tential—for two reasons: (1) the shield of the coax was grounded and, (2) both an- tenna elements were connected to the shield through a shorted matching stub within the antenna assembly. 1 =) we ee © ‘an 7] Fig. 4. Simple circuit produces higher voltoge than furns-ratio would give with sine wave input. 2526 @ @ HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL CHARGES Photos courtesy of Philco coated with varnish is located in the base of the generator. The lower roller is driven by the motor. One collector (D) is in close proximity to the top roller and is connected electrically to the inside surface of the top sphere. A second collector (F) is in close proximity to the bottom roller and is con- nected electrically to an insulated terminal (T), which in turn is grounded. The base of the generator is also grounde: When the belt travels over the rollers the top roller becomes positively charged, and the descending belt becomes negatively charged. This negative charge is removed from the belt by the bottom collector. This positive charge, on the ascending belt, is Jon generator charges oir nega- tively with corona discharge from a needle-like electrode in spotlight type housing. Built-in fon circu- Totes air. Power supply, ot eff, connects fo generator through high- voltage cable connected fo white jackson right of front panel. Van de Graat electron accelerator at Emeryville Research Center of Shell Development Co. is the most powerful radiation source avail ‘able fo industry. Electrons, stored inside stainless stee! dome, are used to bombard experimental samples in farget room below generator. lon Counter measures ionization and indicates charge of cir, whether air is negatively or positively charged. The ai in private homes, hospitals and industrial plants fs checked and accurate readjustments easily made. carried into the top sphere where together with the positive charge on the top roller it attracts the negative charge from the top collector by induction. These negative charges are drawn from the sphere, leaving a surplus of positive charges on the surface of the sphere. As the belt continues to move, the process is repeated and the surplus of positive charges is increased. The maximum voltage obtainable is limited by the diameter of the sphere, the efficiency of the insulation used and by the humidity of the surround- ing air. "The ball of the discharge sphere (Fig. 3) is placed about one inch from the top sphere of the generator. The power is switched on Exementary ExEcreontcs‘one of connections used fo put high-voltage charge on each of the capacitors con- nected in parallel. More than the four capacitors shown can be charged at one time. The lower schematic shows the series connection when the switches are flipped prior fo discharge through the resistance R when switch S5 is closed or discharged through a spark gap for some experimental Simulated lightning test. | i Fig. 5. Schematic af top is i i bd outpur vourace d+ and the speed of the belt adjusted. The gen- erator will then charge up and sparks pass between the top sphere of the generator and the ball of the discharge sphere. The spark- ing distance may be increased until a spark of one half to one inch in length is obtained. The voltage of the generator may be deter- mined, approximately, by the length of spark (1 cm. = 30,000 volts approx.) While a person walking across a carpet can get a shock when touching a grounded object, a garbage collector in Sacramento got the shock of his life when he touched a garbage can. Its owner had placed the can on bricks to insulate it from ground and had connected it to the ungrounded side of the AC line through a lamp (to limit the current) and a piece of nearly invisible wire. The idea was to discourage dogs from dumping over the can. But, on a rainy day when the ground was wet, a garbage collector firmly grabbed the can. When the AC tingled through his body, he screamed and threw the can through the air like a missile leaving a launching pad. This was Dynamic clec- tricity at a very low power level triggering tremendous human energy. A Kick From Inductance. Back in the days when Model-T Ford spark coils were readily available, youths wired them to doors so that the coil could be energized from a MancHi-Apeit, 1966 battery when the door was opened. In some parts of the country, particularly in dry climates, static is extremely severe in the summer, raising havoc with radio recep- tion in the form of noise—also called static. Electrostatic Generators. You can build or buy a Van De Graaf generator which produces almost 500,000 volts electrostati- cally. Touching the charged sphere, as shown in Fig. 1, can be a “hair raising” experience. Edmund Scientific Co. in Barrington, New Jersey, is now selling a belt-type electro- static generator incorporating the Van de Graaff principle. This machine generates di- rect current of high voltage and low am- _ Perage. Some generators give a maximum potential of almost 500,000 volts, with a short-circuit current of 10-15 microamperes. A generator consists of a hemispherical base supporting an insulating tube on which is mounted the top electrode—a_highly- polished hollow-aluminum sphere. The mo- tor, in the base of the instrument, drives the belt. A speed control can be varied to adjust. the speed of the belt, and thus the charging rate. In Fig. 2 an endless belt (A) of rubber or other material runs over two rollers. Roller (B), made of acrylic resin and covered with fabric, is in the top sphere and the other roller (C), also made of acrylic resin, but 27Be ” @ @ HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRI high-voltage output terminal was connected to the door knob. Anyone touching the door knob got a frightening but non-lethal shock. The voltage was very high because of the charge and discharge of an inductance When DC is applied to a coil, a magnetic field is developed. When the DC is discon- nected, the field collapses, with a violent in- ductive kick. Try’it yourself. Take a 6.3 volt filament transformer. Connect a neon Tamp across the 115-volt primary winding (Fig. 4). Then touch the 6.3 volt secondary leads momentarily to a 1.5 volt flashlight cell. The lamp will flash when you disconnect the battery. The turns ratio of the transformer less than 20:1. Yet, the battery voltage is stepped up to well beyond the 60 or 70 volts required to fire the lamp. (See Fig. 4). The same basic technique is used in auto ignition systems to create a spark that will ICAL CHARGES load, such as a resistor, the voltage will drop off exponentially at a rate determined by the value of the capacitors and the resistance of the lead. Capacitor banks with as much as seven farads (7,000,000 microfarads) of total ca~ pacitance are used in some computer power supplies. When the power is turned on, the capacitor charging current would be prohibi tive if it were not for a motor-driven varia- ble-autotransformer assembly which gradu- ally increases the output voltage from zero to full value. When a capacitor is connected across the Beplus of a radio or amplifier, high current flows momentarily as the capacitor charges and then drops off to zero. When the capaci~ tor is disconnected and its leads are shorted, a fat spark is produced as high current again flows momentarily. . wean Wa] wine ola = | = e » Ose 6A Beto 6B Slo Fig. 6. Circuit at left has chassis “hot” to Chassis has halt of line voltage to ground jump the gaps in spark plugs and in some radar sets to provide high voltage. Adding Capacitive Charges. A capaci- tor, on the other hand, holds its charge. Take an 0.5-mf paper capacitor and temporarily connect it across the B-plus of a radio set or audio amplifier. If the B-plus voltage is say 300 volts, the capacitor will charge to that voltage and retain the charge until it leaks through the dielectric or until the ca- pacitor leads are shorted. Touching the leads of a charged capacitor can cause a startling shock. By connecting four capacitors and four DPDT knife switches as shown in Fig. SA, and by applying 300 volts DC to the circuit, each capacitor can be charged to 300 volts. By throwing all of the switches as shown in Fig. 5B, their charges are then connected in series and the circuit will deliver 1200 volts. When this voltage is connected to a ground in only one position of line-cord plug. in either position of plug in circuit at right. Hot to Ground. The ungrounded chassis of a radio or TV set or amplifier can be hot electrically to the touch. It is not charged in the same sense as a statically charged ob- ject. The chassis is at an AC potential above ground because of line-filter capacitors. If there is only one line-filter capacitor, as shown in Fig. 6A, the chassis can be at ground potential if the AC plug is inserted into an AC outlet so that the grounded side of the AC line is connected to the line filter. But, if the hot side of the line is connected to the line capacitor, the chassis will be at a potential above ground equal to the line voltage. You can get a jolt if you touch the chassis when also touching a grounded object (earth ground) or standing on a damp floor. However, if you connect an incandescent lamp between the chassis and ground, it will not light because of the high reactance of the (Continued on page 32) Exementary ELECrRonresTs SOMEONE SHOULD DEVELOP AN EASY WAY TO LEARN ELECTRONICS AT HOME RCA INSTITUTES DID! RCA introduces new CAREER PROGRAMS, beginning with the student-proved ‘AUTOTEXT” Programmed Instruction Method the faster, easier way to learn. You start to learn the field of your choice immediately. No previous training or ex- perience needed. Pick the career of your choice—and RCA Institutes will do the rest! RCA's new, rev olutionary "Career Programs" help you g0 directly to the career you want! You waste no time learning things you'll never use fon your job! Each Career Program is de signed to get you into the kind of job you want in the fastest, easiest possible way! ‘SEPARATE COURSES In addition, in order to meet specific needs, RCA Institutes offers a wide variety ff separate courses which may be taken independently of the above Career Pro grams, on all subjects from Electronics Fundamentats to Computer Programming. Complete information about these courses will be sent with your other materials. ‘Marcxt-Arett, 1966 CHOOSE A CAREER PROGRAM NOW ‘your first step to the job of your choice! ® Television Servicing. # Telecommunications # FCC License Preparation f= Automation Electronics = Automatic Controls = Digital Techniques f= Industrial Electronics f= Nuciear Instrumentation # Solid State Electronics f Electronics Drafting RCA INSTITUTES BONUS EXTRAS ‘Only RCA Institutes offers you a Libera Tuition Plan, one of the most economical ways to learn, Plus, you get top quality equipment in all kits furnished to you with ‘your courses—yours to keep and use on the job, And now, RCA’s NEW PRO: GRAMMED ELECTRONIC BREADBOARD GIVES YOU LIMITLESS. EXPERIMENTA TION—scientific laboratory procedures right in your own home! You build a works ing signal generator, AM Receiver, Multi- meter, Oscilloscope, and other valuable ‘equipment—ALL AS A PART OF YOUR COURSE! Get the facts today! Classroom Training Also Available. Oay ‘and Evening Classes are available to you Jin New York City at RCA Institutes Resi ent School. You may be admitted with: ‘out any previous technical training: prep ‘courses are availabe if you haven't com- Pleted high school. Coeducational classes start four times a year. ‘SEND ATTACHED POSTCARD TODAY FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION. NO OBLIGA- TION, NO SALESMAN WILL CALL. FREE BOOK INCLUDED. CHECK HOME STUDY (OR CLASSROOM TRAINING. RCA INSTITUTES, inc, oun ‘so west ath St, New York Gy 1OOL8 Cy The Most Trusted Name in Electronics32 ELECTRICAL CHARGES Continued from page 28 capacitor (54,000 ohms for an 0.05 mf ca- pacitor at 60 cps). But when you touch the chassis, your body resistance is so high that the series reactance of the capacitor won't drop the voltage sufficiently to prevent shock. On the other hand, if there are two line capacitors, as shown in Fig. 6B, you can get a shock when you touch the chassis re- gardless of the orientation of the AC plug. But the chassis will be at.a potential of only half the line voltage. Shock can be avoided, whether the set has one or two line capaci- tors, by grounding the chassis. But, never ground the chassis unless the set has a power transformer to isolate the line from the rest of the circuits. These capacitors are alternately charged, discharged, recharged in the opposite polarity and discharged again during each cycle of the AC line voltage. Negative or Positive. Some 200 years ago, Benjamin Franklin assumed that elec- tricity flows from positive to negative. Later it was found that electrons flow from nega- tive to positive. While many still cling to Franklin's theory it now makes sense to as- sume that electrons and current both flow from negative to positive. Electrons, which are negative, are attracted by positively charged objects. Like charges repel each other and unlike charges attract each other. Jons are generated. It is said that every- thing is charged to some electrical potential, even the air we breathe. Scientists have found that people feel better when the air is nega- tively ionized and may become nervous, grouchy or fatigued when the air is positively ionized. Right after a thunderstorm, most people feel exhilarated. It is said that this is because the air has an abundance of negative ions. Air conditioners and electronic precipitators are said to cause the air to be positively nized. Tt may be for this reason that some people don't like air conditioning Air conditioners with built-in negative-ion generators appeared on the market about six years ago. Separate negative-ion generators are also available which are used to heal burns faster, provide comfort to allergy suf- ferers and to pacify nervous people. One type has a sharp needle which is fed a nega- tive DC voltage at several thousand volts. Air is forced past the needle by a fan to blow the negative ions out. Static charges are also a problem in thread mills where lint is produced by static attrac- tion and repulsion. Ion generators have been installed in some plants to offset these static charges. ‘An ion is an atom which has lost elec- trons. More elaborate means for generating positive ions are used in so-called atom smashers than for generating negative ions for conditioning the air, In a cyclotron, posi- tive ions are fed to the center of a large cir- cular chamber and travel around and around in a spiral, within a high intensity electrical RF field and a magnetic field produced by DC electro-magnets. With each orbit the speed of the ions is accelerated. As the ions near the periphery of the chamber, a deflec- tor charged to a high-negative potential di- rects them to a target or portal at the rim of the chamber. The kinetic energy can reach several-million electron volts. Synchrotrons are similar but are used for acceleration of either electrons or positive ions. Linear ac- celerators employ very strong microwave pulses to accelerate charged particles through waveguide and produce energy up to 50- million electron volts. Irradiation. While these devices are used primarily for nuclear research, smaller ra- diation devices are used to process food and chemical products. For example, insulated wire may be irradiated to change its actual chemical composition. Meat may be sub- jected to radiation to make it unnecessary to keep it under refrigeration. When the news about irradiation of meats first came out, it was thought that the freezer business might suffer. However, it is reported that meat and other foods subjected to radiation, while edible, taste different and lose their appeal to many persons. Radiation has been applied to popcorn processing. Cyril C. Miller of Yucca Valley, California, has been awarded a patent for an electronic popcorn machine which pops corn in the bag, to the size of logan berries, in a matter of seconds. Dynamic electric current requires an elec- trical conducting path, such as wire. How- ever, dynamic electricity can also flow through space, such as when an arc or spark is formed—a gas is formed through which the current passes. Sparks produce ozone, a gas which has many industrial uses but which is toxic and considered dangerous to (Continued on page 115) ‘Exementary ELecrronicsFrequency Measurement By Jim Kyle, K5JKX Accurate knowledge of frequency is a help to the experimenter and CB’er—a basic necessity for the Ham @ As you tune through the 31-meter band you pick up a station you've never heard be- fore; it will make your 100th country. But up here your receiver calibration can't be trusted to closer than 100 ke., and for a QSL you have to give almost exact frequency of reception. Or maybe you're chasing DX on the 20- meter ham band. You find a rare one right at the low end of the band and begin to slide your VFO down toward his frequency. Are You going to end up out of the band, with an FCC pink ticket instead of the rare-DX card for your efforts? If you're a CB'er, you may want to know how close to the center of the channel your rig actually is operating. But you don’t want to lay out the cash for a frequency check at the nearest service shop. In all of these cases—and many more— what you need is an accurate way to measure RF frequency. While frequency measure- ment isn’t at all difficult, the techniques and equipment aren't usually found in the aver- age experimenter’s kit of gear. ‘However, you can set up to measure fre- quency with surprising accuracy for less than $15. And if you're willing to lay out from ‘Marcx-Arrit, 1966 $50 to $75, you can make measurements far more precise and accurate than any FCC Tequirement. It’s almost ridiculously sim- ple to make measurements accurate to one cycle per megacycle, or 0.0001 percent; thi is 50 times more precise than the allowable tolerance for Class D CB frequency! Basic Frequency Measurement Methods. Before we get into actual equipment or spe- cific techniques, let's look at the three basic methods used to measure frequency. Most direct of all is simply to count the number of cycles which occur in a given length of time. This gives the frequency di rectly. ‘An example of this, in utmost simplicity, is the way we tell time. It comes down to counting the number of times the sun rises. Every sunrise marks another day; seven sun- rises make a week, and 365 of them make a year (except during Leap Years). We could then say that the “frequency” of days is 365 cycles per year—and the year is actually one of the international standards of frequency. To apply this idea to RF, we must have an extremely rapid counting device, and it must be able’ to count to large numbers. For 33.FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT — © instance, if it could count to one million, and we counted the number of cycles in one second, it would only give us an indication up to 1 megacycle. By reducing the counting period to 1/10 second, though, the same counter would read to 10 megacycles. And by counting for only 1/100 second, we could read up to 100 megacycles. Counters can work in the audio . ranges and provide very excellent results. Tuning an electronic organ with a counter is almost effortless. Counting devices do exist, (Fig. 1) and are widely used in labs. However, they re- quire exceptionally complicated circuitry to be able to count so rapidly, and as a result carry extreme price tags. About the least expensive around costs over $600, and this is a basic unit which requires several expen- sive adapters before it can be used in prac- tice. The counter, then, is not for us. Almost as direct, and equally accurate, is to compare the unknown frequency to a known standard. We tell time in this way, too. Our clocks are “known standards” in that we know they will indicate 24 hours between successive sunrises (after allowing for the daily change in time between sun- rises). To find out the time of day, we sim- ply look at the clock without having to see the sun. 6) PREOSION READ Sint 08 Fig. 1. This block diagram shows typical digital frequency counter operation. “Clock” divides down from precision crystal oscillator (usvally ‘operating at 1 me.) fo provide accurate time intervals trom 1/100,000 second to 10 seconds. ‘Amplifier ond shaper convert the waveshape of the incoming signal fo a standard form to elim- inate error due to waveform. Clock opens gate circuit for precisely timed interval, allowing cycles of incoming signal fo pass through fo counter. Counter circuits actually count number of cycles passing through gate during this infer- vol and display the total on readout tubes, os shown by "27086" in illustration. If interval is 1/1000 second, this means frequency is 27086 sk1 cycles in 1/1000 second, or 27,086,000 £1000 cycles per second (27.086 me. -+1 ke.). Counter’s accuracy is always limited to +1 count in lowest decimal place; the longer the interval the greater the accuracy. If counted for 1/100 second and readout gives 270854, fre- quency would be 27.0854 mc. +100 cps, a fen- fime improvement in measurement accuracy. Fear] | To apply this comparison method to meas uring RF, all we need do is provide an ac- curate standard. The government gives us one in radio station WWV, which broadcasts continuously on a number of “standard” fre- quencies. We can then build a “secondary standard” and “set” it to WWY, and use this secondary standard as a comparison device Q_WWVH OFF 3 MIN. “4 MIN. eat 3M. | JV ceo. stent — MWVH~) ‘wv ww 't_ PROPAGATION Forecast Sy 7 Wii OFF 3 min J-GEOPHYSICAL ALERT, IF ANY, TWICE PER HOUR. PROPAGATION FORECAST, TWICE PER HOUR. 1D-GIVEN IN Mow AND, VOICE; WWVH. 10's ON! BE ANSON eS aS An NN Mocs? ON TRANSMITTING FREQ. NC. wiv [ess [0] 6 [oo |e wwf - ps | o|s |- | — Fig. 2. WWV/WWVH schedule: shown for one hour, is some for every hour. EST is announced in voice during each ID. Seconds are marked by time “fick” except during binary data and ID. Minutes are marked by double ticks while the last (59th second) of each minute is always omitted. 34 Exemenrany Evecrrontcsfor the unknown, WWV also provides audio standards which can be used to spot check the audio calibration. The third method of measuring frequency is to match the unknown with an accurately calibrated known-frequency source. This is the technique a jeweler uses when he de- termines if your watch is running fast or slow, before adjusting it to keep proper time. Applying this technique to RF measure- ment requires only the calibrated source. The instrument most often used as the source is the “heterodyne frequency meter”; this is simply a ruggedly constructed oscillator with calibration considerably more accurate than that of the usual signal generator or ham. VFO. ‘A good frequency meter will cost (new, from the factories) about as much as a counter—but many thousands of them were made during World War II for the armed forces, and are still available on the surplus market at prices ranging from $20 to $100, depending on model and condition. Th makes the frequency meter technique as tractive to the experimenter as the compari son method. Fig. 4. High-precision secondary-standard fre: quency measuring equipment can be purchased commercially af reasonable prices. Typical units of this nature are these from International Crys Marce-Apnit, 1956 evar ‘SURFACE > Fig. 3. Inexpensive 100-kc. secon- dary frequency standard suitable for home construction. See text for codjustment of C1; note that neither side of capacitor C1 is grounded. bor Measuring Frequency by Comparison. ‘The most common, as well as the least costly, technique for measuring RF frequencies is the comparison method. You can build your- self a “secondary frequency standard” for less than $15, and with it you can measure frequencies to within 5 ke. easily throughout the HF spectrum. ‘As mentioned before, the comparison method consists of comparing the unknown frequency to a known standard. The national frequency standard is provided by National Bureau of Standards radio station WWV and WWVH, which broadcast on 2.5, 5, 10, and 15 me. (as well as some other frequencies). At least one of the broadcasts can be re- ceived anywhere in the country, at any time of day. ‘These frequencies are easily identified by the one-second marker “ticks”; most of the time the “ticks” are accompanied by an audio tone of either 440 or 600 cps. See Fig. 2. When you find the signal, you can be sure that it is accurate to within one part in 10,000,000. That's .00001 percent. But the WWV signal alone isn't much good for com- parison, because no other signals operate on fal Mig. Co., Oklahoma City, shown set up for ‘operation in front of author's receiver console. AOM-100X, in right foreground (short chassis) is 100-4e. crystal oscillator. Crystal is contained in thermostat-controlled oven for maximum sto bility: oven is large cylindrical container near center of chassis, between tubes. On panel im- mediately fo leff of left tube of AOM-100X two adjusting shafts can be seen; these are dual fre- quency-zeroing capacitors, corresponding fo C1 in Fig. 3. One sefs rough edjustment, ofher pro- vides "bandspread” slow effective for final 2ero- setting. Long chassis in left Foreground is AOM- 201 frequency divider unit; this tokes output of ‘AOM-100X oscillator and divides if down fo 10- ke, signal to be fed to receiver. In background is ‘AOP-100 power supply which furnishes power for both units. Alternatively, power con be “robbed” from most receivers. In near foreground, ""tun- jing graph” of receiver colibration chort is seen.FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT @/e the internationally-cleared “standard” fre~ quencies. So to make the comparison technique use- ful, you have to have a “secondary frequency standard” which will provide known fre- quencies at much closer spacings than those given by WWV. The most common such standards operate at 100 ke. and they are crystal-controlled. Fig. 3 shows the schematic diagram of a simple 100-kc, crystal standard which you can build. Capacitor C1 is a control which Jets you vary the operating frequency a few hundred cycles either way, so that you can “zero” or set the standard to exact synchro- nization with the WWV signal. If you don't want to build your own stand- ard, you can buy them ready-made from a number of firms. Fig. 4 shows the claborate standard manufactured by International Crystal in their “AOC” line of equipment; also shown here are some other components we'll discuss later. In between the extremes of Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 you can get about any- thing you want. To use the standard, tune in WWV and wait for a “quiet” period when only the time ticks are being transmitted. Then turn on the standard and adjust its zero-set capacitor (C1 in Fig. 3) for an exact zero-beat with the WWV signal. You Can Beat Accuracy. The accuracy of your measurements will depend upon the accuracy with which you make this adjust- ment. Use the highest-frequency WWV sig- nal you can receive, and don’t be satisfied to get merely a beat note so low you cannot hear it. If the WWV signal and the signal from the standard are’ about the same strength, and the WWYV signal is relatively free of fading effects, then as you approach exact zero beat you will find that your re- ceiver’s S-meter begins to fluctuate. Its gyra- tions will be rather rapid at first, and will slow down as you get closer to zero. You can count the number of times per second that the needle swings from a high peak through a low one and back to high, and that will be the number of cycles per second that you're out of sync. It takes only a little patience to get the swing down to one complete fluctuation every two or three seconds, and when this happens your secondary standard is within % cycle of the exact WWV frequency. The percentage accuracy of your standard is then found by dividing the amount of error (34 cps) by the WWV frequency (15,000,000 cps if you use the 15-me. signal). To make it percentage, multiply the result by 100— and you come up with 0.000003 percent accuracy. That's far more than you will be able to use in most cases. Band Spotting. Now that you have an accurate secondary standard (to be sure of its accuracy, recheck it by this technique be- fore every use), what can you do with it? For general use, such as spotting the edges of ham bands or determining the frequency of SW broadcast stations to within 5 kc., you need nothing else. All ham-band edges are even multiples of 100 kc., so you need only tune to the harmonic of your standard which comes in closest to where you think the band edge is located, and you have your limit point. For logging SW stations, use the harmon- ics of the standard to provide accurate c bration for your receiver's bandspread dial. Set the receiver up with the bandspread dial at “0” and using the main bandset knob, tune in the first standard point below the band you're interested in. Now lock the bandset, and tune with only the bandspread. Note the readings for each of the standard harmonics you come across. Your next step is to prepare a “tuning graph” similar to that shown in Fig. 5. This is calibrated from 0 to 100 on its vertical scale (to match the bandspread dial calibra- tions) and in frequency on the horizontal scale. The graph of Fig. 5 is for the 31- meter band and a hypothetical receiver; don’t ° F400 gn 8500 gpgp, 5800 gcsn, 97D oro Fig. 5. Sample tuning graph for calibration of receiver's bandspread dial using 100-ke. ston: dard plotted at the 100 kc. points. Vertical scale is bandspread dial reading, horizontal scale is frequency. Accuracy to 5 ke. or better can be expected even with straight-line calibration os shown in this sample calibration chart. ELEMENTARY ELecrRonrcsBe Me try to ‘use it directly—it’s a sample! Start by putting in a dot where the “0” Of the vertical scale meets the first (9400 ke.) standard-harmonic frequency on the horizontal scale. Move on to 9500 ke., the next standard harmonic, and up to the read- ing at which you tuned it in. Put in another dot. Keep this up until you've gone all the way across the graph. With many receivers, you'll find that the dots lie on a perfectly straight line. If they don't, they will be on a smooth curve which you can match a draftsman’s “french curve” template—but you won't be far off if you simply connect adjacent dots with straight lines anyway. Now, to spot the frequency of an unknown station, set the bandspread at “O” and tune in the 9400-ke. marker with the main dial. Then tune over to the unknown, with the bandspread dial. Look at its reading, and look up the corresponding frequency on the dial. You'll easily be within 5 kc.; usually, much closer. This technique is fine for SWL use, but if you want more precision you'll have to add another piece of equipment to your 100- kc. standard. It's a “frequency divider,” which subdivides the 100-kc. intervals into ten 10-kc. segments. This is the additional item shown in Fig. 4. When the 10-ke. divider is added, your standard known frequencies are spaced at equal 10-kc. intervals throughout the RF spectrum. This means that no signal can be more than 5 ke. away from one of your markers. For instance, if the unknown signal happened to be at 9726.1 kc., it would be 6100 cps above the 9720-kc. marker, but only 3900 cps below the one at 9730 ke. Its Good for €B. You can usé this fact to measure the operating frequencies of CB transmitters to as close accuracy a§ your zero-setting of your standard will permit. Fig. 6 shows the set-up for doing it, and here’s the technique: First locate the approximate frequency of the unknown by counting 100-kc, markers (with the divider turned off) and then 10- ke. markers (with the divider on). This will give you the first digits of the unknown frequency; if you're checking a CB rig you already know what channel it's supposed to be on Next, run the output of the receiver you're using to listen to everything on into a mixer circuit such as that shown in Fig. 7, or into the vertical-input terminals of an oscillo- scope if you have one. Feed the output of an accurately-calibrated audio oscillator which can be varied from around 100 cps up to 5000 cps into the other mixer input, or to the horizontal input of the scope. With the marker, divider, rig under test, and audio oscillator all turned on, adjust the frequency of the audio oscillator while lis- tening for a low-pitched beat tone. If you're using a scope, adjust for a line, ellipse, or circle as shown in Fig. 8. When you find the beat note, adjust for zero beat (same as Fig. 8 if using scope). ‘At zero beat, note the frequency of the audio oscillator. This is the number of cycles per second by which the unknown frequency differs from the nearest standard harmonic. However, you still don’t know whether it is above or below this harmonic. To find out which side of the harmonic the unknown is on, do some more marker- counting. Tune the receiver up to the un- iF 6. High-precision trequency-measuring set- up using comparison method. Receiver picks up signal from transmitter, which beats against harmonic of 10 ke. from divider. Results is two audio tones, one below and the other above § ke. Lower tone, together with variable-frequency tone from AF oscillator, goes fo mixer. AF o:- cillator is turned for 2ero-beat by ear. Frequency at which AF oscillator is set is'number of cycles per second unknown frequency varies from 10-ke. harmonic. Accuracy of this technique is limited only by 100-kc. standard and AF oscillator. on OF “fe = Fig. 7. Simple audio-trequency mixer circuit to allow detection of rer0-beat point. Phones must complete DC path to ground: if louder signal is neoded, tronstormer may be used in place of phones. Connect secondary of transformer to input of ‘high-gain audio amplifier: amplifier must have excellent low-frequency response for listening to frequencies around 10 cycles. ‘Mancu-Aprtt, 1966 37{Ok © vLovT? 4 38 FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT ee known signal, listening for the beat between the unknown and the 10-kc. markers. If, as you tune up, the first beat note you hear is higher in pitch than is the second one, the unknown is below its nearest marker. If the first beat is lower than the second, the un- known is above. In every case you will hear two beats. If both have about the same pitch, then the unknown is almost halfway between the two markers and you can measure both differences; the same rule will apply to de- termine direction. Let’s run through an example to show how it works. You hook things up to measure out a rig that’s supposed to be on Channel 9 (27.065 mc.). We trust the crystal mark- ing to be somewhere near 27.060 me., and between there and the next 10-ke. marker at 27.070 me. The audio oscillator indicates 4600 cps when we have a zero-beat tone. This means that our rig is either 4600 eps. above 27.060 me., at 27.0646, or is 4600 cps below 27.070 me., at 27.0654. Either way, it's only 400 cps away from the chan- nel center, and since we have almost 1300 cps tolerance we can be sure its okay. But to find the exact frequency, we tune our re- ceiver up slowly from around 26 me. As we approach Channel 9, we hear a high-pitched beat note. We keep on tuning, and as we pass over the signal and move away on the other side still going up the note becomes slightly lower in pitch. This means that the rig is operating 4600 cps below 27.070 me., and we know that its exact operating fre- quency is 27.065400 mc.; it's 400 cps high from channel center. With sufficient care in setting the 100-ke. standard, and with an accurate audio oscil- lator and scope-detection of zero-beat, the comparison technique can give lab accuracy without lab expense. However, it does in- volve a certain amount of time and trouble; Fig. 8. Oscilloscope is more sensi- tive indicator of rero-beat than are phones. Diagram shows hookup fo receiver and AF oscillator (Fig. 6). ‘Any of four patterns shown above indicate rero-beat point. If receiver fone and oscillator fone are exactly in phase with each other, or exactly 180 degrees out of phase, straight line will appear (lett). If phase dif- ference is 90 degrees, circle will ap- pear. Other phase relations produce ellipse (dotted, right). Frequency error of as little os 1/10 cycle per second is apparent as slow rotation of the 1:1 Lissajous pattern seen. to get a high-precision reading in a hurry, we must use the frequency-meter approach. Using the Frequency Meter. Unlike the comparison method, the frequency meter will give a virtually instant indication of the un- known frequency. However, for equal ac- curacy the frequency meter usually costs considerably more than the secondary stand- ard, divider, and audio oscillator all put together. The only fact making the frequency-meter technique practical for the average experi- menter is that thousands of high-accuracy frequency meters built during World War II have been dumped on the surplus market, and many of them are still available. The most common models are the Army/Air Force version known as the BC-221, and the Navy equivalent, the LM. These two models are almost identical to each other; the major difference is that the LM includes internal modiilation of its signal, so that it may be used as a signal generator, while most models of the BC-221 do not have this feature. ‘These meters may be purchased for any- where from $20 to $100, depending on the exact model, condition, and presence or ab- sence of the original “calibration book.” The “calibration book” js a tabulated list- ing of dial readings in terms of frequency; each one was prepared individually for its accompanying instrument, and is identified with the instrument's serial number. With- out the book, the dial readings must be con- verted to accurate frequencies by use of the comparison technique—which means, of course, that instruments with their books command a higher price than those without. However, no additional equipment is nec- essary to carry out the calibration—just time. If you're looking for a good instrument at lowest possible cost, and don't mind spending some time getting it, you can save money by Euemenrary ELecrrontcs ygetting a book-less meter. We'll go into the ibration procedure a little later. To use the frequency meter, with the cali- bration book or your own equivalent of it, is simplicity itself. You turn the instrument on and let it warm up. While it does so, you set the dial to the general region of the un- known frequency you're going to measure, and look in the book for the nearest “check point.” These “check points” are dial settings at which the frequency-meter oscillator has a harmonic which should be at exactly 1 mega- cycle. The instrument has a bui I-me. standard oscillator, so at the check points you should find the frequency meter and its standard zero-beat with each other. If, instead, you hear an audio tone, adjust the “corrector” knob for exact zero-beat. This provides a fine adjustment of frequency- meter calibration. Now, tune the frequency meter until you hear its signal beating with that of the un- known signal, in the receiver. Adjust the meter for exact zero beat, and read the me- ter's dial. Look up the corresponding dial reading in the calibration book, and read off the fre- quency. That's all there is to it. ‘These frequency meters use a dual-range oscillator; on the “low” range it operates from 125 ke. to 250 ke., and on the “high” range it ranges from 2 to 4 mc. When meas- uring frequencies from 125 ke. to 2 me., the “low” range is used; above that, the “high” range. Obviously, when measuring a fre- quency in the neighborhood of 10 me., you're using a harmonic of the high-range oscilla tor. Because of this use of harmonics, the rated accuracy of either the BC-221 or the LM is only 0.05 percent. For many uses this is good enough, but for many more it won't do. Fortunately, with a slight modi- fication of the instrument, the accuracy can be improved to be comparable with either of the other techniques. Here’s how to do it, and now to use it: We've already mentioned that the fre- quency meter has built into it a 1-me. stand- ard oscillator, for providing check points. It also contains a mixer circuit which mixes the output of this oscillator with that of the calibrated oscillator, so that the check-point beat note can be heard. Normally, when the controls are set to hear the check point, no external signal can be fed in, nor can the mixture of standard- Marcu-Arrit, 1966 HOMME MIXER OUT JACK (ADDED) S5MH REF, CHOKE Fig. 9. Modification of most models of BC-221 for high-precision frequency measurement. Tube involved may be either 6A7, 6K8, or 7B8, de- pending upon model of BC-221. Lead to plate ppin is removed and RF choke inserted in series, then 100-mmt capacitor run from plate pin 10 ‘odded output jack. For highprecision, use new jack. Set controls in the same manner as for crystal calibration during oll measurements. oscillator signal and frequency-meter signal be routed to the outside of the case for use. That’s the purpose of the modification. Fig. 9 shows how it’s done on most models of BC-221, while Fig. 10 shows the changes necessary on the LM. Fig. 11 shows the au- thor’s LM, after the modification. With this change, we are no longer re- stricted to using the instrument as previously described. The signal appearing at the out- put connector may be a harmonic of the basic oscillator, as previously described, but it also may .be either a harmonic of the standard oscillator, the sum or difference of any harmonic of the standard oscillator and the calibrated oscillator, or the sum or differ- ence of the standard oscillator and any har- monic of the calibrated oscillator as well. CRYSTAL BREAK THIS LEAD aF covbtins Fig, 10. Modification of LM frequency meter for high precision is much simpler. Diagram shows wiring on back of crystal on-off switch. Remove wire connected to center contact on side of switch away from side of case ("OFF” contact ‘on other side has no connection) and connect this wire to "OFF" contact on same side, No other wiring changes are necessary in circuit. 39FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT This may sound as if it would lead to un- mitigated confusion in a hurry, but it doesn't. First, you determine the approximate fre- quency of the unknown signal in the ordi- nary way. Then you switch the frequency- meter controls over to crystal calibrate, turn- ing on the internal standard, and set the basic oscillator to its “low” band. Since the internal crystal oscillator op- erates at 1 me. and has strong harmonics throughout the RF spectrum, you have known markers every megacycle. The un- known frequency cannot be more than 500 ke. away from one of these markers, in the same manner that the comparison technique locates the unknown within 5 ke. of its markers. On the “low” range, the frequency-meter oscillator operates from 125 to 250 ke. The second harmonic of this range covers from 250 to 500 ke., and so we can reach almost any unknown signal with only the second harmonic of the frequency meter. How- ever, if the unknown is less than 125 kc away from the nearest marker we must move to the 4th harmonic to get the range 875 Fig. 11. Author's LM-10 froquency meter set up for use. Clip lead on "R.F. CPLG.” post connects to receiver antenna terminals. Calibration book is visible under headphone cord. When used ot described in text, LM and BC-221 series is easily accurate enough to measure operating frequen- cies of Citizens Band transceivers. Accuracy b ter than :+15 cps at 17 me. is simple to attai This unit has been modified as described: only external sign of change is hole visible on side, towards rear. If you'd like on LM-10 of similar unit, write. John Meshno, Jr., of 21 Allerton ‘St, Lynn, Mass. You'll get prices ‘end availebility information by return mail. to 1000 ke., and measure from the other marker. ‘At the fundamental frequencies of the “low” range, the frequency meter is cali- brated every 100 cps; even at the 4th har- monic, the calibration steps listed in the book are only 400 cps apart. This means that we can attain 400-cycle accuracy at radio fre~ quencies as high as 30 me. ‘When the frequency meter is used in this manner, a number of beat notes will be heard as the meter is tuned through its range. Most of these will tune rapidly, from high to low and back to high. They should be ignored during the measurement. The proper beat note will tune very slowly when it is reached, and may take a full revolution of the meter dial to go through the zero-beat point. ‘The basic limits to the accuracy of this method of measuring frequency are two: one is the accuracy with which the 1-mc. stand- ard is set to match WWV, and the other is the mechanical accuracy of setting and cali brating the frequency meter. The frequency meter may be assumed to have a maximum error of less than 500 cycles per second, on its low band (according to the original technical manual on this equipment), which is more than enough ac- curacy for virtually all experimenter pur- poses. The internal standard may be set to WWV with an adjusting capacitor, built into the unit, in the same way that the comparison 100-ke. standard is zeroed. You will proba- bly find it convenient to drill a hole in the case opposite the shaft of this capacitor, so that the adjustment may be checked often. ‘There is no question as to the frequency when this measurement technique is used. The first rough measurement gives you the frequency accurate to within 0.05 percent; the second, precise measurement simply re- fines the percentage to 0.001 or better. No calculations concerning “which side of the marker” are needed. Calibration. Earlier, we said you could calibrate a frequency meter of this type with- out external equipment, even without the calibration book. It's time to see how this can be done. The technique makes use of those many closely-spaced beat notes we said to ignore previously. Each one of these “tweets” ‘marks a point at which some harmonic of the frequency-meter oscillator is beating with some harmonic of the 1-me. standard. This (Continued on page 113) Euementary EvecrronicsSS JARS = — es IW AT’°\0). >Haeptw"“WCS SS WA ‘Marcet-Apnm, 1966 All About Tape Bias By Herbert Friedman Don’t hang your old recorder the closet because it sounds so sad—change bias? For many years one of the clas recorder specifications has been bias fre- quency. Virtually every recorder manufac- turer has a spec: one claims a bias frequency of 65 kc, another might claim 85 ke, and some get even more impressive by claiming their recorders use ultrasonic bias. Such specs might be meaningful if the bias frequency was the sole factor. Actually, within the pres- ent state-of-the-art, the bias frequency is a totally meaningless and valueless specifica- tio: Bias Current. Foremost, it is the bias current which is important—and it is impor- tant whether the bias current, of a recorder, can be adjusted by the user. Few recorders, other than professional models, have user determined bias adjustments. The reason bias current is so important is because it’s the Key to the recorder’s characteristics. It has great effect on distortion, output level, to some degree frequency response, and most important—which tape will record best. The recording characteristic of magnetic tape isn’t linear. It is severely distorted at dead center—the unmagnetized state. Fig. 1 shows a typical transfer curve. Note the severé distortion which turns the sine-wave input signal into a complex waveform. If the audio-signal level is low it can be cen- tered on either of the two linear sections, as shown in Fig. 2, with a DC voltage and there would be no need for an AC bias. While this method is used in some inexpen- sive recorders, not using the full curve re- ‘a much lower output and that, in 41On some budget model recorders, bias current is changed by varying either @ resistor or capacitor. turn, gives a poor signal-to-noise ratio (among other ills). To obtain a high-level output it is neces- sary to utilize the full curve. The bias cur- rent fills in the distorted section of the curve to obtain the full fidelity we now expect from the modern tape recorder and playback com- bination. How Bias Works. Fig. 3 shows the effect of bias. Through the recording hgad (or in the recording magnetic field) an ultrasonic frequency is added to eliminate the distorted section (the dead zone of no magnetism) of the curve: the total input signal becomes the bias with the superimposed audio. As shown, the output-signal waveform does not resem- ble the input-signal waveform because of the distorted curve and the addition of the ultra- sonic frequency bias. When the bias frequen- cy is stripped away the resulting audio signal is undistorted. Essentially, the bias conditions the tape. In the course of conditioning the tape it de- termines the output level, distortion, frequen- cy response and a few minor characteristic: Output Level and Distortion. Since out- put level and distortion go hand in hand let's start with them. Magnetic oxides aren't al- ways identical. If they were, all tapes would reproduce exactly the same—and they don’t. But tape is constantly being improved; for example, the Scotch-brand 111 tape that you buy today does not have the same character- istics as the Scotch 111 you bought ten years back (this applies to all brands of recording tape). Perhaps the greatest difference lies in the output level and distortion in relation to the bias current. Fig. 4 shows the bias current vs. output level and distortion curves for three high- quality tapes manufactured over a ten-year period. (The curves also show the improve- ment made in recording tape, since curves A and B are of the same brand. Today all three tapes have almost identical curves. As the bias current is increased the audio- output level, for a fixed audio-input level, rises sharply—and the distortion decreases sharply. When the bias current is increased a little more the audio-output peaks level off then decrease gradually, as the bias cur- rent is increased still more. Keep in mind that other tape characteris- tics, such as frequency response, follow the bias curve in that they are optimum at the tape peak-output level. Note also, that the distortion represented by tape C (a modern tape) just about levels off at the output peak and remains more or less constant. Based on Fig. 4, it would be logical to state that bias current should be set to pro- vide maximum tape output. But precisely what is maximum? Even if you standardized on one brand of tape, manufacturing changes occur in the oxide coatings (and improve- ments are also made) and what is optimum when using last year’s tape might result in poor performance with this year’s tape. Now, what happens if you use different brands, or different quality tapes? Recording Quality. For example, as- sume you are now using a tape with charac- teristic C—but your recorder bias was set, years ago, to provide optimum bias (right on the peak) for a tape with characteristic A (Fig. 4). Without thinking, you splice in a section of tape from an old roll, one with A’s characteristic, into a roll of C-type tape. ‘Exmmentary ELEcTRoNtcsThen you forget about it. A week or so later, you use the roll to make a new recording ‘Now what happens? To begin with, since the bias is set for A-type tape the C-type tape is biased to the left of the peak (Fig. 4)— the high-distortion side—so your new record- ing is not quite as clean as the old ones (you might think it’s time for a new recorder but there’s nothing wrong with the recorder that a bias readjustment won't cure). Now back to the roll of tape with the A-C splicing. First note that there is a 4-db difference between the output from A-type tape and the C-type tape; at the splice there will be a sudden 4-db change in output. Should a sustained note be recorded across the splice the effect would be disastrous. What To Do? The easy answer is to stand- ardize. All you have to do is buy a life-time supply of tape when you buy your recorder. But most of us buy tape when we need it—a few reels every few months. The average tape library contains a conglomeration of brands, bought over a period of many years. The best bet is to make your own tests; every year or so; whenever you buy a new batch of tapes or, if you are real fussy—just before making those extra-special recordings. (See Tape Testing Made Easy, June-July, 1965 issue of Rabio-TV ExperiMENTer for de- tails on tests to determine proper bias. Average Bias. You can start now! Take all your tapes (or a sampling from each pur- chase, each manufacturer, each year) and make the bias tests. You'll wind up with a set of curves similar to those in Fig. 4. There will be some bias setting where most tape curves intersect. (If they don’t intersect they should be quite close.) The intersections will always be on the right—the low-distortion side—of peak tape output. Set the bias cur- rent—no matter what the frequency—to the bias indicated (straight down from the inter- sect point) by the group of curves you made while testing your tapes. By setting the bias current to the average value most of the tapes will be within 1 db of each other. (Re- member, it is possible for bargain tapes to vary more than that from one end of the tape to the other.) Changes in frequency re- sponse are generally not as noticeable as se~ vere changes in tape output level. High-Output (HO) Tape: This is a ‘MarcH-Apaut, 1966 OUTPUT SIGNAL INPUT SIGNAL. Fig. 1. Typical tape transfer curve shows distor- fion in the cenfer that disforts sine wave input. oxive RESPONSE, ws ns wenn | ZL ‘SIGNAL LEVEL OUTPUT SIGNAL. INPUT SIGNAL, Fig. 2. Distortion can be overcome by using low’ Joudio signal but then oufput will be similarly low. € NON UNEAR = RESULTANT aS. ‘SIGNAL NO NoT AUDIBLE DISTORTION Fig. 3. When ultrasonic sine wave bias is used, it fallows audio signal to “ride” linear part of curve.The bias of this RCA recording amplifier, and other good machines, can be adjusted using coil or pot. Fig. 4. The curves below show the output and dis- fortion characteristics for three different topes. 4 oureuT + +00 RELATIVE BIAS CURRENT => ‘% DISTORTION & RELATIVE BIAS CURRENT => HGH OUTPUT. TAPE (HO) AVERAGED GENERAL PURPOSE TAPE RELATIVE OUTPUT => RELATIVE BIAS CURRENT => Fig. §. HO tope hos 0 relatively broad peak. If can deliver greater output than general purpose tope. class by itself, you cannot use an averaged bias adjustment. As shown in Fig. 5, HO tape produces 4 to 5 db more output, for the same input level used for standard tape. Since HO tape can also handle a 2 or 3 db higher signal input (for a given percentage of dis- tortion) a typical recorder can realize 6 to 7 db increase in signal-to-noise ratio as well as dynamic range. Both characteristics are im- portant. HO tape can improve the noise factor of a just-marginal recorder and it also allows a greater dynamic range in music recording. But the recorder bias must be specifically adjusted for HO tape to realize all its potential—it cannot be averaged. Frequency Response. The bias current also has great effect on frequency response. While many recorder characteristics deter- mine the frequency response improper bias adjustment can place high-frequency losses beyond the compensation range of the high- frequency equalization circuits. Let us take, for example, a well-known recorder, which did not have suflicient equalization to com- pensate for the bias-caused loss of high- frequency response. The manufacturer of this recorder specified a bias adjustment that was actually to the left of the peak output (Continued on page 115) Exementary ELscrronicsEncoders and decoders have taken the CB band out of the category of a maddening party line and put an end to the fatigue of listening for your call Ry Len Buckwalter, KBA4480 M Adding selective call to a CB rig is like putting on a pair of electronic ear muffs. The chit-chat, hullabaloo and assorted traffic on your channel suddenly grow quiet. There's blissful silence until—clank!—the set opens up and accepts a call. Is it from some crony trying to gas about a new antenna? . . . or a neighbor wanting to borrow a tool? It’s neither. Only a signal bearing the “secret” code triggers open your receiver. That’s the neat trick pulled off by selective call. First it decides if an incoming signal is from a unit in your system, then it lets you know about it, And just in case you want to restore nor- mal operation, flick a switch and the set will take all comers. Selective call is proving a boon to serious CB operators. Take a business office where CB is used to dispatch delivery trucks. Dur- ing long hours of mon- itoring the formal at- mosphere might be shattered by “Hey, Looie, that’s a big fat 10-4 and gimme a run- Marcu-Aerit, 1966 signals. down on your rig.” With selective call the set stays locked tight. It also works the other way. Ifa dispatcher wants to alert only certain mo- bile units in the field, selective call can do that too. The Tone That Counts. All CB selective call systems today are based on tone signal- ling. ‘The idea is simply this: When one unit wishes to contact another station within his system, the operator presses a call button on his transceiver. This automatically transmits an audio tone over the air. At the receiving end the tone is picked up like any other sig- nal on the channel. The receiver circuits, however, are wired with a sharp filter tuned only to the correct tone; all other incoming voice, static, other tones—are re- jected. After the tone is selected, it can be used to turn on the speaker, sound a horn, or light an indicator Iamp. The point is that no other incom- ing signal can trigger or open, the receiver without a tone “key.” Amphenol Model 524 CB Selective Call Unit 45. @ @ CB SELECTIVE CALL Not So Easy. Theory is one thing, prac- tice is another. For any selective call system to work effectively, it must overcome a raft of technical obstacles. The hairiest one is what engineers call “falsing.” It means the receiver trips open for signals other than the correct tone. Let's say the tone is on 2000 cps, a respectable frequency that lies some- where in the upper ranges of the human voice. If someone gets on your channel and says “She sells sea shells . . .” chances he'll fire off your rig with those ‘'s” sounds. They contain strong harmonics that hover around 2000 cps. What's more, atmospheric noise, static crashes or heterodynes on a crowded channel can upset a simple system. Trouble is there are plenty of ways for a simple sys- tem to be confused. A look at actual circuits reveals that de- signers have come up with neat tricks to over- come the falsing problem. They also take care of problems like duplicate codes— where separate systems in one area might in- terfere with each other—and tone accuracy which keeps transmitter and receiver on the nose despite frequency drifting. An Electronic Harmonica. The heart of most CB selective call systems is the resonant reed relay (Fig. 1). Ina way it resembles an old-fashioned harmonica; there are thin fin- gers of metal, called reeds, which vibrate at audio frequencies. And like the harmonica, frequency depends on the physical size of the reed. Here the similarity ends. Your breath (air pressure) is used to set a harmonica reed Fig. 1. Drawing shows construction of a typical resonant reed relay. The coil below the reeds is ‘energized by the incoming audio signal. If the audio signal produces the same fone as the natural fre- quency of the reed, the reed vibrates strongly and strikes the electrical contact just above if. The system is extremely accurate due to low drift ‘and precise frequency to which metal reeds respond. vibrating, but the resonant reed relay requires an electromagnetic pull to set it in motion. The magnetic pull is provided by an incom- ing signal. To illustrate the basic action, a I-reed re~ lay is shown in Fig. 2. Note there is a relay coil with a metal reed just above it. On top is positioned an upper contact, Let's assume the reed is physically sized so it naturally so. [rt coer wee RELAY Coll ‘AUDIO SIGNALS FROM. RECEIVER Fig. 2. The basic operation of the resonant reed relay—heart of most selective call systems— is illustrated here. The metal reed is brought to vibration by an audio signal that corresponds in Frequency to the resonant frequency of the reed. vibrates at 200 cps when plucked like a tun- ing fork. The plucking action is accom- plished magnetically by the relay coil which receives audio signals normally intended for the speaker. But as these signal currents en- ter the coil they do not convert to sound, as in the speaker, but into corresponding mag- netic fields, This energy represents anything that happens to be received on the channel— voice, static, tone. These fields commence to tug at the reed. But not until the right tone frequency comes along, does the reed really start to swing. A magnetic field at 200 cps (originating from the calling station) kicks the reed into its natural resonant frequency and resulting motion is so great that it bumps repeatedly against the upper contact. This raw switching action, as shown in a moment, is used to switch on the speaker. The distant station has now “awakened” the receiver. A simplified schematic of the system, which is termed a decoder, is in Fig. 3. All incoming signals are fed through an audio amplifier stage and the relay coil energized. Note that there are now four resonant reeds instead of only one as shown in Fig. 2. With additional reeds on different frequencies, the user may change the tone code if it happens to coincide with another call system in his area. (Changing the code is generally done by sliding plastic tubes over unused reeds to keep them inactive.) eturning to Circuit Action: Upon re- ceiving the desired 200 cps tone, the reed vi- Exementary Execteonics eaeFig. 3. Simplified schematic diagram shows operation brates and proceeds to strike its fixed, or upper, contact. - Also note that every time a strike is made, the reed momentarily con- nects to a source of positive voltage—the B-plus, This voltage is now transferred to a charging capacitor located in the next stage. The capacitor’s job: to smooth out the volt- age interruptions from the vibrating reed. The capacitor stores these positive pulses and provides a steady bias voltage to trigger the relay control tube. This tube, in turn, closes a relay that completes the speaker circuit. Additional contacts on the same relay may operate an indicator light or starts a time~ delay action which holds the speaker on for a number of seconds. If no one answers the incoming call, the circuit automatically re- turns to standby (speaker disconnected), waiting for the next call. Encoding Signals. A remarkably simple circuit (Fig. 4), using the same reed relay, can transmit the calling tone. The encoder has neither tubes nor transistors. When an operator wants to alert his outlying station, he presses the call button, This is just a switch which connects a source of B-plus Hallicrafter HA-12 encoder uses 2-fone system vith teed reloy; encoder-decoder combo is available too. ‘Marcu-Arrnt, 1966 ‘SPKR VIBRATING REED (200 CPS) E| Aubio, OUTPUT ‘TRANSFORMER of a decoder that employs a resonant reed relay. voltage (about 200 VDC) to a charging ca- pacitor. As the capacitor charges, it sends a surge of current into the reed-relay coil. The signal is not a specific frequency, just a strong transient that twangs the reeds by magnetic pull, (The three other reeds are inactive.) But since the capacitor is operating from a source of DC, it rapidly charges to its full capacity and passes no further current to the = Fig, 4. Schematic diagram of encoder shows how cir- cuit generates audio tone burst of 200 cycles/sec. coil. As the magnetic pull ceases, the reed springs back toward its rest position, over shoots it, and continues to vibrate, mechani- cally (at 200 eps), for another moment. This motion induces a voltage in the relay coil, actually an audio signal of 200 cps. The sig- nal is passed to an audio stage in the trans- mitter and the call tone goes out over the air. The events occur so fast—approximately 2 second—that the signal may be termed a tone burst. Room For Improvement. The system just described has significant advantages. For ‘one, a reed relay (like a tuning fork) pro- vides extremely accurate and stable audio tones; there is little chance for frequency error between the two stations even with a@ @ CB SELECTIVE CALL changing conditions of temperature and volt- age (especially in mobile rigs). Also, the same reed relay is used for both encode and decode operations. The falsing problem, however, plagues any 1-tone system. As mentioned earlier, a num- ber of other signals, including the human voice, can trick the decoder into tripping open the receiver. The solution has been widespread use of 2- and 3-tone selective call systems, By transmitting more than one tone, the possibility of the circuits being tripped open by random interference is greatly re- duced. ‘The two approaches now in use are simultaneous and sequential. In the first, tones are sent at the same time; while the latter system strings them out in sequence. Another benefit of a multiple-tone system is that the number of coding possibilities is greatly increased. Two-Tone Burst System. Let’s consider VIBRA- FORK RESONANT REED RELAY Won2390 KI PLOT LAMP REGULATOR SPKR VOLUME 20 ci an actual circuit that typifies the kind of se- lective call system now popular among CB manufacturers. It is the Lafayette “Priva- Com,” which can be attached to most trans- ceivers. It combines both encoder and de- coder within one case and much of the cit-, cuitry is shared between the two functions. ‘The complete schematic is shown in Fig. 5. In operation it transmits two audio tones si- multaneously. Let's consider certain high- lights of the circuit's operation. At the top left of the schematic in Fig. 4 is the 4-reed resonant relay. When the instru- ment is first set up, two tones are selected; the other reeds are made inactive by plastic tubing. As the call button (S1) is depressed a surge of B-plus voltage is applied to the coil of the resonant reed relay at the top left of the schematic. In the same manner de- scribed for Fig. 4, the active reeds (1 and 4) are plucked into vibration. They induce audio voltages in the coil winding and this energy is used to modulate the transmitter with the desired 2-tone code. During receive, the two incoming audio tones are fed to the coil winding where they Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of Lafayette's Priva-Com encoder-decoder; leads at right terminate in plug. Exementary ELscrronicsproceed to vibrate reeds 1 and 4. This action applies B-plus voltage to a storage-type cir- cuit consisting of resistors R1, R3 and ca- pacitor Cl. The same action occurs in a sec ‘ond storage circuit formed by R2 and C2. The circuit is wired so that voltages from both storage circuits add. The total voltage is then applied to the coil of relay K1 and it pulls in. (Note that this only occurs when the correct two reeds vibrate simultaneously. Otherwise, the required total voltage is not attained, It is highly unlikely that random noise or heterodynes could produce two pre- cisely correct tones at the same time.) Con- tacts on the relay close the speaker circuit and illuminate a neon call lamp on the unit's front panel. A protective feature of the circuit is the use of a pilot lamp (L1) as a regulator, seen at the lower left of the schematic. Any sud- den or excessive audio peaks or noise tend to be limited by heating action in the bulb. Various tone combinations with this sys- tem are shown Table 1. With four reeds the user may select various pairs for code possibilities. Six other combinations are possible with another reed relay using four other tone frequencies. Thus the system is flexible enough to provide a large number of codes and prevent possible duplication within a given region. 3-Tone Sequential. Another selective call system that has appeared in CB utilizes the more sophisticated 3-tone system. The tones are strung out in a row. It would be highly unlikely for interference to present three precisely correct tones—let alone gen- erate them in proper sequence. The simpli- fied operating principle of one system is shown in Fig. 6. wer TIMER-OPERATED CALL SWITCH AUXILIARY COILS, AUDIO ‘ur Fig. 6. Simplified schematic diagram shows operat- ing principle of @ threo-tone sequential system. Manci-Apen, 1966 Johnson Tone-Alert a one-fone system with plug-in choice of 37 tones, mounts on side of transceiver. The ability to string out three tones, one following the other, is done by a mechanical arrangement of the call switch. When the operator depresses the lever, it does not snap back instantly. Rather, it slowly rides back to the rest position under control of a wind- up spring system—something like a kitchen timer. It takes about three seconds to return. During this period, the wiper on the call switch moves over the three switch contacts in succession. There is another difference between this system and those described earlier. Note ry coils L1, L2 and L3. Their sole pur- pose is to “pluck” the reeds, magnetically, as the call switch feeds a pulse of B-plus voltage to each one in turn. (You may recall Reed Frequencies, CPS Reed1 Reed2 Reed3 Reed 4 Codes 266.0 296.5 330.5 368.5 4950 @ @ CB SELECTIVE CALL that the pulse in the simultaneous system is applied directly to the reed relay coil. This is not practical where the tones must be spread out in time.) As each reed vibrates at its natural frequency, it induces a corre- sponding voltage in the reed relay coil, as be- fore. The tones are applied to the transmitter and the encode, or call, function is com- pleted. How the same system decodes, or receives the signal is shown in Fig. 7. During this r nen rey Be Ime) ee] oo = er WGIC_ GATE, Jew a 8nd] Fig. 7. The three-tone decoder uses logic-type AND gate fo sum up correct tones and operate the relay. phase of operation, the auxiliary coils are not used. Incoming tones are applied directly to the reed relay coil which magnetically vi- brates the reeds when the incoming code is correct. The designers of this system use some computer circuitry technology to de- cide whether incoming tones are correct. It is a logic circuit known as the and gate. It is nothing more than a two-transistor circuit which can tell whether it has received tone 1 and tone 2 and tone 3. The actual circuit is a rather complex arrangement of resistors and capacitors which charge and discharge ac- cording to the incoming tone voltages. Only when the audio contains correct frequencies, in the correct sequence will the various voltages add. The result forward biases the transistors to produce an output current flow. This operates the relay which controls the speaker or other desired function. 7 Installing a System. Many CB manu- facturers, aware of the value of selective call- ing, now offer these units as accessories to their transceivers. They anticipate its instal- lation by making provision for it. Usually there is a plug on the rear of the chassis which is simply removed. An identical plug from the selective call device plugs directly into the chassis socket and the system is ready to operate. No actual wiring required. In other instances the device must be con- nected to the transceiver with a modification kit. This occurs when the rig is not already equipped with a pre-wired socket. Here the manufacturer provides wiring. instructions and necessary hardware for converting the rig for selective call. Frequently the manu- facturer provides detailed instructions for adding his system to transceivers of other makes, Operating Selective Call. All, systems now on the market are operated in similar fashion. There is generally a switch marked Standby, Normal and Call. When the switch is on Normal, the transceiver functions as if the selective call system had not been in- stalled. But set the switch to Standby and transceiver responds only to properly coded signals. The speaker is automatically trig- gered open and the calling station has an opportunity to speak. Alternatively, a call indicator may light to show that a call is being received. If you wish to transmit a selective call to other stations in your system, it is necessary to observe FCC regulations. Just before pressing the call button, it is necessary to monitor the channel (switch on Normal). (You must be sure that the channel is clear and you're not interfering with other stations occupying the channel.) If nothing is heard, the call button is depressed. Of course, in- stalling any selective call system doesn’t pre- vent other stations from eavesdropping on your transmissions. That is unless they, too, are equipped with selective call to silence your signals on the channels. . The Heathkit GW-42 is an exam- ple of a Citizens Band transceiver with @ selective call built in as original equipment. The operator can select one of four tones with the front panel contro! knob. One switch position permits simultane- fous monitoring of al! four fone frequencies in the receive mode. ELEMEntary ELECTRONICSToo loud is as bad as too weak. Audio signals must be controlled to be of use at the listener’s end. Controlling = Audio Volume ........... ™@ The volume control, next to the TV.chan- nel selector, is the most widely used voting device. It enables the ladies to lower the sound level to a whisper and lets you bring Leonard Bernstein right into the living room. The tone controls, too, let us vote. You can make the bass rattle the house and the cym- bals and bells crack the glassware. The tone controls enable you to make music sound almost live, or what you think it should sound like. In fact, tone controls have conditioned us to new sounds, as evidenced by the com- ments of a patron at the Warfield Theater (in San Francisco) a few years ago, who was overheard saying, “Sounds tinny, doesn’t it as she listened to the superb music of Walt Roesner’s live orchestra in the pit. Because ‘of tone controls, many have forgotten what live music sounds like. Early phonographs had no volume con- trols or tone controls. You merely turned it on and the music went ‘round and ‘round and came out the horn. The first phonograph vol- ume control was a venetian-blind type shut- ter in front of the horn which reduced the volume by muffling the sound. When elec~ Marcu-Aprit, 1966 tronic phonographs became available, a pot (potentiometer) took the place of the shutter. Since then, the volume control has become more sophisticated. We have loudness con- trols, level controls and gain controls. We also have treble controls, bass controls and balance controls. Volume Control. The most simple volume control of an amplifier, radio or TV set is just a potentiometer connected as shown in Fig. 1. It functions as a voltage divider ahead of the audio amplifier. Potentiometers used as audio volume controls have a resist- ance element which is not linear since voltage and loudness are not directly proportional. There is a small increase in resistance at the beginning of the clockwise shaft rotation and a faster increase in resistance toward the other end. This taper is known as audio taper or left-hand logarithmic. If a linear pot is uséd as a volume control, the change in vol- ume, as far as the ear is concerned, would not be gradual. A linear pot would provide a linear increase or decrease in signal volt- age. An audio-taper pot provides a linear in- crease or decrease in loudness which is loga- 5L@ @ CONTROLLING AUDIO VOLUME rithmic and is expressed in decibels (db). (See Fig. 2) A volume control is often called a gain control. It is actually an input level control when it is at the input of an amplifier (as in Fig. 1). It is also a gain control since it is used to change the gain (amount of amplifi- cation) between the input and the output of the amplifier. Level Control. A device between the audio signal source and the amplifier input terminals, with which the level of the signal applied to the amplifier can be controlled, is a true level control and is often called a vol- ume control. But, it is not a gain control since it does not affect the gain between the input and output terminals of the amplifier. The standard volume control circuit (Fig. 1) is usually at the input of the first stage of the amplifier. However, in some amplifiers it is connected between a preamplifier stage and a voltage amplifier stage, as in Fig. 3. It controls the gain through the stages behind it, but the gain of the preamplifier stage is not affected. Bias Control. The actual gain of an audio stage can be controlled by varying the nega- tive bias on the grid of a remote-cutoff tube as shown in Fig. 4. (In this and other circuits a battery is shown for simplicity but the volt- age source can be a rectifier or a voltage di- vider.) In Fig. 4 the gain of the tube is reduced by increasing the negative bias on its grid, and vice versa. This will work only when the tube has remote cut-off character istics. A sharp cut-off tube would just cause distortion since it would start functioning as a plate detector when the bias is increased close to, or beyond, cut-off. Indirect Gain Control. The gain of an amplifier stage can also be varied by control- ling the electron stream as shown in Fig. 5. Here, a pentagrid tube is used. The audio signal is fed into its injection grid (#3) and gain is controlled by varying the bias on its control grid (#1). Making the voltage ap- plied to this grid-more negative reduces the flow of electrons from the cathode to the plate and thus reduces the gain of the tube. When a sharp cut-off pentode or tetrode tube is used, its gain can be controlled by varying its screen voltage as shown in Fig. 6. When a gated beam tube (6BN6, etc.) is Fig. 1. Simple circuit controls volume or gain. 0 %% RESISTANCE oo 4 6 6 100 ROTATION - LEFT TO RIGHT Fig. 2. Audio taper-l; reverse-2; linear-3. Some six tapers are available for special purposes. oureur PREAMPLIFIER VOLTAGE AMPLIFIER Fig. 3. Control between stages of amplifier. wneur —>— Exemenrary ELecrronicsFig. 5. Bias control with multielement tube. our 2 Fig. 6. Screen voltage changes pentode gain. Fig. 7. Suppressor is control grid with low B-plus. gureur TRANSFORMER J cog pica mg nt ‘MarcH-Apnit, 1966 used (Fig. 7), the signal can be fed into the quadrature grid (#3) and the gain con- trolled by varying the DC voltage applied to the control grid (# 1). Here, maximum gain is obtained by making grid #1 slightly posi- tive. Making the grid more negative reduces the gain. The tube will cut off completely if grid #1 is made more than two volts or so negative. In all of the above examples, a potentiom- eter is used as a voltage di audio signal path or in a DC supply circuit. A potentiometer cambe used at the output of an amplifier, instead of the input, as shown in Fig. 8 to control the level of the signal being fed to a speaker. In dual-speaker auto- mobile radio installations which have a speaker under the dash and another at the rear window, a potentiometer is often used to apply audio to both speakers simultaneously or to only one, using a circuit like the one in Fig. 9. A fader is a potentiometer at the input of an amplifier which enables controlling the signal level from either of two audio signal sources, but not both at the same time. Faders are commonly used in theatre sound systems for switching over from one sound projector to the other smoothly, without a click. Potentiometers are also used in multi- input audio amplifiers, one for master con- trol, as shown in Fig. 10. The level of each input channel can be controlled individually, making it possible to mix the signals. The evel of the combined input signals can be controlled by the master control. Attenuator Pads. So far, we have di cussed only potentiometers as a voltage di- vider for controlling signal level or ampli- fier gain. In broadcasting stations and. in high grade public address systems, variable attenuators are commonly used for controll- ing the level of audio signals. The most well- known types of attenuators are the L-pad, T-pad and the H-pad. The specially-con- structed tap switches employing precision fixed resistors (used in broadcasting) are expensive, but inexpensive L-pqds and T-pads are available. These are inexpensive ganged potentiometers. ‘An L-pad is two potentiometers with their rotors ganged and driven by the same shaft.AUDIO. AUDIO OUTPUT TREN EORMER TRANSFORMER ¢ HK Si IE CONTROL ouTPUT 7D so Aine i | i | po : [ior | preaw || LS | a! id i-— -—> | Fig. 13. (above) T-pad is needed when the dis- AUDIO OUTPUT tance between units become greater and line VANSFORMER impedance hos more effect on frequency re- | sponse due to capacitive losses in line. TPAD T-PAD RS ae ee ad Fig. 9. (top. left) One circuit used for front-and-rear speaker systems in many automobiles. Fig. 10. (left) Pots with isolat- ing resistors is economical circuit for combining inputs. i Fig. 11. (top, right) L-pads are | used for much fess interaction. | i i Fig. 12. (above) T-pads give ‘most isolation to line from load change. i i i i =—13 Fig. 14. (left) H-pads are need- ‘ed for balanced lines to keep ground capacitance effects equalized ond cross-falk kept to @ minimum. Fig. 15. (above) Three methods of connecting speakers to a line. Generally single method is used. ———— —H Exemenrary ELecrronresWhile it performs the voltage divider func- tion of a single, conventional pot, it main- tains, at all settings, a constant resistance looking back into the load or into the signal source, depending upon which way it is con- nected. Fig. 11 shows how an L-pad is con- nected for controlling the sound level of a speaker. It maintains constant load on the amplifier output regardless of its setting. A T-pad consists of three potentiometers, also ganged and driven by a common shaft. At any setting, it loads the incoming and out- going circuits with the same amount of resistance. An L-pad is used where it is im- portant not to vary the loading on the signal source. A T-pad is used where it is impor- tant to keep the loading constant on both the signal source and the load. ‘T-pads are often used to control, individ- ually, the audio signal level from an audio amplifier being fed to several speakers. This permits adjustment of the level fed to one speaker without affecting the level fed to the other speakers. If a potentiometer is used, as in Fig. 8, the loading on the amplifier will change as the pot is adjusted. When set to zero (fully counterclockwise), only the pot resistance will be across the signal source. At the other extreme setting, the load will con- sist of the speaker and the pot in parallel. When an L-pad is used, as in Fig. 11, the amplifier load will not change, regardless of the setting of the pad, since RI adds re ance to the circuit as the effective shunt re- sistance of R2 is reduced, and vice versa. The resistance across the speaker, however, vai with the setting of the pad. By using a T-pad none of the impedance relationships are disturbed. When increasing the volume with the T-pad (Fig. 12), the re- sistances of the two series elements de- creases while, at the same time, the resistance of the shunt element increases. Attenuator pads are frequently used to control the level of signals fed to the input of an amplifier, particularly where long input cables are required. Generally, a T-pad or an H-pad is used since it is important to maintain a constant impedance in both direc~ tions. The H-pad differs from a T-pad in that it is designed for use in balanced circuits (neither side grounded). In Fig. 13 a T-pad is shown as the level control between the low- ‘Marci-Aprnt, 1966 impedance output of a preamy low-impedance input of the main amplifier. ‘A more complex circuit is shown in Fig. 14 where H-pads are used to mix signal levels from various sources, as well as for over-all level control. Transformer Level Control. In audio work, transformers are thought of, primarily, as impedance matching devices. For exam- ple, to use a 50-ohm (low-Z) microphone, a stepup transformer is generally used to raise the impedance to match the input of the typical amplifier. At the same time, the transformer, of course, steps up the voltage. In many modern sound systems, transformers are used for the purpose of voltage control without worrying about so-called impedance matching. It is often assumed that it is nec- essary to connect an 8-ohm speaker to the 8-ohm amplifier output terminals, But, this is not so if the amplifier has good output- voltage regulation. The 8-ohm speaker can be connected to the 4-ohm output terminals, but with a small loss in volume. In many public address and sound distri. bution systems, the amplifier gain is fixed and the input signal level is adjusted so that the amplifier delivers audio at a nominal level of 25, 70 or 140 volts. The audio-output line is used like am AC power line. The sig- nal level across the line obviously varies with speech or music undulations, but its average level is maintained at a constant value. The amplifier output must have a very low im- pedance for this system. The output voltage varies less than 1.5 db whether there are sev- eral speakers, or none, across its output. The speakers are connected to the output line (through three different kinds of trans- formers) as shown in Fig. 15. Here we are concerned with voltage not impedance. The transformers function as voltage stepdown transformers. Volume level of each speaker can be adjusted individually by selection of transformer taps. If the line voltage is kept, at 70 volts and the stepdown ratio of the transformer at the selected tap is 10:1, seven volts will be fed to the speaker. If the speaker impedance is 8 ohms, the speaker will con- sume 6.1 watts equals voltage-squared di- vided by the speaker impedance (W = E?/R). 15 the secondary of T1 is tapped (see Fig. 16), the primary of T2 is tapped b56 iz Constant-voltage line transformers. and T3 is a tapped autotransformer. All provide the same basic function, a voltage stepdown transformer. By selecting different taps at the various locations, one speaker could be set to operate at 10 watts, another at 5 watts and still another at one hundred milliwatts. However, the total power con- sumption of all of the speakers must not ex- ceed the power capability of the amplifier. Constant Level Amplifiers. The above techniques can be used successfully when the amplifier is designed to deliver audio at a constant level. A good hi-fi amplifier, which has plenty of negative feedback, has @ much lower output impedance than indicated by the speaker-terminal markings. When the amplifier is fed from a record or tape player or a radio tuner, the volume level will re- main fairly constant. But, when a micro- phone is to be used, the signal level will vary all over the place unless gain control is ad- justed constantly. In some public-address amplifiers, this problem has been overcome by employing AGC (automatic gain con- trol) or level limiting. Fig. 17 is a block diagram of an audio amplifier with AGC. A portion of the audio-output signal is rec- tified, through a voltage-doubler, to derive a negative DC voltage whose level varies with the audio-output signal level. It is prevented from following the rapid audio-signal fluc- tuations by capacitor C2 which provides de- layed action. As the audio output signal increases, the negative DC voltage, which controls bias on the first AF amplifier stage, also rises and reduces the gain. Other techniques for automatically con- trolling audio levels have been developed. A thermistor, for example, can be used at the output of an amplifier, as shown in Fig. 18. Resistors R1 and R2 and the thermistor form a voltage divider. When the audio-output signal level rises, the thermistor is warmed by the increased current flowing through it and its resistance decreases, altering the ratio of the voltage divider at the junction of RI and R2. The audio-output signal can be used to vary the level of the audio-input signal by feeding the output signal to a lamp inside of a dark enclosure also containing a photo sensitive resistor, as shown in Fig. 19. When the audio output signal increases, the lamp burns more brightly and the resistance of the photo-sensitive resistor drops causing a change in the ratio of the voltage divider at the junction of R1 and the photo-sensitive resistor in the amplifier. input. R2 is used for setting the desired output signal level. In Fig. 20 a transistor (Q1) is used as one leg of a voltage divider. The input signal is fed to the amplifier through the other leg (R1)_and to the amplifier input, through Cl. The audio output signal is rectified by D1 and then fed back to the base of the tran- - sistor. The desired audio-output level is set by the adjustment of R3. The rectified audio is filtered into smooth DC by R2 and C2. ‘When the output signal rises, the base of the transistor sees a more negative voltage (for- ward bias), causing its collector-to-emitter resistance to fall, thus reducing the level of signal fed into the amplifier. limiters. Another way to provide audio output at a constant level is to use a limiter stage in the amplifier, as shown in Fig. 21. ‘The limiter may employ a pair of diodes as in Fig. 22. Some circuits use a pair of diodes. In the circuit shown here, both diodes are forward-biased so that they conduct nor- mally and pass audio, When the audio sig- nal rises above a certain level the diodes stop conducting during part of the time. When the signal swings positive enough to offset the forward bias on D1, this diode stops conducting and opens the audio cir- cuit. When the signal swings negative, for- ward bias for D1 increases and it continues to conduct. But, the negative signal, when (Continued on page 111) Euemenrary ExecrrontcsRY LEO 6. = Controllin Audio Tone SAND |» W7PH/KBG7906 Variable controls are not the only ways of making audio behave. Some conditions must be constant. @ Early phonographs had no audio controls. You merely turned it on and the music went ‘round and ‘round and came out the horn. The first phonograph audio control was a venetian blind type shutter in front of the horn which reduced the volume by muffling the sound. When electronic phonographs be- came available, a pot (potentiometer) took the place of the shutter. Since then the con- trols on home-entertainment music systems have become more numerous and more so- phisticated. We find loudness controls, level controls and gain controls. We also have treble controls, bass controls and balance controls. Bass and treble controls are called tone controls—actually they are volume con- trols that affect just some of the audio fre- quencies—not all. Tone Control. The frequency response of an andio system can be improved, modi- fied or limited by connecting a capacitor of appropriate value in series with or shunted across the audio signal path. For example, the low-frequency response of an audio amplifier can be reduced by using smaller capacitance interstage coupling capacitors. High-frequency response can be reduced by ‘Marcr-Aprit, 1966 connecting a capacitor from the grid or plate of one of the amplifier stages to common ground. In a P. A, system where only voice repro- duction is required, the unwanted lows can be attenuated by connecting a capacitor in series with the speaker. The reactance of the capacitor becomes high at low audio frequencies but is negligible at high frequen- cies. Since a rather large value capacitor is required, a pait of electrolytics are often used instead of a single, much more costly oil-filled capacitor. The electrolytics are connected in series-opposing as shown in Fig. 1. For instance, when a pair of 20-mfd capacitors ate used, their effective capaci- tance is 10 mfd. It is necessary to use two electrolytic capacitors (of double the re- quited value) and connect them as shown Ayo ourpur TRANSFORNER as ++ re] 4 a @ SPAR ad Fig. 1. Capacitors in series with speaker reduce the low-frequency output: low C values = few lows. s 37owt @ @ CONTROLLING AUDIO TONE in the diagram because they are polarity- sensitive. By connecting them in series- opposing as shown, they can be used in AC (audio) circuits. ‘A bandpass filter can be connected be- tween the signal source and the amplifier input to limit the range of frequencies passed through the amplifier. More often, the fre~ quency response is made variable by adding a tone control into the amplifier itself. This can be a potentiometer and a capacitor as shown in Fig. 2. With the full resistance in OUTPUT WwPUT ¢ R Fig. 2. Resistonce R limits high frequencies that can be bypassed through series capacitance C. the circuit, there is only slight attenuation of the higher audio frequencies. As the series resistance is reduced, the effective reactance through R and C becomes lower and the attenuation of high frequencies becomes greater. This is an artificial way to improve bass response. By attenuating the highs and increasing the volume, the lows become more predominant. Low frequencies can be attenuated by connecting a potentiometer and capacitor as shown in Fig. 3. When the pot is adjusted so Input OUTPUT Fig, 3. Copacitor C bypasses high frequencies ‘around resistance R without affecting bess notes. that the capacitor is out of the circuit, essen- tially all frequencies are passed with the same amount of attenuation. But, as the pot is adjusted so that there is more resistance, in parallel to the capacitor, the high frequen- cies find a lower-reactance path through the capacitor. Hence, the low frequencies are attenuated more than the high frequencies. Feedback. Degenerative (negative) feed- back is used in many amplifiers to improve frequency-response characteristics. One of the simplest techniques is shown in Fig. 4. When cathode resistor R2 is bypassed by C2 (switch S closed), there is no audio signal voltage across R2, only DC, if the capaci- Fig. 4. Signal voltage E1 is reduced by opposing cathode-bias voltage E2 when C2 is not in circuit. tor is sufficiently large. But, when R2 is not bypassed (S open), a signal voltage is de- veloped across R2 which is in series opposing (180° out of phase) with the input signal voltage. The gain is reduced by the amount of this voltage and the frequency response is not dependent upon the reactance of a cathode by-pass capacitor—it isn't in the circuit, ‘ourPuT RG i+—-© INPUT Fig. 5. Feedback voltage through R3-C3 opposes the voltage change af the grid of triode tube, Negative feedback can be introduced by feeding back the signal from the plate of a tube to its grid as shown in Fig. 5. The signal at the plate is 180° out of phase with the signal at the grid. The signal at the plate is fed back to the grid through C3 (which Evemenrary ELecreontcsblocks the passage of DC) and R3 to the grid. The amount of feedback depends upon the ohmic value of R3. If C3 has low ca- pacitance, the feedback will be greater at the higher frequencies than the lower frequencies. Overall degenerative feedback is used in many amplifiers. The audio-output signal is fed back to the input of the amplifier as shown in Fig. 6. By taking a little of the audio from the secondary of the output transformer, even the transformer is in- cluded in the negative feedback loop and some of the distortion it would otherwise in- troduce is reduced. Overall feedback can be tricky. The idea is to feed back a signal which is 180° out of phase with the input signal. But, if there is phase shift (which varies with frequency) in the amplifier, the feedback signal may be in phase with the input signal at some frequencies and pro- duce positive feedback—and unwanted oscillation. Simple Bass Boosters. The bass response of small radios can be markedly improved even when using a small speaker by adding feedback as shown in Fig. 7. The ground end of the grid resistor (R1) of the first audio stage is lifted from ground and connected to ground through an added resistor (R2). FEEDBACK The audio signal from the plate of the power- amplifier stage is fed through C1 to the junc- tion of RI and R2. By also adding switch $ to the circuit along with choke L1 and ca- pacitor C2, three choices are made available. With the switch open, fairly linear feedback is provided. With the switch set to cut Li into the circuit, the bass response is improved since the low frequencies find a low-react- ance path through LI to ground and the amount of negative feedback rises with frequency. By setting S to cut in C2, high- frequency response is improved since the high frequencies pass easily to ground through C2 and there is more negative feed- back at the lower frequencies. The values of LI and C2 vary with the radio's characteris- tics. The primary of a small output trans- former may be used for L1. Bass response can be improved without attenuating the high frequencies signifi- cantly by employing a resonant circuit as shown in Fig. 8. Capacitor C and inductor I form a series resonant circuit. At frequen- cies near resonance, a large signal voltage is developed across L. The same technique can be used with an interstage audio trans- former as shown in Fig. 9. By using a value for C which resonates with the primary of the transformer at a low audio frequency, 4 Gr _ Fig. 6. Feedback loop can be from oe ofa foe SI ac] tices nen tece INPUT 2 input circuit. Without capacitor in circuit feedback is opproximate- wn ‘Marcx-Apeit, 1966 Fig. 7. Feedback loop, through C1 (from output-tube plate), will have high frequencies bypassed through C2 or low frequencies by- passed through L1. Center position of S1 gives “fat” output. 59SE @ @ CONTROLLING AUDIO TONE considerable bass boost can be obtained. Or, by making C a low value, bass response can be attenuated. Resonant tone control cir~ cuits, such as these, may ring. That is, they oscillate briefly at the frequency of reso nance. The effect may be pleasing to many, but some may not like it since it is a form of distortion. ‘ourPut pur Bt Fig. 8, C ond L form tuned circuit that will dis fort the frequencies near resonance by “ringing.” quteut 70 PUSH- PULL OR SINGLE-ENDED AF AMPLIFIER STAGE input, Bt Fig. 9. Interstage transformer can be tuned for bass boost by adding resistor and capacitor C. Impedance Matching. It is commonly understood that maximum power is trans- ferred when the load impedance is equal to the signal source impedance. For instance, it is said maximum sound is delivered by an 8-ohm speaker when it is fed from the 8-ohm amplifier output terminals. It will work fine, but at reduced level, if the amplifier has good output-voltage regulation. But, an 8-ohm speaker should not be connected to the 16- ohm output terminals. When it is necessary to feed a signal from a high-impedance source into a low-imped- ance load, or vice versa, a stepup or stepdown transformer is usually employed. Sometimes tubes, transistors or resistive pads are used to raise or lower impedance. A stepup trans- former steps up both the impedance and the voltage, but does not amplify as far as power is concerned. In fact, a transformer intro- duces a small power loss since no transformer is 100% efficiént. A stepdown transformer steps down both the impedance and the voltage, but the power remains the same ex- cept for the small losses due to transformer inefficiency. Input Impedance. A magnetic phono pickup is usually fed to an amplifier which has a high-impedance input and is loaded by a resistance of from 50,000 to 100,000 ohms. No impedance changing device is required. But, to feed the output of a 5-ohm micro- phone, for example, to a high impedance (50,000 ohms or higher) input of an ampli- fier, a stepup transformer is used to raise the impedance from 50 ohms to 50,000 ohms (or higher) and, at the same time, to step up the voltage. The transformer, however, does not amplify even if it steps up the voltage since there is no power gain. Output Impedance. At the output of the amplifier, the output transformer provides several thousand ohms load impedance for the tubes and steps down that impedance to a low value (416 ohms) for the speaker. At the same time it steps down the voltage— but not the power. The transformer is re~ quired in order to feed maximum power into the speaker which is a low-impedance device. Power Gain. Suppose a crystal pickup furnishes a 2-volt signal into a 100,000 ohm load at the input of an amplifier, as shown in Fig. 10. The input power will be equal to INPUT 2 VOuTS OUTPUT 10 VOLTS PHONO CARTRIDGE AMPLIFIER jek (CRYSTAL). ‘5x VOLTAGE_ GAIN: 6625}000 x POWER GAIN Fig. 10. Voltage gain from input to output is low. Power goin, needed fo drive speaker, is very high. E2/R or 4 divided by 100,000 which is equal to 0.00004 watts (40 microwatts). If the amplifier delivers 25 watts into a 4-ohm speaker system, the output voltage across the speaker will be equal to the square root of the power times the speaker impedance or 10 volts (square root of 25 times 4). Hence, the voltage has been stepped up only five times from two volts to ten volts, but the power has been stepped up from 40 micro- watts to 25 watts. ‘Eqementary ELECTRONICSCathode Follower. A cathode follower amplifier stage can be used to reduce im- pedance. In Fig. 11, a very small signal is fed from a magnetic pickup to the grid of the tube which is shunted by a 100,000-ohm Be PHONO CARTRIDGE, tow, IMPEDANCE, ‘ourPuT (Masneric) Fig. 11. Low-impedance output oliminates matching transtormer and its frequency response limitations. resistor. The output signal is developed across R1, the cathode resistor. The output impedance is.quite low, usually 1000 ohms or less, depending upon the type of tube and value of the cathode resistor. A cathode follower provides impedance transformation but essentially no voltage gain. A tube can also be used for stepping up impedance. The signal from a low-im- pedance source can be fed to the cathode of grounded-grid amplifier, as shown in Fig. 12. The output signal is derived at the high impedance plate circuit. lL» HGH IMPEDANCE ourpuT aH Low IMPEDANCE INPUT Fig. 12. Grounded-grid circuit acts os step-up transformer with less space ond much lower cost Long Audio Lines. To transmit audio signals over relatively long wire circuits, the impedance is usually stepped up or down, as shown in Fig. 13. The high-impedance ‘STEP-DOWN, STEP-uP TRANSFORMER output of a microphone preamplifier is stepped down to 75 ohms when a coaxial cable is used or to 600 ohms when telephone circuit lines are used as the transmission medium. By transmitting low-level audio at relatively low impedances, pick up of hum and noise is reduced, The low-impedance output of an audio amplifier is generally stepped up from 4, 8 to 16 ohms to 600 ohms (unless the amplifier has a 600-ohm output) to minimize trans- mission losses due to the DC resistance of the wires. At the speaker locations, a trans- former is used to step down the impedance from 600 ohms to the speaker impedance. (With constant level amplifiers, described earlier, impedance is not considered) Reasons for Audio Control. When the first audio amplifier was developed by Dr. Lee DeForest in Palto Alto, California (the birthplace of the electronics industry) way back in 1911, too much gain was obtained and the electronic oscillator was accidentally discovered. There arose a need for a volume control. Besides control of volume, it is necessary to be able to control frequency response. To get clear, penetrating speech reproduction in industrial sound systems, the frequency response is deliberately limited to the voice range (300 to 3000 cps). In music systems, the frequency response is made as wide as possible and the highs and lows are often boosted to overcome the deficiencies of speakers. While only a few milliwatts of sound will provide room level sound, many of us buy 100-watt and even higher powered am- plifiers so we can bring Dick Liebert’s pipe organ into the living room and so we won't miss the instantaneous peaks, Yet, in the huge Radio City Music Hall, an 85-watt stereo P.A. system pumps sound into a cavern big enough to hold more than 1000 rear |) |e STEP UP. TRANSFORMER LU = SPL CABLE =) z| LE WITH CATHODE FOLLOWER OUTPUT Marcu-Arnit, 1966 living rooms. . ‘AMPLIFIER Fig. 13. Impedance matching will offect tone quality of audio sig- nals—particularly when amplifiers AMPLIFIER |] are separated by great distances. Broadcast stations offen mismatch, with special equalizers, fo improve sound quality from distont pickups. 61XK 62, Won't you please help us? We'd like to learn a little bit more about the readers of ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICS. Nothing personal of course, just some general information which will assist us in the planning of a better magazine for you. When you've completed the questionnaire, just put it info an envelope and mail if back fo us. If you wish, you needn't even tell us your name. Thanks for your help | First, please indicate your age group. 1 under 18 1 35 t0 44 Gl I8 to 24 1 45 to 54 G28 to 34 Gi over 55 la—C Male 0 Married G Female G Single No. of Children [] one O two O three B more 2 —What is your present occupation? [if you go te school part time and work part time, please indicate both) 1 armed forces 1G professional (business owner 1D student Gi clerical O technical Ol erafsman OF sales official (gov' other FI Ca 0 other —ereeiety 3 —What was the last school you attended? Ci grade school colleg Cy high schoo! —) graduate school 3a—Did you graduate? CJ yes [1 no 4 —Have you ever taken a correspondence course? Dyer Ono 4a—Do you intend to take a correspondence Dyes Oro if yes, what type of course? G slectronie DW & radi technic G electronic 1 communications computers , basic electricity other = a v @ (sPeciFyy 5 —Would you indicate the approximate total annual family income? 1 under $3000 1 $7000 to $9999 $3000 to $4999 1G $10,000 to $14,999 G $5000 to $6999 i $15,000 and over & —How often do you buy ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICS? LD this is my first issue regularly Tl whenever I see it ©) | subscribe ba—How long do you keep your copy of ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICS? 1 about | month [) more than 3 months Gi more than I month bb —How many people. other than you, will read this copy of ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICS? ~ (No. OF PEOPLE) —Julian M. Sienkiewicz, Editor 7 —What other electronic magazines do you J? gq () Popular Elect 1 Radio Electro 1 Radio-TV Experimenter 8 — What is there about electronics that interests Q o a B construction on (SPECIFY, 9 —Do you own any equipment of your own, such as, OD oxcilloscope 1 soldering gun BY.oM. 1G soldering iron VIM, OF other. © signal generator "~(SPECIFY) 10 —How much money have you spent on equip- ment in the past year? $n test on communica ‘equipment n equipment {fem C8 swt) $___on Hi-Fi —othi equipment (SPECIFY, 11 —What type of equipment do you expect to purchase this y 2 ( communication equipment (ham, CB, SWL) Di other “(SPECIFY !la—How much do you expect to spend on your new equipment purchases? Dy under $50 i $200 to $299 Ey $50 to $99 By $300 to $399 Gy $100 to $i99 i over $400 Please mail to: JULIAN M. SIENKIEWICZ, Editor, Elementary Electronics, 505 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10022 Thanks again. If you wish, you needn't give us your name and address. Name. Address___ City. ____State Zip. ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICSCEA TEST BENCH EICO MODEL 435 Wide-Band 3-inch Oscilloscope @ In this, the era of the complex waveform, the oscilloscope is perhaps the most im- portant service instrument next to the VIVM. In addition to indicating voltage and current in terms of voltage, an oscillo- scope gives you a picture of what's going on. And what with everything from TV re- ceivers to voice-controlled tape recorders using spikes, sawtooths and square waves it’s often more important to be exactly sure of the shape of things than their exact mag- nitude. Yet, while the scope is the only instrument that gives you a picture of what's happening as it happens too often the hob- byist places it down at the bottom of the test equipment list because of high price or complexity of operation; but in fact, a mod- ern scope such as the EICO 435 kit is not only competitively priced at $99.50, it is essentially as easy to operate as a VIVM. Why it Stands Out, First off, the EICO 435 is really a compact, ideally sized for the hobbyist—let alone the pro, About a foot long, less than 6 inches wide and about 8 inches high it takes up next to nothing in valuable bench space. The 435 utilizes a flat 3-inch CRT (which we'll tel! more about later); a four-position 1000:1 stepped attenuator backed up with ‘Marcx-Aprit, 1966 OMERT SWeRP nanone/vem~ oe cre a variable attenuator for the vertical input; an automatic syne limiter and amplifier; a fully adjustable 10 cps to 100 k.c, sweep range plus fixed frequencies of 30 cps and 7875 cps for TV servicing; a Zener regulated calibration voltage and a DC to 4.5 me. vertical amplifier response. In addition to the usual front panel controls there is an astigmatism control available through the side of the cabinet. (Since the rest of the features are usually common to most qual- ity scopes you can look them up in EICO’s brochures.) “Well”, you might ask, “what makes the 435 different from any other scope as far as the hobbyist is concerned?”, To start with there's the assembly itself and the as- sembly manual. While the kit is by no means a one evening project, or for that matter one weekend (it takes about 20 hours), it is not a difficult assembly. Wiring is primarily on both sides of a “Z” shaped Unretouched photograph of sine wave on scope face illustrates the brightness of trace; calibration graticule is edge lighted. 63Underside of oscilloscope with cover removed shows packed, but neat wiring: top of chassis is equally dense—as you'd expect in compact wide-band scope. vertical chassis, plenty of room between connections and single-layer style. For some reason the manual makes mention of mul tiple layer wiring but there really is none— at no point are components packed on top of other components. As far as the newcomer to construction is concerned it is really the assembly manual that means success at the first try. The manual is first rate, notably excellent. There are no pictorials in the manual, each pic- torial is on a separate sheet about six times the size of this page and each one represents ‘a very small part of the total wiring. At no point is it necessary to follow a lead with a pencil in order to trace it through a maze of wires; as example, the average number of individual steps per pictorial is only thir- teen. The construction steps themselves are printed in oversize type and it's almost im- possible to run one step into another. As far as the components themselves are concerned they appear to be of the highest quality. With few exceptions 5% resistors and silver-mica capacitors are used through- out. ‘As far as performance is concerned the CRT display is the most striking. In com- bination with the astigmatism contro! the trace can be focused razor-sharp from edge- to-edge. In fact, because the entire face can be used the useful working area of the 3 inch flat faced CRT is almost equal to that ‘of a convex 5 inch CRT. As for brightness, just look at the photograph, and remember that it is not retouched. The trace, under typical bright shop illumination, appears “painted on”—it is actually brighter than the power on light. Note also the sharp and bright edge-lit calibration grid which is cali- brated in centimeters; note the calibration extends to the top and bottom of the tube. Spec Check. Unusual for kits, where performance is generally better or worse than specs, our 435 was right-on-the-button. The frequency response checked out to exactly +1, —3db from DC to 4.5 mc., and the vertical sensitivity was exactly the claimed 18 rms my./cm while the horizontal sensitivity was 0.7 V/cm, The decading ac- curacy of the vertical attenuator was exactly 5%; usually it is a little better because resistor tolerances cancel; in our model they didn’t cancel but 5% is still good. The calibrating voltage of 200 mv. peak- to-peak is actually adjustable over a very wide range and the user can set the calibra- tion to any reasonable value. For example, we preferred to use 500 mv. so that the vertical sensitivity at full gain each centi- meter on the grid represented 10 mv, instead of 8 mv.—but each user can set his own calibration (we found this feature very con- venient though the operating manual was a little muddy on its usage). The calibrating trace is a very sharp square-wave with no vertical overshoot, so whether collapsed or expanded the top and bottom of the trace always represent the extremes of the cali- brating wave-form. Retrace blanking was very good—fast with virtually no loss of the end of the trace. In fact, electrically we have no complaints; mechanically, there is one: the vertical and horizontal inputs utilize a common ground terminal, and one cannot use two standard % inch plugs at the same time. If you use a plug for the vertical input while simul- taneously using the horizontal input the horizontal ground lead must be wrapped around the ground terminal. If the sawtooth output jack is removed—as it's only used to adjust the vertical input frequency cor- rection—a separate horizontal ground termi- nal can be added, And wonders of wonders, you can buy the terminal direct from EICO. Call it a breakthrough (if we must use the word) but EICO provides the price of every single part in the scope, Tight down to the cardboard sleeve for the grid illumination bulb (price 3 cents). Other than the remarkably brilliant and sharp CRT it’s difficult to single out any specific outstanding features as the DC Wideband Oscilloscope does exactly what EICO claims—and does it well. For further information and specifications write to EICO, Dept. HA, 131-01 39th Ave., Flush- ing, N. Y. 11352. Tell ‘em Rapio-TV Ex- PERIMENTER touted you on the 435. s Etemenrany ELECTRONICSThis year, CATV is the most talked about development in electronics. While it is not new, CATV is headline news because: (1) it is “big” business, (2) TV broadcasters are concerned about it, and (3) the FCC has just taken over regulation of CATV. CATV means “Community Antenna Tele- vision.” For more than a decade, CATV has been making good television reception possible in extreme fringe areas and in arcas not served by TV stations. Now, CATV is being extended into areas where there are several TV stations, even into New York City where there are seven VHF stations, two UHF stations plus a Coast Guard Ratan UHE station and another new UHF TV sta- tion being readied. There are approximately 2,000 CATV systems in operation serving an estimated 5,000,000 TV viewers. Many more are being planned. A typical CATV system serves 1500 subscribers for which it receives $80,000 per year for its services, Some are much larger, serving as many as 20,000 sub- seribers. In many areas beyond the range of TV stations, TV programs are piped-in via CATV. In other areas where there may be a local TV station the CATV system brings in programs from out of town. stations. CATYV also eliminates the need for individual tall, expensive TV-antenna systems in fringe areas. TV Pipe Line. The CATV company pipes in TV signals, usually from several stations, via coaxial cable to the homes of its sub- scribers. A small monthly fee is charged for the service. The TV signals are picked up off-the-air at a receiving station located on a distant hilltop or other good receiving site. There, the TV signals are amplified by what is called “head-end” equipment and then transmitted through coaxial cables and intermediary amplifiers to one or more com- munities where the signals are distributed through coaxial cable to subscribers. CATV Today By Leo G. Sands, W7PH/KBG7906 Cable-conmected TV reception brings you the finest picture possible without unsightly masts and some special features unique to CATV. ‘Mancn-Aprn, 1966 65@ @ CATV TODAY While all of the New York Metropolitan area is saturated with TV signals, TV recep- tion is sometimes poor. It is particularly poor in Manhattan where signal reflections from the hundreds of tall buildings distort TV pictures, Two CATV systems are to be installed in New York City, one serving Manhattan and the other serving the Bronx. Subscribers will get clear pictures and will be able to receive programs of some out-of- town stations as well as from the local sta- tions. And not to worry about roof-top an- tennas that are ruined by soot and weather. imple System. Let's look at a simple, single-channel CATV system which could be privately owned and operated to serve a farmhouse (or motel) ina valley where good off-the-air TV reception is not possible. Fig. 1 shows a TV. receiving station on a hilltop where the antenna is able to pick up good TV signals. The antenna feeds the TV signals through a balun (matching trans- former) to a broadband head-end amplifier tuned to the desired channel The RF output of the head-end amplifier fed to a coaxial cable (suspended on poles or buried in the ground) which feeds TV signals to the house or motel. One or more line amplifiers are inserted in the coaxial cable to make up for cable losses. At the far end of the cable the signals go to a dis- tribution amplifier and then to individual TV sets. Operation of the TV sets is normal except that a roof top antenna is not re quired. Commercial Systems. Commercial CATV systems are similar except they serve a large number of houses, as illustrated in Fig. 2. Here, we have a single antenna feed- ing several head-end channel amplifiers. Each head-end channel amplifier is tuned to a different TV channel. The combined signals are transmitted through coaxial cable to line and distribution amplifiers. From the distribution amplifiers the TV 66 oistaNT TV BROADCAST STATION RECEIVING STATION. UNE AMPLIFIER Fi DISTRIBUTION AMPLIFIER Fig. 1. Hill-top tower and @ long run of coaxial cable con be a big expense for an individual, or even @ family, for recreation. It is @ business necessity for motel or a resort hotel that must compete with focilities offered by others. 2. Block diagrom uses special symbols indicating various units found in most CAT systems. Mast may be located afop building in center of fown and the frank lines may spread out like stronds of @ spi web. Only a port of system is shown for simplic Lf ANTENNA PREAMP (IF NEEDED) ae 7 ‘TOWER \ ANTENNA SITE_AMPS, (CV PER CHANNEL. RECEIVED) TRUNK LINE AMPS FEEDER LINE TAP OFFS f= eso eno van, eee ones a FREPSBer. Y+-nouse onor DIST. AMP. Ww WORN en ELEMEnTary ELECTRONICSsignals are fed to subscribers through feeder coaxial cables, usually attached to telephone or power line poles. The feeder cables are tapped near each subscriber’s home and a coaxial house-drop line is run to the sub- seribers premises where one or more TV sets may be served. Some CATV systems employ microwaves or G-Line instead of coaxial cable to feed TY signals from the head-end equipment to the distribution center. A G-Line is a single- conductor transmission medium, suspended on poles, which does the same job as coaxial cable’ but has much lower losses and fewer amplifiers are needed. Pick-up Antennas. Only one antenna is needed when all of the signals are picked up from the same direction. To permit re- ception from various directions two or more antennas are used—each feeds its own channel amplifier. The outputs of the ampli- fiers are combined and then fed into the coaxial trunk fine, as shown in Fig. 3. FM and CCTV Too. CATV systems are also used to bring in FM programs. This requires an 88-108 me head-end amplifier. OM PICKUP TO DELIVERY Re Starting at the antenna (upper left) and going clockwise you con follow the signal path of a CATY system. Many antenna are used fo pick u signals from different directions. For Hiability more than one antenna may be us for each channel. The signal goes fo head. end equipment—which is checked frequently to maintain signal quality—fed through coaxial cables and trunk line amplifiers mounted on poles. House drops make the connection between the feeder-line top offs and the subscriber's equipment. Matching transformers must be used to mate the 300-ohm inputs fo the 50-ohm fine. ‘Marce-Apart, 1966 orTV RECEIVING ANTENNAS TV RECEIVING 7 SITE FEEDER LINE Fig. 4. Converting Channel-7 signal to Channel-# reduces coorline losses of higher frequencies. me COMMUNITY “B' Sa COMMUNITY "8 weft FEEDER UNE Fu serfSsy-oo No esrnguron wae y A020 Bete ABN ug Qo wouse eBeit Bhave yous ~ MICROWAVE. MICROWAVE runt Cn anes TraNouitier RECEIVER. / Fig. 3. Microwave Tink in CATY system can be cheaper to install and produce better signals, over distances of several miles, than possible with coax and many frunk-line amplifiers. — WeMc canner. 7 CHANNEL 4 “TRUNK LINE. COAXIAL CABLE PREAMR, oy 14 — > Loca. CHANNELT CHANNEL eA DISTRIBUTION AMP, TAP OFF Fig. 5. Block diagram of converter is just like that used in front-end of broadcast receivers. Besides off-the-air TV and FM programs, some CATV systems originate their own programs. These special closed-circuit chan- nels are used for transmitting weather and other information. For example, a camera is trained on a weather instrument panel. The camera’s video output is fed to a TV modulator which is tuned to an unused chan- nel, Subscribers merely select that channel to get the latest weather scoop. Some also have an automatic programming device which prevents simultaneous transmission of the same program on two CATV channels when the same program is being broadcast, at the same time, by two of the TV stations being picked up. Head-End Equipment. The TV signal is fed into the coaxial trunk on the same chan- nel as received off the air, or it can be trans- posed to a different channel. For example, if channels 2, 3, 4 and 5 are picked up, they can be amplified and fed into the coaxial trunk on their same frequencies. Sometimes, the channel frequencies are transposed for the sake of better transmis- sion, The attenuation losses through coaxial cable rise with frequency. Therefore, when picking up Channel 7 off the air, the signal can be transmitted with lower losses by trans- posing it to say Channel 4, if that channel is not in use on the CATV system (Fig. 4.). (Continued on page 106) ‘ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICSLAFAYETTE HA-230 Amateur /SWL Communications Receiver ——$—$_______. It’s often difficult to find a really good budget communications receiver because most of them priced under $100 are nothing more than a table radio with a fancy front panel and short-wave coverage added-on— basically it’s still a table radio; usually AC/DC type. On the other hand, though Lafayette Radio's HA-230 is priced well under $100, it is a true communications receiver in prac- tically all respects, right down to the trans- former power supply and always-on mixer and oscillator filaments. From the antenna trimmer, to the Q-multiplier/BFO, to the IF gain control, S-meter and AVC disable switch, the HA-230 has all the features of communications receivers selling for con- siderably more than $100. The HA-230 covers $50 ke. to 30 me. in four bands. Calibrated bandspread is pro- vided for the 80/75, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter amateur bands as well as a 0-100 log- ging scale for short-wave listeners (SWL’s). Marcu-Apamt, 1966 CER COMMUNICATIONS The amateur bandspread is calibrated 5 ke. per division on 80/75 and 40 meters; 20 ke. per division on 20 and 15 meters; and 50 ke. per division on 10 meters. The Big Extra. The Q-multiplier is the two control type. The selectivity control varies the overall selectivity for phone reception only from ~+800 cycles at 6 db down to the normal IF bandwidth (we'll get to the normal selectivity later). The second control func- tions as a variable BFO for CW and SSB reception; it is also used to move the peak when the Q-mult is being used and allows the operator to place an interfering station outside the IF passband. The Q-mult checked out very good, and unlike some earlier budget receiver Q-multipliers which often growled, the HA-230's produced a very clean and stable CW note. More Extras. The antenna input accom- modates balanced or unbalanced lines of 50-400 ohms or the common SWL “long- wire.” The receiver has no built-in speaker The Lafayette HA-230 is obviously not @ stripped down receiver. Fully shielded subassembly partly hidden by tuning capacitor houses the Q-mulfiplier/BFO. circuits. Lorge pulleys make wide-band and bendspread tuning fingertip. easy.0 Slide switch on chassis changes power transformer connection fo match low line voltage about 100 VAC. and a4 and 8-ohm speaker output is pro- vided. The headphone jack is connected in series with the 8-ohm speaker output so low impedance (Hi-Fi type) phones can be used. An accessory socket on the rear apron is prewired for standby/receiver control from the transmitter with three extra pins pro- vided for a converter power take-off. Of unusual interest is a low voltage power trans- former switch; if you suffer from chroni- cally low line voltage of about 100 VAC you can “boost” the operating voltages back to normal by setting the power transformer primary connection to the 100-volt position with just the movement of a slide switch (no soldering needed). Sensitivity is about 1 uv. for a 10 db S/N ratio on the lower SW bands. Typi- cally, sensitivity falls off on the high band, but unlike many budget receivers which are virtually dead above 15 me. the HA-230's sensitivity is at least equal to that of receivers selling for twice the pric ‘Normal IF selectivity, without the Q-mult, is £10 ke. at 60 db down—a respectable figure, somewhat better than many budget receivers. The notably outstanding feature of the HA-230—particularly when one considers its low price of $79.95—is the frequency and BFO stability. After a 15 minute warm- up the local oscillator stability is good enough to allow rapid tuning of SSB signals even on the 15 meter band. (For those of you who have never suffered through tuning SSB even on 80 meters with a drifting re- ceiver you may believe this is a notable ac- complighment in a budget priced receiver.) Similarly, the BFO stability is just as good— SSB signals stay tuned in and CW doesn't slide up and down the scale. However, on~ our model at least, the BFO injection was a little weak and very strong SSB and CW signals of the 30 over 9 variety could be satisfactorily tuned in if the overall sensi- tivity was reduced via the antenna trimmer. The excellent frequency and BFO stability is achieved by always leaving the mixer and Q-mult filaments on (a unique application in low cost receivers), even when the power switch is off. The constant generation of moderate tube heat prevents the drastic fre- quency changes common when components get a “cold start.” Cost of continuous fila- ment operation is virtually negligible. Considering its rather good all-round per- formance and ease of operation, at $79.95 the HA-230 shapes up as an ideal choice for the newcomer to amateur radio or short wave listening, For additional information write to Lafayette Radio, Dept. SI, 111 Jericho Turnpike, Syossett, L. 1, N. ¥. Matching plug for power take-off socket (lett) is sup- plied os the antenna shorf- jing bar. Control between ‘antenna and speoker fer- minals is the Someter rere adjustment potentiometer. ‘Exementary ExectronresMaximum Power Transfer Theorem By Andy Martin Wi you recall the water analogies for visualizing E. I and R, you might visualize a funnel as a symbol for the impedance mateh necessary for maximum transfer of power @ Why must an 8-chm loudspeaker be matched to the 8-ohm winding of an audio power-output transformer? And why must a car’s starter motor have an internal im- pedance to match the battery's resistance? In both cases it's important’ to deliver to the load maximum power rather than maxi- mum voltage or maximum current. The reason is simple—only power can do useful work and we want to obtain the maximum possible power at the load (loudspeaker and starter motor) when we need it most—at peak audio passages of a symphony and during a sub-zero winter night when the crankcase oil is thick as tar. Proving a Point. It is well and good to say that the load impedance must equal the electromotive force’s (battery, transformer, generator, etc.) internal resistance for maxi: mum power transfer, but let’s prove the point. Fig. 1 shows a simple circuit con- sisting of one battery and two resistors, Ri Marcy-Aprit, 1966 and Rx. Resistor R,'s value is equal to the internal resistance of the battery and its terminal and lead resistances that are always present in any circuit. R, is the load re- sistance and is made variable for this dis- cussion so that it can be varied to find the resistance value whereby maximum power The voltage drop across R, in Fig. 1 is equal to R. Ey E, a is equal to 10 volts and Rp is 10 Ry WER, 10 volts Q We know that power P,, dissipated in Rr. is equal to E'/Ri. So we must square both sides of equation (2) and divide by Ri to obtain an equation for power P,, dissipated icena ee eee ee a Se wm ee @ Q maximo POWER TRANSFER in load resistor Rr. (0YR _ —-100R, R(IO+R,F (10+RiF Now we insert numbers into equation (3) for different values of R, and observe how the values for P; vary for each change of R:. To do this handily, the table below compares the value of Rz in ohms against P, in watts. The tedious calculations have been performed by the author, but don’t take his word, check a few values yourself. Fig. 2 plots the values for R, and P, given in the table. It is obvious from the table and Fig. 2 that maximum power is dissipated in Rx when R, equals Rs. This mathematical proof is commonly referred to as the Maximum Power Transfer Theorem. What's with AC. Fig. 3 is a simple series circuit in which we have assumed that the generator is inductive by nature introducing an inductive reactance, X,, into the cir- cuit. Also, we have assumed that the load impedance exhibits a capacitive reactance, X,. Now, recalling our AC circuit theory, when the inductive reactance is equal to the P.= GB capacitive reactance at the generator’s out- put voltage frequency, both reactances will be equal in magnitude but of opposite sign. Hence, the reactances shown in Fig. 3 add up to zero: X.+ Xz = 0. More simply, a resonant condition exists inductive reactance is equal to the capacitive reactance. As far as the gener- ator is concerned it cannot “see” X,'and X» at resonance since they cancel one another. Hence, the generator is supplying power only to pure resistances, Ro and R,. If we use the rms value for the generator’s output voltage, we can determine ‘the resistance value for R, for maximum power dissipa- tion, The computations will be identical to those given in the table discussed earlier. To put our last conclusion into the words of engineers, .. . for an AC power source to deliver maximum power to a load, the load impedance must be the conjugate of the generator impedance. This means that the resistance of the generator must equal the resistance of the load, and the reactance of the generator must be equal in numerical value (magnitude) but of. opposite sign to the load’s reactance. Therefore, when the generator has an inductive reactance prop- erty, the load must be capacitive. Converse~ Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the left illustrates the circuit used in computing the Matimum Power Transfer Theorem in the text above. The condition necessary for maximum power transfer is Ri = Ry. Fig. 2. A plot of the values obtained by varying Re in the circuit in Fig. 1 shows point of maximum power transfer. If is, naturally, when Ri, equals ‘See fable opposite for coordinates of curve. MAXIMUM PONER u RL. RESISTANCE (OHMS) maely, when the generator is capacitive in na- ture, the load must be inductive. Inductive reactances are stated as positive quantities and capacitive reactances are negative. Using Calculus. Eighth grade students are now being introduced to the operations of the calculus. No longer is it a mystery to second year mathematical students in Uni- versities. So why not give the proof of the Maximum Power Transfer Theorem as stu- dents in their first AC theory course would learn it. Fig. 4 represents a battery with internal impedance Ry and its load resistor R:. The battery voltage is Ey. Then the load cur- rent is L 4 6 Since R, can be varied until P,, is maximum, the rate of change of P, with respect to Ry, may be expressed mathematically and set equal to zero. This is the condition for maximum P,, aP, aR, AP, _ Ev Rvt R,~2EERARSR) 6 aR (Re¥R) - We know from observation that (Rs+R:) is not a negative number because R» and R;, are finite positive numbers. Then the frac- tion in equation (6) must have a numerator that is equal to zero in order for the fraction to equal zero. Therefore: O=Es(Ry+R,)'—2EsRARs+R:). (7 ‘Then iw (Rot+RiJ= 2Es'RARs+R,). (8 Now divide both sides of the equation (8) by Es’ and (RstR;). Ryt+Ri)—2R, Ri-Ri= 2R, R=R, Thus, we prove that the load resistance must equal the battery resistance for maximum Power transfer. Those readers knowing how to use cal- culus should have no problem solving the Maximum Power Transfer Theorem for AC circuits. . Table of Values for P;, Calculated from Selected Values of Ru. R(ohms)_| 1 | 3 | 5 Toros} fans |T3a a2 Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of the circuit used fo illustrate the maximum transfer of power in an alternating current circuit. Marcu-Aprit, 1966 1 | 12 f 43 | 15 | 17 | 20} 30 Fig. 4. Refer to this circuit when following the differential caleulus in text above; it proves Rz must = Ra. B4 High School ™ Mary Ann, who plans to some day at- 1 tend Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Co-ed is now working on a device to move the legs so “Herbert,” her home-brew robot, can exercise out of the house and stop scaring e visitors at her home. Mary's parents don’t Ss mind her wanting to be a scientist, but Her- bert with his buzzing and lighting up, and recorded voice, etc., is not an ideal house guest. Herbert cannot walk and must be “un- snapped” for easy transportation, Herbert's oO fetal period was only two months and parts cost less than ten dollars. Now if Herbert can only help with the housework. Mary Ann has a number of other interests and hobbies which belie her feminine appeat- ance. Included in these are a membership in the Quincy Civil Air Patrol, and also the Radio-TV club at school, She likes fishing and shell collecting, and has a pet parakeet which she teaches to talk, and probably says words like “nuclear fission” or “thermo- dynamics.” Herbert Thomas Jr., for whom the robot was named, is her current beau, and he heartily approves of Mary Ann's activities, for he plans to be a scientist himself. So “Herbert” the tin man, will always have a home even if he doesn’t take a prize. Herbert's eyes glow with jealousy (left) os he walches Mary Ann and beau, Herbert, discuss some personal plans and the projects of the future. Making final adjustments (above) before Science Fair ex- hibition, Going over plons of Herbert's anatomy (left). ‘Exementary ELEcrkonresCea TEST BENCH B&K MODEL 1245 Crosshatch-Bar Color Generator @ Unlike black and white, where virtually anything that remotely resembles a picture is considered good by 9 out of 10 viewers, color TV reception dictates that receiver adjust- ments be absolutely optimum—for no one will accept green faces, three-tone hair, or a wavering red tint when the picture is sup- posed to be in spectacular true life color. Unlike black and white telecasts where you can just tune in a station and rotate the controls for what appears to be a “good pic- ture,” color receiver adjustments require special stabilized test signals such as provided by B&K’s Model 1245 Color Generator. Inside the Case. The B&K Color Genera- tor provides 5 patterns, has a gun killer, and adjustable output level for the vertical lines and color subcarrier sync. Three of the pat- terns are basic to both b&w and color ad- justments; these are the vertical and hori- zontal lines, and the crosshatch which is a combination of the H and V lines. There are exactly 10 vertical and 14 horizontal lines, all equally spaced. To adjust any receiver for linearity in the absence of a transmitted test pattern (and you can hardly find one of those during working hours) the receiver's linearity controls can be adjusted by literally measur- ing the distance between lines with a ruler. ‘Width adjustments for proper aspect ratio is similarly a “snap” with the B&K 1245 as the 10 to 14 line ratio is for all practical purposes the standard 3 to 4 aspect ratio. In the case of a color receiver's adjustments for slight overscan, the receiver is adjusted to produce a space between the edge lines and the edge of the CRT of approximately one- half the distance between two adjacent H or V lines. In a sense, the finite and equally spaced H and V lines and the cross hatch is superior to a transmitted test pattern because the service technician obtains reference points across the entire face of the CRT; Marcu-Armtt, 1966 particularly so with color where dynamic convergence checks must be made across the entire CRT face. The B&K 1245 utilizes an “and” circuit to obtain the dot pattern; the generator’s output is cut-off at all times except when both the H and V output is present—this occurs only at the intersections, or dots. The dot pattern produces the reference needed for static con- vergence of the color guns. In order to ob- tain a black and white picture (also a good color representation) the three beams must hit the same spot on the CRT at the same time. When proper static adjustment is ob- tained the central dot—the one in the center of the screen—appears white, while adjust- ments for dynamic convergence generally re- sult in proper convergence of the dots in the central H and V areas, Cover slides off the B&K color generator revealing the fully transistorized circuits of this AC powered fest gear. The entire unit weighs in at only three pounds making it easy fo foke on home service calls. 5The B&K color generator is easily carried using the han- dlo on the side of the unit. The leads, below, can be coiled around the clip de- signed into the cover for even additional convenience. The three gun killers—which reverse bia the grids by connecting them to ground through a resistor—allows each gun to be cut off as required in the convergence alignment as well as purity adjustment procedure. Of special note is the fact that the B&K 1245 produces horizontal lines—and hence dots—exactly one scanning line in height. When the receiver's focus and/or conver- gence is properly adjusted the H lines appear to be sharply “etched” on the CRT; smear- ing, blurring or improper convergence is im- mediately apparent. Viva la Chroma. The final function is the color signal. Gating of the generated rainbow produces an output which consists of 10 color bands equally spaced 30 degrees apart. ‘The color signal serves two purposes: it per- mits testing the receiver's color sections in the absence of a transmitted signal and it permits rapid and accurate adjustment of the color phasing control. The color pattern starts at the left with yellow-orange, pro- gresses through blue at the center and is, green at the extreme right RF Output. The B&K Color Generator's output is modulated RF which is connected directly to the receiver's antenna terminals. This is a superior method to the video out put type which requires that you go into the receiver's Wiring. The RF output is of further advantage in that the signal feeds through the entire receiver and phase shift in the IF or RF stages will affect the test signal in the same manner as a transmitted signal. (A video output type of generator is connected after the IF amplifier so phase shift in the preceding stages do not show up on the test signal—obviously an RF signal is to be pre- ferred). While the 1245’s RF output is set to channel 3 it can be easily user adjusted to channels 2 or 4. Fully transistorized and AC powered, B&K’s Color Generator is rather compact and exceptionally light-—easily tucked into a tube caddy with little extra weight—it weighs only three pounds. Priced at $134.95, ad- ditional information is available from B&K Manufacturing Co., Dept. HS, 1801 W. Belle Plaine Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60613. ‘Eemerary ELECTRONICS‘Marci-Aprit, 1966 eee Servicing Home Equipment By Leo G. Sands W7PH/KBG3321 You can learn much about electronics when you repair radios, hi-fi's, and television sets ‘OU CAN often diagnose and repair troubles in your radio and television receivers, or hi-fi system. There are some repairs that should be tackled only by a competent technician. Since it costs money to have a technician diag- nose the trouble, it would be cheaper if you were to do the preliminary diagnosis and perform the easy and simple re~ pair tasks. The only test equipment you need is a volt-ohm-milliam- meter, called a VOM by engineers and technicians. It is a multi-purpose meter that will measure AC and DC volts, current in milliamperes and resistance in ohms and meg- ohms. They range in price from $10 for an import to as much as $75 for a domestic-made instrument. AC/DC radios. Most radio sets, except transistor port- ables, are of the so-called AC/DC type. The AC/DC radio Entertainment 1Po GG

You might also like

• Elementary Electronics 1967-11-12

  

  No ratings yet

  Elementary Electronics 1967-11-12

  118 pages
• Re 1999 11

  

  No ratings yet

  Re 1999 11

  100 pages
• Sursăpg 40

  

  No ratings yet

  Sursăpg 40

  92 pages
• Elektor Electronics 1994-03 PDF

  

  No ratings yet

  Elektor Electronics 1994-03 PDF

  76 pages
• EL003 Electronic Projects New Collections Vol 3N

  

  100% (2)

  EL003 Electronic Projects New Collections Vol 3N

  238 pages
• Computer Circuits For Experimenters

  

  No ratings yet

  Computer Circuits For Experimenters

  98 pages
• Science and Communication Circuits and Projects (Text)

  

  No ratings yet

  Science and Communication Circuits and Projects (Text)

  146 pages
• Nuts and Volts 2014-12 PDF

  

  No ratings yet

  Nuts and Volts 2014-12 PDF

  56 pages
• Nuts and Volts 2014-12

  

  No ratings yet

  Nuts and Volts 2014-12

  84 pages
• Nuts&Volts 2009 04

  

  No ratings yet

  Nuts&Volts 2009 04

  84 pages
• Elektor Electronics 1998-03

  

  No ratings yet

  Elektor Electronics 1998-03

  58 pages
• Re - 1984-06

  

  No ratings yet

  Re - 1984-06

  136 pages
• Radio TV Experimenter 1965-02-03

  

  No ratings yet

  Radio TV Experimenter 1965-02-03

  132 pages
• Radio Experimenter 1950 Vol 1

  

  100% (1)

  Radio Experimenter 1950 Vol 1

  164 pages
• Electronic Experimenters Handbook 1974 Spring

  

  No ratings yet

  Electronic Experimenters Handbook 1974 Spring

  148 pages
• Nuts and Volts 2014-02

  

  No ratings yet

  Nuts and Volts 2014-02

  84 pages
• Elektor Electronics USA 1992 01

  

  No ratings yet

  Elektor Electronics USA 1992 01

  76 pages
• Radio Magazine

  

  100% (2)

  Radio Magazine

  84 pages
• Pe - 1967-10

  

  100% (1)

  Pe - 1967-10

  116 pages
• Electronics Enthusiasts' Guide

  

  No ratings yet

  Electronics Enthusiasts' Guide

  72 pages
• Re - 1972-11

  

  100% (2)

  Re - 1972-11

  94 pages
• Re - 1971-08

  

  No ratings yet

  Re - 1971-08

  86 pages
• Nuts and Volts - November 2009 (Malestrom)

  

  No ratings yet

  Nuts and Volts - November 2009 (Malestrom)

  84 pages
• Nutsvolts200810 DL

  

  No ratings yet

  Nutsvolts200810 DL

  100 pages
• History of the Valve in Electronics

  

  No ratings yet

  History of the Valve in Electronics

  58 pages
• Nutsvolts201506 DL

  

  No ratings yet

  Nutsvolts201506 DL

  84 pages
• Maplin 1986 03 04 05

  

  No ratings yet

  Maplin 1986 03 04 05

  68 pages
• Radio Constructor 1971-01

  

  No ratings yet

  Radio Constructor 1971-01

  41 pages
• Electronics Today International April 1990

  

  No ratings yet

  Electronics Today International April 1990

  68 pages
• RC 1976 04

  

  No ratings yet

  RC 1976 04

  64 pages
• Nuts and Volts 2014-01

  

  No ratings yet

  Nuts and Volts 2014-01

  84 pages
• Nuts and Volts 2008-07

  

  No ratings yet

  Nuts and Volts 2008-07

  101 pages
• RC 1976 02

  

  100% (4)

  RC 1976 02

  68 pages
• Nuts and Volts 2022-02

  

  No ratings yet

  Nuts and Volts 2022-02

  88 pages
• Radio TV Experimenter 1965-02-03 Regen 80 10m Muy Bueno Dos Tubos

  

  No ratings yet

  Radio TV Experimenter 1965-02-03 Regen 80 10m Muy Bueno Dos Tubos

  132 pages
• 12

  

  No ratings yet

  12

  84 pages
• Compukit UK101: Build Your Own Computer

  

  No ratings yet

  Compukit UK101: Build Your Own Computer

  92 pages
• Electronics Today 1974 08

  

  No ratings yet

  Electronics Today 1974 08

  76 pages
• Silicon Chip Magazine 2005-02 Feb PDF

  

  100% (2)

  Silicon Chip Magazine 2005-02 Feb PDF

  105 pages
• Everyday Practical Electronics - 2000 - 04

  

  No ratings yet

  Everyday Practical Electronics - 2000 - 04

  100 pages
• Silicon Chip January 2019 PDF

  

  No ratings yet

  Silicon Chip January 2019 PDF

  116 pages
• Nuts and Volts 2 2022

  

  No ratings yet

  Nuts and Volts 2 2022

  88 pages
• Electronics Hobbyist 1975 Fall Winter

  

  No ratings yet

  Electronics Hobbyist 1975 Fall Winter

  100 pages
• DigitalElectronics WhenHardwareGreetsSoftwareV10k Nodn

  

  No ratings yet

  DigitalElectronics WhenHardwareGreetsSoftwareV10k Nodn

  167 pages
• E 4 U 17

  

  No ratings yet

  E 4 U 17

  160 pages
• Nutsvolts201003 DL

  

  100% (2)

  Nutsvolts201003 DL

  84 pages
• Electronics Today 1979 03

  

  100% (1)

  Electronics Today 1979 03

  100 pages
• Nuts & Volts 25-09 - Sep 2004

  

  100% (2)

  Nuts & Volts 25-09 - Sep 2004

  108 pages
• Capacitor Leakage Adaptor For DMMs

  

  No ratings yet

  Capacitor Leakage Adaptor For DMMs

  10 pages
• Electronics Today 1977 01

  

  100% (2)

  Electronics Today 1977 01

  92 pages
• Nuts Volts 200601

  

  No ratings yet

  Nuts Volts 200601

  100 pages
• Nuts and Volts 2010-01

  

  100% (1)

  Nuts and Volts 2010-01

  84 pages
• Getting Started in Electronics - 3ed - (Forrest M.Mims) PDF

  

  100% (9)

  Getting Started in Electronics - 3ed - (Forrest M.Mims) PDF

  128 pages
• Getting Started in Electronics Forrest M Mims III

  

  No ratings yet

  Getting Started in Electronics Forrest M Mims III

  128 pages
• Pe - 1971-10

  

  No ratings yet

  Pe - 1971-10

  106 pages
• Getting Started in Electroniks PDF

  

  100% (7)

  Getting Started in Electroniks PDF

  129 pages
• Pe - 1971-04

  

  100% (2)

  Pe - 1971-04

  96 pages
• Pe - 1974-07

  

  100% (1)

  Pe - 1974-07

  100 pages
• Elementary Electronics 1974 05 06

  

  No ratings yet

  Elementary Electronics 1974 05 06

  100 pages
• Radio Electronics 1967 - 12 PDF

  

  No ratings yet

  Radio Electronics 1967 - 12 PDF

  92 pages
• Launch Controller Circuit Rev May 2017

  

  0% (1)

  Launch Controller Circuit Rev May 2017

  1 page
• Elementary Electronics 1969-11-12

  

  No ratings yet

  Elementary Electronics 1969-11-12

  100 pages
• Elementary Electronics 1969-05-06

  

  100% (1)

  Elementary Electronics 1969-05-06

  108 pages
• Elementary Electronics 1968-11-12

  

  100% (2)

  Elementary Electronics 1968-11-12

  112 pages
• Radio TV Experimenter 1952 Vol 2

  

  No ratings yet

  Radio TV Experimenter 1952 Vol 2

  198 pages
• Elementary Electronics 1968-09-10

  

  No ratings yet

  Elementary Electronics 1968-09-10

  108 pages
• Elementary Electronics 1969-07-08

  

  100% (2)

  Elementary Electronics 1969-07-08

  100 pages
• Elementary Electronics 1969-01-02

  

  No ratings yet

  Elementary Electronics 1969-01-02

  110 pages
• Elementary Electronics 1969-03-04

  

  No ratings yet

  Elementary Electronics 1969-03-04

  108 pages
• Elementary Electronics 1967-03-04

  

  100% (1)

  Elementary Electronics 1967-03-04

  118 pages
• EE 1917 Dec

  

  100% (1)

  EE 1917 Dec

  84 pages
• Elementary Electronics 1968-05-06

  

  100% (1)

  Elementary Electronics 1968-05-06

  116 pages
• Elementary Electronics 1966-05-06

  

  100% (3)

  Elementary Electronics 1966-05-06

  116 pages
• EE 1918 Dec

  

  No ratings yet

  EE 1918 Dec

  84 pages
• Elementary Electronics 1964 Summer

  

  100% (1)

  Elementary Electronics 1964 Summer

  132 pages
• EE 1918 Jul

  

  No ratings yet

  EE 1918 Jul

  76 pages
• Elementary Electronics 1966-07-08

  

  100% (1)

  Elementary Electronics 1966-07-08

  116 pages
• EE 1918 Aug

  

  100% (1)

  EE 1918 Aug

  77 pages
• EE 1918 Feb

  

  No ratings yet

  EE 1918 Feb

  84 pages
• EE 1916 Feb

  

  100% (2)

  EE 1916 Feb

  76 pages
• EE 1916 Mar

  

  100% (2)

  EE 1916 Mar

  75 pages
• EE 1917 Apr

  

  67% (3)

  EE 1917 Apr

  90 pages