POPULAR ELECTRONICS

1980 ELECTRONIC
EXPERIMENTER'S
H AN D BOO K. $250 INCLUDING PERSONAL MICROCOMPUTER SECTION
FULL CONSTRUCTION PI Ahle Audio Graphic Equalizer Electronic
Tachometer Blacklight Lantern Power-Failure Alarm Digital Camera
Shutter Timer Oscilloscope Graphic Artist Broadcast Band DX
Antenna Talking Over A Sunbeam Ultrasensitive Audio Voltmeter In/Out
Detection System "Bucket Brigade" Audio Delay Line Perf Board Wiring._

COMPLEYC GUIDE TO PERSONAL COMPUTERS

Product Directory How To Buy and Set Up

.
AN. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII1I

14024 14
iii
Electronic Exp Fndbk
Now, a high-performance, easy-to -operate Communications Receiver
with single-knob tuning system and digital frequency display!
Up-to-the-minute events andl informa- Built-in quartz digital clock and ON/OFF
tion from anywhere in the world, includ- Dimmer switch to control panel lights and
timer digital display intensity
ing foreign shortwave broadcast (music, Up -conversion PLL circuit and wideband
news, propaganda, etc.), emergency ship Adjustable bracket for optimum operating
RF circuits provide. exceptional perform- angle
communications and other marine traf- ance and easy operation without the need
fic, standard AM broadcast, Amateur Three antenna terminals for high -imped-
'or bandspread, preselector, or antenna ance wire leads and a 50-Q coaxial lead
Radio Operators, all 40 CB channels, tuning
military and government messages, long- Multi-modes...AM (wide and narrow), SSB Optional Accessories:
distance industrial communications, (USB and LSB), and CW SP -100 matching external speaker
standard time/frequency signals... and Three built-in IF filters...for SSB and CW HS -4 and HS -5 headphones
other exciting transmissions...it's all (2.7 kHz), for AM narrow (6.0 kHz), and for The exciting R-1000 is designed specifically
yours through the R-1000! AM wide (12 kHz) for those who demand the highest quality
Highly accurate, sensitive, selective, and Effective communications -type noise and it's available only through selected com-
stable, the R-1000 has a unique fast -tuning blanker (superior to noise limiter) munications equipment specialists.
system that covers the shortwave bands, Step attenuator (0-60 dB in 20 -dB steps) Write or call today for more information
plus medium -wave and long -wave frequen- to prevent overload and for the address of your nearest
cies. Even SSB communications signals are Recording terminal (built-in timer controls Authorized Kenwood Communications
received perfectly. recording time through remote Dealer.
Its many features Include: terminal)
Continuous frequency coverage from 200
kHz to 30 MHz
30 bands, each MHz wide
1

Accurate five -digit frequency display and

Tone control for best audio
response
Built-in 4 -inch speaker for
quality sound reproduction
KENWOOD
TRIO-KENWOOD COMMUNICATIONS INC..
illuminated analog dial Illuminated S -meter 1111 WEST WALNUT /COMPTON, CA 90220
TELEPHONE: (213) 639-9000
CIRCLE NO. 15 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
 Tiny BASIC." VP -700
Expanded Tiny BASIC Board
Color. VP -590 add-on Color Board allows program puts this high-level language
control of 8 brilliantcolorsforgraphics, colorgames. on your VIP. BASIC stored
Plus 4 selectable background colors. Includes in 4K of ROM. Ready for im-
sockets for 2 auxiliary keypads (VP -580). $69' mediate use-no loading
necessary. This expanded
Sound. VP -595 Simple Sound Board provides 256 BASIC includes the standard
tone frequencies. Great for supplementing graphics Tiny BASIC commands plus
with sound effects or music. Set tone and duration 12 additional-including
with easy instructions. $24' color and sound control!
Requires external ASCII
encoded alpha -numeric
Music. VP -550 Super Sound Board turns your VIP into a music keyboard. $39'
synthesizer. 2 sound channels. Program control of fregLency,
time and amplitude envelope (voice) independently in each
channel. Program directly from sheet music! Sync provision
for controlling multiple VIPs, multitrack recording or other
synthesizers. $49'

Memory. VP -570 RAM Expansion Board adds 4<

bytes of memory. Jumper locates RAM in any 4<
block of up to 32K of memory. On -board memo -y
protects switch. $95'

EPROM Programmer. VP -565 EPROM Programmer Board

comes complete with software to program, copy and
verify 5 -volt 2716 EPROMs-comparable to units
costing much more than the VP -565 and VIP put
together! Programming voltages generated on
board. ZIF PROM socket included. $99'

EPROM Interface. VP -560 EPROM Interface Auxiliary Keypads. Program

Board locates two 5 -volt 2716 EPROMs (4K your VIP for 2 -player inter-
bytes total) anywhere in 32K of memory. action games! 16 -key keypad
VIP RAM can be re -allocated. $34' VP-580 with cable ($15*)
connects to sockets pro-
vided on VP -590 Color Board
ASCII Keyboard'" Fully encoded, 128-character ASCII or VP 585 Keyboard Interface
encoded alpha -numeric keyboard. 58 light touch keys Card ($10").
including 2 user defined keys! Selectable upperand lower
case. Handsomely styled. Under $50'

COSMAC VIP lets you add

computer power a board at a time.
With these new easy -to - easy to program and operate.
buy options, the versatile Powerful CHIP -8 interpre-
RCA COSMAC VIP tive language gets you into
(CDP18S711) means even programming the first
more excitement. More evening. Complete docu-
challenges in graphics, mentation provided.
games and control func- Take the first step now.
tions. For everyone, from Check your local com-
youngster to serious hobby- puter store or electronics
ist. And the basic VIP com- parts house. Or contact
puter system starts at just $249* assembled RCA VIP Marketing, New Holland Avenue,
and ready to operate. Lancaster, PA 17604. Phone (717) 291-5848.
'Suggested retail price. CDP1Bs711 does not include video monitor or cassette recorder.
Simple but powerful-not just a toy. "Available 1st Quarter. 1979.
Built around an RCA COSMAC micro-
processor, the VIP includes 2K of RAM. ROM
monitor. Audio tone with a built-in speaker.
Plus 8 -bit input and 8 -bit output port to inter-
face relays, sensors or other peripherals. It's
1980 EDITION
CIRCLE NO. 14 ON FREE
The fun way
into computers.
INFORMATION CARD
RC" 1
 40:31 PULSE C-rE/0.TOR

night say we make time machnes.

You simplifies design, maintenance field service,
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in every corner of elect-onics, by working Also instr_ mental in making li'e easier
smarter instead of harder, for far less thar are CSC's value -packed test instruments.
you'd expect. Including palrr -size frequency counters that
We g veyour neap a head start witha go from audio t~ past 550 MHz Our Lltravari-
variety of solcerless breadboarding systems able Pulse Generator' that lives up to its name
that let yoi translate ideas directly into with a range cf 0.5Hz to 5 MHz and a duty
working ci-ccits, as fast as you can think c:Vcla variable aver ten -million -to -one. A
We o:fer the mos- logical way to tes- f.mction generator whose VCO is external y
logic-The Logical Force-portable, circuit - weepable over 100:1.
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cut the tima (and cost) cf diagnosing stata - 38 -page catalog, crammed full of smarter
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70 Fulton Terr. New Haven. CT 06509 Call toll -free tor details
OTHER OFFICES San Francisco 4 5. 42.8872. TW4 910-372.7992
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 ecrnoracs

1980ELECTRONIC
EXPERIMENTER'S
IIANUBDOK
COMPUTER BUYING TIPS Ivan Berger 6
Ivan Berger 11
GETTING YOUR SYSTEM UP AND RUNNING
PERF BOARD WIRING TECHNIQUES FOR EXPERIMENTERS Adolph A. Mangieri 14
THE OSCILLOSCOPE GRAPHIC ARTIST Mitchell Waite 21
A BCB LOOP ANTENNA FOR DX'ING Norman Fallon 26
THE "BUCKET BRIGADE" AUDIO DELAY LINE John H. Roberts 29
BUILD THIS LOW-COST CAPACITANCE METER Thomas McGahee 38
BUILD A DIGITAL CAMERA SHUTTER TIMER R.S. Hedin 41
BUILD A BLACKLIGHT LANTERN W.E. McCormick 45
MODEL RAILROAD SOUND SYNTHESIZER Harold Wright 48
AUTOMATIC DIODE CHECKER R.M. Stitt 52
BUILD THE "DELTA -GRAPH" OCTAVE-BAND EQUALIZER Bryan T. Morrison 57
THE IC PHOTO TACHOMETER Adolph A. Mangieri 62
BUILD THE AUDIO DETECTIVE Ralph Tenny 66
POWER -FAILURE ALARM Barton M. Bresnik 69
DESIGNING OPTIMUM -Q AND SMALL INDUCTORS R.E. Martin 70
Matthew Fichtenbaum 71
A STROBE FLASHER FOR NIGHT CYCLING
A POWER NOMOGRAPH Mark L. McWilliams 73
IC MULTIPLEX DECODER IMPROVES STEREO FM PERFORMANCE Martin Meyer 74
Robert P. Balin 78
QUIZ OF AUDIO BASICS
BUILD A DIRECT-READING LOGIC PROBE R.M. Stitt 79
TALK OVER A SUNBEAM WITH A "PHOTOPHONE" Forrest M. Mims 82
QUIZ-GAME ELECTRONICS Michael S. Robbins 86
A "JUNK -BOX" 5 -VOLT POWER SUPPLY R.C. Foss 88
BUILD DYNADIM II Russell J. Bik 89
TEST YOUR ELECTRONICS INGENUITY Robert G. Fleagle, Jr. 92
BUILD THE LIGHT GENIE Maynard Graden 93
BUILD A STATE-OF-THE-ART BATTERY CHARGE MONITOR W.J. Prudhomme 96
QUICK HEX -DECIMAL CONVERSIONS Raymond J. Bell 97
COMPUTER GLOSSARY 98

MICROCOMPUTER PRODUCT DIRECTORY

MICROCOMPUTERS 100
COMPUTER PERIPHERALS 109
118
COMPUTER MODULES
125
COMPUTER ACCESSORIES
127
DIRECTORY OF MANUFACTURERS
128
ADVERTISER'S INDEX

COVER PHOTO: Justin Kerr Studio

ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTER'S HANDBOOK is published annually by Ziff -Davis Publishing Company at One
Park Avenue,
New York, New York 10016. Philip B. Korsant, President; Furman Hebb, Executive Vice President; Philip Sine, Sr. Vice
President and Secretary.

COPYRIGHT © 1979 BY ZIFF-DAVIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Material this publication may not be reproduced in any form without permission. Requests for permission should be directed to
in
Jerry Schneider. Rights & Permission. Ziff -Davis Publishing Co., One Park Ave.. New York, NY 10016
The Publisher has no knowledge of any proprietary rights which will be violated by the making or using of any items disclosed in this Handbook.

Directory Editor
JOSEPH E. MESICS, Publisher ARTHUR P. SALSBERG, Editorial Director IVAN BERGER, Computer
EDWARD I. BUXBAUM, Art Director DIANE NAKAMURA, Production Editor ALLYN BRIDGMAN, Assistant Production Editor
ANDRE DUZANT, Technical Illustrator

BONNIE B. KAISER, Eastern Adv. Manager JOHN J. CORTON, Adv. Sales

LINDA BLUM, Adv. Service Manager EDGAR W. HOPPER, Publishing Director
1980 EDITION 3
 POPULAR ELECTRONICS

1980 ELECTRONIC
THE COVER EXPERIMENTER'S
HANDBOOK®
The following microcomputer products are featured on the 1980 ZIFF-DAVIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
Electronic Experimenter's Handbook cover: (left to right) front
Philip B. Korsant
row, Apple disks and cassettes (software), Apple Single -Disk President
Drive and Apple II Computer with game paddles; second row, Furman Hebb
Heathkit Line Printer and Percom TFD-100 Dual Disk Drive; Executive Vice -President

back row, Zenith color TV monitor. Phillip T. Heffernan

Senior Vice President

Edward D. Muhlfeld
Senior Vice President

Richard Friese
Senior Vice President

Philip Sine
When you're into electronics, Senior Vice President, Secretary

Lawrence Sporn

Calectro is into whatever you Senior Vice President,

Circulation and Marketing

Baird Davis
need -whether it's ideas, Vice President, Production

George E. Morrissey

instructions, or a complete
Vice President

Sydney H. Rogers
Vice President

supply of parts Sidney Holtz

Vice President

Albert S. Traîna
Vice President
9 111111re Mee
Calectro has projects designed for '.na Paul H. Chook
uttrasontr, Vice President
you: a "Project of the Month", con- j'. Switch \,er
ceived by the Calectro engineering Edgar W. Hopper
ii Vice President
department, along with detailed in-
Robert N. Bavier, Jr.
structions and a list of all the Calectro Vice President
parts you need to build it! Selwyn Taubman
Treasurer
Calectro has parts and accessories: Jerry Schneider
printed circuit materials, tools, meters, Vice President 8 Administrative
Director, Annuals
testing devices, equipment boxes,
W. Bradford Briggs
sockets, switches, IC's, transistors, rec- Vice Chairman
tifiers, lugs, fuses, bulbs, wire, connec-
ZIFF CORPORATION
tors, term inals, jacks, transformers, and
-
lots more everything you need to William Ziff
Chairman
complete your project. And you'll find
more of the parts you want at your I. Martin Pompadur
President
Calectro store than anywhere else.
Hershel B. Sarbin
Executive Vice President
Calectro has literature: the Calectro
Handbook -a valuable guide and
Editorial, Circulation, and Executive Offices
product reference for the experi- One Park Avenue, New York, New York 10016
212-725-3500
menter, hobbyist, audiophile, techni- Joseph E. Mesics (725-3568)
cian, and student; plus handbooks on John J. Corton (725-3578)
Bonnie B. Kaiser (725-3580)
semiconductors, circuits, and more! Midwestern Office
Suite 1400, 180 N. Michigan Ave.
Coming soon: a new Calectro Hand- Chicago, IL 60601, (312-346-2600)
Midwest Representative: Ted Welch
book, a compendium of popular
Western Office
project ideas. Western Representative: Norm Schindler
and Associates
Whatever you need in electronics, 7050 Owensmouth Ave., .209
Canoga Park, CA 91303 (213-999-1414)
your Calectro distributor is your Japan
surest, finest source! James Yagi, Oji Palace Aoyama;
6-25 Minami Aoyama
6 Chome. Minuto -ka,
Tokyo 407-1930/6821 582-2851

Ca lectro 1980 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTER'S HANDBOOK is

published annually by the Ziff -Davis Publishing Company,
One Park Avenue, New York. N.Y. 10016. Also publishers
Products of GC Electronics, Rockford, IL 61101 of Stereo Review. Popular Electronics, Tape Recording 8
Buying Guide, Stereo Directory & Buying Guide, and
Communications Handbook.
CIRCLE NO. 70N FREE INFORMATION CARD
4 1980 EDITION
 An Extraordinary Offer to introduce you to the benefits of Membership in

BOLO tIK{; ELECTRONICS BOOK CLUB

invites you to take
et vln E. !II MI
jQl
HANDBOOK& Tf this 1,302 -page 99
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Complete instructions-plans, schematics, logic circuits, and
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Almost 800
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the ground up in a learning experience unparalleled in electronic us send you this 4 -volume, 1,302 -page
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construction 238 pps., 117 illus. List $8.95 Robotics Library as part of an unusual offer 1,302 data -
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Here are quality hardbound volumes, each packed pages
A practical, step-by-step guide to designing, building, and especially designed to help you increase your
installing hundreds of remote control systems, and scores of know-how, earning power, and enjoyment of elec- coming 12 months. You would probably buy at
automated devices...from garage door openers to light sensors, tronics. Whatever your interest in electronics, least this many anyway, without the substantial
from intercom controls to electromechanical timers-to inter- you'll find Electronics Book Club offers practical, savings offered through Club Membership.
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to apply electronic and mechanical techniques to remote -control and benefit. tive terms, simply fill out and mail the coupon
with computers, with audible tones, with ultrasonics, with radio This extraordinary offer is intended to prove today. You will receive the 4 -volume Robotics
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A GIANT 406 -page handbook that shows you how to design Facts About Club Membership
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The 4 introductory books carry a publishers retail price of
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CIRC,_E NO. a ON FREE INFORMATION CARD 5

1980 EDITION
 THE choice of computers spread be-
fore you in the pages that follow
may seem dizzying. But choosing the
right one isn't all that hard once you
COMPUTER BUYING
know what you want it for and what re-
quirements your need imposes.
So the logical starting place is the
application. Microcomputers are used
for a wide variety of purposes: for pro-
gram development and teaching oneself
to program; for business applications
such as accounting and inventory; for
word processing to develop cleanly
typed reports, letters and the like; for
small mass mailings; for education in
non -computer subjects; to handle home
data such as recipes, Christmas card
lists and the checkbook; tocontrol home
and industrial devices; to play games;
and for mathematical computation.
The more such applications you have,
the more sense computers (basically
all-purpose devices) make. For some
single applications, in fact, alternatives
to the computer make more sense. If all
you want is to play games, for instance,
get a programmable video game, and
be done with it. The game will probably
cost less, and put more interesting, car-
toon -like graphics on your TV screen.
Similarly, if all you need to do is com-
plex calculation, consider a programma-
ble calculator. Again, the cost will be
less-and you'll be able to carry the
calculator with you at all times.
But calculators can play only limited
games, and TV games have only limited
calculating ability, if any (not counting
the small but growing number of games
that can be converted into full-fledged
computers). If you're interested in both the computer and you. Each speaks But octal and hex are only more so-
these applications at once-or in any of very different languages, and one mea- phisticated ways of talking machine lan-
the others so far mentioned-you'll sure of I/O sophistication is how clever- guage, the instructions that computers
need a full-fledged computer. ly the system can disguise that fact. understand directly. Machine -language
But which one? All computers have In its most primitive (and, today, rar- programs run very quickly, and don't
some similarities: They all have some est) form, the system will communicate use much memory. But they're cumber-
sort of input device to enter programs in binary, a numbering system based on some to write since you must not only
and data, some sort of output device to twos. A completely binary I/O system learn at least a hundred or so instruc-
verify the input data and show what re- would have a row of eight switches to tions and how to use them, but must
sults the computer comes up with when input each 8 -bit computer command or learn them as abstract numbers like
the program runs. They all have proces- data "word" and eight lights per "CD" or "305".
sors, the chips that do the actual com- "word" for output. Consequently, keypad -and -display
puting; and memory to hold programs More commonly, the system will computers are only useful as is, for
and data while they're being used. But translate such binary numbers as writing very short programs, especially
the types of input, output and processor "11000000" into an octal (base -8) num- programs designed to interact with oth-
differ, as do the amount of memory and ber such as "300" or a hexidecimal er devices rather than with people. Con-
the number of accessories or peripher- (base -16) number such as "CO". (Since trol applications are often a perfect
als which can be used with the system. hex numbering requires more digits than match for these computers. Here, the
our base -10 decimal system, it follows limitations of keypad programming
Input and Output. The most visible the digits 0-9 with the letters A -F.) aren't serious, and the computers are
differences between computer systems Many low-priced, single -board comput- small and cheap enough to be assigned
are usually in their input and output ers have calculator -like keypads and to specific devices, or sometimes even
(I/O, for short) facilities. These are displays for either octal or hex input to be built into them.
channels of communications between and output. But most such computers also have
6 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 stead of remembering their memory ad- computer/recorder combinations work
well, though, nor do all r -f modulators.
TIPS dresses.
But that's still doing things the com-
puter's way, not yours. High-level lan-
(The latter cannot be legally sold unless
it's in kit form.) Try to check out your
guages, such as BASIC or PASCAL, use combination in the store or on a money -
standard English words (though some- back guarantee. Computers with built-in
times in abbreviated form) to represent r -f modulators are beginning to appear,

whole sequences of computer opera- too. This feature makes most sense in
tions. In BASIC, for example, "PRINT home systems, where there's likely to
Step-by-step guide SQR(SIN(Y))" will make the computer be a TV receiver available, than in a
tell you what the square root of the sine business or industrial system.
to selecting a of Y is. An assembly -language program There are also differences in how
much information you can put on the
microcomputer system for that would probably fill up this col-
umn. video screen. Alphanumeric displays
Just as with assembly language, a are available with 16 lines of 64 charac-
special program is needed to translate ters each, or less, and with 25 lines of
your BASIC or other high-level language 80 characters, or more. Graphics dis-
program into the computer's com- plays also differ in the number of hori-
mands. That program can be read into zontal and vertical elements they can
the computer from a tape, or can be show-the amount of picture detail, in
permanently built into the computer's other words. The more information you
memory. If you use BASIC a lot, it is a pack on one screen, the more you take
great convenience to have it instantly in at one glance. But more detailed dis-
on tap whenever you turn the computer plays cost more, and require higher -
Note: For computer on. If you don't, this feature won't make resolution monitors. As a result, high -
terminology, see Computer much difference to you. density displays often cannot be used
Glossary, page 98. The typewriter keyboard and video with r -f modulators and TV receivers.
Microcomputer Products screen are the most common microcom- Keyboards are more standardized.
Directory starts on page 100. puter I/O devices, but there are varia- The basic differences are in keyboard
tions and alternatives available. Many "feel" (more likely to matter to an oper-
of these systems let you not only dis- ator who already knows touch typing
play letters and numbers (alphanumer- than to a hunt -and -peck operator) and
ics) on the screen, but "draw" pictures in the presence or absence of separate
(graphics) on the screen as well. The numeric keypads. These keypads are
pictures are often rather crude, being very worthwhile in applications involving
composed of clearly noticeable blocks, large amounts of numerical entries,
BY WAN BERGER but they're useful for such applications such as in business accounting or in
as games, graphing mathematical func- scientific computation. It's far quicker to
tions, and in business for bar -graph and punch numbers into a calculator -like
other displays that are easier to under- nest of keys in a compact bunch than to
ports for communicating with other I/O stand than tables of numbers. Color use a row of number keys spread out
devices. Connect one to a terminal, makes the games more exciting and the across the top of the keyboard.
which combines a full typewriter -like bar -graphs more readable, but raises One major difference between type-
keyboard with a video display screen or the cost of the computer, too. writers and computers is that some
a printer, and you can work with other Graphics programs written in BASIC computers display only upper-case, or
programming languages which use the run very slowly; for speed, you'll have to capital letters. That's fine for most ap-
entire alphabet and other symbols. use assembly language programs. Bear plications, but not for word processing.
With the keyboard's full set of char- that in mind if you plan to write your own Word processing systems are mostly
acters at your command, you can pro- graphics. If you want fast graphics at used for business, where it costs lots of
gram in assembly or high-level lan- low cost, you'll find a few graphics - money to turn roughly typed or written
guages. Assembly language is just a capable machines with hex keypad in- drafts into smoothly typed letters and
word-for-word translation of machine put for machine -language programming. reports. On a typical word-processing
language from abstract numbers into Even alphanumeric video displays dif- system, the operator can enter text,
more easily memorized abbreviations. fer. Some computers have built-in video make corrections of all kinds, then com-
In 8080 assembler, for example, the in- monitor screens. Others are usually mand the computer to print out a per-
struction "return if not zero" is "RNZ". sold with a video screen in a separate fectly typed, finished copy. If it's a form
In machine language, it would be either cabinet. Still others include video output letter, the computer can turn out a sepa-
"CO" (hex), "300" (octal) or circuits to feed signals to a video moni- rate copy for each name and address
"11000000" (binary). A program called tor screen. To feed it to a regular TV on its list. Such systems are being
an assembler translates the mnemonic receiver, though, you'll have to convert adopted by offices, by free-lance writ-
abbreviations into machine code, as that signal to a modulated radio -fre- ers and others.
well as performing such useful tricks as quency one by passing it either through Most small computers communicate
letting you call subroutines (frequently an r -f modulator or through a video -cas- with you through video screens. For
invoked sub -programs) by name, in- sette recorder, if you have one. Not all most applications, this makes perfect
7
1980 EDITION
 sense: video systems are fast, silent, munication channels between you and There are two types of memory: RAM
reliable, and don't use up paper. the computer have far more to do with and ROM. RAM (Random -Access Mem-
But there are times when it definitely its utility than many of the circuits inside ory) is used for temporary storage of
pays to have a permanent record of the do. programs and data and for the results
computer's output. Word processing is The most important of these circuits of program runs. The contents of RAM
an obvious example, but so are ac- is probably memory. You'll find comput- can be changed at will, and many of
counting (including your personal ers here with as few as 256 "bytes" of them change constantly during the run-
checkbook), alphabetizing of lists, or memory, each byte being an 8 -bit com- ning of a program. But those contents
making written records of your programs puter "word" that can represent a sin- also fade out within seconds when the
that you can send to friends or carry with gle alphanumeric symbol or a single power is turned off.
you while you look for problems and computer command. You'll also find that That's where ROM comes in. ROM
improvements. Properly programmed, a many are expandable to as many as (Read -Only Memory) doesn't forget-
computer could print out your shopping 65,536 bytes, variously abbreviated as but you can't readily change it, either.
list in the order that the items appear either "64K" or "65K". (The two figures Hence, ROM is used to hold vital pro-
in on your supermarket's shelves. are equivalent; the "K" stands for grams which you'll use all the time,
In the early days of small computers, "1024", a binary number that's only a such as those which instruct the com-
Teletype printing terminals were the little different from the decimal 1000, puter how to accept input from the key-
most common 170 devices. Today, usually abbreviated "k". The figure of board. Some computers have BASIC in
video screens-on terminals or con- 65,536, representing 64 of those "bi- ROM, too-on others, you have to load
nected directly to the computer-are. nary thousands", could be abbreviated in the BASIC language program from a
But most systems do allow separate as either 64K or, in decimal, 65k; but tape each time you use it.
printers to be added to the system. If the capital "K" is used, confusingly, for Most computers have more RAM than
this is important to you, check how eas- both, in this one instance.) ROM. Typically, a system will wind up
ily the printer can be added to any sys- Most systems, though, fall into the 2K having about 2K of ROM (about 8K or
tem you're considering, and how much to 32K range. Memory costs money, so 10K with BASIC in ROM) and 16K or
the printer and its connections will cost. the more you have, the more the system more of RAM (less, if BASIC is in ROM,
costs. But the more memory you have, since that frees up the RAM space that
Inside the Computer. It's no accident the longer the programs you can store, BASIC would otherwise occupy). They
that we've been talking only about ext- and the more data you can have avail- may start with less, but sooner or later,
ernals so far. For the input-output com- able for them to work on. more memory is added.

For A Demonstration Or Further Information Contact Your Local Computer Store.

#1
8 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 Some inexpensive systems, usually sette tape, either built in or as an grams typically load in seconds. They
the single -board, keypad -and -display accessory program storage device. also speed up access to programs and
type, have very limited RAM space on Most such systems convert programs data. Getting from the first program on
board (perhaps 1K or 2K). Most of and data into tones which can be re- the disk to the last is a matter of moving
these allow other boards to be connect- corded on ordinary audio cassette re- the head a few inches from the outside
ed with more RAM. But unless your ap- corders, but a few record digital pulses, to the inside track. In contrast, getting
plication is a simple one using machine - not audio tones, which requires a spe- from the first to the last program on a
language or assembly -language pro- cial recorder. Cassettes, especially au- C-60 cassette means moving about 250
grams (device control, for example), be dio cassette systems, are fairly slow feet of tape past the head. Disks also
sure any system you buy can be ex- (they require several minutes to load load more reliably than cassettes.
panded to include enough memory for BASIC, for example). But they're faster And, when they don't load properly, re-
all your needs. There's no hard-and-fast than paper tape, use tape you can buy loading takes only a few seconds more.
rule about how much is enough, except almost anywhere, and they usually Unlike cassettes, disks allow much
that business systems seem never to make extra use of a cassette recorder interchangeability between computer
have enough memory. you already own. Cassette programs systems, especially with systems based
are not always interchangeable be- on the 8080, 8085 or Z80 processors.

Mass Storage. Programs, other than tween different computer makes, Many companies sell 51/4 inch disk pro-
those in ROM, must be fed into the com- though a few cassette formats available grams written for use with these sys-
puter every time you turn the system on as accessories for many computers, tems. Moreover, Digital Research's
or switch from one program to another. have achieved fairly wide use. CP/M operating system simplifies inter-
Entering them each time from the key- If you need more reliable loading change of programs from different com-
board or keypad is ridiculously time- (cassettes sometimes have to be load- puters using the foregoing processors.
consuming, and almost inevitably leads ed several times before you get them The processor is, for the most part,
to errors. So it's vital to have some right), quicker loading, and faster ac- less important than the system you use
easy, foolproof way to save programs cess to a wide variety of programs and it in. If you're programming in BASIC or

and re-enter them. data, then it's time to consider floppy some other language, you'll find as
The use of punched paper tape has disks. Floppies are basically magnetic much difference between versions of
virtually died out, since it's a slow and recording tape cut into discs instead of BASIC running on a common processor
noisy procedure. Most small computer ribbons. They use digital recording and as between versions running on alto-
systems standardize instead on cas- are very fast-BASIC or other long pro- gether different ones. If you program in

TEXAS
EXIDY INSTRUMENTS ATARI APPLE COMPUCOLOR COMMODORE TANDY
SORCERER 99/4 800 II MOD III PET TRS-80
'FEATURES
$999.99 $1150 $1495 $795 $599
Price of Minimum $995 $1150
Configuration
Z80 9900 6502 6502 8080 6502 Z80
Computer Type
49.1K 48K 32K 8K 16K
Maximum RAM 48K 16K
in Unit
26K 16K 8K 17K 14K 4K
ROM Supplied 12K
B/W Color Color Color Color BAN B/W
Display
32 40 40 64 40 64/32
CHAR/Line 64
24 24 24 16/32 25 16
Line/Screen 30
192/256 380/192 280/192 128/128 320/200 128/48
Graphic Resolution 512/240
79 Key 40 Key 57 Key 52 Key 77 Key 73 Key 53 Key
Keyboard
Typewriter Calculator Typewriter Typewriter Typewriter Calculator Typewriter
Yes No No No No No No
Lower Case Standard
No No No Yes Yes No
Numeric Keypad Yes
Standard
No No No No No No
Programmable 128
Characters Standard
Dual Cassette Joystick Joystick Single Cassette Single Disk Single Cassette Single Cassette
I/O Electronics
Sound Serial Joystick RS232 IEEE 488
Included RS232
Communications Single Cassette Communication
8 Bit Parallel
S-100 No No Yes Yes IEEE 488 Yes
Expansion Bus
Daisy Chain
No 92K Byte 116K Byte 51.2K Byte 125K Byte 45K Byte
Disk Available 630K Byte

ROM Basic ROM Basic ROM Basic ROM Basic Disk Basic ROM Basic ROM Basic
System Software
ROM Assembler ROM Assembler Disk Basic Disk Basic Disk Basic
Available
ROM Word Pascal Cassette Assembler
Processor
CPM EXT. Basic
CPM Fortran
CPM Cobol
CPM APL
CPM Pascal

Prices and specifications available June 1979. 390 Java Ave. Sunnyvale CA. 94086 (408) 734-9410

CIRCLE NO.6 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD 9

1980 EDITION
 assembly or machine language, you'll terminals, printers and the like; to gen- principle as the typewriter, pressing an
find unlike processors very different to erate speech or sounds; to accept inked ribbon against the paper. This
work with, but you'll also find that every voice input; to tell the computer what makes them the noisiest of printers, but
processor has its firm adherents, with time it is; to allow the user to build cir- allows them to use any ordinary paper
each processor's advantages being cuits of his own; to control other de- (your letterhead, for example) and to
balanced by disadvantages relative to vices; to communicate by phone with produce carbon copies.
other processors. The best way to other computers and terminals; to test Thermal and electrosensitive printers,
choose is to settle for whatever proces- integrated circuits; to add graphics ca- by contrast, are quiet, require no ribbon
sor is in the system which best suits pabilities; to send and receive Morse replacement, make only one copy at a
you, and for which the programs you code; to interface with computers using time, but require special paper that's of-
need are already available. other buses; to speed math processing; ten available only from computer -supply
There are, however, some excep- and many more. dealers. That means they cost more in
tions. To begin with, there are now sev- Some computers, chiefly very com- the long run than plain -paper impact
eral processors (such as the TI 9900 pact ones, require a separate "box" to printers, though electrosensitive print-
and the LSI-11) which use 16 -bit hold more than a minimum of extra ers are about the least expensive ones
"words" instead of the 8 -bit ones used memory, I/O and other circuits. Others to buy. However, electrosensitive paper
by most microprocessors. This allows combine approaches, with an expan- is silver -colored, not white, which
them to have larger, more powerful in- sion box built around an S-100 bus. makes it hard to read. Both thermal and
struction sets (some, for instance, can electrosensitive printers are only avail-
do multiplication directly, which the 8 - Peripherals. Much system expansion able as dot-matrix types.
bit processors can't), to handle larger occurs outside the computer. With the Printers can also be used for graph-
numbers, and to run some programs right programs and I/O circuits, a com- ics. At the simplest level, this means
(especially those involving large -num- puter (even the kind whose built-in key- mapping your printout as you would
ber arithmetic) more quickly. But they board and video screen make it a termi- when "drawing" pictures with a type-
cost more-and need more memory. nal unto itself) can support several ter- writer. "Daisy -wheel" character print-
There's also a chip called the Pascal minals around an office or house. For a ers, such as the Qume and Diablo, can
Microengine, which is designed to work very few machines, there are programs be used to draw even finer pictures,
specifically with PASCAL, a computer available which allow several terminals since their printheads can be advanced
language of growing popularity. So far, to operate at once. by / 10 or / 12 the width of a normal
1 1

there are few application programs Even a one -terminal system can fre- printed character, but the use of soft-
available in PASCAL for microcomput- quently use an add-on printer, for all the ware to do this with microcomputers is
ers, but you can expect to see more of reasons already cited. But the applica- not common yet. Many dot-matrix printers
them in the next few years. tion has a lot to do with which printer can be used to draw dot pictures, too.
should be selected. The main choices Modems are another useful accesso-
Structure and Expandability. Any are between dot-matrix and character ry, allowing your computer to communi-
computer system worth its salt is de- printers; between impact, electrosensi- cate with others by telephone. Origi-
signed to allow expansion. Your needs tive and thermal printing systems; and nate -only modems, the least expensive
may grow or change; your budget will between printers offering upper-case type, let your computer call up others.
certainly grow, allowing you to make ad- (capitals) only and those offering both Originate/answer types also let others
ditions piecemeal. upper and lower case. call you up. Some of the latter type also
Computer systems can be expanded To record computer programs, type have "auto answer" facilities, so they
in a variety of ways, and a given com- mailing labels, do shopping lists and in- can answer calls even in your absence.
puter may use several of them. The sim- voices, among other things, an upper-
plest way to expand a system is to plug case printer is quite adequate. But for The Systems Approach. When you
more integrated circuits into sockets al- typing letters and manuscripts, both up- buy a computer, you're not just buying a
ready provided for them. This is usually per- and lower-case are needed. Upper computer. You're starting a system. So
done to expand RAM and ROM memory, and lower case are also recommended your choice should be governed by the
and only for moderate expansions. for any long text-pure upper-case text entire system it belongs to, and how
Many single -board computers use this is harder to read. Lower case costs well that system suits your application.
method, but so do some larger ones. more, but the readability is worth it. Can the system be expanded to keep
A more popular and more versatile Printers that make fully -formed char- pace with your future needs? Can you
route to system expansion is to plug in acters, like a typewriter, also produce get the peripherals you need-disk
additional circuit boards. This implies more readable, more personal -looking drives, modems, printers, device control
that the computer will have some sort of text than those which form letters from boards, or whatever? How easily can
bus structure, which is a group of sig- a matrix of separate, unconnected dots. you add any extra memory you may
nal, data, address and power lines into Dot-matrix printers tend to be cheaper need, and at what cost? How many
which boards can be plugged in any or- and faster, though, so you may prefer companies supply equipment to use
der. Several bus systems are in use, them for short texts and program with this system? And, most important
some are used in just one model of com- dumps. The more dots, the more read- of all, is software available to make this
puter, other (such as the S-100) are able: a 5X7 dot matrix is rather crude to system do what you want and need it to
used in many. read; a 9X 12 matrix almost as easy as do? If the answer to all these questions
Boards are available for a very wide formed characters, though it still has a is yes, then you've found the right sys-
variety of purposes: to expand memory; computer -printed look. tem. This is an area where the help of a
to add more I/O circuits for additional Impact printers work on the same good dealer is well worth seeking.
1D ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
GETTING YOUR SYSTEM UP AND RUNNING
BY IVAN BERGER

GETTING a computer system up and have some), or have a home TV set signed for higher resolution than TV re-
running is a process that begins modified by a serviceman to include a ceivers have. The most commonly cited
before you buy it: you must make sure direct video input, or buy an r -f kit to con- monitor specification that relates to res-
that all the pieces you need are included vert the computer's video output into a olution is bandwidth. A bandwidth of 4.5
in the system and that they'll all work in TV -channel signal that your television MHz is probably the rock -bottom mini-
harmony. Even when they don't, there's receiver can pick up. Some computers mum to look for in such a monitor, while
rarely cause for panic. The problem usu- have modulators built in, for use with anything over 6.6 MHz will be wasted in
ally is not one of product defects, but of regular TV sets. And if you have a video most home -computer applications.
mating those products properly with one cassette recorder, you may be able to (Computers with high -resolution or high -
another. In a simple system, such dif- use its video input and built-in modulator density graphics output may require
ficulties may never arise at all. to put computer images on your TV set's more than 6.6 MHz, though; consult
For some computers start-up is simply screen-or to record them. This does your system's manual to be sure.)
a matter of plugging it in, turning it on, not work with all computer/VCR combi-
and following instructions in the manual nations, but it does work well with some. Separate Terminal. Many comput-
to establish a dialog with it. This is the Displaying your computer's output on ers come with neither keyboard nor
case with a small, self-contained system a standard TV set's screen costs far less video output. You can communicate with
that combines a terminal keyboard and than buying a separate monitor. But us- them in either of two ways: by equipping
video display in one package. For many ing a monitor has advantages, too: it the computer with an input port for a
others, it's almost as simple: the monitor leaves the TV screen free for others in separate keyboard and a video output -
screen and cassette recorder are in sep- the family to use. Moreover, it will likely board to feed a monitor screen or r-f
arate housings that must be plugged give you a sharper image because the modulator, or by equipping it with an in-
into the computer itself. signal bypasses the modulator and the put/output port through which it can
But for some others, you'll need to do set's tuning section and, in many cases, communicate with a terminal.
more, and possibly even buy additional because the monitor has higher band- A terminal is simply a keyboard com-
components. Some popular computers, width than an ordinary TV set. bined with a video display or printer, with
for example, don't include video monitor Some monitors are just TV sets with provision to display or print both your
screens. You'll have to purchase one the tuners removed (yet with a higher keyboard input and the computer's re-
(your computer dealer will be sure to price, alas). Others are specifically de - plies. Computers which do not have
11
1980 EDITION
their own keyboards and screens or your keyboard commands. A very few rounding the large, central one; others
video output will either come with the computers, however, require that you are "soft -sectored," with but a single in-
necessary ports or have them available enter a "bootstrap" program into the dex hole. Several systems are available
as accessories. computer in order to load the monitor in both single- and double -density ver-
Accessory video and input/output from tape or disk. Such computers must sions, with single -density unable to read
(I/O) boards (as well as accessory have front panels allowing direct input, double -density disks.
boards for memory and other purposes) either in octal or hexadecimal numbers Despite this wide range of variation,
may either be made for specific comput- from a keypad, or in binary numbers there is far more standardization in flop-
ers or be designed to plug into most from a bank of switches (one switch per py systems than in cassettes. Users of
computers using a given "bus." A bus is bit). Even front -panel machines nowa- S-100 bus systems are fortunate in this
a standardized layout of signal lines and days will usually have ROM monitors, respect: the North Star and Micropolis
connectors that allows circuit boards of rendering the bootstrap unnecessary. mini -floppy systems, and 8 -inch floppy
many kinds to be added and subtracted But the front -panel is useful in de -bug- systems using the CP/M operating sys-
at will. The S-100 bus is the most com- ging programs and hardware. tem have become de facto standards,
mon one among small computers. with programs available in these formats
When adding boards, it is important to Floppies and Cassettes. Loading a from many vendors. The CP/M disk op-
check whether the total power drawn program in from tape or disk requires a erating system (DOS) is even available
by all boards in the system will still be cassette or floppy -disk system to load for North Star and Micropolis disk set-
within the power supply's capacity. them from. Many computers today have ups. Neither, though, can read disks
one or the other built in. Most, though, written by the other, or interchange disks
Serial and Parallel Input. There are require that they be added externally. with full-size CP/M systems.
two types of input/output circuit: serial Of these, many come with a separate There are also several S-100 bus cas-
and parallel. Most keyboards require recorder, while others include only an in- sette "standards," such as Tarbell, Kan-
parallel connection, with all eight data terface for storing data and programs on sas City (the only one officially adopted
bits per data "word" (a character or a standard audio cassette recorder. as a standard, and one of the least
command) reaching the computer simul- Adding floppy -disk systems to your used) and CUTS. But none of them are
taneously, each through its own wire. computer (or adding cassette, if your as popular now as they were before disk
This is the efficient and inexpensive computer lacks it) is usually a matter of systems became common.
way, since the computer also processes inserting a special board into the com- Computers of vast popularity, such as
data in parallel internally. puter, then connecting the disk or cas- the TRS-80, Apple, Pet, KIM -1 and Sor-
Most computers use serial connec- sette unit to it. (The new, hard disk sys- ceror become standards unto them-
tion, with the bits sent one at a time over tems now appearing also require such selves, of course, with software avail-
the same pair of wires. Serial I/O circuits boards.) As with I/O boards, these may able for them from many sources. There
cost more, but are easier to use for long be designed for specific computers or are even crossbreeds: S-100 bus inter-
wiring runs. Computer terminals are for common busses-but there are also faces are available for all of these com-
usually serial devices. Printers are of- a few which connect to regular I/O ports. puters (though not all S-100 boards can
ten available in both serial- and Having a cassette or floppy -disk sys- be used with some of them). And sever-
parallel -connection models. The extra - tem does not necessarily mean that you al companies have appropriated CP/M
cost serial option is for use when the can readily swap programs or data with for the TRS-80.
computer and printer must be some dis- other floppy- or cassette -equipped hob-
tance apart. byists. There are a wide variety of sys- Interfacing. Computer boards, pe-
Once you've set up whatever devices tems and "standards." Only computers ripherals and other extras are not like hi-
you need to communicate with your with both the same type of processor fi components: You can't just plug them
computer, what you "say" depends less (e.g., 6502, 8080/Z80, 6800, 1802) and together and automatically expect them
on the system hardware than on the floppy or cassette systems operating on to run. Usually, a few adjustments are
software, or programs, which tell it what the same standards can interchange needed for smooth operation.
to do and how to respond to your input. programs in this way. Those adjustments may simply in-
Most computers on the market today There are many variations to watch volve flicking a few switches, or moving
have a high-level language (usually BA- out for. Different cassette systems may jumper wires from one hole on a board
SIC) in read-only memory (ROM). In record different sets of tones on the to another. Or they may involve small
some, the computer is ready to talk BA- tape, may transfer data at different modifications to programs or hardware.
SIC with you as soon as you turn it on. In speeds, and may use different combina- But they always require good documen-
others, you need a key -stroke or two to tions of characters for the start and end tation-operating and service manuals
enter BASIC. of each taped record. Record and play- for your hardware, source listings (or
With some computers, though, you back volume settings may be critical other detailed manuals) for software-
have to load BASIC into your main when interchanging tapes from systems so you can figure out just what to do.
memory from a cassette recorder, floppy which are theoretically identical. It also pays to draw on outside help
disk unit, or paper tape (though paper With floppy disks, there are even and advice, when available. A computer
tape is rare, today). Such computers will more variations to note. Floppies come club, if there's one near you, will be full
usually have a different program in ROM in both full (8 -inch) and mini (5/.4 -inch) of potential helpers. Your dealer or deal-
and a monitor program (not to be con- sizes, and some mini -floppies record ers will also help. The more you buy
fused with a TV monitor), which tells the more tracks on the disk than others. from one dealer, of course, the more
computer how to load new programs Some systems use "hard -sectored" helpful he'll be. That's not just because
from tape or disk and how to interpret disks, with a ring of small holes sur- he's made more money from you
12 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
(though that is a factor). The more of the also be made to agree between the port most time-consuming and most satisfy-
system that came from him, the more and the peripheral: Some systems are ing of the three. And once you develop
likely he is to be familiar with whatever "full duplex," with the terminal not show- the necessary programming skills (often
components aren't working with each ing your keyboard input until it's reached one of the main reasons for buying a
other properly. the computer and been echoed back; computer in the first place), you'll wind
Problems are easier to deal with when others are "half duplex," printing or dis- up with programs that are custom -
you know what to expect. So here's a list playing the keyboard input as soon as designed for your particular needs and
of the major areas likely to need atten- it's entered. Some serial circuits use ways of thinking.
tion when setting up a system: RS -232 signal levels and connections, Keying in a program from a printed
Memory. Every machine -language while others use 20 -mA current -loop lev- listing may do nothing for your ego, but
program (including monitor programs, els and connections instead. Parity bits it's faster. You may also find that pro-
interpreters or compilers for BASIC and (transmitted as a check against trans- grams written for other computers may
other languages, assemblers, disk -oper- mission errors) and stop bits (marking require some modifications to run on
ating systems, and so on) will be de- transitions between data words) must be yours. There are, for instance, more dia-
signed to reside and run in a specific set to match as well. lects of BASIC than there are of Chi-
block of memory addresses. Make sure If one component offers no choice in nese, and programs written in one dia-
when you buy your software that pro- any of these matters, then all other com- lect may use commands inscrutable to
grams which will be in your system's ponents should be set to match it. Other- other dialects. (David Lien's The BASIC
memory at the same time use different wise, the choices can be made fairly ar- Handbook is an excellent guide around
blocks of memory. This would include bitrarily, so long as the same choice is such problems.)
both programs designed to work togeth- made for any two devices which com- Entering a program from a tape or
er (editors and assemblers, for example) municate with one another. disk is fastest and easiest. But to work,
and all programs in ROM or PROM. Timing requirements. Microcomputer the program must be distributed in the
Be certain, too, that your memóry components must work in synchroniza- disk or tape format your system uses. If
boards are set to the addresses that tion with each other. Since they also run written in machine language, it must be
your programs require, end that no two at lightning speeds, that makes their tim- configured for your memory and I/O ad-
memory boards are set to the same or ing as difficult as it is critical. The more dresses (though you can load it first,
overlapping addresses. Changing a different sources your boards came then alter it). And if in BASIC or some
memory board's address is usually a from, the more likely such problems are other high-level language, it must be
matter of moving a jumper wire or reset- to occur. Getting the timing right can re- written for your specific language inter-
ting some small switches.. quire trial -and -error replacement of ca- preter or compiler. This can be more crit-
Using a fast processor (such as a pacitors or resistors in timing circuits- ical than it looks. Programs saved on
4 -MHz Z80) with slow memory can strictly a job for the knowledgeable. tape from 8K Altair BASIC, for example,
cause problems, too. Many memory Bus variations. Scores of manufactur- may not run properly in 12K Altair BA-
boards provide for "wait states" to slow ers made module boards for the S-100 SIC. (The 8K program would work per-
down the program long enough for the büs for several years before the IEEE fectly in 12K, though, if it were entered at
memory to catch up with the processor. defined a standard configuration and the keyboard from a printed listing, not
I/O. Input/output ports have ad- standard signal formats for it. As a re- loaded from the tape.)
dresses, too. These addresses must sult, boards from different manufactur- When you buy a program, you should
also agree with the programs that use ers may use the same bus lines for dif- try it in the store, first, to make sure it
them. Setting up your I/O boards' ad- ferent signals, or one manufacturer's does everything you want in a way that
dresses to match your software is as board may require a signal that another you find natural and convenient. If possi-
easy as changing a memory board's ad- manufacturer's board puts out. (This is ble, try it on a system exactly like yours.
dress. But changing your software's I/O especially true of Z80 CPU boards, Since most dealers sell programs for the
address calls can be easy, too. (Chang- many of which do not generate all the systems that they sell, you'll probably be
ing a program's memory addresses is signals which 8080 boards do.) When able to try them at your dealer's on a
often a major undertaking.) So which Contacting the manufacturer of any system similar to yours. The main ex-
should you change if the hardware and board which seems to be malfunction- ception to this is the Radio Shack
software disagree? ing, be sure to list all the other boards in TRS-80. Only Radio Shack stores sell it,
Where change is called for, the an- your system so that he can spot troubles and they sell only Radio Shack pro-
swer may be to split it between software which lie in a conflict between boards. grams. But the TRS-80's popularity has
and hardware. Programs in ROM or led many mail-order suppliers to sell
PROM ("firmware") can't be modified Software. A computer is useless with- programs for it, though they do not natu-
readily, so you'll have to set your port out programs. You'll doubtless buy a rally have the "walk-in" facilities or local
hardware addresses to match thóse pro- monitor program, a high-level language location to permit a demonstration.
grams. Then modify any software which interpreter or compiler (probably BASIC) In conclusion, don't think that, just be-
calls for different port addresses, so it or both when you get your machine. But cause so many finicky details may need
matches the way you've set your hard- you'll quickly find that you need others to attention, a computer system is a chron-
ware up. perform whatever tasks you purchased ic invalid. Think of it rather as much like
your computer for. You can write these a baby, requiring fussing and attention
Serial settings. Seriáj I/O may need
some further tinkering. First, the baud programs yourself, key them in from before it can do anything appreciable on
rate (data transmission speed) of both printed books or listings, or buy them on its own. And some computers-like
the port and the peripheral connected to tape or disk. some babies-give you pure pleasure,
it must be matched. Other options must Writing your own programs is both the with no trouble at all.
13
1980 EDITION
 imr DOA»
wimimsïicniieuis
MID tximuiiïtmg
Rapid circuit assembly and
alteration methods using perforated board.
BY ADOLPH MANGIERI

1'se(N1 tools iH('1Nde

(left tu right) pin
insertion tool, N'lri Ng
peH('Il, INa H no wire
/crapping tool and
NnN'rappiNg tool.

MOST electronic projects are signing a layout. Needless to say, the strips to be used with each. It is obvi-
best assembled on either perf board technique is a very attract- ous that you can choose the materials
printed circuit or perforated board. ive alternative to project assembly, to meet the requirements for your
Both types have advantages and dis- especially if you do a lot of experi- project. For example, use P -pattern
advantages which should be consid- menting. board for IC's in dual in -line packages
ered before starting a project. The pc (DIP's) and either P- or G -pattern
board permits compact assemblies Perf Board Materials. The first board for round (TO -5) transistors. A
but impedes experimentation and cir- step in working with pert boards is to less desirable alternative would be to
cuit alterations. Perf board, on the familiarize yourself with the various use F-pattern board and drill extra
other hand, permits rapid assembly types of boards, tools, and hardware holes as necessary. For heavy -weight
and easy circuit alterations but tends available. Perf boards are letter -coded projects, such as power supplies, you
to take up more room for the same according to patterns, sizes, and spac- can use A -pattern board with extra
circuit. With few exceptions, any proj- ing of holes. Furthermore, you have a thickness and the large No. T9.4
ect you can build on a pc board can choice of XXX phenolic, paper epoxy, push -in terminals. (For general use,
also be assembled on pert board. and epoxy fiberglass material and un- 1/16" -thick board is an excellent
Perf board construction has clad (plain) and clad blanks. Add to choice, while 3/32" -thick board is re-
another important advantage over the this list a choice of board thicknesses. commended for the majority of the
pc board. It eliminates the need for The Table lists the most popular perf heavier duty jobs.)
using chemicals and drilling holes. board configurations (from two typi- Bus strips are flat, prepunched and
This might be an important considera- cal sources) according to letter code, tinned and made of copper for use as
tion if you're pressed for time arid the various push -in terminals and in- power supply and common buses.
want to get right to assembly after de - sertion tools, and prepunched bus They eliminate wiring complexity and
14
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 1 2
3
4 5

1 Wiring pencil wraps solder -through insulated

wire on leads of resistors, IC's and transistors.

2 Wrapping tool used on solderless connections.

Terminals in foreground facilitate wire wrapping.
3 Ground -plane board at top has terminals for ground
connections. Below is interdigitated bus board.

4 Clad perf board requires cutting of circle pad

for isolation of socket and board terminals.
5 Clad ground -plane board requires drilling and
line and circle pad cutting. Pad cutter at right.

+'
a ,r:s
iSt!-.
,a
a
iF'r
a''a r
r.r .
e
r
.

IL il[ X 3 I
15
1980 EDITION
 reduce the chance of ground loops fore applying power. Look for re- Solder upright ends of component
that create circuit instabilities. Low- versed installation of diodes, elec- leads and socket tabs to the circle
cost solder pin insertion tools permit trolytic capacitors, LED's, etc.; IC's pads to anchor the parts in place. Use
you to install pins safely and speedily. and transistors plugged in backwards; pre -punched bus strips on the top of
Accommodating most semiconduc- and transposed connections to bat- the board (unclad side) for the power
tor devices (including IC's) and ac- tery clips and holders. buses. For feedthroughs, use either
cepting an almost endless variety of No. T42-1 flea clips, double -ended No.
board pins, the 1/16" thick P -pattern "Pencil Wiring." Recently, a new K31C round -shank pins inserted with
board will prove to be the most ver- approach to wiring perf board as- a No. P133 -A tool, or the single -ended
satile for many projects. semblies has been introduced. Vec- No. T50 round -shank series shorting
tor's new Model P173 wiring pencil pin. Using clad perf board, you can
Conventional Wiring Method. As promises to become a very popular dispense with bus strips altogether by
is the case when doing pc work, care- tool for pert board work. Applied isolating strips of copper (also dis-
ful layout planning will be rewarded Manufacturing of Texas has a similar cussed later).
with neater perf board assemblies and tool for making Solder Wraps''. Here are a few useful hints when
error-free wiring. You can design a The wiring pencil eliminates having working with a wiring pencil. Form
parts layout and wiring guide for perf to cut wires to size and strip away insu- your wraps slightly away from the
board with the aid of the grid paper lation. The pencil dispenses and board's surface to avoid marring the
available for most board patterns or wraps 36 -gauge solder -through insu- board with heat during soldering. Use
even ordinary graph paper. To a large lated solid wire around any size post a soldering pencil that has a tip tem-
extent, your parts layout will follow the or terminal. Much faster than point- perature of at least 650° F (343° C) and
schematic diagram for your project. to-point wiring, pencil wiring permits "wet" the tip with solder before apply-
Of course, you'll have to trial -fit the you to interconnect a number of ter- ing heat to a joint or wrap. To prevent
components on the board, making al- minals with an unbroken length of wire breakage, dress the wire close to
lowance for the pattern and spacing of wire. Once the wire is wrapped around the board and secure lengthy runs
the holes. a terminal, you apply heat directly to with drops of quick -drying cement.
Once you know how a board is to be the joint. The insulation immediately Isolated round -shank pins make good
laid out and wired, you can install vaporizes to allow you to flow solder pivot points for routing wires around
push -in terminals, transistor and IC into the connection. A very important obstacles. Alternatively, you can use a
sockets, and power and common advantage of pencil wiring is that it No. P179WS plastic wire spacer for
buses. If you choose to omit bus strips, permits you to omit all sockets and grouping wires in a bundle. In a pinch,
use 20-gauge (or heavier) solid bare most solder terminals. you can use 30 -gauge bare solid wire,
hookup wire in their place. As shown in Fig. 1, the wiring pencil at least for ground returns.
When making interconnections, feeds the wire from a bobbin contain-
28 -gauge solid wire is suggested for ing 250' (76.2 m) of wire through the Wire Wrapping. Wrapping wires
easy handling and manipulation with tool's barrel, out one of two holes, and around terminals, either with or with-
tools. Wherever possible, use bare down through a hollow "needle." Wire out solder, offers wiring flexibility to
wire; but if you must make crossover feed and tension are controlled by permit rapid circuit changes. The
connections, switch to insulated wire. finger pressure on the wire where it standard wrapped connection con-
Use 24- or 26 -gauge insulated comes out of the hole in the body of sists of six to eight turns of wire
stranded hookup wire between the the tool. (The two holes are provided applied under tension to square,
board assembly and off -the-board so that either right or left handed sharp -edged wrap posts. The mod-
components. When your project in- people can use the tool.) At the end of ified wrap, or anti -vibration wrap for
cludes DIP (dual in -line package) IC's, a run, you simply twist the pencil, and extreme conditions, includes an addi-
avoid confusion by labelling pin 1 of the point of the needle quickly and tional one or two turns of insulated
each. Better yet, use E -Z -Code self- neatly clips the wire. wire at the start of the wrap.
sticking pin number marking strips. Sockets and solder clips can be If you plan to use this technique, you'll
Fitting wire with long nose pliers can omitted during assembly by using the need an efficient and easy -to -load man-
prove to be a trying task, particularly pencil to wire directly to protruding ual wrapping tool, such as Vector's No.
when using P -pattern board and DIP leads and lugs. To use this technique, P160 -2A. The No. P160 -1A is an un-
sockets. You can save a great deal of however, the components must be wrapping tool for easy removal of
time and avoid much frustration by staked to the board (leads bent to wrapped connections. The preferable
using a manual tool to wrap the wire mechanically secure parts in place) as wire size for wrapping is 28 -gauge bare
on a terminal (such as the Vector No. shown in Fig. 1. You can use longnose or Kynar insulated (Vector No.'s
P160 -2A or similar). This tool neatly pliers for staking, but Vector's No. 2323A-28-3 or 2323A-28-4). Pre-cut and
forms a tight wrap on either socket P174 staking tool makes the job pre -stripped wire (Cambion sells a 30 -
solder tabs, No. T42.1 flea -clip tails, easier. Components can also be gauge No. 601-2515 wire kit) will speed
component leaa ends, or directly on cemented to the board with a quick - assembly but, unless trimmed as you go,
DIP IC pins. These aren't true Wire set adhesive, and eyelets make excel- will leave you with a maze of slack
Wraps", which means that every con- lent solderable anchors for problem wires.
nection must also be soldered to as- components. You can assemble an entire project
sure good mechanical and electrical You can avoid having to stake com- using wrapped wire and the appro-
bonds. ponents by isolating circular pads on priate pins as shown in Fig. 2. From left
After wiring a project, it's always copper -clad pert board (discussed to right, the pins shown include pairs
good practice to check for errors be- later under Ground Plane Methods). of Vector No.'s. T46-3 double-ended
16 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 New from NRI! 25"color TV that
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ing as a full- or part-time TV, audio, andvideo
systems technician.
1980 EDITION 19
 to safely cut through a bus or pad to
PERFORATED BOARD CONFIGURATIONS isolate it.
Fully clad (one side only) perf board
Push -in Terminal Insertion Bus can be used for ground planes (Fig. 4).
Board Hole Hole Tool Strip For P -pattern board, you'll need a cir-
Pattern Size Spacing Vector Radio Shack (Vector) (Vector) cle pad cutter, such as Vector's No.
A 0.093" 0.265" T9.4 P122B T58 P138C tool. Cut circle pads at all pin
B 0.062" 0.188" T28 270-1394 P91A - locations where the circuit must be
F 0.062" 0.20" T28 270-1394 P91A T104 isolated from ground. Grounded
G' 0.062" 0.20x.10" T28 270-1394 P91A T104
0.042"
points should not be isolated. To avoid
P 0.10" 142.1 270-1392 P191A T107
rapid cutter wear and tearing out
'Alternate rows staggered .10".
pads, use a low drilling speed. (Hint:
With high-speed power tools, like
those made by Dremel under the
wrap posts that should be inserted Ground Plane Methods. Having a "Moto" brand name, use a solid-state
with tool No. P133 -A; T44 Miniwrap large area of copper at ground poten- speed control set for about 45 volts
posts (No. A13 insertion tool); K32 J tial, the ground plane affords ac.) You can avoid drilling too deeply
pins; R32 socket pins; and the ver- minimum ground circuit impedance into the board by backing the board
satile T49 Klipwrap post (No. P156 in- and permits the shortest possible with a metal plate to serve as a stop for
sertion tool). All this hardware is de- connections to ground. This not only the cutter bit's pilot pin. If the cut is too
signed to fit P -pattern perf board. eliminates instability in broadband vhf shallow and doesn't remove enough
It's difficult to insert a pin perpen- amplifiers, it also minimizes noise and copper, place an index card between
dicular to a board's surface unless you ringing in digital circuits. To achieve board and plate.
have an alignment block, such as Vec- these benefits, keep lead lengths as Accidents are bound to occur. So, if
tor's No. MB45-20-062. It consists of short as possible and inputs and out- you do tear out a pad, install a No.
10 pieces of 1/16" P -pattern board puts well separated. T102 or T103 eyelet with flange on the
glued in a stack. If you wish, you can Beginning with P -pattern etched clad side of the board. Pads not re-
make a small version from scrap board ground -plane board (Vector No. quired for use as anchors or supports
for use in tight places. 3677-7), the copper surrounding the are best removed wtih an Xacto knife
Forming perfect wrapped connec- board holes is pre -etched, leaving cir- to reduce the chance of solder bridg-
tions is a simple procedure, but it cles of insulation around the holes ing or wiring shorts to ground. If you
takes some practice to get the knack (Fig. 3). Primarily intended for wire capture a pad within the cutter, re-
of handling the tool for positioning wrapping, this board can also be used move it with a large needle or awl. Be-
and dressing the wire. Use bare wire with any other wiring method. To fore you start wiring a circuit, check all
wherever possible. As with the wiring ground a wrap post to the ground pads with a magnifying glass and re -
pencil, you can wrap a number of plane, push a self -fastening No. drill any that have copper bridges to
posts with an unbroken length of wire T112-1 bus link onto the post with a ground.
by passing the wire down through the No. P133A insertion tool and solder Use No. T107 bus strips on the un-
handle of the wrapping tool. the tab to the plane. clad (top) side of the board, or section
Practice loading the wire until you With all ground -plane wiring off a strip of copper on the bottom of
can do it instinctively. The wrapping methods, it is best to run insulated the board using an electric line cutter.
tool has a central hole that fits over the wire right up to the pin to avoid short A tungsten carbide router bit (Dremel
post. The end of the wire fits into a circuits. Better yet, wrap a turn of insu- No. 9909 or Vector No. P141A)
smaller off -center hole or tunnel near lated wire on the pin nearest the chucked into a Dremel Moto tool will
an index mark. If you're using 28- board. This is easily accomplished make short work of line cutting, as
gauge insulated wire, strip away 3/4" with the No. P160 -2A wrapping tool by shown in Fig. 5.
(about 2 cm) of insulation. Hold the pushing a bit of wire insulation into You can make a line cutting guide
tool about horizontal with its index the recessed tip before bending the by cementing a 4"Lx11/2"Wx1/16"T
mark up. Catch the end of the wire in wire at a right angle. Alternatively, you (10.2x3.8 cmx1.6 mm) piece of insu-
the cross slot of the tool's recessed tip can bend the wire on the insulation lation board to a block of 1/4" (6.4 -mm)
near the index mark and insert into the before loading the wrapping tool. thick plywood, overlapping it by 1/4"
wire tunnel. If the wire bottoms out (You can also use this tip to form along the long dimension. Cement a
before accepting the entire stripped antivibration-wrapped connections.) sheet of nonskid rubber to the bottom
end, it's in the wrap post hole. You'll Etched padboards that have gener- of the plywood. To use the block,
have to withdraw and try again. Once ous interdigitized ground and supply place the guide along the line to be cut
the wire is properly inserted, anchor it buses (Vector No. 3677-6) closely ap- and hold the cutting tool at about a 45°
in place by withdrawing half way, bend proximate the full -ground type plane. angle to the board's surface and held
the wire about 30°, and push home Assign ground to buses passing be- firmly against the guide edge. Don't try
before making the final right-angle tween socket pads. By jumpering to cut the line in one pass; make sev-
bend. common -ground and supply buses, a eral light passes until all copper is re-
Projects requiring numerous wrap- further reduction in ground and sup- moved along the line. A prepackaged
ping card sockets are best assembled ply bus impedance can be effected. line cutting kit containing a Dremel
with a cordless power wrapper, such The padboard lends itself well to any Model 260 drill, router bit, and several
as Vector's No. P160-4, which ac- wiring scheme. A manual line cutting accessories is available from Vector
ceptsthe No. P160 -2A manual wrapper. chisel (Vector No. P139) permits you as the No. P141B kit. O
20 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 TAE OSCILLOSCOPE
GRAPHIC
ARTIST
BY MITCHELL WAITE

ADIM light traces a delicate pat- The Graphic Artist is a visual pat-
tern of geometrical lines on the tern generator that is designed to use
Create exciting, screen of an oscilloscope. The lines the CRT screen of an oscilloscope as a
form a rectangle that suddenly tilts "canvas" and its electron beam as a
computer generated, back and transforms into a revolv- high-speed ''brush." The real-time
ing ring of diamonds. You can pro- three-dimensional display on the CRT
three-dimensional duce these, plus many more, effects screen has all the delicate geometric
by operating the controls on the beauty and detail of the computer -
drawings Graphic Artist project described generated three-dimensional draw-
here. You can easily make an image ings with which we are all familiar.
on your rotate in three dimensions, compress The beam in an oscilloscope is
and expand, break up into other forced to follow two complex, har-
oscilloscope shapes, or slowly oscillate. monically related signals in producing
21
1980 EDITION
 the geometric patterns. Phase -shift
LEVEL
networks, working in concert with a
simple modulator, in the Graphic Ar- 7\./ORr-LJ\
tist add a signal that produces a depth SYNC ',MULTIPLIER
IC3B ADDER VERT
IN ZC3A
and volume cue for the scope image. 01

If you're into electronic music, you

LEVEL LEVEL
might try feeding the output signal of HARMONIC
60-240 Hz
the Graphic Artist into a stereo am-
+45' OSC A
plifying system to hear the tones as- PHASE
SYNC
OUT ICIA
OSC
IC2C
D SYNC
SHIFT ICIB IN
IC2D
sociated with the on -screen images.
60Hz
Even more interesting, you can feed HARMONIC /-\/
harmonics from a music source into 300-3000 Hz
HARMONIC
OR
30-300Hr
the Artist's circuit in place of the oscil-
lator signals. This allows you to view SYNC -45° ULTIPLIER ADDER
the patterns created by harmonically
related musical notes.
IN PHASE
SHIFT
7 IC3D
02 IC3C HO R11

Fig. 1. Block diagram of Graphic Artist.

About the Circuit. As shown in the
block diagram in Fig. 1, two almost
identical signal channels in the Artist
are connected to the vertical and hori- circular -like trace that is proportional Each channel in the Artist consists
zontal inputs of an oscilloscope. This to the vertical and horizontal dis- of two oscillators (A and D) that gener-
hookup results in a CRT trace that placement of the scope's electron ate square and triangular waveforms.
is known as a Lissajous figure-a beam. Added to the signals produced by

SI 'A
R43
10K

R2 #42
RIO IOK
R8 SCOPE
10K
120K 4 LEVEL A VERTO
%WMK

C2
001yF
R6
IK
R41
10K
R13 SCOPE
OSCILLATOR A 10K ONO

R12
20K
C3
.05yF
/\, R35
IOK
RII HARMONIC
IOK B

I0OOK
RIS
24K
ICIC
L
RI8
10K
LEVEL B
OSCILLATOR B R16 R46
60-240 Hz IOOK IOK

4
01

C9 C6
.01 F
r R44
R25 yFI 1 IOK
4.7 K

CIO
.0013F
R24
47K
R36
470K
- R39
10K

- R37
10K
OSCILLATOR C R23
300-3 kH IOOK
IC3D
R28
10K +
54"D"

ly
2N3619
R27 C5
20K R32
HARMONIC IOK
LEVEL D C7
D IyF R45
R29 R30
IOOK 10K I0K

OSCILLATOR D R3I
30-300 Hz IOOK

22
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 29 R14
Etching and drilling (above)
l -q. d. (

ml component (right) guides. S2

R32
S4
J
Q2
I
DI 1S
11
rc

I I I IGI O I

N O
N N
I N
ñ 9 VOLT
BATTERY
á á o n r, ce
KI N
ce ce
SCOPE
I I i I
I I

GND I I I
I I I

NOR MOUNT

IC3 --1
BATTERY CLIPS
PARTS LIST
BI,B2-9-volt battery I I 11 1 I I
O
I i
9 VOLT
7
.0
I

/I M
I
I

<
I

K
Cl ,C3-O.05-µF Mylar capacitor ¢ re ¢ R K r I
K 2 K R U R G BATTERY
C2,C10-0.001-µF Mylar capacitor I I I I
QI
CC m I
I
I
I

C4,C9-0.01-µF Mylar capacitor

C5,C6,C7,C8-0.1-µF 100 -volt Mylar
Dt

G
I

i
capacitor
ICI, IC2,1C3-Quad 741 operational am-
plifier integrated circuit (Raytheon
RC4136DB)
RIO RIB
1S2
r53
i

R2
IC4-741 operational amplifier integrated
circuit
J1, J2, J3-Five-way binding post these oscillators is a common mod- pattern, creating the three-dimension-
Q1,Q2-2N3819 junction field-effect ulated signal derived from oscillators al illusion of volume.
transistor B and C. The overall shape of the Lis - Each oscillator can be switched to
The following resistors are 1/4 -watt generate square waves. Depending on
10% tolerance:
sajous pattern is set by the signals
Rl,R3,R7,R11,R13,R17,R19,R26,R28, from oscillators A and D. (For exam- which oscillator is switched to square
R30,R33,R34,R35,R37,R38,R39,R41, p.e, a simple rectangle results when waves, the pattern will either break up
R42,R43,R44,R45,R46-10,000 ohms triangular waveforms make up these into multiple images or change the
R2,R12,R27-20,000 ohms signals.) character of its surface composition.
R4,R25-4700 ohms There are three level controls, which
R5,R6-1000 ohms The modulation component is com-
R8,R9-120,000 ohms prised of a variable high -frequency tilt or expand the image and change
R15-24,000 ohms carrier from oscillator C and a variable the relative sizes of the modulating
R16,R23,R31-100,000 ohms medium -frequency envelope from os- components. The harmonic controls
R20-15,000 ohms are frequency setting potentiometers
R22-2700 ohms cillator B. The carrier is shifted in
R24-47,000 ohms phase by ±45°. The +45° component is that are used to adjust the ratio be-
R36,R40-470,000 ohms modulated by waveform B in the mul- tween the various harmonic signals.
R10,R18,R32-10,000-ohm linear tiplier and summed with the waveform The ratios of the signals in turn control
taper potentiometer from oscillator A in an adder. Like- the "family" of images you see.
R14,R21,R29-100,000-ohm linear -taper To prevent the patterns from re-
potentiometer wise, the -45° carrier is modulated
S4-Spdt slide or toggle switch
SI thru by waveform B but is summed with volving on the screen (this occurs
S5-Dpdt slide or toggle switch the waveform from oscillator D. whenever the patterns are derived
Misc.-Printed circuit or perforated When the phase -shifted components from uncorrelated oscillators), one of
board; 71/2"L x 41/4"W x 2"D (19 x 11 x interact in the scope, they form the four oscillators is fixed in fre-
5.1 cm) case; knobs (6); battery clips (2);
lettering kit; hookup wire; machine another Lissajous pattern that is quency. The output from this "mas-
hardware; solder; etc. perpendicular to the major rectangle ter" oscillator is used to synchronize
23
1980 EDITION
the remaining oscillators, forcing
them to run at an exact multiple of the
syncing frequency.
In addition to using the controls on
the project, you can also use the
vertical- and horizontal -gain controls
on the scope to adjust the width and
height of the images.

Circuit Details. As shown in Fig. 2,

the four oscillators are identical ex-
cept for their frequency -determining
elements. Oscillator A is fixed at ap-
proximately 60 Hz by R8 and Cl;
oscillator B is variable from 60 to 240
Hz; oscillator C is variable from 300 to
3000 Hz; and oscillator D is variable
from 30 to 300 Hz. The oscillators are
arranged in a classical comparator -
integrator configuration.
Taking oscillator A as an example,
IC1A uses R1 and R2 to set the trip
point at about ±V,,. /2. The output of
this comparator connects to inte-
grator IC1B, which in turn, connects
back to IC1A's input. When IC1A's
output is at -9 volts, IC1B linearly
charges Cl through R8. Hence, the
output of IC1B is a positive -going
ramp. As soon as the ramp reaches
V,.,. /2, IC1A changes to the positive
state and /C./B linearly discharges Cl
to initiate a negative -going ramp.
When this ramp reaches -V,.,. /2, IC1A
trips to the negative state and the
cycle repeats itself.
Potentiometers are used to set the
frequencies in the three variable -
frequency oscillators by varying the
charging currents. The outputs from
the comparators (IC1 D, IC2B, and
IC2C) are symmetrical square waves,
while the outputs from the integrators
(IC1C, IC2A, and IC2D) are triangle
waves. Resistor R10 in fixed -fre-
quency oscillator IC1A/IC1B sets the
amplitude of the two waveforms.
Level controls are provided for all but
oscillator C. Oscillator C has no level
control because only one signal need
be variable if both signals go to the
inputs of a multiplier to cause the out-
put of the multiplier to vary.
The square -wave output from oscil-
lator A is differentiated by C2 arjd R6 to
Photos ill ustirrte
create a sync pulse. This pulse is fed to onl tt fige .,t
the inverting (-) input of IC2B to force the Poll ll7I!'A'..;
oscillator C's operating frequency to cu irtir'.s nl
be an exact multiple of the operating mai'eforHi display.,
frequency of oscillator A. To sync the possible.
remaining oscillators, the triangle -
wave output from oscillator A is at-
tenuated by R4 and R5 and fed to the
inverting inputs of IC1 D in oscillator B
and IC2C in oscillator D. The 60 -Hz
24 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
triangle wave forces oscillators B and C10 -R25. So, the waveform to each Set time LEVEL B control fully coun-
D into exact sync. Resistor R7 in oscil- JFET (Q1 and Q2) is out -of -phase, re- terclockwise (off). Because oscillator
lator A makes the square and triangle sulting in a modulated output from the B connects to both multipliers, mak-
waves in this oscillator equal in am- multiplier also being out -of -phase. ing LEVEL B zero eliminates the mod-
plitude. Switches S1 through S4 Networks C6-R36 and C7 -R40 provide ulated component on the screen. You
provide means for selecting the de- dc restoration for Q1 and Q2. should now see a simple rectangular
sired waveforms. The output from multiplier IC3B is or square Lissajous pattern. Adjust the
Integrated circuit IC4 is an op amp summed with the signal from oscil- horizontal- and vertical -gain controls
follower, used here to reduce the lator A in adder IC3A. The output from on the scope so that, when LEVEL A and
source impedance to chopper -type multiplier IC3D is summed with the LEVEL D controls are set to midrange,
multipliers IC3B and IC3D. In this type signal from oscillator D in adder IC3C. the image just fills most of the screen.
of multiplier, a bipolar transistor or Finally, the outputs from the two ad- Slowly turn up LEVEL B. This adds
JFET is used to switch the op amp ders are fed to the oscilloscope to the modulated waveform to the exist-
between a noninverting (+) and an in- form the complex Lissajous patterns. ing pattern. Readjust LEVEL A and
verting (-) unity-gain buffer. Transis- Power is supplied to the Artist by LEVEL D for a pleasant balance and to
tor Q1 serves this purpose in this cir- two standard 9 -volt batteries (B1 and keep the image from drifting off -
cuit. B2). Capacitor C8 aids in reducing in- screen. Adjust HARMONIC B to sync
When the signal in oscillator C goes stability in the IC op amps. the modulated envelope with the
positive, Q1 conducts and IC3B image. In essence, this control sets
reverts to an inverting amplifier. When Construction. The project can be the number of "lobes" riding on the
oscillator C goes negative, Q1 starts to built on either printed circuit or perfo- primary Lissajous pattern.
cut off, and IC3B becomes a nonin- rated board. The actual -size etching Next, adjust HARMONIC C so that the
verting amplifier with unity gain. This and drilling guide and components - high -frequency carrier is in sync with
switching action results in suppres- placement diagram are shown in Fig. the image. You should now have a
sion of the carrier, and the output of 3. After preparing or buying a ready - display similar to those shown in
IC3B is a balanced four-quadrant to -use pc board (see Parts List for the photos. The next thing we can
signal. supplier), mount the components on it do is alter the Lissajous "family" by
The signal from oscillator C is as shown in the placement diagram, using combinations of the waveform
shifted in -phase by +45° in network paying particular attention to the switches. For example, switching
C9 -R24 and by -45° by network orientations of the IC's and transis- WAVEFORM A to the square -wave posi-
tors. Place B1 and B2 on the blank end tion and setting WAVEFORM D to the
of the board, terminals pointing away triangle -wave position causes the
from the components, and fasten image to break up into separate
them in place with loops of wire shapes. There are 16 combinations for
passed between the batteries. Tem- the four waveform switches. Add to
porarily set aside the board assembly. this the effects of the six HARMONIC
Next, machine the front panel for and LEVEL controls, and chances are
the six potentiometers, five switches, you will never see the same pattern
three binding posts, and a No. 6 twice.
machine screw. The last hole should After you've familiarized yourself
line up exactly with the large hole in with the operation of the controls (it
the pc board assembly. Mount the does take some skill), you might try
pots, switches, and binding posts in connecting a pair of stereo head-
their respective locations (see Fig. 4). phones to the two output channels.
Pass a 6-32 x 2" machine screw (to The sounds of the four oscillators mix-
support the circuit board assembly) ing and adding produces beat notes
through the remaining hole, slip over that are fascinating in themselves.
its threads a length of plastic spacer, You can even "play" the sounds by
and follow with a No. 6 machine nut. twisting the various controls.
The spacer should be just long Some very different and interesting
enough that, when the nut is in place, effects can be produced by running
about 1/4" of screw thread is still visible. the Graphic Artist in reverse. Take a
Label the controls, switches, and bind- signal from an external source, such
ing posts. as an electronic organ, and connect it
Referring back to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, in place of one of the oscillators. You
finish wiring the project. can do this by disconnecting one
waveform switch input and connect-
Operation. The oscilloscope used ing your signal in its place. Choose
with the Graphic Artist must have an your notes to be exact even or odd
external horizontal input. Connect harmonics of oscillator A, which oper-
test -lead cables from the output bind- ates at approximately 60 Hz. The im-
ing posts on the Artist to the appro- ages will appear to stop their motion
priate inputs on the scope. Set all and their actual shape will depend on
Fig. 4. Coustn etion details. waveform switches to triangle. Switch the particular waveform of the note
on the project and scope. being played.
25
1980 EDITION
 YOU'RE anxious to hear distant combination can be tuned to reso- out bothering others around you, and
stations
111F on the AM Broadcast nance. Its nominal directional pattern vice versa.
Band-say, to catch blacked -out (Fig. 1) is a figure eight, with maximum To accomplish this, audio will be
home -town sports events-then the response in the plane of the loop. coupled from the earphone jack on
Broadcast Band Loop is just what you Turning the antenna broadside to a the receiver to jack J3 by a short patch
need! When coupled to a good AM station will cause an appreciable drop cord. Make use of the new crop of
transistor radio with a built-in ferrite in signal strength. high -sensitivity, lightweight (Mylar
bar antenna, it will bring in lots of sta- Selectivity is another loop charac- transducer) stereo headphones,
tions you could never copy before-be teristic. The antenna favors signals at which require only a few milliwatts of
they TA's (transatlantics), rare "lo- the resonant frequency at the expense drive.
cals," or clear -channel stations from of those nearby. Its response gets It's also wise to use battery power
distant cities. It is easy to build and progressively narrower as its Q in- rather than an ac battery eliminator, as
use, fairly small, and inexpensive- creases (which varies directly with the hum problems can arise. Of course, if
total parts cost is about $20 to $30! C/L ratio). For our purposes, we'll you don't want to use phones or al-
want as high a Q as possible. ready have a mono miniature/stereo
About the Loop. The use of a loop We have adapted the loop to better phone jack adapter, the audio circuit
antenna is not new, but its advantages serve our purpose by eliminating the can be ignored.
are timeless. It has good directivity, direct connection between the Loop
and can be easily rotated. Further, the and the receiver. Experience indicates Physical Construction. The Loop's
loop works only with the magnetic that unwanted signal pickup occurs frame will be assembled first, using

A BCB LOOP ANTENNA FOR

Increases reception range of inexpensive AM
DX'ING radios by inductive linking.
BY NORMAN FALLON

portion of the radio wave (which con- when a transmission line is used to doweling, two pieces of hardwood,
tains both electric and magnetic couple signals to the receiver's an- aluminum tubing and aluminum
fields), so it is inherently quieter than tenna input jack (if there is one). In this U -channel. Refer to Fig. 3.
higher -gain long-wire outdoor anten- design (Fig. 2), signals are coupled in- First, take two pieces of 1/2 -inch
nas. The loop contains no fragile ductively, simply by positioning the (1.3 -cm) ID seamless aluminum tub-
semiconductors and requires no built-in ferrite bar close to the loop ing, 34" (86.4 cm) long, and flatten the
power supply, unlike the "amplified base. This offers the advantage of center 11/2" (3.8 cm) in a vise as shown
loops" that some MW DX'ers are now being able to adjust the degree of in step 1. (Steps are shown in Fig. 3.)
using. coupling between the coils to suit var- Drill a 7132-inch (5.6 -mm) hole in each
A simple loop antenna is shown in iations in signal strength. Operating tube at the center point. Then drill two
Fig. 1. It's an electrically short loop the loop and ferrite bar in tandem will 5132 -inch (4 -mm) holes 6" (15.2 cm)
consisting of turns of wire with a total yield a card ioid directional pattern due to from the center point on each length
length much less than a wavelength. interaction between the coils. of tubing. Next, drill two 1/8 -inch (3.2 -
Medium waves are fairly long, e.g. 500 Further flexibility is afforded by a mm) holes 16.5" and 15" (41.9 and 38.1
m (1640 ft) at 600 kHz! Obviously this switch which shorts out one turn of cm) from the center point on each
loop or an outdoor longwire are the the Loop when closed. This is often length of tubing.
only real options. desirable when working the high end Center -drill 1/2 -inch (1.3 cm) holes 1/4
The loop is really an inductor. When of the MW band, since a decreased L inch (6.4 mm) deep on each of three
shunted by variable capacitor C, the requires more C for resonance. The 25/e -inch (6.7 -cm) lengths of 3/4 -inch
result is a higher Q, and slightly less
gain. In most cases, though, the effect
.QECE/yEf
on signal strength will not be CASE
EOGE as _ OOP-) noticed-but the sharpened tuning
will be greatly appreciated. It's easy to '(1){}yJ1 FE-k,/TE
BAN
see that the LI and the ferrite bar in the I I
ANTENNA

receiver act as an r -f transformer. The

"audio circuit" has been included as
TOP vie
an operator convenience. To best
work DX, headphones should be used. 4v T3 T4

INEAOPNONES
They are more sensitive than loud-
speakers, so it will be easier to hear
avoiC Cl?CU/r
weak signals. The acoustic isolation
Fig. 1. Loop acts as an from background noise will also come Fig. ?. Schematic shows hott loop and
LC parallel circuit. in handy-you'll be able to listen with - radio a0 fey f< rm r./'traosforiner.
26 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
(1.9 -cm) doweling. File six grooves 3/8" away or each side of the center con- Make the hole slightly more than 3/8"

(9.5 mm) apart on the dowels, spacing ductor hole for two securing screws. (9.5 mm) deep.
the outer ones 3/8" (9.5 mm) from each File seven grooves 3/8" (9.5 mm) apart, Take one end of a 74 -foot (22.6-m)
end. Take a 1 21/4 -inch (31.1 -cm) length spacing the HOT END groove 5/16" (7.9 length of 18- or 16-gauge (solid or
of 1/2-inch (1.3 -cm) doweling and drill mm) from the edge of the block. Drill a stranded, bare or insulated -enamel
two 1/6 -inch (3.2 -mm) holes 11/4" (3.2 1/6 -inch (3.2 -mm) hole in the center of or plastic -almost anything will do!)
cm) and 23/4" (7cm) from one end. both the HOT and GROUND END copper wire, thread it through the HOT
Repeat four times. Then, glue the grooves. Then drill a 3/16 -inch (4.8 -mm) END hole and solder it to the HOT END
dowels together to form three hole 3/8" (9.5 mm) to the right of the HOT solder lug (trimming excess). Then
T-shaped wire supports as shown in and GROUND END holes on the top (un - tightly wind the wire around the cross,
Step 2. Save the remaining dowel for grooved) side of the block. Mount sol- using the Tee grooves as guides to
later use. der lugs above each hole, using No. 6 make six turns in all. Thread the free
Form a cross by overlapping the two x 1/2" wood screws. end through the GROUND END hole and
lengths of tubing. Line up the center Referring to Step 5, prepare an solder to the lug, trimming excess.
holes and secure with a 1/4-20 x 1 inch SO -239 coaxial jack, cutting two cor- Remove the insulation (if any) from the
bolt, flatwashers, and wing nut. Slide ners with a hacksaw to fit the wire near corner A on the fifth turn.
the Tee's into ends B, C, and D of the hardwood block. Solder one end of a Solder one end of a 4 -inch (10.2 -cm)
cross until the holes line up. Secure 6-inch (15.3 -cm) length of hookup length of hookup wire to this point.
the Tee's in the tubing with 1/4 -inch wire to the center conductor pin of J2, Leave the other end free for the mo-
self -tapping sheet metal screws (Step and thread it through the center con- ment.
3). Form four support braces from ductor hole. Then secure J2 to the
9 -inch (23.9 -cm) lengths of 1/2" x 1/2" wood block using No. 6 x 1/4" wood Control Panel Construction. We'll
(1.3 cm x 1.3 cm) aluminum screws, looping one end of a 4 -inch now assemble the Loop's Control
U -channel. Drill two 11/64 -inch (4.4 - (10.2 -cm) length of hookup wire under Panel. It should be fashioned from a
mm) holes 1/4" (6.4 mm) from each end. the head of the screw nearest the 4.75" (12.1 -cm) square piece of
Then fasten the braces to the cross by GROUND END groove. Thread the other 1/16 -inch (1.6 -mm) aluminum plate.
lining up holes and using 6-32 x inch 1 end through the hole in this groove Physical layout is flexible, but use Fig.
machine screws, flatwashers, and and attach to the nearest solder lug 4 as a guideline. Form a support
nuts. Two lengths of channel should (above J2). Trim excess. Attach the bracket from aluminum stock, or use a
be on opposite sides of the tubing at free end of the center conductor wire commercial aluminum angle about
each juncture. to the other solder lug, trimming ex- 21/2"x 11/2" x 11/2" (6.4 cm x 3.8 cm x
Now prepare the fourth Tee by cess. 3.8 cm). Install the bracket centered
center drilling a 1/2 -inch (1.3 -cm) hole Glue the hardwood block to the re- along one side of the aluminum panel.
1/4" (6.4 mm) deep on one long side of a maining 121/4 -inch (31.1 -cm) dowel to Then drill mounting holes for an
4"x11/4"x3/4" (10.2 cm x 3.2 cm x 1.9 form the fourth Tee. Insert the Tee into SO -239 coaxial jack-this should be
cm) block of hardwood (Step 4). Drill a the remaining corner of the cross (A), set back 1" x 1" (2.5 cm x 2.5 cm) from
3/16 -inch (4.8 -mm) hole /6" (2.2 cm) lining up the holes. Secure with the corner nearest the notched side of
from one end of the block for the -inch self-tapping sheet metal
1/4 the bracket-and for the main tuning
center conductor pin of J2, an SO -239 screws. Then drill a 3/16 -inch (4.8 -mm) capacitor, switch Si, binding post
coaxial connector. Then drill a hole 3/8" (2.2 cm) above the bottom of BP1, and the RCA phono and head-
3/16-inch (4.8 -mm) hole 9/16" (1.4 cm) the vertical tubing (above corner A). phone jacks (if desired).

nee;
DOWEL M4 -"OD SGREMIt
(N)
CJ I I w ' /
rAP

STEP 3 1 1 ro
B/NDN
POST

-+a 3/4% .-
GROUND
Y/07"RNO J/
END

STEP 4
STEP 2

/ii`Pi4.
arm
SOLDER LC/6
SO -239 CONNECTJe
cur OFF

FCATTEA/
%;'
STEP 5
STEP 1

Fig. 3. Above are directions for constructing the fraine for the loop.
Aluminum tubing, U -channel, and wood dowels are used.
Steps 1 to 5 are referred to in the text.
1980 EDITION 27
 A note about capacitor Cl-any
surplus, multi -gang variable capacitor
may be used. Total maximum capaci-
tance should be about 1200 pF. Suitable ANTENNA
BLOCK
models are available from most surplus
STELEO
sources with an approximate cost of /AONE
PLO4 R
$3.00. If, however, you have trouble .TAck
AM R00
finding a capacitor on the surplus market, L"- 3 EAOM 4
PARAUEL TO
buy three 365-pF AM tuning capacitors ANTENNA BLOCK
and gang their shafts together. After in-
stalling all components, wire the Control
Panel in accordance with the schematic
(Fig. 2) using 18 -gauge solid hookup
Fig. 4. Control panel layout.
wire. Try to keep all leads as short as Proper orientation of receiver
possible. rod antenna is shown. *
The Control Panel should be
mounted in a cutout on a rotatable
platform-a lazy susan arrangement. and wing nut. Keep the wing nut rela- turn the loop broadside to the offend-
The platform should be big enough to tively loose. Now secure the other end ing signal.
accommodate your AM receiver also, of the strip to the Loop frame using a With S1 open, the Loop can be
since it must be rotated in step with 10-32 x 11/2" bolt, washer, and a 3/4' (1.9 tuned just about to 1600 kHz. It also
the Loop. cm) spacer. Use the 3/16 -inch (4.8 -mm) has maximum gain in this position.
Once the Panel is mounted, drill a hole previously drilled above the bot- But there are times when a bit more
7/32 -inch (5.6 -mm) hole in the support tom of the vertical tubing. selectivity is desirable over gain-for
bracket 3/8" (9.5 mm) down and 1" (2.54 Attach the Loop frame to the Con- example, when two fairly strong sta-
cm) over from the' un -notched top trol Panel using PL1, a double male tions are a few kHz apart. This is par-
corner. Then drill 7/32 -inch (5.6 -mm) uhf coaxial adapter (Amphenol 83- ticularly true when trying to work the
holes along the center line 3/6" (9.5 mm) 877), between jacks J1 and J2. Then "splits"-foreign stations operating
from each end of an 111/4' x 1" x Ye" connect the free end of the hookup on odd frequencies not multiples of 10
(28.6 cm x 2.5 cm x 9.5 mm) wire from the loop to binding post kHz. In situations like this, close Si.
hardwood strip. Attach one end of the BP1. Tighten the hardware holding This shorts out the bottom turn of the
strip to the support bracket using a the hardwood strip. Leave S1 open, loop, giving a higher Q. It also gives
10-20 x 1" hex head bolt, a hex nut as a and position your AM receiver below you a bit more "room" on Cl at the top
spacer between the strip and bracket, the Loop, orienting its rod antenna as end of the band.
shown in Fig. 4. The two coils should
be about 1" to 3" (2.5 cm to 7.6 cm)
Other Suggestions. The "pulling"
action mentioned earlier can cause
apart.
FRAME BILL OF MATERIALS you to get "lost" in terms of frequency.
To prevent this, prepare a list of strong
2-42 inch lengths of 1" ID thin -wall Using the Loop. Tune the receiver signals in your area, noting them by
aluminum tubing
4 -14 -inch lengths of 1" wood doweling down to the low end (540 kHz) of the call letter and frequency. You can then
3 -2% -inch lengths of 3/4" wood doweling AM Broadcast Band. Turn C1's tuning use them as frequency markers to
4 -12 -inch lengths of 11" x 1" aluminum
U -channel
knob so that the plates are fully chart your way across the band. It's
1-Block of hardwood 4" x 11" x 3/4" meshed. Then, carefully tune in an au- also a good idea to get a complete list
I-Strip of hardwood 11W x 1" x 4" dible signal using the receiver's tun- of North American AM stations-
1-10-32 x 11/2" bolt and washer
-3/4 -inch spacer to fit above.
1
ing capacitor. Slowly unmesh C/ 's especially if you want to DX the band.
1-1/4-20 x 1" bolt, washers, and wing nut plates (reduce capacitance) until the Several are available, listing stations
4-6-32 x 1" machine screws, flatwashers, signal peaks strongly. You have now by call letters, power output, frequen-
and nuts
4-No. 6 x 1/2" wood screws tuned the Loop to resonance at this cy, and geographical location.
8-1/4" self-tapping sheet metal screws frequency. Another system variable is the
It's possible that loading effects by amount of coupling between the Loop
the Loop may "pull" the receiver off its and the rod antenna. This should be
dial calibration. If this occurs, just varied to suit signal strength, but can-
PARTS LIST continue to adjust both Cl and the not accurately be predicted without
receiver's tuning capacitor for experience with your particular re-
BPI -5 -way binding post maximum intelligibility. You'll proba- ceiver. While it should vary between 1
C1-1200-pF (total) multi -gang variable
capacitor bly find that the two controls interlock, and 3 inches, experiment for best re-
11,12-Uhf coaxial jack, SO -239 but with a little practice you'll be sults.
J3-RCA phono jack quickly zeroing in on the station
J4-Open-circuit stereo headphone jack To make tuning easier, a vernier (0
LI -6 turns of 16- or 18 -gauge copper wire you're after. Try rotating the loop to to 100) tuning knob can be used with
wound on loop frame get an even stronger signal. Best re- C1. Once you have properly tuned a
PLI-Double male uhf coaxial adapter
(Amphenol 83-877, Lafayette 42 69064 or sults will be obtained when the plane station in, record its frequency, direc-
equivalent) of the loop extends in the direction of tion toward which the Loop is turned,
S1-SPST switch the desired signal. You can also use
Misc.-4.75" square I/16-inch aluminum position of Si, and the amount of
plate, tuning knob, machine hardware, this directivity to null out an interfer- capacitance needed. Keep all this in-
hookup wire, solder, etc. ing station on the same frequency- formation for future reference. Q
28
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 THE SOUND of recorded music BY JOHN H. ROBERTS
being played is a listening ex-
perience that changes according to
the room you are in. If the room is too
"live" or too "dead", the sound ap-
pears to be unnatural. When the room
has an ultra -modern decor and lots of
glass window areas, the effect on the
music is "bouncey." With heavy
drapes, carpeting, and thickly padded
furniture, plus a minimum of hard sur-
faces, the effect approaches that of an
TIA
anechoic chamber-with very little
sound reflection.
For the latter, you can either throw
"BIICIiET BRIGADE"
away your sofa pillows and pull down
the drapes, or you can add a time -
delay device to your audio system to
create a more natural ambience. Since
you may not care to redecorate, you
can create an echo (audio signal time
delay) and reverberation (later reflec-
tions) and achieve a livelier sound.
Until recently, the only means of ob-
taining an audio signal delay has been
through the use of very expensive
electronic equipment. Now there is a
new type of IC-the "bucket
brigade"-and you can build your
own delay system for as little as $39 in
mono and $59 in stereo. Connected
between source and preamp or
preamp and power amplifier (at the
tape monitoring jacks possibly), it
provides an adjustable, signal echo
that can enhance the sound in most
home listening rooms. With minor
connection changes, it also can be
used as a phasor/flanger, giving you a
sound effect for tape recording pur-
poses and electric -guitar playing used
by the professionals.
The bucket-brigade IC is a MOS-
type shift register that contains two
512 -stage registers in a single 14-pin
package. When an audio signal is
applied to the input of the bucket
brigade and a clock generator drives
the IC, the signal is stepped along
stage by stage until it comes out de-
layed a discrete interval in time. By
adding this delayed signal to the orig-
inal, reverberation is simulated.
In addition to providing real-time
AUDIO DELAY
ambience, the bucket -brigade circuit
can be used with a tape recorder to Allows user to simulate
provide simulated stereo sound from
mono sources, a means for "double
voicing," and "phasor/flanging."
larger listening room.
Technical Details. If you can delay Also used by recordists
an audio signal, you can create a
number of useful sound effects. The
and musicians for
most obvious is simulating echo, special sound effects.
though delays provided by the bucket
1980 EDITION 29
 20 100 1K 10K 20K
PEAKS *6db
O DBM

Fig. 1. Frequency between

NOTCHES a 35db notches on a comb filter
is adjusted by varying
the clock frequency.

brigade are too short to be discerned effect cancels leaving a reasonable frequency.) For example, if the clock
as discrete echoes. Recirculating the pseudo -stereo effect. frequency is 100,000 Hz, the delay
delayed signal at reduced gain can The basic block diagrams of the would be 256 x 1/100,000 = 2.56 ms.
approximate the natural decay of delay -line and phasor/flanger circuits Since the audio signal at the input is
echoes in a reverberant room. By add- are shown in Fig. 2. The hearts of the being sampled at a rate determined by
ing some gain during the recircula- circuits, of course, are the bucket - the clock frequency, a theoretical limit
tion of the delayed signal, you can brigade IC's, which can directly pro- of half the clock frequency is the high-
create an unnatural "door-spring" ef- cess analog signals. The circuits do est audio frequency that can be reli-
fect on the music. not require costly analog -to-digital ably passed. However, owing to prac-
Delay an instrument or voice track and digital -to -analog converters. tical limitations, a third of the clock
by 30 or 40 ms and add the delayed When the clock pulse from the flip- frequency is a more reasonable de-
signal back to the original signal, and flop is applied to the bucket -brigade sign goal. Circuits can be cascaded to
you will make the output sound fuller IC, the dc voltage present at the input provide longer time delays at high
and give it the effect of more than the is shifted into the register. The dis- clock rates, but the increase in noise
original number of voices or instru- crete bits are transferred stage by in the series -connected circuits might
ments. This commonly used tech- stage with successive clock pulses un- outweigh the increase in bandwidth.
nique is known as "double voicing." til, after 256 pulses, they reach the end In the delay mode, the two shift reg-
Another popular short -delay effect of the line and provide the output. isters are connected in series, which
is a strange sound that results from a The output waveform is smoothed allows twice the clock frequency to be
technique known as "phasing" or by a low-pass filter and duplicates used. Therefore, twice the bandwidth
"reel flanging." The name is derived whatever signal was present at the of a single shift register can be pro-
from its original implementation input but delayed in time by 256 times grammed for the same time delay.
where a tape recorder was used to the period of the clock frequency. Even in this double -bandwidth mode,
create the time delay and the friction (Period is equal to the reciprocal of the the clock frequency required for a
of a well -placed hand on the outside
edge of the tape -feed reel varied the
delay to produce the acoustic effect. F :P-
LOCr DELAY LINE
This effect can be created totally by F _OP

electronic means by delaying the sig-

nal 0.5 to 5 ms while adding or sub-
tracting the delayed signal from the
-PAE
original signal. AUDIO O
LO -PASS
SHIFT
REG.
+8.5 dB
AMP
5 -POLE
LOW-PASS OUTPUT
INPUT FILTER
In the phasor/flanger mode, the fre- FILTER

quency and its multiples whose

wavelengths are equal to the time RECIRCULATION CONTROL
delay will be completely cancelled out
while all other frequencies are rein-
forced. The result is a comb filter
whose frequency between the OUTPUT

notches is adjusted by varying the

clock frequency (Fig. 1). In this man-
ner, a tonal quality can be imparted to AUDIO 2 -POLE SHIFT 5 -POLE
LOW-PASS REG. LOW-PASS
nontonal sound such as drums, cym- INPUT
FILTER FILTER
bals, and even voices.
The phasor/flanger mode can be
used to simulate stereophonic sound SHIFT
PHASOR/
from a monophonic source. To do FLANGER REG.
2
this, the phased output derived by add-
ing the delayed signal goes to one
channel, while the output derived by
Fig. 2. Basic block diagrams of the delay
subtracting the delayed signal goes to
the other. To the listener, the phasing
line and the phasorl/langer circuits.
30
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 +15v +20v +15
*R15
*R11
*R4
C6
C3 R5 200K 38
,00K 00K
C18
28V +28V
*R6 V *R9 *R10 6 8

r/
9 6 i3 12 *R13 *R14 2 1/2
1/2 7 1/2
r ICI
/2 'Co IC3

*R2
C4
IyF
5 4 IC2
C5
510pFI
5 4
C7
12000F SÌÓpF`
3

+10.5V
Cll
yF
+10.5V + V 21 II 410.5V
R26*
'V OUT
PI
IOOK
*SEE TABLE I

*R 6 +15V
NAMAA
10
15V
CIO 13
4]pF
3
2
12
gs1
Fig. 3. Schematic of delay line for one channel.
IC4 4,2 Resistor values for different delay
configurations are given in the table below left.

PARTS LIST FOR FIG. 3 C18 --0.01-µF ceramic disc capacitor

TABLE OF FILTER RESITOR VALUES IC1,lC3-1458 dual operational amplifier
CI,C4,CIÌ-I-µF, 25 -volt electrolytic 1C2-MN3001 dual analog shift register
A B C D capacitor (Matsushita)
The following are 5% polystyrene 1C4-4001 CMOS quad NOR gate
(all values in kilohms) IC5-4013 CMOS dual D flip-flop
capacitors:
C2-1300 pF P I -100,000 -ohm potentiometer
R1 100 200 300 390 C3-24 pF Ri through R4,R6,R9 through R16,R26-
R2 130 270 39Ó 510 C5,C8-510 pF See Table
150 C6-43 pF R5,R8-100,000-ohm, 1/4 -watt, 5% resistor
R3 36 75 110
C7-1200 pF R7-200,000 -ohm, 1/4 -watt, 5% resistor
R4 100 200 300 390 C9-100 pF Note-See Parts List for Fig. 5 for kit in-
R6 100k 100k 100k 100k C10-47 pF formation.
R9 62k 120k 180k 240k
R10 43 82 130 160
R11 120 240 360 470 40 -ms delay limits the bandwidth to a maximum delay required is about 5
R12 10 20 30 39 maximum input signal frequency of ms, which is short enough that a
R13 56 110 160 220 3750 Hz, which is adequate for voice single shift register can be used with-
R14 33 68 100 130 but less than adequate for many musi- out compromising the bandwidth. The
R15 68 100 200 270
cal instruments. In most applications second shift register is therefore con-
R16 110 240 360 470 nected in parallel with the first to im-
where the delayed signal is added to
R26 200 200 200 200
the original signal, the reduction in prove the S/N ratio. The signals are
A = 10 ms or less, -3 dB at 15,000 Hz bandwidth will be masked by the added in -phase, while the noise adds
8 = 20 ms or less, -3 dB at 7500 Hz high -frequency signals present in the and subtracts randomly.
C 30 ms or less, -3 dB at 5000 Hz
original. To compensate for normal
D 40 ms or less, -3 dB at 3800 Hz
signal attenuation, an 8.5 -dB amplifier How It Works. The schematic dia-
is used between the shift registers. grams of the delay -line and phasor/
In the phasor/flanger mode, the flanger configurations of the circuit

A BUCKET -BRIGADE SHIFT -REGISTER ANALOGY

The name "bucket brigade" conjures up While the first clock is high, the "odd" The drawing is a schematic represen-
images of a line of men passing alorig buckets are dumped into the next con- tation of four typical stages of the
buckets of water to fight a fire. The secutive "even" bucket. When the sec- MN3001 analog shift register. Each
bucket-brigade analog shift register op- ond clock is high, the even buckets are MN3001 IC contains two 512 -stage shift
erates in a similar manner, which is how dumped into the next consecutive odd registers. Note that stages A and C are
it got its name. In the case of the shift buckets. In this manner, individual connected to one clock, while stages B
register, however, the buckets are charges are transferred along the line and D are connected to the other clock
capacitors integrated right on the PMOS one stage at a time. to provide the odd/even relationship.
chip. There are more than 1000 such
capacitors on each chip (one capacitor
and two MOS transistors for each stage).
What is being passed along are packets
FROM
INPUT--
4 8 D
- TO
OUTPUT

of electrical charge from stage to stage.

It is difficult to pour water both into
and out of a bucket at the same time. So, VGG
t VGG

too, it is difficult to simultaneously

4,1
charge and discharge a capacitor. This
problem is overcome in the shift register 4,2

by utilizing two out -of -phase clocks.

-111Fo
1980 EDITION 31
 C4
R4
~Ah 9F -A+B
OUTPUT
I00K R27 +I \
5.I K
R28 R31
RII R15 5.IK IOOK
+15V 120K 68K
C3 r\MAM \AAMM
C6 C9
43pF) IOOpF
R8 R5
IOOK 100K
CI RIO
INPUT^ RI I9F 43K RI2 RI3 R14 +28V
TOOK 10K 56K 33K
VA R9-I 1C/23 2 1/2
f IC3

r
8 120K 3

130K
R2
-C2 1300 C7 C8
10 5V R9-2 +10.5V +10.5V
pF
12 OK, 12008F 510pF

42 Tlo5F
R30

RI6
IIK +15V 617181 11 +10.5V
.OI9F
C18
-- 5.IK

+26V
+15V
14

105
R6
2 00K.
L
g
8 R29
5.IK
IyF

OUTBPUT

R26
IOOK
NOTE: FOR R VALUES SHOWN, 5rns OR LESS, -3dB AT 15,000 Hz
I5 19 112
T" R7
200K

Fig. 4. Schematic of circuit .for phasor/Jlanger.

PARTS LIST FOR FIG. 4

Cl through CI I-Same as for Fig. 3 R3-36,000 ohms R14-33,000 ohms
CI8-0.01-µF ceramic disc capacitor R6,R7-200.000 ohms R15-68,000 ohms
ICI through IC5-Same as for Fig. 3 R9 -1,R9-2-120,000 ohms RI6-11,000 ohms
The following resistors are 1/a watt, 5% tol- RIO -43,000 ohms R26-100,000 ohms
erance: R II -120,000 ohms R27 through R30-5100 ohms
R ,R4,R5,R8,R26,R31-100,000 ohms
I R12-10,000 ohms Note-See Parts List for Fig.
R2-130,000 ohms 5 for kit in-
R13-6,000 ohms formation.

are shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, respec- passband so that it is 3 dB down at the This is what has been done in the
tively. In both cases, quad NOR gate tuning frequency and has a roll -off delay -line and phasor/flanger circuits.
IC4 is wired as an astable multivibrator rate of 6 dB times the number of poles. Quite a bit of mathematical compu-
operating at twice the desired clock +28v +20V +15 +Iv +10.5V
rate's frequency. The output of IC4
\\ww
goes to flip-flop IC5, which provides a R19
1011
pair of complementary (180° out of DI
4001 6 IO
phase with each other) output clock IN
R20
I R22 R24
pulses with 50% duty cycles. These >11 +
8.21( 33K 2.2K

pulses then "clock" the shift registers TI 106 2

RI7
C12 IK
723
in /C2. Frequency determining resis- 470 3 9
YF
tor R16 is fixed in the delay configura- 014
C17
339F
I CI5
.OIyF
C16
.019F
R18 100pF
tion, while resistance can be added via IM
R21 R23 R25
a pair of connectors to change the 7.5K
D3
1N968
CI3
TIPF
2.4K 5.IK
clock frequency in the phasor/flanger.
The audio input signal is con-
02
ditioned by seven poles of low-pass IN 4001
filtering in which IC3 and half of IC1 Fig. 5. Schematic of power -supply cire
are used. The filters provide a total of
Parts List includes kit int'crmatioi, for all circuits.
42-dB/octave attenuation above the PARTS LIST FOR FIG. 5 R24-2200 ohms
tuning frequency. For example, if the R25-5100 ohms
filter were tuned for 5000 Hz, a C12 -470-µF, 35 -volt electrolytic capa- TI-Power transformer with two 28 -volt
citor secondaries at 50 mA each
10,000 -Hz signal would be attenuated C 3,C 15,C16 -0.01-4F disc capacitor
1
Misc.-Chassis; line cord; phono jacks
by more than 100:1. C 14-100-ppF disc capacitor (4); control knobs (2); rubber grommet;
When filters are designed with C17 -33-µF, 25 -volt electrolytic capacitor spacers; machine hardware, etc.
DI,D2-IN4001 rectifier diode Note: The following items are available
high -gain operational amplifiers (op D3 -1N968 (20 -volt) zener diode from Phoenix Systems, 375 Springhill
amps), it is possible to have their out- F1 -1/10 -ampere fuse Rd., Monroe, CT 06468: Complete kit
IC6-723 precision voltage regulator of parts (delay line or phasor/flanger)
puts increase before rolling off at the The following resistors are I/4 watt. 5/ to- No. P -1220-M (mono) for $50.00; com-
rate of 6 dB/octave per pole. Such fil- lerance: plete kit of parts No. P -1220-S (stereo)
ters are termed "under damped." By R17-1000 ohms for $75.00; etched and drilled pc board
R18-1 megohm No. P -1220-B for $6.00; MN3001 ana-
carefully selecting the proper balance RI9-10 ohms log shift register IC No. P-1220-C for
of under -damped and over -damped R20-8200 ohms $20.00; transformer No. P -1220-T
(RC) filter sections, it is possible to R21-7500 ohms $5.00. For orders under $10.00, add
R22-33,000 ohms $1.00 for shipping and handling. Con-
design a filter that is flat in the desired R23-2400 ohms necticut residents, please add sales tax.
32
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 use of zener diode D3, while the +1 - figurations are shown in Figs. 6B and
CLAIMED SPECIFICATIONS volt line is derived from the voltage 6C, respectively.
divider consisting of R22 and R23. Before installing any components
Delay Line: Since the op amps are being operated on the board, mount and solder into
Frequency response 15 to 15,000 Hz place the wire jumpers. Then, wire the
from a single -ended supply, it is
(+2/-3 dB)
necessary to have the 10.5 -volt supply board as in Fig. 6B or Fig. 6C, depend-
Distortion (THD) Typically less
line serve as the reference point in the ing on the desired mode of operation.
than 1%(1000 Hz,
1 V rms) circuit for these IC's. Be careful to properly orient all
Input impedance Greater than semiconductor devices and electroly-
100,000 ohms Construction. The actual -size etch- tic capacitors. Be sure to handle the
Clipping level 1.77 V rms (5 V ing and drilling guide, the same for MOS devices with care to prevent
P -P) both circuit configurations but wired them from being damaged by static
Signal-to-noise Typically 50 dB differently as required, is shown in Fig. charges. You can mount the IC's di-
below 0 dBm 6A. The parts -placement guides for rectly on the board or use sockets. Use
Phasor/Flanger: the delay -line and phasor/flanger con- a low -power soldering iron (25 to 35
Frequency response 15 to 15,000 Hz
(+2/-3 dB)
Distortion (THD) Typically less
than 0.75% (1000
Hz, V rms)1

Input impedance Greater than

100,000 ohms

tation is normally required to deter-

mine the values of the filter resistors to
use. To simplify matters, you can
select the appropriate resistor values
from the Table of Filter Resistor Val-
ues. Use this Table for selecting resis-
tor values for only the delay -line cir-
cuit. (The filter resistor values
specified in Fig. 4 and its accompany-
ing Parts List will provide an optimized
5-ms delay, with the output 3 dB down
at 15,000 Hz for the phasor/flanger.)
The power supply is shown in Fig. 5.
It uses a voltage regulator, /C6, to
generate the main 15 -volt supply out-
put. The shift register requires
supplies of both +1 and +20 volts. The
+20 -volt line is obtained through the

FI
..- R12-8.441
4-117V-4,
C8
-.
R15

-R3- -
I NJ. -

ica
Fig. 6. Above (A) is etching and
drilling guide for pc board.
It can be used for either
_R4_. channel for delay -line circuit,
-C16- or .for the phasorlflnnger.
.,.r -R O-.it:
I
At left (B) is component
-C18.
layout .for one channel of
delay line. It includes the
power supply. Component

\ layouts .for phasor/flanger

R7

-D1 GND
and second channel of stereo
INPUT -1, CI delay line are on next page.
1
J
R24
-PI
TO

--R 2-
ARM R23---

Rr 8
D3
C12
GND CUT
t R9
C13
GII
to-R22- I R6
11 IC4 IC2
J
1
-* B
R5 RIT
R16 CIO
C1i4 1

R20 1 11 I
C,
R8 I

1 Rig
R21- C177
t JUMPERSEO
STER
FOR
4-111.

33
1980 EDITION
 F

I
C8
-R15
--813--
- C9
-R12
V
103 C6
I1
R11 CS
HANDS-ON EVALUATION
Both the time -delay and phasor/flanger

TI
-R14

J
-C16-

-CIB-
-RIO -
1J configurations of this circuit should
keep the home recordist occupied for
hours, if not days. While the effects are
not as apparent as those obtained with
22 C3
84
professional delay and flanging systems,
R29
1
1
this system does not cost the $4000 or so
-DI - 02
ONO R3- R6 R7
demanded for such top-of-the -line pro-
IN PU T.
fessional system.
CI
-RI- I I R30 The flanging effect is heard only while
R24
R28
-CI5- the potentiometer is in motion, at which
R2 time the variable comb filter sweeps
CI? G OUT ONO
R27-
il
ou
R18
1
D3 across the audio bandwidth to create the
"flanging" sound. At rest, the comb -
C4 J
1149-2-2
'C13
filtered sound is noticeable, but it is not
-831--/R26.--. >CI' -R22- 1

R9-1 as apparent as one would expect from

1

looking at the peaks and dips that occur

RIG .C5 IC?
CIO JI R15 at regular intervals on the frequency re-
cl 4 1

R20 I
I04 R!7 sponse curve.
R8
Although you might not have occasion
to use the flanger as a mono-to -stereo
-R21- ,
T17
r-,
generator, don't overlook this operating
mode for the enhancement of a single -
C output reverberation device. Reverbera-
tion is very diffuse by nature, and the
flanger outputs, when panned left and
55- right, are a noticeable improvementover
1 I 1
a regular mono reverb return. When
103 used in this application, the potentiome-
ter remains at rest.
1 1
Use only one output when applying
-Rlo flanging to a recording. For an interest-
ing Doppler effect, try combining the two
C2 outputs while rapidly revolving the pot.
Better still, replace the standard pot with
a free -spinning pot. (Connect the resis-
IN
tance element in series with R16 and the
1

RI CI wiper to either end of the element.)

I
934 -CIS+ On the delay line, the recirculation
e- PI
(ARM) -823 control must be used sparingly. A little
GND goes a long way, and the "door spring"
R18
GNP CUT effect can easily get out of control. If you
1
Cr
C13 build both circuit configurations, you
can experiment by wiring the flanger
*- R6
1
into the delay line's recirculation path.
IC? The slight additional delay in feedback
creates even more echoes at the delay
Ci line's output. It also helps to keep the
door spring from becoming a steady-
state squeal.
-John Woram,
D Woram Audio Associates
Fig. 6. Component layout at top is for phasor/ilanger (C). Below (D) is for second
channel of stereo system. It uses power supply in first channel.

watts) and fine solder, and watch out off -the -board pots and jacks. Then assembling a stereo delay line mount
for solder bridges between the closely drill holes for the line cord, jacks, pots, the second board assembly over the
spaced pads on the board. and board mounting in a 5" x 4" x 3" first with short spacers and machine
The wiring guide for the second pc (12.7 x 10.1 x 7.6 cm) aluminum chas- hardware after interconnecting the
board for a delay line for stereo is sis box. Locate the line cord and jack power -supply and clock-drive lines
shown in Fig. 6D. Note that the power holes on a wall directly opposite the with hookup wire. (Be sure to make
supply section is not repeated; you get wall through which the pot holes have the interconnections before fastening
power and clock pulses from the first been drilled. the boards together.) Connect and
board via wire interconnections. Use machine hardware and spacers solder the free ends of the hookup
Solder lengths of hookup wire to the to mount the pc board assembly to the wires from the board(s) to the appro-
pads that are to interconnect with the floor of the aluminum box. If you are priate lugs in the jacks and pots. Q
34
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 The chances are excellent that...
You have a talent other people
are willing to pay for! troubleshooting a TV. (And the TV
You're "handy" around your is yours to keep, too!) This combi-
house, have the ability to fix nation of "head and hands" learning
things, and "make them work locks in your understanding of the
crucial principles you'll use on the
right"... that's why there job in your new career. But, don't
may be a rewarding career kid yourself .. .
for you in Electronics. Electronics is not an "easy" science
and CIE courses are not "snaps."
Subject matter is technical, thorough,
A career in Electronics? and challenging. It has to be. We're
Absolutely. Because you're interested training you for a career. So the pre-
in things. How they work. Why they sentation of ideas is logical, written in
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Your chances are excellent CIE Education by mail
With the right kind of specialized There is no need to "go back to the
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challenging, financially rewarding future waiting for learn at home or wherever else is convenient. You
you in Electronics. Think of the career opportunities keep your present job and income. No cross-town
... computers, aerospace, 2 -way radio communica- commutes. You decide when and where you study best.
Your eventual success ...
at CIE and in your elec-
tions, radio/TV broadcasting, medical electronics, to
name just a few. tronics career ...
will be determined by your own
And, surprisingly, you don't need a college degree! motivation and self-discipline. You can do it. And CIE
All you need to do to qualify for one of these excit- can show you how.
ing career fields is to build upon the technical aptitude
you already have ... just put your hands and your
head to work with a CIE Electronics career course.
You learn by doing
The CIE method of instruction is the refinement of
over 40 years of Electronics, independent home-study
experience. It works. And you don't need any prior
electronics experience. A CIE career course can take
you from ground zero right up to training in Lasers,
Microminiaturization, Radar, Analog Computers,
and various applications in Communications.
In some CIE courses, you'll perform "hands-on"
experiments and tests with your own CIE Personal
Training Laboratory. And, if TV technology and dig-
ital Electronics are your main interest, you can select
from several courses that involve working with and Patterns shown on TV and oscilloscope screens are simulated.

Put your talent to full use ous educational programs and assist in course selection.
We believe that you may be a "natural" for Electronics, As soon as we receive your request, we'll mail you our
and we'd like to tell you more about potential career school catalog, complete G.I. Bill details, and special
fields and our school. We'll be glad to send you our information on government FCC License preparation.
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CIE Cleveland Institute of Electronics, Inc.

1776 East 17th Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Accredited Member National Home Study Council
37
1980 EDITION
 BUILD THIS LOW-COST

CAPACITANCE
METER
Five linear ranges
to 10,000 µF

BY THOMAS McGAHEE

WHEN a capacitor is connected 10, 100, 1000, and 10,000 µF. On the parator, with its noninverting (+) input
to a constant -voltage source 1-µF scale, values as small as 0.01 µF connected to R8, which determines
through a resistor, the charge on the can be read easily. the reference voltage. When the volt-
capacitor increases exponentially. If age developed across the unknown
the source supplies a constant cur- How It Works. As shown in Fig. 1, capacitor, connected to the inverting
rent, however, the charge on the D1, D2, R6, Q1 and one of the resistors input (-) of IC1, becomes a few mil-
capacitor increases linearly. This (R1 through R5) selected by S1A pro- livolts higher than the preset refer-
linear charging principle is used here vide five decades of constant current. ence voltage, the comparator output
in the design of a capacitance meter With S2 in the position shown in Fig. 1, will switch from +12 volts to -12 volts.
which will measure values outside the this current is shunted to ground via The output of the comparator drives
range of most such meters. By using a S2A. When S2 is placed in its alternate a constant -current source consisting
constant -current source, the meter position, the constant current will be of D3, D4, D5, R10, R11, and Q2. When
determines the time it takes to match pumped into the unknown capacitor S2A was switched to ground, so was
the charge on the unknown capacitor connected across BP1 and BP2, forc- S2B. This action shorts across storage
to a known reference voltage. The ing it to charge in a linear fashion. capacitor Cl, therefore the voltage
meter has five full-scale ranges of 1, Op amp IC1 is connected as a com- across this capacitor is zero.
38
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 +12V

RI R2 53 R4 RB
4.71 470K 47K 4.7K 47011
PARTS LIST
100 BPI, BP2-Five-way binding posts (one
OFF. Fig. I. The ureter red, one black)
(leteruriues the time it CI, C4 -22-µF, 35 -volt electrolytic
capacitor
takes to match the charge C2 -0.01-µF ceramic disc capacitor
nn capacitor runder test C3-220-µF, 35 -volt electrolytic capacitor
02
to knarr', re%ere,ce voltage. DI to D6-IN914 diode
D7, D8-50-volt, 500 -mA silicon rectifier
D9, D10-12 -volt zener diode
ICI, IC2-741 mini -DIP case
R6
226 MI -0 -I -mA meter (Radio Shack 22-052
or equiv.)
Q1, Q2-2N 3638 transistor

ICI
+12V
L 1C2
+12V
R1-4.7-megohm,
R2 -470,000 -ohm,
1/2-w 5% resistor
1/2-w 5% resistor
741 741 R3 -47,000-ohm, 1/2-w 5% resistor
RB
IK 03
R4 -4700 -ohm, 1/2-w 5% resistor
-12V RII R2
-12v R5 -470 -ohm, 1/2-w 5% resistor
33K K)K R6, R10-22,000 -ohm, 1/2-w resistor
C4 R7 -100,000 -ohm 1/2-w resistor
r ---aspi
+
R8-1000 -ohm, pc -type trimmer poten-
1 CAPACITOR
UNDER
TEST
°B
RI3
IK
tiometer
R9, R12-10,000-ohm, 1/2-w resistor
R 11-33,000-ohm, 1/2-w resistor
RI3-1000-ohm,1/2-w resistor
R14 -560 -ohm, 1/2-w resistor
R15-470 -ohm, 1/2-w resistor
RIO
22K
02
2N3638
SI--Dp 6 -pos. rotary switch (Radio Shack
275-1386 or equiv.)
DI= S2-Dpst or dpdt pushbutton or rocker
switch
TI-Transformer, secondary 12-V, 300
CI
mA (Radio Shack 273-1385 or equiv.)
Misc.-Suitable enclosure (Radio Shack
i T2F 270-627 or equiv.), line cord, insulated
wire, spacers, rubber feet (4).

When S2 is opened, the constant of the meter-but this drift is actually The power supply whose circuit is
current flowing into Cl causes the too slow to cause any problems. Re- shown in Fig. 2, can supply sufficient
voltage across it to rise linearly. When sistor R13 and meter M1 make up a current to power the meter.
the voltage across the capacitor under simple voltmeter readout of approxi-
test causes the comparator to switch, mately volt full scale. If desired, an
1 Construction. The circuit can be
diode D6 becomes reverse biased, external voltmeter can be used as long built on the pc board whose foil pat-
preventing Cl from charging any as it has a full-scale range of less than tern is shown in Fig. 3, along with the
more. Since Cl only charges until the 8 volts. (If you use such an external component installation on the nonfoil
comparator switches, the voltage meter, set R8 on the 1-µF range, so side of the board. Be sure to observe
generated across it is directly propor- that a known 1-µF capacitor indicates the polarity of the two electrolytic
tional to the capacitance value of the 1 volt.) Capacitor C2 is used to prevent capacitors and the various diodes.
unknown capacitor. oscillation of the Q1 constant -current The IC's are identified by a notch code.
To prevent Cl from discharging source, while R9 and R12 protect the The prototype was assembled in a
while measuring its voltage, a high - op amps in case the power is turned 61/4" by 33/4" by 2" plastic box having a

impedance buffer, formed by IC2, is off while the test capacitor and Cl are metal cover. The cover was drilled to
used. While this buffer draws very little charged, otherwise they might dis- accept Ml, range switch SI, switch
current, it does draw some, and this charge via the op amps, causing dam- S2, and the two binding posts (BP1,
results in a very slow downward drift age. BP2). Note that a red binding post was
used for BP1 as this side is to be con-
nected to the positive lead of the
capacitor under test. The line cord
D7 55ón exits through a small hole in the side
+12V
of the plastic box.
Fig. !. Power.sapply Meter M1 is linearly calibrated to 1
SIB
TI
-12V delir'ers .salticicaf mA full scale. Carefully open up the
current for ureter. meter and using press -on type, or
other printing medium, mark the scale
"MFD" or "µF."
117V
The accuracy of the capacitance
meter depends on two factors; the
GND

1980 EDITION 39
 sassa
Om.

ono elo 7.1.1".

SIA Fig. .3. Act ml -size etching
and drilling guide is above,
component layout at left.
T 1 1 1 1
RI R2 R3 R4 R6

+1 DIO'* 6 ICI
1111 IC2
basic accuracy of the meter move-
ment used and the accuracy of resis-
tors R1 through R5. In most cases, the
CI4
meter accuracy will be 3%, and ex-
11R7 i -- 3 perience has shown that, with 5% tol-
9
2s--R9y R
MI érance resistors, the overall accuracy
$D8
s -D3 D4
1 1 is about 3%. Although this may sound
C3
1
RII 44-
-R121 strange, it is due to the fact that most
1 #05
5% resistors made by the same com-
Ri4 -R10- pany tend to be off tolerance by the
same percentage, thus reducing the
D6s
--cl-.+
effective percent error between the
resistors. Using 10% resistors yields
\g about 6% accuracy.
SIB
~ 1
S2A/BPI BP2 32B
Calibration. Before applying power
to the capacitance meter, use a small
screwdriver to set the meter pointer
exactly to the zero mark.
Select a capacitor between 0.5 and
1.0 µF at 5% or better. This will be the
"calibration standard." Connect this
capacitor between BP1 and BP2 (posi-
tive side to BP1). Set range switch S1
to the "1" position (meter indicates
Photo shares hou' 1-µF full scale). Operate S2 to remove
airthar's prototype the ground lead from the two circuits
mas assembled in hoe. (Q1 collector and Cl). The meter
should start upscale and stop at some
value. Reversing S2 should cause the
meter to drop to zero volts. Flip S2
again and note the upscale value of
the meter. Alternately flip S2 and ad-
just R8 until the meter indicates the
exact value of the 5% calibration
capacitor. The one calibration will
suffice for all the other ranges.
40 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 BUILD A

DIGITAL
CAMERA
SHUTTER
TIMER

BY R.S. HEDIN

Low cost digital timer provides accurate check

of camera shutter speeds from 1/1000th of a second to 1 second.

HAVE YOU ever wondered why a pensate for it by modifying the camera's 1, while the counting circuit is shown in
camera whose diaphragm opening control adjustments (say, an f stop Fig. 2. The two circuits are coupled
and shutter -speed setting are adjusted greater or smaller than the exposure together via the +V and GND buses and
perfectly according to an exposure me- meter's indication) or having the camera the points marked K going to each other.
ter should regularly produce overex- serviced professionally. When light strikes phototransistor Q2
posed or underexposed negatives or With your own shutter tester, you can and not LDR1 in Fig. 1, the Darlington
prints? Too often, the cause is a shutter test your camera at any time you feel it circuit made up of Q2 and ordinary tran-
speed that deviates too much from the needs adjustment. The shutter tester sistor Q1 triggers on and supplies cur-
camera's speed markings. described here uses digital circuits and rent to timer 106. This causes the timer
Now you can check your camera's ac- has six decades of display to give a high IC to generate pulses at a frequency of
tual shutter speed by building the elec- order of accuracy. 10,000 Hz. (Potentiometer R1 is provid-
tronic shutter tester presented here. If ed for adjusting the operating frequency
the camera displays a gross speed inac- About the Circuit. The sensor/con- of the oscillator to exactly 10,000 Hz.)
curacy, you'll know that you must com- trol circuit for the tester is shown in Fig. If at any time light strikes LDR1, the
41
1980 EDITION
 ter/lens mechanism is positioned direct-
ly above Q2, in line with a high -intensity
light source. Switch Si is momentarily
depressed to reset the counters to zero.
Then, when the shutter is tripped, the
system counts the number of pulses
generated between the opening and
closing of the shutter.
The counting circuit shown in Fig. 2
consists of five decade -counter IC's (IC1
through /C5) and their companion sev-
en -segment displays (DISC through
Fig. Timer 106 is
1. DIS5). Note that DIS2 is the only display
gated into whose decimal point is active. This deci-
oscillation when mal point comes on whenever the tester
light strikes Q2. is powered. Note also that the decade
LDR1 is used to atop counters are wired to suppress the ze-
operation when the roes to the left of the decimal point.
camera is removed Since the display indicates the number
from support block.
of pulses counted during a discrete in-
terval of time, it does not indicate time.
To obtain the time indicated by the num-
PARTS LIST The following resistors t/4 watt, 10% toler-
ber in the display, you must divide that
C1 -2200-µF, 16 -volt electrolytic capacitor ance:
C2 -0.022-µF Mylar capacitor R2-1500 ohms number by 1000. Hence, displays of 1.0,
DISI through DISS-'7a" common -cathode, R3 ,R4,R5- 1000 ohms 8.0, 16.6, and 33.3 translate to 0.001,
seven -segment LED display (DL -704 or R6-5100 ohms 0.008, 0.0166; and 0.0333 second or,
similar) SI-Normally open, momentrary-action spst in photography terminology, 1/1000,
D1 -100 -volt, I -ampere silicon rectifier diode pushbutton switch
II -12 -volt high -intensity lamp with arm and 1/125, 1/60, and 1/30 second, respec-
S2-Spst toggle switch
reflector (see text) T1 -12 -volt, 1.2 -ampere transformer (see tively. (It is a good idea to make up a ta-
ICI through IC5-4033A CMOS decade text) ble of conversions that can be affixed to
counter Misc.-Printed circuit or perforated board; the completed project, as shown in the
IC6-555 timer 16 -pin DIP sockets (5); 14 -pin DIP sockets
LDR I-Light-dependent resistor (Vactee No. lead photo.)
(5); 8 -pin DIP socket; chassis with cover (9"
VT-214 or Clairex CL -903) x 5" x 21/2' ); line cord; pine block (3r/i' x The power supply for the tester is line
Q1 -2N4264 transistor 13/4" x 13/4"); soft vinyl sheet; rubber feet operated. Dc power for the system is ob-
Q2-FPT-100 phototransistor (4); contact cement; machine hardware and tained from a conventional rectifier-
RI -3000-ohm trimmer potentiometer spacers; hookup wire: solder; etc. diode/filter-capacitor (D1/C1) setup that
is driven from the center tap of trans-
resistance in the base circuit of Q2 pulse output that is counted by the total- former Tl. This circuit assumes that
drops to a low enough value to cause izer circuit shown in Fig. 2. The displays high -intensity lamp /1 is an integral part
the Darlington circuit to cut off. This, in continue to count upward until the light of the system. If you prefer, you can use
turn, turns off the timer circuit. Under to 02 is interrupted or light falls on a separate line -powered high -intensity
normal operating conditions, no light will LDR1. At this time, the displays "freeze" lamp and substitute a 6.3 -volt transform-
fall on either Q2 or LDR1 initially. After to indicate the total number of pulses er for Tl.
pressing reset switch Si (Fig. 2), light is counted. When the tester is used with a
allowed to reach only Q2. This allows camera, the camera's body covers Construction. The entire circuit, ex-
the timer circuit to generate a 10,000 -Hz LDR1 to exclude all light and the shut - cept Ti and the two switches and Q2

+V
GND
T t
I T 11
R4
SI IK 16.71ti-
RESET 14 16 14 2 16 i4 2 16 14 2 14 31 2
15 5 15 15
e 4 4 4
5 ir
FIG I
ICI IC2 IC3 IC4 ICS

10 9
Fig. 2. The five
decade counters 14 6 7
are formed from 13
b
a e d 2

IC's that also e

C t

include 7-segment DIS I OIS 2

R5
DIS 3 DIS 4 DIS 5
decoded outputs. 9 IK
---NJJJvVv-+V
Note that DIS2 has
the decimal point.
SAME AS FOR ICI/DIS

42
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 TD 02
AND LORI

R4
ICI

Fig. 3. Foil pattern and

component installation. Pin
15 of IC1 through IC5 are
connected together by a common
jumper on the foil side of the
DIS DIS DIS DIS board. Note that R5 and the
5 4 3 other jumpers are also
OIS 2 located on the foil side.

and LDR1, can be assembled on a sin-

gle printed circuit board, the etching
and drilling and component -placement
guides for which are shown in Fig. 3. Al-
ternatively, you can assemble the circuit
on perforated board, using appropriate
solder hardware. In either case, the use
of sockets for the IC's and displays is
recommended.
Install the components on the circuit
board as shown in the component -
placement guide, taking care to properly
orient them. Note here that the four
jumper wires labelled J and R5 mount
on the foil side of the board. To avoid the
possibility of short-circuiting the board,

CONVERSION TABLE
NUMBER SHUTTER SPEED

1.0 1/1000 sec

2.0 = 1/500 sec
4.0 = 1/250 sec
8.0 = 1/125 sec be sure to use insulated sleeving on the Before you mount 02 and LDR1 in the
10.0 = 1/100 sec resistor leads and wire jumpers. block of wood, apply a coat or two of flat
= 1/60 Phototransistor 02 and light -depend- black paint to all exterior surfaces of the
16.6 sec
ent resistor LDR1 mount in a block of block. Allow the paint to completely dry,
20.0 = 1/50 sec
pine as shown in Fig. 4. The holes in and then mount the components in their
33.3 = 1/30 sec which these two components mount respective holes, fixing them in place by
4000 = 1/25 sec must be stepped as indicated to permit force fitting. (If the fit is too snug, very
100.0 = 1/10 sec easy routing of the hookup wires that in- carefully ream out the holes; if it is too
125.0 = 1/8 sec terconnect them with the rest of the cir- loose, sparingly apply a drop or two of
250.0 = 1/4 sec cuit. Note that LDR1 mounts in the hole clear plastic cement to the component
500.0 = 1/2 sec at the lower left corner and 02 mounts in edges. Both components mount flush
1000.0 = 1.0 sec the hole in the center of the block. with the top surface of the block. When
1980 EDITION 43
 Fig. 4. Details of the camera
mounting block. The two photosensitive
devices (Q2 and LDR1) are mounted
close to the upper surface of the block.

this is done, use contact cement to fast- dried, cement a red filter over the win- adjust potentiometer R1 for an exact
en a thin sheet of soft matte black vinyl dow from the inside. Then mount the 10,000 -Hz output from timer 106. This
to the top of the block after first punching wood block with screws, followed by T1, completes calibration. Remove the tape
holes in it for 02 and LDR1. S1, and S2. Next, interconnect the from LDR1.
A 9"D x 5"W x 21/2"H (22.9 x 12.7 x switches, transformer, line cord (passed Open the back of the camera you wish
6.4 cm) metal box comfortably accom- through the case via a rubber grommet), to test and place it on the wood block so
modates the circuit board assembly, LDR, and phototransistor. Finally, mount that the lens opening is directly over 02.
power transformer and its line cord, and the circuit board assembly in place with Make sure that the camera body covers
switches. The case must be machined machine hardware and spacers, making LDR1. Then set the camera's lens dia-
to provide a 25/s" x 1/2" (6.7 x 1.3 cm) sure its displays are properly oriented phragm for maximum opening, set the
window for the displays; mounting holes behind the filter. shutter speed, and cock the shutter. De-
for the switches, transformer, and wood press reset switch S1 so that all displays
block; and access holes for the line cord Checkout and Use. Place a piece of read zero. Trip the camera shutter. The
and leads from Q2 and LDR1. Once the black plastic tape over LORI, plug the displays should rapidly count up and
case has been machined, spray two or line cord into a convenient ac outlet, and freeze at a number that is the shutter
three coats of matte black paint over all turn on the tester's power. Now, using speed in thousandths of a second.
exterior surfaces. When the paint has an oscilloscope or a frequency counter, Check each shutter speed at least
three times, resetting the display at the
start of each test. The shutter can be
checked with or without the lens on the
camera. With the lens on the camera it is
more critical that the lens be placed di-
rectly over Q2 as there is a smaller spot
of light. In all tests keep the light about 6
inches above the platform.
Do not be disappointed if your shutter
speed is not close to its camera setting.
Up to 1/500 of a second, the allowable
error may be as great as ±25%; at high-
er settings, the allowable error might in-
crease to ±35%. These figures would
depend on the tolerance of the film
used, of course.
With the aid of the camera shutter tim-
er described here, you can eliminate
some of the uncertainties you have
about the accuracy of your camera's
mechanism. Additionally, it can tell you
why your latest batch of photos did not
Underside of timer reveals pc board and transformer mounting. turn out as they should have. O
44
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
TN HERE are many things in nature
that, in natural light, look pretty
dull. When illuminated by ultraviolet
light, however, they take on the ap-
pearance of colorful gems. The min-
erals in rocks, sand, even dirt and
some insects fluoresce with beautiful
colors under UV light. You can see it
all with the aid of the portable black -
light lantern described here.
The ultraviolet fluorescent lamp can
also be replaced by a 6 -watt daylight
fluorescent lamp to provide normal
light if desired. If you have a source of
117 -volt ac, a simple connector
change permits the lantern to be used
as a light source, while the batteries
are being recharged. The lantern uses BUILD A
a 6 -volt rechargeable wet -cell; and,
since the drain is only about 1.75 am-
peres, quite a few hours of operation
BLACKLIGHT
can be obtained from a single charge.
LANTERN
Circuit Operation. As shown in Fig.
Battery -powered, long-wave ultraviolet lamp
1, transistors Q1 and Q2 are arranged
as a power oscillator. Resistor R1 de- reveals color patterns of many substances.
termines the turn -on voltage and R2
determines the frequency of oscilla- Doubles as camp lantern.
tion. With the components specified,
the frequency is in the low audio BY W.E. McCORMICK
range, but high enough to minimize
lamp flicker. Resistors R1 and R2 ac-
tually form a voltage divider to bias the With Si Vn the BATTERY position, the and such starters may be unreliable at
transistors into conduction before os- ac voltage lights indicator lamp 12 low temperatures.
cillation starts. and is applied to /1 through a ballast. With SI in the Ac position, the oscil-
The alternating currents in the two Closing switch S2 completes the lamp lator is disabled and conventional
halves of the collector winding induce filament circuit to heat up the filament. 117 -volt ac can be applied to J1
a voltage in the secondary of Ti. When S2 is released, the ballast gen- through P2.
Capacitor Cl reduces voltage spikes erates an inductive kick to strike an
that might damage the transistors. arc in the lamp. This method of lamp Construction. The transformer used
With no load, the voltage is 135 V, starting is used for two reasons: for Tl must be modified for this appli-
which drops to about 110 V (a square glow -type starters do not work well cation. Begin by removing the metal
wave) with a 6 -watt load. with the square wave involved here, mounting -binding strap from around

ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT AND FLUORESCENCE

There are hundreds of relatively moved. This can make it possible to which fluoresce blue under longwave
common substances that are usually differentiate between many materials ultraviolet.
quite drab under conventional visible that have the same fluorescence. This method not only locates oil. It
light, but are quite brilliantly colored Shortwave ultraviolet lamps can produces an outline of the under-
when illuminated by ultraviolet light. produce sunburn and are dangerous to ground pool on the grid. With a little
For example, when illuminated with ul- the eyes. When using an instrument of knowledge of the local shale strata and
traviolet at 3560 Angstroms (as pro- this type, goggles should be worn at all oil sand, the pool's depth can be de-
vided by this project), a common, times. (Window glass or clear acrylic termined; and the amount of oil to be
dirty -white mothball becomes a vibrant plastic, which are opaque to the expected can be determined from the
purple. wavelength, will suffice.) Longwave size of the area that fluoresces. The
Roughly half of the substances that lamps provide no sunburn hazard and quality of the oil is indicated by color
fluoresce strongly enough to be seen are optically safe. saturation-high sulfur content shifts
by the unaided eye, react to longwave Geologists are now using ultraviolet the color toward yellow and paraffin
(3560 A) ultraviolet. The remainder light in oil prospecting. They lay out a content shifts it toward pale blue.
react to shortwave (2535 A) ultraviolet, grid covering the area under investiga- Other minerals, in suspension, can
while some react to both wavelengths. tion and take core samples at various also be detected. By color matching, it
Some exhibit a color shift when the points from a depth of about six inches. is possible to tell if the pool is a new
wavelength is changed, and others un- The oil does not have to be near the strike or leakage from an adjacent
dergo a complete color reversal. surface since the hydrocarbons field.
Many substances have a pro- brought up by leaching, capillary ac- Longwave ultraviolet is widely used
nounced phosphorescence and con- tion, and evaporation promote the in criminology to detect forged paint-
tinue to glow either the same color or a growth of micro-organisms (bacillus ings, altered documents, and the au-
different one, after the excitation is re - methanicus and bacillus ethanicus) thenticity of antique glass and china.
45
1980 EDITION
 T the core. Then use a thin -bladed knife
to loosen the individual laminations
ORIGINAL and remove them. Be careful not to cut
/PRIMARY WINDING
any wires.
I2 Peel the insulating tape from the
NE -51 coil and set it aside for later use. Care-
21
fully strip off the secondary (green
CI R3
.SyF 220K S2 leads with yellow center tap) and save
O the wire. Leave the existing primary
Ac 00 (black leads) and cover it with a single
BAL 1
0--r-HOFF 6E596456 layer of the insulating tape.
BATTI
In winding new turns, be sure all
I

winding is made in the same direction.

You can wind either way around the
i
core; but once started, everything
must be in that direction.
Put the winding (#22 wire) for the
collector circuit on first. Color code
the start of the winding using a 4"
length of spaghetti. Anchor the wind-
ing under one of the bobbin flanges by
using a small piece of tape. Start wind -

COLOR AND LOCATION OF MINERALS

Fig. 1. Two -transistor
power oscillator generates Minerals Color under Color under Where commonly
approximately 110 volts visible light longwave UV found
for ultraviolet lamp.
Adamite Pale green Green Southwestern U.S.
(basic arsenate and Mexico
PARTS LIST of zinc)

BALI-Ballast inductor (GE 596456 or Amber Usually yellow, Blue -white Widely distributed
similar, available through electrical (a hydrocarbon) sometimes brown U.S.
supply houses) or white
CI -0.5-µF, 400 -volt capacitor
11-Fluorescent lamp (6 watts); either Argonite Indiscernable in
ultraviolet (GE F6T4/BLB or similar, Green New Mexico
available from Edmund Scientific, 300 (calcium carbonate) mineral mass Orange Sicily
Edscorp Bldg., Barrington, NJ 08007, Brilliant red Australia
Cat. No. 60.124, $4.75.) or standard
daylight (GE F6T5/CW, available Barite Gray White, cream Widely distributed
through electrical supply houses) (barium sulphate) or yellow U.S.
12-NE-51 neon lamp Bright golden N. Carolina only
J1 -4 -pin male plug (H.R. Smith 86CP4 Orange
with 12-001-003 adapter plate)
P1,P2-4-pin female connector (Am - Calcite
phenol Series 86-PF4) White coating in Blue Widely distributed
Ql,Q2-2N256 power transistor (calcium rock seams U.S.
R1 -75 -ohm, 10 -watt. 10% resistor carbonate) Pale yellow N. Jersey, Texas
R2 -750 -ohm, 1/2 -watt resistor Bright Orange California
S1-4pdt, 3 -locking position anti - in association
capacitance switch (Radio Shack with red
275-600 or similar)
S2-Spst normally open pushbutton Celestite Colorless crystals White, blue-
switch Ohio. Midwestern
TI -117 -volt primary; 12.6 -volt, 1.2-A wh te i U.S.
secondary filament transformer (Radio Blue crystals White with Ohio only
Shack 273-1505, modified as per text. green after-
Do not substitute.) glow
Misc.-Plastic case (Bud AC403); metal
plate (Bud BRA1590). fluorescent Cerussite Yellowish gray Yellow
lamp holder (one pair, miniature flush Lead mining
(lead carbonate) Dull gray regions
mount, GE 78-X715 or similar); power
transistor mounting kit (two, HEP450
or similar); six-foot line cord with Corundum Red Deep red N. Carolina,
plug; three-foot battery cable (#18 (aluminum oxide) N. Jersey
stranded); 6-V, 6-A battery (Olson
BA -200, $3.49, or PolyPaks, P.O. 942, Deweylite Mottled dull White Maryland,
S. Lynnfield, MA 61940, Cat. No. (magnesium green usually in Pennsylvania
92CU1516, $4.95): grommets; decals; silicate) serpentine
mounting hardware; etc. formation
Diamond Clear or faintly Most commonly Africa, Arkansas,
tinted (any color) blue, but can U.S.
be almost
any color
46 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
ing adjacent turns across the bobbin, difficult to fit them back on the bobbin.
keeping the turns snugly against each With laminations reassembled, re-
other. At 36 turns, make a 4" -long place the mounting strap, being care-
twisted loop and use a piece of col- ful not to pinch the lead ends.
ored spaghetti to insulate and identify In the prototype, a 5" by 91/2" by 21/2"
it. Bring this out to one side. Wind (12.7 x 24.1 x 6.4 cm) plastic box with a
another 36 turns, fasten it down with metal cover was used. The two transis-
tape, and bring out a 4" end identified tors are mounted on the outside of the
with colored spaghetti. Place a single cover using a kit (socket, mica in-
layer of tape over the completed wind- sulator, and insulating hardware) so
ing. that the cover provides a heat sink. Be
For the base circuit winding, use the sure the collectors are not making
#24 wire saved from the original sec- electrical contact with the cover.
ondary. Use a 4" length of colored Switch Si and 12 are mounted on the
spaghetti to identify the start. Wind same cover.
seven turns, make a center tap as be- The transformer is mounted in the
fore, and add seven more turns. After enclosure, while S2 and J1 are on one
all winding is complete, place a layer of the sides. Drill a small hole for the
of tape over the assembly. four leads to the fluorescent lamp. The
Before trying to reassemble the core lamp reflector can be made of sheet Batteries can be carried
(laminations), scrape any excess var- aluminum with wooden end pieces. in cassette or binocular
nish off them. Otherwise, it may be The lamp holders are attached to the case with shoulder strap.

Diopside Masked by White, blue - N.Y., N. Jersey

(silicate of calcium pyroxene mass white
and magnesium)

Fluorite Purple, green

(calcium fluoride) or yellow.
Occasionally, Blue, dark red Widely distributed
blue U.S.

Opal Variegated Green Western U.S.

(hydrous silica)

Scapolite White, greenish Brilliant Quebec, Canada

(complex silicate yellow yellow, red
of calcium, sodium
and aluminum)

Sodalite Usually Golden brown N. Hampshire,

(a silicate of nondescript N. Jersey
sodium containing
aluminum and
chlorine)
Internal layout of prototype.
Sphalerite Often Golden orange, N. Jersey,
(zinc sulphide) indiscernible blue Colorado, end pieces. The reflector can then be
in mass Arizona
attached to one long side of the case.
Tremolite Colorless Pink, red, New York A pistol -grip handle can be attached to
(calcium crystals or fire -red. the case if desired.
magnesium a dull talc orange, The 6 -volt battery can be carried in a
silicate) gray-green Ontario, shoulder holder (cassette case,
or cream Canada only
binocular case, etc.) with a two -lead
Willemite Usually Yellow -green Arizona, N. Jersey cable to plug Pi. A conventional
(zinc silicate) indistinguishable, Blue -white 117 -volt ramp cord can be connected
sometimes apple - to P2.
green, dark brown
or red
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jersey, Fluorescent Light and Its Applications, by H.C. Dake
Wollastonite Gray or white Weak orange N.
and J. DeMent, Chemical Publishing Co.,
(calcium or yellow Arizona Inc., 1941.
(Blue -white Fluorochemistry, by J. DeMent, Chemical Publish-
metasilicate) ing Co., Inc., 1945.
if associated Ultraviolet Guide to Minerals, S. Gleason, Van Nos -
trend, 1960.
with barite or Fluorescence Analysis in Ultraviolet Light, by J.A.
green with Radley and J. Grant. Chapman and Hall.
Ltd., 1959.
Willemite) Blacklight Fixture Facts, Edmund Scientific Co.. 300
Edscorp Bldg., Barrington, NJ 08007.
Dirty yellow California, Earth Science Magazine, Chicago, III.
Zircon Clear, blue Rocks and Minerals Magazine, Peekskill, N.Y.
(zirconium silicate) Red Dirty red N. Carolina

1980 EDITION 47
 %'

MODEL RAILROAD
SOUND BY HAROLD WRIGHT

SYNTHESIZE R
ADD CONTROLLABLE "CHUFF -CHUFF",

STEAM, WHISTLE, AND BELL SOUNDS TO

YOUR MODEL RAILROAD LAYOUT AT LOW COST

The train comes roaring down the grade,

steam "chuff` chuffing" furiously.
As it nears a grade crossing, the wail
of the steam whistle is heard and the
crossing bars drop. The train lumbers
through the crossing and starts
mk9§,erdet
v laboring on an upgrade as it approaches
the station, its bell clanging. There
is a full head of steam on, and as
the train comes to a halt, a safety
valve lets go with a thunderous
blast of steam

Oat ON

m A m

roee. aava+n
ylUuo ris 6rmrosaHì':,..
POWril

L'.
'. Ate
P'
48 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 All of the sound effects described on
STEAM
BURST the preceding page can be obtained in
CUTOFF
your model train layout if you build this
sound synthesizer. Using relatively sim-
NOISE
ple circuits and readily available compo-
AMP. 1.16-1 SHAPER
GEN. nents, the system can be assembled
easily in a few hours. The loudness of
the sounds obtained is determined by
the audio amplifier that you use in con-
TRANS.
TIMER
SWITCH 111. SPKR
junction with the synthesizer.
ON/OFF Since most modern railroad layouts
I
are already equipped with electrically
RATE CHUFF -CHUFF operated switches, signal lights, and
speed controls, the addition of the sound
synthesizer will have the effect of turning
your system from a silent movie into one
OSC. with sound. The synthesized sounds are
MIX
quite realistic and are of a wide variety.
They can range from those of a distant,
rapidly approaching train, with the vol-
STEAM
MIX ume increasing as the train approaches
and slows down for the station, to the
noise of wheels slipping on an engine
trying to start with too large a load.
A block diagram of the complete syn-
WHISTLE
WHISTLE thesizer is shown in Fig. 1. It consists of
THRESHCLC. four more -or -less independent circuits: a
"chuff -chuff" generator for the steam
sound, a whistle generator, a bell circuit,
and a three -channel signal mixer.

Chuff -Chuff. As shown in Fig. 2, tran-

sistor Q1 is operated in the avalanche
mode and generates a steady white
Fig. 1. Block diagram noise (hiss) signal across R2. This sig-
shows how 3 sound effects nal is applied to amplifier Q3, which is
are combined in mixer.
BELL adjusted to a point just below cutoff by
R10.
Timer IC1 produces pulses at a rate

+15V
01
2N2712
R9
10K
C7
PARTS LIST
R6
150K
03
OIyF CHUFF -CHUFF
2N27 2 OUTPUT
NC
CI -100-µF, 25-V electrolytic capacitor
C6
C2 -10-µF, 25-V electrolytic capacitor
3 \ .005AF C3 -0.1-µF capacitor
RIO
50K
C4,C5-22-µF, 25-V electrolytic capacitor
R2 R7 CUTOFF C6 -0.005-µF capacitor
IM IOK
-I- C5 C7- 0.01-µF capacitor
229F
ICI -555 timer
Ql,Q3-2N2712 transistor
CI \IOOyF Q2 -2N2219 transistor
The following resistors are 1/2-W carbon
SI R8 composition unless otherwise noted:
CHUFF 2K
2
RI ,R5-1000 ohms
R2-1 megohm
4 e 5
R3 -70,000 -ohm panel -mount potentiometer
RS
IK 22pF
C4
R4-150 ohms
R4 ICI
R6-150,000 ohms
15011 555 R7,R9-10,000 ohms
02 52 R8-2200 ohms
STEAM
R3 2
2N221SA R10 -50,000-ohm board -mount potentiome-
7C K ter
I
SPEED C2 IOyF Sl-Spst switch
S2-Spst NO pushbutton switch
Fig. 2. Steam sound comes from white -noise generator Ql.
1980 EDITION 49
 determined by C2 and the setting of R3. cillator. The circuit for 02 is almost iden- so that the transistor is cut off. When S1
Thus, R3 is the chuff -chuff speed control tical except for tuning control R11. The is closed, R24 is grounded, shunting it
and, with the values shown, can be set second oscillator can be tuned from a across R25. This causes C19 to reach a
to provide sounds from those of a slow zero -beat with the first oscillator to a fre- lower charge level since it is now being
starting engine to very fast bursts of quency that simulates the two-tone ef- discharged by R24. Thus the start of
steam. Make sure that R4 is not less fect similar to that heard from a diesel each whistle is made less abrupt to sim-
than 150 ohms or the speed setting will engine. Points between can be selected ulate a real steam whistle. When S1 is
be unstable. for a variety of sounds, including a released, the recharging of C18 re-
The pulses from IC1 are applied to steam whistle. moves the terminal thump.
Q2, which functions as an electronic Because the outputs of the two oscil-
switch. When Q2 conducts, R8 is shunt- lators are fed to potentiometer R12, a Bell. In the circuit in Fig. 4, transistor
ed across the lower portion of R10, thus further range of possible tones exists. 01 operates as a twin -T oscillator with
bringing Q3 above cutoff. Transistor Q3 The power supply to the oscillators is potentiometer R7 set so that the circuit
then amplifies for one chuff. Capacitor decoupled by R13 and C12. is just below the point of oscillation. If
C6 rolls off some of the high frequencies Transistor Q3 is connected as an ava- this control is set too low, the bell sound
to produce a softer steam sound. lanche -mode white -noise source, whose will be dull and have too short a decay
Capacitors C4 and C5 shape the start- output (across R14) is amplified by 04. time. Transistor Q2 is an emitter follower
ing and stopping of the individual chuffs. The output of Q4 is fed to potentiometer isolator between the bell oscillator and
The + 15 -volt supply is decoupled by R19 along with the output of the two the mixer stage. Timer ICI generates
R1/C1 to keep any pulses from getting tone oscillators. The final mix of tone pulses to produce repetitive ringing with
into the remainder of the circuit. and steam is fed to amplifier Q5. the rate (about one per second) deter-
When whistle pushbutton S1 is open, mined by R15 and C9. The value of R15
Whistle. In this circuit, shown in Fig. 3, resistors R22 and R25 keep the emitter can be reduced to increase the ringing
transistor Q1 is a fixed tuned twin -T os - of Q5 at a higher potential than the base, rate of the bell.

Rt3 +18V
C12 IK
i47pF R16 R20 R21 R22
OK 150K IOK 47K

01
2N2712
C15 /.0335F C17 /. 0395F
. C2

8200
pF
OUTPUT

C16
05
R3 ..:: R4 STEAM .IpF
100K CI.... MIX
MMM IOOK C131

ll
.05pF
RI9
3M
C3 .047pF .0475F

814 R17 R23

IM I0K 10K
R5 CI4 RIB
10K R25
2200 2.2K
229F

C4 1%.00' C5/
pF
.7 pF
OSC. MIX

R12 CII I(.047uF

5M
R6
39K C6
R7 .0475F
824
IM
2.2K

SI + CI8 + C19

02
C7
WHISTLE
* T2pF /pF
"*".", 8200pF
01 -05.2N2712
R8
IOOK
R9
IOOK
PARTS LIST WHISTLE
CI0
C ,C3,C6,C
1 11-0.047-µF capacitor R 1 ,R6-39,000 ohms
.005pF C2,C7-8200-pF capacitor R2,R7,R 14-1 megohm
C4 ,C5-0.0047-µF capacitor R3,R4,R8,R9-100,000 ohms
RII
C8,C9, C 10-0.005-µF capacitor R5,R 16,R 17,R2I ,R23-10,000 ohms
SK C 1 2-47-µF, 25-V electrolytic capacitor R I 0-3900 ohms
C 13-0.05-µF capacitor R 11 -5000 -ohm panel -mount potentiometer
RIO C14,C18,Cl9-22-µF, 25-V electrolytic ca- R12-5-megohm panel -mount potentiometer
3.9K
pacitor R13-1000 ohms
C9 C8
C15-0.033-µF capacitor R l 5,R20-150,000 ohms
.0051 pF .005 pF C 16--0.1-µF capacitor R 18-220 ohms
C 17- 0.039-µF capacitor R I9-3-megohm board -mount potentiometer
Fig. 3. Oscillator QI and Q2 Q I through Q5-2N2712 transistor R22-47,000 ohms
take white noise from Q3 to The following resistors are 1-W carbon com- R24,R25-2200 ohms
create steam plus whistle. position unless otherwise noted: S I-Spst NO pushbutton switch
 R9
02 1K +
R4 2N2712 C7

R3
IM
39K

C6
T 10opF

R14
150f1
The output of IC1 (pin 3) is applied to
the voltage divider made up of R13 and
.04799 R12 to reduce the signal level. The
CI
059F OUTPUT pulses are then rectified by Di and dif-
QI
292712
R8
ferentiated by C8 and R10 to produce
I( C5 5K
sharp spikes that trigger the twin -T oscil-
.1pF
RI R2 lator, Ql.
IM 82K

82K
R5 R6
82K Mixer. The outputs of the three sound -
8 effect circuits are combined in the circuit
CZ ICI shown in Fig. 5. Each input is coupled to
.019 F 555
its own level potentiometer (R1, R2, or
R3) and they are combined at the gate
R7 of FET 01. The output of 01 is coupled
loon.
to the external audio amplifier through
c3 ca
emitter follower 02 and capacitor C6.
.015 pF .015 pF Ce
.047pF
Construction. The easiest approach
1 to construction of the synthesizer is to
RIO
33K BELL build each circuit on its own small board.
You can use perforated board and point-
PARTS LIST to-point wiring or make a small pc board.
BELL The arrangement is not critical. Each
board can be built and tested using a 15 -
C1- O.05 -µF capacitor volt supply and an earphone (or a small
C2 -0.01-µF capacitor amplifier/speaker combination). Be sure
C3,C4--0.015-µF capacitor R 1,R3,Rl 1-1 megohm
that transients generated by the timer
C5 -0.1-µF capacitor R2,R5,R6-82,000 ohms
C6,C8-0.047-µF capacitor R4-39,000 ohms IC's are not coupled into any of the cir-
C7-100-µF, 25-V electrolytic capacitor R7 -100 -ohm panel-mount potentiometer cuits. If necessary, more +15 -volt line
C9 -22-µF, 25-V electrolytic capacitor R8-5000 ohms decoupling is recommended. Sockets
DI-Silicon diode rectifier R9,R12-1000 ohms can be used for the transistors and IC's.
ICI -555 timer RIO -33,000 ohms
R 13,R 15-10,000 ohms In the prototype, short lengths of
Q I ,Q2 -2N2712 transistor
The following resistors are 1-W carbon com- R14-150 ohms shielded audio cable were used to cou-
position unless otherwise noted: Sl-Spst switch ple the output of the three sound -effect
Fig. 4. Bell circuit uses twin -T oscillator QI and switch. circuits to the mixer inputs. Another
length of shielded audio cable connect-
ed the mixer output to the audio system
being used.
JI CI I .479F RIO The boards can be installed in any
+15V
INPUT
IK type of chassis, with all controls on the
R4
RI
100K R7 front panel, clearly identified.
25K IOK
02
Use. Connect the mixer output to a
01 +IC6 good -quality audio amplifier and speak-
.47pF F0010
INPUT2
J
C21
er combination. In the bell circuit, set the
2 IOOpF
RS threshold potentiometer (R7) for the
I00K .14
R2
25K
OUTPUT best sound when bell switch Si is oper-
C5
259F ated. There should be no clicks or pops.
Do not try to control circuits by turning
C31 .47pF the power on and off.

Ì
J3
INPUT
3
R6 The chuff -chuff has three front -panel
IOOK R8
+ C4 RB
R3
25K 4.7K _ IK controls with R3 being the rate control,
1009F
S2 providing steam bursts, and S1 for
on -off. It is best to group these three
controls together so that they can be op-
erated with the fingers of one hand. The
PARTS LIST The following resistors are 1/2-W carbon com-
position unless otherwise noted: whistle circuit has one switch (S1); the
MIXER RI ,R2,R3-25,000-ohm board -mount poten- three internal potentiometers in this cir-
tiometer cuit should be preset.
CI ,C2,C3-O.47-µF capacitor R4,R5,R6-100,000 ohms If your train system is already
C4,C6-100-µF, 25-V electrolytic capacitor R7-10,000 ohms
R8-4700 ohms equipped with electronic speed controls,
C5-25-µF, 25-V electrolytic capacitor
.11 through J4-Phono connectors R9,R10-1000 ohms you might consider ganging the chuff -
Q I-HEPF0010 FET Misc.-Board, wire, solder, etc. for all four rate potentiometer with the train speed
Q2 -2N2712 transistor circuits. control potentiometer for smoother oper-
Fig. 5. Sound effects are combined in Q1 and drive amplifier through Q2. ation of the complete system.
51
 MOST EXPERIMENTERS think
that using an ohmmeter is the

Automati
best way to test a semiconductor
diode. However, some ohmmeters
supply too much current to the device,
causing an "open" where one does
not really exist. Other meters indicate
values of forward and reverse resis-
tance, which hopefully give an indica-
tion of the diode's condition.

Diode In the Automatic Diode Checker de-

scribed here, the diode is tested in the
forward -bias condition for excessive
voltage drop and then in the reverse
condition for excessive leakage cur-
rent. Each test is made during one half
of the power -line frequency, and the

Checker results are displayed simultaneously

on two LED's labeled OPEN and LEAKY.
The LED marked OPEN is illuminated
when there is excessive voltage drop.
The other is lit when there is excessive
reverse leakage. If the diode fails both
tests, both LED's are on. With no diode
in the clips, the OPEN indicator is on.
Makes a complete check When a good diode is inserted in the
in 1160th of a second. test clips (correctly oriented), both
LED's should be off. There will be no
damage to either the diode being
tested or the diode tester if the diode is
BY R. M. STITT inserted the wrong way; but both
LED's will glow.
The peak reverse voltage is less than
18 volts and the peak forward current
is less than 4 mA. With the values
shown in Fig. 1, OPEN indicates a for-
ward voltage drop in excess of 1.3
volts at 3 mA; and LEAKY indicates a
reverse leakage current of about 0.05
mA at 16 volts.

How It Works. On one half cycle of

the ac supply, the
OPEN circuit is active
(D1, D2, D3, R2, R3, Q1 and LED1). In
this half cycle the upper ac line is posi-
tive. (D4 and D5 are reverse -biased to
isolate the other part of the circuit.)
Current, limited by R2, flows through
D1 and the diode being tested. The
voltage across the test diode is
applied through D3 to the base of Q1.
If this voltage exceeds 1.3 V, Q1 turns
on and sinks current through LED1,
indicating high forward drop.
When the ac supply reverses, the
lower part of Fig. is active, with D1
1

and D2 reverse -biased to shut out the

OPEN part of the circuit. Any reverse
leakage current through the test diode
flows through R1, creating a potential
across it. This voltage is applied to the
base of Q2 through R7 and D5. When
this voltage exceeds about 2 volts, Q2
is energized, turning on Q3 and LED2.
Since the circuit uses a conven-
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 All that's new and unique in quality electronic kits you can build
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Heath Company
MIR IMIZ -
' Heathkit
Dept. 110-590
PIUS...the latest line of electronic products Benton Harbor, MI 49022
in easy -to -build money -saving kit fora: auto-
motive marine home products avionics Please send me my FREE Heathkit Catalog.
clocks security color TV weather tools Yes Iam not currently receiving your catalog.
test instruments books amateur radio
stereo HiFi computer systems self-instruc- Name 1
tion programs.
1
Address
Mail coupon or card NOW 1
Heathkit products are displayed, sold and serviced at City State
Heathkit Electronic Centers coast to coast (Units of Schlum-
burger Products Corporation). See the white sages of your 1
phone book. If coupon is missing, write Heath Company,
Dept. 110-590, Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022

1980 EDITION
CL 712

-- ------ti----l---MI
MINIM
CIRCLE NO. 5ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
ZIP

55
 tional 12 -volt transformer, no dc sup-
RI R2
47K 4.7K 33011
R3 ply is required and all switching is per-
formed automatically at 60 Hz.
DI 02
IN914 1N914
Construction. Although circuit lay-
LEDI
OPEN out is not critical and any type of con-
01
struction can be used, a unique ap-
2N3904 proach was used in the author's pro-
Fig. 1. The "open" D3
IN914
circuit operates totype as shown in the photographs.
when upper ac line N The pc board foil pattern shown in Fig.
is positive. "Leaky" DIODE DIODE
2 can be used to make a board which
circuit operates UNDER
TEST
TEST
CLIPS
has the components mounted on one
when this line is 12.6V side with the other side serving as the
negative. Both
circuits test diode
00000)
TI
cover for the plastic case. The compo-
D4 nent holes are drilled only half -way
at line frequency. IN914
into the board. The only holes drilled
all the way through the board are
R7 R4 R5 those for mounting the LED's and the
PARTS LIST 4,7K 2.7K 33011
I17VAC
02
diode test clips. The other compo-
LED 2
D to DS-Silicon diode (IN914 or similar)
I
2N3904
LEAKY nents are mounted by bending and
LEDI,LED2-Red light emitting diode* cutting their leads so that they just fit
Q I,Q2,Q3-Transistor (2N3904 or similar) 03
R I -47,000 -ohm, resistor
1/4-W, 5% M on their pads. Solder must be applied
R2,R7-4700-ohm, 14-W, 5% resistor D5
IN914 quickly and properly to insure a good
R3,R5-330-ohm, '/4-W, 5% resistor* mechanical hold.
R4 -2700 -ohm, 1/4-W, 5% resistor
R6-I0,000-ohm, 1/4-W, 5% resistor Transformer Ti can be attached to
T1 -12.6-V, 100 -mA transformer the bottom of the plastic case, with
*R3 and RS can be varied to change the
brightness of the LED's. plastic foam insulation between the
Misc.-Diode test clips, plastic case transformer and the components on
(Harry Davis #220 or similar), line cord, the board. Use a grommet on the hole
grommet, mounting hardware, etc.
for the line cord in the side of the case.

-R 3-
-D2-
-LEDIK 01

-D3-
DIODE
12 VAC TEST
CLIPS
R7-
- Photo shows how curt,po,,o ids are
-R5- -LED2-
K
Fig. 2. Pc board mounted on pc board lritll the
-114- can be used as transformer in the bottom of
02003 case cover with
D5414- the case with foam insulation.
component mounting
as shown at left.

Identify the LED's on the front of the

pc board, and draw a diode symbol
between the two test clips with the
anode side going to the junction of D1
and R1.

Checkout. Check the pc board for

correct installation of components,
and then apply power to the tester.
The OPEN indicator should come on.
Connect a diode that you know is
good between the test clips. Note that
both LED's are off. Remove the diode
and connect a 100,000 -ohm resistor
between the test clips. Note that both
LED's are on. Remove the resistor and
connect two or three good diodes in
series across the test clips. Only the
OPEN LED should turn on.
56
O
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 BUILD THE

"DELTA-GRAPH"
$175 stereo kit features modular OCTAVE -BAND
design, artificial inductors,
and 10 -octave control. EQUALIZER
BY BRYAN T. MORRISON

THE Delta -Graph ten -octave -band equalizer described About the Circuit. Many active equalizers offer a limited
here can solve a number of sound problems for home and number of control "bands" (usually five), which means that
professional audio systems. In the home, it can be used to each control must cover two or more octaves. Although this is
compensate for poor listening -room acoustics and the differ- better than no control at all, this approach does not permit sep-
ences in the responses of phono cartridges, amplifiers, and arate adjustments of all octaves in the audio range. A better
speaker systems. For serious tape recordists or for profession- approach is to divide the audio band into ten octaves, as is
al applications, it can be used to emphasize or de-emphasize done in the Delta -Graph. Now, each octave can be individually
one or more instruments during a mix -down session and to adjusted with high precision.
modify the input signals to create special sound effects. The control circuits usually found in active equalizers em-
Among the equalizer's features are low cost, modular de- ploy expensive and bulky physical inductors to achieve dis-
sign, the use of op amp gain stages and artificial inductors, crete -band control. The Delta -Graph, however, uses special
flexible interfacing with a variety of audio devices. and very -low "gyrator" circuits that electronically simulate inductors to keep
noise figures. (See Specifications box.) Universal input/output down cost and size and to obtain precise, predictable band
circuitry with high-level drive capability providesbalanced low - control. By using gyrators in all but the highest -octave band,
impedance inputs as well as standard single -ended outputs for the equalizer is highly immune to electromagnetic fields, has
maximum flexibility. The equalizer's ten slide potentiometers, accurately predictable saturation levels, and can simulate a
one for each musical octave, are arranged in a horizontal line wide range of inductances without changes in size or apprecia-
to provide a graphic display of the adjustments made to the ble price variations.
sound system. The controls provide a boost/cut range of 15 The schematic diagram of the basic monophonic equalizer
dB in each direction for a total of 30 dB of control in each oc- module is shown in Fig. 1. Note that the first nine bands use
tave. The equalizer can be built for a monophonic, a stereo- the gyrator circuits, while the tenth uses a miniature inductor.
phonic, or a four -channel system with costs starting at $80 (Hum pickup and saturation are not important factors in the
(less power supply) for a one -channel kit. highest frequency band.)
57
1980 EDITION
 Fig. 1. Schematic of one modular equalizer R32
3311 +18v
channel. Two such circuits are required TO PIN It OF ALL ICS
+
for stereo; four for quadraphonic systems. DI 13C721;
C25
TO
IN4752A POWER
SUPPLY

TO PIN 7 OF ALL ICS

C21 ICI -IC 3=4136 t. 831
3311
-18V
pF
JI

INPUT
C22 T29 OUTPUT
225F 30011

J2
INPUT C23.
56pF WOW
R?6 TOUT PUT
R28 R30
126 30042
R43
470K
i 424
0

`F pF
R2,
6.2 K

(A)i (B) IC);

R33' R34 (D): (E); (F)
R35' R36; (G) (H): (J):
soK 50K 50K: 50K:
R37.
50K: 539 R40' 842:
50K 0K 50K:
IC

+ C3 C C4 C6 C7 50K.
2.2pF CIO
.47yF .27pF C12pF «.L.068pF .00825F 0039
R'. yF
R6
IK

.0332F .0039pF

Rio
IK

RIO
OO K

EQUALIZER MODULE
PARTS LIST
(per channel)
The following are 50 -volt, 20% tantalum capa- DI -33 -volt, -watt zener diode (I N4752A or
1 $1.50); knobs for slide pots; 1/16" thick alu-
citors: equivalent) minum stock for rear panel, pot brace, and
CI -2.2µF ICI,IC2,IC3-4136PC quad operational power supply bracket; plastic standoffs (4);
CI -1 µf amplifier IC shielded audio cable; hookup wire; machine
C3,C25,C26-0.47 µF 11 through 14-Phono jack (optional) hardware; solder; etc.
The following are 50-volt, 10% Mylar capaci- L1-25-mH toroidal inductor Note: The following items are available from
tors: The following are 1/4- or 1/2 -watt, 10% resistors Delta -Graph Electronics Co., Box 741, Pas-
C4-0.27 µF R through R10-1000 ohms
1
co, WA 99301: Complete mono kit of
C5,C1 I-0. 12 µF RI I,R13,R14,R15,R18,R19-100,000ohms equalizer module parts, including pc board,
C6,Cl2-0.068 µF R 12, R 16, R 17-91,000 ohms tested IC's, finished case, rear panel, but
C7,C13-0.033 µF R20 through R23-34,000 ohms less power supply, No. EQ10M, for
C8,C 140.015 µF R24,R25,R27-6200 ohms $80.00; Stereo version of No. EQ10M, No.
C9,C15-0.0082 µF R26,R28-12,000 ohms EQIOSP, including power supply, for
C l O.0 160.0039 µF R29,R30-300 ohms $175.00; Power supply kit for up to four
C17-0.0022 µF R3 I ,R32-33 ohms equalizer modules, No. PS -4, for $25.00;
C 18-0.001 µF R43-470,000 ohms Walnut veneer cabinet that accommodates
The following are 50 -volt, 20% disc capaci- R33 through R42 -50,000 -ohm W -taper two equalizer modules and power supply,
. tors: slide -type potentiometer with silicone No. EQIOWC, for $30.00; 25-mH toriodal
C19--4.70 pF damping and center detent ($3.00 each) inductor, No. EQLI, for $3.00. Washing-
C20,C21,C23,C24-56 pF Misc.-Suitable enclosure; printed circuit ton residents, please add 5.4% sales tax.
C22 -22-µF, 16 -volt upright aluminum elec- board; eight -contact barrier block (Kulka Postage and handling costs are $3.00 within
trolytic capacitor Electric No. 670A-3100-8 or similar, the U.S., $12.00 outside the U.S.

Additional active stages in the circuit provide the balanced module's inverting (-) input can be grounded and the signal
inputs and outputs that are so often used in professional re- applied to the noninverting (+) input.
cording and PA applications. Resistors R20 through R23 make Capacitors C21, C24, C25, and C26 stabilize operation of
up a precision -balanced input stage for true differential, high the op amps. Capacitors C20, C22, and C23 provide a gentle
common -mode rejection in balanced -line systems. When an frequency -response rolloff in the range beyond the top end of
unbalanced input is desired, as in home audio systems, the the audio spectrum to limit noise and r -f interference. Resistor
58 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 QI
D42CI
R43 ground references the 1C1 B equalizing op amp at its + in-
+IBv
put.
The output of the equalizer is fixed at 600 ohms balanced or +
C2
300 ohms single -ended by R29 and R30, which also provide 100yF

short-circuit protection. Even though the 4136 op amps have GND

built-in overload protection, this is an added safety factor. (The
op amps were also chosen for their high slew rates and superi- +C4
or noise ratings.) The output stage will effortlessly supply BLK
00yF

enough voltage and current to drive a dozen typical power am- +IBV
plifiers into clipping, even if the amplifiers are connected in par- Sol
500W MAX 03
043C1
allel with each other. Furthermore, it will drive the amplifiers
without an increase in THD or IM and without any loss in the SI (OPTIONAL)
bass register.
VAC -60Hz
POWER SUPPLY PARTS LIST
Resistors R26, R27, and R28 and ICI C form an output that
117
C I ,C3 -470-µF. 25 -volt upright electrolytic
is shifted 180° from the + input. In single -ended applications, capacitor
an output can be taken from one point while the other point is C2.C4-I0)-µF, 25 -volt upright electrolytic
capacitor
left open. Both outputs can be used in applications requiring
DI through D4 -1N4001 rectifier diode
"bridge" driven amplifiers. F1 -1 -ampere fuse
Zener diode D1 protects the op amps from overvoltages and QI-D42CI npn silicon transistor (General
power supply transients and permits operation from high -volt- Electric)
Q2 -2N5369 npn silicon transistor
age supplies, with the addition of external current -limiting re-
Q3-D43C1 pnp silicon transistor (General
sistors. Internal current -limiting resistors R31 and R32 are opti- Electric)
mized for operation with the power supply shown in Fig. 2, Q4 -2N5373 pnp silicon transistor
while providing extra power supply noise and ripple isolation. R I ,R4 -750 -ohm, 1/2 -watt resistor
The Fig. 2 power supply is designed to deliver ±18 volts at R2.R5 18,000-ohm,'/2-watt resistor
up to 200 mA. Since the nominal current demand of each
R3,R6-680-ohm,''/-watt resistor
SI Spst switch (optional)
equalizer module is 50 mA, the supply will accommodate up to SI) I-Chassis-mounting ac receptacle
four modules for quadraphonic system equalization. TI -28 -volt center -tapped, 200-mA trans-
former
Construction. The equalizer modules and power supply are Misc.-Mounting panel; harrier block (Kulka
Electric No. 600Y-3); machine hardware:
best assembled on printed circuit boards, the actual -size etch- hookup wire; solder; etc.
ing and drilling guides and components -placement diagrams
for which are shown in Fig. 3. Use a low -wattage soldering iron Fig. 2. Power supply accommodates
and fine solder. up to four equalizer modules.
Start by assembling the equalizer module. First install the re-
sistors and capacitors, followed by the diode and toroidal coil
CLAIMED SPECIFICATIONS
(clip off unused leads), then the IC's, and, finally, the slide po-
Frequency response: 20 to 20,000 Hz
tentiometers. Be sure to orient all components properly. ±0.5 dB.
The pots should be mechanically tied together to prevent Dynamic range: Output noise greater
them from shifting, as the sliders are operated, with an 83/4" than 105 dB below maximum output
(22.2 -cm) length of %" X / ,6" (9.53 X 1.6 -mm) aluminum. Drill
'
from 20 to 20,000 Hz.
/B" (3.16 -mm) holes 3/4" (19 mm) apart, starting 3 (9.5 mm) SIN ratio: Better than 90 dB referenced
from one end of the strip. to 2 -volt rms rated output from 20 to
Strip both ends of a 11/2" (3.8 -cm) length of hookup wire; sol- 20,000 Hz.
der to one end a No. 6 solder lug; and solder the other end to Band centers: 31.25, 62.5, 125, 250,
the "ground pot support" pad on the pc board. Place the alumi- 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000, 16,000,
num strip over the top sections of the slide pots and align the Hz nominal.
Adjustment range: ±15 dB maximum
holes in the strip with the threaded holes in the pots. Place a
(30 -dB total range).
No. 4 washer over a 4-40 x 1" machine screw, and drive this THD: Less than 0.1% at rated output from
screw down in the hole of the second pot. Secure the strip to 20 to 20,000 Hz.
the other nine pots with 4-40 x 1/4" screws. IM distortion: Less than 0.01% at rated
Cut a piece of 1/ aluminum plate to 8" X43%" (20.3 X 12.1 output 60/7000 Hz mixed 4:1; typically
cm) and drill 3/,e" (4.8 -mm) holes along one of the short less than 0.003%.
ends, locating and spacing them to exactly line up with the in- Rated output: 2.0 volts rms into 10,000
put/output and power pads on the pc board. Mount the barrier ohms.
block so that its solder terminals pass through the holes and do Clipping output: 10.0 volts rms into
10,000 ohms single ended, 20.0 volts
not touch the metal plate. Then drill the holes for the spacers
rms into 10,000 ohms balanced.
that will be used between the board and rear plate. Use 1/2" Input impedance: 68,000 ohms single
(12.4 -mm) spacers and self -tapping 6-32 x 1/4" machine ended; externally set with terminating
screws to fasten the spacers in place. Solder the lugs of the resistor for balanced inputs between
barrier block to the pads on the pc board. 600 and 100,000 ohms.
Assemble the power supply board, carefully following the Output impedance: 300 ohms single
guide for it shown in Fig. 3. Be sure you properly orient the ended, 600 ohms balanced.
electrolytic capacitors, rectifier diodes, and transistors. Fasten Note: All controls at 0 dB.
59
1980 EDITION
 o o o o

Fig. 3. Actual -size etch ing and drilling

guides (above a ad right) and component
placement diagra ins (below) for
equalizer module and power supply.

eddde
e
e o o o
-- -
N

sf
LL
4*-
Ú. R
-s--+
W
a

U nU
Wa~
U
s f
4,-2-.1,
2. 1
U
+
s
a
m ¢ IC a 01 m~ Mk

-2--i
0 C

Z á
G.
.. + ~Ñ +
O 3 6.3411r.
1

e
a a áä -.
60 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
down the small barrier block with No. 6 machine hardware. sound system. Use shielded audio cable when making the sig-
Note that the transformer, fuse and holder, and accessory ac nal -line hookups between the equalizer and your sound sys-
receptacle mount off the board. Again, you will neec a / ,6" ' tem. It can also be connected into the system via the tape
thick aluminum backplate. Cut the plate to 61/2" x 2/" (16.5 x monitor circuits, which will allow the equalizer to be switched in
7 cm) and bend the plate along the short dimension i'/," (3.2 and out of the system with the TAPE MONITOR switch of your re-
cm) in from the edge at a right angle. Machine the short upright ceiver or preamplifier.
section of the bracket for the line cord strain relief, accessory
ac receptacle, and fuse holder. Then drill the mounting holes Final Assembly. Once you are satisfied that your equalizer
for the transformer and power supply board. Mount the recep- is operating properly, disconnect it from your sound system.
tacle, fuse holder, and transformer in their respective loca- Then mount the module(s) and power supply in a suitable en-
tions. Referring to Fig. 2, wire the primary circuit cf T1 as closure. (Do not forget to mount the power switch, if you chose

CHANNEL
iTO

`rYY
V/I oc B /
+I8V_

-18V'
-OUT
MODULE I/O
CONNECTOR

u j
I8V

,C.
,N.C. _ -

GN11)
--
J 1

POWER SUPPLY
CONNECTOR
/ O
SE

SEE TEXT FOR Fig. 4. Wiring scheme for home

CASE GROUNDING
INSTRUCTIONS audio system is shown here with
stereo setup. For mono, eliminate
INPUT OUTPUT INPUT OUTPUT channel B; for 4 -channel add
B B A A
channels C and D in same manner
as shown for channel B to channel A.

shown, connecting the ends of the line cord directly across the to use one, in a convenient location on the front panel of the
receptacle if you are not using a power switch. If you plan to enclosure.)
use S1, modify the circuit as shown and plan to mount the As the circuit is designed, the equalizer's audio and chassis
switch on the front panel of the case in which you house the (case) grounds are separate and brought out to terminals on
equalizer. Snap a plastic strain relief over the line cord and se- the rear panel via the barrier block. If you use a nonconducting
cure it in its hole in the bracket. enclosure (such as a wood cabinet, plastic box, etc.), simply tie
Set the power supply board near the secondary side of the each module's case ground to its input ground. When you
transformer and connect and solder the latter's leads to the ap- mount the modules in a metal enclosure and the module cases
propriate pads on the board. Then use 1" spacers lo mount are physically grounded to the enclosure, it is wise to leave the
the board to the bracket. case ground terminals floating so that the audio ground path is
With the equalizer module(s) and power supply subsection connected to the enclosure at only one point in the entire sys-
fully wired, you can set them side by side and temporarily inter- tem. This will prevent ground loops.
connect them, following the diagram shown in Fig. 4 to check
In Conclusion. As you use the equalizer in your sound sys-
out their operation. (Note that the diagram illustrates the wiring
scheme for a home stereo system. If you plan to build only a tem, you will discover that there is a certain amount of interac-
monophonic version, simply disregard everything to the left of tion among the controls. This is a normal condition. You will
the Channel A barrier block. Alternatively, if you are planning also find that, to obtain the best possible equalized sound from
to build a quadraphonic equalizer, Channels C and D are add- your system, you will have to do considerable experimenting
ed exactly in the same manner as Channel B is shown con- with the settings of the various slide controls. However, once
nected to Channel A.) you get your system properly equalized, you need never again
During tests (and in actual operation), the equalizer can be touch the controls-unless you change speakers, amplifier, or
installed between the preamplifier and power amplifier in your cartridge, or you move your system to a different area.
61
1980 EDITION
 Measure RPM of Rotating Elements with

THE IC
PHOTO TACHOMETER
Battery-operated device gives accurate readings
up to 50,000 rpm without physical contact.

BY ADOLPH A. MANGIERI

F you service the numerous motor- cluding miniature high-speed, low -pow- chometer features high accuracy and
driven' appliances and tools found in er motors. You can also use the Photo- stability. See schematics in Fig. 1.
the home, shop, or factory, consider Tach as an analog frequency meter,
building this photo tachometer. By re- useful for checking inverters and auxili- How It Works. Light pulses striking
cording normal rotational speeds for ary ac generators. photo-transistor Q1 produce voltage
comparison with later measurements, Operated in either the incident or re- pulses at the input of operational amplifi-
you can easily detect the effect of worn flected light mode, the Photo-Tach in- er IC1, connected as a Schmitt trigger
gear trains or motor brushes and gauge cludes five ranges up to 50,000 rpm. A which produces a sharply squared out-
improvement of performance after re- plug-in light probe, using a high-speed put pulse for each input pulse. Resistors
pairs. With no mechanical coupling re- photo-transistor, facilitates speed mea- R3 and R4 provide positive feedback
quired, the Photo-Tach measures the surements. Using low-cost, high-perfor- and also determine the input voltage
rpm of any type of rotating element, in- mance IC's, the battery -operated ta- hysteresis or deadband. This prevents
62 1980 EDITION
the tach from responding to noise com- sistor selected by range switch SI. Out- Construction. Assemble the photo -
ponents of the main signal and rejects put pulses Vo pass through diode Dl Tech in a 3" x 41/2" x 61/2" metal case. In
the small 120 -Hz modulation of 60 -Hz and energize FET constant -current the prototype, perf board construction
incandescent light sources. Input high- source 02 -Rl 7, producing constant - was used but you can make a printed
pass filter, C1 -R2, favors response to amplitude pulses across R7. Diode Dl circuit board using the foil pattern shown
fast -changing light signals. blocks the small residual voltage when in Fig. 2. Use sockets for IC1, 1C2, and
Output pulses from ICI are differen- Vo is low. Constant -duration pulses of 02, and use short, heavy buses on the
tiated by C6 -R6 forming voltage spikes constant amplitude are averaged by me- circuit board as common tie points to
which are applied to the trigger input ter- ter Ml which responds linearly to the avoid ground loops. Install bypass capa-
minal (2) of timer 1C2, connected as a repetition rate of input light pulses. citors C3 and C4 close to their ICI pins.
monostable. When a negative -going Potentiometer R16 adjusts the input Wire R16 so that its resistance is zero
trigger pulse drives pin 2 below one-third sensitivity while capacitor Cl 1 dampens with the control set counterclockwise.
Vcc, the timer delivers a precise output meter pointer vibration at low (2500) Voltage -range multiplier resistor R10 is,
pulse Vo at pin 3. Output pulse duration, rpm. With a pulse duty cycle of near preferably, 1% tolerance.
independent of supply voltage, depends one-third at full scale, meter overrange Connect the supply minus to case
on timing capacitor C7 and a timing re- is within safe limits. (ground). Tape over any unused pins

RPM X 1000
2.5 5 10 25 50
Vcc
RII RI3 I4 RB
RI R5
47K IOOK 50KRI2 25K IR0K R5K It3.9K
3.9K

R16
IOOK. C8
20VF

J2 C3 SIA
IyF

C2
^.05yF 5
IC2
NE555
X
+ R9
3.9K
C9
7
C6 C5 C7 20yF
.OIjF 3 0
T68yF
I
.001NF Vo
CI ICI
6
.002y F
4

JI

R4
IOOK Rt0
200K
',MANN
R3
15K 5.1K IC4
R21O
.ly F
S3

J3 MI
1 CII
+
50pA TCIO
0pF 00 AT

PARTS LIST
B I -9 -volt battery (Burgess 2U6 or equiv.) M I -11-50-microampere dc meter R16-100,000 -ohm audio taper potentiome-
PI-Miniature phone plug ter, with spst switch S2. (Radio Shack
C -0.002-µF 10% ceramic disc capacitor
I
QI-Photo transistor (HEP P0001, HEP 312, 271-1727 or equiv.)
C2 -0.05-µF ceramic disc capacitor
or equiv.) R17 -5000 -ohm trimmer (Radio Shack
C3,C4-0.l-µF ceramic disc capacitor
Q2-N-channel JFET (HEP 801 or equiv.). 271-217)
C5 -0.01-µF ceramic disc capacitor
R ,R8,R9-3900-ohrh, 1/2 -watt 5% resistor R18 -10,000 -ohm trimmer (Radio Shack
C6-0.001-µF 10%< ceramic disc capacitor 1

R2 -150,000 -ohm, 1/2 -watt 10% resistor 271-218)

C7 -0.068-µF 10% Mylar capacitor
C8,C9,C10-20-µF 15-V electrolytic capaci- R3 -5100 -ohm, 1/2 -watt 10% resistor SI-Dp, 5 -pos. shorting switch (Centralab
R4 -100,000 -ohm, 1/2 -watt 10% resistor PA -1002 or equiv.)
tor
15-V electrolytic capaci- R5,R6 47,000 -ohm, 1/2 -watt 5% resistor S2-Spst switch (on R16)
CII,C12-100-µF,
tor R7-I000-ohm, 1/2 -watt 5% resistor S3-Sp, 2 -circuit momentary pushbutton switch
DI-Silicon diode (HEP 154 or equiv.) R10 -200,000 -ohm, 1/2 -watt I % resistor Misc.:-Transistor socket: DIP sockets (2);
R I -100,000 -ohm resistor metal case 41/2" x 61" x 3" (Vector
ICI-Operational amplifier (HEP C6052P or 1

741C) R 12 -50,000 -ohm resistor W30-66-46B or equiv.); P -pattern perforat-

R13 -25,000 -ohm resistor 5% or better ed board; knobs (2); battery clip; miniature
IC2-555 timer IC
JI-Miniature phone jack R I4-10,000 -ohm resistor shielded cable; flea clips (Vector T42-1 or
12,J3-Phone tip jack (one red, one black) R 15 -5000 -ohm resistor equiv.) hardware; etc.

Fig. 1. The light pulses at Q1 are squared up in ICI and turn on precision monostable 1C2. Constant -current
output pulses through Q2 are averaged by the meter as rpm. Five ranges permit testing up to 50,000 rpm.

63
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 Slt-- +:Clli
+
-Cl2->".J3,JI
+--C9- (GND)

I %I SIA

SCR
C7A

C7

-G7A-
. Dh DQS
-R7--
# 02
53--- }-

1-R5-+
r
l447

R6-r
G6
53--+,r-,,:-R10-+^'
J2--+. ..
.C2.,
...
.....

JI,R16--.

Fig. 2. Though the prototype of the

tachometer Joas atisembled on
perforated hoard, it is convenient
to tie priutcd circuit hourd.
14 (1

C7A is hou 0.033 capacitors if

this is preferred to one 0.068.

of the IC sockets and carefully observe short R6 momentarily, causing Vo to go serve battery end -point voltage on M1,
correct installation of the IC's. Remove high. Adjust R17 until the voltmeter indi- read as 0-10 volts dc. End -point voltage
the meter dial card and mark the addi- cates one volt. Remove the voltmeter, should be near 6.6 volts or less. If the
tional scales using dry transfers (see open S2, and reconnect wire "X" to voltage is above 7 volts, use a 12 -volt
photograph). Otherwise, mark rpm SIA. battery for B1 (made up of eight AA cells
range switch S1 with multipliers of the Breadboard the calibration circuit connected in series). The additional
0-50 scale. Do not connect a meter pro- shown in Fig. 3, which supplies a supply voltage accommodates a FET
tector across Ml. 120 -Hz signal (equivalent to 7200 rpm) (02) having a pinch -off voltage above 3
Mount the meter, range switch Si, and connect to jacks J2 and J3. Set Si volts.
sensitivity control R16, battery test to 10,000 rpm, close S2 and adjust R18
switch S3, probe input jack J1, ac input until M1 indicates 7200 rpm. With accu- Applications. In the incident -light
connector J2, and the ground connector rate range resistors, all ranges are si- mode of operation, the rotating element
J3 on the front panel as shown in the multaneously calibrated to high accura- whose rpm is to be checked chops or
photographs. cy. You can use a signal generator to gates the light traveling directly from a
For photo -transistor 01, use either a calibrate, check, or trim rpm ranges pro- light source to the probe. This provides a
glass lens (HEP P0001) or plastic lens vided frequencies can be set to high ac- noise -free, large -signal input to the tach.
(HEP 312). Clip off or insulate the un- curacy, as with a frequency counter. A reflectorized handy light with a 50- to
used base lead of the P0001 transistor. Multiply frequency by sixty to obtain 100 -watt lamp proved a most conven-
Connect the outer braid of a three- to equivalent rpm. ient light source but you can use a desk
four -foot length of miniature shielded ca- Next, check rejection of the small lamp, drop cord, or a flashlight.
ble to the emitter of Q1 and center con- 120 -Hz modulation of incandescent light Position the light source about two
ductor to collector. Make sure the braid sources. Insert the probe in J1 and aim feet behind the blades of an operating
is connected to the grounding side of the the probe at a 50- or 75 -watt lamp at dis- electric fan. Hold the probe near the
P1 -J1 combination. Install Q1 within an tances of two inches to three feet while front of the fan, aimed at the lamp.
opaque plastic tube, such as the barrel varying R16 (sensitivity control) over its Advance R16 until M1 shows a steady
of a ballpoint pen. Position the lens range. If M1 does not remain at zero un- and maximum indication. Observe that
about one -quarter inch from the tip of der all conditions, increase input hys-
the probe. Install battery B1 on the back teresis by increasing R3 to 8200 or
plate of the cabinet. 12,000 ohms. If further remedy is re-
quired (not likely), reduce R2 to 100,000 117
VAC
Calibration and Checkout. Set or 82,000 ohms and/or reduce C1 to
R17 and R18 to mid -position and Si to 0.001 µF.
2500 rpm, then connect a dc voltmeter Connect a 1500 -ohm potentiometer
across R7. This test voltmeter input re- (set for minimum resistance) in series
sistance should be at least 50,000 ohms with the plus lead of B1. Connect the ca-
on the selected voltage range. Discon-
Fig. 3. Calibration circuit
librating signal to J2 and J3. Increase delivers a 120 -Hz signal
nect wire "X" from the rotor of switch the potentiometer resistance until M1 equivalent to 7200 rpm. Multiply
S1A. Operate sensitivity control R16 to drops to 7100 rpm or about 1% lower. frequency by GO to obtain the
close S2. If M1 is not pegged upscale, Depress pushbutton switch S3 and ob- egoiruient speed.
64 1980 EDITION
 Photograph of prototype, assembled using a perforated board, shows how parts were
assembled in chassis. The arrangement of the front panel is shown in the title photo.

R16 can be varied over much of its a half -inch shaft or larger, wrap a strip of small fans, a slightly twisted blade can
range while M1 remains steady. For a electrician's tape (cloth friction type, not result in a missed light pulse.
fan with four blades, divide indicated glossy surface vinyl) around the shaft. Meter -pointer vibration becomes ap-
rpm by four, etc. Place the band on a shaft flat if possible. parent below 400 rpm. In this case, in-
To check the speed of a drill, con- Place a strip of white surgical adhesive clude a second light gate or reflective
struct a light chopper using a three-inch tape lengthwise across the band. Or, surface and divide indicated rpm by two,
diameter cardboard disc. Cut out a ;/," x paint a white strip using fast -dry flat etc. Position additional light gates or re-
3/4" light gate at the edge and chuck the paint. Rig the probe horizontally about flective surfaces in an approximately
disc in the drill using a machine screw. one inch from the shaft facing the band. symmetrical pattern.
To check motors having various shaft For the flatted shaft with white strip Keep tabs on the normal running
sizes, attach a light chopper disc to a on the flat, hold the light source directly speeds of appliances and tools for later
suitable wheel, shaft collar, or knob. The above the shaft at a distance of about 8 comparisons. Use speed measure-
spokes of a large pulley can serve as a to 12 inches. For the round shaft, hold ments to isolate problems between mo-
light chopper. the lamp about 6 inches above the end tor and drive train and observe effect of
In the reflected -light mode, the sensor of the probe handle. Advance R16 and repairs. Speed measurements on major
views light reflected from contrasting verify that the meter indication remains heavy-duty appliances such as washers
surfaces. If surface reflectivity is exces- steady over some portion of pot rotation, and dryers can forewarn you of progres-
sively uneven due to rust spots, dis - proving adequate light input. For motors sive wear which may lead to motor over-
colorations, or other irregularities, a re- having smaller shafts, attach a reflective load and possible fire hazards.
flected -light pulse may contain exces- disc to a suitable wheel or knob. Paint The techometer can be used as a low -
sive noise. This will be recognized as a half of the disc flat black and the balance range frequency meter to check fre-
very high and erratic indication on the flat white. Fan speed can be checked by quencies from about 10 to 800 Hz. Inject
meter. Involving two directions of light this method provided the fan blades are one or two volts ac into jacks J2 and J3
travel, the reflected -light mode may re- clean and uniform in appearance. By and divide indicated rpm by 60. Also, by
quire rigging of probe or light source, or sighting the running fan from several an- connecting J2 and J3 to a scope, you
both, to maintain steady indications. gles, you can pick a suitable direction to can observe input to the tach as you
To check the speed of a motor having aim the probe. Particularly with very vary lighting and sensitivity settings. O
65
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 Audio
Detective

BUILD THE
AUDIO DETECTIVE
Here's a sensitive troubleshooting meter for phono cartridges,
microphones, and PA systems

BY RALPH TENNY

HE Audio Detective is a sensitive ac audio signal from section A with stage charging currents in C2, C3, and C4 will
voltmeter which will prove to be
11 gains determined by the ratios of R5 to cause current surges in the meter, the
especially useful in troubleshooting an R6 and R8 to R9. Capacitors C2 and C3 operating voltage must be applied
audio system. On its lowest range (5 couple the ac currents to the common slowly to avoid any possibility of meter
mV), it can be used to test microphones bus so that the ac output of each stage damage. The test circuit shown in Fig.
and many phono cartridges. It will also swings about the 7 -volt dc operating lev- 2A is used to do this. The dc operating
measure potentials up to 5 volts (50 el. power can be a battery or power supply
volts, if a simple modification is made). Section D of ICI is a precision rectifier between 12 and 15 volts dc. Be sure the
The response of the meter is flat within and meter driver. The parallel combina- potentiometer is at the zero position be-
5% from 15 Hz to 20 kHz. tion of R11 and R13 establishes the gain fore turning on the power. The signal
The instrument is battery -powered (1 of the stage. Varying the value of R13 generator should be capable of deliver-
mA current drain) and is conveniently calibrates the meter so that the meter ing a low -distortion, 1 -kHz sine wave
small for portable use. A phono plug is current is 50 microamperes (full scale) which can be set to zero output.
used for the input and input resistance is when 5 mV is applied to the (+) input of When wiring this first section, connect
100,000 ohms. IC1A. Resistor R12 and the combination R10 temporarily to point A of the test cir-
of C5 and C6 shunt R11 at the higher cuit. Turn on the power and slowly ad-
Circuit Operation. The circuit made audio frequencies to adjust the frequen- just the test circuit potentiometer to bring
up of transistor 01, R19, C7, and D8 is a cy response near 20 kHz. the voltage to between 12 and 15. As
regulated power supply which provides the voltage is increased, the meter ac-
14 volts for IC1 (Fig. 1). Due to the pres- Construction. Circuit layout is not tion will be erratic and move upscale.
ence of C7, the supply turns on slowly to critical so perforated board and mount- When the power is fully on, the meter
prevent capacitor charging currents on ing clips or a printed circuit board can be should settle back to zero.
C2, C3, and C4 from damaging the me- used. It is advisable to use a socket for Turn up the audio generator connect-
ter. Diode D7 protects the circuit from an IC1 to avoid possible heat damage dur- ed to the test circuit. As the generator
accidental reversal of battery polarity. ing soldering. output is increased, the meter will reach
The network consisting of Ri, R2, and Because of the low signal levels re- full scale when the generator is deliver-
R3 sets the quiescent operating level of quired by the measuring circuit, a single ing 0.3 volt rms. Once this section is
7 volts at the output of IC1A. The dc in- common bus is used. Tie all the circuit working properly, reduce the test circuit
terstage coupling through R4, R7, and ground points to this bus and connect voltage and audio generator output to
R10 maintains this voltage at the out- the bus to the case at only one point- zero and remove the connection to R10.
puts of the three following stages. The preferably at the ground lug of J1. If J1 is Now wire up the rest of the circuit
high input impedance at the noninvert- mounted on a metal panel, make no oth- (sections A, B, and C of IC1). Perform
ing (+) input of IC1A prevents loading of er connections to the metal portion. the above test again and note that the
the input attenuator. Diodes D5 and D6, Whatever the layout and case, the inputs to sections A and B are 5 mV rms
in conjunction with R18, are used to pro- checkout of the circuit will be easier if for a full-scale meter indication.
tect IC1 from excessively high input volt- one section is wired and tested before Assemble the power supply portion,
ages, which might damage it. going to the next. Start with section D of using 150,000 ohms for R19. The time
Sections B and C of ICI amplify the the IC and the meter circuit. Since constant for R19 and C7 determines
66 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 C7 -45-µF, 25-V electrolytic capacitor RI ,R2-47,000 ohms
PARTS LIST R3-1.2 megohms
C8-225-µF, 25-V electrolytic capacitor
D1 to D7 -1N4148 diode R4,R7,R 10-1000 ohms
B 1,B2 -9-volt battery D8 -15-V zener diode (HEP Z0225) R5,R8,R18-10,000 ohms
CI -0.1-1.F, 50-V ceramic capacitor IC1-Integrated circuit (National LM324) R6,R9-1500 ohms
C2,C3-100-µF, 25-V electrolytic capacitor .11-Standard phono jack (RCA) R 11,R 12-5600 ohms
C4 -22-µF, 25-V electrolytic capacitor M 1-0.50-µA meter (Calectro D1-910 or sim- R 13,R 19-(see text)
C5-100-pF capacitor ilar) R14-91,000 ohms (see text)
C6-47-pF capacitor (see text) Q1 -2N5449 or TIS98 transistor R I5-9100 ohms (see text)
Following resistors are 1/4-W: R16-910 ohms (see text)
QI
2N5449 +14v R17-100 ohms (see text)
SI to S5-Spdt switch
07 Misc.-Suitable chassis (Calectro H4-722),
battery holder, mounting hardware, etc.

ICI=LM324
DI D2

4 R4 R7 - RIO
12
IK 1K 14 IK +
B 9 D
2 13

R5 R8 D3 D4
1--NNMAN-6 10K OK
IN4148
1.2M (4)

RI8 CI
10K yF R6 R9 RI2 RII
1.5K 5.6K 5.6K *R 13
1.5K

+
S2 S3 S4 55 06 C2 *C6 C5 C4
.005V .05V .5V 5V 1N4148 100pF 100pF 47pF 100pF 22pF

RI4 R15 RI6 R17

91K 9.IK 91011 *SEE TEXT
IN

Fig. 1. The first three op amps in ICI form a sensitive ac amplifier and the fourth drives the meter.
PIN 4
+15V

ICI
how fast the operating power comes up. When the next higher scale is switched
Select the value of R19 so that the cir- in, the meter should indicate about 1/10
cuit comes into full operation without vio- of full scale. Bring the meter to full scale
COM
lently "pegging" the meter. On the proto- by adjusting the audio source. Switch to PIN II

type, the meter settled back to zero the next higher scale (0.5 V) and note AUDI
GEN .1yF

about seven seconds after power was that the meter goes down to 1/10 of full (A)

turned on. scale. Repeat the adjustment and check o

1.414V P/P, I Hz
TO
SCOPE
the next range. VERT
Complete the assembly, wiring up the AUGEN
INPUT
input attenuator. The resistors used in Either a laboratory calibration stand- 990/1

the attenuator can be conventional 5% ard or a dc -coupled scope can be used .005V RMS

types or they can be selected with a re- for final calibration and frequency - 1011
sistance bridge to be as close to the response checking. If a scope is used,
stated values as possible. The more ac- start with the calibration. Use a new
curate the resistor value, the more accu-
rate the meter readings.
Turn on the power and apply an audio
signal of about 5 mV rms at 1 kHz to J1
flashlight battery (1.55 volts). Set the
scope to 0.2 volt per division, and con-
nect the battery to the scope vertical in-
put. Adjust the scope vertical gain until
EIN

.5V
O- 160f1
(B)

SPKR
EOUT

to get a full-scale reading on the meter. the trace is 73/4 divisions from its zero
n

(C)
View of interior 10011
EOUT
of the Audio Detective
as assembled in the
author's prototype. .OUT
F-
1001
EIN EOUT

Fig. 2. (A) Test circuit for

stage -by -stage checkout. (B) A
source of 0.005 -volt rms. Qf
(C) Measuring speaker impedance.
(D) How to check filters.
67
1980 EDITION
position. If the scope has a different ver- Fig. 3. To add a 50 -volt range to the
tical range, use a range that produces a Audio Detective use either a rotary
nearly full-scale deflection. or discrete switches as shown here.
Carefully select the two resistance Note the changes in the bottom two
values shown in Fig. 2B and apply 1.414
resistors as compared to Fig. 1.
volts peak -to -peak at 1 kHz as shown.
Connect the 0.005 -volt rms output of this JI
IOK
voltage divider to J1 of the Audio Detec- TO
tive, with the attenuator set for 0.005 V. CI

Select a value for R13 that will give a

full-scale meter indication. Keeping the
output of the audio generator at this con-
stant level, reduce the frequency until
the meter indicates 0.0047 volt. The
generator frequency should be lower TO CI

than 20 Hz. If a slower roll -off is desired,

increase the value of Cl. In this way, it is D6

possible to bring the flat response down

to 10 Hz. If a lower frequency is re-
quired, it is necessary to increase the
values of C2, C3, C4, and C7, and lower remains the same, relative measure- use the Audio Detective to measure the
the value of R19.
ments of nonsinusoidal waveforms can input and output voltages. The gain is
With the output of the audio generator
be made. simply the output voltage divided by the
held at 1.414 V peak -to -peak, increase input.
the generator frequency to 20 kHz. If the To test the frequency response of a
meter indicates too low a value, the Uses. The Audio Detective can be tape recorder, apply a 1 -kHz tone to the
high -frequency response must be ad- used to troubleshoot a PA system. Plug recorder's auxiliary input and select a
justed. This is done by adding more ca- the microphone to be used into J1 (with level that gives a comfortable playback
pacitance across C6. Be careful not to the correct adapter) and speak into the volume with the volume control set at
add too much compensation, which will mike. A dynamic mike should have an
midrange. Record several different fre-
result in a "hump" near the 20 -kHz output of about 1 mV, and a condenser quencies at this same level. Terminate
point. (electret) mike should generate between the external speaker output with an 8 -
Like all ac voltmeters, the Audio De- 4 and 5 mV. The Audio Detective can
ohm resistor and monitor the voltage
tective will respond to almost any wave- then be connected to the mixer output to
generated across the resistor at each
form. However, it is calibrated for a sine test that stage. The procedure is con-
frequency. (For component tape decks,
wave and other waveforms will produce tinued through the audio system to the
monitor the line output unterminated.)
erroneous meter readings. For example, speaker outputs. The signal level will get Plot the output voltage as a function of
a 9 -volt peak -to -peak sine wave will progressively higher. At the speaker out-
frequency.
read 3.2 V on the Audio Detective. A 9 - puts, five volts on an eight -ohm line indi-
To determine speaker impedance,
volt square wave would show up as 5 cates just over three watts.
use the circuit shown in Fig. 2C. Select
volts. However, as long as the waveform To determine the gain of an amplifier,
E, so that 0.5 volt is generated across
the 8 -ohm resistor. Switch to the speak-
er and measure Eot. The speaker
impedance at that frequency is (Zot/0.5)
x 8. For example, if Zot is 0.45 volt, the
speaker impedance is (0.45/0.5) x 8 or
7.2 ohms.
You can check the frequency re-
sponse of a filter by using the circuit in
Fig. 2D. Holding the input constant, vary
the frequency and plot Eot as a function
of frequency. Figure 2D also shows typi-
cal response curves for both series and
parallel resonant circuits.

Modifications. The schematic in Fig.

1 shows the input attenuator spanning
four ranges from 0.005 to 5 volts. If you
want to extend the upper limit, use the
attenuator shown in Fig. 3. Two versions
are shown-one using five slide
switches and one a rotary switch. Either
will extend the range to 50 volts. 0
Components assembled on the perforated board.
68 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
BY BARTON M. BRESNIK

POWER -FAILURE ALARM

Lets you know when a power outage occurs.
SUMMER or winter, night or day, a two -transistor astable multivibrator and is used to keep the system from operat-
power outage in your local utility associated loudspeaker, while the trig- ing in case there is only a brief loss of
system can cause all sorts of problems ger portion uses an SCR and related power (which can be caused by light-
in your home. Heating and cooling sys- bias components. The SCR is in a feed- ning) or a line transient.
tems shut down, refrigerators and freez- back 'cop from the emitter of 02. The In standby operation, the circuit draws
ers come to a halt, and your electric gate of SCR1 is biased low enough to less than 1 mA, which is supplied by the
alarm clock stops running, making you keep it from firing as a result of the trickle charging current. When an out-
late for work. combination of R3 and R4. When a age occurs, and the SCR turns on, the
The power -failure alarm is a battery - power outage occurs, the voltage from current increases to 15 mA for a 2.5-V
powered device that sounds an alarm the battery turns on the SCR, and the battery and 50 mA for a 4.5-V source.
when a power failure occurs. Then you multivibrator provides an audio -frequen- The lamp circuit is optional and can be
can, at least, turn off devices that might cy signal to the speaker. used to check the battery. The lamp can
blow fuses when the power returns and The time delay provided by Cl and R3 also be made to glow during a power
take what other steps are necessary to outage by connecting a silicon diode be-
protect your property. tween the LAMP position of S1 (anode of
the diode) and the anode of SCR1 (cath-
How It Worls. Battery B1 (Fig. 1) gets ode of the diode).
a constant trickle charge from the trans-
former through D1 and R1. As shown Construction. The prototype of the
here, the battery is made up of two alarm was assembled on a small piece
1.25-V NiCd cells. Sealed NiCd or lead - of perforated board with point-to-poir'
acid storage cells with higher voltage wiring. For transformer TI, use a stan-
ratings could be used. Vented secon- dard recharging unit which plugs directly
dary batteries can be used if the elec- into a wall socket. This provides a safety
trolyte is checked every few months. If feature in that only 6.3 volts is used in
carbon -zinc or manganese -alkaline cells the chassis.
are used, the value of R1 should be in- Mount the completed assembly in any
creased to 47,000 ohms. Remember type of enclosure with only S1 and some
also that manganese -alkaline and mer- speaker holes on the top. (The author
cury cells may burst when recharged. Author's prototype was assembled used a 100 -ft, 35-mm film container.)
The alarm generator consists of a in a 35 -mm film container. The optional "grain -of -wheat" lamp can
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK 69
 PARTS LIST

BI -Two I.25 -V NiCd cells (Lafayette RI

DI 68011 R4
32F47400 or similar) IN4001 R6 R?
10K 1K OOn
C I -100-µF, 10-V electrolytic capacitor SPKR
D2 en
C2 -0.05-µF disc capacitor IN4001 R2 R3
DI,D2-íN4001 diode 3.3 K 10K
R5
-2.5 -to -3.0-V lamp (or #48) 10K
01
C2
QI -2N3638 transistor .058F
2N3638

(
02 -General-purpose npn transistor +
R 1-680 -ohm, 1/4-W 10% resistor (or 47,000 -
ohm, see text)
R2 -3300 -ohm, 1/4-W 10% resistor
R3,R4,R5-10,000-ohm, t/a-W 10% resistor
R6-1000 -ohm, t/a-W 10% resistor
6.3V 100yF
CI +

I1
#48
LAMP
_
-2.5
v
BI

SCR
GE-x
I
4 4 02
2N2621

R7 -100 -ohm, 1/4-W 10% resistor OFF

SI
SCRI-Silicon controlled rectifier (GE-X5 or A A

2N5060)
SPKR-8- or 10 -ohm speaker (Lafayette
99F60972 or similar) Fig. 1. The two -transistor audio oscillator
S I -Spdt switch is inoperable until the SCR conducts. This
T1-6.3 volt, low -current "wall-socket" occurs when the power line fails and the
transformer (Lafayette 33F37029 or similar) battery voltage is applied to the SCR gate.
Misc.-Suitable enclosure, rubber grommet, Do not use an on -off switch with the unit.
mounting hardware, circuit board, etc.

be mounted in a hole drilled in the con- let, and then turn the switch to ALARM. outage occurred.
tainer, using epoxy glue to secure it in Unplug the transformer from the wall If you are using rechargeable cells,
place. Since none of Hie parts listed is socket. After a few seconds, the alarm connect a current meter in series with
critical, feel free to experiment with should sound, continuing even when the the battery and check that, with the
"junk box" items. transformer is put back in the socket. transformer plugged in, the charging
To test the device, turn the switch to This locking feature reminds you to reset current is within the limits prescribed for
OFF, plug the transformer in a power out- clocks if you were not at home when the the cell.

DESIGNING OPTIMUM -Q When small inductors are needed, for r -f

chokes or h -f filter networks, it's frequently

AND SMALL INDUCTORS convenient to wind them on composition

(carbon) resistors. The table shows induc-
tances for various wire sizes when close -
BY R. E. MARTIN wound on common resistor bodies. The re-
sistor value should be above 4.7 kilohms for
the low -value inductances and above 47 kil-
ohms for the higher values., unless low O is
desired.
Optimum inductor when its length and diameter are equal. This
Q is achieved in an
The number of turns listed leaves a little
table will serve guide when designing high -Q inductors for r -f circuits. It gives
as a
space at the end of the resistor body to file
maximum turns and inductance for various wire sizes when close-wound in a single layer.
small notches in order to guide the coil wire
Higher Q's will be obtained if the turns are spaced at one wire diameter. This results in
down to the resistor lead while not allowing
half the turns and one quarter of the inductances listed in the table. Should an inter-
the coil turns to fall off the ends. Do not
mediate inductance or number of turns be desired, the factor, K, at the bottom of each
use wire -wound resistors.
column can be used for calculation from the formula L=KT'.
Wire Resistor Size
Wire Diameter & Length (inches) AWG /<W %:W 1W 2W
AWG 1/8 1/4 3/8 1/2 5/8 3/4 1 T 3 7 11 14
20
16
T 6 8 10 12 16 L' .013 .097 .32 .63
L' .233 .552 1.08 1.86 4.41 T 4 8 13 17
22
18
T 5 8 10'/, 13 15% 21 L' .023 .13 .45 .92
L' 108 .414 .950 1.82 3.11 7.60 T 5 10 17 22
24
T 3 6% 10 13 16% 19% 26 L' .036 .20 .76 1.5
20
L` .0194 .182 .647 1.46 2.93 4.92 1 1 .7 T 6 12 21 27
26
22
T 4 8 12 16% 20 24'/, 33 L' .051 .29 1.2 2.3
L' .0345 .276 .931 2.35 4.31 7.76 18.8 T 8 15 26 33
28
T 5 10 15 20%, 25 30% 41 L` .092 .45 1.8 3.5
24
L' .0539 .431 1.46 3.62 6.74 12.0 29.0 T 9 19 32 41
30
26
T 6% 13 19Y: 25% 32% 38%, 51 L' .12 .72 2.7 5.4
L' .091 .728 2.46 5.61 11.4 19.2 44.8 T 11 22 39 50
32
28
T 8 16 24 32 40 48 64 L' .17 .96 4.0 8.0
L' .138 1.10 3.72 8.83 17.2 29.8 70.6 T 14 28 49 62
34
T 10 20 30 40 50 60 80 L" .28 1.6 6.3 12
30
L' .215 1.72 5.82 13.8 27.0 46.5 110 T 18 34 60 77
36
K .00215 .00431 .00647 .00862 .0108 .0129 .0172 L' .46 2.3 9.5 19

'Inductance, L, is in microhenries.
'Inductance, L, is in microhenries.

70 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK

 Uses a high -voltage xenon flash tube and dc/dc cenrerter.

ALL BICYCLISTS and car drivers Principles of Operation. The ever, the flash tubes require high vol-
are aware of the need fcr visibility light -producing element is a sealed tages. I- this circuit, a dc -to -dc con-
when riding a two -wheeler at night or glass tube containing two electrodes vertssupp iesthishig- -voltage,draw-
in fog. However, p-oviding 3 clear in- and -filled with the inert gas, xenon. ing power from two INA batteries. A

dicatioi of a cyclist's presense can be When a high voltage is applied to the cap3citor stores charte whicl- is
a real prob em. Blinking incandescent tube the gas ionizes. That is, sone of nee_ed foi the large instantaneous
lights can be used, but they put out the electrons are stripped from the flas- currier.. To initiate ionization in
only snail amounts of light The light xencn atoms. When the electrons and the tube, a potential difference of
described in this article uses a xenon xenon ions recombine, the energy that abcut 4000 volts is requ red. This is
tube to generate a bright flash that can caused them to separate is given Jp as developed by a trigge- coil, or pulse
be seen frpm a great distar ce-but is light If many atoms are ionizec, the transformer which s~ps up the :::on-
not intense enough to destroy a driv- light output is intense. verer output.
er's night vision. Simple circuitry al- Xenon flash lamps are usually oper-
lows the p-oject to be built at low cost, ated in a pulsed mode. The intensity of About the Circuit. T-ansistcr 01,
in a lightweight, compact package their flashes gives good visibility, and trans°ormer Tl, and :heir associated
that can be secured to the bicycle or thei - short duration keeps the average cor-porterrts comprise an oscillator
the ricer's belt. power applied to the tube low. How- wh ch is the heart of the dc -to-dc con -
1980 EOITIOd 71
 01
verter. When power is first applied, TIP -29
TI
collector current builds u4i until the
ferrite core of Tl saturates. At this
point, base drive is removed from Q1,
the transistor cuts off, and flux in the
core decays. Then the cycle repeats
itself again.
On the other side of Ti, high voltage
pulses developed across the second-
ary are rectified by D1, and charge C2
to +250 volts. The voltage divider T2
RED
DOT
composed of R2, R3, and R4 charges Too 1.5-V batteries power tire converter 2 3

C3 to 90 volts and C4 to 200 volts. The which driI es the /lashtnbe and SCR trigger Ciretiit.
(BOTTOM VIEW)
time constants associated with these
capacitors are small, so the voltages
across C3 and C4 can be assumed to R4-3 megohms
be proportional to that across C2. PARTS LIST R5-1000 ohms
When the potential across C3 SI-SPST switch
B I-Two 1.5 -volt cells in series (see text) SCR -400-volt silicon controlled rectifier
reaches approximately 90 volts, neon
I

CI -4.7-µF, 10-V electrolytic capacitor (Radio Shack 276-1000 or equivalent)

lamp 11 fires and discharges C3 C2 -4-µF, 450-V electrolytic capacitor TI-see text
through the gate of SCR1. This causes C3 -0.005-µF, 500-V disc ceramic capac- T2-4000 -volt trigger coil (Radio Shack
itor 272-1146 or equivalent)
SCR1 to turn on, and the charge C4 -0.02-µF, 500-V disc ceramic capac- Misc.-Printed circuit or perforated
stored in C4 is dumped into the pri- itor board, solder, hookup wire, No. 34
mary of T2, the trigger coil. Because of DI -1N4005 diode enamelled wire, No. 28 enamelled wire,
F-TI-Xenon flash tube (Radio Shack machine hardware, circuit board spac-
T2's high step-up ratio, this surge of 272-1145 or equivalent) ers, suitable enclosure, battery holder,
current induces a potential difference II-NE-2 neon bulb standoff insulator, silicone cement, sol-
Ql-TIP-29, HEP S5000 npn plastic der, etc.
of several thousand volts across the power transistor or equivalent Note-The Ferroxcube 2616-FID bobbin
secondary. In turn, the flashtube fires, The following are 1/4 -watt, IOC% tolerance and two 2616-PLO0-3C8 ferrite pot
creating a bright flash of light as the resistors: core halves are available for $3.00 (first
R1-390 ohms class postage paid) from Elna Ferrite
charge stored in C2 flows through the R2-2 megohms Laboratories, Inc., Box 395, Wood-
tube. When C2's charge is depleted, R3-3.3 megohms stock, NY 12498.
the tube stops conducting and goes
dark. Then the rectified pulses from
Di start to charge up the capacitors, built on a printed circuit or perforated did for the secondary. When the pri-
and the cycle begins again. board, and housed in any enclosure of mary is completely wound, cover it
The flasher requires only two or sufficient size. The prototype was built with a layer of electrical tape. As be-
in a small plastic box with a transpar- fore, leave a few inches of wire free at
three volts to function. Two penlight
(AA) cells make a lightweight power ent top which protects the flash tube both ends of the primary. Finally, wind
source, but since current drain is 250 without obscuring its light output. the five -turn feedback winding in the
to 300 mA, carbon zinc cells should be No matter which arrangement is same direction as the other two. Use
used only if the flasher is intended as a chosen, the first step in constructing No. 28 enamelled wire, identify the
back-up safety device in extreme cir- the flasher is to assemble Ti. It is start of the winding with a tape flag
cumstances. However, two alkaline wound on a nylon bobbin that will be marked "F," and cover the completed
AA cells should provide about six
inserted into a two-piece ferrite pot bobbin with a layer of electrical tape.
hours of intermittent operation. If the core. Begin with the secondary. Allow Again, leave a few inches of lead
flasher is to be used frequently, re- a few inches of No. 34 enamelled wire length on each side of the winding.
chargeable nickel -cadmium batteries to extend from a slot in the bobbin, Insert the bobbin between the two
should be installed. They will give and attach a "flag" of masking tape to pot core halves, and mount the trans-
about two hours' use to a charge. (Of the end of the wire. Mark the tape with former on the project board using
course, rechargeable or nonre- an "S." This will allow you to keep #6-32 machine hardware. The ferrite
chargeable C or D cells can be used if track of the start of the secondary core is very brittle, so the mounting
more extensive use in contemplated. winding, which is essential to proper hardware should be no more than
Most of the components can be ob- phasing. Secure the wire to the bobbin finger tight. Use a daub of silicone
tained from any electronic parts store, with a piece of electrical tape, and cement to secure the nut to the board.
including flash tube FT1 and trigger then wind 350 turns, keeping each The flashtube should be mounted
coil T2. However, the converter trans- layer even. When you have finished, so that it can be seen and is somewhat
former Tl must be wound on a Ferrox- cover the winding with electrical tape, protected from shock. The author
cube 2616-F1D bobbin and uses two and leave a few inches of wire free to mounted his flashtube on the circuit
Ferroxcube 2616-PLO0-3C8 pot core serve as a connecting lead for the board using its leads and a standoff
halves. These parts are available from "finish" end of the secondary. insulator. Note that the electrode
some industrial distributors, and a The primary will be wound next, composed of wire mesh is the
mail-order source is included in the using No. 28 enamelled wire. Use a cathode. Trigger transformer T2
parts list. masking tape flag marked "P" to iden- should be positioned near the
tify the start of the winding, and wind flashtube. The rest of the components
Construction. The flasher can be 16 turns in the same direction as you can be mounted in any convenient
72 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
manner. It is wise to leave the trans-
former leads long, as a mistake in the
direction of a winding, or improperly
identifying the start of a winding, will
A POWER
require a phasing change involving
the reversal of one or more windings. NOMOGRAPH
Checkout and Troubleshooting.
BY MARK L. McWILLIAMS
When you have completed building
the project, double check all wiring,
and then turn the unit on. The THE NOMOGRAPH shown here can across the 1/2 -watt resistor, we can see
flashtube should flash about once be quite a time saver when design- that the minimum allowable resistance
each second, and an audible whistle ing and/or breadboarding a circuit. It must be 20,000 ohms. This means that
should be heard near Tl as the dc -to - shows at a glance the maximum re- 5 mA of current would flow through the

2\t
dc converter oscillates. sistance required to safely pass a given 20,000 -ohm resistor at 100 volts.
If no whistle is heard, measure the 1000
battery voltage and current with a
high -impedance multimeter. If no cur-
\\
\ \'\ \\
rent is being drawn from the battery,
\
500
aw
check the wiring to T1, Q1, R1, the \
\ \\ \ \ \\2a

\
battery, and switch S1. If current is \
being drawn, try reversing either the
primary or feedback winding of T1, but
1.5
\\\ \ `
not both!
The converter might oscillate but
200
/z\ /w\
\`\ \\\\
\
\io>i3\ 20530
the flashtube won't flash. In that case,
measure the voltage across C2. Al-
I 00 10

20 f
\
S,
\-'
\ \\
:
though current is limited, the \\ I \ ` \
50 ,
capacitor's voltage can give you an
unpleasant shock, so be careful! A \\ 50
El
I \ \ \ \
\\ \ \\
I

reading of 250 to 300 volts is normal. \ \ \\ loo

But if the voltage is below this level, E \ \\ \ \\\` \\ 200

20 1

disconnect R2 and the anode of FT1 z \ \s\r'ó\oó

\ \/ \ \ \ \\

w\
`
from the positive plate of C2. If the
W \20
50o
I

Sw
\\ \ `. \ \\\
I

\ /w\ \\\\ \
I

voltage is now correct, the problem is

..,-\\ `. \
I

\ \ \` \ \ \ \\ \ \
{
10
located in the trigger circuit for the 1.SK
flashtube. If the voltage is low but not 2K
\
+

zero, try reversing the secondary \

5
winding of T1. Zero voltage points to I I
`
incorrect wiring or a defective D1 or IOK
/j k
C2 component.
\ Ve L 20o \ \0
º0\ S\ \TO\ 00
\O000-\0
`\
20 K 30
When the voltage across C2 is cor- 2
I

O
rect but there is no flash, the trigger
circuit must be examined. Measure
50K1 I I ` \\ \ \\
\\ \ .
the voltage between the anode and IOOK
\ \
cathode of SCR1. You should obtain a
reading of 200 volts or so. If you do,
200K 1 \\ \ \
short these two points with a jumper. 0.5 500K1 1

The tube should flash as you do this. If

it doesn't, either it or the trigger coil is
RESISTANCE (OHMS)
defective. Other possibilities are a
faulty SCR or trigger component (I1, current as well as the minimum re- Other combinations of voltage, cur-
etc.) or incorrect wiring of that part of sistance required for a given voltage rent, resistance, and power rating, keep-
the circuit that generates the trigger. drop to be applied safely across it. In ad- ing two figures constant and determining
dition, the nomograph tells what the the third figure, are possible.
Final Thoughts. If desired, small wattage rating for a given resistor should The seemingly linear plot of the nomo-
leather straps can be secured to the be, given the voltage and current. graph can be explained by the fact that
flasher enclosure to serve as belt The nomograph is used as follows. the plot is made on log -log paper. From
loops. The unit is small enough to be Assume a 10 -mA current is to be passed Ohm's Law, P = I2R (P is power in watts,
mounted either on the bicycle or`on through a 1 -watt resistor. Referring to I is current in amperes, and R is re-
the cyclist's arm or leg. It can also be the nomograph, we can see that the sistance in ohms). Hence, versus R on I

taken along for hikes on dark country maximum allowable resistance is 5000 log -log paper is a straight line with a
roads. You will probably find many ohms. This would be a 50 -volt drop slope of -1/2. This greatly simplifies plot-
.

other applications for this handy little across the resistor. Using another ex- ting and makes it easy to use the nomo-
bicycle flasher. Q ample, if 100 .volts were to be applied graph in calculations. O
1980 EDITION 73
00 l212 EGJ
0e a
a neo 09 e e a
1Jup> 0 e P40a uimaIJ e
TODAY'S state-of-the-art audio com- tional Semiconductor. A block diagram amplifier prevents modulation of the vco
ponents yield levels of performance of the LM1800A is shown in Fig. 1. The by the input signal.
unattainable a few years ago. However, phase -locked loop comprises a voltage The vco input frequency is divided by
most of us can't update our sound sys- controlled oscillator (vco), frequency di- two, resulting in a 38 -kHz carrier used in
tems as frequently as technological ad- viders, phase detectors, low-pass filter- the synchronous demodulation of the
vances are made. This project-an add- ing and an error amplifier. Also included composite signal. Passing the 38 -kHz
on phase -locked -loop multiplex decod- are a voltage regulator allowing opera- signal simultaneously through a pair of
er-will allow the user to improve the tion from 12 -to -24 -volt supplies, auto- =2 counters produces two 19 -kHz sig-
stereo FM demodulation of an existing matic stereo monaural switching, and nals which are applied to the IC's two
receiver or tuner for about $25. Only a use of a stereo indicator lamp. phase detectors. If the 19 -kHz pilot sig-
few hours of assembly and alignment In the absence of an input signal, no nal drops below the level at which a sat-
time is required. The PLL cecoder will error signal is generated and the vco os- isfactory stereo signal can be recovered,
not only improve channel separation cillates at a frequency designated as fo. an electronic switch causes the IC to
and lower distortion levels, but will also When a composite FM signal is applied produce a monaural output.
select deemphasis time constants for to the input, the loop phase detector The schematic diagram of the com-
standard and Dolby -FM broadcasts. generates an error signal which is fil- plete multiplex detector is shown in Fig.
tered and amplified. This amplified error 2. Input signals are capacitively coupled
About the Circuit. The heart of the voltage shifts the oscillating frequency of by C5 to level control R5. Capacitor C4
PLL multiplex demodulator is the the vco to exactly 76 kHz. Filtering per- passes the composite FM input to the
LM1800A, an IC manufactured by Na- formed at the phase detector and error base of 01, which amplifies it to a level

dW111llIll"L.J

Á
1

I
'.
im iTmennunl[aui Illinu4AlLfúaliK1J,l11lllulw(

**ii*'".9@ s>lap io2' W "1e6 w8`,'':

u lll lUhl

Mhz
QfQ1Pu11nIll

111D11!^1^ m n.
yL umdc+rune m ml aunrluawmim1-
... . t
/0
II

dolby
sfd
Phase-locked -
pEMOpuLATpR loop circuit upgrades
older stereo
tuners
and receivers.

BY MARTIN MEYER
 er

4-I

e--
QLLLU

i t
1.L

N
N
O
O

Fig. 1. Block diagram of

the LM1800A PLL multiplex
demodulator. It includes
a voltage controlled
oscillator, frequency
dividers, phase detectors,
low-pass filtering
and error amplifier.

1980 EDITION 75
 +VSUPPLY
R14
3.3K
/R3 I
INPUT
JI
0-9 3.3K
C21
.47yF
C20
C2 CI 16 7 13 229F 14
J2
COMPOSITE 220pF IOyF\ } I 9
FM
R4
+ M C15
-WANW--+ `F .47pF
RI CI4
QI C3 50K .0029F 2
TIO5pF 2N5232 IOyF C8
) 440pF
ICI
R5 C13 LMI800A RIGHT
200 .05pF 12 ` OUTPUT
+ C7
C4 R8 R9 10yF
10pF 33K 33K
C9
220pF
R6 R2
IK 470 K
CIO
C22 RIO 440pF
330pF 5 33K
J4
LEFT
R16 RI5 OUTPUT
IOK 22K CII
RII O9F
I

33K
RI2 R13 C12
3.9K 3AK
T20PF

-
C16 C18
.00689F IC2=yA747 *SEE TEXT

PARTS LIST
CI7 C19 Fig. 2. Schematic of the
Cl,C3 through C7,C11-10-µF, 25 -volt tan- .0159F ""--". "---"*..0159F
talum capacitors
multiplex detector. Transistor
C2,C9,C12-220-pF disc ceramic or silver SI A 0 SIB Ql amplifies the input to
mica capacitor drive the PLL. Operational
C8,C10---440 pF disc ceramic or silver mica
DOLBY
STD
amplifiers IC2A and IC2B
capacitor (can be two 220-pF capacitors in form active low-pass filters.
parallel)
C 13- 0.05-µF disc ceramic capacitor
C14 0.002-µF disc ceramic capacitor
C15, C21 -0.47-µF Mylar capacitor that will properly drive the phase -locked polarities of semiconductors and elec-
C16,C18-0.0068-µF, 110%p Mylar capaci-
tor loop. The parallel combination C2R1 trolytic capacitors. Power can be tapped
C 17,C 19- 0.015-µF, ± 10% Mylar capacitor provides compensation for high -fre- from any +12- to +24 -volt dc source.
C20-0.22-µF Mylar capacitor quency rolloff in the tuner's -f and detec- i The tuner's -f stage or existing multiplex
i

C22-330-pF disc ceramic or silver mica ca- tor stages. Resistors R12 and R13 and decoder is usually powered by a +15- to
pacitor
I I -12-V, 35 -mA pilot light
capacitors C16 through C19 provide +20 -volt supply which can be utilized for
ICI-LMI800A PLL multiplex decoder deemphasis for multiplex decoder ICI. this purpose. Select the value of R7 in
IC2-747 dual operational amplifier When S1 is in the sro position, the kilohms according to the equation:
JI through J4-RCA phono jacks standard 75-µs FM deemphasis charac-
Ql-2N5232 npn silicon transistor teristic appears. Placing Si in the DOLBY
The following are linear -taper, pc trimmer po- R7 = (V supply -12)/55
tentiometers: position changes the deemphasis to 25
R1-50 ,000 ohms µs, which corresponds to the reduced A one -watt carbon composition resistor
R5-200,000 ohms preemphasis used in Dolby-encoded will have adequate heat dissipation ca-
R 16-10,000 ohms broadcasts. pability for this application.
The following are 10% tolerance, 1/4 -watt car-
Operational amplifiers IC2A, IC2B, The tuning lamp used in the author's
bon -composition fixed resistors:
R2-470,000 ohms and their associated components form prototype (and supplied with the kit)
R3,R14-3300 ohms active low-pass filters with 16,000 -Hz draws 35 mA at 12 volts. If you substi-
R4-1 Megohm cutoff frequencies and 12-dB/octave tute another incandescent lamp or a
R6-1000 ohms slopes. These filters attenuate any 38 - LED and current limiting resistor, modify
R7-See text.
R8 through R l 1-33,000 ohms
kHz carrier and 67 -kHz SCA compo- the equation for the value of R7. Re-
R l 2,R 13-3900 ohms nents which would otherwise appear at place the 55 mA in the denominator with
R 15-22,000 ohms the left and right audio outputs. If the sum of 20 mA (the current required
Sl-Dpdt slide or toggle switch allowed to pass, these signals could by the PLL and active filters) and the
Misc.-Printed circuit board, suitable enclo-
sure, hookup wire, shielded cable, pilot
cause beats and whistles when program
light jewel, hardware, solder, etc. material is recorded on tape. Indicator 11
Note-The following are available from Ne- glows in the presence of stereo pilot car-
tronics Research and Development, Ltd., rier. Jack J2 is wired in parallel with input
333 t,itchfield Road, New Milford, CT TABLE
jack Ji, providing access to the compos- 1.111800A 3PECIFI
06776: complete kit including all compo-
nents, pc board, screened enclosure, less ite FM signal for such accessories as 4 -
audio cables, $24.95; complete kit as above channel and SCA demodulators. Stereo Separation -100 Hz: 40 dB'
but less screened enclosure, $19.95. U.S. 1000 Hz: 45 dB
10,000 Hz: 45 dB
residents add $1.50 postage and handling; Construction. Printed circuit guides
Canadians add $3.00. For receiver connec- SCA Rejection: 50 dB
for the project are shown in Fig. 3.
tion info, send schematic, SAS envelope Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.2 %
and $1 (free if purchasing kit). Connecticut Mount all components on the board, Ultrasonic Frequency Rejection: 45 d8
residents add 7% sales tax. paying close attention to pin basing and
76 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 Fig. 3. Etching and drilling guide for
multiplex decoder is shown at left.
Component placement guide is above.

current required by the indicator. For ex- If your tuner or receiver has a "com- these jacks in place of those in the tuner,
ample, if a LED and resistor drawing 20 posite FM" or "FM detector" output jack, assuming the decoder is mounted exter-
mA are used, the denominator would be the required signal is available there. If nally. If it is mounted internally, you can
40 mA. not, you will have to locate the FM de- disconnect the outputs of the existing
The project can be mounted in the tector and tap the signal at that point. multiplex decoder from the output jacks
tuner cabinet or housed in a separate The partial schematic of a typical FM re- on the tuner's rear panel and connect
enclosure. If it is placed in the tuner ca- ceiver is shown in Fig. 4. The composite the outputs of the decoder's active filters.
binet, mount S1 on the rear panel of the signal is obtained by disconnecting the Similarly, if you have a receiver and
tuner and connect it to the pc board via existing multiplex decoder and tapping are mounting the project in an external
low-capacitance shielded cable such as the signal at point A. enclosure, you can connect the decod-
RG -59-U. The same type of cable The left and right audio outputs are er's outputs to the tape monitor circuit.
should also be used to conduct the com- available at jacks J3 and J4. If you are Mounting the decoder inside the receiv-
posite FM signal from the detector out- using the project in place of the multiplex er cabinet suggests an internal connec-
put to the input of the multiplex decoder. decoder in a tuner, you can either use tion. Remove the output leads at the ex-

Q7
H43020435 .NÌ
P30 HI1020465 R34
R25
220
HI1016947 220 r 1 I .2K

SV I
C36
I
Ì
I
C
I H4151 330

R 36
4.7K
L_ R 32
R37 Fig. 4. Partial
270
1K
C33 schematic of typical

i
33r FM receiver. Composite

o
2UF C34
2.37 signal is obtained by
disconnecting existing
.001
c12s
LIP
multiplex decoder
C32
Q8 .6.3V
(circuit below C34)
.01UIF
H43020483
and tapping signal
R33
at point A.
C39
iOuF 100K P79
,5+I5i; METER 3 3K
H,252120B 22V
6 C40
R39 .02UF
2 2K
25 /F
25V
C125

77
1980 EDITION
 isting multiplex decoder running to the
appropriate lugs on the receiver's MODE TABLE II-RECEIVER MODIFICATION RESULTS
switch. Then connect them to the decod-
er's active filter outputs. Sony STR-6060FW Harman Kardon SR900
Before After Before After
Alignment. When properly aligned, Stereo Separation-100Hz: 20dB 32dB 25dB 30dB
the project will provide performance as 1000 Hz: 28dB 42dB 32dB 42dB
outlined in Table I-assuming no degra- 10,000 Hz: 18dB 30 dB 25 dB 33dB
dation in the tuner's -f and FM detector.
i
Total Harmonic Distortion (1000 Hz): 0.5% 0.3% 0.6% 0.25%
Two typical receivers were used with the
PLL decoder. Results are shown in Ta-
ble II. The alignment procedure about to clockwise until the lamp begins to glow. a cooperative FM broadcast engineer is
be described requires no test instru- Note the position of the control. (It may available. Since all stations must con-
ments, but will yield good results. The be necessary to adjust R5 slightly.) duct tests and certify the quality of their
author was able to improve the stereo Next, turn R16 fully counterclockwise, signals once a year, you can easily
separation only 2 dB when instrument adjusting R5 again if necessary to extin- check out adjustments. Call several lo-
alignment was performed with an ex- guish the lamp. Slowly rotate R16 clock- cal stations and ask when they will per-
pensive FM stereo generator. wise until the lamp glows, noting the po- form the tests. If it is late at night, the en-
Rotate potentiometers R1 and R16 to sition of the control. Set R16 midway be- gineer might turn off a channel for 30
the midpoint of wiper travel, and R5 for tween the two positions noted. Adjust seconds or so. While only one channel
maximum signal drive at the base of Ql. R5 until the lamp goes dark, then slowly is being transmitted, adjust R1 for max-
Turn on your receiver and tune in a sta- turn it until the lamp just starts to glow. imum separation at any mid -band fre-
tion broadcasting in stereo. Indicator /1 Advance the wiper of R5 another 10°. quency. Note, however, the setting of
should glow. If not, adjust R16 until it This will properly tailor the input level to R1 will not have a critical effect on the
does. Then turn R16 fully clockwise. If 11 decoder ICI. performance of the decoder and can
still glows, adjust R5 until the indicator Potentiometer R1 is included in the simply be left midway between the two
just goes out. Slowly rotate R16 counter - circuit for adjustment if test equipment or adjustment extremes.

Quo o o Ba© © BY ROBERT P. BALIN

RN
1-1 .
1 Which of these audio waveforms e'e

indicates the use of tremolo

and which is vibrato?

\-1

A B

2 If the vertical frequency

used to produce these Lissajous
patterns is 1000 Hz, which has
a horizontal frequency of 1200 Hz
and which is 1250 Hz?

A B

3 With this crossover network, which speaker

is the woofer and which the tweeter?

'8 1:13133M1 `V `tl33OOM '£

'8 `ZH OSZI !V ZH-OOZI 'Z
'V `01V1i8IA !8 `013W3l11 'l
S!l3MSNV
78
1980 EDITION
 BUILD A
DIRECT READIN G
LOGIC PROBE
Seven -segment readout displays high, low, open, and pulse.
By R.M. STITT

THE LOGIC probe is almost a The letters are: H (high logic level), compatible. The outputs of the two
necessity in checking digital cir- L (low logic level), o (open), and P comparator circuits are further buf-
cuits. Usually the probe detects and (pulse). This type of display makes fered and conditioned by IC2, the high
discriminates between high-level, testing faster and improves accuracy (H) and low (L) outputs of which are
low-level, and pulse conditions at var- in reading the results. decoded by the remaining circuitry.
ious points in a digital circuit. The re- Assuming that the point under test is
sults are then displayed on miniature How It Works. Shown in Fig. 1 is the either at a constant high or a constant
lamps or discrete light -emitting logic probe's schematic diagram. low, the end result will be an H or an L
diodes. Transistor Q1 functions as a voltage displayed on DIS1.
If you want a more advanced logic comparator and buffer with a In the event of any pulse activity at
probe, try the one described here. It threshold of approximately 0.6 volt. the point under test, one-shot mul-
does what the conventional probe Transistor Q2 and diodes D1, D2, and tivibrator /C1 will trigger and generate
does, but has the additional capability D3 function as a voltage comparator a P (for pulse) on DIS1. If a single pulse
of being able to sense an open circuit and buffer with an approximate occurs at the test point, IC1 will still
or an out -of -tolerance high or low 2.4 -volt threshold. These thresholds cause a P to be displayed, but only for
logic level. And the indicator is a are slightly wider apart than is stan- about 0.5 second. (The probe is capa-
single seven -segment LED display. dard for TTL devices, thus providing a ble of "capturing" pulses as short as
The four possible test conditions are safety margin. 10 ns in duration.)
shown as actual letters on the seven - Resistors R4 and R5 and transistor Any time the probe tip is not touch-
segment display. Q3 shift the level of Q2 to make it TTL ing a point in the test circuit or is
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK 79
 are indicated in phantom in Fig. 2.)
0181,14
+5v
C3
After wiring the circuit board, solder
2SyF
a 1" (25 mm) length of insulated wire to
a-< I 14 14 14 14 I8Ö11 e
}-< the pad under DIS1 nearest the end of

t 1f
fl Ib IC3 IC2 ICI
G 7400 7405 74 22 Re the board. The free end of this wire
lc 7 goes to the probe's test tip. Prepare
el d
es
R9
the ends of two 36" (about 1-m)
9 8 18011 q
lengths of test -lead cable, and solder
13 RIO
d
one end to the +5 -volt and ground
IC3 Iww°w(1
12 pads on the board.
3
I
RII
DIS Now, cut a 3/4" long by 5/32" deep (19 X
SEGMENTS
ó 11IC 10 18011
R2
®e -MMbW- 3.8 -mm) window 1/2" (13 mm) from one
47K
end of the tube. Use CPVC tubing; it
R12 has thinner walls to provide a slen-
180(1
s<wrM derer assembly than is possible with
C2
ordinary PVC tubing. CPVC tubing is
220pF R13 available from most hardware and
18011
Nennti--. building supply stores.
You can fabricate the end caps for
6 8 D4 the tube to the dimensions given in
14
ICI
13 R6 Fig. 3 by turning on a lathe or whit-
II + 22K
4
COMMON / CI
D181,14 tling with a knife 5/8" (16 -mm) diameter
RI5 3 4 2SyF
I0K hardwood dowel stock. If you don't
have access to a wood -turning lathe or
don't relish whittling, you can fashion
PARTS LIST blunt end caps from 1/2" hardwood
dowel stock and use small screws to
CI,C3-25-NF, 6 -volt tantalum electroly- (2N3906 or similar)
hold them in place. In either case, drill
tic capacitor The following are 1/4 -watt, 5% tolerance a 1/4" (6.5 -mm) diameter hole through
C2-220-pF ceramic disc capacitor resistors
DI thru D4-Signal diode (IN914 or simi- the rear end cap and a hole just large
R 1, R2-47,000 ohms
lar) R3,R4, R5, R14, R 15-10,000 ohms enough to require force fitting a 6d
DISI-Common cathode seven -segment R6-22,000 ohms finishing nail into it through the front
LED display (Opcoa SLA-7 or similar) R7 thru R I3-180 ohms
IC l-Retriggerable monostable multivi- Misc.-Printed circuit board; end cap.
714" x 1"
brator (74122) inner diameter CPVC plastic tubing; s/s' Pass the power leads for the probe
IC2-Hex inverter (7405) or 1/2" diameter hardwood dowel stock through the hole in the rear end cap.
IC3-Quad two-input NAND gate (7400) (see text); one red- and one black -
QI,Q3-Npn silicon switching transistor booted alligator clips; 72" length of No. Connect and solder a red -booted al-
(2N3904 or similar) 18 test lead cable; 6d finishing nail; sol- ligator clip to the +5 -volt and a black -
Q2-Pnp silicon switching transistor der; etc. booted alligator clip to the ground
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the logic probe. cables.
Transistors Q1 and Q2 are in comparator circuits which Test the probe by connecting its
set the logic levels. 1C2 and 1C3 decode the signal.
power cables to the +5 -volt and com-
mon buses of a known good circuit
and touching the probe lead to the
+5 -volt bus, common bus, and a point
touching a point that is electrically iso- To keep the electronic assembly as in the circuit where there are pulses.
lated from the circuit, DIS1 will display compact as possible, a printed circuit When the power leads are initially
an o. Furthermore,_any logic level that board is a must for component mount- hooked up, the display should indi-
is within the range set by the com- ing. The etching and drilling and com- cate 0. Touching the probe lead to the
parators will also result in an o being ponent placement guides are shown +5 -volt and common buses should
displayed. in Fig. 2. Since you will be making your cause an H and an L to be displayed,
In operation, H indicates a high TTL own double -sided board and will not respectively. With the probe lead
state (greater than 2.5 volts); L be able to plate through the holes, it is touching a point in the circuit where
indicates a low TTL state (less than 0.6 important to solder connections on pulse activity is taking place, the dis-
volt); o indicates an open circuit or an both sides of the board. Conse- play should indicate a P.
out -of -tolerance TTL state (high im- quently, you must install the compo- The circuit board is deliberately
pedance or less than 2.5 volts but nents in a set sequence. Install and wider than the inside diameter of the
greater than 0.6 volt); and P indicates a solder into place R7, R9, R13, and R15 plastic tube. To get the board into the
pulse train or single pulse. before you install R8, R10, R11, and tube, you will have to deform the latter.
R12. Likewise, install C2 before C1. To do this, place the tube between two
Construction. When assembling the All remaining components can be in- blocks of wood in a vise and very care-
probe, parts layout and lead dress are stalled in whatever sequence you de- fully close the vise just enough to
not particularly critical. The test prod sire. (Note: The component placement permit the board to slip into place. Be-
lead should be kept as short and direct guide shown in Fig. 2 is the view from fore Spening the vise, make certain
as possible through the junction of R1 the top, or component, side of the that the display is centered in the win-
and R2. board. The items to be installed first dow of the tube.
80 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 R5

JC3 R3
DIS 1 ICI C
- R4 -
RI4

T e--16
1.19-21 4

J.
.
4
.+I

' i li l o-o i L.J t

4 e °

Fig. 2. Etching and drilling guides and

i e

°
* 4 °
o

4
°i
i ó -i i
File or grind the point of the finish-
component layout .for pc board are above. ing nail to a sharp tip, contouring it
like a standard test -probe point. Drive
the nail into the front end of the cap,
leaving about 1/4 of the nail head free.
Locate the free end of the probe tip
Fig. 3. Diagram shows how to assemble the
probe. Be sure display shows in the window. wire coming from the circuit board.
Strip away about 3/8 of insulation from
3/4" LONG I/2INNER
DIAMETER FRONT the wire, wrap the exposed wire
3/32DEEP
5/8°DIA MAKE PRESS
FIT FOR TUBE
X
WINDOW I/2 POWER
CIRCUIT
BOARD
END
CAP TEST around the nail head, and drive the
CABLES \ TIP
nail home in the end cap. Push both
end caps into the tube (and secure
them with small screws if necessary),
7 I/4
and the probe is ready to use. Q.

PRB-1 DIGITAL LOGIC PROBE

Compatible with DTL, TTL, CMOS,
MOS and Microprocessors using a 4
to 15V power supply. Thresholds au-
tomatically programmed. Automatic
resetting memory. No adjustment re-
quired. Visual indication of logic lev-
els, using LED's to show high, low,
bad level or open circuit logit and
pulses. Highly sophisticated, shirt
pocket portable (protective tip cap
and removable coil cord).

DC to > 50 MHZ
10 Nsec. pulse response
120 K st impedance
Automatic pulse stretch-
ing to 50 Msec.
Automatic resetting memory
* ADO $2.00 FOR SHIPPING
(N. Y. CITY AND STATE RESIDENTS ADD TAX)
Open circuit detection
Automatic threshold resetting
Compatible with all logic
families 4-15 VDC
Range extended to 15-25 VDC
with optional PA -1 adapter
Supply O.V.P. to ± 70 VDC
No switches/no calibration

OK MACHINE & TOOL CORPORATION

(212) 994-6600 / Telex 125091
3455 Conner St., Bronx, N.Y. 10475

CIRCLE NO. 120N FREE INFORMATION CARO

81
1980 EDITION
 BY FORREST M. M

TALK
OVER A
SUNBEAM
WITH A "PHOTOPHONE"
Modernized version of Alexander Graham Bell's sunlight
communicator provides some 1880 electronics nostalgia-that works.

A LITTLE-KNOWN fact about the inven- telephone medium that developed 25 the surface of the mirror to flex in step
tor of the telephone is that Alexand- years after Bell's discovery, the Photo - with the speech patterns. Thus, by shin-
er Graham Bell considered an electro - phone was an elegantly simple techno- ing a continuous beam of light onto the
optical communicator he called a "Pho- logical marvel. mirror's surface, a variable beam im-
tophone" to be his greatest invention, Bell and Tainter succeeded in devel- pressed with the voice modulation was
greater even than his telephone. In oping more than 50 ways of voice - produced.
1880, Bell and Sumner Tainter com- modulating a beam of light, including Most of the light -beam receivers used
municated by voice over a beam of re- variable -polarization schemes used to- with the Photophone employed seleni-
flected sunlight. This was 19 years be- day in sophisticated laser communica- um detectors. (In 1873, it was discov-
fore A. Frederick Collins conducted the tion systems. ered that the resistance of bulk selenium
first feeble voice transmissions over a changed in response to varying light in-
distance of three blocks in Narberth, Photophone Details. The simplest tensity.) It was after Bell had read about
Pennsylvania. So, the first "wireless" of Bell's and Tainter's modulators con- selenium experiments that, in 1878, he
voice transmissions were not by radio, sisted of a small flat mirror cemented to conceived his Photophone idea.
as history would have us believe. a hollow cylinder. Voice energy directed One of Bell's detectors consisted of a
Compared to the power-hungry radio- into the open end of the cylinder caused circular array, while another consisted of
82
1980 EDITION
a cylindrical array of selenium cells. the touching both surfaces with the point of
first was designed to be used with a col- a pencil and observing the reflections.
lector lens, while the latter was designed The side that shows no gap between the
to be used with a parabolic reflector. real and the image points is the alumi-
Both detectors were connected in series nized surface of the mirror.) True, the
WHT
with a battery and a telephone receiver 8 -OHM uncoated surface of the mirror is more
SPKR
to make up the receiving equipment for resistant to scratches and abrasion, but
the Photophone. if this surface faced outward, 5% less
On April 1, 1880, Tainter voice - light would be reflected, which means
modulated a beam of sunlight from a you would have a shorter communica-
mirror and talked to Bell over a 699 -ft Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of a tion range.
(213-m) range. After this, Bell made op- simple Photophone receiver. For more transmitter power, remove
timistic predictions about the future of both ends from a metal can and tape
his Photophone, none of which material- aluminized mylar or aluminum foil over
ized during his lifetime. In fact, shortly munication, the inventor has been vin- one end. Or tape a square sheet of
after Bell's death, in 1921, the Photo - dicated. In short, his predictions after all either of these reflective materials over a
phone was used mainly in a few military these years are finally materializing. circular hole cut in a sheet of corrugated
applications. Bell was criticized and board. It is important that the surface of
even mocked for his opinions and pre- Build a Photophone. In this Photo - the reflector be smooth and taut for best
dictions. Today, as we are poised on the phone Centennial year, Bell's sunlight results.
threshold of large-scale light -beam corn - communication experiments can easily The Photophone receiver can be as
be bettered and duplicated with modern simple as a single silicon solar cell con-
solar cells and audio amplifier modules. nected to the input of a portable audio
You can start with Bell's simple mirror - amplifier. You can salvage an amplifier
and -cylinder transmitter. An excellent from a discarded cassette recorder
BILL OF MATERIALS choice for this purpose is the $1.65 Cat. (Fig. 1 shows typical connections) or use
No. 30,626 mirror from Edmund Scientif- a preassembled version such as Radio
Transmitter: ic Co. (300 Edscorp Bldg., Barrington, Shack's new Pocket Speaker Amplifier
1-25 -mm diameter mirror (see text) NJ 08007). This mirror measures 25 mm (277-1008A).
l-2"-3" length of 1" outer -diameter in diameter and nicely mates with a 1" A convenient housing for a basic re-
rigid tubing (25.4 -mm) diameter tube. ceiver can be had by modifying a flash-
White glue
Cut the tube to a length of about 2" light, such as the Burgess "Dolphin."
Receiver (50.8 -mm). Then, use white glue to ce- This flashlight's built-in reflector is an
1-16" diameter parabolic mirror (see ment the mirror to one end of the tube. ideal place for mounting a pair of solar
text)
1-Audio amplifier module (see text) Make certain that the aluminized surface cells because it would reflect far more
1-Miniature 8 -ohm loudspeaker of the mirror is facing outward to obtain light onto the cells than would be possi-
1 -10,000 -ohm potentiometer with best results. (You can determine which ble if the cells were used by themselves.
spst switch
1-2 x 2 -cm silicon solar cell is the mirror's aluminized surface by Mount two solar cells, back-to-back
1 -9-volt battery
1-Miniature phone plug and jack
1-17" x 17" piece of i/z" plywood (rear
panel)
2-17" x 3" pieces of 1/2" plywood (side
panels)
2-16" x 3" pieces of 1/2" plywood ( top
and bottom panels)
2-3" lengths of 3/4" x 3/" pine (cabinet
feet)
2-3" x 11" pieces of 1" plywood (door
legs)
1-12" length of 11/" x 3/s' piece of
hardwood lumber (detector arm)
1-3" length of Ph" x 3/s" piece of hard-
wood lumber (detector arm)
1-11/2" length of 11/2" x 3/s" piece of
hardwood lumber (detector arm)
1-6" length of 1" x 1" pine (door-open-
er block and mirror retainers)
1-16" length of 1/4" -diameter hard-
wood dowel (door opener and solar
cell)
5-Metal hinges (doors and detector
arm)
1-Drawer pull (cabinet handle)
1-Hasp and lock, or hook and eye
Misc.-Flat black and white enamel
paint; resilient foamed plastic;
white glue; #6 machine hardware;
1" finishing nails; vinyl electrical
tape; battery clip and battery hold-
er; metal spacers (4); stranded
hookup wire; solder; etc.
Fig. 2. This receiver can pick up good signals as far as 1/2 mile.
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK 83
 and connected in series with each other, Cat. No. 80,097. It is aluminized on its mirror's edge. The foamed plastic
by their leads with their plane lying along rear surface, which prevents it from be- should be lightly compressed, holding
the axis of the reflector. Focus the de- ing a perfect reflector. But the mirror's the mirror firmly but gently in place,
tector by adjusting the mounting leads 'h" circle of reflected light at the focal when all four retainers are fastened
while observing their reflections. When point is about the same size as the pho- down with machine hardware. Once the
the dark surfaces of the two cells fill the tocell, which at least partially makes up mirror is in place, exercise care when
entire area in the reflection, the cell de- for its shortcoming. working around it. Always place a thick
tector is properly aligned. Four wood retainers hold the mirror in bath towel or a blanket over the mirror
place inside the cabinet. After cutting when you are working on the cabinet.
Getting Greater Range. The Photo - these retainers to size, use white glue to The detector used in this receiver
phone receiver described above will cement strips of rg§ilient foamed plastic should be a single 2 x 2 -cm silicon solar
have a range of up to 550' (168 m). For along one entire narrow face of each. cell mounted at the end of a hardwood
really long-range communication by Then, while the glue is setting, locate dowel (see Fig. 4). The dowel plugs into
sunlight, you can use a large Fresnel and drill the mounting holes for the re- a two -section arm made from hardwood
lens or parabolic mirror to increase the tainers. By this time, the glue should stock and hinged at the joint. (The arm is
optical gain of the receiver's detector. A have set. Paint each retainer block-not in two sections so that it can be folded to
16" (40.2 -cm) reflector-complete with the foamed plastic-flat black and let permit the doors to close without ob-
detector, amplifier, battery, and loud- them dry. struction.)
speaker-is shown in a plywood cabinet Meanwhile, mount a pair of pine legs Strike a pencil line down the length of
in Fig. 2. This receiver can pick up good - on the bottom of the cabinet. install the the long arm section, centering it on the
quality voice and music from as far away carrying handle on the top of the cabi- wide side. Then strike cross lines 1"
as a half mile. Increasing the transmit- net, and use white glue to cement a from one end, and three more lines
ter's mirror as well, will increase the 1 "-square piece of resilient foamed plas- spaced 11/4" (32 mm), 2" (51 mm), and
communication range even more. tic in the center of the inside rear wall of 31/4" (83 mm) from the first cross line. At
You can duplicate this receiver by fol- the box. each line crossing, drill a )16" (4.76-mm)
lowing the construction details given in Mount the hinges on the cabinet's hole through the wood. Then use a rout-
Figs. 3 and 4. Make the cabinet from'h" doors. Carefully align the doors with the er, coping saw, or wood chisel to re-
(1.27 -cm) thick plywood, but don't install front edges of the side, top, and bottom move all the wood between the first and
the doors until later. Paint all inside sur- panels, and mark the locations of the re- second and third and fourth holes, mak-
faces of the cabinet flat black and all out- maining hinge holes. Remove and set ing the slots only as wide as the diame-
side surfaces white enamel. The black in aside the doors and drill the holes at the ter of the original holes.
the interior reduces stray light reflec- points indicated. Butt together the two arm pieces as
tions, while the white exterior makes for Now, lifting the mirror only by its shown and mount a small hinge at the
good visibility during alignment. edges, carefully position it in the cabinet. joint. Use glue and finishing nails to
The 16" parabolic mirror is available Mount the four retainer blocks in place mount a square wood block at the free
from Edmund Scientific for $19.95 as with their foamed surfaces against the end of the short arm section. Paint the
entire arm assembly flat black. When
the paint has dried, drill a hole through
17" the block and arm section, connect 12"
(30 -cm) lengths of stranded hookup wire
to the lugs of a miniature phone jack,
and mount the jack in the hole.
After painting an 81/4" long by 1/4"
LOCKING diameter (21 cm x 6.35 mm) hardwood
DOWEL
dowel flat black and allowing it to dry,
mount the 2 x 2 -cm silicon solar cell at
one end with white glue. Solder strand-
ed hookup wires to the cell's contacts at
one end, and connect and solder the
free ends of the wires to the lugs on a
miniature phone plug. Cut a groove in
the side of the dowel to permit the plug's
plastic cap to slide over the wire leads.
Remove enough wood from the dowel at
the end opposite the cell to permit it to
be force -fitted into the end of the plug's
cap. With a little care, the dowel will be
locked into place when the cap is
screwed onto the plug. Use black electri-
cal tape to bind the wires to the dowel in
a couple of places.
Mount the dowel -and -block assembly
Fig. 3. Dimensions of the plywood cabinet for the that holds the door open at the top of the
Photo phone. Mirror is held in place by wood blocks. right door. Position it so that it will not in-
84 1990 EDITION
terfere with door closure, and use glue
and finishing nails, the latter driven I/ 4.1) DOWEL
through the door panel into the block.
it_SOLAR CELL
Make sure the nails do not interfere with (2X2cm)
free movement of the dowel and the
dowel moves freely in the block.
Locate and drill the holes for the de-
tector arm as follows: First, strike a line TAPE

across the panel midway between the

top and bottom of the panel. Mount the 8-1/4"

door on the cabinet via its hinges. Slide

the dowel in the block forward to lock the
door open. Direct a strong beam of light
on the mirror's surface. Now, plug the
detector dowel assembly into the arm
assembly and place the arm against the
door panel. Center the slots in the arm
over the line on the door. Standing out of
the way of the light beam, move the arm 1/8" PHONE
PLUG
closer to or farther from the mirror until
the reflected light from the mirror just fills
the detector cell's active surface area. Fig. 4. Coostroetioo of final
Indicate on the door panel's line the section of detector arm, which
points that mark the centers of the slots is folded to permit door closing.
in the arm. Remove the arm, unplug the
detector dowel assembly, and set both
aside. Finally, drill a hole at each loca- beam. Plug the detector dowel assem- avoid pointing the receiver toward the
tion indicated. Make the holes just large bly into the arm on the door and adjust sun since concentrated direct sunlight
enough to require that you use a screw- the focusing for the best possible re- will destroy the solar cell and the detec-
driver to drive a pair of No. 6 x 11/2" ceived signal. With proper beam align- tor arm and pose a fire hazard to nearby
screws into the holes. ment and receiver focusing, you should combustible objects.
Remove the door panel from the cabi- be able to hear good -quality voice and
net. Mount plywood legs on the front of music transmissions. Some Modifications. The Photo -
both door panels. Then paint the panels, Continue to move the receiver away phone can be modified in a number of
flat black on their inside surfaces and from the transmitter and make reception ways to make it perform better. For ex-
white enamel on their outside surfaces. tests every 50' (15 m) or 100' (30 m) un- ample, you can increase sensitivity by
When the paint has thoroughly dried, til the signal becomes too weak to using light shields and baffles to cut out
drill perforations for the speaker grille, "copy." Bear in mind that the earth's ro- extraneous light reflections, or you can
and mount the speaker on the inside of tation will cause the sunlight reflected use a preamplifier to boost the signal
the panel. Use a metal L bracket for the from the transmitter's mirror to move level from the solar cell. A)arge Fresnel
switched potentiometer and spacers for away from your original alignment point. lens can also considerably improve re-
the amplifier module when mounting So, you will occasionally have to adjust ceiver operation. Edmund Scientific's
them in place. Then refer back to Fig. 1 the transmitter's orientation to assure No. 70,717 ($39.50), 243í4" x 191/2" (63
and interconnect all components. proper receiver/transmitter alignment. It x 49 cm) lens has more than twice the
Anchor the detector arm to the door helps if you can recruit one or two collecting area and yields a smaller blur
with large flat washers and wing nuts. friends for the alignment procedure as circle of light at its focus than does the
(The wing nuts will facilitate easy focus- distances can become quite great. 16" mirror.
ing of the receiver during field opera- The maximum range of your system is By using an amplifier module, micro-
tion.) Bolt the doors to the cabinet with dependent on the areas of the transmit- phone, and 49 -mm -square mirror (Ed-
No. 6 machine hardware. Use large flat ter's and receiver's mirrors, overall gain mund Scientific No. 41,619 at $1.50
washers under all screw heads and of the receiver's amplifier, atmospheric each) cemented to the cone of a 2" min-
nuts. Finally, install a hook and eye or condition, and angle of the sun in the iature speaker with white glue, you can
lock and hasp on the doors to keep them sky. The last is of particular importance put together an excellent voice transmit-
closed when the receiver is not in use. because high angles yield far more light ter that will greatly increase the range of
intensity than do low angles. Offsetting your system.
Range Testing. Start your testing by this is the fact that at high angles, less of There are many more possible modifi-
fastening the transmitter mirror assem- the transmitter's mirror surface is utilized cations you can use. With a little in-
bly directly over the speaker of a small than at the lower angles. Consequently, genuity, you can push the range of your
portable radio receiver. Aim the beam there is no way of predicting, with abso- system out to several miles.
from the transmitter down a range of lute assurance, what the range of your For more information about light wave
several thousand feet where it will not be system will actually be. communication systems employing sun-
obstructed. Take the receiver several When the system is not in use, keep light, LEDs and lasers, refer to "Light
hundred feet downrange and align its the transmitter in a covered box and Beam Communications" (Howard Sams
mirror with the transmitter's reflected close the receiver cabinet's doors. Also, & Co., 1975).

ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK 85

 QUIZ- GAME BY MICHAEL S. ROBBINS

ELECTRON/

Here's a player-response circuit that will enable you

to imitate quiz shows at home or with larger audiences.

PULAR TV quiz shows use electri- question. Here's a simple circuit that will The circuit shown will energize a lamp
cal or electronic apparatus to deter- enable high school and college groups to identify which player pushes his but-
mine which contestant makes the first to emulate the quiz shows. It can be ton first, sound an audible alarm, and
response, thereby getting first crack at a used for fun at home, too. lock out the buttons of the other players.

deeteenaMeee.dea

--_i
RESET

+12v
SI
I , PARTS LIST
II
Ci,C3,C5-O.l-taF, 50 -volt disc ceramic ca-
57 pacitor
C2 -5-µF, 25 -volt electrolytic capacitor
C4 -500-µF, 25 -volt electrolytic capacitor
SCRI C6 -0.02-µF, 50 -volt disc ceramic capacitor
loon
C7 -10-µF, 25 -volt electrolytic capacitor
Dl to D7-IN4001 diode
II to 13-No. 57 pilot lamp
C2
TSyF ICI ,1C2-555 IC timer
R1,R2,R4,R6-100-ohm resistor
R3,R5,R7.R8,R I0,R 1-1000-ohrn resistor
DI = D3
R
11
R9-6.S-megohm resistor
I

R 12 -1()0,000 -ohm resistor

02 Sl -Spst normally closed, momentary push-
button switch
S2 S3 S4
S2 to S4-Spst normally open, momentary
pushbutton switch
.1yF
C3- GATE BUS
RIO SCR to SCR4--HEP R1221 or equivalent
1

Misc.-Utility boxes, pc or perforated board,

R8
IK
lamp sockets, wire, solder, hardware, etc.
R9 D6
6.8M
RII
IK

C7 Schematic diagram for

C4
ICI RI 2 IO2 3 +1 / 10pF the game circuit. By
500yF NE555 I00K NE555
adding SCR networks,
8!1 the circuit can be
SPKR
expanded to include
C5
.15F
C6
02NF T 7
any number of players.
DI -D7 IN4001

86
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
The solid-state design is inexpensive to tors inside the 555 from excessive volt- lantern battery or a small full -wave pow-
build and can be expanded to include age spikes. er supply will work fine.
any number of players and a combina- Once a pulse of current flows into an
tion of alarms could be used. SCR, it will conduct indefinitely (the Construction. The system can be
player need not keep his button continu- constructed in several different configu-
Circuit Operation. The heart of the ously depressed) until the anode current rations. One of the most versatile ar-
system is an inexpensive SCR. When a falls below the holding current, IH. When rangements is to mount each contest-
contestant presses his button, the gate this happens, the SCR turns off. In this ant's pushbutton, indicator lamp, and
of his particular SCR (one for each play- circuit, the indicator lamp will continue to SCR network in a small utility box, which
er) is connected to the positive gate bus. glow and all other pushbuttons will be is placed before him. All of the boxes are
The SCR turns on and the indicator is lit. locked out until the referee pushes the connected together by a three -conduc-
Since the voltage across the SCR is RESET button, S1. tor cable. The tone generator, RESET
nearly zero during conduction, the nor- The duration and pitch of the tone button, and power supply can then be in-
mally positive gate bus will be pulled may be adjusted by changing the values stalled in a utility box mounted at the re-
down to almost 0 volts through the diode of the timing components associated feree's position.
which ties the bus to the SCR's anode. with ICI and 1C2. For example, chang- An alternative arrangement is to
When this happens, the bus will not be ing R9 from 6.8 megohms to 1 megohm mount all of the circuitry behind a panel
able to supply enough gate current to will shorten the duration to about 0.2 on which the indicator lamps are in-
turn any other SCR on. Thus the other seconds, while substituting a 10- stalled. Twisted -pair or zip cord can be
players' buttons are locked out until the megohm resistor will extend the interval used to connect the circuitry to pushbut-
referee resets the circuit. to about two seconds. Replacing the tons at the contestants' and referee's
This dip in voltage on the bus acti- 100,000 -ohm R12 with a 500,000 -ohm positions. Other configurations might be
vates ICI, a 555 unit operating as a one- resistor will raise the frequency of the suggested by your own particular situa-
shot. A one -second pulse from ICI's tone from 350 Hz to about 1000 Hz. tion.
output activates IC2, a 555 in the asta- Since tastes vary, you might install po- Parts placement is not critical, so the
ble mode, producing a tone in the tentiometers in place of these two fixed circuitry can be assembled on a printed
speaker for the same length of time. resistances, and adjust them to produce circuit board or a piece of perforated
Since the output of 1C2 is a square the desired pitch/duration combination. board, mounted in any small, convenient
wave, an appreciable inductive "kick" Any small 8 -ohm speaker will be suffi- utility box.
can appear across the speaker coil. Two cient for this application. Power can be All you need now to use the system
clipping diodes are connected across obtained from any source capable of are contestants, brain teasers and
the output of IC2 to protect the transis- producing 500 mA at 9 to 12 volts dc. A prizes to be won!

THE MEAN
LL
LITTLE KIT

New compact 24-piece kit of electronic

tools for engineers, scientists, technicians,
students, executives. Includes 7 sizes
screwdrivers, adjustable wrench, 2 pair
pliers, wire stripper, knife, alignment tool,
stainless rule, hex -key set, scissors, 2 flexi-
ble files, burnisher, miniature soldering
iron, solder aid, coil of solder and de -
soldering braid. Highest quality padded
zipper case, 6 x 9 x 13/4 inside. Satisfaction
guaranteed. Send check, company pur-
chase order or charge Visa/BankAmeri-
card or Mastercharge. We pay the shipping
charges.
JTK-6 Tool Kit $75.00

FREE CATALOG
I28 -pages of hard -to -find
precision tools. Also con-
taines 5 pages of useful
"Tool Tips" to aid in tool
'/_-. selection. Send for your
free copy today!

"GEE! FIRST COMPUTER DATE!

MY
JENSEN TOOLS INC.
1230 S. pRIEST TEmpE, AZ. 85281
S WONDER WHAT HE'LL ßE LIKE?'
CIRCLE NO. 10 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD 87
1980 EDITION
 A"JUNK-BOX" BY R. C. FOSS

5 -VOLT POWER SUPPLY

Discrete circuit made from spare parts gives IC -regulator performance.

WHEN a breadboard project calls conveniently grounded, and the chas- V E of Q3 and the turn -on voltage of
for a regulatèd 5 -volt supply, sis can be used for heat sinking. It's the LED usually have similar tempera-
most experimenters instinctively even possible to use a germanium ture coefficients, this simple
reach for a 109 -type IC. But suppose transistor if R2 is lowered to about 22 reference-comparator combination
you're fresh out of 109's? The circuit ohms to allow for the lower V F. works surprisingly well.
described here can be built from The other two transistors are The collector provides base current
junk-box parts, offers 0.15 -volt stabili- general-purpose, small -signal silicon for Q2. This transistor's collector re-
ty, 5 -mV noise and ripple, automatic devices. Similarly, resistors are not sistor, R3, together with R1 and R2,
current limiting, and an overload indi- critical. A two -watt wirewound com- limit the maximum (overload) current
cating light! ponent should be used for R1. A of Q1. As more output is demanded,
No transistor type' numbers are length of resistive wire wrapped on the Q3 and, in turn, Q2 turn increasingly
shown in the schematic diagram, as body of a higher -value resistor can "on," grounding the bottom of R3.
almost any will do. The pnp series - form R1. Resistor R3 should be a car- This action sets up a voltage divider,
pass transistor, Q1, is a power type bon half -watt component. R2 and R3, limiting base drive to Q1.
with a rated BV, F. of 15 volts, and a A variable resistor in series with R3
minimum current gain of about 30 at 1 About the circuit. The LED is used can be inserted to set lower current
A. If the power device you have on as a reference voltage source with an limits. This is especially desirable
hand has a gain a bit lower than 30, R3 output of about 2 V. (The forward vol- when the supply is feeding easily
can be reduced to compensate. tage drop of most GaAsP yellow, damaged, low -power devices. Maxi-
Enough heat sink should be provided green, or orange LED's will vary from mum current output of the series pass
to dissipate 7 or 8 watts under worst - 2.0 to 2.2 volts. Select one with a V transistor is set by R1 and R2, and R3
case overload conditions. As shown, close to 2.0 V.) limits the base current into it. Thus,
the collector is the positive output rail. Feedback action sets the base of Q3 there is current -limiting action.
A piece of aluminum bolted to the + to about one V E below the reference Because Q3 and the reference LED
terminal will do nicely. If you want to voltage on its emitter. So, R5, the ,are fed from the stable side of the sup-
use an npn power transistor, invert the 1000 -ohm trimmer potentiometer, will ply, the circuit gives excellent rejec-
entire circuit into its complementary generally be set about 3/4 of the way tion of ripple and input variations. If R4
form. Thus the transistor's case is "down" for a 5 -volt output. Since the is excluded, complete current shut-off
will occur when the supply is short
DI circuited. Although this is very desir-
HEP R0080
QI
3.3K able in protecting the load, it also
SI means that the circuit will not self -
.511
start! At the specified value, R4 bleeds
FI2.6 V R6
6808
I17V
enough current into the error
AC amplifier (Q3) to allow start-up against
R2 C2 a 5 -ohm load. If desired, a normally
D2 4711
85 1000
HEP R0080 R3
100f1 IK yF open pushbutton switch can be
5V
placed in series with R4 to get the best
02
of both configurations.
The LED also acts as a pilot light-it
CI will extinguish when the power supply
6800" M%';'
LEDI is shut down by overload trip -out.

0
In this simple circuit, LEDI acts as a voltage reference and pilot light. Construction. The builder has as
much flexibility in choosing construc-
PARTS LIST tion techniques as he has in selecting
semiconductors. Perforated or
C1 -6800-µF, 15-V
electrolytic capacitor R3 -100 -ohm, Ih -W resistor printed circuit board can be used. The
C2 -1000-µF, 15-V
electrolytic capacitor R4-3300 -ohm, 1/2-W resistor
DI, D2-HEP R0080 rectifier or equiva- RS -1000 -ohm, linear -taper potentiometer project can be installed in any suitable
lent R6 -680 -ohm, %-W resistor enclosure. The only adjustment that
LEDI-See text. SI-Spst switch must be made is the setting of R5. Ad-
QI-Pnp power transistor. (See text.) TI -12.6 -volt, 3-A center -tapped trans-
Q2, Q3-General-purpose silicon transis- former (Radio Shack 273-1511 or equi- just it so that the output is 5 volts.
tors valent) Once the setting has been deter-
The following fixed resistors can be 5 or Misc.-Perforated or printed circuit
10% tolerance.
mined, fixed resistors can be substi-
board, machine hardware, hookup wire,
81 -0.5 -ohm resistor. (See text.) binding posts, solder, line cord, suitable tuted for both sides of the potentiome-
R2-47 -ohm, 1/2-W resistor enclosure, etc. ter for stability. Q
88 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 J. BIK
BY RUSSELL

and
BUILD
of SCR's
design
HE INTRODUCTION the
into jig of the art from e
ad ante e
rheostat
t The
advanced of the tgiant of
dark ages ine devices
ft
in this
described step
11 r nts the next logical
project
DYnadcm performs
nt. It light
article represents
d rd
of standard matic
light
in dimmer functions
19htd
and alosmprovides at a d')usta
9
d1rrmers aof
dimming th e
at Pparties, full
ble ratesmooà setter from
As dim lighting level or
I can holding
down to any preset °la eg ranging
an impercepti-
alshe way sec ow
few secondsThe sa rne
er
from a 40 minutes sleep inducer
bly serve especially
kids
e\pit can elax It's
by ptoghao on after
e aroundights when
insist that ut to bed can be
P cycles
cY be
like providing
are
they timing
in
pre$enta-
Short to aapplications
P e presenta-
to by
applied Tonal touch to and slides
movies lights
a professional ho use'.
as
tion of down the Projector.
bri el attenddtto
while you t nadim circuit to -off
w° rk it
The Y
11
dim'
W °rks designed automatic ds t0 a slo W
an auto
N °W It is t urce and n$
so FeatU1
s
hown in Fig' pswer
termin
als.The
froms a few seeon s nvention°
with the
ac input by tries mode Well as
series load via °
d is regulated t closes 40 m minutes, dimming.
tthe the login el
P hat acts as each alternation
alte
uto
mat- preset -level
Qt t
during
and voptage
some
of e n
put po gir Poste n
in
time the The P
II each point triggered
fist Y
the Zer Qe is
through where mines hewIf
the alternation determinesthe load.
Into is supplied in cycle,
much power curs early a cycle,
oc-
triggeringolled light ¡ttriggering
Y

curs later.
curs
89
1980 EDITION
 L
IOOIyH

RI
6.8 K
R6 RIO RII
DI D3 IOK IM 47011
LOAD
R2
4700. BRIGHTNESS
S2
ON/OFF
D2 D4

a
117 01
VAC 2N4860
C3
.015F D7
ENABLE IN914

R5
15M
D5 S
12V
02
2N4871
R8
10K

812
SPEED 15M
R3
5M R9
47K
O

TI 3
R4 R13
K:>
+I I0K 15M

CI
1005F .015F

Fig. 1. Unlike a conrentronal light dimmer, the triac (Q3) is gated

later and later in the power-line cycle as C1 discharges.
Dimming time is controlled by varying discharge time to Cl

PARTS LIST
C1 -100-µF, 15 -volt electrolytic capacitor R3-5-megohm slide potentiometer knobs for slide pots; bus wire; machine
C2 -0.01-µF, 50 -volt capacitor R4,R6,R8-10,000-ohm, 'h -watt, l0%r re- hardware; solder; etc.
C3 -0.01-µF. 200 -volt capacitor sistor (The following items required only for
-1
DI through D4 -ampere, 200 -Ply recti- R5,R12,R13-15-megohm, '/-watt, IO(4 portable table version of dimmer: 12'
fier diode resistor "remote -control" extension cord;
D5 -12 -volt zener diode (1N4742 or simi- R7 -50,000-ohm slide potentiometer right-angle strain relief; four rubber
lar) R9-470.000 -ohm, 'h-watt, 107 resistor feet.)
D6,D7-1N914 diode (see text) Note: The following items are available
LI-Line filter inductor approximately 100 R10-1-megohm, 1/2 -watt, 10% resistor from The Dynadim Company, P.O. Box
µH at 4 -amperes) SI,S2-Spst slide switch 1228, Cupertino, CA 95015: Etched
QI -2N4860 field-effect transistor TI-Pulse transformer with I:1 ratio and drilled pc board for $5.50; complete
02-2N4871 unijunction transistor (Sprague No. IZ 12) kit of parts, including chassis box, in
Q3 -200 -volt, 6 -ampere triac ECC Q2006L4 Misc.-Printed circuit board; suitable
1

wall -mount version for $24.95 and in

RI -6800-ohm, 1/2 -watt, 10% resistor chassis box with cover; insulator (goes table version for $27.95. California resi-
R2,R I -470 -ohm, 1/2 -watt, 10% resistor
1
between pc board and box); felt strips; dents please add sales tax.

To send Q3 into conduction, a trig- An earlier triggering can also be ob- made up of D1 through D4 is main-
ger pulse is applied to the gate of the tained by adjusting the R6 -R7 voltage tained at a constant 12 volts, regard-
triac by the discharge of C2 through divider. The effect on the bias of 01 is less of load, by zener diode D5. The
02 and the primary of Tl. The time the same as raising the potential filtering network made up of C3 and L1
constant of C2 and its resistors is across C1, except that a static control reduces interference to the AM broad-
rather long compared to the period of over lighting intensity is obtained to cast band caused by triac switching
a single ac alternation. The values set threshold levels. transients.
given in Fig. were selected so that
1 The automatic dimming feature is
the potential across C2 just barely at- obtained by opening S1 and allowing Construction. To keep the dimmer
tains an amplitude sufficient to drive C1 to slowly discharge through R3 and as slim and compact as possible, it is
02 into conduction when the voltage R4. This causes the lighting to di- recommended that you build it on a
across C1 is zero and R7 is set for minish gradually as the triggering printed circuit board. An actual -size
minimum bias on Q1. pulses to the triac are produced later etching and drilling guide and com-
Closing S1 causes Cl to charge and later in each cycle. ponent placement diagram are shown
through R2 and D6, thereby increas- The high resistance required to pre- in Fig. 2. Note that the entire circuit,
ing the bias on Q1 and allowing C2 to vent the voltage from being too rapidly including controls and switches,
charge more quickly with each alter- shunted away from C1 is provided by mount directly on the pc board. To
nation of the ac power cycle. As a re- using a field-effect transistor as Q1 avoid lead breakage from vibration, it
sult, the Q2 oscillator circuit produces and a very high resistance in its gate is best to epoxy T1 to the board. It is
the triggering pulses for the triac ear- circuit. also advisable to mount R1 about 1/4"
lier in the cycles, and the controlled The rectified power applied to the (6.4 mm) above the surface of the
lights brighten. timing circuit by the diode bridge board to assure good heat transfer.
90 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 Fig. 2. Actual -size etching and
drilling guide is shown above
left, with component layout
guide above right.

df,r

91'
Fig. 3. Exploded view of assembly drawing shows how to attach the D

Dynadim to conventional junction box.

Remove all power betbre installation.
91
1980 EDITION
 The triac (03) specified in the Parts tween the inside of the front panel and
List has an electrically isolated heat - the tops of the slide pots to keep out TEST YOUR
sink tab that can be bolted to the metal dust and other foreign material. Ce-
cover to provide good heat sinking. If ment these strips in place so that they ELECTRONICS
you use any other type of triac, an in- just touch each other in the two slider
sulating mounting kit will be required. hole locations. INGENUITY
After wiring the board, check it over When you make the hookup to the By Robert G. Fleagle, Jr.
for possible solder bridges between ac line in the junction -box installation,
foil traces and to ascertain that all be sure to use wire nuts for the con- Archimedes, most of us have
LIKE
components are properly installed nections. at one time or another wanted to
and polarized. To avoid leakage prob- Drill the rear wall of the dimmer's shout "Eureka" when we have found
lems in the high -impedance circuit box so that it can be mounted directly a simple solution to a baffling prob-
around the two transistors, remove all on the junction box via the latter's lem. Three such problems make up
rosin and clean the board thoroughly switch mounting screws. (The original this quiz, one each on math, circuit
with alcohol. junction -box switch will no longer be theory, and "rules of thumb." Most of
It is important that the leakage of Cl needed.) In this manner, the complete you know the facts needed to solve
be minimized and that Q1 be properly dimmer can be affixed to the wall to these problems. The quiz, then, is to
biased to obtain the full 40 -minute eliminate the crowding that would test your ability to use the facts. It is
time delay. The leakage through an exist if the entire circuit were to be simple, even trivial, but "simple" does
electrolytic capacitor is inversely "squeezed" into the junction box. not always mean "easy."
proportional to the number of hours it If you prefer to make your dimmer a Here are the problems:
is charged. This process is cumulative table model, the same four screws that 1. Solve for C in the following equa-
over the life of the capacitor. A dramat- mount the circuit board to the box can tion: A = BC.
ic reduction in leakage will occur dur- 2. Find the greatest possible power
be used to secure rubber feet to the
ing the first few hours of operation; dissipation for R2 in this circuit:
bottom of the box in which the project
improvement continues into the is housed. In this configuration, a 12'
10V teWAAN
RI - R2
thousands of hours. (Note: The (about 4-m) long "remote -control" ex- 5.0041 6.0011
330%
capacitors supplied with the kit listed tension line cord should be used to
in the Note under the Parts List come allow maximum flexibility. The lamp to
burned in. If you buy new capacitors be dimmed then plugs directly into the 3. You are given a faulty printed -
locally, you can burn them in once cord, which also plugs into the ac re- circuit board assembly on which only
they are mounted in the project simply ceptacle. TTL integrated circuits are mounted.
by leaving the dimmer turned on in the You find that the pc assembly draws 1
standby mode.) Using the Dimmer. For conven- ampere of current when it should nor-
The value of R9 was selected to pro- tional control of lighting, it is recom- mally draw only 200 mA. How can you
vide optimum bias for the nominal mended that the dimmer control be quickly pinpoint the faulty IC, using no
specifications of Q1. However, differ- left in the full BRIGHT position and that unusual test equipment?
ences in individual transistors may the lights be controlled with the
have to be compensated for by chang- ON/OFF switch. When the dimmer is left
ing R9's value. Raising the resistance
ANSWERS
on for long periods of time, a slight
increases the apparent length of the "auo Ave; ay; si lsalloy ay; spa;
warming of the chassis will be noted. u! DI yoea ;o aseo
timing cycle until a point is reached ley; DI a41
This is normal and should cause no ay; oi dwa6ul; JnoA yonol pue air)
where the controlled light will not turn apprehensions. -ww e lnoge Jal;e JaMod ay; ;;o u.lnl
off even if Cl is discharged. The ideal For dimming action, if you wish the lot; tian 6ugla6 ag lsnw yoiyM 'DI A;
value for R9 is just below the point at lights to be full on and extinguish au- -Ine; ay; o; 6u1o6 s1 ssaoxa out ley; laq
which this begins to occur. tomatically to a very dim glow over a ales e si ll 'iaMod ;o lunowe sill JEau
You can mount the dimmer in a period of, say, 10 minutes, the proce- aaayMAue aledlsslp Janau pinoys 31
permanent wall mounting (at a light - dure would be: First set the timing and lell6lp poo6 e aouls slleM b effla ue
switch junction box) or in a separate dimming controls to DIM and RAPID sl uol;edlsslP JaMod 'aio;aJayl -vw
box for portable table use. The as- OOZ lewJou 511 ;o pealsul 5110n g le
and the STANDBY/ENABLE switch to EN-
sembly details for the junction -box saledwE Cj 6uIMEJp sl pleog a4j "£
ABLE. The lights will extinguish quick-
approach is shown in Fig. 3. Note that "slleM 00-5 sn sane
ly. Adjust the dimmer control to the
the dimmer is connected in series with azl pue aradwe sn sanl6 Mel s,wyp
position that gives the desired 'swyo g ol las Zd yhM awafixa Jayha
the load. Make sure that all electrical minimum illumination. Set the timing ol ;o pealsw 'swig) 9 ;o %0£
power is removed from the junction control to a position about four divi- s1 yolyM 'swyo 00"9 ol las ag;snw Zd
box before attempting to install the sions above RAPID, S1 to STANDBY, and 'aouaH .peo1 ay; sl ed pue aouepadwl
dimmer. (when ready to initiate the dimming awnos ay; Si ;d 'aseo styl u1 ¿lenba
Mount the pc board assembly inside action) switch to ENABLE. The lights are saouepadwi peo pue aoinos
a form -fitting enclosure, with a thin will begin slowly to dim to the preset ayl uayM sin000 Ja;sued JaMod
insulator between the bottom of the lsaleaJ6 ley; waJoay; ay; Jagwaw
level.
board and the metal rear section of the -a! l(slleM 96"q lou) slleM 000'9 "Z
Although the Dynadim Il itself draws
box. The metal cover should have cut- very little power (about as much as an 8 601/v 601 = D-Iaoueo
pue 8 601 Ag apinlp "8 601 D= b' 601
outs for the slide shafts of the poten- electric clock), it is advisable to turn it 'semi 601 6uuagwawaH "(38) 601 =
tiometers and switch toggles. Short off when convenient. This will ensure 6o1-sapls wog Jo swylue6ol ayl a)1el
lengths of felt fabric can be used be - maximum component life. '08 = V 410n 6u!lmlS 8 601/v 601 = D'
92 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 BY MAYNARD GRADEN

Handheld
photoelectric
system
turns
electrical
equipment
on
or off.

LIGHT GENIE

3LW J H "LIGHT GENIE"

ALADDIN was a lucky fellow. When the Genie will control just about anything Circuit Operation. The schematic
he wanted a job done, all he had to that has a switch. diagram of the Genie is shown in Fig. 1.
do was rub his magic lamp and a genie A small penlight will operate the Genie A light shield is used to prevent random
would do his bidding. With the "Light at distances up to 12 feet (3.6 m), while ambient light from striking the photocell,
Genie," you can do almost the same a regular flashlight extends the range to PC1. The latter provides base bias for
thing. You can use it to silence annoying greater than 30 ft (9.1 m). High ambient emitter follower Q1. Small, relatively
TV commercials or change your stereo room light will not interfere with the Ge- constant amounts of light only vary the
system from tuner to tape deck. In fact, nie's operation. quiescent operating point of the circuit

PARTS LIST
VCC VDD
--o-- N C
COM
C1 -10-µF, 10 -volt electrolytic capacitor
C2 -500-µF, 15 -volt electrolytic capacitor
NO

QI 10
s
II

RT
13
DbKl
D1 through D5-1N4001 rectifier diode
F1-V4-ampere fuse (see text)
ICI -74121 integrated circuit
1C2-7472 integrated circuit

RIf
R3
1C3-LM309H 5-volt regulator IC
a 2
Q2 K 1 -6-volt dc relay with spdt contacts (Sigma
No. 65F1 A-6DC or similar-see text)
PC1-Clairex CL702L photoresistive cell
Q 1,Q2-2N3704 transistor
The following resistors are t/4-watt, 10%:
VDD RI -470 ohms
WI R2-39,000 ohms
R3-220 ohms
VCC R4-1000 ohms
SW 1-Spst toggle or slide switch
FI T1 -6.3 -volt, 1.2-ampere transformer (see
text)
Misc.-Metal utility box; fuse holder; line
E cord with plug; 9 -pin shielded tube socket;
02 C ICI,IC2 3/4" flat washers (2); matte black construc-
B VCC= PIN 14
3 tion paper; tape; glue; hookup wire; solder;
IC3 QI,Q2 BNB= PIN 7 machine hardware; etc.

Fig. 1. Circuit is activated to energize Kl when light beam strikes PC1 directly.
93
1980 EDITION
 However, when a beam of light is direct-
ed at the Genie so that it falls directly on
the photocell, the resistance of PC1 rap-
idly decreases and sends Q1 into con-
duction.
Integrated circuit ¡Cl is a monostable
multivibrator. A time constant of 250 ms,
which prevents multiple triggering from a
slowly changing light source, is provided
by Cl and R2. The output from ICI is a
clean square pulse that is used to clock
1C2. As flip-flop IC2 toggles, transistor
Q2 is either driven into saturation or cut
off to energize or de -energize relay Ki,
respectively.
The power supply is also shown in
Fig. 1. It provides power for the relay
and regulated 5 volts, through 1C3, to
operate the logic.

Construction. To construct the light

shield, use a piece of 8" x 4" (20.3 x
10.1 cm) matte black construction pa-
per. Form a tube by rolling it around two Fig.2. Photo shows how to make light shield out of black construction paper.
3A" flat washers. Insert a washer inside Base from a 9 -pin shielded tube socket is used as a mounting bracket.
the paper tube at the halfway point and
perpendicular to the central axis. Drop in
a small amount of glue to secure it in
place. Use tape to hold the tube togeth-
Q2
er, as shown in Fig. 2.
Remove the Bakelite base from the
frame of a nine-pin shielded tube socket.
0 D5
(The two pieces are usually held togeth-
er by small metal tabs that can be bent
to separate the two parts.) Using the DI + D3
I C 2 I

R4 R3
I

frame as a template, mark and drill I KI

. n
mounting holes on the front of the box.
Locate the center of the frame and drill a AC
C2 QIQ PC I

INPUT
third I " (6.35 mm) hole at this point. At- -RI- QIC3
tach the frame to one end of the paper
tube. This will be the mounting bracket
for the light shield. D2+ .¡D4
u II
R¡CI
Mount the photocell and two 12" (30:5 ICI
cm) lengths of wire on the tube base us-
ing two of the pins as tie points. Adjust
the photocell so that it is parallel to the
base of the tube. Complete the light
shield by cementing the photocell as-
sembly to the other end of the paper
tube.
The circuit can be assembled using
perforated board and point-to-point wir-
ing or a printed circuit board that can be
made using Fig. 3. In either case, the Fig. 3. Etching
board should be mounted vertically on and drilling
one side of the box so that ample space guide for pc
remains for installing any additional board at left.
parts that may be required for various Component
switching applications. layout above.

Uses. The Light Genie can be used to

silence television commercials as
shown in Fig. 4. The value of RL should
be equal to the impedance and wattage
of the speaker. If there is enough room

94 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK

 RL
NO
NC

COM

3 COND.
CABLE
Fig. 4. Connections to a TV set to PROM
AUDIO
kill commercials. RL should be equal to OUTPUT
speaker in impedance and wattage.
-J sxd,azad# 444
IA
POPULAR
TO AC LINE
ELECTRONICS
Fig. 5. Using two chassis -mounted
ac receptacles to switch power.
Fuse shown is separate from the It's the new look in magazine cases!
one in Genie power supply. The ideal way to save your valuable
copies, keep them well -protected
and make it easy for you to refer to
any issue at any time. Both decora-
tive and attractive to enhance the
inside the TV receiver, the entire circuit rate from the power supply fuse and decor of any room-each case is
can be placed inside the cabinet behind should be equal to the current capacity designed to hold a full year's copies.
a small hole that allows unobstructed of the relay contacts. Sturdily constructed to guard your
It is possible to perform complex magazines against soiling and tear-
access to PC1 for the light beam. If the ing, these durable cases are covered
Genie is to be an outboard unit, mount a switching functions by using one relay to in a rich -textured leatherette. They
terminal block on the outside of the box control several other relays as shown in are available in either all black or
and use a length of three -conductor wire Fig. 6. Here, relay Kl is used to control attractive maroon back with black
to make the interconnections. two other relays, which choose between sides. The gold -embossed back adds
to its elegance and makes each case
An application using two chassis - two components in a stereo system with
a welcome addition to your book
mounted ac receptacles to switch power the same output level, impedance, and shelf or cabinet.
is shown in Fig. 5. The relay specified in required equalization characteristics. Magazine cases are available for any
the Parts List will handle à 1 -ampere re- The preceding examples begin to of your favorite magazines. They're
sistive load. If a heavier load is to be demonstrate the versatility of the Light only $5.95 each, 3 for $15.50 in any
Genie in two -state switching applica- combination of titles ordered. Prices
controlled, substitute a relay with a high-
include all postage and handling
er contact rating, or have the specified tions. Sequential switching functions charges. Outside U.S.A. add $1 per
relay drive a 117-volt ac relay with suffi- can just as easily be implemented using case ordered.
ciently heavy contacts. The fuse is sepa- stepping relays. O e
CHARGE YOUR ORDER TO YOUR AMERICAN
EXPRESS, VISA, MASTER CHARGE
OR DINERS CLUB ACCOUNT. ®®
,N,NH
Popular Electronics, P.O. Box 278,
Pratt Station, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11205
RT. CHAN.
Please send the Magazine Cases indicated below:
OUTPUT TITLE QUANTITY

RT. IN I

RT, IN 2 CHECK ONE: All Black

Maroon Back, Black Sides
LT. IN I
ENCLOSED IS $
LT, IN 2 E CHARGE: (1 American Express Diners Club
E VISA Master Charge

Account # Exp Date

LT. CHAN. Master Charge Interbank #

OUTPUT (4 numbers over your name)
VDD
SHIELDED SECT/ON Signature
Print Name
K
--O Address
City State Zip
Fig. 6. Performing complex switching functions Residents of CA, CO, FL, IL. MI, MO, NY STATE,
DC and VT add applicable sales tax.
by using one relay to control several others.

1980 EDITION 95
 BUILD A
STATE- OF- THE -ART
BATTERY
CHARGE JIONITOR
Prevents early failure of Ni -Cd batteries
by determining proper time to recharge.

BY W.J. PRUDHOMME

THE PRIMARY cause of early cell low -power applications, this drain can A fully charged Ni -Cd cell has an out-
failure in nickel -cadmium batteries drastically reduce the available operat- put potential of typically 1.25 volts. The
is internal shorting that results from al- ing time of the battery. The ideal solution cell maintains an almost constant output
lowing the battery to become too deeply is to use a circuit that draws no current potential until it is almost completely dis-
discharged in service. Therefore, any from the battery as long as the supply charged, at which point, the potential
electronic device that uses Ni -Cd cells voltage is greater than the critical poten- drops rapidly to about 1.0 to 1.1 volts, or
should contain a low -battery indicator tial of the battery. This is what the lamb- 1.05 volts average. A precise voltage
that trips and warns you to recharge da -diode monitor does. In addition, the monitor set to trip at this "critical" volt-
long before the battery's "critical" volt- trip potential is adjustable over an 8 - age level (or at a multiple of this potenti-
age is reached. Though there are a to -20 -volt range, and cost is low. al if more than one cell is in series) can
number of different types of charge be very useful in determining the charge
monitors you can incorporate into your Technical Details. The output po- level of the battery.
battery-powered equipment, the lamb- tential of most batteries varies in relation An eight -cell Ni -Cd battery pack, for
da -diode monitor described here is more to the state of charge. This relation is dif- example, would have a fully charged
advanced than other monitors in use. ferent for each type of battery. Lead -acid output potential of 10.0 volts. When
Most low -battery indicators use a tran- batteries, for example, exhibit an almost nearly completely discharged, the bat-
sistor to switch on the drive current for a linear dropoff in output voltage as the tery would have an output of 8.4 volts. If
LED or meter movement. The disadvan- cells become discharged. The same is the lambda -diode monitor circuit shown
tage here is that the monitor circuit generally true for dry cells. For Ni -Cd in Fig. 1 were set to trip at 8.4 volts, we
places a constant drain on the battery, batteries, however, the dropoff is not have a useful state -of -charge monitor
even when the LED is extinguished. In quite linear. for a Ni -Cd battery system.

PARTS LIST

- BATTERY
PACK
LEDI-Any discrete light-emitting diode
QI -P -channel junction field-effect transistor
(2N4360 or similar)
Q2-N-channel junction field-effect transistor
(2N3819 or similar)
Q3-Silicon switching transistor (2N2222A or
similar)
RI -10,000 -ohm, I/5 -watt miniature pc po-
tentiometer
R2-Current-limiting resistor (see text for de-
tails on how to calculate value; typically
about 150 ohms. 1/2 -watt)
Misc.-Printed circuit board or perforated
/11/ board and solder clips; relay (substitutes for
Fig. 1. Battery charger uses a lambda diode made of 2 FET's. LED I; see text); hookup wire; solder; etc.

96 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK

 The two -terminal, negative -resistance The potential at which the lambda di-
lambda diode shown inside the dashed ode conducts can be adjusted by poten-

T
box in Fig. consists of one each n- and
1 tiometer Rl. Resistor R2 is a current lim-
p -channel FET's. (There is no "lambda" iter for LED1. Its value is determined by
diode available commercially.) Note that Ohm's Law (R2 = E/I, where R2 is in
in this configuration there are only two ohms, E is the potential of the battery at
terminals, which can be labelled the point LED1 turns on, and is the op- I

"anode" (A) and "cathode" (K). erating current of the LED used.
If the lambda diode is biased into cut-
off, transistor 03 is also cut off and Construction Details. The lambda - R2
03
* LE DI.
LED1 is off. As battery voltage drops, a diode battery -charge monitor is small
point is reached where the lambda diode enough to be built into the equipment in
abruptly conducts. This biases Q3 into which a Ni -Cd battery pack is used for Fig. 3. Etching and drilling
conduction and turns on LEDs to indi- power. Alternatively, it can be assem- guide (right) with component
cate a low -battery condition. (The oper- bled as an external low -battery indicator layout (left) can be used or
ating characteristic of the lambda diode accessory and housed in a small utility a perforated board will do.
is shown in Fig. 2.) box. In either case, printed -circuit (Fig.
3) or perforated board construction can
be used.
I PEAK The choice of JFET's for making up
the lambda diode is not critical. Almost
any combination of n- and p -channel de-
vices will work as well as those specified
_
Fig. 2. Operating
tr
NEGATIVE
RESISTANCE characteristics in the Parts List.
cr REGION
of the lambda -diode You may want to consider substituting
portion of circuit. a small relay for LED1 to disconnect the
battery pack from the load when the po-
tential falls low enough to trigger the
VP EA K system. This setup will automatically
VOLTAGE
protect the battery pack from polarity
reversal during discharge. O

QUICK HEX -DECIMAL CONVERSIONS

BY RAYMOND J. BELL

CONVERSION from hexadecimal to deci- highest table entry that does not exceed 32 is digit, giving 32016 as the hex equivalent of
mal or vice versa is sometimes required 32, which corresponds to a 2 in the second 80016, not 3216, which is 5010.)
hex digit. Subtracting 32 from 32, the remain- The table can be expanded by multiplying
inmicrocomputers. The table presented here
der is zero, which means the conversion is the digits of 0 to 15 by the appropriate power
offers a rapid and efficient solution to this
problem. It is suitable for integers between 0 complete. (Note: to maintain proper relation- of sixteen. To construct the fifth column of the
and 65,535 (016 to FFFF16). It can also be ship of the hex digits, we put 0 in the first hex table, multiply 165 (65,536) by 0, 1, 2 to 15. 0
easily expanded.
Here's an example of how to use the table.
HEX -DECIMAL NUMBER TABLE
Say the hexadecimal number, A7BD16, is to
be converted to decimal. Starting with the
right -most digit, D, look at the table's fourth - 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place 4th Place
place digit and read down to D in that column. Hex. Dec. Hex Dec. Hex Dec. Hex Dec.
0 0 0 0 0
The decimal equivalent is 13. Repeat for the 0 0 0
4096 256 1 16 1 1

next digit in the third column. Here, the origi- 1 1

2 8192 2 512 2 32 2 2
nal number, B, corresponds to 176. Continu- 3 12288 3 768 3 48 3 3
ing with the next two digits, we read 1792 and 16384 4 1024 4 64 4 4
4
1280 5 80 5 5
40960, respectively. Add these numbers, and 5 20480 5
6
6 24576 6 1536 6 96 6
the total is 42941, which is the decimal equiv- 1792 7 112 7 7
7 28672 7
alent of A7BD16. 8 32768 8 2048 8 128 8 8
The table can also be used in reverse to 9 36864 9 2304 9 144 9 9
40960 2560 A 160 A 10
convert decimal numbers to hex. To convert A A
B 45056 B 2816 B 176 B 11
80010 to hex, for example, look in the table 49152 C 3072 C 192 C 12
C
for the highest entry which does not exceed D 53248 D 3328 D 208 D 13
the number, which is 768. This corresponds 57344 E 3584 E 224 E 14
E
61440 3840 F 240 F 15
to a 3 in the third hex digit. (The fourth digit is F F

0, so it can be ignored.) Next, 768 is subtract-

ed from 800, yielding a remainder of 32. The
97
1980 EDITION
 COMPUTER
GLOSSARY
ACCUMULATOR-In a microprocessor, BYTE-A computer word eight bits long; it HARDWARE-The computer equipment it-
the internal register in which logical oper- has 2" (256) possible values. Most home self, as opposed to its programs (software).
ations are performed and the results ini- computers use one -byte instructions, and
tially stored; characters may also be input a data bus one byte wide. HEX/HEXADECIMAL-A number system
to or output from the accumulator. with base 16. The sixteen digits are: 1, 2, 3,
COBOL-Common Business -Oriented 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, A, B, C, D, E, and F.
A-D-Conversion of continuous, analog Language, a computer language designed
data (like meter readings) into digital form for business programming. HIGH-LEVEL LANGUAGE-A computer lan-
that computers can read. guage that humans can understand easily
COMPILER-A program that converts pro- and that a computer can translate into the
ADDRESS-The number used to refer to a grams written in high-level languages, like machine -language form it understands, in one
specific byte in memory or to an input or out- BASIC, into a program that a computer can or more steps. Many instructions in a high-
put port. run directly or with the aid of a shorter "run- level language require that the computer per-
time" program. form more than one computer operation.
ALPHANUMERICS-Computer output or in- Some of the more common high-level lan-
put in the form of letters and numbers rather CPU-Central Processing Unit, the circuit guages are: BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, and
than graphs or drawings. or subsystem which actually does the PASCAL.
computing.
ANALOG-Originally, the physical repre- INPUT-The information that
sentation of numerical quantities in terms
CRT-Cathode Ray Tube, a TV -type screen is fed into a
which may be used by a computer to display computer; it may contain data, instructions,
of motion, voltage, resistance, etc. By ex- or both.
its alphanumeric and graphic output.
tension, any data which changes in a
smoothly varying way, rather than chang- INSTRUCTION-The portion of the informa-
ing in discrete steps as digital data does.
D-A-Conversion of digital data to be
continuous, analog form; a circuit to per- tion fed into a computer that tells the comput-
form this conversion. er what to do with the other information
ASCII-American Standard Code for Infor- (data) it receives.
mation Interchange, a seven -bit code used DATA-The information in a computer pro-
by most microcomputer equipment to rep- gram that the computer processes, as op- INTERFACE-A circuit to form the proper
resent alphanumeric characters. posed to the information that tells the com- connection between a computer and some
puter what process must be done. other device.
ASSEMBLER-A program that converts as-
sembly -language into machine language.
DISPLAY-A device that shows the comput- INTERPRETER-A program which both
er output or status visually instead of on pa- decodes and executes a high-level pro-
ASSEMBLY-LANGUAGE-A computer lan-
per. The most frequently used displays are gram. Unlike Compilers, Interpreters must
guage that uses easily remembered groups
CRTs, or multi -segment LEDs (like calcula- be loaded into a computer both when the
of letters as commands instead of the
tors). user program is being entered and when it
"ones" and "zeros" a computer under-
is run.
stands, e.g., JNZ (jump if not zero) instead of EPROM-Erasable PROM, atype of PROM
11000010.
which can be erased with ultraviolet light and I/O-Input A) The equipment used
then re -programmed. to put information into or take information out
BASIC-Beginners All-purpose Symbolic In- of a computer. B) The information itself that
struction Code, the most common high-level FIRMWARE-Software (programs) stored is given to or taken from a computer.
language used on home computers. in ROM or PROM memory.
KEYBOARD-A group of keys. Among those
BAUD RATE-The number of signal ele- FLOPPY/FLOPPY DISK/FLOPPY DISK- who work with computers, it is usually used
ments transmitted per second. With the ETTE-A thin disc of magnetic material like to mean a typewriter -like layout of keys (for
transmission systems used in microcom- recording tape that is used for recording and numbers, letters, punctuation and other sym-
puters, equal to bits per second (bps). storing computer programs and data. bols) plus the accompanying electronics,
that is used to input information into a com-
BINARY-The number system with base 2. FORTRAN-FORulat TRANslator, a high- puter. Other arrangements of keys are usual-
There are only two digits in the system: "0" level language designed for scientific pro- ly referred to as keypads.
and "I". gramming.
"K"/KILOBYTE-210 (1024) bytes. Memory
BIT-A binary digit. The smallest bit of infor-
GRAPHICS-The processing, input and out- "K" stands
is usually reckoned in kilobytes.
mation possible. for "binary thousand" (1024), while ordinary
put of data other than alphanumerics or con-
trol or status functions (for e)dmple, pic- decimal thousands are represented by lower-
BUS-A group of wires connecting CPU,
tures, images and graphs). case "k".
memory and I/O for exchange of information.
MACHINE CODE/MACHINE LANGUAGE-
BUS STRUCTURE-A fixed arrangement of HARD COPY-Computer output that is print- Instructions that are in binary form and actu-
the wires of a bus. ed rather than output on a display. ally understood by a computer without further
98 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
decoding. These instructions are usually in PROCESSOR-A set of circuits capable of non-volátále memory, especially members of
the form of 8 -bit (one byte) words in home performing the essential functions of a com- the PROM (user programmable) family.
computers; however some instructions, in- puter CPU. In the case of a microprocessor
corporating data or addresses, may be two (MPU), these circuits are combined into one SERIAL-A type of I/O port in which all data
or three bytes long. or a few integrated circuits. is transferred over a single pair of wires, one
bit at a time. In practice, the data words are
MASS STORAGE-Recording systems for PROM-Programmable ROM, non-volatile sent in a specific pre -selected format to
holding or storing programs or data not re- memory which can be programmed by a user. make each word distinguishable from the
quired for immediate use. Such information Two subdivisions of this class are EPROM others that precede and follow it.
must be read into the computer before it can (Erasable PROM) and EAROM (Electrically
be used. Common forms of mass storage Alterable ROM) which are erasable with ul- SOFTWARE-Computer programs, sets of
used with home computers are cassettes traviolet light or electrical impulses respec- instructions that tell the computer what to do
and floppy disks. tively. EPROM and EAROM may be re -pro- and how it is to be done.
grammed after they are erased.
MEMORY-The part of a computer dedicat-
RAM-Random Access Memory, any type of SYSTEM-The set of electronics and ma-
ed to storing programs and data. Memory is chinery that is assembled for the computer to
organized as words (usually 8 bits) each of memory that may be written into or read from.
perform its tasks. It includes not only the CPU
which has a unique address so that the com- It is randomly accessible if it takes the same
or MPU, but the memory, I/O and peripher-
puter may select any word it needs by using quantity of time to reach any address, inde-
als.
the address of that word. pendent of location. In contrast, a Serial Ac-
cess Memory is one in which the time re-
MINI FLOPPY-A -inch floppy disk.
51% quired to get to one address from another is TERMINAL-A peripheral device combining
dependent on how far the addresses are a keyboard for human input to the computer
Standard floppy disks are 8 inches in diame-
from each other. Information stored on cas- with a display or printer for the computer's
ter.
sette is serial, for example. Most RAM is vo- output.
MODEM-An I/O device that permits the latile in that the contents rearrange them-
computer to receive or transmit information selves randomly when the power is shut off. WORD-A computer word, the largest num-
over telephone lines. ber of binary digits that a computer can han-
R -F MODULATOR-Radio-Frequency Modu- dle simultaneously. Most home computers
MONITOR-A) A CRT screen and associated lator, a device that converts video informa- can handle a maximum of eight bits (one
electronics which may be used for computer tion into frequencies acceptable to a TV set byte) of data at the same time. Some newer
display. B) A program that instructs the com- so that the TV may be used as a substitute microcomputers can handle words of up to
puter how to do "housekeeping" tasks such for a video monitor. 16 bits.
as: handling input or output; changing, storing
(writing), or reading the contents of memory; ROM-Read Only Memory, memory that can WORD PROCESSOR-A system which ac-
etc. only be read from, not written into, because cepts words and text as input, and which al-
its contents have been fixed during manufac- lows that text to be modified, merged with
NON-VOLATILE-Memory that retains its ture. The term is often loosely applied to any other texts, and output in a desired format.
contents even if no power is supplied to it.
(See RAM.)

OCTAL-A number system with base 8. The

eight digits are: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

OUTPUT-The information sent out by a

computer. It may be visual (printed or dis-
played), aural (sound or music), electrical
(control for a motor), etc.-any communica-
tion from a computer to the outside world.

PAPER TAPE-A mass storage system

using paper tape with eight hole -positions
representing the eight bits of each byte
stored.

PARALLEL-A type of I/O in which each bit

of computer word is transmitted over a sep-
a
arate wire simultaneously. (See serial.) A
computer's internal information flow is also
normally in parallel form.

PASCAL-A comparatively new computer

language, now becoming available for
home computers.

PERIPHERALS-The parts of a computer

system outside of the computer proper, such
as: terminals, displays, printers, etc.

PORT-The I/O circuit that connects a com-

puter with a peripheral. Each port has an ad-
dress (number) by which the computer can
distinguish it from other ports, Ports may be
serial or parallel.

PRINTER-A mechanism that prints the out-

put of a computer. Printers with keyboards
are called printing terminals. .so / said, SZE and PR then GOTO or at least GOSUB . . ."
99
1980 EDITION
 Digo Hectrcrics/Vicrocorv- PJ Lers
PRODUCT DIRECTORY
The listing covers only computers and grammable TV game with color display, and two ATARI
those peripherals and module boards remote keyboard/joystick controls, plus larger 400
made by a manufacturer for its own com- 6502-MPU; 8K RAM; 8K ROM, expandable to 16K
puters and not fitting other makes. Mod- with plug-in program cartridges; 57 -key, monopanel
ules, peripherals and accessories made flat keyboard; upper/lower-case, graphic symbols;
for those computers by other companies, full screen editing functions; four -function keys; four
or fitting several makes of computer, will audio channels; built-in speaker; inputs for four con-
trollers (joystick, paddle, etc.); BASIC; TV output,
be found in the appropriate sections of
channel 2 or 3; color graphics, 16 colors, eight lu-
this directory. minance levels; graphics resolution 320b192.
Atari 400. Wired $550
Wherever possible, we have indicated Atari 410. Program Recorder. With program track,
mutual compatibility among products of plus audio track for voice accompanied programs ..
different manufacturers by one of the fol- $90
lowing bus symbols: (AP)=Apple ll,(DG)
800
=Digital Group, (EX)=Motorola EXORci- computer module with full typewriter keyboard, Similar to 400, but with typewriter -keyboard; ac-
sor M6800, (H8)=Heathkit H-8, (18)=ln- cassette deck, 10K ROM, 9K RAM, expansion pro- cepts accessory floppy system, printer; composite
tellec 8, (IEE)=IEEE-488 bus, visions. Modulated TV output, 32 char X 16 lines,
(KM)=KIM-1; (LS)=LS1-11, (MB)=Intel alphanumerics in three color modes; 64 X 32
SBC Multibus, (PT) = PET, (RS) = Radin graphics, eight colors, intermixed with alphanumer-
ics; high -resolution graphics modes 128 X 192 8 -
Shack TRS-80; (S1)= S-100 (Altair) bus,
color, 256 X 192 -color; built-in tape deck for
(S3)=SWTP 6800 30 -pin I/O bus,
1

standard cassettes with 1200 -baud transfer, com-

(S5) SWTP 6800 SS -50 50 -pin bus, puter controlled motor, three -digit counter; built-in
(( 'B) - DEC Unibus. three -octave music synthesizer with accidentals;
BASIC; RAM, I/O, printer, floppy and modem ex-
pansions to come.
ALLIED COMPUTERS IM -1. $595
MCT-t MICROCOMPUTER TRAINER
8080A MPU with 512 bytes EPROM (256 dedicat- PECOS 1

ed) and 512 bytes RAM expandable to 4K; 4 paral- 6502-MPU computer with built-in typewriter key-
board, dual audio cassette drives with computer
start -stop (up to four tapes addressable to tape
number and file name); 800 -baud recording; 16K
RAM, 24K ROM with PeCos interpreter (JOSS -
derived) and OS; includes separate, 9 -in B&W mon- video as well as r -f output; power indicator/low-
itor, 40 chars X 16 lines, upper/lower case .$1695 voltage light; two externally accessible cartridge
slots for rapid program loading, four internal for us-
er -replaceable memory cartridges; serial I/O; in-
APPLE COMPUTER
cludes 410 cassette unit; 8K RAM, expandable to
APPLE II (AP) 48K; 8K internal ROM plus 8K BASIC in ROM car-
6502-MPU computer with built-in keyboard, 8K BA- tridge.
SIC and 2K monitor in ROM, 4K -48K RAM, inter- Atari 800. Wired $1000
CX852. BK RAM for 800 $125
CX853. 16K RAM for 800 $250
lel ports; displays in octal for hi and lo address, -

Atari 810 Disc Drive. For 5%

data and counter; octal keypad; function keys as -in mini -floppy; 92K per
diskette side; 236-msec average data access time;
switches; 256 byte executive program in EPROM. for 800 system, up to four drives supported by 800
$900
$750
Atari 820 Printer. Impact, dot-matrix; 40 char/ sec; 1

line/ sec; for Atari 800 $600

ALPHA MICRO SYSTEMS
AM -100 16 -BIT CPU (S1)
Two -board MPU implementing WD -'16 16 -bit CGRS MICROTECH
processor on S-100 bus. Supports most S-100 peri- SYSTEM 6000 (ß1)
pherals, including static memory, I/O and video. 6502-MPU computer system using S-100 bus. Mod-
MPU features 11 -digit floating-point arithmetic in ular system, all parts available separately.
hardware; eight 16 -bit general registers; real-time faces for cassette (1500 char/sec), color video 6000 Level I: Tutorial. 6502 MPU; 256 bytes RAM;
clock; multiple -level DMA and vectored interrupts, (text, graphics, or mixed) and video -game paddles front panel with 7 -segment hex displays, single-
up to ten times the throughput of most 8 -bit sys- or joysticks. Video output; 40 characters X 24 step, memory protect. Kit/wired $200/$240
tems. Software provided includes: AMOS operating lines, upper-case; normal, inverse, or flashing; full 6000 Level 11: Introductory. All features of Level I,
system with time-sharing, multi -tasking, multi-user, cursor control. Graphics 40 X 48 resolution (40 X except 1K RAM, plus TTL support logic for S-100
disk -management and memory -management (to 40 with four lines text) in 15 colors; high -resolution interface. Kit/wired $260/$330
256K bytes) capabilities, device -independent I/O graphics (requires 12K memory), 280 X 192 (280 6000 Level Ill: Standard. All Level II features ex-
structure; macro assembler, ALPHABASIC with X 160 with four lines text) in black, white, and two cept front panel, plus I/O board with T.I.M. "Ter-
special business features, ALPHALISP, ALPHA - colors. Apple BASIC has special color, graphics, minal Interface Monitor" ROM for use with termi-
FORTH and ALPHAPASCAL and game commands. Assembled, in case. Weight nals; S-100 motherboard; power supply (± 16 V
AM -00100-0 $1495 10 lb. With 16K/32K/48K $1195/$1345/$1495 á A,
1 -8 V -.â, 10 A). Kit/wired $370/$470
6000 Level IV: Advanced. Level Ill features plus
APPLE II PLUS (AP) front panel; 2K RAM, Kit/wired $500/$600
APF Similar, but with ROM -resident Applesoft Extended 6000 Level V: Professional. Level IV features plus
IMAGINATION MACHINE BASIC. Prices as above. cabinet and EXOS extended operating system
Two-part system, consisting of MP -1000 pro - See also: Module Boards, Peripherals. firmware. Kit/wired $795/$995
100 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 Have You Been
Bitten By The cuutpn Lt u{}

Computer Bug?
. . .
Creative Computing
Basic Computer Games Magazine
comp.] thee
Edited by David Ahl, this book con-
Creative Computing has long been
tains 101 imaginative and challenging
games for one, two, or more players
Basketball, Craps, Gomoko, Blackjack,
- Number 1 in applications and software for
micros, minis, and time-sharing systems
Even Wins, Super Star Trek, Bombs for homes, schools and small busi-
Away, Horserace. Simulate lunar land- nesses. Loads of applications every
ings. Play the stock market. Write poetry. issue: text editing, graphics, communi-
Draw pictures. cations, artificial intelligence, simula-
All programs are complete with listing tions, data base and file systems, music
in Microsoft Basic, sample run and
The Best of synthesis, analog control. Complete pro-
grams with sample runs. Programming
description. Basic conversion table in- Creative Computing techniques: sort algorithms, file struc-
cluded. 125,000 copies in print. 192 pages
softbound. [6C] $7.50. The first two years of Creative Com- tures, shuffling, etc. Coverage of elec-
puting magazine have been edited into tronic and video games and other related
two big blockbuster books. American consumer electronics products, too.
Vocational Journal said of Volume 1, Just getting started? Then turn to our
"This book is the 'Whole Earth Catalog' of technology tutorials, learning activities,
computers." [6A] Volume 2 continues in short programs, and problem solving
the same tradition. "Non -technical in pages. No-nonsense book reviews, too.
approach, its pages are filled with infor- Even some fiction and foolishness.
Subscriptions: 1 year $15, 3 years $40.

ç',
mation, articles, games and activities.
Fun layout." -American Libraries. [6B] Foreign, add $9/year surface postage,
Each volume $8.95. $26/year air.

Vf..
V .

More Basic
The Best of
BYTE
y1

t ?
:1

'-
Adventure
, s, , ,
Computer Games
Contains 84 fascinating and enter-
taining games for solo and group play - Adventure is an astonishing new
innovative game for your TRS-80, Sorcerer or
evade a man-eating rabbit, crack a safe, PET. Search for hidden treasure while
tame a wild horse, become a millionaire, avoiding exotic wild animals.
race your Ferrari, joust with a knight, trek For 16K Level Il TRS-80 and 16K Sorcerer:
across the desert on your camel, navigate (1) Adventureland, (2) Pirate Adventure, (3)
in deep space. Mission Impossible, (4) Voodoo Castle, and
All games come complete with pro- (5) The Count. Adventureland and Pirate
gram listing in Microsoft Basic, sample Adventure are available for 24 PET too.
run and description. 192 pages so' $14.95 per cassette.
bound. [6C2] $7.50.
This is a blockbuster of a book containing
the majority of material from the first 12
issues of Byte magazine. The 146 pages

- - - eeeesedes devoted to hardware are crammed full of

how-to articles on everything from TV
displays to joysticks to cassette interfaces
To Order .. .
0
0
Free Software Catalog and computer kits. But hardware without
Send order and payment to
Creative Computing
software might as well be a boat anchor, so o
Attn.: Sally, P.O. Box 789-M
Our software catalog offers over 200 there are 125 pages of software and N.J. 07960 0
Morristown,
recreational, educational and technical applications ranging from on-line debuggers
Add $1.00 shipping and handling per book o
programs for your TRS-80, Apple, PET, to games to a complete small business
or tape order (foreign $2.50). N.J. residents e
Sorcerer, SOL -20, Challenger and CP/M accounting system. A section on theory
add 5% sales tax. Visa, MasterCharge or
systems. Write for your free copy today! examines the how and why behind the
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circuits and programs, and "opinion" looks V service call in your bankcard order toll free 4,
at where this explosive new hobby is
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Softbound, 386 pages, $11.95.
CIRCLE NO. 30N FREE INFORMATION CARD
101
1980 EDITION
 6000 Level X: Turnkey. Keyboard input and video board with 3 -key rollover; 8K to 32K user RAM; ory or I/O. See Module Boards section. Kit/wired ..
output; no front panel. 1K RAM, "VIP" operating built-in mini -disk drive; 32 -line X 64 -char display; $295/$395
system with screen control; other features as for
Level V. Kit/wired $895/$995 Z-2H HARD DISK COMPUTER (S1)
sa00 Level VI: Same as Level X, but with 8" disk Similar to Z-2, but incorporates 11 -megabyte hard
drive. Wired only $1550 disk system plus dual 5 Y4 -inch floppy drives; 12 -
6000 Level XI: Portable. Similar to Level X, but in
portable briefcase; power supply ± 16 V @ A,
1

-8 V @ 6 A; S-100 motherboard, with room for

additional cards. Kit/wired $745 /$895

6502 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEM (S1)

Complete microcomputer laboratory with advanced 17K PROM with sockets for additional firmware;
system development capability. Features the supplied with extended disk BASIC in ROM, file
CGRS Multiple I/O board, a S-100 Disk Controller control system, and terminal software designed for
Board, and 16K RAM and dual floppy drives. up to 512 ports; 128 X 128 pixel graphics; vector
6502 PDS. With two 5Y." drives $2500 plotting; upper-case alphanumerics plus 64 graphic
6502 PDS. With two 8" drives $3300 characters; RS -232 interface; terminal -mode soft-
DMA. Front Debug Panel $250 ware supplied; disk capacity 51.2K/disk side (for-
DBM-1. ROM simulator $270 matted); both sides of disk usable by flipping disk
Video Terminal (internal) $650 over. Wired. slot motherboard (5 slots occupied); 64K RAM, ex-
9 -digit BASIC interpreter $250 Model 3. 8K RAM $1495 pandable to 512K; PRI printer interface; includes
Accessories available: printer, dual 5 Y." floppies, Model 4. 16K RAM $1695 CDOS for hard and floppy disks. Wired $9995
dual 8" floppies. Model 5. 32K RAM $1995
COMMODORE DIGITAL SPORT SYSTEMS
OPTIONS
INFORMER 1 (S1)
PET COMPUTER 2001 (PT)NEE) CCN. 101 -key keyboard with color and numeric
6502-MPU, self-contained computer, includes built- Z80-MPU "black box" computer with RS -232 serial
clusters $135
in keyboard with 64 -character ASCII uppercase
interface for terminal; 8K PROM board with 1K mon-
CCF. 117 -key keyboard, with 16 additional function
plus 64 graphics -related characters; 9 -in video dis- itor; 16K RAM; 9 -slot motherboard; uses modified
keys $200 S-100 boards $858
Single Disk Add-on $400
16K RAM add-on for Models 3,4 $375
INFORMER 2
Similar, with built-in, single -drive mini -floppy, sepa-
rate 63 -key keyboard and video controller (16 lines

CROMEMCO

Mirangia SYSTEM THREE (S1)

Z-80A-MPU with dual -disk drive (4 -drive controller),
32K RAM with bank select (expandable to 512K).
30-A power supply; 21 -board capacity; jump -on -
reset to 1K PROM monitor; includes serial
(110-76,800 baud) and parallel interface. Rack
mount $5990
Option 001. Front -panel PROM programmer for 2708
$495
Option 002. Additional dual -disk drive $2395
play for graphics, 40 -character X 25 -line alphanu- Option 004. Additional 32K memory $595
merics or both; 8K RAM memory, expandable to Z3-WCB. Walnut floor cabinet, 29" X 21" X 30" $595
32K; 12K ROM including 8K BASIC interpreter and Z3 -CAB. Aluminum cabinet with fold -away handles,
4K operating system, built-in audio -cassette re- 13" X 20" X 26" $195 X 64 char), includes 32K RAM, two RS -232 inter-
corder (file management system in BASIC); inter- Software available: 16K Z-80 BASIC, FORTRAN IV, faces; disk with extended -DOS BASIC $1999
faces for additional recorder and IEEE -488 instru- Z-80 macro assembler and linking loader.
ment interface bus. Wired. INFORMER 3
PET 2001-8 $795 Z-2 (St) Similar to Informer 1, but with CRT terminal (24
PET 2001-16N. Similar, with 16K RAM memory, larg- 280 MPU "black-box" computer with no external lines X 80 char), separately -housed 8 -in floppy
er keyboard; requires external cassette (optional) controls. Features 21 -slot Blitz -Bus motherboard drive; 48K RAM, two RS -232 ports, heavy-duty
$995 for lower noise; PROM programmer; power -on jump; power supply $3999
PET 2001-32N. Same, except 32K RAM. $1295 ROM, RAM and I/O not included. Rack -mount de- Options available: 16K RAM, -port and 4 -port
1

sign (other cabinets optional), with front -accessible RS -232; -port and 4 -port parallel; 8K PROM;
1

CBM BUSINESS COMPUTER SYSTEM (PT) (IEEE) card slots and card retainer; 60-A power supply for PROM burner; mini and standard disk controllers;
Similar to PET, but with typewriter -style keyboard cards and other peripherals. r -f modulator; 80 -column electrostatic screen print-
and numeric pad, no graphics keys, no cassette. Z -2W. Wired $995 er; 132 -column impact printer; software.
CBM 2001-16B. With 16K RAM $995 Z-2WX. Same, less processor board $795
CBM 2001-32B. With 32K RAM $1295 S-MS ADAPTER (S1)
C2N. Cassette player/recorder for PET $95 Z -2D (Si) Adapts standard S -100 -bus interface boards to In-
Similar to Z-2, but with built-in, mini -floppy (5 Y4 in) former -modified S-100 bus $44
CBM PRINTER (PT) disk drive, space for second drive, 4 -drive control-
80 -column, dot-matrix impact; 7X6 matrix; 80 ler; includes 1K ROM monitor, serial port.
1

char/line; 70 lines/ min; character set includes PET Z-2DW. Wired $1990
ELECTRONIC CONTROL
graphics. Z2D-FDD. Additional disk drive $495 TECHNOLOGY
CBM 2023 $849 Z2-RPW. Retro kit converts Z-2 to Z -2D $995 ECT-too COMPUTER (Si)
CBM 2022. Same, with tractor feed, upper/lower- In card cage for 19" rack mounting. Choice of 8080
case $995 SYSTEM TWO )Si) or Z-80 MPU with jump on reset. 20 -slot mother-
Consists of Z -2D with 2 drives, RS -232 interface, board standard. Unregulated ± 16 V @ 3 A ea., +8
CBM MINI -FLOPPY DISK (PT) 64K RAM, PRI printer interface. V @ 30 A; 115 V input, with taps for 105 V and 125
Intelligent mini -floppy; 170.5K per disk net user Model CS -2 $3990 V (220/208/240 Von special order).
storage. Includes cabinet and power supply. Re- ECT-100-F-8080. With 8080 MPU, 20 sets connec-
quires retrofit kit with PET 2001-8. SINGLE CARD COMPUTER (S1) tors and guides. Kit/wired $425/5595
CBM 2040A. Single disk $895 Z-80 MPU plus 8K 2716 PROM; 1K RAM, serial ECt-100-F-Z80. Same, with Z-80 MPU $525/$695
CBM 2040. Dual disk $1295 (RS -232 or 20 mA) port; 24 bits parallel I/O; vec-
tored interrupts; five programmable timers. Re- TABLE -TOP COMPUTER
quires +8 V @ 1.4 A, + 18 V @ 70 mA; -
18 V @ Similar, but in table -top cabinet with 10 -slot moth-
25 mA. er -board, 16K RAM optional, 15 A power supply.
COMPUCOLOR SCC. Kit/wired $395/5450 TT-8080-S. 8080, with RAM. Kit/wired ..$995/$1145
COMPUCOLOR II MCB-216. 12 -command monitor and 3K Control BA- TT -8080. Less RAM $440/$570
8080-MPU intelligent -terminal type computer with SIC in two 2716 PROMs $90 TT -Z80 -S. Z-80, with RAM $1095/$1245
8 -color integral display on 13 -in CRT; 72 -key key - Z80 -CPU. MPU replacement only, no on -board mem- TT -Z80. Less RAM $540/$670
102 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
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CIRCLE NO. 1 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD 103
1980 EDITION
 ELECTRONIC PRODUCT ASSOC. S-100 Expansion Unit. Self-contained six -slot chas- new, smaller MPU board leaves more space for op-
MICRO -68b (EX) sis, Sorcerer styled, with interconnect cable and tions; directly addresses 32K RAM, ROM or I/O
6800-MPU computer with 16 -key hex keypad, six - S-100 translation interface; for use of S-100 module (0-28K RAM/ROM, 28-32K I/O); backplane with
digit hex LED display; 8K RAM memory expandable boards with Sorcerer. eight, 2 -wide module slots; 120/240-V power sup-
DR -1004 $349 ply, outputs +5 V 4 15 A, + 12 V á 3 A.
S-100 I/O Kit. For connection of Sorcerer to S-100 H11A/WH11A. Kit /wired $1095/$1895
computer chassis; interface card and interconnect H11-1/WH11-1. 4K X 16 -bit word memory expan-
cable. sion, static, with decode circuitry for 4K address
DP -4004 $199 boundaries, card lifters. Kit/wired $125/$150
16K RAM Expansion Kit. Fits within Sorcerer (max. H11.2/WH11-2. Parallel interface. 16 input and 16
internal RAM capacity, 48K). output lines, for 16 -bit or 8 -bit data transfers;
DP -1001 $160 LSI-11 bus interface and vector interrupt logic;
required for H10 Paper Tape Reader/Punch.
VIDEO DISPLAY UNIT Kit / wired $95/$150
12 -in CRT with 20 -MHz bandwidth; Sorcerer -style H11-5/WH11-5. Serial interface. Opto -isolated,
cabinet; with cable for video connection to Sorcer- 20 -mA or RS -232; 50-9600 baud; with mating
to 64K; 25-A power supply; ROM monitor, editor, er. connectors. Kit/wired $105/$150
and I/O; TTY/RS-232 and Kansas -City -standard DP -1005 $399 Adapter Cable. For EIA -standard interface from
cassette interfaces. In fan -cooled cabinet with 13 - H11-5 to peripherals.
slot motherboard (also accepts Motorola EXORci- VIDEO/DISK UNIT WH11-51. Wired $15
sor cards). Available with extra I/O and bus con- 12 -in, 20 -MHz video display and dual mini -floppy
nections at front panel. M68b. Wired $1915 system in swivelling, tilting enclosure; includes H11-6 EXTENDED ARITHMETIC CHIP
CP/M DOS, Z80 assembler, text editor, linking Adds hardware arithmetic instructions to LSI-11, in-
MICRO -68 loader, Microsoft disk extended BASIC; plugs di- cluding fixed-point X, ± and extended shifts, plus
6800-MPU, with hex keypad and display, 128 bytes
of RAM, 512 -byte ROM monitor/editor, power sup-
rectly into Sorcerer, no S-100 unit required; holds floating-point +, -, X, =.DIP 40 -pin package
630K formatted. plugs into socket on LSI-11 boards $159
ply, one I/O port. In wood/plexiglass cabinet with DP $2995 Also available: 16K and 32K word memory module.
room for 640 words additional ROM; other options
below. A/so available: ROM Pac plug-in formwire (including Ha (H8)
M68C. Wired $495 user EPROM pac), parallel data cable, serial/cas- Computer with 8080A MPU; 1K ROM monitor for
X68C. Expanded version with 8K RAM, 3.5-A power sette data cable. load -dump and front -panel operations; front panel
supply, additional ROM for TTY, TTY/RS-232 and
cassette interface, expansion cabinet $1186
RAM8K. 8K static memory $429 F&D ASSOCIATES
RAM4K. 4K static memory $319 STM-1
86810. Additional 128-byte RAM for Micro -68 $6 6502-MPU stand-alone computer, also usable as
PEB1. 16K PROM board for 7641/ 3624 PROMs simulator for development work on 6502 systems.
$264 For details, see Module Board Section.
PROM5-12. 512 -byte PROM for above (programming
available) $24
PEB2. 512 -byte PROM board for Micro -68 $21 GIMIX
PROM256. 256 -byte PROM for above (programming GIMIX GHOST 6800 (S5)
available) $10 6800-MPU system with SS -50 bus. Has fifteen 50 -
M86830L7. MIKBUG ROM for TTY $29 pin slots plus eight DIP -switch -addressable, 30 -pin with octal keypad and digital display. With 10 -slot
TTY4. TTY PROM $24 I/O slots configurable to four or eight decoded ad- cabinet using Heath 50 -pin bus; power supply capa-
GPI. General purpose prototyping board $30 dresses; DMA capability through cycle -stealing or ble of handling up to 32K of memory and two IO
TCC3. I/O for Byte -standard cassette, RS -232 ter- halt; separate crystals for CPU and baud -rate gen- interfaces; programmable speaker and LED status
minal and TTY (requires TTY4 or MIKBUG ROM) erator; sockets for 4K 2708 PROM; DIP -switch - lights. Kit, with wired and tested CPU; BASIC, as-
$142 addressable for SWTP or MSI software. In cabinet sembler, editor and debug programs on audio cas-
TVA-1. Video interface and TV adapter for 29-line, with keylock power/reset switch, cooling fan, video sette. Requires H8-1 memory board (see Module
30-character display. Includes keyboard input and board, GMXBUG 2K ROM monitor, two -port buf- Boards) to operate. Kit $289
RS -232 interface. For X68C $245 fered parallel I/O board. 16K RAM; space and pow- WH -9. Wired version $349
IMP -68X. Interface for IMP1 printer (see Peripherals) er for dual mini -floppy (not included). Options in-
$22 clude: three independent software -programmable MICROPROCESSOR TRAINER
ADC -1. 12 -bit analog -to-digital converter $420 timers; additional RAM with or without 6800-MPU computer kit designed for circuit -training
software -programmable RAM address, write pro- purposes. Includes 1K ROM monitor, 6 -digit hex
tect, disable/enable. LED display, 17 -key hex keypad, 256 bytes RAM
EXIDY 16K System with unsocketed RAM, "GHOSTable" (expandable to 512), breadboarding socket, 8 buf-
SORCERER (SI) software control of RAM, or timers $1294 fered LED's for display of breadboard logic states,
Z-80 MPU; intelligent -terminal type computer, with 16K System with socketed "GHOSTable" RAM DIP switches for binary input to breadboard, power
keyboard and video output. Memory 8K RAM ex- (blocks of memory at same addresses, with soft- supply (+5, ± 12 V), all buses buffered and ter-
ware enable/disable, for multi-user, multi -tasking, minated on front panel, provision for 40 -pin external
etc) $1398 connector for extending memory and I/O.
ET-3400/ETW-3400. Kit / wired $200/$275
Memory I/O Accessory. Adds audio cassette inter-
HEATHKIT face, 1K RAM (expandable to 4K), serial I/O (re-
ALL -IN -ONE COMPUTER quires terminal), ROM monitor debugger and
Z80-MPU system with built-in terminal and mini - tiny BASIC.
floppy. Features dual Z80 processors (one for ter- ETA -3400/ EWA -3400. Kit / wired $150/$250
minal overhead), 16K RAM (expandable to 48K), ETA -3400-1. 3K RAM for ETA -3400 $47
on -board, built-in memory diagnostics; terminal
section includes full typewriter keyboard plus nu-
pandable to 32K; 4K ROM standard, ROM car- meric keypad, 8 user -definable keys, direct cursor HEATH DATA SYSTEMS
tridges up to 16K available. Dual cassette I/O at addressing; 12" -diagonal screen with 25 li by 80 Heath Data Systems products are identical to fac-
300 or 1200 baud, remote motor on off; RS -232 char., line graphics, upper/lower case with de- tory -wired Heathkit products, but available through
serial I/O at 300 or 1200 baud; edge -card connec- scenders; includes audio cassette interface; blink- computer stores, not directly from Heath. For prod-
tion for S-100 bus expansion unit. Video output 30 ing, non-destructive underline cursor; edit functions uct details, see Heathkit listing.
lines X 64 char (1920 char/screen), full 128 -cha- include insert/delete character/line, erase page, WH89. All -in -one Z80 computer/terminal with
racter ASCII set; 64 pre -defined and 64 user - to end of line, to end of page; 51/4" floppy drive has 18K, 51/4" floppy disk $2295
defined graphic characters (all 128 may be user - 102K storage. H88-2. 16K RAM chip add-on set $150
defined); 512(h) X 240(v) graphic resolution; auto- H89/WH89. Kit/Wired $1595/$2295 H88-3. 2 -port serial I/O $85
matic scroll, delete character, erase end -of -line, H88. As above, less floppy. Kit $1195 WHS89. WH89 system with 48K RAM, 2 serial
end -of -screen; clear screen; full cursor control H88-2. 16K RAM Chip Expansion Set $150 ports, HDOS operating system $2795
$995 H88-3. Two -port Serial I/O $85 (FORTRAN, BASIC and word processing available)
DP -1001-1. $995 H88-4. Floppy Disk System for H88 $450 WH1IA. 16 -bit, LSI-11/2 computer (requires ter-
DP -1000-2. W / 16K RAM $1145 minal) $1895
DP -1000-3. W/ 32K $1295 H1 1 A (LS) Available options: 16K X 16 -bit memory card, seri-
DP -1000-4. W/38K $1445 LSI-11/2 MPU, runs DEC PDP-11/03 software; al I/O, dual floppy disk; see Heathkit listings.
104 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 opua cc %i is
imt series
Many Important articles covering a
variety of interests in the broad field of electronics are published in
POPULAR ELECTRONICS. Reprints of selected articles and test reports are now
...

Ï
,. ,._M1N515
available in the event that you missed some you would like to have for
1,.41'S,1
nv t+
t5t
"t.
t10W
,jo v°
.
reference or study purposes-or for projects you wish to build. Reprints are
only $2 each; $1 for those marked with an asterisk. Minimum order is $5.
, .
srs
r Alien

41110 Sherwood Micro/CPU 100 FM Tuner

Special articles 40967 Programming Calculators For Fun
and Games 41111* Sony Model PS -X5 Turntable
41112* JVC Model P-3030 Stereo Preamplifier
40968` Zap New Life Into Dead NiCd Batteries
AUDIO 41103 How To Design TTL Digital Systems 41113' Dahlquist Model DO -1W Low -Bass
40854 How The New FTC Hi-Fi Rules Affect Module
41104 Build An Autoranging Digital
You Capacitance Meter 41315 Sony "Class D" Amplifier
40855 How To Evaluate Tape Recording Electrovoice "Series II" Speakers
41309 Use Low Cost Digital Equipment 41316
Specs
41310 Energy Leak Detector 41317 AR 9 Speakers
40856 A New Standard For FM Tuner
Measurements 41311 An A/D Converter 41318 JVC Jt-V77 FM Tuner
40964 Build The Hi-Fi/TV Audio Minder 41312 Security Focus (2 Articles) 41319 Pioneer CT-F900 Cassette Deck
41097 Upgrading Your Old Stereo FM Tuner 41313 Universal Electronic Timer 41320 Luxman R-1120 Receiver
System & Expanders 41314 MPH Car "Cruisalert" 41321 Dual C-819 Cassette Deck
41098 Build An Audio Compander 41322 B.I.C. 2 -speed Cassette Deck
41099 How FM Tuners Work, Part I
LEARNING ELECTRONIC THEORY WITH 41323 SAE Two Amplifier and Tuner
41100* How FM Tuners Work, Part 1I CALCULATORS SERIES 41324 Hitachi Mosfet Power Amp
41303* Build A Super Filter 40864 Basic Equations and OHM's Law 41325 Akai P0-1000 Open -Reel Tape
41304 Build A Disco Preamp Mixer 40865 Reactance, Time Constants And AC
41305 Build A Stereo Roto Blender Calculations COMMUNICATIONS
40866 RC Coupling, Basic Amplifier
COMPUTER Calculations, and RLC Relationship 40890* Cobra Model 29XLR 40 -Ch. AM CB
Mobile Transceiver
40860 How To Select A Microcomputer
Drake Model SSR-1 AM/SSB
40861 Ins & Outs Of Computers For
Beginners Test reports 40891 *
Communications Receiver
40892* Kenwood Model TS -820 Amateur
40966 Introducing Speechlab-The First AUDIO Radio Transceiver
Hobbyist Vocal Interface For A
Computer 40871 ADC Accutrac 4000 Record Player 40893* Kris Model XL -50 40 -Ch. AM CB
40874* MXR Stereo Graphic Equalizer Mobile Transceiver
41306 Cassette Control For TRS-80 Computer
40875* Nakamichi Model 500 Stereo Cassette 40894* President Model "Washington" 40 -Ch.
41308 Computer Bubble Memories AM/SSB CB Base Station
Deck
COSMAC "ELF" SERIES 40878' Pickering Model XV -15/625E Stereo 40971' General Electric Model 3-5825
40857 Low Cost Experimenter's Phono Cartridge AM/SSB CB Transceiver
Microcomputer 40879 Pioneer Model CT -F8282 Stereo 40974* Realistic Model TRC-449 Mobile
40858 Experimenter's Micrcomputer/With Cassette Deck AM/SSB CB Transceiver
Hardware Improvements & More 40886* Stanton Model 681EEE Stereo Phono 41114 Ten-Tec Century/21 Ham Transceiver
Programming Details Cartridge 41326* Panasonic 5-Band SW Portable
40859 Microcomputer/How To Expand 40887 Teac Model PC-10 Portable Stereo 41327* Electra Microprocessor Scanner
Memory, Plus More Programs Cassette Deck
40870 Build The Pixie Graphic Display 40889* Thorens Model TD -126C Record Player
41101 Expanding Elf II 40969* Akai Model GX-270D-SS Four -Channel
TEST INSTRUMENTS
41307 Tic -Tac -Toe For Elf Computer Tape Recorder 40928* B&K-Precision Model 280 Digital
40970 Speakerlab Model S7 Speaker Multimeter
COMMUNICATIONS System Kit 40929* B&K-Precision Model 1471B
40862 CB Specifications Made Easy 40972' Dual Model 1245 Automatic Turntable Dual -Trace Scope
40863* How To Choose CB Base Station 40973* Burwen Model DNF 1201A Noise 40930* Ballantine Model 1010A Dual -Trace
Antennas Reducer System Scope
40965 Build Morse -A -Letter 41105 Yamaha Model CR 2020 AM/Stereo 40931 * Fluke Model 8020A Digital Multimeter
41102 Choosing A Mobile CB Antenna FM Receiver 40932* Hewlett-Packard Model 280 Digital
41106' Optonica Model RT -3535 Stereo Multimeter
OTHER Cassette Deck 40933* Sencore Model DVM-32 Digital
40867 How To Design Your Own Power 41107* dbx Model 128 Dynamic Range Multimeter
Supplies Enhancer 40934* Sencore Model TF -70 Portable
40868 The Care & Feeding Of NiCd 41108* Garrard Model GT25 Automatic Transistor Tester
Batteries Record Player 40935' Triplet Model 60 Analog Multimeter
40869 Build A Gas & Fume Detector 41109* Sansui Model AU -717 Integrated 41115 B&K Precision Model 1820 Universal
40963' Six CMOS Circuits For Experimenters Amplifier Frequency Counter

*Reprints are $2 each, $1 for those marked with asterisk. Minimum order $5.

POPULAR ELECTRONICS REPRINTS Reprint = Gluon. Reprint st Quan. Print Name

P.O. Box 278, Pratt Station
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1980 EDITION 105

 INTERACT ELECTRONICS JADE NESTAR SYSTEMS
16K MODEL ONE STANDARD FOUNDATION SYSTEM (S1) CLUSTER ONE
8080A -based single -unit computer; includes MPU, Z80-MPU, S-100 computer system; 'so -Bus 12 -slot Distributed computer system based on interlinking
cassette deck, 2K ROM, 16K RAM, r -f audio video motherboard; Tarbell Cassette Interface; Leedex common personal computers. See Peripherals sec-
video monitor; 1K EPROM monitor; Expandoram tion for details.
board with 32K; KTM-2 Keyboard Terminal Module
with video output, upper/ lower case, 40 char. X 24
li.; one serial port; power supply; Tarbell BASIC on NETRONICS
cassette. ELF II
SYS-101A. Wired $1500 1802 MPU, single -board, animated graphics com-
puter, on five -slot motherboard. With hex keypad
PIGGY SYSTEM (S1) video 64 X 32 graphics display output, 256 -byte
Z80-MPU, S-100 system, with dual mini -floppies; in- RAM. 60 -terminal ELF bus for expansion of memory
corporates SDS SBC-100 CPU board with on -board (to 64K) and I/O. Requires 6.3-V ac. Kit/wired
serial and parallel I/O, software -programmable $100/$150
baud rates; three counter/ timer circuits usable as Power Supply. (6.3 V ac, 1.5 A) $5
real-time clocks or interval timers; Expandoram
board with 48K; double -density disk controller; ELF II GIANT BOARD
CP/M; BIOS and monitor PROMS; space for 32K Plug-in expansion board with cassette, RS -232/
output to conventional TV; power supply. Color out- added EPROM, 1K added ROM; Piggy mainframe. TTY and 8 -bit parallel I/O; decoders for 14 I/O in-
put on TV channel 3, r -f switchbox included; audio SYS-302. Memory -mapped video. Kit/wired structions; system monitor/editor. Kit/wired
software and hardware includes three -octave mu- $2395/$2900 $40/$60
sic synthesizer, tape generation. Cassette inter- SYS-301. With Hazeltine 1410 terminal. Kit wired
faces up to 2000 byte/sec, can output sound from $2915/$3315 4K STATIC RAM
tape. Keyboard 53 -key, typewriter -layout. Includes Addressable to any 4K page; chip -select circuit al-
joystick X controls. Software available includes MACRO MICRO (S1) lows original 256 bytes to be used; buffered; regu-
BASIC, calculator, data management, mailing list, Similar in features to Piggy System, but with 8 -in lated. Kit/wired $90/$115
account ledger, music, educational and games. CP/M dual floppies, different cabinet.
With 2 programs $500 SYS-201. With keyboard, video monitor, memory - PROTOTYPE (KLUGE) BOARD
mapped video. Kit / wired $2995 / $3495 Accepts up to 36 IC's, all sizes; space for on -board
16K MODEL ONE PROFESSIONAL regulator $17
Similar, but with two -port RS -232 serial interface ....
$600 MICRODASYS ELF II FULL ASCII KEYBOARD
SYSTEM 8 (Si) Kit /wired $65 /$90
16K MODEL ONE PROFESSIONAL-PLUS 6809-MPU with 16 -bit instructions and internal reg- Case for ASCII keyboard $20
Professional, with additional 14K ROM containing isters, extended addressing and hardware multi-
Level II BASIC, program editor, printer and com- plication. System includes built-in keyboard, S-100 COLOR GRAPHICS & MUSIC BOARD
munications software $700 motherboard, 16 A power supply, 80X24 video/ Permits color graphics with simultaneous computer
E-101. Peripheral Interface. RS -232 serial $130 graphics card; MD -690b CPU card (see Module generated music. Kit/wired $50/$70
E-102. ROM retrofit contains Level II BASIC, editor, Boards section for details); includes 10K PROM
printer and communications software $100 space, 1K RAM, 201/0 lines, RS -232 interface and VIDEO DISPLAY BOARD
AS-1001. Entertainment Controller. Joystick with cassette interface; 8 -color video generation avail- 64 or 32 character by 16 line upper and lower case
pot, firing button and lever $20 able as system option. Kit/wired $648/$798 format; with ASCII keyboard plugged -in board be-
00G-103. Controller Pack. Two Controllers, plus comes stand alone terminal requiring no memory or
game software $20 SYSTEM 9 (Si) I/O mapping; 1K RAM on -board; cursor control; AS-
Same as above, but with 32K RAM card, 8K - CII/Baudot to serial and serial to video ports on
populated; additional RAM chips plug into board. board. Kit $90
Kit /wired $798 /$998
INTERTEC 8K RAM chip set _ $129 DUAL TAPE CONTROLLER BOARD
SUPERBRAIN INTELLIGENT TERMINAL (S1)(RS) For control of two cassette recorders needed when
Z80-MPU system with dual -drive, double -density using Text Editor or Assembler. Kit $18
mini -floppy system (320K total storage), 64K RAM,
CP/M DOS; twin Z80 processors; built-in ASCII MICROPRODUCTS EXPANSION POWER SUPPLY
keyboard plus 18 -key numeric pad; built-in 12 -in SUPERKIM (KM)(AP) 5-A; powers entire Elf II: required if adding 4K RAM
CRT; 80 -char 24 -line display with half -intensity 25th 6502-MPU, single -board computer with detachable boards. Kit $35
status line; RS -232 serial I/O; parallel interface hex keypad and 6 -digit hex display. Modeled after CASE for ELF II with all expansions $30
compatible with TRS-80; S-100 bus adapter option-
al. For further details, see Peripherals section EXPLORER/85 LEVEL"A"
$2995 8085 based system with on -board S-100 expan-
sion; will run machine code 8080A programs; serial

ITHACA INTERSYSTEMS
INTERSYSTEMS DPS-1 (S1)
Z80-MPU, S -100 -bus mainframe computer with
front panel. Keylock ac power switch; 30 -slot,

and parallel I/O, total of four 8 -bit and one 6 -bit

Commodore/MOS KIM -1, but more RAM, EPROM. ports; 256 bytes RAM expandable to 4K on board
and prototype area in approximately same size. and to 60K total; 2K monitor/operating system in
Software -compatible with KIM -1; compatible with ROM.
most KIM -1 and Apple II hardware interfaces; can Level "A" Kit. ASCII/keyboard/Terminal
version
use Apple Il as software development system. In- $130
cludes: 4K RAM sockets, 1K RAM, 2K KIM ROM Level "A" Kit. Hex keypad/Display version $130
monitor; 4 EPROM sockets for 16K 2732, or 8K Level "B" Expansion Kit. Parts for on -board ad-
2716; power -on reset; interface and jacks for cas- dress decoding and bus buffering $50
shielded, terminated motherboard; front -panel has sette (KIM -compatible); serial RS -232 interface; Level "C". Card cage for up to six cards; bus ex-
address and data breakpoints, slow step, automat- on -board regulator; rectifier and filters, requires tension motherboard and all hardware $40
ic stop, test points and internal diagnostics; binary only 12 V ac, C.T. â 2 A; sockets for 4 6522 I/O Level "D". Components and sockets for 4K RAM
LED indicators for address and data busses, status chips, provided; can support up to 9 bi-directional
1 (2114) expansion. Requires Level "B" plus +8 V
byte, programmed output and command status;
power supply delivers 25 A a 8 V, ± 15 V
all lines separately fused; IEEE -standard S-100
i5 A,
8 -bit parallel ports with handshaking; 8 counter tim-
ers; 8 latched priority interrupts, software re-setta-
ble; DMA possible; EPROM addressable anywhere
600 mA $70
Level "E". All parts for adding 8K of EPROM ex-
cept the EPROM (Intel 2716 or TI 2516). Requires
bus; supplied less memory, but with 1K PROM from 2000 to FFFF; ls/ge prototyping area for A/D +8 V a 700 mA $6
(2708) socket on MPU board $1145 chips, etc. $395 Accessories include: ASCII keyboard/terminal,
106 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 sette interface $695 features include print formatting, keyboard rollover,
with built-in video display board; Hex keypad/dis-
addition of real-time clock;
C4P MF. Similar, but with string functions, more arithmetic functions, user
play; power supply; and double density floppy disk
kit. interfaces for home security system, modem, print- control of program errors, faster graphics, editing,
and 16 -digit accuracy. With 4K RAM $698
With 4K RAM, CRT monitor, and cassette $988
With 4K, less monitor and cassette $499
NORTH STAR
With 16K and numeric keypad, less monitor and
HORIZON -1 (S1) $789
cassette
Z-80-MPU computer with mini -floppy disk drive, 4 -
MHz processor, 16K -32K RAM, one serial I/O port,
TRS-80 "ENGINEER" SYSTEM
and North Star extended disk BASIC and DOS.
Includes TRS-80 with 16K RAM, numeric keypad,
Motherboard has slots for up to 12 S-100 boards quick printer, printer interface cable $1616
(three slots used in normal configuration); serial
I/O, real-time clock and disk power on mother- TRS-80 "PROFESSIONAL" SYSTEM
board; other ports may be added to motherboard. As above, plus mini -disk drive, expansion interface,
Power supply 8 V ä 15 A, ± 16 V a. 6 A; panel $2523
and system desk
space for up to 3 mini -floppy drives. Options in-
clude serial and I/O ports on motherboard. 1K
TRS-80 "BUSINESS" SYSTEM
PROM (on processor board), additional disk drives.
er, accessory OSI bus, plus 16 -line parallel inter-
Includes 32K RAM (16K in expansion interface),
With three 100 -pin connectors on motherboard,
face; 24K RAM expandable to 48K; mini -floppy two mini -disk drives, line printer with pinch
space for nine more. In wood or blue metal cabinet. feed $3822
$1695
Horizon 1-16K. With 16K RAM, one single -density
(90K -byte) mini -floppy drive. Kit / wired C8P. Features similar to C4P, but in expandable
mainframe package; expandable to 48K RAM, dual TRS-80 "DELUXE BUSINESS" SYSTEM
$1599/$1899
As above, but with tractor -feed printer and stand,
Horizon 1-32K. Same, with 32K RAM 8 -in floppies, hard disks and multiple I/O including
$895 plus system desk $4380
$1849/$2099 voice and telephone
Horizon -32K -D. Same, with double -density drive
1 C8P DF. Similar to C8P, but with 32K RAM, dual 8 -in
floppy $2597 TRS-80 SYSTEM EXPANSION KITS
(180K). Wired $2099
(Prices include installation)
Horizon 2-32K. With 32K RAM, two double -density 16K RAM plus Numeric Keypad $290
drives (180K). Kit / wired $2249/$2549 Module Boards and Accessories: Available from OSI.
Include 4K -24K static RAM, 16K -48K dynamic au- Numeric Keypad $89
Horizon 1 -32K -O. With quad -capacity (double -den- $99
$2349 dio cassette ports, serial and parallel ports, voice Level -Il BASIC
sity, double -sided, 360K) drive. Wired
Horizon 2 -32K -D. With two double -density, single - I/O board with Votrax module; 32 X 32 -char and
TRS-80 MODEL II
sided drives (360K) $2549 64 X 64 -char video interfaces,8-in. floppy -disk and
Winchester hard -disk systems; prototyping boards, Z80-MPU system. Includes 32K or 64K RAM; one
Horizon 2 -32K -D. With two quad -capacity drives
8 -in disk drive (expandable to 4 drives); 12 -in up-
(720K) $2999 card extenders, etc. Special options include 12 -bit
memory, multi -processor board with PDP-8 and per/lower-case CRT display with 24 lines X 80
normal or 40 expanded characters; full keyboard
Z-80 compatibility, RAM with 20 -bit addressing;
multi -terminal operating system. plus keypad; two user -programmable function keys;
OHIO SCIENTIFIC disk drive in video monitor housing, keyboard MPU
unit detachable; Level Ill BASIC, upward -compati-
CHALLENGER
6502-MPU computer using Ohio Scientific OSI 48 - ble from Level II, loaded from disk to preserve
RADIO SHACK memory space when not in use; automatic self -test
line bus, Microsoft BASIC in ROM or on disk, PROM
(RS) on power -up; Direct -Memory Access allows
monitor. Additional, non -6502 MPUs available on TRS-80 MICROCOMPUTER
some models. Assembled. Z-80-MPU computer in compact keyboard housing; processing to continue during disk transfers; two
basic system includes 4K ROM with monitor and RS -232 serial, one Centronics parallel port; four
SUPERBOARD II
slots for optional future expansion boards.
With 32K RAM $3450
6502-MPU single -board computer, includes 8K BA-
With 64K RAM $3899
SIC in ROM; 4K static RAM expandable to 8K; 53 -
key, user -programmable, upper/lower-case key-
board; K.C.-standard cassette interface; video dis-
RCA
play with upper/lower-case, gaming and graphics
COSMAC VIP
characters; displays 24 char X 24 li on TVs with
1802 MPU, single -board computer with on -board
overscan display, 30 X 30 on TVs without, 256 X
graphic video output, audio cassette interface, hex
256 -point graphics. Options include extender board
with 24K RAM, dual mini -floppy interface, serial
ports and software. Requires +5 V ,e 3 A .. $279
Challenger 1P. Superboard II with power supply and
case $349
Challenger 1P MF. C1P with disk BASIC, 12K RAM
1 BASIC with string variables, video graphics
expandable to 32K; mini -floppy disk; no cassette Level
interface $995 and cassette save and load; 4K RAM; internally ex-
Challenger C2 -4P. Similar to Cl PMF, but portable; no pandable to 12K ROM plus 16K RAM; total memory
disk; 4K RAM expandable to 32K; cassette inter- capability 62K; includes cassette I/O and video
face; 32X64 -char video display; 256X512 graph- output interfaces; TRS-80 expansion bus for future
ics $598 peripherals; has cursor control, automatic scrolling
Challenger C2 -4P MF. Similar to C2 -4P, but with mini - and rubout $400
floppy disk; 20K RAM expandable to 36K; no cas- With 12 -in CRT monitor (16 lines X 64 char), 300-
sette interface $1533 baud cassette recorder, and backgammon/black-
Challenger C2 -8P. Similar to C2 -4P, but RAM expand- jack software cassette $599
With 16K RAM and numeric keypad. With/without keypad, status indicators, 2K RAM, 512 -byte ROM.
able to 36K; 8 -in floppy disk available as accesso- $249
ry $799 video monitor and cassette $690/$889 With case and power supply. Wired
C2-8P DF. Similar to above, but with disk BASIC,
TRS-80 LEVEL (RS) VIP COLOR BOARD
32K RAM expandable to 48K; no ROM BASIC; dual II
color. Program control of four
$2599 With more powerful BASIC, in 12K ROM. Additional Displays VIP output in
8 -in floppy

CHALLENGER 3
Large, highly -expandable system with many op-
tions; many configurations; write for details
$3590-$11,900
NOTICE TO READERS
CHALLENGER 4P
Portable computer with 32 X 64 -character, Prices of items described are suggested prices only and are
256X512 -pixel 16 -color display; audio output; digi-
tal -analog converter for voice and music genera-
subject to change without notice. Actual selling prices are de-
tion; keypad and joystick interfaces; ac remote - termined by the dealer.
control interface over household power lines, using
BSR X-10 control modules; four -slot OSI bus (two
slots filled); 8K ROM BASIC; 8K RAM; audio cas-
107
1980 EDITION
 background and eight foreground colors under RAM boards, plus console board with SWTPC-com- controlled clock for baud rates from 110 to 1200;
CHIP -8X language; includes two sockets for patible I/O, in attache case. Can hold up to 16K 6820 peripheral interface adapter (PIA); ROM -
VP -580 expansion keyboards.
stored mini -operating system features tape load/
VP -590 $69 dump routine, memory, and register examine and/
or change function, and execute user's program
VIP SIMPLE SOUND BOARD
command. Documentation package includes Moto-
Provides 256 different frequencies in place of VIP rola 6800 Programming Manual plus SWTP 200 -
single -tone output.
page notebook, diagnostic and game programs,
VP -595 $30 and application to join Motorola 6800 User Group.
All boards are "plug in" type and contain on -board
VIP SUPER SOUND BOARD
voltage regulators. Any combination of up to seven
Provides two independent sound channels as well
serial/parallel interface boards may be plugged in.
as control of frequency, duration, and amplitude en-
6800/2. With 4K RAM (expandable to 8K on board),
velope (voice) under program control; On -board
sockets for up to 8K EPROM, easier address as-
tempo control; output drives audio preamp; does
signments, SWTBUG monitor, faster serial baud
not permit simultaneous video display.
rates. Kit /wired $439/$495
VP -550 $49 Wtih 8K. Wired $595
RAM, 8K EPROM; console board includes hex key- With 40K. Wired $1195
VIP EPROM PROGRAMMER pad and display, plus indicators, six I/O slots.
Programs Intel 2716 EPROMs; complete with soft- TOS -M68. Kit / wired $750 /$895 SYSTEM B (S3)(S5)
ware to program, copy and verify; on -board genera- TDS-M68b. Naked kit, less attache case and docu- Includes 6800/2 with 40K RAM, dual 8" floppy -disk
tion of all programming voltages. mentation $650 system with 1.2 megabytes storage; CT -64 terminal
VP -565 $99
with upper/lower-case and full control -character
decoding (see Peripherals section for details),
VIP TINY BASIC ROM BOARD SD SYSTEMS DOS and BASIC with random and sequential files; in
Integer BASIC in ROM with Standard BASIC com- SDS-100 COMPUTER desk with laminated plastic surface $4495
mands, VIP oriented commands, and diagnostics. Over 1Megabyte of disk storage; 64K RAM; Z-80
Requires ASCII keyboard (see Peripherals). CPU; full keyboard and cursor control; video; field MP -R EPROM PROGRAMMER OPTION
VP -700 $39 enhancements; compatible with CP/M software, C - Plugs into socket near top edge of motherboard;
Other boards available include: EPROM, RAM, bus Basic, Cobol, Disk Fortran and Microsoft Basic for programming 2716 EPROM's; on -board do -to -dc
expander and I/O boards. Accessories include ded- $7995 high -voltage supply; requires 0.4 A while program-
icated keypads and ASCII keyboards.
ming, 0.15 A when idle. Kit $45
SDS-200
EVALUATION KIT Similar to SDS-100 but expandable to 256K RAM; S/09
1802 MPU, single -board computer, 256 -byte RAM with 2 Megabytes of disk storage expandable to 4 Built around an MC6809 microprocessor, the S/09
(expandable on board to 4K), 512 -byte ROM moni- Megabytes; 4 Megahertz operation; page mode op- can address 768K of memory directly using the
tor, serial (20 mA or RS -232) interface, binary LED eration with multiple RAM boards $8995 chips' 20 -bit address bus. The processor has more
display, battery backup option made possible by Other systems include the SBC-100 Single Board addressing modes than other MPUs and a powerful
CMOS circuitry; byte input and output ports; con- Computer and the Z-80 Starter Kit. instruction set. The S/09 has built-in multi-user ca-
tinuous and single-step operation; breadboarding
pability and dynamic memory management. Its dual
space for user circuits.
bus motherboard makes adding I/O ports very
CPD 185020. Kit $249 SMOKE SIGNAL BROADCASTING easy. Multitasking software is available.
CHIEFTAIN (S5)(S3) S/09 with 128K bytes RAM, 1parallel and 2 serial
COSMAC MICROTUTOR 6800-MPU computer; nine -slot, SS -50 mother-
11
ports $2995
1802 MPU, compact system with regulated power board; 32K RAM; 2K monitor EPROM; two serial 128K memory expansion card $1995
supply, 8 -bit binary switch input; 2 -digit LED hex I/O ports; dual floppies, with DOS and Disk File
display plus 0 -line logic -state LED; additional BASIC.
switches for load, run, input, and memory protect; Chieftain I. Dual 5'. -in single -sided floppies; 160K
256 bytes CMOS RAM; prewired socket and con- TECHNICO
nector holes for system expansion; DMA eliminates
SUPER STARTER SYSTEM
need for bootstrap.
Based on TI9900, 16 -bit MPU; single -board com-
CDP18S012. Wired $195 puter with 1K PROM, 512 bytes RAM, EPROM pro-
grammer, serial (RS -232/20 mA) I/O on -board. Ex-
pandable to 2K RAM, 2K PROM, 2K EPROM on-
ROCKWELL board, to 65k total memory with expansion boards.
Peripheral boards available include 32 -byte memo-
AIM 65 PRINTING COMPUTER (KM) ry expansion board, video audio cassette interface,
6502-MPU. Single -board computer with built-in keyboards, floppy disk, power supply, interface
20 -character alphanumeric display and 20-column
board, chassis with limited or full front panel, CRT,
total $2595 printers. kit/wired $299/5399
Chieftain H. Dual 5'. -in double -sided floppies; 370K
$2950 EDUCATOR 910 SYSTEM
Chieftain III. Dual 8 -in, single -sided; 500K $3495 Includes Super Starter, plus 2K RAM, 4K EPROM
Chieftain IV. Dual 8 -in, double -sided; Megabyte
1 with debug monitor, assembler and BASIC; one se-
$3895 rial port; 16 -line parallel I/O; EPROM programmer;
Technico dual -61 bus; six -slot chassis; power sup-
ply $895
SOUTHWEST TECH. PRODUCTS EDUCATOR 920 SYSTEM
6800 (S5)(S3) Similar to 910, but with 8K RAM (expandable to
Based on Motorola 6800 MPU and its family of sup- 72K in chassis); black & white "video module" with
port devices. Chassis; motherboard; memory card 16 -line X 64 -char output, r -f modulator, ASCII key-
board interface, speaker output, microphone input,
dot matrix printer, separate 54 -key terminal -style
16K/32K EPROM expansion area; ASCII keyboard;
keyboard. Includes: dual cassette and TTY inter-
three -LED I/O bit indicator; 8 -ohm speaker; ex-
faces; 8K ROM with text editor, monitor and debug, U/%í/í1í;/i/ pandable to multi-user, FORTRAN disk sys-
sockets for 16K ROM; 1K or 4K RAM; two bi-direc-
tem $1895
tional 8 -bit ports; expansion and I/O connectors
compatible with KIM -1. Wired, 1K/4K .. $375/$450
EDUCATOR 930 SYSTEM
ROM Assembler $85 Similar to 920, but with dual 8 -inch floppy; 40K
ROM BASIC (8K) $100 RAM; one serial port; software including 2K BASIC
A65-009 Expansion Motherboard $195 plus Super BASIC, Level 2.0 Editor, Assembler, Re -

WM 6800 ááMeP
locatable Link Loader; ANSI FORTRAN $5895

"COLOR VIDEO MODULE"

SDS TECHNICAL DEVICES
For Technico Dual -61 bus; includes video interface
TDS-M68 (S5)(S3) with 4K bytes of eight -bit static RAM; serial 20 -mA plus audio cassette interface (300 baud), 2K RAM
6800-MPU. Incorporates SWTPC processor and 8K TTY/RS-232 interface card; power supply; crystal - sockets, ASCII keyboard interface; video output 16
108
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 CENTRONICS
lines X 64 char (B&W), 32X32 (color); eight col-
ors and intensities; three character sets. M ICRO P R IN TER
Wired $429 COMPUTER Non -impact, discharge printers; 5X8 dot matrix

128 -BIT PARALLEL MODULE

128 bits of bi-directionalparallel I/O; each bit in- PERIPHERALS
dividually addressable as input or output $329

OTHER MODULES:
For Technico dual -61 bus; 16K,32K RAM; 18K,32K ALF PRODUCTS
EPROM; serial, parallel I/O; floppy controller; six - APPLE MUSIC SYNTHESIZER
slot chassis. For power supplies, see Accessory Offers three simultaneous voices; full eight -octave
section. piano range with 24 notes per octave; interactive
graphics music entry; expandable to 6 or 9 voices
by using two or three units; control of pitch, volume
TELETEK and envelope; no tuning required; no "music lan-
FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER -I guages" to learn; stereo output. Plugs directly into
Smart floppy disk controller that may be configured your Apple II I/O bus and stereo system with ca- characters, 150 lines per minute; uses aluminized
bles supplied $265

APPLE COMPUTER
(AP)
DISK II FLOPPY -DISK SUBSYSTEM

F01 TIlE
fi;l'',II
Interface card, mini -floppy drives. (Computer han-
dles up to 7 cards, 14 drives); up to 116K bytes per
* disk (formatted); soft -sectored; 32K min. RAM rec-
plt RR7. ommended.
4,a .R With drive and controller $595
111111111i -1111j1111111111111111k111111I111
Additional drives $495
INTERNATIONAL CRYSTALS and KITS
as central processor in an S-100 system. (See PRINTER II (AP)
Module Boards.) Printer interface, plus Centronics Micro P1 printers;
OF -1 OSCILLATOR
30 char/line, 150 lines min., dot-matrix, electric
discharge on aluminized, 4.75 -in paper $695

PRINTER DA (AP)
TEXAS INSTRUMENT Interface plus Centronic 779, tractor -feed printer;
II -99.4
TMS9900 MPU (16 -bit) computer with built-in key-
132 char/line, 60 char/second, dot-matrix, impact,
paper widths to 9.8 -in; upper-case $1545
oThe OF -1 oscillator is a
resistor/capacitor circuit
board, including 13 -in color monitor screen; total
memory, 72K bytes, including 26K internal ROM, MODEM JIB (AP)
providing oscillation over a range of
16K internal RAM, up to 30K external ROM in plug- Acoustic coupler modem, with serial interface card frequencies by inserting the desired
in "Command Modules; 40 -key typewriter keyboard for Apple II. Originate/answer modes; 110/300 crystal, 2 to 22 MHz, OF -1 LO, Cat. No.
with overlay for additional functions; 5 -octave, 3 - baud; specify whether for U.S. or Europe; software 035108. 18 to 60 MHz, OF -1 HI, Cat.
included $390 No. 035109. Specify when ordering.
simultaneous -tone sound, plus noise generator,
110-40,000 Hz; composite video and audio output Modem. Without interface $200
MXX-1 Transistor RF Mixer
for monitor supplied, interface for up to two audio
3 to 20 MHz, Cat. No. 035105
cassettes, 44 -pin peripheral connector allowing up
ATV RESEARCH 20 to 170 MHz. Cat. No. 035106 $5.80 ea.
to three peripherals on system; system memory
and address signals available at peripheral con- MICRO -VERTER SAX -1 Transistor RF Amp
nector; remote control interface; ROM provided in- Interfaces computer video signals to any unmodi- 3 to 20 MHz, Cat. No. 035102
cludes 14K BASIC interpreter, internal graphics lan- fied TV with UHF reception, avoids low -band VHF 20 to 170 MHz, Cat. No. 035103 _ . $5.80 ea.
guage interpreter (not user -accessible), calculator, BAX-1 Broadband Amp
4.4K monitor (not user -accessible); displays 24 20 Hz to 150 MHz, Cat. No 035107 $6.06 ea.
lines X 32 chars, 8 X 8 matrix, 16 colors (32 sets
of eight chars each with different foreground/ back- .02% Calibration Tolerance
ground colors); addresses up to 16K RAM for CPU EXPERIMENTER
or displayed. Available peripherals include: remote
controllers with eight -direction joystick and control
button; Solid -State Speech Synthesizer using
CRYSTALS
(HC 6/U
Holder)
522
SPeak "NY Spell" technology, 250 words in unit
with plug-in vocabulary expansion, interface via I/O ea.
port; dual RS -232 interface $1150

Cat. No. Specifications

interference from computer circuits. Tunable over
four UHF channels. Usually requires no direct con- 031300 3 to 20 MHz-For use in OF -1L
nection to antenna terminals. Color -compatible (Ap- OSC Specify when ordering
ple -approved). Operates 1000 hours on 4 AA bat- 031310 20 to 60 MHz-For use in OF -1H
VECTOR GRAPHIC teries (not supplied). MVX-500 $35 OSC Specify when ordering
VECTOR MZ (S1)
Enclose payment with order (no C 0 D I Shipping
Z80-MPU system; built-in, dual Micropolis mini -flop- PIXE-PLEXER and postage (inside U S Canada and Mexico
pies (630K bytes, formatted); 18 -slot S-100 moth- Modulator/r-f oscillator for interfacing computer only) will be prepaid by International
erboard; 12K PROM board; one serial, two parallel video signals to VHF TV channels 2-6. Accepts Prices quoted for U S Canada and Mexico
analog or digital signals. May be operated as orders only Orders for shipment to other
ports; 16K RAM expandable to 48K; with Micropolis countries will be quoted on request
MDOS, 20K disk BASIC, Editor, Z80 assembler, de- monochrome character display or as multiplexer -
Price subject to change Address orders to
bugger, routines for Qume, Centronics, Teletype modulator for color -difference plus audio-subcarrier M S Dept P O Box 32497
and other printers; power supply delivers +8 V â inputs. Uses 3.5 MHz color-subcarrier, 4.5 MHz au- Oklahoma City Oklahoma 73132
22 A, ±- 16 V n 4 A $3750 dio subcarrier with varactor diode modulator for FM
sound insertion. Circuit board 1.6 X 3 -in. Requires WRITE FOR BROCHURE
SYSTEM B: Similar, with addition of 24X80 Flash -
writer video board, terminal; additional Micropolis + 15 V or -
12 V / +5 V; max current 50 mA; no
CPM and North Star -compatible DOS

MEMORITE WORD PROCESSOR

Consists of Vector
$4750

with drive, Hitachi 12" CRT

1
(S1)
power supply or case provided. PXP-4500 Kit $25
Pixe-Verter. Similar to Pixe-Plexer, but without au-
dio and 3.5-MHz color subcarriers or color -differ-
ence inputs.
flEliud
International Crystal Mfg. Co., Inc.
monitor, Diablo HyTerm printer with 1620-3 serial PXV-2A. Kit $9
10 North Lee. Oklahoma City. Oklahoma 73102
print mechanism, word-processing software, disk Note: Use of above devices may not meet FCC re-
BASIC. Wired $8500 quirements.
CIRCLE NO. 9 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
109
1980 EDITION
 paper 4.75 -in wide, requires no toners or ribbons; ±2 V each axis, spring return to center. For al to parallel; on -board baud -rate generator
96 -character upper/ lower case ASCII; software se- games, graphics and similar applications. For use (110-2400 baud); 44 -pin edge connector; requires
lection of 5, 10, or 20 char/in; elongated charac- with Cromemco D + 7A or similar analog inter- +5, -12 V.
ters and underlining; only four moving parts; five faces. Joystick console. Kit/wired $65/$95 101/101A. Bare board/with parts $12/$35
lines/in vertical; audio alarm for paper empty; auto
motor control turns motor off when no data re- 3779 DOT-MATRIX PRINTER RS-232/TTL INTERFACE
ceived; available in serial and parallel versions. 60 char/sec; 12 -in platen; continuously -variable Interconverts TTL-level and RS -232 serial data; two
Pl. Parallel interface. TTL-compatible I/O, 7 -bit character pitch allows up to 132 char/line; tractor separate conversion circuits; requires ± 12 V; 20 -
ASCII. Wired $495 feed $1495 pin edge connector.
Si. Serial interface, RS -232C, with parity selec- 232/232A. Board/with parts $5/$7
tion; switch selectable 50-9600 baud; 192 -char 3703 DOT-MATRIX PRINTER
FIFO buffer. Wired $595 180 char/sec; 18-in platen; 132 columns. Form RS-232/TTY INTERFACE
feed, bi-directional printing, double buffering; trac- Dual circuits convert RS -232 to 20 mA and vice ver-
730 MINIPRINTER tor feed $2995 sa; requires ± 12 V.
Impact; 7X7 dot matrix; 21 lines/ min with 80 -char 600/600A. Board/with parts $5/$7
line; uses roll paper 3.5 -8.5 -in wide, fan -fold paper 3355 DAISY -WHEEL PRINTER RS-232/2OmA INTERFACE Similar, but with passive,
9.5 -in wide (9.0 -in pin -to -pin), plus cut sheets; mo- 55 char/sec; 15 -in platen; tractor feed and friction opto -isolated circuits.
ebius-loop continuous ribbon; 96-character upper / platen $3995 7901/7901A. Board/with parts $10/$15
lower case ASCII; six lines/in 'vertical; ten char/in
horiz. spacing; 80 -char line buffer; parallel or serial PR1 PRINTER INTERFACE (S1) MODEM
input versions avail.; weighs under 10 lb. Interfaces one daisy -wheel, one dot-matrix printer Type 103; full/half duplex; originate or answer; TTL
$995-$1095 to S-100 bus $195 serial I/O; connects to 8 -ohm speaker, crystal mic;
300 baud; requires +5 V.
700 SERIES PRINTERS WFD MINI DISK DRIVE 109/109A. Bare board/wtih parts $8/$28
Impact dot-matrix, similar to above but for wider 5 -in minifloppy drive; soft -sectored IBM format; 92
paper (to 132 char/line on 17.3 -in paper); variety KB/side. Operates from 4FDC Disk Controller TAPE INTERFACE
of character sets avail; 60 char/sec printing rate, $495 KC -standard, at up to 1200 baud; TTL-serial I/O to
bi-directional and incremental; 7X7 matrix; tractor computer; audio 1/O to recorder. Requires +5 V.
feed; immediate viewing of typed/printed data; PFD DUAL DISK DRIVE 111/111A. Board/with parts $8/$28
auto motor control; single/double line feed, switch - floppy drive; holds two disks, 256 KB each
8 -in
able; switchable for auto line feed on return; ten (512 KB total); soft -sectored IBM format; includes TV TYPEWRITER
char/in horizontal, six lines/in vertical. power supply and cables, oiled -walnut case Wired Stand-alone TVT; 16 li X 32 or 64 char; parallel
761 RO. Serial, no keyboard. RS -232 or 20 -mA $2495 ASCII (TTL) input, video output; 1K on -board memo-
$1600 ry; output for computer -controlled cursor; auto
761 KSP. Same, with keyboard and numeric pad SOFTWARE DISKS: FORTRAN IV, 16K BASIC, Z-80 scroll; upper-case only; requires +5 V @ 1.5 A,
$1700 assembler, Dazzler games; specify 5" or 8". Per -12V á 30 mA.
700. Similar, but uni -directional; 5X7 matrix; paral- disk $95 106-' 106A. Board/with parts $39/$145
lel input $1760
701. Similar, but bi-directional, 25-120 lines/min; 3101 CRT TERMINAL TV INTERFACE
5X7 matrix; bi-directional logic seeking $1945 Solid-state capacitive keyboard; separate numeric Converts video to modulated r -f, channels 2 or 3;
702. Similar, but 120 char/sec; 50-260 lines/min.; and cursor keypads; 16 software -assignable func- on -board regulated power supply; requires 12 V ac
7X7 matrix standard, 7X9 and 9X9 optional tion keys; local editing mode; screen formatting in- (center -upped) or +5 V dc.
$2290 cluding dual -intensity characters, blinking charac- 107/107A. Board/with parts $8/$14
Other models available; contact manufacturer for ters, protected fields; block -transfer mode trans-
details. mits entire screen of characters to computer. 80 HEX ENCODED KEYBOARD
char x 24-line display; upper/lower case; remote 19 keys; 16 encoded, three user-definable; de -
video output jack; auxiliary I/O port; RS -232 inter- bounced; on -board LEDs indicate code generated;
face. With 10 -foot cable. Wired $1995 44 -pin edge connector; requires +5 V.
COMPUTALKER HEX-3/HEX-3A. Board / with parts $15 /$50
SPEECH SYNTHESIZER (RS)(AP) HDD HARD DISK DRIVE (S1)
Speech synthesizer, in cabinet with 110 V power Single or dual -drive versions, 11 megabytes/drive. ASCII -CORRESPONDENCE CODE CONVERTER
supply, 2 W audio amplifier; cables provided for Non -interchangeable hard disk. Data transfer at 5.6 Provides RS -232 serial ASCII I/O for Trendata
connection to host computer; requires speaker and megabits / second with DMA controller provided. 1000 Selectric terminal; direct replacement for
hi-fi amp; for 16K systems minimum, 32K recom- HD0-11 Single drive
. $6995 original Trendata board.
mended. Includes software. HDD-22.Dual drive $11,995 TA 1000C. Wired and tested $230
CT-1A (AP). Apple version $595
CT -1T. (AP). TRS-80 version $595 TIDMA (S1)
D. C. HAVES Tape Interface Direct Memory Access. FSK en-
MICROMODEM 100 (S1)
code/decode for direct connections to audio re-
S-100 modem board and external Microcoupler for corder at 1200 baud, digital recorder at any baud
COMPUTER PRINTERS INTERNATIONAL rate; requires no bootstrap PROM.
telephone data communications. Auto -dial auto -
COMPRINT PRINTER 112. S-100 boards only $35
answer; originate or answer modes; 110-300 bit/
Non -impact; high -density 9X 12 dot matrix; uses sec data rates; compatible with teletype and time- 112A. Board with parts $110
81s -in wide, electrosensitive paper rolls; 225 char/ share modems; all digital modulation and demodu-
lation. Built-in FCC registered DAA; plugs into mod- ACTIVE TERMINATOR (S1)
ular type phone jack $400 For S-100 bus.
900/900A. Bare board, board with parts .$15/$25
MICROMODEM II (AP)
Same as Micromodem 100 but plugs into Apple OTHER S-100 BOARDS (S1)
II
16K EPROM; 8K EPROM with programmer; 16x64
$400
video terminal with keyboard input.

APPLE TRIAC BOARD (AP)

DIGITAL SPORT SYSTEMS Holds 8 triacs, capable of switching 6-A, 110-V
VCNT-1 SEMI -TERMINAL loads.
Stand-alone keyboard and video controller with 210/210A. Bare board/board with parts
built-in SC/MP microprocessor to handle keyboard $15/$119
sec, 170 lines/min; 96 -char ASCII upper/lower and TV interface overhead; video output 16 lines X
OTHER APPLE BOARDS (AP)
case; 11 char/in, 80 char/line, 5.8 line/in; inserts 64 char.; cursor addressing and movement, clear -
seven blank lines after each 11 -in page; 256 -char; screen, display -block; 7X9 matrix display; RS -232, Serial I/O interface; parallel input, opto -isolated.
buffer (2K buffer optional). 1200 -baud interface $313 TRS-80 SERIAL I/O (RS)
912-P. Parallel interface $560 TVR-1. RF modulator (Ch. 3 std., but adjustable); fits RS -232 Serial I/O for TRS-80; usable with/without
912-S. Serial, RS -232 and 20 -mA $599 back of VCNT-1 video controller case $45 expansion bus; requires +5, -12 V.
8010/ 8010A.8010C. Bare board/with parts/wired
CROMEMCO $20/$60/$80
JOYSTICK CONSOLE ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS OTHER BOARDS.
Joystick (2 -axis) with speaker and amplifier, plus UART & BAUD RATE GENERATOR For external connection to computers; see Peri-
four user -defined pushbutton switches. Joysticks Converts parallel data to TTL-level serial, TTL seri- pherals section.
110 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 screen, field and column tab $995 fields; data compression; protected/unprotected
F & D ASSOCIATES data; unprotected -only batch transmit; tab, back
EPROM PROGRAMMER HAZELTINE 1500 tab, auto tab $1550
For 2704/2708 EPROMs. Software timing and con- Similar to 1420, but with EIA and 20 -mA interface;
trol; requires three ICs, six transistors plus power baud rates to 19.2K; auxiliary EIA output; remote
supply. Designed primarily for SWTPC 6800, but editing commands; standard or video. Uses 9 X 11
can be adapted to I/O ports of other MPUs. With dot matrix display, switch selected normal/ reverse
software for SWTPC system with console. EPB-2.
HEATHKIT
video; improved monitor with 17 -MHz bandwidth;
Bare board and documentation $29 low -audibility 18.4 kHz horizontal frequency; key-
board controls include clear foreground, clear to H9CRT TERMINAL
end of line or of screen; switchable lower-case dis- Displays 12 lines of 80 characters on 12 -in screen,
able $1225 formattable to four columns of 12 lines X 20 char-
GIMIX
GHOST POWER CONTROL SYSTEM HAZELTINE 1510
Allows remote device on/off control, manually or Similar to 1500, but with 95 -char ASCII set, cursor
with any computer. Following modules may be used control keys, protected/unprotected data; function
alone or together. keys; tab/back tab/ auto tab; format mode with in
serf/delete-line keys; additional keyboard func-
GHOST RELAY DRIVER BOARD tions include local/remote, clear unprotected,
Controls up to 31 GE RR8 relays; scanning circuitry clear-display, insert/delete line, set -/reset format
determines relay status; usable with any computer; mode $1395
up to four boards (124 relays) can operate from
one 20 mA current -loop serial port; provision for HAZELTINE 1520
manual control as normal low -voltage switching Similar to 1510, but with serial microprocessor -
system, even without computer. System fits in controlled parallel printer interface with 2K buffer;
30X 6X 12 -in, electrical cabinet. keyboaro controls similar $1650
Relay driver board $449
Transformer, 2 A, 24 V, to power boards and relays. HAZELTINE 1552
$14 Similar to 1520, but with 31 graphics symbols add- acters; cursor control; batch transmit; plot mode;
G.E. RR8 Relays. 24 V, mechanical -latching, can ed to 95 ASCII; max baud rate 9600; programmable 110-9600 baud; serial RS -232, 20 mA, and TTL in-
handle up to 20 A, 277 V ac U.L. approved $12 key switch audio feedback; hold -screen mode; al- terfaces. Kit $479
Relay bracket $38 ternate key pad mode; VT-52 compatibility; key- WH9-1. EIA -standard interface between H9 and oth-
Relay Driver Package. With 31 relays, bracket, board control of field and column tabs; 155-2 or er devices $15
transformer. Wired $848 VT-52 terminal ID select $1500

GHOST OPTO-ISOLATED INPUT BOARD (S5) HAZELTINE MODULAR I

For remote -control device monitoring via any 8 -bit Two-piece, with detachable keyboard; 64 ASCII SMART VIDEO TERMINAL
parallel input port with handshake lines. Detects up characters displayed, 128 ASCII codes recog- CRT terminal with Z80 intelligence; 25 -line X 80 -
to 34 different switch closures. Input voltages from nized/send; 7 X 9 matrix; numeric pad and cursor char display; full typewriter keyboard plus numeric
5 to 24 V; FIFO buffer memory, switch debouncing; control keys; dual intensity, reverse video, blink keypad and 12 function keys (8 user -programma-
self -scanning. For remote -control device monitoring and non -display; cursor addressing and sensing; ble); addressable blinking cursor; reserve video on
via any 8 -bit parallel input port with handshake baud rates to 9600; alpha only or numeric -only any portion of screen; upper/lower case plus 33
lines. Can mount to and draw power from SS -50 bus
if available $349

16 -BUTTON REMOTE 2 -WIRE KEYBOARD (S5)

Allows remote control from any number of key-
boards, using only one #24, twisted -pair phone line
(up to 1 mile distance). When one keyboard is in
use, others are locked out. Tone Receiver Board
powers and controls the keyboards, and converts
their signals into binary. For any computer with 8 -
bit parallel input port with handshake lines; can
mount to and draw power from SS -50 bus, if avail-
RINTED C IRCUIT KIT
able.
Tone Receiver Board (one required)
16 -button keyboard (0-9, A-D,', #)
$249
$99
Makes circuits THREE WAYS
FULL SCALE ARTWORK MASTER
1
35 -KEY REMOTE KEYPAD SYSTEM DEVELOPED
Keypad with 34 data keys plus shift; shift locks mak ETCHED

when pressed twice; keytop layout user -definable; 2

MAGAZINE
ILLUSTRATION POSITIVE 111> NEGATIVE le PHOTO RESISTIMAGE
ON
COPPER CLAD
CIRCUIT
BOARD
CIRCUIT BOARD
RS -423 serial output (RS -232 compatible, but
transmits up to 2500 -ft on twisted pair); 75 baud
standard, 300 baud optional; in 31/2"X 41/2"X 11/2" 3 DIRECT ETCH DRY TRANSFERS APPLIED TO COPPER CLAD BOARD

case; modular (telephone -style) cord; requires

15-18 V ac Co 80 mA. Also available for Gimix relay Copy circuits right from a magazine using special photo film.
driver board. Wired $119 No camera or darkroom used. Page is not destroyed in process.
Do your own master art, make negatives, sensitize boards and
etch one or a hundred circuits; all identical, all perfect.
HAZELTINE For one -of -a -kind PC's, use special dry transfer patterns as
HAZELTINE 1410
a direct etch resist right on the blank copper board.
CRT terminal with typewriter keyboard plus numeric Do it all with the ER -4. In stock at parts distributors or order
keypad; 5 X 7 dot matrix display, 64 -char upper- direct. Add 7% shipping. Minimum factory order: $30.00.
case ASCII (transmits/receives all 128 ASCII
codes); cursor addressing and sensing; EIA inter- ER -A Complete Photo Etch Set $29.95
ER -2 Assorted Etch Resist Patterns & Tapes 4.25
face; eight transmission rates to 9600 baud; self
ER -3 1/4 Ib. Dry Ferric Chloride (makes one pint) 1.85
test; 12 -in screen; cursor controllable by computer,
.

ER -5 Six sheets Pos-Neg Copy Film, 5"x6" 4.75

with home key for manual control; 80 -char X 24 -
ER -6 Film Process Chemicals 2.50
line display; block cursor with reverse video when
ER -71 Photo Resist Liquid (negative) does 1700 in2 6.50
positioned over car; RS -232, full or half duplex; ex-
$900 ER -8 Photo Resist Developer, 16 oz 2.95
port configurations optionally available
ER -12 Power Etch bubble pump unit* 7.25
HAZELTINE 1420 *not included in ER -4 set
Similar to 1410, but displays 94 -char ASCII, includ-
ing lower-case; 5 X 8 dot matrix; addition of "+", the DATAK corp.
" and Enter to numeric pad; user -defined video
intensity, blink and non -display; non -glare screen; 65 71st St. Guttenberg, N. J. 07093
keyboard control of backspace, clear field or
CIRCLE NO. 4 ON FREE INFORMAI ION CARD 113
1980 EDITION
 graphics characters; RS -232 interface; tab; non- OPTIONS screen by keyboard or computer, page mode.
in
destructive underline, blinking cursor; 25th line soft- Write Protect. Per spindle $25 Wired
ware controlled for status display, etc.; auto scroll $895
Remote Eject. Per spindle $25 Lowercase option $75
or line page freeze; erase page, line remainder, Dual Density. Per spindle
-
$75 Arithmetic keypad, with cable and connector $80
page remainder; 110-19,200 baud. RS 232 Serial Interface $100 Answerback $115
H19/WH19. Kit/wired $675/$995
4400 THREE -DRIVE DEVELOPMENT SUBSYSTEM ADM -31 SMART TERMINAL
LINE PRINTER Includes three, 400 -series drives, enclosure, power Similar to ADM -3a but with two -page memory (dis-
Dot-matrix, impact printer; 96 -character (upper/ supply and indicator panel; indicators for disk pres- plays either page); 90 -key keyboard with integral
lower-case) ASCII, on 5 X 7 matrix; max. print ence, drive select, read, write, ready and write pro- numeric pad, tab, upper-case lock, character and
speed 165 char/sec; line length selectable 80, 96 tect $2500 line edit keys, line and page erase keys; field pro-
or 132 char; line spacing 6 or 8 lines/in, software tection with dual -intensity; optional RS -232 exten-
selectable; 110-4800 baud; adjustable width sion or printer interfaces; keyboard -selectable
sprocket, uses edge -punched fanfold paper 2.5"- transmission mode (page, line or message); visible
9.5" wide, 0.006" max. thickness; RS -232 or 20-mA INTERTEC control chars; polling -addressing option. Wired
serial interface; 10 to 16.5 char/ in hardware/soft- $1450
INTERTUBE II VIDEO DISPLAY TERMINAL
ware selectable, 12 char/ in software -selectable
Displays 24 lines X 80 char, plus half -intensity sta-
only; standard typewriter ribbon with auto reverse; ADM -42 SMART TERMINAL
tus line; 8X10 dot matrix with descenders; ASCII
printhead temperature monitor light; controls for Two-piece terminal (keypad detachable from CRT).
power, local/on-line, reverse and forward feed, top Two -page memory (expandable to 8 pages) with
of form, wide characters; self test mode. independent protect, write/protect, program mode
H14/WH14. Kit/wired $625/$895 and cursor retention; 15" CRT display with dual -
intensity, blinking, blanking and protected fields;
FLOPPY -DISK SYSTEM (H8) 24 -line display with 25th line for status indicators;
Mini -floppy disk system for Heath H8 computer. multiple tab modes; numeric keypad, cursor keys
Controller circuit board plugs into H8 mainframe. and 16 shiftable function keys; programmable func-
Uses hard -sectored, 40 -track, 5 %" diskette; Wang - tion keys optional. Other options include: alternate
co 82 drive; capacity 102K/disk. 128 -character set; extension, printer and internal
H17/WH17. Kit wired $495/5550 system bus interfaces; communications protocol;
H17-1. Second drive $295 line drawing. Wired $1595

H27 FLOPPY -DISK SYSTEM (LS) BALLISTIC PRINTER

For H11A; compatible with DEC floppy software; 180-char/sec matrix impact printer. Built-in micro-
dual, 8 -inch drives; reformattable for DEC or IBM keyboard plus 18 -key numeric pad; cursor address- processor provides 15- switch -selectable form
3740 format; built-in self -diagnostic on power -up; ing; automatic repeat on all keys; shiftlock, back- lengths, 15 perforation-skipover formats, complete
write -protect; uses one backplane slot. vertical and horizontal tab control; print and font
space; graphics mode; programmable white -on -
H27 / W H27. Kit / wired $1895 /$2595 controls allow up to 2 sets of 128 characters alter-
black or reverse display; self -test mode; editing
features include char and line insert/delete, full/ natable line by line; auto space and blank character
partial block transmit, line -end terminators, protect- compression saves buffer space and speeds tab-
ed fields; generates all 128 ASCII characters; blink- bing; standard buffer lengths 512 char (serial), 256
HEATH DATA SYSTEMS ing, reverse and half -intensity; 12 -in CRT; RS -232 (parallel), both expandable to 2048 char; resident,
standard, 20 mA avail.; aux. printer port with local non-volatile format -retention system with 96 -hour
Heath Data Systems products are identical to fac-
print mode; export models available battery backup. 9 X 7 matrix characters in 9 X 9
tory -wired Heathkit products, but available through $995
matrix, allows underlining and lower-case descend-
computer stores, not directly from Heath. For prod-
AMOEBA TERMINAL ers. Wired. Serial/Parallel interface versions
uct details, see Heathkit listing.
WH19. Smart Video Terminal Intelligent terminal; similar to above, but with Z80 $2045/$1995
$995
WH14. Dot -Matrix Impact Line Printer $895 processor; 16K RAM; high-level string editor; provi-
sion for second Z80 to handle I/O overhead; 1K MECA
PROM (2708); build -in digital mini-cassette drive, ALPHA -1 MASS STORAGE SYSTEM (S1)
program -controlled $1495 Dual cassette system operating under computer
IMAGE -21 control. S-100 interface supports up to four drives;
SUPERBRAIN TERMINAL (S1) (RS) 750K byte / drive; 780 byte/ sec.; high-speed
TVM-90 MONITOR Intelligent terminal; see under "Computers." search at 100 in/sec.; will access any position on
Black -and -white, 9 -in -diagonal video monitor; 600 C-30 cassette in 20 sec.; independent motion con-
lines resolution; front -panel controls; metal housing trol and read/ write electronics for simplified tape
$194 JADE copying, look -ahead tape queuing, and file manage-
Also available: 9 -17 -in B&W monitors, 500-800 line ment; additional track for audio recording; with
JP-80T DOT MATRIX PRINTER
resolution; 12 -in color monitor. 8080 assembler, editor, debugger, and operating
Tractor -fed; 150 char/sec; 96 -char ASCII set, up-
per/lower-case; RS -232 serial interface; built-in system. Other software available, including BASIC
self -monitoring program; 80 chars/line. and patches to 4.0-4.1 mils Extended BASIC. Sys-
PRM-27081 $749 tem with controller, power supply, enclosure, ca-
bling and software.
INNOTRONICS
Single drive. Wired $685
INNOVEX 410 420 FLOPPY DRIVES
Dual drive. Wired $985
Full-size (8 -in) floppy drives; mount two horizontally JHM MARKETING 1702 Bootstrap Loader. (Does not include PROM
or four vertically in standard rack; single and dou- VOTRAX VOICE SYNTHESIZER board) $50
ble -density (3200 and 6400 BPI, inner track), unfor- Produces continuous speech analog output from in- Audio play record option. Wired $140
matted capacity 400K/800K per diskette. Avail- structions representing phonemes; RS -232 input. All components available separately.
able in IBM-compatible, soft -sectored (410) and K232 $745
hard -sectored (420) versions; 220/240 V and K001. Synthesizer module only $375 BETA -1 MASS STORAGE SYSTEM
100/115V 50 Hz versions also available. Similar to Alpha -1 but interfaces to standard 8 -bit
410. Soft -sectored $495 parallel port, serial operation optional; runs at 100
420. Hard -sectored $505 ips (4000 bits per second), double density optional;
400-2046. Triple -voltage power supply for two - LEAR SIEGLER internal 8035 processor; with 2K byte program;
drive system $110 ADM -3a "DUMB TERMINAL" comes with single drive, slave drives optional.
CRT terminal; 80 characters X 24 lines on built-in, Wired $399
3400 DUAL DISKETTE SUBSYSTEM (LS) 12 -in -diagonal screen. Standard 64 -character AS- Slave drive $270
Includes two Innovex 410 or 420 drives, power sup- CII uppercase character set supplied; 90 -character
ply, rack -mount enclosure (10.5 -in panel height) upper/lower-case set optional. Switch -selectable DELTA -1 DISK/TAPE SYSTEM
with forced cooling, ac line filter, mounting for con- cursor modes. Underline cursor homing to lower left Double -density minidisk storage system puts
troller or interface board $1555 of screen, with automatic scrolling and page mode 200,000 bytes on one side of 54 -in floppy,
3401. With Controller for LSI-11 $2955 with reverse -character cursor homing to upper left. (400,000 bytes on double -sided drive); controller
3401-D. Double -density version $3155 End -of -line tone. Full and half -duplex modes, 11 will support up to three 51/4 -in drives, and interface
3430. With general-purpose 8 -bit interface $2250 communication rates from 75 to 19,200 baud. with Alpha -1 or Delta -1 for fully integrated tape and
3440. Double -density version $2590 Switch -selectable RS -232 and 20 -mA interface to disk system; CP/M compatible.
400-2047. Solid wood table top cabinet for any of computer; extension RS -232C port for printer, re- With single -sided drive $699
above 3400 -series subsystems. (choice of wood corder, or additional terminals (20 mA optional). With double -sided drive $925
available) $125 Cursor can be directly addressed to any part of Controller alone $270
114 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 V á 100 mA plus any other voltages required by
MICRO PERIPHERALS INC. NATIONAL MULTIPLEX
PROM being programmed.
MPI PRINTER CC -9 DIGITAL COMPACT -CASSETTE RECORDER $295
PP -2708. For 2707, 2704, and 27L08's
40 -column, impact dot matrix printer. 75lines/min., Direct digital recorder (no audio -cassette interface $295
PP -T2716. For T.I. and Motorola TMS 2716's
line -length 3.33 in. on adding -machine roll paper to required) using standard Philips -type Compact $325
PP -2708. 216 For all of above EPROMs
3%" W. Available with serial, parallel ASCII, and Cassettes. Handshake signals when motor is up to PP -2716. For new 5.V -only 12716. 12758. TMS2516, and
parallel programmable interfaces; 64 -character up- speed. RS -232 I/O standard, TTL optional (user
TMS 2558 $295
per-case ASCII. Option "A" provides strappable changeable); speed adjustable for matching to oth- $295
PP -2532. For T.I.'s TMS 2532
data formats, double -wide characters under soft- er recorders; three speeds available: 75-1200
ware control, and reverse -field printing on parity er- baud at 1.6 ips tape speed; 2400-4800 baud at 3
EPROM TESTER 'DUPLICATOR
rors; option "B" provides the above, plus fast pa- ips, 4800-9600 baud at 6 ips (slow recording. allow-
Tests for incorrectly inserted or poorly erased
per -feed option (5 line/sec line -feed). Interface able at higher speeds, with loss of tape economy);
EPROM5, evaluates static -damaged audible defect
boards and printer mechanism with interface avail- half-track format (flip cassette over for second
able separately; prices shown are for assembled track); adaptable for 12 V operation; motor start /
and tested printers with power supply and case. stop by local or remote control, rewind/fast-for-
Interface options include parallel and buffered par- ward manual only; three -digit counter.
allel (Centronics -compatible), RS-232/current loop Slow and medium speed versions $200
serial, or IEEE -488. 9600 -baud, 110/220 V $220
Parallel /0
I $435 220 V, 50 Hz. (Any speed) $220
Buffered parallel or IEEE -488 $585 Speed lock (±0.3%), 110/220 V $250
Serial $575 12 V powering option $20
With Option "A" (Serial only) $625 20 mA current -loop adapter $20
With Option "B" (Serial, buffered or IEEE -488)
$650
Journal Take-up Option (exc. parallel version) ..$50
Rack mount version add $60 NESTAR SYSTEMS
RFI/EMI Filter $25 CLUSTER ONE (API(PT)(RS)
Distributed computer system based on independent
MODEL 88T PRINTER personal microcomputers; supports up to 30 user alarm, or poorly erased EPROMs, programs up to
Serial dot matrix, impact; 100 chars/sec max; 60 stations, running independently, but sharing such 16 PROMs at the same time, verifies all EPROMs in
Ipm (80 cps) bidirectional 8" printing line, 80 cols resources as disk systems, program libraries, print- the matrix with the master, allows data to be added
ers and data files; supports Apple II, Commodore to pre-programmed parts (overprogramming). Using
Pet or Radio Shack TRS-80 computers, in any com- personality module for each generic family, the
bination; uses plug-in module board interfaces for 8048 based programmer and hefty power supply
Apple and Pet, mini -box for TRS-80. System in- will support a second duplicator for burning 32
cludes following units: Cluster/One Storage Unit, PROMs at a time.
dual 8 -in floppies, 630K total formatted capacity; UPP-2700 Duplicator. Personality module and power sup-
with disk and bus controllers, buffer memory (16K), ply $2450
power supplies, cooling and software $4995 Second Duplicator $1995
Extended Storage Unit. As above, but double -sid-
ed, 1.2M total capacity $5005
Computer interfaces. For Pet / Apple / TRS-80
$75-$100/$150/$150 OTTO ELECTRONICS
OE 1000 TERMINAL
Video terminal with composite -video output; re-
NORTH STAR quires monitor. Screen format 16 li X 64 char; up-
per/lower-case and TTY modes; will display 96 AS-
MDS-A MICRO -DISK SYSTEM (S1)
CII characters and 32 special characters; full cur-
á 10 char/in., 96 cols 'a 12 char/in., or 132 @ Uses Shugart Mini -Floppy drive, 100K bytes per
sor control, automatic scroll, erase to end of line,
16.5 char/in.; 96 -char ASCII upper/lower-case set; diskette. Controller on one Altair -bus board, with
erase to end of screen, and clear -screen. Inter-
6 li/in.; tractor feed; 5"-9.5" paper, roll or fan -fold;
bootstrap software in PROM. Supplied with DOS
faces to 300 -baud full -duplex serial port, 20 -mA or
rear or bottom paper loading; power, paper feed and disk BASIC software, all connectors and ca-
RS -232. Has 57 -key keyboard, plastic case; re-
and select/deselect; serial/parallel I/O $749 bles. Power requirements 0.9 A á 5 V, 1.6 A ,.á 12 $300/$375
quires 115 V ac power. Kit/wired
V, can be supplied by computer or optional power
supply. Drive assembled, controller available. Kit/
ADD -A -DISK
wired $699/$799
Dual BASF 6106, 53/4" drives and power supply in
Power Supply Kit $39
cabinet that can hold up to four drives; increased
Cabinet Kit $39
MICROPOLIS Additional drive. Kit/wired $400/$450
MACROFLOPPY (S1) MDS-A-ND. System less drive, for use with previ-
Double -density (5162 BPI) system for 5'7 -in, hard - ously purchased SA -400 drive $449/$549
sectored diskettes. Records 143K bytes per dis-
kette. System includes S-100 controller for up to DOUBLE -DENSITY MICRO DISK SYSTEM
four drives, cable, and diskettes with BASIC (re-
quires 24K RAM) and DOS (16K required). Has
Specifications same as above, but double -density,
for 180K bytes/disk. Kit/wired $699/$799 '-
built-in bootstrap and file project. Other Options: Quad capacity (double -density, du-
1041-1. Macrofloppy- Can be installed in S-100 al -sided).
chassis (with optional dc voltage-regulator kit).
With one drive $695 ADDITIONAL DRIVE CABINET
1041-1. Two drives $1240 Holds two North Star drives; includes power supply,
1042-1. Macrofloppy. Includes power supply and wood or metal cover. capacity from using available 40 tracks instead of
cabinet, for stand-alone mounting $795 ADC kit $129 customary 35; uses industry standard interface,
1021-I, Add-on drive with enclosure; requires With one/two drives, wired $599/$999 power plugs, and mounting points $775
daisy-chair cable and regulator kit $445 Interface cables and software for the 40 -track op-
1022-1. Add-on drive with enclosure, and power eration available at extra cost.
supply; requires daisy -chair cable $545 Single bare BASF drives $299
1091-01. Regulator kit for 1041 $20 OAE (OLIVER)
OP -80A PAPER TAPE READER
METAFLOPPY (51) High-speed optical tape reader; no moving parts.
PERCOM DATA
"Quad density" 51/4 -in. floppy systems, using dou- Reads punched paper tape up to 5000 char/sec.
Includes optical sensor array, high-speed data buf- CIS-30 CASSETTE INTERFACE
ble -density (5162 BPI) recording on 77 (not 35)
tracks. Capacity 315K per drive. Other features fers, handshake logic for interfacing with parallel Self -clocking audio cassette interface, functioning
I/O. Kit/wired $85/$100 at 120, 60 or 30 bytes / s. Usable with any computer
similar to MacroFloppy.
1043-11. One -disk system $1145 having a serial port, but designed for SWTPC 6800;
1053-11. Two -disk system $1895 PROM PROGRAMMER uses MIKBUG for all ordinary functions except 120
1054-11. Four -disk system $3290 Programmer interfaces to parallel port; requires byte/s loading, plays unmodified SWTPC cassette
1023.11. Single add-on disk. Requires daisy chain very little software-data is dumped via lower eight software, and is finished in matching colors. In-
cable $645 address lines using patented technique; no wiring cludes RS -232 data terminal interface, allowing
1033-I1. Dual -disk add-on; requires cable ...$1395 necessary, plugs into any ROM socket; requires 5 both tape and terminal to use one serial port; user -
115
1980 EDITION
 selectable 1200, 800 or 300 baud terminal inter- arrows, no graphics; software selectable character pressure light touch; two user-definable keys; +5
face. Independent record/ play circuits permit dual width (20, 40 or 80 chars/line), auto underline, au- V operation.
cassette operation; uses phase -locked (bi- dible signal; requires Level -II BASIC plus either VP -601 $65
phase/M) data and clock recovery, optional kit al- printer or expansion interface $499 VP-611. Same as above but includes 16 -pad numer-
lows program control of recorders; local/ line ic -entry keyboard $80
switch for off-line sending of recorder programs to LINE PRINTER (RS) Cables for above keyboards $20
terminal only. Requires regulated +5 V @ 50 mA, Impact, dot matrix; 64-char ASCII (upper-case);
± 12 V @ 10 mA, both available from SWTPC 6800. continuous-loop cloth ribbon; character width vari- COSMAC MICROTERMINAL
Kit / wired $80/$100 able 10-16.5 chars/in; maximum 132-char/line at Hand-held, machine-language terminal with hex
IC sockets $5 21 lines/min; requires expansion or printer inter- keypad input with 8 -digit LED displays; control keys
Remote -control kit $15 face. for reset, run utility, run program, start program, in-
Test cassette $5 Friction -feed. Includes holder for roll paper to crement, clear address, data / address entry select,
9.8 -in wide; requires additional Interface Connect- continuous/single-step select; utility firmware. De-
CI -812 CASSETTE INTERFACE (S1) ing Cable $1299 signed for 1802 systems, direct plug-in to COSMAC
Similar, but board for S-100 bus Kit/wired Interface Connecting Cable $39 Evaluation Kit, EK/Design Kit, and Development
$100/$130 Tractor -Feed. Similar to above, but allows multiple System II.
copies, exact placement of type on pre-printed CDP185021. Wired $140
LFD-400 MINIDISK SYSTEM (S5) forms; tractor width adjustable 3 -12.1 -in; Interface
Mini -floppy system for SS -50 bus (does not use I/O Connecting Cable not required $1559 COSMAC MICROMONITOR
slots), up to three drives. Consists of: SS -50 con- In -circuitdebugger for 1802 system§. Connects be-
troller board with space for 3K PROM; Shugart PRINTER INTERFACE CABLE (RS) tween MPU and socket. Has built-in keyboard, dis-
SA -400 drive; power supply; cabinet; software and Allows direct connection of Quick Printer II or Line play and status indicators; interfaces to external
firmware. Controller turns drive motors off if system Printer to CPU without expansion interface $79 terminals; allows real-time run with breaks, plus op-
is inactive more than three seconds; has 1K mini - eration for specified numbers of machine or instruc-
DOS; allows use of existing software (patches pro- LINE PRINTER II (RS) tion cycles; prdgrammable break conditions, with
vided), disk protection; also available are Impact; prints 50 char/ sec; 80-char./line (or ex- register preservation and trace; control of memory,
miniDOS+, supporting named files (miniDOS is panded letters under software control); upper/lower I/O and all registers and flags; inhibits or allows
sector -referenced) and FMS -6800 file -management case; dot-matrix; friction- and pin -feed modes; system -generated DMA and interrupt requests.
system (requires 4-8K RAM support). Wired only. forms up to 91/2 -in wide; detachable rear bail for roll CDP18S030. Wired $1995
One -drive system $600 paper feed in friction -feed mode; for TRS-80 Model
Two -drive system $1000 Il, or TRS-80 with expansion interface $999 COSMAC FLOPPY -DISK SYSTEM II
Three-drive system $1400 Dual -drive system designed for direct plug-in to
MiniDOS+ Firmware (2708) $35 LINE PRINTER III (RS) COSMAC Development System. Includes system
All system components also available separately. Impact, dot-matrix; 132 -character lines; upper/low- diskette (IBM-compatible format) with editor, as-
er case; 120 char/sec, bi-directional; line -feed sembler, diagnostic, and utility programs.
TFD MINI -DISK SYSTEMS (RS) controllable in increments to '-in; expanded char- CDP18S805V1. Wired $3600
For TRS-80. Choice of 40 -track (102.4K bytes/ acters under software control; tractor feed; forms
side) and 77 -track (197.12K bytes/side). Require up to 15 -in wide; drive motors run during printing
TRSDOS or MICRODOS, Level II BASIC, 16K RAM; only $1999
PATCH PAK 1 software to extend TRSOOS for 40/
77 -track use included. TRS-80 MINI -DISK SYSTEM (RS)
SMOKE SIGNAL BROADCASTING
TFD-100 (40 -track). With 1/2 / 3 drives Holds 55K bytes/disk; includes TRS-80 DOS soft- BFD-68 MINI -FLOPPY DISK SYSTEM (S5)
$399/$795/$1195 ware; adds 15 additional features to Level -II BASIC. SS -50 controller supporting up to 3 drives, 3 -drive
TRD-200 (77 -track). With 1/2 /3 drives Requires 16K RAM, Level -II BASIC, Expansion In- cabinet with space and power supply for 3 drives,
$675/$1350/$2025 terface $499 DOS -68 and Disk File Basic DFB -8 software; other
MICRODOS operating system $30 Additional drives. (Up to three supported) $499 software available.
BFD-68. Single -drive version $795
TFD-1000 (RS) TRS-80 MODEL II DISK EXPANSION (RS) BFD-68-2. Dual -drive system $1139
800K dual -drive system for TRS-80. Includes power For TRS-80 Model II; 8 -in disk system; for one to BFD-68.3. Triple-drive system $1479
supply, cabinet, MICRODOS operating system, pe- three additional drives. 5 /4 -Inch Floppy Drive
1 $355
ripheral adapter module PC card, interconnect ca- Expansion System with one drive $1150 8 -Inch Floppy Drive $585
ble and support documentation $2495 Additional drives $600 ABFD-68. Single -drive system less cabinet and power sup-
ply $649
ELECTRIC CRAYON TRS-80 EXPANSION INTERFACE (RS)
Color -graphics system with own microprocessor; For TRS-80 system expansion (not required for LFD-68 (S5)
for virtually any microcomputer with parallel I/O Model II). Contains sockets for added 16K or 32K Similar to BFD-68, but with 8 -inch floppies; sup-
port. Displays animation graphics, charts, tables, RAM; disk controller for up to four Mini -Disks; soft- ports up to 4 drives, for megabyte max. storage.
1

text, etc. on color TV $185 ware -selectable dual cassettes; real-time clock; LFD-68. One drive $1395
card -slot for interface options; parallel port for Cen- LFD-68-2. Two drives $1895
tronics printer. Usually requires Level -II BASIC. Re- DGD-68.2. With two. double -sided 8 -inch drives $2495
PICKLES & TROUT quired for all peripherals above, except as noted.
Expansion Interface. With 0 RAM $299
PAT-488 INTERFACE BOARD (S1)(EE)
16K RAM Increment $199
For bi-directional communications between S-100
computer bus and IEEE -4888 instrumentation bus. SOROC TECHNOLOGY
VOICE SYNTHESIZER (RS) 10-120 TERMINAL
Can function as controller, talker or listener, in-
Generates synthesized speech under program con- Displays 24 lines, 80 char/line, on built-in 12-in
cludes Bitwiggler tape interface, K.C. compatible;
trol; built-in amplifier, speaker and volume control; CRT. Includes keyboard with cursor control, numer-
software on K.C. tape included. May be addressed
16K RAM recommended $399 ic keypad, tab, auto -repeat. ASCII 96 -character up-
as four consecutive I/O ports or memory locations
with 488 -compatible cable. Specify whether for per/lower-case set. RS -232 interfaces to computer
TRS-80 VOXBOX (RS) and extension port (optional) for printer, etc. Has
North Star, CP/M, and (if custom software) on cas-
For computer voice -recognition experiments; in- protect mode; displays protected data in reduced
sette. Wired $400
cludes microphone with coiled cord $169 intensity. Can erase to end of line, end of field, end
of memory, all unprotected data, or complete
TRS-80 TELEPHONE INTERFACE It (RS) screen. Switch -selectable baud rates, 75-19, 200.
RADIO SHACK Telephone modem with acoustic coupler; Originate Wired $995
QUICK PRINTER II and answer modes; requires RS -232 interface
(RS)
Prints 16- or 32 -character lines on 2% -in aluminized $199
10-125 TERMINAL
paper; non -impact; upper/ lower case; automatic Communications Software. For use of above on
TRS-80. Requires Level II BASIC
Similar to IQ -120, but with descenders on lower-
"wrap -around" when text exceeds line length; $30
case characters, block -mode transmit option, print-
switch -selectable input interfaces to RS -232 serial, er port with independently -selectable baud rates.
Centronics parallel or TRS-80 Level II CPU (no ex- RS-232-C SERIAL INTERFACE (RS)
Wired $1095
pansion or printer interface accessories required); Mounts inside Expansion Interface; includes in-
120 lines/ min; 9 or 18 chars/in, software -selecta- teractive -terminal program; 50-19, 200 baud ....$99
IQ -240 TERMINAL
ble $219 Similar to IQ -125, but with detachable, 117 -key
keyboard, including 16 function keys, separate nu-
QUICK PRINTER (RS) RCA meric keypad; full screen edit capability and block
Non -impact; delivers 150 lines/min on 4% -in alumi- FULL ASCII ENCODED KEYBOARD mode transmit; reverse video, underline, blink,
nized paper; prints all keyboard characters except Typewriter -format, 58 -pad keyboard with positive blank security fields; polling option. Wired ... $1495
116
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 MF -68 DISK SYSTEM (S3) sions; programmable answer -back; built-in modem;
SOUTHWEST TECH. PRODUCTS Dual minifloppy (5%") disk system for SWTPC 6800 paper -tape ASR (Automatic Send -Receive) option.
CT -64 TERMINAL and similar computers. Controller plugs into I/O
CRT terminal, 16 lines of 32 or 64 characters per slot 6, support up to 4 drives; includes SWTPC 8K
line; scrolling or page mode operation, upper and BASIC ver. 2, modified for disk save/load, plus
lower case characters, with switchable lower case FDOS; stores up to 85K bytes/disk; requires 16K
defeat; reversed character printing; control charac- memory in computer; with chassis, cover; power TERMINAL DATA CORP. OF MARYLAND
ter display, with defeat switch; cursor control; com- supply. Kit, with 2 assembled Shugart SA -400 CRT TERMINAL
plete control character decoding. Usable with any drives $995 High-speed TTY -replacement terminal with sepa-
eight -bit ASCII computer. With power supply, key- MF -6X Expansion Kit. With power supply, enclosure, rate, 9" CRT monitor. RS -232 interface; 64 char X
board, serial interface, beeper, chassis, and cover. 2 drives $850
Kit $325
CT -VM. Video monitor for above, in matching case. DMAF1 FLOPPY (S5)
Requires CT -64's power sùpply. Wired $175 Full-size (8") floppy -disk system with DMA controll-
CT -EA Screen Read Board. Allows block transmission er for up to 4 drives; 600K bytes/disk; with two
of screen contents after editing. Kit $18 Cal -Comp 143M double -density -rated disk drives;
other features similar to MF -68 system. Kit/wired
CT -82 TERMINAL $2000/$2095
CRT terminal with 9", green -phosphor screen; 82 DMFXA Drive Expansion. Kit /wired $1800 / $1850
char X 16 or 20 lines, software -selectable; dual -
TARBELL
VDS-II VERTICAL DISK SUBSYSTEM (S1)
Includes wired, tested Tarbell Floppy Disk Interface 16 -linedisplay; 110-9600 baud; half or full duplex;
(see Module Boards), 2 Siemens 8" disk drives' auto carriage return/line feed; automatic rollup;
available with built-in acoustic coupler.
675 $695
675-1. With acoustic coupler $925
675-2. With coupler and stand $1050

DATA SPLITTER
Diode network providing dual -output interface from
RS -232 port; allows printer and modem, printer and
plotter, etc. to share a port, and isolates the two
output lines from each other. Can be daisy chained.
intensity upper/lower-case characters, graphics 1200K. Kit / wired $59 /$119
optional; protected fields; cursor addressing with 1204K. Similar, but 4 in, out
1 $99/$169
12 -key cursor control pad, page or block transmit; 2204. Similar, but 4 in, 2 out $149/$229
driver for Centronics PR -40 parallel printer; de-
codes reader and punch on/ off control characters; BIDIRECTIONAL DATA INTERFACE
socket for optional 2716-pinout custom character Converts TTL 20 or 60 mA signals to RS -232 levels
generator; optional light pen; 110-34,800 baud. cabinet with fan and power supply, CP/M DOS and and vice versa; both sides opto -isolated; baud
Control functions include scrolling by screen or Tarbell BASIC disks $1888 rates to 9600; includes power supply, DB -25 con-
quadrants, up and down, left and right slide; erase nectors and cabinets; all options switch -selectable.
to end or beginning of line or frame, or erase quad- 1250. Kit/wired $119/$149
rant; line and character insert -delete. Operates on 1254. Similar, but contains 4 separate circuits
TECHNICO
100, 120, 220, 240 V ac, 50-60 Hz. $199/$249
Wired $849 POWER SUPPLIES
For Technico and other systems. Wired.
PRINTER
T99SAD-A. 5 V @ 6 A $75
AC -30 AUDIO CASSETTE INTERFACE 1200 -baud electrostatic printer, 64/80 cols; with
Interfaces between computer and terminal (requires T99PSLP-A. +5 V @ 1.5 A; -5, +12 V @ 0.5 A
$115 controller and interface; option for 675, 700 and
accessible, 16 X clock and 300 baud rate, RS -232 725 CRT terminals $1295
serial). Provides independent control for two re- T99PSLP-A. -5 V @ 6 A; -5 V, +12 V @ 0.5 A;
corders, including automatic start/stop; either cas- 28 V ä 100 mA $175
PORTABLE TERMINAL
sette may record while the other plays back data. 132 -column, 30 -CPS portable terminal, with coupler
LED indicators display record/ read status and and carrying case.
data flow. Local/ remote switch permits using re- TELETYPE 680. $1595
corder with terminal alone. Kansas -City standard. MODEL 43 TELEPRINTER
Kit $80
Dot-matrix, impact; 110 or 300 baud; typewriter INTELLIGENT CRT TERMINAL
keyboard with back -space, N -key rollover, eight - Intelligent B&W terminal; 24 li X 80 char; u/I case;
GT -6144 GRAPHICS TERMINAL line insert/delete, read cursor address, display
Cell array is 64 wide by 96 high; each cell address- control chars; w/separate 9" monitor and stand
able by computer; programming allows fixed or $995
moving images. Data can be loaded in less than 2
µ sec. Image reversal for white or black or reverse;
standard 525 -line format; 6144 -bit stàlic RAM. Op-
erates with any computer whose parallel interface
outputs an eight -bit word and data -ready strobe; THINKER TOYS
this includes any 8080 or 6800 machine. Ddes not DISCUSI (S1)
include chassis or video monitor. Programming al- Full-size, 8 -in single -density floppy -disk system.
lows display of graphics, CT -1024 alphanumerics IBM-compatible, soft -sectored format, 256K bytes/
or combination of both. Kit $99
disk. Software initialized to use on -board, memory-
CT -P. Power supply. Kit $16
mapped serial I/O port can be reinitialized to other
Joystick potentiometer digitizer $40
ports. Controller can accommodate up to eight
drives, occupies 1K starting at 340:000 octal/E000
PR -40 ALPHANUMERIC PRINTER
character burst buffer, caps lock, control keys; fric- hex (other addresses on special order). Complete
Alphanumeric printer with 64 upper case charac- with Shugart 800R drive, power supply, cabinet.
ters, 40 characters per line, 75 lines per minute. tion feed prints to 72 or 80 char line at 10 char/in,
BASIC -V, DISK/ATE DOS / Assembler/Text Editor,
Uses standard 3h -in adding -machine paper. Has six liiin, on std. 81% -in roll paper; pin feed also
internal 40 -character line -buffer memory; printing prints to 132 char/ line at 13 char/in, on 12 -in pa-
takes place at carriage return or when line -buffer per, with up to five carbons; nine -wired matrix print -
memory is filled; 5 X 7 dot-matrix impact printing. head; prints full 94 -char. ASCII upper/lower-case
Accepts data up to one character per microsecond set, plus parity error symbol; paper alarm; last For more product information
or slower; seven parallel data lines are TTL-com- character visible.
patible and enabled by data -ready signal. Used 4320 KSR. Keyboard send/receive. RS-232/cur- write directly to the manufacturer.
with any computer having eight -bit parallel inter- rent-loop serial $1442
4310 RO. Receive only, no keyboard; serial $1275
See address list on page 127.
face, including 8080 and 6800 machines. Internal
power supply. Pin feed option $22
Size 8%"H X 10'WD X 9%"W. Kit $250 Other options: Pedestals; 13 to 10 char/ in conver-
117
1980 EDITION
 and patches for CF/M. VOLKER -CRAIG
Single -drive system. Wired $995 VC303A TERMINAL
TTY -compatible computer terminal; stand-alone unit
with 1920 -char screen; upper/lower-case; 12"
COMPUTER
DISCUS 2D CRT; RS -232 interface; 24 li X 80 char; cursor con-
1S1)
Same as above except dual density $1149 trol keys and direct X -Y cursor addressing; com-
posite video output for slave monitor. Auxiliary seri-
MODULE BOARDS
al and parallel interfaces optional $1195

VC404 STANDARD TERMINAL MODULE BOARDS

Similar to VC -303A, but with detachable keyboard; Due to limited space, and the vast number of RAM,
clear to end -of -line and end -of -screen; transparent/ ROM, I/O and alphanumeric video boards of similar
tape mode; switch -reversible video. Options listed characteristics, such boards are only summarized
below. briefly here. For further information, write the manu-
VC404. $1195 facturers concerned.
VC404/RO. Same, less detachable keyboard; re-
ceive-only $1050
ALPHA MICRO SYSTEMS
VC414 EDITOR
AM -100 16 -BIT CPU (S1)
Similar to VC404, but with block mode. Allows for- 16 -bit MPU
board for S-100 bus. Includes software.
matted data entry and complete local editing be-
See "Computers" section for details $1495
fore transmitting all or variable data; multi -level dis-
play; blinking/reverse video; horizontal tabs; cha- AM-210 FLOPPY -DISK CONTROLLER (S1)
racter/line insert and delete; character highlight- DMA floppy -disk controller for AM -100 16 -bit and
ing; protected/unprotected data; line -drawing ca-
8 -bit MPU's. Includes disk formatting; full and par-
Additional drive. With power supply, line cord cabi- pability $1395 tial sector reading from drive: multiple drive control;
net $795 multi -level interrupt capabilities. Supports Per -Sci
Dual drive cable $35 VC424 TERMULATOR
277 disk drive and Wango 80 disk drive subsystem
Additional connectors on cable for multiple drives. Similar to VC414. Complete editing terminal with
Add each $695
$15 polling and independent printer port $1595 CP/M operating system for 8080, with manuals .$85
Software (with purchase):
CP/M PROM $30
CP/MDOS single/dual density $125/$150 VC415APL APL/ ASCII TERMINAL
2708 PROM for IBM, AMS or CP/M formats $30
Microsoft Extended Disk BASIC $299 Features APL overstrike; APL/ASCII character un-
Microsoft FORTRAN $450 derscoring; character rubout in APL interactive AM -400 HARD -DISK CONTROLLER (Si)
Controllers available separately. See Module Interfaces S-100 bus to Calcomp Trident series of
Boards.
hard -surfaced (3330 type) disk drives; drives avail-
able in 25, 50, 80, 200 and 300 Mbyte configura-
tions; four drives can be intermixed on -line -average
U.S. ROBOTICS access time, 28 ms, Can be used with AM -100 or
USR310 ORIGINATE ACOUSTIC COUPLER 8080 MPU's; CP / M to be available for 8080.
Asynchronous, half / full -duplex, originate -only AM-400 controller $2000
acoustic coupler for terminal communication to
AM-500 HARD -DISK SUBSYSTEM (S1)
Interface formatter/controller from S-100 bus to
10 -MB hard -disk drive; can support up to 40 MB.
Compatible with AM -100 or 8080; CP/M available
for 8080; rack mount $7995

APPLE COMPUTER
INTERFACE CARDS (AP)
Parallel Printer Interface Card. ROM firmware an-
mode; buffered line edit mode; character/line in- swers BASIC commands; allows up to 255 char/
sert and delete; independent window for host re- line, upper/ lower case, special symbols; prints up
sponses; cursor memory with auto restore; remote to 5K char/sec; interfaces to most printers through
APL/ASCII mode select; direct X -Y cursor address- parallel port $180
ing; transparent (tape) mode; detachable key- Communications Interface Card. RS -232 port
board; clear to "end of line" and "end of screen" with PROM firmware on card; for use with serial
computer; data rates 0-300 baud; RS -232 computer $1275 peripherals and modems; passes lower-case or
interface; acoustic connection via standard tele- converts to upper-case at user's option; 110 or 300
phones; with case and power supply $139 VC4152 TERMINAL baud; half -duplex $225
VT52 compatible data terminal; upper/lower case High-speed Interface Card. Similar to C.I. card,
USR-330 ORIGINATE/AUTO-ANSWER MODEM detachable keyboard; full cursor control; 12" non - but 75-19.2k baud; switch -selectable speed, line
Permits computer to access other computers glare screen; auto character repeat; auxiliary dual - length, auto line feed, carriage return delay $195
equipped with answer modems as well as answer mode keypad; up/down scrolling; horizontal tabs; Centronics Printer Interface Card $225
incoming calls from other computers. Connections hold screen mode; XON/XOFF data control; char-
to voice grade phone lines are via RJ11C "modu- acter highlighting; clear to "end of line" and "end LANGUAGE CARD (AP)
lar" jack. No DAA is required. Available for RS232C of screen"; transparent mode $1275 16K RAM electronically replaces Apple ROM firm-
or 20 mA current loop interfaces or both at rates up ware; language of user's choice automatically load-
to 300 baud. OPTIONS FOR 400 SERIES ed from disk on start-up by Auto -Start ROM on
USR-330. $324 SPI. Switches serial peripheral interface $75 card; system includes PASCAL, Applesoft and Inte-
KB1. Numeric pad and function keys $75 ger BASICs. Requires 48K RAM and Disk II $495
APL. Front -panel switch -selectable ASCII and APL
character sets, typewriter -paired (no overstrikes) CLOCK/CALENDAR CARD (AP)
VECTOR GRAPHIC
$250 Provides 388 -day calendar and clock with 1/ 1000
MINDLESS TERMINAL PIP. Auxiliary parallel input $75 sec resolution; four -day battery backup with auto-
Terminal housing with keyboard and video screen; CDS. Colored anti -glare display screen (specify matic recharge; external batteries usable for longer
accepts TTL video and sync from most alphanumer- green or amber) $50 periods; optional interrupt $199
ic video display boards; 12 -in screen, 750 -line min. MTI. Multiple Terminal Interface. Switching box,
resolution 60 -key keyboard plus 12 -key numeric connects up to 5 VC -series terminals to serial print- OTHER CARDS (AP)
pad; special -function, directional and control keys er $250 Prototyping/Hobby card; Applesoft II Firmware
$805 BRI. Bar code reader interface for Monarch 2243 Card; 16K RAM; Modem interface firmware.
scanner $315
MICRO-STOR (S1) GRA-4152. Graphics option; 33 special characters.
Includes two Micropolis Mod II disk drives, power (VC4152 only) $125 AUM IDEAS
supply, cabinet, software. For use with Vector SSO. Split speed option. Transmit and receive HOBBYIST'S DUAL BUS BOARD (S1)/(S5)
Graphic disk controller board $1395 speed may differ $55 (AP)(RS)
KEYBOARD $225 COS. Custom character set $140 Prototyping board with full S-100 bus compatibility,
118
1980 EDITION
 CGRS MICROTECH
plus uncommitted set of 50 contacts (0.156" spac- unmodified TV sets, space is provided for M&R
$30 FRONT PANEL (S1) (EX)
ing) with uncommitted connections adaptable to SUP'R'MOD II r -f modulator. Wired.
SWTP, Apple, TRS-80 buses (though not sized for With SUP'R'MOD II option and 60 -dB antenna isola- Address, data, reset, memory protect, single-step
those cabinets); boards can be stacked in vertical tion switch. Wired $60 and run switches; status LED's and 7 -segment hex
or horizontal plane, eliminating dependency on par- (Note: Use of modulator may not meet FCC require- displays. For CGRS System 6000, (S-100), but also
ticular motherboards; provision for up to 100 DIP ments.) plug -compatible with Motorola EXORcisor boards.
Bare board/kit/wired $40/$140/$200
ICs (14 -pin; accepts 20 40 -pin ICs, or other combi-
nations of 28-, 24-, 16 -pin ICs); also provides for HUH FROM CCS PETUNIA (PT) 6502 MPU Boards. See Computer Section.
four voltage regulators with independent power and digital -to -analog board for PET. Can be used
8 -bit
(S1/PT)
ground lines, space for up to 38 additional discrete as music generator (up to four notes at once), or for PETREX S-100 ADAPTOR

components, two card ejectors, filter capacitors, graphics. control and other applications. Plugs into Adapts S-100 bus to PET computer with cable pro-
etc. Ground and power planes on both sides of PET user port. Requires external amplifier and vided: can be adapted to KIM, Motorola EVII and
board. Kit, with heat sinks, layout sheets, and wire - speaker; phono jack connection. Wired $30 other 6502 or 6800 computers with appropriate
guide wires. connector cables. Board fits S-100 card slot, gen-
HDBB(50/100)UD $30 COMBO (PT) erates all required S-100 control signals, such as
HDBB-HMK. Horizontal mounting kit for HDBB; spac- Combines Video Buffer and Petunia on one board, psync, I/O address, wait states. Cable fits PET
$50 memory expansion connector. Wired $196
ers and hardware for stacking two or more cards at wired and tested
0.75" spacing; requires no motherboard $2 With SUP'R'MOD II modulator $80
MPU BOARDS (S1)

SWITCH & INDICATOR PANEL BEEPER (PT) 6502-MPU boards for S-100 systems.
Accommodates 16 LEDs in two rows of 8, plus Automatically beeps at file headers and program Level I. MPU with -MHz crystal clock; power -up
1

eight SPDT switches; debounced and un- endings when reading or writing PET tapes; audible restart circuitry; 50 -pin front -panel connector;
debounced signals; board size 4'h" X 21/2", for cus- warning when computer is ready after save or load; slow -memory and S-100 interface logic.
can also beep under program control. Plugs into Bare board/kit/wired $50/$150/$180
tom front panels, etc.
SIP -BD. Bare board/complete kit $10/$30 PET; has volume control. Wired $25 Level tl. Similar, plus 2K RAM, 4K 2708 EPROM.
Kit / wired $240/5280
PROM MODULE (AP) 2-MHz option. For above boards and computers,
$50
For Apple II; allows addition, replacement or byte -
AUTOMATED INDUSTRIAL wise patching of Apple II firmware without physical
VB1-B VIDEO OUTPUT CARD (S1)
MEASUREMENTS removal of Apple II ROMs; powers down PROMS
Displays 16 lines of 64 characters and graphics
AIM -1005 8 -BIT FREQUENCY METER (Si) when not in use; 14K PROM space (2716); sup-
ports DMA and interrupt daisy chains. can simultaneously be displayed as a 128 by 48
Frequency -meter board for 8 -bit computers; S-100
adapter available. Measures 13 bits plus over - 7114A. Kit/wired $70/$80 block; memory mapped; occupies 1K of space
VB1-B. Kit/Wired $130/5170
range, accurate ± 1 count, 0°-70° C. On -board 5 -
MHz clock. Measures frequencies from dc to 25 ARITHMETIC PROCESSOR (AP)
I/O CARD (S1)
MHz; comparator input with up to ± 15 V common For Apple Il; allows 16/32 -bit fixed-point, 32 -bit FLOPPY DISK

mode, input down to 100 mV usable to 2 MHz. Uses floating-point operation; arithmetic, trigonometric Persci 1070 disk controller card adapter; 4 parallel
memory -mapped I/O in any of 14 locations. Allows and inverse trig functions; square roots, logs, ex- I/O ports; 2 serial I/O ports; dual 16 -bit counter/
external reset for real-time measurements. On 4" X ponentiation; 256 ROM or RAM space on board. timer; 4K bytes of PROM space (2708).
7811A. Wired $400 Floppy I/O Card. Bare board/Kit/Wired
41/2" board. 250 mA / 8 V.
,

$50/$190/$250
AIM -1005. $178
PROGRAMMABLE TIMER MODULE (AP)
(S1)S-100. Mounting board for AIM -1005 $30
For Apple II; programmable interrupts; count -down; TIM III/0 BOARD (S1)

AIM -1006 16-CHANNEL DIGITAL MULTIPLEXER (S 1) selectable frequency or pulsewidth gating; three Fully decoded memory -mapped I/O with 3 parallel
For use with AIM-1005. Allows 16 different frequen- maskable outputs ports and serial port; 6530-004 "T.I.M." I/O cir-
1

cies to be measured; has memory to store data 7440A. Kit/wired $150/$160 cuit; 6820 P.I.A. I/O circuit; 320 bytes RAM and
1024 bytes of ROM for T.I.M. monitor; bread board
output from AIM -1005; jumper -programmable for
use with fewer channels; may be interfaced with GPIB INTERFACE (AP/IEE) area.
microcomputers directly as standard or memory - Implements Controller/Talker / Listener functions. TIM II /0 Board. Bare board /Kit /Wired
I

Allows Apple II to act as controller or peripheral to $40/$140/$170

mapped /O.
I

$143 GPIB (IEEE -488) bus systems, instruments and con- Note. Compatibility listings for other S- WO boards are avail-
AIM -1006
trollers. able from CGRS Microtech.
(S1)5-100. Mounting card with extra socket for
AIM -1006 $35 749OA. Kit/wired $250/5300

(AP)
CHRISLIN
3 -3/4 -DIGIT BCD A/D CONVERTER
Converts dc voltages to BCD numbers for computer RAM BOARDS (S1) (EX) (LS) (MB)
CALIFORNIA COMPUTER SYSTEMS
monitoring and analysis; ±4 V dc full-scale; select- RAM boards in 16-64K configurations for S-100,
HUH FROM CCS 8100 (S1 /RS)
able interrupt at conversion end; 200 µs/conver- EXORciser, Multibus; 8-32K for LSI-II (Heath H11)
Interfaces Radio Shack TRS-80 to S-100 bus; in-
sion; adjustable offset error, temperature coeffi- bus. Write manufacturer for details.
cludes six -slot motherboard with card guides; rib-
bon cable connects to TRS-80. Includes circuitry cient, calibration; overrange and sign indicators.
7470A. Kit/wired $130/$150 COMPUTALKER
and socket for optional RAM and I/O (1 serial, 1

SPEECH SYNTHESIZER (S1) (RS) (AP)

parallel); stop bits, parity and word -length soft-
ware -selectable; baud rate software programma- OTHER APPLE II BOARDS (AP) Voice generator, available in versions for S-100
ble; supplied with one S-100 connector and card - Serial synchronous and asynchronous I/O; parallel bus, Apple, TRS-80. Produces speech output from
guide set; RAM addressable in four 4K blocks. I/O; prototyping boards (wire -wrap, solder & etch);
8100. Kit/wired $185/$245 extender board; 16K RAM.
RAM Support option. Less RAM chips. Kit/wired
$45/$75 OTHER BOARDS (S1)

I/O option. Kit/wired $85/$115 16K RAM; wire -wrap and solder prototyping
Five extra connectors and card guides. Kit/ boards; extender; extender/terminator.
wired. $45 /$75
(Option prices applicable only with initial pur-
chase.)

HUH FROM CCS S-100 MPA (S1 /PT) CENTRAL DATA

Interfaces Commodore Pet to S-100 bus; allows full RAM (S-100)
DMA in accord with S-100 bus protocol; emulates
read but not write wait states; emulates 8080 I/O
addressing. Kit wired. $200/$280
Stand -Alone Option. Allows use as 6502 proces-
sor for S-100 bus. $50
V.ui hili acoustic -phonetic parameters transmitted at 900
HUH FROM CCS VIDEO BUFFER
Allows video monitors or TV sets to be used with
(PT)
-1* bytes/second. Two operating modes: precoded vo-
Commodore PET for larger screen displays or re-
t cabulary for higher speech quality and optional
IIIIIIIIIIIeit111111 il niijllllllillUi CSR phoneme -conversion software for simpler op-
mote viewing. Plugs into PET user port, and pro- I 1

vides standard 75 -ohm composite -video output eration. Data tapes and CTEDIT parameter editor
(PET has separated sync and video). For use with Dynamic RAM, 16K to 64K $249 to $625 included.
119
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 CT-1. (S1). S-100 board version; requires +8 V â DP-Z80A. 4 MHz CPU. Kit/Wired $135/$185 Bare board wtih documentation $35
250 mA, ± 16 V a 100 mA $425 DP -16KÁ. 16K static RAM. Kit/ Wired $250/$315 FAD -1E. EPROM with FADBUG monitor $18
CT -1A. (AP). Apple vérsion, in cabinet with 110 V DP-VIDA. 64 X 16 video monitor driver, separate
power supply, cable and Apple controller card; in- video and sync, non -composite. Kit/wired KBT-1 KEY 'TIM MONITOR
cludes 2-W audio amplifier and Software Package
$135/$195 For combining CPU -1 with ASCII keyboard, mother-
1 on cassette or disk; requires speaker, hi-fi amp; DP -CASA. Tarbell and Kansas City interface. Kit/ board (see below) and VDB-1 video board (see
for 16K systems minimum, 32K recommended wired $98/$165 Video Board chart) into a system; can also operate
$595 Many other boards include serial and parallel inter- as standard TIM system with terminal.
CT -1T. (RS). Similar, but for TRS-80; plugs into bus faces, single and double density disk controllers, KBT-1. Documentation and program listing $5
jack of main cabinet or expansion interface $595 etc. Write company for details. KBT-1E. KBT-programmed EPROM $15
Software: Available for CP/M, Micropolis, North
Star, CUTS, Tarbell, MITS ACR, Intel hex -format pa- FDT-1 FANCY DATA TERMINAL
per tape.
Similar to above, to form serial video terminal.
ELECTRONIC CONTROL TECHNOLOGY EPROM resides on CPU -1. Power may be taken
8080 CPU (S1) from SWTPC 6800 or power supply providing ± 13
CROMEMCO 8080 CPU card with jump on reset. Kit/wired V and +8 V. Displays 32 char X 16 lines, with auto
CGI TV DAZZLER (S1) $120/$175 scrolling.
Graphics interface; 128 X 128, 64 X 64, or 32 X FDT-1. Documentation and EPROM listing $5
32 element resolution, software selectable; output PB-1 PROTOTYPING BOARD (S1) FDT-1E. FDT-programmed EPROM $15
in color (eight colors available) or black and white With heat sink and 5-V regulator. Kit $28
(16 gray -scale intensities). Alphanumeric output MOTHERBOARDS (S5)
also available. Requires r -f converter or direct XT -100 EXTENDER CARD (S1) MB -1-6. Six -slot SS -50 motherboard $19
video input. Uses two bus slots, draws 1.4 A d. +8 Kit /wired $24 /$34 MB -1-3. Three -slot $12
V, 50 mA a -18 V. Kit/wired $215/$350
Dazzler Programs. Dazzler games on 5 -in or 8 -in dis- R 2 I/O ROM, RAM 3 I/O BOARD (S1) NCU-1 NUMBER -CRUNCHING UNIT
kette $95 Includes 3 serial and 1parallel I/O port, 4 status Scientific and floating-point calculator interface us-
Dazzler Graphics on 5- or 8 -in diskette $95 ports, 2K ROM, 2K RAM. Normally addressed ing National MM57109 number -crunching IC. Han-
F000-F7FF ROM, F800-FFFF RAM, but addresses dles all common math and trig functions in hard-
D - 7A ANALOG INTERFACE (S1) jumperable; for 2708 ROM, but adaptable to 2716; ware. Plugs into one I/O slot of SWTPC 6800 for
110 board wtih seven channels of 8 -bit analog -to- baud rates individually selectable (75-9600); power, connects to MP -L or MP -LA board for com-
digital conversion for input, seven channels D/A for RS -232 serial. Wired $295 munication; adaptable to general-purpose ports of
output, plus one 8 -bit parallel digital I/O port. For other micros. Includes 6800 control subroutines,
process control, digital filtering, games, oscillo- OTHER BOARDS )Si) and exerciser program allowing use of terminal as
scope graphics, speech and music uses. Analog 16K static RAM. calculator. Bare board/wired $19/$49
signal range, -2.56 to +2.54 V. Takes 0.4 A
+8 V, 30 mA á +16V,60mAra. +18 V. Kit/ STM-1 SIMULATOR, TIM MONITOR
wired $145/8245 6502-MPU board, usable as stand-alone 6502 com-
EVENTIDE CLOCKWORKS puter using TIM monitor, or as simulator for devel-
4 -MHz Z-80 CPU CARD (S1) REAL-TIME AUDIO ANALYZER opment work on single -board 6502 systems. In
(PT)(RS)(AP)
Extra -high-speed Z-80 microprocessor card, using Displays levels for 'h -octave audio-frequency stand-alone mode, has 2K RAM, 2K EPROM space
Z-80. Specially selected for 4 -MHz clock -rate oper- bands, 20-20 kHz, on ISO centers, plus overall sig- (2708), serial and parallel I/O, built-in 2708 pro-
ation. Clock switchable, 2 or 4 MHz. Automatically grammer, provision for on -board regulation. In simu-
jumps to any desired 4K memory boundary when lator mode, connects between 6502 and system un-
turned on; no front panel required. Monitor program der test, controls I/O and memory on tested board,
supplied in paper tape, available in ROM for $50 RAM debugging space at address program will oc-
more. Kit wired $295/$395 cupy in EPROM. Uses 44 -pin edge connector. Bare
board and documentation $33
SCC. SINGLE -CARD COMPUTER (S1) STM-1E. 2708 EPROM with programmer functions
Z-80 with ROM, RAM and I/O. See Computer Sec- $18
tion. Kit wired $395/$495
PIC -1 PROGRAMMABLE INTELLIGENT CONTROLLER
DISK CONTROLLER (S1) For control and interface applications with 6802 or
Interfaces three mini -floppy (5") or four floppy (8") 6502 microprocessors; can drive devices up to 300
drives to S-100 bus. Built-in 1K bootstrap monitor; mA and up to 80 V; 16 I/O and four handshake
serial port (RS -232/20 mA); five interval timers. lines; provision for serial/ parallel conversion, inter-
Requires +8 V a A, ± 18 V
4 FDC. Kit /wired
1
.
100 mA ea.
$395 /$495
val timers; holds 1 EPROM (1K 2708 or 2K 2716),
256-384 bytes RAM; 44 -pin connector.
PerSci 8" dual drive. Wired $2495 nal level. Mode 1s for Pet, Radio Shack TRS-80, Bare board with documentation $29
and Apple II; vertical resolution varies with comput- EPROM for 6502 or 6802 use $15
PRINTER INTERFACE (Si) er (e.g., 144 vertical elements for PET, for 7 -mV OTHER BOARDS:
Dual interfaces for dot-matrix or daisy -wheel print- resolution with 1 V input signal); input impedance SS -50 video boards, parallel interface board. Sup-
ers. Includes one Centronics -compatible parallel in- 10k, unbal.; programmable in BASIC; modifiable to plied bare, with documentation. Write for details.
terface for dot-matrix, plus interface for Cromemco display 32 channels of absolute level indication, for
3355 daisy -wheel printer. Daisy -wheel interface in- multi -channel audio use; accommodates 2K ROM
cludes ribbon-lift and ribbon -lowering circuitry to $595
free software overhead. Requires +8 V 0.7A. GIMIX
PRI. Wired $195 OTHER BOARDS (PT) GIMIX CPU BOARD (S5)
Cables for PRI interface: 16K/24K/32K RAM for PET $420-$615 6800 MPU board; 110-9600 baud -rate generator;
CBL-2. 62 cm long, for Z-2 computer $15 128 -byte RAM, switch -addressable; fully buffered;
CBL-3. 110 cm long, for System Three $15 4K (2708) EPROM sockets, switch -addressable;
F&D ASSOCIATES one EPROM switch -addressable to both E000 and
WIRE WRAP CARD (S1) CPU -1 CENTRAL PROCESSOR (S5) FC00 for MIKBUG compatibility; optional hardware
Holds over 70 integrated circuits; includes 5-V pow- 6502 MPU board for SWTPC 6800 or SS -50 bus. timer for interrupt or output generation.
er supply on board; gold-plated contacts. Includes TIM monitor ROM, MHz crystal,
1 1serial CPU $224
W W B-2. Kit /wired $35 /$45 interface (RS-232 or TTY), 8 -bit bi-directional par- CPU with Timers $288
allel port with two handshake lines (TIM can use
EXTENDER CARD (S1) this port for high-speed input); provision for OTHER BOARDS (S5) (S3)
S-100 extender with female top connector; gold- 2704/2708 or 2716 PROM; jump on restart, if de- Serial and parallel I/O; 4K PROM burner; 8K
plated contacts. sired. Bare board with documentation $29 PROM; 16K RAM w/wo software control; 64X 16,
EXC-2. Kit /wired $35 /$45 32X 16, 80X24 video boards; power -control
Others: Company also makes 8K -32K PROM CPU -2 CENTRAL PROCESSOR (S5) boards (see Peripherals); Motherboard (see Ac-
boards, 4K -64K RAM, serial, parallel and combina- 6802 MPU board for SS -50 bus. Similar to above, cessories).
tion I/O. but with dual crystals, two 8 -bit I/O parallel ports,
128-byte RAM at F400-F47F for stack and regis-
ters, plus 128 -byte RAM at 000-007F; provision for
DELTA PRODUCTS 2708 or 2716 PROM. Optional FADBUG monitor GODBOUT
Complete line of Z-80 compatible boards and supports serial port, ASCII keyboard, and video dis- ECONORAM VI (H8)
industry standard 47 X 61/2 -in boards on 44 pin bus. play, plus cassette routines in MIKBUG format. 12K static RAM for Heathkit H8 computer; 450-ns;
120
1980 EDITION
addressable and write-protectable in independent BIG Z Z-80 CPU (Si) strappable for two pages of 40 char line (recom-
4K and 8K blocks; board deselect switch. Requires Z80 MPU board with on -board EPROM (2708, 2716, mended mode for use with ordinary TV, or other
2.25A power. Kit. $200 2516, 2532), power -on jump; shadow mode disa- monitors with less than 10 kHz bandwidth); compat-
bles EPROM, allowing full 64K RAM use; MWRITE ible with ALT -256 for combined alpha/graphic dis-
TRS-80 CONVERSION KIT (RS) generation, on -board baud-rate generator; accepts play; built-in refresh; available as 128 -char upper/
Set of chips and DIP shunts to upgrade TRS-80 handshake signals. lower-case ASCII 7 X 9 matrix, or uppercase only
from 4K to 16K. With instructions. $87 CPU -302008. Bare board $40 in 5 X 7 matrix; inverse and blinking under software
CPU-30200K/A. 2 -MHz kit/wired $150/$200 control; available in American or European stand-
CPU-30201K/A.4-MHz kit/wired $160/$210 ards interlaced or noninterlaced; interlaced display
HE A TH K IT requires long -persistence phosphor CRT; can drive
MODULE BOARDS (H8) I/A Z80 CPU (S1) up to 10 monitors, up to 500 -ft cable run. Wired
Boards for H8 computer; include 8K and 16K RAM Z80 MPU board with on -board 2708 EPROM, pow- $295
boards, 3 -port parallel and 4 -port serial interfaces; er -on jump; selectable wait states; usable at 2 or 4
serial/cassette interface; breadboard card. MHz; 8080 or Z80 I/O modes, selectable; mirrored MLSI-2480, (LS)
I/O addressing; DMA request/grant utilized; clock - Similar, but for LSI-11 (and Heath H-11) bus ... $495
generator duplicates 8080 timing signals. Other Versions: Available for Prolog, STD, EXORcis-
CPU -301008. Bare board $35 er, SBC-80 and PDP-11 buses.
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY $135 /$190
CPU -30100. 2 -MHz. Kit /wired
AD -68A ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER (S3) Kit/wired $150/$200 ALT -256 GRAPHICS DISPLAY (S11
CPU -30101. 4 -MHz.
Analog -to-digital converter for SWTPC 6800 and 256 X 256 graphic card, addressed as four output
similar computers; occupies one I/O slot. Eight 8080A CPU (S1) ports and one input port (port addresses strappa-
analog input channels; input range 0-2.5 V dc; re- 8080-MPU board; with vectored -interrupt circuitry ble); ports control dot coordinates, intensity, color
quires +8 V O. 82 mA max., +13 V @ 3 mA max, (need not be built up till needed), for up to 8 levels and screen -clear; multiple ALT -256 cards may be
- 13 V â 26 mA max. Wired $40 of priority interrupt (with real-time clock board). combined for grey scale or color capability; may be
CPU-10010B/K/A. Bare board/ kit /wired used with ALT -2480 for combined alpha/graphic
$35/$90/$150 display. Other specifications similar to ALT -2480.
Wired $395
MODEM BOARD KIT
ITHACA INTERSYSTEMS Allows computer to generate and receive Type 103 ALT -512. (S 1)
Z-80 CPU (S1) modem frequencies via crystal microphone and B- Similar to ALT -256, but 512 X 256 $595
Z-80 MPU with on -board 2708 EPROM, power -on ohm speakers; can be configured as originate or Other Versions: 256 X 256 available for STD,
jump to any 4K boundary above 32K; MWRITE for answer mode; TTL digital I/O; requires +5 V. SBC-80, LSI-11, PDP-11 buses; 512X256 avail for
operation without front -panel; selectable wait IOM-5011B/K. Bare board/kit $8/$28 EXORciser, LS -11, SBC-80, PDP-11; 512X512 for
states on Ml, memory request, on -board ROM, in- SBC-80, LS -11, PDP-11; 256X1024 SBC-80,
put and output cycles, selectable 8080 or Z-80 I/O CASSETTE TAPE INTERFACE. LSI-11, PDP-11.
addressing modes; clock -generator provides 8080- FSK interface for mass storage on audio recorders;
like signals for S-100 bus. Requires +8 V @ 1.0 A; logic frequencies 1200 and 2400 Hz, adjustable; MODULES
with optional 2708, requires + 16 V ,@ 100 mA and requires + 5 V. MTX-816. Video RAM for eight lines, 16 characters,
- 16 V ñ 50 mA also. IOT-5016B/K. Bare board/kit $8/$28 upper-case ASCII (128 bytes) $179
CPZ80. Bare board $35 MTx-6132. 512 -byte VRAM, 16 lines X 32 charac-
With 2 -MHz / 4 -MHz Z-80 $175 /$205 UNIVERSAL LEVEL TRANSLATOR KIT ters, upper/lower-case ASCII. Drives up to 25 TV
Converts TTL to RS -232 or current loop, or vice monitors $225
FRONT PANEL (S1) versa. Requires ±5 V, ± 12 V. MTX-1632SL. Externally synchronized version, al-
Binary -format, for S-100 bus; supports any 8 -bit IOL-5010B/K. Bare board/kit $7/$13 lows output to be mixed with or superimposed on
MPU, including 6800, 6502, etc. as well as 8080/ other images $225
Z80 types. Externally accessible functions include: OTHER BOARDS (S1) MTX-2480. 24 lines X 80 characters, upper- and
read, write, jump to address, single-step, slow- Also available: 64X 16 video board; 8K, 32K RAM; lower-case, half -intensity, blink, inverse video (low-
step, run, stop, reset, and set breakpoint. Cover 16K/32K EPROM (2708/2716); parallel/serial I/O. er-case requires long -persistence CRT phosphor)
removes to expose controls for: slow -step rate $395
(10-100 instructions/ sec); break on Fetch, on I/O, MTx-256'-2. Graphics board; 256 X 256, individually
on Interrupt Acknowledge or Hold Acknowledge; addressable dots. Color or grey -scale available.
JHM MARKETING
breakpoint oscilloscope trigger; continuous NOP Light pen, cursor plot, point plot, alphanumerics,
VOTRAX VOICE SYNTHESIZER (51)
for Signature Analysis. Binary LED indicators for and ROM screen patterns may be implemented. On
address and data busses, status byte, pro- Produces continuous speech analog output from pc board, with 44 -pin edge connector $630
grammed output byte and command status. Wired. .
phoneme instructions. On S-100 board. Character fonts. 1632 and 2480 may be supplied
$375 K100. $495 wtih upper- /lower case ASCII, upper case ASCII/
Greek, General European, and French character
FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER (S1) fonts at no extra charge. Japanese (Kata-Kana),
For hard or soft sectoring; 330K bytes/surface LARKS ELECTRONICS & DATA British, German, math symbols, etc., available for
(hard); compatible with all -Shugart or similar single - $150 per order. Custom -designed character fonts
ACCELEWRITER
and double -sided drives; supports up to four drives, Module to modify DECwriter LA36 from available.
with independent -head -load and enable circuitry; 110/ 150/300 baud to 110/300/600. Plug-in instal-
write gate protects against data loss during power - lation $115
down; compatible with IEEE S-100 bus standard; for
MICRODASYS
two or four MHz systems; uses no RAM addresses;
generates -5 V on board for up to 2 disk drives; 6809 CPU CARD (S1)
optional on -board 2704 or 2708 PROM bootstrap;
MATROX 6809, 16 -bit processor card for S-100 bus; inte-
uses 8 port addresses, swiich-selectable. VIDEO RAMS grated I/O. RAM. PROM, cassette interface; 1K
Bare board/wired $35/$195 Video controller modules addressed as RAM mem- RAM, 10K PROM space, AS -232 level shifters, in-
K2 Operating System. Soft Sector $75 ory, each on -screen character equivalent to a one - terrupt -driven keyboard input, 20 I/O lines, power -
K3 Operating System. Hard Sector $75 byte memory location. Controllers available as cassette @ 2400 baud
on reset, real-time clock;
(Pascal and BASIC also available) plastic -packaged modules, or as complete module (Manchester) or 300 baud (K.C.). Choice of MON -
boards BUG II for memory-mapped video I/O or RSBUG II
OTHER BOARDS (S1) for RS -232 serial I/O
Also available: S-100 2708/2716 EPROM ALT -2480 ALPHANUMERIC DISPLAY INTERFACE (S1) MD -690b. Kit/wired $239/$299
16K/32K; 8K RAM; 16X64 video board; wire -wrap 4K video RAM providing 24 lines X 80 characters,
prototyping board. All available as bare boards or 6802 CPU CARD (S1)
wired and tested. Same as above, but with 6802 processor, 8 -bit.
MD -690a. Kit/wired $198/$258

JADE MULTI -PURPOSE PARALLEL/SERIAL I/O WITH

MODEM (S1)
DOUBLE -D CONTROLLER (S1)
Double -density, floppy -disk controller; supports
Provides 8 bi-directional parallel ports (64 lines)
with full handshake and interrupt handling; 2 se-
5'h- or 8 -in floppies, single or double density, IBM
3740 or System 34 soft -sector formats; meets IEEE
rial I/O ports, one configurable RS -232, other as
full -duplex answer or originate modem or as
S-100 standards; CP/M compatible; has own Z80,
2708 EPROM and 1K RAM on board.
Byte -standard cassette interface.
8P2SM-C. Kit /Wired $149 /$199
IOD-1200. Kit/wired $285/$350
121
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 MICROPRODUCTS on bottom, ground plane on top; silkscreened bus MULLEN
APPLE 11/PR-40 PRINTER INTERFACE (AP) pin designations and ground -clip attachment points, EXTENDER BOARDS (H8) (Si)
Interfaces Apple II computer to SWTP PR -40 print- X-50. (SS -50 bus) $30 Raise module boards above chassis for easier in -
er. Plugs into Apple II slot 3, prints one line for each X-30. (SS -30, I / O bus) $23 circuit testing; jumper links in power lines for cur-
Return command, will list BASIC as screen scrolls;
includes cable and cassette software $50
MK ENTERPRISES
APPLE II EPROM BURNER (AP) DTMF TRANSCEIVER (S1)
EPROM programmer for 2716 EPROM. Plugs into Interfaces S-100 computer to Touch -Tone phone
Apple II; zero -insertion -force EPROM socket; on- system, via DAA. Converts Bell System Dual -Tone
board, 25-V power supply $100 Multi -Frequency (DTMF) signalling to binary and
vice versa; when used with interrupt controller
INTERFACE BRAIN (AP) (such as IMSAI PIC 8), can perform ring detection
Provides firmware drivers for Centronics 779, and DTMF signalling without CPU looping; allows
PR-40 and Okidata printers and for Microproducts remote data entry from Touch -Tone phones; 4 -bit
EPROM burner. EPROM in adapter socket for inser- input port allows additional data transfer on DTMF
tion into APPLE ll D8 ROM slot $60 detection or servicing up to eight incoming lines;
4 -bit output port for supervision of DAA or other
EPROM SOCKET ADAPTER (AP) equipment; DAA not provided. Wired $425 rent -measurement and for fusing of board under
Adapts 2716 EPROMS to Apple ROM sockets...$15 test; edge -connectors with formed leads for easy
scope probe attachment; all connector lines la-
PARALLEL OUTPUT (AP) MOUNTAIN HARDWARE belled. S-100 version also has TTL logic probe in-
8 -bit parallel output board for Apple II; TTL or 100,000 DAY CLOCK (SI) dicating low- and high-level logic and pulses on
CMOS compatible; 15 -mA output can drive LEDs S-100 clock board; times in 100 µs increments for seven -segment LED display; pulse -catcher LED
directly; interfaces with SWTP PR -40 or Centronics periods up to 100,000 days (273 years); allows whose brightness corresponds to pulse -stream
779 printer; wiring diagrams supplied for use as reading of time and programming of time -dependent duty cycle; "kluge board" section with holes on
power controller $45 functions; on -board battery backup. Uses 15 I/O 0.1 -in grid for user circuits.
ports for time, plus one I/O port to set interrupt H8-Extender Klt $39
function; user-addressable to any 16 consecutive TB-2. S-100 Extender. Kit/wired $49/$52
THE MICRO WORKS 8080-Z-80 ports; time set by entering BCD digits
DIGISECTOR (S3) through ports; write protect switch prevents acci- OPTO-ISOLATOR/RELAY CONTROL BOARD
Random-access video digitizer for SWTP 6800 and (St)
dental clock stop or reset; can interrupt computer Interface board for device control. Has eight reed
similar computers; stores video signals in computer at pre-programmed intervals; crystal control, relays (rated 10 VA, 20-200 V) controllable by 8 -bit
memory. Resolves 256 X 256 picture scan; 64 lev- 0.001% accuracy. Can be used with most BASICs: computer command, eight opto -isolators for feed-
els of gray scale; conversion times as low as 3 software documentation includes calendar, inter- back handshake. I/O port address switch -selecta-
µs /pixel; accepts interlaced (NTSC) or non -inter- rupt -handling, time -reading and setting rou- ble; ac relay modules (500 W) available; see
laced (industrial) video input; requires one I/O slot; tines $259 Accessory section.
can superimpose cursor on picture. Software sup-
CB -1. Kit / wired $129 /$179
plied digitizes one pixel every other horizontal scan APPLE CLOCK (AP)
line, fills 16K with 6 -bit gray -scale value in under 4 Similar to above, but for Apple II. Keeps time and
sec, providing 128 X 128 resolution; drives Malibu date in -ms increments for one year; on -board bat-
1

160 graphics line printer, commented for interfacing tery backup; software controlled, clock -generated
to others. Wired interrupts; accessible from BASIC using routines in NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
DS-68 $170 on -board ROM $199 LSI-11/IEEE-488 INTERFACE (LS/IEE)
DS -68R. Regulated + 12 V $180 External Charger. Fits on -board recharge socket Interfaces LSI- 11 bus to IEEE -488 bus. Includes 4 -
on both clocks above $10 meter cable with connector; allows user to connect
DS -80 (SI) as many as 14 instruments on a single interface;
Same, but for 8080; S-100 board; minimum conver- SUPERTALKER (AP) with software
sion time 4u s/pixel; with software. Wired .... $350 Allows Apple II to output speech through loud- GPIB 11 V-1 $695
speaker (supplied) or external sound system; digit-
DM-85 DISK MIXER izes words spoken into microphone supplied,
Add-on board for Smoke Signal Broadcasting stores them in RAM for manipulation $279 NATIONAL MULTIPLEX
BFD-78A disk controller, to permit intermixed oper-
DOUBLE DENSITY DISK SYSTEM (Si)
ation of 8 -in and 5% -in drives. Kit $40 ROMPLUS+ (AP)
Reads and writes single or double density on 5% -in
Adds upper/lower-case, plus five, individually -
or 8 -in disks, single and double sided; density and
PROM SYSTEM BOARD (S5) addressable 2K (2716) PROM sockets. Firmware
PROM/RAM combination. 1K 350ns RAM, space disk size selection user manual or software control,
provided adds upper/ lower case, multiple user -
for up to 8K 1708 EPROM, both addressable to any using CP/M disk from National Multiplex; on -board
defined character sets, colored or inverse -colored
EPROM bootstrap, relocatable to any 2K boundary.
8K boundary; provision to move I/O locations to letters, two -key entry of user -defined words or
any unused 1K block in EPROM space, permitting D3S. Specify ROM address. Wired. $320
phrases including BASIC and DOS commands, im-
memory expansions to 56K contiguous; + 12 V reg- CP/M and proprietary software (for Z80 only) ..$70
proved cursor control; 255 -byte on -board scratch -
ulator optional, for systems using Smoke Signal pad RAM $169
PS -1 or equivalent power supplies. Wired. Without firmware (holds 6 PROMs) $149 Z80 BOARD (S5)
PSB-08. $120 Firmware retrofit $50 Replaces MPU board in SWTP 6800 or similar
PSB-08R. Regulated + 12 V $125 SS -50 bus computer; includes on -board ROM moni-
INTROL/Z-10 (AP) tor; 2 -MHz; on -board baud -rate generator, to 9600
EPROM PROGRAMMER (S3) Controls 110-V devices by commands sent through baud; uses 8080/Z80 I/O ports or memory -mapped
Programs 2708 EPROM5; fits SWTPC 6800 I/O building wiring to BSR System X-10 control mod- I/O; tape read/ write routine; software -controlled
slot. Safety switch and LED indicator for program- ules; uses ultrasonic commands to BSR X-10 com- tape start/stop. Wired. $190
ming voltage; zero -insertion -force socket, extend- mand console; controls up to 16 remote modules or
ed board for easier PROM insertion/retrieval; 12 V module groups; software provided for daily or
regulator optional. weekly timed controls, time intervals, power -con-
B-08. $100 sumption control. NORTH STAR
8-08R. (+12 V regulated) $105 With BSR X-10 console and three remote mo- HARDWARE FLOATING-POINT BOARD (Si)
U2708. EPROM -burning firmware; specify C000 or Hardware arithmetic board performing floating-
FC00 address $30 point add, subtract, multiply and divide with up to
U2708/ 1000. KC -standard, 300 -baud cassette $10 14 digits of precision; approximately 50 times fast-
er than 8080 software or firmware; uses BCD num-
UNIVERSAL INTERFACE BOARD (S3) ber representation; precision under software con-
For custom interfaces. Space for 40 -pin wire -wrap trol. In versions for S-100 and SBC (Multibus)
socket for Motorola 40- or 24 -pin interface chips; buses. Includes North Star BASIC modified for
data and control lines at appropriate edge -connec- hardware calculations; specify whether disk or pa-
tor pins; other bus connections to 16 -pin socket per -tape version desired.
pad; includes Molex connector, +5 V regulator; FPB-A. S-100 version; requires +8 V @ 1.8 A. Kit/
space and bussing for up to 35 14 -pin ICs. UIO .$25 wired $259/$359

EXTENDER BOARDS (S3) (S5) dales $279 OTHER S-100 BOARDS (Si)
Double -sided extender boards, wtih bus extensions Controller card separately $189 Z80 processor; 16K and 32 K RAM
122 1980 EDITION
 OBJECTIVE DESIGN ries of eight, 8 -bit, 16 -word truth tables, selectable OTHER BOARDS (S5)

PROGRAMMABLE CHARACTER GENERATOR (S1) from control pod. Pod also formats data in hex or 80X24 video board; 16K RAM.
Adds software -created characters to existing video octal groupings, stores or updates individual truth
display boards such as VDM-1, Polymorphic VTI, tables, chooses post- or pre -trigger data acquisi-
tion; trigger -indicator LED on pod and trigger output SOLID STATE MUSIC
signal.
MUSIC SYNTHESIZER BOARD (S1)
Kit / wired $369 /$499
8 -bit data probe set $10 Waveform synthesizer card for S-100 computers;
polyphonic capability available through use of mul-
tiple cards; frequency software controllable over 9 -
PERCOM DATA octave range; volume software -controlled at 15 lev-
Cl -812 CASSETTE/TERMINAL INTERFACE (S1) els; waveform user-definable in 32 bytes of memo-
Dual -function interface board for S-100 bus. Cas- ry; envelope user -definable; note durations control-
sette interface is KC -standard, with independent lable from 64th -note to whole note. High-level mu-
record and playback circuits, optional relay kit for sic software available. Board is memory -mapped
programmed control of two recorder/players. Also device, addressable from 8000 to FF00; output V 1

includes RS -232 terminal interface. Tape data rms, low -impedance; requires +7 to +9 V @ 1.3 A,
etc. Works with video boards using Motorola 9 X 7 ±12ío±18V@25mA.
matrix character -generator ROMs. Board includes transfer at 30, 60, 120 or 240 bytes / sec; RS -232
300-9600 baud. Kit/wired $100/$130 SB-1. Bare board/kit/wired $45/$179/$249
parallel keyboard interface, two-dimensional joy- $15
Remote-Control Kit
stick interface provisions, and 2K onboard charac- IC socket kit $15 (51)
CB1A 8080 CPU BOARD
ter memory; can produce graphic images up to 512 Test cassette with operating software $5
RAM, sockets for 2K
Operating system firmware (2708) $45 Includes 1K scratchpad
X 256 (not bit-mapping-suggested where basic
EPROM (2708) addressable to any 2K boundary,
image sets are repeated on screen); requires no
8 -bit parallel input port; optional power -on jump to
external system memory or DMA; requires +8 for LFD-400 MINI -DISK CONTROLLER (S5)
on -board ROM; generates MWRITE; requires +8 V
board, - 16 if interfaced to keyboard requiring SS -50 controller board for up to three Mini -Floppy
@ 0.95 A, + 16 V @ 50 mA, -
16 V @ 25 mA
- 12 V; list of bus -control signals used is available; drives (See "Peripherals" sections for system de-
tails). Wired $115 (more, when EPROMs installed).
specify video display in use when ordering. Kit/ $39/$159/$224
C81A. Bare board/kit/wired
wired $150/$200
$16 TRS-80 PRINTER INTERFACE (RS)
High-speed option for 4 -MHz systems (S1)
Connects any serial RS -232 printer to TRS-80 ..$60 CB2 Z-80 BOARD
(S1) Similar, but with Z80; switch -selected 2 or 4 MHz;
DATABANK
6809 ADAPTER (SS) sockets for two 2716 or 2732 EPROMs (total 4K or
PROM programming and storage card with onboard
6809 MPU adapter for SWTP MP -A2 6800 proces- 8K), and for 2K TMS-4016 RAM, both switch -disa-
RAM. Holds up to eight 2716 or 2708 PROMS (16K
sor card, may also be used to upgrade most other bled; run/ stop and single-step switches for sys-
or 8K bytes), plus separate socket for program-
6800/6802 systems to 6809. Kit may be removed tems without front panel; extended memory ad-
ming; computer can read programmed PROM in
and original components restored when desired dressing with eight additional address lines, con-
place of any other on board, under software con-
$70 trolled by output port FE; power-on/reset firmware
trol, for testing and verification; on -board static
PYSMON 6809 Monitor. On 2716 EPROM/diskette jump; MWRITE; jumpers generate new IEEE S-100
RAM (1K on 2708 boards, 2K on 2716) can be soft-
$70 /$30 signals. Requires +8 V @ 0.75 A (less EPROMs).
ware -substituted for any PROM, to test program
CB2. Available 10/79.
patches, or can be independently addressed; 2nd
(S5)
programming socket may be connected to external OTHER BOARDS
(S1)
For SS -50 bus. SS-50/SS-30 prototyping cards; 24 OTHER S-100 BOARDS
socket on computer front panel or housed sepa-
X 80 video display board. Video boards: 64/32 X 16 plus 128 X 48 graph-
rately; size of address space occupied is switch -
ics, 64 X 16 with keyboard input, 80 X 24/51 plus
selectable; jump -on -reset to lowest -addressed
160 X 204 graphics and keyboard port. I/O
PROM; phantom (bus -line 67) defeats any memory
boards: 1+ parallel, 2 parallel + 2 serial. Memo-
1
at 0000 during jump.
$200/$225 SD SYSTEMS ry board: Dual 4K and 16K static RAMs, 1-16K and
Without RAM. Kit/wired
$220 /$245 VDB-8024 VIDEO DISPLAY BOARD (S1) 2K/4K EPROM and 4K/8K with 2708/2716 pro-
With 1K RAM. Kit / wired
$240/$265 Full 80 character by 24 line display; keyboard pow- grammer. Active terminator. Extender board. 2K
With 2K RAM. Kit/wired
er and interface; composite video out, plus TTL lev- Monitor firmware (1702 or 2708).
DOUBLE-X EXTENDER CARD (S1) el sync and video out; 2K bytes RAM and Z-80 on
$319/$469 SERIAL & PARALLEL APPLE INTERFACE (AP)
Double -X pattern of interleaved ground and signal board. Kit/wired
serial, 2 parallel ports, with on -board firmware.
lines for reduced noise and crosstalk; 5 V regulator
1

$35/$45 VERSAFLOPPY SINGLE-DENSITY Serial port has nine baud rates, 110-19,200, includ-
for logic probes. Kit/wired
DISK CONTROLLER (S1) ing 134.5 baud (Selectric), additional baud rates
(S1) IBM 3740 compatible format; for both 8 -in and 5 -in via external input; 256 -byte on -board PROM; in-
CONSOLE INTERFACE
drives; operates with Z-80, 8080 and 8085; control cludes interface cables; PROMs and data buffer
Special -function interface; includes 8279 pro-
interface for and diagnostic software in PROM; CP/M compat- power -down when not addressed.
grammable keyboard/display $135 /$175
ible. Kit/wired $159/$259 A10. Kit /wired
switches, keypads and up to 32 seven -segment
displays; 8259 programmable interrupt controller
VERSAFLOPPY II (S1)
generating interrupts to any location in memory; up SOUTHWEST TECH. PRODUCTS
to 6K PROM; 256 bytes RAM, real-time clock with Same as above but operates with single or dual
selectable interrupt intervals from 100 µ sec to 100 density, single or double sided drives. Kit/wired MP -N CALCULATOR INTERFACE (S3)

ms; power -on jump; optional on -board generation of

$309/$399 Hardware arithmetic calculations, to simplify ma-
MWRITE. Available in several configurations, with Many other boards available including Expan- chine -language programs and conserve memory;
firmware including interrupt service routines, time - doRAM 8K -64K; PROM -1000, PROM blaster; features Reverse Polish Notation, floating-point or
of -year and general timed alarms, console func- MPB-100, Z-80 CPU and others. scientific operation (to 8 -digit mantissa, 2 -digit ex-
$200 ponent); four -register stack; memory register; trig
tions, etc.
Others: Video: 80 X 24/64 X 16 (S1)
functions; base -10 and natural logs; overflow in-
SILVER SPUR dicator. Kit $47
RAM; PROM; I/O; A/D; PROTOTYPING (S-44)
PARATRONICS RAM boards in 4-32K configurations; 4K PROM; 8K MP -T INTERRUPT TIMER (S3)

MODEL 150 "BUS GRABBER' LOGIC ANALYZER (S1) EPROM; EPROM Programmer; parallel I/O; 32- Provides software -selectable interrupts of µsec, 1

channel A/D; CRT controller; audio cassette con- 10 µsec, 100 µsec, msec, 10 msec, 20 msec,
One -board logic analyzer for S-1 bus. Automatically
1

monitors address and data busses, MPU status, in- troller; serial I/O; KIM/S-44 interface, all for S-44 100 msec, sec, 10 sec, 100 sec,
1 min, 10 min or
1

terrupts and controls signals, performs automatic bus. Available as bare boards or as kits. Write hour; also includes fully -buffered 8 -bit input port
1

clock qualification and clock polarity selection; manufacturer for details. with handshaking. Requires +8 V @ 0.3 A, -12 V
also offers 8 user -defined signals interfacing via @ 15mA. Kit $40
optional, plug-in, flat ribbon probe assembly, pro-
SMOKE SIGNAL BROADCASTING RAM BOARDS (S5)
viding independent 8 -channel logic -analyzer func-
(S5) 8K to 32K $225 to $650
tions, triggering, display formatting and operational SCB-68 MPU
modes controlled from hand-held pod connected to 6800-MPU board; features 1K scratch -pad RAM;
main pc board by cable; trigger word can be up to 2K EPROM monitor; addresses up to 1MB memory,
24 bits; analyzer data memory 16 bits by 16 words, in 16, 64K -byte pages; space for up to 20K
SPACE TIME PRODUCTIONS
can capture over 8 million 16 -bit words/sec for use EPROM; options include: floating-point processor,
RS -232 I/O, real-time clock; port and EPROM ad- MASTER I/O-ROM-RAM BOARD (S1)
with future, faster S-100 systems. Data words dis-
dresses customizable by replacing FLPA controller Combines serial and parallel I/O plus RAM and
played as ones and zeros on ordinary oscilloscope;
$250 ROM, allowing minimal two -board system in con -
connecting cables included; displays signals as se -
123
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 junction with a CPU board. 1K RAM; 3K ROM, six cation required). Requires 6 -bit parallel address I/O port, allowing easy use or access to reinitialize
parallel, one serial port; three 16 -bit counter/tim- and start signal 15 V and 5 V power; on 3.10 -in
- to any other port desired. Supplied with DISK/ATE
ers, programmable as binary or BCD counters; pro- (DOS/Assembler/Text Editor) and BASIC -V. CP/M
grammable one -shots, digital delay, pulse or compatible; patches supplied for those with CP/M;
square -wave rate generator, software- or hard- disk available.
ware -triggered strobe. Synchronous serial I/O (TTL Kit $179/$214
levels) to 56K baud, software programmable; paral- Cable for disk drive $20
lel interface with total of 24 possible I/O lines, pro- Additional connectors for multiple drives $15
grammable as input, output, bidirectional data or Software options: see under Peripherals.
handshaking; two I/O lines have bit/reset. Bare
board/kit $40/$139 DISC JOCKEY 2D CONTROLLER (S1)
Same as above except double/single density ca-
SZERLIP pability, requires 2K of address space starting at
340:000 octal or E000 hex consisting of 1K PROM
PROM SETTER (S1) square board with 22 -pin connector; can be made and 1K RAM.
EPROM programmer board with external program- TTL compatible. Available with choice of one 24 - Kit /Wired $379/$429
ming socket and three parallel ports (2 out, in).1 word, two 64 -word vocabularies; custom vocabular-
Programs and reads all 24 -pin EPROMs, including ies available on special order. KEYED -UP 8080 (S1)
1702A, 2704, 2708, 2716 TI, S5204, 6834; supplied S2A. With 24 -word Calculator vocabulary $95 Combination 8080 MPU/front-panel board, with oc-
for 1702A and 2704/2708, but can be configured S2B. With 64 -word "Standard" vocabulary ..... $179 tal keypad and display, two on -board I/O ports (for
for any combination. Single read/write EPROM S2C. With 64 -word "ASCII" vocabulary $179 keyboard), 256 -byte RAM and 256-byte ROM. Fa-
socket can be externally mounted for easy acces- cilities to start, stop, or step any program, proces-
sibility; has write-enable/disable switch. Requires CALCULATOR SPEECH SYNTHESIS MODULE sor remains active after HALT command. Kit/wired
four consecutive I/O port addresses, +8 V d. 0.7 With 24 -word Calculator vocabulary only; specify $250/$325
A, ± 16 V á 0.2 A. Kit/wired $210/$375 English, German or Arabic. On 4 X 7 -in circuit
board with 16-pin DIP connector, audio filter circuit, SWITCHBOARD I/O BOARD (S1)
RAM'N'ROM (S1) 200-mW amplifier, volume control, 2 -in speaker Eight I/O ports switch selectable for location on
Holds up to 64K of any 24 -pin EPROM (16
sockets); $150 any boundary in address space divisible by eight;
can accept two different EPROM types, in two
two serial ports, one serial status port, four inde-
pendent parallel ports, separate status port, sepa-
TELETEK rate strobe port; 4K RAM option; 4K EPROM option;
DAJEN UCRI (Si) dip -switch selectable phantom disable.
Universal cassette recorder interface. Switch se- Kit /wired $199/$259
lectable baud rates from 520 to 41,000 baud (max- Optional 2114 RAM $70
imum usable typically 5000 baud on cassette, SWITCHBOARD connector kit $12
12,000 baud on 7% ips tape); switch -selectable
Tarbell, Kansas-City or other format. Independent SPEAKEASY CASSETTE/GEN. PURPOSE I/O BOARD (S1)
switch selection of transmit and receive data inver- Kansas City Standard cassette interface can read
sion for use with different recorders. Level indicator from or write up to three recorders, verify tape
light. Relay option for independent control bf two against memory contents including checksum, will
groups of eight. Has power -on -jump and run for recorders; independent latched input port for key- read or write Intel hex format too; software UART
computers with front panel, jump -on -reset and board or other use. Kit/wired $165/$210 RS-232/TTY serial port with software control of
MWRITE logic for computers without. Kit/wired baud rate, self measures baud rate of device talk-
DAJEN SYSTEM CENTRAL INTERFACE ing to it; bi-directional parallel port will accept in-
$117/$168 (S1)
Combines ROM reader/programmer, RAM, serial, verted or positive logic; 512 bytes RAM; 512 bytes
parallel and cassette I/O, with reset -jump. Can pro- PROM committed to COPE software; built-in boot-
gram 2708 EPROM, read up to 3K; software includ- strap.
TARBELL ed in 2K firmware monitor. Has 3 parallel ports, Kit/wired $130/$175
1001 CASSETTE INTERFACE (S1) RS-232/20mA/60mA serial port. Cassette I/O 26 -conductor cable assembly $6
Saves and reads data on audio cassette machines. compatible with Tarbell; bi -phase recording at pro-
Data transfer rates up to 540 bytes per second with grammable speeds from 800 to 100k baud; 2 on- RAM BOARDS (51)
high -quality cassette recorder, 187 bytes/sec sug- board relays control 2 recorders; status lines can RAM boards 8K to 32K $149/$699
gested for medium -quality recorders (both Tarbell control automatic decks; sync and level indicator
format); modifiable for Kansas -City format `27
bytes/sec. With Triple -I Phi -Deck, 1000 bytes/ sec
LEDs. Firmware monitor includes I/O, EPROM pro-
VECTOR ELECTRONIC
gramming, video -board drivers, hex arithmetic,
+ 10 in/sec. Extra status and control lines avail- memory examine/move/verify/clear/search, tape Microcomputer prototyping boards with bus lines,
able for use with computer -controlled drives such verify. With all output connectors. Wired $385 DIP -spaced holes, and appropriate edge connec-
as Phi -Deck, or multiple tape recorders with tors for the following microcomputer systems:
Ro -Che controller (see Peripherals). Includes soft- FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER -I (S-1)
ware, room for user-developed circuits. Kit/wired .. Can be configured as a central processor in an S-100 Boards (S1)
$120/$175 S-100 system or as a smart floppy disk controller; 4 8800 V. Power & ground planes for wire -wrap; for
8K EMPL. Cassette $15 MHz Z -80A microprocessor; EPROM/ROM/RAM up 52 16 -pin DIPs or equivalent $22
P.T. Editor. Cassette $5 to 8K, two RS232C ports, two parallel ports, cas- 8800V-B. 8600V with sockets and wrap -posts in
sette port; reset -jump; 2K monitor; up to three mini place and ready to wire, for 2 40 -pin, 8 24 -pin,
1011 FLOPPY DISK -INTERFACE (S1) or four maxi drives, single or double density, single - 36 16 -pin DIPs $89
Interfaces single -density, full-size (8 -in) floppy or double- sided, e.g. Shugart or PerSci; CP/M- 8801-1. Bare board with edge contacts, for 88 16
drives; for up to four drives (or two double -sided): compatible. pin DIPs, or equivalent in any size DIPs and com-
CP/M-compatible. Includes 32 -byte bootstrap ROM FDC-I $995 ponents $15
with jump -on -reset; ROM switches out of address 8802-1. With 2 -hole pads, power & ground buses
space once run; uses programmed data transfer FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER- 11 (S-1) for 42 16 -pin DIPs or equivalent $24
(not DMA); connector pins come out to jumper Can control up to three mini or four maxi drives, 8804. With power and ground planes for wire -
pads, for easy adaptability to different drives; user - single or double density, single or double sided, wrap; for 70 16 -pins or equivalent $22
circuit area can be used to increase capacity to e.g. Shugart or PerSci or any ANSI -compatible; on- 8801. With 1 pad per hole, plus power & ground
eight drives. Bare board / kit /wired..$40/ $190/ $265 board Z-80 boot; simultaneous seek on multiple buses; for 16 -pin DIPs or equivalent $21
CP/M disk $70 drives
CBASIC disk $85 FDC-II $395 APPLE/SUPERKIM/PET BOARDS (AP)
TARBELL BASIC disk $36 4609. Peripheral interface board for Apple Il, Su-

OTHER BOARDS (S1) THINKER TOYS

32K RAM, kit or wired. DISC JOCKEY 1 CONTROLLER (51)
Single density controller board for full-size, 8 -in
floppy disks. IBM-compatible soft -sectored format;
256K bytes/disk. Can accommodate up to eight
drives; on -board ROM with bootstrap and other
TELESENSORY SYSTEMS
functions; 256-byte RAM buffer; board occupies 1K
SPEECH SYNTHESIZER MODULE
starting at 340:000 octal or E000 hex (other 1K -
Converts digital speech data in on -board ROM to boundary addresses on special order). Software is
analog voice output (external filtering and amplifi- initialized to use .on -board, memory -mapped serial perkim or Pet with Expandamem (Expandapet).
124 1980 EDITION
 (S1)
CROMEMCO
Provision for peripheral connectors $22 WMC REAL-TIME CLOCK BOARD
Includes eight -page software source listing and CARD CAGES (S1)
(MB) three -page flowchart for Time -of -Day and Day -of - Steel cages with card retaining bar; Blitz -Bus low -
SBC MULTIBUS BOARDS
Week display; addressable to any of 128 port - noise motherboards with connectors wave -sol-
4608. With 3 -hole pads, power & ground buses; for
$45 address pairs; includes 16 -bit (10-65K/.1 sec) and dered in place. Height 6%", width 101/4", length as
54 16 -pin DIPs or equivalents
decade (100 µsec -100 sec) interrupts. follows:
4608-1. Bare board with edge contacts for 144 16 -
$34 RTC -1. Bare board/kit/wired $30/$199/$229 CC -8. 8 -slot cage, 7" L $195
pin DIPs or equivalent
CC -12. 12 -slot cage, 10 %" L $245
FPB-1 FRONT PANEL BOARD (S1) CC-21. S21 -slot cage, 16 %" L $395
H11 BOARD (LS)
4607. For Heathkit 1111, LSI-11, PDP-8,
DEC For control of 8080A microcomputer with features
PDP-11. Bare board with edge contacts; for 89 16 like memory examine, memory deposit, run, reset;
pin DIPs or equivalent

VECTOR GRAPHIC
$20

eee
oe:. ..
:ee
e meee ° DYMA ENGINEERING
LINE SURGE PROTECTORS
280 CPU (S1) 3 Protect 120-V electronic equipment against power -
Z80 MPU board; 2/4 MHz, jumper -selectable; jump- It.Farcfiddii line surges. 20-A capacity. Available with barrier -
er-selectable-automatic wait state; all signals 4eo
} strip connections (# lAC), 2 -pin ac connector and
buffered; jumper -selectable MWRITE $215 plug (#2AC), 3-wire U -ground connector and plug
(#3AC) $19
8080 CPU (S1) hex display of address, data and I/O port FF; M1
Includes real-time clock generator, eight -level pri- status on discrete LEDs; will fit into IMSAI. Bare
ority interrupts $195 board $55
ELECTRONIC CONTROL TECHNOLOGY
HIGH RESOLUTION GRAPHICS (S1) FDC-1 FLOPPY DISC CONTROLLER IS)) ECT-100 CARD CAGE (S1)
Composite video output for faster -scan monitor; di- Will operate with Shugart, Pertec or Remex stand- Card cage for S-100 boards, mounts in 19" rack.
gital output 256X240; 128X 120 with 16 -level gray ard or mini drives; CPM compatible; control of up to ECT-100-F. With 20 -slot motherboard, connectors
scale; circuitry for glitch -free update; includes soft- eight drives; on -board PROM for cold boot; vector and guidés. Kit/Wired $200/$250
ware for alphanumeric, X -Y plot, pattern -drawing, selection of interrupt; for 808()A or Z-80 at 2 MHz or ECT-100. With motherboard only. Kit $100
demonstration images; requires Vector 8K Static 4 MHz. Bare board $45 POWER SUPPLY. 30 A. Mounts on back of ECT-100.
RAM board; RAM available for general use when Kit/wined $115/$175
graphics not in use; requires +8 V @ 750 mA EPM-1 FOUR KILOBYTE EPROM MEMORY BOARD (S1) Also available: 10 -slot card cage; 15 A power sup-
$235 For 1702A. Can be used as 2K or 4K on any 4K ply; door for rack -mount card cages; table -top 10 -
8K RAM for above $245 boundary. Bare board $30 slot mainframe.

VIDEO DIGITIZER BOARD (St)

Fast -scan video digitizer; converts TV -camera or EPM-2 16 OR 32K BYTE EPROM MEMORY BOARD (S1) F&D ASSOCIATES
other composite video signal into eight -bit, gray - For 2708 or +5 V 2716. Addressable in 41< byte MOTHERBOARDS (S5)
scale digital information; input resolution 700 increments. Bank addressing and phantom disable. Bare boards for SS -50 bus.
points/line horizontal; vertical input resolution de- Bare board $30 MBI-6. 6 -slot $19
pends on camera, typically 480 li.; requires three MEM-1A. 8K RAM for 2102. Bare board $32 MBI-3. 3 -slot $12
ports, +8 V @ 500 mA, -16 V @ low amperage MEM-2. 16K RAM for 2114. Bare board $32
$175

ANALOG INTERFACE (S1) GIMIX

Single -slope analog/digital converter; four A/D
MAINFRAME IS5)(S3)
channels, one parallel port; occupies two I/O ad-
Includes chassis with 15 SS -50, eight switch -
dresses, user -selectable; 480 µs conversion time
addressable SS -30 slots; puhched for 16 D -type
for 16-count resolution; 16 to 1025 -count resolu-
tion, software controlled; 450 and 800 Hz tone gen- COMPUTER data connectors, tour vidéo connectors; slotted for
ribbon cables; space for dual mini -floppy drives;
erators $115
key -switch; reset switch with lockout; power sup-
PRECISION ANALOG INTERFACE (S1) ACCESSORIES ply; fan; mother board $748
Analog input and output; two 12 -bit converters; two (S5)
in 4096; GIMIX MOTHERBOARD
output, eight input channels; resolution 1

Fifteen 50 -pin slots, plus eight switch -addressable

monopolar and bi -polar analog output; requires six
30 -pin / O slots configurable to four or eight decod-
I
control ports; one parallel output port on board;
$390 ed addresses. Barrier -block power connections
patch area AUM-IDEAS $224
(S1) BB -50 MOTHERBOARD (S5)
PROM/RAM I
22 -slot motherboard designed to mate with SS -50 POWER SUPPLY COMPONENTS KIT
Holds 2K PROM (1702), 1K RAM; occupies 4K ad-
card edge of AUM HDBB board (see Module Board Includes 550 -VA ferro -resonant constant -voltage
dress block; on -board MWRITE generation; select- transformer, other components including individual
able wait states; requires +8 V @ 450 mA, ± 16 V section); for SS -50 bus fans preferring card -edge
$129 connectors; 1 -in card spacing; up to four power output fuses, terminal block; supplies 8 V Cal 25 A,
(current varies with PROM quantity)
and ground lines, selectable on same or opposite ± 15 V n 5 A, for 90-140 V ac input voltage
$249
PROM/RAM II (S1) board edges; terminated.
BB -50 board $50
Holds up to 12K PROM/ EPROM (2708), 1K RAM;
addressable as 8K PROM and 8K PROM/RAM MC -50 edge connectors $6
HEATH KIT
blocks, RAM independently addressable within COMPUTER WORK STATION
(S1)
block; MWRITE and jump -on reset; power required, BB -100 MOTHERBOARD
$175 Four -slot, S-100 motherboard with IMSAI-type con- Computer desk with 60" x 30" walnut formica top;
as above
nebtors. Board $15 under -top shelves 151/4" W X 20" D, each 8'/" H
1

(Si) and 7" H. Dockable casters.

PROM/RAM III $295
PD -11.
Same, but also programs PROMs; prógrehlming
$215 CGRS MICROTECH
time approximately two minutes
S-108 CARD RACK (Si)
(S1) For rack -mount or table -top use; has room for moth- ITHACA INTERSYSTEMS
OTHER BOARDS
Also available: 8K, 16K static, 48K dynamic RAM, erboard and power supply; with end plates, side DPS/PS POWER SUPPLY
parallel/serial I/O, 64X16 and 80X24 video rails, card guides and mounting hardware. Kit/ Supplies +8 V , 25 A, ± 16 V @ 5 A; all three
boards. Assembled $50/560 outputs individually fused; large barrier -strip con-
nections; 12 %" X 4'/z" W X 4 3:" H. Wired.
CABINET (Si) DPS/PSD. For 117 V ac, 50/60 Hz $175
WAMECO Room for 11 cards, front panel, power supply and DPS/PSF. For 240 V ac, 50 Hz $175
WMC 80(30A CPU WITH 8-LEVEL INTERRUPT (S1) 4' /z" fan. Kit/Assembled $150/$165
8080A MPU board for S-100 bus, with eight-level JADE
vector interrupt; interrupt circuitry need not be built POWER SUPPLY (S1)
S-100 power supply: +8 V 6, 10 A, +16 V A, ISO-BUS MOTHER BOARDS (S1)
up until system has real-time clock board. Gì 1

CPU -1. Bare board/kit/wired $30/$185/$220 aiid -16 V ru 1 A. Kit/Wired $55/$65 Shielded, S-100 mother board; mirrored ground cur -
125
ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 rents for 100 dB crosstalk rejection without termi- EP -2A-79
nation; LED indicates active power on bus; fits S-100 motherboards, with Noiseguard ground-line
Similar to EP -2A-78, but stand-alone type, with interlacing and active termination circuitry. Includes
Jade, Integrand, lmsai-type mainframes. power supply and enclosure; PROM type selected on -board power supplies for small peripherals like
MBS-0618/K/A. 6 -slot. Bare board/kit/wired by plug-in personality module (one supplied, others
paper tape readers and keyboards (+5 V, ± 12 V);
$25/$50/$60 $15/$30 each). used in Parasitic Equinox, mounting holes compat-
MBS-121B/K/A. 12 -slot. Bare board/kit/wired EP -2A -79-x. Wired $155 ible with IMSAI.
$40/$90/$100 MPU Code. For letter "-x-" substitute: K for 6502; M
20-slot. Kit/wired
MBS-181B'K/A. 18 -slot. Bare board/kit/wired
$76/$226
for 6800; 18 for 8080, 8085, Z-80; R for 1802; F for 12 -slot. Kit/wired
$60/$130/$150 $65/$175
F-8. Also available for use with: KIM -1, SYM-1,
8 -slot. Kit/wired $54/$144
Cosmac II, VIP, RCA 18S020, TRS-80, AET, Apple,
JADE MAINFRAME (S1) EXORCISER, INTELLEC, and Ohio Scientific ma-
Accommodates most S-100 mother boards; lighted chines.
reset switch; keyed power switch; rear cutouts for
10 DB -25, 3 BNC connectors; Whisper Fan; ANALOG I/O CARD
TRINEX
switched ac outlet; +8 V @ 30 A, ± 16 V @ 4 A, all Eight -channel, A/D and two -channel D/A converter; PANELOGIC KIT
outputs fused; -8 may be added. ±5 V full scale; requires 50 mA ± 12-15 V; inter- Kit of plastic materials for prototyping backlighted
ENS -000101 $389 faces via two I/O ports; 8 -bit accuracy; 10-meg in- display panels, including digital and CRT displays.
ENS -000321. Same, with mini -floppy cutouts $389 put impedance; on 4.25 X 3.75 -in card. Includes black dead -front plastic and transparent
t/0 802. Wired $17195
colors, plus cutters and mounting adhesive For
PIGGY MAIN FRAME (S1) 1/0802-A. Eight -channel AID only. Wired $79 panels to 11" X 19" $60
Includes 'so -Bus mother board; high -impact plastic
case; space for dual mini -floppies; choice of col-
ors; power supply with ± 16 V @ 3 A; 12 V, 3 A
regulated mini -floppy drive supply. RADIO SHACK ULTRA-VIOLET PRODUCTS
ENS-106320 $475 TRS-80 SPACE -SAVER DESK UVS-11E EPROM ERASING LAMP
For TRS-80 or similar -sized systems; 373" W X Erases up to four UV -erasable EPROM5 at a time,
23/" D; raised rear platform to hold video monitor, in as little as 20 plinutes; has safety interlock to
MULLEN etc $50 protect eyes. EPROM holding tray holds up to four
AC RELAY CONTROL MODULE chips at constant -in exposure distance, has con-
1

Interfaces control boards such as Mullen CB -1 (see TRS-80 SYSTEM DESK ductive foam liner to prevent electrostatic buildup,
Module Boards) with ac power loads up to 500 W; Larger (27" H X 48" W X 27" 0), with keyboard transmits visibly while blocking UV light. Lamp
fully -enclosed; plug-in connections; dual isolated and monitor/expansion-interface recesses on top, shuts off when lifted from tray. Provides 1watt-
control lines for operation by computer or remote shelf below desk to house Mini Disk drive units; sec/cm2 in 200 secs. (Larger systems available.)
switch; has both normally -open and normally - conceals interconnection wiring $199 UVS-11E. 115V/220V versions $71 /$77
closed contacts $10 34-0003-01. Replacement tube $13
MODEL II SYSTEM DESK
Modular desk, with drawer mountable above or be-
low desk top; allows mounting TRS-80 Model II Disk
NNC ELECTRONICS Expansions above or below desk -top $350 VECTOR ELECTRONIC
NO NAME MAINFRAME (Si)
8803 MOTHERBOARD (S1)
To accommodate S-100 and other motherboards; PRINTER STAND
lighted reset button; keyed power switch; 60 -Hz line 11 -slot. S-100 motherboard, with etched circuit for
Designed for TRS-80 Line Printers, which screw di-
for real-time clock; accessory receptacle; rear -panel rectly to stand cross -members active or passive termination $30
$99
slots for up to 10 DB25 and 3 BNC connectors; pow-
er supply with 95-130 V ac input, output ± 16 V G/ 4
A ea., +8 V (n 30 A, -8 V available; card cage with SILVER SPUR VECTOR GRAPHIC
12 pairs guides installed $255 S-44 MOTHERBOARDS (S-44) MOTHERBOARD (Si)
Motherboards in 8-, 12-, 16-, 20-, and 24 -slot con- 18 -slot, shielded, S-100 motherboard, with connec-
MOTHERBOARDS (S1) figurations for the S -44E (extended Atwood) bus. tors
S-100 motherboard with resistor networks and inter- $175
Connectors on half -inch centers. Connectors and
laced ground lines for low noise; data lines actively
card guides available. Write manufacturer for de- RACK MOUNT CARD CAGE
terminated with provision for pull-up or pull -down; (S1)
tails. For 19 -in EIA rack; boardsaccessible from front;
board silk screened for circuit identification; populat-
ed with edge connectors. includes motherboard above $225
100-08/100-19. Wired, 8/19 slot $145/5225
POWER SUPPLY
SOUTHWEST TECH. PRODUCTS
Delivers 8 V @ 18 A, ± 16 V @ 2.5 A; transformer
MP -B MOTHERBOARD (S3) (S5) tapped for 110/ 120/ 130 V input $125
OPTIMAL TECHNOLOGY Provides 7 SS -50 slots (for processor, memory,
EP -2A EPROM PROGRAMMERS etc.), 8 SS -30 I/O -board slots. Bus may be paral-
For 2704, 2708, TMS-2708, 2758, and 2716 leled onto another MP -13 with power supply. Bare
EPROMs and others where specified. Require 12 - board/kit $30/$40 WAMECO
bit parallel I/O. Configured to match various MPUs OMB -12 QUIET MOTHER
MP -P POWER SUPPLY (S1)
(see below); replace "-x-" in model number with 13 -slot motherboard with breadboard area (pas-
appropriate MPU code when ordering. Supplies all power required for MP -B motherboard
with full complement of plug-in boards. Kit sive termination). Bare board $40
$43
EP -2A SERIES
QMB-9 LITTLE MOTHER
On 4.3 X 2.2-in circuit card, with 44 -pin edge con- Nine -slot version of above. Bare board $35
nector. Requires +5 V @ 150 mA +28 V @ 50 mA
(all PROMs), +12 V @ 100 mA and -5 V @ 100
TERMINAL DATA CORP. OF MARYLAND
mA (2704/08, TMS-2708/ 16 only). WORKSTATIONS
EP -2A-X-01. With low -insertion -force socket. Kit/ Fixed and mobile workstations for variety of termi- WESCORP
wired $50/$60 nals. Write for details $85-$269 PORTABLE WORK STATION
EP -2A -X-02. With lower -force socket. Wired $64 Static -free work station consists of 18 X 24 -in con-
EP -2A-X-03. With off -board, zero -force socket. CARRYING CASES
ductive felt mat, wrist grounding strap and mat
Wired $70 Carrying cases with foam insulation, reinforced web grounding strap; will fold to fit in briefcase.
EP -2A-G-05. General software instructions only. fabric straps. Available for Teletype 43, ADM -3/3A,
W-9010 $20
Kit $33 Sanyo 9" monitor, and similar. Write for details. Industrial versions available.
EP -2A -X-04. General software instructions only. $149-$179
Wired $43 WESTAT FLOOR MATS
SOUND ENCLOSURES
Electrically conductive, Ve -in thick, polyethylene
EP -2A-78 SERIES Noise -reducing enclosures for printers and printing floor mats to prevent data loss or equipment dam-
Similar to EP -2A, but also programs TMS2532, terminals, including various models of Teletype,
age caused by static electricity.
TMS2716, and 2732 PROMs; card size 4.3" X 2.4", Centronics, DEC, IBM and Xerox $189-$750 W-5052. 24 X 32 -in $35
PROM type selected with jumpers at card edge W-5053. 5 X 4 -ft incl. lip $129
connector. W-5054. 4 X 8 -ft $136
EP -2A -78-x-01. With zero -force socket. Wired $80 Anti -static floor runners, parts bins, shipping pro-
EP -2A -78-x-02. With same socket as THINKER TOYS tectors, measuring devices and other anti -static
EP -2A -x-02 $74 WUNDERBOSS MOTHERBOARD (S1) supplies available. Write manufacturer for details.
126 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK
 Directory of
Microcomputer Products
Manufacturers
ALF PRODUCTS, INC. EVENTIDE CLOCKWORKS, INC.
1448 Estes, Denver, CO 80215 265 West 54th St., New York, NY 10019

ALLIED COMPUTERS EXIDY, INC.

48th St., 9th Ave., 11, Ashok Nagar, Madras -600 083, India 2599 Garcia Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043

ALPHA MICRO F&D ASSOCIATES

17881 Sky Park North, Irvine, CA 92714 1210 Todd Rd., New Plymouth, OH 45654

APF ELECTRONICS, INC. GIMIX, INC.

444 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022 1337 West 37th Place, Chicago, IL 60609

APPLE COMPUTER INC. (BILL) GODBOUT ELECTRONICS

10260 Bandley Dr., Cupertino, CA 95014 Box 2355, Oakland Airport, CA 94614

ATARI, INC. HAZELTINE CORPORATION

1265 Borregas Ave., PO Box 9027, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Computer Terminal Equipment, Greenlawn, NY 11740

ATV RESEARCH HEATH/SCHLUMBERGER DATA SYSTEMS

13th and Broadway, Dakota City, NE 68731 Hilltop Rd., St. Joseph, MI 49085

AUM-IDEAS HUH ELECTRONICS

P.O. Box 2582, Richardson, TX 75080 1429 Maple St., San Mateo, CA 94402

AUTOMATED INDUSTRIAL MEASUREMENTS, INC. IMAGE -21

P.O. Box 125, Wayland, MA 01778 1303 Broadway, Dakota City, NE 68731

CALIFORNIA COMPUTER SYSTEMS INNOTRONICS CORPORATION

309 Laurelwood Road, Unit 17:18, Santa Clara, CA 95050 Brooks, Rd., Lincoln, MA 01773

CENTRAL DATA CORPORATION INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY

P.O. Box 2530, Station A, Champaign, IL 61820 510 Oxford Park, Garland, TX 75043

CENTRONICS DATA COMPUTER CORPORATION INTERACT ELECTRONICS, INC.

Hudson, NH 03051 P.O. Box 8140, Ann Arbor, MI 48107

CGRS MICROTECH INTERTEC DATA SYSTEMS

P.O. Box 368, Southampton, PA 18966 2300 Broad River Rd., Columbia, SC 29210

CHRISLIN INDUSTRIES, INC., ITHACA AUDIO

31352 Via Colinas, #102, Westlake Village, CA 91361 P.O. Box 91, Ithaca, NY 14850

COMMODORE BUSINESS MACHINES LTD. JADE COMPUTER PRODUCTS

901 California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304 4901 West Rosecrans, Hawthorne, CA 90250

COMPRINT, Computer Printers International, Inc. JHM MARKETING ASSOCIATES

340 East Middlefield Rd., Mt. View, CA 94043 4340 Campus Dr., Suite 212, Newport Beach, CA 92660

COMPUCOLOR CORPORATION LARKS ELECTRONICS & DATA

5965 Peachtree Corners East, P.O. Box 569, Norcross, GA P.O. Box 22, Skokie, IL 60077
30091
LEAR SIEGLER, INC.
COMPUTALKER CONSULTANTS 714 North Brookhurst St., Anaheim, CA 92803
P.O. Box 1951, Santa Monica, CA 90406
MATROX ELECTRONICS, LTD.
CROMEMCO, INC. 5800 Andover Ave., Montreal, Quebec H4T 1H4, Canada
280 Bernardo Ave., Mountain View, CA 94040
MECA
D.C. HAYES ASSOCIATES, INC. P.O. Box 696, 7026 Old Woman's Spring Rd., Yucca Valley,
10 Perimeter Park Dr., Atlanta, GA 30341 CA 92284

DELTA PRODUCTS, INC. MICRODASYS

1653 East 28th St., Signal Hill, CA 90806 P.O. Box 36051, Los Angeles, CA 90036

DIGITAL SPORT SYSTEMS MICRO PERIPHERALS, INC.

Seventh and Elm Sts., West Liberty, IA 52776 2099 West 2200 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84119

DYMA ENGINEERING MICROPOLIS

Box 1697, Taos, NM 87571 7959 Deering Ave., Canoga Park, CA 91304

ELECTRONIC CONTROL TECHNOLOGY MICROPRODUCTS

763 Ramsey Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205 2107 Artesia Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA 90278

ELECTRONIC PRODUCT ASSOCIATES, INC. THE MICRO WORKS

157 Vega St., San Diego, CA 92110
1
P.O. Box 1110, Del Mar, CA 92014

ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS MK ENTERPRISES

P.O. Box 21638, San Jose, CA 95151 8911 Norwick Rd., Richmond, VA 23229
127
1980 EDITION
 MOUNTAIN HARDWARE, INC. TECHNICO, INC.
300 Harvey West Blvd, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 9130 Red Branch Rd., Columbia, MD 21045
MULLEN COMPUTER PRODUCTS, INC. TELESENSORY SYSTEMS, INC.
Box 6214, Hayward, CA 94545 1889 Page Mill Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94304
NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS TELETEK
9513 Burnet Rd., Austin, TX 78758 9767F Business Park Dr., Sacramento, CA 95827
NATIONAL MULTIPLEX CORPORATION TELETYPE CORPORATION
3474 Rand Ave., Box 288, South Plainfield, NJ 07080 555 Touhy Avenue, Skokie, IL 60077
NESTAR SYSTEMS, Inc. TERMINAL DATA CORPORATION OF MARYLAND
430 Sherman Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306 11878 Coakley Circle, Rockville, MD 20852
NETRONICS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT LTD. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
333 Litchfield Rd., New Milford, CT 06776 P.O. Box 53, Lubbock, TX 79408
N.N.C. ELECTRONICS THINKER TOYS
15631 Computer Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92649 5221 Central Ave., Richmond, CA 94804
NORTH STAR COMPUTERS TRINEX DESIGN
2547 Ninth St., Berkeley, CA 94710 1201 Marlkress Rd., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
OAE, Oliver Advanced Engineering, Inc. ULTRA-VIOLET PRODUCTS, INC.
676 West Wilson Ave., Glendale, CA 91203 5100 Walnut Grove Ave., San Gabriel, CA 91778
OBJECTIVE DESIGN, INC. U.S. ROBOTICS, INC.
P.O. Box 20325, Tallahassee, FL 32304 1035 West Lake St., Chicago, IL 60607
OHIO SCIENTIFIC VECTOR ELECTRONIC COMPANY, INC.
1333 Chillicothe Rd., Aurora, OH 44202 12460 Gladstone Ave., Sylmar, CA 91342
OPTIMAL TECHNOLOGY, INC. VECTOR GRAPHIC, INC.
Blue Wood 127, Earlysville, VA 22936 31364 Via Colinas, Westlake Village, CA 91361
OTTO ELECTRONICS VOLKER -CRAIG LIMITED
P.O. Box 3066, Princeton, NJ 08540 266 Marsland Dr., Waterloo, Ontario N2J 3Z1, Canada
PARATRONICS, INC. WAMECO, INC.
800 Charcot Ave., San Jose, CA 95131 1 1 1 Glenn Way, #8, Belmont, CA 94002
PERCOM DATA COMPANY, INC. WESCORP, Div. of DAL Industries, Inc.
211 North Kirby, Garland, TX 75042 155 Terra Bella Ave., Mt. View, CA 94043
1

PICKLES & TROUT

P.O. Box 1206, Goleta, CA 93017

RADIO SHACK, Div. of Tandy Corporation

1400 One Tandy Center, Fort Worth, TX 76102 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTER'S HANDBOOK
1980
RCA VIP MARKETING
New Holland Ave., Lancaster, PA 17604
ADVERTISERS INDEX
ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL, Microelectronic Devices
P.O. Box 3669, Anaheim, CA 92803

SDS TECHNICAL DEVICES LTD. READER PAGE

P.O. Box 1998, Winnipeg, Canada R3C 3R3 SERVICE NO. ADVERTISER NUMBER

SD SYSTEMS
P.O. Box 28810, Dallas, TX 75228
1 Byte 103
SILVER SPUR Cleveland Institute of
13552 Central Ave., Chino, CA 91710 Electronics, Inc. 35,36,37
2 Continental Specialties 2
SMOKE SIGNAL BROADCASTING 3 Creative Computing Magazine 101
31336 Via Colinas, Westlake Village, CA 91361
4 Datak Corporation 113
SOLID STATE MUSIC 8 Electronics Book Club 5
2116 Walsh Ave., Santa Clara, CA 95050 6 Exidy, Inc. 8,9
7 G C Electronics 4
SOROC TECH, INC.
165 Freedom Ave., Anaheim, CA 92801 5 Heath Company 53,54,55
9 International Crystal 109
SOUTHWEST TECHNICAL PRODUCTS CORPORATION 10 Jensen Tools & Alloys 87
219 West Rhapsody, San Antonio, TX 78216
National Radio Institute 17,18,19
SPACE-TIME PRODUCTIONS 11 Ohio Scientific Instrument Cover 4
2053 North Sheffield, Chicago, IL 60614 12 OK Machine & Tool Corporation 81
13 Percom Data, Inc. Cover 3
SZERLIP ENTERPRISES
1414 West 259th St., Harbor City, CA 90710 14 RCA Solid State 1

15 Trio-Kenwood
TARBELL ELECTRONICS Communications Inc. Cover 2
950 Dovlen Place, Suite B, Carson, CA 90746

128 ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTERS HANDBOOK

 Flnom PERCOM
o One -Drive System:
$399. (40-track) & $675. (77 -track)
Two -Drive System:
$795. (40 -track drives) & $1350. (77-track drives)
Three -Drive System:
$1195. (40 -track drives) & $2025. (77 -track drives)
Requires Expansion Interface, Level II BASIC & 16K RAM.

Low Cost Add -On Storage for Your TRS-80* .

In the Size You Want.
When you're ready for add-on disk storage, we're ready for you.
Ready with six mini -disk storage systems 102K bytes to 591K bytes of
additional on-line storage for your TRS-80 `.
-
.Choose either 40 -track TFD-100TM drives
or 77 -track TFD-200TM drives.
Whether you need a single, 40 -
track TFD-100TM add-on or a three -drive
- 197K, 394K and 591 K bytes for one-,
two and three -drive systems.
add-on with 77 -track TFD-200TMs, you PATCH PAK #1 TM, our upgrade
One-, two- and three -drive systems im- get more data storage for less money program for your TRSDOS*, not only
mediately available. from Percom. extends TRSDOS* to accommodate 40 -
Our TFD-100TM drive, for example, and 77 -track drives, it enhances
Systems include Percom PATCH PAK TRSDOS * in other ways as well. PATCH
#1TM, on aisk, at no extra charge. PATCH
PAK #1'"de-glitches and upgrades
TRSDOS' fior 40- and 77 -track operation.
one side of a disk -
lets you store 102.4K bytes of data on
compared to 80K
bytes on a TRS-80* mini -disk drive -
PAK #1 TM is supplied with each drove
system at no additional charge.
and 102.4K bytes on the other side, too. The reason you get more for less
TFD-100T" drives accommodate " flippy Something you can't do with a TRS-80* from Percom is simple. Peripherals are
disks." Store 205K bytes per mini -disk. not a sideline at Percom. Selling disk
drive. That's almost 205K bytes per
Low prices. A
costs just $399. Price
single -drive TFD-100'M
includes PATCH
mini -disk.
And the TFD-200TM drives provide
main business -
systems and other peripherals its our
the reason you get
more engineering, more reliability and
PAK #1TM disk. 197K bytes of on-line storage per drive more back up support for less money.
'Enclosures are finished in system - In the Product Development Queue ... a printer interface for using your TRS-80* with any
compatible "Tandy -silver" enamel.
screen -
serial printer, and ... the Electric CrayonTM to map your computer memory onto your color TV
for games, animated shows, business displays, graphs, etc. Coming PDO)

T° TED -100. TED -200. PATCH PAK and Electric Crayon are trademarks of PERCOM DATA COMPANY.
'TRS-e0 and rRSDOS are trademarks of Tandy Corporation and Radio Shack which have no relationship to PERCOM DATA COMPArl:

To order add-on mini -disk storage for your TRS-80*,

or request additional literature, call Percom's toll -free
number: 1-800-527-1592. For detailed Technical infor-

PERCOM mation call (214) 272-3421.

Orders may be paid by check or money order, or
charged to Visa or Master Charge credit accounts. Texas
residents must add 5% sales tax.
PERCOM DATA COMPANY, INC.
211 N KIRBY GARLAND, TX. 75042 Percom `peripherals for personal computing'
CIRCLE NO. 13 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD
Don't take our word for it.
"We can heartily recommend the Superboard Il computer system for the beginner who
wants to get into microcomputers with a minimum of cost. Moreover, this is a `real' com-
puter with full expandability."
Popular Electronics March, 1979

"(Their) new Challenger 1P weighs in at $349 and provides a remarkable amount of com-
puting for this incredible price."
Kilobaud Microcomputing February, 1979

"Over the past four years we have taken delivery on over 25 computer systems. Only two
have worked totally glitch free and without adjustment as they came out of the carton:
The Tektronic 4051 (at $7,000 the most expensive computer we tested) and the Ohio
Scientific Superboard II (at $279 the least expensive) ... The Superboard Il and com-
panion C1P deserve your serious consideration."
Creative Computing January, 1979

"The Superboard Il and its fully dressed companion the Challenger 1P series incorporate
all the fundamental necessities of a personal computer at a very attractive price. With
the expansion capabilities provided, this series becomes a very formidable competitor
in the home computer area."
Interface Age April, 1979

"The graphics available permit some really dramatic effects and are relatively simple to
program ... The fact that the system can be easily expanded to include a floppy means
that while you are starting out with a low-cost minimal system, you don't have to throw it
away when you are ready to go on to more complex computer functions. Everything is
there that you need; you simply build on to what you already have. You don't have to
worry about trading off existing equipment to get the system that will really do what you
want it to do. At $279, Superboard Il is a tough act to follow."
Radio Electronics June, 1979

"The Superboard Il is an excellent choice for the personal computer enthusiast on a

budget."
Byte May, 1979

SUPERBOARD II
$279.00
The world's first
complete computer
system on a board Muumuu ie
including full
keyboard, video
display, audio
cassette interface, 8K
BASIC -in -ROM and
4K RAM. Expandable.
Requires + 5V at 3
amp power supply.
DIP $349.00
Complete with enclosure and power
supply. All features of Superboard II. Easy to expand
to more memory and floppy disk.

DIP MF $995.00
The first floppy disk based computer
system the world has ever seen for under $1,000.
8K BASIC -in -ROM, 12K RAM. Expandable to 32K RAM.

OHIO SCIENTIFIC
1333 S. CHILLICOTHE RD., AURORA, OHIO 44202 (216) 562-3101 See your Ohio Scientific dealer for full details.
CIRCLE NO. 11 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD