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distortion. The transistors shown 2n3053 and 2n2905 are just parts I used for the other circuit above and could be smaller types. Most any small transistors can be used, but they should be capable of 100mA or more current. A 2N3904 or 2N3906 are probably a little small, but would work at low volume. The 2 diodes generate a fairly constant bias voltage as the battery drains and reduces crossover distortion. But you should take care to insure the idle current is around 10 to 20 milliamps with no signal and the output transistors do not get hot under load. The circuit should work with a regular 8 ohm speaker, but the output power may be somewhat less. To optimize the operation, select a resistor where the 100K is shown to set the output voltage at 1/2 the supply voltage (4.5 volts). This resistor might be anything from 50K to 700K depending on the gain of the transistor used where the 3904 is shown.
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increases as the signal level rises and reduces the gain. The lamp used here is a 1819 (28 volt 40mA) variety found at Radio Shack, part number 272-1119. Another lamp that might be useful is the GE394, 12 volt 40mA, but a little harder to find. In the first example, the lamp is placed in series with a 1000uF cap and connected across the emitter resistor of the 2N2219A so as the signal level rises, the total resistance increases reducing the gain. The gain of the 2N2219A stage is approximately the collector resistor (100) divided by the emitter resistor (51 in parallel with the lamp 75) or maybe 100/30 = 3.3, The first stage (2N3904 on the left) provides a high impedance to the RC network so it doesn't load down the input much. The second stage (2N3904) in the middle, provides a 180 degree phase inversion and not much voltage gain. So, the overall phase shift is 360 degrees, 180 from the middle stage and another 180 from the 2N2219A stage. The overall gain can be adjusted with the 750 ohm resistor at the collector of the center stage. The example shows 2 (20K) variable resistors which are ganged together for frequency adjustment of about 10KHz to 400 Khz. Lower frequencies can be obtained using larger capacitors. The frequency of oscillation is f = 1/(2 * Pi * R * C). The circuit was built sucessfully and also simulated using LTSpice version IV. A copy of LTSpice can be downloaded from the following link. Download LTSpice from Linear Technology The second example using a JFET and bipolar requires fewer components since the FET provides a high impedance input and operates on self bias. The gate to source voltage (vgs) where the FET starts to conduct is around 2.5 volts, so the voltage at the source is about +2.5 when the gate is grounded by the RC network. Overall gain is the same around 3.3 and adjusted with the 560 ohm resistor on the drain terminal. Adjust the 560 ohm resistor a little larger or smaller for best sinewave. The third example is the more popular type using an op-amp and minimal parts. Two 100 ohm resistors are used to establish a 6 volt mid-point from a 12 volt supply so the circuit will operate on a single 12 volt supply. A transistor buffer (2N2219A) is used to supply a low impedance output and also drive the feedback path with the lamp using about 8 mA. A higher power op-amp could be used to eliminate the transistor, but I don't have the numbers. You can also use the LM324 quad op-amp and just use one section. The 180 ohm resistor can be adjusted a little higher or lower for best sinewave. The lamp doesn't light with only 8 mA, but provides reasonable AGC as the resistance increases from 67 ohms cold to about 90 ohms when running.
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Decibel Meter
The circuit below responds to sound pressure levels from about 60 to 70 dB. The sound is picked up by an 8 ohm speaker, amplified by a transistor stage and one LM324 op-amp section. You can also use a dynamic microphone but I found the speaker was more sensitive. The remaining 3 sections of the LM324 quad op-amp are used as voltage comparators and drive 3 indicator LEDs or incandescents which are spaced about 3dB apart. An additional transistor is needed for incandescent lights as shown with the lower lamp. I used 12 volt, 50mA lamps. Each light represents about a 3dB change in sound level so that when all 3 lights are on, the sound level is about 4 times greater than the level needed to light one lamp. The sensitivity can be adjusted with the 500K pot so that one lamp comes on with a reference sound level. The other two lamps will then indicate about a 2X and 4X increase in volume. In operation, with no input, the DC voltage at pins 1,2 and 3 of the op-amp will be about 4 volts, and the voltage on the (+) inputs to the 3 comparators (pins 5,10,12) will be about a half volt less due to the 1N914 diode drop. The voltage on the (-) comparator inputs will be around 5.1 and 6.5 which is set by the 560 and 750 ohm resistors. When an audio signal is present, the 10uF capacitor connected to the diode will charge toward the peak audio level at the op-amp output at pin 1. As the volume increases, the DC voltage on the capacitor and also (+) comparator inputs will increase and the lamp will turn on when the (+) input goes above the (-) input. As the volume decreases, the capacitor discharges through the parallel 100K resistor and the lamps go out. You can change the response time with a larger or smaller capacitor. This circuit requires a well filtered power source, it will respond to very small changes in supply voltage, so you probably will need a large filter capacitor connected directly to the 330 ohm resistor. I managed to get it to work with an unregulated wall transformer power source, but I had to use 4700uF. It worked well on a regulated supply with only 1000uF.
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