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The Ultrasonic Transducer Transmitter and Receiver To My Valued Customers: Id like to take a second before I start to say thank

you to all that chose to shop at the HobbyTronixStore. It is a small business that I run on the side, and its good to know that in these poor economic times, there are still people out there who share the same interest and passion towards electronics that I have. Thanks to all of you. I hope you find this document useful. Sincerely, Patrick Mitchell Electronics Engineering Technician Ho yTroni!Store " ###$electroniclessons$com %ET&S 'ET ST(RTE)* kay! So in every electronic circuit, there must be a power supply, correct" #ell in this care were going to need three different supplies. $ont worry, youre not going to really need three different sources of power. nly two. %irst of all, were going to construct our power supply for the ultrasonic transmitter circuit. &s you can see below, all we need is a 'v battery(connector )%ully charged battery*, and two capacitors. +ow, if youre using a battery, you dont necessarily need the two capacitors. Its ,ust good practice to implement them. If youre using another source of power- perhaps an &. to $. wall transformer, which I dont suggest you do, then the capacitors are a very good idea. I greatly advise that you use batteries for this pro,ect.. That being said, the power supply circuit is really up to you. /ou can customi0e it, and go all out with protection and what not. However, if youre taking my advice, and using a 'v battery, I wouldnt worry too much about noise effecting the performance. #e have to worry more about noise at the receiver than we do at the transmitter, so dont waste too much time worrying about it. I dont suggest using a power supply larger than '1$.. If you decide to use a wall transformer, I suggest actually testing the output value with a multi2meter before using it. Ive found several wall transformers that are rated to output '1$., and actually output 342351$., so beware.

THE TR(+SM,TTER C,RCU,T The really neat thing about these transducers is the fact that they are designed to transmit and receive. If you have two ultrasonic transducers, you can send and receive. f course youll need two breadboards or two 6.7s. 8ets talk about the transmitter, shall we" I have personally tested these transducers are fre9uencies as low as 4:kH0, to as high as 5:kH0. /ou can still transmit and receive information at these fre9uencies, despite the fact that the center fre9uency is ;:kH0. n the following page, youll see a diagram for the transmitter circuit. Ive offered a part list, but there are many passive component values )resistors(capacitors(transistors* that can be modified to achieve

maximum output power. The part list I am offering is a <safe= list of components to use. 7y this, I mean Ive used these components to go in con,unction with my video advertisement. Thats right! The components Ive listed here, are the components you saw in my video. +ote that this not my most efficient circuit for transmitting(receiving, but it is good for beginners, and those who are simply a little rusty. The receiver circuit can be modified greatly as well. &nyhow, back to the transmitter. 6erhaps youve noticed by looking at the diagram that the transmitter circuit is fairly simple. #e really only have a few blocks of information to discuss. 8ets start with out 555 timer oscillator. %or those of you who are new to the 555 timer, weve got our 555 timer configured in astable mode- an oscillator. 7y this, it is meant that we will be using this chip to create our transmission fre9uency. If you google search <555 timer calculator= you can determine which components youre going to need to create certain fre9uencies. The components that determine the fre9uency and duty cycle of the 555 timer in astable mode are the following> ?5 @ ?&- ?A @ ?7- .3 @ . +ow, you have the option of placing a :.:3u% tantalum or ceramic capacitor between pinB5 and the ground line, but it is not necessary. This would be used in higher fre9uency applications. /ou may get a slightly better resolution if you implement this capacitor, but I did not use it, so I will not be adding this component to the parts list.

6inB; of the 555 timer is the reset pin. ?C is placed between pinB; of the 555 timer, and ground. #e also have a single pull single throw switch connected to pinB; and the 1.. line. This circuit acts to ground the reset pin by default through the use of a pull2down resistor )?C*, which will disable the output )pinBD*. #hen we press our S6ST switch )on(off switch*, 1.. will be applied to pinB; thereby activating the output of the 555 timer. In other words, when we press the button, we are transmitting. #hen the normally2 open button is not being pushed, the unit is in idle mode, and is not transmitting. ne of the two transducer pins is connected to a voltage divider circuit )?3(?4*. The second pin is connected to ?D, which is also connected to the 1.. line. The second pin of the transducer is also connected to the collector of a low2power +6+ transistor. The emitter is connected to the ground line. /ou can use ,ust about any low2 power +6+ transistor for this. I used the 4+4444, but you can use ,ust about any low2power transistor, as long as it is +6+. If you use a 6+6, youre going to lose a lot more power in Idle mode, as the value for ?D is very small, and is in parallel with the 555 timer circuit and the voltage divider circuit when the output of the 555 timer is high )activating the transistor*. The resistor between the 555 timer output )?;*, which is pinBD, and the base of the +6+ transistor is extremely important. $ont forget to use it. TEST,+' THE TR(+SM,TTER:

I sure hope you have an oscilloscope. If you dont then I hope you have been careful in making your connections. 6lease refer to the transmitter diagram on the previous page. 3* #ith your oscilloscope, probe the following areas while pressing down the transmit button. 2 6inBD of the 555 timer. 2 The first pin of the transducer- the pin connected to the middle of the voltage divider. 2 The second pin of the transducer that is connected to ?D, and the collector of the +6+ transistor. /ou should see a waveform on your oscilloscope screen at each of these test points. THE/ #I88 + T &88 8 F THE S&GE. /our main point of interest is the pin of the transducer that is connected to ?D and the +6+ transistor. &re you able to see a decent waveform here" If not, then you may have a problem. If so, you should be ready to move on to the receiver. 4* If you are not getting anything at either of the pins of the transducer, then check your connections. If you are not detecting any waveform coming from your 555 timer, then go back and check your connections again. /our 555 timer should be working perfectly. Is your 555 timer properly grounded" Is it properly powered by the 'v 1.. line" D* Is your battery sufficient" 6erhaps youre better off going to your nearest grocery store and purchasing a 'v $uracell or energi0er battery. ;* If all else fails, and youre not able to find the problem, start over. ?emove all of your connections, and start from scratch. $ont feel bad if this is the case. Ive had to do it a hundred time in the past. Sometimes its ,ust what you may need. Ive personally re2created this circuit using this guide. T,ME T- T(%. (/-UT -UR RECE,VER C,RCU,T & warning to those of you who may have had a little bit of trouble with the transmitter circuit> The receiver is only as hard as you make it. Take your time and make sure you care making all the right connections. The receiver circuit is substantially more complicated. +ow, since were starting a whole different circuit, were going to need another power supply. I earlier mentioned that were going to need three power supplies in total. #hat I really meant by this was that were going to need to step down our 'v )battery* source by using a voltage regulator circuit. #e only want to work with 5v in this circuit. $ont use 'v or youll destroy the TT8 components. Here is the schematic for the power supply.

So lets have a chat about this power supply circuit. &s before, the capacitors are not necessary if youre using a 'v battery, as batteries are primarily stable. #e want to connect the positive lead of our 'v battery

to pinBD of a CH8:5 5v regulator. If you decide to use an 8GCH:5 regulator instead, make sure you google the data sheet, as the pin2out is reversed. #e want to connect the negative lead of our battery to the middle pin of the CH8:5 as well. 6inB3 should then read 51$.. Gake sure you check for 5v at pinB3 using a multi2meter once youve made all your power supply connections. This 51$. line will be our circuit 1... Ive broken up the receiver circuit into three separate schematic diagrams. If you have an oscilloscope, you can test each section of the circuit. 8ets talk about the first schematic, which can be seen below.

&s you may well know, the ultrasonic transducer can be used to either transmit or receive signals. #e use the same type of transducer for the receiver than we do for the transmitter. #hat we have here is a two2 stage active amplifier. #ere using the 8GDHA for this. The 8GDHA is an H2pin $I6 chip that has one medium power amplifier per chip. It is commonly used in older audio amplifier circuits. The gain is decided by the connections made at pins 3 and H. &s you can see, in the first stage we leave these pins open. This will offer us a gain of 5:. This means that our incoming signal that is coming from the transmitter will be amplified 5: times. 6inBA is the 1.. pin of the 8GDHA, and pinB; is the ground pin. Gake sure that the negative input )2*, which is pinB4, is connected properly to the ground line. 6inBD, which is the positive input will be connected to the first pin of the ultrasonic transducer. Iround the second pin of the transducer. ,MP-RT(+T +-TE: ,t is a good idea to decou0le each o1 the chi0s in this 0ro2ect #ith 3$4u5 ca0acitors$ ,1 you&re not 1amiliar #ith this term, it means that you should 0lace a 3$4u5 ca0acitor et#een the VCC 0ins and the ground 0ins 6,n this case, 0ins 7 and 89$ This #ill hel0 eliminate e!cess noise that may occur #ithin the circuit$ ,&m not going to add these in to the schematics or 0arts list, as they are o0tional$ Ho#ever, it is highly advised that you make this a common 0ractice$ The output of the first stage )6inB5* is then coupled to the negative )2* input of the second stage amplifier. #ere using a coupling capacitor here to get rid of the $. component. This is very important! #e ,ust want to amplify the signal. &s well, make sure you connect the capacitor the right way. $o not place the negative end of the capacitor to the output of the first stage. Gake sure that the positive lead of the capacitor is connected to the output of the first stage. The positive input )J* of the second stage amplifier is connected to ground. +ote that pins 3 and H are tied together. This is done to maximi0e the voltage gain. #hen you connect these pins together, you get a voltage gain of 4::. So far we have the original signal being received from the transducer being multiplied by 5: at the first stage. The amplified signal coupled from the first stage is then amplified 4:: times by the second amplifier. Gake sure to make all the connections on the second 8GDHA. They are all the same, or at least similar to the first stage connections. The output signal of the second amplifier is labeled as )&*. ?ead on. THE SEC-+) RECE,VER SCHEM(T,C

&lright. #e have what looks to be another amplifier stage, but really it acts as both an amplifier, as well as a noise eliminator. %or those of you who have a strong background in electronics, you may scoff at that statement, but hear me out. Since weve amplified the incoming signal so much, weve also significantly amplified ambient signals that were picked up by the transducer. #e could implement filters, but we can work around these signals, as these signals are not common noise. &fter the second stage, we get an ambient signal that ranges between :24v in amplitude. This is why were going to employ a comparator circuit. #e can tune out these ambient signals, and concentrate on the transmitted signal using this circuit H # IT # ?FS> #hen we have a strong signal being amplified by the two2stage active amplifier circuit, the output of the second stage should be saturating. 7y this, it is meant that we should be getting what looks like a s9uare wave from the second amplifier when a strong signal is being received. Since were powering our amplifiers with a power source of 51$., the maximum output will be about H:K of 51$.. This means that the output is saturating. The amplifier may want to output a higher voltage, but it is limited, leaving us with what looks like a s9uare wave. So we have roughly a :2;.5 volt signal at the positive input of the comparator )the third 8GDHA, which is LD* when we are receiving a strong signal from the transmitter. The tuning is accomplished by the use of a potentiometer )63*. Since the ambient signals being picked up are ranging between roughly :24v, we can manually set the negative input )2* of the comparator to ,ust about this voltage amplitude. This will keep the output of the comparator at roughly :v until a strong signal )425v* is amplified by the amplifier stages. I reali0e this may be hard to grasp if youre relatively new to electronics, but if you have an oscilloscope, you can leave the output of the second stage unloaded, and you can probe it with an oscilloscope to view the ambient signal. The middle pin of your potentiometer is the wiper. The wiper is the pin that is attached to the negative input )2* of the comparator. #ith the potentiometer, we can set the voltage at the negative input to any voltage between :v and 1.., which in this case is :251$..

TM+I+I> So lets get tuning. /ou dont necessarily need to do this now, but why not get a head start" 6robe the output of the comparator once youve set up the entire comparator circuit and connected signal )&* to the positive input. 6lug in your battery, and watch the output of the comparator with your oscilloscope. #hat you may want to do is actually tune down the voltage at the negative input using the potentiometer, to see an amplified ambient signal at the output. %rom there, we can tune the voltage at the negative input up slowly, until the output is a flat :v. To reiterate, you will see a messy s9uare wave at the output of the comparator when the voltage at the negative input is below the ambient signal level. #e want to slowly tune the voltage at the negative input up until it is ,ust over the ambient signal voltage amplitude. #hen this is accomplished, we should see a smooth :v at the output of the comparator. +ow, once youve done that, use your transmitting transducer circuit to send a signal into the receiver transducer. Tune it so that you can receive a strong signal from as far away as possible without allowing the comparator to be overcome with the ambient signal. Experiment with it. It may take a little time to understand what Im

talking about. Experimentation is the key to learning. Feep that in mind, my friends. THE )E%(:: /oull have to scroll back to the previous page, to refer to the delay circuit. %or the delay, Ive chosen to use a C;8S34D TT8 chip. This chip is a re2trigger2able monostable multivibrator. This chip is a 3A pin $I6 I.. It has two internal retrigger2able monostable multivibrators. #e are only going to use one. The idea is this. #e are working with higher fre9uencies in this pro,ect. #e will soon be working with a circuit that will re9uire single pulses to operate properly. This means that we have to turn several thousand pulses )the kH0 signal coming from the transmitter* into a single pulse. The C;8S34D acts to do ,ust that. nce a digital signal triggers the input )6inB3*, the output activates )turns from :25v*, and a delay will begin. The delay is determined by ?H and .D. This delay time is roughly 3(5 of a second in its current configuration. %eel free to experiment with different values. If the delay starts, and another pulse hits the input pin, then the delay starts over. #hen the transmitter stops pulsing, the signal at the input pin will stop, and when the delay runs out, the output of the C;8S34D turns off. Hence turning thousands of pulses into a single pulse. If you cannot yet grasp this concept, play around with this chip. /oull come to understand the chip. ?ead the data sheet if you wish. Gake absolutely sure that youve properly made each of the re9uired connections, or else your circuit will not work. The output signal of the C;8S34D )6inB3D* is labeled as )7*. #e will be using this signal line for our last circuit. THE 5%,P"5%-P T-''%E S;,TCH %inally! This is the last circuit re9uired to finish this pro,ect. Feep in mind that the circuit can be used for tons of things. /ou ,ust need to continue it as you see fit. /ou can use the toggled output of this circuit for tons of things. 8et me introduce you to the flip2flop toggle switch. The final chip were going to employ is the C;8S3:'& dual 6IT NF flip flop $I6 I.. This means that we have two flip flops within the I., and they are activated on the positive rising edge of the incoming waveform. #e have it configured as a toggle switch. Every time the rising edge of a waveform hits the .8F input )6inB;*, the L output will toggle either from off to on, or from on to off. #e want our circuit to start in a known state. 7y this, I mean that I want my L output to be off when I power on my receiver circuit. %or this, we re9uire what is called a power on reset circuit

THE P-;ER -+ RESET: The use of a resistor and a capacitor allows us to create a short delay. &s you can see, pinB3, which is the asynchronous input (.8?, is connected to an ?. network. The resistor acts to slow the current that will be collected by the capacitor. This means that the capacitor will take time to charge from :25v. #hen the capacitor charges past roughly 4.H volts, the flip flop will act as a toggle switch. However, in the time it takes for the capacitor to charge to roughly 4.Hv, the (.8? input will regard the voltage at the capacitor as

low logic, which forces the L output low. nly when each of the inputs )(6?EO(.8?ONOF* are at 5v, or high logic, will the C;8S3:'& act as a toggle switch. To reiterate, when the (.8? input is low, the L output will be low. &fter the capacitor is charged, the circuit goes into operational mode. #e need this circuit because when power is initially applied, our flip flop may not turn on in the right state. It may start with the L output turned on )high logic*. #e dont want this. &s well, the other chips may be fidgety when power is first applied. Gake sure you employ this circuit. 6inB3A is the 1.. pin, and pinBH is the ground pin. The L output is tied to a current2limiting resistor )?3:*, which is in series with an 8E$ )$3*, and ground. %rom here, you can do with this signal as you will. Interface it with a microcontroller, turn on a relay, activate another circuit, etc. The possibilities are endless. TEST TI6S> /ou may want to play around with the resistor(capacitor values for the C;8S34D monostable multivibrator delay. /ou can customi0e your delay. /ou may want to do this to make the toggle switching a little more comfortable. Its all a matter of testing, and more importantly, understanding. The hardest concept you may have to con9uer is the monostable multivibrator. /ou can also play around with your 6ower2 n2?eset resistor(capacitor network. /ou dont need to, but you can minimi0e the time needed for the 6 ? if you wish. /ou can also feel free to change the transmission fre9uency. Its all about how you want to do it! P(RTS %,ST GIS.> CH8:5 2 5v regulator 8G555 2 555 timer ?3 2 44:? ?4 2 44:? ?D 2D':? ?; 2 5kA ?5 2 3kH ?A 2 3kH ?C 2 3:k ?H 2 3::k ?' 2 3:k ?3: 2 ;C:? .3 2 :.:3u% .4 2 3:u% .D 2 3:u% .; 2 3:u% S3 2 S6ST $3 2 ?ed 8E$ L3 2 4+4444 T3 2 $6M3A;:& H34. T4 2 $6M3A;:& H34. L3 2 8GDHA L4 2 8GDHA LD 2 8GDHA L; 2 C;8S34D L5 2 C;8S3:'&

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