1.

INTRODUCTION
Commercially available hearing aids are quite costly .Here is an inexpensive hearing aid circuit that uses just four transistors and few passive components.

This circuit works on a 3v dc supply, on making the supply ON the condenser microphone detects the sound signal, which is amplified by a two stage amplifier and then pass through coupling capacitor and buffer and then through pnp transistor to drive the low impedance ear phone . Capacitors C4 and C3 are power supply decoupling capacitors.

The circuit can be easily assembled on a small, general purpose PCB . It operates on a 3v dc supply. For this one may also use two small 1.5 v cells. This cell may be connected to the circuit via a switch and may keep it in OFF when the circuit is not in use. To increase the sensitivity of the condenser microphone house it inside a small tube.

This setup costs around Rs 150, which is affordable where the basic hearing aids available in the market costs around minimum of Rs 10000 which is quite high . Although above designed circuits performance is not comparable to that of commercially available sophisticated hearing aids still it can serve the purpose well for the person with a low degree of hearing impairment.

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM:

LIST OF COMPONENTS: 2

Transistors: BC 549C BC 548 - 2 nos BC 558

Resistors: 2.2k - 2nos 680k 3.3k 220k 1.5k 0.22k 100k

Capacitors: 0.1 - 2 nos 100(100v)/ -2 nos 1

Others: Condenser microphone Low earphone 3v dc supply cells Switch

2. DESCRIPTION
Resister:
The resister function is to reduce the flow of electric current. Resistance value is designated in units called the Ohm. There are two classes of resisters; fixed resisters and the variable resisters. They are also classified according to the material from which they are made. The typical resister is made of either carbon film or metal film. There are other types as well but these are most common. Resistance value: The resistance value is displayed using the color code because the average resistors too small to have the value printed on it with numbers. You had better learn the color code because the average resister is too small to have the value printed on it with numbers Resistor value can be calculated from the below table

Capacitors:
The capacitor function is to store electricity, or electrical energy. The capacitor also functions as a filter, passing alternating current (AC) and blocking direct current (DC). The capacitor is constructed with two electrode plates facing each other, but separated by an insulator. When DC voltage is applied to the capacitor an electric charge is stored on each electrode while a capacitor is charging current flows. The current will stop flowing when the capacitor has fully charged so the capacitor can be used as filter that blocks dc current. However in the case of alternating current will be allowed to pass. This action is similar to charging and discharging of a capacitor that is changing the polarity of DC supply voltage alternatively. There are two different ways expressing the capacitance values one use as both letters and numbers, while other use as only numbers. In either case there will be three character used.[10n] and [103] denote the same value of capacitance, the method differs depending on the capacitors supplier. In the case that the value is displayed with the three digit code, the first and second digit from the left show first figure and the second figure and the third digit is multiplier which determines how many zeros are to be added two the capacitance. Picofarad (pF) units are written in this way For an example when the code is[103],it indicates 1010^3 or 10,000pF =10nF=0.01F

BC 548:
Again, from the project circuit diagram, capacitor C6 maintains the base bias of transistor T1 (BC548) for fast switching action. The diagram below shows the transistor BC548. Please note that, TO-92, as it is written in the diagram below, is a widely-used style of transistor enclosure construction. In this style, transistor case is often made of epoxy or plastic, and offers compact size at a very low cost.

Fig3.7: BC548

Transistor

Back to the project circuit diagram, a resistor R6 (15K) and a capacitor C9 (4.7) are connected to pins 6 and 7 of the Timer. Technically, R6 and C9 act as low-value timing components producing very short time delay to avoid audio nuisance.

BC 558:

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MICROPHONE:
The sensitive transducer element of a microphone is called its element or capsule. A complete microphone also includes a housing, some means of bringing the signal from the element to other equipment, and often an electronic circuit to adapt the output of the capsule to the equipment being driven. A wireless microphone contains a radio transmitter.

Microphones are referred to by their transducer principle, such as condenser, dynamic, etc., and by their directional characteristics. Sometimes other characteristics such as diaphragm size, intended use or orientation of the principal sound input to the principal axis (end- or sideaddress) of the microphone are used to describe the microphone.

Condenser microphone

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3. OPERATION
Initially the sound signal is picked up by the condenser microphone then it is amplified by the transistors T1 and T2 now this signal passes through the transistor T3 and capacitor C3 and then pass through T4 for the further amplification, then the amplified signal is fed through low impedance earphone. Thus the signal received at T1 will be amplified and received at the output.

The resistors R1-R8 are used to properly bias transistor and protect them from any electrical surges.The capacitors used C1-C3 are used to properly couple the signal from one stage to other with out inducing any dc into the signal.

The capacitors C4-C5 are used to ground any ac component in the supply as the capacitors act as short circuit to the ac signals.

The supply required for the functioning of the circuit is 3v dc which can be given through a single cell. This supply is coupled to the circuit through a switch. It can be moved to the OFF state when it is not in use to prevent power wastage.

Thus the above designed low cost hearing aid works with a minimum required satisfaction.

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4. CONCLUSION:
Although its performance is not comparable with the highly sophisticated hearing aids available in the market it can meet the minimum requirement of people with low degree of hearing impairment. This circuit can be further modified to filter the noise that is being amplified and increase the sensitivity of the microphone to make its performance comparable with highly sophisticated hearing aids.

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5. REFERENCES
Electronic Devices and Circuits by Jacob Millman Electronic Devices and Circuits by S.Salivahana www.efymag.com www.datasheetcatalog.com

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