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A Battery-status Indicator circuit can be useful, mainly to monitor portable Test-gear instruments and similar devices. LED D1 flashes to attire the user's attention, signaling that the circuit is running, so it will not be left on by mistake. The circuit generates about two LED flashes per second, but the mean current drawing will be about 200µA. Transistors Q1 and Q2 are wired as an uncommon complementary astable multivibrator: both are off 99% of the time, saturating only when the LED illuminates, thus contributing to keep very low current consumption.... [read more]

Is the battery empty, or is there something wrong with the device? That’s always a difficult question when your walkman or some other battery-powered device appears to be dead when you switch it on. Before you take it to the shop for servicing, the first thing you should do is to test the battery or batteries. Of course, this means you need a reliable battery tester, but it also means you can limit the damage to the cost of a battery or two and a one-time investment of time and money in building a suitable tester.... [read more]

The circuit illustrates generating a single positive pulse which is delayed relative to the trigger input time.... [read more]

Some 15 years ago it was common to see small key-holders emitting an intermittent beep for a couple of seconds after its owner whistled. These devices contained a special purpose IC and therefore were not suited to home construction. The present circuit is designed around a general purpose hex-inverter CMos IC and, using miniature components and button clock-type batteries can be enclosed in a matchbox. It is primarily a gadget, but everyone will be able to find suitable applications.... [read more]

This regulated power supply can be adjusted from 3 to 25 volts and is current limited to 2 amps as shown, but may be increased to 3 amps or more by selecting a smaller current sense resistor (0.3 ohm). The 2N3055 and 2N3053 transistors should be mounted on suitable heat sinks and the current sense resistor should be rated at 3 watts or more. Voltage regulation is controlled by 1/2 of a 1558 or 1458 op-amp.... [read more]

Another method of using opamps to regulate a power supply is shown. The power transformer requires an additional winding to supply the op-amps with a bipolar voltage (+/- 8 volts), and the negative voltage is also used to generate a reference voltage below ground so that the output voltage can be adjusted all the way down to 0. Current limiting is accomplished by sensing the voltage drop across a small resistor placed in series with the negative supply line.... [read more]