TRANSISTOR TESTING IS A CINCH Exciting New World wai Liquid Crystal Be ade Ea ADL Te eT eed f UTE) Be Te aig Pa tyThe Magnificent Seven We've been hearing unsolicited rave reviews from soundmen across the country concerning our seven ingeniously versatile problem-solving audio control components (1) M68 Microphone Mixer, vanguard of the low-cost, high-performance portable mixers; (2) M68-RM Mixer, with built-in reverb for vocalists and special effects; (3) M67 Mixer, the {rail-blazing low-cost professional mixer; (4) M63 Audio Control Center, that gives you variable response shaping; (5) M62V Level-Loc, the audio level controller that auto- matically limits output level; (6) M688 Stereo Mixer, made to order for stereo recording and audio-visual work; and finally, (7) M675 Broadcast Production ‘Master, that teams up with our M67 to give a complete broadcast production console (with cuing) for under $325. Write for the new Shure Circuitry catalog that shows them all: ernie ie 222 Hartrey Ave., Evanston, Ill. 60204 Ss ioe Circle 1 on reader service cardAnother introductory offer to new members of the ELECTRONICS AND CONTROL ENGINEERS’ BOOK CLUB euecTaoNic InTeRaTEO cecum: CIRCUITS: aysteaL Asie Course PRINCIPLES for Engineers ANALYSIS AND snd Teemicians ESI, by RG. Mibberd thu pce, 1328 hb pre, $805 OESIGNING . ELECTRONIC with TTL SWITCHING, INTEGRATED TIMING AND CrRCUTS PULSECIRCUITS by Texas ae ‘313/088 04/497 HANDBOOK OF SOURCEBOOK. eh oratetwon eons Electrons, nies, US eis ‘Special $1.00 bonus book ‘Chub price, $14.75, comes to you with your first club selection Ty Bie res ea ‘ean tine eyes we fewer nine twang Sauron ENGINEERING: 1 INTEGRATED, MANUAL, 27€ AND SHAPING, wahmsooe saat Sans m eae ne aed Ese Sean Recent, oe ae ue tanoaDox oF in fnwosook ror can Ant ene PHYSICS, 2/€ MATHEMATICS ELECTRICAL Surtete pear ee maaan moses Os eh, Haas py Ee wean a oe mi, Save time and money by joining the at Electronics and Control Engineers’ Book Club . that you would want to own anyway. By joining the Club, you save both money and the trouble of searching for the best books. (Circle 2 on reader service card 1 1 1 1 1 1 FUSE pistons tu dened epics to mess your | ew resets teas iadimtaoton. tae | day-to-day engineering needs by providing practical books | "iar ue aonon for un $10, and'my fi sotcime ae | in your fetdon a regular basis at below publisher prices | Sect ta pres thee Thae tots \ Tobie Cis qpetierhiddts ba Chivneveclsiamit. | Terre ome iereccnate | cation, ‘the Blecbronier and. Control Engineers Book ‘Club | so Tout wots trie the net tro ere 22 1 Bulletin whien brings You'news of books im your fel Sent to | feat Ise tow tnt 1 ‘members without cost, it announces and describes in detail the | ‘Write Code No. of I ‘Club's featured book of the month as well as alternate selections | ‘bonus book 1 Shieh ae available at special members" prices ! ee ! When you want to examine the Club's feature of the month, | 1 { you do nothing. The book will be mailed to you as a regular part | ! Be your Chub service If you Prefer one of the alternate slee- | | ions or if you want no book at all for that month—V0U MOUTY | Wang | the Club by'returning the eonvenient card enclosed with each = 1 1 Bailetin 1 sears. - _ | ‘As a Club member, you agree only to the purchase of four | eu, 1 books over a two-year period: Considering the many books pub- | == Thea annually in your feld, there will surely beat least four | su aw. | I 1 4Universal tap simplifies MATV design Until now, MATV system design has been somewhat complex. You had to calculate losses in decibels and specify a fixed tap-off isolation value at each receiver location, The new Jerrold OMNI-TAPs have changed all this. OMNI-TAPS are uni versal. That is, any OMNI-TAP can be used anywhere in any MATV system, The secret is adjustable isolation. which you can vary simply by turning a screwdriver after the system has been installed, Aside fiom simplifying system design, OMNI-TAPS also reduce your inventory problems. Since OMNI-TAPS can be vatied continuously over a 12 to 25 dB range. one type of OMNi TAP replaces thee types of conven ional tap-ofts Figure 1, for example, shows a typical 8 story apartment house, older school or hotel, with eight TV outlets per floor. OMNL-TAPs are used for every TV outlet. Because tap insertion toss is very low (average about 0.6 dB per tap at VHF), isolation is adjust able. and Jerrold 'CAC6 cable loss is minimal. (3.2 dB/100" at VHF), your system calculations are greatly simpli fied. Just use a Jerrold Gibralter 3550 amplifier. fed by 2 Paralog Plus an: enna. A new motel or schoo! would bbe similar. except that trunklines would be run horizontally. If your particular system i sale. reduce the number of tunklines and tapofls, but nothing else The 3350 is economical enough even for sal Systems. If the system W bigger, add thunklines and. tapos, but nothing else. The 3550 can easly handle up to 100 OMNI-TAPs" (For systeiis over 100 tapos, use the 36! or 3880) Choose the antenna as you would «an ordinary home TV antenna, excep! that it usually pays to choose the next larger model. If signals are weak simply add a Powermate preamplifier Figure | is a VHF-only system, But adding UHF channels is no problem Simply use a VU-FINDER PLUS an tenna instead of the PARALOG PLUS. and a 4400 82 channel amplifier in place of the 3550. No other changes are required because the OMNI-TAPS the splitters and the cable can handle UHF irequencies with no difticulty by Bert Wolf Manager Jerrold DSD/ECSD Division PARALOG PLUS ANTENNA, 3550 GieRaLTAR AMPLIFIER 15964, SPLITTER 1597 SPLITTER Adjusting OmnitTap Isolation Once the system is installed, you have to make sure it works properly. In many cases, no adjustments will be necessary. The OMNI-TAPS will work fine in the system just as you receive them In large systems. however, you will have to adjust the OMNL-TAPS so that they provide more isolation near the Head End amplifier than they do at the ends of the trunklines. There are two ways 10 adjust OMNI-TAP isolation: 1. With a Field Strength Meter such as the Jerrold 747. You should have a Field Strength Meter for MATV work anyhow, and this is the easiest way t0 adjust OMNITAP isolation Stat by turning all of the OMNI-TAPS fully clockwise. for Circle 3.0n reader service card 2° RADIO-ELECTRONICS @ FEBRUARY 1972 (el Ts FIGURE? maximum attenuation, Then, go to 4 tap in the middie of the trunkline and make sure you van read at least 1000 microvolis of picture carrier signal on the highest channel the system carries. If the reading is less than 1000 microvolts, turn the OMNI-TAP counterclockwise until you get 1000 microvolts. Repeat for each tap umtil you get to the end of the line 2. With an Ohmmeter. Connect the Ohmineter between the arm of the OMNI-TAP potentiometer and the center conductor of the tap output Set the first four OMNI-TAPs in each trunkline (nearest the Head End) to 700 ohms. Set the next two OMNI-TAPS in each trunkline to $00 ohms. Then, reduce each tapoff in the line by 100 ohms Until you get to the end of the line For help in laying out a system or solving specific system problems, contact Jerrold via your local Jerrold distributor Or. for more information on MATV systems. write Jerrold Electrons, P.O. Box A. Philadelphia. PaRadio-Electronics FOR MEN WITH February 1972 TELEVISION BUILD THESE GENERAL ELECTRONICS DEPARTMENTS AUDIO 7 cy st 62 ea 82 7 7 «0 4 2s 2 58 2 IDEAS IN ELECTRONIC Find Bad Transistors Fast How to identify and replace unknown transistors with a ‘minimum of test equipment. by Arthur Cunningham Kwik-Fix Troubleshooting Charts Vertical dynamic convergence. by Forest H. Beit Equipment Report Hickok CRO 5000 oscilloscope Service Clinic Practice what I preach. by Jack Darr Reader Questions RLE's Service Editor solves reader problems Scope Analysis Of Audio Distortion How to use your scope to track down distortion in audio Circuits. by Robert G. Middleton More Ways To Use Your Tape Recorder ‘Some are old, some are new, all aro useful by Byron G. Weis ‘Audio Switching System ‘Adds versatility o any stereo system. by Fred Butterticis ‘Audlo Signal Generator ‘One-transistor uniunction circut Binary Demonstrator Simple device illustrates binary counting. by Frank Gross Dual Clock Generator Twin-signal souree with hundreds of uses, by Don Lancastor Looking Ahead Current nappenings. by David Lachanbruch ‘Appliance Clini. ght operated soticstate controls, by Jack Darr ‘utwit Electronic Snoopers Plug the ears of those electronic eavesdroppers. by Jonn € Cunningham Equipment Report Ten-Toe model RX-10 receiver World 01 Liquid Cryst How they work, what they do, and how they are used as flectrome displays. by Don Lancaster All About Electrolytcs Here's how electrolytics are made and used, and how to find and replace bad ones. By Eugene Cunningham AC Cireults Nomogram Handles series and parallel circuits containing resistance and inductance. by A. K. Quinn Laser Experiment Coherence of ight Letters 70 Now Products New & Timely 101 Reader Service Card New Books 93 Technotes New Literature 91 Try This One: ISPLAY Ia made from lquld ors- ‘commercially avalabie unit For ftv qu crystal etary. see page 39 DUAL CLOCK GENERATOR provides test sig: nal or many diferent usetul apications anna tir tea Set Radio-Electronis indexed in Ao Dod Serenee & Technology Index ‘nd Roaders Guide 10 Ponda! Cherature POSTMASTER, Noes unceverd copa (Foim Lobe timorad FEBRUARY 1972 ® RADIO-ELECTAONICS 3looking ahead ‘Super-8 TV You're going to be able to play your home movies through your color sett two of the world's feading film and camera manutacturers have their way. in addition, they a ticipate that a wide variety of ‘educational and entertainment film eventually wil be releases fora la carte TV viewing. Ea ‘man Kodak has been demon- strating til videoplayer Wich it says could be on the market in atout two years as an attachment to television sets. Japan's Fuji Photo Film is in pilot production ot its own version which it plans to export to the United States late this year. Both units run sitenty, Using continuous-pulldown systems, eliminating inter- mitent motion and shutter reise common to film pro- Jectors. The Kodak version Uses an allelectronic shutter system, the Fuji a 16-ace ro- volving prism. Both use fiying- pot scanning systems and ac- commodate cartrdged fim. Prices will be steep at frst— Fuj's is $750-$800 in Japan, the Kodak unit may cost as much as $1,000—but beth companies claim prices will come down with the type of quantity production required for the consumer market. Cable TV thaw Thaw in the FCC's neary- ‘seven-year-old CATV freeze is finally in sight, and many cable experts see the beginning of ‘cable TV expansion starting later this year. Broadcasters, Cable operators and copyright owners all have agreed to a compromise formula engi rneered by the White House’ Otice of Telecommunications Policy. The complex agree- ment sets guidelines as to which signals may be carried by cable systems in commu nities of various sizes, and es- Tablishes other ground rule such as respect for copyrights ‘on programs by cable oper- ators. t wl stil take some time for the FCC to set out the agreement in terms of formal rules, butts expected to pave the way for the establishment fof new CATV systoms in larger cities, which has been banned in the recent past under the Commission's treeze. 4-channel disc war Just when it appeared that peace was in sight in the battie over quadraphonic record standards (Looking Ahead, Ra- dio Electronics January 1972), @ real war has broken out Once again, i's between RCA and CBS, and it could be an- ‘other struggle reminisce the titanic tights over postwar cord (45 v8.33) and color TV (compatiole vs. feld-sequen- til) standards CBS, with Sony as its prime manufacturing ally, has introduced and is selling the SQ matrix disc system. Now RCA Records has revealed that itis: working to improve some characteristics of the discrete CD-4 four-channe! system developed by the Victor Company of Japan and wil in- troduce discs some time this year. (Victor's system was de- scribed in Radlo-Electronles in December 1970) Allied with RCA Records in this venture fare Japanese manutacturers Panasonic and Victor. both owned by the powerful Mat- sushita Electric Company. Al- though CA's own manutac- turing arm appears to be taking a ess active role, an of- ticial statement said favors the discrete concept and has no plans to market matrix disc playing equipment. Inthe CO-4 system, the two rear channels ‘are modulated on a high-tre- ‘queney carrer (around 30,000 Hz). The record is compatibie with two-channel stereo play Ing equipment. which simply ignores the carrer. A CO4 layer uses a special “de- ‘modulator” to unseramble the ar channels. RCA’s main etfort now is to improve the durability of the tour-channel aise when played using a regular stereo ci tridge, which tends to destroy some of the four-channel ‘capability. RCA says ithas had remarkable success so far toward achieving that goal The obvious advantage of the RCA system is that it presents four completely independent channels, providing a truer tour-channel sound than ma trix records, in which front and rear channels are intermixed, with rear channels encoded. It has two principal dis- ‘advantages: (1) The playback equipment promises to be ‘more costly than that for SO system, since it requi ‘Special high-quality cartridge capable of picking up the 30,000-Hz carrier, in adaition to the demodulator. (2) Dis- crete discs can't be broadcast ‘over stere0-FM stations under Ccurrent FCC rules, white matrix discs can. Nor can the output of a discrete dise be fed into a standard two-channel tag recorder and played. back through a decoder to produce four-channe! sound. With SQ discs already on the market under the Columbia Records, Vanguard and Ampex labels, and with equipment being of: {ered by Masterwork, Sony, La- fayette and Sherwood, the ICA-CBS quadraphonic war threatens to intensity in the months ahead. Radlo-Elec- tronics will present complete details of both CBS and RCA ‘systems next month Hotel pay TV Talk of pay-as-you-watch ‘subscription TV is as old as television itsel—and so far i's been mainly tak. The FOC has authorized pay-TV trans- mission to homes, and perhaps some pilot projects will get un- er way soon. But the first working pay TV systems more 9 wil be in Hote! and motel rooms. Two competing sys- tems, in fact, are already well lunder_way—both having un- ergone test runs, and one of them scheduled to be in regu- lar operation by the time this ‘ssue of Radlo-Electronics ap- ears. Both systems operate in 8 similar manner. The pay-TV attraction—which could be a firs-run movie or a sporting event not broadcast over free TV-is fed via the hotel's mas- ter antenna system to all guest rooms in scrambled form on an unoccupied channel. To re: ceive the attraction un- Scrambled, the hotel guest calls the desk. His picture Ie tunscrambled and the “admis- sion charge" is added to his hotet bil, ‘The movies wil be shown continually throughout the day and evening with staggered starting times, so that at each hhour @ new film begins, Both of the systems ar nounced so far will depend largely on movies as thei fist attractions. One system, deve ‘oped by a subsiciary of Colum- bia Pictures, has been tested at the Regency Hyatt House Hotel in atlanta, and is sched {led to be installed soon in ho- tels and motels in major US. cities and in London. The other system, owned by Computer Television Inc.. underwent a long testing period in @ motel in Newark. N.J., where it was, found that a susbtantial per- ‘centage of guests would gladly pay three doliars to view a cur- Fent feature film. The fms, in ‘color, are transterred to video tape, and shown at specified times. 1 this new type of pay TV succeeds, it could open up big new field in maintenance of closed-circuit and video tape equipment for hotels and motels RE by DAVID LACHENBRUCH CONTRIBUTING EDITOR RADIO-ELECTRONICS © FEBRUARY 1972MCR-1211... the tonal truth, and nothing but the truth. Our trim, new true-fidelity cassette tape recorder. {All compactly designed into a lightweight 5%” x What a beautiful way to break the big-sound/ 2%" x 10%" case. Complete with easy-carry small-package barrier. handle, microphone, earphone, Duratape® cassette, With built-in uniform sound-level control, full-range four Duracell® batteries. ready to play. dynamic speaker, new automatic shut-off that ‘The MCR-1211 joins our other two solid-state models for prevents electrical or mechanical damage to tape go-anywhere, great-everywhere cassette recording, and machine ... many other high-value features. Try 'em all. See your nearby Mallory Distributor, soon. MoR-1292 Recorder and superb AM/FM ‘adlo, Total entertainment In sound. Batteries/ ‘a plug-in MCR-1211 The perfect git. Simple, push-button operation. Batteries/ac plug-in, MALLORY DIS! "TOR PRODU y EY yg MALLORY DISTR PUTOR PRODUCTS COMPANY Circle 40m reader service Card Feeeyany 1972 © RADIO-ELECTRONICS 5new & timely Radiographic screens | Westinghouse has developed two new solid-state radiographic ampitier screens which quickly convert X-ray im- ages into visible images with energy gain. | ‘The screens are availabe in both storage | land nonstorage types for industrial non- destructive testing and for special medical applications The storage-type amplifier screen dis Blass visible mage fr several hours or | Lntil itis electrically erased. This permits long, detailed study of an X-ray image without continuous exposure t0 radiation ‘The screen can be photographed to keep {a permanent record, but no delay for pho- tographic processing is necessary since the screen can be studied directly, | AS a direct replacement for existing fluoroscopic screens, the nonstorage ra: iographic screen has a reasonably fast | response so it can effectively view botn | static and dynamic X-ray images. Its main applications include production tine in- Spections and nondestructive testing. can be photographed it a permanent | THE CONTENTS OF & LADY'S PURSE show up on sstorage-type radiographic meh record is needed The panels are solid-state photocon- ductor-electroluminescent types. The Photoconductive layer is sensitive to X- rays. The electroluminescent layer pro- Vides the visible image and is deposited on top of the photoconductive layer. A volt- ages applied across the two layers. When the photoconductive layer is exposed to X. ‘ays, ils electrical resistance decreases Ceausing more of the applied voltage to be dropped across the electroluminescent layer. With this higher voltage applied, the electroluminescent layer emits more light. The light pattern emitted exactly corre sponds to the pattern of incident X-rays, Warranty plan Generat Electric has introduced a TV warranty certiicate program enabling a consumer to get service on his set any- where in the country trom any of 6,000 franchised service centers registered with the company. Home Furnishings Daly re- Ports that it will not make any difference where the set was purchased, because 6 RADIO-ELECTRONICS © FEBRUARY 1972 | Under the new program servicing dealers | wit continue to provide warranty service for their customers, even if the Buyer has moves to a diferent state Laser communicator subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft Company. | source vals apne ne mae rooner aware Thelen | fecsved pies imo moor te Sra Because ofits wide-angle transmiter | beam design, the communicator may be Used under any conditions that alow the (continwed on page 12)new dimensions in electronics NOW AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY the versatile PHASE solid state AUDIO SWEEP GENERATOR Functions: sine, square, triangl {ive and negative 3 with Variable slope control Continuously sweeps the entire audio range | ELECTRONICALLY! ! age, frequency, functions, Snuator. sweep speed {VCO Frequency Range: 0,02 Hs, to 20KH2,~ Or use itasa Dial Accuracy: better than 24% line i function generator Power: I!5 vac, 50/60 Hz. fence: 50 OHMS Output Impe Used with your oscilloscope, you can measure the frequency response of amplifiers, etc. Pn ECC ANC. CR amplifier response curve instantaneous! Eliminates point by point graphing! Output Voltage: O- 10vollts, peak~peak Sweep Speed: variable 1/25 sec. 10 sec. ‘Sweep Width: continuously vari maximum; "20H2.- ‘Waveform Distortion: less than 1% Weiner sauare, triangle) Frequency Response: 20H2—20KHz ¢ 1b Frequency Stability: 0.1% per °C (0-50%) The incredibly low price of 108,09 includes factory assembly and testing, a two year ‘Square Wave Rise Time: less than 80s. CIRCUIT Triangle Linearity Error: less than 0.5% Neo AsteseTiresnmagc=200 fet ener) |S eee cone terre” | EROS UD |S: ther Squipment or use money-back guarantee] in 10 the asG= 2008. 99 if not satisfied forany | Minutes reason! Also available as kit:584,85 ith jt a pai prs Se Pressure Sensitive Copper Foil ‘Tape and Sheet Dimensions: 4-3/4 in B72 in Weight: 1 PHASE CORPORATION Dept. 882 [3ISA Boston Ave, Medford, Mass. 0215: 48 ounces Cir-kit ‘A division of PHASE CORPORATION. Dosconase aso-2e| ast + Smale rut Ehanges ! eastcreanca Eanes tensed ' t ‘Sheets 6” 9,2" — $2.50 each i ke i) Order Now \ &firsts make learning Electronics at home fast and fascinating — give you priceless confidence. Some NRI 1rsts in training equipment first mtonetrevlceetreeteeneree equipment engineered specifically for education — built to fit NRI instructional material, not a do-it- yourself hobby kit. The end product is a superb Color TV receiver that will give you and your family years of pleasure. You “open up and explore” the functions of each color circuit as you build. 8 RADIO-ELECTRONICS © FEBRUARY 1972 fir Ufeterehreristisenterrtccen tion, programming as you build and use it. Performs the same functions as commercial computers. Lessons stress computer repair. You conduct a hundred ex- periments, build hundreds of circuits. A solid-state VTVM is included among ten training kits.NRIs “discovery” method is the result of over half a century of leadership simplifying and dramatizing training at home ‘The FIRSTS described below are typical of NRIs half century of leadership in Electronics home training. When you enroll as an NRI student, you can be sure of gaining the in-demand technical knowledge and the priceless confidence of “hands-on” experience sought by employers in ‘Communications, Television-Radio Servicing and Industrial and Military Electronics. Everything about NAI training is designed for your education . . . from the much-copied, educator-acclaimed ‘Achievement Kit sent the day you enroll, to “bite-size” well-illustrated, easy to read texts programmed with designed-for-learning training equipment. YOU GET YOUR FCC LICENSE OR YOUR MONEY BACK There is no end of opportunity for the trained man in Electronics. You can earn $6 or more an hour in spare time, have a business of your own or qualify quickly for career positions in business, industry, ‘government. And if you enroll for any of five NRI courses in Communications, NRI prepares you for your FCC License exams. You must pass or NRI refunds your tuition in full. No school offers a more liberal money-back agreement. The full story about NAI leadership in Electronics training isi the new NAI Catalog. Mail postage-free card today. No salesman is going to call. NATIONAL RADIO INSTITUTE, Washington, D.C. 20016 APPROVED UNDER NEW Gl BILL tt you have served since January 31, 1955, or are in service, check Gl line on postage-free card. designed from chassis up for your education Ley J ze rat es act - LU togneyou rveso-ite experiences asa LE'SL i. ove you completely speciazea ‘communications technician. Every fascinating step training kits engineered for business, industrial and you take in NAI Communications training, including military Electronics. Shown above is your own train- Circuit analysis of your own 25-watt, phone/cw ing center in solid state motor contro! and analog transmitter, is engineered to help you prove theory computer servo-mechanisms. Telemetering circults, and later apply it on the job. Studio equipment solid-state multi-vibrators, and problem-solving operation and troubleshooting become a matter of digital computer circuits are also included in your sily remembered logic. course. FEBRUARY 1972 © RADIO-ELECTRONICS 11new & timely............ ‘use of binoculars, ls range being depen- ent on visibility and the degree of aver- gence desired. Possible applications in- clude ship-to-ship communications, rot Control, tower-ostower transmission in the forestry service, and various batltiels Hugo Gernsback scholarship winner Career Academy has awarded its | Second annual Hugo Gernsback Scholar. Ship for 1972 to Gordon €. Shepard of lonia, Michigan. Gordon receives $125.00 {rom Radlo-Electronics as an outstanding student at one of eight home-study schools of electronics | a When ne completed nigh schoo! Gor- on went to work as a welder at General Motors, but, after two years, enrolled with Career Academy's home-study program to Pursue his major interest, electronics. Al- though he says he has acquires enough knowiedge now to hold a better job. Gor {on is planning to study full-time to learn still more in his fel. ‘Two-way cable TV system ‘A one-year pilot tral of a complete two-way cable television system at Cape Cod, with about 200 homes participating, has shown that the idea of an interlinked city is a practical possibility. Recittusion | International Ltd, a British fem, is offering | the system to operators of telephone and ‘TV cable systems in the United States. Called Diat-a-Program, the setup of- fers subscribers variety in information and | entertainment, including access to facsim- | He reproduetion of newspapers, 10 fim ‘and tape libraries and. universit-tinked networks, and to programs tor particular regions or ethnic groups within a commu- nity. Subscribers could communicate with | meir banks, with supermarkets and other | businesses, and computers could “talk | 0 computers. 12 RADIO-ELECTRONICS The system works somewnat like a | conventional telephone network. Color or back-and-white standard TV sets can be ‘connected to a local program exchange by two pairs of wires, one of TV bandwidth ualty (5 to 10 mH2) and another slightly lower-grade pair which can be used for very high speed data, speecn, control and | otner purposes. Signals can be carried on Radio-Electronics is published by Gerns- back Publications, Inc. 200 Park Ave. S New York, N.Y. 10003 (212) 777-8400, President: M. Harvey Gernsback Secretary: Sertina Baer | ADVERTISING SALES | east ‘Stanley Lovitan, Eastern Sales Mgr Radio-Electronies, 200 Park Ave. South New York, N.¥. 10003 (212) 777-6400 | MIDWEST /Texas/Arkansas/Okla, The Ralph Bergen Co. 6319 N. Central ave. Chicago, i 60646 G12) 792.3646 PACIFIC COAST/Mountain States JE. Publishers Representative Co. 13560 Sunset Siva Suite 601 Los Angeles, Cait 90069, (213) 689-3810 220 Market St San Francisco, Cait. 94111 (415) 981-4527 SOUTHEAST E, Lucian Nett Associates 25 Caste Harbor isl, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33308 | (0s) 566-5656 © FEBRUARY 1972 the high-grade pair in both directions s- mmultaneously using different frequency ‘channels. In this way programs may be friginated at one subscriter’s studio oF home and relayed to others via the ex- ‘change. ‘An ordinary telephone-type dial that | actuates a reed selector switch designed (continwed on page 14) SUBSCRIPTION sen. — WCE" Sona.at sur] ion ‘orces ‘ae seemed Sumenpton ‘Depart iment, Souder, Coo Eoo02 ' 1 am? For chang erase alow Sal Seater umichine! Toe olin neal Sirttehas't Sor! Spee Stereise pita Same a adarst oc! iy abt anus ATTACH tase HERE name Gives prin) at to: Ragle Electronics SUBSCRIPTION DEPT. SOULDER, COLO. 0362wy LE LAN SSS When you're in a hurry, it’s nice to know GTE Sylvania has the parts. Only 34 tubes and ECG solid-state components will solve practically all of your high-voltage rectifier re- placement problems. ‘And they're all available from your Sylvania dis- tributor, Because tubes are tubes, we can’t promise to reduce the number you'll have to carry. But, with the Sylvania line, your distributor will have the tube you need when ‘you need it. In semiconductors, the story is different. Just 124 ECG solid-state devices including transistors, diodes and integrated circuits will replace over 41,000 differ- ent types. In the high-voltage section alone, only 8 ECG rectifiers and triplers will take care of almost every job. ‘And they save a lot of space in your tube caddy. When your distributor is stocked with Sylvania receiving tubes and ECG semiconductors you'll have the parts you need. And you'll get them fast It’s like having a complete warehouse built into your telephone. ‘And that should help you make a fast getaway. SYLVANIA FEBRUARY 1972 ® RADIO-ELECTRONICS 13new & timelly............. for 36 channels is used 10 select pro: ‘grams. An individual selector mechanism permits recorc-keeping of audience rated figures and subscriber money paid or due. Local exchanges. each covering about fifteen city blocks, would be linked by @ coaxial cable network of circular trunk routes. Signals starting at any point in tne system could be injected at any pr: ‘gram exchange and circulated throughout the network of retained within a local loop Recittusion’s system requires the in Slallation of a simple cable, known as ‘Qwist", which caries both audio anc video. In elect, it extends the technology (of the telephone to the point where full band wiath for color transmission Is car ried on a wide bandwicth which is two- way and switched. Expected cost to the subscriber will lie in the range of $5 10 $6 per month, to Cover all the broadcast channels an oper- alor could pick up of the air. Other chan- nels could be rentes to anyone interested incommunicating visually withthe public. [A Raytheon plan view cisplay ie given 2 micro- ‘cope amination prior to acceptance tee Dy the US. Federal Avlalion Acministation. | ‘The high resolution screen cleplaya acral in: formation and movementa ‘clesty In iph: rumerle characters and lines considered supe: fior fo air athe control lapis currentiy in Alec Reeves dies | the developer of pulse-code modu- lation, Alec Harley Reeves, died of cancer fon October tain. He was 69 years ol. | Best known for his revolutionary methoo of transmitting telephone conversations, other electronic messages or data, Or Reeves spent his entre professional ca- freer, until reticement, with International Telephone & Telegraph Corporation (ITT) He lett no family Or. Reeves was born in England in 1902, graduated trom London University, Laser resistortrinming setup at Motorola. Restos on hybrid eicullsubatrates are immed 10 {ight ohmic tolerance by slater beam which cuts lo the tim rsiaors sed. The TV monitor ce. plays yore cicult workpiece, while he computer measurement system (onthe igh) monitors snd Controls the Irmming operations {and was a member of the British Institution of Electrical Engineers. At (TT he worked fon the first transatlantic. radiotelephone system. Later ne aided in Implementing the first Spain-to-South America hightre quency radio link and the first microwave radio system across the English Channel. During World War II he developed the ‘Ob0e" radio navigation system, for which hhe was made a Member of the Order ofthe British Empire in 1945. First case of healing fractures by electricity reported University of Pennsylvania surgeons have reported the first successful case of healing a bone tacture in a human by electricity. The research, begun nine years ago, has culminated with repair of fan ankle tracture in a 51-year-old woman. Detais on the technique were reported in New & Timely, July 1971, Radio-Elec- tronics. Peruvian government seizes TV The revolutionary military government ‘Peru has taken control of the TV and ra lo industry. The reasons given by the Minister of Communications and Trans- port, Brig. Gen. Anibal Meza Cuadra were basicaly that the 19 TV and 222 radio sta- tions were in the hands of a few families {and not designed to aid the cultural, social land economic development of the people, only 36% of the mass media shows are of Peruvian origin, ie rest are mostly dub- Ded programs trom the US, Europe, Mex: 14 RADIO-ELECTRONICS © FEBRUARY 1972 co and Argentina: commercials take up nearly 40% of broadcast time; and most Stations are concentrated in a few large urban centers and do not service the mae jority of peopte who live in rural areas. While most industry sources con- ‘ceded that many of the military's com- plaints and aims were justitied, they de- (0d responsibilty for the shortcomings, Claiming that the way they ran their sta | tions reflected lite in Peru, a8 weil as in ‘many other Latin American countries. ANTENNAS FOR A US ARMY ground surveil lance radar (oreground) and long-ange 8 Vallance radar used bythe Marine Corp, oth ie developed and produces by TT. REOSA 2 Ny Ae Wy, Hip} SSN , When you're in a hurry, it’s nice to know GTE Sylvania has the parts. Only 15 tubes and ECG solid-state components will solve practically all of your damper replacement problems. ‘And they're all available from your Sylvania dis- tributor. Because tubes are tubes, we can’t promise to reduce the number you'll have to carry. But, with the Sylvania line, chances are your distributor will have the tube ‘you need when you need it. In semiconductors, the story is different. Just 124 ECG solid-state devices including transistors, diodes and integrated circuits will replace over 41,000 differ- ent types. In the damper section alone, only 3 ECG solid-state devices will take care of almost every job. ‘And they save a lot of space in your tube caddy. When your distributor is stocked with Sylvania receiving tubes and ECG semiconductors you'll have the parts you need. And you'll get them fast. It’s like having a complete warehouse built into your telephone. ‘And that can save you from a real pain in the neck. SYLVANIA FEBRUARY 1972 ® RADIO-ELECTRONICS 15HEAR A MUFFSIS Telex headphones and headsets give you that comfortable feeling of assurance when you monitor broadcasts or communications. Signals come through loud and clear — intelligibly and reliably. Telex professional monaural or stereo headphones incorporate audiometric-type transducers that are impervious to temperature or humidity changes and provide you with absolute performance consistency day in, day out. These sensitive dynamic transducers produce high output levels with minimum consumption of trans- mission power. Available in single or dual muff configuration and with noise cancelling dynamic or carbon boom microphones. ‘And you'll never miss a cue or program buss with a Telex Anouncers Earset® . Inconspicuous for ‘on camera’ work, it has practically become standard in the industry. Or you can select a Teleset® , Twinset® or Earset® for light: weight, comfortable and inexpensive private monitoring. And for special applications in business or home, industry or institution, Telex makes a listening device to fit your requirements. Available at better sound dealers or write for free information. You'll hear more from Telex DaSe UTS Circle 6 0n reader service card 16 RADIO-ELECTRONICS © FEBRUARY 1972 letters TOO MUCH TUNING 1 would tke 10 take exception to part of the article “Break Through Ri fio Pollution” by Robert B. Cooper in Your June 1971 sue of RadiorElee- trons. Fm sure that most of ws would rather “week and re-iwesk” once in a while in preference to adjusting four dials every time we tune in a new sta tion on FM. Me. Coopers statement that modern FM seis use one shows poor contact withthe FM bro cast receiver Meld. Oak Products FM tuner whichis used in several EM sets on the market. including the Heathki ARIS. has two rf stages, and FET in the frontend. nd han been in produc tion and general use for thee, year “There i no evidence of front end over loading as a resul of large adjacent nals The use of printed-circuit coils seems to be a pandcea since we're all ping printed-lreuit these dav but M Coopers elim. that they are. more stable than wire clls i just not tue The best of the printed-circut_ mate tal-epony glas-has a far hi Mire. and therefore would be more une Stable: Further. the proces of etching the PC leaves very sharp edges on the copper. This along with the Tact tha the wire i laid the wa itis. leads to vena owes tthe sige andi 1716 fat wite assumes the proportions of 4 No. 34 wie or les: Tis does ot ontaibute wot very high Q inthe ted ‘Also. we at Radio Aids have used & tubectype tuner. with much the same characterises as Me, Couper claims for is FET tuner for 22 years although we use tubes rather than tansistor. oF course, Our quirements call for sens Svities inthe onder of 0.3 nV for 20 ab Silencing at he frontend, Our tunet op erates with one dal Howako S. KNaack Rathod Lake Blufl MA. COOPER REPLIES [ind that you have not grasped the Purpose of my article on the FM pre- amp. and 1 would like to present a number of facts about etched in ‘You mention our having a lack of contact with the FM broadcast receiverfield, If you will carefully check my text material, you will find that my reference toa stage, such as rf stage, is a semantic term covering a particular function. and rot the number of active devices found within that particular section of the re ceiver. In other words, an rf stage is one in which radio frequency amplification takes place, regardless of whether this is done in one or 2 dozen active devices, such as a transistor, It is a fact, of course, that virtually all top-of-line FM tuners and/or receivers are today using FFET's in the front end. This has been go- ing on for a number of years. What has escaped you is the manner in which these FET's are being used in receivers. Tam intimately familiar with their op- eration, We use them in our lab for reference sources, I am afraid there is considerable evidence of front-end ‘overloading as a result of large adjacent signals, If you have never experienced front-end overloading with modern tuners you simply have not been located close to one of more local FM trans- mitters. If you “sweep” the tf amplifier section (stages) of these receivers you will probably discover, as we did some years ago, that the 3 dB selectivity points, as measured through the rf amplification stage, are _ approxi mately 3 MHz, In other words, signals + of ~ 1.5 MHz from the frequency the receiver is tuned to are being amplified by the rf stage by not less than 3 dB, ref- erence to the station you think you are tuned to. ‘Stability in inductors is really a ‘moot question unless you have had the ‘opportunity to work with etched in- ductors, Stability can be measured as a function of rapid temperature and/or humidity changes, or as function of ex- act repeatability from one device to the next. Within the normal temperature ranges that are experienced by most re- ceiving devices, the coefficient of ex: pansion of wire and glass epoxy board fsin a negligible change region and itis tunlikely that in either case there is suf- ficient change to warrant discussion. ‘On the other hand, in the business of designing and building exact band: pass devices, such as filters or amplified filters, the ability to work with identical inductances from one stage (0 the next fand from one device to the next is ex eedingly important. For example, all high-quality laboratory standards band- pass filter devices which use discrete in- | Guctors wind these inductances on pre- grooved forms, This is to eliminate the | inherent human and mechanical errors | which invariably creep into the produc: tion process of manufacturing what is supposed to be an identical series of in board containing one or more etched inductances is identical to all boards be- fore. Ifthe board master itself is correct. land can be resonated within the desited Frequency range, the production person- nel, the alignment technician, and the ultimate user can be assured that each device manufactured using this concept will have performance parameters that are identical to its original production claims and measurement specifications Tnshort, the question really becomes fone of exact repeatability from one de- vice to another, We believe this is where the etched inductor has a very definite place in the future of electronics. Roser B. CooPER. JR caDco Oklahoma City, Okla ls DOLBY NECESSARY? Much has been said in your maga- ine about the application of Dolby processing to FM broadcasting. The whole basis of Dolby (type B) is t0 boost treble during low-level passages: the response is then fattened during normal or maximum-level passages. A complementary device is supposed to be used to de-process the audio. However, should we assume that there will always be level changes sufficient to derive benefit from Dolby processing? ‘In my opinion, the typical rock mu: For faster service USE ZIP CODE TO-50 (© 06 to 10 mhz attenuator probe © 5X magnitier mode 95 flat face tute get eratieule on all Srequency response 9 02 vot sensitivity 4 Calibrated vertical Calibrated time base © Supplieg with combi- ration Dicect/Lo-Cap © Automatic triggering sic FM station will not receive a benefit from Dolby sufficient to justify the ex pense. I have actually watched modu: lation meters at a rock station. Level changes sufficient to activate the Dolby ‘equipment may represent 1% or less of airtime and on some days they may never happen at all! ‘Many radio stations in this country (rock and others) do not allow drops in audio level: they employ 20 4B or more (Of automatic volume-compression and fan uncertain degree of manual com- pression (they “ride the gain”). Such Stations pride themselves on being which is broadcasting slang for allowing no lapses in audio whatsoever. Many recordings are already highly compressed these days—even many clas sical recordings, While it is true that Dolby processing may extend the dyna- mic range of commercial recording, T believe that the final product will al- ways be subjected to compression. This is especially true of rock music. TAS a matter of fact, several rock stations on FM in this country are auto- mated and the equipment will automat- ieally reject the very kind of audio which would benefit from Dolby pro- cessing. It's called “silence sense” and it's intended never to allow any silence fon the air that might result from an (continued on page 22) | TRUE TRIGGERED SWEEP UHM TAPAS Tag MODEL One Year Warranty Made in U.S.A 339" mail ae ae LECTROTECH, INC. 4529 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60625, Guctors. Even this technique leaves a reat deal to be desired. ‘Our belief in the etched inductors is based on the assumption that when ‘working from a suitable master, each | (rele Ton reader service card FEBRUARY 1972 @ RADIO-ELECTRONICS 17“He's a good worker. Td promote him right now if he had more education in electronics.” Could they be talking about you? You'll miss a lot of opportunities if you try to get along in the electronics industry without an advanced edu cation. Many doors will be closed to you, and no amount of hard work will open them But you can build a rewarding career if you supple: ment your experience with specialized knowledge of one of the key areas of electronics. As a specialist, you will enjoy security, excellent pay, and the kind of future you want for yourself and your family. Going back to school isn’t easy for a man with a 18 RADIO-ELECTRONICS © FEBRUARY 1972 full-time job and family obligations. But CREI Home Study Programs make it possible for you to get the additional education you need without attending classes. You study at home, at your own pace, on your own schedule. You study with the assurance that what you learn can be applied to the job immediately. CRE! Programs cover all important areas of elec- tronics including communications, radar and sonar, even cable TV engineering. You're sure to find a pro- gram that fits your career objectives.Continuing Educ: Dept. £14026, Wisconsin Ave. & Tilden St, ‘Washington, 0.C, 20016 Please send me FREE book deseribing CRE! Programs. 1 am employed in electronics and have ahigh school education. Name Ace You're eligible for a CRE! Program if you work in elec: tronics and have a high school education. Our FREE book gives complete information. Mail postpaid card for | civ state___21P cove - your copy. If card is detached, use coupon at right or write: CREI, Dept. £1201C, Wisconsin Ave. & Tilden St., Washington, 0.C. 20016. TPE OF PRESENT WORK acy OH OE 2 feat 7 Cl Electronic Engineering Technoteay E] Computers Industrial Electrons [) Nuclear Engineering Teennoiogy. Lh Electonics Systems teineering | Cl Nontechnical course in computer programming CATV Engines ssemeernat. "APPROVED FOR TRAINING UNDER NEW G1l BILL FEBRUARY 1972 © RADIO-CLECTRONICS 21 Amoness EMPLoveo evNeed high temperatures in tiny places? The amazing Little Torch is so tiny it can throw a flame of 6300°F. through the eye of a needle. It sol: ders, brazes, welds and heats with exacting precision in the smallest places; uses oxygen and acetylene, ‘Little Torch, Dept. 2-SS, 2600 Niagara Lane No. Oe ER DRC* Bea tag New Messenger 323-M Hottest CB idea since 23-channel ‘operation! DRC lets operator work ‘one channel while automatically mon- itoring another. 2 monitor channels are switch selectable. Indicator light flashes when call is received on moni- tored channel. 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CORPORATION Circle 10 on reader service card RADIO-ELECTRONICS. © FEBRUARY 1972 LETTERS (continued from page 17) expired tape oF a defective machine However, this padget isa troublemaker sometimes hecsuse it may reject the 0 casional soft of slow passage inthe mu Sie. So, a5 2 matter of self-defense, the tapes forthe automation are subjected to lots of automatic and manual com pression, and even some clipping, Gu- tng preparation. Then the station com Presses the tapes even more on Playback. After allthis, i goes to the Bolby-1 think there will not be many level changes on which the Dolby can operate! Too many of usare guilty of think ing of FM as used to be classic mu sic with wide dynam range was once FM's specially. But is this sill tre to say? 1 don't agree with those that say that FM benetts from Dolby even ifthe complementary receiver circuit is not used. If the de-processng is not used the response wil not be fat at all times Isn' a fat response one of the primary objectives of FM? FCC. regulations Specify more fatness on FM than on AM Ifthe FCC rates that Dolby can be used at all times then they wll quite that all) manufacturers buildin’ the Dolby circuits in all new receivers This will ender obsolete thousands of FM receiver already n use. Nine Out of teh receivers in use cannot easly be con verted-only those with separate tuners and preamplifiers van be converted with fase" But that hind of set is in the mie norty today Isall the expense and bother really worthwhile? This change would be made for the sake of a minority ofl teners with borderline reception. Let me point out that the FCC lis the range Sf asation by limiting the power which may be used Its llogical fo use a gad fet such as Dolby to extend the range, and it an attempt to bypass the rea Sons for limiting power Cuvoe E. Wade. IR Lite Rock, Arkansas TIC-TAC-TRONIX Two problems seem to have crept into my “Tic-Tac-Tronix” article whieh appeared in the December 1971 issue of Radio Electronics. In Figure 3,diodes D1 through DT should come ditecily Irom the base ofthe first Darlington Transistor. ‘Thisconnection appears correctin Figure 9, Figure 10 and Figure 11 Integrated cireuit ICS isa 74107. His correctly called out in the parts list and Figure 11, but is garbled in Figure 5 Hope these details m: tion a litle easier for Radi readers. DON LancasterPut More “‘GO POWER” in MOVE AREAD from TECHNICIAN to ASSOCIATES BNGIYEER by studying at home with GRANTHAM SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING “the college that comes to you” to Your Electronics Career — Grantham Pebool of GFngineering ‘Fohn Boe seats Bt eres ome @ =e = Earn an Associate Degree The GRANTHAM educational program in ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING is designed to upgrade electronics technicians to the engineering level, mostly by home study. While you continue your present employment, you can really learn electronics engineering and earn an ACCREDITED DEGREE. GRANTHAM’ strong-foundation corre- spondence program in electronics engineering leads to non-obsolescent skills — to skills based on reasoning — and leads to the DEGREE of Associate in Science in Electronics Engineering (the ASEE Degree). Completion of this program will prepare you for positions normally filled by college-graduate engineers, and for many other electronics careers open to men with the proper training. This accredited degree program for experi- enced technicians consists of four correspond- ence courses of 100 lessons each—an overall total of 400 lessons — followed by a two-week graduation seminar held at the School. Upon completion of the four correspondence courses, you are awarded a diploma in Electronics Engi- neering. Then, upon completion of the two-week graduation seminar, you are awarded the ASEE Degree. Grantham School of Engineering « Established in 1951 1505 N. Western Ave. Hollywood, Calif. 90027 Telephone: (213) 469-7878 What's in Your Future— The Same Old Job, or Succes: Where will you be five years from today? Are you headed for real advancement in electronics, or in a rut? The experience you have is valuable; it gives you a head start toward a better future. But to get ahead and stay ahead, experience must be supplemented with more education in electronics and such allied subjects as mathematics, physics, computers, and engineering design. Electronics? Accreditation and G.I. Bill Approval Grantham School of Engineering is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the National Home Study, is approved under the G.I. Bill, and is authorized under the laws of the State of Cali- fornia to grant academic degrees. Grantham School of Engineering 1505 N. Western Ave., Hollywood, Calif. 90027 ! 1 1 a degree in electronics. 1D tama beginner in electronies. | I I I I I | Address City State Zip Circle 11 on reader revive cardTo Troubleshoot FAST & EASY use: Serviset PATENTED IntroPatee $2995 nee Postpaid INFORMATION SPECIFICATIONS? Sub ranges 8-50 obs IS, NEW CT-1 LEL From Will allow you to Dynamically test all types of capacitors. yt snd antag Only $16.95 postpaid Capacitor Range: 00025 — 1000 mtd. Sensitivity: Over 200 MEGOHMS 30 DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. LEE ELECTRONIC LABS., CO. 34 Brune Steet LED) Weiconn aeons 02102 Cele 12 on reader service card YOURE GOING TO RUN INTO SEVERAL kinds of appliances which are turned on ‘or off automatically by the presence or absence of light. Not too far back, this would have meant a vacuum-tube Photocell. an amplifier. de power sup: ply. relay. and a pretty bulky “package” of electronics. They're getting a lot smaller. There is a solid-state device that can be turned on or off by light and guess what? Is our old friend the SCR'in a new version: two SCR's back: to-back in a single package with a hole in the top. and actuated by light. This is the LASCR, ‘These are just like phototransistors, Actually. all transistor junctions are photo-sensitive—light falling on ‘em makes ‘em turn on. All they have to do tomake a phototransistor is leave a hole im the top of the case so light can it the junctions. The LASCR can be turned on by light falling on it. In other words. with light, conduction: no light. no con- duction. See any good SCR Handbook for full details. f° i OF, There are applications where we need full-wave conduction. So, we have to use a “double SCR™ or “Triac” since the basic SCR cuts off half of the ap- plied ac. like any diode, Also. in a lot of cases. we need an “opposite reaction”: turn on when there is no light. turn off when there is. So we add a few little gubbins 1 the circuit, like the one Shown in the diagram, from RCA’s "Solid-State Controls” book. and there What Are They Used For? There are lots of applications for | this kind of thing: automatic yardlights 24 RADIO-ELECTRONIGS @ FEBRUARY 1972 ‘appl ance clinic that turn on at sunset: automatic night lights. room lights. garage door openers. and so on and on. Three resistors. (wo capacitors. and three solid-state devices and there you are. The RCA 40485 is a ‘6-amp Triac, soit will handle up to 700 watts or s0, There are higher-rated types if needed. How Does It Work? When theres 0 ight falling on the 4403 photocell resistance is Righ So the ac vollage coming through SENS! Twity control RI and resistor RO can Charge OSAP capacitor C1 to high voltage. twice during each full cyte This builds up enough voluge to fre the wiggeraiode, which in turn fies the Tria and discharges the capacitor, Ths is the on condition: whatever Toad. plugged into the load socket will be Energized in @ yardclight. this would. be night": no ambient light. so the light turns on, When Jay breaks the light ne ceases (unlest the smop is too thick) ‘The. increased light falling. on the photocell makes it resistance go avay town, Since the photoelectric cell sac tually shunted acre Ct prevents the wollage onthe capacitor from rsing to level high enough to ie the trigger diode. $0 the Triae won't fie. ether and the light goes of This circu. avis, would be all you'd need for an automate yard-ight. et could ako e used for things such as counting. packages on conveyor belt counting people going through fate fo a sporung even. et With an external lay plugged into the load socket ould be used 10 sar br sop a motor. A relay can open a c- Cuitor close it. depending on which pair of contacts on a spd you use. when its coi is enerpze. So this could be “revered”: made to torn lighten when Tight hits the photoelectric cell (Fvinstance.auto- fate garage lights which turn on when the cats headlights hit the cell) or even fs gerage-door opener which, works wen the headlights shine on it et. ianything goes wrong with One of these. servicing fe simple. Any ofthese things can be checked out with an thmmeter and an ae voltmeter. Just like Checking transistors. Look for a short or (continued on page 09)The electronic snooper will resort to anything to listen to your conversations, See how to plug his electronic ears outwit electronic snoopers “BUGGING” OR ELECTRONIC EAVES- dropping. which was something strictly from science fiction. isa big business in the United States today. You don't hear much about it, because legitimate man- tufacturers of such devices promote their products primarily 10 law-enforcement agencies, and makers of illicit bugs pre- fer to attract as little attention as pos- sible to their operations. FCC regulations prohibit the sale fr use of unauthorized eavesdropping devices, but the fact is that a reasonably effective bug is relatively easy to build, They usually can be readily concealed. and since their signals can only be picked up over a distance of a few hun- red feet at the most, itis almost impos- sible to enforce the regulations, ‘Bugs have been used by private de- tectives to gather information for their clients, by employers to eavesdrop on their employees, by businessmen to gain access 10 their competitors secrets, and by jealous husbands to check on their wives. In fact, bugs are so easily built or purchased that its safe to assume that anyone's conversation may be bugged if a person feels itis worth the risk, This widespread use of eavesdrop- ping devices ha led tothe development Gr new profession-that of the elc- tronic “debugging” exper. Many secu ity consultants spend ful me locating bigs and providing secure areas for pre ‘ate businesedicusions, Furthermore. rmany electronic technicians are Being Called in by companies to assure that thelr secrets ae not leaking out to com= Peltor by way of Bugs which have been sercted on their premises "There are four iypes of electronic eavesdropping devices that are in com ‘mon ue today 1 iigh-gain directional micro- phones 2. Hidden microphone wired directly to a istening or recording de- 3. Miniature radio transmiters 4 Bugs used in connection. with telephones The fist type, the high-gain d- rectional microphone, fs the cfsiest to defend. against, Tis simply micro fone equipped with a parabolic reles- for to make it highly directional. De- vices of this sort are large and hard to by JOHN E. CUNNINGHAM conceal. Usually. they cannot pick up conversations at distances of more than about 150 feet. The defense is simply to hold conversations in areas with reason- ably soundproof walls and closed wi dows, It also helps to have a distracting source of sound, such as a transistor ra- dio in the room, ‘The second type is a microphone that is hidden in a room and connected by wires to a remote point where the eavesdropper listens with an amplifier and headphones, or has planted a tape recorder. This type is usually difficult to track down because it doesn't radiate. By far the most common ype of bug is the miniature radio transmitter such as the one shown in Fig. 1. This device is actually @ battery-operated transmitter. The eavesdropper merely plants it and then picks up its signal from some convenient place where he is ‘ot apt to be noticed. The fourth, and probably most so- phisticated type of bug is the telephone bug. Many different types of telephone bugs are in use. They range from simple wiretaps to radio transmitters hidden in the telephone. The latter are often ar- FEBRUARY 1972 © RADIO-ELECTRONICS 25URED FIG. 1-INEXPENSIVE WIRELESS BUG trans inlls on an unused porlon of the stand Broadcast band TO CONNECT PHONE TONE froeu ; Lette [hemes axa FIG. 2-TELEPHONE BUG CIRCUIT. Caller at Hstening pot turns on phone's mike by dia ng number then sencng special tone, ranged 10 draw power ftom the tele phone line and use the telephone tans. miter as a microphone ‘Avery sophisticated telephone bug. shown in Fig. 2 effectively "an sets" the phone before it ings. In this Gireuit a loneoperated relay is con. nected so when 3 fone ofthe proper fre guency i transmitted on the line, Hy is actuated to disconnect the bel and connect the transmiter to the line Once this kindof bugis inaaled inthe victim's phone. the eavesdropper can dial the number from any other phone inthe United States Theres short pe- Hod of time between the instant thatthe Connection is made and when the bell Stars toring. During this interval, the favesdroppet transmits a tone over the Tine with a small portable ‘oscilator The tone prevents he bell from ringing and connects the vitims telephone to the ine The eavesdropper ean then lis ten 10 all of the convertion in the room from as great 1 distance as he Wishes. The only way thatthe vietim might become aware of the bug is when he fails gta dial tone when placing a call Even this usualy Isnt nouced. Be fuse when the eavesdroppet hears Someone allempting 10 use the phone he'ean quickly hang up. This typeof bug is complicated and expensive, but i as the advantage tht once the bug is planted. dhe eavesdrop~ pet cam listenin almost complete safety {O everything that is taking place Debugging techniques When an electronics technician is called in to focate a bug, or to provide an electronically secure area for private Conversations he must use every bit of ingenuity at his command. The state-of the-art at the present time seems to be on the side of the eavesdropper ‘The first step in debugging a room is to conduct a painstaking and thorough physical search of the premises. This is time consuming, but is usually well worthwhile. Many experts charge Tees Of up to $1.00 10 assure that a confer When ‘conducting search pay particular attention to anything that hew. oF temporarily present in. the fom. A favorite way of temporaily planting a bug i 1 conceal it in an item Of personal propery that ean Be Tell a8 though by atcident. Thus a competitor: representative may leave a briefease fatneoal, of umbrella containing a bug dluring a visit to a facility. Many mod fmm bugs are inexpensive and a¥e con sidered expendable. Sometimes, bugs are concealed in gifts such as pictures An important factor in debugging an area isthe fact that a professional agent rarely plants only one bug. He Plants at least two and sometimes more So ir he technician locates a single bug. he should nol consider his job done ‘The bug that he found may have been deliberately planted in a place where i ‘would be easily found to lull the victim into a false sense of security, while an- other bug is transmitting all of his con- ‘A small metal locator of the type used to locate butied objects is a val able aid in locating wired microphones that do not radiate When a conference room is frst built, or ata time that ti known to be secure. make a "map" with the aid of a metal locator showing the location and Size of metalic objects. I during a sub- Sequent search with a metal locator. 26 RADIO-ELECTRONICS @ FEBRUARY 1972 FIG. 4—THE HOUND 00G covers from below 27 to above 108 MME and responds To both ‘strong signals and west signals nearby. new metal objects ate detected in the walls. ceiling. floor. or furniture. further investigation is warranted. If no new metal objects are located, carefully in: spect existing ones such as lamps, vases, and electrical outlets. Ri field-strength measurements Most miniaueesansmiter type bugs ean be located. with 1 fela strength measuremenis. A typical inet Terence locator that has been very eee: tive im locating clandestine tcanmten is shown in Fig. 3. The search is often Simplied by fest carefully examining all signals on frequencies that ihe eaves dropper i apt to use. The professional will never tue frequency where his bug is lkely to be picked up by other users of the spectrum: One Bug was To- ted because i was inerening witha traffic communications. Frequencies are usually selected where sensive rece. ers are readily available commercially This Tactor together wit the Tact that short antennas are ecient has led to tremendous number of bugs operating in and just ouside ofthe standard FM band of #8 10.108 MHz. Commonly used. eavesdropping frequencies ate listed in table 1 Amateur eavesdroppers are apt not to be as aware asthe proessional Of the fisk of using cenain Treauences. They ue almost any Trequency where they Gan busld smal eficentscinsmites This means almost any frequency up (o ahout 200 MHz might be used. The search isa complete until the entire spectrum has been checked Make’ debugsing feld-strength mmeasuremens by careully ideniying ich signal that & picked up inthe sus pected area, Many bugs use voice-oper- fed relays that turn the bug_on ely when's conversation is aking place. For this reason the searcher should talk Continuously ‘while making. the mea. surements Otherwise. the: bug_mighi not be radiating while a measurement i made While making measurement the investignor ea bis own. voice over the fedsstrength meter sure Sign that a bugis operating in the vei Ee Another popular debugging meter,called the “hound dog” is shown in Fig. 4. This unit is not tuned, but has a broad response to signals from below the Citizens band to above the FM band. Since the majority of bugs oper- ate in oF near the standard FM broad- cast band, the meter is made most sensi live over this part of the spectrum. The meter is used 10 probe the walls, floors. and ceiling of the sus- pected area, as well as all objects in the area. Its sensitivity is adjusted to pro- Vide a minimum reading on signals from local FM and TV stations. When it is brought in close proximity to a bug. the meter indication will rise sharply. This simple meter in the hands of an ex- pert will detect almost any bug of the radio transmitter type. in areas where there are many strong signals, it is often advisable to make the search after 2 AM when most stations are off the ait Telephone debugging Because of the possibility of wire- lapping. a telephone should never be considered completely secure. The phone itself, however, can be debugged. Begin with a thorough search inside the phone for foreign objects. Then make feld-stcengih measurements to. detec any transmitter that wasn't discovered by the physical search TTone-operated telephone bugs can be detected. with an instrument called the "Line Sweep" shown in Fig. 5. This device is connected to the telephone Tine and, ag its name implies, generates 2 tone which is swept through the audio Spectrum while a meter monitor the Iine voltage. The voltage on the phone line s normally approximately 50 vols Ite the line 8 being swept, the po lary ofthe voltage feveres it means there isan incoming eal I while the instrument i sweeping the spectrum, there significant dip im the line voltage, these is probably a tone-operated bug onthe line. More of tenthan not Ht will be inthe phone it self, but it could be anywhere along the ine. Once you know there isa buge i i simply a matter of diligent searching find it ‘The Line Sueep can alto be used to check any local or distant phone for the presence of @ tone-operated bug Simply advise the party on the other tend not to answer his phone and then dial his number. Immediately after the umber is dialed. tuen on the sweep. After a few seconds of sweeping the line, the ringing sound will stop if a bug is connected to the line Automobiles aren't always safe tis quite easy to bug an automo- bile, There are plenty of places to hide the bug, and the battery will supply plenty of power to operate « bug that will have a considerable range, The an- tenna can be passed through a small hole in the body. or in some instances the auto radio antenna has been used The proper way to search for a bug. in an automobile requires two people fone inside talking continuously to tig: ger any voice-operated device and the other outside making field strength TABLE 1 Frequencies commonly used for bugging 60 - 88 megahertz 88 - 108 megahertz 108 - 110 megahertz 27 - 28.4 megahertz TABLE 2 Manufacturers of Debugging Equipment Sprague Electric Company, North ‘Adams, Mass—Mode! 600 RB. Clifton, 11500-W NW. 7th Ave., Miami, Fla—Hound Dog and Line Sweep BUGGING TRANSMITTER, concealed top egerate pack, has a ulm anton Wa vange ot up to two elly blocks Countermeasures Perhaps the biggest question is not locating the bug, but taking the proper action 10 restore security. The elec. tronies technician has completed his job when he has either located every bus in hn area, or assured himself that there are none. If bugis discovered, itis up to the proper security authorities to de- cide what action 10 take. One common approach, once a bug is located, is leave it undisturbed, hoping to mislead the eavesdropper with false informa tion. The technician should always check with his client before taking aay “The names and addresses of manu- facturers of debugging equipment ate ven in Table 2, and further informa- tion may be found in the following books: Security Etecironics By J. E. Cun- ningham, Howard W. Sams Business Intelligence and Expionage By Richard M. Greene, Dow-Jones t- win, Ine. Homewood I RE FEBRUARY 1972 © RADIO-ELECTRONICS 27Great careers Join the high-paid electronics technicians who got their start through NTS Home Training. Your home can become your own private classroom-workshop. NTS sends you everything you need to learn valuable technical skills in electronics. You get easy- to-grasp lessons, comprehensive kit manuals, large fold-out charts, and more. Plus the finest profes- sional equipment available today. It’s all included in your tuition, yours to keep. Your equipment is sent to you in kit form, matched to lesson ma- terial. With the NTS Project Meth- od, you start with simple projects, then move from basics to more complex concepts. You discover how electronic principles work by performing practical, fascinating experiments. Learn at your own pace. You quickly become expert in the actual equipment and meth- ods you'll use on the job. And s00n you're ready to cash in on the tremendous opportunities in the expanding, exciting world of electronics! If your field is television, you might decide to join a first-class TV repair center. Or start a shop of your own. Or specialize in in- dustrial applications of television, Once you master an area of elec- tronics, the direction you take is really up to you. And you'll be able to use the test instruments you built yourself! Itall begins at home, with NTS Project Method Training. Find out how fast and easy it is to learn skills that pay off. Check card or coupon today for your free full- color NTS Catalog and complete details. No obligation. No sales- man will call 2B RADIO-ELECTRONICS @ FEBRUARY 1972 NTS COLOR AND B&W TV SERVICING Build the largest, most advanced color TY made! Over-all solid-state design, 315 sq. in. ultra-rectangular screen, matrix picture tube, built-in self-setvicing features, “Instant On,” AFT. solid-state VHF tuner, and ‘Much more! Also build and keep AM- SW Radio, Solid-State Radio, FET Volt-Ohmmeter, and Electronic Tube Tester, Learn trouble-shooting, stereo, multiplex systems, radio. color and B&W TV servicing Solid-state Bawtv 745 picture (cabinet included) Learn sophisticated solid-state cir- Cuitry as you build this BAW TV re- ceiver. Course covers the full range of home entertainment electronics.Zw New solid-state 315 sq. in. color TV NTS COMPUTER ELECTRONICS Build and operate the exclusive NTS Compu-Trainer! Loaded with inte- grated circuits, it teaches you the how, what, and why of computers fastér, more thoroughly. You per- orm all wiring and. patch-cording. No short-cuts. No pre-wired circuit boards. Also receive an FET Volt- Ohmmeter and a 5” wide-band Oscilloscope. NTS ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS Gain the prestige and earning power of owning an FCC First Class Radio Telephone License! Two exciting courses in the fields of transmitting land receiving. Experiment with an amateur phone 6-meter VHF trans- ceiver, NTS" exclusive 6-transistor solid-state radio, and a fully transis- torized volt-ohmmeter. S.watt AM transmitter/ receiver. gin athome. NTS Compu-trainer NTS AUTOMATION/ INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS ‘Systems automation is the future of industry — and you can play an portant role! Enter the age of elec- fronie, controls by training on the NTS Electro-Lab a complete. workshop, Also receive a6 wide-band. protes Sionally rated Oseil- Toscope. “Build tive industria! controls to reguiate "motor Speed, temperatures, presse, quid level @ nd much more 5" Oscilloscope CLASSROOM TRAINING AT LOS ANGELES. You can take classroom training at Los Angeles in sunny. Southern. Calilomia NTS occupies 2 ity block with over a milion dollars in faciliies. devoted. ex- Clustvely to technical training, Cheek box in coupon, APPROVED FOR VETERANS Accredited Member: National Associa- tion of Trade and Technical Schools National Home ‘Study. Council. NATIONAL@=5 SCHOOLS 4000 8. Figueroa St,, Los Angeles, CA 90037 Pleaserush Free Color ne Catalog and Sample auction eceranieer a Tceseeeie EEN steer. i 2 ‘man will call National Technical Schools FEBRUARY 1972 ® RADIO-ELECTRONICS 31Stop. Expensive Tune-Ups! With This Easy-to-Build, Universal Auto Analyzer Kit Almost Pays for Itselt the First Time You Use It! For ANY Car! Step-by-Step Assembly Instructions — Fun to Build! Cut car costs—be your own “mechan sath our low coat stevie routesnooer Set le speed end ming” rest pigs and Points’ sore, Buitun tachometer, Geel freer ameter, oheeter" wotneter Tye meter Soldstatecrcuiry, battery Powered for use srpwrere. With iusated Sepage “TuneUp Gude 4. °C oes sverytng!Tood's in use. At Ragio Shack and Allied Radio 95 Sires evenore or Posa0 Over 1300 Stores Nationwide See Your Phone Book { 2725 W. Th Street, Fort Worth Toxas 78107 | auto Anayzerts at 49.95 «3, | spouse sales taxes Check or | | Presse PRINT Cleary 1 sweet State I to Circle 13 on reader service card equipment report Ten-Tec RX-10 Communications Receiver Gircle $6 on reader service card PVE BEEN INTERESTED IN THE SYN- chrodyne. homodyne and other types of direct-conversion receivers for quite a few years. So, when I saw ads on the Ten-Tec model RX-10 communications ‘eceiver, I knew this was one set that 1 wanted to try. What's the appeal of this receiver? To some, its low cost (around 60.00), weight (about 2 pounds) and its drain of only 35 mA from a |2-volt bat- tery may be its major attractions, How- ever, 1 was immediately intrigued be. cause the RX-10 is advertised as using a synchrodyne circuit When the receiver arrived, 1 92 RADIO-ELECTRONICS ® FEGRUARY 1972 couldn't wait to try it. It does not have aan audio power amplifier its output is designed for headphones with an im- ppedance greater than 1000 ohms. I knew that I had lots of headsets around and did not anticipate any problem. Well, somewhere along the line, Td given my 2000-ohm headsets to kids for use with code oscillators and simple home-built receivers eic. and the only phones I had worked at voice-coil impedances. Local radio parts stores did not have high-im: pedance phones in stock or only had high-quality types costing more than 1 cared 10 spend, Then. a mind-blocking near-panic set in and for nearly a week | wondered how I could test the RX-10. After my year-old son asked why I couldn't play it through his eecord player, the fog. cleared and my mind was literally flooded with alternatives to the head: phone dilemma. My solution was to use 4 small audio output transformer 10 match the receiver to 8-ohm phones. The RX-10 tunes the 3.5-4., 70-7.3, 140-146 and. 21.0-21.9-MHz ham bands. | tied on a long-wire an- tenna and fired ‘er up. All I could hear was high-speed code and radioteletype (continued on page 84)Pee Rep Fee CO ee a a eae er Rae ee ROR Re work, what's available, how they stack up to led’s, what you can do with them, and where to get materials for your own displays. tleL a ae Peo ee eae ee eer ee ae ae eee ee een On ee eae errata aie ea ery Pua ean erga eee eC er ieee eae age lesteric liquid crystals have a very interesting property— Co Ce eee ee ei change. These have been available for several years and are used widely for thermal and heat studies microwave Pema eS ons eo ee) crystal, whose properties were first descr bed exten- Pea A Ea CL ees Ceara eres acy milky or cloudy. Chemically, the process is called dyna- ere ee mans caused by the external field interacting wich the ordered erent ts ‘An obvious use for something that tums white CCe TER ear ama tee eer Lat ern eeoweT poor conductors, which means they draw practically n ‘current when they're in the milky state and zero current when clear, This makes liquid crystals particularly at CeCe ee Eee ea entree CaN ee res battery-powered versions. Liquid crystals offer quite eerie roe om eee ‘combinations of nematic and cholesteric liquid crystal can also exhibit storage and memory, important featur in a terminal or computer output display where the infor} prea e are rs aa Stead of having fo be refreshed 60 times a second as i era Lee aon Pra ea ae ae cer ea ence CEOthem. This means that there is no con- ‘rast problem with high ambient light levels-the brighter the room lights, the brighter the display. Normally the lig- uid crystal material is only a mil or (wo thick, making for an extremely thin dis- play. It can be made into a display of Any size, and we could even imagine 00m partitions or windows using liquid crystals for controllable privacy or light transmission. And, you can make liquid crystals into any color display you want—white for maximum contrast, red to alert or warn, yellow or green for easy reading, blue for attractive appear- Right now, you can't go out and buy liquid crystal displays for S0¢ a di- Bt, but the potential is certainly there. Several manufacturers now offer com- posite displays and individual digits. ‘These are still rather expensive in small quantities, although their quantity ((1000-10,000) prices are competitive with Nixie and Light Emitting Diode (LED) displays, particularly if large di Bits or alphanumeries are needed. Materials One of the first nematic materials studied by RCA is an organic jaw- breaker going by the name of Ani- sylidene-Para-Aminophenylacetate. A hhalf-mil (0.0005-inch) thick layer ofthis, formes (a) TRANSMISSVE DISPLAY was placed between two pieces of con- ductive, transparent glass and heated to its nematic operating range of 83° 10 100° C. When 60 volts was applied, (an equivalent field strength of 120,000 volts per inch), the test cell turned milky, blocking transmitted light and reflecting, incident light. With no voltage applied, the cell was clear. The best brightness of this early display was around half that of a good piece of writing paper. ‘Things have improved consid- erably since those early tests, Research by such people as RCA. Kent State University, Penn State University, Vari- Light Corp., Optel, llixco, and Liquid Crystal Industries has made a wide vari- ‘ty of room temperature operating lig uid crystals available. One of these is p> Methoxy-Benzylidine, p-n-Butyl-Ani- line 4-Methoxy, 4'n-Butyl-Benzylidene- Aniline, While this isn't the sort of (2) REFLECTIVE DISPLAY chemical you'll be able 10 mix up in Your kitchen sink, the stuff i readily avalable and ranges in price from $3 per gram in Sgram lots to under $I per fram in kilogram lots Depending on the character Sze a pram is enough for a hundred or #0 character of Sig ‘Thus the price per digit is around 4 each. Other nematics are similarly prc aging vp 0 SIS per gam Fig. | shows four popular liquid crystal configurations. In Fig. I-t, we have a simple iranmissve dap. Here the iid ental is sandwiched between tno layers of conductive glass or any Suitable transparent, rigid material with ‘conductive path on ils inside surfaces With. modern liquid erysalcom- pound, 12 1015 vltss needed to block Hight tansmission through the display. sthile ‘0 valts allows light. to. pass through freely, Thus, tis type of dis play is dicetly compauble with MOS or COSMOS integrated circuits, but will aot give. acceptable contrast when coupled audio amp exhiits phase Shift only inthe vicinity of ghee gqueney cuiof” point. sine its low-fre eee] ort Peal hers HetAr goss Frevcisly te peroatage of harmonic stortion due to eroesoverdaorion i eee la Mieoe enrera eed Analysis of distortion products ‘An oscilloscope is also useful for checking harmonic-distortion products as shown in Fig. 1S. This application is the period of the distortion waveform ‘The"scope is adjusted to display one complete eyle hen the harmonies terion meier iss to feed the tnpul staveform though: Then when the Mar Inoni-dstotion meters adjusted tore ict the tet Frequency. we observe how Imany eyes of the irton waveform ire daplayed on he scope seen For xampe, i thee cycles are dplayed we know thatthe Jominant distortion Product the third harmonic Note hit phate relations are not troubisome int most cases For cx tmple, Fig 16 depicts ditonion seiveform made up of 2 dominant sec ond harmonic with subordinate sixth harmonic: In these two eramples, the Sith monic has tro phase and 180 phate respectively, with respet to the cond harmon However te number and the period of the complen dis fonion waveform is unchanged Finaly we may noe that apparent terion in whole or part tect case sope analysis of the. dsortion Seaefornt will quickly show whether Gittiror 120-2 hum voltage may be Conclusion Although the harmonic-distortion meter is the basic instrument for me surement of audio distortion, the os au Q oscittstor - FIG. 15-HARMONIC DISTORTION TEST, eatvp for anaiyzing the distortion proauets least demanding on scope performance, and any service-type scope can be uti lized. When the harmonic-distortion meter is adjusted t0 reject the test fre {quency (such as | kH7). the scope then displays the waveform of the distortion products. This is very seldom i second harmonic alone, a third harmonic alone, or a mixture solely of second and third harmonies. In most situations. we will find a distortion waveform that consists of a number of even and odd harmonies. However, one harmonic such as the second or the third har- ‘monic, is usually dominant, This can be determined by using the scope to mea: sure the frequency of the complex dis- tortion waveform Frequency can be measured easily if the scope has calibrated sweeps. For example. ifthe test frequency is | kH2, and the period of the distortion wave- form is $00 us, we know that the dom nant distortion product is the second harmonic. On the other hand, if the scope does not have calibrated sweeps. 4a simple comparison test will determine 54 RADIO-ELECTRONICS © FEBRUARY 1972 FIG. 16—THESE TWO distortion waveforms are alike except or relative phase relations. cilloscope is useful supplementary in- strument. When an HD meter is not available, a scope ean be used for quali {ative and even for rough quantitative analysis of distortion. The most useful approach is to display an input-output Lissajous pattern. To obtain meaningful results, both the vertical and the hori- zontal amplifiers of the scope should have hicfi characteristics. A scope is also useful for checking harmonic-distortion products in audio circuits when used with an harmonie-distortion meter. R-EUniversal dual signal source for audio testing, digital logic, electronic music synthesis, SWL and ham BFO'S, panic alarms, sirens, birdcalls, calibrators, signal generators, squawkers, ete. HERES 4 UNIVERSAL SHORTEROOF DUAL Orcllator that virally anyone in elec tronics can use and easly afford, Snap on's capacitor and out comes 2 able Baler, volt high. symmetrical Square wave of any frequency you want ftom once every ten seconds Up to 30 Mile Ifyou want, you can knob tune the frequency over #3510 range with 2 single capaitor, or volage control the thing with an external 31 Slt ce contol voltage “The output direty drives 71, RTL, to. oF lowctreshold Mos integrated Circuits, and witha good power supply, the fequency i stable enough for mis fe synthesis and metronome work. A Speaker can be dtiven directly by the Output to useful volume levels. If you teed mote stability, jus eplae the ce pactor wth a eystl from 5 o 30 MHz End. you have a. crystalcontrolled source "You can use stone of the locks use both clocks separately, of you can let he one elock control the other one ‘seful for sirens, two-tone alarms, one: bors testing, ete Hams and. SWL's might like to put a ctl calibrator on one half and fo on the other, Solid-State Dual-Clock Cost and complexity? A. single $2.40 integrated circuit does the whole job, helped along with two optional 25¢ transistors. You provide the power sup- ply-either $ volts from a regulated bench source or 4.5 to 6 volts worth of Dells Construction hints ‘The schematic is in Fig. 1. The heart of the circuit is IC, a dual buf- fered TTL astable multivibrator. The ‘multi’s frequency is controlled by an ex- ternal capacitor along with a control voltage input. For no frequency adjust- ‘ment, you clamp the control voltage to +5, For pot control, you run it to a pot that lets the voltage run from +2.5 to +5. Or for external use, you bring out the voltage control directly. Note that there are three supply voltages and three ground connections that must be made to the IC. B+ to the oscillators must be R-C decoupled to event interaction between both circuit alves. The oscillators cannot be gated by applying and removing B+ because of a sneak path through from the volt- age control input, Thus, to elec- Generator by DON LANCASTER tronically gate (or turn on and off) the ‘oscillator, you break the ground side to the oscillator. This is done optionally by transistors Qi and Q2. Ifyou don't need ating, just replace these transistors with 8 solid ground connection. +2 to +5 volts at the GATE terminal turns ON the clock. Ground shuts it off ‘A small printed circuit simplifies assembly. You can make your own us- ing the layout guide of Fig. 2, along with the mechanical and layout guides of Figs. 3 and 4 Be sure to observe the code notch and dot when inserting the IC and use a low-wattage iron and fine solder during assembly. ‘The printed circuit mounts on the side of a small case, with each clock’s input, output, and capacitor binding posts going on the top, along with a fre- Quency-adjust pot. Since this is a 30. MHz device and circuit, lead routing can be critical and cause noise and in- teraction problems, To solve these problems, use short pieces of coax (min- iature 50-ohm RG-174 is ideal) to reach the capacitor binding posts. Use one piece of coax for each binding post and {ground the coax only at the printed-cir- cuit end, Also, use a sturdy No. 12 or FEBRUARY 1972 © RADIO-ELECTRONICS 5Pc BoARO. Cutout signal generator that has a thousand and one uses around the shop. And you ean build W around a single IC and a pelt of low-cost ‘oces connect To pos 70 arn | SIGNAL pack Tin pags FOR TERMINALS. FIG. 2-FULL SIZE PATTERN for he duat-clock RADIO-ELECTRONICS © FEBRUARY 1972 67 DRILL 0 ORILL (a) iALLOTHERS) 1AgOD. MaKe FRow tri" G10 pemari. FIG, 2-DRILLING GUIDE shows proper holecase a GROUND BUS: 10 POs. OR GATING Source To ouTPUT Post To CAPACITOR POSTS VIA SHIELDED CABLE orto rosz TORI 0 +5-SUPPLY RE RO RS, RO-ATOD obms wat FORA 220 obese ‘hme wat os neat pot (C3 C4, C60 gE, 0 sols. ds exami 5-50 oF, 6 vols, lective Bi B2'D3 De-iN9i4 ston de ICL-MCa004 oF MCA28 QL Q2Nsi@9 SSD sp tie switch thr J10"5 way binding posts. 4 white 2 each fed. yellow and back MISC: PC Board. 26° 9 case; mounting feet GROUND BUS 0 POs OR GATING SOURCE To OUTPUT POST TO.CAPACITOR Post via SHIELDED CABLES TORS Tosi TORS 70 +5 SUPPLY FIG. PARTS LAYOUT to flow when wing (4, pus-on kote (2: RG-178 or other miniature SMeldedsie 2 fect: hookup mites PC. board TRouning hardware” round Dus solder, ground Tag to m5 Intpatne Gc 11 MCAO24 ‘Comping epee ane finmned cove an compete seem ian: Ne ee 7 }O'MSEC ig. s—ouTPUT CA etn ee! \esec Slice wr sae t on, ‘come : | ho see B om} —|_} 1g |. leoysse g Es mee ma T a | Pade FIG. 5—FOUR APPLI- on { {ome an | lock oF maraer gener 1a 1 1 | see ‘ator. c—1 pps metro- ‘00 010100, (e000, oe rane aoe ee, 1 ‘MICROFARADS: PICOFARADS _ erm No. 14 ground bus, mae from a piece Hz wo 4500 He ‘of house wiring. When lead dress is fight, both oscillators should run over their entire range without any inter- action, pulling. oF noise problems. If desired, a small. S-volt power supply may be added to the bottom of the case. It should be regulated if ex- ‘treme frequency stability is needed. Operation To use one of the clocks, apply 5 volts, make the gate input positive by 25 10 S volts, use the internal pot, and Snap a capacitor in place. The fre: quency is determined by the graph of Fig, 5. For instance. a 0.1-aF Mylar ca- pacitor should give you a range of 1200 Some practical circuits are shown in Fig. 6 A I-kHz square wave gener ator (Fig. 6-2), A 3.58, 45, or 10.7-Mhz trystal oscillator for color, sound TV or FM work (Fig, 6-b). Crystals below 3 MHz may be used, but some capacitive padding is sometimes needed for stable ‘operation. You can go down to 100 kHz if you custom-fit the padding to the par- ticular crystal in use. A one pulse-per- second timer or metronome (Fig. 6). {A two-tone audio alarm that puts out a ‘commanding TWEEE-DELLL TWEEE- DELLL note (Fig, 6d). To allow one clock to control the other, or anytime ‘you want a full five volts output. add a 2.200- or a 470-ohm resistor between FEBRUARY 1972 ® RADIO-ELECTRONICS 57 358,45 022 WF ‘oR MYLAR 10.7 MME XTAL 4 Py 56 6 §@ ® 29e., 250uF evecrnouic a lone A AG BS [OS 8 6© @ £@ OOO |POQ9OO . * 22K cutout M454 the driving output and +5 volts. You might like to do this internally “To gate one clock with the other, remove the gate input from OS and connect itto the other output. This gives You a gated oxillator of a tone burst generator. Or, add a big electrolytic and A charging resistor to the VC INPUT to get a siren oF FM signal source. ‘There are many options available to you. If you want, bring the GATE in- puis out 10 binding posts and add per manent output pull-up resistors. Or to cut costs. if you're never going to use an ‘ulside world signal. leave off protect- ing diodes D1 thra D4. You'l tind lots fof, ways to customize this Radio-Elec- tronics dual clock to your own uses RALL ABOUT ELECTROLYTICS THE MODERN ELECTROLYTIC cqPacrTOR isone of the “main par" in clecwonie Circuits today. Thelt major use is stil power-supply sltering, but eletrlytics Ze al ated for bypassing and signal coupling. especially in solidsate cui They can also cause some of the weirdest woubles imaginable! So, let's take a long look at these things how they're made, how they're ised, and most importnt of all 10 the sence technician and experimenter, how to test them ‘Well show you at lest one guaran- teed-infalibe tet for an elective! They ate not hard to test if you know how they work and how they act when they don't work How electrolytics are made ‘We don't have time to go into a de- tailed explanation of the design of an electrolytic capacitor. You don’t have to build them—all you have to know is what size to buy and use. All capacitors have two plates. Ca- pacitance depends on the size of these plates, and the spacing between them, and the dielectric between them. An electrolytic capacitor is made of wo sheets of aluminum. This metal has a peculiar yet useful property—it oxidizes very rapidly. Clean a piece, and without special precautions, is covered with a thin layer of aluminum oxide before you can say Jack Robinson. Remember this oxide layer! THIN Laver ‘OF GxIDE ummm —_| ALUMINUM DeeLecTRe: SEpaRATOR ano ELECTROLYTE FIG. 1~ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITOR PLATES rey anand. Th vry thn ayer of exten ——— The original electrolytics were wet types. A. corkscrew-shaped electrode ‘was mounted in a can filled with a solu tion of borax, etc. A forming voltage, dc, was applied and the oxide layer formed on the positive electrode, the corkscrew. The can was negative. The ‘oxide layer, about 10-em thick is the negative plate! Since it is very close to the metal, the result is a very high ca- ppacitance per sq, inch, The electrolyte liquid and the other metal plate, or the can, is used only to make electrical con. tact to the outside of the oxide layer (Fig, 0! The wet types, like all electronic ‘components, had disadvantages and ad- vantages. One big advantage was theit ability to are between the plates, and then heal. (The paper capacitors used during that period would not do this. When they broke down, that was it) The disadvantage was large size. An 8- AF wet electrolytic had a diameter of ‘about 2.5 inches and were 3 to 4 inches high. Also, they had to be kept right side up, to assure proper venting of the electrolytic capacitor. Eventually, the wet electrolytic was replaced by the present dry electrolytic types. These aren't any more dry than a dry battery is. The liquid electrolyte is slill used, but in a diferent form. To make one like this, two very thin sheets Of aluminum foil (2-3 mils thick) are rolled up, with a porous separator be- tween them, This is saturated with the electrolyte in a paste form. The roll is 58 RADIO-ELECTRONICS © FEBRUARY 1972 ALUMINUM, PLATES + 5 oxi _ THIN Gauze ‘SATURATED WITH ELECTROLYTE FIG. 2~BASIC CONSTRUCTION of al cry alec wale capacitors follows tie pattern. ‘there fare two sheet of aluminum fall wih between ther. The sandwich le then rolled Up 1 form the capacitor. Sealed into aluminum cans. One end of th an hasan insulator with a temine whichis the positive pate. except in specialy-built units (Fig. 2) The fist dry electroiyies used smooth fois They got what was then an amazing amount of capacitance into a Nery small can. Manufacturers kept Tooking for ways to nereatecapaitance without increasing size and they found it The surface area ofthe plates dete mined the capacitance. So the surface of the plates was etched enough to make lt rough (Fig 3). The roughness increased the effective surface area and the ca- pactance increased Making an electrolytic ‘Assembling an elecoyticcapac- tor ia fascinating proces Two sets of perfectly clean aluminum fi, with the saturated separator between, are rolled up to forms cylinder ‘The sheets ae usbaly oftt slighty and alt him tabs are spot welded to each foi for the connections (Fig. 4) This + Sembly acted ino the can and the tabs afe welded tothe terminals In tis condition the thing would have certain amount of capacitance, Butt would be small andthe feakage would be high You could s8) that is tot 3 capacitor, yet “Tormake an slecrolytc out oft a de forming voltage. is applica, The forming voltage determines the working voltage of the finished capacior The positive vollage fs connected tothe inThe modern electrolytic capacitor is not the simple device it seems. Take a look at how it is made and how it may fail. ELECTROLYTE TN GAUZE poate ~ FIG. 3-ETCHING THE SURFACE of the alumi- ‘hum sheets that form the platen ofthe "dry" lective capacitor In affect, Increased the ‘rtace area of these ples. This, In tur, lv ‘eases the capactonce, permiting 8 Targer ‘elue capachor inthe same size cave, A simple Dat epective lechnlgue. sulated terminal, the + terminal of the ‘capacitor. This causes the oxide layer 10 form on the positive plate. The thick ness of the oxide layer determines the capacitance of the unit, also its safe working voltage. For low-voltage ca- pacitors, a very thin layer is formed, and the capacitance is greater. (Plates spaced closer.) The oxide layer could be suid to be plated on the surface of the positive plate These capacitors, in all standard types, are definitely polarized. The posi- tive terminal must be connected 10 a positive voltage. If they are reversed, the current-flow through the electrolyte will actually dissolve the oxide layer into the electrolyte and the capacitor will conduct de. So you can't use it backwards, ms There are specially built “nonpo- larized” electrolytic for use on ac. But practically all of the ones we find in electronic circuits, though, will be de clectrolytics. Unless they are a special type, the insulated terminal will always bbe positive and the can negative Remember those litle tabs which make the contact; we'll be seeing them later! Leakage current Because of their peculiar construc- tion, all electrolytic capacitors permit some leakage. With the proper polarity, in good grade capacitors, this is very ‘small, We used to have a rule on this; one tenth mill per mike”. (0.1 mA/uF), have the connecting taba located #0 they come ‘ut al oppeate ence of the evsembled Capact- The new models have a leakage much tower than ths. They have Wo! Otherwise, leakage current through 4.000-pF capacitor would be Something like 400 mA. Leakage current is measured. by applying the rated de working voltage to he capacior, and reading the curent ‘ona millammeter. Practically all of the better capacitor testers can make this test Ifthe applied vollage i reversed, a much greater leakage current will ow, find the cipacitor will be destroyed. You can verily this. for yourself with an ohmmeter, Connect the positive tead to the + terminal, andthe negative to the = Youll sce a fay high reist- nce. Reverse the obmimeter leads, and youll see a very low resistance, even ‘ith the very ow voltage applied bythe hovmeter battery. (Very much like the effet you get when checking semi: conductor diode!) Tr the forward leakage current is too high, it wil generate het, inside the festa So if you find a warm or hot tiectrolytic in «power-supply circuit And there is no source of heat near. look out! This one Is probably on the werge of failing! Ifthe leakage curren is high enough it can even cause steam to form, and the pressure wil break the seal and. blow off the. elecroyte Whereupon, the capacitor opens. (In some ofthe older wet ypes steam pres Sure has been known to make the can explode and shoot itself through the top of the cabinet lke a tiny rocket!) by EUGENE CUNNINGHAM High power factor Excessive leakage is part of the cause of one of the most annoying Faults fn an electrolytic eapacitor “high pout factor, I reduces the eapacitanes Only Title Bit, but it sharply reduces the ti tering efciency. As simply as I ean put itt about the same ds connecting good sized cesisor tn series withthe & pacior, ‘Ali good capacitor testers ean mes sure power factor, This is done with « bridge circuit, As a rough rule ot! thumb, units which read higher than hout 15% power factor should be eyed ‘nth deep suspicion! High power-factor Capacitors can cause some of thine tweird reactions I mentioned before Well get to's reliable test for this in minute What are they used for? ‘What do we do with electrolytics? Everything. Their principal use in the early sets was power-supply filtering. However, in modern sets, especially solid-state models, you'll find them used ‘as bypass and coupling capacitors too. We need to know what they do, how they do it, and the typical fault-reac- tions we see when they aren't doing it. Power-supply filtering In all ac-powered equipment, the basic power supply is the 117-voit ae line. This is stepped up or down to the proper voliage, rectified, and must then be filtered to “pure de® If you're Brit- FEBRUARY 1972 ® RADIO-ELECTRONICS 59ALL ABOUT ELECTROLYTICS “smoothing” The basic cir practically all ters isin Fig. 5. It works because of the useful propery of capacitor to pas a¢ and Block ae “The recier output of all power supplies includes ripple. This b the Sinewave of ac that we fed there fer~actually a “pulsating de” asin Fi Sir we think of ths ae with an component” it may be easier. Our iter Siren works something like the di fram of Fig. 6 "The a€ component is passed 10 around through the fist and Second A {Er capacitors while the de component goes on through the choke. We come fut of the ltr with fairly Good de, “This isa “retin Alter”=s0- named because it foks like the Greek Teer. Here, C1 is the input iter and rte ouput ster. Remember thee names, They'll come up later on. Each tne has a diferent faultreacion to help {find the trouble Dc power supply troubles Rule one: The one cireuit in a set that is common to all ofthe others is the de power supply. Any faults in it will show up in all stages. Here's the second one: The resis- tance of the de power supply, as mea- sured to ground with an ohmmeter, ‘must be very high. The impedance of the de power supply must be absolurely zero, oF very close to it. If the de resistance is 100 low, the circuit draws too much leakage current and the transformer gets hot, the recti- fiers blow, etc. This kind of problem can usually be solved with an ohmmeter, and/or a voltmeter. Low resistance here is usually caused by shorted or leaky electrolytic or paper capacitors. To find the cause, look for the last resistor in the string that’s too hot, and then find the shorted capacitor on the load side of it! How do we make the impedance of the de power supply so low? With big electrolytic capacitors connected from the de supply lines directly t0 a com- ‘mon ground. All of these capacitors can bbe considered as being connected in parallel scros the de supply lines So their capactances add. Four 8p car pacitor ves usa total of 320 ph. Why is this such a big deal? We need pute defor the power supply, of Cours, but this is not the only tnpor tant funtion af these capacitors. They are aso bypases Here's a very impor. tant fact: remember i The de power Supply ats as a common ground earn For every signal handling wage nthe st! See Fe The de power supply is fed up the lines 10 operate the avpifers. In all ampliers, the. signal is developed pedance”. Alter the Signal has passed through this imped: ance, and done is work, we have w get Tid of i It must be bypassed quickly to round ‘Since the only way we can do this is to bypass it to ground through a big ca pacitor, here's where those. big lee Troytics inthe de power supply come in handy. As you cat seein Fig 7, the t- lal impedance of the power supply to ground, at all fequenties from 60 Haz fn up, must be at close to absolutely zo swe can make ft Signalrturn urrens from every stage in he set ow through i 60/130-HE. ripple, 60-e vertical sweep, 18.730-He_ horizontal Sweep, video, audio, color, ete. You name it, we've got it in there some: where. ® TE you have zero impedance to round, no matter how many currents You have Rowing through it Jou won't Sevelop very much voltage dtp across ie And thats what we must have, What would happen if we didn’? Whatifwe had what some of the books call non-zero impedance 10 grownd? In other words ont of our electrolytic ca pactors has opened, or lost apacitance, nd asa resul, the impedance of our de power supply is now greater than ze. Row we have some resistance in our re turn circuit In Fig 7, we had zero, 50 ‘chad 270 voltage drop across. Now wwe have something like Fig. 8 We have 2 resistance in series wih or sins cor rents and we do have a vollage drop seros 60 RADIO-ELECTRONICS © FEBRUARY 1972 ode wl e {GOES TO GROUND through the A- lore. De goes on through te creut. Now we've got signals ofall kinds towing bok and forikon our de power supply lines. Since the de power Sapply istemmon to all ages, some of these ae going 10 be fed back ino other Stage. What does feedback case, with the right phase? Yes sir! Ossilaion CIncdentally, it can also modulate the other signal ‘Notice that we did't even bother to label each stage in Fig 8 makes no dierence at all which sage is feedin tack Into which in all ass this causes trouble (and that sare with “T= and thymes With “E" and at sands for clecrobytcs!) can make a fir sate tent here: counting all the cases of this type of trouble that have ever run into, A eat 99% of them have been caused by faulty electrolytic. Spottontely thee are several ways to pin down this problem: One requires only the weltcalibrated eyeball andthe cer ell foran irstrument that should te ued in all service shops. This one gives you an infalible tet or this, Wel etto them very soon, Symptom analysis Right now let's warm up by talking about one of the most important things in all kinds of electronics repair work — the analysis. Diagnosing the cause of a fault is the hard part. The actual repair takes very litle time. So if you learn to recognize the usually obvious symptoms of electrolytic capacitor faulis, it can speed your work tremendously. The failure of an electrolytic ca- pacitor in any kind of circuit will give you a definite indication. If its shoried, this is easy. Up the ohmmeter and at “em. In the simple half-wave or full- wave power supply, an open capacitor in the filter input will make the de volt- age drop to about #4 ofits normal value oF less (C1 in Fig. 6). ‘So if we find the dc supply voltage is low, and the rectifiers, etc. alin good shape, and no obvious overloads or hot resistors, etc.—the fist thing to look for is an open input fiker capacitor, You can check frit by simpy bridgng a ‘good capacitor across the input filer. If‘ace- aoc. | | avoio RF-LF vino | ee(acTUALLy 2) oc bwe Y= SOME VOLTAGE ($1) 2c. be " Gent sum sora (CAPACITANCE IN be POWER SUPPLY FIG. 7-0C POWER SUPPLY clrcult for any set. eetum path Tor al the de voltage jumps back to normal, you've found the trouble. Needless 10 Say, this applies to tube circuits only. Don’t do this in transistor circuits with power on, The resulting surge can dam- age transistors. Audio problems in al audio amples oxilation is atcommon sympion of electrolyte fi re, Tis usually caused by a unit that hat opened or developed 8 high power Factor asa result there i feedback pau through the power supply, and {fray we go. This kind of olan can be anything from a high-pitched squeal to a very lowtiequency plop. Bop Sound, which wsed ioe ealled mowr boating Once again, an open capaci is a fault 50 you can ridge good one eros anj suspected uit and sees Slope the wouble- Remember, ony in {ute sets withthe power on. Tarn the power of in solisiate se before Beiaglog and back om only withthe Bridge Capacitor in place Follow the Sime pover of protedure to femove the bldg capacitor By the way ths kindof rouble can develop even in batery powered ampli fers adios, et The base eause is tbe Same now sero impedance o ground in the powcr supply. Yul find 4 good. Shed clecojue. capacitor connected ros the de supply eso hold ths impedance tothe lowes posible level Same basic symptoms; oteilation, ete AAweak battery can ease similar symp. toms so check the battery in Ballery powered sts fat Black & white TV set troubles ‘You can have the same kind of wwer-supply troubles in black & white Petes Die elges tow! ooclatin it audio, and 50 on. Now you can see Some of the symptoms, though, In seis wrth a full-wave tecifer, an open input filer eapacitor can allow the ripple 10 reach high levels, and reduce the de Wollage as well, So you get a symptom looking something like Fig. 9 Note the BASIC CHARACTER- FIG, ¢-SAME SIGNAL-RETURN path a8 In Fig Tibul nom we have non-zero‘impedance, and Took at that mess of feedback path. ISTICS: raster reduced in width; two dark shum-bars" showing on the raster, tnd the edges of the raster pulled in You see to hum-bars because the Base Tippe frequency an fullwave de sup pss [20 Hes andthe verteal sweep Bolte I thi set had a ball-wave ret fee in the de supply, the nipple. Ie- quency would be 80 He, and Jou'd see Sly one hub “This is one ofthe very few places where you ean Be Ted up the garden path bythe symptoms, A heater-cath- Ee shor in any tube with eathode re Sitor ean cause the same single-hur- bar symptom. Even the rf ample can fo ic (Our infalibe tester wil catch this, wait oat a mine!) All TV sets Remember the multiple feedback paths shown in Fig. 8? Here is our MVS. (Most Valuable Symptom). Any fault in this common-ground-return path will cause multiple symptoms. So if you see any TV set with several diflerent symp- toms all at the same time, look for a bad filter capacitor! Almost certainly open, or high power-Factor. ‘Why is this? Because, by the nature of things, other part-failures in TV’ cir- cuits will aflect only one thing: video, audio, sweep, etc. Dead tube, open sistor, shorted paper capacitor, etc. Sets which have muluple symptoms are al- most certain to have @ common cause, land here we are again; the de power supply and its electeolytics. This does not refer to something like a “no raster" complaint, that could bea shorted rectitie, fuse, ete. IT'you do FIG, $-DOUBLE HUM BARS, bending of edges ‘aster, narrow raster—all symptom of eee have a raster, but (or a pial € Enple) you have very poor horizon and verteal syne, bending. shading of the picture, steared color oscillations visible in the picture, and 40 00, g0 Stuight forthe de power supply and Start checking eectealycs, De voltages In thse cases will ofr very ile help You need the Infallible Test In: strument, 1 told you we'd get The infallible Test Instrument The best test for any kind of elec- tonic equipment ig actual operation in the circuit where i's supposed to work. If we can get an accurate reading on hhow well the thing is working, without having to take it out for an external test, this is far more useful (and a heck of a lot faster), The capacitor-tester is very useful, necessary, and you should have fone, There will be times when you need it, for reading leakage, capacitance, power-factor, ete However, you have one instrument ‘on your bench that is a simple, fast. and ‘absoluely infallible indicator of this kind of trouble. It is the oscilloscope. With one quick jab of the probe, you can tell whether any electrolytic capaci tor is doing what is supposed to—in- cireuit and in operation. How-come? What? Well, go back a few paragraphs, and see what 1 said about what an electrolytic capacitor is ‘Supposed to do. fs supposed to remove all signals from the dc power supply lines. So to find out if it is doing the job, just touch the scope-probe to the t nal of any electrolytic capacitor: if you see anything, there's a bad (open) ca pacitor in there! The scope responds ‘only to ac signals! (In this ease: you can tse a de scope, but put a blocking ca pacitor in series, making it an ae scope), Ifwe see any ac Roating around on the de supply lines. we have trouble The impedance of the power supply should be s0 low that you should never be able to see any signal; just a nice straight line. You do not have to cali- bate the scope, or set the sweep to any particular frequency! Just set the vert ‘(continued on page &4) FEBRUARY 1972 © RADIO-ELECTRONICS 61————_—_———_—_— Practice what | preach! Keep your scope handy, use it wisely. It’s a friend that will never let you down JACK DARA SERVICE EDITOR ‘This column is for your service problems—TV, radio, audio or gen- eral and industrial ‘electronics. answer all que ‘mail, free of charge, and teresting ones will be printed here. If you're really stuck, write us ‘We'll do our best to help you. Don't forget to enclose stamped, self-ad- dressed envelope. Write: Service Edi- tor, Radio-Eleetronies, 200 South, New York 10003. Park Ave. R-E’s Service Clinic [AT REGULAR INTERVALS 1 EMBARRASS myself by NOT doing what I keep tell- ing others to do! A really good example ‘of “Don't do as I do, do as I say!” There is one redeeming feature, though. I get to write up my mistakes and sell 'em, ‘much to the envy of some friends. Here- ‘with, the history of one of these. ‘The victim was an RCA CTC-38 color set. It had some dandy symptoms (all intermittent, of course): Horizontal pull, loss of syne, color smear, and a few ‘more. It was brought in by a friend who had been working on it for a couple of days. He claimed that it acted up at hhome, but sat on his bench and played perfectly. (Normal, huh?) So, we set it ‘up, hooked it to the test jig, and started He was right; it did play very well. Voltage checks showed nothing un- usual; the age tube plate showed a nor- mal reaction with and without signal However, the age control showed a rather odd effect. Instead of going smoothly from whiteout to blackout, it had a sort of “hump in the middle” kind of action. Age voltages seemed to be very close. I tried to override the age voltage with my bias box, without suc- cess, Checking the schematic showed why: my old box went only to 20 volts, and this one needed considerably more than that. So, “Oh, well. We'll do with- ‘out it.” (Mistake No. 1) ‘At about this point in the proceed- ings, [accidentally found that the thing was mechanically intermittent. You could push on the botiom of the PC board, at certain places, and make the symptoms appear and disappear. Oh, ho! This is going to be easy. Cold solder joint. After about 15 to 20 minutes of pushing, tapping, bending and ham- ering on it, I decided that it was not going to be all that easy. Everything | Touched made it cut in and out! AA close visual examination of the bottom of the PC board showed no ob- us bad solder joints. So, I got down the shotgun; I resoldered all of the Joints in the area that seemed to be the ‘most sensitive. This helped—just as much as anything I'd done so far—or, not at all, Quite a few fruitless voltage mea- surements and hammer-tests later. I fi- 62 RADIO-ELECTRONICS @ FEBRUARY 1972 nally did what 1 should have, long be- fore this | got out the scope. Nothing in the way of excess ripple on the de volt- age supply lines; symptoms in or out Keying pulse on age tube plate clean, plenty of amplitude. So, there went that ‘one. Signal on age tube grid, woops! Here's something that isn't right! All bent up and badly distorted, Back to the video detector output; signal there OK when board was pushed down, very badly distorted when board pushed up to make the symptom show up. Ah, ha! This trouble is NOT in the syne, etc. where I'd been looking for it. I's farther back, in the if or tuner. (At this point, Iam now begin- ning to show signs of having a normal mentality.) Changing to the crystal-detector probe, I followed the through the if, to the Ist Hmm, Signal clean at that point, di- torted when board. pushed. ‘Foner trouble? No. Oh, ob. What contofs the ET The age. So, how about the age Tine? (Right at this point, Tm looking prety good. About time, io) Going back to the lowseap probe, 1 scoped the age line. Oh, wow! With the symptoms out clean, With the symptom inthe dangedest mes of stuf you ever sw. The scope photo shows what this patter looked lke. This i just « ile Sut ofthe ordinary! The age ine should have nothing but pure de on ic Not this mess of honzontal and vertical pulses, Btabout 50 volts pep ‘After | stopped hiking myself on the head with the rubber hammer kept fn the bench for this purpose the teal ature of the trouble dawned on me ‘There are all sons of pulses and thingsTits IS WHAT THE BRAIN found on the age Tine, whan lt wont looking for W 0 vas -p of sorted mess, on he 11. age! fon the age line. at its “beginning”. What paris are used 10 take them out? Bypass Capacitors. (Boy! How complicated can you ge?) What would happen if one of these bypass capacitors was open? I'd have exactly the same kind of mess on the age Tine that | had just seen. Ergo. the intermittent that | had been fruitessly chasing for so long was now identified. I was one of the three age bypass capacitors. Had 10 be. (Now. you're beginning to think.) Locating these capacitors, and checking them carefully showed that C251. 4-001-HF eapacitor directly con: nected to the emitter of the age transis- tor, had a VERY bad ground con- nection, This joint just happened to be lunder a couple of wires on the bottom fof the PC board. and I hadn't seen it When it opened, being right on the age input to the if, it allowed all of those | pulses to be applied 10 the if, bases ‘There, they caused the mother and fa- ther of all feedbacks, and I got all of those different symptoms at the same The moral of this is very simple When I stopped using my muscles— pushing and hammering on the board. and began using my head—to make a logical analysis of the symptoms, 1 could trace the fault back through the circuits 10 the point where it began ‘Then, everything cleared up in a hurry! Total elapsed time, using second me- thod, not more than 10 minutes: time wasted using first method, about (wo hours, So, STOP and THINK. You KNOW how these things work and ‘what causes certain reactions”. If you'll make a few logical tests, and then inter- pret the results correctly. you'll get along a lot better, and be embarrassed less frequently! RE Reader Questions NOT ENOUGH HIGH-VOLTAGE T've problems with a Zenith 25NC38. The high-voltage rectifier tube gets red hot and I can only read about 9-10 kV of high voltage. Afier some fiddling around, pulled the cap off the 6BK4 high-voltage ‘regulator: the high voltage shot up to 30 AV, and the high-voltage rectifier tube cooled off Voltage om grid and cathode of the 6BK4 reads +290 volts. Boost voltage reads +600 vols. I've checked everything can think of inthe 6BK4 circuit, no re- sults, Where is it?—J.L., Elizabeth, N.J. You're there, keep looking! The fact that you can get up to 30 kV with | | a ie em AD ae he tans we | | & Se mes A Frau: $8 feo | £ | ed \ B&K Precision new 1460 Triggered Sweep Scope the regulator tube out of the circuit. and only I0 kV with it in proves one thing. ‘That regulator tube is drawing a heck of 4 lot more current than i's supposed to. (it doesn't take much, either with a plate voltage of 25,000 volts. Check the ‘maximum rated current of a 6BKS in the tube manual. It'sa whopping big 1.5 mA!) ‘You have the key voltage reading you suid that bork grid and eathode of the 6BK4 were at +290 volts. If you read this from cathode to grid, you'd notice that the tube actually has zero- bias on it! Same voltage on grid and ceathode, Going back to the tube-man- {continued on page 68) ?, Bak 7 precision Model 1480 Triggered sweep Scope 's399.95 The one that's been worth waiting for. ‘You won't belleve how essy It Is to sync TV-V and THH sig Trouble shooting complex TV cir- cuite takes enough time without hi Ing to fiddle with dials and controls to adjust to the proper wave form. ‘That's why the new B&K Triggered ‘Sweep Scope features the TV-H and ‘TVA positions. These are the two new positions youve always needed for Quick one-knob_ selection of horizon- {al or vertical TV. signals, Exclusive Syne separator circuit. No comp! ated and. timesconsuming adjust- ments. lust fick.a single, knob. Fully “‘automatic triggered sweep lets you view the entire complex TV ‘signal or any part of it Including the VATS. (vertical Interval test. signal) ls until you've actual tried 1. {And the “back porch” of the horizon. tal syne pulse, with color burst in- formation’ All Tocked in rock steady. ‘Al solid state with 6 FETS, Runs coolest. Vertical ‘sensitivity (10mv/ fem) and writing speed of 0.1 micro- Second/em (using 9X multiplier). Fear {ures usually found in expensive lab Scopes. Complete with direct/10 to t probe. 19 sweep speeds and 11 volt- [age calibrated ranges, OC to 10 MH. Pinpoint your probloms quickly and accurately with the new 1480 Trig- gered Sweap Scope. The only thing YYou'l have to adjust to is having more time on your hands, Ask your dis- tebutor of write for our free catalog, There is a difference in test equipment—ours works! Product of DYNASCAN CORPORATION ‘Circle IS on reader service card FEBRUARY 1972, ® RADIO-ELECTRONICS 63.mother-in. Does yourlaw call you a meatball? Does your boss? ‘Maybe even your wife? On payday. | Know what? If you have read this far, you are not meatball material. Because meatballs don’t face the present, the furure, the facts. They stay put. Dream- ing and talking. And today, more than ever staying put means falling behind.’ Pretty tragic in a time when people with specific aptitudes are so necessary in so many interesting fields, ‘Today huge industries depend on people with elec- tronics training. ‘Today there is a course of action that may lead you toward these weil-paying, vital positions. It is RCA Insticutes RCA Institutes is not for meatballs. RCA Institutes trains you for the fields where the action is: Computers * Color TV + Automation » Communi- cations + Industrial Electronics * And more. RCA Institutes not only has years of experience, it has an exclusive line-up of tested methods: 1. Hands-On Training Over 250 interesting experiments. As many as 22 kits wich some of the programs. 2. 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Acredieed Member National Home Seuly Cone RCA Toss, Ince cena band is courses of ody and {auction facies approved by—the N.Y. Stace Education Department. RGA institutes - 1 Home Seudy Department 758-202.0 ! 320'W. 31 Street, New York,N.Y.10001 Please rush me FREE illustrated electronics. | | | | I | | I career catalog. 1 understand that I am under ‘no obligation. NAME ADDRESS city STATE. ZIP. ‘Veterans check here | nae FEBRUARY 1972 © RADIO-ELECTRONICS 67READER QUESTION (continued from page 63) ual again, at zero bias, the tube draws a fat 28 mA. or more than double the maximum rated plate current ‘Normal bias on this tube must be about «15 volts. This holds the current down to not more than 1.0 mA. In ac- tual operation, this is set by the two re- sistors in the grid circuit, 1.0 megohm variable (Hv ADJUST) and the fixed 1.5 ‘megohm to ground. This goes back to the boost voltage through a 2-megohm resistor, The cathode is fixed at B+ voltage through the 1000-ohm resistor to the damper plate Normal operation should be at about a -15 volis, or less than 1.0 ma, ‘current with the pix tube sereen dark, Check these resistors. One of them may be off: or CII3, the .022KF may be shorted, RASTER RIPPLE, RAINGOW BARS T've a bad 120-H ripple inthe raster of this Motorola 918 color chassis. Two ‘rorizontal bars, about an inch wide, roll slowly up through the picture. At the point where the bar is at any moment, there's a color rainbow! Follows the bar up. The sides of the raster pullin and wrinkle, and this too follows the bars. The silly part is that it does not do this on my test jig! AU filter capacitors, which 1 suspected at first, check perfectly ‘b00d and the picture is clear; no ripple at ‘all 1 smell a resistor burning somewhere, but T haven't found it yet.—R.G., Cove, Ark. When you took the chassis out of the cabinei, you “moved” everything Power TRAN, +375 vecayssing — '6HF| PRI HEAgER that could normally cause this, with one exception. The degaussing coil. I'm pretty sure that you'll find the thermal switch either open or burned up so that it doesn’t make contact (See diagram). In normal operation this switch is open at tenon leaving the degaussing coil inthe circuit Ita ny shermal Switch with a heating clement in the filament crit. t should close afer Shor time, shorting the degausser Tt doesn't the coil is et insite ands carrying het ippe pulse and quite bit of de. Tis cating the 120-He bars and the rainbows ‘There is 2. 2260hm 2-watt resistor connected scross the degausing coil ison the Font of the chassis atthe de, sing col pug. the set seperated With the degassing col unplugged the B+ circuits completed through his re Sistor which shosld be shored by the thermal witch Ifthe switch isopod, the ressor cars all the current and baths Up. Thats the one you's smeling Rez place the thermal switch and cheek the foil It may have been heated up and Shontea REPLACEMENT SWITCH The on-off switch on this RCA KCS- 160 is damaged. I'd lke to replace it with ‘one of the push-pull types. Don't find a Mstng for a replacementI-F, Media, This is a special, dual switch (see diagram), $1 is the regular on-off switch in the ac input. However, 82 is a com- pletely separate switch. It is connected ‘o the umgrounded end of the brightness control and to a + 110-volt de source at The FM-2400CH provides an accurate frequency standar testing and. adjustment of mobile transmitters and receivers at pre- determined frequencies. INTERNATIONAL Frequency me e f FM-2400CH ‘Tests Predetermined Frequencies 25 to 1000 MHz Extended Range Covers 950 MHz Band Signal Gene Pin Diode Attenuator for Full Range Coverage ‘The FM-2400CH with its extended range covers 25 to 1000 MHz. The frequencies Can bo those of the radio frequency channels ‘Of operation and/or the intermediate tre FM-24000H uencies of the receiver between 5 MHz and i om $508.00 foun. ature correction) 24.00 a. Frequency Stability: = .0005% from +50° to + 104°. cata (as ei ‘ature correction IF crystals. 18.0003, ‘atalog price with pullin thermometer ted charts: = -00025% from +25° to +125* (.000125% special 450 | Miz crystals avaiable. Settcontained in small portable case. Complete solid state circultry. Rechargeable batteries. WRITE FOR CATALOG! INTERNATIONAL (Circle 16 on reader service card 68 RADIO-ELECTRONICS © FEBRUARY 1972the 22JF6 sercen grid. This is a “spotckiller” switch; it turns on_when the ac line switch is turned off This puts the + 110 volts de fon the brighiness control and the pic- ture tube cathode, thus discharging the hy quickly and killing the spot 'As far as | know, no one makes an asoun crow (ae eo = out WY aro apa 23x | S240 aes core. Bor Lo pntitess | oO. Bite fi Eten eon ou/ =a COREE wearens . i rectiien aorr wk om exact duplicate. RCA part number is 119191, In an emergency, you can use any stock l-megohm volume contro! with an spat switch and leave the spot- Killer circuit open. With an aluminized picture tube it doesn't do much good anyhow! APPLIANCE CLINIC (continued from page 24) aan open, If C1 is shorted, you won't be fable fo get enough gate voltage on the Wigger diode. So, the thing would stay off at all times. C1 was open or leaky. the chances are that it would either re fuse to work or operate erratically. If i ther the tigger diode or the T shorts, the light will stay on all the time (I'm not sure, but T believe that shorted trigger diode would destroy the ‘Triac, from breakdown due to excessive gate voliage. Depends on the resistance after the short.” ‘The photocell causes little trouble Mf you suspect it, check it with an ohmmeter. Dark, it should have a very high resistance. Shine a flashlight on it and the resistance should go away down, If it'll do this, i's OK. This particular Triac and several ‘others in the same series are built in a TO-5 transistor case. Looks like a tran sistor but isn’t. Cheek the number in any good Transistor Guide 10 make SACK DARR SERVICE EDITOR Save money and improve car performance at the same time. | “Maintenance costs go down and performance increases when you put a Delta Mark Ten Capacitive Discharge Ignition System an your car. For eight years we've been telling you about the tremendous advantages of CDI systems, We've promised and delivered better performance for cars, oats and trucks. Hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers testify to that fact, However during these eight years, we've been asked over and over again, it CDI systems are so great, Why doesn't Detroit adopt them?” Ite | taken'a long time, but finally Detroit has recognized the value of the CDI system. Chrysler, long noted for excellence in engineering. is now installing Dis in new cars. Have you seen their ads? Heard their commercials? They're repeating what we've Said for eight years. CD/ systems not only improve performance, but eliminate the need for most tune-ups. It you're not buying | 'new car, but want new car performance, put a Mark Ten or Mark Ten 8 on. your present automobile. If you're purchasing a new car with no CDI system, Install a Mark Ten or Mark Ten B and enjoy the benefits of low maintenance | and increased pertormance. HERE'S WHAT A MARK TEN WILL DO FOR YO Mark Ten and Mark Ten B — up to 20% increase in gasoline mileage (Eliminates 3 out of 4 tune-ups (1 Installs in only 10 minutes — Spark plugs last 3to 10 times longer (Dramatic increase in performance () Pro- motes more complete combustion C Instant starts in all weather. Mark Ten B—Improves combustion, reducing contaminants 1) Handy switch with redundant contacts for instant return to standard ignition (Applicable | To ANY 12'volt negative ground engine (! Eliminates starting and idle prob- lems © Longer spark duration during cranking and idling Mark Ten (Assembled) $44.95 ppd | | mark Ten(Deitax) $29.95 | Ca¥ DELTA PRODUCTS, INC. | Kitavalaben 12vottonty, PPO | or sarees” positive ormegative ground | Peas send ne est nasi Mark Ten B $59.95 ppd_| imensnt stems treo {*2voltnegative groundionly) |e se | a on 3 5998 ORDER TODAY! | Sena an Tn samen @ 4488 Superior Products at Sensible Prices ) — Wa seem ae | a | caver" nes vrs Sr | fae | | Cire ze Circle 17 on reader service Card FEBRUARY 1072 ® RADIO-ELECTRONICSnew products More information on new products is available from the manu- facturers of items identified by a Reader Service number. Use the Reader Service Card on page 101 and circle the numbers of the new products on which you would like further information. De- tach and mail the postage-paid card. BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEM, Watchdog, do-it-yourself kit. Low-cost system Is easy to install. Comes with eight-inch diameter bell at is activated by solid state control Circuitry. Three sets of magnetic weather. root switches, on-off key switch, door ord, wood screws, 100 feet of plastic. 8 _ SF ae NO coated wire and illustrated installation ‘drawing are included. Designed to sound local audible alarm to scare off intruders, the system is powered by 12-volt de bat tery. $49.95.~Crime Detection System Inc, P.O. Box 790, Dept. A-89, Pearland, Texas 77581 Circle 31 on reader tervice card MAGNETIC TAPES, UD-c.60, UD.C.90 Blank cassette tapes in sixy- and ninety- minute lengths. Feature wide dynamic range. high output, low-noise character. Isls, These are ferio-oxide coated tapes that are intended to be used in existing cassette recorders without any need for ‘eadjustng the bas setting. Maxell Corp. ‘of America, 501 Fith Ave., New York, N.Y. 40017. Circle 32 on reader service card TRANSISTOR SOCKET for now 8 lead 0-3 case. Molded nylon top water with ‘wo integral .060 high insulating shoulder mountings. Eight spring brass cadmium Blated pin contacts and two steel cad- ‘mium plated mounting 1ugs with 620 formed threads that will accept @ No. 6 metal tapping screw,—Keystone El ‘tonles Corp. 49 Bleecker St. New York, NY. 10012, Circle 33 on reader service card AUDIO AMPLIFIERS, Santen Series S- 10004. A S0-watt hybrid IC for audio am- pilfier applications. Delivers 50 watts into fan Bohm load, Harmonic distortion is (0.5%. An application note showing how to Use the hybrid IC to build a stereo ampil- fier is avatlable.~Alrpax Electron iv, P.O. Box 8488, Fort Lauderdale, Fa, 30310. (Circle 34 on reader service card SPEAKER SYSTEM, LST. designed spe- cifically tor professional applications ae a broadcast and recording monitor or on a medium-power sound reinforcement sys- tem requiting maximum accuracy. Otters ix diferent energy profiles, repeatable at the tum of a switen. Low harmonic ois- tortion: wide dispersion of mirange and high frequencies: multiple —arivers. to handle power levels. significantly higher than speakers for home use. Uses one 12- 70 RADIO-ELECTRONICS @ FEBRUARY 1972 Inch acoustic suspension wooter, four 1!4- Inch midrange hemispherical domes, and four %inch high-trequeney hemispherical domes.—Acoustlc Research, Ine., 24 Thorndike St, Cambridge, Mass. 02441. Circle 38 on reader service card REMOTE CONTROL, Whistle Switch. Wireless ‘sound command device “turns TV. lights, appliances on and off. Plugs: into any 117-volt standard household out- let, then plug any home appliance up to 200 watts capacity into the Whistle Switch, ‘Comes vath both squeeze-buib and mouth whistle fo activate the device. Possible uses include: security device for turning fn lights in dark areas, to a convenience for bedridden or convalescent persons, $14.95.-Signal Sclence, Inc., Box 413, 140 Lowiand St, Holliston, Mass. 01746. Circle 36 on reader service card STEREO MIKER KIT, Prokit SM-6. All plug-in IC's minimize Servicing and trou- bleshooting problems. Kit forms profes ing, and sound reinforcement mixing. Will ‘mix up to six signals simultangousiy. Anyinput can be switched between line oF mi- Crophone function, Inputs § and 6 can be Switched to function as RIAA phono pre- ‘amps. Input 5 Is permanently assigned to futput A input 6 fo Output B. Other four in- puts can be switch-assigned to either out. ut or botn at the same time. Microphone preamps can be switched into ether Mgh- or low-gain mode. Accessory packages fvallable. $229.00 —Gately Electronics, 57 W. Hillerest Ave., Havertown, Pa, 19083. (Circle 37 on reader service card PORTABLE SOLDERING IRON, /so-Ti, Cordless rechargeable ron i designed for hobbyist, service technicians, engineers Construction prevents ac leakage from damaging delicate electronic com ponents. Mimimizes problems caused by high heat transfer, Tip capacity up to 60 joints per charge, reaches soldering tem- erature in five. seconds; performance equivalent up to 50 watts. Uses nickel cad mmium_ batteries. Overnight recharging $19.85.—Wahl Clipper Corp., 2802 Locust St, Stering, I. 61081 Circle 38 on reader sersce card COMPONENT FORMING & MEASURING SYSTEM, ConForm | tits in palm of the hand. Designed to make leads conform proper hole-to-nole. spacing for all axial Teac components while compensating for lead thickness, stress relict loops and MIL. Spec's, Also bends al sizes and shapes of axial lead components for horizontal and Vertical mounting with or without stress re Niet 1oops. Device straightens transistor leads and provides gauging for cutting leads to aut board thickness and lead length requirements. $8.95.—Pace, Inc. 19929 Fraser St, Silver Spring, Md. 20910. Circle 39'on reader serice card PATTERN GENERATOR, mode! LCG-284 A digitalcock binary system assures ‘quality test patterns and ie among the prin- ‘caddy. The LOG-384 provides 8 patterns including the gated rainbow for testing NTSC color sets, It has two push-button Selectable TV channel frequencies, ofers full protection against ambient tempera ture and line voltage changes and is sup- plied witn two battery compartments, car fying ease and strap. The unit weigns 2 Ibs. $109.50.—Leader Instruments Corp., B7-27-27tm St, Leng Island City, NY. ani01 (Crete 40 on reader service card (wees INDOOR TV/EM ANTENNA AMPLIFIERS, Ce eats gna tom sng antenna trong {sv peniite bateries (BV fola) and ac enough lo serve every TV and FM receiver adaptabie, this generator fits info a tool im homes, apariment houses, and motels eo DID YOU KNOW THAT ADEMCO SELLS & STOCKS | 1 0 3 1 DIFFERENT | COMPLETE ALARM SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS FOR THE BURGLAR : ~ ALARM TRADE? ' and offers training in installation k 1 ae technical assistance 1 and offers prompt delivery from stock 1 IF YOU'RE IN THE BURGLAR ALARM BUSINESS OR 4s THINKING OF GETTING INTO IT, YOU SHOULD BE USING s VADEMCO CONTROL INSTRUMENTS? Ademco siocks 70 diferent styles MAGNETIC CONTACTS? Ademco stocks 18 cifferent styles. BELLS? Ademco stocks 23 diferent styles. PLUS PHOTOELECTRIC SYSTEMS, POWER PACKS, FOIL AND HUNDREDS OF OTHER ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS ALARM DEVICE MANUFACTURING CO. 165 Eileen Way, Syosset, LI, N.Y. 11791 Circle 61 on reader service card FEBRUARY 1972 @ RADIO-ELECTRONICS 71The amplifiers feature dual-diode input Circuits protecting them from lighting in- duced voltages at the antenna terminals, Model TA-84 amples all unt, vht and FM ‘ohm unit for use with coaxial cable, and particularly applicable wherever inter ference is a problem, $49.95. TA-246 $31.50. TA-81, $46.50.—Jerrold Elec- signals, provides four 300-ohm outputs tronles Corp,, 401 Wainut “St. Phils from a single 300-ohm input, $40.75. delphia, Pa, 15105, Model TAC-8¢ is similar except itis a 75- Circle 41 on reader service card ADHESIVE, Permabond. industrial ‘strength adneswe for repair and. main- tenance. Liquid requites. no. solvents, catalysts, or heat treatments ang bonds all hard surface materials to themselves and to each other, including rubber, glass, Porcelain, wood, ceramics, metal and ‘most plastics. water and. weatherproot, solvent-free and non-toxic, Permabond is useful to repair autos, cameras, radio and TV cabinets, switehes and knobs, sporting goods, motors. lab apparatus Ys WATT CARBONS. —"@ Btn ee oe BINANZA me 165% Barve yt eS Tee au ae eit Rig = ed ae A) RADIO Ss Mla bag soa hee + | RaBio'e He atgtivme esr captures tom 081 Se — paecision ntsrerors pag tents 60 nigh ohmages. 400 14, 184, 185, 1u4,_1v2, was $1] Joh, as nce ae SES sot ao. 0 — 4BN6, 4827. 40E6, 5x8, 6AC7, 1 WATT CARBON Femme BENS AB 8 a, sfesisFoRs BLoexs SAS oA. ol faa 70 tor $490 ‘Brees tr $900 | S508 Sess Goce sate ee Band, S003 Bows, eve swe, S037, scos, sors, poe, Bote. eon, Bese! Ger. ews, evr, SEW6, SFO? gra” Serr SOME: ie 6M, c6, Ske xa. OT GST. ENT, Be, has 7¥a,acS?. sea. TOBE. "2aas, 1207, 128a6: {287 130re: 12eN6, 12eK6, 1218 Vash ane Hite, L7arti, 2scs, 25cu6, 29085, 2ba. 2506, 3576, 2, 2807 Dane’, 35 eer cta eh Thee te scone tom 2.14 senha wile ve G for $400 1240 $00 WRITE FoR FREE VALUE PACKED TONEY ence comenTEE CATALO mELAYE Tete fotite" ott’ ee | BONUS @ 4 tor 8] Glaie B nine or 20% cepa Since 289 FREE CUT WIRE RIT fr any $5.00 ec ares (Circle 62 on reader service card Oneida Electronic Mig. Co, 843 N. Cot tage St, Meadvile, Pa. 16335 Circle #2 on reader service card RATCHET SCREWDRIVER SET, Paim- Grip. Change drivers in te common handle of this screwdriver set which ‘comes with two sizes of Sot drivers, two sizes of Philips drivers, and 10 sizes ot . Hex drivers. in. standard increments Hanoy, durable pouch included —J. Mis Too! &'Mig. Co, Inc., 144 South 27m St Phoonix, Ariz. 85034 CCitele 4 on reader service card EMERGENCY MONITOR, C8-9, Monitors emergency channel 9 or any alternate hannet, Full receiver with squeleh and volume control sensitivity 0.5 iW. Crystal supplied for monitoring channel 8; any other channel or Citizen or busines band between ae 25 and 30 MHz may be monitoried on alter fate swith by adding plug-in ental for ap. Propriate frequency. ‘$3995 PACE Div, Pathcom inc, 2409S. Frampton Ave Harbor City, Cali, 90710, Circle 44 on reader service card OSCILLOSCOPE, model 559°. 5” CRT has all solid-state circuitry. dual-trace tg- {er scope is suited Yor measurement and waveform monitoring applications. With two identical channel operations, the SS3P Contains a vertical citferential de amplitier that produces a bandwidth of de to 10 MHz. with a voltage accuracy of = 3% The system displays either channel sepa-rately, alternates between channels, or ‘choppers between channels, $598.0 Kikusul Electronics Corp., 200 ‘Avenue, New York, RLY. 10017. Circle $8 on reader service card DUP, SOCKETS. Fourteen contact O.1P. sockets designed with a low profile of 0218 In. to provide high-density pack: aging. Large tapered entry channels aid IC insertion and reduce lead damage. Dual- Feat wiping contacts, accepting round or flat leads, insure low contact resistance fang high relabilty. Body design features ‘mounting points for hexagon bolts or nuts, {and standotts provide an air gap between Socket and board.—Vero Electronics, Inc. 171 Bridge Road, Hauppauge, N.Y. 11787. Circle 6 on reader service card ‘SPEAKER LINE TESTER, model LTS-1, is 4 selt-contained ac powered direct read: ing instrument designed to determine the wattage requirement of any 25- oF 7O-volt Speaker line up to 200 watts, the wattage ‘drawn by 2 speaker with a 25- oF 7O-alt - ll transtormer, and the impedance of a speaker voice coll. It tests speaker lines, beaker with transformer, and the speaker voice coils for shorts and opens. $34.75.— Trutone Electronics, Ine., 14860 Raymer St, Van Nuys, Calif. 91405, RE ‘Circle 47 on reader service card new literature All booklets, catalogs, charts, data sheets and other literature listed here with a Reader Service number are free for the asking. Turn to the Reader Service card on page 101 and circle the num- bers of the items you want. Then mail the postage-paid card. ELECTRONIC CHEMICALS CATALOG, No F172 Among the prodvets described are tuner {Iprays creat eocters, insulating sprays, bre ‘ants iapeead and record cleaners, gues and ‘cements, solr. and spray pants. The T2-page Etlalg is complete win descriptions. applica: tions, tates and pacing for all products ‘Chemtonien ne. 1260 Palph Ave. Brook, Nov 1236, Circle 48 on reader service card WORN LITERATURE, Mode! AH500 formation on an indoor and. outdoor radial hom for use in stadiums, audterms, tans: Donation terminals and industrial plants Is now [vaiabie. scenes the weatherproot hom de ‘Signed for igh Itensty auc Inthe mate and EASY 10 ASSEMBLE A SCHOBER ORGAN! SOSRERER GOs Ds ae conta You cout’ touch an gn he tsi 2 store for less than $4,000 —and there never as been an eletone stunt with hs vst varity of tenie pe Oreenwoees tht You ean ad tan hang anytime ou he! youve reamed of the sound of a rg ie orn I our on home f you lakng fran gn for your church, youl be mare ied ana happy with Schober Rectal Oran than you old possiiymagie ~ Kt ot wo You can learn oly tad alse, fulfaciy instrument eater leaner than ny cutdown hone" mode And Jau can bul from Seber Kis, wed famous for ete of asony without te Sigiesthnoledge of tectonic om Sie Tor eign and parts aul trom the CONNECTOR & SWITCH CATALOG, No. 7M. 24 pages in ful ear, Hustrating IC ‘minal sockets connectors an terminal. relay Soexets, phono sockets, ghied pusndutton Smitenes, and varous took for hand and po” Suction assembly and extraction of com onen(s.-Waldom Electronics, Inc, 4625 W. Sbra'St, Creag, Ml 60832 Circle $0 on reader service card SCIENCE & OPTICS, Cofaiog No. 721. 4.000 {Unusual tems. for hobbyists. experimenters ratt enthusasta. students, gardeners” and ‘workshop buts, Fulyilustratod book ets tots, ‘equipment Edmund Selene Co, Upper range ofthe specirom.—allas Sound, 10 Pomaroy Road, Parsippany. N.. O70S4 score Bldg. Sarington, NJ, 08007. RAE Circle $9 on reer service card (Circle SI on reader service card I's RECITAL $1850 ‘round up, and— above all— for the highest praise from musicians everywhere.” ‘Send right nw forthe full-color Schober cata: log, containing specifications of all ive Schob Organ models, beginning at $499.50. No charge, no obligation. If you like music, you owe yourself a Schober Orgar ne Sehober oresn corp, Dep 5.99 153 West 6tat Street, New York N-¥. 10023 Pos send me Scher Oa Caton and Enclosed peas find $1.00 fr 124neh LP. a ie {ord ot Shobe Organ me ADDRESS. Circle 63 on reader vervice card FEBRUARY 1972 ® RADIO-ELECTRONICS 73Troubleshooter The coldest circuit cooler. Cools to 50°F and leaves no liquid residue. Isolates. and_ pinpoints thermal intermittents, Saves hours of probing and testing. A ‘must for every serviceman, Preferred by Professionals CHEMTRONICS INC. 1260 Ralph Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. 11286 Circe 64 on reader service card Unusual tools, hard- to-find items. tools of all Kinds precision instruments % essential shop items io convenient one-stop shopping | from your desk. nal Camera 1, Colorado, 80110 Circle 05 00 reader servi by BYRON G. WELS tape recorder. You took it home, showed it to the family, and let them all take turns making recordings. You smiled as they heard their own voices coming back to them, and then you put the recorder away, Now we're going to try to inter- est you in using that tape recorder fonce again, and maybe make you jake it out and try a few new usetul and/or amusing litte applications Who knows? You might even leave it ‘out this time! Play a musical instrument? I s0, you can have a ball with a tape recorder. To begin wi need a pickup microphone, from most mail-order hous erything from accordions ani through harmonicas and saxophones! Connect an appropriate unit to your instrument, plug it into the tape re- corder, and you're all set. Record the melody on track one, playing. it straight. Then, using sound-on-sound, 74 RADIOELECTAONIGS «FEBRUARY 1972 |more ways to use /your tape recorder record a harmony line or chord ac- companiment on track two. Using sound-on-sourd, put both voices on track one, and then add another voice ‘TAPE-RECORDER FUN can be Istening to wat lNerpeormance we taping ound on ounpicee of ac line cord to recorder, and sit back and enjoy the wwith this, using my guitar, After fe- euch post, and connect the other end show with your guests! mmeloxly and a chord accom- of the cord to the slide projector's re paniment, ry slowing the machine 10 mote switch socket, Now arrange “Hello. Wi. Who's this? . « 3%-inch speed, and record 3 in octave lower, on a screen. Record your comments probably very well aware of it. You We first track, at the (maybe even some background musie telephone a friend, and he | says, to track two. I've had a lot of fun Connect emolo your slides, and project the first one You've heard the bit, and are speed. Tt comes out sounding and sound effects) on the tape. When “Hello”. Then you say, “Hello”. He Tike mandolin, and the total effect is you're finished, apply a bit of alunsi- says. “Who's this”, and so it goes. Get fstounding. You don't play a musical num sensing tape to the buck of the a telephone pickup and connect it 10 instrument? Try using your own recording tape. When the sensi your phone and tape recorder. Start voice, monitoring track one with ear- tape shorts the two posts, the projec- recording ull your telephone conver ick two, {OF will switch to the next slide sations. “After each onc, play them You can ‘Next time you have people over, back. You aren’t trying to “bug” any he slide projector into the tape body—you're trying to learn how to phones while you ret and sing a harmony yourself sound like a choral plug 4. eddy Intderesstink. . | without their knowledge, mal ood, long recording of conver tion, ‘Make sure you get los of words of all types. Make the recordi Trips "Then ent the words Carefully place them in envelopes, | adding duplicates as you get_them ‘Then mark the envelope so you know wshat wors are in each, Now you can actually write a seript, and splice the words together so thai, in their own Yoiees, your friends are saying entire- Iy different things. With practice, you ill learn how. to. scleet. inflections Properly too, making the tape much more realistic. JUST OFF THE PRESS!! Ree Ce ee Automatic sound-slide shows Got an automatic slide projec tor? Good! Make a sensing element by attaching two brass standoffs 10 a piece of plastic about 1 inch by 1% inch, and cementing the plastic base to your tape deck so it is in the path of the tape as it goes to the take-up reel. The back of the tape must be in | contact with both posts at all times. LT a a TRY Our Sist Year * Stereo/Hi-Fi Components » Musical Instruments and Amplifiers * Photography Equipment « Ham and CB Gear * Public Address Sys tems Tools and Test Equipment « Educational and Optical Equipment © 'Biack and White/Color Televisions Police and Fire Monitor Receivers * Books and Parts Plus Thousands of Additional Items Send For Your Free Lafayette Catalog Today! Lafayette Radio Electronics, Dept. 17022 P.0. Box 10, Syosset, Ll, N.Y. 11791 end Me the Free Lafayette Catalog 702: LPT UI ey | Name iirc, “oo SCY Per lcm, oy Meee y stte zip (Pieaee include your rip cogs) Circle 6 on reer serice card FEBRUARY 1972 @ RADIO-ELECTRONICS 75 oo-ed AUTOMATIC SLIDE SHOWS are easy when |use a telephone properly. Before long, you'll find yourself making a call, and when the other party says, “Hello”, you'll answer, “This is John ‘Smith; ‘may I speak ‘to Mr. Jones, please?” Your phone efficiency factor will zoom. In fact, you will soon lose patience with people who are not ef- ficient on the telephone, and it won't take long at all ourself language lab Start out with a packet of Sx 7 file cards. Mark them at the bottom so that, with the card resting on your tape deck, a pair of marks on the card will indicate the level of the tape. Now, using rubber cement and a razor blade, apply a strip of re- cording tape at the bottom of each card, When they have all dried, write 4 word in English on each card, Set ‘your machine to RECORD, and feed the card into the head gap, until the cap- stan and capstan idler grab the card and pull it through. As it passes through, speak the same word in the foreign language into the mike. To use this device, look at the card, and try to remember the for: eign’ equivalent for the word. To ccheck yourself, slip it into the head with the machine on PLay, and you'll SOLDERING + bore Rosle RESOLDERING = ndustries demands... ih a COMPLETELY PORTABLE SOLDERING/DESOLOERING/RESOLDERING SYSTEM hear the foreign word coming out the speaker! Record a TV program Maybe you can't record the video portion of a TV program, but there's nothing to stop you from pick- ing off the audio portion! Unfortu- nately, with the relatively poor fidel ity one gets from today’s television set, you'll be better off to slightly modify the television receiver fist. Do this by adding a jack to the back of the chassis and connecting the jack across the volume control. Plug in your tape recorder, and make sure you set the recording level before the Program starts. The quality of filmed Programs is usually pretty poor, but You can do great on live or taped shows, and usually, the sound. is worth saving, too. (Better add block- ing capacitors—about .05 .F, 600 volts) to each side of the jack for isola- tion if your TV is a transformerless type. Hello €Q, Calling CQ. . .” Three times three, three times. That's the way you're supposed 10 initiate a CQ. A lot of hams lately have taken to using a tape-recorded CQ, a it saves a lot of time and trou- wzimiessmat_ || give gens, ‘Ciel 7 on veer serge card 76 RADIO-ELECTAONIGS ® FEBRUARY 1972 ble. Simply record a good one, and either play it through your. micro- phone, or plug the tape recorder's output directly into the mike jack (provided the impedances aren't too far off). There's a good chance here for the CW operator, too. Use a relay in place of the speaker on the re- corder, and record your CQ in CW. ‘The audio from the recorder's ampli- fier will key the relay, which in turn will key the transmitter Living greeting cards We all know that tape-respon- dence isn't new. Families, separated by many miles, often keep in touch. with one another via reels of tape— after all, the spoken word is far more satisfying than written letters. But hhave you thought about making taped greeting cards? The youngsters espe- cially like these “tapes with a theme.” Got any more good ideas on how to use a tape recorder? Got some special technique of your own? Jot it on a postcard and mail it to Tape Ideas Editor, Rapio-ELECTRONICS, 200 Park Ave. South, New York, N.Y. 10003. We'll pick out the best of those we receive and publish them at some future date for all our readers 10 enjoy, RE so more will live HEART FUNDaudio switching systems In a search for versatility. | have devised a switching sys- tem. 0 that various parts of an audio system can be operated without having to plug and unplug the separate parts. or hav- ing to turn on more equipment than is necessary. In effect, this unit combines a hi-fi system and an intereom system, Many of you know that a simple way to feed a signal from a self-contained unit, such as a shortwave receiver. into 4 high-impedance input of a recorder or amplifier. is to take fff the signal across the receiver voice coil and feed it to the input. This is convenient for recording. but suppose you just want t0 listen to the feceiver at some remote point, Why amplify the voice-coil output, since itis all ready 10 feed a speaker? That is where this unit will come in handy, The coupling unit consists of 3 switches. w beled WHAT, HOW and WHERE. The WHAT switch selects the program originator such as tuner. tape, etc. which can be high Impedance or low impedance. The HOW switch selects the vol- ume level at which the program is to be reproduced. The WHERE switch selects the location where the program will be heard, ‘A little explanation may be needed about the HOW switch. It has three positions. Position I connects a hig pedance program source to a step-down transformer (Stancor ‘A327 or equal). to operate a speaker directly, without ampl fleation as 4 low-level background source. If you have | to 2 volts at a high-impedance level you can do this. I found this, very adequate if the ambient noise level is low. Position 2 connects the inputs to S-watt amplifiers for stereo, more serious listening or where there may be higher background noises. Position 3 has two uses. Ifthe input is low impedance (4, 8 or 16 ohms) to start with. you can send it on to the speakers directly through position 3 and leave the amplifiers off. Posi- tion 3 also feeds the signal to the right and left channels of large stereo amplifier (in the living room). T did not make any provision for a dummy load on the 5. wy jc Bhar ib oy pence watt amplifiers. This can be done by making S2 a 5-pole switch (both amplifiers using a common dummy load). For ‘my purposes, I found miniature zip cord (2 cond. 24 GA stranded) obiainable from Lafayette. ideal for running be- tween the unit and the remote speakers.Fred Butterfcld DIGI SCAN-8™ ‘This most popular & bestselling digital readout scannor has become Infamous for making all other types of monitor receivers obsolete, ‘And you can understand wy when you look ver the many outstand- ing features this 8 chanel, crystal controled, FM digital scanner incorporates. K aight (not just dots) readout indicator th je broaacasting chan- nels # Exclusive "Drop or iter Changeable Low Band, VHF or UNF monitoring ® Individual channel Tockout switches. for selective programming ® Variable squelch Key" switches for automatie of manual operation ‘Peasy Open’ erstal compartment Approx. 0:5 uv sansiviy over 4 7MiHZ band spread = Handsome diecast front panel & vinyl on ‘metal case. These features and more, combined with proven depend bie performance standard of com- Darison" of many Fe ‘DIGI SCAN. «the ‘monitor receiver of te 70" DIGI SCAN 4+4™" are a few of the outstanding features that make the new DIG! SCAN'4'+4 #0 Unique that wo fel it too will become a bestselling Scanner along with out famous Digi Sear-8...= DIGI SCAN 44, like te Digi Scan, fs m8 channet cgital readout scanner BUT the listener is not restricted to monitoring only one band at a time! DIGI SCAN 4+4 permits simultaneous monitoring of 4 channels on ‘ny 2 out of 9 bands! For example: 4 0n VHF and 4 on UHF—or 4 on ‘VHF and 4 on Low Band~or 4 on UHF and 4 on Low Band @ Accom ‘modates any Irequency spread within a selected band (ie. 4 ch nels, 190-156MHs, 4 channels, 16 Contal Ipal agencies, or just because you're tke to be monitoring, DIGI SCAN 444 1s the scanner you've been wating for ‘See your Unimetrics Dealer today for a demonstration of either of these fine vigital scanners. Or write to us for complete in- formation and technical specications. Dealer Inquiries invited. A] unimetRics, inc. 23 WEST MALL, PLAINVIEW, NEW YORK 11803, in Canad Wettrm Ratio Services, Ld 1675 W. 3 Av, Vancower, B.C. Canada (Circle on reader service card FEBRUARY 1972" © RADIO-ELECTRONICS 77More kits than ever...over 350..,all in your The most advanced color TV kit we've ever offered. The new Heathkit GR-900 25V Color TV has UHF/VHF detent tuning & varactor UHF tuner, angular tint control — more features than any other color TV kit! Better performance than any other set. UUHF/VAF detent power tuning. Push a button and you scan the channels in either direction with detent action locking in'on VHF channels 2-13 and any 12 preselected UMF stations. ‘pushbutton selects either UHF or VHF mode, and a lighted dial indicates tuner position. And you can have full remote-control selection too for just a few dollars more. New vottage-controlled varactor UHF tuner and specially designed VHF tuner with MOS Field Effect Transistor contribute to better fringe-area reception, increased sensitivity New angular tint contol. A switch now gives you either “normal” or “wide angle" color ‘demodulation to reduce tint and flesh tone change when changin stations and when pro jrams change. Other deluxe features include “instant on” operation with overide for con ventional on/off operation; automatic fine tuning; adjustable tone control, and an output for playing TV aucio through your stereo hifi system, Exclusive Heath MTXS ultrarectangular tube. I's the largest color screen you can buy ‘anywhere, with 2 full 5 inch meas. diag. 315 sq. in. viewing area. You see virtually every thing the station transmits, inthe corners and atthe sides. The specially etched face plate cuts glare, and reflection, increases contrast without sacrificing brightness, and each cot is Drojected through a matrix screen to stand out crisply against 2 solid black background Modular solid-state circuitry. Plug-in circuit boards and plugin transistors make assembly, adjustment and servicing easy. There are 45 transistors, 57 diodes and four ICs — making this one of the most reliable sets we've ever designed. Other features include automatic chroma contol, adjustable video peaking, adjustable noise limiting and gated AGC. Exclusive Heath se-service built-ins. Your Heathkit GR-900 includes built-in dot generator, titout convergence panel for set-up and periodic adjustments. & handy volt-ohm meter included in the circuitry helps you check your work during assembly, and can be used in Conjunction withthe menual for any servicing. Like all Heathkit color Ts, the GR-800 gives you complete installation flexibility. There are four beautiful Heath cabinets to choose from lus the new bultsn electronic wall mount with hideaway tambour doors. Or you can cus tom install your GR-900. We think you'l agree, the GR.900 is truly the mast impressive color receiver we've ever offered. Ait GR-900, TV less cabinet, 125 tbs. 599.95* 7B RADIO-ELECTRONICS © FEBRUARY 1972 Console, we ote, 8 perfect choice fora GRO, Has deep fined pecan veneers on hand rubbed frniture grade hardwood solids. Two alloped double hinged doors bide the ‘TW sereen when sot in use Asembled GRA-405.25, 100s. 17985" Wiceless Remote for your 6-800. The ultimate in armchair viewing Gives you eihtfunction acros-nercom control of, t/oft, tree preset volume levels, power tuning up oF dow, coor, tn, UH Yr channel selection Also sctivates Custom ‘Wall ount doors Ait SRA-80056, 6 fs, 7938" ‘New Custom Wall Meunt Touch a button on the frame or on your Heathkit Remote ‘Contra unit and the folding tambour doors orev your clr Ts kt les Serine tol yor Heat GSP or G0 mt a al Ait ORA-40225, walnut finish, BO IDS. occ toeenes i 11495° it GRA-407-25, unfinished, 50 Ibs. 7 109.88"FREE 72 HEATHKIT Catalog ‘The better-than-over 72 Heathkit Catalog has the world's largest selection of fun-to-build, ‘money-saving electronic kits...including color TV, stereo/ hi-fi, organs, home appliances, engine tune-up tools, radio control, porta bles, shortwave, marine gear, metal locator, instruments, hundreds more. If you don hhave this catalog, you've missed seeing over $0 new kits introduced since the last edition. Send today for your free copy. New Heathkit . Digitat Multimeter .....229.95' ‘a itform maitimeter that meets lab specs. as 3% digits for 100 wV resolution onthe 2007iVrange, 1V on 1000. Five overlapping ranges ease tag an 104 1000¥ FDC (ether polarity 5 ranges cover 100 WY 0500 Vion AC; 10 ranges measure 100 nA to 2R AC oF DC; and 6 ranges measure resistance from 0.1 ohm to 20 megohms, Input impedance is approx 1000 egos on 24 rane, 10 meas ‘on higher ranges, with oveoad protection calibrator supplied permits 0.2% ipment. Can be performance at your IN+102 today. 228.88 The most powerful and sensitive stereo receiver they've ever tested. Heathkit AR-15O0 AM/FH/FM-Stereo Receiver ~ ranked by independent experts as the best ever, Here's 180 watts dynamic music power, 90 watts per channel into 8 ohms, 120 watts per channel into 4 ohms. Less than 0.1% intermod distortion, less than 0.25% harmonic Gistortion, FM selectivity greater than 90 dB, outstanding phase linearity, separation, and low aistortion result from two computer-designed §-pole LC fers. A &-gang 6-tuned circuit front end offers ock-solid stability, 1.8 uY sensitivity, 1.5 d8 capture ratio and 100 a8 image and IF rejection, Automatic FM squelch is both noise and deviation activated, fully adjustable New Heathkit 10 MHz far sensitty " ‘Triggered Sweep Scope.229,95* he syn section, overlooked in most receivers, boasts two dual-gte MOSFETS inthe RF and Hee redone pest sae, in 7 he cl, 2p rp We, nating dtr fice you can't alls s pss pas for good ovetioadchaactersts, proper ACC action, no IF alignment and hgh ely pe SCM resp clbated emai, fortance The AR-1S00 sa ea ht to ul en plugin cet boats, two wing ha SO nssneprate ih magntcaion COE jesses and entnse use Of prec wfng wth lstaled lip cooectors make assemb) fn exp SB sent athe EE ae west signa mel ome essance and volge els eu go fesament genus sve 24 eee features inclide Slack Magic poe! ighing tha hides the dal makings when te set Tene item ans ceneuce peony” isnot nse, yee Lung; psn furtion contol, outputs fo wo separate speaker AaenckeansiiolUserealineygescst syste, branpiieaton,oseloscope meitrng of FM mulipath, puts for phono, ope, Scope values onthe markt doy Orerone _(4pe mritor and aay sources ~ all wth indiual level cont. The ARTS00 isthe for your shack, shop, lab or classroom, now. critics choice, and with no reservations, the best stereo receiver we've ever designed. Wh W108, 27 the. ae Kit AR-1500, less cabinet, 42 Ibs. 379.95* ARMS, walnut cabinet, 6 hs 24.95" Send for your FREE 1972 Heathkit Catalog today fim 90 da Ra, EL cette, § Weed ity, 2001 mld Aa Saw Dies (a ial 835 Centr 0 ison Vana dvd eDLO Dene, $940 W, 38th Ave FA: Wan (3 Vestn company, Opt 702 Ei lang, sets Pan Re Ph Phlaepha O18 Aesevet hc. Pitsureh 3462 Wm. Pen ries & eezlestion abet fo caange witout nai We Txas, Baan, 2715 ose hve oeston, 3008 Westheimer, WASM. Seale, 221 The in arr pride, FOB toto ‘a Circle 10000 reader service card FEBRUARY 1972 © RAOIO-ELECTRONICS 81FREE! New ‘72 Edition Radio Shack Electronic Accessories & Parts Catalog 1000's of Products. 100’s of Exclusives THE buying guide for kt bude, Bers ata, hobbyists moyen “ ols, Pabet nt ' ' { i {2725 W.7m51 ron worm, tes 76107 | eel aSeRee Meas IIe? | enw PAINT Clery i wre 1 [Seer 8 box i few — == ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING through HOME STUDY 82 AC circuits nomogram by AK. QUINN, The graph on the facing page makes it easy to solve series and parallel circuits containing resistance and rexc- tance. It's simple to use and gives re- sults well within normal parts toler- ances. ‘The conventional way to solve the circuit of Fig. |, when the reactance of Cis known, takes many steps. One way would be the solving equations like Z= y XXR? which requites squaring and square root Another would be to draw vectors and either measure phase angles with a protractor or look up values in trig ta bis. Consider the circuit in Fig, 1. As: ‘sume we want 1o find the voltages across C and R, the current, the impedance, the phase angle, and the power factor. The graph, plus some Ohm’s-law arithmetic, will give us all those quan- Here's how to go about It. L. Divide the reactance by the resist ance. For our example, this would be 7,000/10,000, oF 0.7, 2 Locate 0.7 on the left-hand vertical axis, A straightedge laid straight across the graph at this point shows that 0.7 corresponds to a phase angle of 38 3. The straightedge cuts scale A at about 0.58. Multiply this by the applied voltage 200 volts times 0.58 gives us 116 volts. This is the voltage across C- 4. The corresponding point on scale B is 0.82. Multiply this by 200 volts and we get /64 volls across R. Scale B also ives the power factor, 0.82 5. Ohm's law gives us the value of cur rent as En/R, or 164/10,000, or 16.4 mA, 66. Impedance is 200 volts/16.4 mA or 12,200 ohms: Serles R-C-L circuits ‘These circuits are even simpler. Look at | Fig 2 1. Subtract Xe from Xi, 2. X/R gives the vertical axis index, as with the last example 3. Seale B value gives a multiplier for Ex 4. Current is En/R 5. Ep is I times Xe RADIO-ELECTRONIGS © FEBRUARY 1972 6. is I times Xs, 7. Ey, is | times Xi, 8 Zis Ex/l 60 — 40 = 20(X) 20/20 = 1 (Index) 0.71 (Multiplier) Ek = 0.71 x 100 = 7IV [= 71/20 = 3.5 amps Bo = 35 x 40 = 140V EL = 35 x 60 = 210V Z = 100/35 = 29 ohms. Parallel ac circults For these citi procedure varies, because now we ar looking for difer ent things We know the voltage across the components, but we want to find the current through each component the total current the impedance, phase angle and power factor (Set Fig) I-Find the curren through cach com- 10K WA A)e2000 aed Tk goa @ewioov x-600, L_—__ xenon Fig. 2 M)ew20v Sask 10K ros 7 Wrveer Sees twee Bis @x em Br Quer § iF re.