THE ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTER’S MANUAL by DAVID A, FINDLAY ZIFF-DAVIS PUBLISHING COMPANY NEW YORKCopyright, 1959, by the Ziff-Davis Publish- ing Company. All rights reserved. Thisbook, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without permission of the publishers. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 59-15254 Manufactured in the United States of AmericaCONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1, Gerrinc Startep 1 4, Tools 2 Solder and Flux 4 Soldering Technique 5 Screwdrivers 8 Pliers 10 Wire 12 Working with Wires 13 Wiring Techniques 14 Shielded Wiring 16 Hardware 17 . THE Parts YouNeep = 19 Tubes and Transistors 19 Resistors and Capacitors 25 Potentiometers 27 Capacitors 28 Transformers 33 Where to Get Parts 36 . PLANNING AND Maxinc a Cuassis 37 Laying Outthe Chassis 39 Making a Chassis from Scratch 43 Dressing Up a Chassis 48 . Wirtnc THE Circurr 49 Trouble Shooting 51 5. Maxine Printep Circuits 53 Laying Out the Cireuit 53 Cutting Comers 61 Stripping 62 6. Buitpinc a WorKsHop 65, Apartment Workshop 65, Full-size Workshop 68 Workbench Tricks 71 - iti7, Svectat Toots You Can Bua 80 8. Maxine Your Own Te! Chassis Holders 80 Plastic Cutter 90. Coil Winder 93 Permanent Breadboard 98 Jig for Soldering-gun Tips 100 Equipment 104 Which Instrument First? 104 Make Your Own Multi-tester 104 Vacuum-tube Voltmeter 108 Check Your a.c. Calibration 2 Economy Transistor Checker 115 Power Supply for Transistor Experiments 118 Audio Oscillator 122 RF.SignalGenerator 128 Power Transistor Signal Tracer 133 9. Prosects You Can Burp 136 Low-cost Broadcast Receiver 136 One-tube Hi-Fi AM Tuner 138 V.HLF. Explorer’s Receiver 141 Printed-circuit Transistor Receiver M45 Listen to Aircraft with a Miniature v.h.f. Receiver 150 Two-tube Economy Amplifier 153 ‘Transistorized Intercom 158 Transistorized Photoflash 163INTRODUCTION Exgorronics is unique among the sciences in that the beginner with simple hand tools and nothing more than a table top for a laboratory can construct and operate electronic equipment that is as modern as guided missiles. The builder does not have to understand the complex physical and electrical principles behind the device he builds. He can have the pleasure of putting the unit together and seeing it operate with little or no understanding of electronics. There are many magazines that provide circnit and construction details for many projects. However, these monthly publications cannot carry in each issue the basic construction techniques that the beginner must learn. This is the gap that this book is intended to fill. Using this book as a guide, the beginner can start out with confidence on his construction project. Much of the material used in the preparation of this book came from pages of Popular Electronics. In the past five years, this magazine has published a great many articles dealing with various phases of elec- tronic construction. The author has used many of these articles as a basis on which to build this book. For this reason, I would like to acknowledge the help of the editors of Popular Electronics. Particular thanks are due to Lou Garner, whose excellent articles on printed circuits and electronic components formed the foundation for a number of chapters in the book, and to Oliver Read and James Fahnestock for their comments and criticisms. The author would also like to extend his appreciation to Barbara Hearst for her typing of the manuscript and copy editing. And, to his wife for her patience and understanding as well as for her helpful suggestions and comments. Davin A, FinpLay1 GETTING STARTED ig. 1-As a hobby, electronic experimenting offers the thrill of accomplishment and knowledge of the most fascinating science of our doy. ELEcrronic experimenting, one of the fastest growing hobbies in the world, is also one of the most exciting. A few tubes or transistors, some resistors and capacitors, and you can be in touch with radio stations all over the world or with an earth satellite speeding through space. The hobby requires little in the way of money, or even knowledge at the start, but will pay off right away in successful projects and will furnish you with a store of electronic know-how for those more exciting projects to come. In addition to the fun, there are practical benefits from electronic ex- perimenting. Around your home you will find many opportunities to apply your electronic know-how. Garage-door openers, intercoms, and remote-control devices aze only a few of the projects you may undertake to improve your home. 1Experimenting can also be a stepping-stone to a real career in elec- tronics. Many electronic technicians received their basic training at their home workbenches. The construction projects detailed in the later chapters of this book will help to give you an understanding of many of the basic principles of electronics. With about $ dollars invested in tools (you probably have most of ther around the house now) and a bit more invested in parts you can start in electronics. What will your first project be? A short-wave re- ceiver for listening to London, Paris, or Moscow? A transistor radio half the size of a pack of cigarettes? ‘That's up to you. Pick the one you want, and you're on your way. You don’t have to know all about electronics to get started on your project. Any project in this book or in the popular electronics magazines can be built simply by following instructions. This method is all right for the beginning, but as you become more familiar with circuits and parts you will want to know more about what makes them work. Building any clectronic project is a matter of following a series of simple steps. To help you to understand these steps, the first chapters of this book have been arranged in such a step-wise order. The first step is to read over the instructions and study the circuit diagram or pictorial layout. Looking at the photographs of the finished equipment will give you a good idea of where the parts should be placed on the chassis. The next step is to gather together the parts needed; to become familiar with their shape and size and how they are mounted on the chassis. The third step is to lay out the parts on this chassis, drilling holes where required. The fourth step is to mount the parts and do the wiring job. The final step is a check of your wiring for etrors, making necessary adjustments. Then you're ready to put your project into operation. Each of these stages will be covered in detail in future chapters, but before we proceed, there are some basic things you should know about building electronic equipment—how to use your tools, how to solder, how to work with wire, and what kind of wire to use. Tools ‘The basic tool kit of an electronic experimenter consists of a sol- dering iron or gun, a set of screwdrivers, and two pairs of pliers. These are the tools of wiring. Other tools, such as drills and saws, will be re- quired to build chassis and cabinets for equipment. These additional tools will be discussed in the chapter on chassis construction. Of all your tools, you will probably use your soldering iron or gun more than any other, for this is the basic too} of electronic construction. 2Fig. 2—The basic tools of the electronic experimenter. To ensure that they will conduct electricity properly, every joint in an electronic circuit must be soldered. Although soldering is a simple pro- cedure, it must be done correctly each time. One improperly soldered joint in a circuit is enough to make the entire circuit inoperative. ‘Tracking down the results of poor workmanship in a complicated circuit can take hours of your time and rob you of the fun of seeing your project “come to life” when you turn it on for the first time. Because your soldering tool is so important in your work, you should choose it carefully and learn how to use it properly. There are two types of soldering tools—the soldering iron and the soldering gun. Both types are shown in Fig, 3. Most of us are familiar with a soldering iron, but the soldering gun is a more recent development that has rapidly become a favorite with technicians, repairmen, and experi- menters. Care should be taken in selecting a soldering iron. Too large an iron can be hard to handle and may deliver too much heat to the joint, resulting in burned insulation and damaged components. If the iron is too small, it may deliver too little heat to melt the solder sufficiently to make a good electrical connection. A good basic iron for the electronic experimenter should be rated at 100 to 150 watts. This will give enough heat to handle most jobs.