Miscellaneous tools schematics

Although it does not have the same charm as real mercury barometers with long glass tubes on pieces of carved and polished wood, the Torricelli barometer discussed here is a functional equivalent and electronic replica of the Torricelli barometer. Actually, rather than displaying the atmospheric pressure on the traditional digital displays, we preferred to reproduce the general look of this respected predecessor of electronic barometers.... [read more]

Short circuits or broken pcb tracks can be easily recognized by means of a Multimeter, but this tool can give wrong results when testing the efficiency of a transistor or diode, unless the device under test is unsoldered and removed from the pcb. A further shortcoming affecting such way of testing is the necessity to keep firmly the probes on the pins of the device under test and at the same time to turn the head continually to read the Multimeter display.... [read more]

This circuit is not a novelty, but it proved so useful, simple and cheap that it's worth building.... [read more]

This simple circuit generates narrow pulses at about 700-800Hz frequency. The pulses, containing harmonics up to the MHz region, can be injected into audio or radio-frequency stages of amplifiers, receivers and the like for testing purposes.... [read more]

A simple test circuit to fault find audio and radio equipment. Can be used to inject a square wave signal, rich in harmonics, or used with headphones as an audio tracer.... [read more]

This is a simple servo tester which will comprehensively test the capabilities of almost any modern servo. It has two pushbuttons, CENTRE and SWEEP and a potentiometer which works as follows: - CENTRE Does exactly that, centers the servo, afterwards the potentiometer determines position. - SWEEP Sweeps the servo back and forth at a rate determined by the potentiometer setting.... [read more]

The circuit below responds to sound pressure levels from about 60 to 70 dB. The sound is picked up by an 8 ohm speaker, amplified by a transistor stage and one LM324 op-amp section. You can also use a dynamic microphone but I found the speaker was more sensitive. The remaining 3 sections of the LM324 quad op-amp are used as voltage comparators and drive 3 indicator LEDs or incandescents which are spaced about 3dB apart. An additional transistor is needed for incandescent lights as shown with the lower lamp.... [read more]