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Egor! Come quick! A storm approaches! Here is a VLF receiver tuned to 300 kHz designed to detect the crackle of approaching lightning. A bright lamp flashes in sychrony with the lightning bolts indicating the proximity and intensity of the storm.... [read more]

This circuit uses a sensor made of a small piece of etched PC board and a simple SCR circuit to detect rain and sound a buzzer. The SCR could also be used to activate a relay, turn on a lamp, or send a signal to a security system.... [read more]

This circuit is permanently plugged into a mains socket and NI-CD batteries are trickle-charged. When a power outage occurs, the lamp automatically illuminates. Instead of illuminating a lamp, an alarm sounder can be chosen. When power supply is restored, the lamp or the alarm is switched-off. A switch provides a "latch-up" function, in order to extend lamp or alarm operation even when power is restored.... [read more]

The IR photo transistor Q1 (Radio Shack 276-145A) or similar is connected to the set input (pin 6). The photo transistor should be shielded from direct light so that the voltage at the set input (pin 6) is less than 1 volt under ambient conditions and moves to more than 10 volts when illuminated by the laser pointer or other light source... [read more]

The TDA7294 amplifier module is a monolithic integrated circuit. It is intended for use as an audio class AB amplifier in hi-fi applications. It has a wide voltage range and output current capability, enabling it to supply the highest power into both 4 ohm and 8n ohm loads. With the addition of a handful of parts and a suitable power supply, this module will deliver 50W RMS into 8-ohm with 0.1% THD.... [read more]

The losses in a bridge rectifier can easily become significant when low voltages are being rectified. The voltage drop across the bridge is a good 1.5 V, which is a hefty 25% with an input voltage of 6V. The loss can be reduced by around 50% by using Schottky diodes, but it would naturally be even nicer to reduce it to practically zero. That’s possible with a synchronous rectifier. What that means is using an active switching system instead of a ‘passive’ bridge rectifier.... [read more]