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You are asking how to connect up some lights so that when the phone rings, they flash. This is very useful in a situation were there is lots of noise and it is impossable to hear the phone, such as a workshop. Here is such a device. The ring detect part of this circuit came from... [read more]

Have you ever been using the modem or fax and someone else picks up the phone, breaking the connection? Well, this simple circuit should put an end to that. It signals that the phone is in use by lighting a red LED. When the phone is not in use, a green LED is lit. It needs no external power and can be connected anywhere on the phone line, even mounted inside the phone.... [read more]

48 V ‘phantom’ powering has become the standard for professional condenser microphones. The supply (or rather bias) voltage is applied over both wires of the balanced screened cable via two 6k8 resistors (see reference [1]) – the absolute value is not critical, since a variation of ±20% is permitted, but they must be matched to an accuracy of 0.4% or better [2]. Many microphones are fitted with an output transformer, and derive their power from a center-tap on the secondary.... [read more]

Protect your home appliances from voltage spikes with this simple time delay circuit. Whenever power to the appliances is switched on or resumes after mains failure, the oscillator starts oscillating and D5 blinks. This continues for three minutes. After that, Q14 output of IC CD4060 goes high to trigger the gate of the SCR through D4. At this moment, the voltage is available at the cathode of the SCR, which energizes the relay coil to activate the appliance and D6 glows. Switch SW1 is used for quick start without waiting for delay.... [read more]

A complementary transistor pair (Q2 & Q3) is wired as a high efficiency oscillator, directly driving the loudspeaker. Q1 ensures a full charge of C2 when power is applied to the circuit. Pressing on P1, C2 gradually discharges through R8: the circuit starts oscillating at a low frequency that increases slowly until a high steady tone is reached and kept indefinitely. When P1 is released, the output tone frequency decreases slowly as C2 is charged to the battery positive voltage through R6 and the Base-Emitter junction of Q2. When C2 is fully charged the circuit stops oscillating, reaching a stand-by status.... [read more]

This digital volume control has no pot to wear out and introduces almost no noise in the circuit. Instead, the volume is controlled by pressing UP and DOWN buttons. This simple circuit would be a great touch to any home audio project.... [read more]