Clap Sensitive On Off Relay Diagram Circuit

This circuit was intended to activate a relay by means of a hand clap. Further claps will turn-off the relay. An interesting and unusual feature of this project is the 3V battery operation. The circuits sensitivity was deliberately reduced, in order to avoid unpredictable operation. Therefore, a loud hand clap will be required to allow unfailing on-off switching. Q1 acts as an audio amplifier. IC1 timer, wired as a monostable, provides a clean output signal and a reasonable time delay in order to allow proper switching of the following bistable circuit. A discrete-components circuit formed by Q2, Q3 and related parts was used for this purpose, in order to drive the Relay directly and to allow 3V supply operation.

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Circuit Diagram:

Clap Sensitive on-off Relay Circuit Diagram

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Parts:

R1 = 12K
R2 = 1M
R3 = 6.8K
R4 = 220K
R5 = 2.2M
R7 = 100K
R8 = 22K
R9 = 6.8K
R10 = 100K
Q1 = BC550C
Q2 = BC328
Q3 = BC328
C1 = 220nF-63V
C2 = 22nF-63V
C3 = 220nF-63V
C4 = 22nF-63V
C5 = 22nF-63V
C6 = 47uF-25V
D1 = 1N4148
D2 = 1N4148
B1 = 3V Battery
IC1 = 7555 CMos IC
RL1 = DIL Reed-Relay SPDT
SW1 = SPST Switch
MIC1 = Electret Mic

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Notes:

A small DIL 5V reed-relay was used in spite of the 3V supply. Several devices of this type were tested and it was found that all of them were able to switch-on with a coil voltage value comprised in the 1.9 - 2.1V range. Coil resistance values varied from 140 to 250 Ohm. Stand-by current consumption of the circuit is less than 1mA. When the Relay is energized, current drain rises to about 20mA.

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Sensitive Audio Power Meter Circuit Diagram

As a follow-up to the simple audio power meter described in [1], the author has developed a more sensitive version. In practice, you rarely use more than 1 watt of audio power in a normal living-room environment. The only time most people use more is at a party when they want to show how loud their stereo system is, in which case peaks of more than 10 W are not uncommon. With this circuit, the dual LED starts to light up green at around 0.1 watt into 8 ohms (0.2 watt into 4 ohms). Naturally, this depends on the specific type of LED that is used.

 
Sensitive Audio Power Meter Circuit diagram:

Sensitive Audio Power Meter Circuit Diagram

 

Here it is  essential to use a low current type. The capacitor is first charged via D1 and then discharged via the green LED. This voltage-doubler effect  increases the sensitivity of the circuit. Above a level of 1 watt, the transistor limits the current through the green LED and the red LED con ducts enough to produce an orange hue.The red colour predominates above 5 watts. Of course, you can also use two separate ‘normal’ LEDs. However, this arrangement cannot generate an orange hue. For any testing that may be necessary, you should use  generator with a DC-coupled output. If there is a capacitor in the output path, it can cause misleading results.

Reference: Simple Audio Power Meter, Elektor July & August 2008.

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