Here`s how to build a pendulum-controlled clock which can be made really accurate. Retro - yes, but an interesting project all the same. You`ll need a spare quartz clock which must be adapted by first isolating the two pads on the chip which lead to the coil. You then have to connect wires to these pads and feed them out through a hole in the cas
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e (see SILICON CHIP, December 1996, p38, for full instructions, or October 2001, p37, for brief notes. ) You`ll also need a spare battery driven pendulum from another, or the same, clock. As originally used, these pendulums are for appearance only and play no role in timekeeping. The salvaged unit should be mounted on a substantial vertical backboard. You`ll find that the pendulum swings pretty fast and it must be slowed down by adding weights near the lower end. However, it`s not the mass of a pendulum that controls its rate - instead, it`s the distance from the support to the centre of mass that counts. The aim is to make the pendulum operate so that it takes exactly 1s for a full "to and fro" swing - ie, 0. 5s "beats". Fine adjustment on mine was made by adding an adjustable (up and down) weight to the pendulum rod. This consisted of a small G-clamp fabricated from a brass strip and held by a small screw. At the bottom end of the pendulum attach an inverted T-shape aluminium vane, about 10mm wide and as thin as possible. This should be painted black. This vane is used to trigger a photo-interrupter which is attached to the backboard. The lengths of the arms of the "T" are made so that when the pendulum swings one way, the interrupter triggers - ie, the light is no longer blocked. Conversely, when the pendulum swings the other way, the vane must continue to interrupt the light. This means that, with the pendulum swinging...
This project fits more for custom made battery casing that can have more space to hide things inside. This switch with few alterations can be used for any other project as well but is designed based on e-bike needs! This project use a clever functionality of....
The circuit described here uses ultrasonic oscillations and operates based on the propagation velocity of these oscillations in the air. Thus, we can easily determine the distance of two points if the time within which the wave travels this distance is....
Sometimes the precious metals are hidden too deep and are not detected except with complicated devices. In many cases, however, small pieces of precious metal buried near the surface can be detected by relatively simple means. Everyone is very attractive to....
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The principle behind a metal detector is really very simple. Proof of this is the circuit that follows, in which it proves that the construction of a metal detector can be done in the minute, with few components that we find very easily everywhere. With the....
The sub-harmonic bass generator is a sound producing unit for guitars. The sound it produces looks very much like that of the bass guitar. The octave generator is sometimes quite unusual since it does not produce any of the usual ways of coloring the sound,....
In the past the sounding (sea bottom measurement) was done with the "bullet", that is, with a heavy lead object that the seamen plucked into the sea hung from a calibrated rope. As soon as the "bullet" reached the bottom, the depth appeared directly from the....
This Amplifier was designed to have the following specifications: Distortion less than 0.1% at full power of 100W even at 20KHz. Power has to be attributed to an extended bandwidth. The output transistors must be protected against short circuits. The power....
A series of LEDs serve to alert the gardener when plants need water. Using two conventional digital integrated LEDs and a series of LEDs, we make a very useful device for gardening. The device detects the amount of water in the pot and alerts the grower.....
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