Spy Camera Solar Power Box

Battery life has always been a critical consideration for most of the electronic gadgets and equipment. When we talk about spy  cameras,  which  normally  function  round-the-clock, they often run out of power within a few days.  Many spy cameras (CCTV cameras) are powered by 9V PP3 type batteries that offer five times more energy  than the regular 9V alkaline battery.

Mini CCTV cameras also accept 6-12V DC supply from AC mains adaptor through the DC IN jack. AC mains adaptor for the camera increases the capacity of the 9V PP3 battery but is bulky and noisy. Whether disposable  or rechargeable batteries, making frequent replacement or recharging them is a cumbersome job. The unique solar power box described here serves an alternative solution to the problem. 

Circuit diagram :

Spy Camera Solar Power Box Circuit Diagram

The circuit of the solar power box is simple. It contains a  battery charger and a battery health indicator and  a few other components.  As shown in the circuit,  DC supply available from  the solar panel (SP1) is  directly applied to the in-put of the circuit through  a protection diode (D1).  This diode is used to pre-vent  the  reverse  current  flow from the battery to  the  solar  panel  during  night. Thus, D1 allows  the current to flow from the solar panel  to the battery only. Low-voltage-drop  type 1N5817 diode is perfect for the  job.

At the heart of the circuit is an integrated current source, realised using a  popular 3-pin adjustable voltage regulator LM317T(IC1). This IC is designed  to adjust its internal resistance between  the In (pin 3) and Out (pin 2) terminals  to maintain a constant voltage of 1.25V  between the Out (pin 2) and Adj (pin 1) terminals. Here, a 9V, 280 mAh  rechargeable PP3 type Ni-MH battery  (BATT) is used as reservoir. Normally,  a charging current of about 10 per cent  of  ampere-hour  rating  is  safe  for  the  battery. Resistor R1 (39-ohm, 0.5W),  connected between pin 1 and 3 of IC1,  limits  the  charging  current  to  about  30 mA. DC output from the battery is  available at output jack J2. Red LED  ( LED1) is used as a battery ‘health’  indicator. Switch S1 is used to start the  charging while S2 is used for connect-ing the load. Note that suitable heat  sink should be used for the IC1.

The proper selection of solar panel  is important but not critical. A miniature 12V type solar panel with a cur-rent output of about 100 mA can be  used. Even if you have a solar panel  with  higher  voltage  rating,  it  will  not  create a problem as the circuit ensures  that the charging current cannot exceed  the predetermined value.

The circuit can be easily assembled  on a general-purpose PCB and housed  in a small plastic cabinet.

 

Author : T.K. Hareendran – Copyright : EFY

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Video Line Driver

This circuit is a video line driver specifically intended for use with a single-ended power supply. As a matter of fact, the synchronised outputs of a line driver for composite-video signals go negative with respect to ground. In order to be able to process these negative signals in a circuit powered from a single-ended supply, it is necessary to AC-couple the input of the opamp as well as level-shift the signal in the positive direction.

Circuit diagram :

Video Line Driver Circuit Diagram

The input is terminated into a 75 Ω resistor (R1). From here, the signal passes through AC-coupling capacitor C2 and is applied to potential divider R2-R3, which provides the necessary DC-offset. The shift into the positive direction amounts to +1.7 V, with the values shown in the schematic. To avoid any misunderstandings we should add that this value is fairly critical. Deviating from the values shown can lead to distortion in the complementary input stage of the opamp that has been used here, and this of course, has to be avoided.

PCB-Layout :

Video Line Driver PCB-Layout

Because we provided the circuit with its own voltage regulator circuit (IC2), just about any mains adapter will suffice for the power supply. The current consumption is less than 20 mA. The construction of the line driver using the accompanying printed circuit board layout is no more than a simple, routine job.

Parts List :

Resistors:
R1,R7 = 75Ω
R2...R4 = 4kΩ7
R5,R6 = 1kΩ

Capacitors:
C1,C4,C5,C7C10,C12 =
100nF
C2 = 47µF 16V radial
C3,C11 = 10µF 6 V radial
C6 = 220µF 6 V radial
C8 = 1000 µF 6V radial
C9 = 100µF 16V radial

Semiconductors:
D1 = 1N4001
IC1 = OPA353UA
IC2 = 78L05

Miscellaneous:
PC1-PC6 = PCB solder pin
Case, e.g., Hammond type
1590A

Copyright : Elektor

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Automatic TV Lighting Switch

The author is the happy owner of a television set with built-in Ambilight lighting in the living room. Unfortunately, the television set in  the bedroom lacks this feature. To make up for this, the author attached a small lamp to the wall to provide background lighting, This makes  watching television a good deal more enjoyable, but it ’s  not the ideal solution. Although the TV set can be  switched off with the remote  control, you still have to get out of bed to switch off the lamp.

 

Circuit diagram :

 

Automatic TV Lighting Switch Circuit Diagram

 

Consequently, the author devised this automatic lighting switch that switches the background light on and off along with the T V set. The entire circuit is fitted in series with the mains cable of the TV set, so there’s no need to tinker with the set. It works as follows: R1 senses  the current drawn by the TV  set. It has a maximum value  of 50 mA in standby mode,  rising  to around   500 m A  when  the  set  is  operating. The voltage across R1 is limited by D5 during negative  half- cycles  and  by  D1– D4  during positive half-cycles.  T he  voltage  across  these  four diodes charges capacitor C1 via D6 during positive  half-cycles. This voltage drives the internal LED of solid-state switch TRI1 via R2, which causes the internal triac to conduct and pass the mains voltage to the lamp.   Diode D7 is not absolutely necessary, but  it is recommended because the LED in the  solid-state switch is not especially robust  and cannot handle reverse polarisation. Fuse  F1 protects the solid-state switch against  overloads. T he  value  of  use d  here  (10 Ω)  for  resistor R1 works nicely with an 82-cm (32 inch)  LCD screen.

 

With smaller sets having lower  power consumption, the value of R1 can be  increased to 22 or 33 Ω, in which case you  should use a 3-watt type. Avoid using an  excessively high resistance, as otherwise TRI1 will switch on when the TV set is in standby mode.  Some TV sets have a half-wave rectifier in the  power supply, which places an unbalanced  load on the AC power outlet. If the set only  draws current on negative half-cycles, the cir-cuit won’t work properly. In countries with  reversible AC power plugs you can correct  the problem by simply reversing the plug. Compared with normal triacs, optically cou-pled solid-state relays have poor resistance  to high switch-on currents (inrush currents).

 

For this reason, you should be careful with  older-model TV sets with picture tubes (due  to demagnetisation circuits). If the relay fails,  it usually fails shorted, with the result that the TV background light remains on all the time. If you build this circuit on a piece of perf-board, you must remove all the copper next  to conductors and components carrying  mains voltage. Use PCB terminal blocks with a spacing of 7.5 mm. This way the separation between the connections on the solder  side will also be 3 mm. If you fit the entire  arrangement as a Class II device, all parts of  the circuit at mains potential must have a  separation of at least 6 mm from any metal  enclosure or electrically conductive exterior  parts that can be touched.

 

Author :Piet Germing - Copyright : Elektor

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NTSC-PAL TV Signal Identifier

This circuit is able to identify PAL and NTSC video signals. Its output is high for an NTSC signal and low if the signal is PAL. This output signal can be used, for example, to automatically switch in a colour subcarrier converter or some other device while an NTSC signal is being received. One application is for the reception from satellites of 'free-to-air' TV signals, which in Australia generally contain a mixture of 625-line PAL and 525-line NTSC programs. Operation of the circuit is as follows.

IC1 is an LM1881 video sync separator which takes the video input signal and generates vertical synchronisation pulses.
For an NTSC signal, these pulses are 16.66ms apart, corresponding to the 60Hz field rate, while for a PAL signal they are 20ms apart, corresponding to the 50Hz field rate. The vertical sync pulses are fed into IC2a, the first of two dual retriggerable monostable multivibrators in the 74HC123A. IC2a has a period of very close to 17.9ms, set by the 200kO resistor and 0.22µF capacitor at pins 14 & 15. Because the monostable is retriggerable, NTSC sync pulses arriving every 16.66ms will keep its Q output, at pin 13, high.

Circuit diagram:

NTSC-PAL TV Signal Identifier Circuit Diagram

However PAL sync pulses arriving every 20ms will allow the Q output to go low after 17.9ms, before being triggered high again 2.1ms later. Thus an NTSC signal will give a constant high output while a PAL signal will result in a train of pulses 2.1ms wide. The Q output from IC2a is fed to the inverting input of IC2b, the second monostable, which has a period of about 0.5s, as set by the 270kO resistor and 4.7µF tantalum capacitor at pins 6 & 7. With its input constantly high, resulting from an NTSC signal, IC2b is not triggered and its Q output remains low.

However, the pulse train from a PAL signal will constantly retrigger it, so its Q output will remain high. The period of IC2b also effectively makes it a low-pass filter which removes spurious switching due to any input glitches. The output signal is taken from the Q-bar (inverted) output, so that an NTSC signal gives a high output, while PAL gives low. For the particular application for which the circuit was developed, diode D1 and the resistor network shown drive the base of an NPN switching transistor and relay. A dual-colour 3-lead LED can also be fitted to indicate NTSC (red) or PAL (green). Note that with no video input, the output signal is high and will indicate NTSC.

Source : www.extremecircuits.net

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