19-05-2016, 03:47 PM
Touch the sensor of the alarm with your finger and it starts beeping, goes on for some time and then stops. Touching it again, and it goes again! This little and flexible circuit consists of a touch sensor and a directly coupled transistor amplifier with a small loudspeaker as the output load. Two sensor strips of metal are mounted side by side on a 1×1 cm size micasheet and connected to the input of the circuit.
How the touch alarm works
Under normal conditions no current flows through switching transistors T1 and T2 and the potential across capacitor C1 is almost 0V. If the two touch plates are touched together by a finger, the alarm circuit is enabled by T1 and T2. Transistors T3and T4 form a complimentary pair amplifier, with positive feedback (regeneration) provided to the base of first transistor T3 via R3 and C2.
The sound generator oscillates at a frequency determined by C2 and R3 and the bias voltage of T3. The bias voltage of T3 can be changed by changing the values of R2 (and R1). The alarm will provide quite loud audio output into an 8 Ohm speaker with a 9V battery at a current drain of less than 100mA. Needless to say, this is an ultra simple hobby circuit. You can experiment with different component values (R1,R2,C1,C2,R3 and R4, etc) to make your own special alarm!
How the touch alarm works
Under normal conditions no current flows through switching transistors T1 and T2 and the potential across capacitor C1 is almost 0V. If the two touch plates are touched together by a finger, the alarm circuit is enabled by T1 and T2. Transistors T3and T4 form a complimentary pair amplifier, with positive feedback (regeneration) provided to the base of first transistor T3 via R3 and C2.
The sound generator oscillates at a frequency determined by C2 and R3 and the bias voltage of T3. The bias voltage of T3 can be changed by changing the values of R2 (and R1). The alarm will provide quite loud audio output into an 8 Ohm speaker with a 9V battery at a current drain of less than 100mA. Needless to say, this is an ultra simple hobby circuit. You can experiment with different component values (R1,R2,C1,C2,R3 and R4, etc) to make your own special alarm!
