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Curious C-Beeper
 
Curious C-Beeper


 

Curious C-Beeper

 


Curious C-Beeper is a fun to build little probe that can be used to quickly detect the capacity of capacitors in pF nF range, test their stability with temperature changes, find broken wires, locate wires, trace wires on PCBs, and to locate live wires behind the walls without touching them. The circuit uses three transistors to make a most unusual capacitance beeper probe. When a capacitor is touched to the probe, the probe beeps at a frequency that varies with capacitance. The frequency change is so steep with capacitance that tiny capacitors may be precisely matched or an exact fixed value may be selected to replace a trimmer in a prototype. If the user has reasonably moist skin, simply holding one lead of the capacitor to be tested while touching the other lead to the probe is all that is necessary. The user's body forms the other connection through the beeper's metal case. When the beeper is properly adjusted it draws only 10 uA with nothing touching the probe - no power switch is required. This design is optimized for capacitors less than about 0.1 uF (100 nF). Large capacitors give a low frequency "clicking" sound and small capacitors sound a tone that increases as the capacitance decreases. Many decades of frequency change occur over the beeper's range giving even the more tone-deaf among us sufficient change to discern slight differences in capacitance. The entire device is powered by two CR2032 lithium cells that fit into TicTac box. The use of power switch is unnecessary since the circuit consumes almost no power when not being used.


Curious C-Beeper

The Curious C-Beeper will become indispensable in virtually no time and has many uses such as:

Quickly match capacitors and trimmers. Forget the capacitance meter when matching parts from the parts bin or selecting a fixed value to replace a trimmer - the "fingers as conductors" feature makes the C-Beeper super-fast when searching for that perfect value.

Easily detect tiny variations when a capacitor is heated or cooled to quickly discriminate between NPOs and "Stable" dielectrics. General purpose and temperature compensating dielectric are quite easy to spot.

The C-Beeper makes an excellent cable fault locator - the end with the open will have less capacitance and beep at a much higher pitch or not at all. A break along an unshielded bundle can be spotted by grabbing the bundle at various points while listening for the capacitance change.

Identify which wire is which at the end of a bundle without stripping back the insulation. Touch the bare wire at one end with the C-beeper probe and pinch the still-insulated wires at the opposite end. The right wire will drop the pitch.

Identify traces on unpopulated PCBs right through solder mask - touch the C-beeper to the exposed end of the trace and use a finger to follow the trace across the board.

Check the value of feed through capacitors after they are installed - a difficult operation with a capacitance meter.

Identify varicap diodes. They beep at a much lower pitch than regular diodes.

Make a small flat plate electrode and line voltage electric fields may be detected. Follow wires behind walls and ceilings or determine if wires are "hot" without touching them. The C-Beeper's tone is modulated by the AC voltage causing a warbling sound. Circuits with lamp dimmers, solid-state switches or fluorescent bulbs are especially easy to detect due to the harmonics on the line.


List of components:
C1 trimmer capacitor 30pF
C2 1nF
D1 1N4148
LED1 LED3MM
Q1 BC559C
Q2 BC559C
Q3 BC549C
R1 1M
R2 2M
R3 5M
R4 2M
R5 1M5
R6 33k
R7 33k
R8 270R
SG1 Piezoelectric Speaker

The probe tip is made ​​from silver wire 0.8 mm. The box brings out the ground through a screw. C1 trims the capacitance set point for LED and Piezoelectric Speaker.


Curious C-Beeper




Curious C-Beeper





Accurate LC Meter Capacitance Inductance Meter with 16F628 and LCD
Volt Ampere Meter with 16F876 Microcontroller and LCD display
 
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Build your own Accurate LC Meter (Capacitance Inductance Meter) and start making your own coils and inductors. This LC Meter allows to measure incredibly small inductances making it perfect tool for making all types of RF coils and inductors. LC Meter can measure inductances starting from 10nH - 1000nH, 1uH - 1000uH, 1mH - 100mH and capacitances from 0.1pF up to 900nF. The circuit includes an auto ranging as well as reset switch and produces very accurate and stable readings.
PIC Volt Ampere Meter

Volt Ampere Meter measures voltage of 0-70V or 0-500V with 100mV resolution and current consumption 0-10A or more with 10mA resolution. The meter is a perfect addition to any power supply, battery chargers and other electronic projects where voltage and current must be monitored. The meter uses PIC16F876A microcontroller with 16x2 backlighted LCD.

50MHz 60MHz Frequency Meter / Counter with 16F628 & LCD
1Hz - 2MHz XR2206 Function Generator
60MHz Frequency Meter / Counter

Frequency Meter / Counter measures frequency from 10Hz to 60MHz with 10Hz resolution. It is a very useful bench test equipment for testing and finding out the frequency of various devices with unknown frequency such as oscillators, radio receivers, transmitters, function generators, crystals, etc.
1Hz - 2MHz XR2206 Function Generator

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BA1404 HI-FI Stereo FM Transmitter
USB IO Board PIC18F2455 / PIC18F2550
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ESR Meter / Transistor Tester Kit
Audiophile Headphone Amplifier Kit
 
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Arduino Prototype Kit
RF Remote Control 433MHz Four Channel
 
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200m 4-Channel 433MHz Wireless RF Remote Control

Having the ability to control various appliances inside or outside of your house wirelessly is a huge convenience, and can make your life much easier and fun. RF remote control provides long range of up to 200m / 650ft and can find many uses for controlling different devices, and it works even through the walls. You can control lights, fans, AC system, computer, printer, amplifier, robots, garage door, security systems, motor-driven curtains, motorized window blinds, door locks, sprinklers, motorized projection screens and anything else you can think of.
 

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