Fourth Elementary Electronics Class For Hams

We are pleased to announce the fourth class in a series of simple, ham-related, electronic projects, presented by one of our members, Dixon Barthel K3WNS. This is actually a continuation of an ongoing course in elementary electronics and projects for hams. Anyone is welcome to attend. No previous knowledge in electronics is required. (It would be nice, however).

The project for this session is “Extended NE555 Timer Circuits“. We’ll take a look at various, hands-on  projects that we can make using the 555 timer. Here is a link to the class notes for this lesson,  

(Note: Previous class notes follow below)

November 1, 2023 Class Outline:

• To explore four projects, two using additional hardware.

• Ganging two NE555s together for additional functions
     – Switching a flashing signal off and on
     – Making a Siren
• To extend the functions of the NE555 timer with digital counter IC
     – CD4017 counter to display a progressive row of lights – “Night Rider”
     – CD4060 counter to extend the timer’s range to days.

For your part, you’ll need a breadboard (like the one you bought for the Arduino projects), some LEDs, some resistors, and some capacitors.  You’ll also need a power supply to provide 9-12 volts to your board.

We will be providing the 555s, gotten in bulk from Amazon.  For those who have missed the introductory sessions, we talked about the basics like Ohm’s law, inductors, capacitors, transistors, and the like. All the notes from those sessions are available. We also played with Arduino and PIC projects. The last class we discussed simple, practical code oscillators, The previous class discussed the workings of an ammeter and a voltmeter.   

The fourth class is on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, Currently (though we may change) the meetings are held at the Department of Emergency Services at 2220 Ady Road, Forest Hill, MD 21050, just north of Conowingo Road (see the tall tower and you’re there). We’re meeting in room 106. Just ask the attendant where to go and log in. We meet every other Wednesday at 6:30pm in the evening and go to about 8:30pm. No charge.

We just want to help folks know how to do stuff. Atendees may be (but do not have to be) be a member of Harford County ARES/RACES, or can hold or are interested in getting an amatuer radio license. There is no fee for the class, but there coud be a small fee for parts. In order to attend, please contact K3WNS Dixon Barthel , K3WNS@gmail.com first, via email, for more information and prior to attendng .