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DopplerSensor

ThisadapterisappliedonthebackofmicrowavedopplermodulesHB100.ThemodulesHB100found
on eBay for under 6 Euro, shipped from Europe in a few days, and with free shipping. To read the
specificationsanddimensionsDatasheetAndthisApplicationNotes.

Ouradapteramplifiesthesignalbyben80DB(tenthousandtimes)Itallowstomeasurethevelocity
of distant objects, up to a few tens of meters. Matching to the application Theremino
DopplerMeteryoumakeveryprecisevelocitymeasurements.

Dispositionofearnings
Thissensorcanbeusedformanyuses:bycaralarms,therevelationofpresenceofpeopleoranimals,
toturnonthelights,opendoorsandtakephotographs.Oryoucanmeasurethespeedofbirds,drones,
modelairplanesandcars.Buteventhefallingspeedandthediameterafewdropsofrainandhail,or
thedensityofsnowflakes.

Some of these apps work with small objects at a great distance, others with large objects and
neighbors.Thesensoralsoprovidesstrongersignalsforobjectsmovingslowly,thatforfastones.Itis
thereforenotpossibletooptimizethecontrolamplifierforalluses.

A first approximation might be to adjust the gain low enough, that is 30 decibels for all frequencies
(seenotesinthecircuitdiagram).

Then you could turn up the gain looking for the most
suitable combination of components to the objects to be
measured.Inpracticeyouhavetogetagoodsignal,both
for objects that are fast lenses, but without reaching
saturation.

Innormaloperation,youshouldstayundertheVoltpeak
to peak, so you have a good margin before saturation,
What happens to two Volts peak to peak. Saturation is
indicated by a message in the upper part of the
oscilloscope.

If you work in the saturated zone appear many lines at

multiple speeds than real ones and this confuses the

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measurements.

The maximum gain (80 decibels at all frequencies) It is

suitableforcaralarmsanddetectors,theydon'tmeasure
the speed and therefore can also saturate. This
adjustment saturates very easily and is suitable only for
measuringthespeedofsmallanddistantobjects.

Minimum gain (30 decibels at all frequencies) can

measure the speed of objects close enough without
saturating, but it might have a low sensitivity to small
objectsandfar.

Highergainsettingsathighfrequencies(highspeeds),aresuitableformeasuringthespeedofquick
objects,withoutsaturatingeasilywithobjectslenses.

Theoscilloscopeandthesaturationindicatorwillhelpyoutochoosethebestgainadjustmentforyour
application.

Thecomponentsthatdeterminethegain
Bychangingtworesistorsandtwocapacitors(C3,R3,C5,R5),yougetallthepossiblecombinationsof
incomeandchangesinincomeforlowandhighspeeds.Seenotesinthecircuitdiagram.

Duringthetestsisfinesoldertheresistorsandcapacitorstofourthreadssproutingfromholes,tobe
abletoreplacerepeatedly,withoutspoilingthePCB.

Inthispictureyouseetwo33kresistorsandtwocapacitorsfrom10uF.Thecapacitorsarenotseen
becausetheyarenotcapacitorsperbarrel,butsmallSMDweldedonthebottom.

Thetwoyellowcapacitorsfrom100NFarejustweldedfromonesideandreadytotrythem,butisnot
currentlyconnected.

Onceestablished,thevaluesofthecomponentsbestsuited,youtestandwiresareweldeddesoldering
components components definitive in holes of the printed. The same values will fit for all similar
applications.

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Mechanicalconstruction
RadarmodulesHB100foundoneBayforunder6Euro,shippedfromEuropeinafewdays,andwith
freeshipping.ForthecharacteristicsanddimensionsofthemodulesHB100readthisDatasheetAnd
thisApplicationNotes.

As you can see in this picture, you have to cut a piece of clear plastic, with four wings folded down.
Thenyouplacetheplasticovertherectangleofaluminumtoisolate.Andfinallyweweldthefourwires
ofthecontrolamplifier,onallfoursidesofthesensor,carefulnottolinktheminstead.

ConnectingtoyourPC
The three wires to exit (GND / +5V / Signal), must be connected to a USB sound card, amended to
providepowerto5Volts.TheUSBconnectionmaynotbeverylong(maximum5meters)thenyour
soundcardneedstobeclosetoyourPC.Insteadthewirethatgoesfromthesensortothesoundcard
canbeaslongasdesired,evenhundredsofmetres.

If the cable is short (less than one meter), then you can use a threewire shielded cable. Instead for
longconnections,youshoulduseagoodshieldedcable,possiblymiccablelargeenoughandwithtear

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proof cable. The shielded cable should have two wires inside, usually one white (for the signal), and
onered(forthesupplyvoltage).

Thesoundcardlast

ThechangeisthesameasthatforthePMTAdapter,butthecurrentlimitermustbeabletogivemore,
thenyouusethecomponentsto150mA(R1=4.7k/R2=22k/R3=R4=1Mega)andnotthose
from80butthatyounormallyuseforPMTAdapter.

Here'sthecurrentlimiterprojectforyoursoundcard:
http://www.theremino.com/hardware/adapters#limitersmd

Andinthesefiles(onpage24)youlearnhowtochangeyoursoundcard:
PmtAdapters_ITA
PmtAdapters_ENG
PmtAdapters_JAP

AdjustingtheaudioinputonthePC
InapplyingThereminoDopplerMeterchooseUSBmicrophoneinputandcontrol,movingahandin
frontofthesensor,thatyouhavechosenthecorrectinput.

PressthebuttonAudioinputs(toopenthePanelAudio/Registration)
Selecttherightmic(youseeherfingergreenmovewhenmovingthehand)
PressProperty
ChoosethetabLevelsandputtheregulatortomaximum(value=100)
ChoosethetabCustomizeanddisabletheoptionAGC

Testfixtures
Totesttheproperoperationofthissensoryoucanusetwosimpletestingkits.

Here you see a tuning fork from 105 Hz used in years 60, to calibrate the engine speed of teletype

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olivetti.Withasensorfrom10.525GHz,Thistuningforkproducesawelldefinedlinespeed6.3Km/h.
Withatuningforkto440Hz,thetypetotunemusicalinstrumentsyouwouldgetalineataspeedof
22.3Km/h.

This is a small electric motor, connected to two

AAbatteriesandwithtwolugstocopperadhesive
paste onto the Stud. With a sensor from 10.525
GHz,Thisengineproducesalineataspeedof2.5
Km/h. You can get higher speeds by increasing
the voltage up to 6 or 12 Volts. The advantage
compared to the tuning fork is to have a
continuous signal, stable and adjustable in
speed.Togetasinusoidalsignalandalineclear,
It is good to put the tip of the pin of the motor
towardsthesensor.

Increasetherange
Thebaresensorhasabeamwideenough(about60degrees)andunabletoarriveatthemostafew
tensofmeters.Tomeasurethespeedofdistantobjects,suchasmodelaircraft,dronesorbirds,You
canfocusthemicrowavesintoabeamnarrowerthanandarriveatsomehundredmetres.

Policemonitorshavearodantenna(Hornantenna),about10cmlong,withgainofabout17DB,about
beam 30 degrees and a cost of over 30 Euro. We will see below that the parables for satellites have
betterfeaturesandcostless.

Thetablebelowshowsthatverysmallparables,aslowas40centimetersindiameter,haveagoodgain
andanarrowbeam.Withthedishesyougetasignificantincreaseinthemaximumdistancewhichcan
bereached.Evenbeyondthe500meterslargereflectors.

Diameter Gain Openingangle Beam Typical

parabola (10 (total,notsemi diameter price
GHz) corner) (to100Mt) +
expedition

20cm 25DB 17degrees 30meters

25cm 27DB 14degrees 25meters
30cm 28DB 12degrees 21meters

35cm 30DB 10degrees 18meters

40cm 31DB 9degrees 16meters 10+8
Euro
45cm 32DB 8degrees 14meters 12+9
Euro
60cm 34DB 6degrees 10meters 14+10
Euro
80cm 38DB 4degrees 7meters 15+10

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Euro
100cm 39DB 3degrees 5meters 30+12
Euro

Best not to overdo it with the size of the parabola. With 40 cm in

diameter you get a fairly narrow beam, but not so close as to make
difficultthepointing.

On eBay there are small parables, for 10 Euro. You must choose a
model offset, and it better be in aluminium, not rust and be
lightweight.

Thesensorisfixedwheretheilluminatorforsatellitesandplacement
isnotcritical.

To facilitate the pointing you can mount a simple viewfinder and a

rearhandle.Theparablesarereadandcanbeheldwithonehand.Withalittletrainingyoucanalso
measurethespeedofflyingbirds.

Maximumdistanceandmaximumspeed
Themaximumrangeofdetection,forlargeobjectslikeaperson,isabout20meters.
Withasatellitedish40cmextendsthemaximumdistanceuptoseveralhundredmeters.

Thepassbandofthecontrolamplifierislimitedby1Hzto2KHz
Thecorrespondingspeedrangefrom0.05Km/hand100Km/h(from0.014m/sto28m/s)
Withaslightdecreaseofsensitivityyoucanmeasurespeedupto150Km/h.

Toincreasethemaximummeasurablespeed,YoucandeletethecondensersC4andC6.Thesignalgets
slightlylouder,butthepassbandextendsupto20KHz,thatmatch1000Km/h.

Measurethespeedofatmosphericevents
Tomeasuretherateoffallofrain,hailandsnowyoushouldplacetheoutdoorsensor,facingup,ina
nonmetallic box and completely watertight. It is not easy to get a total weather resistance but,
Fortunatelyyoucangetgoodresultswiththesensorwithinawindow.Youhavetochooseawindow
not sheltered by canopies and you have to position the sensor close to the glass, turned around 70
degreesup.

RainYougetaspectrumofdropletVelocitydistribution.Andfromityoucanobtainaspectrum
ofdropletsize(smalldropsfallmoreslowly)
HailYougetaspectrumofdistributionofvelocityandthereforethesizeofthegrains.
SnowTheaveragespeedyoucandeducethetypeofsnow,thatis,ifit'sdry,lightsnow(falling
slowly),orwetsnow(fallingfaster).

Foraveragespeedsofrain,hailandsnow,see:Theremino_DopplerMeter

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DopplerprojectdownloadsVersion2
EaglePCB,images,simulationsLTSpiceandschemes:
Sensor_Doppler_V2.zip

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