TIME BASE

GENERATOR

By P. R. Arthur

I n l a st mo n th 's i ssu e w e descr ibeda ver y simple wobbulator which is

capable of operating with an oscilloscopeoffering a timebase output. The
circuit described here enables the wobbulatoi to be employed with
oscilloscopeswhich do not havethe requisitetimebase output.

'l'he
unit described in the article ,,Low Cost Wob-
b u l a t o r " , w h i c h a p p e a r e di n l a s t m o n t h ' s i s s u e ,c a n b e
u s e do n i t s o w n w i t h a n o s c i l l o s c o p eh a v i n g a s u i t a b l e St ,.
timebase output, the latter beine coupled to the
v a r i a b l e c a p a c i t a n c ed i o d e s i n t h e *w o b S u i a t o r . T h e
combination of wobbulator and oscilloscope then
allows the responsecurve of an a.m. receiver tb be dis-
pl1ye$ on the cathode ray ' u stube
e of the oscilloscope.
..It is also possible to the unit with an' os-
cllloscope,not ha-vinga timebase output, and this is
a c n l e v e cbl y . e m p l o y r n ga. s e p a r a t et i m e b a s eg e n e r a t o r
t b r t h e w o b b u l a t o r . T h e o s c i l l o s c o p et i m e 6 a s e t h e n
sryggpsthe spot acrossthe face ofthe cathode rav tube
w h i l e t h e a d d i t i o n a l [ i m e b a s es w e e p st h e w o b b u l a t o r
frequency across the receiver passband.
The timebase for the wobbilator aiso produces a
positive.pulse at the srart of the flyback beriod and
the .pulse can be employed to synchionise the
trmebaseot the oscilloscopewhen this has a triggered
sweep mode. Using the tiigger pulse to synchi-onise
tne two trmebasesis not essential,but it does ensure a
Z"\o 8 2 ( o o o , lB l
t":9
stabletrace. The author has obtained excellent results
\_7. t bcc
with.this.synchronising.techniqueusing a Russian Cl- BCt77 2N487t 2N3704
16 double beam oscilloscope, which" is compietely Lcod-outs Lcod- outs L c o d- o u t s
d e v o i do f a n y f o r m o f t i m e b a i e o u t p u t .

RELAXATION
OSCILLATOR Fig, l. The timebase generator incorporates a
constant cufrent source charging a capacitor.
Thg and produces a linear sawtooth at low output
. .timebase generator
is basedon a unijunction
transrstorrelaxation impedance
oscillator.
The circuitappearsin
Fig. 1.

660 RADIO & ELECTRONICSCONSTRIJCTOR

 As soonason-offswitchSl is closed,C1 commences 3/a"aio
Diotosuit siritch
to chargevia transistorTRl. TRf iunitions as a cons-
tant currentsource,whereuponthe voltale acrossC1
nsesln a tlnearmannerwith time. When the voltaee 11
acrossC1 reachesthe emitter trieeerins-le;.t iri"tfi" I o^
unijunctiontransistor,TR2, it dis?l;;;;s raoid.lvvia ttl{
the eminer and base i I

g.ommenc.ql "t
to charge once
tt. arui..-il1l" Rb:'ilih""
more via TRl. Fotr"-
uometerVlil. controlsthe current passedbv TRI and
I
VRt
o
thereforecontrolsrhe rate ;t;hi"h-Cl;Irft;. fri'
i;
VR1 operatesas the timebaset ed"encv
::1::1u""".
conlrol. i u0.
A linear sawtooth.waveform is produced at the 3t4' sKz
emitter.of.TR2,but this is at a fairly-hi;h i;;d;";;- o
particularly.wtren the crrcurt is_operating'at I
^emitterls, sio;
speeds.The qave.format the
:y-."p
S,Sgly;?gupled to the base of the emitter follower,
"""o.-
I.K;J. l'hts oll'ersa_low output impedanceat the n a7rc', -.1
timebaseou.tputsocket *ni,jt-"".ufiii-a ue.u lo*
levet,olloadlngon the waveformshapinecircuif. The
-dir'ectly
. output socket. connects
:]T!P?.r rnput to the Fig. 2. The front panel is dritted out in tha
socketof the wobbulatorvia screened manner shown here
:tjti":"r.
. A positive-going pulse is developedacrossRb dur_
drscha.rge period and this may be used
:lS.-t.h"
to trrggerthe timebaseof-of.Cl,
the oscilloscope, ihe sweeo
Irequencyrs.continuallyvariabiefrom a few Hertz t'o
s.everal hundred Hertz,-the exact ,*g. Urir* A;;;;: to the settingof VRl. The 2N4871specifiedfor TR2 is
dentupontolerances in the,;ir;;;J ifi, ffi;'Vilifid availablefrom Henrv'sRadio.Ltd.
\ - t , a n o f n q n e . t n g g e r i n gv o l t a g e o f T R 2 .
rower ls obtalned from a p.p3 9 volt bat0ery,
current
CONSTRUCTION
consumption ranging from about 2 to 5mA ;;c;di"g
The prototypeis housedin an ,,A.8.S." casetype
M3, obiainabi6from Doram ei".tt"r-i.r,'f,ta. fnl"s'is
a plastic casewith metal front panel and -earu.".
130,by-100 by 50ln[r Fig. 2 showsthe holesrequired
Reststors rn the tront,panel.The two small mountinghol-esfor
(All fixed valuesI watr b%) eachc<.raxial socketare marked out with the"aidof the
Rl 3.3ko socketitself TtgV are drilled 684 clearwith a No. gi
R2 47ka twrstdrrll. A soldertag is fitted under the inner secur_
R3 390f) ing.nutof the timebaseoutput socket,SK2, to provide
R4 3900 a chassisconnection.
R5 220r) All the small componentsare mounted on a
R G8 . 2 k o Veroboardpanelof 0.1ih.matrix,,thishavingt3 holei
VRI 5ko potentiometer, linear Dy Ib copperstnps. I'hereare no breaksin the strips.

Capacitor
at O.+lprfplastic foil, type C2g0
Semiconductors
TRl RC177
TR2 2N4871
TR3 2N3704
Switch
Sl s.p.s.t.toggle
Sockets
SKl, SK2 coaxialsockets
Miscellaneous
9.?se,"A.8.S." type M3, 130 x 100 x 50mm.
(tJoramJ
lP3 battery(Ever Ready)
uattery connector
Knob
Veroboard, 0.lin. matrix The small components are all assembled on a
Veropins,0.lin.
Veroboard panel positioned behind the
sweap
speed potentiometer
APRIL 1976
661
 ,.,"i,
,' ...
''-'''''
't'{' n#
:'{l
"'',i

Another view illustrating the internal layout

'l'he There is plenty of spacefor the battery at the bot-

component layout on the panel is illustrated in
l ' i s . ; 1 .V e i o o i n s s u i t a b l e f o r 0 . l i n . V e r o b o a r da r e u s e d tom of the iase.it can be held in placewith a simple
foi'the ooinis where external connectionsare made to clampaffixedto the front panel.Alternatively,a piece
VRf the sockets.etc. The two connectionsto VRl of foamrubber or plasticgluedto the rear ofthe panel
track""a are designated "A" and "B"' The lead marked can retain it in nosition.
"A" connects"to the potentiometer tag correspon{ng
to maximum clockwise rotation of its spindle. The
leacl,indicated as "B" connectsto the other track tag.
'lhe
component panel is positioned behind VR1
with its copper side facing the front panel, and with
t h e V e r o p i n i w h i c h c o n n e c t t o t h e p o t e n t i o m e t e ra t
t h e t o u . S h o r t s i n g l es t r a n d w i r e s c o n n e c tt h e p a n e l t o
the rest of the circuit, and these provide the panel
with a rnounting of adequate rigidity.

Fos.bottcry clap
vio 51

o
VRr o

The front pane! is marked up with legends

o taken lrom Panel-Signs Sat /Vo. 4, available
o from Data Publications, Ltd'

o U S I N GT H E G E N E R A T O R
As alreadv mentioned, the timebase outl[lt
c o n n e c t st o t h l t i m e b a s ei n p u t o f t h e w o b b u l a t o r ' T h e
irigger pulse output connects, where applicable, to the
N c A .b o t t c r y c l i P
. he equipment,i's
t r i [ [ e r ' i n p u t < - t i " t h eo s c i l l o s c o p e T
t h e n s e t u p i n r n u c h t h e s a m e .w a y a s q l t n t n e w o o -
Dircction of strips bulator on its own, except that lt ll no^walso necessary
io aajust the frequeniy control of.the additional
timebase. The frequency is set up such that one com-
n l e t e p i c t u r e o f t h i d i s i l a y e d r e i e i v e r p a s s b a n df i l l s ,
Fig. 3. Component layout on the Veroboard hr neirly fills, the osiilloscopescreen from side to
panel. There are no breaks in the copper strips side. I

RADIO & ELECTRONICSCONSTRUCTOR