Elenco Electronics CI-73 Guide

any means; electronic, photocopying, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher.

CI-73_REV-E_051314.qxp_CI-73_Manual_072213 5/13/14 4:01 PM Page 1

If you have any questions contact:

ELENCO®

150 Carpenter Avenue

Wheeling, IL 60090

(847) 541-3800

Website: www.elenco.com • e-mail: [email protected]

WARNING:

SHOCK HAZARD - NEVER connect

the probe to AC power or a wall

electricity outlet for any reason since

serious injury or damage may result.

-1-

CI-73 - READ THIS FIRST

The CI-73 is a set of 73 Snap Circuits®with special

software that allows you to “see” the electrical signals

in the circuits, just like electronics engineers do using

oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers.

Requirements for your computer:

1. Windows®computer with internet connection.

2. A microphone input port.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Download our software from www.elenco.com/downloads/CI-

73.zip (Windows®may give you a warning, but our software is

safe to download). Go to the download and extract the

compressed files. Connect the plug end of our cable to the

microphone input (or microphone/USB adapter) on your

computer. With our cable connected, open the extracted files

folder and run file Winscope.exe.

2. Change the default settings for Winscope by selecting

<Options>. Then select <Timing> and change Sampling to

44100 and press <OK>. Then select <Options> again, then

<Colors> - <Y1 Trace> and pick a bright color like pink. Then

select <Options>, then <Save Setup> to save these settings

as your default.

3. Follow the instructions through project PC3 before

moving on to any other circuits, since the main features

of the software are demonstrated.

Complies with CAN ICES-3 (B)/NMB-3 (B). This product

should only be connected to equipment of class II.

CI-73_REV-E_051314.qxp_CI-73_Manual_072213 5/13/14 4:01 PM Page 2

-2-

Electronic engineers use specialized test equipment to “see”

electronic signals and make performance measurements. They

use an oscilloscope to look at the shape of the signal and use a

spectrum analyzer to look at its frequency content. This

equipment is specialized and usually very expensive.

The Winscope software simulates this equipment using your

personal computer. The PC-interface cable can be connected

across any 2 points in your circuit to look at the signal.

It is usually connected to the output of a circuit, as in the circuits

shown for the CI-73. Connect the plug end of the probe to the

microphone input on your personal computer. Run the

Winscope application (Winscope.exe). It will come up in Hold

mode looking like this:

Click on the On-Line button to turn it on. You should now get

one of the following 2 pictures, depending on whether your

microphone input is properly turned on:

If you get the picture shown in Example B, then your microphone

input is not properly turned on. Go to the “Turning On Your

Microphone Input” section to turn it on. There may also be other

sound card controls on your computer that you need to set.

When your input is properly configured, you will get a picture like

Example A above. Touch the red and black “alligator” clips on the

PC-interface cable to each other and you should see the random

pattern on the Winscope screen change as you do so. You are

now ready to proceed with the first CI-73 experiment or you may

investigate the Winscope software on your own.

Looking at Electronic Signals using the WINSCOPE Software

WARNING:

SHOCK HAZARD - NEVER connect the probe to AC power

or a wall electricity outlet for any reason since serious injury

or damage may result.

Example

On-Line

button

CI-73_REV-E_051314.qxp_CI-73_Manual_072213 5/13/14 4:01 PM Page 3

-3-

You may freeze a waveform on the screen by clicking on the

Hold mode button (just to the right of the On-Line button).

WARNING: Do not “save setup” in Winscope. Many of the

buttons on Winscope control features that this manual will not be

using. If you accidentally place the Winscope software into an

unknown mode, you may always close and re-start Winscope.

Doing so will reset all settings to those described in this booklet

unless you have done a “save setup”.

NOTES:

1. It is recommended that you disable or turn down the

volume to the speakers on your computer. CI-73’s use of

the microphone input port will also channel the same

signal to the speakers, and the result can be distracting.

2. It is recommended that you become familiar with the Snap

Circuits®parts and assembly methods before building

any of the circuits in this manual.

3. For some Windows®versions, you must plug in the PC-

interface cable before you run Winscope, or you will not

be able to activate the Winscope on-line button.

Looking at Electronic Signals using the WINSCOPE Software (continued)

Hold mode button

PROJECTS PC1-PC3 SHOW

HOW TO USE THE MAIN

FUNCTIONS OF WINSCOPE SO

DO THEM FIRST!

Turning On Your Microphone

(For Windows®98 or XP, other Windows®versions may be

slightly different.)

If you don’t get any signal from the PC-interface cable then

your microphone may be disabled on your computer. To turn

it on, follow these instructions which begin by pressing the

<Start> button on the lower-left corner:

1. Select <Start> - <Programs> - <Accessories> -

<Entertainment> (or <Multimedia>) - <Volume Control>.

2. Select <Options>.

3. Select <Properties>.

4. Select <Recording> in the “Adjust Volume For” box.

5. In the “Show the Following Controls” box, check

<Microphone>.

6. Select <OK>.

7. In the “Microphone - Volume” box, check <Select> and set

volume to about 40% of max.

Your microphone should now be turned on.

CI-73_REV-E_051314.qxp_CI-73_Manual_072213 5/13/14 4:01 PM Page 4

-4-

IMPORTANT NOTE: The designs for the microphone input port

vary throughout the computer industry. Hence you may get

waveforms different from those shown in your manual even

though the circuit is actually performing the same way. Here are

some types of differences:

A. The gain of your microphone input may be significantly

different from that indicated on pages 8-10 (and similarly

for the other circuits). Page 4 describes how to turn on the

microphone input and adjust its volume to about 40% of

max, you may want to adjust this volume higher or lower

so that your results better match those shown. Note that

having the volume set too high may “clip off” the top or

bottom portion of a waveform.

B. The oscilloscope waveforms shown on your display may

appear upside down (“inverted”) from those shown

throughout this document. For example the waveform

shown on the top of page 10 would look like this:

If this is the case then swap the connections of the red and black

clips of the Winscope probe in all circuits.

C. The shape of waveforms may appear distorted for some

circuits, due to protection circuitry that acts as a filter. For

example:

Looking at Electronic Signals using the WINSCOPE Software (continued)

This waveform . . . might look like this.

And this waveform . . . might look like this.

Contact ELENCO®if you have any questions about this.

CI-73_REV-E_051314.qxp_CI-73_Manual_072213 5/13/14 4:01 PM Page 5

-5-

By using the microphone audio input and the flexible processing

power of the personal computer, we have created an inexpensive

and easy-to-use way of looking at electronic signals. However,

no electronic oscilloscope or spectrum analyzer ever made

works on all electronic signals, and similarly Winscope has

limitations. The projects in this booklet were written to minimize

those limitations.

Winscope can only measure changing signals (AC voltages, >20

Hz frequency) and cannot measure fixed voltages (DC voltages,

such as a battery), due to the design of the microphone input.

Fixed voltages are not very exciting to look at anyway. Slow-

changing or transient signals (such as when you first turn on

power to a circuit) will be displayed in a distorted form.

Winscope works best on signals up to about 5kHz, since its

sampling rate is limited to 44kHz. If you attempt to measure

higher frequency signals, then you will get wrong results due to

undersampling. This is a narrow range but it covers human voice

and most (but not all) music. AM and FM radio frequencies

cannot be measured. Every measurement you make will have

some amount of random “chatter” superimposed on the signal of

interest. This chatter is due to the limited sampling rate and from

the PC-interface cable picking up energy from other electronic

instruments in the vicinity (including room lights and your

computer), hence it cannot be avoided.

Limitations of WINSCOPE and Its Interface

Winscope has 2 input channels that can be displayed at the

same time. This is commonly done by electronic engineers using

an oscilloscope, to show the relationship of one (or more) signals

to another. However, use of this requires a second microphone

input, which most computers do not have. If the sound card in

your computer has this then you may use all of Winscope

features for 2 channels, which include X-Y and correlate modes.

Use of these Winscope capabilities is beyond the introductory

level of this product, use the Help menu in Winscope for

information about using these features (to make the help file work

on Windows Vista, you may need to download and install the

program (WinHlp32.exe) from the Microsoft Download Center).

Using WINSCOPE’s Full Capabilities

WARNING:

SHOCK HAZARD - NEVER connect the probe to AC power

or a wall electricity outlet for any reason since serious injury

or damage may result. !

To make a copy of the Winscope display screen, hold down the Alt button and press the PrtScn button on your

computer when Winscope is the active window. You can then paste it into word processing programs such as

Microsoft Word.

Exporting Graphs from WINSCOPE

CI-73_REV-E_051314.qxp_CI-73_Manual_072213 5/13/14 4:01 PM Page 6

-6-

Project # Description Page #

PC1 Pitch PC 7

PC2 Screaming Fan PC 11

PC3 Hissing Foghorn PC 14

PC4 Light and Sounds PC 16

PC5 Light and Sounds PC (II) 18

PC6 Light and Sounds PC (III) 18

PC7 Light and Sounds PC (IV) 18

PC8 Light and Sounds PC (V) 18

PC9 Light and Sounds PC (VI) 19

PC10 Modulation 19

PC11 Filtering 21

PC12 AM Radio PC 22

PC13 Space War PC 24

PC14 Microphone 25

PC15 Speaker Microphone 27

PC16 Symphony of Sounds PC 28

PC17 Doorbell PC 29

PC18 Periodic Sounds PC 30

PC19 Lasting Doorbell PC 31

PC20 Space War Flicker PC 33

PC21 Buzzing in the Dark PC 34

PC22 Trombone PC 35

PC23 Sound Pulse Oscillator PC 37

PC24 High Pitch Bell PC 38

PC25 Tone Generator PC 39

PC26 Tone Generator PC (II) 39

PC27 Tone Generator PC (III) 39

PC28 Old-Style Typewriter PC 40

PC29 Transistor Fading Siren PC 41

PC30 Fading Doorbell PC 41

PC31 Police Siren Amplifier PC 42

PC32 Music Amplifier PC 42

PC33 Space War Amplifier PC 43

PC34 Adjustable Tone Generator PC 43

PC35 Adjustable Tone Generator PC (II) 44

PC36 Adjustable Tone Generator PC (III) 44

PC37 Adjustable Tone Generator PC (IV) 44

Project # Description Page #

PC38 Adjustable FM Radio PC 44

PC39 Transistor AM Radio PC (II) 45

PC40 Playback & Record PC 45

PC41 Power Amplifier Playing Music PC 46

PC42 Music Meter PC 47

PC43 Oscillation Sounds PC 48

PC44 Oscillation Sounds PC (II) 48

PC45 Oscillation Sounds PC (III) 48

PC46 Oscillation Sounds PC (IV) 48

PC47 Oscillator Sounds PC 49

PC48 Oscillator Sounds PC (II) 49

PC49 Whistle Chip Sounds PC 49

PC50 Whistle Chip Sounds PC (II) 50

PC51 Whistle Chip Sounds PC (III) 50

PC52 Whistle Chip Sounds PC (IV) 50

PC53 Bird Sounds PC 50

PC54 Bird Sounds PC (II) 51

PC55 Electronic Cat PC 51

PC56 Electronic Cat PC (II) 51

PC57 Electronic Cat PC (III) 51

PC58 Electronic Cat PC (IV) 51

PC59 Variable Oscillator PC 52

PC60 Variable Oscillator PC (II) 52

PC61 Variable Oscillator PC (III) 52

PC62 Variable Oscillator PC (IV) 52

PC63 Electronic Sound PC 53

PC64 Electronic Sound PC (II) 53

PC65 Siren PC 54

PC66 Drawing Resistors PC 55

PC67 Electronic Noisemaker PC 55

PC68 Electronic Noisemaker PC (II) 56

PC69 Bee PC 56

PC70 Bee PC (II) 57

PC71 Space War Alarm Combo PC 57

PC72 Space War Music Combo PC 58

PC73 Sound Mixer PC 58

Project Listings

CI-73_REV-E_051314.qxp_CI-73_Manual_072213 5/13/14 4:01 PM Page 7

-7-

Project #PC1

OBJECTIVE: To look at the output ignal from a tran i tor o cillator while changing the pitch of the ound.

Pitch PC

You will now be introduced to the Winscope features, and thereby

become familiar with oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers, and

see some of the most important concepts in electronics. It is

recommended that you already be familiar with the Snap Circuits®

parts and assembly methods from the other manuals.

Build the circuit shown and connect the PC-interface cable to the

microphone input on your computer. Turn on the slide switch (S1)

and vary the adjustable resistor (RV). The frequency or pitch of

the sound is changed. Run the Winscope software and be sure

your microphone input is configured properly, as described

earlier.

CI-73_REV-E_051314.qxp_CI-73_Manual_072213 5/13/14 4:01 PM Page 8

Note that your picture may not exactly match this picture due to

variances in the microphone input gain between computers, which

is beyond software control. You may want to adjust the volume

control of your microphone input to compensate, see note A on

page 4 for more details. You may also disable 1:1 mode by clicking

on its button again and then adjust the gain using the Y1 control.

The gain and position control features just described enable

electronic engineers and technicians to “see” the amplitude

(voltage level) of a signal. By adjusting the settings on an

oscilloscope, they can look at both very large and very small

voltage waveforms.

Move the adjustable resistor control (snap part RV) and watch how

it changes the waveform on the computer screen. Now click on the

0.5ms/div button to change the time scale on the display. (The

button to the left of it is for 5ms/div, the default.) Move the

adjustable resistor control around again. You may click on the Hold

button to freeze the waveform on the screen, then click on On-

Line to restart.

-8-

Click on the On-Line button if Winscope is currently in Hold mode

and you should get a picture similar to this one:

On-Line

button

The waveform peak is off the top of the screen because the scope

gain (amplification) is set too high. You may adjust this gain by

moving the Y1 gain control around (try it).

Similarly, you may adjust the position of the waveform on the

screen by moving the Y1 position control around (try it).

Now click on the 1:1 button to set the gain to x1 and disable the

Y1 controls. You should now have a picture similar to this one:

1:1 button

Y1 position

control

Y1 gain

control

With the time scale at 0.5ms/div and the adjustable resistor set for

middle position, you should now have a picture similar to this one.

Your picture may appear different due to variations in the

microphone input designs between computers. Although this is

beyond software control, in some cases you may be able to

compensate externally. See notes B and C on page 4 for details.

Hold

button 0.5ms/div button

CI-73_REV-E_051314.qxp_CI-73_Manual_072213 5/13/14 4:01 PM Page 9

The small slash “-” represents the trigger voltage, when the signal

reaches this voltage level it activates the display. This makes it

easy to observe a stream of pulses like you have now, and also to

record a single (non-repeating) pulse.

Move the adjustable resistor control (snap part RV) and watch how

it changes the waveform on the computer screen. Now you can

see how changing the adjustable resistor changes the time

between the pulses, which changes the tone of the sound you

hear.

The waveform you see here is the voltage across the speaker, the

peaks of the pulses occur when the transistors turn on and provide

current to the speaker. Changing the amplitude of the peaks

changes the loudness of the sound, changing their separation

changes the tone or “pitch” of the sound. The time scale and

trigger control features just described enable electronic engineers

and technicians to see the relationship between parts of a

waveform on their oscilloscope.

“Trigger positive level button

-9-

Notice that the waveform seems to be randomly dancing across the

screen, making it hard to study. We can fix this. Click on the

“trigger positive level” button and make sure the trigger bar is

in the position shown here. Notice that a small “-” appears on the

left of the display as you do so.

“-”

Trigger bar

Now its time to look at your electronic signal in a different way. The

oscilloscope features you have been using show you voltage

(amplitude) vs. time, now you will see voltage vs. frequency.

Engineers use expensive instruments called spectrum analyzers to

do this, but Winscope uses a mathematical transformation called

an FFT to do this. Set the Y1 gain control back to its default

position for now. Click on the 5ms/div button to display a wider

range, then click on the FFT button. Your display should be similar

to this:

You are seeing the frequency spectrum of your signal, up to 22kHz.

Notice that most of the energy is at the low frequencies (below

7kHz), and there is very little as you go higher.

5ms/div button FFT button

Y1 gain

control

default

position

CI-73_REV-E_051314.qxp_CI-73_Manual_072213 5/13/14 4:01 PM Page 10

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