Elenco Electronics K-43 User guide

DECISION MAKER KIT

MODEL K-43

Assembly and Instruction Manual

Elenco Electronics, Inc.

PARTS LIST

If you are a student, and any parts are missing or damaged, please see instructor or bookstore.

If you purchased this Decision Maker kit from a distributor, catalog, etc., please contact Elenco Electronics

(address/phone/e-mail is at the back of this manual) for additional assistance, if needed.

RESISTORS

Qty. Symbol Value Color Code Part #

2 R1, R8 470W5% 1/4W yellow-violet-brown-gold 134700

1 R5 15kW5% 1/4W brown-green-orange-gold 151500

1 R2 56kW5% 1/4W green-blue-orange-gold 155600

1 R7 68kW5% 1/4W blue-gray-orange-gold 156800

1 R3 100kW5% 1/4W brown-black-yellow-gold 161000

1 R4, R6 1.5MW5% 1/4W brown-green-green-gold 171500

CAPACITORS

Qty. Symbol Value Description Part #

1 C1 .0039mF (392) Mylar 233917

1 C2 .015mF (153) Mylar 241517

1 C3 2.2mF 50V Electrolytic (Lytic) 262247

1 C4 47mF 16V Electrolytic (Lytic) 274744

SEMICONDUCTORS

Qty. Symbol Value Description Part #

1 D1 1N4148 Diode 314148

1 Q1 2N3904 Transistor 323904

1 U1 4011 Integrated Circuit (IC) 334011

1 U2 4017 Integrated Circuit (IC) 334017

8 LED 1 - 8 Light Emitting Diode (LED) 350001

MISCELLANEOUS

-1-

Resistor Capacitors

PARTS IDENTIFICATION

Electrolytic

Switch

Diode

Battery Snap

Buzzer

Qty. Description Part #

1 PC Board 517017

1 Dimple Switch 546101

1 Battery Snap 590098

1 Buzzer Piezoelectric 595201

1 Filter Red 621400

1 Spacer 7/32” 624008

Qty. Description Part #

1 Tape 2-sided 1” 748127

1 Cushion Tape 1” 790006

1 Wire Red 22ga. 1” 814220

1 Wire Bare 24ga. 1” 835000

1 Solder Tube 9ST4

Mylar Dimple

Integrated Circuit

IC Socket

LED

Transistor

-2-

IDENTIFYING RESISTOR VALUES

Use the following information as a guide in properly identifying the value of resistors.

BAND 1

1st Digit

Color Digit

Black 0

Brown 1

Red 2

Orange 3

Yellow 4

Green 5

Blue 6

Violet 7

Gray 8

White 9

BAND 2

2nd Digit

Color Digit

Black 0

Brown 1

Red 2

Orange 3

Yellow 4

Green 5

Blue 6

Violet 7

Gray 8

White 9

Multiplier

Color Multiplier

Black 1

Brown 10

Red 100

Orange 1,000

Yellow 10,000

Green 100,000

Blue 1,000,000

Silver 0.01

Gold 0.1

Resistance

Tolerance

Color Tolerance

Silver +10%

Gold +5%

Brown +1%

Red +2%

Orange +3%

Green +0.5%

Blue +0.25%

Violet +0.1%

BANDS

12 Multiplier Tolerance

IDENTIFYING CAPACITOR VALUES

Capacitors will be identified by their capacitance value in pF (picofarads), nF (nanofarads), or mF (microfarads). Most

capacitors will have their actual value printed on them. Some capacitors may have their value printed in the following

manner. The maximum operating voltage may also be printed on the capacitor.

Second Digit

First Digit

Multiplier

Tolerance The letter M indicates a tolerance of +20%

The letter K indicates a tolerance of +10%

The letter J indicates a tolerance of +5%

FortheNo.01234589

Multiply By 1 10 100 1k 10k 100k 0.01 0.1

Multiplier

Note: The letter “R” may be used at times

to signify a decimal point; as in 3R3 = 3.3

103K

100V

Maximum Working Voltage

The value is 10 x 1,000 = 10,000pF or .01mF 100V

10mF 16V

METRIC UNITS AND CONVERSIONS

Abbreviation Means Multiply Unit By Or

p Pico .000000000001 10-12

n nano .000000001 10-9

mmicro .000001 10-6

m milli .001 10-3

– unit 1 100

k kilo 1,000 103

M mega 1,000,000 106

1. 1,000 pico units = 1 nano unit

2. 1,000 nano units = 1 micro unit

3. 1,000 micro units= 1 milli unit

4. 1,000 milli units = 1 unit

5. 1,000 units = 1 kilo unit

6. 1,000 kilo units = 1 mega unit

-3-

INTRODUCTION

Need help in making up your mind? Just ask the

K-43 Decision Maker. Press the ask button and the

right answer will be given to your question. The

Decision Maker has eight light emitting diodes

(LEDs) that are driven ON and OFF one at a time

in sequence. When the ASK button is pushed, the

LEDs will flash and the buzzer will sound. After a

brief period of time, only one LED will remain lit.

Next to the lit LED is the answer to the question

asked. In a minute or two the LED will get dim and

gradually go out.

Figure 1 shows the block diagram of the Decision

Maker circuit. It consists of two oscillators and eight

LEDs driven by a decade counter. One oscillator

drives the decade counter and the oscillators are

controlled by two timers. We shall proceed to study

the circuit in detail.

THEORY OF OPERATION

OSC 1

Decade

Counter

Timer 2

OSC 2

Timer 1

Buzzer

LEDs

PRESS

BUTTON

B+

Figure 1

The Decade Counter

The 4017 IC is a 5 stage divide by 10 counter. Figure

2 shows a diagram of this IC. This IC has 10 outputs

and a clear input. Only one of the 10 outputs will be

high at any given time. The other 9 will be low. Let’s

assume that output 1 is high. If a pulse is fed into the

clock input, output 1 will go low and output 2 will go

high. Each clock pulse will move the output one

position. Connect an LED to the output, it will light

only when the output goes high. It is obvious that

when the clock is running, the LEDs will flash on and

off with the speed of the clock. When the clock stops,

only one LED will be lit.

In this design, 8 LEDs are used per IC, but the

counter has 10 outputs. If the clock stops at an

output without an LED, nothing will light. To prevent

this, the 4017 IC is reset after hitting the 8th output.

This is simply done by tying the 9th output to the

clear pin (pin 9 and pin 15 shorted together).

The Light Emitting Diodes (LED)

The operation of the LED is very simple. When

current flows through the LED, it will emit light. Note

that the LED is connected between an IC output and

ground through a resistor. When the IC output goes

high, the LED will light. The resistor limits the current

so that the LED will not be damaged.

Figure 2

VDD - Pin 16

VSS - Pin 8

Block Diagram

COUT

Clock

Enable

Reset

-4-

Oscillators

The Decision Maker uses two oscillators. The first

oscillator produces a frequency of about 20 hertz

(cycles) and the other produces a frequency of about

2000 hertz. Figure 3 shows the basic oscillator

circuit. The 4011 integrated circuit (IC) contains four

two-input NAND gates. Two of these NAND gates are

needed to form an oscillator. Feed back for this

oscillator is via capacitor C2 and resistors R4 and R5.

These elements determine the frequency of

oscillation. Both IC1 and IC2 act as inverters, that is,

when the input is low, the output is high. As long as

pin 13 of IC1 is high, the circuit will oscillate. If pin 13

is brought low, the circuit will stop oscillating.

The second oscillator is similar to the one described

except for a difference in its frequency controlling

components, capacitor C1 and resistors R2 and R3.

C1 and R2 are smaller values causing the oscillator

to oscillate at a much higher frequency. Pin 5 of the

first NAND gate is brought high at a 20 cycles rate.

This causes the second oscillation to be chopped up

at the first oscillation frequency rate as shown in

Figure 4. This combination produces the unusual

sound heard from the buzzer.

Buzzer

The Decision Maker buzzer consists of a

piezoelectric material on a metal base. When a

voltage is applied to piezoelectric material, its

dimensions change. The buzzer is connected to the

2kHz oscillator. When the oscillator runs, the

changing dimensions to the piezoelectric buzzer act

like the cone of a speaker to set up sound waves.

Timer

Timer 1 is made up of capacitors C3 and R6. Timer

2 is made up of capacitor C4 and R7 (see Figure 5).

When S1 is pushed, both capacitors charge up to 9

volts and the oscillators run. When the switch is

released, capacitor C3 discharges through resistor

R6 and capacitor C4 discharges through resistor R7

and the base of Q1.

Note that C3 is tied to pin 13 of the 4011 IC. Thus,

when capacitor C3 loses its charge, the circuit stops

oscillating. The buzzer stops and a single LED

remains lit. After a minute or two, C4 loses its charge

and removes the base current from Q1. Q1 is in the

ground return path of the LEDs and both ICs. Thus,

when Q1 is turned off, the LED goes out. Only a very

small leakage current is then drawn from the battery.

This current is so small that no ON/OFF switch is

required.

Figure 4

Figure 3

IC2

R5 R4

Pin 13 IC1

4011 IC

Figure 5

Introduction

The most important factor in assembling your K-43 Decision Maker Kit is good soldering techniques. Using the

proper soldering iron is of prime importance. A small pencil type soldering iron of 25 - 40 watts is

recommended. The tip of the iron must be kept clean at all times and well tinned.

Safety Procedures

• Wear eye protection when soldering.

•

Locate soldering iron in an area where you do not have to go around it or reach over it.

•Do not hold solder in your mouth. Solder contains lead and is a toxic substance. Wash your hands

thoroughly after handling solder.

• Be sure that there is adequate ventilation present.

Assemble Components

In all of the following assembly steps, the components must be installed on the top side of the PC board unless

otherwise indicated. The top legend shows where each component goes. The leads pass through the

corresponding holes in the board and are soldered on the foil side.

Use only rosin core solder of 63/37 alloy.

DO NOT USE ACID CORE SOLDER!

CONSTRUCTION

Solder Soldering Iron

Foil

Solder

Soldering Iron

Foil

Component Lead

Soldering Iron

Circuit Board

Foil

Rosin

Soldering iron positioned

incorrectly.

Solder

Gap

Component Lead

Solder

Soldering Iron

Drag

Foil

1. Solder all components from

the copper foil side only.

Push the soldering iron tip

against both the lead and

the circuit board foil.

2. Apply a small amount of

solder to the iron tip. This

allows the heat to leave the

iron and onto the foil.

Immediately apply solder to

the opposite side of the

connection, away from the

iron. Allow the heated

component and the circuit

foil to melt the solder.

1. Insufficient heat - the

solder will not flow onto the

lead as shown.

3. Allow the solder to flow

around the connection.

Then, remove the solder

and the iron and let the

connection cool. The

solder should have flowed

smoothly and not lump

around the wire lead.

Here is what a good solder

connection looks like.

2. Insufficient solder - let the

solder flow over the

connection until it is

covered. Use just enough

solder to cover the

connection.

3. Excessive solder - could

make connections that you

did not intend to between

adjacent foil areas or

terminals.

4. Solder bridges - occur

when solder runs between

circuit paths and creates a

short circuit. This is usually

caused by using too much

solder. To correct this,

simply drag your soldering

iron across the solder

bridge as shown.

What Good Soldering Looks Like

A good solder connection should be bright, shiny,

smooth, and uniformly flowed over all surfaces.

Types of Poor Soldering Connections

-5-

Figure G

Mount the mylar capacitor to the PC

board and bend it 90Oas shown. Solder

and cut off the excess leads.

Figure A

Mount the LED

flush to the PC

board with the flat

side of the LED in

the same direction

as marked on the

PC board.

ASSEMBLE COMPONENTS TO THE PC BOARD

R7 - 68kW5% 1/4W Resistor

(blue-gray-orange-gold)

Q1 - 2N3904 Transistor

(see Figure C)

C3 - 2.2mF 50V Electrolytic

(see Figure D)

R6 - 1.5MW5% 1/4W Resistor

(brown-green-green-gold)

C4 - 47mF 16V Electrolytic

(see Figure D)

D1 - 1N4148 Diode

(see Figure E)

JP1 - Jumper Wire

(see Figure F)

C1 - .0039mF (392) Mylar Cap.

(see Figure G)

R2 - 56kW5% 1/4W Resistor

(green-blue-orange-gold)

R1 - 470W5% 1/4W Resistor

(yellow-violet-brown-gold)

R3 - 100kW5% 1/4W Resistor

(brown-black-yellow-gold)

U1 - 4011 Integrated Circuit

(see Figure B)

R5 - 15kW5% 1/4W Resistor

(brown-green-orange-gold)

R4 - 1.5MW5% 1/4W Resistor

(brown-green-green-gold)

C2 - .015mF (153) Mylar Cap.

(see Figure G)

R8 - 470W5% 1/4W Resistor

(yellow-violet-brown-gold)

Figure B

Insert the IC into the PC board

with the notch in the same

direction as marked on the PC

board.

Figure F

Form a discarded piece of a capacitor lead long

enough so 1/4” of wire passes through each hole in

the PC board. Mount the wire down close.

Figure E

Diodes have polarity.

Mount them with the

band in the correct

direction, as shown on

the PC board.

-6-

Band

Flat

Notch

Figure C

Mount the transistor with the flat

side in the same direction marked

on the PC board. Leave about

1/16” space between the PC board

and the transistor.

Flat

Figure D

Electrolytic capacitors have polarity. Be

sure to mount them with the negative (–)

lead (marked on side) in the correct hole.

Mount the electrolytics horizontal to the

PC board. Bend the leads at right angles

and then insert the leads into the PC

board.

J3 & J4 - Battery Snap

Install the red wire into the positive (+) hole

and the black wire into the negative (–)

hole as shown. Bend the leads to hold the

battery snap in place. Solder and cut off

the excess leads.

LED 5 - Light Emitting Diode

(see Figure A)

LED 4 - Light Emitting Diode

(see Figure A)

LED 8 - Light Emitting Diode

(see Figure A)

LED 7 - Light Emitting Diode

(see Figure A)

LED 3 - Light Emitting Diode

(see Figure A)

U2 - 4017 Integrated Circuit

(see Figure B)

LED 1 - Light Emitting Diode

(see Figure A)

LED 2 - Light Emitting Diode

(see Figure A)

LED 6 - Light Emitting Diode

(see Figure A)

Polarity

Marking

Red

Black

-7-

Figure I

S1, S2

Solder the 1” 24 ga. bare wire to S1 and S2 as shown.

Cut the wire so that each end extends 1/16” above the PC

board. Then, bend the wires toward each other and also

press them flat against the PC board with your pliers.

Place the dimple switch with the dome upward over the

S1 and S2 wires. Hold the switch in place with the

double-sided tape. Mount the spacer on top of the switch,

the double-sided tape on the switch will hold it in place.

ASSEMBLE COMPONENTS TO THE PC BOARD (CONTINUED)

Dimple

Switch

Tape

Cut the cushion tape into four equal 1/4” sections.

Peel off the protective film on one side of the

cushion tape and stick a section of tape on each

corner of the PC board on the top legend side

(see Figure J).

Place the spacer over the dimple switch as shown in

Figure J. Peel off the protective film on the other side

of the cushion tape and stick the red filter in place so

that the “ASK” ellipse is directly over the spacer on

the switch (see Figure J).

Spacer

1/4” Cushion Tape

Red Filter

PC Board

Figure J

Figure H

Buzzer

Mount the buzzer on the foil side of the PC board. The

white center should be facing up, also note the position

of the pad in the white area. Solder the buzzer to the PC

board at the two points. Strip the insulation off of both

ends of the red wire to expose 1/8” of bare wire. Solder

the wire to the buzzer and PC board.

BZ1

Solder Points

TROUBLESHOOTING

Contact Elenco Electronics if you have any problems. DO NOT contact your place of purchase as they will not

be able to help you.

-8-

OPERATING PROCEDURE

1. One of the most frequently occurring problems is

poor solder connections.

a) Tug slightly on all parts to make sure that they

are indeed soldered.

b) All solder connections should be shiny.

Resolder any that are not.

c) Solder should flow into a smooth puddle

rather than a round ball. Resolder any

connection that has formed into a ball.

Have any solder bridges formed? A solder

bridge may occur if you accidentally touch an

adjacent foil by using too much solder or by

dragging the soldering iron across adjacent

foils. Break the bridge with your soldering iron.

2. Be sure that all components have been mounted

in their correct places.

a) The LEDs will not light if they have not been

installed correctly. The flat side of the LEDs

should be in the same direction as marked on

the PC board.

b) Be sure capacitors C3 and C4 are installed

correctly. These capacitors are polarized so

be sure that the positive and negative leads

are in the correct hole as marked on the PC

board.

c) Be sure that ICs U1 and U2 are installed

correctly. The notch should be in the direction

shown on the PC board.

d) Be sure that transistor Q1 has been installed

correctly. The flat side of the transistor should

be in the same direction as marked on the PC

board.

e) Be sure that diode D1 is installed correctly.

The stripe on the diode should be on the

same side as the stripe marked on the PC

board.

3. Use a fresh 9 volt ALKALINE battery.

4. NO SOUND AND NO LEDs

a) Check that the battery snap is wired as

shown on page 6 of this manual. The black

wire goes to J4 (–) and the red wire goes to

J3 (+).

b) Check that U1 and U2 are not installed

backwards. Be sure that there are no solder

bridges between the IC pins.

c) Check that the dimple switch is mounted with

the dome upward.

d) Check the value and the soldering of R7.

e) Check Q1.

5. CONTINUOUS SOUND AND LED

a) Check the wires in S1 and S2. They should

make contact with the dimple switch only

when the “ASK” ellipse on the red filter is

pressed.

6. LEDs BUT NO SOUND

a) Check that the buzzer is soldered as shown

in Figure H on page 7. Check the solder

connection between the jumper wire and the

center pad of the buzzer.

b) Check for soldering bridges between the pins

of U1.

c) Check the value and the soldering of R1, R2,

and R3.

7. LEDs STOP AS SOON AS THE SWITCH IS

RELEASED

a) Check that C3 and C4 are mounted with the

negative (–) lead in the hole marked on the

PC board.

b) Check the value and soldering of R6.

c) Check D1.

Operating your Decision Maker is very simple. Just

connect a 9 volt alkaline battery to the battery snap

and you are ready to go. Push the ASK button to get

your decision!

-9-

QUIZ

Fill in the blanks and check your answers below.

Answers: 1. off; 2. decade counter; 3. five, ten; 4. two; 5. NAND; 6. dimension; 7. oscillators; 8. C4

1. When driven by clock pulses, the outputs of the

decade counter will go on and _____________

one at a time in sequence.

2. LEDs are driven by a _____________

_____________.

3. The 4017 IC contains a _________ stage divide

by _____________ counter.

4. The Decision Maker uses _________ oscillators.

5. The 4011 IC contains four two-input __________

gates.

6. When a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric

buzzer, it changes its _____________.

7. When the ASK button is pushed, capacitors C3

and C4 charge up to 9V, and the

_____________ start running.

8. After the oscillators stop, only one LED will

remain lit and then gradually fade out as

_____________ loses its charge.

Table of contents

Other Elenco Electronics Toy manuals

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics SC3DMEG User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics TEACH TECH King Lizard TTR-892 Installation guide

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics Snap Circuits Light User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics Teach Tech Solar Rover TTG-684 Installation guide

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics 21-880 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics SCP-09 Flying Saucer Plus User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics EDU-41012 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics TEACH TECH HYDROBOT ARM KIT Installation guide

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics Electronic Snap Circuits Pro SC-500 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics K-10 User guide

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics Snap Circuits Green Energy SCG225 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics SNAP CIRCUITS SKILL BUILDER User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics EDU-37437 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics CI-73 Guide

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics EDU-37439 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics SCROV-50 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics EDU-36793 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics SCROV-10 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics EDU-37191 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics EDU-37433 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics SCP-13 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics EP-130 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics EDU-37432 User manual

Elenco Electronics

Elenco Electronics EDU-37332 User manual

Popular Toy manuals by other brands

marklin

marklin 37321 instruction manual

Canon

Canon PAPER CRAFT Assembly instructions

GREAT PLANES

GREAT PLANES Pitts M-12S instruction manual

NOCH

NOCH 14261 manual

Hausler

Hausler 450 SE V2 quick start

Dynaflite

Dynaflite Daydream instruction manual

MiniacRC

MiniacRC MIGHTY MINI P40 WARHAWK Build instructions

Kenner

Kenner Batman 63651 instructions

LEGO

LEGO 8527 instructions

iKarus

iKarus ECO 8 Assembly instruction

Multiplex

Multiplex EasyStar II Building instructions

Walkera

Walkera 38 User handbook

Hasbro

Hasbro TRANSFORMERS BUMBLEBEE manual

MD MXION SWD user manual

Mattel

Mattel Disney Pixar Cars Cozy Cone Spiral Rampway instructions

marklin

marklin 39671 user manual

Meccano

Meccano 15103 instructions

LEGO

LEGO TECHNIC 8735 instructions