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FIG.
1-THE
HEARTOFTHEALPHA
MEDITATION
circuitisasimple555timerwhosepulsefrequencyiscontrolledbypotentiometerR1.ThepulseratesetsthevisualflashingrateoftheLED'sinthegoggles.
:>:::
o
o
ill
oz
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I
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((
LU
I-
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LU
:2
ii
LU
Il.
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LULU
r±::
68
meditate,orforself-hypnosistraining.You'llfindthatthealphawavesoccurwhileyou'reinastateofrelaxedawareness,whichisoftencalledan
alphastate.
Circuitdescription
AsFig.1shows,a555astableoscillator(ICl),andtransistordriver(Q2)areusedtoflashtheseries-connected
LED's
overan
adjustable
rangeofabout6.5ppsto14.5pps(pulsespersecond),or,optionally,3.5ppsto7pps.ICIisconfiguredasaconventionalastableoscillatorhavinganoutputpulsethatgoeslowfor10msattheratesetbypotentiometerRI.ResistorsR4,R5,andR6allowtheoscillatortobefinetunedtocorrectfor
±
20%toleranceerrorinC2andR1.Youcanuseafrequencycounteronpin3
ofICl
tosetR1'srange,sothatithasaboutthesameoverlapateachendofthe7-to14-Hzband.Note:Resistors
R4-R6
canbeomittedfromtheproject,becauseitmaynotbenecessarytotrimtheflashrateofyourinstrumentsoprecisely.Ifyoulike,R5canbeapanel-mountedpotentiometerforfine-adjustingR1.TransistorQIisnormalykeptoffbyR8;Q1,intum,keepsQ2off.Alow-goingpulsefromIC1turnsonQ1for10ms,andpulsesQ2tomomentarilyflashtheLED's.ResistorRIOwilldevelop650mVacrossitat54rnA.That650mVwilltumonQ3andlimitQ2'scurrentto54rnA.Havingthatlimiter,aconstantcurrentpassesthroughtheLED'switheachpulse,independentofthesupplyvoltage.MostLED'sareratedforabout20rnAofcontinuouscurrent,butata15%duty-cycle,theycanhandleover50rnA
withoutharm.
The
LED
brightnessissignificantlyincreased,yetthebatterydrainisstillkeptquitelow.
If
youfindthattheLED'sareuncomfortablybright,increaseRIOtobetween15and27ohms.ThespecifiedLED'sarehigh-effi
ciency
versions
thatemit
asurprisinglyintense
beam
of30-mcd(millicandlesareameasureoflightintensity)at20rnA.StandardLED'sfrequentlyhaveanintensityof1to5mcd,andascattered,diffusedbeam.Forthebesteffect,usethespecifiedLED'sbecausetheyhavelightlytintedlenses,higheroutput,andanarrowbeam.Commonly,redLED'shaveaforwardvoltagedrop(V
F)
ofabout1.7voltsat20rnA,whereasthebrighteronestypicallyhaveaV
F
ofover2volts.Therefore,uptofour
standardLED's
canbeusedinthecircuit.However,theV
F
ofthebrighterLED'spreventsusingfourofthemwitha9voltsupply.DiodeD1andcapacitor
Cl
providebetterpower-supplyfilteringandisolationforIC1thanaconventional
RIC
filter.However,a100-ohmresistorcanbesubstitutedforD1ifyoudesire.Foravery-lowvoltagelossacrossD1,youcouldtryusingaSchottkydiodeoradiode-connectedtransistor,suchasa2N2222or2N3904(seeFig1.).That
isn't
reallynecessary,butitmaykeepsomepuristshappier.Withoutthefilter,
thehigh-currentpulses
throughtheLED'scanadverselyaffectthe555'soperation,particularlywithaweakeningbattery.Aminiphone-jack,11,providesaconvenientwaytodisconnectthegogglesfromthecontrolboxforstorage.Anotherjack,12,allowsyoutopowerthe
A/MG
fromanACadapterhavinga6-to12-voltDCoutput.Makesurethattheadapterhastheproperpolarity(aDCoutput,notAC),andaratingof50rnAormore.Rememberthata12voltadapterwillnotmaketheLED'sanybrighterthana9-voltbatterybecauseofthecurrentlimiting.
PC-boardassembly
Thecontrolcircuitrydoesnotneedspecialcareinassemblyorlayout,soperfboardshouldworkjustaswellasthe
author'sPC-board;the
PartsPlacementisshowninFig.2.Foreaseofdiscussion,
we'll
assume
you're
usingthePCboard.NotethatthePCboardsuppliedbytheauthorissilkscreenedwithallpartslabeled,andsolder-padsAthroughKareidentified.Alltheholeshavebeendrilledtotheirpropersize.TheinsideofthecontrolboxisshowninFig.3,whilethecontrolboxexteriorassemblyisshowninFig.4.
1.
Tokeeptheboardorientedproperly,laytheboardonyourworksurfacewiththecoppersidedownand
Sl's
mountingholestoyourright.Identifythelocationsofallthecom
ponentmounting
holes,
and
themountingpads.KeepIC1initsantistaticfoamuntilyou'rereadytoinstallit.2.Inserttheswitchintoitsmountingholesandsolderthethreeleads.Themountingtabscanbesolderedtotheboard,too,butyouwillhavetoscrapetheblackfinishfromthosetabsinordertodothat.3.Install
CI,
C2,andD1.Thosepartsarepolarizedandmustbeinstalledasindicated.(C4shouldalsobeinstalledifitisgoingtobeused.)4.InstallallresistorsexceptR1,andalsoinstallC3.TherearetwogroundpadsforC3toaccommodateavarietyofcapacitorstylesandsizes.OneofC3'sleads
must
mountintheholenexttoC2's"
+"
sign.5.Useapieceofcapacitororresistorleadtojumperthetwopadsonthe555(pins4and8).Installthejumperflat
 
ALPHA
9.Inthebottomhalfofthecase,mountaminiphone-jack
(11)
forthegoggles.Also,mountajackfortheACadapter(12)onthetophalfofthecase.Makesurethejackclearsanyinternalobstructions.10.Insertthebattery-clipleadsfrominsidethebatteryholderthroughtheslotontherightside.Tiealargeknotintheleadstokeepthemfrompullingbackthroughtheslot,whileleavingI
Y4
inchofleadlengthtosoldertothePCboard.11.Soldertheblackbattery-leadtosolderpad
"A"
andtheredleadinpad
"D."
(Ifyouaren'tinstallinganACadapterjackatthistime,soldertheredbatteryleadtopad
"C,"
andtheblackleadtopad
"A.")
12.Solderaredwiretopad
"C"
andablackwiretopad
"B,"
thenroutethemtotheAC-adapterjackandsoldertheminplace.Makesurethatthepolarityoftheadaptermatchesthered
(+)
andblack(-)wires.Also,connectawhitewirebetweenpad
"E"
andtheswitchedterminalonthesamejack.(That
way,
thebatterywillbedisconnectedwhentheACadapterispluggedin.)13.Solderablackwirebetweenpad
"H"
andtheouterringterminalofthejackforthegoggles,thensolderared
JJ
wirebetweenpad
"I"
andthe
"tip"
rh
terminalofthesamejack.
~
14.Drillaholeinthecenterofthe
"U
rn
box'scoverfortheflash-ratepotenti-
JJ
ometer,RI.
~
15.Ifthetheta-rangeoptionisused,
~
connectapairoflightlytwisted3-
gJ
inchwiresfrompads
"J"
and
"K"
~
andS2,whichshouldbemountedon
~
theinstrument'scover.Eitherwire
~
cangotoeitherpad.WhenS2is
g
closed,theA/MGwillbeoperatingin
A
69
FIG.
4-EXTERIOR
DIAGRAMOFTHEAIMGcontrolboxshowingthepositionoftheflashratecontrolknob,andvariousjacksandswitches.
socket.We'llcontinuewiththeremainingwireslater.8.Temporarily
mount
the
board
looselyinthebottomhalfoftheboxontopofthemountingbosses,andmarktheholefortheon/offswitch.Besuretoslidetheswitchbetweenitstwopositionswhenmarkingthecutout.Theplasticiseasytocut,soasmall,flatfileisallthat'srequired.Theswitchhasalowprofile,sothetophalfofthecasedoesnothavetobenotched.onthecomponentsideoftheboard.The555willbeinstalledontopofthat
Wire.
6.Identifythethreetransistors,QI-Q3.Installthemwiththeirflatsidefacingtheproperdirection,accordingtotheParts-PlacementdiagraminFig.2.7.InstallICIwithpinIinthelowerrightcomernear
Dl.
(PinIisalsoidentifiedonthecopperfoil.)BesurethejumperwirehasbeeninstalledunderICIbeforeyouinstallICIora
FIG.
3-
THEINSIDEVIEWOFTHEAlMGcontrolbox.Noticethecleanlayout.A9-voltbatterycompartmentis
just
belowPCboard.FIG.
2-
THEPARTSPLACEMENTfortheAlMGPC-boardshowsswitch
S1
soldereddirectlyontheboard.Noticetransistororientation,andthepolarityofcapacitorsanddiodeD1.
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