Intercom Using LM386

Keep in touch with your family members from one room to another and
also from outside areas such as the garage, using this intercom circuit for
bidirectional communication. The advantage of this circuit is that there is
no talk/listen switch as many intercoms have. The circuit is built around
two low-power LM386 audio amplifiers.

Fig. 1 shows the block diagram of the intercom system. Fig. 2 shows
the circuit. It has two simple and identical channels—unit 1 and unit 2. As
shown in Fig. 2, the gain of both the amplifiers (built around IC1 and IC2)
is about 200, which is usually enough to work with the condenser
microphones. The circuit also works with carbon microphones or other
high-level and low-impedance microphones.
As both units are identical, working of only the first unit is described
here. When you speak in front of the microphone (MIC1), the low-level
signal is amplified by the amplifier built around transistor T1. Transistor
T1 (BC547) is low-noise and high-gain type.
The value of resistor R11 is selected such that the voltage between the
collector and emitter of T1 is approximately half the power supply voltage.
Resistor R12 should have a minimal value. For example, if the emitter of
T1 is connected to the ground, the value of R12 could be as low as 1 kilo-
ohm (usually, the range is 680 ohms to 4.3 kilo-ohms). Use of capacitor
C18 is optional. The preamplifier may exhibit instability at very high
frequencies. So minimal appropriate value is chosen for resistor R1 in
order to make the input circuit less vulnerable to electromagnetic noises.
Signal from the microphone is filtered by the combination of resistor
R2 and capacitor C1. Capacitor C2 blocks the DC component but allows
AC signal to pass. The volume is adjusted by potentiometer VR1. The
potentiometer can be replaced with a preset of the same value because the
volume need not be adjusted frequently. The signal is amplified by IC1 and
fed to the loudspeaker (LSP2).
The second unit works in the same way as the first unit.
 Assemble the circuits for units 1 and 2 on separate general-purpose
PCBs and enclose in suitable cabinets. As shown in the block diagram,
place microphone MIC1 and loudspeaker LSP1 in the first room, and
microphone MIC2, loudspeaker LSP2 and the entire electronics block plus
the power supply in the second room. Keep the interconnection cables as
short as possible—preferably shorter than 10 metres. These should be kept
away from the cables of the mains power supply and other sources of
electromagnetic interference. Use a shielded cable for connecting the
microphone to the circuit.
It is important that there is no acoustical feedback between the
microphone and the loudspeaker on both the sides. So the microphones
and the loudspeakers should not face each other. As the gain of each
channel is not very high, the probability of acoustical feedback is low. In
case of acoustical feedback, lower the volume of the amplifier and change
the positions of the microphones and loudspeakers.
The preferred power supply for the circuit is 6V or above but the circuit
also works with regulated 5V from IC 7805 (not shown in the diagram). If
a higher dynamic range is needed, the power supply should be 9V or even
12V. For power supply, you can use an AC-DC wall adaptor, dry batteries
or rechargeable batteries.

Block diagram
Circuit diagram