odern

cl'ronics

A Constructor's
Compendium
Of Weekend Projects

BY JEFFERY A . SANDLER ·

Listen to your lawn

Althl ,u gh mo..t lawn .. d on't. in
the normal course of even ts . pru -
vid...' an afternoon co n...' cr t, vour-,
........ ,

can ! lmogim- bo..'in ~ a bi...- to plui a set

of h...·., d plw nl·s in to yo u r backya rd A_~; • . •. . • . j '. . . _ ' - ,, ' ; : . '• . ;" . . . .... '.~ . ' ": .:- .,; - u . Ad;"
..t,.l : . • . . . . . . " ," ' ,. , • .• so;r , .. ' _~ . '''''''1
lawn and I:l..· in~ treated to )'llur fa- ....1, -:. ••. : 4·.. ·. !" ::\· i ..: :: · < ": ,1: ' ~ .': : : :' .:».-: :...
vurik music, It's ju.;,' the thing for ~ ..:.... ..• : .~<, ! ::. '.' ,.. '_::.; ,'. '.' ~ ; : '.', ' .' :. : .
your ncvt yard pMI), . If nothing " . ' • • <00 . . >
..
_
.
• • , ..

else. it sho u ld make .10 excellen t Tho . . . "~ .. IIC b.. lih ......I ... up d" illt<
con versa tion pi,'ct.'.
All )'IIU ru-ed i.. ,l high-levelaudio
output from Yl1u r tuncr'amphf...-r.
Although )'Illl m ,l y be abh- til drive
your 1.1\\'0 d irectly fro m th ...' turu- r'
amplifier output . yo u'd be s.lfl'f
usi ng a buffer ., mprifit' T, s uch as the
. 10Kll
-----
• •
LM386 circuit s ho w n. Th.. , stakes 410n , '"
used III CUI1Ill'd the amplifier 10 tho
1<1\\'n ca n be just abou t .lny meta l
rod s you lla\'l' handy . Copper lig ht ·
m , , !:>t'. f-

l'ning rod s arc id e.ll.

Th e audio sig n.ll impressed in the
- • •
law n w ill be located bet ween till' • •
..,t"h'"" as shown . 5 l1, posttion the
st,1kl's at oppostto ends of the-la w n.
Mellol .llokn
••• ...
bin..,
To t U 1l 1" in un the law n, vou'Il
need ,1 sot of monaural hl,.,dph'onl"s,
NOTE :
!'i., I. S Ind '
b,lll"

.01 <OII _ tof

-----
HII'.~ ._
such as the Radio Shac k 279-200,
and ,1 high -g"in prl'a mplifil' r su ch
as o ur 74 1circuit . All yo u have 10 do
then i-, drive ,1 pa ir of pickup sta kes
into the lawn . Tho volume depends the headphone prl',lmp, the di s- •u.'" •
a gfl',lt deal o n thl' location of the tance between the sla kl's ,11 the ,
•
stakes.
Genera lly. the farther a pa rt they
are, th e louder th e sou nd. How-
input a nd the o utp ut end . grou nd
co nd uct ivity, background noi se,
and the alignment between the I W{l 10Kn
, , LA'. ....
e ver, smcc the soi l co nd uctivity VM- sets of stakes. • •
il's from pla n ' 10 place. moving o m' Because of the many variables,
stake jus t .1 fe w inches ca n makean this project is ideal for a n c xpcri - • m" •
a pprec iable d iffere nce.
Overal l pe-rforma nce depends o n
m.lllY factors including thl' gai n of
mentor inte rested in co nd ucting ,1
scie nce project. perhaps itS pMI o f
school work.
I.J .. ,._<_=," ........

- 10 lde ll Rd., Valley Stream NY 11 580

~ _ /?lJ _ / 0' 7' March, 1979 - CO - 105