| 
              
                | 
				Mains Tracerwith long probe
 
 Mains Tracer kit is available from
 Talking Electronics for $10.00 plus $6.50 postage.
 Click HERE 
	 to buy kit.
 
 |  
                | 
       
       Index   |  Having tried many of the Mains Detectors on the market, to 
				find they are not sensitive enough, this project was designed 
				with a number of improvements. 
 The sensitivity is very good due to the long probe and the 
				output is a buzzer, giving a "chirping sound" to coincide with 
				the 50 or 60Hz mains.
 It is much better to have a sound output so you can keep your 
				eyes on the job.
 The buzzer is NOT a piezo diaphragm but a mechanical buzzer with 
				internal coil and transistor, to produce a self-contained oscillator. It just 
				needs DC to activate.
 This buzzer is very loud on 9v.
 A MAINS TRACER is essential when trying to find a cable.
 It works on cables in ceilings and walls. It will chirp when the 
				light-switch is turned-on and pick up the AC in a power cable at 
				all times. The probe must run parallel to the cable to pick up 
				the electromagnetic radiation and this allows you to accurately 
				detect the location of the cable.
 
 
  
		CONSTRUCTION 
		All the parts fit neatly on the PC board.
 The IC fits into a socket with the cut-out shown on the overlay.
 The placement of the transistor is also shown.
 The buzzer must be connected with the positive on the buzzer going to 
		the hole with the "+" sign. The diode must be fitted with the 
		line on the body down the correct hole and the LED has a shorter lead 
		(cathode) down the hole marked with the arrow-head on the symbol.
 
 The most crucial item to connect is the battery snap. The "cup" on a 9v 
		battery is the negative, but we are making a RECEIVING snap, and the 
		"cup" is the positive. You must look at the diagram to see how 
		this is connected.
 
		 
		MODIFICATION200Meg resistors are not very common and it 
		is necessary to make a value as close as possible to this value by using 
		a number of 10 Meg surface mount resistors.
 
 Here is the way to place 17 x 10Meg surface mount resistors on the 
		board:
 
		 
		The land on the top of the board in the 
		position shown in the diagram above must be totally removed and any 
		traces of the plate-through hole material must also be removed from the 
		top surface so the surface-mount resistors do not contact the 0v rail at this 
		location. Start at one end of the board and place a resistor. "Butt-joint" the 
		next resistor to it so that as many resistors as possible can be placed 
		along the board. We are aiming for 200Meg or as near as possible.
 The value of this resistor is very important as the input impedance of 
		the chip is very high and anything less than 100M will load the input 
		and reduce the sensitivity of the probe.
 The 470R resistor for the LED can be increased to 1k as we are supplying 
		a high brightness LED in the kit.
 
 
  
    | MAINS TRACERPARTS LIST
 $10.00 plus $6.50 postage.
 Click
		 HERE to buy kit
 |  
    | 1 - 470R 1 - 1k for LED in place of 470R on PCB
 18 - 10M surface mount
 
 1 - 1N 4148 diode
 1 - 3mm red LED
 1  -  battery snap
 1  -  CD 4069UB  IC
 1  -  14 pin IC socket
 1  -  BC 547 transistor
 1  -  buzzer
 1  -  mini slide switch
 1  -  20cm fine solder
 1  -  10cm tinned copper wire for battery snap
 1  -  20cm 0.61 enamelled wire for probe
 
 1 - Mains Tracer  PC Board
 
 Not in kit:  1  -  9v battery
 |  
 
		
		14-5-2014
 |