Mobile Cellphone Battery Charger Circuit

Charging of the mobile phone, cellphone battery is a big problem while traveling as power supply source is not generally accessible. If you keep your cellphone switched on continuously, its battery will go flat within five to six hours, making the cellphone useless.A fully charged battery becomes necessary especially when your distance from the nearest relay station increases. Here’s a simple charger that replenishes the cellphone battery within two to three hours. Basically, the charger is a current-limited voltage source. Generally, cellphone battery packs require 3.6-6V DC and 180-200mA current for charging.These usually contain three NiCd cells, each having 1.2V rating. Current of 100mA is sufficient for charging the cellphone battery at a slow rate. A 12V battery containing eight pen cells gives sufficient current (1.8A) to charge the battery connected across the output terminals. The circuit also monitors the voltage level of the battery. It automatically cuts off the charging process when its output terminal voltage increases above the predetermined voltage level.






Parts:

P1 = 20K
P2 = 20K
R1 = 390R
R2 = 680R
R3 = 39R-1W
R4 = 27K
R5 = 47K
R6 = 3.3K
R7 = 100R-1W
C1 = 4.7uF-25V
C2 = 0.01uF
C3 = 0.001uF
D1 = 5.6V-1W Zener
D2 = 3mm. Red LED
Q1 = SL100

S1 = On/Off Switch
B1 = 1.5vx8 AA Cells in Series
IC1 = NE555 Timer IC


Timer IC NE555 is used to charge and monitor the voltage level in the battery. Control voltage pin 5 of IC1 is provided with a reference voltage of 5.6V by zener diode D1. Threshold pin 6 is supplied with a voltage set by P1 and trigger pin 2 is supplied with a voltage set by P2. When the discharged cellphone battery is connected to the circuit, the voltage given to trigger pin 2 of IC1 is below 1/3Vcc and hence the flip-flop in the IC is switched on to take output pin 3 high. When the battery is fully charged, the output terminal voltage increases the voltage at pin 2 of IC1 above the trigger point threshold.
This switches off the flip-flop and the output goes low to terminate the charging process. Threshold pin 6 of IC1 is referenced at 2/3Vcc set by P1. Transistor Q1 is used to enhance the charging current. Value of R3 is critical in providing the required current for charging. With the given value of 39-ohm the charging current is around 180 mA. The circuit can be constructed on a small general-purpose PCB.
For calibration of cut-off voltage level, use a variable DC power source. Connect the output terminals of the circuit to the variable power supply set at 7V. Adjust P1 in the middle position and slowly adjust P2 until LED (D2) goes off, indicating low output. LED should turn on when the voltage of the variable power supply reduces below 5V. Enclose the circuit in a small plastic case and use suitable connector for connecting to the cellphone battery.

Continue Reading..

Cellphone Based Remote Controller for Water Pump

Cellphone-Based Remote Controller for Water Pump

Design By Sunil

---

Inconvenience in switching on a water pump installed in a remote farm is a common problem faced by farmers. Many circuits have been developed to solve this problem. Most of them are expensive and microcontroller-based. Here we present a cellphone-based remote controller for water pump. By calling the cellphone attached to the controller, the water pump can be directly activated.

Circuit and working
Fig. 1 shows the block diagram of cellphone-based remote controller for water pump. Fig. 2 shows the circuit. The circuit is built around DTMF decoder IC MT8870 (IC1), timer NE555 (IC2) wired as monostable multivibrator and a few discrete components. The main component of the circuit is IC MT8870. This DTMF decoder has band-split filter and digital decoder functions. It offers the advantages of small size, low power consumption and high performance.

Fig. 1: Block diagram of cellphone-based remote controller for water pump

Fig. 2: Circuit of cellphone-based remote controller for water pump

Once monostable timer IC2 is triggered, its output goes high for the preset time period. The time period depends on the values of resistor R7 and capacitor C4. It can be adjusted between 8 and 50 minutes using pot-meter VR1. The high output at pin 3 of IC2 energises relay RL1 to switch on the water pump.

The triggering pulse for IC2 is generated by DTMF decoder IC1 and the arrangement of diodes D1 through D5. Std pin of IC1 provides a high pulse when a valid tone-pair is received. Transistor T1 conducts only when outputs Q0 through Q2 and Std are high simultaneously. This can be achieved by sending digit ‘7’ through DTMF.
The water pump controller is connected to a dedicated cellphone through connector J1 with auto-answering mode enabled. The DTMF signal sent from the user end is decoded by the DTMF decoder and the corresponding binary-coded decimal (BCD) value appears on outputs Q0 through Q3. In this circuit only three of them are used.

Working of the circuit is simple. To switch ‘on’ the water pump, call the cellphone connected to the controller circuit and press ‘7’ once the ring stops. LED1 will glow to indicate that the water pump is switched on. The water pump turns off automatically after the preset time. LED1 turns off simultaneously.

Construction and testing
An actual-size, single-side PCB for cell-phone-based remote controller is shown in Fig. 3 and its component layout in Fig. 4. Suitable connector is provided on the PCB to connect the cellphone. Assemble the circuit on a PCB to minimise time and assembly errors. Carefully assemble the components and double-check for any overlooked error. Use suitable IC socket for MT887 and NE555 ICs.

Fig. 3: An actual-size, single-side PCB for cellphone-based remote controller

Fig. 4: Component layout for the PCB

Use relay RL1 with contact current rating capable of carrying the water pump’s current.

To test the circuit for proper functioning, press switch S1 and verify 5V at TP1 with respect to TP0. Connect the cellphone to the controller using connector J1. Call this cellphone and press ‘7’ once the ring stops. At the same time, verify high-to-low triggering pulse at TP2. TP3 now should be high for the preset time period.

---

The author is a final year B.Tech (electrical and electronics engineering) student at MG University. His areas of interest include embedded systems and power electronics

Continue Reading..