Every day there are more and more, many new articles appear, it is quite difficult for new visitors to immediately find their bearings and review at once everything that has already been written and previously posted.
I would really like to draw the attention of all visitors to individual articles that were posted on the site earlier. In order to avoid having to search for the necessary information for a long time, I will make several “entrance pages” with links to the most interesting and useful articles on individual topics.
Let's call the first such page "Useful electronic homemade products." Here we consider simple electronic circuits that can be implemented by people of any skill level. The circuits are built using a modern electronic base.
All information in the articles is presented in a very accessible form and to the extent necessary for practical work. Naturally, to implement such schemes you need to understand at least the basics of electronics.
So, a selection of the most interesting articles on the site on the topic "Useful electronic homemade products". The author of the articles is Boris Aladyshkin.
Modern electronics components greatly simplify circuit design. Even a regular twilight switch can now be assembled from just three parts.
The article describes a simple and reliable electric pump control circuit. Despite the extreme simplicity of the circuit, the device can operate in two modes: water lifting and drainage.
The article provides several diagrams of spot welding machines.
Using the described design, you can determine whether a mechanism located in another room or building is working or not. Information about the operation is the vibration of the mechanism itself.
A story about what a safety transformer is, why it is needed and how you can make it yourself.
Description of a simple device that turns off the load if the mains voltage exceeds acceptable limits.
The article discusses the circuit of a simple thermostat using an adjustable zener diode TL431.
An article about how to make a device for smoothly switching on lamps using the KR1182PM1 microcircuit.
Sometimes, when the voltage in the network is low or when soldering massive parts, it becomes simply impossible to use a soldering iron. This is where a boost power regulator for a soldering iron can come to the rescue.
An article about how you can replace a mechanical thermostat for an oil heating radiator.
Description of a simple and reliable thermostat circuit for a heating system.
The article describes a converter circuit made on a modern element base, containing a minimum number of parts and allowing to obtain significant power in the load.
An article about various ways to connect a load to a control unit on microcircuits using relays and thyristors.
Description of a simple control circuit for LED garlands.
The design of a simple timer that allows you to turn the load on and off at specified intervals. Working time and pause time do not depend on each other.
Description of the circuit and operating principle of a simple emergency lamp based on an energy-saving lamp.
A detailed story about the popular “laser-ironing” technology for manufacturing printed circuit boards, its features and nuances.
Electronic homemade products, today, are an affordable way to manufacture useful mechanisms that can make life easier and diversify leisure time. Modern craftsmen are able to assemble with their own hands both simple toys and complex, multi-tasking mechanisms. Read below to learn how to quickly and easily make electronic toys, interesting and useful electronic crafts for your home and car!
Simple DIY electronics: making a spinner
Electrical engineering today is widely used for both practical and entertainment purposes. Some inventions (such as the smart home system) will be quite difficult for a beginner to make. They require experience and advanced knowledge of physics. Other designs are simple and accessible to beginner radio amateurs. For example, you can make interesting toys with your own hands - spinners, the sales of which have increased incredibly this year.
To assemble the toy you will need to stock up on:
- Wooden blank measuring 9x4x1.2 cm;
- Bearing size 2.2x0.8x0.7 cm (with rubber seal);
- Two RGB LEDs;
- Two CR2032 batteries and holders;
- Stainless steel bolt 0.8x2 cm;
- M8 cap nuts.
After this you can start working. First of all, you will need to find a design diagram on the Internet and transfer it to a raw block - a workpiece. To correctly mark the technological holes (there will be three of them), you will need a ruler.
Then follows:
- In the middle of the workpiece, drill a through hole with a diameter of 2.2 cm for the bearing;
- Drill two holes on the sides of the workpiece with a diameter of 2.5 cm and a depth of 7.5 mm;
- Using a drill, make two holes with a diameter of 6 mm for LEDs in the middle of two blind holes;
- Countersink the holes;
- Give the toy a rounded shape using a jigsaw, band saw or jigsaw;
- Sand the workpiece with sandpaper and coat it with varnish;
- Solder the LEDs to the battery holders;
- Check the LEDs and install them in the mounting holes, fixing them with super glue;
- Clean the bearing and treat its insides with WD 40;
- Cut off the bolt head and secure the axle in the bearing on both sides with nuts;
- Install the bearing into the mounting hole.
The spinner is ready! The toy will be interesting not only for children. Adults can also use this electronic device: the device, rotating, will help you relax or get distracted.
Simple electronic homemade circuits: making an electric call
You can make an electric call quite simply and quickly with your own hands.
Such a call will last a long time and will please the ear. After all, when pressed, it will be able to create signals of different frequencies and tones.
Thus, an electric call can be single-tone or multi-tone.
The ability of the bell to reproduce sound in one or more tones will be influenced by the presence of a multivibrator with two bipolar transistors in the radio design circuit. Let us consider in detail the circuit of an electronic call with a complex sound signal.
So, a homemade electronic circuit will consist of the following radio components:
- Step-down transformer series TA;
- Call button;
- Five alloy silicon diodes;
- Electrolytic capacitor with a capacity of 1000 microfarads
- Two electrolytic capacitors with a capacity of 10 microfarads;
- Two trimming resistors with a resistance of 470 kilo-ohms;
- Two MLT resistors with a resistance of 10 kiloohms;
- Two MLT resistors with a resistance of 33 kilo-ohms;
- MLT resistor 1 kilo-ohm;
- MLT resistor 470 kilo-ohms;
- Three silicon-plenary transistors type 630D
- Silicon planar transistor type 630G.
The principle of operation of the device is simple. Pressing the button will open the third transistor of type 630D, allowing current to pass to the fourth transistor of type 630G. This will create the primary signal. When the second transistor of type 630D opens, the third and fourth transistors will be locked, creating a signal of a different tone.
DIY crafts for the car
Automotive electronics are in great demand today. At the same time, homemade automation often has simple circuits, easy execution and installation. What kind of electrical homemade products can you make for your car yourself?
So, you can do the following for your car with your own hands:
- Dynamic turn signals using the KIT DIY constructor;
- Universal charger from old electronics;
- Water pump based air conditioning;
- Heated wipers and much more.
The easiest way would be to design a backlight for the seat belt buckles. To do this, you will need to dismantle and disassemble the locks using a flat-head screwdriver. After that, using hot-melt adhesive, you need to secure the LEDs in the locks.
Each LED can be turned on through its own current-limiting resistor: this will extend the life of the semiconductor light-emitting device.
After this, you should assemble the locks, and run the wires powering the LEDs under the seats to the ignition or the parking button through the cigarette lighter. At the owner's request, the car's interior lighting can be supplemented with lamps that indicate that the seat belt is not fastened.
Unusual electronic homemade products: do-it-yourself binary clocks
You can make cool binary clocks for your home with your own hands. To do this you need an Arduino platform. The electrical circuits on this platform are simple and convenient; they are used for the manufacture of most electronic homemade products.
Additionally, to make a binary clock you will need:
- Real time clock module on DS1302 chip;
- Diffuse LEDs with a diameter of 1 cm (20 pieces);
- Resistors with a resistance of 10 Ohms (20 pieces);
- Resistors with a resistance of 10 kilo-ohms (2 pieces);
- Two tact buttons;
- Frame.
The watch case must consist of two halves, which can be made of wood, plastic, or metal. It depends on what style your watch will be. Before making the housing, you will need to assemble the LED matrix.
In this case, each LED must be connected through its own current-limiting resistor.
After this, the leads from the LEDs must be connected to the platform. The controller itself will need to be connected to the real time clock module. After this, the contacts from Arduino and the module must be routed to the clock buttons to set the time through resistors with a nominal value of 10 kilo-ohms. They will serve as load bearings. Finally, you should connect the power cable to the circuit.
Useful DIY crafts: how to make household scales
Today, almost every home has a floor or kitchen scale. In order to make this useful measuring device yourself, you need to understand its structure and operating principle.
Thus, the external components of the scales include:
- Weight processor;
- Frame;
- Display screen;
- Platform;
- Legs.
The principle of operation of the scales is extremely simple. The load, falling on the platform, presses on it due to gravity, activating the strain gauge load cell inside the device. The strain gauge, in turn, influences the strain gauge, changing its resistance. The latter transmits the signal to an analog-to-digital converter. After this, the ADC converts the signal to digital and feeds it to the microcontroller, which draws conclusions about the mass of the load on the platform and displays the values on the screen.
When assembling the circuit, you need to pay attention to the type of strain gauge.
So, for a central location under the platform of floor, commercial and technical scales, it is better to choose a single-point sensor. For bending installation, a block sensor is used. In this case, you need to ensure that the strain gauge has a reliable connection to the ADC. A weight processor will help solve the problem of connecting devices.
DIY radio circuits for the home: making an electronic lock
Electrics can also serve to protect your home. So, today, DIY sites offer simple radio circuits for electronic locks for the front door. It is impossible to open such a lock using a physical key.
The simplest electrical circuit for making a lock is usually based on a four-digit Johnson meter.
This scheme can be implemented in several variations. The simplest one is using the 4017 microcircuit. The principle of operation of the circuit is quite simple: when you enter the correct four-digit code, a logical unit is activated at the input of the microcircuit, which opens the lock.
Let's take a closer look at the operation of the device:
- When the wrong keys are pressed, the circuit restarts without triggering the mechanism through the RESET input.
- The correct signal, when a key is pressed, must be sent to field-effect transistor VT1, which, after opening, supplies voltage to the output corresponding to the key;
- After the correct code has been completely entered, from the output corresponding to the last correct key, the signal is sent to the transistor VT2 connected to the relay;
- The transistor is activated for a time that determines the capacitance of the capacitor;
- The relay opens an actuator (for example, a latch).
In order to open such a lock, you will need to go through about ten thousand different codes. At the same time, the numbers on the code should not be repeated. That is, code 3355 will not be possible; all digital values must be different.
Most of the electronic homemade products that modern craftsmen make are designed to perform ordinary household tasks faster and better than authentic devices. For example, an electric spinning wheel will significantly speed up the process of creating yarn. You can quickly make an electric spinning wheel by placing an electric motor on an authentic device.
At the same time, the motor for an electric spinning wheel must have a power of at least 15 W.
As a motor, you can use a motor from a fan, auto cleaner, or player. The pedal must be used to operate the engine. It will be possible to change the movements of the motor by including a TP-type toggle switch in the circuit, which provides connection of a capacitor and resistance to different windings.
An electric fly swatter will be useful and easy to assemble and operate.
In order to implement such a mechanism, you will need to assemble a standard blocking generator. At the same time, you will need to remember to insulate the handle of the fly swatter.
Where to find amateur radio circuits and homemade products
Modern sites for radio amateurs offer to make not only useful, but also unusual homemade radios. So, for example, on the Mozgochina website you can find interesting electronic circuits for making refrigerator reminders, thermometers that change color depending on the temperature, etc.
Electrical gadgets for everyday life and crafts made from scrap materials for fishing from the site “Visiting Samodelkin” will be interesting and useful.
You can read about how to design, debug and manufacture electronic mechanisms at home in the book “Entertaining Radio Electronics”. New items among homemade radios are often posted on the “Amateur Radio Workshop” website. New issues of the magazine “Radio Amateurs” contain interesting and useful technical materials.
DIY crafts at home (video)
Amateur radio clubs today are popular among both schoolchildren and adults. Master classes and radio circuits presented on various websites allow you to assemble almost any electrical appliance at home. The main thing is to find the necessary diagrams, strictly follow the instructions, and adhere to safety precautions when working with electricity. And you can collect whatever you want!
Since you have decided to become a self-taught electrician, then probably after a short period of time you will want to make some useful electrical appliance for your home, car or cottage with your own hands. At the same time, homemade products can be useful not only in everyday life, but also made for sale, for example. In fact, the process of assembling simple devices at home is not difficult at all. You just need to be able to read diagrams and use the ham radio tool.
As for the first point, before you start making electronic homemade products with your own hands, you need to learn how to read electrical circuits. In this case, ours will be a good helper.
Among the tools for novice electricians, you will need a soldering iron, a set of screwdrivers, pliers and a multimeter. To assemble some popular electrical appliances, you may even need a welding machine, but this is a rare case. By the way, in this section of the site we even described the same welding machine.
Special attention should be paid to available materials, from which every novice electrician can make basic electronic homemade products with their own hands. Most often, old domestic parts are used in the manufacture of simple and useful electrical appliances: transformers, amplifiers, wires, etc. In most cases, novice radio amateurs and electricians just need to look for all the necessary tools in a garage or shed in the country.
When everything is ready - the tools have been collected, spare parts have been found and minimal knowledge has been obtained, you can proceed to assembling amateur electronic homemade products at home. This is where our small guide will help you. Each instruction provided includes not only a detailed description of each stage of creating electrical appliances, but is also accompanied by photo examples, diagrams, as well as video lessons that clearly show the entire manufacturing process. If you do not understand some point, you can clarify it under the entry in the comments. Our specialists will try to advise you in a timely manner!
You can make simple electronic circuits for home use with your own hands, even without deep knowledge of electronics. In fact, at the everyday level, radio is very simple. Knowledge of the elementary laws of electrical engineering (Ohm, Kirchhoff), the general principles of operation of semiconductor devices, skills in reading circuits, and the ability to work with an electric soldering iron is quite enough to assemble a simple circuit.
Radio amateur workshop
No matter how complex the scheme may have to be completed, you must have a minimum set of materials and tools in your home workshop:
- Side cutters;
- Tweezers;
- Solder;
- Flux;
- Circuit boards;
- Tester or multimeter;
- Materials and tools for making the device body.
You should not purchase expensive professional tools and devices to begin with. An expensive soldering station or digital oscilloscope will be of little help to a novice radio amateur. At the beginning of your creative journey, the simplest instruments are sufficient, on which you need to hone your experience and skills.
Where to start
Do-it-yourself radio circuits for the home should not exceed the level of complexity that you have, otherwise it will only mean wasted time and materials. If you lack experience, it is better to limit yourself to the simplest schemes, and as you gain skills, improve them, replacing them with more complex ones.
Usually, most literature in the field of electronics for beginning radio amateurs gives a classic example of making the simplest receivers. This especially applies to classical old literature, which does not contain so many fundamental errors compared to modern literature.
Note! These schemes were designed for the enormous power of transmitting radio stations in the past. Today, transmitting centers use less power to transmit and try to move to shorter wavelengths. Don't waste time trying to make a working radio using a simple circuit.
Radio circuits for beginners should contain a maximum of two or three active elements - transistors. This will make it easier to understand the operation of the circuit and increase the level of knowledge.
What can be done
What can be done so that it is not difficult and can be used in practice at home? There can be many options:
- Apartment call;
- Christmas tree garland switch;
- Backlight for modding the computer system unit.
Important! You should not design devices that operate on household AC power until you have sufficient experience. This is dangerous both for life and for others.
Quite simple circuits have amplifiers for computer speakers, made on specialized integrated circuits. Devices assembled on their basis contain a minimum number of elements and require virtually no adjustment.
You can often find circuits that need basic modifications and improvements that simplify manufacturing and configuration. But this should be done by an experienced master so that the final version is more accessible to a beginner.
What to use for the design
Most literature recommends constructing simple circuits on circuit boards. Nowadays this is quite simple. There are a wide variety of circuit boards available with different hole and trace configurations.
The installation principle is that the parts are installed on the board in free spaces, and then the necessary pins are connected to each other by jumpers, as indicated on the circuit diagram.
With due care, such a board can serve as the basis for many circuits. The power of the soldering iron for soldering should not exceed 25 W, then the risk of overheating radio elements and printed conductors will be minimized.
The solder should be low-melting, like POS-60, and as a flux it is best to use pure pine rosin or its solution in ethyl alcohol.
Highly qualified radio amateurs can themselves develop a printed circuit board design and make it on foil material, on which they can then solder radio elements. The design developed in this way will have optimal dimensions.
Design of the finished structure
Looking at the creations of beginners and experienced craftsmen, one can come to the conclusion that assembling and adjusting the device is not always the most difficult part of the design process. Sometimes a properly functioning device remains a set of parts with soldered wires, not covered by any housing. Nowadays, you no longer have to worry about making a case, because on sale you can find all kinds of sets of cases of any configuration and size.
Before you start manufacturing the design you like, you should fully think through all the stages of the work: from the availability of tools and all radio elements to the design of the housing. It will be completely uninteresting if during the work it turns out that one of the resistors is missing, and there are no replacement options. It is better to carry out the work under the guidance of an experienced radio amateur, and, as a last resort, periodically monitor the manufacturing process at each stage.
Video
One of the common hobbies of amateurs and professionals in the field of electronics is the design and manufacture of various homemade products for the home. Electronic homemade products do not require large material and financial costs and can be done at home, since work with electronics is, for the most part, “clean”. The only exception is the manufacture of various body parts and other mechanical components.
Useful electronic homemade products can be used in all areas of everyday life, from the kitchen to the garage, where many are engaged in improving and repairing car electronic devices.
Homemade products in the kitchen
Kitchen electronics crafts can be a complement to existing accessories and fixtures. Industrial and homemade electric kebab makers are very popular among apartment residents.
Another common example of kitchen homemade products made by a home electrician is timers and automatic switching on of lights above work surfaces, and electric ignition of gas burners.
Important! Changing the design of some household appliances, especially gas appliances, may cause “misunderstanding and rejection” by regulatory organizations. In addition, it requires great care and attention.
Electronics in the car
Homemade devices for cars are most widely used among owners of domestic brands of vehicles, which are distinguished by a minimal number of additional functions. The following schemes are in wide demand:
- Sound indicators for turns and handbrake;
- Battery and generator operating mode indicator.
More experienced radio amateurs are equipping their cars with parking sensors, electronic window drives, and automatic light sensors to control low beam headlights.
Homemade crafts for beginners
Most novice radio amateurs are engaged in the manufacture of structures that do not require high qualifications. Simple proven designs can serve for a long time and not only for the sake of benefit, but also as a reminder of the technical “growing up” from a beginner radio amateur to a professional.
For inexperienced hobbyists, many manufacturers produce ready-made construction kits that contain a printed circuit board and a set of elements. Such sets allow you to practice the following skills:
- Reading schematic and wiring diagrams;
- Correct soldering;
- Setup and adjustment using a ready-made method.
Among the sets, electronic watches of various designs and degrees of complexity are very common.
As an area of application of knowledge and experience, radio amateurs can design electronic toys using simpler circuits or modifying industrial designs to suit their wishes and capabilities.
Interesting ideas for crafts can be seen in the examples of making radio-electronic crafts from worn-out computer parts.
Home workshop
To independently design radio-electronic devices, you need a certain minimum of tools, devices and measuring instruments:
- Soldering iron;
- Side cutters;
- Tweezers;
- Screwdriver Set;
- Pliers;
- Multifunctional tester (avometer).
On a note. When planning to do electronics yourself, you should not immediately take on complex designs and purchase an expensive tool.
Most radio amateurs began their journey by using a simple 220V 25-40W soldering iron, and the most popular Soviet tester, the Ts-20, was used in the home laboratory. All this is enough for practicing with electricity, acquiring the necessary skills and experience.
There is no point in buying an expensive soldering station for a novice radio amateur if he does not have the necessary experience with a conventional soldering iron. Moreover, the possibility of using the station will not appear soon, but only after sometimes quite a long time.
There is also no need for professional measuring equipment. The only serious device that even a novice amateur may need is an oscilloscope. For those who already understand electronics, an oscilloscope is one of the most sought-after measurement tools.
Inexpensive digital devices made in China can be successfully used as an avometer. Having rich functionality, they have high measurement accuracy, ease of use and, importantly, have a built-in module for measuring transistor parameters.
When talking about a DIY home workshop, one cannot fail to mention the materials used for soldering. This is solder and flux. The most common solder is POS-60 alloy, which has a low melting point and provides high soldering reliability. Most solders used for soldering all kinds of devices are analogues of the mentioned alloy and can be successfully replaced with it.
Ordinary rosin is used as a flux for soldering, but for ease of use it is better to use its solution in ethyl alcohol. Rosin-based fluxes do not require removal from installation after operation, since they are chemically neutral under most operating conditions, and the thin film of rosin formed after evaporation of the solvent (alcohol) exhibits good protective properties.
Important! When soldering electronic components, active fluxes should never be used. This is especially true for soldering acid (zinc chloride solution), since even under normal conditions such flux has a destructive effect on thin copper printed conductors.
To service heavily oxidized terminals, it is better to use active acid-free flux LTI-120, which does not require rinsing.
It is very convenient to work using solder that contains flux. The solder is made in the form of a thin tube, inside of which there is rosin.
For mounting elements, breadboards made of double-sided foil fiberglass, which are produced in a wide range, are well suited.
Security measures
Working with electricity is associated with risks to health and even life, especially if the electronics are designed with your own hands with mains power. Homemade electrical devices should not use transformerless power from a household AC network. As a last resort, such devices should be configured by connecting them to the network through an isolation transformer with a transformation ratio equal to unity. The voltage at its output will correspond to the network voltage, but at the same time reliable galvanic isolation will be ensured.