Here's my ship's fog bell generator, as I remember it. The decay was set by tapering off the supply voltage to 4 or maybe 5 LC oscillators, so Q didn't matter. It sounded pretty good.
ftp://jjlarkin.lmi.net/Ships_Bell.JPG
A refinement would be to have a separate decay rate for each oscillator, since some harmonics of a real bell fade at different rates from others.
Yikes, I remember thousands of schematics but can never recall where I left my glasses.
On a sunny day (Sun, 06 Jun 2010 20:24:00 -0700) it happened John Larkin wrote in :
Record a real bell? hehe Those little modules tha trecord a few seconds are cheap. The sound of those bells may even be available on some sound effect sites for free.
This is a discussion group, and the subject was circuits that simulate bells. You posted none. Why is that?
A single-oscillator version of my thing doesn't sound as good, but it is sort of bell-like. It's a cinch you're not going to simulate 5 damped oscillation modes with one trensistor. [1]
Show us your single-transistor bell simulator circuit.
John
[1] the original touch-tone telephone managed to make controlled-amplitude DTMF tone pairs from a single transistor, sort of defying conventional wisdom about oscillator modes.
The fog bell circuit I did replaced a Henschel unit that actually whacked a metal bar with a solenoid and picked up the result with a magnetic pickup coil. It sounded pretty ratty.
Years and years ago I did an analog "Warning Chime/CPU Monitor for Automotive Applications", which provided CPU POR functions and chime/alarm sounds in GM products. The chime sound was cleaner than the original bar "clacker". ...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
Defense against what? You rarely talk electronics, and then you're usually wrong. If you want to get picky about dictionary definitions and such, go for it.
This is an electronics group.
I could have sworn he wanted a circuit to emulate a bell sound.
We'll have to take your word for that, like we do for Sloman's "expertise" and "educated palate."
What do you want, a BOM and dimensioned fab drawings? Send me a PO first.
I drew this from memory, and I don't remember the values. I designed it about 35 years ago. It worked. We sold a bunch of them.
The point of this circuit is that
A. Multiple decaying sines sound more bell-like and
B. A separate RC can control the decay envelope, as opposed to a potentially tricky Q adjustment. It takes very little gain change to go from a Q of 500 to 100, or continuous oscillation.
What are your technical opinions on the subject?
In this group, that's pretty much what they do. They tell us how smart they are (or used to be), abuse other people for being dumb, and contribute not much content.
I don't get all the sniping. John posted a circuit--it was cute. Single-transistor (if that mattered) for a single resonant mode, plus extra optional modes if you want to simulate a real bell's complexities.
Not exactly what the OP asked for, but that's how he (the OP) discovers choices and alternatives. He may not've known about the extra modes' importance to realistic bell sounds. If the OP's dead set on a twin-tee, he'll say so.
There are bigger, more important things going on in the country than picking on John.
This is kind of a cute circuit. I first designed it when I needed a very frequency and amplitude-stable sine wave to drive a Talyvel LVDT-like inclinometer, part of the Boresight Alignment Kit for the C5A. We had to measure level to arc-seconds of accuracy.
It's a transformer with a resonant tank in the collector and a positive feedback drive winding into the emitter. The emitter feedback is just a couple of tenths of a volt p-p.
The cool thing is that the collector swing is almost exactly 2xVcc peak-to-peak. As the amplitude builds up, at the negative swing peak the emitter goes a little bit negative, to get out of the way, and the collector swings to just about ground. That forward-biases the c-b junction and discharges the base cap, reducing transistor base current hence gain. So it has a built-in peak detecting AGC amplitude levelling loop with close to zero TC. All from 5 parts. Or sometimes six.
I tested the system on a 55 gallon drum full of sand, with a huge steel plate on top. We built a platform that pivoted on ball bearings and we moved a long lever arm with a micrometer, to tweak the sensor angle. I had to tell people not to walk nearby, because their weight would flex the concrete slab of the building.
I learned a bunch on this project: HeNe laser power supplies, synchronous detectors, optics. I've always sort of liked this oscillator.
With your explanation, the oscillator is much more attractive. Some folks can't stomach magnetics, perhaps that's part of the criticism. Anyway, ignore JF and JT when they get bitchy, it must be something they ate, or is age catching up with 'em?
Our old friend, Tony Williams, R.I.P., would have been pleased.
. John Larkin's LC oscillator, supply-V sets amplitude . _________________ . | | | . | _|_C E || L . Rb --- E || . | | E || . | | * | || . | +-----' || . | | || . | C gnd || . +- B | || . _|_ E E || . --- | * | || . | +-----' || . gnd | . '--- out
Tell us more about the inductor / transformer, turns ratio, etc. Did I get the winding polarities right? I suppose you have to keep the emitter's reverse-voltage under say 5V breakdown, so 10Vpp max output? What are the prospects for making this into a high-power oscillator? Drive a speaker directly?
ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.