Portable Lamp Flasher

Here is a portable, high-power incandescent electric lamp flasher. It is basically a dual flasher (alternating blinker) that can handle two separate 230V AC loads (bulbs L1 and L2).

The circuit is fully transistorized and battery-powered. The free-running oscillator circuit is realized using two low-power, low-noise transistors T1 and T2. One of the two transistors is always conducting, while the other is blocking. Due to regular charging and discharging of capacitors C1 and C2, the two transistors alternate between conduction and non-conduction

states.

The collector of transistor T1 is connected to the base of driver transistor T4 through current-limiting resistor R5. Similarly, the collector of transistor T2 is connected to the base of driver transistor T3 through limiting resistor R6. These transistors are used to trigger Triac1 and

Triac2 (each BT136) through optotriacs IC1 and IC2, respectively, and switch on the power supply to external loads L1 and L2. IC1 and IC2 operate alternatively at a low frequency

determined by the values of capacitors C1 and C2.

Long-Range IR Transmitter

Most of the IR remotes work reliably within a range of 5 metres. The circuit complexity increases if you design the IR transmitter for reliable operation over a longer range, say, 10 metres. To double the range from 5 metres to 10 metres, you need to increase the transmitted power four times.

If you wish to realise a highly directional IR beam (very narrow beam), you can suitably use an IR laser pointer as the IR signal source. The laser pointer is readily available in the market. However, with a very narrow beam from the laser pointer, you have to take extra care, lest a small jerk to the gadget may change the beam orientation and cause loss of contact.

Three Phase Appliance Protector

Many of our costly appliances require three-phase AC supply for operation. Failure of any of the phases makes the appliance prone to erratic functioning and may even lead to failure. Hence it is of paramount importance to monitor the availability of the three-phase supply and switch off the appliance in the event of failure of one or two phases. The power to the appliance should resume with the availability of all phases of the supply with certain time delay in order to avoid surges and momentary fluctuations.

The complete circuit of a threephase appliance protector is described here. It requires three-phase supply, three 12V relays and a timer IC NE555 along with 230V coil contactor having four poles.