Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Components and Software 2

2.1 Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3 Bipolar-Junction-Transistor 4
3.0.1 NPN Transistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4 Amplifiers 6

5 Data-Sheets 8

6 Electret Microphone 10

7 Circuit Diagram 11

8 Working 12

9 Simulations and Results 13

10 Printed Circuit Board Layout 14

11 Conclusions 15
List of Figures

3.1 BJT - Cross Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3.2 NPN Circuit Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

5.1 Datasheets of BC 547 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

5.2 Datasheets of BC 547 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5.3 Datasheets of BC 337 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.4 Datasheets of BC 337 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

6.1 Pre Amplifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

7.1 Amplified Ear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

9.1 Output for a sinusoidal test input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

10.1 PCB Layout - 2 Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

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 Abstract

The project presents a simple audio amplifier. It uses 4 transistor stages which include low
pass filter and a pre-amplifier. The final stage is the amplifier stage. The circuit uses discrete
components and is based around readily available components like discrete transistors and
passive components. It is specially designed for low power operation and portability. It is
most appropriately used as an amplified ear or a hearing aid.
 Amplified Ear

Rishkul Kulkarni
Kaushik Gurav
Husain Kassamnath

SE Electronics, S.P.I.T.

under the guidance of: Prof. Y. S. Rao

Sardar Patel Institute of Technology

Munshi Nagar, Andheri (West), Mumbai-400058
Chapter 1

Introduction

This project is an attempt to develop a simple amplified ear using discreet components.
The objective of the project is to develop a less expensive but highly efficient device. The
device is to be used as a simple audio amplifier which can be used by any person to improve
reception of sound. It can also be used by people with hearing disabilities to amplify voice
signals.

1
Chapter 2

Components and Software

The following discrete components and supporting software has been used.

2.1 Components
• 22K Log. Potentiometer (see Notes)
• 10K 1/4W Resistors
• 1M 1/4W Resistor
• 4K7 1/4W Resistor
• 100K 1/4W Resistor
• 3K9 1/4W Resistor
• 1K5 1/4W Resistor
• 100R 1/4W Resistor
• 100nF 63V Polyester or Ceramic Capacitors
• 1 micro F 63V Polyester or Ceramic Capacitors
• 10 micro F 25V Electrolytic Capacitor
• 470 micro micro F 25V Electrolytic Capacitor
• 1N4148 75V 150mA Diode
• BC547 45V 100mA NPN Transistors
• BC337 45V 800mA NPN Transistor
• Miniature electret microphone
• SPST Switch
• Stereo 3mm. Jack socket
• 1.5V Battery

2
2.2 Software
• SEQUEL

• Orcad PSpice Capture CIS 9.2 Lite

• Eagle 5.4.0

3
Chapter 3

Bipolar-Junction-Transistor

A BJT consists of three differently doped semiconductor regions, the emitter region, the
base region and the collector region. These regions are, respectively, p type, n type and p
type in a PNP, and n type, p type and n type in a NPN transistor. Each semiconductor
region is connected to a terminal, appropriately labeled: emitter (E), base (B) and collector
(C). The base is physically located between the emitter and the collector and is made from
lightly doped, high resistivity material. The collector surrounds the emitter region, making
it almost impossible for the electrons injected into the base region to escape being collected,
thus making the resulting value of alpha very close to unity, and so, giving the transistor a
large beta. A cross section view of a BJT indicates that the collector-base junction has a
much larger area than the emitter-base junction.

bjt.png

Figure 3.1: BJT - Cross Section

3.0.1 NPN Transistor

NPN is one of the two types of bipolar transistors, in which the letters ”N” and ”P” refer
to the majority charge carriers inside the different regions of the transistor. Most bipolar
transistors used today are NPN, because electron mobility is higher than hole mobility in
semiconductors, allowing greater currents and faster operation. NPN transistors consist of a
layer of P-doped semiconductor (the ”base”) between two N-doped layers. A small current
entering the base in common-emitter mode is amplified in the collector output. In other
terms, an NPN transistor is ”on” when its base is pulled high relative to the emitter. The
arrow in the NPN transistor symbol is on the emitter leg and points in the direction of the
conventional current flow when the device is in forward active mode.

4
 npn.png

Figure 3.2: NPN Circuit Symbol

5
Chapter 4

Amplifiers

From the simplest point of view a bipolar transistor is a current amplifier. The current
flowing from collector to emitter is equal to the base current multiplied by a factor. An
NPN transistor operates with the collector voltage at least a few tenths of a volt above
the emitter voltage, and with a current flowing into the base. The base-emitter junction
then acts like a forward-biased diode with a 0.6 V drop: VB = VE + 0.6V. Under these
conditions, the collector current is proportional to the base current: IC = hFE IB. The
constant of proportionality is called hFE because it is one of the ”h-parameters,” a set of
numbers that give a complete description of the small-signal properties of a transistor. It
is important to keep in mind that hFE is not really a constant. It depends on collector
current and it varies by 50 percent or more from device to device. If you want to know the
emitter current rather than the collector current you can find it by current conservation: IE
= IB + IC = (1/hFE + 1) IC. The difference between IC and IE is almost never important
since hFE is normally in the range 100 - 1000. Although we are only looking to amplify the
AC signal, it is nonetheless very important to set up proper dc bias conditions or quiescent
points. The first step is to fix the dc voltage of the base with a voltage divider. The emitter
voltage will then be 0.6 V less than the base voltage. With the emitter voltage known, the
current flowing from the emitter is determined by the emitter resistor: IE = VE/RE. For
an emitter follower, the collector is usually tied to the positive supply voltage VCC. The
only difference between biasing the emitter follower and biasing the common emitter circuit
is that the common emitter circuit always has a collector resistor. The collector resistor
does not change the base or emitter voltage, but the drop across the collector resistor does
determine the collector voltage: VC = VCC - ICRC. There are three subtleties to keep in
mind when biasing common-emitter or emitter-follower circuits. First of all, the base bias
voltage must be fixed by a low enough impedance so that changes in the base current do not
alter the base voltage. This is essential because the base current depends on hFE and so is
not a well determined quantity. The impedance seen looking into the divider should be much
less that the impedance looking into the base. Another point to keep in mind is that when
you fix the quiescent point by choosing the base divider ratio and the resistors RE and RC,
you are also fixing the dc power dissipation in the transistor P = (VC - VE) IE. We need
to be careful that not to exceed the maximum allowed power dissipation Pmax. Finally,
the quiescent point determines the voltages at which the output will clip. For a common
emitter stage the maximum output voltage will be close to the positive supply voltage VCC.
The minimum output voltage occurs when the transistor saturates, which happens when the
collector voltage is no longer at least a few tenths of a volt above the emitter voltage. We

6
usually try to design common emitter stages for symmetrical clipping, which means that the
output can wing equal amounts above and below the quiescent point. The voltage gain of
the emitter follower stage is very close to unity. The common emitter stage, in contrast, can
have a very large voltage gain.

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Chapter 5

Data-Sheets

bc5471.png

Figure 5.1: Datasheets of BC 547

bc5472.png

Figure 5.2: Datasheets of BC 547

8
 bc3371.png

Figure 5.3: Datasheets of BC 337

bc3372.png

Figure 5.4: Datasheets of BC 337

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Chapter 6

Electret Microphone

An electret microphone is a type of condenser microphone, which eliminates the need for a
power supply by using a permanently-charged material.An electret is a stable dielectric ma-
terial with a permanently-embedded static electric charge (which, due to the high resistance
of the material, will not decay for hundreds of years). The name comes from electrostatic and
magnet; drawing analogy to the formation of a magnet by alignment of magnetic domains in
a piece of iron. Electrets are commonly made by first melting a suitable dielectric material
such as a plastic or wax that contains polar molecules, and then allowing it to re-solidify
in a powerful electrostatic field. The polar molecules of the dielectric align themselves to
the direction of the electrostatic field, producing a permanent electrostatic ”bias”.A typical
electret microphone preamp circuit uses a FET in a common source configuration. The
two-terminal electret capsule contains an FET which must be externally powered by supply
voltage V+. The resistor sets the gain and output impedance. The audio signal appears at
the output, after a DC-blocking capacitor. However, in this project, two stages of BJT pre

mic.png

Figure 6.1: Pre Amplifier

amplifiers have been used. This is because proper impedance matching is required and since
all stages are based on BJT, FET pre-amps have not been used.

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Chapter 7

Circuit Diagram

Circuit Diagram for Amplified Ear

ckt.png

Figure 7.1: Amplified Ear

P1 - 22K Log. Potentiometer

R1,R9 - 10K
R2 - 1M
R3 - 4K7
R4,R7 - 100K
R5 - 3K9
R6 - 1K5
R8 - 100R
C1,C2 - 100nF
C3,C6 - 1 microF
C4 - 10 microF
C5 - 470 microF

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Chapter 8

Working

Both BC 547B and BC 337 are NPN transistors with high current gain. The first three
stages of the circuit use BC 547B. The pre-amp is an amplifier using this transistor and
provides a moderate gain. But this stage is very selective and hence eliminates most of the
noise appearing at the input. The following two stages also use BC 547B. One of them is
a pre-amplifier and the other is an audio amplifier. This is where a high voltage gain is
achieved. Also, high frequency noise is rejected by the pre amplifiers. The potentiometer
is coupled as the load to the amplifier stage. The gain of the amplifier can be varied using
the pot. Also, the potentiometer acts as feedback to the pre-amplifiers. This further acts as
a controlled feedback due to which the peak output voltage of the amplifier is maintained
steady at a safe voltage. The final stage comprises of a BC337 transistor. It is biased in the
collector to base configuration. This stage is mainly a low pass filter and is also used for
impedance matching.

12
Chapter 9

Simulations and Results

The below waveform shows the output at the load stage with respect to a test sinusoidal
input. It is clear that the two pre-amplifier stages eliminate all high frequency noise as
suggested by the initial distortion in the output wave form. The simulation is done using
PSpice CIS Lite.

sim.png

Figure 9.1: Output for a sinusoidal test input

13
Chapter 10

Printed Circuit Board Layout

The layout has been designed using Eagle 5.4.0. A double layer PCB is used to further
elaborate the simplicity of the circuit.

layout.png

Figure 10.1: PCB Layout - 2 Layer

14
Chapter 11

Conclusions

Thus a simple audio amplifier has been developed. This amplifier can amplify sounds of
very low magnitudes. The miniature electret microphone picks up the faintest of sounds.
This sound is filtered from high-frequency noise and brought to a stable voltage level by the
pre-amplifiers. The amplifier stage amplifies the input to a desired volume. This voltage is
converted to audible sound via the stereo jack. The purpose of this amplifier is a low cost and
low maintenance device. The 1.5V battery operation and a compact PBC Layout delivers in
this respect. It also helps us conclude that though Integrated Circuits are in vogue, discreet
electronic components serve their purpose equally efficiently and almost as compactly.

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