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555 timer picking up radio waves

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hello i just set up a simple 555 timer for a synth and hooked it up to my guitar amp. but.... I AM PICKING UP RADIO WAVES!!!! i just had fox sports network on i have a 5K ohm pot for R2 and R1 is a one meg ohm resistor. and i will have to get back to you on the cap.if i turn the pot i can tune it. i have a one mega ohm pot can i use that for R1? if so i think i can pick up different stations


(i have no other radios or TVs on in the house)
 
The wires on a breadboard are so long that they are antennas for picking up local radio stations. Probably the wires to your pot. The cable to the amp should be shielded audio cable or it will be an antenna.

I make prototypes with parts soldered closely together on stripboard with very short wires and they don't pickup nearby very powerful radio stations.
 
Tuning is done with a coil and capacitor that resonate at the wanted frequency and reject other frequencies. When you change the inductance or capacitance then the tuned frequency changes. Your wiring doesn't have a tuned circuit so it just picks up the strongest signals without any tuning.
 
The capacitance of the silicone junctions in the device changes as the current nad voltage changes causing them to tune to diffferent frequencies.

My advice is, if you want to build a radio, then build a radio, it'll give you much better performance.
 
oh i am not looking to build a radio. i want to build some effect boxes for my guitar. do you guys have any really really schematics for effect boxes i am going to do a google search in a few seconds so i will get back to you
 
There are hundreds of distortion effects circuits for guitars.
Maybe you need to find out what kind of effect you want. Maybe a wah wah pedal.
 
oh i am not looking to build a radio. i want to build some effect boxes for my guitar. do you guys have any really really schematics for effect boxes i am going to do a google search in a few seconds so i will get back to you

Try building a radio, might turn into a guitar effects box :D
 
Try building a radio, might turn into a guitar effects box :D

It's interesting to find out how many effects started life as radio or telephony circuits.

I've had more than one project decide it wanted to listen in on the radio waves at some point during its testing.


Torben
 
i own a wah wah. i just want the easiest pedal possible

The easiest pedal possible would probably be a brute-force mute switch. Next would be a volume pedal.

You don't say what kind of effect you're after. Fuzz, overdrive, ring modulator, compressor, expander, compander, EQ, tremolo, chorus, flanger, phaser, mixer, delay, echo. . .? I think fuzz would probably be the easiest out of that lot.

For lots of information in general on guitar effects and various schematics etc, try http://www.geofex.com

Another site which has different kinds of effects is http://www.commonsound.org It's complete with PCB layouts, construction hints, a forum, and an active community of builders.


Torben
 
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