GENERAL INTEREST

tachom eter
for mopeds and (motor) scooters
There are people who feel that every moped and motor scooter should be fitted with a tachometer (rev counter) as standard. There are others who find it a dodgy instrument since it tends to distract the riders attention from the road. If you belong to the first category and have a scooter or moped without a rev counter, this article is for you. It describes a straightforward design of such an instrument that can be fitted to any model of moped or scooter.

Design by L. Lemmens

Like many low-priced cars and motor- cycles, mopeds and (motor) scooters tend not to have a rev counter fitted by the manufacturer, presumably on grounds of economy. However, such an instrument is relatively inexpensive and may be very useful, particularly on vehicles with manual gear change. For instance, the combined readings of the speedometer and tachometer give a good indication of whether the right gear has been selected. A falling reading on the rev counter is a sign to change down, while a rising one points to the need of changing up. Many riders who do not have the con-

venience of a rev counter argue that gear changing is done by ear, but the compulsory safety helmet does not always allow this: the sound insulation of some helmets is very good indeed! Best is, of course, to have an automatic gearbox, fortunately chosen by more and more riders. Second best is to build and fit the present tachometer. The combined readings of speedo- meter and rev counter may also be useful in improving fuel consumption, but this implies that the power curve of the engine is known. Elektor Electronics

34 10/98

5V 5V 1 5V 5 V
MODE 9 5 SIG 3 1 L1 L2 18 L3 17 D3 D1

D2

D4

P1

S E N S OR Ideally, the sensor should produce a pulse for each engine revolution and this is most easily achieved with the aid of an inductor (coil) to pick up the ignition pulses inductively. Since the voltage in the ignition pulses is fairly high, it suffices to construct the coil from 10 20 turns of insulated circuit 5 0 wir k e aro un d the spa rkplu g cab le.
L 4 L 5

2 2
R 3

roen

W h il e t h e v o lt a g e le v el o f t h e i g n i-

grn green

ti o

L6 LM3914 L7
8 8 12

n pulses is shape fairly high, their varies

4 D7 REFADJ R L8 L

appreciably. Therefore, the sensor is followed by a pulse shaper to

d D E S I G N The re are vari ous wa ys of con stru ctin g a tac ho met er, that is, the ma nne r of its rea dou t. Bas icall y, ther e are thr ee way s of ach ievi ng this :

DR IS 6 C 3 I C 3
2 TR O U

7 4

R L O
10 D8

L 1 0 2
D 1 0

10 n

6 TLC

555

T H R 1 0 0 k
C V

transform the ignition pulses into stable, uniform count pulses. This ensures that random variations in the width

5 15M

1 R 4 C 4 C 2 1 0 n

J C 2 2 k 5 V

R 7
D11

6 0 0 0 r p m

and amplitude of the ignition pulses do not affect the readout.

CIRCUIT D ESCRIPTIO N

D 1 2 1 0 ? 1 6 V 3
9 1 L1

100n

MODE 5 SIG

L2

18 17

D 1 4 y e

The complete circuit diagram of the tachometer is shown in Figure 1. The

pick-up coil (sensor) is linked capacitor C .to This 3 capacitor, in conjunction

RHI
6 7 REFOUT

L 3

L 4 1 6

D D g D 8 0 0 0 r p m

6 .. . 7 V

4 I

15

5V 8 L IC2 6 2k2 LM3914

14 13 R2 4 L7 12 REFADJ L8 L9 11

L5

with resistors R and R , forms a dif- 3

4 ferentiating circuit that narrows the ignition pulses into usable trigger pulses an arrangement that prevents

Fi gu re 1. Th e cir cu it of the ta ch o m et er co nsis ts of a pu lse sh ap er, an int eg ra tin g cir cu it, an da re ad ou t. Th e se ns or is pl ac ed ar ou nd th e sp ar k pl ug ca bl e.

o T he onl y oth er ite m tha t is ne ed ed is an ele ctr on ic cir cui t wit ha se ns or tha t pr ov id es pul ses in pr op ort io n to the nu m be r of en gi ne re vo lut ions. These

C5

10? 25V

0 V

RLO

L 1 re d 2 9

10000 rpm

1 0 ? 1

removes any shortduration variatio ns of the output which

LED These cir- cuits otherwi reado are specially se ut is designed for might driven this purpose by two and contain a make displa reference voltthe y age source and readout drivers an accurate , IC1 decade scaler. unstable and . Each of the IC2. drivers can The control a in figures via a pulses are maximum of sevenconverted by ten LEDs, so segment the electronic that the display, via an circuit into an tachometer analogue scale analogue can use up to consisting of direct voltage 20 diodes light-emitting to drive the which gives a diodes (LEDs), LED bar. sufficiently or via a accurate traditional readout. Each moving coil of the LEDs Setting meter with represents up pointer. about 500 The engine moving-coil revolutions. type is the The simplest construction, but is also vulnera- ble to shocks and vibrations. This makes it not really suitable for use on a moving vehicle. A readout can make use of several types of via a sevencontrol IC that enable an segment disanalogue voltage to be play is highly displayed on a bar of LEDs with accurate, but only a few external components. perhaps too If the bar con- sists of, say, 20 sophisticated diodes, the readout is for use on a sufficiently accurate for most moped. The purposes. high accuracy is not needed and would make the design more complex than necessary. An analogue (LED) readout is both simple and robust. It

The pulse width of the output of the pulse shaper, and thus the drive voltage

for the reado ut, can be set within a wide band with P1. C a l i b r a t i n g t h e s c a l e m a y b e d o n e i n a n u m b e r o f w a

ys: with another tachometer as reference, with a pulse generator, and also without any special equipment. This is possible by using the pickup coil to sense the frequency of the mains voltage (in a safe manner!). This very stable signal at 50 Hz is excellent for calibration purposes, since it corresponds to 5060=3000 rev/min. So, if the proposed maximum of 10000 rev/min is adopted, P1 should be adjusted at 50 Hz so that D6 (3000 rev/min) lights. An ideal source for the 50 Hz mains frequen cy is a demagn etizer for a cassette deck. The electric field radiated by this is readily picked up by the tachometer sensor. Never, never connect the input of the rev counter sirectly to the mains: this may be lethal and, even if youre lucky to survive, will destroy the tachometer.

Elektor Electronics 10/98

35

2 980077-1

980077-1 R7 IC1 IC2 R1 R2 C4 C3 R3 ( R6 R5

R4 C2

C1

I C 3

P1 0
+

LEDs may be of different colours to create, say, a safe (green) range of revolutions of 5006000 rev/min (D1D12); a caution (yellow) range of 60008000 rev/min (D13D16); and a danger (red) range above 8000 rev/min (D17D20). Different ranges may, of course, be chosen to individual requireme nts. Compar ators are driven via each of the junctions of the scaler in

the display drive rs in such a way that ever y time the input volta ge to the displ ay

Figu re 2. Con stru ctio n of the tach ome ter is strai ghtf orw ard whe n this print edcirc uit boar d is used. It is avail able thro ugh our Rea ders servi ces.

POWE R SU PPLY
The

tacho meter needs

m e a n s t h a t t h e c i r c u i t c a n n o t b e c o n n e c t e d d i r e c t l y t o

th e ba tt er y te r m in al s of th e m o p e d or sc oo ter . A st ab le su ppl y is o bt ai ne d by th e us e of a 5 V re gul at or be t w ee

n the battery and the rev counter as shown in Figure 1. Since the voltage at the battery terminals is only about 67 driver increases the next comparat or is enabled. The comparat or outputs are capable of driving an LED directly. The LED bar may be operated in the dot or bar mode. In the dot mode, pin 9 of the IC must be left open, and in the bar mode it should be linked to the positive supply rail. In the present applicatio n the bar mode is used.

V, the regul ator must be a lowdrop type such as the 4805: a a powe r suppl y of 56 V. The suppl y rails shoul d be stable , whic h 3

standard 7805 will not do! It is also possibl e to power the tacho meter indepe nFigu dently re 3. by a The pack complet of ed boar d in the Conr ad encl osur e men tion ed in the text .

Parts list Resistors: R , R , R = 22 k R1 = 5 2.2 7 k R2 = 22 M R3 = 15 M R4 = 100 k P 6 = 47 k(50 k ) preset

1

Capacitors: C = 10 F, 16 V, radial C1 , C = 0.01 F, pitch 5 mm C2 = 3 0.1 F, pitch 5 mm

4

Semiconductors:

D13 = low1 current LED, green D14D16 = lowcurrent LED, yellow D17D20 = low-current LED, red
D Integrated circuits: IC

, 1 IC2 = LM3914 IC = TLC555

3

Miscellaneous: JP1 =

2-terminal 2.54 mm pin strip 3 6 E l e k t o r E l e c t r o n i c s 1 0 / 9 8

Figure 4. This photo clearly shows how the pick-up coil is wound

(25 turns) auround the ignition cable. a check, the jumper should be removed. When pulses are applied to capac- itor C3, it should be possible to vary the low direct voltage at the terminal of JP1 linked to junction R6C1 with P1. If this is so, the pulse shaper operates correctly. When a variable direct voltage at a level of a few volts is applied to the other terminal of JP1, one of the dis- play diodes should light. Forming the pick-up coil around the spark plug cable (1020 turns of thin insulated circuit wire) should not present undue difficulties. The coil should be linked to the input pin of the tachometer via insulated stranded circuit wire. In some areas it may be possible to obtain a round enclosure to house the rev counter. A suitable one is produced by Conrad (Germany) and may be available from our regular advertiser Stippler Elektronik via another regular advertiser, Viewcom Electronics. The model number of the enclosure is given in the parts list. [980077]

four series-connected chargeable or dry 1.5 V batteries (AA=HP7=LR6 or C=HP11=LR14). A regulator is then, of course, not needed. The life of such batteries is lengthened by using the display drivers in the dot mode (in which pin 9 of the devices is left open). CONSTRUC TION The electronics is best built on the printed-circuit board shown in Fig-

ure 2. It is generally agreed that a cir- cular readout is to be preferred and this is why the 20 LEDs have been arranged in a circle on the board. In view of the sparsity of components, populating the board is simplicity itself if the circuit diagram and the parts list are followed carefully. Pin strip and jumper JP1 enables the circuit to be checked on comple- tion of the construction. During such

Elektor Electronics 37

10/98