09-02-2013, 10:37 AM
LOW-COST HEARING AID
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Commercially available hearing aids
are quite costly. Here is an inexpensive
hearing aid circuit that uses
just four transistors and a few passive components.
On moving power switch S to ‘on’ position,
the condenser microphone detects the
sound signal, which is amplified by transistors
T1 and T2. Now the amplified signal
passes through coupling capacitor C3 to the
base of transistor T3. The signal is further
amplified by pnp transistor T4 to drive a lowimpedance
earphone. Capacitors C4 and C5
are the power supply decoupling capacitors.
The circuit can be easily assembled
on a small, general-purpose PCB or a
Vero board. It operates off a 3V DC supply.
For this, you may use two small 1.5V
cells. Keep switch S to ‘off’ state when
the circuit is not in use. To increase the
sensitivity of the condenser microphone,
house it inside a small tube.
This circuit costs around Rs 65.