Electronic Timer Switch

This electronic timer switch project is a good project to build to simulate the presence of occupants in a house. In these days when security is becoming more of a concern when no one is at home, having this device will deter the thief from breaking in.

When power up, after 60 minutes, the relay will turn ON for 100 secs, OFF for the next 100 secs, and ON again for 100 secs before OFF again for the next 60 mins. This sequence will be repeated. A device such as a lamp that is connected to the relay will turn ON and OFF according to this timing.

Schematic Diagram
The schematic of the project is as shown below.

The core of this electronic timer switch project uses a CD4060B binary counter. The binary counter has 10 outputs and the counter are counted by configuring the oscillator. Every negative clock will trigger the counter of the IC internally.
The timing of the circuit is affected by resistor R3(1M ohm) and capacitor C2(0.1uF). By connecting the four outputs in an AND configuration, the transistor Q1 will only turn ON if all the 4 outputs are in logic "1". If any of the logic is "0", the transistor will remain OFF.
For a complete cycle, the transistor will be ON twice when the output at pin 15, QJ goes to logic "1" and "0" twice when the other outputs QL, QM and QN remain at "1". When this happen, the relay K1 will switch status accordingly. The timing of the switching can be changed by changing the resistor values R2, R3 and C2. Download the data sheet of CD4060B from Texas Instruments for more details.
Note that since the oscillator is not using crystal, the timing may not be as accurate compared to the ideal calculation. In most cases, fine tuning the resistor and capacitor are good enough to make this project a success. To check whether the circuit is working, connect a LED in series with a 390 ohm resistor at output QD. It will flash ON and OFF as the oscillator oscillates.