The Kicker

This circuit came from the need to momentarily close a contact every hour and a half. The application had the contacts across the ENTER key on a dumb terminal. The periodic keying of the ENTER key would send a "keep alive" packet along a packet radio connection. This would allow me to automatically maintain a distant connection without personally being at the keyboard. A friend, when he heard the description, christened it a "Kicker" circuit. I thought it was very appropriate.

This circuit could be used for any application requiring a periodic momentary contact closure. The interval between pulses can range from minutes to days depending on the component values chosen.

Schematic for Kicker pulse circuit

Under construction. Circuit description will follow.