Introduction
In many small or big appliances or gadgets, we come across the 7 segment LED display. The display is capable of displaying a number range of 0 to 9 with 7 segments which lit up in different configurations to make out the numbers. One of the most basic yet common IC for driving such led 7 segment displays is the CD4027 Decade counter IC. It is capable of displaying 10 digits, hence the name decade counter. The IC works as a counter, where the clock pulse makes the digits go up by one. There is also a reset pin built in, which can be used to make the IC reset to 0. There is also another pin to set a number as the threshold. The IC resets to 0 as soon as it reaches the threshold. In this tutorial, we are going to demonstrate how to implement the Decade Counter with Seven Segment Display and CD4026 Decade Counter IC.
Best Use Case
- Digital Clock Display
- Event Counter
- Scoreboard Display
- Frequency Counter
- Digital Tachometer
- Counter in Electronic Projects
Components Required
- CD4026 Decade Counter IC
- Common Cathode 7 Segment Display
- Resistors
- Switches
- Capacitor
- Breadboard or Veroboard (Optional: PCB)
- Connecting wires
- 5V Supply
Circuit Diagram
Instruction
The hardware setup should be made according to the above diagrams. The circuit can be implemented on a breadboard or on a Veroboard for proper connections. Even better, the whole circuit can be implemented on a PCB using the layout design file from the files section of this page. After the setup is made, we need to just turn on the power switch. Afterwards, we can keep pushing the momentary push button for counting and the decade counter keeps counting. We can also see that when the reset button is pushed the counter resets to 0. It is essential to make sure there is a debouncing capacitor present in each of the switches. Or else, the counter might consider one press of the button to be a multiple ones.
