In the very early days of the PC revolution the only way to have a computer was to build one, sometimes from a kit but often from scratch. For the young, impoverished hobbyist, leafing through the pages of Popular Electronics was difficult, knowing that the revolution was passing you by. And just like that, the days of homebrewing drew to a close, forced into irrelevance by commodity beige boxes. ...

There are several ways to produce a negative voltage from a positive voltage source, including using a transformer or two inductors and/or multiple switches. However, none are as easy as using the LTC3863, which is elegant in its simplicity, has superior efficiency at light loads and reduces parts count compared to alternative solutions. Advanced Controller Capabilities The LTC3863 can produce a –0.4V to –1 ...

Determine the power absorbed by the VCVS in the figure. Solution: The VCVS consists of an open circuit and a controlled-voltage source. There is no current in the open circuit, so no power is absorbed by the open circuit. The voltage vc across the open circuit is the controlling signal of the VCVS. The voltage Vc (across 2 ohm resisitor) measures vc to be vc = 2V. The voltage of the controlled voltage sourc ...

For this to work you must obviously live in an area that can receive both signals. My circuit is based on two modules taken from two radio clocks bought at Lidl’s supermarket. Originally both were for the DCF clock but by substituting the original 77.5kHz crystal with a 60kHz crystal, one of the modules was converted to MSF. Notice that both antennas are lined up in my photograph. This is because Anthorn an ...

PCB boards are all around us in every gadget we use. Be it the smartphone or a simple calculator; their function depends on the performance of PCBs. Do you know what the PCB circuit boards made of are? PCB vs PCBA-What is the differences? What does a circuit board consist? We have prepared this helpful guide where you can learn about the materials used to make PCBs. You can also get a picture of how a manuf ...

We have finally reached the era of IOT (Internet of Things) and it’s all over the place on practically every nook and cranny of the world. According to professionals, IoT can be illustrated as two things- the fourth industrial upheaval and the greatest thing that has happened since the eruption of .com. With the latest update gathered by Gartner, in the year 2020, the earth is likely to possess not less tha ...

Single-Stage Primary-Side-Regulation PWM Controller for PFC and Phase Cut Dimmable LED Driving The FL7734 is a highly integrated PWM controller with advanced Primary-Side-Regulation (PSR) technique to minimize components for low power LED lighting solutions. Using the innovative TRUECURRENT technology for tight constant-current control, it enables designs with constant-current (CC) tolerance of less than ±1 ...

Step: 8) Find reusable modules from the circuit diagram Whenever we do hardware designing, the first rule is to make it in modules that can be reusable. The modules that we make for this particular project may come useful in another project and hence reduce the development time for that project. Even if a module is in use and at the same time found to be useful in another project, we can build another copy ...

Adafruit Circuit Playground Express Soil Sensor Mini Kit is designed to measure the soil moisture content. This kit, available now from Mouser, is based on the Circuit Playground Express platform and delivers the measurement utilising a nail and alligator clip. As the moisture encompassing a nail in the plant pot rises, the board detects the change and outputs the result as through the design. The platform ...

Microcontroller demo boards such as the Arduino UNO are ubiquitous on Hackaday as the brains of many a project which inevitably does something impressive or unusual. Sometime someone builds a particularly tiny demo board, or an impressively large one. In the case of the board featured here, the Arduino is a gorgeous labor of love which can’t really be called a board since there is no PCB. Instead of the tra ...

Adding wireless charging to furniture and other consumer goods is a nice way to add some oomph to an otherwise boring product. NXP’s NXQ1TXH5 provides an interesting, albeit difficult-to-prototype way around the problem. Creating a Qi-compatible is as easy as assembling the example circuit shown in figure one. From a technical point of view, the diagram is full of decoupling capacitors but does not require ...

In this instructable, I'll go over what a printed circuit board is, where they are used, and the basics of how to make one yourself. So sit back, strap in, and enjoy learning about this very important and interesting method of making electronics! Note: this is an introductory guide. I'm sure that there is a lot I did not cover, and if you find something you think I should mention in this guide, make sure to ...