Electronics Design

Write only memory

Write-only memory has been one of the best practical jokes on the electronics industry field. Write-only memory (WOM) is the antithesis of read-only memory (ROM). By definition, a WOM is a memory device which can be written but never read. The WOM concept is most often used as a joke or a euphemism for a

Cat 5 Cable Modeling

Category 5 (CAT5) cable is a multi-pair (usually 4 pair) cable that consists of twisted pair conductors, used mainly for data transmission. Basic CAT5 cable was designed for characteristics of up to 100 MHz. Newer CAT6 cable is designed form 250 MHz. Nowadays there are applications where those cables is used to carry higher frequencies.

Noise Reduction Techniques

Noise Reduction Techniques in Electronic Systems book except has some interesting reading on ground loops and inductive noise reduction. This is old but still very valid material from Henry Ott, the EMC, noise, and signal integrity guru. Read also Ground- A Path For Current Flow article which says: Consider ground as a low impedance path

Commonly used AC voltage levels

AC voltage levels: 0.316V The most common nominal level for consumer audio equipment is -10 dBV, 0.316 volts root mean square (VRMS). 0.7746V The reference voltage for the decibel unloaded (0 dBu) is the voltage required to produce 1 mW of power across a 600 ohms load (approximately 0.7746 VRMS) 1V  The reference voltage for

Electrolytic capacitor life

As we all know, a good LED could last very long up to 50,000 hours with with a good heat sink. But how is the LED driver electronics life? For common LED drivers there is at least one component is very weak. It’s the electrolytic capacitor. High Bay LED Lighting Driver Heat Dissipation Temperature Test

CircuitBee

Have you ever designed an electronic schematic then wanted to share it on your blog? Or wanted help improving your circuit on a forum? Ever peered at a tiny/massive image of a circuit on a website and wondered why on earth there wasn’t a better alternative? I have done that quite often. CircuitBee is a

Debugging common digital problems with a scope

As system speeds increase and designs shrink, circuit designers increasingly must debug signal integrity problems. Debugging common digital problems with a scope article tells how to effectively use your high speed oscilloscope to debug modern digital circuits. The ideal digital signal has fast transitions and only two states: high and low. In the real world,

Ruggeduino

There are many Arduino-compatible microcontroller boards nowadays. The Ruggeduino is a ruggedized Arduino-compatible microcontroller board. Features include overcurrent and overvoltage protection on all I/O pins and 5V/3.3V outputs, ESD protection on all I/O pins and USB port, total microcontroller overcurrent protection, and operation at up to 24V. There are some things a regular Arduino will