Category

Electronics Basics

Category
Electronics Basics

Five ways to make a schematic (quickly)

Quickly Make A Schematic

Engineers make a schematic to explain their circuits.

One time I was looking for a non-tourist pub in Japan. I asked someone for help. She said, “I’m sorry, but I do not speak good English. I will bring my friend, and she will draw you a map.” (Exact quote!) The map her friend drew, gave directions to a bar with a “Neon Yellow Sing.” She meant “sign.”

The map was the method we used to communicate with each other, even though we didn’t both speak English. With this crude but useful map, I could find my next drinking place destination.

Schematics are the same as this map. Even if you don’t speak the same language, you can communicate how a circuit works when you make a schematic.

Use one of these five tools, when you need to a document a circuit or when you need to ask for help.

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Components

Can a 1µF decoupling capacitor be too much?

To save time, breadboard pins or just lack of knowledge people try to skip adding even one decoupling capacitor to a circuit. Either on IRC or in Forums you can almost always see it coming: “randomly, my circuit stops working” And then, “what do you mean a decoupling capacitor?” question.

While working on breadboard Arduino, I came across some unexpected measurements. Initially, the only capacitors on the breadboard were the two 22pF from crystal to ground and the capacitor connected to RESET for Auto-RESET.

Keep reading to find out what happen when I added a 100nF and a 1µF cap. A bunch of scope traces and surprising results follow.

Breadboard Arduino with no Decoupling Cap
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AddOhms

AddOhms Electronics Tutorials DVD Now Available

When I was in elementary school, I remember Ms. Coker telling us we needed to memorize our multiplication tables because we wouldn’t always have a calculator.  Years later in college I was told, “learn to use the library, it’s not like you can carry the internet in your pocket.”

Buy On Tindie

Seems strange that I always carry 3 devices on me that do both.

Today a generation of people are growing up with the mass of all human knowledge available to them from birth. No formal education is necessary. And the only need is a modern device with WiFi.

However. Not all accessible information is equal. Which is why I created the AddOhms Electronics Tutorial Video series. Instead of teaching Electrical Engineering as an engineer to other engineers, I’ve created a series that uses simple language to explain electronics to anyone.  And now the growing YouTube series, is available for sale on DVD!

Keep reading to learn more about Volume 1 of the AddOhms DVD.

Buy On Tindie

(P.S.  The first batch on Tindie were hand made and include a special thank you…)

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Blog

The 4 best transistors to keep in your parts kit

When your project needs a transistor, there are tons of choices.  Which makes answering the question “Which transistor should I use or buy?” a daunting task.  Fear not, before wading through spec sheet after spec sheet, consider one of these four general purpose transistors.  Every electronics enginerd’s toolbox should have a few of each.

Transistors are one of the most versatile discrete components in electronics.  In digital circuits, they switch on and off while in analog circuits they are used to amplify signals.  For most projects, they are used to turn on a load that would kill the I/O pin of a microcontroller or microprocessor.   For most circuits either a BJT or MOSFET can be used, depending on the load current you need to switch.

[Edit Note]  Jan (comment below) points out that there are European Equivalents that may be more available for those located in that part of the world. For NPN Check out the BC547, for PNP the BC557.

Here are some more details on each of these.

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