Lighting a string of LEDs at a constant brightness requires driving it with a regulated current. A boost converter is commonly used to step up the voltage to a level high enough to bias the LEDs on ...

All circuits, analog or digital, have characteristics dependent on the values of their component parts. Invariably, these parts are non-ideal in many ways. Even their most fundamental characteristics, ...

An RC circuit in series with the coil allows full-current turn-on for reliable relay operation, then reduces the current to save power. Fellow engineer Sanjay R. Chendvankar of Mumbai, India, recently ...

Even in today’s digital, IT-intensive radio plant, there is still a need to design and build one-of-a-kind electronic circuits. Simple devices such as digital tone generators and small distribution ...

Thermoelectric coolers (TECs) are versatile temperature-control devices. They’re best thought of as solid-state heat pumps in which the direction and rate of heat flow can be manipulated by ...

Ever thought of turning your circuit ideas into real boards? Discover how DesignSpark PCB makes it possible, free and without ...

ASICs, FPGAs, and DSPs can require multiple supply voltages with restrictions on their start-up sequencing. Often, I/O voltages, which usually have the highest voltage, must come up first, followed by ...

Accountants and MBAs use spreadsheets to play “what if” scenarios with business and financial data. Can you do the same thing with electronic circuits? The answer–perhaps not surprisingly–is yes.

The Design Idea in Figure 1 indicates a low-battery condition in an audio test instrument that is powered by four AA cells. As the instrument was otherwise an all-discrete design, this same approach ...