I want to share some of my design experiences regarding the usefulness of the dB in engineering designs. It’s obvious that engineers work with numbers daily; some of these numbers may be quite large. In many of these cases we are able to use ratios of two numbers. The dB The base…

So, you’ve just designed and tested your power supply and it works really well. It meets all of the required system needs and is ready to go. But wait! What about protection from that nasty environment out there in industry? …

The Thermistor Thermistors are solid state beasts with a variable resistive element whose resistance changes with temperature; essentially a thermally-sensitive resistor or thermistor. These devices are typically constructed in a two-terminal ceramic bead, glass-encapsulated device or disc configuration made from semiconductor-based metal oxides that have a sintered or metallized leads…

Beyond capacitors, resistors, and capacitors, one of the most fundamental electronic devices is the Operational Amplifier, or Op Amp. These devices are used for signal conditioning, filtering, obviously amplification, and can even be used to multiply and divide in analog computers. One key feature of an Op Amp is the…

I was really touched by the ingenuity and creativity of all involved regarding the technical idea and development of a low cost, fast turnaround medical ventilator. A device like this would undoubtedly save countless lives of people with severe respiratory complications due to the corona virus. I recently sat down…

A multiplying digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is an important subset of the general DAC family. This useful beast is unique to the general DAC family in that it uses a variable reference voltage. The architecture implements an R-2R ladder configuration where VREF sets the full scale output current, IOUT. (Figure 1). …

When I was a fledgling engineer, at 8 years old, I built my first electronic circuit — a very basic crystal radio. Fortunately, at that time, I had the distinct advantage of doing this with a Heathkit crystal radio project that I found as a young boy. …

One of the most accurate ways to measure anything is with a Wheatstone bridge. This circuit is just four resistors connected along the legs of a square, and is used in everything from voltmeters to huge industrial scales. …

The industry seems to be abuzz about some mention of 5G delays in various press and company announcements. Actually, this should only really bother the wireless companies and others who will be making more money with the move to 5G. Let’s face it people — -we’re addicted to our smart…