Circuits & Schematics - 6

Sometimes you may need a group of switches where, if any switch is activated, it deactivates the previously active switch. This Design Idea implements such a function with relays. This “one and only one” function is often implemented as ...

A question that arises frequently in audio and signal processing applications is this: How can I control gain on dual channel (e.g., stereo) inputs simultaneously with only a single knob? Of course, an obvious solution would be to simply use a dual ...

With just one leftover op amp or comparator, you can add a battery-condition indicator to your portable circuit design. To indicate the life in an aging battery visually, the circuit in Figure 1 varies the duty cycle and flash rate of an LED when ...

You often need to measure current during circuit design and debugging. You can perform that task by breaking a path, inserting a shunt resistor, measuring its voltage, and converting the voltage to current. Unfortunately, that approach is sometimes ...

An interesting variation on the theme of digital to analog converters (DACs) is the digital potentiometer (DPOT). In addition to being able to output a voltage proportional to a digital value when used as a multiplying DAC (MDAC), the DPOT can also ...

The solar panels are operating at optimal parameters when they are at the perfect right angle to the sun. Unfortunately this is accomplished only if solar panels are rotated by the sun. This is the purpose of this diy solar tracker system or if you ...

Frequent design idea contributor, Peter Demchenko, recently published “Extending the resolution of a peripheral DAC” ( Reference 1 ). In it, Peter describes an inverting dual-supply amplifier circuit that he says is intended “ to ...

By decoding the commands sent by a direct-broadcast satellite receiver that uses the DISEqC (digital-satellite-equipment-control) protocol, you can troubleshoot the commands or simply listen in. Eutelsat Corp offers the DISEqC protocol. The ...

Powering LEDs from a wide dc range say, 30 to 380 V without wasting a lot of power in the regulating block, is a difficult task when the LED current needs to be constant. Dedicated LED drivers are available, but they usually implement boost ...

This design idea (Figure 1) shows how easily “new flesh can be added to the old bones” and how some new functions can be added to the simple LED display that was published earlier ( Reference 1 ). Figure 1. Upgraded simple LED display ...