Circuits & Schematics

Recently, frequent Design Idea (DI) author Christopher Paul showcased an innovative and high performance true-two-wire current source using a depletion mode MOSFET as the pass device in “A precision, voltage-compliant current source” ( ...

Another day, another dodgy device. This time, it was the continuity beeper on my second-best DMM. Being bored with just open/short indications, I pondered making something a little more informative. Perhaps it could have an input stage to amplify ...

Ages ago, humankind crawled out of the primordial analog ooze and began to do digital. They soon noticed and quantified a fundamental need to interconnect their new quantized numerical novelties with the classic continuum of the ancestral ...

DAC control (via PWM or other source) of regulators is a popular design topic here in editor Aalyia Shaukat’s Design Ideas (DIs) corner. There’s even a special aspect of this subject that frequently provokes enthusiastic and ...

Electronic systems must often isolate their inputs or outputs from the main reference common (ground). Various conditions can make necessary such galvanic isolation: the type of input sensor or driven actuator, safety considerations for medical ...

An interesting analog design problem is the precision current source. Many good designs are available, but most are the three-wire types that can be used as a positive (see Figure 1) or a negative (Figure 2) polarity source, but not both from the ...

This project features a compact and efficient DC-DC buck-boost converter, based on the XL6019 chip, designed to maintain a stable 12 V output over a wide input voltage range of 9 V to 30 V. The XL6019 is a high-performance switching regulator ...

An adjustable load in Figure 1 provides a constant-current load for testing power supplies and batteries. It allows you to set the load current to up to 1.05 A, using a potentiometer, and displays the current on a three-digit LED display controlled ...

I have modified several commercial solar garden lights over the years. I switch out the LED, solar panel, battery pack and control circuit. The result is a much better overall light. One of my disappointments in using store-bought garden light ...

This Design Idea (DI) offers an alternative solution for an application borrowed from frequent DI contributor R. Jayapal, presented in: “A 0-20 mA source current to 4-20 mA loop current converter” ( Ref. 1 ). It converts a 0/20 mA ...