Circuits & Schematics

Recently (5/21/25), I published a Design Idea (DI) describing a bidirectional current mirror using just two transistors and a diode, “A two-way mirror current mirror that is” ( Ref. 1 ). That circuit works well in some applications, ...

In the first part ( Ref. 1 ) of this Design Idea (DI), we saw how to use the TDA7052A (or similar) power amp to build a minimalist siren-type power oscillator, and also, having looked at that device’s distortion characteristics under various ...

When audio power amplifiers oscillate, the result is often smoke, perhaps with a well-cooked PCB and a side order of fried tweeter. This two-part Design Idea (DI) shows some interesting ways of (mis-)using a common power amp to produce deliberate ...

The voltage booster is a 'true' charge pump. When the output of the 555 is low, C4 charges from the supply via D1. When the output goes high, the positive end of C4 is forced high (to +24 V in a perfect world), and the charge is transferred ...

Introduction These ultra-simple projects are intended to provide two simple functions without the need for transformers or 'esoteric' parts. The first is a simple charge-pump voltage booster, that will raise your supply voltage by a factor ...

Designing an analog circuit can be a frustrating experience, as noted by Nick Cornford in his Design Idea (DI), “DIY RTD for a DMM” ( Ref. 1 ). With a fortnight’s struggle, I completed the design of 4 mA to 20 mA, two-wire ...

The circuit in Figure 1 adds a soft muting switch with power-up/power-down muting to a line-level audio circuit. R 4 , C 1 , and JFET Q 1 quietly ground a signal in 100 to 200 msec when you close S 1 or release it when you open S 1 . Potentiometer ...

When talking about standalone single cell battery chargers only one popular name came into my mind that is our versatile Li-Ion/Li-Po TP4056 battery charger. Which is vastly available and has a lot of features related to battery protection. The ...

The typical regulator output network Many voltage regulator chips, both linear and switching, use the same basic two-resistor network for output voltage programming. Figure 1 illustrates this feature in a typical switching (buck type) regulator, ...

Semiconductor laser diodes (SLDs) are often packaged with a photodiode. The output current from this photodiode can be monitored to regulate the output power intensity of the laser diode. SLDs, however, are prone to pathological drifts, such as ...