Combining an accurate temperature sensor with a standard digital multimeter can make an inexpensive, accurate, and useful thermometer. A recent Design Idea, BJT is accurate sensor for absolute temperature in Kelvin and Rankine ( Ref. 1 ), was based ...
Simple math implemented in a (very) simple circuit. What’s not to like? A very cool (also warm!) property of the base-emitter junction of (most) small signal BJTs is the ΔV BE temperature-sensing effect. ΔV BE temperature ...
Circuits such as the design described here implement useful tools for a diversity of calibration and testing applications A two-wire loop current generator is a useful tool for the testing, calibration and commissioning of current-to-pressure (I/P) ...
Figure 1 shows a simple tester, based on an ATtiny202 , a piezo buzzer, and an LED, for checking circuit wiring or tracing out the tracks on a PCB: Figure 1. The Tiny Continuity Tester based on an ATtiny202. The piezo speaker is on the reverse of ...
In the first part ( Ref. 1 ) of this Design Idea, we saw how a cheap op-amp can give remarkably precise readings from an RTD. We also found that it was a false economy, owing to incurable thermal drift. This concluding part fixes that problem by ...
In process industries, field contacts from pressure, temperature, flow switches, limit switches, push buttons, etc., are read by programmable logic controllers and/or distributed control systems (PLC/DCS) through digital input modules. They are ...
For decades, I’ve had a fascination with voltage-to-frequency converters and the 555 analog timer chip, and therefore a double obsession with VFCs based on the 555. In fact, my first Design Ideas (DI) submission (in 1974) was for a 555 VFC. ...
This project is an ultrasonic range finder built using the RP2040 Zero board and a 3.2-inch TFT display. It utilizes the RCWL-1655 sensor, which operates similarly to the popular HC-SR04, to measure distances ranging from 20 cm to 300 cm. The ...
This two-part Design Idea (DI) follows on from a couple of previous articles relating to 100-Ω platinum resistance temperature detectors (Pt100 RTDs). The first of those (which we’ll call Ref 1 ) used a simple current-driven bridge to give an ...
The circuit uses a very inexpensive C-MOS IC that is connected to a small photodiode. Using a unique inductive feedback network, the circuit provides high sensitivity under high ambient light conditions. It is a great circuit when you want to ...