I need a circuit to limit the voltage across some dissipation limited devices. It must: limit the voltage to a maximum of 1.5 V, have symmetrical limiting, be capable of accepting a current of 2 A, and leak less than 100 µA at 1 V. Two Zener ...
It is common practice to use digital open-collector outputs for control units in industrial applications. Using these outputs, you can switch loads, such as relays, lamps, solenoids, and heaters. One possible problem inherent to this type of output ...
Sometimes, you may need to make a DC/DC converter with minor components that can handle small loads. In this article, we are going to make something like that. This DC/DC converter using transistor has only a few components and can handle small ...
On June 12, 2011, the analog EE world lost a star when guru James M. Williams died. Jim’s hundreds of articles, books, and application notes were (and continue to be) a bottomless wellspring of information, inspiration, and the joy of seeing ...
Three-phase VCOs (voltage-controlled oscillators) see service in many applications, including power inverters and in electronic-music synthesis as control and modulation sources. A previous Design Idea describes a basis for a simple, three-phase ...
CMOS devices have large input impedance with input currents on the order of 0.01 nA. Adding feedback circuitry can result in a latch-like device that can be used to store bits, and also operate in a more analog mode as shown in this Design Idea, ...
In the proximity detector of Figure 1, a 4-in.-sq piece of copper-plated pc board serves as an antenna that forms one plate of a capacitor. An approaching (grounded) person serves as the other plate, producing a capacitance value of 2 to 5 pF that ...
Introduction A 500 V protection circuit for low voltage high impedance measuring instruments is shown in Figure 1. The protection is accomplished by limiting the amount of current going into the measuring instrument. The circuit will protect ...
Recently, I’ve been working on a solar off-grid monitoring system. In the system are a few split-core Hall effect sensors to monitor DC current in the solar panel current, the battery charge current, and the inverter input current. These ...
Lighting LEDs from a single 1.5 V cell poses a problem because their forward voltages are higher than the cell’s. The simplest way to light the LED is to use a step-up dc/dc converter. This Design Idea offers a simple and reliable alternative ...