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Posts by Olin Lathrop‭

317 posts
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Q&A Isolated Digital Input - Overvoltage protection

To summarize, it seems you want a circuit that will detect an input voltage high/low with a threshold somewhere between 0 and 3.3 V, must operate correctly with 0-3.3 V input, but must tolerate inp...

posted 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A PCB as a wall of an underwater enclosure

I guess it would work. I have used electrodes on a PCB to detect whether water level got high enough to turn on a sump pump. It worked, although it hasn't been installed very long. In that case ...

posted 1mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 1mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Papers Phone fix adventure case study

posted 1mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭

Article case-study
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Q&A estimation of pogo pin resistance

Is there a scientific way to estimate the resistance of a pogo pin? Ultimately there must be, but it generally requires knowing things you don't know. Worrying about the resistance of the barrel ...

posted 2mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 2mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A High voltage transformer design

When should a transformer core be potted? Whenever you need some of Mechanical ruggedness. High dielectric strength. Minimize vibrations (and therefore audible whine) from capacitive, inductive...

posted 2mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Meta Should posting on Meta affect reputation?

Yes, votes on meta should not factor into rep. Meta downvotes indicate disagreement, not that you're a terrible person, have the IQ of a garden slug, and cast dispersions on your heritage like the...

posted 9mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 9mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A Sensing 3 states in a single mcu pin using firmware

Starting with your first circuit: It seems a little klunky, but should work. I don't like the D1 and D2 diodes. The reason I placed D1 is to avoid triggering the mosfet with very low voltage li...

posted 9mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A High Speed Digital Communication Bus Probing

One of the first things you should do is provide a connection for the scope probe ground. If you think you'll be regularly looking at signals on this board, then one of those little loops or pins ...

posted 10mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A What is a good PCB-layout?

I have also designed and ordered a PCB It seems rather pointless to ask after you've already ordered the board. only uses THT-components That's just plain silly. This is the kind of thing that ...

posted 12mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 12mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A How to calculate the voltage of a coil?

calculate the voltage that will center the magnetic field of a coil This is not possible since the voltage has no effect on the position or shape of the magnetic field. The position and shape are...

posted 1y ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 1y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A What is the difference between rise/fall time and Turn-On/off Delay Time?

In general, the on/off delay is how long it takes from changing the input until the output starts to do something. The rise/fall time is how long it takes to do the something, once it starts doing...

posted 1y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A Is it possible to calculate the rise/fall time of an operational amplifier ?

Rise and falls times are limited by the maximum slew rate the opamp can produce. This is something you look up in the datasheet. Note that the slew rate might be dependent on supply voltage and p...

posted 1y ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 1y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A Can there be a global EMP disaster, whether totally natural or partially natural and partly artificial?

EMPs (electro-magnetic pulses) occur naturally often. Every lightning strike is one example. Larger EMPs have been created artificially with nuclear weapons. The Starfish Prime H-bomb test cause...

posted 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A Moving average that uses less memory?

My control system gets a signal representing the plant output, but that signal has a lot of noise on it. The control system goes nuts trying to react to the noise. I need to filter out the noise ...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Pete W‭

Question digital-filter
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Q&A Name of this current limiting device

Your circuit It doesn't make sense that the yellow blob is a current sink: If it were a current sink, then there would be no point to the resistor in series with it. That only wastes power, re...

posted 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A Is a BJT 3-transistor Wilson mirror faster than a simple mirror?

First Circuit Let's start by looking at the conventional current mirror circuit: The base of Q1 (Not sure which one that is? Use component designators next time!) is driven to whatever it takes...

posted 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A What should be considered when picking a flyback diode?

Catching a flyback pulse is actually a rather easy application for a diode. Many of the diode parameters don't matter much. The basics are: Reverse voltage. This is simply the maximum voltage t...

posted 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Meta What should rep gain/loss be on Papers?

The Codidact team has recently informed us that it is now possible to have different rep bumps on different post types. See this new answer by Monica to the old meta discussion that created the Pa...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Lundin‭

Question discussion
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Meta Please find other ways to hide inloved questions that prompt close

I have boycotted the SE and neither asked or answered any questions so am happy to have a new home here. I'm glad you're here. You might also want to mention this in your SE profile, and point pe...

posted 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A Using FET based followers and design rules

FET source-followers are generally less predictable than BJT (bipolar junction transistor, like NPN or PNP) emitter-followers. An emitter follower output is one diode drop below the input. The vo...

posted 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A Why RC toys still operate in 27Mhz band?

Roughly around 27 MHz is the old "CB" (Citizen's Band, 11 meter) frequency block. The advantage of this band is that it is free to use with limited power. This is the band "walkie talkies" used t...

posted 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A 4-Layer PCB Routing Question

1 - Signal 2 - GND 3 - PWR 4 - Signal This seems to be common advice, especially on the 'net someplace, but that doesn't make it good. Stop and actually think about what problem you are trying to s...

posted 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A Bypass Caps and High Frequency Current Return Path

First, let's be clear about something. All currents partially take all paths relative to the inverse of the path impedances. It's not an all or nothing function. This "Takes the path of least re...

posted 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Q&A Complementary transistor pairs - what is the point ?

You generally want complementary NPN/PNP pairs when they are used as opposites of each other in the same circuit. One transistor is usually used with opposite polarity as a mirror image of the oth...

posted 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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Meta Tagline/Mission Statement/etc.

The short phrase is trying to capture the two broad classes of topics here: Electronic things, like opamps, transistors, microcontrollers, 20 W power supplies, and the like. Utility-scale power sys...

posted 4y ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

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