Greatest Hits
80
votes
7
answers
68k
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Using clothesline steel core wire rope for AC and DC
As I am currently in a war zone, I don't have many options for cabling.
I found this clothesline (steel core plastic wire rope) that appears to be one mm of diameter (steel core diameter.) 13 meters ...
- 661
58
votes
2
answers
750k
views
What do solid/striped lines on a wire indicate?
What do solid or dashed lines on a wire indicate? Is there a difference between the solid and dashed indicators?
- 10.5k
91
votes
12
answers
465k
views
How can I tell the size of a barrel power connector?
Spring cleaning, and I'm trying to get power supplies for all my devices with missing power supplies. They're all the typical barrel power connector, and I'm having a dickens of a time trying to ...
- 3,402
28
votes
6
answers
383k
views
How to Calculate the time of Charging and Discharging of battery?
How do I calculate the approximated time for the Charging and Discharging of the battery? Is there any equation available for the purpose? If yes, then please provide me.
- 1,011
39
votes
6
answers
475k
views
How to reduce DC voltage using resistors?
How would one go about using a 12 V DC power source to power something which needs 4.5 V DC using resistors? Is there a way to determine how much adding a resistor would drop the voltage?
- 537
202
votes
4
answers
252k
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USART, UART, RS232, USB, SPI, I2C, TTL, etc. what are all of these and how do they relate to each other?
As a novice electronics hobbyist, I have heard these terms and more being thrown around everywhere. At its root, I understand that they are all based on communication between devices, computers, ...
- 5,882
12
votes
8
answers
260k
views
How to convert an expression from SOP to POS and back in Boolean Algebra?
How to convert a Sum of Products (SOP) expression to Product of Sums (POS) form and vice versa in Boolean Algebra?
e.g.: F = xy' + yz'
user2912
82
votes
9
answers
275k
views
How does a capacitor block DC?
I am confused with this! How does a capacitor block DC?
I have seen many circuits using capacitors powered by a DC supply. So, if capacitor blocks DC, why should it be used in such circuits?
Also, ...
- 1,225
324
votes
6
answers
413k
views
Choosing power supply, how to get the voltage and current ratings?
Power supplies are available in a wide range of voltage and current ratings. If I have a device that has specific voltage and current ratings, how do those relate to the power ratings I need to ...
- 311k
371
votes
8
answers
370k
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What is the difference between \$V_{CC}\$, \$V_{DD}\$, \$V_{EE}\$, \$V_{SS}\$
I've seen lots of schematics use \$V_{CC}\$ and \$V_{DD}\$ interchangeably.
I know \$V_{CC}\$ and \$V_{DD}\$ are for positive voltage, and \$V_{SS}\$ and \$V_{EE}\$ are for ground, but what is the ...
- 6,074
101
votes
10
answers
319k
views
Why does a Tesla car use an AC motor instead of a DC one?
I was just watching a mega factory video and wondered why they use an AC motor which requires a power inverter instead of DC which may be powered directly from their DC battery? Introducing an ...
- 1,121
33
votes
7
answers
22k
views
How to ramp up a factory consuming a lot of energy?
Can you please explain how to manage the process of ramping up a factory with a big electric consumption?
I am wondering how it is possible to balance the grid during the start up phase of a big power ...
- 423
65
votes
4
answers
330k
views
Does mAh measure how long a battery would last?
I know mAh tells how much milliamperes a battery can deliver in an hour. But does that also tell how many hours the battery would last? Sorry but I don't really get it. If we're talking about a water ...
- 753
206
votes
13
answers
255k
views
What's the difference between a microcontroller and a microprocessor?
What's the difference between a microcontroller and a microprocessor?
- 28.5k
72
votes
6
answers
193k
views
Relation and difference between Fourier, Laplace and Z transforms
I have become a bit confused about these topics. They've all started looking the same to me. They seem to have the same properties such as linearity, shifting and scaling associated with them. I can't ...
- 1,157
39
votes
8
answers
311k
views
Saving Arduino sensor data to a text file
How can I save data retrieved from a sensor to a text file on the computer?
- 529
67
votes
9
answers
276k
views
Difference between latch and flip-flop?
What is the difference between a latch and a flip-flop?
What I am thinking is that a latch is equivalent to a flip-flop since it is used to store bits and is also equivalent to a register which is ...
- 1,213
77
votes
10
answers
442k
views
How much voltage/current is "dangerous"?
Related:
Safe current/voltage limit for human contact?
From what I've heard:
110 V (or 220 V; household voltage pretty much) is dangerous (i.e. can kill you) I think there's consensus on this, ...
- 1,164
36
votes
4
answers
323k
views
Headphone wire color coding
How do I tell which wire is which if I have a copper wire, red and green coded wire? Is the unshielded copper wire ground?
- 695
108
votes
5
answers
319k
views
Why are there 3 pins on some batteries?
Lots of new batteries (for mobile devices, MP3 players, etc) have connectors with 3 pins.
I would like to know what is the purpose of this and how should I use these three pins?
They are usually ...
- 1,183
42
votes
8
answers
302k
views
How are current and voltage related to torque and speed of a brushless motor?
I know that electric vehicles have different performances depending on battery and motor, but it's not clear how electrical and mechanical units are related.
Will a 100V motor raise against slopes ...
- 850
15
votes
12
answers
170k
views
How is it possible to have high voltage and low current? It seems to contradict the relationship between current and voltage in E=IR
I have read different forums and watched a few youtubes (in addition to my textbook readings) and the explanations seem to fall short. The issue seems to be how we are first taught about a direct ...
- 180
112
votes
11
answers
288k
views
What is negative voltage?
Just a general electronics question: What is negative voltage, like -5 Volt?
From my basic knowledge, power is generated by electrons wandering from the minus to the plus side of the power source (...
- 1,319
18
votes
2
answers
295k
views
How do I calculate the cutoff frequency of a low pass rc circuit?
I want to calculate the cutoff frequency for a specific filter, but I can't find any formula for that.
I know the formula for the cutoff frequency of a low pass filter:
$$f_c=\frac{1}{2\pi RC}$$
...
- 421
7
votes
6
answers
200k
views
Open and Short Circuit questions
I am confused on the terms Open, Short, and Closed when talking about circuits. As far as I know:
a) Open circuit means the wires are cut off so there will be no current flow, but there is voltage.
b)...
- 115
33
votes
6
answers
276k
views
Reducing voltage with resistors
I have been looking around for an easy way to convert 12V to 5V. I have seen some people saying that a simple resistor is all that is needed.
$$ Volts = Ohms \cdot Amps $$
$$ Amps = \frac{Volts}{...
- 543
92
votes
4
answers
358k
views
What are the different types of solder used for?
How do I know when to use lead, flux-core, lead-free, or any other kind of solder out there? Do you have any tips on solder gauge for specific applications?
0
votes
2
answers
132k
views
Block diagram of 16:1 MUX using four 4:1 MUX only
As far as I know we can make a 16:1 MUX using five 4:1 MUX. For four 4:1 MUX, I think we have to apply NOT to different selection lines but I am not getting the correct configuration to do that.
7
votes
3
answers
80k
views
How to build a 3-input NAND gate from 2-input NAND gates or a 3-input NOR gate from 2-input NOR gate?
For NAND, I am doing a truth table for it and then truth tables for all the possible combinations, but as you can see the process is very long and I am still yet to get an answer. Same goes for NOR ...
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14
votes
11
answers
241k
views
What are the behaviors of capacitors and inductors at time t=0?
Do capacitors act as an open circuits or closed circuits at time t=0? Why? What about inductors?
I tried it out, and what I got was this: Initially when I opened the switch, the capacitor acted like ...
ruchi
120
votes
7
answers
445k
views
What’s the proper soldering iron temperature for standard .031" 60/40 solder?
I recently purchased a Weller WES51 soldering iron as my first temperature controlled iron and I'm looking for recommendations on the best default temperature to use when soldering.
I'm using mainly ....
- 4,345
81
votes
7
answers
274k
views
What is "forward" and "reverse" voltage when working with diodes?
What is the difference between "forward" and "reverse" voltages when working with diodes and LEDs?
I realize this question is answered elsewhere on the interwebs such as wikipedia, but I am looking ...
- 33.1k
44
votes
9
answers
134k
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67
votes
8
answers
179k
views
Why is high input impedance good?
Naive perhaps, but
Why is high input impedance a good thing?
Is high input impedance always a good thing?
- 3,011
7
votes
3
answers
121k
views
definition of power signals and energy signals
Why is it so that for a signal to be an energy signal it must have power zero and for a power signal the energy value should be infinity ?
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86
votes
7
answers
219k
views
What is the relation between FFT length and frequency resolution?
If I have sampled a signal using proper sampling methods (Nyquist, filtering, etc) how do I relate the length of my FFT to the resulting frequency resolution I can obtain?
Like if I have a 2,000 Hz ...
- 17.5k
16
votes
3
answers
232k
views
Can you clarify what an 1NO1NC switch is?
I've come across multiple mentions of switches described as 1NO1NC.
They often described as having 2 options: ON/(OFF) and (ON)/OFF and from what I gather they have 3 terminals for wires: a NO ...
- 305
50
votes
8
answers
282k
views
How can I tell charge-only USB cables from USB data cables?
Like most computer hobbyists and programmers, I've amassed boxes of USB cables to connect USB, Micro-USB, and Mini-USB to chargers, computers, and gadgets. These cables are a mix of phone charger ...
- 603
223
votes
7
answers
203k
views
Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB?
Mini USB connectors were standardized as part of USB 2.0 in 2000. In 2007, the USB Implemeters Forum standardized Micro USB connectors, deprecating Mini USB connectors four months later.
Why? What ...
- 2,131
5
votes
4
answers
124k
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AVRDUDE does not recognize USBasp device
I'm am having issues with my USBasp programmer (Windows 10). I installed the WinUSB driver using zadig 2.4.
When I run AVR dude with the following parameters
...
- 541
39
votes
7
answers
329k
views
VHDL: Converting from an INTEGER type to a STD_LOGIC_VECTOR
I built a mod-16 counter, and the output result is a INTEGER (all the examples I saw used INTEGER).
I built a hex-to-7-segment-display decoder, and its input is a STD_LOGIC_VECTOR (wrote it that way ...
- 3,780
-3
votes
6
answers
129k
views
how to calculate total resistance in circuit with parallel and series resistors connected
A battery of EMF 8.0 V and internal resistance r = 1.0 – is connected to an external circuit as shown:
I need to find out the total resistence and my problem is that I dont know which resistors ...
- 21
11
votes
5
answers
248k
views
What is the minimum required voltage for charging a 3.7 V Li-ion battery?
I have a cell phone battery that has the following written on one side:
3.7 V 1000mAh
Limited charge voltage: 4.2 volts
I understand that the first line means, that the battery will always give 3....
- 1,618
23
votes
7
answers
173k
views
Torque kgcm (what is kgcm)?
I know what torque is but I find difficult to understand what Torque: 3kgcm means ?
I am not sure, how much weight that motor can carry, and I want to know how I can calculate that.
Please give me ...
- 341
17
votes
7
answers
164k
views
Why does the thickness of a wire affect resistance?
A teacher explained why by using a highway analogy. The more lanes you have, the faster the cars go through, where the number of lanes obviously represent the wire thickness and the cars represent ...
- 173
124
votes
5
answers
216k
views
Difference between UART and RS-232?
Most of the time RS-232 and UART come together in serial communication theories. Are they both the same? From my readings I concluded UART is a hardware form of the RS-232 protocol. Am I correct?
- 3,122
8
votes
4
answers
69k
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"Unknown subcircuit" in LTSpiceXVII
I'm attempting to simulate a circuit that is intended to take a 5V/GND input and make split +/- 2.5V rails with a virtual ground.
When I try to simulate, LTSpice complains about "unknown subcircuit" ...
user98663
3
votes
3
answers
106k
views
What is reverse saturation current?
The official page of Wikipedia mentions that reverse saturation current is a part of minority current caused by the drift of charges. I am really confused about this. In class, we have been taught the ...
86
votes
5
answers
308k
views
How much current can I draw from the Arduino's pins?
What's the maximum amount of current which I can draw from each of the Arduino's pins without tripping any of the internal fuses? Is there a limit per pin as well as an overall limit for the whole ...
- 1,887
33
votes
6
answers
242k
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Slow Blow vs Fast Acting Fuse
Is there any way to tell the difference between a slow blow and a fast acting Fuse? I had one blow in my amp and I know its 125v 5a, but i'm not sure if it is a slow blow or fast acting fuse.
Is ...
- 1,074