You are here: Home / Archives for Electronics and Electrical

Using Electronics to Keep Up With Sports

Electronics are everywhere, as you probably already know. They are in our phones, TVs, portable music players, and just about anywhere else you can imagine. Many people use them without giving a second thought to how they work, while others devote their lives, either as a career or as a hobby, to learning all they can about electronics and how they work.

The people that see electronics as a hobby may thrive on finding new or unique ways to incorporate them into every possible facet of their lives. This can include such things as having three or four electronic devices hooked up to one central unit so that they can follow the action on each one of their favorite sports betting sites at the same time.

Others who enjoy using electronics may employ the many ways they can be used to enjoy watching or keeping up with several offerings of their favorite sports at the same time. These people take advantage of such things as TVs with advanced electronics like direct tv that allow them to view one or more channels at the same time, or allow them to switch from one game to the other easily.

Those who work in the field of electronics, as well as extreme electronics hobbyists, may find themselves constantly searching for new information and developments in the electronics field. When they find a source that provides current, accurate information, they may become a frequent visitor to that site or subscribe to a specific publication that gives them the information they need.

As electronics continue to insinuate themselves in every area of our lives, sports enthusiasts will probably keep on thinking up ways that they can utilize them to enjoy their favorite pastime: eating, sleeping, and breathing sports. Those who aren’t so crazy about sports will likely find themselves thinking up ways that electronics can help tune the sports out.

Filed Under: Car, Circuits, Computer, Do It Yourself, Electronics Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Don’t Be Wary of DIY Computer Fixes

Have you ever called a computer tech support hotline for a PC problem? Did you get the answers you need or where you on hold for half a day and only got half the answers? Believe it or not, PC repair isn’t as complicated as you might think. It all comes down to a matter of software versus hardware. On the software side, you might be at the mercy of whatever virus infection you come down with. However, on the hardware side there are many fixes you can accomplish on your own.

When you get right down to it, your computer is made up of circuit boards assembled in a kind of “Lego” push in/click fashion. These circuit boards are connected together providing the basic operating system for your computer. If you want better sound, then you would swap out your old sound card for a new and improved one. You can even build your own version of a playback device to enhance to music listening. This same principle applies to improving your video game playing or movie watching on your computer. It just comes down to a question of what circuit board you are swapping out.

One of the easiest improvements you can make to your computer is adding more RAM. As with anything involving you’re computer you’ll be going into your device and moving things around. This is why you need to backup your data before you begin an DIY project. Once you’ve backed up, you’ll be good to go and can find plenty of “How to” videos to guide you through the process.

Filed Under: Computer, Do It Yourself Tagged With: , ,

There’s More to old Circuits Than Gold

If you have ever given any thought to the fate of old computer components (and really, who hasn’t?), then you have no doubt wondered whether all of the old hardware in the world just ends up very slowly rotting in a landfill, whether or not the technology is really of no use. Believe it or not, there was a time when all of the hardware components which could not be resold to somebody else were simply thrown away, as if they had absolutely no value to anyone anymore. It may be hard to believe, but for the longest time there was not a single program in place which would take these old, potentially useful (if only for salvage) components and do what could be done with them.

However, at one point someone finally realized that in nearly every circuit board which has ever been made, there was actually some gold which could be harvested and recycled for a bit of profit. Of course, this was slow, tedious work which tended to only yield a fairly small amount of gold. And by “a fairly small amount,” remember that gold is rarely less than $300 per ounce- and often, all of the gold which could be harvested out of a single circuit board would amount to a few quarters on the resale market.

However, another wise person whose name has been lost to history finally figured out (in a brilliantly blinding flash of the obvious) that amongst all of these circuit boards, there was actually still a lot of useful hardware. Since the logic gates which govern circuit technology are reasonably universal, often times they can be reused for more than just what their mineral components may be worth, and placed into new or refurbished pieces of technology. Once that has occurred, this technology may be resold and the ultimate profit for the technology’s salvage becomes reasonably high. So while gold is great, technology is even better.

Filed Under: Computer, Electronics Tagged With: , , ,

Etching Your Own Circuit Board

Printed circuit board designed in TopoR autorouter
Image via Wikipedia

The first step in creating your own circuit board is deciding what kind of circuit you would like to build. Homebrew circuit boards do not lend well to very intricate designs, unless you have a lot of experience creating them already. It is best to keep your circuit simple for the first build and gradually increase in difficulty as you go. One of the next things you need to do is ensure that you have all your materials on hand and ready to go. Having the actual components that your decide to use is optional as this is only intended to cover the creation of the printed circuit board.

The materials you will need include an etch solution. (You can buy pre-made solution, or create your own) Creating your own isn’t hard and is more environmentally friendly than using the pre-made solution. Please consult an outside guide to make your own solution. Even homemade etch solution uses caustic chemicals so exercise a lot caution when handling or mixing these chemicals.  Additionally you will need a sheet of copper clad circuit board, large enough for your project to fit on. Finally you will need a sharpie pen or transfer trace sheet.

If your design is simple enough you can sketch it on paper and simply use a sharpie pen to draw your traces on to the copper clad board. If your design is more complex you may need to print it on paper and use the transfer sheet to replicate it on the copper clad circuit board. Remember that you can clean pen and transfer off the copper, but once you etch, it’s permanent. Place your ready circuit board into the etch solution for the amount of time specified in the etch instructions. When finished, be sure to rinse it thoroughly with water to remove all the etch solution.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Circuits Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Roll of Integrated Circuits in Today’s World – Hardware

A small flex circuit, with both SMT and throug...
Image via Wikipedia

Integrated circuits originated in the 1940’s and 50’s, but were much larger and had the fraction of the power they do today. Nothing we know of would be the same if there were no microchips, digital signal processing chips, or semiconductor circuits. They are built in to almost every appliance there is, and the small scale of these chips has enabled smaller and smaller devices to exist. For example, cell phones that hold enormous amounts of information and even provide access to the Internet operate on very small circuits designed to fit in their small dimensions.

Circuits are found in almost everything, in addition to cell phones. Regular telephones, printers, microwave ovens, radios and even televisions include sophisticated circuitry. The ICs themselves are manufactured by companies that specialize in the advanced technologies that go into making them. Manufacturers of televisions or computers, for example, can order circuits according to the memory they support or the speed or bandwidth a device can achieve by using them.

Another important specification is the package type, such as the ball grid array, that is defined by the size of the chip and how it connects to the circuit board. The connection is usually dependent on the number of connecting pins the IC has built in. A circuit chip can be a microprocessor that controls an entire computer system, or a tiny device that has a specific purpose, such as managing the timing of signals. Something like this is called an application specific integrated circuit, or ASIC. There are some of these that are measured in millimeters they are so small.

Without the IC in the form that it is in today, many technologies wouldn’t exist, such as HDTV’s. It is only the processing power of these chips that enable such high resolution. The Internet, with its high speed and density of information, would not be the worldwide information source it is without the proper circuitry in the devices that store data and drive interconnected networks.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Circuits, Electronics, Technology Tagged With: , ,

Flexible Circuits Expand the Applications of Electronics – Hardware

Circuito básico de polarización directa de LEDs
Image via Wikipedia

The amazing capabilities that integrated circuitry now provide allows for complex applications that further require circuit design to be modified. Flexible circuits are now used in many systems and actually have the capability to bend and fold without affecting the performance of the electronics on their surface.

Printed onto plastic substrates or polyester, they can conform to a desired shape in a device or flex during the product’s use. An example would be folding cell phones, in which the electrical connections must be maintained between the folding parts that are moved regularly during normal use. They can also be used in small electronics such as cameras. In this case the circuits will remain in a static position but allow for connections in various axes.

These types of circuits are also commonly used in keyboards, as well as with organic LEDs to include backlights in flexible displays. The technology expands the possibilities of miniature and flexible circuitry. It brings to the imagination electronics that you can wear, and also adds a sense of realism to fictitious elements such as Penny’s computerized guide book in the Inspector Gadget cartoons. As manuals are available electronically online, a product manual on just a few sheets of flex circuit paper would provide all the information you would need to understand the workings of a device.

The fictional and theoretical blend in well with the idea of flexible circuits. Out of this world applications do exist, however, because they are used in satellites, especially for the solar panels that roll up for launch and deploy when they reach orbit. This allows the power collection and distribution systems to remain intact despite the entire panels having been folded and extended.

The concept has also expanded technologies in the medical field, with such circuits used in small implantable devices such as pacemakers, medical monitoring devices, diagnostic equipment, and surgical tools. Since flex circuits are highly compatible with devices that are hinged or have telescopic functions, they are now widely used and explored in medical applications.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Circuits, Electronics, Technology Tagged With: , ,