A previous Design Idea describes a circuit that uses an astable multivibrator to drive an LED (Reference 1). The circuit in Figure 1 uses a simpler alternative approach. The circuit uses a 2N3904 NPN ...

A very simple but highly efficient combination lock circuit is shown in the figure. Any type of on/off switches can be used, varying from commercially available inexpensive types to more sophisticated ...

In this lesson, students build two circuits and explore how transistors function. When Bell Labs introduced the transistor in June of 1948, a spokesman proudly announced "This cylindrical object . . .

Thermocouples and their leads often have to detect open-circuit or short-circuit faults. However, it is very difficult to distinguish a valid millivolt temperature signal from an open/short-circuited ...

If you cultivate an interest in building radios it’s likely that you’ll at some point make a simple receiver. Perhaps a regenerative receiver, or maybe a direct conversion design, it’ll take a couple ...

My research projects in the area of nonlinear systems deal with finding dc operating points, steady state, and transient responses of electronic circuits. These are essential tasks in electrical ...

A simple tweak to the way common silicon transistors are made could allow faster, cheaper mobile phones and digital cameras, say UK researchers. Devices with the modification have already set a new ...