Designing a circuit is a lot easier on paper, where components have well-defined values, or lacking that, at least well-defined tolerances. Unfortunately, even keeping percentage tolerances in mind isn’t always enough to make sure that circuits work correctly in the real world, as [Tahmid] demonstrates by diagnosing a buck converter with an oddly strong voltage […]
FR4 is FR4, right? For a lot of PCB designs, the answer is yes — the particular characteristics of the substrate material don’t impact your design in any major way. But things get a little weird up in the microwave range, and having one of these easy methods to measure the dielectric properties of your […]
We’ve always been fascinated by things that perform complex electronic functions merely by virtue of their shapes. Waveguides come to mind, but so do active elements like filters made from nothing but PCB traces, which is the subject of this interesting video by [FesZ]. Of course, it’s not quite that simple. A PCB is more […]
There are hundreds if not thousands of artifacts from the Apollo program scattered around the globe, some twisted wrecks at the bottom of the ocean, others lovingly preserved and sitting in museums or in the hands of private collectors. All of what’s left is pretty much pure unobtainium, so if you want something Apollo-like, you’re […]