Learn Electronics & Microcontrollers
Electric power is an important, yet often misunderstood concept in electronics and electricity in general. This post will attempt to shed some light on it, and answer the age-old question: what is a watt?
[Read more…] about One Powerful Post: A Primer on Electric Power Part 1
This time, I wanted to do something a little different and hopefully a little fun.
This post isn’t a post in the sense that it’s a tutorial on a certain topic.
This post is a short electronics quiz to assess your knowledge, maybe learn something along the way, and most of all, have some fun.
[Read more…] about Test Your Electronics Knowledge With This Quiz
Next to the resistor, the capacitor is one of the most common electronic components out there. And, like resistors, there are many different types of capacitors with each one having its pros, cons, and applications that it’s good for.
A while ago, I published a post about several common resistor types you’re likely to run into.
This post will be similar in that we’ll take a quick look at the common types of capacitors. Topics like the theory behind capacitors or deciphering their markings will appear in future posts.
The post will give a quick over-view of some of the applications for each type of capacitor [Read more…] about Types of Capacitors: Pros, Cons, & Applications
One the most basic things an electronics enthusiast should know is the difference between AC vs DC.
No, we’re not talking about a hard rock band, we’re talking AC vs DC with regards to electricity.
Some of you may already know this. Even if you’ve been dabbling in electronics for a while and think you have this figured out, I highly recommend reading this whole post as there are some things that may surprise you.
One of the easiest ways to explain the differences between AC vs DC is to treat each one separately and delve into some details about each.
Toward that end, we’ll start with DC first because it’s a bit simpler to explain and most of your creations will use it.
[Read more…] about AC vs DC: What’s the Difference?
Since their inception in 2005, Arduino development boards have become a favorite among hobbyists, makers, and experimenters.
Of all the different incarnations, the Uno remains one of the most popular.
[Read more…] about A Closer Look Inside the Arduino Uno
Understanding binary numbers is important. All things digital involve circuits and systems in which there are only two possible states. Two voltage levels represent these states; a HIGH and a LOW. In other words, digital devices communicate this way. For a quick review on what it means to be digital, check out the post Analog vs Digital: What’s the Difference?
Binary information that digital systems work with appear as waveforms that represent a sequence of bits. As an example, see the figure below which relates the 1’s and 0’s to voltage levels on the waveform A. As we can see, a 1 is a HIGH and a 0 is a LOW. [Read more…] about A Bit of Fun with Binary Number Basics
