The Commodore VIC-20 holds a unique place in computing history: it was the first home computer to sell one million units, arriving in 1980 at a retail price of USD 299.95 — roughly half the cost of any comparable machine…
Key Takeaways Ceramic capacitors: Ideal for high-frequency applications, offering low ESR and ESL. Go-to for decoupling and RF circuits. Electrolytic capacitors: Indispensable for bulk energy storage and power supply filtering, providing high capacitance values despite being polarised with a limited…
Inductors and capacitors are the two most fundamental passive components in electronics — and they are routinely confused, misapplied, or selected without fully understanding the tradeoffs. This guide breaks down how each component stores energy, how their impedance and frequency…
Hall Effect vs Reed Switch: Technical Selection Guide for Engineers Hall Effect sensors are solid-state devices that output a voltage (VH) proportional to magnetic flux density — no moving parts, switching frequencies up to 100 kHz, MTBF above 10⁹ cycles.…
Temperature Sensor Selection Four dominant sensor technologies cover virtually all thermal measurement applications: NTC thermistors (high sensitivity, −55°C to +150°C, low cost, requires linearisation); Platinum RTDs PT100/PT1000 (best linearity and interchangeability, −200°C to +850°C, ±0.15°C Class A accuracy, 4-wire Kelvin…
TL;DR: MOSFET Selection for Motor Control MOSFET selection for motor control is a four-parameter optimisation: (1) VDS must exceed bus voltage by 20–30% to survive inductive back-EMF spikes; (2) RDS(on) must be minimised to reduce conduction losses — target below…
Key Takeaways of an AC to DC Converter Topology Affects Ripple: Full-wave bridge rectifiers double the ripple frequency compared to half-wave designs, allowing for a filter capacitor half the size for the same ripple voltage. Efficiency Standards: Linear regulators offer…
Key Takeaways PF below 0.9 costs money: Most utilities apply reactive energy tariffs below PF 0.9; correcting to 0.95–0.98 typically recovers the capacitors’ cost within 6–24 months. Target PF 0.95–0.98, not 1.0: Over-correction causes leading power factor, voltage rise, and…
Key Takeaways Visual Inspection First: Always begin with a visual check for bulging, leaks, or discoloration — these are clear indicators of capacitor failure before any measurement is needed. Multimeter for Basic Checks: Digital multimeters in resistance or capacitance mode…
Key Takeaways Power gap: ARM Cortex-A cores deliver 3–10× better performance-per-watt than equivalent x86 cores, making them the dominant choice for battery-powered designs. The 10W Rule: Below 10W TDP, ARM is almost always the preferred architecture; above 50W with heavy…
