In order to create a timing mechanism, you don’t have to have a 555 timer, an IC chip, or an oscillator. With a few passive components and two transistors, you can can an astable multivibrator with two outputs. The video below will discuss how it works, how to build it, and what the output looks …
This tutorial explains how to control the duty cycle of the 555 timer’s output. Not only does this design control the duty cycle but the frequency remains relatively stable during the adjustment. This is helpful for a number of applications such as working with pulse width modulation. Schematic: Formulas in the Video:
It’s been about a year since my last tutorial. Over the last year I learned that teaching in the real world will take away time from teaching in the virtual world. Many people have contacted me asking about a tutorial for the 555 timer in Monostable mode. The great thing about this mode is that you …
Continuing with a focus on the 555 timer, this video tutorial looks at how to vary the pulse width of a 555 timer’s output. It’s all possible with just a a hand full components. By varying the duty cycle one may vary the blink rate on an LED or the voltage being fed to a servo. Enjoy! …
As we learned from the last video, resistors are helpful when you want to limit current. They are also helpful if you want to divide a voltage level, but in order to do any of this, it’s important to understand all about a resistor’s power rating. In this video you’ll learn how much power a …
Power Dissipation and How to Avoid Destroying a Resistor Read More »
The 555 timer has many uses and in this video we’ll explore two different ways to utilize the output. First we’ll see how the the timer can be used to source and sink current and secondly we’ll look at a way to use the timer as a control mechanism for another circuit. If you missed …
Welcome to the first ever Skinny Research and Development tutorial. In this episode I’ll teach you how to use the schematic (Eeschema) portion of KiCad to layout a circuit design. This is Part 1 of a three episode series to show how to take a hand written schematic and turn it into a manufactured circuit board. …
How To Use KiCad to Make a Printed Circuit Board: Part 1 Read More »
***This article has been superseded by a better one. I’ve made 3 videos that go over how to produce a PCB with Kicad. You can access thos videos here: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 [hr] Of all the skills I’ve picked up over the last few years, learning how to design a printed circuit …
