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Discussion and news about component-level electronic circuits.Electronic circuits at the component-level
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What you see here was way ahead of its time

Ндл, 11/30/2025 - 18:51
What you see here was way ahead of its time

Late 90s before Ethernet control was anywhere near affordable and circuit control over the Internet was sci-fi dreams here was a $20 external HP JetDirect print sever controlling 8 GPIOs with Opto22 SSRs and a little fool logic to make the print sever think its connected to a real printer lol the NAND gate fooled the JetDirect that every time a byte was "sent to the printer" the printer flapped strobe as if it has printed the bye :) Data was piped via good old Linux NetCat - wait using Linux in the 90s...oh I'm getting emotional already

I’ve so forgotten those days of badass innovation - now smart plugs are everywhere …

submitted by /u/bubba198
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This looks like a very interesting Xbox controller I found

Ндл, 11/30/2025 - 00:07
This looks like a very interesting Xbox controller I found

Sorry for light getting in the way of appreciating the full beauty of this PCB :))

submitted by /u/Tachyonhummer007
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Weekly discussion, complaint, and rant thread

Сбт, 11/29/2025 - 18:00

Open to anything, including discussions, complaints, and rants.

Sub rules do not apply, so don't bother reporting incivility, off-topic, or spam.

Reddit-wide rules do apply.

To see the newest posts, sort the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top").

submitted by /u/AutoModerator
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Old Apple IIgs Monitor LED module.

Сбт, 11/29/2025 - 02:40
Old Apple IIgs Monitor LED module.

Wish I had a spec sheet on this part. This was pulled from an Apple IIgs monitor. I don't think it's a true led.

Works lovely on 5v

submitted by /u/twiggs462
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The SN76477 Demo Circuit

Птн, 11/28/2025 - 23:32

The SN76477 "Demo Circuit":

This is a 1977 Complex Sound Generator chip from Texas Instruments. Like a lot of nerds, I got one from Radio Shack, put it in an experimenter's plugboard and got various airplane, gunshot and "ray gun" noises out of it.

In the datasheet, there was one more schematic that sat in the back of my brain for these decades; the "Demo circuit".

Over time, you learn that a schematic is a fraction of what you need to build a circuit. The chip is the biggest thing in the drawing and if you're young, you think that if you've got this IC, your nearly at home plate. This schematic (there are several iterations from the past fifty-odd years) has many rotary switches, potentiometers, capacitors and resistors. There's a 7805 regulator and two jacks, but a lot is missing; there are "R-xx" numbers for the resistors and pots, but no "C-xx" numbers for the caps. J1 and J2 are unlabeled; most of the controls are unlabeled. This being a sound project, I think it's a big deal that none of the pots are noted as being linear or audio taper. On some of the drawings, two capacitors on SW7 are swapped; it would work but it'd feel flaky as you turned the switch and listened to the result

My question a couple of months ago was, "Has anybody actually built this thing?"

It appears that the answer is "No".

I spent some time with Digi-Key's web site, Excel for pricing and Visio to lay out knobs, switches and labels.

I didn't count buying two of each potentiometer, one audio taper and one linear.

I didn't count cabinet parts; the Visio work was to find the size of the front panel. The layout isn't anything like how a real build would be done; the jacks are together, the toggle switches are together, etc.

I also have never seen a 9/16" punch that leaves a tab to keep the switch from spinning in it's hole; I know they existed but I think someone cast them into the sun before the Internet got invented.

So parts would be something over $250.00 without a cabinet; the panel would be about 18" square. A 19" wide rack panel, 10U tall would do it, and you'd want it in a console of some kind, which seems expensive to think about unless you made it out of wood, and it's still designed to be powered by a 9-volt battery; the entire project feels like a collision between the cheap and the expensive.

A quick search of Reddit and/or YouTube finds a box made with less knobs and no labelling, making sounds that scream "1977 science fiction", and not Star Wars. More like that show where Jim Nabors and Ruby Buzzi played two robots.

Letting go of the Demo Circuit, another drawing in the datasheet is a block diagram of the circuit. Most of the building blocks were in big Moog and other synthesizers in the late 1960's through late 1980's; tiny parts of Keith Emerson's rig or the stuff a guy called "Tomita" used. I don't have the space or musical talent for such a thing, but I wondered about emulators, then of course Free emulators.

I ended up at https://vcvrack.com/ , download the free version, and in less than 30 minutes had an emulated SN76477 running on my computer.

I could've probably added a MIDI tracker and had it play music. If you have a MIDI keyboard, you might be able to try the "organ" project in the datasheets.

If you had budget, time, determination, space and both electronic and musical talent, you could build the Demo Circuit, and you'd probably want to somehow interface it with a keyboard. I could see somebody like David Guetta or Deadmau5 have this on one far side of the stage and do something silly as a break between the regular show, but I don't think that it could make such awesome sounds that the great orchestras would retire in shame.

That's what I figured out about the SN76477 this fall.

Regards, Mark Stout

submitted by /u/Dankshogun
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4 bit full Adder

Птн, 11/28/2025 - 17:04
4 bit full Adder

I've assembled this 4 bit full adder with logic ics.

submitted by /u/Joseph_Kaiser
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A makeshift motion-activated lamp

Чтв, 11/27/2025 - 15:24
A makeshift motion-activated lamp

I had an awful lot of power outages lately and decided to make a lamp based on a 12V 10W LED I had laying around. It is controlled by a dimmer with a 555 timer, modified by connecting the reset pin to a switch. This gives the devices 3 modes - off, on, or triggered by a motion sensor. I am quite proud of myself for figuring out the motion activation without using an MCU.

The device is powered by any qc/pd device via a trigger or an external battery.

And yes, it would be better with a 3d printed case, but I had to move and couldn't take my 3d printers with me yet, so this one is held together with hot glue and hope for a better future cardboard.

submitted by /u/Misha1tigr
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Workbench and work area.

Срд, 11/26/2025 - 23:25
Workbench and work area.

I can never keep this clean, its one thing after another.

submitted by /u/lolslim
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My closet workbench

Срд, 11/26/2025 - 17:19
My closet workbench

Just cleaned up and reorganized my small bench setup yesterday and thought I could get some critiques on what might be missing. not shown is a HP 8592 Spectrum analyzer and HP 54615B 500 MHz OScope.

submitted by /u/maydayM2
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Finaly i think that i have managed making ahelp rail for op amps etc ±15V

Срд, 11/26/2025 - 07:49
Finaly i think that i have managed making ahelp rail for op amps etc ±15V

I used the TL431 reference programmable zenner with an emitter follower for extra stability. This takes my ±38V and makes a ±15V helprail to power op amps etc. Think i hould be able to draw 500mA-1A current on the help rail!. One more step closer to finish my linear dual rail build ±0-35v, 2.2A per rail total 4.4A.

submitted by /u/Whyjustwhydothat
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A High-Voltage DC Motor Speed Modulation Control Project

Срд, 11/26/2025 - 05:59
A High-Voltage DC Motor Speed Modulation Control Project

A year ago, I worked at a workshop that specialized in rewinding electric motors and transformers. We frequently received motors and transformers for maintenance and rewinding, but sometimes we received DC motors that typically operated with a 400 V DC stator and a 200 V DC armature.

To run and test those motors, our power setup was quite cumbersome. We would connect 400 V AC to a large motor-generator set, and the output from that would power the DC motor's stator. For the armature, we took a single-phase 220 V AC line, passed it through a bridge rectifier, and then controlled the voltage using a Variac before finally feeding it to the armature.

This entire process was bulky. It inspired me to design a power circuit capable of electronically controlling the armature voltage, which is essential for modulating the motor's speed. Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to implement the circuit. The owner of the shop, who was also my electrical machines professor at university, was an elderly gentleman who passed away, and the project get stalled.

Recently, I've been experimenting with the circuit in simulation and found it can be used for several interesting applications:

  • High-Voltage (HV) Switch
  • Linear Regulator
  • Step-Down (Buck) Converter
  • Step-Up (Boost) Converter (A topic from a previous post)
  • I'm also confident it could be used to build a audio driven signal modulation ( weird but possible ).

My biggest worry was the power that the IGBTs would have to sustain. If we assume the voltage drop across the IGBT (VCE​) is around 100V (the point of maximum power dissipation), the IGBT would need to dissipate about 450W of power.

I was highly concerned about whether a single IGBT could handle this continuous load without failing. I was planning to mount the transistors onto a large aluminum heat sink block and place several IGBTs in parallel to distribute the power load among them.

Anyway, I wanted to share this project with you. here The diagram for circuitJS.

$ 1 0.000005 10.20027730826997 49 5 43 5e-11 t 320 192 320 144 1 -1 195.0523838167561 -0.7316787632313719 100 default f 336 240 336 192 40 1.5 0.02 w 176 144 304 144 0 R 176 144 96 144 0 0 40 200 0 0 0.5 t 256 416 176 416 0 1 0 0.47551466520158947 100 default t 256 416 336 416 0 1 -5.6784882330384585 0.47551466464471304 100 default w 256 416 256 384 0 w 176 384 256 384 0 w 176 400 176 384 0 r 336 432 336 512 0 100 w 336 512 176 512 0 g 176 512 112 512 0 0 w 336 144 352 144 0 r 432 432 432 512 0 100 w 432 512 336 512 0 w 432 432 432 336 0 w 432 144 560 144 0 r 560 144 560 512 0 22 w 560 512 432 512 0 p 688 144 688 512 3 0 0 0 w 560 144 688 144 0 w 688 512 560 512 0 r 432 144 432 240 0 1000 r 176 432 176 512 0 100 r 176 240 176 144 0 10000000 w 176 288 176 240 0 w 176 320 176 384 0 w 176 240 336 240 0 w 336 240 336 400 0 w 352 192 352 144 0 w 432 240 432 272 0 w 432 144 352 144 0 w 432 272 384 272 0 w 432 336 432 320 0 t 384 304 432 304 0 1 0 0.6259000454766762 100 default w 432 272 432 288 0 w 384 272 384 304 0 t 384 304 176 304 0 1 -5.2027187673209605 0.47576946571749795 100 default o 19 32 0 4098 320 0.1 0 1 38 22 F1 0 1000 100000 -1 Resistance

submitted by /u/Inevitable-Round9995
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Here is an interesting ITS1A thyratron tube clock I made. These are very interesting display tubes that contain seven tiny thyratrons, one for each display segment. You can see the electron pathways changing inside each tube as the digits change. More...

Срд, 11/26/2025 - 00:48

The ITS1A display tube is a bit of a mystery since it is poorly documented and little is known about the application for the tube. It was manufactured by the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War when LEDs and VFDs were readily available. But, why then was it developed? It may be these tubes were developed for SW radio applications since their internal ‘multiplexing ‘ capability yields little or no EMV to interfere with weak signal reception. OR, unlike nearly every other neon display, which require control signals in the hundreds of volts range to activate, the ITS1A can be connected directly to a micro-controller and run with TTL level 5 volt signals. This is possible because the ITS1A contains seven tiny thyratrons, one for each segment, which perform the level shifting to control the 300 volt signals needed to ionize the gas inside the tube. The ITS1A is also unique in that it is a neon tube that does not glow amber like all other cold Cathode tubes, instead each of the tubes display segments is a phosphor-coated cup that illuminates green by electron spatter from the control thyratrons. In operation and when viewed from the side this beautiful little tube actually presents in three colors; pink/purple from the neon ionization, a little bit of blue from the electron paths inside the thyratrons, and from the front, the segments glow a beautiful cyan/green from the phosphor coating

submitted by /u/Legend_of_the_Wind
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Tektronix 516a beauty

Втр, 11/25/2025 - 22:14
Tektronix 516a beauty

Found this beauty for 30bucks ! The owner was an Thomson enginner 30years ago. Bit of dust inside, im planning to restore it ! Its huge ! Around 20kg !

submitted by /u/tx30840
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experimenting with step up converter and High voltage

Втр, 11/25/2025 - 19:28
experimenting with step up converter and High voltage

Hey everyone!

I've been diving into some high-voltage (HV) power electronics experiments recently. I wanted to share a project I've been tinkering with: a custom step-up converter.

We all know that step-up (Boost) circuits are excellent for boosting low-voltage inputs (like 12V), but I had a different idea: what if I use the Boost topology on an already high DC voltage?

My goal is to take a 100V DC input (or ∼167V DC if I rectify and filter a 120V AC line) and significantly boost it.

I'm currently deep in the simulation phase and plan to build a physical prototype soon. I'm looking for feedback from anyone experienced with HV DC/DC conversion on my approach.

here is the diagram for circuitJS:

txt $ 1 0.000005 3.046768661252054 50 5 43 5e-11 w 752 0 752 32 0 w 752 -32 752 -128 0 f 928 -16 752 -16 32 1.5 0.02 w 752 32 752 48 0 w 704 32 752 32 0 w 704 64 704 32 0 w 752 192 816 192 0 w 752 80 752 144 0 r 752 144 752 192 0 100 t 704 64 752 64 0 1 0 0 100 default g 560 192 528 192 0 0 w 752 192 688 192 0 r 816 -64 816 192 0 22 w 560 80 560 96 0 w 560 48 560 32 0 t 704 64 560 64 0 1 0 0 100 default w 560 192 688 192 0 r 688 144 688 192 0 100 r 560 144 560 192 0 100 w 560 96 560 112 0 w 624 96 560 96 0 w 624 128 624 96 0 t 624 128 560 128 0 1 0 0 100 default t 624 128 688 128 0 1 0 0 100 default r 560 -64 560 32 0 10000000 w 704 -64 704 -144 0 R 560 -64 512 -64 0 0 40 100 0 0 0.5 f 688 32 688 -64 40 1.5 0.02 l 560 -64 672 -64 0 0.1 0 0 d 672 -64 672 -128 2 default c 672 -128 560 -128 4 0.000009999999999999999 0.001 0.001 0.1 g 560 -128 528 -128 0 0 w 672 -128 752 -128 0 w 816 -128 816 -64 0 w 688 32 688 112 0 w 688 32 560 32 0 g 704 -144 704 -176 0 0 w 816 -128 752 -128 0 w 1088 0 1104 0 0 w 1040 0 1088 0 0 w 1088 -160 1088 0 0 r 1280 -160 1088 -160 0 3300 w 1280 -32 1280 -160 0 w 1280 -32 1232 -32 0 w 1232 -128 1232 -64 0 w 1168 -128 1232 -128 0 165 1104 -96 1120 -96 6 0 R 1040 -128 1008 -128 0 0 40 5 0 0 0.5 w 1040 -128 1168 -128 0 r 1040 0 1040 -128 0 1000000 g 1040 96 1040 112 0 0 c 1040 32 1040 96 4 3e-7 0.001 0.001 0 w 1040 32 1104 32 0 w 1040 0 1040 32 0 w 1280 -32 1280 192 0 w 1280 192 928 192 0 w 928 192 928 -16 0 w 1040 96 1200 96 0 w 1200 96 1200 64 0

submitted by /u/Inevitable-Round9995
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