Questions tagged [wave]

May refer to an electromagnetic wave (such as a radio wave) or the PCB manufacturing process of wave soldering.

Radiation of the electromagnetic spectrum (sound, light, radio, microwave, etc.) typically propagates as waves (and/or particles).

"Wave soldering" is a manufacturing process in which a PCB populated with components is positioned slightly above the surface of molten solder in a container. An actuator then introduces mechanical motion such that the surface of the solder has a ripple (or wave) which extends upward to the PCB surface, soldering component leads in place.

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Can I turn Radio waves into light?

Wikipedia says that the frequency of light is 300 THz. I've made a radio waves transmitter that transmits about 100 MHz. If I increase the frequency of the transmitter to 300 THz, will the antenna produce spark or light ? Can I do this circuit…
Michael George
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What exactly are harmonics and how do they "appear"?

From reading so many sources online, I still cannot grasp why a different waveforms have harmonics. For example: when designing a silly amplitude modulation (AM) circuit that puts a square wave from a microcontroller in to an antenna, how are…
John Quinn
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Do we know what a radio wave looks like?

In precalculus class, we are learning about sin/cos/tan/cot/sec/csc and their amplitude, periods and phases shifts. I've studied electronics on and off for about a year. I would like to know if we actually know what waves look like. Do they actually…
Foo Fighter
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How to read serial data from oscilloscope

I have a microcontroller (PICAXE 20X2) and a pot meter. I programmed the micro so that it sends any change of pot meter to serial port of PC. Obviously it is a 8bit ADC. Now the interesting thing for me is being able to decode this serial data on…
Dumbo
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Why does 1/4 wavelength have a ground plane and 1/2 wavelength needs none?

Why does 1/4 wavelength have to have a ground plane and 1/2 doesn't? I know that an antenna that has half a wavelength does not need the ground plane (example a dipole antenna) and when using a wavelength of 1/4 it is usually necessary to have the…
LUFER
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What's a good square wave generator?

What's a good circuit to use to generate a square wave? The exact waveform isn't too important - I just want to get a piezo buzzer cranking at 150 kHz. I also want efficiency and adjustable amplitude. (Motivation: I want to vaporize some oil in…
Grumdrig
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What is the function of a Fourier Series?

What is a Fourier Series? What it is used for?
coldshine
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Changing a Signal's DC Offset

I have a square wave being generated from a waveform generator oscillating between 0 V and 5 V. The generator does not support negative DC offsets. I need to shift this signal down to be centered about the 0 V value, i.e. oscillating between -2.5…
Präriewolf
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Differentiating between a square wave or sawtooth wave with a circuit...?

I want to build a simple sensor that takes a 100 kHz square or sawtooth wave with a known amplitude and outputs a high if it receives a square wave or a low for sawtooth. I'm pretty sure this requires some sort of comparator, but I'm not sure how to…
Paul
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If a square wave has infinite bandwidth, how can we see it on an oscilloscope?

If a square wave requires infinite bandwidth how can we display it on oscilloscopes? Link: Oscilloscope fundamentals.
OVIYA N
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How do I measure loudness?

I was toying around with an idea for a digital musical instrument with breath control. I've successfully experimented with pressure sensors and they are probably the right way to go, but my first idea was just using a plastic sealed microphone. I…
cmpalmer
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How do I save a waveform from ModelSim for later opening/viewing

If I save the waveform, it is saved as a .do file in ModelSim/QuestaSim. This does not help as later I will have to run the simulation to get the wave back anyway! What I am looking for is means by which all the wave (their data at points in time)…
quantum231
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Rail to rail +12/-12 V square wave generation with microcontroller

I need to generate a +/-12 V square wave, +/-0.4 V tolerance is allowed. The purpose is to drive the pilot signal of an electric vehicle level 2 charger, for those curious. EDIT (clarification): what I'm trying to design here is the EVSE controller…
jamarju
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Is there something as common frequency?

Let's say I have following three sinusoidal waves. 1. x1(t) = A*sin(2*pi*1000*t) i.e, f = 1 kHz 2. x2(t) = B*sin(2*pi*1500*t) i.e, f = 1.5 kHz 3. x3(t) = C*sin(2*pi*2000*t) i.e, f = 2 kHz So when I get the signal y(t) = x1(t) + x2(t) +…
muyustan
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Why is "wavelength" used as a unit for the length of an antenna?

We often refer to antenna size relative to wavelength. For example: a 1/2 wave dipole is approximately half a wavelength long. Wavelength is the distance a radio wave travels during one cycle. (Here) Why is antenna length measured in terms of…
Shadow
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