Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
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3 answers

74LS vs. 74HC series ICs for Ben Eater's 8-bit Computer

What are the primary differences between 74LS series and 74HC series ICs? I know that LS series are TTL and HC are CMOS, but beyond that what are the key differences? For example, Ben Eater uses LS series chips in his 8-bit computer. Why would he do…
rjm27trekkie
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What drives the advancement towards ever faster cellular network speeds?

I've always accepted that technology advances. Being born in the 90s, everything just becomes faster, smaller, cheaper and generally better if you wait a few years. This was most obvious with consumer electronics such as TVs, PCs and…
freejuices
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Optical audio transmitter can't handle speech

This is a question relating to my project on an optical audio transmitter. I wired up a very simple device in which I use an audio signal transformer (EI14) to modulate the intensity of a laser beam (a cheap 650nm, 5mW diode) according to the audio…
Piotr
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4 answers

Purpose of 2 serial resistors on voltage divider

In the schematic/picture below, what is the purpose of 2 serial resistors for voltage divider? Temperature, thermal runaway, stocks, prices, or something else? Thank you. simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
Ugur Baki
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3 answers

Why am I cooking MOSFETs?

I've made a very simple MOSFET LED driver that uses the PWM of an Arduino Nano to switch a MOSFET which controls the power for about 16 meters of LED strip. I am using STP16NF06 MOSFETs. I am controlling RGB LEDs, so I use three MOSFETs one for each…
hamsolo474 - Reinstate Monica
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10 answers

How to become an embedded software developer?

I'd like some tips for those who want to become a good embedded software developer or want to improve in this area. What should I need learn about hardware, software? Which books are most recommended? Blogs? In the end, how could I go from a…
Daniel Grillo
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What is this device attached to a high-voltage power line?

I noticed this white, cylindrical device on a power pole near Seattle that facilitates a 90-degree turn of the transmission line. It looks like the lightning conductor comes down the pole into a sort of service loop before disappearing into the…
Peter Schilling
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14 answers

Finding a faulty chip that draws too much current

Note that this is a theoretical question - there is no schematic I can show. I will show some schematic, but it will be a very simplified version of an actual circuit, only for illustration purposes. Assume I have a voltage converter that takes as…
nettek
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Is it important to file a new soldering iron tip before tinning?

I bought a cheap soldering iron. After reading articles and watching videos, I learnt that cheap irons get their resistor burnt easily. And many a times the iron becomes black as soon as you start heating it and then it cannot be tinned. I am afraid…
user141242
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Maximum cable length for 3.3V UART signals

I would like to avoid using RS-232 converters between two microcontrollers on two different boards. For various reasons, only UARTs are supported, e.g. no SPI or I2C, and I will be using CAT5E cable to RJ45 jacks between the boards. The data rate…
QuestionMan
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8 answers

How do I prevent bridges while soldering SMD Components?

I have noticed that whenever I try to solder a component with many pins close together (like an IC), I get tiny bridges of solder, which shorts the pins. Is there any easy way to solder SMDs without solder bridges?
MetricSystemAdvocate
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Is 0603 vs 0402 assembly mass production cost optimization still relevant?

Historically, choosing a design avoiding 0402 and finer pitch components was advantageous for mass production cost savings. The yields were improved and accuracy requirements for pick and place machines were reduced. This allowed vendors to choose…
lm317
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How is 10G Ethernet physically possible?

10 gigabit Ethernet means that 10 billion bits are transmitted every second, but I don't understand how this is physically possible (let alone 100G Ethernet). The fastest CPUs today only run at ~8GHz, but even if transmission doesn't require a CPU,…
HaLailah HaZeh
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22
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7 answers

Is there a downside to using multiple relays simultaneously to increase relay capacity

I want to install a relay to my fusebox which is controlling whole basement with machinery. Relays that I have have got 2A limit each, and I have 32 relays. Can I just use all of them for the same line and assume the relay's limit is 64A ? Is there…
user2102266
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8 answers

Using CPU heat to generate electricity

I've been reading Tanenbaum's Structured Computer Organization and he says one of the major bottlenecks for increasing CPU clock speed is heat. So I started thinking: Is it possible to remove the heatsink altogether and use that heat to generate…
Enzo Ferber
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