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1500 questions
33
votes
3 answers
Why does water damage low-voltage microelectronics so easily?
Everybody has had the time where water gets all over their electronics, and the whole thing gets ruined, like cell phones.
At that low of a voltage (3-5 volts), I don't understand why it is such a short-term harm (long term makes sense - corrosion,…
skyler
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33
votes
2 answers
How can I reverse engineer a simple through-hole board?
How can I reverse engineer a simple through-hole board? Trying to do it by eye gets confusing because it's easy to lose track of component orientation and location while flipping the board over. Maybe there's a computer assisted technique that would…
Vitim.us
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33
votes
2 answers
Why route air gaps for voltage isolation on PCBs?
Learning about PCB design for power supplies, I frequently see boards with routed gaps to separate low and high voltage sections of the layout.
Why go to the trouble of routing an air gap when etching the copper away should create the same level of…
JYelton
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33
votes
2 answers
What is saturation in an inductor
I have heard a lot of the time that "the core is not large enough to handle the current, and will reach saturation". What is saturation and why is it a bad thing to reach saturation?
skyler
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33
votes
7 answers
How to ramp up a factory consuming a lot of energy?
Can you please explain how to manage the process of ramping up a factory with a big electric consumption?
I am wondering how it is possible to balance the grid during the start up phase of a big power consumer. When I turn on my kettle at home the…
Merlin Nestler
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33
votes
5 answers
Why do car blinkers flash at twice the speed when a blinker light has burned out
On my 1999 Ford Escort, the brake lights double as turn signal blinkers. A left brake light burned out recently and my blinkers went much faster than normal when signaling a left turn. This is a convenient (and embarrassing) way to be alerted to a…
David Costanzo
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33
votes
4 answers
Why do some microcontrollers have a single port's pins distributed widely around the package?
I was trying to use a microcontroller's 16-bit IO port to interface with a parallel display. I found that the IOs of a single port (let's say PORTB) are highly fragmented around the microcontroller:
For example in the image above, PB0~PB2 are…
Tirdad Sadri Nejad
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33
votes
3 answers
Correct place to attach shields for twisted pairs
I have two PCBs connected by a cable containing 5 sub-cables:
6v power through a custom made coaxial cable (similar to that found on laptop power supplies).
2x 100mbps LVDS through 100ohm impedance screened twisted pair.
2x 1mbps CAN through the…
Rocketmagnet
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33
votes
8 answers
What do I need to know about oscilloscope probes?
I've run across a Hitachi V-355 oscilloscope, and a friend who's willing to give me a deal if I want it. Unfortunately, there are no probes that come with it. I was searching for probes, only to learn that they're STUPID expensive (either that or…
dwwilson66
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33
votes
2 answers
What is the reason for yellow tape on top of USB mini-B?
I have noticed that occasionally some USB mini-B connectors have what looks like a transparent yellow tape on their top.
It might be Kapton tape, but I am not sure.
As an example, please see the below image:
(source)
Usually, I leave this tape on. …
Intrastellar Explorer
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33
votes
2 answers
How is wafer dicing economical (for small ICs)?
Is my understanding that, for a given technology, the cost of making a silicon wafer is pretty much fixed, in the sense that it will not change no matter how much you fill the space (how many ICs you can squeeze in a single wafer.)
Once the wafer is…
valerio_new
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33
votes
6 answers
Embedded Programming for Beginners: Arduino or Raspberry Pi?
I'm a computer science student and I'm eager to expand my knowledge on embedded programming and electrical engineering.
I've read here that using tools like the Arduino microcontroller is a good way to start.
I'm primarily a Java and Python…
Matthias Braun
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33
votes
6 answers
What is the speed of "electricity"?
In a distribution grid, what is the speed of
energy
signal
Is it strictly the same?
And how is synchronisation achieved? Is an electric grid essentially an orchestra where everyone is the chief and gives the beat to everyone?
curiousguy
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33
votes
3 answers
Why would a Intel 8080 chip be destroyed if +12 V is connected before −5 V?
The Intel 8080 is a classic microprocessor released in 1974, fabricated using an enhancement-mode NMOS process, and shows various unique characteristics related to this process, such as the requirement of a two-phase clock, and three power rails:…
比尔盖子
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33
votes
8 answers
Why do we need a bootloader separate from our application program in microcontrollers?
Why do we need a separate program in the same flash program memory of a microcontroller, specifically STM32F103, which is called a bootloader?
What is special about it to keep it separate from the main application program?
Generally speaking, does…
alt-rose
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