OpenCircuits - User contributions [en]

OpenCircuits:Community portal

2007-06-13T19:00:14Z

Autarch: Deleted spamlinks and gibberish

Welcome to Open Circuits.
This is a good place to talk about Open Circuits, as a whole.

== electrical mailing lists ==
Yahoo claims they have
[http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Science/Engineering/Electrical 1,831 electrical engineering mailing lists].
What would be a good way of letting the people on those lists know about the Open Circuits wiki, without spamming them?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 13:30, 31 May 2006 (PDT)

== about Open Circuits ==
So, is there any connection between http://OpenCircuits.org/ , http://OpenCircuits.net/ , and this http://OpenCircuits.com/ wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 23:47, 13 June 2006 (PDT)

No. There is no connection between any of http://opencircuits.com and the other websites listed.
[[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 02:55, 18 June 2006 (PDT)
== web rings ==
Document an original microcontroller project and join a PIC webring, or AVR webring. 20 June 2006

== audio electronics ==

Is there some other wiki for people to talk about audio electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best wiki for talking about things like
''"[http://analog.com/ Analog Devices] AN-221: The Alexander current-feedback audio power amplifier"'' by Mark Alexander
?

I think I would prefer to offload all the audio electronics controversies to some other wiki
(but which one?).
Still, it would be nice to have some "tips for high-power electronics" here.
I imagine that tips page would list the various quirks of high-power MOSFETs, BJTs, TRIACs, and IGBTs,
and (given a particular motor or speaker or other load)
how to select one over the others,
and various ways of working around those quirks.
--[[User:65.70.89.241|65.70.89.241]] 07:17, 10 August 2006 (PDT)

I just joined Open Circuits. I have been servicing and designing audio equipment for several years (Recording consoles a specialty) I hope you will have a section for audio electronics. I also work with video projection systems and theatrical lighting (stage struck at an early age) I play electric rock-blues guitar, so I also am interested in tube guitar amps (Marshall and Boogie). And there is a big difference in what a guitar player thinks an amp should do, and what a recording engineer wants an amp for. I think these are valid points for discussion.
I've also got an interest in power supplies (my experience is mostly with linear, but I've started learning about switching designs). In fact that brings me to my question, I have some regulator designs based on the 723 that I'd like to share. How do I go about doing that? I built a replacement for a console /- 18V @6A supply when I couldn't find the original regulator devices. I used 723s with external series pass devices. The unit has been working for close to 10 years now, so I think the design is worth sharing. Is anyone interested?

I also research discrete op amps like the Jensen 990. I've been working (on and off for years) on a clone of that using more modern, easily available parts and devices. Anyone else?
Finally, in response to the first entry in this section, I too read that application note in Analog Devices Audio/Video Reference Manual. My copy is dated 1992. I've repaired a lot of amplifiers, but haven't built any. If anyone else is hip to this amp I'd like to hear about it. It is a very unique design. I also like the A75 amp design from Nelson Pass and Norman Thagard, and the Leach Amp by Marshall Leach. The last two are pretty normal as far as design goes, not as adventurous as the Alexander with its current-feedback approach.
Aloha, RAF--[[User:66.8.194.185|66.8.194.185]] 14:04, 18 May 2007 (PDT)

== inviting bloggers to open circuits ==

=== how to connect a JTAG probe to a Nokia phone ===

I'd like to invite bloggers such as GyrosGeier to edit OpenCircuits.
Rather than just spamming him, I think he would be more inclined to help out
if we answered one of his questions first -- such as
[http://hogyros.de/?q=node/167 "If you have information on how to connect a JTAG probe to a Nokia phone, please let me know."]
Maybe I should start a page on [[JTAG]]...
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 09:37, 22 September 2006 (PDT)

The [http://hackedgadgets.com/ Hacked Gadgets blog also has a bunch of cool electronics].
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 11:58, 5 January 2007 (PST)

== red links ==

The default skin at OpenCircuits currently has "red links" = page exists, "dark red links" = page does not exist.

I find that confusing. (But not as bad as the wiki that has some links black-on-white, indistinguishable from normal text).

'''work-around''': Register (it's free, and you don't have to give any personal information), then choose the "preferences" link in the far upper-right corner and then pick any other skin.

The other skins have coloring that you may be more used to from other wiki: "blue links" = page exists, "red links" = page does not exist.

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:58, 18 December 2006 (PST)

== inviting people from other forums to open circuits ==

Lots of people talk about circuits for LED lighting at
http://candlepowerforums.com/
.
Perhaps we can talk some of them into contributing here -- perhaps using a page or two of Open Circuits as a FAQ for LEDs and drive circuits.

== tool lists ==

Should we have an entire page on "tools", and mention it on the main page?
That risks listing *every* tool anyone has ever heard about,
like the page at
http://massmind.org/techref/tools.htm
.
Yes, I'm responsible for uglier bits on that page;
I think the wide variety of oscilloscopes are particularly confusing.
How could we cut through the confusion?

I see the "techniques" page already has a list of software tools.
Perhaps it would be nifty to have a short list of all the tools necessary for each technique?
Then a beginner would have a better idea of what tools he really needs to get (rather than looking at a huge list of every tool, and wondering for each one, ''"Am I going to regret buying it when I see it gathering dust? Or am I going to regret not buying it when I need it during a midnight debug session?"'').

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:37, 24 January 2007 (PST)

== Requests For Help ==
Is there any way to ask for wise persons to write an article? I want to know about microphones for my Cannon Elura 100, (9V 3mm stereo jack? Where does the 9V come from?) and XLR mics and circuts. How can I make a mixer and a USB interface? Can we get an alert system to notify a requestor when the request is filled?

[[User:Negatron|Negatron]] 18:00, 20 February 2007 (PST)

: Yes, it's easy to start a rough draft of a new article.
: There are at least 2 "alert systems" built into MediaWiki.

: Alas, it takes time to convert that rough draft into a useful page of information.
: Near the bottom of page http://www.communitywiki.org/en/DavidCary , I whine about how difficult it is to force really smart people to talk about what *I* want them to talk about. :-/

: We are all volunteers here.
: Would you mind writing a little more about your "Cannon Elura 100"? Perhaps you could snap a "zoomed out" photo of the whole thing, and a "zoomed in" detail photo of its jacks and connectors. Then upload those photos?

: I'm a little confused at exactly what you want.
: Do you want a USB interface to your digital video camcorder?
: So you can ... what? plug in a USB mouse?
: If you make a rough draft of an outline of the article you want, with lots of "..." gaps to show the gaps in your knowledge you want to fill, it's a lot easier for people to fill in the "..." gaps.

: Do any of these XLR microphone circuits work for you?
* [http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/microphone_powering.html "Powering microphones" ] by Tomi Engdahl 2000
* [http://www.oldbird.org/mike_home.htm recording in-flight bird calls: "Microphone design and building instructions" ]
* [http://www.rcrowley.com/CamAdapt.htm "Microphone Adapters for consumer camcorders"]

: --[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 11:01, 6 March 2007 (PST)

== sample component ==

What is the purpose of the [[Sample Component]] ?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 16:27, 7 May 2007 (PDT)

----

== current surge and battery life ==

Hi,

currently my board is using a 3V battery, in every 40msec it will turn on its RF to communicate with the base station. I face a problem here is that my battery life is badly affected. Turning on the RF with cause a current surge.

Will this surge affect my battery life? If I use a supercapacitor does it helps?

-- [[User:203.120.164.208]] 04:14, 30 April 2007

User talk:DavidCary

2007-06-13T17:22:26Z

Autarch: /* making links */

Why don't you help finish my programmable chip eeg project and then use what you learned and the results to then create your own project. Programmers like to reuse working modulas instead of reinventing the wheel.

==a talk through Wiki Howto==
Hi DavidCary
 Thank you very much you create this wiki to let us to share electronic projects.
 I want to merge the "[[RS232 Dev Board]]" and "[[RS232 RS485 USB Converter Board]]", so want to discuss to the author, Tkb, of "RS232 Dev Board". However, i cannot find out the talk page like i talk to you by this way. Can you point me how to do it?
 thanks
 [[User:Yan|yan]]

''If you have a question or comment specifically about the "RS232 Dev Board", please leave a comment on the [[RS232 Dev Board]] page or its "discussion" page.''
''You can click on "[[User talk:Tkb]]" to leave a note on Tkb's user talk page.''
''Since there are more people watching the "RS232 Dev Board" page than Tkb's page, you'll probably get a quicker response if you post to the "RS232 Dev Board" page than to Tkb's page.''
''--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 20:00, 29 December 2006 (PST)''

[[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] created this "Open Circuits wiki".
I am flattered that you think I had something to do with it.
But since Chazegh seems to be too busy to spend much time here,
it's up to you and I (and whoever else we can recruit) to create content here.
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 21:08, 29 December 2006 (PST)

5.7.2007 Joe Silva:
Hi David, great site! I've taken the liberty to remove some SPAM links from the pages. Yeah we sure do need an anti-valdalism bot. Also maybe not allow anonymous editing.

----

Aloha David,
Roger here, I'm still puzzeled as to how to create a new article. I uploaded an image file for the 723 regulator (my article subject). This went into an "Image File page" automatically, OK. I added it to the Voltage Regulators section of Components/Integrated Circuits, OK. But I couldn't figure out how to make a document like there is for LT1528 OO. I put the info I have into the discussion page for the image, but that is only a temporary solution.

How does one create a new article page that isn't a "talk" page for something else? Beside the info on the IC, I have a couple of documents that are in-depth on using the device. These should be near each other as well as near the info document above. How would I go about setting up a "723" sub-chapter of "Integrated Circuits"? I guess that's as clear as I can make the question.

I would also like to suggest a modification to the linkage. I'm reading the synopsis on the LT1528, I want to find oout more, so I click on the image, but instead of taking me to an in-depth article, it takes me to the image file page. There I have to look at the Links to find the article (which is only identified as LT1528). I'd like to be taken to the article instead of the image. Take me to the image only if there is no article. Of course this may be more difficult to make happen--I don't know how the site is structured. My web programming is very basic. Still, I think this makes sense from a user's POV.

Thanks in Advance,
[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 17:26, 22 May 2007 (PDT)

Aloha, Roger.
You're doing great.

I agree that it would be nice if clicking on the picture of the LT1528 took you directly to the article about the LT1528.
I don't know how to fix it.

Do you see the "Help" link in the navigation bar on the left side of every page?
I think the page it brings up needs a few more tips.
But I want to keep it short and simple.
If I explained every detail, it would become a bloated 100-page document that nobody would read.

There are already far too many bloated 100-page documents about electronics.

I hope that you, dear reader, and other volunteers will make Open Circuits into a place where people can learn to do amazing things.
A place that avoids forcing people to learn 100 irrelevant details before learning the one thing they need to know before they get back to building their robot (or whatever).
A place that never makes people throw away good ideas, because we never confuse people into believing that it would be far more complicated and expensive to build than it really is.

p.s.:
Picking the name of a page is a bit of an art.
Since we want to refer to a page a lot, that's easier when the name is very short.
People new to wiki always pick names that are too long, or have too many capital letters.
Fortunately, it's very simple to rename pages.
You rename pages by clicking on the incorrectly-named "Move this page" button.
(I don't know how to fix that, either).
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 10:15, 23 May 2007 (PDT)

=== making links ===

Speaking of linkage, making links is one of the most important parts of this wiki.

Whenever you find one article mentioning some other article, you can click on that word to get more detail.

If that word is not already clickable (underlined and colored), please make it clickable.
To make a word clickable, hit the "edit" button at the top of the page.
Then add double brackets <nowiki>"[["</nowiki> and <nowiki>"]]"</nowiki> around that word.
(Some people recommend only making the first mention of that word clickable).

The cheatsheet ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Cheatsheet ) calls this an "internal link".

Here's the trick: you can add those brackets to any word, making it into a link.
Some of those links will go to pages that don't exist yet.

What happens when you click on one of those links to a page that doesn't exist yet?

I'm not going to tell you what happens.
Go find out for yourself.
You can practice in the [[meta:Sandbox]].

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 10:15, 23 May 2007 (PDT)

----
Aloha David,
Roger again; I want to thank you for the info and hints. I'm catching on. I got my component description linked to the caption under the image on the Components/Voltage Regulators page. And I created a "New Article" which I then "moved" to the title of my article. And my article has a link to the description and that has a link to the article, so I'm getting the hang of it. I have several schematics and PC artwork images to upload and link to my article, plus a second article I want to publish (I didn't write it, but I've been unable to find it on the internet--I have a xeroxed copy from 1986 or so and that is the only existing one as far as I know). That article also has several images that go along with it. I wondered about the feasability of uploading a .pdf file (I made one of it) to this site. Would that work? Should I even try? I don't want to screw anything up, but wouldn't that be a lovely thing if we could upload .pdf files? Just a thought.

Again, Thanks very much, I've made some progress.

[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 19:48, 23 May 2007 (PDT)

Aloha, Roger.
You are welcome.
Have you tried creating a link to an article that doesn't exist yet, just to see what happens when you click on that link? For example, the [[switching regulator]] page that I'm going to start in a few days.

I don't know about this article that you didn't write.
If the original author wants people to post it widely, and doesn't mind us editing it, then great, let's post it (and give correct attribution).
But some writers go a little crazy when they see that someone random stranger has copied their stuff and posted it to the internet.
(That's why there's that "DO NOT SUBMIT COPYRIGHTED WORK WITHOUT PERMISSION!" note at the bottom of each Edit page).

I wouldn't mind you posting a .pdf file (that you wrote) temporarily.
It's better than nothing.
But I would expect someone to eventually convert it to text-and-images.
That makes it much easier for the next person to improve the it.

Thank you again for adding useful information to Open Circuits.
I hope you won't mind people "improving" the things you post here.

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 21:26, 23 May 2007 (PDT)

Aloha David,
Sorry for the delay, I had a loonng job and then our cable modem failed. At least they swapped us a new one free (hooray RoadRunner). But I want to explain the article: "The Many-Talented 723" by Glenn Prescott. I came across this as a xerox copy sometime around 1985. It was evidently published in a magazine for radio enthusiasts--there are some ads on the last page for radio gear. But the name of the magazine isn't on any of the pages. I Googled for the article and got no returns. I think it is a very good article as far as describing the IC and how to use it. It helped me when I was a beginner, so I want to share it. However, I don't want anyone to get into trouble over it. I just did another search on Google and all the returns refer to my mention of it here on Open Circuits. Like I said, this is a copy that I have, no clue as to the magazine that published it, no copyright date, no nothin'. But I will leave it to your judgement if it is a risk. I still have my own article to get uploaded along with images. I will concentrate on getting mine done before doing anything with the copied article.

[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 20:27, 26 May 2007 (PDT)

Unless the author has given permission to publish it, I think a better idea would be to write your own article, citing the one you're talking about further details. Ideas are not copyright, but the expression of them (i.e. the text of the article) is, or so I understand. [[User:Autarch|Autarch]] 10:22, 13 June 2007 (PDT)

== spammers ==

I think I know how to dramatically reduce the amount of linkspam on the website i think if the administrators on this site protect pages that are frequently spammed such as [[Open Circuits talk:Community Portal]] that will reduce the amount of spam on this site because the spammers will not be able to edit those pages.--[[User:71.234.233.163|71.234.233.163]] 08:21, 2 June 2007 (PDT)

I just signed up a few minutes ago and noticed that there seems to be a lot of linkspam being placed by unregistered users. I don't want to exclude folk, but would only allowing registered users to edit cut down some of the spam? [[User:Autarch|Autarch]] 09:53, 13 June 2007 (PDT)

User talk:DavidCary

2007-06-13T16:53:38Z

Autarch: /* spammers */

Why don't you help finish my programmable chip eeg project and then use what you learned and the results to then create your own project. Programmers like to reuse working modulas instead of reinventing the wheel.

==a talk through Wiki Howto==
Hi DavidCary
 Thank you very much you create this wiki to let us to share electronic projects.
 I want to merge the "[[RS232 Dev Board]]" and "[[RS232 RS485 USB Converter Board]]", so want to discuss to the author, Tkb, of "RS232 Dev Board". However, i cannot find out the talk page like i talk to you by this way. Can you point me how to do it?
 thanks
 [[User:Yan|yan]]

''If you have a question or comment specifically about the "RS232 Dev Board", please leave a comment on the [[RS232 Dev Board]] page or its "discussion" page.''
''You can click on "[[User talk:Tkb]]" to leave a note on Tkb's user talk page.''
''Since there are more people watching the "RS232 Dev Board" page than Tkb's page, you'll probably get a quicker response if you post to the "RS232 Dev Board" page than to Tkb's page.''
''--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 20:00, 29 December 2006 (PST)''

[[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] created this "Open Circuits wiki".
I am flattered that you think I had something to do with it.
But since Chazegh seems to be too busy to spend much time here,
it's up to you and I (and whoever else we can recruit) to create content here.
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 21:08, 29 December 2006 (PST)

5.7.2007 Joe Silva:
Hi David, great site! I've taken the liberty to remove some SPAM links from the pages. Yeah we sure do need an anti-valdalism bot. Also maybe not allow anonymous editing.

----

Aloha David,
Roger here, I'm still puzzeled as to how to create a new article. I uploaded an image file for the 723 regulator (my article subject). This went into an "Image File page" automatically, OK. I added it to the Voltage Regulators section of Components/Integrated Circuits, OK. But I couldn't figure out how to make a document like there is for LT1528 OO. I put the info I have into the discussion page for the image, but that is only a temporary solution.

How does one create a new article page that isn't a "talk" page for something else? Beside the info on the IC, I have a couple of documents that are in-depth on using the device. These should be near each other as well as near the info document above. How would I go about setting up a "723" sub-chapter of "Integrated Circuits"? I guess that's as clear as I can make the question.

I would also like to suggest a modification to the linkage. I'm reading the synopsis on the LT1528, I want to find oout more, so I click on the image, but instead of taking me to an in-depth article, it takes me to the image file page. There I have to look at the Links to find the article (which is only identified as LT1528). I'd like to be taken to the article instead of the image. Take me to the image only if there is no article. Of course this may be more difficult to make happen--I don't know how the site is structured. My web programming is very basic. Still, I think this makes sense from a user's POV.

Thanks in Advance,
[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 17:26, 22 May 2007 (PDT)

Aloha, Roger.
You're doing great.

I agree that it would be nice if clicking on the picture of the LT1528 took you directly to the article about the LT1528.
I don't know how to fix it.

Do you see the "Help" link in the navigation bar on the left side of every page?
I think the page it brings up needs a few more tips.
But I want to keep it short and simple.
If I explained every detail, it would become a bloated 100-page document that nobody would read.

There are already far too many bloated 100-page documents about electronics.

I hope that you, dear reader, and other volunteers will make Open Circuits into a place where people can learn to do amazing things.
A place that avoids forcing people to learn 100 irrelevant details before learning the one thing they need to know before they get back to building their robot (or whatever).
A place that never makes people throw away good ideas, because we never confuse people into believing that it would be far more complicated and expensive to build than it really is.

p.s.:
Picking the name of a page is a bit of an art.
Since we want to refer to a page a lot, that's easier when the name is very short.
People new to wiki always pick names that are too long, or have too many capital letters.
Fortunately, it's very simple to rename pages.
You rename pages by clicking on the incorrectly-named "Move this page" button.
(I don't know how to fix that, either).
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 10:15, 23 May 2007 (PDT)

=== making links ===

Speaking of linkage, making links is one of the most important parts of this wiki.

Whenever you find one article mentioning some other article, you can click on that word to get more detail.

If that word is not already clickable (underlined and colored), please make it clickable.
To make a word clickable, hit the "edit" button at the top of the page.
Then add double brackets <nowiki>"[["</nowiki> and <nowiki>"]]"</nowiki> around that word.
(Some people recommend only making the first mention of that word clickable).

The cheatsheet ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Cheatsheet ) calls this an "internal link".

Here's the trick: you can add those brackets to any word, making it into a link.
Some of those links will go to pages that don't exist yet.

What happens when you click on one of those links to a page that doesn't exist yet?

I'm not going to tell you what happens.
Go find out for yourself.
You can practice in the [[meta:Sandbox]].

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 10:15, 23 May 2007 (PDT)

----
Aloha David,
Roger again; I want to thank you for the info and hints. I'm catching on. I got my component description linked to the caption under the image on the Components/Voltage Regulators page. And I created a "New Article" which I then "moved" to the title of my article. And my article has a link to the description and that has a link to the article, so I'm getting the hang of it. I have several schematics and PC artwork images to upload and link to my article, plus a second article I want to publish (I didn't write it, but I've been unable to find it on the internet--I have a xeroxed copy from 1986 or so and that is the only existing one as far as I know). That article also has several images that go along with it. I wondered about the feasability of uploading a .pdf file (I made one of it) to this site. Would that work? Should I even try? I don't want to screw anything up, but wouldn't that be a lovely thing if we could upload .pdf files? Just a thought.

Again, Thanks very much, I've made some progress.

[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 19:48, 23 May 2007 (PDT)

Aloha, Roger.
You are welcome.
Have you tried creating a link to an article that doesn't exist yet, just to see what happens when you click on that link? For example, the [[switching regulator]] page that I'm going to start in a few days.

I don't know about this article that you didn't write.
If the original author wants people to post it widely, and doesn't mind us editing it, then great, let's post it (and give correct attribution).
But some writers go a little crazy when they see that someone random stranger has copied their stuff and posted it to the internet.
(That's why there's that "DO NOT SUBMIT COPYRIGHTED WORK WITHOUT PERMISSION!" note at the bottom of each Edit page).

I wouldn't mind you posting a .pdf file (that you wrote) temporarily.
It's better than nothing.
But I would expect someone to eventually convert it to text-and-images.
That makes it much easier for the next person to improve the it.

Thank you again for adding useful information to Open Circuits.
I hope you won't mind people "improving" the things you post here.

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 21:26, 23 May 2007 (PDT)

Aloha David,
Sorry for the delay, I had a loonng job and then our cable modem failed. At least they swapped us a new one free (hooray RoadRunner). But I want to explain the article: "The Many-Talented 723" by Glenn Prescott. I came across this as a xerox copy sometime around 1985. It was evidently published in a magazine for radio enthusiasts--there are some ads on the last page for radio gear. But the name of the magazine isn't on any of the pages. I Googled for the article and got no returns. I think it is a very good article as far as describing the IC and how to use it. It helped me when I was a beginner, so I want to share it. However, I don't want anyone to get into trouble over it. I just did another search on Google and all the returns refer to my mention of it here on Open Circuits. Like I said, this is a copy that I have, no clue as to the magazine that published it, no copyright date, no nothin'. But I will leave it to your judgement if it is a risk. I still have my own article to get uploaded along with images. I will concentrate on getting mine done before doing anything with the copied article.

[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 20:27, 26 May 2007 (PDT)

== spammers ==

I think I know how to dramatically reduce the amount of linkspam on the website i think if the administrators on this site protect pages that are frequently spammed such as [[Open Circuits talk:Community Portal]] that will reduce the amount of spam on this site because the spammers will not be able to edit those pages.--[[User:71.234.233.163|71.234.233.163]] 08:21, 2 June 2007 (PDT)

I just signed up a few minutes ago and noticed that there seems to be a lot of linkspam being placed by unregistered users. I don't want to exclude folk, but would only allowing registered users to edit cut down some of the spam? [[User:Autarch|Autarch]] 09:53, 13 June 2007 (PDT)