Do you need a MOSFET gate resistor? What value should it be? And should it go before or after the pulldown resistor? If you’re a bit impatient and just want the answer, here it is: You most likely need a gate resistor. And 1000 Ω will most likely work. See the circuit diagram below for […]
How Does a 555 Timer Work?
The 555 timer works by using three 5 kΩ resistors to divide the supply voltage in three. Two comparators compare these voltages to the input voltage, then sets or resets a flip-flop accordingly. Below is a diagram showing what the 555 timer looks like on the inside:
555 Timer Tutorial and Circuits
In this 555 Timer tutorial, you’ll learn how to use the 555 timer to do fun things. One of the first things many do with it is to create a blinking light. But that’s just one simple example of the many things you can do with this chip. You can also control motors, create an […]
Why Are Electronics Books so Hard?
A few weeks ago, I went to the library with my wife. I checked out some of the electronics books they had, and something interesting dawned upon me… First, I have to say that I feel confident in my ability to build pretty much anything when it comes to electronics. I’ve designed microchips, I’ve designed […]
What is a Voltage Regulator?
A voltage regulator is a component that converts a voltage to a lower (or higher) level. A typical example is if you want to use a 9V battery, but you need 5V in the circuit. For example to create a portable USB charger. Then you can use a voltage regulator that takes those 9V as […]
How To Edit Symbol in KiCad
I was recently asked how to edit a symbol in KiCad. The question was actually how to stretch a component that was in the standard library, so I made a quick walk-through on how to do that. You can edit the symbol in the symbol editor. Just right-click on the symbol that you want to […]