Search found 12 matches
- Sat Jan 31, 2009 7:23 am
- Forum: General Discussion
- Topic: memristors?
- Replies: 38
- Views: 15343
Re: memristors?
Analog memory technology bears close watching, for it can revolutionize analog computer technology. The new methods are much more sophisticated than my ultra primitive high school hybrid analog-digital language translator--but it worked. Briefly, a word was dialed letter-by-letter into a panel of si...
- Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:04 pm
- Forum: General Discussion
- Topic: The newest registered user is Forrest Mims III
- Replies: 26
- Views: 13232
- Fri Jan 02, 2009 9:25 am
- Forum: General Discussion
- Topic: The newest registered user is Forrest Mims III
- Replies: 26
- Views: 13232
Bob, Just noted your post about hand-lettered/drawn circuits. My first hand-lettered books (Engineer's Notebook, vols 1 and 2) were India ink on Mylar. This was not easy and even caused my middle finger to bleed. Worse, errors were impossible to correct. So I switched to a 0.7mm mechanical pencil (w...
- Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:36 am
- Forum: General Discussion
- Topic: Using Miniature Thyratrons to Drive High-Power Diode Lasers
- Replies: 0
- Views: 2037
Using Miniature Thyratrons to Drive High-Power Diode Lasers
Kevin, Yes, you can think of a MOSFET switching transistor as a kind of solid state thyratron. I once used miniature thyratrons made by EG&G to apply 100 amp pulses to GaAs laser diodes. The pulses were very brief (20-50 nsec) and had ultra-fast risetimes. The power supply was two 67.5 volt batt...
- Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:16 am
- Forum: General Discussion
- Topic: Solar tracking without an optical tracker
- Replies: 23
- Views: 9554
MrAl, You asked if the microcontroller method might be overkill. Seems to me that simpler is better, but arguments can be made that either optical tracking or a microcontroller is simpler. Perhaps I'm biased: 1. When taking various sunlight instruments to remote locations, I have to initiate them wi...
- Mon Dec 29, 2008 7:54 am
- Forum: General Discussion
- Topic: LED light experimentation
- Replies: 22
- Views: 11696
- Sun Dec 28, 2008 8:28 pm
- Forum: General Discussion
- Topic: Workbench Design Challenge Winners!
- Replies: 5
- Views: 12106
Vern's Workbench
As I noted in an aside to Vern, the surface of his workbench is identical to the workbench I used back in the early 1970s. A photo of it is at http://www.sunandsky.org/MITS_History.php I still use a plywood workbench--but the one in the photo linked above has been retired for sentimental reasons. Fo...
- Sun Dec 28, 2008 7:18 pm
- Forum: General Discussion
- Topic: Workbench Design Challenge Winners!
- Replies: 5
- Views: 12106
Congratulations and Thanks
Congratulations to the winners and thanks to Vern for a great idea.
This is probably the most concise set of electronics workbench ideas ever assembled.
Forrest M. Mims III
www.forrestmims.org
www.twitter.com/fmims
This is probably the most concise set of electronics workbench ideas ever assembled.
Forrest M. Mims III
www.forrestmims.org
www.twitter.com/fmims
- Sun Dec 28, 2008 7:08 pm
- Forum: General Discussion
- Topic: LED light experimentation
- Replies: 22
- Views: 11696
Blue Light Source
Seems to me that an optical fiber (as suggested above) is a viable solution. Consider that: 1. You can abrade the end of a plastic fiber to cause light to be scattered out the sides of the fiber over any length you chose. Ordinary sand paper or a small file will work. 2. A fiber will allow you to va...
- Sun Dec 28, 2008 6:58 pm
- Forum: General Discussion
- Topic: Fence Story
- Replies: 17
- Views: 8817
Electric Fence Zaps Lizard
Several weeks ago I was down by the creek on our place when I heard a loud popping sound. I walked toward the source and spotted a neighbor's electric fence. Soon I found the source of the popping, for a anoloe lizard was suspended between a barbed wire fence line and the electric one. Each second a...
- Sun Dec 28, 2008 6:51 pm
- Forum: General Discussion
- Topic: Solar tracking without an optical tracker
- Replies: 23
- Views: 9554
Solar Tracking
There are various ways to calculate the position of the sun based on your coordinates, date and time of day. Long ago I developed a set of algorithms to do this for calculating the angle of the sun for a long seriers (since 1990) of daily sun measurements. But there's much to be said for optical tra...
- Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:09 pm
- Forum: General Discussion
- Topic: The newest registered user is Forrest Mims III
- Replies: 26
- Views: 13232
Checking in with like minded experimenters
Greetings Electronics Experimenters, Thanks very much for the kind greetings. I've read Nuts and Volts for years and should have joined the forum long ago. While I still do circuit design, most of my time is spent using instruments, which I either designed and built or professional versions of the s...