see also:

• electricity in Australia
• oscilloscopes
• logic analyzers
• signal generators
• radio basics
• online tutorials:
  • https://www.youtube.com/@EngineeringMindset/videos
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-whqWVs39w how to find faulty component on a PCB (no oscilloscope used)

• resistor
  • this reduces the line voltage
  • V = current in amps x resistance in ohms
• capacitor
  • consist of two main parts: an insulating layer called the dielectric, sandwiched between two electrical conductors called “plates.”
  • this smooths out fluctuations or ripples in voltage
    • the variance in voltage (amount of ripple voltage) = Current draw in amps / ( (Ripple frequency) * (Capacitor size in Farads) )
    • when converting half-rectified AC currents to DC the ripple frequency will be that of the AC current (eg. 50Hz), whereas for full rectified AC currents to DC, the ripple frequency will be twice that
  • they can be used as frequency filters to reduce electrical noise:
    • low pass filter (eg. reduce hiss or as anti-alias filter) - capacitor is connected to GROUND
    • high pass filter - capacitor is in line and a resistor is connected to GROUND
    • band pass filter - combination of the above
    • band stop filter - another variation
    • https://www.arrow.com/en/research-and-events/articles/using-capacitors-to-filter-electrical-noise
  • combined with filter coils, they were an integral part of the tone generators in electronic organs of the 1960's and 1970's.
  • cars use capacitors to start the starter motor of the engine - often 6-30uF 400V ones
• diode
  • this is a one way valve
  • commonly used to rectify the sine wave of an AC current into an almost linear DC current with only positive voltages
• triode
  • The thermionic triode, a vacuum tube invented in 1907, enabled amplified radio technology and long-distance telephony.
• transistor
  • a solid state version of the triode
  • 1st created in 1947
  • the metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) is the most commonly used type (99.9% of all currently used) and was invented in 1959 and revolutionised the field of electronics.
  • is used as an on/off switch or amplifier
  • it is composed of semiconductor material, usually with at least three terminals - field effect transistors - FET - have four terminals named source, gate, drain, and body (substrate).
  • a voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals controls the current through another pair of terminals.
  • the controlled (output) power can be higher than the controlling (input) power, a transistor can thus amplify a signal.
  • integrated circuits consist of many transistors
• mosfets
  • similar to transistors but do not need current on the gate
  • see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwRJsze_9m4

• these are programmable micro-processor based mini-circuits which take DC power inputs and produce outputs of varying types depending on the program that is loaded into it (usually via USB)

• these change the voltage
• they are made of two coils of wire around a piece of iron.
• If the number of coils are the same on both sides then the AC voltage is the same on both sides.
• If one side has 20 times the coils, it has 20 x the voltage. This is how you convert 240V AC to 12V AC output ready for conversion to 12V DC as below.
• they do generate heat, lose some voltage due to the amount of wire, and also lose efficiency as the current increases

• see DC_Power

• Computer chips generally require a +/- 5% regulation of nominal DC voltage
• the Serial ATA Power Connector are colour coded ¹⁾:
  • 5: orange = +3.3V DC ( removed from SATA V3.2 spec)
  • 4: black = COM
  • 3: red = +5V DC
  • 2: black = COM
  • 1: yellow = +12V1 DC

• NB. the standard distance between banana plugs on meters with these should be 19mm - unfortunately many meters have non-standard distances which will mean dual banana inputs cannot be used - you have to use separate probes
• multimeter
  • basic measurements including continuity, voltage, current, resistance, diode testing
• LCR / ESR meter
  • higher accuracy device specifically designed to accurately measure inductance, capacitance and resistance (LCR) of electronic components - usually when a circuit is not active
  • in addition they can usually measure Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR)
    • this is the small internal resistance that appears in series with the ideal capacitance inside a real capacitor or other energy storage device.
    • this resistance represents the energy losses mainly due to the materials and construction of the capacitor, such as electrolyte, electrode, and leads.
    • it causes power dissipation as heat and affects the capacitor's efficiency and performance, especially at higher frequencies
    • it is especially important for electrolytic capacitors, where high ESR can increase with age, heat, or ripple current and lead to device failure or malfunction in electronic equipment.
    • measuring ESR helps detect capacitors with degraded performance that may still look fine visually
• spectrum analyzers
  • displays the strength of input signals across a range of frequencies
  • often have a historic display called a waterfall display to help recognize patterns of individual frequencies over time
• frequency response analyzers
  • designed to assess how an electronic component or circuit responds to inputs over a wide range of frequencies
• signal generators
  • often included in other devices
  • generates a signal such as a sine wave or square wave and outputs this so it can be used for vector analysis, frequency response, finding component faults in circuits, etc
• oscilloscopes
  • measure voltage changes over time which enables measuring transient voltages and assessing patterns and frequencies of wave forms
  • some allow demodulation of signals such as UART serial into ASCII text
  • various types of transducer probes can allow assessment of other parameters such as current or pressure which are converted to a DC voltage input
  • medical cardiac monitors are special types of oscilloscopes which take ECG signals, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation signals via various transducers and have cardiac-protected circuitry to ensure minimal current is transferred back to the patient (safety standards keep total leakage current under 4-10 µA) as well as no damage to device from defibrillation shocks to the patient. They also incorporate shielding and filtering to protect against radio frequency interference (RFI), electromagnetic interference (EMI), and electrostatic discharges (ESD).
• vector network analyzers (VNAs)
  • mainly for RF and radio antennas
• logic analyzers
  • capture digital logic state data for analyzing the digital data component of signals

• breadboard
• component kit
• cs100 soldering iron with temp control, swappable tips
  • copper mesh cleaner for cleaning tips DON'T use chemical tip cleaners
  • good solder flux
  • silver based solder
  • solder wick
  • fume extractor - carbon filter fume absorber
• hot air station to heat the PCB and allow lifting out components for re-work of surface mount components + low temp surface mount paste
  • advanced: SMD reflow infrared oven if making a lot of boards
  • advanced: pick and place surface mount board machine if making a lot of boards
• probably DON'T use an injection molding machine - do 3D MDM printing instead if u need tiny high precision get SLA 3D printer
• thermal imaging cameras to detect over-heating components on PCBs