Electronic Instrumentation (ENGR-4300)

Active Announcements Are Marked In Red For Emphasis

(December 14) Final Grades: Final grades for this course are being submitted today to SIS. The complete grade data files (including any improvement in quiz scores for those students who retook Quizzes 1-3 and did better) for each section are also available. Each of the files contains all grades including practical quizzes and extra credit. The total number of practical quizzes completed is listed. Since only 4 quizzes were to be done, the remaining quiz grade was determined from an assessment of each student's practical skills by the course staff (1.0 for good skills, 0.5 for average skills and 0.0 for no skills). Each practical quiz is worth 2% of the course grade. The total number of extra credit points is listed (one for each extra practical quiz and one for attending the Vollmer Fries lecture). Each extra credit point is worth 1/3% of the total course grade. Several students improved their overall grade with extra credit. The grades for each section are listed without names. You should be able to figure out which grades are yours. If not, contact Prof. Connor. The grades are at: Section 1, Section 2 and Section 3. The last column in the list is the overall course numerical grade, out of 100. The grade distribution is the usual 90-100 for an A, 80-89 for a B, 70-79 for a C, 60-69 for a D.

(December 1) Final Exam (Replacement quizzes for Quizzes 1-3) will be on Wednesday, 13 December from 11:30-2:30 in Darrin 308.

(November 28 and December 1) Quiz 4: These questions are taken primarily from Experiments 9 and 10 and Chapters 6 and 7 of Gingrich. Be sure that you review this material thoroughly. A copy of Quiz 4 from Fall 1998 is available for reference. A solution for Quiz 4 from Fall 1998 is also available. Quiz4 and Quiz4-alt from spring 1999 are also available without solutions. Quiz 4 is not posted on the class reserves because it has always been given during final exams. However, even without posted solutions, the average for this quiz has been very high. Finally, you will note that Quiz 4 previously had 5 questions. This time, it will have only 3.

1. Combinational Logic -- You can be asked a problem like the one in Gingrich problem 4 on page 156. This problem is a classic example of using digital logic devices to control some piece of apparatus. You might have some optical sensors that produce HIGH and LOW signals depending on whether they sense some object. With 2 or 3 sensors, you can have a variety of inputs in a variety of sequences. If a particular sequence of events occurs, then you would want to turn something ON or OFF as a response. Thus, your system would be expected to obey some kind of truth table. You could be asked to identify which of several choices is the configuration of logical devices that would produce the desired truth table. The devices you will be expected to understand are found in sections 7.3 and 7.4 of Gingrich.
2. Digital Meets Analog -- A summing amplifier configuration (see figure 6.8 of Gingrich) can be used to convert a digital signal into an analog signal. There are two examples of such digital-to-analog convertors (DAC) in the Engineering Sciences 27 webpage at Dartmouth. There is also a short discussion of DACs available that uses PSpice simulations. You may be asked to convert a 3 or 4 digit binary number to an analog number. Remember that the binary number will be represented as ones and zeros but the voltage for a one is 5volts with TTL devices. We have not addressed this kind of device directly in a class assignment. However, it is a simple application of op-amps to digital circuits.
3. Schmitt Triggers vs Inverters -- At the bottom of page 3 of Experiment 10 is a PSpice configuration that is to show how Schmitt Triggers do not trigger several times near their turnon threshold, even with noise. The last figure of Part C (page 6) shows the experiment you were to do to show that Schmitt Triggers and inverters do not trigger the same. You may be given examples of figures taken from scope traces or PSpice simulations for each of these two cases and be asked to identify which is for the Schmitt Trigger and which is for the inverter.
4. Flip Flop -- For the Flip Flop simulation and experiment (Part D of Exp 10), you might be given several plots showing either simulated output or data from an experiment and be asked to determine what is connected to each of the inputs.
5. Misc. Experiments -- Given any of the Pspice or hardware configurations in experiments 9 and 10, you should be able to identify which input/output signal pair goes with which circuit. You should also know the properties of any of the devices used in these experiments.

(November 28) Evening open shop times will be from 7-9pm for the remainder of the semester.

(November 14) Some organizational information:

• Quiz 4 will be held on Wednesday of the last week of classes. As noted below, it will be a little shorter than usual.
• There is still a chance that the final exam time can be changed. During the final exam time, it will be possible to retake any or all of the first 3 quizzes. There will be a poll taken in class on Wednesday, 15 November, to see if there are any other times that we could schedule the final. Please be sure that you know your final schedule.
• Only 4 practical quizzes are required this semester. However, any student can do more than 4 for extra credit. Even Practical Quiz 2 can be done for extra credit.
• Open shop this Sunday will not be held at its usual time. Rather, it will be scheduled at 8 pm.
• The Project 3 write-up, due on Friday, can be handed in during class time on Monday.
• If you wish to attend open shop next Tuesday, you must be on time. Since we do not expect much of a turnout, those of us holding open shop will only wait 15 minutes for people to show up, after which we will close up the room and leave.

(November 9) I have tried to get the final exam time changed, but nothing has happened yet. Thus, I will change the schedule for Quiz 4 so that it will be given during the last week of class. Quiz 4 will likely be a little shorter than in the past. However, the median grade on this quiz last semester was almost 100! The replacement quizzes for the other three quizzes will still be given during the final exam time.

(November 9) Project 1 Grading
The grades on this project ranged from 17 - 24, with 20 being the most popular grade. Generally, most people had the right idea, but very few groups found consistency between the acceleration they obtained from the strain gauge or coil output and the output from the accelerometer. When this happens, you should discuss which number you believe more. There is a simple sanity check on the accelaration that you could have applied, but almost no one did. Most of you obtained an oscillating defelection from the strain gauge that had a magnitude of about 2mm. This is a reasonable range, which you could check by placing a ruler next to the end of the beam and watch it oscillate. A few obtained deflections that were too large, usually because of problems with unit conversions. Taking two derivatives of this deflection with respect to time results in an acceleration with a magnitude that is roughly the product of 2mm and the square of the frequency (in radians). The frequencies varied from about 12-20Hz, depending on how the beam was loaded. Thus omega varied from about 75 - 130. The acceleration should thus be (in meters per second squared) (0.002)(5.6e3-1.7e4)=11-34=1g to 3g. If your deflection was a bit larger (some were up to 5mm for enthusiatic beam pluckers, the acceleration could be as large as 10g. These rough number are pretty good, since the decay rate of the sinusoidal voltage is small.
Points were generally lost if the testing plan was not sufficiently detailed. The circuit diagrams should have been for the circuit as built, not the circuit diagram used for simulation. The latter circuit used other components that were not in the actual circuit to simulate the oscillating voltage. When applying the testing plan, it should have been possible to demonstrate consistency in magnitude, phase and frequency between the strain gauge or coil output and the accelerometer output. Most groups did not record the strain gauge output when the accelerometer was attached to the beam and thus the frequencies did not agree. The frequency is much smaller with the accelerometer attached, as you saw in a previous experiment, which greatly reduces the acceleration. Also, the wires dangling from the accelerometer board caused additional damping which reduced the deflection which also reduces the acceleration. If this had been anticipated in a detailed testing plan, this problem could have been avoided. Finally, a large minority of groups failed to have their initial designs and personal responsibilities checked.

(November 9) Quiz 2 Grade Distribution: A:90-100, B:80-89, C:70-79, D:60-69
As expected, the Grades were a bit lower on this quiz, than on Quiz 1.

(November 1) Possible Quiz 3 Questions (Not all will be included). These questions are taken from Experiments 6-9 and Project 2. Make sure that you understand the basic work done in each of these experiments and project. The actual questions will be variations of what is listed below. A copy of Quiz 3 from Fall 98 and Quiz 3 from Fall 99 are available for reference. Remember that the Quiz is on Thursday, November 9. Also check the class reserves for other Quiz 3 examples, with solutions.Note that the quiz date was previously listed, in error, as November 10.

1. Approximately reproduce or identify the plots asked for in the PSpice simulations of Experiment 6 involving diode voltage regulation or Zener diode voltage regulation. Note that both DC sweep and transient analysis were asked for.
2. Any question included in a Results and Discussion section.
3. Homework #4.
4. Identify the types of op-amp configurations we have seen thus far. In addition, you might be asked to figure out what some configurations do that we have not yet seen. The latter questions will be multiple choice and not worth a lot. However, you might glance through the reading in Gingrich that covers op amps.
5. Given a copy of the basic receiver and transmitter circuit diagrams from Project 2, identify the function of each section or stage of the circuits. There will be a list of possible answers to choose from with at least two more answers than questions.
6. Inductance Measurement -- In Exp 9 you did a simple experiment to find the magnitude of an unknown inductance. You may be given data from another method, in the form of scope traces or simulated output, and be asked to estimate the inductance from this information. The circuit configuration to be used will be a series RLC combination. You may also be given some dimensions for the unknown inductor and be asked to estimate its inductance from an ideal formula. You should know whether or not this ideal formula will over estimate or under estimate the inductance of the coil.
7. Integrators and Differentiators -- Given a particular input signal, determine which output signal corresponds to a specific differentiator or integrator op amp configuration.
8. Transformers -- Given a resistive load connected to a realistic source using a transformer, determine when or whether or not the transformer is working as an ideal transformer. It is also possible to ask this question in a form similar to the previous question.

(October 18) Please note that Experiment 7 has been modified. The new sections are printed in red.

(October 11) Here are the questions that could be included on next Monday's quiz (Only some of these will be selected). Please recall (see syllabus) that for any test, you can use one formula sheet, but no other reference materials. Note that you will also need to recall some of the more important topics covered in Quiz 1 (voltage divider, bridge circuits, Thevenin equivalents, ...). Quiz 2, from fall 1998 and Quiz 2 from fall 1999 are available as study guides. This list may be updated again in the next few days.

1. In homework #2, you analyzed a series RLC circuit. On the quiz, you will be asked to consider such a circuit or part of a simpler circuit. You will either be given an RLC, RC, CR, RL, or LR circuit. You will be asked to find the voltage across the last element in the circuit if it is driven by a sinusoidal source. Your answer will require both the magnitude and phase of the voltage. The method is the same as in HW #2, but there may be only two impedances.
2. Convert the result of the first question (or a similar expression) from phasor form to real sinusoidal form.
3. Given one of the combinations listed in the first question above, identify whether it is a low pass filter, a high pass filter, a band pass filter or a band reject filter.
4. Given a list of standard resistors, capacitors and inductors, choose a combination that will allow an audio signal to pass but will filter out electrical signals produced by mechanical vibrations (like we saw with the cantilever beam) and 60 Hz line noise. You could also be asked to select components that would pass the mechanical signal, but reject the audio signal.
5. Given a simple circuit, set up the differential equation and initial conditions for voltage or current and then identify the solution from among 3 or 4 voltage and/or current plots. This question is, in effect, the transient form of the first question above, except that you do not have to figure out the solution yourself.
6. Given a particular diode rectifier circuit (half-wave or full-wave) and four possible oscilloscope images, select the scope image that would be observed across the output of the rectifier. This is the topic of HW#3. If you do this homework problem, you will be well prepared for this question. Since a question like this has appeared on Quiz 2 in each of the last three semesters, there is a good chance it will appear again.
7. Determine the gain of one of the three operational amplifier configurations we have studied: inverting, non-inverting and differential. Ideal conditions will be assumed.
8. Given any of the circuits you have simulated in experiments 4 - 6, identify which of several choices is the correct voltage or current signal at some point. You could also be asked to explain what information is contained in the figure. This questions could be in the form of a list of possible comments from which you will choose those that are true.
9. Given a simple mechanical oscillator or an equivalent simple circuit, determine its natural resonant frequency. You might be given a description of either device or a plot of their response vs. time.
10. There may be one more question, so watch this space.
11. The quiz will last no more than one hour.

(September 27) Quiz 1 Grade Distribution: A: 90-100+, B: 80-89, C: 70-79, D: 60-69
Note that the grades were quite high on this quiz. The second quiz is usually quite a bit more difficult.

(September 22) Two things have been added to the references section of the Syllabus page to provide additional learning materials and to make the Gingrich notes more useful. First, you will notice that there are now some books suggested for those of you who would like a regular textbook. If you don't want to purchase a book, you should be able to find an introductory circuits book in a library that has useful stuff in it. The second is a Virtual Electronics Textbook in which your will find suggestions for online materials that are useful as supplements to the Gingrich notes. Both of these additions can be found in the References section of the Syllabus. The Java applets and Javascript materials at the bottom of this website are particularly good since they provide a large number of examples to help you learn and confirm your understanding of circuits and electronics fundamentals. Since these are new ideas and works in progress, any comments or suggestions you might have to make them better will be appreciated.

(September 18) The Solution for Homework 1 is now available.

(September 14) A few issues:

• Quiz -- Read over the info on quizzes in the syllabus. You will find there, for example, that you can bring one 8 1/2 x 11 crib sheet with you with pretty much anything on it, but no books or notes.
• Vollmer Fries Lecture -- Don't forget to email me with your impressions if you wish to receive the extra credit. The lecture was very well attended.
• Experiment 3 -- There still seems to be some problems getting the effective mass of the beam to come out positive. I have done this measurement several times myself and I always get a reasonable positive mass. The best advice I can give you is to use large masses that are reasonably different. Something around 300g and over 600g seems to work well. However, I have used many different kinds of masses. Also, if your numbers keep coming out negative, try a different location on the beam. I have used both near the end and near the hole in the beam about 2/3 of the way up the beam. If, no matter what you do, you still get a negative mass, write up what you have.
• Radio Shack Books -- We gave up waiting for Radio Shack and xeroxed what we need from the books. Please stop by my secretary's office (JEC 6003) to pick up your copies if you already purchased the class notes. If you have not yet purchased the notes, it would be a good time to do so now.
• Open Shop on Thursday, 14 September -- The two computers in the upper right hand corner will not be available. Bill Mielke will be working on them to see if he can fix our printing and other problems.

(September 12) Here are the questions that could be included on Wednesday's (20 September) quiz (Only some of these will be selected). Quiz 1, from fall 1998 is available as a reference. The questions for this sample quiz were generated with an older version of PSpice, so they look a little different. Also, check the Class Reserves for Quiz 1 from last semester (with solutions).

1. Reduce a series or parallel combination of resistors to a single resistance.
2. Find the voltage across a resistor in a voltage divider configuration.
3. Find the voltage across a resistor in a voltage divider configuration with a load resistor attached.
4. Find the Thevenin equivalent of a voltage divider or a Wheatstone Bridge configuration.
5. Given an exact image produced on the oscilloscope, determine the mathematical representation of the signal displayed. For example, given a sine wave, find the frequency, the peak-to-peak amplitude, the rms amplitude, and/or the phase. A decaying sinusoid, like the ones observed in Experiments 2 and 3, is also a possibility.
6. Be able to answer the questions: Is an inductor a short circuit or open circuit at very low or very high frequencies? Is a capacitor a short circuit or open circuit at very low or very high frequencies? (Hint: think of high-pass or low-pass filters).
7. Given an image of one of the instruments we have used in this class (function generator, digital multimeter, scope, dc supply), identify the buttons you would push for some specified purpose. Only the most basic functions will be considered. This question will definitely be on the quiz, since every quiz should have a gift on it.
8. Given a PSpice Probe plot with two or more time-varying signals on it, identify which points in a circuit (also given) correspond to which signals.
9. Given a PSpice Probe plot with time-varying signals on it, show that the signals satisfy the appropriate voltage and current relationships.
10. Given that you wish to obtain a particular AC Sweep, DC Sweep, or Transient analysis with PSpice, describe the specific steps you would follow. You will be given blank windows and asked which ones you will use and what numbers you will input.
11. A few more questions may be added in the next day or so.
Note that these are all questions motivated by our experimental work. It will be a good idea to review the first two chapters of Gingrich's notes and the writeups for the experiments we have done. Also note that the circuits in these problems will be taken from the experiments.

(September 11) The first opportunity to earn extra credit points this term is this Wednesday. Students who attend the Vollmer Fries Lecture and email Prof. Connor with their impressions of the talk, will earn the extra points. Details on the extra credit policy for this semester will be posted at a later date. However, the points will mostly just be added to the total so they can help with any poor grade. Check the Vollmer Fries website for further info on the talk.

(September 10) There is now an Open Shop Schedule with over 10 hours of extra time to catch up or get ahead on class assignments. Also the Weekly Schedule for the course has been modified stlightly -- Experiments 2, 3 and 4 have been moved back one hour to allow additional time to complete Experiment 2. The due dates of Experiments 3 and 4 are noe one day later than originally.

(August 30) There is a program you should each download to your computer that you can use to test your understanding of basic circuits. Go to the Precision Teaching - Electromagnetics site at Georgia Tech and download Unit 5 (Resistors in Series/Parallel, RC Circuits, Kirchoff's Laws). You can download all of the units if you wish, but this is the only one we will need for this course. Once you think you understand series/parallel combination of resistors and Kirchoff's Laws, give yourself the tests, but address only the questions involving resistors and voltage sources, not capacitors. The capacitor problems should be tried after we introduce them.

(August 23) Those of you who have access to a computer outside of class can obtain a copy of the OrCAD demo disk, which contains somewhat smaller versions of the software we use for circuit analysis. Go to the OrCAD webpage, click on the Free OrCAD Software Starter Kit and follow the directions to get your free CD.

(August 23) The class notes and Radio Shack pamphlets (when available) can be purchased for $10 from Audrey Hayner in JEC 6003. The parts kits will also be available in class. The price for the kits is $50.

• Modelling Inner Ear Mechanics, from McGill University.
  
• Filip G's Webpage which, according to Don Klipstein, has lots of stuff including megabytes of info on repairing consumer electronic devices and other appliances.
  
• The Millennium Education Group (TMEG) exists to provide educational theory, resources, applications, and solutions for the adult technology student.
  
• Engineering Central, employment resources and engineering information resources
  
• Electrical Engineering Links from Bruce Carter
  
• Doctronics practical assistance for Design & Technology students and teachers
  
• Canada's Schoolnet Learning Resources. Check out Engineering and Physics, but there is info here on just about everything you can think of!
  
• EDTN: The Electronics, Design Technology and News Network
  
• E.E. Internet Info Sites from Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln.
  
• Electronics Information from Tomi Engdahl -- something about everything!
  
• Application Notes from National Semiconductor
  
• Spice Stuff from Spread Spectrum Scene (SSS).
  
• An Introduction to Noise Reduction Ken Gundry of Dolby Laboratories
  
• Allocation of Radio Spectrum
  
• Tutorials and Audio Data from the Digital Playroom
  
• PSpice Tutorial from Alfred College of Technology
  
• Design Info from Globalspec.com
  
• Infineon, a division of Siemens, has some excellent info available on sensors, particularly magnetic sensors which are now commonly used throughout automobiles.
  
• Online Measurement Guide from Sable Systems
  
• Basic Sensor Circuits from Stanford
• Sensors and Techniques for Computer Based Measurements from Remote Measurement Systems
  
• Electroflash Electronics New Zealand
  
• Motorola Semiconductor's Transportation Systems Group
  
• Designing With Logic (pdf), an excellent discussion of logic devices and how to desig with them, from TI.
  
• Electrical Engineering Circuits Archive from the University of Washington EE Dept.
  
• Dynamic Systems -- There is quite a bit of conceptual overlap between Dynamic Systems and Electronics and Instrumentation.
  
• Interactive Guide to Strain Gauge Technology from Vishay Measurements Group, Inc.
  
• Dr. Bob's Electronics Resource
• Electronics and Instrumentation Links
  
• Equipment Tutorials
  
• Memory Devices for Sequential Systems from the University of Queensland.
  
• Engineer's Mini Notebook Series by Forest M. Mims, available from Radioshack.
  
• Car Audio Technical Info from AudioControl
  
• Technical Glossary from FLW
  
• BENCHMARK MEDIA SYSTEMS, INCis a manufacturer of ultra high performance analog and digital audio equipment. There website has some very interesting application notes, especially the Clean Audio Installation Guide.
  
• Diana, a helpful Texan with some good information on electronics, stepper motors, classic cars and trucks ...
  
• This course uses some software that is available only on PCs. If you wish to do circuit simulation or other engineering tasks on a Mac, you should look at: Mac Stuff for Engineers, a list maintained by Tim Kennedy, who is presently employed at Hughes Aircraft C>orporation.
  
• MATLAB in Education from Mathworks, Inc.
  
• Helpful Info from the Instrumentation Studio Webpage
  

• General Reference Information -- Material Properties, etc.
  • Young's Modulus information in table 9.1 of this page on the phases of matter from the North Dakota Division of Independent Study.
  • A Resistor Identifier from Danny Goodman
    

• Popular Component Information

  General

  • Chip Directory from Jaap van Ganswijk.
    

  Electronic Textbooks for Circuits, Electronics and Instrumentation

  • Digital Logic A very helpful, informal introduction to the world of digital logic, from Ken Bigelow.
    
  • Electronics, lecture notes by David Gingrich of the University of Alberta.
    
  • Electronics Technology from free-ed.net. This includes several good references:
    • (Recommended) Elements of AC Electricity from SweetHaven Online.
      
    • Floyd's Online Study Guides
      
    • Nigel P. Cook Online
      
    • DC Circuits
      
  • Engineer (on a disk) from Grand Valley State University contains lots of useful information on many engineering topics including Mechatronics, Mechanics, and ... (Recommended) Circuits.
    

  555 Timer

  • NE555 Timer from Texas Instruments
    
  • 555 Timer Page from Lizard74
    
  • 555 Timer Applications by Kostas A Papathanasiou of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
    
  • LM 555 Timer info from National Semiconductor
    
  • 555 Timer Circuit from SpiceAge
    
  • Help For The 555 Timer Chip from Model Railroad Electronics
    
  • 555 Timer How Does It Work? from NC State
    
  • The 555 Timer from Colorado
    
  • 555 Timer Tutorial from the Rensselaer Academy of Electronic Media (Requires Shockwave).
    
  • MC1455 from Motorola (pdf file).
    
  • Dick Smith Electronics info on the 555
    

  Op-Amps and Other Amplifiers (Especially LM741, LM386) Etc.

  • Op amp Myths by Barrie Gilbert
    
  • Real Operational Amplifier Operation by Haralambos N. Kritikos at Penn
    
  • Operational Amplifiers by Stephen E. Bialkowski of Utah State
    
  • Choosing Differential or Single-Ended Measurements for Data Acquisition from Sensors Magazine (registration required)
  • LM 741 Op-Amp info from National Semiconductor
    
  • LM 386 Audio Power Amplifier info from National Semiconductor
    
    Misc Info on the Popular 386 -- In Several Languages
    • Vi experimenterar och bygger med LM 386 (Swedish).
      
    • Circuit Integre LM386 from Electrome (French)
      
    • LM 386 Applications from Jean-Michel DEFAIS, College G.Philipe (French).
      
    • O Circuito Integrado LM386 from Renato Barbosa Santiago (Spanish).
      
    • LM 386 Utility Amp from Ken's Hobby Electronics Page.
      
    • Handy Dandy Little Circuit #10 from Laurier Gendron.
      
    • 386 Amp Circuit from Bill's Electronic Reference Libarary.
      
  • MC1458 Dual Operational Amplifier info from Motorola (pdf file)
    
  • LF 411 JFET Input Op-Amp info from National Semiconductor
    
  • LM3907 Frequency to Voltage Converter info from National Instruments.
    

  Logic Components

  • Digital Logic A very helpful, informal introduction to the world of digital logic, from Ken Bigelow.
    
  • CD4013 Dual D-Type Flip-Flop from Fairchild Semiconductor.
    
  • MC14029B from Motorola (pdf file).
    
  • MC14558B from Motorola (pdf file).
    
  • SN7414 Schmitt-Trigger info from TI.
    
  • SN7400 Quadrupule 2 Input Positive NAND gate info from TI.
    
  • SN 7401 2 Input Positive NAND gate info from TI.
    
  • SN7402 Quadrupule 2 Input Positive NOR gate info from TI.
    
  • SN7404 HEX Inverter info from TI
    
  • SN7408 Quad 2 Input Positive AND gate info from TI.
    
  • SN7410 Triple 3 Input Positive NAND gate info from TI.
    
  • SN7420 Dual 4 Input Positive NAND gate info from TI.
    
  • SN74LS21 Dual 4 Input Positive AND gate info from TI.
    
  • SN7430 8 Input Positive NAND gate info from TI.
    
  • SN7432 Quad 2 Input Positive OR gate info from TI.
    
  • SN7446A BCD to Seven Segment Decoder info from TI.
    
  • SN7473 Dual J-K Flip-Flops with Clear info from TI.
    
  • SN7474 Dual D Positive-Edge-Triggered Flip-Flops with Preset and Clear info from TI.
    
  • SN7485 4-bit Magnitude Comparator info from TI.
    
  • SN7486 Quad 2 Input Exclusive OR gate info from TI.
    
  • SN74107 Dual J-K Flip-Flops with Clear info from TI.
    
  • SN74121 Monostable Multivibrator with Schmitt-trigger inputs info from TI.
    
  • SN74160 Synchronous 4-bit Counter info from TI.
    
  • SN74LS169B Synchronous 4-bit Up/Down Binary Counter info from TI.
    
  • SN74190 Synchronous Up/Down Counters with Down/Up Mode Control info from TI.
    
  • SN74195 4-bit Parallel Access Shift Register info from TI.
    
  • SN74246 BCD to Seven Segment Decoder/Driver info from TI.
    
  • SN74390/SN74393 Dual 4-bit Decade and Binary Counter info from TI.
    
  • Logic Product Info from TI.
    
  • Logic Families from Motorola.
    
  • 
    

  Discrete Components (Diodes, Etc.)

  • IN4148 Diode
    
  • 1N4733 Zener Diode
    
  • IN750 Zener Diode
    
  • Capacitors and Inductors form UPE
    
  • T81N/T81H Series PC Board Relay from Siemens Electromechanical Components
    
  • Discrete Component Packaging and Wiring
    
  • 2N2222 Transistor info from Philips.
    
  • 2N2222 Transistor info from Motorola.
    
  • Motorola Link That Does Not Work Now -- I am looking for a new one. 2N2222A Transistor
    
  
  

  Project Information

  • Electronics Tips from the Electronix Express Tech Department
    
  • Simple Circuits You Can Build
    • Electronics Hobby Page from Wenzel Associates
      
    • Bowden's Hobby Circuits
      
    • Mushroom Humidifier Timer from the Lycaeum entheogenic library and community
      
    • ELECTR0NICS RELATED PLANS, SCHEMATICS & D0CUMENTS from Unlimited Underground Electronics. Warning -- Most of these are quite dangerous!
      
    • Circuit Central from Feliks Pinkusovich
      
    • Interesting Circuits from 4QD
      
  • Clapper and Touch Switch Circuits
    • Clapper Electrical Control from BYU.
    • Hand Clap Electronic Control from Maine.
    • How Does a Touch Lamp Work? from the Mad Scientist Network.
    • RFI from Touch Lamps from ARRL.
    • How Does a Touch Lamp Work? from How Things Work.
    • How Do Touch Lamps Work? from the Answer Geek at ABC News.
    • How Do Touch Lamps Work? from Ask a Scientist at Argonne National Lab.
    • Touch Switch Kit from Electronickits and several other sources.
    • Touch Switch project from Aaron Cake.
    • Touch Operated Switch from 4QD.
  • Simple Circuits You Can Buy
    • QKits
      
    • D.I.Y. Project Kits from Circuit Specialists
      
    • Educational Kits from Electronix Express
      
    • Electronic Kits from Hallbar
      
  • Accelerometers
    • Introduction to Sensors from Stanford.
      
    • Accelerometer (Analog Devices ADXL50) from Stanford.
      
    • iMEMS Technologies/Applications from Analog Devices.
      
    • ADXL 150/250 from Analog Devices.
      
    • Using an Acclerometer to Make an Active Subwoofer from Analog Devices.
      
    • Accelerometer on a Chip from PbP Rocketry Information.
      
    • Optical Cantilever Beam Accelerometer from the University of Cincinnati
      
  • Infrared Transmitter/Receiver Circuits
    • IR Remote Control lab from the ECE Dept at Northeastern.
      
    • Infrared Link Circuit from Dan Evans of Fujitsu Microelectronics Ltd
      
    • Infrared Transmitter and Receiver from Purdue
      
  • Pulse Width Modulation
    • Pulse Width Modulation from Newcastle University
      
    • Valve Flow Control Using Pulse Width Modulation from Lee Electro-Fluidics
      
  • Beakman's Motor
    • Hila Projects from the Hila Science Camp for Boys and Girls, near Ottawa
      
    • Beakman's Electric Motor
      
    • Battery Info from the Art of Electronic (pdf file).
      
    • An Electric Motor in 10 Minutes from scitoys.com.
      
  • Disposable Camera Info
    • Sam's Strobe FAQ Components: Notes on the Troubleshooting and Repair of Electronic Flash Units and Strobe Lights - and - Design Guidelines, Useful Circuits, and Schematics from Sam Wasserman.
      
    • Don's Light and Strobe Site from Don Klipstein
      
  • Guitar Info
    • Guitar.com
    • Weber Vintage Sound Technology
    • Sites and Sounds Links from Kirk Oberlander
    • Speaker Building Page from www.hifi.com
  • Seismic Info
    • Seismometer You Can Build from the Princeton Earth Physics Project
    • How Seismographs Work from the GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA
    • Simple Seismometer for Classroom Use from the University of Northern Colorado
    • CONSTRUCTION DETAILS of my FORCE-BALANCE SEISMOMETER from Karl Cunningham
    • Lehman Seismometer Information from Larry Cochrane
    • How to build a simple seismograph to record earthquake waves at home from Jearl Walker
    • Earthquake Info from The Public Seismic Network of San Jose
  
  

  Wire and Cable Information

  • American Wire Guage Sizes and Resistances from Pitt
  • Insulated Round Copper Wires from Molex.
  • American Wire Gauge Table and Stranding Chart from Cobra Wire
  • American Wire Gauge from Coilcraft.
  • Wire Gauge from the Thermal Connection. (Look under Misc. on the Thermal Data Link)
  • Megaconverter -- A great site with lots of conversion stuff. Go to the Wire Resistance converter. It is easy to use.
  
  

  Circuits, Electronics, Instrumentation Courses on the Web

  Previous Semesters for this course (also called Electronics and Instrumentation):
  • Electronics and Instrumentation Webpage for Fall 1997
    
  • Electronics and Instrumentation Webpage for Spring 1998
    
  • Electronics and Instrumentation Webpage for Fall 1998
    
  • Electronics and Instrumentation Webpage for Spring 1999
    
  • Electronics and Instrumentation Webpage for Fall 1999
    
  • Electronics and Instrumentation Webpage for Spring 2000
    
  These sites were selected because they contain example problems and/or explanations of topics covered in our course.
  • ES 250 from Clarkson.
    
  • ENGR 201 at Oregon State University
    
  • EE1000 from James Cook University. Check out the tutorials.
    
  • EE215 from Penn.
    
  • EE-61 from Duke.
    
  • ECEN4618 from Colorado
    
  • ELEC421 from Newcastle University
    
  • ME235 from Berkeley (includes PWM info)
    
  • Chem498 from Maryland
    
  • ME220 from Stanford
    
  • SC410 from Boston University
    
  • Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory from Hong Kong Polytechnic
    

• Bryan Mumford Crackpot Inventor
  
• Theremin Info
  
• The Frog That Learned to Fly
  
• Laser Tag Technical Info
  
• Michael Burke and Jeff Wovkulich -- Home Built Laser Tag (New link provided by Garrett Rooney on 17 March 1999)
  
• Glubco from WPI students with too much time on their hands.
  
• Jochen's High Voltage Page, Universität Marburg
  
• Amanda's Mnemonics Warning -- many are not in very good taste.
  

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  Resistor Color Code Chart
  
  A Resistor Identifier