Introduction This is an old school circuit – I made it (with the help of a friend) in 1987, when I first started out in digital electronics. At the time there were no PCs – or at least not for the average person in Hungary. So all the planning was done in …
Introduction This digital clock displays the time in binary format. Binary clock s have become very popular recently, many hobbyists create their own version of it and they are even available commercially. To decode the time you need to be familiar with the binary number system and have to decode …
Introduction Ever since I got my first smartphone, I wanted to make a stand/holder for it because most of its time it spends on my desk. There are plenty of smartphone designs available on the net, but I wanted to reuse some pieces of hardware I already had and also …
Introduction During the development of embedded projects debugging sometimes can get difficult. There are a number of ways to help troubleshoot problems – a scope or a logic analyzer go a long way narrowing down the problem (although a bit expensive for the hobbyist), a serial connection is extremely useful …
Introduction “A good technician has 3 hands – it is the fourth one that’s missing sometimes.” I think the famous proverb sums it up: Many times there are many, possibly tiny, parts that need to be balanced in an awkward position with one hand, while using a screwdriver/pliers/tweezers/soldering iron with …
Introduction Some time ago I came across a website where I saw a novel way of showing the disk activity of a computer. I liked the idea very much and decided to make one on my own. Since the working of the circuit is explained in detail and very well …
Introduction This project involves creating a bench supply from an old ATX power supply. The resulting bench power supply provides +5V DC, +12V DC, and, optionally, a variable voltage ( +1.25V .. +10.3V DC) power source for the hobbyist. Probably a good beginner’s project, since this project is, although a …
We have a timer in our staircase that controls the light after dark: when someone presses a button (a button is located on each floor) the lights light up for a preset period. Lately, the timer in our staircase light has started to behave weirdly – no matter what settings …
Introduction The aim of this simple project is to provide simple button input to any digital circuit. I use it in conjunction with the LED strip in microcontroller projects on breadboards. It consists of 8 tactile switches (momentary pushbuttons). The circuit is complete with a pull-up resistor for each pushbutton. …
