IBIS Models Explained
If you’ve worked with circuit simulation, you may have run into IBIS models. The acronym is input/output buffer information, and while you can do a lot without having to deal …read more Continue reading IBIS Models Explained
Author Archives: Al Williams
Recreating one of History’s Best Known Spy Gadgets
[Machining and Microwaves] got an interesting request. The BBC asked him to duplicate the Great Seal Bug — the device the Russians used to listen covertly to the US ambassador …read more Continue reading Recreating one of History’s Best Known Spy Gadgets
Inside Digital Image Chips
Have you ever thought how amazing it is that every bit of DRAM in your computer requires a teeny tiny capacitor? A 16 GB DRAM has 128 billion little capacitors, …read more Continue reading Inside Digital Image Chips
The Keychain 6809
When you think of tiny microcontroller boards, you probably think of a modern surface mount processor. Not [Andreas Jakob]. His 5×5 cm keychain computer rocks a 6809 CPU at a …read more Continue reading The Keychain 6809
Vintage Tektronix Virtual Graticule
Oscilloscopes are great for measuring the time and voltage information of a signal. Some old scopes don’t have much in the way of markings on the CRT, although eventually, we …read more Continue reading Vintage Tektronix Virtual Graticule
BitTorrent for Language Models
In the old days of the Internet, FTP was sufficient for downloading the occasional file. But with the widespread use of computer audio and video, it was easy to swamp …read more Continue reading BitTorrent for Language Models
Cold War Listening Post Antennas
With a UHF antenna, it is easy to rotate a directional antenna to find the bearing to a transmitter. But at HF, it is more common to use an array …read more Continue reading Cold War Listening Post Antennas
Advanced 3D Printing Tips
One of the best things about hanging around with other hackers is you hear about the little tricks they use for things like 3D printing. But with the Internet, you …read more Continue reading Advanced 3D Printing Tips
Coffee Grinder Gets Bluetooth Weighing
Some people take their coffee grinding seriously. So what do you do when the hot new grinders automatically weigh coffee, and yours doesn’t? Well, if you are like [Tech Dregs] …read more Continue reading Coffee Grinder Gets Bluetooth Weighing
Replacing a Clock IC’s Battery
You can find a lot of strange things inside IC packages. For example, the Dallas DS12885 and DS12887 real time clock “chips” were available in a large package with an …read more Continue reading Replacing a Clock IC’s Battery