The Geometry of Transistors
Building things in a lab is easy, at least when compared to scaling up for mass production. That’s why there are so many articles about fusion being right around the …read more Continue reading The Geometry of Transistors
Category Archives: npn
555 Teardown Isn’t Just A Good Time, It’s To Die For
It seems only appropriate that hot on the heels of the conclusion of Hackaday’s 555 Timer Contest that [Ken Shirriff] posts a silicon die teardown of an early version of …read more Continue reading 555 Teardown Isn’t Just A Good Time, It’s To Die For
Check Your Pockets for Components
The ideal component tester is like a tricorder for electronics — it can measure whatever it is that you need it to, all the time. Maybe you have a few devices like an ohmmeter and maybe a transistor socket on our multimeter. But what do you do when you need …read more
Sidney Darlington
In a field where components and systems are often known by sterile strings of characters that manufacturers assign or by cutesy names that are clearly products of the marketing department and their focus groups, having your name attached to an innovation is rare. Rarer still is the case where the mere mention of an otherwise obscure inventor’s name brings up a complete schematic in the listener’s mind.
Given how rarely such an honor is bestowed, we’d be forgiven to think that Sidney Darlington’s only contribution to electronics is the paired transistor he invented in the 1950s that bears his name …read more