Collaborate Disseminate
Perhaps the simplest way to regulate a DC voltage is using a voltage divider and/or an active device like a Zener diode. Besides simplicity, they have the additional advantage of …read more Continue reading Drop-In Switch Mode Regulators
Caveat emptor is good advice in general, but in the wilds of eBay, being careful with what you buy could be life-saving. To wit, we present [Les Wright]’s teardown and …read more Continue reading Fail of the Week: A Potentially Lethal Tattoo Removal Laser Power Supply
Aside from apparently having both the ability to reproduce on their own and simultaneously never being around when you need one, USB chargers seem innocuous enough. The specs are simple: …read more Continue reading Just How Dodgy Are Cheap USB Chargers Anyway?
When it comes to powering tiny devices for a long time, coin cell batteries are the battery of choice for things like keyfobs, watches, and even some IoT devices. They’re …read more Continue reading Minimizing Stress on a Coin Cell Battery
When first starting an electronics project, it’s not uncommon to dive right in to getting the core parts of the project working. Breadboarding the project usually involves working with a …read more Continue reading AC-DC Converter is Reliable, Safe, and Efficient
[Helge Fyske (LA6NCA)] may not be an actual spy — then again, he may be; if he’s good at it, we wouldn’t know — but he has built a couple …read more Continue reading Spy Radio Setup Gets a Tiny Power Supply for Field Operations
Anyone who’s done an electronics project knows the most important part of any good design is making sure to keep the magic smoke inside of all of the components. There …read more Continue reading USB Power Isolator Keeps Smoke In
When the widget you’re working on is powered by a battery or a USB charger, running it on the bench is probably pretty safe. But when the object of your …read more Continue reading Tricking a Smart Meter into Working on the Bench
A student once asked his lab instructor why his amplifier was oscillating. After looking at it and noting the wild construction, the instructor remarked, “A better question would be why …read more Continue reading EMC Tutorial Puts You in the Loop
If you work in a secure facility, the chances are pretty good that any computer there is going to be stripped to the minimum complement of peripherals. After all, the fewer parts that a computer has, the fewer things that can be turned into air-gap breaching transducers, right? So no …read more
Continue reading Side-Channel Attack Turns Power Supply into Speakers