Collaborate Disseminate
[Kevin] doesn’t stock zener diodes anymore. Why? Because for everything he used to use zeners, he now uses bandgap voltage references. These look like zener diodes but have an extra …read more Continue reading Programmable Zener is Really an IC
While addressable LED strips are all the rage, [Mike] from [mikeselectricstuff] has been working on an installation using the more basic two-wire strips that are simply controlled via PWM dimming. …read more Continue reading Two Wire Sensors on LED Strips
We always enjoy [w2aew’s] videos, and his latest on zener diodes is no exception. In it, he asserts that all Zener diodes are not created equal. Why? You’ll have to watch the video below to find out.
Zener diodes are one of those strange items that have several uses but are not as popular as they once were. There was a time when the Zener was a reasonable way to regulate a voltage inexpensively and easily. Unfortunately the regulation characteristics were not very good, and the power lost was very high. But that was sometimes a reasonable trade, compared to …read more
Using a MOSFET as a switch is generally pretty simple. Make the gate voltage sufficient with respect to the source and current flows through the channel. However, if you are switching higher voltages, you may need some additional circuitry to protect the device’s gate and possibly the microcontroller driving the whole thing, too. [Lewis] discusses high voltage switching in the latest in his series of videos dealing with MOSFETs. You can see the video below.
You’ll see in the video a breadboard setup driving a 50 V load and also a higher-voltage H-bridge. There are three major topics covered: Using …read more
For the longest time, Zener diode regulators have been one of those circuits that have been widely shared and highly misunderstood. First timers have tried to use it to power up their experiments and wondered why things did not go as planned. [James Lewis] has put up a worth tutorial on the subject titled, “Zener Diode makes for a Lousy Regulator” that clarifies the misconceptions behind using the device.
[James Lewis] does an experiment with a regulator circuit with an ESP8266 after a short introduction to Zener diodes themselves. For the uninitiated, the Zener diode can operate in the reverse …read more
For the longest time, Zener diode regulators have been one of those circuits that have been widely shared and highly misunderstood. First timers have tried to use it to power up their experiments and wondered why things did not go as planned. [James Lewis] has put up a worth tutorial on the subject titled, “Zener Diode makes for a Lousy Regulator” that clarifies the misconceptions behind using the device.
[James Lewis] does an experiment with a regulator circuit with an ESP8266 after a short introduction to Zener diodes themselves. For the uninitiated, the Zener diode can operate in the reverse …read more
