Adafruit Daily

Electronics

2023

May

Capacitor ESR

Potentiometer conventions

N vs P!

Ground connections cooler via more vias

LED colors: what they tell you

April

Look to ferrites (no, not ferrets, the European polecat) when faced with high frequency

DRC Confusion

Lazy Libraries

Resistors are inductors?!

March

Copper keepout!

Audio amplifier advice

Lost signal? Have no fear!

You’ve got the power! (right?)

This tip’s a real circuit slugger

February

The 411 on 555s

Stay current with sourcing and sinking

Code like everyone’s watching

Shift away from basic arithmetic

January

Check out this shorthand shortcut

Keep this in mind when working on project layout

Working with sensitive circuits?

Diamonds may be forever… but components? Not so much.

2022

December

Must read MOSFET material

Cool your FETs!

What’s in a diode?

Have the need for speed? This diode might be right for you

November

Storage Safety 101

Solder braid quick fix

Let us clear up your aluminum confusion

Voltage drop from cables

Zener voltage

October

Fuse Safety

Dream big, start small

Hi-res mode for the (detailed) win!

Avoid serial confusion!

September

= != ==.

When to opt for alkaline batteries

How to make your LiPo long-lasting

Emergency ferrite

August

1, 2, 3, Freeze!

Help yourself with helping hands

Signature required?

Current limiting!

Solder isn’t everything.

July

Schottky power!

Electrical Tape and PVC Glue to the Rescue!

Relieve Strain with Hot Glue

Capacitor Polarity Markers

June

Damp Sponge vs Drenched Sponge

Straw Diffusers

Twist-tie Jumpers

Paper Clip Power Supply

Staple Jumpers

May

Don’t resist – organize those resistors!

Breadboarding Wire

Vias in pad?

How the resistor got its stripes

April

Rule of thumb: At least one via per amp.

 Interference is everywhere!

Clarify your supply

Coin Cell Current

March

Why do they call it a breadboard?

Rule of thumb: 10mils per amp.

Pseudodifferential Measurement

With SMT, start big …

TO-220 Tip

February

Any USB port in a storm?

Serial overkill

Static kills… slowly.

Don’t blow it with your microcontroller

January

Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your semiconductor is DOA

How to make your own magnetic field probe!

High voltage logic

Lithium chemistries

2021

December

A short lesson in RF protection

A way around surface mount snags

A few words on inductor resistance

Probes aren’t perfect!

November

Invisible Bugs

Designing a PCB?

Don’t float!

Blown transistor?

October

Breadboard Capacitance

Get Oriented!

Counting Pin Numbers

Long live labels!

September

LED overload? Psst. I’ll let you in on a secret.

Optimize your op amp

Current limiting!

Behold…the power of pseudocode.

Very int-eresting: Integral Integer Info

August

We wouldn’t snub this note on snubbers

Here’s the low-down on inductive loads

Watch your micro!

Here’s the deal with BJT power

July

Hummm… 60Hz noise in your amplifier driving you nuts?

Get the scoop on crystal capacitors

Even lower power!

Test for interference on the cheap!

June

Function Generator Marketing

Oscilloscope Bandwidth

Disable unused channels!

Ew! Sticky!

Got flux?

May

SMT Tip

Why is my battery dead? – I haven’t even been using it!

SMT Tip – Stop moving around!

Lower power!

April

Low power?

Level Conversion Hack

Tristates!

Servo Pulses

March

Heatsinks aren’t enough!

Crouching LED, Hidden Photodiode

Are you grounded?

Probe Compensation

Aliasing is ugly!

February

I touched my circuit, and now it glitches!

Oscilloscope Jumble

Trigger happy oscilloscope?

Alternate Triggering

January

I touched my glitchy circuit, and now it works!

My signal isn’t THAT noisy, is it?

When do I use X10?

When do I use X1?

2020

December

Wipe your iron!

Autoscale is cheating!

Function Generator Outputs

Watch that ground clip!

Have any spare fuses?

November

Diode Test Current

Too much noise?

Multimeter Capacitance Measurement

Protect your multimeter!

October

Multimeter Peaks

Multimeter Bandwidth – AC Signal

Keep track of those rails!

Soldering Pointer!

September

LED Basics!

Tactile Confusion?

Desolder with… more solder!

The advantage of ‘Rail to rail’ op amps!

When is a via not a via?

August

If you don’t ask, you won’t receive.

Steady Headers

Sizzlin’ Chip Test

The Case Of The Disappearing Capacitance

July

Build It!

Probe Currents!

Simulate It!

The Glitchy Switch

Footprint Fail!

June

Free Heatsink!

USB Powered Mayhem!

Is your op amp going crazy?

Electrolytic Limitations

May

To Y5V or not to Y5V?

Have you met Charlie?

Inadequate volt signal

Diode-less MOSFET?

April

My MOSFET has parasites!?

1 Wire Woes

Beware expanding LiPos!

Tricky Diode Vf

Diode Vf vs Voltage

March

Free ICs!

To shield or not to shield?

What the mF?!

Logic Analyzers On The Cheap

February

Print your PCB!

Design for test!

1k1? 4R7? Whaaa?

Never Get Lazy With Decoupling Capacitors

January

Spit in your eye

Proceed with caution

Linear Love

Trouble with LM741

2019

December

Turn the heat up! when unleaded

The deets on Electret Microphones

Through Hole SMD

Switch Mode Power

Can’t afford a current probe?

November

Nasty fumes

Calc that whip!

Lead-free Soldering Temperature

Connect your grounds!

October

Transformers: More than meets the eye!

Motor interference

Higher isn’t always better

August

Stay disciplined with ERC