OpenCircuits - User contributions [en]

WikiNode

2024-06-11T14:05:04Z

Robkam:

Welcome to Open Circuits.

Open Circuits is a wiki for sharing electronics knowledge, schematics, board layouts, and parts libraries.

== Key Points of Interest ==
* [[Main Page]]
* [[Open_Circuits:Community_Portal]]
* [[Projects]]
** open hardware cell phone projects: [[Open Mobile Gadgets]], [[Cellular Rotary Phone]]
* [[Components]]
* [[Techniques]]

== Neighbors ==
The WikiNode project tries to link every wiki in the world together. Our "WikiNode" links to closely-related wiki (and their WikiNode links back).

If you want to talk about something that is not quite on-topic here at Open Circuits (say, "desktop PC case modding", or "embedded Linux programming"), our WikiNode helps you find another wiki where people love to talk about that exact topic. The corresponding WikiNode on each of those wiki helps people who want to talk about "open hardware" to discover this wiki.

=== Medical Electronics ===
* '''[http://openprosthetics.wikispot.org/ Open Prosthetics Project Wiki]'''
* '''[http://openwetware.org/wiki/Wikiomics:WikiNode OpenWetWare]''' - promotes "the sharing of information, know-how, and wisdom among researchers and groups who are working in biology & biological engineering."
** Some wiki pages describe "open hardware" electronic devices used as tools in those projects -- for example, [http://openwetware.org/wiki/DIYbio:Notebook/Open_Gel_Box_2.0 open-hardware gel electrophoresis chambers].
* '''[http://wiki.asiaquake.org/openeeg/published/WikiNode OpenEEG Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - discusses building an OpenEEG, safe ways to attach it to your head, and software for it. (See also [[Programmable Chip EEG]]).

=== Open Hardware Cell Phone ===

* '''[http://opencellphone.org/ TuxPhone Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2012-02-06, [http://web.archive.org/web/20120206015847/http://www.opencellphone.org/index.php?title=Main_Page Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://hbmobile.org/wiki/ Homebrew Mobile Phone Club Wiki]''' ''(offline since 2013-08-13)''
* '''[http://widgetry.org/dokuwiki/ OpenCell Wiki]'''
* '''[http://wiki.openmoko.org/ OpenMoko]''' - discusses open hardware cell phone you can buy now.
* '''[http://iphone.fiveforty.net/wiki/ http://iphone.fiveforty.net/wiki]''' ''(offline since 2014-10-26)'' - open-source software for a popular (but proprietary hardware) phone

=== Other Open Wireless Communications ===

* '''[http://amateur-radio-wiki.net/ Amateur Radio Wiki]''' - Online Encyclopedia for Hams
* '''[http://wsn.oversigma.com/ WSN, the Wireless Sensor Network Wiki]''' - discusses wireless sensor networks. (wired sensor network discussion is also tolerated :-).
* '''[http://wiki.twibright.com/ RONJA Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2008-03-02)'' - Reasonable Optical Near Joint Access, Free Space Optics device[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RONJA]. ("free technology" is the same as "open hardware", right?)
* '''[http://wiki.openwrt.org/ OpenWRT Wiki]''' - "OpenWrt is an open source project to create a free embedded operating system for network devices."
* '''[http://nfc-tools.org/ NFC Tools]''' - libnfc and other open-source projects for near-field communication (NFC).

=== Microcontrollers ===
* '''[http://gainer.cc/wiki/ The Gainer Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2009-02-10, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090210231509/http://gainer.cc/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page Internet Archive capture])'' - discusses the Cypress PSoC microcontroller
* '''[http://avrwiki.com/Tthe Atmel AVR Wiki]''' ''([http://narwhaledu.com/AVRwiki/index.php?title=AVR_Wiki moved?])'' - discusses the Atmel AVR series of microcontrollers (see also the Arduino wiki)
* '''[http://techref.massmind.org/techref/piclist/ PICList]''' - discusses the Microchip PIC series of microcontrollers
* '''[http://oase.uci.kun.nl/~mientki/wikifarm/stef/index.php PiciWiki]''' ''(offline as of 2007-03-27, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070320193453/http://oase.uci.kun.nl/~mientki/wikifarm/stef/index.php Internet Archive capture])'' - discusses the Microchip PIC series of microcontrollers
* '''[http://www.open-research.org.uk/ARMuC/WikiNode.html The ARM Microcontroller Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2012-05-13, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120513043746/http://www.open-research.org.uk/ARMuC/ Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://gnusim8085.sourceforge.net/ The GNUSim8085 Wiki]''' - for the Intel 8085 microprocessor
* '''[http://nioswiki.jot.com/ Nios Community Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2008-12-25, [https://web.archive.org/web/20081225044255/http://nioswiki.jot.com/WikiHome Internet Archive capture])'' - discusses the Nios II processor, and how to implement it on a FPGA
* '''[http://www.jopwiki.com JOP Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2013-03-15, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130315172041/http://www.jopwiki.com/ Internet Archive capture])'' - discusses the Java Optimized Processor, a simple and small Java processor optimized to execute Java bytecode, implemented in a low cost FPGA
* '''[http://wiki.opensparc.net/ the OpenSPARC Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - discussing open-source versions of the SPARC processor architecture, including implementing it in a FPGA
* '''[http://developer.axis.com/wiki/ Axis Developer Wiki]''' - discussing ETRAX CPUs and other Axis chips.
* '''[http://microchip.com/wiki/ ICwiki]''' ''(offline as of 2008-07-24, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080724165541/http://www.microchip.com/wiki Internet Archive capture])'' - the official wiki at microchip.com for Microchip PICmicro microcontrollers etc. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://propeller.wikispaces.com/ Propeller Wiki]''' - dedicated to documenting interesting stuff related to the Parallax Propeller microcontroller. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://processors.wiki.ti.com/ Texas Instruments Embedded Processors Wiki]''' - the official wiki at ti.com for discussing the MSP430 (a 16-bit, ultra-low power, mixed signal microcontroller), TI DSPs, the TI OMAP (used to run Linux in the "open source handheld" Pandora handheld game console, the [[motherboards that run Linux | Beagle Board]], and the Gumstix Overo) and other ARM-based processors, and other TI processors.

=== Computer Architecture ===

We briefly touch on computer architecture on a few Open Circuits pages.
(
[[Kestrel]],
[[Multi-purpose Embedded System]],
[[Expansion bus]],
[[relay CPU]]
).
For far more details, see other wikis such as

* '''[http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Microprocessor_Design Microprocessor Design]''' - wikibook, a rough draft of a book
* '''[http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Computer_Architecture_Lab Computer Architecture Lab]''' - Wikiversity (focuses entirely on CPU-in-a-FPGA designs)
* '''[https://www.semipublic.comp-arch.net/wiki/ The Art of Computer Architecture]''' by Andy Glew - a rough draft of a book
* '''[http://f-cpu.seul.org/ Freedom CPU]'''

=== Vehicles, Robots, and CNC ===
* '''[http://www.reprap.org/wiki/WikiNode RepRap Wiki]''' - discusses the RepRap project to build a "Replicating Rapid-prototyper", a self-copying 3D printer. "Complete open-source instructions and plans are published on this website for zero cost and available to everyone so, if you want to make one yourself, you can."
* '''[http://evproduction.org/wiki EVProduction]''' - discusses several electric open source [[vehicle]]s.
* '''[http://openservo.com/FrontPage OpenServo Wiki]''' - developing a digital servo motor that accepts "Go to position X" commands and also more complex curves, and returns actual servo position, speed, voltage and power consumption.
* '''[http://www-robotics.usc.edu/~dshell/roboticswiki/ Robotics wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2007-07-07, [https://web.archive.org/web/20050106163726/http://www-robotics.usc.edu/~dshell/roboticswiki/ Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://pminmo.com/PMinMOwiki/index.php5 PMinMO Wiki]''' - describes an open-source CNC machine—software, electronics, motors, hardware, etc.—and related information, such as [http://pminmo.com/PMinMOwiki/index.php5?title=CNC_PCB_Milling CNC PCB milling]. (was: [http://pminmo.com/wiki/] ) ''needs WikiNode''
* '''[http://vems.hu/wiki/ VEMS Wiki]''' - has some interesting electronics projects. In particular, the [http://www.vems.hu/wiki/index.php?page=GoBox GoBox project] to tune automobile engines to minimize the amount of fuel used. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://editthis.info/JMRI JMRI Wiki]''' - tools for model railroad computer control
* '''[http://dccwiki.com/ DCCWiki]''' - "Digital Command Control", discusses computer-controlled model railroads
* '''[http://ladyada.net/wiki/ AdaWiki]''' - discusses open source benchtop tools, laser cutters, and electronics DIY/hobbyists. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://ecomodder.com/wiki/ EcoModder Wiki]''' - discusses various ways to measure and improve vehicle gas economy, including "MPGuino is an open source fuel economy computer (Arduino based) for any vehicle with electronic fuel injection and a Vehicle Speed Sensor."
* '''[http://wiki.makerbot.com/ MakerBot Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26, [https://web.archive.org/web/20140404110743/http://wiki.makerbot.com/ Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/ArduCopter ArduCopter Wiki]''' - discusses ArduiCopter, the [[Arduino]]-based autopilot for [[multi-rotor]] craft, from quadcopters to traditional helis. From the DIY Drones development team. The open-hardware electronics connects gyros, magnetometers, accelerometers, GPS reciever, RC reciever, etc., and drives 2, 4, 6, or 8 rotors in a variety of configurations to give autolevel and auto altitude control and stabilized RC control.
* '''[http://www.multiwii.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page MultiWii]''' - software to control a RC multi copter, supports various sensors but was initially developed to support Nintendo Wii console gyroscopes and accelerometers

=== Electronic Design Automation ===
* '''[http://kicad.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/WikiNode KiCad]''' ''(offline as of 2010-05-07, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100507014640/http://kicad.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/WikiNode Internet Archive capture])'' - a GPL'd suite of programs for EDA
* '''[http://kicadhowto.wikidot.com/ KiCadHowTo]''' - tutorials and other information to help you quickly become a fluent KiCad user
* '''[http://protel-users.org/ Protel Users Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2011-12-31, [https://web.archive.org/web/20111231095705/http://protel-users.org/tiki-index.php Internet Archive capture])'' - for people who design and draw schematics and circuit boards with Protel
* '''[http://wiki.geda-project.org/ gEDA Project Wiki]''' - discusses "the gEDA project"—developing a full GPL'd suite of Electronic Design Automation tools (electrical circuit design, schematic capture, simulation, prototyping, and printed circuit board (PCB) layout.
* '''[http://opencircuitdesign.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl OpenCircuitDesign]''' - the other Open Circuit Wiki, discusses mostly free tools for designing integrated circuits
* '''[http://opencomponentproject.org/wiki/WikiNode Open Component Project]''' - a shared repository of public domain symbols, footprints, and 3D component models for use in electronic design automation (EDA) software.

=== Dorkbot ===
Artists, inventors, scientists, engineers. The exciting thing to me is to learn about strange things that creative people are doing around the world, with no regard for genre, style, school of thought, area of expertise, etc. ... committed to the idea of "availability over promotion", meaning their main concern is to help things exist, rather than making hits or selling lots of copies.

* '''[http://projects.dorkbot.org/dorkbot-wiki Dorkbot Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110227202334/http://projects.dorkbot.org/dorkbot-wiki Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://dorkbotpdx.org/ DorkbotPDX]''' - people doing strange things with electricity in Portland
* '''[http://dorkbotlondon.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page DorkBotLondon]''' - in London
* '''[http://dorkbot.noodlefactory.co.uk/wiki DorkbotAlba]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26, [https://web.archive.org/web/20140105184016/http://dorkbot.noodlefactory.co.uk/wiki Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://mightyohm.com/wiki MightyOhm Wiki]''' - discusses where to get supplies and tools for working with electronics. The sysop is apparently a member of Dorkbot SF.

=== CPU ===
Various small CPU modules that have their own wiki (see also [[ARMUS Embedded Linux Board]] and other [[motherboards that run Linux]])

* '''[http://elinux.org/WikiNode eLinux]''' - information on running Linux on several small ARM-based embedded systems and Texas Instruments OMAP processors.
* '''[http://linuxrobots.org/wiki/WikiNode Linux Robots Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' robots that run Linux
* '''[http://www.balloonboard.org/WikiNode Ballonboard Wiki]''' - for the Balloon Project. They have developed a small single-board computer that can run Linux. Also discusses "The Balloon Open Hardware License (BOHL) ... The license is intended as a general purpose open hardware license".
* 2 Gumstix wiki: (Gumstix are [[motherboards that run Linux#Gumstix]]. Gumstix expansion board schematics and layouts open hardware -- published under a creative commons licence. )
* '''[http://wiki.gumstix.org/index.php?title=Main_Page Gumstix User Wiki]''' - "Gumstix users can share their knowledge, showcase their Gumstix-based projects, and pass on links to other sources of information and materials." ''needs wikinode''
** [http://docwiki.gumstix.org/ Gumstix DocsWiki]
* '''[http://virtualcogs.com/wiki/ Virtual Cogs Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2008-11-10, [https://web.archive.org/web/20081110100543/http://www.virtualcogs.com/ Internet Archive capture])'' - describes a CPU board that uses a stacking connector system.
* '''[http://wiki.emqbit.com/wiki emQbit Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2011-07-29, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721192428/http://wiki.emqbit.com/wiki Internet Archive capture])'' - "The Free ECB_AT91 V1 is a Single Board Computer made by emQbit. You can download the specs and build your own." based on a 180 MHz ARM9 processor (Atmel AT91RM9200); runs Linux.
* '''[https://code.google.com/p/beagleboard/ BeagleBoard Wiki]''' - The BeagleBoard runs Linux. The [http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:Main_Page embedded Linux wiki also discusses BeagleBoard].
* '''[http://arduino.cc/playground/ Arduino Playground]''' - discusses the Arduino board based on the Atmel AVR ATmega168. (See also the Atmel AVR wiki).
* '''[http://wiki.elphel.com/ ElphelWiki]''' - discusses the free software and open hardware inside [[Elphel camera]]s. That hardware includes a FPGA that handles video processing and video compression, and a ETRAX FS processor that runs Linux.
* '''[http://wiki.leaflabs.com/ LeafLabs Wiki]''' - discusses the Maple, a [[Arduino Links | Arduino]]-compatible board that uses an [[ARM]] processor, and other stuff from [[LeafLabs]]. ''needs WikiNode''

=== Related Wikis ===
* '''[https://simpleelectronicswiki.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page Simple Electronics Wiki]''', information and reference for learning about elementary electronics up to radio amateur level.
* '''[http://publiclab.org/wiki The Public Lab Wiki]''' "At Public Lab, we all collaborate to invent and improve open source environmental science tools." Many of those tools -- [http://publiclab.org/wiki/spectrometer an open-source spectrometer], the [http://publiclab.org/wiki/riffle RIFFLE], the [http://publiclab.org/wiki/coqui Coqui], and etc. -- are open-hardware electronics. The Public Lab Wiki [http://publiclab.org/licenses Licenses] page discusses open-source hardware and software licenses.
* '''[http://opensource.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Open Source Wikia]''' - For open source software (or open source in general)
* '''[http://linksprite.com/wiki/ Linksprite wiki]''' has many open source products and open source projects.
* '''[http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/ Rockbox Wiki]''' - an open source firmware for mp3 players, written from scratch. It runs on a wide range of players. It nicely complements the [[Music Player]] hardware we discuss here.
* '''[http://adciv.org/ Advanced Civilization Wiki]''' - discusses "Open collaborative design", which seems to include the sort of [[open hardware]] designs we share at Open Circuits.
* '''[http://electronicschat.org/ Electronics Chat Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2012-05-14, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120514050005/http://electronicschat.org/index.php/Main_Page Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://hcvl.hci.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/openEyeswiki/index.cgi openEyes]''' ''(offline as of 2007-07-28, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070728024738/http://hcvl.hci.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/openEyeswiki/index.cgi Internet Archive capture])'' - discusses an open-source open-hardware toolkit for low-cost real-time eye tracking.
* '''[http://communitywiki.org/odd/ComputerComponent/WikiNode Computer Component Wiki]''' - "for computer and electronics enthusiasts to learn and contribute to an online database of computer hardware and electronics with an emphasis on how-to guides."
* '''[http://hardwiki.com/ Hard Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2006-12-18, [https://web.archive.org/web/20060423050210/http://www.hardwiki.com/index.php/Main_Page Internet Archive capture])'' - ''needs wiki-node''
* '''[http://nslu2-linux.org/ NSLU2-Linux]''' - seems to do a lot of wiring and soldering. ''needs wiki-node''
* '''[http://wikidevices.org/ Wiki Devices]''' ''(offline as of 2007-06-30)'' - "a highly organized repository for objective information, as well as opinions on consumer electronics."
* '''[http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Main_Page Build Your Own Arcade Controls Wiki]''' - "building or buying authentic arcade controls and connecting them to your computer to play arcade style games with real arcade controls instead of a keyboard or mouse"
* '''[http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Embedded_Systems Embedded Systems]''' - wikibook
* '''[http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Practical_Electronics/PCB_Layout Practical Electronics]''' - wikibook
* '''[http://sensorwiki.org/ SensorWiki]''' - "a thorough review of the main types of sensing technologies used in musical applications"
* '''[http://linuxtv.org/wiki/ LinuxTVWiki]''' - occasionally has some chip-level information, such as the [http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/I2c_Protocol I2C protocol] and [http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/BT878 sampling analog data at 16 bits and 448000 Samples per second with a BT878 chip]
* '''[http://howto.wikia.com/wiki/WikiNode How To Wikia]''' - occasionally has electronic projects such as <s>[http://howto.wikia.com/wiki/Howto_build_an_ultra_low_power_clock_with_a_large_period Howto build an ultra low power clock with a large period]</s> ''(deleted)''
* '''[http://wiki.opengraphics.org/ Open Graphics Project]''' - developing graphics cards with fully published specs and open source drivers. Since the first version will be a FPGA, is also collecting information on FPGA programming and interfacing. Supported by [http://traversaltech.com/ Traversal Technology]. (''was at http://wiki.duskglow.com/ '')
* '''[http://wikihost.org/wikis/openhardware/ Open Hardware Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2008-09-27, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080821125847/http://wikihost.org/wikis/openhardware/ Internet Archive capture])'' - has electronics projects of various levels of complexity; the most complicated appears to be "KAD", a FPGA on a PCI card designed for reconfigurable computing.

* '''[http://openjtag.net/ OpenJTAG Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)''
* '''[http://analogwiki.com/ The Analog Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - "The Wiki for Design & Verification Engineers by Design & Verification Engineers."
* '''[http://hardwarebook.info/ The Hardware Book]''' - Internet's largest free collection of connector pinouts and cable descriptions. ''needs WikiNode''
* '''[https://isl.ncsa.uiuc.edu/twiki/bin/view/OpenFPGA OpenFPGA Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - ''needs WikiNode''
* '''[https://devel.goto10.org/packets/wiki/CATkit CATkit Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - CATkit is an open hardware project designed as a standalone interactive Forth computer for audio sound artists. (Based on Microchip PIC 18F).
* '''[http://openbios.org/ OpenBIOS]''' - discusses several free and open source implementations of IEEE 1275-1994 (also called "Open Firmware"). Open Firmware allows expansion cards to provide a "boot ROM" that works all common platforms, like x86, AMD64, PowerPC, ARM and Mips.
* '''[http://obook.info/ OpenBook Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - discusses OpenBook, an open source hardware and software project designing a computer tablet ... Everyone can contribute and help to shape the OpenBook hardware and software specifications.
* '''[https://events.ccc.de/camp/2007/ Chaos Communication Camp 2007]'''
* '''[http://tubeopedia.com/ Tubeopedia.com]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - discusses vacuum tube technology and science, circuits, theory, people and equipment related to vacuum tubes
* '''[http://wiki.linux1394.org/ Linux1394 Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - discusses FireWire on Linux and related device drivers, tools, libraries, and hardware. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://rfidguardian.org/ RFID Guardian]''' - discusses an open hardware project designed to guard privacy. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://electronics.wikia.com/ Wikitronics]''' - ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://www.sdiy.info SDIY Wiki]''' - for learning and sharing knowledge about making, modifying, or repairing electronic musical instruments and related equipment.
* '''[http://wiki.orbswarm.com/ OrbSWARM]''' - a wiki for an open hardware group that build swarms of semi-autonomous spherical robots. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://tgimboej.org/ The Great Internet Migratory Box of Electronics Junk]''' - "a progressive lending library of electronic components. An internet meme in physical form halfway between P2P zip-archive sharing and a flea market. It arrives full of wonderful (and possibly useless) components, but you will surely find some treasures to keep. You will be inspired look through your own piles, such as they are, and find more mysterious components that clearly need to be donated to the box before it is passed on again." ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://wiki.dataflow.ws DataFlow Wiki]''' - a wiki about art, new medias, electronics, interaction design, Python, PureData and other dataflow languages.
* '''[http://wockets.wikispaces.com/ Wockets]''' - a wiki about developing low-cost sensors for measuring physical activity on mobile phones.
* '''[http://www.synthesizers.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php Synthesizers.com Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - "up-to-date information about synthesizers, patches, modifications, etc." ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://code.google.com/p/bicycleledpov/w/list Bicycleledpov]''' - A bicycle visual LED artwork
* '''[http://code.google.com/p/micropendous/ Micropendous]''' - Open Hardware Development Boards for the Atmel's Full-Speed (12Mbit/s) USB AVR Microcontrollers (AT90USB162, ATmega32U4, AT90USB646, AT90USB1287)
* '''[https://noisebridge.net/wiki/Noisebridge Noisebridge]''' - Noisebridge is an infrastructure provider for technical-creative projects, collaboratively run by its members
* '''[http://de.wikiants.org/WikiNode Wikiants do-it-yourself (in German)]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - has a section on [http://de.wikiants.org/Kategorie:Open_Hardware Wikiants: open hardware].
* '''[http://qi-hardware.com/ Qi-Hardware]''' - Qi's mission is to promote and encourage the development of copyleft hardware.

----

Please add closely-related wikis. Keep the 7 or so of the most-closely-related wikis.
Move less-relevant wikis to [http://wikiindex.org WikiIndex].

''Are any of the wikis listed at http://www.communitywiki.org/odd/SoftwareBazaar/MicrocontrollerProgramming relevant enough to list here?''

[[category: community]]

Hardware tool

2021-09-07T12:31:46Z

Robkam:

== Good equipment to buy when getting started ==

Getting started with electronics design takes buying some equipment, but it can be confusing what to buy. I'm going to list here some of the items that I thought were helpful getting started. For all equipment and especially components salvage can be a nice cheap way to acquire stuff see: [[Salvage Topics]]. Also see [[Test Equipment and Other Equipment]]

== Workshops In General ==

*[http://www.duntemann.com/12vtubes/shoptips.htm Tips for Setting Up Your Shop]

== Breadboard with Power Supply ==

Most people start with electronics by connecting up circuits on a breadboard. A breadboard is great for trying out circuits before moving to more permanent construction techniques such as perfboard or custom PCBs. A battery can be a simple [http://cordlesspowertoolsinfo.com/ power supply], but to avoid replacing then you can probably find a wall transformer of a reasonable voltage and current capacity. The specs are almost always on the unit. They are pretty safe, unless something really goes wrong you are kept from the mains voltage, and most are ul labeled.

== Soldering Iron ==

The pencil type are probably the way to go. For most electronics a tip about as fine as a blunt pencil is useful. They can be very cheap, but the more expensive ones are better, particularity if they have a thermostat and/or power control. Guns types can be used, but waiting for them to warm up quickly becomes a pain ( 30 seconds over and over ) and many are too big for electronics work. You can start cheap and work up later. An important tip is keep the tip clean.

The [[basic soldering]] article has tips on using a soldering iron.

== Spools of wire ==

Wire is available as stranded or solid. Solid works best with breadboards and perfboards. Stranded works best when creating cables for inter board connections. Stranded is nice an flexible and does not break quickly when bent back and forth, solid is easy to press into perf board, breadboard and stays bent the way you bend it. Lots of bending will break solid wire.

Try to get many different colors of wire.
Tracing a single wire through a big circuit is almost impossible if all the wires are the same color.

== Multimeter ==

Radio Shack is a good source of cheap multimeters.
I would also add that harbor freight has THE cheapest meters (sub $10).

== Oscilloscope ==

An oscilloscope is critical for debugging analog circuits or communication protocols. I prefer PC based oscilloscopes since they are cheaper than dedicated equipment and are more automated than a traditional phosphor oscilloscope.

''See [[oscilloscope]]''

== Storage compartments ==

As more components are bought, it becomes necessary to store all the components in an organized way and storage compartments are very helpful. These can be bought at the local home improvement or hardware store. We are collecting more ideas here: [[Component and Parts Storage]]

== Resistor kit ==

It's important to have a lot of different resistor values around as it's almost impossible to buy the correct values in advance. Digikey sells resistors in kits that have a small number of all the standard resistor values. If you are a cheapskate in need of some practice reading the color codes, you can get a grab bag from Jameco and sort them yourself.

== Capacitor kit ==

Capacitors are like resistors. You need a large number of values. Digikey also sells capacitor kits in addition to the resistor kits. Assortments and grab bags are available for electrolytics, ceramics, and Mylar caps from Jameco as well.

== Microcontroller Programmer/ICD ==

Microcontrollers are a great way to get started in digital electronics. They are essentially a little computer on a single chip. Unlike large computers these processors usually don't run a full blown operating system so dedicated hardware is used for programming an debugging. In Circuit Debugging are the preferred way to go for development since it's a huge time saver to be able to program and debug software without needing to pull the chip from the circuit.
Spend the extra money -- it is worth it.

== Development Boards ==
{{main|demo board}}

If you are willing to spend some money development boards are a quick way to get started. They typically have a microcontroller, voltage regulator, some LEDs, and some sensors all on one board. The downside is that if you break anything on the board you have to buy a whole new board. With discrete components only the broken part needs to be replaced. On the other hand, more and more components are only available in surface mount packages which almost require a custom PCB to use at all. ARM processors are relatively powerful microcontroller but at present are not available in through hole versions.

== Links ==
* There is a lot of information on the web, until we update Google to find it.
* There's a fairly comprehensive list at [https://sdiy.info/wiki/Tools Tools] on the Synth DIY Wiki.

[[Category:Test Equipment]][[Category:Components]]

Main Page

2021-02-08T18:46:05Z

Robkam: Undo spam

== Open Circuits ==

Open Circuits is a wiki for sharing [[open source electronics]] knowledge, schematics, board layouts, ports and parts libraries. Please help us to build this resource by submitting your descriptions, projects, instructions, techniques, board layouts, PCB footprints, and other documentation for electronics. This includes

* [[Open Circuits website]] is where you should discuss issues about the opencircuits.com website itself.
* [[Projects]]: [[open source ventilator]], open hardware [[Music Player]]s, [[atomic microscope]]s, [[PC]], [[PDA]], [[Open Mobile Gadgets|mobile phone]]s, etc.
* [[Ideas]]: including [[Basic Circuits and Circuit Building Blocks]] -- Circuits you will use over and over.
* [[Techniques]]: for doing things, often using [[hardware tool]]s or [[software tool]]s or both. Includes tips for designing custom printed circuit boards (PCBs), [[PCB Manufacturers]], assembly, and embedded system programming and testing.
* [[Components]]: Lists of components, where to purchase them, how to use them. For many components there are links to projects using that particular component, this is especially true for [[microcontroller]]s, for example follow the links down to PIC microcontrollers and you will find many project links as well as tutorials. General tips on [[connectors]], [[battery|batteries]], [[enclosures]], as well as more specific information on [[Popular Parts]].
* [[Meta Open Source]]: Not projects or information on projects, but stuff about Open Hardware Initiatives and the open source movement in general, including tips on picking a [[hardware license]] to make it easier for others to collaborate with you.

Many of the section titles are active links, click on them.
* [[Test Equipment and Other Equipment]] See what is going on in your circuits, charge your batteries, etc.
* [[Tutorials]] How to understand and plan what you are doing. These are for general theory, more specific information is linked to its topic.
* [[PCB Footprints]] Don't reinvent the wheel. Known working open PCB footprints for various components.
* [[HackerSpaces]] And hacker orgnizations. These are the white hat guys hacking electronics to make things. Includes DIY types, the people who read Make Magazine.
* [[Got A Blog, Wiki or Website?]] Link to it on the [[Got A Blog, Wiki or Website?]] or [[WikiNode]] page.
* [[Got a Technical Question?]] Perhaps it will be answered, perhaps not. Google for it first in the spirit of RTFM. Please do not ask us to do a school project for you.

== Meta Open Source ==
[[Meta Open Source]]:
Not projects or information on projects, but stuff about Open Hardware Initiatives and the open source movement ( mostly hardware ) itself.

The '''Open Source Movement''', typically covers '''Open Hardware''', '''Open Firmware''', and '''Open Software'''.

'''Open Hardware''' is similar to '''[http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html Free] and [http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php Open Source Software]'''.

The '''Open Firmware''' movement provides firmware (i.e.: micro-code specifically related to the subcoding of hardware devices) which you may also know as '''soft-IP''' or '''FPGA''' coding see [http://www.opencores.org Open Cores] for more details.

Excellent examples of specific Open Hardware projects are listed on our [[Projects]] page.
Discussions of more general open-hardware ideas are on a few pages here, such as
[[open source electronics]], [[Ideas]], [[Meta Open Source]], etc.

Just as many important pieces of open-source software are, in turn, used to develop software (including more open-source software),
many important open-hardware devices are, in turn, used to develop hardware devices (including more open-hardware devices) --
such as [[Oscilloscope#Open Source Oscilloscopes]].
There's also a bit of crossover, in that [[software tool]]s (many of them open-source software) are often used to develop open-source hardware.

=== Licenses ===
: ''consider moving this section to: [[hardware license]]''

The most common "open hardware" licenses are the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Creative Commons Licenses] and the [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU General Public License].
The GNU people wrote the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#DoesTheGPLAllowMoney the GPL FAQ]
to deal with common questions and misunderstandings of the GPL.
The GNU people go on to say
: "We encourage people who redistribute free software to charge as much as they wish or can. If this seems surprising to you, [http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html please read on." -- GNU: "Selling Free Software"]

For example, Linksys makes money selling (among other things) their [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_series Linksys WRT54G series] routers, which use Linux under the GPL license.

To understand what your entitlements and responsibilities are under the applicable license(s); each hardware, firmware and/or software piece you have either copied, modified, developed using tools provided or if you intend distributing your development, you '''MUST''' read each and every license, and be specifically aware that you may not mix such license(s) together unless they can co-exist under one umbrella license. For example you may modify, copy, enhance and distribute parts your project which are all under the same license e.g.: or .

Some people are working on licenses that are specifically designed for "open hardware".
"Open Source Hardware (OSHW) Draft Definition 1.0"[http://freedomdefined.org/OSHW].
Wikipedia: "Open Hardware License"[http://daivx.webchuyennghiep.net/dam-cong-so-cho-mua-he]
mentions
"CERN Open Hardware License"[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN_Open_Hardware_License][http://www.ohwr.org/documents/88]
and the "TAPR Open Hardware License"[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAPR_Open_Hardware_License].
David L. Jones has a short video that discusses open-source hardware[http://www.eevblog.com/2011/08/12/eevblog-195-open-source-hardware-explained/] and mentions several licenses, including the
CERN Open Hardware Licence[http://www.ohwr.org/projects/cernohl/wiki].

Jim E. Bullock.
[http://apps.americanbar.org/buslaw/blt/2003-07-08/bullock.html "Passing it on: The technology license"]
defines many legal terms common in technology licenses.

== Help Us Make Open Circuits Better ==

What are we:

Looks like we are defining this by way of who contributes and what. I ( [[russ_hensel]] ) am a new member so may or may not have it right.
This is what I think:

*An introduction to Electronic theory, suitable for the hobbyist.

*Guide to locating and using components and tools.

*Details on how to build various projects.

*Building some sense of community among builders.

There are two means of carrying this out:

*Write material for the site or

*Link to material you may have written or have located on the web. There is so much stuff on the web that lets not write it here unless it is at least somewhat unique.

What do you think, discuss it here if very general, else on the discussion page ( link at top of page ).

See also:

*[[We love volunteers]]
*[[Help:contents]]
*[[Spam]] What should we do about it, it is a real problem now ( Feb 08 ).

__NOTOC__

[[Category:Community| ]]

Got A Blog, Wiki or Website?

2020-01-19T22:01:35Z

Robkam:

Do you know an electronics-related wiki? Link to it on the [[WikiNode]] page.

Member of this Wiki and got a Blog or Website? Link to it on this "Got A Blog, Wiki or Website?" page:

Note that there are template enteries that can make editing easier.

At the bottom of the page is a section for non member, but member recommended sites.

== Wiki Members Links ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-valign="top"
! What
! Link
! Comment


|-valign="top"
|
*Wiki
|[https://simpleelectronics.miraheze.org/ Simple Electronics Wiki]
|Wiki based primer of elementary electronics.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/ Build Electronic Circuits]
|Learn how to build circuit boards and how to get them made professionally on a budget

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog,Tutorials,info
|
[http://micromolvi.blogspot.com micromolvi.blogspot.com]
|MicroMolvis blogs , tutorials, and electronics related info


|-valign="top"
|
*Wiki
|
[[UCLA IEEE OPS]]
| UCLA IEEE Open Project Space, in Los Angeles, California.

|-valign="top"
|
*Wiki
|
[[Tulsa electronics club]]
| The Tulsa electronics club, in Tulsa, Oklahoma

|-valign="top"
|
*Circuits
|
[http://www.555-timer-circuits.com/ 555 Timer Circuits]
| All the electronics info you need to know about the 555 Timer. With over 80 different electronic circuits that you can build.


|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Blog
*Forum
|
[http://www.chipstobits.com/ Chips To Bits]
|Open Source Software and Hardware for the Arduino, Home of the Storage Shield

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://millpcbs.com/ Millpcbs.com]
|A website dedicated to milling PCB's and the DIY machines to accomplish it.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://pminmo.com/ PMinMO.com]
|A website dedicated to DIY CNC electronics.


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://www.paleotechnologist.net Paleotechnologist.Net]
|A blog exploring ways to blend old-school and new-school technology.


|-valign="top"
|
*Circuits
*Blogs
*Forums
|
[http://www.electro-tech-online.com/ Electro Tech]
|A large community of electronics hobbyists.

|-valign="top"
|
*Forum
|
[http://www.eeweb.com/electronics-forum/ Electronics Forum]
|Forum for Electronic Enthusiasts.

|-valign="top"
|
*Jobs
|
[http://www.eeweb.com/jobs/ Electrical Engineering Jobs]
|Free Jobs Board for Electrical Engineers.

|-valign="top"
|
*Circuits
|
[http://www.free-electronic-circuits.com/ Free Electronic Circuits]
|A collection of electronic circuits.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://www.quick-teck.co.uk Quick-teck, PCB manufacture in UK]
|UK based PCB manufacturer, industry standard in low cost PCB.Guaranteed delivery date.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|[http://meaning.com/wiki/Rubisync Rubisync]
|Open Source Synchronized Magnetometers


|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://www.gadgetgangster.com Gadget Gangster]
|A site to publish and sell your electronics projects

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|[http://meaning.com/wiki/Rubisync Rubisync]
|Open Source Synchronized Magnetometers

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://www.mendingthings.com Mark's Electronics Blog]
|Electronic project blog, Arduino,OOpic,Phidgets etc.


|-valign="top"
|
* WebSite
* Blog
* Forum
* Wiki
|
[http://vtluug.org Linux and Unix Users Group at Virginia Tech]
|The Linux and Unix Users Group at Virginia Tech's membership is made up primarily of Computer and Electrical Engineering students, some of whom are contributers to this wiki. An ongoing project of theirs is to develop and document FOSS workflows that can eventually completely replace the current dependencies on PSpice, LogicWorks and MATLAB.


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://backyardsolar.blogspot.com/ Backyard Solar Power Blog]
|Solar garden fountain project and development of other low cost solar energy solutions.


|-valign="top"
|
* WebSite
|
[http://bildr.org bildr]
|A website that is rethinking the electronics DIY movement.


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://embeddedcoding.com Embedded Coding]
|Embedded systems and consumer electronics development blog by [http://AaronClarke.com Aaron Clarke]


|-valign="top"
|
* Website
|[http://www.wzmicro.com Electronics DIY Projects]
|DIY projects for stepper, DC motor and wireless remote control circuits by [http://www.wzmicro.com/projects.htm WZmicro]

|-valign="top"
|
* Website
|[http://www.arunet.co.uk/tkboyd/ele.htm Getting started]
|Electronics basics, and notes on some common useful devices

|-valign="top"
|
* Blog
|[http://www.workinprogress.ca Work in progress]
|AVR & Kicad & V-USB Tutorials


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://sailboatelectronics.blogspot.com Learning Curve Labs]
|Adventures of a marine electronics hack, outfitting a Westsail 42 sailboat,
with DIY, homebrew, open source, commercial hardware and software for: automation, sensor
networks, communications and marine navigation.
|

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://shortcircu.it/ ShortCircu.it]
|Microcontroller tutorials: PIC, Arduino, AVR. Also basic electronics.

|-valign="top"
|
* Website
|[http://sheepdogguides.com/arduino/artut.htm Arduino site from Sheepdog Guides]
|Arduino: 1) Course for beginners; 2) Collection of "How To"s, tutorials, projects

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[[File:logoPequenoNaranja.png|link=http://www.txapuzas.blogspot.com/]]

|basic microcontroller projects: Arduino, Paperduino. Homemade CNC... Also basic electronics. (Spanish)
|

|-valign="top"
|
*Website
*Blog
|
[http://www.blinkenlight.net/ Blinkenlight Experiments]
[http://blog.blinkenlight.net/blog/ Blinkenlight Blog]
|
Experiments with 20 LEDs from basic to beginner. From simple Knight Rider examples to really unexpected stuff like converting the LEDs into a rudimentary camera.
|

|-valign="top"
|
*Website
|
[http://tindie.com/ tindie]
|
Buy & sell homemade electronics. From Raspberry pi to robots.

|-valign="top"
|
*Wiki
|[http://www.sdiy.info SDIY wiki]
|Wiki for DIY electronic music related gear.

|}

== Non Members Links ==

Found a Blog or Website that is so general that it does not fit well into the structure of this site? If you think it is so good that you are willing to sign your recommendation then list it here.

{| class="wikitable"
|-valign="top"
! What
! Link
! Comment


|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|[http://upverter.com/ Upverter Electronics Design Tools]
|Online Electronics design tools, free to use for open source projects. Share and expand open projects

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Forum
|[http://www.psocdeveloper.com/forums/ PSoCDeveloper]
|Friendly electronics discussion forums from beginner to advanced level, but focused on [[Microcontroller#Cypress PSoC | Cypress PSoC devices]] (microcontroller + mixed-signal array on one chip) and closely related topics.


|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Forum
|[http://www.electronicspoint.com/ Electronics Forum]
|Friendly electronics discussion forums from beginner to advanced level. Get your questions answered here or help others with your knowledge.


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://www.eevblog.com/ Electronics Engineering Video Blog Podcast]
|I don't like video blogs, but this is an exception, try it out


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://www.sfcircuits.com/pcb-school/ San Francisco Circuits PCB School]
|
Resources, PDFs, some free e-books & articles on PCB design/fabrication/assembly


|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|[http://www.amplifiersite.com/ Amplifier types] <br>
|Dick's website about the most common amplifier types. Links to other sites are provided as well.



|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Blog
*Wiki
|[http://jeffrey.co.in/ Jeffrey's Website] <br> [http://jeffrey.co.in/blog Jeffrey's Blog ] <br> [http://jeffrey.co.in/wiki Jay Free Wiki for tutorials]
|Jeffrey's website for Open Hardware and Free Software. Find a lot on electronics tutorials, open hardware, GNU/Linux...



|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://samthetechie.blogspot.com/ Tech Blog]
|
Occasional updates regarding the development of my final year electronic engineering project: Very Low Power Wireless Sensor Networks.
The MCU for the project is an MSP430 (by TI) and the wireless module is made by Nordic. Also, I may post random findings from modding/hacking hardware and general circuit design.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://www.neufeld.newton.ks.us/electronics/ Keith’s Electronics Blog]
|
[[russ_hensel]] I do not like blogs much, too much look at me, not enough content ( IMHO ) but this seems very good.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://blog.screamingcircuits.com/ Screaming Circuits]
|
Lots of tips on PCB design (and how things so often go wrong).

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
*WebSite
|
[http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/ The CircuitCalculator.com Blog]
|
Several online JavaScript calculators relevant to PCB design

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
*WebSite
|[http://www.ladyada.net/rant/ Ladyada’s Ranting]
|Well worth checking out, build some of her stuff and go to prison?

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://blog.makezine.com/archive/open_source_hardware/ Blog Archive of Open Source Hardware]
|From the folks at Make


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
*Wiki
|[http://www.nycresistor.com/ NYCResistor Blog] <br> [http://wiki.nycresistor.com/wiki/Main_Page NYCResistor Wiki]
|NYCResistor is a hacker space based in NYC.

|-valign="top"
|
*Forum
*WebSite
|[http://forum.diyaudiotr.com/ DIY Audio Türkiye Forum] <br> [http://www.diyaudiotr.com/ DIY Audio Türkiye]
|Turkish DIY Audio community website has great forum and projects.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://www.roboops.es/ BoOpS’s Electronics & Robotics Blog]
|
Personal blog of a Spanish Student give schematics and code of her projects.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Forum
*Gallery
*Blog
|[http://diyAudioProjects.com/ DIY Audio Projects] <br> [http://www.diyAudioProjects.com/Forum/ DIY Audio Forum] <br> [http://www.diyAudioProjects.com/Gallery/ DIY Audio Photo Gallery] <br> [http://www.diyaudioprojects.blogspot.com/ DIY Audio Blog]
|DIY Audio Projects community websites that feature several fully documented diy audio projects, audio schematics, a photo gallery of projects and a message forum.

|-valign="top"
|
*Wiki
|[http://amateur-radio-wiki.net/index.php?title=Main_Page Amateur Radio Wiki]
|Online Encyclopedia for Hams

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Forum
|[http://DSminded.com/community DSminded.com - Mod it. Play it. Love it.]
|Games consoles modification site with forums, downloads, tutorials etc

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Blog
|[http://www.irblaster.info/blog/2007/04/lirc-on-router.html LIRC on a Router]
|Install LIRC on a DD WRT enabled router

|-valign="top"
|
*Forum
|[http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/ All About Circuits]
|A quite active forum, plus an online book on electronics.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
*WebSite
|[http://www.circuitpeople.com CircuitPeople Gerber Viewer]<br />
[http://www.circuitpeople.com/Blog CircuitPeople Blog]
|A free gerber viewer that generates high-quality PNG images

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|[http://littlebits.cc/ littleBits]
|"littleBits, a growing library of preassembled circuitboards, made easy by tiny magnets"

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|[http://harkopen.com/ harkopen]
|"dedicated open hardware hosting"

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://timewitharduino.blogspot.com/ timewitharduino]
|Arduino projects: Wiseduino, Wise Clock, Wise4Sure etc.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://robozeal.blogspot.com Robotics INDIA: robozeal]
|
Basic electronic components.
Detailed description of the software and hardware interface to the [http://techref.massmind.org/techref/lcds.htm Hitachi controller] in most 2-line LCD displays.
Also: CELLPHONE OPERATED ROBOT.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://ph-elec.com Powerhouse Electronics]
|
Home of the Kemper LED Lamp. The Kemper LED Lamp is a small, PIC based node/lamp, that accepts RS232 commands. The commands
are used control up to four LED output channels. Each channel can be command to fade to a certain PWM output level. Best of all,
the lamps may be daisy chained together to form strings of lamps.

|-valign="top"
|

*WebSite
|[http://sites.google.com/site/plcandcircuitdiagram/home Plc and circuit diagrams]
|Some basic circuit schematics and PLC ladder diagrams.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://www.plcs.net/chapters/links.htm links to all PLC manufacturers sites]
|
Some PLC tutorials and a list of all (?) PLC manufacturers

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://limsimiteh.com/mart Limsimiteh Marketplace]
|
At Limsimiteh Marketplace, our main objective is to provide electronics components of the highest quality at the lowest cost!


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://embeddedgyan.com Embedded Gyan]
|A new blog aimed towards community actives from India in embedded domain.


|-valign="top"
|
*Website
|[http://cam.ly Cam.ly Open Source Security Cameras]
|We sell fully hackable IP security cameras that run busybox. We provide resources to help you un-brick them using U-Boot and RS-232. Cameras are wireless, have USB ports, and SD slots.



|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://voltsandbytes.com Volts and Bytes]
|Tutorials, information and open source projects


|-valign="top"
|
*Website
|[http://www.robotroom.com/New-Robot-Articles.html Robot Room Articles]
|Lots of info mostly about robots.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://tantra-jnaan.blogspot.com]
|Blog on AVR Projects, PSoC Controllers, Arduino, Aerodesign, Android, Gadgets and more !



|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
*Forum
|
[http://www.openhardwaresummit.org/ Open Hardware Summit blog]
[http://www.openhardwaresummit.org/forum/ Open Hardware Summit forum]
|
"The Open Hardware Summit ... the world’s first comprehensive conference on open hardware... the rapidly growing open source hardware movement. ... Summit sought to empower companies, large and small, to produce electronic objects in an open source fashion."
The forum discusses the Open Source Hardware (OSHW) draft definition.


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://blog.darshshah.org/ Darsh Shah's Blog]
|Blog contains tutorials, codes and and explanation about various projects involving micro-controllers and FPGA.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://ahmetalpat.com/ Elektrik Mühendisi Ahmet Alpat's Blog]
|Electrical Engineer Ahmet Alpat's professional and life experiences.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://www.theamphour.com/ The Amp Hour]
|"An off-the-cuff radio show and podcast for electronics enthusiasts and professionals"

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://www.npeducations.com/ npeducations]
|"New trails for controller tutorials and projects"
"ALL Electronics and Microcontroller circuits"

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://technocatsblog.blogspot.com/]
|Tips and design ideas for assembling a Home Theater PC and Media Center, etc.

|}

Page End

''FIXME: move wiki from this page to the [[WikiNode]].''

[[Category:Community]]

WikiNode

2020-01-13T17:08:19Z

Robkam:

Welcome to Open Circuits.

Open Circuits is a wiki for sharing electronics knowledge, schematics, board layouts, and parts libraries.

== Key Points of Interest ==
* [[Main Page]]
* [[Open_Circuits:Community_Portal]]
* [[Projects]]
** open hardware cell phone projects: [[Open Mobile Gadgets]], [[Cellular Rotary Phone]]
* [[Components]]
* [[Techniques]]

== Neighbors ==
The WikiNode project tries to link every wiki in the world together. Our "WikiNode" links to closely-related wiki (and their WikiNode links back).

If you want to talk about something that is not quite on-topic here at Open Circuits (say, "desktop PC case modding", or "embedded Linux programming"), our WikiNode helps you find another wiki where people love to talk about that exact topic. The corresponding WikiNode on each of those wiki helps people who want to talk about "open hardware" to discover this wiki.

=== Medical Electronics ===
* '''[http://openprosthetics.wikispot.org/ Open Prosthetics Project Wiki]'''
* '''[http://openwetware.org/wiki/Wikiomics:WikiNode OpenWetWare]''' - promotes "the sharing of information, know-how, and wisdom among researchers and groups who are working in biology & biological engineering."
** Some wiki pages describe "open hardware" electronic devices used as tools in those projects -- for example, [http://openwetware.org/wiki/DIYbio:Notebook/Open_Gel_Box_2.0 open-hardware gel electrophoresis chambers].
* '''[http://wiki.asiaquake.org/openeeg/published/WikiNode OpenEEG Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - discusses building an OpenEEG, safe ways to attach it to your head, and software for it. (See also [[Programmable Chip EEG]]).

=== Open Hardware Cell Phone ===

* '''[http://opencellphone.org/ TuxPhone Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2012-02-06, [http://web.archive.org/web/20120206015847/http://www.opencellphone.org/index.php?title=Main_Page Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://hbmobile.org/wiki/ Homebrew Mobile Phone Club Wiki]''' ''(offline since 2013-08-13)''
* '''[http://widgetry.org/dokuwiki/ OpenCell Wiki]'''
* '''[http://wiki.openmoko.org/ OpenMoko]''' - discusses open hardware cell phone you can buy now.
* '''[http://iphone.fiveforty.net/wiki/ http://iphone.fiveforty.net/wiki]''' ''(offline since 2014-10-26)'' - open-source software for a popular (but proprietary hardware) phone

=== Other Open Wireless Communications ===

* '''[http://amateur-radio-wiki.net/ Amateur Radio Wiki]''' - Online Encyclopedia for Hams
* '''[http://wsn.oversigma.com/ WSN, the Wireless Sensor Network Wiki]''' - discusses wireless sensor networks. (wired sensor network discussion is also tolerated :-).
* '''[http://wiki.twibright.com/ RONJA Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2008-03-02)'' - Reasonable Optical Near Joint Access, Free Space Optics device[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RONJA]. ("free technology" is the same as "open hardware", right?)
* '''[http://wiki.openwrt.org/ OpenWRT Wiki]''' - "OpenWrt is an open source project to create a free embedded operating system for network devices."
* '''[http://nfc-tools.org/ NFC Tools]''' - libnfc and other open-source projects for near-field communication (NFC).

=== Microcontrollers ===
* '''[http://gainer.cc/wiki/ The Gainer Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2009-02-10, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090210231509/http://gainer.cc/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page Internet Archive capture])'' - discusses the Cypress PSoC microcontroller
* '''[http://avrwiki.com/Tthe Atmel AVR Wiki]''' ''([http://narwhaledu.com/AVRwiki/index.php?title=AVR_Wiki moved?])'' - discusses the Atmel AVR series of microcontrollers (see also the Arduino wiki)
* '''[http://techref.massmind.org/techref/piclist/ PICList]''' - discusses the Microchip PIC series of microcontrollers
* '''[http://oase.uci.kun.nl/~mientki/wikifarm/stef/index.php PiciWiki]''' ''(offline as of 2007-03-27, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070320193453/http://oase.uci.kun.nl/~mientki/wikifarm/stef/index.php Internet Archive capture])'' - discusses the Microchip PIC series of microcontrollers
* '''[http://www.open-research.org.uk/ARMuC/WikiNode.html The ARM Microcontroller Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2012-05-13, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120513043746/http://www.open-research.org.uk/ARMuC/ Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://gnusim8085.sourceforge.net/ The GNUSim8085 Wiki]''' - for the Intel 8085 microprocessor
* '''[http://nioswiki.jot.com/ Nios Community Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2008-12-25, [https://web.archive.org/web/20081225044255/http://nioswiki.jot.com/WikiHome Internet Archive capture])'' - discusses the Nios II processor, and how to implement it on a FPGA
* '''[http://www.jopwiki.com JOP Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2013-03-15, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130315172041/http://www.jopwiki.com/ Internet Archive capture])'' - discusses the Java Optimized Processor, a simple and small Java processor optimized to execute Java bytecode, implemented in a low cost FPGA
* '''[http://wiki.opensparc.net/ the OpenSPARC Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - discussing open-source versions of the SPARC processor architecture, including implementing it in a FPGA
* '''[http://developer.axis.com/wiki/ Axis Developer Wiki]''' - discussing ETRAX CPUs and other Axis chips.
* '''[http://microchip.com/wiki/ ICwiki]''' ''(offline as of 2008-07-24, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080724165541/http://www.microchip.com/wiki Internet Archive capture])'' - the official wiki at microchip.com for Microchip PICmicro microcontrollers etc. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://propeller.wikispaces.com/ Propeller Wiki]''' - dedicated to documenting interesting stuff related to the Parallax Propeller microcontroller. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://processors.wiki.ti.com/ Texas Instruments Embedded Processors Wiki]''' - the official wiki at ti.com for discussing the MSP430 (a 16-bit, ultra-low power, mixed signal microcontroller), TI DSPs, the TI OMAP (used to run Linux in the "open source handheld" Pandora handheld game console, the [[motherboards that run Linux | Beagle Board]], and the Gumstix Overo) and other ARM-based processors, and other TI processors.

=== Computer Architecture ===

We briefly touch on computer architecture on a few Open Circuits pages.
(
[[Kestrel]],
[[Multi-purpose Embedded System]],
[[relay CPU]]
).
For far more details, see other wikis such as

* '''[http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Microprocessor_Design Microprocessor Design]''' - wikibook, a rough draft of a book
* '''[http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Computer_Architecture_Lab Computer Architecture Lab]''' - Wikiversity (focuses entirely on CPU-in-a-FPGA designs)
* '''[https://www.semipublic.comp-arch.net/wiki/ The Art of Computer Architecture]''' by Andy Glew - a rough draft of a book
* '''[http://f-cpu.seul.org/ Freedom CPU]'''

=== Vehicles, Robots, and CNC ===
* '''[http://www.reprap.org/wiki/WikiNode RepRap Wiki]''' - discusses the RepRap project to build a "Replicating Rapid-prototyper", a self-copying 3D printer. "Complete open-source instructions and plans are published on this website for zero cost and available to everyone so, if you want to make one yourself, you can."
* '''[http://evproduction.org/wiki EVProduction]''' - discusses several electric open source [[vehicle]]s.
* '''[http://openservo.com/FrontPage OpenServo Wiki]''' - developing a digital servo motor that accepts "Go to position X" commands and also more complex curves, and returns actual servo position, speed, voltage and power consumption.
* '''[http://www-robotics.usc.edu/~dshell/roboticswiki/ Robotics wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2007-07-07, [https://web.archive.org/web/20050106163726/http://www-robotics.usc.edu/~dshell/roboticswiki/ Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://pminmo.com/PMinMOwiki/index.php5 PMinMO Wiki]''' - describes an open-source CNC machine—software, electronics, motors, hardware, etc.—and related information, such as [http://pminmo.com/PMinMOwiki/index.php5?title=CNC_PCB_Milling CNC PCB milling]. (was: [http://pminmo.com/wiki/] ) ''needs WikiNode''
* '''[http://vems.hu/wiki/ VEMS Wiki]''' - has some interesting electronics projects. In particular, the [http://www.vems.hu/wiki/index.php?page=GoBox GoBox project] to tune automobile engines to minimize the amount of fuel used. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://editthis.info/JMRI JMRI Wiki]''' - tools for model railroad computer control
* '''[http://dccwiki.com/ DCCWiki]''' - "Digital Command Control", discusses computer-controlled model railroads
* '''[http://ladyada.net/wiki/ AdaWiki]''' - discusses open source benchtop tools, laser cutters, and electronics DIY/hobbyists. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://ecomodder.com/wiki/ EcoModder Wiki]''' - discusses various ways to measure and improve vehicle gas economy, including "MPGuino is an open source fuel economy computer (Arduino based) for any vehicle with electronic fuel injection and a Vehicle Speed Sensor."
* '''[http://wiki.makerbot.com/ MakerBot Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26, [https://web.archive.org/web/20140404110743/http://wiki.makerbot.com/ Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/ArduCopter ArduCopter Wiki]''' - discusses ArduiCopter, the [[Arduino]]-based autopilot for [[multi-rotor]] craft, from quadcopters to traditional helis. From the DIY Drones development team. The open-hardware electronics connects gyros, magnetometers, accelerometers, GPS reciever, RC reciever, etc., and drives 2, 4, 6, or 8 rotors in a variety of configurations to give autolevel and auto altitude control and stabilized RC control.
* '''[http://www.multiwii.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page MultiWii]''' - software to control a RC multi copter, supports various sensors but was initially developed to support Nintendo Wii console gyroscopes and accelerometers

=== Electronic Design Automation ===
* '''[http://kicad.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/WikiNode KiCad]''' ''(offline as of 2010-05-07, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100507014640/http://kicad.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/WikiNode Internet Archive capture])'' - a GPL'd suite of programs for EDA
* '''[http://kicadhowto.wikidot.com/ KiCadHowTo]''' - tutorials and other information to help you quickly become a fluent KiCad user
* '''[http://protel-users.org/ Protel Users Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2011-12-31, [https://web.archive.org/web/20111231095705/http://protel-users.org/tiki-index.php Internet Archive capture])'' - for people who design and draw schematics and circuit boards with Protel
* '''[http://wiki.geda-project.org/ gEDA Project Wiki]''' - discusses "the gEDA project"—developing a full GPL'd suite of Electronic Design Automation tools (electrical circuit design, schematic capture, simulation, prototyping, and printed circuit board (PCB) layout.
* '''[http://opencircuitdesign.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl OpenCircuitDesign]''' - the other Open Circuit Wiki, discusses mostly free tools for designing integrated circuits
* '''[http://opencomponentproject.org/wiki/WikiNode Open Component Project]''' - a shared repository of public domain symbols, footprints, and 3D component models for use in electronic design automation (EDA) software.

=== Dorkbot ===
Artists, inventors, scientists, engineers. The exciting thing to me is to learn about strange things that creative people are doing around the world, with no regard for genre, style, school of thought, area of expertise, etc. ... committed to the idea of "availability over promotion", meaning their main concern is to help things exist, rather than making hits or selling lots of copies.

* '''[http://projects.dorkbot.org/dorkbot-wiki Dorkbot Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110227202334/http://projects.dorkbot.org/dorkbot-wiki Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://dorkbotpdx.org/ DorkbotPDX]''' - people doing strange things with electricity in Portland
* '''[http://dorkbotlondon.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page DorkBotLondon]''' - in London
* '''[http://dorkbot.noodlefactory.co.uk/wiki DorkbotAlba]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26, [https://web.archive.org/web/20140105184016/http://dorkbot.noodlefactory.co.uk/wiki Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://mightyohm.com/wiki MightyOhm Wiki]''' - discusses where to get supplies and tools for working with electronics. The sysop is apparently a member of Dorkbot SF.

=== CPU ===
Various small CPU modules that have their own wiki (see also [[ARMUS Embedded Linux Board]] and other [[motherboards that run Linux]])

* '''[http://elinux.org/WikiNode eLinux]''' - information on running Linux on several small ARM-based embedded systems and Texas Instruments OMAP processors.
* '''[http://linuxrobots.org/wiki/WikiNode Linux Robots Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' robots that run Linux
* '''[http://www.balloonboard.org/WikiNode Ballonboard Wiki]''' - for the Balloon Project. They have developed a small single-board computer that can run Linux. Also discusses "The Balloon Open Hardware License (BOHL) ... The license is intended as a general purpose open hardware license".
* 2 Gumstix wiki: (Gumstix are [[motherboards that run Linux#Gumstix]]. Gumstix expansion board schematics and layouts open hardware -- published under a creative commons licence. )
* '''[http://wiki.gumstix.org/index.php?title=Main_Page Gumstix User Wiki]''' - "Gumstix users can share their knowledge, showcase their Gumstix-based projects, and pass on links to other sources of information and materials." ''needs wikinode''
** [http://docwiki.gumstix.org/ Gumstix DocsWiki]
* '''[http://virtualcogs.com/wiki/ Virtual Cogs Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2008-11-10, [https://web.archive.org/web/20081110100543/http://www.virtualcogs.com/ Internet Archive capture])'' - describes a CPU board that uses a stacking connector system.
* '''[http://wiki.emqbit.com/wiki emQbit Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2011-07-29, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721192428/http://wiki.emqbit.com/wiki Internet Archive capture])'' - "The Free ECB_AT91 V1 is a Single Board Computer made by emQbit. You can download the specs and build your own." based on a 180 MHz ARM9 processor (Atmel AT91RM9200); runs Linux.
* '''[https://code.google.com/p/beagleboard/ BeagleBoard Wiki]''' - The BeagleBoard runs Linux. The [http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:Main_Page embedded Linux wiki also discusses BeagleBoard].
* '''[http://arduino.cc/playground/ Arduino Playground]''' - discusses the Arduino board based on the Atmel AVR ATmega168. (See also the Atmel AVR wiki).
* '''[http://wiki.elphel.com/ ElphelWiki]''' - discusses the free software and open hardware inside [[Elphel camera]]s. That hardware includes a FPGA that handles video processing and video compression, and a ETRAX FS processor that runs Linux.
* '''[http://wiki.leaflabs.com/ LeafLabs Wiki]''' - discusses the Maple, a [[Arduino Links | Arduino]]-compatible board that uses an [[ARM]] processor, and other stuff from [[LeafLabs]]. ''needs WikiNode''

=== Related Wikis ===
* '''[https://simpleelectronics.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page Simple Electronics Wiki]''', information and reference for learning about elementary electronics up to radio amateur level.
* '''[http://publiclab.org/wiki The Public Lab Wiki]''' "At Public Lab, we all collaborate to invent and improve open source environmental science tools." Many of those tools -- [http://publiclab.org/wiki/spectrometer an open-source spectrometer], the [http://publiclab.org/wiki/riffle RIFFLE], the [http://publiclab.org/wiki/coqui Coqui], and etc. -- are open-hardware electronics. The Public Lab Wiki [http://publiclab.org/licenses Licenses] page discusses open-source hardware and software licenses.
* '''[http://opensource.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Open Source Wikia]''' - For open source software (or open source in general)
* '''[http://linksprite.com/wiki/ Linksprite wiki]''' has many open source products and open source projects.
* '''[http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/ Rockbox Wiki]''' - an open source firmware for mp3 players, written from scratch. It runs on a wide range of players. It nicely complements the [[Music Player]] hardware we discuss here.
* '''[http://adciv.org/ Advanced Civilization Wiki]''' - discusses "Open collaborative design", which seems to include the sort of [[open hardware]] designs we share at Open Circuits.
* '''[http://electronicschat.org/ Electronics Chat Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2012-05-14, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120514050005/http://electronicschat.org/index.php/Main_Page Internet Archive capture])''
* '''[http://hcvl.hci.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/openEyeswiki/index.cgi openEyes]''' ''(offline as of 2007-07-28, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070728024738/http://hcvl.hci.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/openEyeswiki/index.cgi Internet Archive capture])'' - discusses an open-source open-hardware toolkit for low-cost real-time eye tracking.
* '''[http://communitywiki.org/odd/ComputerComponent/WikiNode Computer Component Wiki]''' - "for computer and electronics enthusiasts to learn and contribute to an online database of computer hardware and electronics with an emphasis on how-to guides."
* '''[http://hardwiki.com/ Hard Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2006-12-18, [https://web.archive.org/web/20060423050210/http://www.hardwiki.com/index.php/Main_Page Internet Archive capture])'' - ''needs wiki-node''
* '''[http://nslu2-linux.org/ NSLU2-Linux]''' - seems to do a lot of wiring and soldering. ''needs wiki-node''
* '''[http://wikidevices.org/ Wiki Devices]''' ''(offline as of 2007-06-30)'' - "a highly organized repository for objective information, as well as opinions on consumer electronics."
* '''[http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Main_Page Build Your Own Arcade Controls Wiki]''' - "building or buying authentic arcade controls and connecting them to your computer to play arcade style games with real arcade controls instead of a keyboard or mouse"
* '''[http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Embedded_Systems Embedded Systems]''' - wikibook
* '''[http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Practical_Electronics/PCB_Layout Practical Electronics]''' - wikibook
* '''[http://sensorwiki.org/ SensorWiki]''' - "a thorough review of the main types of sensing technologies used in musical applications"
* '''[http://linuxtv.org/wiki/ LinuxTVWiki]''' - occasionally has some chip-level information, such as the [http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/I2c_Protocol I2C protocol] and [http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/BT878 sampling analog data at 16 bits and 448000 Samples per second with a BT878 chip]
* '''[http://howto.wikia.com/wiki/WikiNode How To Wikia]''' - occasionally has electronic projects such as <s>[http://howto.wikia.com/wiki/Howto_build_an_ultra_low_power_clock_with_a_large_period Howto build an ultra low power clock with a large period]</s> ''(deleted)''
* '''[http://wiki.opengraphics.org/ Open Graphics Project]''' - developing graphics cards with fully published specs and open source drivers. Since the first version will be a FPGA, is also collecting information on FPGA programming and interfacing. Supported by [http://traversaltech.com/ Traversal Technology]. (''was at http://wiki.duskglow.com/ '')
* '''[http://wikihost.org/wikis/openhardware/ Open Hardware Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2008-09-27, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080821125847/http://wikihost.org/wikis/openhardware/ Internet Archive capture])'' - has electronics projects of various levels of complexity; the most complicated appears to be "KAD", a FPGA on a PCI card designed for reconfigurable computing.

* '''[http://openjtag.net/ OpenJTAG Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)''
* '''[http://analogwiki.com/ The Analog Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - "The Wiki for Design & Verification Engineers by Design & Verification Engineers."
* '''[http://hardwarebook.info/ The Hardware Book]''' - Internet's largest free collection of connector pinouts and cable descriptions. ''needs WikiNode''
* '''[https://isl.ncsa.uiuc.edu/twiki/bin/view/OpenFPGA OpenFPGA Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - ''needs WikiNode''
* '''[https://devel.goto10.org/packets/wiki/CATkit CATkit Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - CATkit is an open hardware project designed as a standalone interactive Forth computer for audio sound artists. (Based on Microchip PIC 18F).
* '''[http://openbios.org/ OpenBIOS]''' - discusses several free and open source implementations of IEEE 1275-1994 (also called "Open Firmware"). Open Firmware allows expansion cards to provide a "boot ROM" that works all common platforms, like x86, AMD64, PowerPC, ARM and Mips.
* '''[http://obook.info/ OpenBook Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - discusses OpenBook, an open source hardware and software project designing a computer tablet ... Everyone can contribute and help to shape the OpenBook hardware and software specifications.
* '''[https://events.ccc.de/camp/2007/ Chaos Communication Camp 2007]'''
* '''[http://tubeopedia.com/ Tubeopedia.com]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - discusses vacuum tube technology and science, circuits, theory, people and equipment related to vacuum tubes
* '''[http://wiki.linux1394.org/ Linux1394 Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - discusses FireWire on Linux and related device drivers, tools, libraries, and hardware. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://rfidguardian.org/ RFID Guardian]''' - discusses an open hardware project designed to guard privacy. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://electronics.wikia.com/ Wikitronics]''' - ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://www.sdiy.info SDIY Wiki]''' - for learning and sharing knowledge about making, modifying, or repairing electronic musical instruments and related equipment.
* '''[http://wiki.orbswarm.com/ OrbSWARM]''' - a wiki for an open hardware group that build swarms of semi-autonomous spherical robots. ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://tgimboej.org/ The Great Internet Migratory Box of Electronics Junk]''' - "a progressive lending library of electronic components. An internet meme in physical form halfway between P2P zip-archive sharing and a flea market. It arrives full of wonderful (and possibly useless) components, but you will surely find some treasures to keep. You will be inspired look through your own piles, such as they are, and find more mysterious components that clearly need to be donated to the box before it is passed on again." ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://wiki.dataflow.ws DataFlow Wiki]''' - a wiki about art, new medias, electronics, interaction design, Python, PureData and other dataflow languages.
* '''[http://wockets.wikispaces.com/ Wockets]''' - a wiki about developing low-cost sensors for measuring physical activity on mobile phones.
* '''[http://www.synthesizers.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php Synthesizers.com Wiki]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - "up-to-date information about synthesizers, patches, modifications, etc." ''needs wikinode''
* '''[http://code.google.com/p/bicycleledpov/w/list Bicycleledpov]''' - A bicycle visual LED artwork
* '''[http://code.google.com/p/micropendous/ Micropendous]''' - Open Hardware Development Boards for the Atmel's Full-Speed (12Mbit/s) USB AVR Microcontrollers (AT90USB162, ATmega32U4, AT90USB646, AT90USB1287)
* '''[https://noisebridge.net/wiki/Noisebridge Noisebridge]''' - Noisebridge is an infrastructure provider for technical-creative projects, collaboratively run by its members
* '''[http://de.wikiants.org/WikiNode Wikiants do-it-yourself (in German)]''' ''(offline as of 2014-10-26)'' - has a section on [http://de.wikiants.org/Kategorie:Open_Hardware Wikiants: open hardware].
* '''[http://qi-hardware.com/ Qi-Hardware]''' - Qi's mission is to promote and encourage the development of copyleft hardware.

----

Please add closely-related wikis. Keep the 7 or so of the most-closely-related wikis.
Move less-relevant wikis to [http://wikiindex.org WikiIndex].

''Are any of the wikis listed at http://www.communitywiki.org/odd/SoftwareBazaar/MicrocontrollerProgramming relevant enough to list here?''

[[category: community]]

User:Robkam

2019-07-05T12:04:10Z

Robkam: Created page with "__NOINDEX__ I have a small wiki at [http://www.sdiy.info sdiy.info], about DIY music electronics."

__NOINDEX__
I have a small wiki at [http://www.sdiy.info sdiy.info], about DIY music electronics.

Basic Circuit Building Blocks

2019-07-05T11:42:35Z

Robkam: rm Pull Down and Switch images from rectifier paras

These are circuits and parts of circuits that we see over and over again in larger projects. Understanding a complex circuit is much easier if you understand these building blocks.

Operational amplifier are the basis for many circuit building blocks especially in the range of DC to 1 meg Hz. See [[OpAmp Links]].

== Introduction and Page Status.... ==
( Some of schematics have been drawn in Eagle and the screen captured, use other methods if you wish. Feel free to add your own circuits, as long as they are basic building blocks, there are lots of other places for project circuits. If you get into more advanced circuits, give them their own page and link to them. Some entries are not complete, if the explanation of the circuit does not match the diagram that is a good tip off. )
<br>
To Do
* Why not put alpha order?
* work on external links

More circuits that would be good to add

*AC Coupling Capacitor / High Pass Filter
*Battery Lamp and Switch
*Diode Rectifier

[http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=32697 Current rating and full wave rectification]
*LM35 Temperature Sensor
*555 Timer astable oscillator
*[[current mirror]]
**Transistor Current Mirror
*charge pump
*diode for forward drop bias voltage
*diode logical or
*H Bridge

An H bridge is an electronic circuit that causes current to flow in one direction or the other ( from a singel ended power supply ). Often used for motor control [[motor driver]].
It is an electronic double pole double throw switch.
**[http://code.rancidbacon.com/Electronics] See Section on ''H-Bridge''
**[http://roko.ca/robotics/h-bridge-fundamentals H-Bridge Fundamentals]
*integrator
*diode full wave bridge
*RC timer
*RF Mixers
*diode rounding circuit
*row and collumn connection
*sample and hold http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sample_and_hold
*Simple Oscillator circuits
*transformer
*voltage multiplier and voltage doubler

*[[Colpitts Oscillator]]

Links to basic circuits:

*[http://electricalengineeringforbeginners.blogspot.com/ Donny's Learn Electrical Engineering for Beginners]
*[http://webpages.ursinus.edu/lriley/ref/circuits/circuits.html DC/AC Circuit Reference]
*[http://www.educypedia.be/electronics/analogdiode.htm Educypedia] A web site of links. Lots of material.



== Amplifiers ==
An amplifier is any circuit which has a larger output than input, typically either larger voltage or larger current, or both. Generally larger power out than in. Several of the circuits here are amplifiers, but as these are only basic circuit, many types of amplifiers are omitted here.

See the sections on: Op amp Non Inverting Amplifier, Op amp Unity Gain Buffer ....

*[http://www.amplifiersite.com/ AmplifierSite.com]
*[http://electronicdesign.com/Portals/0/TI_Wp_AudioGuide_Aug2011.pdf Guide to a lot of amplifier and other audio circuits]

== Current Sense Resistor ( Shunt Resistance ) ==

A current Sense Resistor is a low value of resistor that is placed in series with some other circuit. We can then measure the voltage across the resistor to compute the current. If the resistor has a low value compared to other components we can ignore the effect on the circuit. We use the word shunt when the voltage is measured by a device that has a fairly low resistance itself. We then have to do a more careful calculation of how the current is shared by the two devices.

Circuit:
[[Image:shunt.png | Shunt Resistance ]]

Where
*R shunt resistor used to sense the current ( and divert it from the meter ). Usually much less in value than the internal resistance of the meter.
*METER meter or other device used to measure the voltage across the shunt resitor. Often the resistance of the meter is ignored ( if high ).
*BATTERY a battery or other voltage source.
*BULB an incandescent light bulb

Discussion:

In the old days a sensitive meter, say 50 mv full scale, would be used with a set of shunt, some looking like metal bars, to measure a wide range of currents, up to and exceeding 50 amps. Sometimes a meter came with a set of shunts for measuring different currents. See links. A completely different way to measure currents is to use a hall effect sensor.

Links to More information:
#[http://www.scienceshareware.com/bg-current-monitoring.htm Scienceshareware.com's How A Precision Resistor Is Used to Measure / Calculate Current and Power in an Electrical Circuit.]
#[http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm/appnote_number/746/ High-Side Current-Sense Measurement: Circuits and Principles]
#[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shunt_(electrical) Shunt (electrical) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
* Other ways to measure current: [[Motor_driver#current_sense]]

== Current Limit or Constant Current ( Transistor Based ) ==

This is a modification of the emitter follower to limit the current output. So if your output stage is an emitter follower you can add current limiting to it. Or given enough input drive, say from a voltage divider it will act as a constant current source.

Circuit:
[[Image:cc_limit.png |thumb|450px| Current Limit or Constant Current ]]

Where
*R1 base resistor to limit base current to transistor Q1.
*R2 current sense resistor used to sense the current and turn on transistor Q2.
*Q1 main transistor supplying the load current.
*Q2 current limiting transistor.

Discussion:

The idea here is that R2 is a current sense resistor. When the sense voltage across R2 reaches about .7 ( for silicon transistors ) Q2 begins to conduct and diverts the base drive from Q1 cutting its output current. So the max. current from the circuit is reached when I*R2 = .7. This circuit can be used to protect amplifiers ( including push pull amps. ), power supplies and other circuits; or it can be used as a constant current circuit. It is not a precision circuit, but it is cheap, simple, and effective circuit.

More information:
#[http://freecircuitdiagram.com/2008/08/27/variable-adjustable-current-limiter-circuit/ Variable (Adjustable) Current Limiter Circuit ] This is a bit more complicated version using a transistor to drive a darlington transistor, with the limit being adjustable.
#[http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=32709 Current Source for Resistance Measurement]
#[http://powerampdesign.net/images/AN-12_The_Problem_with_Current_Limit.pdf The Problem with Current Limit] Discusses this circuit as applied to a power amplifier.
#[http://www.instructables.com/id/Constant-current-LED-Tester/ Constant current LED-Tester] Simple application of the circuit as an LED tester.

== Filter Capacitor / Decoupling Capacitor / Low Pass Filter ==
Circuit:
[[Image:filtercap.png | Filter Capacitor ]]

Where
*D2 is a diode, it lets current pass only in the direction of the arrow.
*R resistor
*Input a source of alternating current ( occasionally DC in which case the whole circuit serves only to protect against a reverse connection.
C1 the first, main, filter capacitor.
C2 the second filter capacitor.

Discussion:
In this circuit C1 is a classic filter capacitor it charges while the diode conducts, it discharges and supplies current when the diode does not. R and C2 are a second stage filter. With R set to 0, it simply adds to the value of C1. With R in the circuit it forms a low pass filter which helps remove the ripple from the power ( at the cost of some voltage drop ). In the old days R would often be a low value inductor which had a similar effect without the voltage drop. A capacitor alone is often put across a circuit component that uses power to supply bursts of current and stop noise from being propagated through the power supply.

The amount of ripple in a simple circuit like this can be determined from the supply frequency voltage, output current, and the capacitance. The amount of time without any input voltage is 1/2f. Given an output current I, the charge transferred is is I/2f. The voltage sag is then just the charge divided by the capacitance, or I/2fC. An inductor added to this circuit will compensate for voltage sag by inducing a voltage if the current starts to drop.



== High Side Switch ==

This circuit switches a load at the high side away from ground. With a simple switch it is easy, just wire the switch into the high side. Using transistors is not so easy. There are integrated circuits that make it easy again. But this is not a basic circuit. Contrast with [http://opencircuits.com/Basic_Circuits_and_Circuit_Building_Blocks#Transistor_Low_Side_Switch Transistor Low Side Switch]

== Light Emitting Diode ( with current limiting resistor ) ==

Use this circuit to light low power LEDs

A light emitting diode can be very sensitive to small voltage changes, just a bit too much voltage and the LED will draw too much current and “burn out”. Thus it is often used with a resistor in series. If we have a 5 volt source of voltage and an LED that is specified for 2.5 volts at 10 ma, then the resistor must have ( 5 – 2.5 ) volts = 2.5 volts and 10 ma. Using ohms law 2.5/10 x 10 ee-3 = 250 ohms.

A transistor low or high side switch can be used with the resistor if your input cannot supply enough current for the LED.

Circuit:
[[Image:ledres.jpg | LED and current limiting resistor ]]

Where
*LED the LED
*R_LED the current limiting resistor
*INPUT voltage source for lighting the LED

More information:
*[http://www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/mar97/basics.html Very Basic Circuits ]
*[http://www.iguanalabs.com/1stled.htm Learning About Transistors and LEDs ]
*[http://quantsuff.com/index.htm WELCOME TO QUANTSUFF'S CIRCUIT PAGE. Low Voltage, high-efficiency Drivers for LED Lights ]
*[http://www.dnatechindia.com/index.php/Tutorials/8051-Tutorial/LED-Interfacing.html Interfacing LED to 8051 Microcontroller]
*[http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/throw Some thoughts on throwies] interesting notes on the resistor normally used with an LED.

== Op Amp Non Inverting Amplifier ==
Use this circuit where the signal you have is not as large as you want, or cannot provide enough current. It is called non inverting because a positive input produces a positive output ( An inverting amplifier produces a negative output when given a positive input ).

Circuit:
[[Image:opamp_nia.png | Op amp Non Inverting Amplifier ]]

Where
*R1 resistor 1 or any other 2 terminal component, capacitor, inductor, diode....
*R2 resistor 2 or any other 2 terminal component.....
OPAMPA Any general purpose op amp, often connected to + and - power supplies

Discussion:
Gain is = ( R1/R2 ) + 1

More Information:
*[[OpAmp Links]]


== Op Amp Precision Rectifier ==
Draft - Incomplete Use this circuit where you wish to get very accurate rectification. Precision means that most of the usual forward voltage drop of a diode circuit goes away. Results look good down into the mv range.

Circuit:
[[Image:opamp_pr.png | Op Amp Precision Rectifier ]]

Where
*D1 Diode....
*R2 resistor 2 or any other 2 terminal component.....
OPAMPA Any general purpose op amp, often connected to + and - power supplies

Discussion:
more comming

Th

More Information:
*[[OpAmp Links]]
*[http://sound.westhost.com/appnotes/an001.htm Precision Rectifiers Rod Elliott (ESP)]



== Op amp Unity Gain Buffer ==

Use this circuit when you have a signal of high impedance ( can supply only a little current ) that you want to connect to another circuit that draws a significant current ( up to about 10 ma for the typical op amp. ). For example if you wish to measure the output of a voltage divider with a 0 to 1 ma meter a unity gain buffer might be just what you need. This circuit is also know as a voltage follower.

The unity gain buffer has an output voltage just the same as the input voltage. The advantage is that the input circuit does not “feel” the output. That is the input acts pretty much like a very large resistor ( many mega ohms or more ) connected to ground, and the output supplies whatever current ( up to about 10 ma ) is necessary to maintain the output voltage. Here is the circuit:

Circuit:

[[Image:opamp_ugb.png | Op Amp Unity Gain Buffer ]]

Where
*INPUT the input signal you wish to buffer
*RIN the input resistor, often 0 ohms.
*OPAMPA Any general purpose op amp, often connected to + and - power supplies
*RFB the feed back resistor
*OUTPUT the output

Discussion:
The values of RIN and RFB are not very critical and are normally 0 ohms, just a straight connection. The op amp here is a quad or 4 op amp part, we are using just one section of it. Power needs to be supplied to pin 8 and 4 in the usual way for op amps.
This circuit uses very large feedback (unity) and for this reason has poor stability margins. This may cause the output to go into oscillations when connected to certain loads (typically capacitive). Check the datasheet of individual opamps for details and remedies.

More information:
*[[OpAmp Links]]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffer_amplifier Buffer amplifier From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
*[http://www.bcae1.com/opamp.htm Operational Amplifiers]
*[http://www.eecs.tufts.edu/~dsculley/tutorial/opamps/opamps5.html Op-Amp Buffer]



== Parallel Circuit ==
In a parallel circuit the current divides and some flows through each component . The key to these circuits is that the voltage is the same in every element of the circuit and the total of the current through each of the components adds up to the total current from the battery. When you use a current meter it is always placed in series with the part of the circuit where you wish to measure the current.

Circuit:
[[Image:parallel.png | Parallel Circuit ]]

Where
*R1 resistor 1 or any other 2 terminal component, capacitor, inductor, diode....
*R2 resistor 2 or any other 2 terminal component.....
*BATTERY a battery or other voltage source

Discussion:

I you have a lot of components that use the same voltage put them in parallel. This is how most lights in a house are wired. Each individual light can be turned on and off without changing the current or voltage in the other lights. With a bit of math you can show that the two resistors act like one resistor of value R = R1 + R2 /( R1 * R2 ). When you need a resistor of a different value than you have you can sometimes “make it up” using a parallel connection of resistors you do have. Two identical resistors in parallel are equivalent to one of half the resistance. A parallel circuit can have more than 2 resistors, there can be 3, 4, ... You can find out more about parallel circuits in the references. This circuit should be contrasted with the Series Circuit. Parallel circuits can also be used with other components, the equations vary, for capicators the capacitances add in a parallel circuit.

More information:
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_circuit Series and parallel circuits From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]


== Pull Up and Switch ==

Use this circuit when you want to feed a user input to a digital circuit, for example a PIC input pin.

A pull up is a fairly high value resistor (say 1 to 100 K ohms) that is connected to the positive side of the power supply. This makes the other end of the resistor the same voltage as the power supply (as long as it is connected to a high impedance). The other end of the resistor is connected to a switch that is then connected to ground. When the switch is connected current flow through the resistor drops the entire power supply voltage and the input voltage for the circuit is now 0 (sometimes called active low, since when the switch is active the output is low). Note that a pull up ( just the resistor to V+ ) might be considered a basic circuit by itself. Pull up is sometimes used without the switch to keep a signal high all the time. It can also be connected to any other circuit or component that has ( sometimes ) a much lower impedance than the pull up and can thus force the voltage low.

Circuit:

[[Image:pus.png | Pull Up and Switch ]]

Where
*PUSH_BUTTON_SWITCH is a push button switch
*R_PULLUP is the pull up resistor
*VPLUS_VDD is the power supply voltage

More information:
*[http://www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/mar97/basics.html Very Basic Circuits]
*[http://www.dnatechindia.com/index.php/Tutorials/8051-Tutorial/Switch-Interfacing.html Interfacing Switch to Microcontroller]
*[http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/07/ask_make_pull-up_resistor.html Ask MAKE: Pull-up resistor]

Debouncing Discussion:

We have two groups of solution: Hardware Debouncing Circuit and Software Debouncing Driver

Hardware Debouncing Circuit:

[[Image:Pus_debouncing.PNG | Pull Up and Switch with debouncing ]]
with [http://chungyan5.no-ip.org/open_data/electronic_computer/ui/key_with_debouncing geda circuit], and [http://chungyan5.no-ip.org/open_data/electronic_computer/eda/geda/libs symbols]
*Advantage - Do not occupy the CPU processing power for debouncing, lets CPU to handle more other application task(s)
*Disadvantage - we need to implement the above hardware circuit inside the project

Software Debouncing Driver:
*Advantage - Saving cost & space for nothing debouncing circuit
*Disadvantage - Utilize CPU processing power for debouncing, less time for CPU to handle other application process

===ToDo===
*Software Debouncing Driver
**compile time parameters:
***time delay between each sample
***no. of sample - until all samples
**different type of switches, may be have different above compile time parameters
**API to OS or GUI



== Pull Down and Switch ==
Use this circuit when you want to feed a user input to a digital circuit, for example a PIC input pin. ( like the Pull Up and Switch )

Essentially a Pull Up and Switch "upside down". A pull down is a fairly high value resistor (say 1 to 100 K ohms) that is connected to the ground side of the power supply. This makes the other end of the resistor ground as well. (as long as it is connected to a high impedance). The other end of the resistor is connected to a switch that is then connected to positive side of the power supply. When the switch is connected current flow through the resistor raises the voltage to the digital circuit to entire power supply voltage the input is now 1 (sometimes called active high, since when the switch is active the output is high ). Pull down is sometimes used without the switch to keep a signal low all the time.

Circuit:
[[Image:pds.png | Pull Down and Switch ]]

Where
*R_PULLDOWN resistor which normally keeps the output low ( ground ).
*PUSH_BUTTON_SWITCH switch to make the output high
*VPLUS_VDD a battery or other voltage source

Discussion:
Just a variation on the Pull Up and Switch.

Links:

* [http://roguescience.org/wordpress/?page_id=11 Roguescience Arduino Tutorials 4.2 Pull-up/down resistors, debouncing]




== Rectifier - Power ==
this is a stubb, almost no useful content

Use this circuit when you want to convert AC to DC at significant current in order to provide DC power to another circuit component, it can be also used as a very low precision "precision rectifier". Basically similar circuits are sometimes used as demodulators for AM signals.

Discussion:

There are many variations of this circuit, sometimes in combination with center tapped transformers, sometimes with multiple diodes ( as in bridge circuits ).



== Rectifier - Signal and Absolute Vaue Circuit ==
this is a stubb, almost no useful content

Use this circuit when you want to know the peak voltage of an AC of time varying DC voltage of just its absolute value. It typically differes from a power rectifier in that the circuit needs
its own source of power, it does not pass thru the power of the input voltage, it also differes in that the typical voltage drop of the power diode ( in the range of .5 to 2 volts ) is largely eliminated. This is a signal processing circuit.

Discussion:
There are a ton of ways to do this a common way is to include a diode with a forward voltage drop in the feedback loop of an operational amplifier. There are lots of circuits that can be used, see links for discussion of different circuits and there advantages and dis.

Links:

* [http://www.analog.com/library/analogDialogue/archives/44-04/absolute.html More Value from Your Absolute Value Circuit—Difference Amplifier Enables Low-Power, High-Performance Absolute Value Circuit]
* [http://www.ti.com/lit/an/sboa068/sboa068.pdf PRECISION ABSOLUTE VALUE CIRCUITS By David Jones (520) 746-7696, and Mark Stitt]
* [http://i.stack.imgur.com/kUIO3.jpg Images]



== Relay with Diode Snubber ==

Sometimes you will want to switch an external device on and off with a device that can only source a small amount of current (a microcontroller for example). For this you will need a relay. A relay is a mechanical device with a electromagnetic coil and a metal switch. When the coil is energized, the metal switch will move, completing the circuit.

An inductive element, like the relay coil, is likely to generate an undesired voltage when the current is suddenly stopped. Use a diode (snubber) to dissipate the extra voltage.

The diode is connected in reverse from the normal voltage across the inductor, when the voltage is removed the collapsing field can continue to drive current through the diode without generating a high voltage.

Circuit:
[[Image:diodesnubber.png | Diode snubbber ]]

Discussion:

We are assuming in this circuit that the input does not have enough output to drive the relay directly so we are using a transistor low side switch to increase the drive { see '''Low Side Switch''' on this page ). In the circuit shown, the "input" will come directly from the small current source device (microcontroller output pin). The resistor must be sized correctly, along with the NPN transistor DC current gain, to ensure sufficient current passes through the relay coil to activate it.

Other inductors that might use a diode snubber are transformers, solenoids, dc motors, and of course straight ahead inductors.

More information:

*[[Relays]]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_state_relay Solid state relay]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/snubber "snubber" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/flyback_diode "flyback diode" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relay "relay" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
*[http://www.dnatechindia.com/index.php/Tutorials/8051-Tutorial/Relay-Interfacing.html Microcontroller] relay interfacing example.

== Three Terminal Regulator ==

Use when you need a regulated voltage and or short circuit protection.

Most circuits run better if the primary power source is a constant fixed voltage. A battery is only a poor approximation to this. Taking a battery or other voltage source ( like a wall wart plug in transformer ) and running it through a voltage regulator transforms it into a good fixed source of voltage. It also generally adds current limiting as short circuit protection. The 7805 is a very common 5 volt regulator.

Circuit:
[[Image:ttr.png | Three Terminal Regulator ]]

Discussion:

The circuit above is very basic. Practical circuits normally include filter capacitors on both the input and the output. Most regulators protect against both over temperature and over current. Regulators come in various voltages both positive and negative. They also vary in maximum current output. There are also adjustable regulators, ways of using regular regulators as adjustable ones, and ways of boosting the current output. The spec sheets often describe how to do these things. Voltage regulators “use up” a couple of volts of the input voltage, low drop out regulators have use less, cost more. It is a good idea to check the specification for any regulator you are going to use. The LM78xx ( positive ) and LM79xx ( negative ) are quite common. Most three terminal devices are "linear" they disappate the excess power in the input as heat, thus they are not very efficient. Switching regulators can be much more efficient, but are not normally 3 terminal devices ( although you and make it one by putting the entire circuit in a box with just 3 wires coming out ).

More information:
*[[Basic Voltage Regulators]]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7805 7805 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
*[http://www.tkk.fi/Misc/Electronics/circuits/psu_5v.html Simple 5V power supply for digital circuits]

== Transistor Low Side Switch ==

Use this circuit when you wish to turn a load on and off with both a low voltage and a low current. Note that neither side of the load is grounded.

A low side switch is one which switches a circuit on and off at the ground or low side of the circuit. The advantage of a low side switch is that when using a transistor as the switch the voltage to drive the transistor is itself a low voltage. It is often the easy way to drive LEDS, motors, and other high current devices from such low power devices as PIC output ports. Low side switches are popular and there are many integrated circuits for them as well as this circuit.

Circuit with switch:

[[Image:low_ss.png | Transistor Low Side Switch ]]

Circuit with transistor:

[[Image:Tran_lss.jpg | Transistor Low Side Switch ]]

Where
*LED is a low power LED
*R_LED is a current limiting resistor for the LED
*Q is a bipolar transistor
*R_1 is a current limiting resistor transistor base current
*VPLUS_VDD is the power supply for the LED

Discussion:
The voltage at the collector of the circuit should fall to a fraction of a volt when the input is high. To acomplish this:

*Compute the value of R_LED using ohms law and the specifications for the LED.
*Compute the current through the LED.
*The transistor must sink the current, it should be equal approximately to the input voltage divided by R1 times the beta of the transistor.

An example calculation would be nice, and will appear later.

This circuit is sometimes called "grounded-emitter configuration". Note that this circuit can be realized with a bipolar transistor or fet. The bipolar transistor has a lower drive voltage ( usually well under 2 volts ) the fet can easily need 10 volts of drive -- use a logic level fet to reduce the drive voltage.

Some characteristics:

*Useful ( with simple circuits and common components ) for currents from a max of a few amps and voltages of 10's of volts.
*Can be very fast, into the Mega Hz.
*Can be very cheap at the low end.
*Small, simple.
*Some integrated circuit drivers like the are basically multiple transistor low side switches.

More Information:
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor#Switches Transistor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

== Transistor High Side Switch ==

Use this circuit when you wish to turn a load on and off with a voltage at a low current. Note that low side of the load is grounded. The voltage to turn on the switch is equal to the supply voltage ( or perhaps just a bit larger )

A high side switch is one which switches a circuit on and off at the supply voltage or high side of the circuit (the high side can be negative, it is a side away from ground). The advantage of a high side switch is that the load is grounded on one side. Compared to the low side switch it needs a higher voltage to drive it, but it also eliminates one resistor of that circuit. It the voltage to drive it is available it may be the circuit of choice. It is often the easy way to drive leds motors and other high current devices from such low power devices as PIC output ports.

Here is a high side switch with a push button:

Circuit:

[[Image:high_ss.png | High Side Switch ]]

Circuit with a transistor:

[[Image:tran_hss.png | Transistor High Side Switch]]

Where
*LED is a low power LED
*R_LED is a current limiting resistor for the LED
*Q is a bipolar transistor
*VPLUS_VDD is the power supply for the LED

The voltage at the collector of the circuit should fall to a fraction of a volt when the input is high. To compute the values in the circuit:

*Compute the value of R_LED using ohms law and the specifications for the LED.
*The current to drive the circuit is approximately the current to drive the load divided by the beta of the transistor.

No resistor is needed into the base of the transistor because as the load draws current the voltage at the base will rise and limit the base current. The input voltage should be about equal to VPLUS_VDD, high compared to that needed for the low side switch.

This high side switch usually requires the base voltage of Q to be VPLUS_VDD plus the turn-on voltage of the transistor to turn all the way on. Another approach to the high side switch that requires a lower turn-on voltage is to use a PNP transistor as the switch. The base of the PNP is pulled up to VPLUS_VDD and connected to the collector of a small signal NPN transistor, Q2. Q2's emitter is connected to ground and its base is connected to the input signal through a current limiting resistor -- now the problem is that a high voltage is required to turn the switch off.

== Transistor Emitter Follower ==

Use this circuit when you have a signal of high impedance ( can supply only a little current ) that you want to connect to another circuit that draws a significant current. The circuit has no voltage gain, but because of the current gain it has a lot of power gain. It is frequently used in the final stage of an amplifier.

This circuit is a variation of the transistor high side switch. The difference is that we typically drive this circuit in a linear way ( all of the voltages between 0 and the supply voltage ) to make it a linear amplifier.

The emitter follower is also called a common collector circuit. The Emitter Follower is basically a high side switch, but when we call it an emitter follower we normally think of it as a linear ( analog ) amplifier, rather than as a switch.

Circuit:

[[Image:tef.png | Transistor Emitter Follower ]]

Where
*R_LOAD represents the resistance of the load
*Q is a npn bipolar transistor
*VPLUS_VDD is the power supply for the Load

The current to drive the circuit is approximately the current to drive the load divided by the beta of the transistor. Use a Darlington connected transistor for a very high beta.

No resistor is needed into the base of the transistor because as the load draws current the voltage at the base will rise and limit the base current.

This circuit will only amplify positive voltages, using a pnp transistor you can amplify only negative voltages. Combine the two ( see push pull amplifier ) you can amplify both positive and negative voltages.

Variation of the circuit include:

*Use of coupling capacitors to amplify ac signals.
*Various other components to bias the transistor.
*Use an op amp buffer with voltage gain at the input, then the emitter follower for high current. In this way a few Milli volts with current on the order of pico amps can drive an output of several volts at an ampere or more.

More information:

*[http://www.mines.edu/Academic/courses/physics/phgn217/lab4/lect7/sld013.htm Emitter Follower]

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_collector Common collector From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

== Transistor -- Push Pull Circuit ==

Use when you need current gain and need both positive and negative output.

A modification of the “transistor emitter follower” that can give both positive and negative outputs. Based on two transistors one npn the other pnp: one pushes the other pulls.

Circuit:
[[Image:pptrans.png | Push Pull Transistor Circuit]]

Where
*Q1 transistor 1 need not be a TIP41C but does need to be NPN
*Q2 transistor 2 need not be a TIP42C but does need to be PNP
*R_LOAD represents the load, here it is in the emitter, it could also be placed in the collector circuit
*VPLUS_VDD Power supply voltage, positive.
*VMINUS Power supply voltage, negative.

Discussion:
Often there are other components for transistor bias or other purposes. The circuit here is really basic. The common transistors used are so called complementary pairs, similar characteristics but one npn and the other pnp. Note that we need both positive and negative power supplies. You can also put the push pull circuit inside the feedback loop of an op amp to get a high current op amplifier. Push pull amplifies can also be made with other types of transistors, tubes, or other components.

More information:
*[http://www.ecircuitcenter.com/Circuits/pushpull/pushpull.htm Push-Pull Output Stage]
*[http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_6/chpt_6/10.html Class B audio amplifier]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_amplifier Electronic amplifier From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (search on Class B and AB )]

== Transistors -- Darlington connected ==

Use a Darlington transistor connection when you want really high current gain. Gain of 1000 is easily in reach. That is 1 ma to 1 amp
This is a useful connection of 2 transistors that together form a transistor of much larger gain. You can also buy Darlington transistors all packaged in a single case with just 3 connections exposed to the outside.

Circuit:
[[Image:dtrans.png | Darlington Transistor Connection ]]

Where
*Q1 transistor 1 need not be a 2N3565 but does need to be NPN
*Q2 transistor 2 need not be a 2N3565 but does need to be NPN
*R_LOAD represents the load, here it is in the emitter, it could also be placed in the collector circuit
*VPLUS_VDD Power supply voltage, positive.

Discussion:

Often Q1 is a high gain small signal transistor and Q2 a lower gain power transistor. You can use PNP transistors by using a negative power supply. Use a ULN2803 ( or similar chips ) to get 8 darlingtons in one package, useful as low side switches and in conjunction with microcontrollers.
* The above diagram shows a high side switch, but other transistor configurations can also be used.
* PNP transistors can also be used, the important point is that both transistors be of the same type.

More information:
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlington_transistor Darlington transistor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
*[http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/trancirc.htm Transistor Circuits ( search on Darlington )]
*[http://www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/electricCircuits/Semi/SEMI_4.html Lessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume III Chapter 4 BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTORS Darlington pair ( search on Darlington )]

== Transistors -- Sziklai pair ==

Similiar in use to a Darlington transistor connection when you want really high current gain. Gain of 1000 is easily in reach. That is 1 ma to 1 amp This is a useful connection of 2 transistors that together form a transistor of much larger gain. Unlike a Darlington the transistors are of opposite types. The circuit also has some other differences in detail, see the refrences.

Circuit:
[[Image:sptrans.png | Sziklai pair ]]

Where
*Q1 transistor 1 need not be a xxx but does need to be NPN
*Q2 transistor 2 need not be a xxx but does need to be PNP
*R_LOAD represents the load, here it is in the emitter, it could also be placed in the collector circuit
*VPLUS_VDD Power supply voltage, positive.

Discussion:

Often Q1 is a high gain small signal transistor and Q2 a lower gain power transistor. You can use PNP transistors by using a negative power

More information:
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sziklai_pair Sziklai pair From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

== RC Filter ==

The most basic filters are the RC-High Pass and RC-Low Pass filters. The high pass filter removes DC and low frequencies and the low pass removes high frequencies.

'''High Pass''' [[Image:rchighpass.png | RC High Pass Filter]]
'''Low Pass''' [[Image:rclowpass.png | RC Low Pass Filter]]

Both circuits have the same 3dB frequency or the frequency at which the power of the signal is aproximately halved.

<math>
f_\mathrm{c} = {1 \over 2 \pi \tau } = {1 \over 2 \pi R C}
</math>

The way to remember the two circuits is to think about how the capacitor acts at various signal frequencies. At high frequencies capacitors act like wires. At low frequencies capacitors act like disconnections.

An important use of low pass filters is for the anti-aliasing circuity on the input of an A/D converter or the output of a D/A converter. An important use of a high pass filter is to remove the DC offset of a signal. For example, it's possible to use a power supply that is +5 to GND to generate a sin from a D/A converter and use a high pass filter to change the sin to a +2.5 to -2.5 signal at the output.

More information:
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-pass_filter Low Pass Filter]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-pass_filter High Pass Filter]
*[http://www.tonnesoftware.com/elsie.html The Windows ® program for electrical filter design and network analysis]

== Series Circuit ==

In a series circuit the current first flows through one component then another and so on. The key to these circuits is that the current is the same in every element of the circuit and the total of the voltage across each of the components adds up to the voltage of the battery. A current meter is always in series with the part of the circuit whose current is being measured.

Circuit:
[[Image:series.png | Series Circuit ]]

Where
*R1 resistor 1 or any other 2 terminal component, capacitor, inductor, diode....
*R2 resistor 2 or any other 2 terminal component.....
*BAT a battery or other voltage source

I you have a lot of components that use the same current put them in series. This is often how LEDs are connected to higher voltages; this also eliminates the need for a current limiting resistor on each LED. With a bit of math you can show that the two resistors act like one resistor of value R = R1 + R2 . When you need a resistor of a different value than you have you can sometimes “make it up” using a series connection of resistors you do have. Two identical resistors in series are equivalent to one of double the resistance. A series circuit can have more than 2 resistors, there can be 3, 4, ... You can find out more about series circuits in the references. This circuit should be contrasted with the Parallel Circuit. A voltage divider is an example of a series circuit.

More information:
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_circuit Series and parallel circuits From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]



==Seven segment LEDs==
Use these to display number to a user.

*[http://chungyan5.no-ip.org/vc/trunk/AltiumDesigner6ProjectFiles.zip?root=7segment_LEDs&view=log AltiumDesigner6ProjectFiles]
*[http://www.dnatechindia.com/index.php/Tutorials/8051-Tutorial/7-Seg-Interfacing.html Interfacing Seven Segment to Microcontroller]
i need a clear explanation about schmitt trigger and also need the operation details about that circuit...if i give the input of the schmitt trigger is 0v means what is the output of the circuit?

== Oscillators ==

[[Image:Flip-flop circuit.jpg]]
(is there a better page to discuss oscillators?)

== Power up low active reset circuit ==
Use this circuit with a microcontroller to keep it in reset for a short period of time after the power supply is turned on. Some microcontrollers like this kind of start up. Note that this is really just an application of the RC Filter, also on this page.

[[Image:power_up_low_active_reset_circuit.png]]
[[Image:pular.png]]
*[http://chungyan5.no-ip.org/open_data/electronic_computer/middleware/pwr_up_low_active_reset/ power_up_low_active_reset_circuit]
*[http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pobKDna9aVYeKjbR-Hf-OIg Result of Resistant to delay time]

== ADC Voltage Protection Circuit ==
The input to an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) has some issues that need a bit of attention.
The ADC can be damaged by input voltages that are too high or too low.
An op-amp is the best way to protect the ADC.
(Additionally, an opamp circuit can provide amplification (although this example doesn't); it can remove aliasing noise; and it drives the ADC with low impedance, which can be quite helpful).

This Sallen-Key filter is a specialization of '''Op amp Non Inverting Amplifier''' also on this page.

[[Image:Adc.png|thumb|800px|center]]
*This opamp circuit is used to
#provide a low input source resistance to the ADC
#protect ADC. Even when the input signal exceeds the supply/reference voltage (i.e. INPUT > V<sub>cc</sub>), the voltage into the ADC input pin is capped at the supply voltage.
*Requirement for the op-amp:
**The op-amp can withstand the input signal beyond the supply voltage, provided that the input current is limited to I<sub>max</sub> (e.g. [http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/opa4340.pdf OPA4340] I<sub>max</sub> = 10mA)
**To reduce noise picked up from the op-amp, use an op-amp with a low Input Voltage Noise Density (measured in nV/√Hz)

*Test conditions:
**V<sub>signal</sub> = 5V
**R1 = 8.2kohm, R2 = 15kohm, C1 = 0.1uF, C2 = 0.22uF
**Measured V+ = 3.8V
**Calculated current = (5-3.8)/23200 = 52uA < 10mA

More Information:
* [[input protection]] circuits
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sallen_Key_filter Wikipedia: "Sallen–Key topology"]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/anti-aliasing Wikipedia: "anti-aliasing"] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/anti-aliasing_filter Wikipedia: "anti-aliasing filter"]]

== Voltage Divider ==
Voltage Divider

We use a voltage divider when we have a voltage that is too big and we just want a fraction ( like 1/3 or .33 ) of it. It is like an amplifier with a gain of less than 1. We use two resistors, the output is always a constant fraction of the input voltage.

Sometimes we use a potentiometer as a voltage divider. This makes the ratio of output to input adjustable. This is how we make a gain control or volume control.

Circuit:
[[Image:vdivide.png | Voltage Divider ]]

Where
*R1 resistor 1
*R2 resistor 2
*POT a potentiometer

The ratio of input to output is: output/input = R2/( R1 + R2 ).

Discussion

The equation assumes that the input source is low impedance and the output is high impedance, if this is not true consider using a buffer on the input or the output ( Op Amp Unity Gain Buffer or Transistor Emitter Follower ) For audio applications a so called “log taper” pot may be used as it better matches the way in which we hear. If you want a calibrated control you may use a precision “10 turn precision” pot.

More information:
*[http://www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/mar97/basics.html Very Basic Circuits]
*[http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/sensors/Schematics/VoltageDivider Voltage Divider]

== Voltage Divider using a Light Dependent Resistor ==

Used to generate a voltage that depends upon light level. With the LDR on the "high side" the voltage will go up when the amount of light goes up.
You need to use a resistor in series with the light dependent resistor, this combination lets a variable current flow through the circuit. The voltage across the resistor will vary with the light brightness ( so will the voltage across the LDR, the two will total the input voltage. ) What size resistor should you use? A rule of thumb: Put the LDR in medium brightness and measure its resistance with a ohm meter. Use that value resistor then in medium light you will get 1/2 the input voltage at the output.

Circuit:

[[File:VdivideLDR.png]]

Where

*Input = 5v from power supply Vcc
*Output = signal to connect what ever addition circuit
*LDR The Light dependent resistor
*R: A resistor as described above.

== Wheatstone Bridge ==
'''Draft'''
Use this circuit when you want to measure the value of a resistor or detect a small change in resistance.

Circuit:
[[Image:wbridge.png | Wheatstone Bridge ]]

Where
*Input1 Input 1 normally + DC
*Input2 Input 2 normally - DC or ground.
*R1 Resistor 1.
*R2 Resistor 2.
*R3 Resistor 3.
*R4 Resistor 4.
*Output1 Output 1 for null reading.
*Output2 Output 2 for null reading.
*Meter Use to detect meter balance = null = 0 reading.

Discussion:

The circuit is basically two voltage dividers with the output taken across the output of each voltage divider. It is in "balance" when the output is 0. This is true when R1/R2 = R3/R4. The output traditionally went to a galvanometer a very high sensitivity meter. Input traditionally was a battery. By using calibrated resistors for R1, R2, and R3 the value of R4 may easily be calculated. The whole circuit including a wide range of precision resistors, the battery and galvanometer was all packaged in an box and sold as a unit. The same principal can be used with components other than resistors and AC for input instead of DC.

More Information:
*[http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/sensors/Schematics/WheatstoneBridge Wheatstone Bridge]
*[http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Electrical_Measurements/Capacitance_Bridge/Capacitance_Bridge.html Capacitance Bridge] This one is an antique.

== current mirror ==

(FIXME: fill in details)

[[Wikipedia: current mirror]] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_mirror

== Further Reading ==

* [http://freecircuitdiagram.com/ FreeCircuitDiagram] Lots of circuits, not always so basic, more like projects, but many are quite simple. Some but not elaborate explanation of the circuit.

== General Comments ==

''... do we need another page for not-so-basic circuits such as the Baker clamp ? ...'' I looked it up and would say it is not so basic. So perhaps [[Not So Basic Circuits]] would be a good place to put such things. What do others think? russ_hensel

More not-so-basic circuits:
[http://www.geofex.com/circuits/what_are_all_those_parts_for.htm "What are all those parts for??"] by R.G. Keen. 2002
shows a "simple" noninverting gain circuit,
and explains what all the "extra" parts do.

* Philip C. Todd. "Snubber Circuits: Theory , Design and Application". 1993. [http://www.ti.com/lit/an/slup100/slup100.pdf] has more complex snubber circuits.
* [http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/17731/choosing-components-for-a-triacs-snubber "Choosing components for a triac's snubber"] has more complex snubber circuits.

[[Category:Components]][[Category:Schematics]]

Got A Blog, Wiki or Website?

2015-05-01T07:59:11Z

Robkam:

Do you know an electronics-related wiki? Link to it on the [[WikiNode]] page.

Member of this Wiki and got a Blog or Website? Link to it on this "Got A Blog, Wiki or Website?" page:

Note that there are template enteries that can make editing easier.

At the bottom of the page is a section for non member, but member recommended sites.

== Wiki Members Links ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-valign="top"
! What
! Link
! Comment


|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/ Build Electronic Circuits]
|Learn how to build circuit boards and how to get them made professionally on a budget

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog,Tutorials,info
|
[http://micromolvi.blogspot.com micromolvi.blogspot.com]
|MicroMolvis blogs , tutorials, and electronics related info


|-valign="top"
|
*Wiki
|
[[UCLA IEEE OPS]]
| UCLA IEEE Open Project Space, in Los Angeles, California.

|-valign="top"
|
*Wiki
|
[[Tulsa electronics club]]
| The Tulsa electronics club, in Tulsa, Oklahoma

|-valign="top"
|
*Circuits
|
[http://www.555-timer-circuits.com/ 555 Timer Circuits]
| All the electronics info you need to know about the 555 Timer. With over 80 different electronic circuits that you can build.


|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Blog
*Forum
|
[http://www.chipstobits.com/ Chips To Bits]
|Open Source Software and Hardware for the Arduino, Home of the Storage Shield

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://millpcbs.com/ Millpcbs.com]
|A website dedicated to milling PCB's and the DIY machines to accomplish it.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://pminmo.com/ PMinMO.com]
|A website dedicated to DIY CNC electronics.


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://www.paleotechnologist.net Paleotechnologist.Net]
|A blog exploring ways to blend old-school and new-school technology.


|-valign="top"
|
*Circuits
*Blogs
*Forums
|
[http://www.electro-tech-online.com/ Electro Tech]
|A large community of electronics hobbyists.

|-valign="top"
|
*Forum
|
[http://www.eeweb.com/electronics-forum/ Electronics Forum]
|Forum for Electronic Enthusiasts.

|-valign="top"
|
*Jobs
|
[http://www.eeweb.com/jobs/ Electrical Engineering Jobs]
|Free Jobs Board for Electrical Engineers.

|-valign="top"
|
*Circuits
|
[http://www.free-electronic-circuits.com/ Free Electronic Circuits]
|A collection of electronic circuits.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://www.quick-teck.co.uk Quick-teck, PCB manufacture in UK]
|UK based PCB manufacturer, industry standard in low cost PCB.Guaranteed delivery date.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|[http://meaning.com/wiki/Rubisync Rubisync]
|Open Source Synchronized Magnetometers


|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://www.gadgetgangster.com Gadget Gangster]
|A site to publish and sell your electronics projects

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|[http://meaning.com/wiki/Rubisync Rubisync]
|Open Source Synchronized Magnetometers

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://www.mendingthings.com Mark's Electronics Blog]
|Electronic project blog, Arduino,OOpic,Phidgets etc.


|-valign="top"
|
* WebSite
* Blog
* Forum
* Wiki
|
[http://vtluug.org Linux and Unix Users Group at Virginia Tech]
|The Linux and Unix Users Group at Virginia Tech's membership is made up primarily of Computer and Electrical Engineering students, some of whom are contributers to this wiki. An ongoing project of theirs is to develop and document FOSS workflows that can eventually completely replace the current dependencies on PSpice, LogicWorks and MATLAB.


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://backyardsolar.blogspot.com/ Backyard Solar Power Blog]
|Solar garden fountain project and development of other low cost solar energy solutions.


|-valign="top"
|
* WebSite
|
[http://bildr.org bildr]
|A website that is rethinking the electronics DIY movement.


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://embeddedcoding.com Embedded Coding]
|Embedded systems and consumer electronics development blog by [http://AaronClarke.com Aaron Clarke]


|-valign="top"
|
* Website
|[http://www.wzmicro.com Electronics DIY Projects]
|DIY projects for stepper, DC motor and wireless remote control circuits by [http://www.wzmicro.com/projects.htm WZmicro]

|-valign="top"
|
* Website
|[http://www.arunet.co.uk/tkboyd/ele.htm Getting started]
|Electronics basics, and notes on some common useful devices

|-valign="top"
|
* Blog
|[http://www.workinprogress.ca Work in progress]
|AVR & Kicad & V-USB Tutorials


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://sailboatelectronics.blogspot.com Learning Curve Labs]
|Adventures of a marine electronics hack, outfitting a Westsail 42 sailboat,
with DIY, homebrew, open source, commercial hardware and software for: automation, sensor
networks, communications and marine navigation.
|

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://shortcircu.it/ ShortCircu.it]
|Microcontroller tutorials: PIC, Arduino, AVR. Also basic electronics.

|-valign="top"
|
* Website
|[http://sheepdogguides.com/arduino/artut.htm Arduino site from Sheepdog Guides]
|Arduino: 1) Course for beginners; 2) Collection of "How To"s, tutorials, projects

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[[File:logoPequenoNaranja.png|link=http://www.txapuzas.blogspot.com/]]

|basic microcontroller projects: Arduino, Paperduino. Homemade CNC... Also basic electronics. (Spanish)
|

|-valign="top"
|
*Website
*Blog
|
[http://www.blinkenlight.net/ Blinkenlight Experiments]
[http://blog.blinkenlight.net/blog/ Blinkenlight Blog]
|
Experiments with 20 LEDs from basic to beginner. From simple Knight Rider examples to really unexpected stuff like converting the LEDs into a rudimentary camera.
|

|-valign="top"
|
*Website
|
[http://tindie.com/ tindie]
|
Buy & sell homemade electronics. From Raspberry pi to robots.

|-valign="top"
|
*Wiki
|[http://www.sdiy.info SDIY wiki]
|Wiki for DIY electronic music related gear.

|}

== Non Members Links ==

Found a Blog or Website that is so general that it does not fit well into the structure of this site? If you think it is so good that you are willing to sign your recommendation then list it here.

{| class="wikitable"
|-valign="top"
! What
! Link
! Comment


|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|[http://upverter.com/ Upverter Electronics Design Tools]
|Online Electronics design tools, free to use for open source projects. Share and expand open projects

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Forum
|[http://www.psocdeveloper.com/forums/ PSoCDeveloper]
|Friendly electronics discussion forums from beginner to advanced level, but focused on [[Microcontroller#Cypress PSoC | Cypress PSoC devices]] (microcontroller + mixed-signal array on one chip) and closely related topics.


|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Forum
|[http://www.electronicspoint.com/ Electronics Forum]
|Friendly electronics discussion forums from beginner to advanced level. Get your questions answered here or help others with your knowledge.


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://www.eevblog.com/ Electronics Engineering Video Blog Podcast]
|I do like video blogs, but this is an exception, try it out


|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|[http://www.amplifiersite.com/ Amplifier types] <br>
|Dick's website about the most common amplifier types. Links to other sites are provided as well.



|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Blog
*Wiki
|[http://jeffrey.co.in/ Jeffrey's Website] <br> [http://jeffrey.co.in/blog Jeffrey's Blog ] <br> [http://jeffrey.co.in/wiki Jay Free Wiki for tutorials]
|Jeffrey's website for Open Hardware and Free Software. Find a lot on electronics tutorials, open hardware, GNU/Linux...



|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://samthetechie.blogspot.com/ Tech Blog]
|
Occasional updates regarding the development of my final year electronic engineering project: Very Low Power Wireless Sensor Networks.
The MCU for the project is an MSP430 (by TI) and the wireless module is made by Nordic. Also, I may post random findings from modding/hacking hardware and general circuit design.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://www.neufeld.newton.ks.us/electronics/ Keith’s Electronics Blog]
|
[[russ_hensel]] I do not like blogs much, too much look at me, not enough content ( IMHO ) but this seems very good.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://blog.screamingcircuits.com/ Screaming Circuits]
|
Lots of tips on PCB design (and how things so often go wrong).

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
*WebSite
|
[http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/ The CircuitCalculator.com Blog]
|
Several online JavaScript calculators relevant to PCB design

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
*WebSite
|[http://www.ladyada.net/rant/ Ladyada’s Ranting]
|Well worth checking out, build some of her stuff and go to prison?

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://blog.makezine.com/archive/open_source_hardware/ Blog Archive of Open Source Hardware]
|From the folks at Make


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
*Wiki
|[http://www.nycresistor.com/ NYCResistor Blog] <br> [http://wiki.nycresistor.com/wiki/Main_Page NYCResistor Wiki]
|NYCResistor is a hacker space based in NYC.

|-valign="top"
|
*Forum
*WebSite
|[http://forum.diyaudiotr.com/ DIY Audio Türkiye Forum] <br> [http://www.diyaudiotr.com/ DIY Audio Türkiye]
|Turkish DIY Audio community website has great forum and projects.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://www.roboops.es/ BoOpS’s Electronics & Robotics Blog]
|
Personal blog of a Spanish Student give schematics and code of her projects.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Forum
*Gallery
*Blog
|[http://diyAudioProjects.com/ DIY Audio Projects] <br> [http://www.diyAudioProjects.com/Forum/ DIY Audio Forum] <br> [http://www.diyAudioProjects.com/Gallery/ DIY Audio Photo Gallery] <br> [http://www.diyaudioprojects.blogspot.com/ DIY Audio Blog]
|DIY Audio Projects community websites that feature several fully documented diy audio projects, audio schematics, a photo gallery of projects and a message forum.

|-valign="top"
|
*Wiki
|[http://amateur-radio-wiki.net/index.php?title=Main_Page Amateur Radio Wiki]
|Online Encyclopedia for Hams

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Forum
|[http://DSminded.com/community DSminded.com - Mod it. Play it. Love it.]
|Games consoles modification site with forums, downloads, tutorials etc

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
*Blog
|[http://www.irblaster.info/blog/2007/04/lirc-on-router.html LIRC on a Router]
|Install LIRC on a DD WRT enabled router

|-valign="top"
|
*Forum
|[http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/ All About Circuits]
|A quite active forum, plus an online book on electronics.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
*WebSite
|[http://www.circuitpeople.com CircuitPeople Gerber Viewer]<br />
[http://www.circuitpeople.com/Blog CircuitPeople Blog]
|A free gerber viewer that generates high-quality PNG images

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
*WebSite
|[http://www.electronicwiki.com electronic-wiki]<br />
|A mix of Normal website and wiki engine that has all the information about chipdesign and semiconductor industry.
I am open for any buisness and good idea you can contact me through this website/contact page.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|[http://littlebits.cc/ littleBits]
|"littleBits, a growing library of preassembled circuitboards, made easy by tiny magnets"

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|[http://harkopen.com/ harkopen]
|"dedicated open hardware hosting"

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://timewitharduino.blogspot.com/ timewitharduino]
|Arduino projects: Wiseduino, Wise Clock, Wise4Sure etc.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|
[http://robozeal.blogspot.com Robotics INDIA: robozeal]
|
Basic electronic components.
Detailed description of the software and hardware interface to the [http://techref.massmind.org/techref/lcds.htm Hitachi controller] in most 2-line LCD displays.
Also: CELLPHONE OPERATED ROBOT.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://ph-elec.com Powerhouse Electronics]
|
Home of the Kemper LED Lamp. The Kemper LED Lamp is a small, PIC based node/lamp, that accepts RS232 commands. The commands
are used control up to four LED output channels. Each channel can be command to fade to a certain PWM output level. Best of all,
the lamps may be daisy chained together to form strings of lamps.

|-valign="top"
|

*WebSite
|[http://sites.google.com/site/plcandcircuitdiagram/home Plc and circuit diagrams]
|Some basic circuit schematics and PLC ladder diagrams.

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://www.plcs.net/chapters/links.htm links to all PLC manufacturers sites]
|
Some PLC tutorials and a list of all (?) PLC manufacturers

|-valign="top"
|
*WebSite
|
[http://limsimiteh.com/mart Limsimiteh Marketplace]
|
At Limsimiteh Marketplace, our main objective is to provide electronics components of the highest quality at the lowest cost!


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://embeddedgyan.com Embedded Gyan]
|A new blog aimed towards community actives from India in embedded domain.


|-valign="top"
|
*Website
|[http://cam.ly Cam.ly Open Source Security Cameras]
|We sell fully hackable IP security cameras that run busybox. We provide resources to help you un-brick them using U-Boot and RS-232. Cameras are wireless, have USB ports, and SD slots.



|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://voltsandbytes.com Volts and Bytes]
|Tutorials, information and open source projects


|-valign="top"
|
*Website
|[http://www.robotroom.com/New-Robot-Articles.html Robot Room Articles]
|Lots of info mostly about robots.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://tantra-jnaan.blogspot.com]
|Blog on AVR Projects, PSoC Controllers, Arduino, Aerodesign, Android, Gadgets and more !



|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
*Forum
|
[http://www.openhardwaresummit.org/ Open Hardware Summit blog]
[http://www.openhardwaresummit.org/forum/ Open Hardware Summit forum]
|
"The Open Hardware Summit ... the world’s first comprehensive conference on open hardware... the rapidly growing open source hardware movement. ... Summit sought to empower companies, large and small, to produce electronic objects in an open source fashion."
The forum discusses the Open Source Hardware (OSHW) draft definition.


|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://blog.darshshah.org/ Darsh Shah's Blog]
|Blog contains tutorials, codes and and explanation about various projects involving micro-controllers and FPGA.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://ahmetalpat.com/ Elektrik Mühendisi Ahmet Alpat's Blog]
|Electrical Engineer Ahmet Alpat's professional and life experiences.

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://www.theamphour.com/ The Amp Hour]
|"An off-the-cuff radio show and podcast for electronics enthusiasts and professionals"

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://www.npeducations.com/ npeducations]
|"New trails for controller tutorials and projects"
"ALL Electronics and Microcontroller circuits"

|-valign="top"
|
*Blog
|[http://technocatsblog.blogspot.com/]
|Tips and design ideas for assembling a Home Theater PC and Media Center, etc.

|}

Page End

''FIXME: move wiki from this page to the [[WikiNode]].''

[[Category:Community]]

OpenCircuits:Community portal

2012-11-09T23:02:46Z

Robkam:

Welcome to Open Circuits.
This is a good place to talk about Open Circuits, as a whole.

We have {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} articles now. Yay!

== Help, noob looking to get into electronics ==

I want to create an open hardware smartphone... but I don't know anything about electronics... yet...
Someone care to help? I just need to be pointed in the right direction

I'm guessing i just need to create some sort of small computer running linux??

Thanks =)

--[[User:RenatoFontes|RenatoFontes]] 00:54, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

Yes. the components for a smartphone board are really small so no one has figured out how to build one. My suggestion? Make one with a beagleboard or raspberry pi as a mainboard instead. Both boards are small and low voltage and linux which would be a great smartphone base. that is your best bet, btw it requires moderate electronics know how to rig up a touchscreen. You should get started familiarizing yourself with whatever electronics knowledge that you can find too.
-Quinn (quinn.vinlove@gmail.com)

Yes. The components for a smartphone board are really small, but lots of people have figured out how to build one -- see [[Open Mobile Gadgets]] for a list.

In particular, the Tux phone [http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/multimedia/2007/10/gallery_linux_phones?slide=5&slideView=6] [http://www.flickr.com/photos/julianbleecker/225599650/] and the more polished-looking Openmoko FreeRunner [http://openmoko.org/] [http://www.mobilegazette.com/openmoko-neo-freerunner-08x06x26.htm]
have open hardware and open software.

It's possible to build a small computer running Linux "from scratch" -- see [[motherboards that run Linux]] for some people who have done just that.
Perhaps you can use one of those smartphone hardware or other motherboard hardware as-is?
Or perhaps with a few blue-wires?
Or perhaps you could at least download the schematics and tweak the design for your new PCBs, rather than starting entirely from scratch?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 16:00, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

== Upgrade to Mediawiki 1.15.1 ==

Mediawiki has been upgraded to version 1.15.1 ([http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/mediawiki-announce/2009-July/000087.html release notes]).

Please test your favorite MediaWiki functionality and use this page to report any issues you come across.

[[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 23:57, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

== free digital TV converter box coupon ==

https://www.dtv2009.gov/

== Anti-Vandalism Bot ==

''moved to our page discussing [[Spam]].''

== electrical mailing lists ==
Yahoo claims they have
[http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Science/Engineering/Electrical 1,831 electrical engineering mailing lists].
What would be a good way of letting the people on those lists know about the Open Circuits wiki, without spamming them?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 13:30, 31 May 2006 (PDT)

* Publish cold fusion howto :-)
* Send one email/week and only once per list. And be on topic, listen carefully for responses.
[[User:Freqmax|Freqmax]] 16:24, 30 July 2007 (PDT)

== about Open Circuits ==
So, is there any connection between http://OpenCircuits.org/ , http://OpenCircuits.net/ , and this http://OpenCircuits.com/ wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 23:47, 13 June 2006 (PDT)

No. There is no connection between any of http://opencircuits.com and the other websites listed.
[[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 02:55, 18 June 2006 (PDT)
== web rings ==
Document an original microcontroller project and join a PIC webring, or AVR webring. 20 June 2006

== audio electronics ==

Is there some other wiki for people to talk about audio electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best wiki for talking about things like
''"[http://analog.com/ Analog Devices] AN-221: The Alexander current-feedback audio power amplifier"'' by Mark Alexander
?

I think I would prefer to offload all the audio electronics controversies to some other wiki
(but which one?).
Still, it would be nice to have some "tips for high-power electronics" here.
I imagine that tips page would list the various quirks of high-power MOSFETs, BJTs, TRIACs, and IGBTs,
and (given a particular motor or speaker or other load)
how to select one over the others,
and various ways of working around those quirks.
--[[User:65.70.89.241|65.70.89.241]] 07:17, 10 August 2006 (PDT)

I just joined Open Circuits. I have been servicing and designing audio equipment for several years (Recording consoles a specialty) I hope you will have a section for audio electronics. I also work with video projection systems and theatrical lighting (stage struck at an early age) I play electric rock-blues guitar, so I also am interested in tube guitar amps (Marshall and Boogie). And there is a big difference in what a guitar player thinks an amp should do, and what a recording engineer wants an amp for. I think these are valid points for discussion.
I've also got an interest in power supplies (my experience is mostly with linear, but I've started learning about switching designs). In fact that brings me to my question, I have some regulator designs based on the 723 that I'd like to share. How do I go about doing that? I built a replacement for a console /- 18V @6A supply when I couldn't find the original regulator devices. I used 723s with external series pass devices. The unit has been working for close to 10 years now, so I think the design is worth sharing. Is anyone interested?

I also research discrete op amps like the Jensen 990. I've been working (on and off for years) on a clone of that using more modern, easily available parts and devices. Anyone else?
Finally, in response to the first entry in this section, I too read that application note in Analog Devices Audio/Video Reference Manual. My copy is dated 1992. I've repaired a lot of amplifiers, but haven't built any. If anyone else is hip to this amp I'd like to hear about it. It is a very unique design. I also like the A75 amp design from Nelson Pass and Norman Thagard, and the Leach Amp by Marshall Leach. The last two are pretty normal as far as design goes, not as adventurous as the Alexander with its current-feedback approach.
Aloha, RAF--[[User:66.8.194.185|66.8.194.185]] 14:04, 18 May 2007 (PDT)

The [http://www.sdiy.info SDIY wiki] should cover audio electronics, but it's early days yet. -- [[User:Robkam|Robkam]] 10:47, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

== automotive electronics ==

Is there some other wiki for people to talk about automobile electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best wiki for talking about things like
[http://megamanual.com/ "experimental Do-It-Yourself programmable electronic fuel injection controller"]?
Or should we just point people who want to talk ECUs (engine control units) to the
[http://msefi.com/ MSEFI discussion forum],
even though it sadly lacks a wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 22:36, 2 July 2007 (PDT)

How about converting a car to EV - Electrical vehicle, how to build an electrical motor controller? DC or 3-phase AC controller..
Mr. Holland

'''Bold text'''I am interested with you. I have some experience with some small robotics project and some motor projects. I am also interested in electrical vehicle. Just post next step here.

== inviting bloggers to open circuits ==

== how to connect a JTAG probe to a Nokia phone ==

I'd like to invite bloggers such as GyrosGeier to edit OpenCircuits.
Rather than just spamming him, I think he would be more inclined to help out
if we answered one of his questions first -- such as
[http://hogyros.de/?q=node/167 "If you have information on how to connect a JTAG probe to a Nokia phone, please let me know."]
Maybe I should start a page on [[JTAG]]...
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 09:37, 22 September 2006 (PDT)

The [http://hackedgadgets.com/ Hacked Gadgets blog also has a bunch of cool electronics].
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 11:58, 5 January 2007 (PST)

== red links ==

The default skin at OpenCircuits currently has "red links" = page exists, "dark red links" = page does not exist.

I find that confusing. (But not as bad as the wiki that has some links black-on-white, indistinguishable from normal text).

'''work-around''': Register (it's free, and you don't have to give any personal information), then choose the "preferences" link in the far upper-right corner and then pick any other skin.

The other skins have coloring that you may be more used to from other wiki: "blue links" = page exists, "red links" = page does not exist.

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:58, 18 December 2006 (PST)

:The other skins are malware. Google Chrome warns "Content from removevirusgadget.com, a known malware distributor, has been inserted into this web page. Visiting this page now is very likely to infect your computer with malware". -- [[User:Robkam|Robkam]] 23:02, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

The colors are better in the other skins, but the navigation is worse.
How about a new skin that is like the default when it comes to navigation, but uses the normal wiki colors? // [[User:Cj|Cj]] 06:45, 4 October 2008 (PDT)

*** Guys, the red color on links is AwuFul, it brings ppl headaches.
That's the only reason I cant participate ***

--[[User:Takeda|Takeda]] 16:38, 29 September 2007 (PDT)

Redlinks defies convention and is confusing, making the wiki awkward for users. blue=link, red=dead link, violet=followed link. -- [[User:Robkam|Robkam]] 10:42, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

== inviting people from other forums to open circuits ==

Lots of people talk about circuits for LED lighting at
http://candlepowerforums.com/
.
Perhaps we can talk some of them into contributing here -- perhaps using a page or two of Open Circuits as a FAQ for LEDs and drive circuits.

== tool lists ==

Should we have an entire page on "tools", and mention it on the main page?
That risks listing *every* tool anyone has ever heard about,
like the page at
http://massmind.org/techref/tools.htm
.
Yes, I'm responsible for uglier bits on that page;
I think the wide variety of oscilloscopes are particularly confusing.
How could we cut through the confusion?

I see the "techniques" page already has a list of software tools.
Perhaps it would be nifty to have a short list of all the tools necessary for each technique?
Then a beginner would have a better idea of what tools he really needs to get (rather than looking at a huge list of every tool, and wondering for each one, ''"Am I going to regret buying it when I see it gathering dust? Or am I going to regret not buying it when I need it during a midnight debug session?"'').

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:37, 24 January 2007 (PST)

== Requests For Help ==
Thanks for your help with the camcorder mic.

== sample component ==

What is the purpose of the [[Sample Component]] ?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 16:27, 7 May 2007 (PDT)

----

== current surge and battery life ==

Hi,

currently my board is using a 3V battery, in every 40msec it will turn on its RF to communicate with the base station. I face a problem here is that my battery life is badly affected. Turning on the RF with cause a current surge.

Will this surge affect my battery life? If I use a supercapacitor does it helps?

-- [[User:203.120.164.208]] 04:14, 30 April 2007

== MIDI electrical interface ==

In my opinion, the MIDI interface got a lot of things right that too many later interfaces still trip over.

* http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/LINK/F_MIDI.html -- ASCII schematics
* http://www.engadget.com/2005/08/30/how-to-control-csound-with-a-custom-midi-controller-hardware/ -- hand-sketched schematics
* http://www.midi.org/about-midi/electrical.shtml "MIDI Electrical Specification Diagram & Proper Design of Joystick/MIDI Adapters" -- well-drawn schematics
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_MIDI_1.0_Protocol Wikipedia: The MIDI 1.0 Protocol]
* http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Behringer_FCB1010_MIDI_Pedal

It may look simple, but too often people try to "improve" it by adding or removing things without understanding, ending up with a worse system.

Is there any other wiki that is more appropriate for explaining the low-level details of the MIDI electrical interface, and *why* it was done that way?

I would be most interested in discussing new communication interfaces -- but is this really the right wiki?
Or would http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Serial_Programming or the [http://interwiki.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/picawiki.pl/StartingPoint PICA wiki] be better for discussing improvements?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 13:21, 21 June 2007 (PDT)

You're welcome to add/edit any relevant article at [http://www.sdiy.info SDIY wiki]. At this stage you might also have to add parent articles to get your topic connected, to the rest of the wiki. -- [[User:Robkam|Robkam]] 10:56, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

== IC design ==

What do you think about
http://makeyourownchip.com/
?
Should we talk about VLSI design ([http://david.carybros.com/html/vlsi.html "VLSI: designing electronic chips"])
here at Open Circuits?
Or is there a more appropriate wiki somewhere else?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 15:59, 26 June 2007 (PDT)

== electronics infoline ==

So have you seen
"Free electronics projects"
http://electronicsinfoline.com/
"with Photo Preview"
?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 00:28, 1 July 2007 (PDT)

And you will be interested in
"online circuit diagrams creation"
http://www.dz863.com/
"for free"
?

== generating a netlist with a "C++" program ==

The [http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~pier/csc/sup/Support.html "Support Electronics for ATLAS Muon CSC"] documentation claims that [http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~pier/csc/sup/CRB_LayoutNotes0.pdf "The design was captured with C++. There are no schematics."] and lists [http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~pier/csc/sup/crb_srce the C++ source code].

How did they do that?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 01:15, 3 July 2007 (PDT)

== rocket electronics ==

Is there another wiki that talks about rocket electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best place to talk about
ground support electronics
(such as [http://www.ukrocketman.com/rocketry/controller.shtml Launch Controller]s)
and
onboard electronics
(such as one
[http://www.ukrocketman.com/rocketry/compactrdasguide.shtml flight computer]
or another
[http://david.carybros.com/html/schematic.html#flight_computer flight computer]
)?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 14:21, 15 July 2007 (PDT)

Hey David,

In case you haven't heard of it for some strange reason, [http://www.hackaday.com Hack-a-Day] has
featured a fair number of rocketry projects over the years, and many of their articles on said
projects link back to the original project webpages.

--[[User:Purduecer|Purduecer]] 13:52, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

== Minimig ==
I have created pages about the [[Minimig]] project which is running an Amiga 500 in a Xilinx FPGA. It's rather a work in progress, than a static documentation. I hope nobody minds. [[User:Freqmax|Freqmax]] 18:35, 27 July 2007 (PDT)

== Open Science ==

So does/should Open Science ( http://openscience.org/ ) have any relation to Open Circuits ?
--[[User:68.0.120.35|68.0.120.35]] 00:13, 5 August 2007 (PDT)

== LaTEX math markup ==

I wrote a quick howto on figuring out resistor values, but it looks bad without latex math markup enabled.
Here's what I wrote as it appears on open circuits: http://www.opencircuits.com/Talk:Relays
Here's how it appears on wikipedia (with math markup enabled): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mzandrew/Sandbox

Anyone know if this is a quick thing to enable for open circuits or if it's involved?

[[User:Mzandrew|Mzandrew]] 14:16, 8 September 2007 (PDT)

<div style="clear:both;border:1px dotted #333;padding:10px;background:#FFE400;color:#333;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;">DONE! -- [[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 00:10, 11 March 2008 (PDT)</div>

----

'''SPAM DELETED!'''

I deleted a whole bunch of links that had been placed at the top of this page, probably by the same AH that did it to my page. I think the best solution would be to make it so no edits are possible without being logged in. Then there will be a record of who does this kind of thing. Then they can be banned from the site. I don't think that defeats the purpose of an open wiki environment, it simply means you have to register to contribute.

--[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 10:30, 21 December 2007 (PST)

At least this page is still OK. The Spam AHole hit my user talk page again today. This is very aggravating.

--[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 06:54, 22 December 2007 (PST)

: ''I agree. Annoying. I'm starting to "semi-protect" most pages so they can only be edited by logged-in users. I'm leaving a couple of pages wide open as a honeypot and/or test pages, so I can make tests and ban spammers without touching good pages. I think the $wgSpamRegex and/or ReCAPTCHA would be a better way to deal with spam. But my attempt to set them up isn't working yet. Sorry. --[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 10:28, 3 January 2008 (PST)''

== Release 2.0 ==

[http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/12/new_release_20_3.html New Release 2.0: Open Source Hardware] by Jimmy Guterman

Does Guterman know about Open Circuits yet?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 01:04, 4 January 2008 (PST)

== tech-assist ==

Should we invite the nice people at tech-assist
http://tech-assist.org/
to use the Open Circuits wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 20:38, 15 January 2008 (PST)

== A post I left at the Schmartboard mailing list. ==

Last week I posted to the Schmartboard mailing list asking about more interface types for their system.
I made reference to sites like this and pleaded the case of individuals wishing to make projects that interface a little better than the methods available now. Neal Greenburg(VP in sales) replied that they had been kicking ideas around like what I was proposing for a while, and that he would like to get some feedback. So, if you're interested, head on over and pipe in. The basic request I made was asking for common internal pc interfaces(PCI, PCI-e, AGP, ISA, etc..) to be included as an attachable module.

The reason for my request was that this would allow organizations such as this one to develop hardware that is now unachievable at a decent prototyping price(quantities in the single digits). Their modules allow robust SMD hardware to be hand soldered and connected to other modules, but interfacing to a pc or other system is limited to rs232. I left a much more in depth post there, and if you're interested, you can find it there.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/schmartboardsv/

I'm not affiliated with schmartboard in any other way than as a customer. I'm sorry if this is seen as spam, it's not intended to be. If the general consensus is that this is spam, feel free to delete it.

Thanks for your time, take care.
[[User:Jonkopp|Jonkopp]] 13:49, 20 January 2008 (PST)

: Making it easier to build common interfaces sounds great. There's a brief mention of Schmartboards at [[Techniques#Circuit construction .28Prototyping - Other than custom PCB.29]]. Would you like a [[Schmartboard]] page for people to unofficially suggest which Schmartboard fits which SMT package, and -- for those things that don't fit well with any current Schmartboard -- to propose new layouts?
: I suspect that the special techniques required for high-speed computer buses ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reflected-wave_switching reflected-wave switching], transmission lines, etc.) are not really achievable with prototyping boards, and so require full-custom PCBs.
: I think the USB interface, the 30-pin SIMM form factor (for designing [http://www.uclinux.org/ucsimm/ uCsimm]-like boards), etc. could use a Schmartboard.
: --[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 05:55, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

== open source machine ==

Is there some other wiki somewhere that would be better for discussing "open source hardware designs" for non-electronic mechanical hardware, such as
http://opensourcemachine.org/
?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 05:52, 26 June 2008 (PDT)
:: http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing :-) 2008-11-28

== confused ==

What is up with
[[User talk:Sunnyhouselife]], [[User talk:Kaylee]], [[User talk:Seekic]]
?
I'm guessing that English is not their native language.
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:08, 10 July 2008 (PDT)

== ultrasonic ==

Is there a better wiki to discuss [[ultrasonic]] stuff?
Such as:
[http://www.brooker.co.za/fers/ "FERS: the Flexible, Extensible Radar and Sonar Simulator."]

== COSHER ==

"COSHER stands for Completely Open Source, Headers, Engineering, and Research."
-- http://wearcam.org/cosher.htm

Can we apply COSHER to [[open hardware]], or does it only apply to software?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 04:31, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

== Quad Helicopter ==

Hello, I am starting a project to build a multi-rotor helicopter (starting with a 4 motor one and moving up). I am planning on developing everything from scratch. If you are a software programmer (linux), or a mechanical engineer, and want to help out with the project let me know! I got a site where the progress can be tracked and coordinated, http://wwww.quadheli.com

Cheers!

Sounds like a cool project.
Would it help to make a wiki page for it at [[multi-rotor]]?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 17:12, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

----

[http://nmg.thecomicseries.com/comics/133 indieVisible] --
Originally they started as a nonpolitical open hardware movement for DIY people using advanced minifacturing (3D printing and so on).

[[Category:Community| ]]

How Should We Deal With Spam

2012-11-09T12:28:42Z

Robkam:

{{mergeto|spam}}

In 2007, automated spam-bots spewed stuff all over Open Circuits.
Reverting any one instance only took a minute (see [[How to delete spam]]).
But there were so many that the nice people of Open Circuits were annoyed that they were spending all their wiki-time dealing with spammers, rather than doing something productive.

What should we do about it?

Lets put our discussion here.

== Current Spam Prevention ==

Secret we cannot let the terrorists know

== How Bad is it Now ==

* Dec 2007
A real problem, reverting takes a lot of time and seems to last about a day.

*Mar 10 2008
Seems much better, perhaps acceptable. [[DavidCary]] ? must have changed something.

== Methods We Might Use ==

One goal of Open Circuits is to help people build amazing and wonderful things by giving them plans they can use and improve.
Spam is a problem when it distracts us from that goal.
Alas, the "easy" solutions to spam also prevent us from achieving that goal -- they make it so difficult to help us improve these plans that most people aren't going to bother.
Fortunately, people are working on better solutions.

If you have something new add it

{| class="wikitable"
|-valign="top"
! Method
! In use
! Brief Discussion Pro/Con
! Vote For with your user name


|-valign="top"
|Shoot Them
|No
|
*Pro: Last time they spam.
*Con: Cost of ammo
|
*[[Hitler]]
*[[Bush]]

|-valign="top"
|Edits from Registered User Only
|No
|
*Pro: Might help
*Con: Some may not want to have to register prior to editing. How can we be Open Circuits if we are closed?
|
*
*

|-valign="top"
|Captcha for Non-Registered Users
|?
|
*Pro: Might help, lets unregistered users comment. Encourages registration
*Con: Who wants to type in a Captcha
|
*
*

|-valign="top"
|Captcha for All
|No
|
*Pro: Might help
*Con: Sucks
|
*
*

|-valign="top"
|Register after Email Confirmation
|?
|
*Pro: Might Help
*Con: Makes it even harder to register.
|
*
*

|-valign="top"
|Block Users or IP addresses that Spam
|Yes
|
*Pro: Might help if spammers do not spoof thier ip addresses or have means of changing them.
*Con: Lots of work for admin. Ther may be too many of them for the number of us.
|
*
*


|}

== Three cents ==
Get rid of captcha it puts people off contributing. Read Mediawiki on [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Anti-spam_features Anti-spam features] and [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Combating_spam Combating spam]. Install extensions at least: [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:AbuseFilter AbuseFilter] and [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:DeleteBatch DeleteBatch] -- [[User:Robkam|Robkam]] 12:28, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

== further reading ==
[[spam]],
[http://communitywiki.org/WikiSpam CommunityWiki: WikiSpam],
[http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?WikiSpam Meatball: WikiSpam],
[http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?SharedAntiSpam Meatball: shared anti-spam]

== Free Form Discussion ==

OpenCircuits:Community portal

2012-11-09T10:56:22Z

Robkam: /* MIDI electrical interface */

Welcome to Open Circuits.
This is a good place to talk about Open Circuits, as a whole.

We have {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} articles now. Yay!

== Help, noob looking to get into electronics ==

I want to create an open hardware smartphone... but I don't know anything about electronics... yet...
Someone care to help? I just need to be pointed in the right direction

I'm guessing i just need to create some sort of small computer running linux??

Thanks =)

--[[User:RenatoFontes|RenatoFontes]] 00:54, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

Yes. the components for a smartphone board are really small so no one has figured out how to build one. My suggestion? Make one with a beagleboard or raspberry pi as a mainboard instead. Both boards are small and low voltage and linux which would be a great smartphone base. that is your best bet, btw it requires moderate electronics know how to rig up a touchscreen. You should get started familiarizing yourself with whatever electronics knowledge that you can find too.
-Quinn (quinn.vinlove@gmail.com)

Yes. The components for a smartphone board are really small, but lots of people have figured out how to build one -- see [[Open Mobile Gadgets]] for a list.

In particular, the Tux phone [http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/multimedia/2007/10/gallery_linux_phones?slide=5&slideView=6] [http://www.flickr.com/photos/julianbleecker/225599650/] and the more polished-looking Openmoko FreeRunner [http://openmoko.org/] [http://www.mobilegazette.com/openmoko-neo-freerunner-08x06x26.htm]
have open hardware and open software.

It's possible to build a small computer running Linux "from scratch" -- see [[motherboards that run Linux]] for some people who have done just that.
Perhaps you can use one of those smartphone hardware or other motherboard hardware as-is?
Or perhaps with a few blue-wires?
Or perhaps you could at least download the schematics and tweak the design for your new PCBs, rather than starting entirely from scratch?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 16:00, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

== Upgrade to Mediawiki 1.15.1 ==

Mediawiki has been upgraded to version 1.15.1 ([http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/mediawiki-announce/2009-July/000087.html release notes]).

Please test your favorite MediaWiki functionality and use this page to report any issues you come across.

[[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 23:57, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

== free digital TV converter box coupon ==

https://www.dtv2009.gov/

== Anti-Vandalism Bot ==

''moved to our page discussing [[Spam]].''

== electrical mailing lists ==
Yahoo claims they have
[http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Science/Engineering/Electrical 1,831 electrical engineering mailing lists].
What would be a good way of letting the people on those lists know about the Open Circuits wiki, without spamming them?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 13:30, 31 May 2006 (PDT)

* Publish cold fusion howto :-)
* Send one email/week and only once per list. And be on topic, listen carefully for responses.
[[User:Freqmax|Freqmax]] 16:24, 30 July 2007 (PDT)

== about Open Circuits ==
So, is there any connection between http://OpenCircuits.org/ , http://OpenCircuits.net/ , and this http://OpenCircuits.com/ wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 23:47, 13 June 2006 (PDT)

No. There is no connection between any of http://opencircuits.com and the other websites listed.
[[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 02:55, 18 June 2006 (PDT)
== web rings ==
Document an original microcontroller project and join a PIC webring, or AVR webring. 20 June 2006

== audio electronics ==

Is there some other wiki for people to talk about audio electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best wiki for talking about things like
''"[http://analog.com/ Analog Devices] AN-221: The Alexander current-feedback audio power amplifier"'' by Mark Alexander
?

I think I would prefer to offload all the audio electronics controversies to some other wiki
(but which one?).
Still, it would be nice to have some "tips for high-power electronics" here.
I imagine that tips page would list the various quirks of high-power MOSFETs, BJTs, TRIACs, and IGBTs,
and (given a particular motor or speaker or other load)
how to select one over the others,
and various ways of working around those quirks.
--[[User:65.70.89.241|65.70.89.241]] 07:17, 10 August 2006 (PDT)

I just joined Open Circuits. I have been servicing and designing audio equipment for several years (Recording consoles a specialty) I hope you will have a section for audio electronics. I also work with video projection systems and theatrical lighting (stage struck at an early age) I play electric rock-blues guitar, so I also am interested in tube guitar amps (Marshall and Boogie). And there is a big difference in what a guitar player thinks an amp should do, and what a recording engineer wants an amp for. I think these are valid points for discussion.
I've also got an interest in power supplies (my experience is mostly with linear, but I've started learning about switching designs). In fact that brings me to my question, I have some regulator designs based on the 723 that I'd like to share. How do I go about doing that? I built a replacement for a console /- 18V @6A supply when I couldn't find the original regulator devices. I used 723s with external series pass devices. The unit has been working for close to 10 years now, so I think the design is worth sharing. Is anyone interested?

I also research discrete op amps like the Jensen 990. I've been working (on and off for years) on a clone of that using more modern, easily available parts and devices. Anyone else?
Finally, in response to the first entry in this section, I too read that application note in Analog Devices Audio/Video Reference Manual. My copy is dated 1992. I've repaired a lot of amplifiers, but haven't built any. If anyone else is hip to this amp I'd like to hear about it. It is a very unique design. I also like the A75 amp design from Nelson Pass and Norman Thagard, and the Leach Amp by Marshall Leach. The last two are pretty normal as far as design goes, not as adventurous as the Alexander with its current-feedback approach.
Aloha, RAF--[[User:66.8.194.185|66.8.194.185]] 14:04, 18 May 2007 (PDT)

The [http://www.sdiy.info SDIY wiki] should cover audio electronics, but it's early days yet. -- [[User:Robkam|Robkam]] 10:47, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

== automotive electronics ==

Is there some other wiki for people to talk about automobile electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best wiki for talking about things like
[http://megamanual.com/ "experimental Do-It-Yourself programmable electronic fuel injection controller"]?
Or should we just point people who want to talk ECUs (engine control units) to the
[http://msefi.com/ MSEFI discussion forum],
even though it sadly lacks a wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 22:36, 2 July 2007 (PDT)

How about converting a car to EV - Electrical vehicle, how to build an electrical motor controller? DC or 3-phase AC controller..
Mr. Holland

'''Bold text'''I am interested with you. I have some experience with some small robotics project and some motor projects. I am also interested in electrical vehicle. Just post next step here.

== inviting bloggers to open circuits ==

=== how to connect a JTAG probe to a Nokia phone ===

I'd like to invite bloggers such as GyrosGeier to edit OpenCircuits.
Rather than just spamming him, I think he would be more inclined to help out
if we answered one of his questions first -- such as
[http://hogyros.de/?q=node/167 "If you have information on how to connect a JTAG probe to a Nokia phone, please let me know."]
Maybe I should start a page on [[JTAG]]...
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 09:37, 22 September 2006 (PDT)

The [http://hackedgadgets.com/ Hacked Gadgets blog also has a bunch of cool electronics].
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 11:58, 5 January 2007 (PST)

== red links ==

The default skin at OpenCircuits currently has "red links" = page exists, "dark red links" = page does not exist.

I find that confusing. (But not as bad as the wiki that has some links black-on-white, indistinguishable from normal text).

'''work-around''': Register (it's free, and you don't have to give any personal information), then choose the "preferences" link in the far upper-right corner and then pick any other skin.

The other skins have coloring that you may be more used to from other wiki: "blue links" = page exists, "red links" = page does not exist.

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:58, 18 December 2006 (PST)

The colors are better in the other skins, but the navigation is worse.
How about a new skin that is like the default when it comes to navigation, but uses the normal wiki colors? // [[User:Cj|Cj]] 06:45, 4 October 2008 (PDT)

*** Guys, the red color on links is AwuFul, it brings ppl headaches.
That's the only reason I cant participate ***

--[[User:Takeda|Takeda]] 16:38, 29 September 2007 (PDT)

Redlinks defies convention and is confusing, making the wiki awkward for users. blue=link, red=dead link, violet=followed link. -- [[User:Robkam|Robkam]] 10:42, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

== inviting people from other forums to open circuits ==

Lots of people talk about circuits for LED lighting at
http://candlepowerforums.com/
.
Perhaps we can talk some of them into contributing here -- perhaps using a page or two of Open Circuits as a FAQ for LEDs and drive circuits.

== tool lists ==

Should we have an entire page on "tools", and mention it on the main page?
That risks listing *every* tool anyone has ever heard about,
like the page at
http://massmind.org/techref/tools.htm
.
Yes, I'm responsible for uglier bits on that page;
I think the wide variety of oscilloscopes are particularly confusing.
How could we cut through the confusion?

I see the "techniques" page already has a list of software tools.
Perhaps it would be nifty to have a short list of all the tools necessary for each technique?
Then a beginner would have a better idea of what tools he really needs to get (rather than looking at a huge list of every tool, and wondering for each one, ''"Am I going to regret buying it when I see it gathering dust? Or am I going to regret not buying it when I need it during a midnight debug session?"'').

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:37, 24 January 2007 (PST)

== Requests For Help ==
Thanks for your help with the camcorder mic.

== sample component ==

What is the purpose of the [[Sample Component]] ?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 16:27, 7 May 2007 (PDT)

----

== current surge and battery life ==

Hi,

currently my board is using a 3V battery, in every 40msec it will turn on its RF to communicate with the base station. I face a problem here is that my battery life is badly affected. Turning on the RF with cause a current surge.

Will this surge affect my battery life? If I use a supercapacitor does it helps?

-- [[User:203.120.164.208]] 04:14, 30 April 2007

== MIDI electrical interface ==

In my opinion, the MIDI interface got a lot of things right that too many later interfaces still trip over.

* http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/LINK/F_MIDI.html -- ASCII schematics
* http://www.engadget.com/2005/08/30/how-to-control-csound-with-a-custom-midi-controller-hardware/ -- hand-sketched schematics
* http://www.midi.org/about-midi/electrical.shtml "MIDI Electrical Specification Diagram & Proper Design of Joystick/MIDI Adapters" -- well-drawn schematics
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_MIDI_1.0_Protocol Wikipedia: The MIDI 1.0 Protocol]
* http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Behringer_FCB1010_MIDI_Pedal

It may look simple, but too often people try to "improve" it by adding or removing things without understanding, ending up with a worse system.

Is there any other wiki that is more appropriate for explaining the low-level details of the MIDI electrical interface, and *why* it was done that way?

I would be most interested in discussing new communication interfaces -- but is this really the right wiki?
Or would http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Serial_Programming or the [http://interwiki.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/picawiki.pl/StartingPoint PICA wiki] be better for discussing improvements?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 13:21, 21 June 2007 (PDT)

You're welcome to add/edit any relevant article at [http://www.sdiy.info SDIY wiki]. At this stage you might also have to add parent articles to get your topic connected, to the rest of the wiki. -- [[User:Robkam|Robkam]] 10:56, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

== IC design ==

What do you think about
http://makeyourownchip.com/
?
Should we talk about VLSI design ([http://david.carybros.com/html/vlsi.html "VLSI: designing electronic chips"])
here at Open Circuits?
Or is there a more appropriate wiki somewhere else?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 15:59, 26 June 2007 (PDT)

== electronics infoline ==

So have you seen
"Free electronics projects"
http://electronicsinfoline.com/
"with Photo Preview"
?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 00:28, 1 July 2007 (PDT)

And you will be interested in
"online circuit diagrams creation"
http://www.dz863.com/
"for free"
?

== generating a netlist with a "C++" program ==

The [http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~pier/csc/sup/Support.html "Support Electronics for ATLAS Muon CSC"] documentation claims that [http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~pier/csc/sup/CRB_LayoutNotes0.pdf "The design was captured with C++. There are no schematics."] and lists [http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~pier/csc/sup/crb_srce the C++ source code].

How did they do that?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 01:15, 3 July 2007 (PDT)

== rocket electronics ==

Is there another wiki that talks about rocket electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best place to talk about
ground support electronics
(such as [http://www.ukrocketman.com/rocketry/controller.shtml Launch Controller]s)
and
onboard electronics
(such as one
[http://www.ukrocketman.com/rocketry/compactrdasguide.shtml flight computer]
or another
[http://david.carybros.com/html/schematic.html#flight_computer flight computer]
)?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 14:21, 15 July 2007 (PDT)

Hey David,

In case you haven't heard of it for some strange reason, [http://www.hackaday.com Hack-a-Day] has
featured a fair number of rocketry projects over the years, and many of their articles on said
projects link back to the original project webpages.

--[[User:Purduecer|Purduecer]] 13:52, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

== Minimig ==
I have created pages about the [[Minimig]] project which is running an Amiga 500 in a Xilinx FPGA. It's rather a work in progress, than a static documentation. I hope nobody minds. [[User:Freqmax|Freqmax]] 18:35, 27 July 2007 (PDT)

== Open Science ==

So does/should Open Science ( http://openscience.org/ ) have any relation to Open Circuits ?
--[[User:68.0.120.35|68.0.120.35]] 00:13, 5 August 2007 (PDT)

== LaTEX math markup ==

I wrote a quick howto on figuring out resistor values, but it looks bad without latex math markup enabled.
Here's what I wrote as it appears on open circuits: http://www.opencircuits.com/Talk:Relays
Here's how it appears on wikipedia (with math markup enabled): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mzandrew/Sandbox

Anyone know if this is a quick thing to enable for open circuits or if it's involved?

[[User:Mzandrew|Mzandrew]] 14:16, 8 September 2007 (PDT)

<div style="clear:both;border:1px dotted #333;padding:10px;background:#FFE400;color:#333;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;">DONE! -- [[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 00:10, 11 March 2008 (PDT)</div>

----

'''SPAM DELETED!'''

I deleted a whole bunch of links that had been placed at the top of this page, probably by the same AH that did it to my page. I think the best solution would be to make it so no edits are possible without being logged in. Then there will be a record of who does this kind of thing. Then they can be banned from the site. I don't think that defeats the purpose of an open wiki environment, it simply means you have to register to contribute.

--[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 10:30, 21 December 2007 (PST)

At least this page is still OK. The Spam AHole hit my user talk page again today. This is very aggravating.

--[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 06:54, 22 December 2007 (PST)

: ''I agree. Annoying. I'm starting to "semi-protect" most pages so they can only be edited by logged-in users. I'm leaving a couple of pages wide open as a honeypot and/or test pages, so I can make tests and ban spammers without touching good pages. I think the $wgSpamRegex and/or ReCAPTCHA would be a better way to deal with spam. But my attempt to set them up isn't working yet. Sorry. --[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 10:28, 3 January 2008 (PST)''

== Release 2.0 ==

[http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/12/new_release_20_3.html New Release 2.0: Open Source Hardware] by Jimmy Guterman

Does Guterman know about Open Circuits yet?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 01:04, 4 January 2008 (PST)

== tech-assist ==

Should we invite the nice people at tech-assist
http://tech-assist.org/
to use the Open Circuits wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 20:38, 15 January 2008 (PST)

== A post I left at the Schmartboard mailing list. ==

Last week I posted to the Schmartboard mailing list asking about more interface types for their system.
I made reference to sites like this and pleaded the case of individuals wishing to make projects that interface a little better than the methods available now. Neal Greenburg(VP in sales) replied that they had been kicking ideas around like what I was proposing for a while, and that he would like to get some feedback. So, if you're interested, head on over and pipe in. The basic request I made was asking for common internal pc interfaces(PCI, PCI-e, AGP, ISA, etc..) to be included as an attachable module.

The reason for my request was that this would allow organizations such as this one to develop hardware that is now unachievable at a decent prototyping price(quantities in the single digits). Their modules allow robust SMD hardware to be hand soldered and connected to other modules, but interfacing to a pc or other system is limited to rs232. I left a much more in depth post there, and if you're interested, you can find it there.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/schmartboardsv/

I'm not affiliated with schmartboard in any other way than as a customer. I'm sorry if this is seen as spam, it's not intended to be. If the general consensus is that this is spam, feel free to delete it.

Thanks for your time, take care.
[[User:Jonkopp|Jonkopp]] 13:49, 20 January 2008 (PST)

: Making it easier to build common interfaces sounds great. There's a brief mention of Schmartboards at [[Techniques#Circuit construction .28Prototyping - Other than custom PCB.29]]. Would you like a [[Schmartboard]] page for people to unofficially suggest which Schmartboard fits which SMT package, and -- for those things that don't fit well with any current Schmartboard -- to propose new layouts?
: I suspect that the special techniques required for high-speed computer buses ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reflected-wave_switching reflected-wave switching], transmission lines, etc.) are not really achievable with prototyping boards, and so require full-custom PCBs.
: I think the USB interface, the 30-pin SIMM form factor (for designing [http://www.uclinux.org/ucsimm/ uCsimm]-like boards), etc. could use a Schmartboard.
: --[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 05:55, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

== open source machine ==

Is there some other wiki somewhere that would be better for discussing "open source hardware designs" for non-electronic mechanical hardware, such as
http://opensourcemachine.org/
?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 05:52, 26 June 2008 (PDT)
:: http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing :-) 2008-11-28

== confused ==

What is up with
[[User talk:Sunnyhouselife]], [[User talk:Kaylee]], [[User talk:Seekic]]
?
I'm guessing that English is not their native language.
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:08, 10 July 2008 (PDT)

== ultrasonic ==

Is there a better wiki to discuss [[ultrasonic]] stuff?
Such as:
[http://www.brooker.co.za/fers/ "FERS: the Flexible, Extensible Radar and Sonar Simulator."]

== COSHER ==

"COSHER stands for Completely Open Source, Headers, Engineering, and Research."
-- http://wearcam.org/cosher.htm

Can we apply COSHER to [[open hardware]], or does it only apply to software?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 04:31, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

== Quad Helicopter ==

Hello, I am starting a project to build a multi-rotor helicopter (starting with a 4 motor one and moving up). I am planning on developing everything from scratch. If you are a software programmer (linux), or a mechanical engineer, and want to help out with the project let me know! I got a site where the progress can be tracked and coordinated, http://wwww.quadheli.com

Cheers!

Sounds like a cool project.
Would it help to make a wiki page for it at [[multi-rotor]]?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 17:12, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

----

[http://nmg.thecomicseries.com/comics/133 indieVisible] --
Originally they started as a nonpolitical open hardware movement for DIY people using advanced minifacturing (3D printing and so on).

[[Category:Community| ]]

OpenCircuits:Community portal

2012-11-09T10:47:59Z

Robkam: /* audio electronics */

Welcome to Open Circuits.
This is a good place to talk about Open Circuits, as a whole.

We have {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} articles now. Yay!

== Help, noob looking to get into electronics ==

I want to create an open hardware smartphone... but I don't know anything about electronics... yet...
Someone care to help? I just need to be pointed in the right direction

I'm guessing i just need to create some sort of small computer running linux??

Thanks =)

--[[User:RenatoFontes|RenatoFontes]] 00:54, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

Yes. the components for a smartphone board are really small so no one has figured out how to build one. My suggestion? Make one with a beagleboard or raspberry pi as a mainboard instead. Both boards are small and low voltage and linux which would be a great smartphone base. that is your best bet, btw it requires moderate electronics know how to rig up a touchscreen. You should get started familiarizing yourself with whatever electronics knowledge that you can find too.
-Quinn (quinn.vinlove@gmail.com)

Yes. The components for a smartphone board are really small, but lots of people have figured out how to build one -- see [[Open Mobile Gadgets]] for a list.

In particular, the Tux phone [http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/multimedia/2007/10/gallery_linux_phones?slide=5&slideView=6] [http://www.flickr.com/photos/julianbleecker/225599650/] and the more polished-looking Openmoko FreeRunner [http://openmoko.org/] [http://www.mobilegazette.com/openmoko-neo-freerunner-08x06x26.htm]
have open hardware and open software.

It's possible to build a small computer running Linux "from scratch" -- see [[motherboards that run Linux]] for some people who have done just that.
Perhaps you can use one of those smartphone hardware or other motherboard hardware as-is?
Or perhaps with a few blue-wires?
Or perhaps you could at least download the schematics and tweak the design for your new PCBs, rather than starting entirely from scratch?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 16:00, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

== Upgrade to Mediawiki 1.15.1 ==

Mediawiki has been upgraded to version 1.15.1 ([http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/mediawiki-announce/2009-July/000087.html release notes]).

Please test your favorite MediaWiki functionality and use this page to report any issues you come across.

[[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 23:57, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

== free digital TV converter box coupon ==

https://www.dtv2009.gov/

== Anti-Vandalism Bot ==

''moved to our page discussing [[Spam]].''

== electrical mailing lists ==
Yahoo claims they have
[http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Science/Engineering/Electrical 1,831 electrical engineering mailing lists].
What would be a good way of letting the people on those lists know about the Open Circuits wiki, without spamming them?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 13:30, 31 May 2006 (PDT)

* Publish cold fusion howto :-)
* Send one email/week and only once per list. And be on topic, listen carefully for responses.
[[User:Freqmax|Freqmax]] 16:24, 30 July 2007 (PDT)

== about Open Circuits ==
So, is there any connection between http://OpenCircuits.org/ , http://OpenCircuits.net/ , and this http://OpenCircuits.com/ wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 23:47, 13 June 2006 (PDT)

No. There is no connection between any of http://opencircuits.com and the other websites listed.
[[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 02:55, 18 June 2006 (PDT)
== web rings ==
Document an original microcontroller project and join a PIC webring, or AVR webring. 20 June 2006

== audio electronics ==

Is there some other wiki for people to talk about audio electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best wiki for talking about things like
''"[http://analog.com/ Analog Devices] AN-221: The Alexander current-feedback audio power amplifier"'' by Mark Alexander
?

I think I would prefer to offload all the audio electronics controversies to some other wiki
(but which one?).
Still, it would be nice to have some "tips for high-power electronics" here.
I imagine that tips page would list the various quirks of high-power MOSFETs, BJTs, TRIACs, and IGBTs,
and (given a particular motor or speaker or other load)
how to select one over the others,
and various ways of working around those quirks.
--[[User:65.70.89.241|65.70.89.241]] 07:17, 10 August 2006 (PDT)

I just joined Open Circuits. I have been servicing and designing audio equipment for several years (Recording consoles a specialty) I hope you will have a section for audio electronics. I also work with video projection systems and theatrical lighting (stage struck at an early age) I play electric rock-blues guitar, so I also am interested in tube guitar amps (Marshall and Boogie). And there is a big difference in what a guitar player thinks an amp should do, and what a recording engineer wants an amp for. I think these are valid points for discussion.
I've also got an interest in power supplies (my experience is mostly with linear, but I've started learning about switching designs). In fact that brings me to my question, I have some regulator designs based on the 723 that I'd like to share. How do I go about doing that? I built a replacement for a console /- 18V @6A supply when I couldn't find the original regulator devices. I used 723s with external series pass devices. The unit has been working for close to 10 years now, so I think the design is worth sharing. Is anyone interested?

I also research discrete op amps like the Jensen 990. I've been working (on and off for years) on a clone of that using more modern, easily available parts and devices. Anyone else?
Finally, in response to the first entry in this section, I too read that application note in Analog Devices Audio/Video Reference Manual. My copy is dated 1992. I've repaired a lot of amplifiers, but haven't built any. If anyone else is hip to this amp I'd like to hear about it. It is a very unique design. I also like the A75 amp design from Nelson Pass and Norman Thagard, and the Leach Amp by Marshall Leach. The last two are pretty normal as far as design goes, not as adventurous as the Alexander with its current-feedback approach.
Aloha, RAF--[[User:66.8.194.185|66.8.194.185]] 14:04, 18 May 2007 (PDT)

The [http://www.sdiy.info SDIY wiki] should cover audio electronics, but it's early days yet. -- [[User:Robkam|Robkam]] 10:47, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

== automotive electronics ==

Is there some other wiki for people to talk about automobile electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best wiki for talking about things like
[http://megamanual.com/ "experimental Do-It-Yourself programmable electronic fuel injection controller"]?
Or should we just point people who want to talk ECUs (engine control units) to the
[http://msefi.com/ MSEFI discussion forum],
even though it sadly lacks a wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 22:36, 2 July 2007 (PDT)

How about converting a car to EV - Electrical vehicle, how to build an electrical motor controller? DC or 3-phase AC controller..
Mr. Holland

'''Bold text'''I am interested with you. I have some experience with some small robotics project and some motor projects. I am also interested in electrical vehicle. Just post next step here.

== inviting bloggers to open circuits ==

=== how to connect a JTAG probe to a Nokia phone ===

I'd like to invite bloggers such as GyrosGeier to edit OpenCircuits.
Rather than just spamming him, I think he would be more inclined to help out
if we answered one of his questions first -- such as
[http://hogyros.de/?q=node/167 "If you have information on how to connect a JTAG probe to a Nokia phone, please let me know."]
Maybe I should start a page on [[JTAG]]...
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 09:37, 22 September 2006 (PDT)

The [http://hackedgadgets.com/ Hacked Gadgets blog also has a bunch of cool electronics].
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 11:58, 5 January 2007 (PST)

== red links ==

The default skin at OpenCircuits currently has "red links" = page exists, "dark red links" = page does not exist.

I find that confusing. (But not as bad as the wiki that has some links black-on-white, indistinguishable from normal text).

'''work-around''': Register (it's free, and you don't have to give any personal information), then choose the "preferences" link in the far upper-right corner and then pick any other skin.

The other skins have coloring that you may be more used to from other wiki: "blue links" = page exists, "red links" = page does not exist.

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:58, 18 December 2006 (PST)

The colors are better in the other skins, but the navigation is worse.
How about a new skin that is like the default when it comes to navigation, but uses the normal wiki colors? // [[User:Cj|Cj]] 06:45, 4 October 2008 (PDT)

*** Guys, the red color on links is AwuFul, it brings ppl headaches.
That's the only reason I cant participate ***

--[[User:Takeda|Takeda]] 16:38, 29 September 2007 (PDT)

Redlinks defies convention and is confusing, making the wiki awkward for users. blue=link, red=dead link, violet=followed link. -- [[User:Robkam|Robkam]] 10:42, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

== inviting people from other forums to open circuits ==

Lots of people talk about circuits for LED lighting at
http://candlepowerforums.com/
.
Perhaps we can talk some of them into contributing here -- perhaps using a page or two of Open Circuits as a FAQ for LEDs and drive circuits.

== tool lists ==

Should we have an entire page on "tools", and mention it on the main page?
That risks listing *every* tool anyone has ever heard about,
like the page at
http://massmind.org/techref/tools.htm
.
Yes, I'm responsible for uglier bits on that page;
I think the wide variety of oscilloscopes are particularly confusing.
How could we cut through the confusion?

I see the "techniques" page already has a list of software tools.
Perhaps it would be nifty to have a short list of all the tools necessary for each technique?
Then a beginner would have a better idea of what tools he really needs to get (rather than looking at a huge list of every tool, and wondering for each one, ''"Am I going to regret buying it when I see it gathering dust? Or am I going to regret not buying it when I need it during a midnight debug session?"'').

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:37, 24 January 2007 (PST)

== Requests For Help ==
Thanks for your help with the camcorder mic.

== sample component ==

What is the purpose of the [[Sample Component]] ?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 16:27, 7 May 2007 (PDT)

----

== current surge and battery life ==

Hi,

currently my board is using a 3V battery, in every 40msec it will turn on its RF to communicate with the base station. I face a problem here is that my battery life is badly affected. Turning on the RF with cause a current surge.

Will this surge affect my battery life? If I use a supercapacitor does it helps?

-- [[User:203.120.164.208]] 04:14, 30 April 2007

== MIDI electrical interface ==

In my opinion, the MIDI interface got a lot of things right that too many later interfaces still trip over.

* http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/LINK/F_MIDI.html -- ASCII schematics
* http://www.engadget.com/2005/08/30/how-to-control-csound-with-a-custom-midi-controller-hardware/ -- hand-sketched schematics
* http://www.midi.org/about-midi/electrical.shtml "MIDI Electrical Specification Diagram & Proper Design of Joystick/MIDI Adapters" -- well-drawn schematics
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_MIDI_1.0_Protocol Wikipedia: The MIDI 1.0 Protocol]
* http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Behringer_FCB1010_MIDI_Pedal

It may look simple, but too often people try to "improve" it by adding or removing things without understanding, ending up with a worse system.

Is there any other wiki that is more appropriate for explaining the low-level details of the MIDI electrical interface, and *why* it was done that way?

I would be most interested in discussing new communication interfaces -- but is this really the right wiki?
Or would http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Serial_Programming or the [http://interwiki.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/picawiki.pl/StartingPoint PICA wiki] be better for discussing improvements?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 13:21, 21 June 2007 (PDT)

== IC design ==

What do you think about
http://makeyourownchip.com/
?
Should we talk about VLSI design ([http://david.carybros.com/html/vlsi.html "VLSI: designing electronic chips"])
here at Open Circuits?
Or is there a more appropriate wiki somewhere else?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 15:59, 26 June 2007 (PDT)

== electronics infoline ==

So have you seen
"Free electronics projects"
http://electronicsinfoline.com/
"with Photo Preview"
?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 00:28, 1 July 2007 (PDT)

And you will be interested in
"online circuit diagrams creation"
http://www.dz863.com/
"for free"
?

== generating a netlist with a "C++" program ==

The [http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~pier/csc/sup/Support.html "Support Electronics for ATLAS Muon CSC"] documentation claims that [http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~pier/csc/sup/CRB_LayoutNotes0.pdf "The design was captured with C++. There are no schematics."] and lists [http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~pier/csc/sup/crb_srce the C++ source code].

How did they do that?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 01:15, 3 July 2007 (PDT)

== rocket electronics ==

Is there another wiki that talks about rocket electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best place to talk about
ground support electronics
(such as [http://www.ukrocketman.com/rocketry/controller.shtml Launch Controller]s)
and
onboard electronics
(such as one
[http://www.ukrocketman.com/rocketry/compactrdasguide.shtml flight computer]
or another
[http://david.carybros.com/html/schematic.html#flight_computer flight computer]
)?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 14:21, 15 July 2007 (PDT)

Hey David,

In case you haven't heard of it for some strange reason, [http://www.hackaday.com Hack-a-Day] has
featured a fair number of rocketry projects over the years, and many of their articles on said
projects link back to the original project webpages.

--[[User:Purduecer|Purduecer]] 13:52, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

== Minimig ==
I have created pages about the [[Minimig]] project which is running an Amiga 500 in a Xilinx FPGA. It's rather a work in progress, than a static documentation. I hope nobody minds. [[User:Freqmax|Freqmax]] 18:35, 27 July 2007 (PDT)

== Open Science ==

So does/should Open Science ( http://openscience.org/ ) have any relation to Open Circuits ?
--[[User:68.0.120.35|68.0.120.35]] 00:13, 5 August 2007 (PDT)

== LaTEX math markup ==

I wrote a quick howto on figuring out resistor values, but it looks bad without latex math markup enabled.
Here's what I wrote as it appears on open circuits: http://www.opencircuits.com/Talk:Relays
Here's how it appears on wikipedia (with math markup enabled): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mzandrew/Sandbox

Anyone know if this is a quick thing to enable for open circuits or if it's involved?

[[User:Mzandrew|Mzandrew]] 14:16, 8 September 2007 (PDT)

<div style="clear:both;border:1px dotted #333;padding:10px;background:#FFE400;color:#333;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;">DONE! -- [[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 00:10, 11 March 2008 (PDT)</div>

----

'''SPAM DELETED!'''

I deleted a whole bunch of links that had been placed at the top of this page, probably by the same AH that did it to my page. I think the best solution would be to make it so no edits are possible without being logged in. Then there will be a record of who does this kind of thing. Then they can be banned from the site. I don't think that defeats the purpose of an open wiki environment, it simply means you have to register to contribute.

--[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 10:30, 21 December 2007 (PST)

At least this page is still OK. The Spam AHole hit my user talk page again today. This is very aggravating.

--[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 06:54, 22 December 2007 (PST)

: ''I agree. Annoying. I'm starting to "semi-protect" most pages so they can only be edited by logged-in users. I'm leaving a couple of pages wide open as a honeypot and/or test pages, so I can make tests and ban spammers without touching good pages. I think the $wgSpamRegex and/or ReCAPTCHA would be a better way to deal with spam. But my attempt to set them up isn't working yet. Sorry. --[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 10:28, 3 January 2008 (PST)''

== Release 2.0 ==

[http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/12/new_release_20_3.html New Release 2.0: Open Source Hardware] by Jimmy Guterman

Does Guterman know about Open Circuits yet?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 01:04, 4 January 2008 (PST)

== tech-assist ==

Should we invite the nice people at tech-assist
http://tech-assist.org/
to use the Open Circuits wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 20:38, 15 January 2008 (PST)

== A post I left at the Schmartboard mailing list. ==

Last week I posted to the Schmartboard mailing list asking about more interface types for their system.
I made reference to sites like this and pleaded the case of individuals wishing to make projects that interface a little better than the methods available now. Neal Greenburg(VP in sales) replied that they had been kicking ideas around like what I was proposing for a while, and that he would like to get some feedback. So, if you're interested, head on over and pipe in. The basic request I made was asking for common internal pc interfaces(PCI, PCI-e, AGP, ISA, etc..) to be included as an attachable module.

The reason for my request was that this would allow organizations such as this one to develop hardware that is now unachievable at a decent prototyping price(quantities in the single digits). Their modules allow robust SMD hardware to be hand soldered and connected to other modules, but interfacing to a pc or other system is limited to rs232. I left a much more in depth post there, and if you're interested, you can find it there.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/schmartboardsv/

I'm not affiliated with schmartboard in any other way than as a customer. I'm sorry if this is seen as spam, it's not intended to be. If the general consensus is that this is spam, feel free to delete it.

Thanks for your time, take care.
[[User:Jonkopp|Jonkopp]] 13:49, 20 January 2008 (PST)

: Making it easier to build common interfaces sounds great. There's a brief mention of Schmartboards at [[Techniques#Circuit construction .28Prototyping - Other than custom PCB.29]]. Would you like a [[Schmartboard]] page for people to unofficially suggest which Schmartboard fits which SMT package, and -- for those things that don't fit well with any current Schmartboard -- to propose new layouts?
: I suspect that the special techniques required for high-speed computer buses ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reflected-wave_switching reflected-wave switching], transmission lines, etc.) are not really achievable with prototyping boards, and so require full-custom PCBs.
: I think the USB interface, the 30-pin SIMM form factor (for designing [http://www.uclinux.org/ucsimm/ uCsimm]-like boards), etc. could use a Schmartboard.
: --[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 05:55, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

== open source machine ==

Is there some other wiki somewhere that would be better for discussing "open source hardware designs" for non-electronic mechanical hardware, such as
http://opensourcemachine.org/
?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 05:52, 26 June 2008 (PDT)
:: http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing :-) 2008-11-28

== confused ==

What is up with
[[User talk:Sunnyhouselife]], [[User talk:Kaylee]], [[User talk:Seekic]]
?
I'm guessing that English is not their native language.
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:08, 10 July 2008 (PDT)

== ultrasonic ==

Is there a better wiki to discuss [[ultrasonic]] stuff?
Such as:
[http://www.brooker.co.za/fers/ "FERS: the Flexible, Extensible Radar and Sonar Simulator."]

== COSHER ==

"COSHER stands for Completely Open Source, Headers, Engineering, and Research."
-- http://wearcam.org/cosher.htm

Can we apply COSHER to [[open hardware]], or does it only apply to software?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 04:31, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

== Quad Helicopter ==

Hello, I am starting a project to build a multi-rotor helicopter (starting with a 4 motor one and moving up). I am planning on developing everything from scratch. If you are a software programmer (linux), or a mechanical engineer, and want to help out with the project let me know! I got a site where the progress can be tracked and coordinated, http://wwww.quadheli.com

Cheers!

Sounds like a cool project.
Would it help to make a wiki page for it at [[multi-rotor]]?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 17:12, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

----

[http://nmg.thecomicseries.com/comics/133 indieVisible] --
Originally they started as a nonpolitical open hardware movement for DIY people using advanced minifacturing (3D printing and so on).

[[Category:Community| ]]

OpenCircuits:Community portal

2012-11-09T10:42:48Z

Robkam: /* red links */

Welcome to Open Circuits.
This is a good place to talk about Open Circuits, as a whole.

We have {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} articles now. Yay!

== Help, noob looking to get into electronics ==

I want to create an open hardware smartphone... but I don't know anything about electronics... yet...
Someone care to help? I just need to be pointed in the right direction

I'm guessing i just need to create some sort of small computer running linux??

Thanks =)

--[[User:RenatoFontes|RenatoFontes]] 00:54, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

Yes. the components for a smartphone board are really small so no one has figured out how to build one. My suggestion? Make one with a beagleboard or raspberry pi as a mainboard instead. Both boards are small and low voltage and linux which would be a great smartphone base. that is your best bet, btw it requires moderate electronics know how to rig up a touchscreen. You should get started familiarizing yourself with whatever electronics knowledge that you can find too.
-Quinn (quinn.vinlove@gmail.com)

Yes. The components for a smartphone board are really small, but lots of people have figured out how to build one -- see [[Open Mobile Gadgets]] for a list.

In particular, the Tux phone [http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/multimedia/2007/10/gallery_linux_phones?slide=5&slideView=6] [http://www.flickr.com/photos/julianbleecker/225599650/] and the more polished-looking Openmoko FreeRunner [http://openmoko.org/] [http://www.mobilegazette.com/openmoko-neo-freerunner-08x06x26.htm]
have open hardware and open software.

It's possible to build a small computer running Linux "from scratch" -- see [[motherboards that run Linux]] for some people who have done just that.
Perhaps you can use one of those smartphone hardware or other motherboard hardware as-is?
Or perhaps with a few blue-wires?
Or perhaps you could at least download the schematics and tweak the design for your new PCBs, rather than starting entirely from scratch?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 16:00, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

== Upgrade to Mediawiki 1.15.1 ==

Mediawiki has been upgraded to version 1.15.1 ([http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/mediawiki-announce/2009-July/000087.html release notes]).

Please test your favorite MediaWiki functionality and use this page to report any issues you come across.

[[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 23:57, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

== free digital TV converter box coupon ==

https://www.dtv2009.gov/

== Anti-Vandalism Bot ==

''moved to our page discussing [[Spam]].''

== electrical mailing lists ==
Yahoo claims they have
[http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Science/Engineering/Electrical 1,831 electrical engineering mailing lists].
What would be a good way of letting the people on those lists know about the Open Circuits wiki, without spamming them?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 13:30, 31 May 2006 (PDT)

* Publish cold fusion howto :-)
* Send one email/week and only once per list. And be on topic, listen carefully for responses.
[[User:Freqmax|Freqmax]] 16:24, 30 July 2007 (PDT)

== about Open Circuits ==
So, is there any connection between http://OpenCircuits.org/ , http://OpenCircuits.net/ , and this http://OpenCircuits.com/ wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 23:47, 13 June 2006 (PDT)

No. There is no connection between any of http://opencircuits.com and the other websites listed.
[[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 02:55, 18 June 2006 (PDT)
== web rings ==
Document an original microcontroller project and join a PIC webring, or AVR webring. 20 June 2006

== audio electronics ==

Is there some other wiki for people to talk about audio electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best wiki for talking about things like
''"[http://analog.com/ Analog Devices] AN-221: The Alexander current-feedback audio power amplifier"'' by Mark Alexander
?

I think I would prefer to offload all the audio electronics controversies to some other wiki
(but which one?).
Still, it would be nice to have some "tips for high-power electronics" here.
I imagine that tips page would list the various quirks of high-power MOSFETs, BJTs, TRIACs, and IGBTs,
and (given a particular motor or speaker or other load)
how to select one over the others,
and various ways of working around those quirks.
--[[User:65.70.89.241|65.70.89.241]] 07:17, 10 August 2006 (PDT)

I just joined Open Circuits. I have been servicing and designing audio equipment for several years (Recording consoles a specialty) I hope you will have a section for audio electronics. I also work with video projection systems and theatrical lighting (stage struck at an early age) I play electric rock-blues guitar, so I also am interested in tube guitar amps (Marshall and Boogie). And there is a big difference in what a guitar player thinks an amp should do, and what a recording engineer wants an amp for. I think these are valid points for discussion.
I've also got an interest in power supplies (my experience is mostly with linear, but I've started learning about switching designs). In fact that brings me to my question, I have some regulator designs based on the 723 that I'd like to share. How do I go about doing that? I built a replacement for a console /- 18V @6A supply when I couldn't find the original regulator devices. I used 723s with external series pass devices. The unit has been working for close to 10 years now, so I think the design is worth sharing. Is anyone interested?

I also research discrete op amps like the Jensen 990. I've been working (on and off for years) on a clone of that using more modern, easily available parts and devices. Anyone else?
Finally, in response to the first entry in this section, I too read that application note in Analog Devices Audio/Video Reference Manual. My copy is dated 1992. I've repaired a lot of amplifiers, but haven't built any. If anyone else is hip to this amp I'd like to hear about it. It is a very unique design. I also like the A75 amp design from Nelson Pass and Norman Thagard, and the Leach Amp by Marshall Leach. The last two are pretty normal as far as design goes, not as adventurous as the Alexander with its current-feedback approach.
Aloha, RAF--[[User:66.8.194.185|66.8.194.185]] 14:04, 18 May 2007 (PDT)

== automotive electronics ==

Is there some other wiki for people to talk about automobile electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best wiki for talking about things like
[http://megamanual.com/ "experimental Do-It-Yourself programmable electronic fuel injection controller"]?
Or should we just point people who want to talk ECUs (engine control units) to the
[http://msefi.com/ MSEFI discussion forum],
even though it sadly lacks a wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 22:36, 2 July 2007 (PDT)

How about converting a car to EV - Electrical vehicle, how to build an electrical motor controller? DC or 3-phase AC controller..
Mr. Holland

'''Bold text'''I am interested with you. I have some experience with some small robotics project and some motor projects. I am also interested in electrical vehicle. Just post next step here.

== inviting bloggers to open circuits ==

=== how to connect a JTAG probe to a Nokia phone ===

I'd like to invite bloggers such as GyrosGeier to edit OpenCircuits.
Rather than just spamming him, I think he would be more inclined to help out
if we answered one of his questions first -- such as
[http://hogyros.de/?q=node/167 "If you have information on how to connect a JTAG probe to a Nokia phone, please let me know."]
Maybe I should start a page on [[JTAG]]...
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 09:37, 22 September 2006 (PDT)

The [http://hackedgadgets.com/ Hacked Gadgets blog also has a bunch of cool electronics].
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 11:58, 5 January 2007 (PST)

== red links ==

The default skin at OpenCircuits currently has "red links" = page exists, "dark red links" = page does not exist.

I find that confusing. (But not as bad as the wiki that has some links black-on-white, indistinguishable from normal text).

'''work-around''': Register (it's free, and you don't have to give any personal information), then choose the "preferences" link in the far upper-right corner and then pick any other skin.

The other skins have coloring that you may be more used to from other wiki: "blue links" = page exists, "red links" = page does not exist.

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:58, 18 December 2006 (PST)

The colors are better in the other skins, but the navigation is worse.
How about a new skin that is like the default when it comes to navigation, but uses the normal wiki colors? // [[User:Cj|Cj]] 06:45, 4 October 2008 (PDT)

*** Guys, the red color on links is AwuFul, it brings ppl headaches.
That's the only reason I cant participate ***

--[[User:Takeda|Takeda]] 16:38, 29 September 2007 (PDT)

Redlinks defies convention and is confusing, making the wiki awkward for users. blue=link, red=dead link, violet=followed link. -- [[User:Robkam|Robkam]] 10:42, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

== inviting people from other forums to open circuits ==

Lots of people talk about circuits for LED lighting at
http://candlepowerforums.com/
.
Perhaps we can talk some of them into contributing here -- perhaps using a page or two of Open Circuits as a FAQ for LEDs and drive circuits.

== tool lists ==

Should we have an entire page on "tools", and mention it on the main page?
That risks listing *every* tool anyone has ever heard about,
like the page at
http://massmind.org/techref/tools.htm
.
Yes, I'm responsible for uglier bits on that page;
I think the wide variety of oscilloscopes are particularly confusing.
How could we cut through the confusion?

I see the "techniques" page already has a list of software tools.
Perhaps it would be nifty to have a short list of all the tools necessary for each technique?
Then a beginner would have a better idea of what tools he really needs to get (rather than looking at a huge list of every tool, and wondering for each one, ''"Am I going to regret buying it when I see it gathering dust? Or am I going to regret not buying it when I need it during a midnight debug session?"'').

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:37, 24 January 2007 (PST)

== Requests For Help ==
Thanks for your help with the camcorder mic.

== sample component ==

What is the purpose of the [[Sample Component]] ?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 16:27, 7 May 2007 (PDT)

----

== current surge and battery life ==

Hi,

currently my board is using a 3V battery, in every 40msec it will turn on its RF to communicate with the base station. I face a problem here is that my battery life is badly affected. Turning on the RF with cause a current surge.

Will this surge affect my battery life? If I use a supercapacitor does it helps?

-- [[User:203.120.164.208]] 04:14, 30 April 2007

== MIDI electrical interface ==

In my opinion, the MIDI interface got a lot of things right that too many later interfaces still trip over.

* http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/LINK/F_MIDI.html -- ASCII schematics
* http://www.engadget.com/2005/08/30/how-to-control-csound-with-a-custom-midi-controller-hardware/ -- hand-sketched schematics
* http://www.midi.org/about-midi/electrical.shtml "MIDI Electrical Specification Diagram & Proper Design of Joystick/MIDI Adapters" -- well-drawn schematics
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_MIDI_1.0_Protocol Wikipedia: The MIDI 1.0 Protocol]
* http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Behringer_FCB1010_MIDI_Pedal

It may look simple, but too often people try to "improve" it by adding or removing things without understanding, ending up with a worse system.

Is there any other wiki that is more appropriate for explaining the low-level details of the MIDI electrical interface, and *why* it was done that way?

I would be most interested in discussing new communication interfaces -- but is this really the right wiki?
Or would http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Serial_Programming or the [http://interwiki.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/picawiki.pl/StartingPoint PICA wiki] be better for discussing improvements?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 13:21, 21 June 2007 (PDT)

== IC design ==

What do you think about
http://makeyourownchip.com/
?
Should we talk about VLSI design ([http://david.carybros.com/html/vlsi.html "VLSI: designing electronic chips"])
here at Open Circuits?
Or is there a more appropriate wiki somewhere else?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 15:59, 26 June 2007 (PDT)

== electronics infoline ==

So have you seen
"Free electronics projects"
http://electronicsinfoline.com/
"with Photo Preview"
?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 00:28, 1 July 2007 (PDT)

And you will be interested in
"online circuit diagrams creation"
http://www.dz863.com/
"for free"
?

== generating a netlist with a "C++" program ==

The [http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~pier/csc/sup/Support.html "Support Electronics for ATLAS Muon CSC"] documentation claims that [http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~pier/csc/sup/CRB_LayoutNotes0.pdf "The design was captured with C++. There are no schematics."] and lists [http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~pier/csc/sup/crb_srce the C++ source code].

How did they do that?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 01:15, 3 July 2007 (PDT)

== rocket electronics ==

Is there another wiki that talks about rocket electronics?
Or is this Open Circuits the best place to talk about
ground support electronics
(such as [http://www.ukrocketman.com/rocketry/controller.shtml Launch Controller]s)
and
onboard electronics
(such as one
[http://www.ukrocketman.com/rocketry/compactrdasguide.shtml flight computer]
or another
[http://david.carybros.com/html/schematic.html#flight_computer flight computer]
)?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 14:21, 15 July 2007 (PDT)

Hey David,

In case you haven't heard of it for some strange reason, [http://www.hackaday.com Hack-a-Day] has
featured a fair number of rocketry projects over the years, and many of their articles on said
projects link back to the original project webpages.

--[[User:Purduecer|Purduecer]] 13:52, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

== Minimig ==
I have created pages about the [[Minimig]] project which is running an Amiga 500 in a Xilinx FPGA. It's rather a work in progress, than a static documentation. I hope nobody minds. [[User:Freqmax|Freqmax]] 18:35, 27 July 2007 (PDT)

== Open Science ==

So does/should Open Science ( http://openscience.org/ ) have any relation to Open Circuits ?
--[[User:68.0.120.35|68.0.120.35]] 00:13, 5 August 2007 (PDT)

== LaTEX math markup ==

I wrote a quick howto on figuring out resistor values, but it looks bad without latex math markup enabled.
Here's what I wrote as it appears on open circuits: http://www.opencircuits.com/Talk:Relays
Here's how it appears on wikipedia (with math markup enabled): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mzandrew/Sandbox

Anyone know if this is a quick thing to enable for open circuits or if it's involved?

[[User:Mzandrew|Mzandrew]] 14:16, 8 September 2007 (PDT)

<div style="clear:both;border:1px dotted #333;padding:10px;background:#FFE400;color:#333;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;">DONE! -- [[User:Chazegh|Chazegh]] 00:10, 11 March 2008 (PDT)</div>

----

'''SPAM DELETED!'''

I deleted a whole bunch of links that had been placed at the top of this page, probably by the same AH that did it to my page. I think the best solution would be to make it so no edits are possible without being logged in. Then there will be a record of who does this kind of thing. Then they can be banned from the site. I don't think that defeats the purpose of an open wiki environment, it simply means you have to register to contribute.

--[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 10:30, 21 December 2007 (PST)

At least this page is still OK. The Spam AHole hit my user talk page again today. This is very aggravating.

--[[User:RogerAF|RAF]] 06:54, 22 December 2007 (PST)

: ''I agree. Annoying. I'm starting to "semi-protect" most pages so they can only be edited by logged-in users. I'm leaving a couple of pages wide open as a honeypot and/or test pages, so I can make tests and ban spammers without touching good pages. I think the $wgSpamRegex and/or ReCAPTCHA would be a better way to deal with spam. But my attempt to set them up isn't working yet. Sorry. --[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 10:28, 3 January 2008 (PST)''

== Release 2.0 ==

[http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/12/new_release_20_3.html New Release 2.0: Open Source Hardware] by Jimmy Guterman

Does Guterman know about Open Circuits yet?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 01:04, 4 January 2008 (PST)

== tech-assist ==

Should we invite the nice people at tech-assist
http://tech-assist.org/
to use the Open Circuits wiki?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 20:38, 15 January 2008 (PST)

== A post I left at the Schmartboard mailing list. ==

Last week I posted to the Schmartboard mailing list asking about more interface types for their system.
I made reference to sites like this and pleaded the case of individuals wishing to make projects that interface a little better than the methods available now. Neal Greenburg(VP in sales) replied that they had been kicking ideas around like what I was proposing for a while, and that he would like to get some feedback. So, if you're interested, head on over and pipe in. The basic request I made was asking for common internal pc interfaces(PCI, PCI-e, AGP, ISA, etc..) to be included as an attachable module.

The reason for my request was that this would allow organizations such as this one to develop hardware that is now unachievable at a decent prototyping price(quantities in the single digits). Their modules allow robust SMD hardware to be hand soldered and connected to other modules, but interfacing to a pc or other system is limited to rs232. I left a much more in depth post there, and if you're interested, you can find it there.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/schmartboardsv/

I'm not affiliated with schmartboard in any other way than as a customer. I'm sorry if this is seen as spam, it's not intended to be. If the general consensus is that this is spam, feel free to delete it.

Thanks for your time, take care.
[[User:Jonkopp|Jonkopp]] 13:49, 20 January 2008 (PST)

: Making it easier to build common interfaces sounds great. There's a brief mention of Schmartboards at [[Techniques#Circuit construction .28Prototyping - Other than custom PCB.29]]. Would you like a [[Schmartboard]] page for people to unofficially suggest which Schmartboard fits which SMT package, and -- for those things that don't fit well with any current Schmartboard -- to propose new layouts?
: I suspect that the special techniques required for high-speed computer buses ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reflected-wave_switching reflected-wave switching], transmission lines, etc.) are not really achievable with prototyping boards, and so require full-custom PCBs.
: I think the USB interface, the 30-pin SIMM form factor (for designing [http://www.uclinux.org/ucsimm/ uCsimm]-like boards), etc. could use a Schmartboard.
: --[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 05:55, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

== open source machine ==

Is there some other wiki somewhere that would be better for discussing "open source hardware designs" for non-electronic mechanical hardware, such as
http://opensourcemachine.org/
?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 05:52, 26 June 2008 (PDT)
:: http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing :-) 2008-11-28

== confused ==

What is up with
[[User talk:Sunnyhouselife]], [[User talk:Kaylee]], [[User talk:Seekic]]
?
I'm guessing that English is not their native language.
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:08, 10 July 2008 (PDT)

== ultrasonic ==

Is there a better wiki to discuss [[ultrasonic]] stuff?
Such as:
[http://www.brooker.co.za/fers/ "FERS: the Flexible, Extensible Radar and Sonar Simulator."]

== COSHER ==

"COSHER stands for Completely Open Source, Headers, Engineering, and Research."
-- http://wearcam.org/cosher.htm

Can we apply COSHER to [[open hardware]], or does it only apply to software?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 04:31, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

== Quad Helicopter ==

Hello, I am starting a project to build a multi-rotor helicopter (starting with a 4 motor one and moving up). I am planning on developing everything from scratch. If you are a software programmer (linux), or a mechanical engineer, and want to help out with the project let me know! I got a site where the progress can be tracked and coordinated, http://wwww.quadheli.com

Cheers!

Sounds like a cool project.
Would it help to make a wiki page for it at [[multi-rotor]]?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 17:12, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

----

[http://nmg.thecomicseries.com/comics/133 indieVisible] --
Originally they started as a nonpolitical open hardware movement for DIY people using advanced minifacturing (3D printing and so on).

[[Category:Community| ]]

WikiNode

2012-11-09T10:28:22Z

Robkam: /* other related wiki */

Welcome to Open Circuits.
Open Circuits is a wiki for sharing electronics knowledge, schematics, board layouts, and parts libraries.

== key points of interest ==

* [[Main Page]]
* [[Open_Circuits:Community_Portal]]
* [[Projects]]
** open hardware cell phone projects: [[Open Mobile Gadgets]], [[Cellular Rotary Phone]]
* [[Components]]
* [[Techniques]]

== wiki-nodes of neighboring wiki ==
The WikiNode project tries to link every wiki in the world together. Our "WikiNode" links to closely-related wiki (and their WikiNode links back).

If you want to talk about something that is not quite on-topic here at Open Circuits (say, "desktop PC case modding", or "embedded Linux programming"), our WikiNode helps you find another wiki where people love to talk about that exact topic. The corresponding WikiNode on each of those wiki helps people who want to talk about "open hardware" to discover this wiki.

==== medical electronics wiki ====
* [http://openprosthetics.wikispot.org/ Open Prosthetics Project Wiki]
* [http://openwetware.org/wiki/Wikiomics:WikiNode OpenWetWare wiki] promotes "the sharing of information, know-how, and wisdom among researchers and groups who are working in biology & biological engineering." Some wiki pages describe "open hardware" electronic devices used as tools in those projects -- for example, [http://openwetware.org/wiki/DIYbio:Notebook/Open_Gel_Box_2.0 open-hardware gel electrophoresis chambers].
* [http://wiki.asiaquake.org/openeeg/published/WikiNode the OpenEEG wiki] discusses building an OpenEEG, safe ways to attach it to your head, and software for it. (See also [[Programmable Chip EEG]]).

==== open hardware cell phone wiki ====

* [http://opencellphone.org/ TuxPhone wiki at http://opencellphone.org/]
* [http://hbmobile.org/wiki/ Homebrew Mobile Phone Club wiki at http://hbmobile.org/wiki/]
* [http://widgetry.org/dokuwiki/ OpenCell wiki at http://widgetry.org/dokuwiki/]
* [http://wiki.openmoko.org/ OpenMoko wiki at http://wiki.openmoko.org/] discusses open hardware cell phone you can buy now.
* [http://iphone.fiveforty.net/wiki/ wiki for open-source software for a popular (but proprietary hardware) phone]

==== other open wireless communications wiki ====

* [http://amateur-radio-wiki.net/ Amateur Radio Wiki] Online Encyclopedia for Hams
* [http://wsn.oversigma.com/ WSN, the Wireless Sensor Network wiki] discusses wireless sensor networks. (wired sensor network discussion is also tolerated :-).
* <s> Reference Digital Camera [http://www.digitalcamerareviewsratings.com Digital Camera Reviews] </s> ''(not a wiki?)''
* [http://wiki.twibright.com/ a wiki for RONJA] (Reasonable Optical Near Joint Access) Free Space Optics device[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RONJA]. ("free technology" is the same as "open hardware", right?)
* [http://wiki.openwrt.org/ OpenWRT wiki]: "OpenWrt is an open source project to create a free embedded operating system for network devices."

==== microcontroller wiki ====
* [http://gainer.cc/wiki/ the Gainer wiki] discusses the Cypress PSoC microcontroller
* [http://avrwiki.com/ the Atmel AVR wiki] discusses the Atmel AVR series of microcontrollers (see also the Arduino wiki)
* [http://techref.massmind.org/techref/piclist/ the PICList at the massmind] and [http://oase.uci.kun.nl/~mientki/wikifarm/stef/index.php PiciWiki] discusses the Microchip PIC series of microcontrollers
* [http://www.open-research.org.uk/ARMuC/WikiNode.html the ARM microcontroller wiki]
* [http://gnusim8085.sourceforge.net/ the GNUSim8085 wiki] for the Intel 8085 microprocessor
* [http://nioswiki.jot.com/ Nios community wiki] discusses the Nios II processor, and how to implement it on a FPGA
* [http://jopdesign.com/wiki/index.php the JOP wiki discusses the Java Optimized Processor, a simple and small Java processor optimized to execute Java bytecode, implemented in a low cost FPGA]
* [http://wiki.opensparc.net/ the OpenSPARC Wiki] discussing open-source versions of the SPARC processor architecture, including implementing it in a FPGA
* [http://developer.axis.com/wiki/ the Axis Developer wiki] discussing ETRAX CPUs and other Axis chips.
* [http://microchip.com/wiki/ ICwiki]: the official wiki at microchip.com for Microchip PICmicro microcontrollers etc. ''needs wikinode''
* [http://propeller.wikispaces.com/ Propeller wiki]: dedicated to documenting interesting stuff related to the Parallax Propeller microcontroller. ''needs wikinode''
* [http://processors.wiki.ti.com/ Texas Instruments Embedded Processors Wiki]: the official wiki at ti.com for discussing the MSP430 (a 16-bit, ultra-low power, mixed signal microcontroller), TI DSPs, the TI OMAP (used to run Linux in the "open source handheld" Pandora handheld game console, the [[motherboards that run Linux | Beagle Board]], and the Gumstix Overo) and other ARM-based processors, and other TI processors.

==== computer architecture wiki ====

We briefly touch on computer architecture on a few Open Circuits pages.
(
[[Kestrel]],
[[Multi-purpose Embedded System]],
[[relay CPU]]
).
For far more details, see other wiki such as

* [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Microprocessor_Design "Microprocessor Design"] wikibook, a rough draft of a book
* [http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Computer_Architecture_Lab "Computer Architecture lab"] Wikiversity (focuses entirely on CPU-in-a-FPGA designs)
* [http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/19424/computer-architecture-organization "Q&A site for Computer Architecture & Organization"] (is this really a wiki?)
* [https://www.semipublic.comp-arch.net/wiki/ "The Art of Computer Architecture"] by Andy Glew, a rough draft of a book
* [http://f-cpu.seul.org/ Freedom CPU wiki]

==== vehicles and robots and CNC ====
* [http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/WebHome the RepRap wiki] discusses the RepRap project to build a "Replicating Rapid-prototyper", a self-copying 3D printer. "Complete open-source instructions and plans are published on this website for zero cost and available to everyone so, if you want to make one yourself, you can."
* [http://evproduction.org/wiki EV production wiki] discusses several electric open source [[vehicle]]s.
* [http://openservo.com/ OpenServo wiki] -- developing a digital servo motor that accepts "Go to position X" commands and also more complex curves, and returns actual servo position, speed, voltage and power consumption.
* [http://www-robotics.usc.edu/~dshell/roboticswiki/ Robotics wiki] ''(offline as of 2007-07-07)''
* [http://pminmo.com/PMinMOwiki/index.php5 the PMinMO.com wiki] describes an open-source CNC machine -- software, electronics, motors, hardware, etc. -- and related information, such as [http://pminmo.com/PMinMOwiki/index.php5?title=CNC_PCB_Milling CNC PCB milling]. (was: [http://pminmo.com/wiki/] ) ''needs WikiNode''
* [http://vems.hu/wiki/ VEMS wiki] has some interesting electronics projects. In particular, the [http://www.vems.hu/wiki/index.php?page=GoBox GoBox project] to tune automobile engines to minimize the amount of fuel used. ''needs wikinode''
* [http://editthis.info/JMRI JMRI wiki ( http://editthis.info/JMRI )] The JMRI project is building tools for model railroad computer control.
* [http://dccwiki.com/ the DCC wiki ( http://dccwiki.com/ )] ("Digital Command Control") discusses computer-controlled model railroads.
* [http://ladyada.net/wiki/ the ladyada.net wiki]: discusses open source benchtop tools, laser cutters, and electronics DIY/hobbyists. ''needs wikinode''
* [http://ecomodder.com/wiki/ the EcoModder wiki] discusses various ways to measure and improve vehicle gas economy, including "MPGuino is an open source fuel economy computer (Arduino based) for any vehicle with electronic fuel injection and a Vehicle Speed Sensor."
* [http://wiki.makerbot.com/ MakerBot Wiki]

==== other related wiki ====

:For open source software (or open source in general) visit the [http://opensource.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Open Source Wikia].

* [http://kicad.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/WikiNode KiCad] is a GPL'd suite of programs for EDA (electronic design automation).
* [http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/ Rockbox wiki] is an open source firmware for mp3 players, written from scratch. It runs on a wide range of players. It nicely complements the [[Music Player]] hardware we discuss here.
* [http://opensourceproductdesign.org/ open source product design] ''is this really a wiki?''
* [http://adciv.org/ the advanced civilization wiki] discusses "Open collaborative design", which seems to include the sort of [[open hardware]] designs we share at Open Circuits.
* [http://electronicschat.org/ the Electronics Chat wiki]
* [http://hcvl.hci.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/openEyeswiki/index.cgi the openEyes wiki] discusses an open-source open-hardware toolkit for low-cost real-time eye tracking.
* [http://communitywiki.org/odd/ComputerComponent/WikiNode Computer Component wiki] "for computer and electronics enthusiasts to learn and contribute to an online database of computer hardware and electronics with an emphasis on how-to guides."

* [http://nslu2-linux.org/ the NSLU2-Linux development group] seems to do a lot of wiring and soldering. ''needs wiki-node''
* [http://wikidevices.org/ Wiki Devices] "a highly organized repository for objective information, as well as opinions on consumer electronics."
* [http://wikiindex.com/Build_Your_Own_Arcade the Build Your Own Arcade controls wiki]
* [http://geda.seul.org/wiki/ the gEDA wiki] discusses "the gEDA project" -- developing a full GPL‘d suite of Electronic Design Automation tools (electrical circuit design, schematic capture, simulation, prototyping, and printed circuit board (PCB) layout.

* dorkbot: Artists, inventors, scientists, engineers. The exciting thing to me is to learn about strange things that creative people are doing around the world, with no regard for genre, style, school of thought, area of expertise, etc. ... committed to the idea of "availability over promotion", meaning their main concern is to help things exist, rather than making hits or selling lots of copies.
** [http://mightyohm.com/wiki the mightyohm.com wiki] discusses where to get supplies and tools for working with electronics. The sysop is apparently a member of Dorkbot SF.
** [http://projects.dorkbot.org/dorkbot-wiki the global dorkbot wiki]
** [http://dorkbotpdx.org/ DorkbotPDX: people doing strange things with electricity] in Portland
** [http://dorkbotlondon.org/wiki dorkbotlondon] in London
** [http://dorkbot.noodlefactory.co.uk/wiki dorkbot ALBA wiki]

* [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Embedded_Systems the Embedded Systems wikibook]
* [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Practical_Electronics/PCB_Layout the Practical Electronics wikibook]
* [http://sensorwiki.org/ the sensor wiki]
* [http://linuxtv.org/wiki/ the LinuxTV wiki] occasionally has some chip-level information, such as the [http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/I2c_Protocol I2C protocol] and [http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/BT878 sampling analog data at 16 bits and 448000 Samples per second with a BT878 chip]
* [http://howto.wikia.com/wiki/WikiNode WikiHowto] occasionally has electronic projects such as [http://howto.wikia.com/wiki/Howto_build_an_ultra_low_power_clock_with_a_large_period WikiHowto: Howto build an ultra low power clock with a large period]
* [http://wiki.opengraphics.org/ The Open Graphics Project (OGP) is developing graphics cards with fully published specs and open source drivers.] Since the first version will be a FPGA, is also collecting information on FPGA programming and interfacing. Supported by [http://traversaltech.com/ Traversal Technology]. (''was at http://wiki.duskglow.com/ '')
* [http://wikihost.org/wikis/openhardware/ the Open Hardware wiki] has electronics projects of various levels of complexity; the most complicated appears to be "KAD", a FPGA on a PCI card designed for reconfigurable computing.
* [http://protel-users.org/ Protel users wiki], for people who design and draw schematics and circuit boards with Protel.

==== CPU board wiki ====
* various small CPU modules that have their own wiki (see also [[ARMUS Embedded Linux Board]] and other [[motherboards that run Linux]])
** [http://elinux.org/WikiNode the embedded Linux wiki] has information on running Linux on several small ARM-based embedded systems. Also TexasInstruments OMAP processors.
** [http://linuxrobots.org/wiki/WikiNode Linux Robots] -- robots that run Linux
** [http://balloonboard.org/balloonwiki/WikiNode Balloonboard Wiki] for the Balloon Project. They have developed a small single-board computer that can run Linux. Also discusses "The Balloon Open Hardware License (BOHL) ... The license is intended as a general purpose open hardware license".
** [http://docwiki.gumstix.org/ gumstix wiki] : "[http://docwiki.gumstix.org/Schematics Schematics and layouts for all gumstix expansion boards] are available under a Creative Commons license." ''needs wikinode''
** [http://virtualcogs.com/wiki/ Virtual Cogs wiki] describes a CPU board that uses a stacking connector system.
** [http://wiki.emqbit.com/free-ecb-at91 the emQbit wiki] discusses "The Free ECB_AT91 V1 is a Single Board Computer made by emQbit. You can download the specs and build your own." based on a 180 MHz ARM9 processor (Atmel AT91RM9200); runs Linux.
** The BeagleBoard runs Linux. The [http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardBeginners embedded Linux wiki discusses BeagleBoard], and the [http://code.google.com/p/beagleboard/ BeagleBoard wiki at Google] also has good tips.
** [http://arduino.cc/playground/ Arduino playground] discusses the Arduino board based on the Atmel AVR ATmega168. (See also the Atmel AVR wiki).
** [http://wiki.elphel.com/ Elphel wiki] discusses the free software and open hardware inside [[Elphel camera]]s. That hardware includes a FPGA that handles video processing and video compression, and a ETRAX FS processor that runs Linux.
** [http://wiki.leaflabs.com/ the LeafLabs Wiki] discusses the Maple, a [[Arduino Links | Arduino]]-compatible board that uses an [[ARM]] processor, and other stuff from [[LeafLabs]]. ''needs WikiNode''

==== other related wiki ====

* [http://openjtag.net/ the OpenJTAG wiki] ( http://openjtag.net/ )
* [http://analogwiki.com/ the Analog wiki] "The Wiki for Design & Verification Engineers by Design & Verification Engineers."
* [http://hardwarebook.info/ the Hardware Book. Internet's largest free collection of connector pinouts and cable descriptions.] ''needs WikiNode''
* [https://isl.ncsa.uiuc.edu/twiki/bin/view/OpenFPGA the OpenFPGA wiki] ''needs WikiNode''
* [https://devel.goto10.org/packets/wiki/CATkit the CATkit wiki: CATkit is an open hardware project] designed as a standalone interactive Forth computer for audio sound artists. (Based on Microchip PIC 18F).
* [http://openbios.org/ the OpenBIOS project wiki] discusses several free and open source implementations of IEEE 1275-1994 (also called "Open Firmware"). Open Firmware allows expansion cards to provide a "boot ROM" that works all common platforms, like x86, AMD64, PowerPC, ARM and Mips.
* [http://obook.info/ the OpenBook wiki] discusses OpenBook, an open source hardware and software project designing a computer tablet ... Everyone can contribute and help to shape the OpenBook hardware and software specifications.
* [https://events.ccc.de/camp/2007/ Chaos Communication Camp wiki]
* [http://tubeopedia.com/ Tubeopedia.com] discusses vacuum tube technology and science, circuits, theory, people and equipment related to vacuum tubes.
* [http://opencircuitdesign.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl OpenCircuitDesign.com , the other Open Circuit Wiki] discusses mostly free tools for designing integrated circuits.
* [http://wiki.linux1394.org/ Linux1394 Wiki] discusses FireWire on Linux and related device drivers, tools, libraries, and hardware. ''needs wikinode''
* [http://rfidguardian.org/ RFID Guardian wiki] discusses an open hardware project designed to guard privacy. ''needs wikinode''
* [http://electronics.wikia.com/ Wikitronics wikia] ''needs wikinode''
* [http://www.sdiy.info SDIY wiki] for learning and sharing knowledge about making, modifying, or repairing electronic musical instruments and related equipment.
* [http://wiki.orbswarm.com/ Swarmwiki], a wiki for an open hardware group that build swarms of semi-autonomous spherical robots. ''needs wikinode''
* [http://tgimboej.org/ tgimboej wiki] discusses The Great Internet Migratory Box Of Electronics Junk, and the "open source oriented hardware hackers" who receive it. ''needs wikinode''
* [http://wiki.dataflow.ws The DataFlow wiki] is a wiki about art, new medias, electronics, interaction design, Python, PureData and other dataflow languages.
* [http://wockets.wikispaces.com/ Wockets open-source hardware] is a wiki about developing low-cost sensors for measuring physical activity on mobile phones.
* [http://www.synthesizers.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php Synthesizers.com wiki] "up-to-date information about synthesizers, patches, modifications, etc." ''needs wikinode''
* [http://code.google.com/p/bicycleledpov/w/list bicycleledpov wiki]: A bicycle visual LED artwork
* [http://code.google.com/p/micropendous/ Micropendous wiki]: Open Hardware Development Boards for the Atmel's Full-Speed (12Mbit/s) USB AVR Microcontrollers (AT90USB162, ATmega32U4, AT90USB646, AT90USB1287)
* [https://noisebridge.net/wiki/Noisebridge Noisebridge] Noisebridge is an infrastructure provider for technical-creative projects, collaboratively run by its members
* [http://de.wikiants.org/WikiNode Wikiants do-it-yourself (in German)] has a section on [http://de.wikiants.org/Kategorie:Open_Hardware Wikiants: open hardware].
* [http://qi-hardware.com/ Qi hardware wiki]: Qi's mission is to promote and encourage the development of copyleft hardware.

----

Please add closely-related wiki. Keep the 7 or so of the most-closely-related wiki.
Move less-relevant wiki to WikiIndex.

''Are any of the wiki listed at http://www.communitywiki.org/odd/SoftwareBazaar/MicrocontrollerProgramming relevant enough to list here?''

[[category: community]]