***Official Electronics Thread of Officialness (it starts off with lots of Nixie Tube Clock goodness

  • Thread starter Thread starter Aod
  • Start date Start date
sounds fun, but that sort of thing has long been available in software form, check out Crocodile Clips (quite basic) or Multisim (very advanced) :)
 
I have a Uni-T UT70B which is quite nice. it's autoranging, seems to be reasonably accurate, and has an RS232 connection for data-logging on a PC (works in windows 7!)

Only complaint is that it isn't a True RMS meter, so rapidly fluctuating things like PWM power-draws like what you'd see on a flashlight sometimes give funny readings.
 
an actual PCB or bread/perf/veroboard?

you can comission custom PCB's from PCB makers, but they're quite expensive. if you have an affiliation to a technical college or university you should be able to print off custom PCBs there. :) :D
 
only if they're polarised and have a high voltage yes :)

We tried to get quite a few caps to pop in the lab and failed because we weren't using HV.
 
Nate Silvers said:
Wait I thought if you solder a capacitor the wrong way around it will blow that's why they have the short leg and the negative strip down one side.
Click to expand...

those are the polarity indicators, yes, but a capacitor that isn't correctly installed is unlikely to explode, but the circuit simply won't work :)

PhillyDee said:
Thats just visual cues so you put it around the correct way. I once blew up a rather large PSU cap. Was a 63V 3000uF monster. I really did nearly crap myself!
Click to expand...

Niiiiice!
 
PermaBanned said:
Just aluminium foil. They're further away than Copper and Zinc in terms of reactivity anyway. The electrolyte is pieces of kitchen roll soaked in a vinegar-salt solution, and it's a stack of 10 in all. Took it from the dangerous book for boys and improvised a bit :p
Click to expand...

Nice! what sort of open-circuit voltage were you getting? a copper-salt-zinc pile should get one volt per group :)
 
Ahahaha. i'm surprised that you didn't fry the diode if that's a stack of ten, although the Ally's probably responsible for the lack of voltage :)
 
Hey guys,
I'm looking for a power supply for driving individual high-power LEDs from mains, the PSU needs to accept 230v AC and output 3.3v DC, Ideally it also needs to be capable of regulating the output current to a max of about 3A

If you can't think of anything then I suppose one without current regulation would work if i coupled it with a standard flashlight driver circuit...

Anyway, link me up please :)
 
bainbridge said:
Ok got my nixie "Six Nix" kit with tubes which I had for Xmas. Yet to get a power supply & am absolutely brassic til payday at the end of the month.

Can I simply use the 12 volt direct current from a spare PC PSU by splicing it to a suitable plug? Just until I can afford to buy a proper powerpack?
Click to expand...

Yep, it'll work fine. be careful not to short anything as PC PSU's can deliver rather impressive amounts of current :)
 
Shelster said:
Thought most of it was commercially available, was just looking for a pointer on dropping the 32v down to 22v.
Click to expand...

Speaking frankly, you'll be a lot better off if you get a purpose-made RGB LED driver that deals with all the constant-current control for you.

Remember that LEDs suffer from thermal runaway due to being semiconductors, their resistance drops as their temperature rises, so if you don't have a current regulation mechanism in place you'll very rapidly end up with some friodes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom