Electronics-Lab.com Blog

dangerousprototypes.com writes:

Touchtone Semiconductor is a startup company whose products include an op amp known as the TS1001, which they say is the only such component to operate on 0.8 V and 0.6uA.

They’ve announced a Coolest Op Amp design competition for developers who incorporate the TS1001 into their designs. See the Touchstone Semi’s website for a list of the rules, prizes and deadlines.

Touchstone Semi Coolest Op Amp design competition – [Link]

rsdio writes: These chips look highly flexible for interfacing between different voltage logic circuits [via]

MAX4936, MAX4937, MAX4938, MAX4939
Octal high-voltage transmit/receive switches

Integrated T/R switches significantly reduce component count while reducing power
Integrated solution reduces system component count, saving space and improving system reliability
Consumes less system power, allowing design flexibility in ultra-portable applications
Integrated diodes protect the IC from high-voltage signals while in “receive mode”

High-voltage transmit/receive switches – [Link]

[via]

TI has introduced the TMP103 Digital Temperature Sensor with I2C/SMBUS Expanded Interface.

The device features Multiple Device Access (MDA), Global Read/Write Operations,I2C™-/SMBus™-Compatible Interface, 8-bit resolution with accuracy: ±1°C Typ (–10°C to +100°C). The supply range is 1.4V to 3.6V, and the chip comes in a 4-Ball WCSP (DSBGA) package.

According to the press release the sensor draws a maximum of 1 uA while in shutdown mode and 3 uA while in active mode to extend battery life.

TI digital temperature sensor - [Link]

Pin-compatible regulator with high efficiency for fixed voltage [via]

For decades, the linear voltage regulator of the 78 series and its variants have been extremely popular, because these three-legged ICs allow stable supply voltages in the low voltage range to be created in a cost effective way. However if the difference between input and output voltage is considerable, efficiency decreases and the wasted heat must be dissipated which is not only costly and space consuming, but also a source of problems with thermal drift in sensitive and precision electronics. The use of switching regulators on the other hand generally requires more external parts and greater board surface. A modern replacement for the popular 3-pin voltage regulator would therefore make life easier for many electronic designers and engineers.

K78XX = switch-mode LM78XX – [Link]

Trimpots are adjustable resistors. They function much the same as regular potentiometers, except they are compact in size and have 0.1″ leads for easy installation on a PCB or breadboard. Learn about all the different kinds in Robot Room’s updated trimpot tutorial. [via]

Trimpot tutorial – [Link]

rsdio writes: nothing beats a pure sine wave oscillator, except another pure sine wave oscillator at a similar frequency: [via]

This circuit derives a pure sinewave from a crystal-controlled clock source by using a ring counter to remove the highest-amplitude unwanted harmonics, and filtering the result with an 8th-order lowpass, switched-capacitor elliptic filter (MAX7400).

Low-cost circuit converts clock to low-distortion sinewave – [Link]

McZ writes in with an impressive step-down regulator: [via]

The TPS56221 is a high-efficiency synchronous switcher with integrated FETs, which achieves a power density of greater than 200W/in3 with greater than 90 percent efficiency at high loads. The easy-to-use SWIFT step-down regulator supports 25-A point-of-load designs for telecommunications, networking and other applications.

25A 14V step-down regulator with integrated FETs - [Link]

Drone writes: [via]

Here is another MAXIM unobtainium installment

The new MAX31855 is a rather nice cold-junction compensated thermocouple-to-digital converter. It takes the likes of the MAX6675 to the next level. This part is supposedly going to become available around the end of June 2011. From the product page:

“The MAX31855 performs cold-junction compensation and digitizes the signal from a K, J, N, T, or E type thermocouple. (Contact the factory for S and R type thermocouples.) The data is output in a signed 14-bit, SPI™-compatible, read-only format. This converter resolves temperatures to 0.25°C, allows readings as high as +1800°C and as low as -270°C, and exhibits thermocouple accuracy of ±2°C for temperatures ranging from -200°C to +700°C for K-type thermocouples.”

There is a different part optimized for each type of thermocouple junction. For-example, the MAX31855K part is optimized for type-K thermocouples. I’ve seen these up for pre-order at $8.19 in unit quantity (ouch).

MAX31855 cold-junction compensated thermocouple-to-digital converter – [Link]

TLC59108 I2C controlled LED driver. [via]

The TLC59108 is an I2C bus controlled 8-bit LED driver that is optimized for red/green/blue/amber (RGBA) color mixing and backlight application for amusement products. Each LED output has its own 8-bit resolution(256 steps) fixed-frequency individual PWM controller that operates at 97 kHz, with a duty cycle that is adjustable from 0% to 99.6%. The individual PWM controller allows each LED to be set to a specific brightness value. An additional 8-bit resolution (256 steps) group PWM controller has both a fixed frequency of 190 Hz and an adjustable frequency between 24 Hz to once every 10.73 seconds, with a duty cycle that is adjustable from 0%to 99.6%. The group PWM controller dims or blinks all LEDs with the same value.

TLC59108 simple 2-wire LED driver for color mixing – [Link]

adafruit.com writes:

LOGIC CHIPS. Whenever you have 3.3V logic and you want to interface it with 5V logic, you need to take care so that you don’t shove 5V into a 3V input. We’ve found an easy way to do that is to use a level shifter such as a 74AHC125 or CD4050. The ’125 has 4 buffers and can be tri-stated, the 4050 has six buffers. Both can take 5V input on any pin if the chip is powered with 3V so effectively it converts down. Much faster than using resistors (almost no slewing) and works even if you end up using 3V on both sides. A good example of this is in our oled breakout board which is a 3V part, but easily wired up to talk to an Arduino which is 5V.

LOGIC CHIPS - [ Tags: 74AHC125, Arduino, CD4050