Electronics-Lab.com Blog

FidoCadJ is an easy to use graphical editor, with a library of electrical symbols and footprints (traditional and SMD). It aims to be an agile and effective small EDA tool for hobbyists.  FidoCadJ stores its drawings in a compact text format, practical for the copy and paste in newsgroups and forums: this has determined its success on the Usenet and in numerous communities. FidoCadJ is multi-platform and runs on MacOSX, Linux and Windows

A multiplatform vector drawing program with a complete library of electronic symbols. Schematics and drawings are stored in a very compact text format. There is no netlist concept behind the drawings (so no simulation here, sorry!) but this allows a great graphical flexibility and ease of use, making FidoCadJ the perfect tool for exchange sketches in forum and newsgroup discussions with a few clicks. Drawings can be exported in several graphic formats, such as pdf.

FidoCadJ – Simple and intuitive 2D vector drawing for electronics and not only - [Link]

Revolutionizing electronic design and building  the largest open hardware community on the web

circuits.io – Free circuit editor in your browser - [Link]

circuitlab.com writes:

We are happy to announce the release of CircuitLab, a browser-based schematic editor and circuit simulator.

With CircuitLab you can sketch your circuits as easily as you would on a piece of paper, and then simulate your circuit right in your browser to see how it would work in real life! You can then tweak, design, and iterate — all in one tool, all in your web browser.

CircuitLab has powerful SPICE-like device models, and the simulation engine supports mixed-mode analog and digital components side-by-side, so you can rapidly test your ideas for a wide range of possible projects. In addition to DC calculations and time-domain simulation, CircuitLab also has many advanced simulation capabilities, including frequency-domain (small signal) analysis, stepping through circuit parameters, and arbitrary Laplace transform function blocks.

CircuitLab is completely web-based, which not only means itʼs cross-platform (Windows/Mac/Linux) and requires no installation or plug-ins, but also means that all you the circuits you choose to make public can be shared by just copy & pasting a URL!

Instead of the usual forum posts with static screenshots from different desktop tools, the online electronics community can use CircuitLab to share useful URLs (as well as PNGs and PDFs) which link directly to interactive, editable, runnable schematics. In just a few clicks, another hobbyist can open that circuit, make a change, simulate it, and post the new version back to the community.

CircuitLab is now available publicly at https://www.circuitlab.com. Make sure you check out the Quick-Start Circuits for some great examples of what CircuitLab can do!

CircuitLab – browser-based schematic editor and circuit simulator - [Link]

Replacing electricity with light: First physical ‘metatronic’ circuit created – [via]

The technological world of the 21st century owes a tremendous amount to advances in electrical engineering, specifically, the ability to finely control the flow of electrical charges using increasingly small and complicated circuits. And while those electrical advances continue to race ahead, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are pushing circuitry forward in a different way, by replacing electricity with light.

Replacing electricity with light: First physical ‘metatronic’ circuit created - [Link]

Adafruit has launched their Circuit Playground app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. It provides a collection of reference formulas at the touch of a button, simplifying calculations to make your project more fun – [via]

Decipher resistor & capacitor codes with ease. Calculate power, resistance, current, and voltage with the Ohm’s Law & Power Calc modules. Quickly convert between decimal, hexadecimal, binary or even ASCII characters. Calculate values for multiple resistors or capacitors in series & parallel configurations. Store, search, and view PDF datasheets. Access exclusive sneak peaks, deals & discounts at Adafruit Industries. All that, plus updates with additional features & enhancements – MANY NEW CALCULATORS AND TOOLS being added!

Adafruit launches Circuit Playground app - [Link]

dangerousprototypes.com writes:

Cameron tipped us to a circuit simulator for Android devices. It looks a lot like the java based circuit simulator we wrote about a few weeks ago.  Everycircuit seems like a useful tool if you want to play around with electronics anywhere you find yourself. Unfortunately it seems to only support abstract level simulation models, not actual real components.

Circuit simulator for Android devices - [Link]

Thinfilm Electronics and PARC developed a technology for printing semiconductors onto a plastic film – [via]

Last month, a small Norwegian company called Thinfilm Electronics and PARC, the storied Silicon Valley research lab, jointly showed off a technological first—a plastic film that combined both printed transistors and printed digital memory.

Such flexible electronics could be an important component of future products, such as food packaging that senses and record temperatures, shock-sensing helmets, as well as smart toys. But the story of how PARC’s technology—the printed transistors—wound up paired with memory technology from an obscure Norwegian company also provides a window onto a 10-year struggle by Xerox to transform the way it commercializes R&D ideas.

Logic circuits and computer memory are printed together on a sheet of plastic - [Link]

With the MS2102 clamp multimeter you can comfortably measure not only alternate but also a direct current and voltage and all this at an outstanding price.

If you´re considering a purchase of a clamp multimeter, or if you already have a common multimeter and want a clamp version, then we have the device with an outstanding ratio of price to performance for you.

Sometimes it isn´t a problem to disconnect a measured circuit and to measure current by a common multimeter connected in series. However you may have already experienced a situation when it wasn´t possible to disconnect the measured circuit, from mechanical or electrical reasons. For these situations a clamp multimeter is an ideal choice. As it is well known, the biggest advantage of clamp multimeters is that they are able to measure a current flowing by a wire lead on the base of an induced magnetic field – without direct connection to a measured circuit. Thanks to the fact that a current is measured indirectly – the multimeter is at measuring galvanically isolated from a measured circuit, what provides a significantly higher safety to the user. From the principle of construction is the clamp multimeter suitable for measuring of mid to higher currents (above approx. 10 mA)

A big advantage of MS2102 is that it enables to measure also a direct current (DC). So for example to measure a current flowing to or from a car battery is with this device a breeze. Concurrently with measuring AC and DC current offers MS2102 also a possibility to measure also an AC and DC voltage, resistance to 400 Ohm and a continuity test. It contains an analogue bargraph and a maximal display value is 3999.

Measure even a direct current with the clamp multimeter MS2102 - [Link]

iCircuit is a user-friendly electronic circuit simulator and editor billed as ideal for students, hobbyists and engineers. Its advanced simulation engine can handle both analogue and digital circuits and features real-time, always-on analysis.

You use it as you would any CAD program: you add components, connect them together, and configure their properties. But iCircuit is unlike other CAD programs because the simulation is always running. It’s just like working with the real circuit. Instead of stopping to make a measurement or spending a lot of time compiling reports, you simply play with the circuit and see what happens. [via]

Circuit design/simulator app runs on iPhone, iPad and MacOS - [Link]

ermicro.com writes:

Resistor basically is used as a current limiter or current/voltage divider in electronics circuit. Resistor value is measured in Ohm (Ω) name after George Simon Ohm who first to lay down the fundamental relationship among Resistance, Current and Voltage. This relationship is known as Ohm’s law; basically the Ohm’s law say that the current flow in the closed circuit is equal to the voltage divided by the total resistance occur in the circuit or we can write the Ohm’s law equation as follow:

Basic Resistor Circuit - [Link]