Electro-ramblings

OhmArt Cartoon: A dangerous surge is on the loose!

OhmArt - A dangerous surge is on the loose!

It's time for another in our series of posts featuring the excellent electronics cartoons from OhmArt! Check out more on Barney's blog, too...

At the top of the hour, on Network News, is a story to worry all watching Transistors!

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 10, 2012 8:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Can you find what you're looking for on ElectronicsWeekly.com?

Take part in our survey >>

A call for action and help! We are currently reviewing our website to find out how we can best improve the user experience.

One area that has come out of our research in the past is regarding how people navigate around the site and find information, so we would like your help in making sure we are organising the content in the best way possible.

Here a link to an online survey which asks you to organise a list of content items into groups that belong together. There are no right or wrong answers, it's simply about what makes sense to you.

Continue reading "Can you find what you're looking for on ElectronicsWeekly.com?" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 9, 2012 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An Engineer in Wonderland - Help Alice with assembler code

I am trying to write some code for a microcontroller - a PIC - and have stumbled across a problem, and a sort-of answer.

As I have no formal training in well-structured assembler code, I suspect my answer is sub-optimal - or even sub-passable - and could do with some help.

My hope is that some kind soul will say 'What you need is to use Shubunkin's inferior parameter pass, or the Smyth-Hamilton's data swap', or some such.

Anyway, this is the problem:

Continue reading "An Engineer in Wonderland - Help Alice with assembler code" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 9, 2012 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

An Engineer in Wonderland - Cunning battery adapter

Those clever guy's at Zebralight in China have come up with a neat way of making an LED torch compatible with both CR123 and AA cells.

Electrically, it just means a wider input voltage range - probably 0.9-4.0V.

But mechanically this has previously meant screw-on extension tubes to allow for the longer AA cell - maybe with a narrowed interior to deal with the AA's slimmer profile.

Continue reading "An Engineer in Wonderland - Cunning battery adapter" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 8, 2012 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Let the breaking news come to you, with RSS

The best way to get the latest electronics news as soon as it is published? RSS!

Check out all the RSS feeds that are available for Electronics Weekly content. The feed for Latest News can be found here.

There are 10 Electronics Weekly feeds you can tap into:

News
Jobs
Products

Continue reading "Let the breaking news come to you, with RSS" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 8, 2012 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Video: CES 2012 - Samsung Transparent Smart Window

At CES recently, the Samsung 22" and 46" transparent displays with touch screen interaction attracted a lot of interest. Here's a nice video showing it off.

Thanks to Chris Bartram of CDS for flagging this one.

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 7, 2012 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Only Connect: On D-Type connectors

Welcome to another post in the series by Nick Locke, of Nicab Ltd, who has over 15 years experience in the electronics manufacturing industry specialising in interconnection cable assembly.

Back in 1952 when Cannon first introduced the D-Series connector to the market they could not have imagined that they are still being used as the connector of choice for many interconnect applications.

This simple yet ingenious design has stood the test of time simply because it is so useful for a myriad of connectivity solutions.

We all know the d-connector but how well do you know it? Leaving aside the different number of ways and densities there are many different types. How many do you know? Well here is a simple guide to what is available and to enable you to make better design choices in the future.

Continue reading "Only Connect: On D-Type connectors" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 6, 2012 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Electronics Weekly Index - February 2012

A periodic check on the market capitalisation of publicly quoted UK electronics companies...

I've just taken the February snapshot of industry market capitalisation, for our Electronics Weekly Index... see The market capitalisation of the UK electronics industry

With the number of companies stabilised, for better or worse this month can serve as the first benchmark...

How stands the industry? Well, it is currently worth at least £842.2 billion...

Continue reading "Electronics Weekly Index - February 2012" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 2, 2012 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An Engineer in Wonderland - 15,000 lm torch

LED torch maker 4sevens has demonstrated the production version of its 15,000 lm XM18 torch - or flashlight as the company would say.

Take a look at this video over at Geeky Gadgets

'Alice'

Should you feel the need, respond to alice@electronicsweekly.com with 'Torch' in the title.

Please don't respond below as our spam blocking system doesn't work and the inbox is overwhelmed by all kinds of generous offers from a multitude of rather annoying people.

No email addresses are collected for marketing (or any other) purposes from responses to this blog. I will keep it that way for as long as possible.

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 1, 2012 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Only Connect: UL markings

Welcome to another post in the series by Nick Locke, of Nicab Ltd, who has over 15 years experience in the electronics manufacturing industry specialising in interconnection cable assembly.

In this week's blog post I am going to show you how easy it is to understand UL ratings on Cable.

This is often an area of confusion as we have the BS Standard, CSA (Canadian Standards Association), and (Underwriters Laboratories) ratings - it's hard to know where to start or which standard to adopt.

For many the default standard of choice is the UL for cable & wire. The main reason for this is the international association of the standard. Pretty much everywhere in the world recognises the standard. What's more, the leading brands such as Belden & Alpha use UL ratings as standard.

Continue reading "Only Connect: UL markings" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 30, 2012 7:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An Engineer in Wonderland - How wings really lift

From the University of Cambridge: A one minute video sets the record straight on a much misunderstood concept.

The University said:

It's one of the most tenacious myths in physics and it frustrates aerodynamicists the world over.

Continue reading "An Engineer in Wonderland - How wings really lift" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 27, 2012 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Gadget Master compo sees Android IOIO board up for grabs

Just a quick post to flag that you can win an Android-related piece of kit on another Electronics Weekly blog - check out the current compo on Gadget Master.

Specifically, up for grabs is the IOIO board (pronounced "YoYo"), from SparkFun. It is an easy way to get I/O from an Android smartphone's USB connection (OS versions 1.5 and greater).

Continue reading "Gadget Master compo sees Android IOIO board up for grabs " »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 25, 2012 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Picture Gallery - CES International 2012

It's like with London buses - you wait ages for one Picture Gallery and another one comes along straight after it!

Following on from the recent Spy Glider series, check out our picture gallery of a certain consumer electronics show that took place in Las Vegas.

Take a look at the people, gadgets and keynotes at CES International 2012, including the Sony Ericsson SmartWatch, the Invoxia NVX610, a PowerBag, the GreenWave Reality energy management system, keynotes from Intel and Microsoft, and more...

View the latest photo gallery >>

View all Electronics Weekly photo galleries >>

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 24, 2012 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Only Connect: On education in electronics

Welcome to another post in the series by Nick Locke, of Nicab Ltd, who has over 15 years experience in the electronics manufacturing industry specialising in interconnection cable assembly.

They say that if you always run your car on empty eventually it wall cause damage to the engine and cost you more in the long term, I believe it is the same for your mind.

If we only invest in the minimum to get by we will mostly just get by. However, if we constantly keep our minds topped up we will run in peak performance which leads to long term happiness, and isn't that what we all want?

It's not easy, it takes hard work and more effort but then anything worth having is always harder to gain. If you work in a highly technical industry such as ours it is well worth taking the opportunity to improve your knowledge, and it is possible. After all, learning about something your are interested in is always easier.

Continue reading "Only Connect: On education in electronics" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 23, 2012 1:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

OhmArt Cartoon: Logic Families

It's well overdue time for another in our series of posts featuring the excellent electronics cartoons from OhmArt! Check out more on Barney's blog, too...

This one takes us into the rather strange world of Logic. Grandfather Aristotle has a lot to answer for!

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 20, 2012 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Updated: The market capitalisation of the UK electronics industry

Updated 19/1/2012: Did I say £18bn? Make that £800bn! Thanks to Ciaran for pointing out the omission of CSR (!) and there is also e2v and BAE Systems to add to the mix. They make a big difference! Hopefully we have now reached a good set working set for the future.

Is the UK electronics sector an ~~£18bn~~ £800bn industry? That is, based on the market capitalisation of the major listed companies...

Playing around with Google Docs spreadsheets, dipping my toe into data journalism as it were, I've put together something that may prove useful over the coming months or years. We live in interesting times and I thought it would be worthwhile to try and create a sort of Electroincs Weekly Index based on the share value of publicly quoted UK electronics companies...

Continue reading "Updated: The market capitalisation of the UK electronics industry" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 19, 2012 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Picture Gallery - Spy-in-the-sky circuit-board glider

I'm pleased to flag another new photo gallery, this time concerning a spy glider that uses circuit boards for wings... See Picture Gallery - Spy-in-the-sky circuit-board glider

The US Navy has tested a spy-in-the-sky glider 30cm across made from circuit boards. Its lack of a motor and small size make it nearly undetectable in flight, says the US Naval Research Laboratory...

View the latest photo gallery >>

View all Electronics Weekly photo galleries >>

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 19, 2012 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An Engineer in Wonderland - Op amp needed for a current source

I was pondering a simple way with a low drop-out voltage to power a grounded LED from a grounded supercapacitor. Something that would be tolerant of the LED being powered from elsewhere when the capacitor is empty.

The easiest option is to use a resistor, but this will mean brightness is dependent on capacitor voltage.

A complicated way, which could deliver maximum efficiency and maximum power extraction, is to implement a buck/boost converter.

Continue reading "An Engineer in Wonderland - Op amp needed for a current source" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 18, 2012 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Elektra 2011 Winners in video form!

The Elektra 2011 winners share their thoughts!

After receiving their trophies at the recent Elektra 2011 European Electronics Industry Awards the winners were whisked away for some post award video interviews. And here they are...

You can view the full set of interview questions, or see further below for the individual questions they all answered.

Elektra 2011 Awards - The Winners >>

Industry salutes business pioneer Dick Skipworth >>

Picture Gallery - Elektra Awards 2011 Attendees >>

Continue reading "Elektra 2011 Winners in video form!" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 17, 2012 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Only Connect: Quality of workmanship and value of UK Manufactured

Welcome to another post in the series by Nick Locke, of Nicab Ltd, who has over 15 years experience in the electronics manufacturing industry specialising in interconnection cable assembly.

Having recently completed another round of IPC Training I am furthermore reminded that we are really very good at what we do in the UK Electronics industry.

I am not saying this to "blow my own trumpet" but rather that we as a whole are very good. What's more, talking to the trainer our standards of workmanship seem to be on a real high with more companies choosing to up-skill and focus on high-value mission critical product markets.

Continue reading "Only Connect: Quality of workmanship and value of UK Manufactured" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 16, 2012 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)