Quick And Very Dirty Repair Gets Smoked PLC Back In The Game

When electronics release the Magic Smoke, more often than not it’s a fairly sedate event. Something overheats, the packaging gets hot enough to emit that characteristic and unmistakable odor,…

Making PCB Strip Filter Design Easy To Understand

We’ve always been fascinated by things that perform complex electronic functions merely by virtue of their shapes. Waveguides come to mind, but so do active elements like filters made from no…

Homebrew TEM Cell Lets You EMC Test Your Own Devices

Submitting a new device for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing seems a little like showing up for the final exam after skipping all the lectures. You might get lucky and pass, but it reall…

Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The Music Typewriter

This edition’s community build comes from the Yes They Could, But Should They Have? file. Well, I ultimately say yes, this is intriguing. Redditor [dj_edit] looked at the venerable Model M an…

Keyboard Shortcuts At The Touch Of A Planetary Cube

[Noteolvides] creates the CubeTouch, a cube made of six PCBs soldered together that creates a functional and interactive piece of art through its inlaid LEDs and capacitive touch sensors. The devic…

Circuit-less PCB Featured As Faceplate For A Digital Clock

If there’s no circuitry on a printed circuit board, does it cease being a “PCB” and perhaps instead become just a “PB”? Call them what you will, the fact that PCBs hav…

PCB Microsurgery Puts The Bodges Inside The Board

We all make mistakes, and there’s no shame in having to bodge a printed circuit board to fix a mistake. Most of us are content with cutting a trace or two with an Xacto or adding a bit of jum…

Unique Seven-Segment Display Relies On FR-4 Fluorescence

It’s interesting what you see when you train a black light on everyday objects. We strongly suggest not doing this in a hotel room, but if you shine UV light on, say, a printed circuit board,…