Notes from the bench.
Deep-dives and build logs for people who are eager to learn electronics and hardware design, not just skim it.
Building a Lorenz attractor out of op-amps
Three integrators, two analog multipliers, and a butterfly that only shows up once every resistor is close enough to right. A weekend project that turned into two.
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Ground planes, and why they're not just copper
A ground plane is not a dumping ground for return current. It's a reference, a shield, and a heat sink, and it behaves differently depending on which job you're asking it to do.
Read moreWhat we learned reflowing our first panel at home
A toaster oven, a thermocouple taped to the board, and a four-up panel of 0402s. Here's what actually went wrong, and what we'd do differently next time.
Read moreReading a datasheet like an engineer
The front page is marketing. The real datasheet starts at the absolute maximum ratings table, and most of the parts that die in the field died because someone skipped straight to the pinout.
Read moreChasing a dead rail with a $30 multimeter
No bench supply, no scope, no logic analyzer: just a cheap multimeter and a process of elimination. A walkthrough of debugging a board that drew current but produced nothing.
Read moreBring-up: from bare board to first blink
The first thirty minutes with a new board are the highest-risk moments in the whole build. A fixed order of operations for bringing a bare board to life without frying it.
Read moreWhy trace impedance actually matters
A trace isn't just a wire once a signal's rise time gets fast enough. It's a transmission line, and if you don't treat it like one, your signal will tell you about it.
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