See How a Schematic Diagram is ACTUALLY Visualized

“How to read an Electronic Schematic” by Paul Wesley Lewis

Wonderful example of how to visualize and equate the schematic diagram with the actual circuit build out.

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How Do I Read a Schematic Diagram?

How to Read a Schematic by RimstarOrg 

If you are going to build a simple crystal radio, a QRP rig or even a 100 Watt HF transceiver, you are going to want to understand how an electronic schematic diagram is read.  It’s not that difficult.  RimstarOrg has a great video on understanding the basic concept of reading a schematic.

 

Explaining USB 3.0

ExplainingComputers YouTube Channel, Christopher Barnatt, explains USB 3.0 and how it compares to USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 and data transfer rates.

Do Volts or Amps Kill You?

Does Volts or Amps Kill You? Voltage, Current and Resistance

This should be a good lesson for everyone, especially Hams that tinker and homebrew serious radio equipment.  You’d be surprised how much is too much!  Safety around radio equipment, coaxial cables, power chords, power lines, lightening storms, grounding straps and towers needs to be at the forefront of our mind.

Excellent YouTube video by RimstarOrg.

 

Analog Oscilloscope bandwidth considerations with W2AEW

Get the right O-Scope!

Monitor your Ham Radio transmitter with an oscilloscope with W2AEW

More O-Scope training!  This guy is so good at teaching it!

Analog Oscilloscope Basics: Making a Frequency Measurement with W2AEW

Bought my first O-Scope at Dayton Hamvention in 2015… here is a good way to learn!

Who is W2AEW ?

Check out his website and all of his YouTube videos!  His bio follows…

His website can be found at http://www.qsl.net/w2aew/  

His YouTube Channel can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiqd3GLTluk2s_IBt7p_LjA

My name is Alan Wolke. I am an Electrical Engineer, currently working as an RF Application Engineer for Tektronix – which means I get paid to play with Spectrum Analyzers and other fun RF and high frequency stuff. As a Field Engineer, I am on the road a LOT. Fortunately, I run an FT-857D in the car, so I can be found playing radio during my trips between various customers around the Northest. Former work focused on hardware validation of read-channel circuits for hard disk drives, and also concentrated on applications support for analog, high speed, RF, and backplane/datacom/telecom circuit and integrated circuit designs for various communications and fiber optic applications to well over 10Gb/s, and involved various circuit technologies including Silicon bipolar, Silicon-Germanium HBT, CMOS, and BiCMOS processes, GaAs MESFET and HBT processes, and various 850nm and 1300nm LEDs, PIN photodiodes and Laserdiodes. Shameless self-promotion links: here are links to things I’ve done that are published on the web (at a previous company): Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3, Patent (some of the Paper links are broken, since the company has since been bought out…). You can read more about me from my interview as the Featured Engineer on the EEWeb site from 2 April, 2012.

I was originally licensed as a Novice Class in the late seventies while in High School as KA2IZZ. We had an Amateur Radio Club there (Matawan Regional High School in NJ) under the direction of WA2SLK. I dropped out of the hobby when I went to college at NJIT, and then entered the workforce. Some friends at work got me interested in Amateur Radio again (N3GH, K2TW, K4MMG, W2PI), but my renewal privileges on KA2IZZ long since expired. So, I started over as a Technician with the call KC2BOG. After about a year and a half, I upgraded to Tech Plus and bought some HF equipment in September 1998. I applied for the vanity call W2AEW in September also, and received it in October 1998. I spent October working on my CW with some friendly “encouragement” from my friend and co-worker WA2NDH (now W2CSK), and upgraded to Advanced Class in November 1998. So, since my HF privileges are fairly new, I find myself working new states and countries all of the time. Great Fun!!! I frequent many of the local 2m repeaters in central NJ, and spend most of my HF time on 20m and 17m. I tested for the Extra Class license in February 2000. I passed the written test, but missed too many questions on the 20wpm code test (I did better than I thought I would though ;-). So, I became an Extra-Lite or Advanced-Plus after April 15th, 2000 anyway, HI HI!

Other interests besides the radio include MGB cars, RX-8, mountain-biking, NASCAR racing (go Mark Martin!), woodworking, home improvement, and TV/VCR repair (previous life) and of course, diddling around with circuits for fun.

My wife Nancy and I are busy getting settled in our new/old house. We moved in during the summer of 2009, and absolutely love the place. The shack and HF antenna went up in October 2009 – back on the air after a several year hiatus.

 

How to zero-beat WWV to check or adjust a Frequency Counter’s accuracy by W2AEW

This is another cool video by W2AEW.  He does the best job of explaining theory I have found.  His videos are excellent and his schematics and formula explanations are easy to understand.  I have exchanged messages with him and he encourages us to follow his blog and learn.  Also check out his website below!

This video shows how to zero-beat the WWV signal as a tool to adjust the frequency reference of an old frequency counter. It demonstrates the concept of zero-beat’ing a test signal against the WWV carrier. Since the WWV carrier is likely more accurate than any other frequency reference that most hobbiests and hams have in their labs, this is a useful technique. It can be used to check or adjust the 10MHz reference in the counter, if it has one, or can be used to very precisely set the output frequency of a signal generator which can then be used as a test signal for the frequency counter.

Similar techniques can be used to adjust the frequency accuracy of a ham radio’s reference. Several years ago, I wrote up a procedure that I put on my website. If can be found here:
http://www.qsl.net/w2aew/adjustrig.htm

 

Tektronix Oscilloscope Triggering controls and their usage by W2AEW

This video describes the Triggering controls on a typical Tektronix analog oscilloscope. Other analog scopes will typically be similar. The video presents the Trigger Level, Slope, Source, Coupling, Mode and Holdoff controls, and how each of them are used and their affect on the triggering capability of the scope.

Basic Spectrum Analyzer Do’s and Dont’s … by W2AEW

…or, how NOT to blow up your Spectrum Analyzer! This video covers the very basics of how to safely use your spectrum analyzer without damaging it, and how to setup the basic controls to get usable results. It is not intended to be a full tutorial on how to use a Spectrum Analyzer, just enough to allow you to use with without damaging it, and how the “Auto” coupled settings for things like the vertical Attenuator, the RBW and Sweep operate.

Measure Capacitors and Inductors with an Oscilloscope and some basic parts by W2AEW

This video shows how to measure the value of unknown capacitors and inductors using your oscilloscope and a simple pulse generator. There are many ways to do this, but this video focuses on just two basic techniques. The video was inspired by this blog post on scopejunction.com:
http://www.scopejunction.com/author.a…
The techniques are very simple, and are a good example of basic principles of RC and LC circuits. Another bonus is that it shows another use for the fast-edge pulse generator that was shown in a video I posted several days earlier on making your own basic TDR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cP6w2…
The capacitors are measured by simply measuring the RC time constant, and the inductors are measured by making a simple LC tank circuit and measuring the resonant frequency.

Use a scope to measure the length and impedance of coax by W2AEW

This video shows one way to use a scope and function generator to measure the length of a piece of coax transmission line as well as estimate its impedance. It uses a “poor man’s TDR” type of measurement by launching a pulse into the coax and measuring how long it takes to return after being reflected by the open circuit end. This same technique can be used to determine the distance to a fault (open or short). A simple method for determining the impedance of the line is also shown.

This video touches briefly on transmission line and reflection theory, but is definitely not intended to dive deep into these topics. There are literally books written about this topic – so that won’t be covered here.

 

Basics of OpAmp Circuits by W2AEW

This tutorial discusses some general rules of thumb that make it easy to understand and analyze the operation of most opamp circuits. It presents some ideal properties of opamps, and discusses how negative feedback generally causes the input voltage difference to be equal to zero (input voltages are made equal by the action of negative feedback). In other words, the output will do whatever it can to make the input voltages equal. Applying this simple fact makes it easy to analyze most opamp circuits.

 

Proper PSK31 Audio Level Setup with a Scope, RF Power Meter, and ALC indicator

Another SUPERB W2AEW video!  I love PSK31 and this is a GREAT video explaining how to have a clean and crisp signal showing up in everyone’s waterfall.

 

 

 

Simple Station Monitor for Ham Radio using an Oscilloscope

W2AEW does a FANTASTIC job of explaining all sorts of nifty concepts in Ham Radio.  I follow his videos on YouTube and spend many evenings learning from this fine gent!  I also have some of his books as reference material.

I am gonna HAVE a scope some day!