Using Your Soldering Iron In Another Country

Have you ever considered bringing your soldering iron on vacation?

I am in Mexico at the moment and of course I have my soldering iron in my suitcase. But here the other day I got myself a surprise that I never considered could be a problem.

ERSA-30 Soldering Iron

I have an old ERSA-30 soldering iron that I inherited from my dad. It’s designed for the European 220V wall plug. Therefore I used an adapter to make it fit the Mexican wall plug. It’s not a converter, just a simple mechanical adapter that lets me plug my European plugs into the Mexican plugs.

I wanted to solder some stuff, so I plugged it in and waited…

Arduino Remote Control Tutorial

In this tutorial, I am going to show you exactly how to make an Arduino remote control. You can use this project to combine functions from different remote controls and make your super-awesome dream remote control!

IR diode connected to Arduino

If you are not familiar with Arduino, check out What is Arduino and Where to start?

A remote control sends out an infrared (IR) code when you push a button. The gadget you point the remote control at will receive this IR code. To make your own Arduino remote control, you need to first copy the IR code from an existing remote control using an IR receiver.

To create our remote control we need to:

  • Get the button code from the original remote
  • Make a remote-control program
  • Upload our program to the Arduino

We will use these components for our Arduino project:

Make A Plastic Project Box

A plastic project box is nice to have to make your project look better. This has always been one of my weaknesses. I can make a really advanced circuit, but when it comes to package it, I have some kind of disability.

ADBO - Plastic Project Box for Arduino (laser cut)

Luckily there are some tools out there for people like me.

Here are three methods of making a plastic project box for you circuit:

  • 3D Printing
  • Laser Cutting
  • Modify Standard Boxes

USB Circuit Development Made Easy

Using a USB circuit is the most common method for communicating between devices and computers.

USB plug

In the old days usually people used the parallel port or the serial port. But these ports are becoming more and more rare. And on laptops they are almost non-existent.

But all computers have USB ports.

Yeah, and USB stands for Universal Serial Bus just in case you didn’t know ;)

LDR Circuit Diagram

This LDR circuit diagram shows how you can make a light detector. An LDR or “Light Dependent Resistor” is a resistor where the resistance decreases with the strength of the light.

Here is the schematic for the circuit:


LDR Circuit Diagram

Free Circuit Drawing Software: SchemeIt

Recently I have been using this free circuit drawing software from Digikey. It’s called SchemeIt.

Schemit circuit drawing software screenshot

If you need a simple and fast way to draw a schematic diagram, it’s the best. It’s browser-based so you don’t have to download anything.

You don’t have to register. But if you want you can register and save your designs.

PCB Design Rules

When you design a circuit board, you need to follow the PCB design rules of your manufacturer. These rules are the limits of the machine that makes the circuit boards.

A manufactured circuit boardCircuit board design

The first time I looked at the rules I got really bummed out because it seemed so freakin’ complicated.

“Why can’t they just make my PCB???”

After a while I calmed down and had a look at what I was up against. And it wasn’t that bad after all ;)

How To Build A Circuit In 6 Steps

6 steps for how to build a circuit:

  1. Find a circuit diagram
  2. Draw the circuit diagram into Eagle
  3. Draw board layout in eagle
  4. Get your circuit board made
  5. Order components
  6. Solder components to your board

Tweezers on circuit board

Types of Diodes

A diode is a component that only conducts electricity in one direction. It is commonly used to convert from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC).Types of diodes - signal diode

Several types of diodes exist. And it can be a bit confusing if you have never worked with diodes before.

I would like to share the most standard types of diodes that are commonly used by hobbyists.

Current Limiting Resistor

A current limiting resistor is a resistor that is used to reduce the current in a circuit.

A simple example is a resistor in series with an LED.

fi-simplest-circuits

You would usually want to have a current limiting resistor in series with your LED so that you can control the amount of current through the LED.

If too much current is going through your LED, it will burn out too fast. If too little current is going through it, it might not be enough to lit the LED.

Microcontroller Board Prototyping

Microcontroller breakout board from SparkfunUsing a microcontroller board is a simple way to get started using microcontrollers in your projects. You will get a development board with a microcontroller and all the components needed to make it work.

This means you can focus on your idea instead of the details around setting up a microcontroller circuit.

And usually the schematic diagram is provided so that you can easily incorporate the microcontroller in your own circuit later on.

I often use a microcontroller board when I want to test a new microcontroller. Or when I want to make a prototype.

I wanted to write a little bit about some of the boards I have used.

Arduino Programming Overview For Beginners

What is Arduino? A microcontroller board like this

If you haven’t started Arduino programming yet, it’s about time. The Arduino is a microcontroller board originally made for Interaction Design students in Italy. It was specifically developed to make it easy to start programming microcontrollers – even if you have no technical background.

Arduino microcontroller board

Microcontroller Basics

I loved learning about the microcontroller basics when I was studying. It meant I could start taking advantage of microcontrollers in my electronics projects. It kind of felt like with this knowledge, I was unstoppable. I could build ANYTHING!

And it is actually true. Microcontrollers are powerful components. They let you write programs to control your electronics. Combine this knowledge with how to build your own circuit boards, and you’re gonna make amazing things.

By using a microcontroller in your project you will have access to a vast amount of functionality from the tips of your (programming) fingers.

Microcontroller basics example board

Series and Parallel Circuits

In electronics, we can find both series and parallel circuits.

A series circuit is a circuit where the components are connected in a consecutive chain. This gives the current only one path to take.

A parallel circuit is a circuit where the components are connected parallel to each other. So the current will flow in several paths.

Series and parallel circuits

Often, real circuits have a mix of series and parallel circuits.

Thevenin’s Theorem – A Simple Explanation

Thevenin’s Theorem explains how to simplify a complex circuit. It states that any linear circuit with only voltage sources, current sources, and resistors can be simplified to a voltage source with a series resistor.

But what does this really mean?

Sometimes a picture says more than a thousand words, so here are two pictures to explain what Thevenin’s Theorem is about.