Experiments with the LM2575

The standard buck regulator circuit delivers a +5V output. This is a rather straightforward circuit and will operate with a wide spread of component values. Optimal values should be selected however to get minimal ripple, minimal noise to the power source, maximum efficiency etc. Note that the quiesent current is about 10 to 14mA.

Here is a nice way of using this regulator, Experiments with the LM2575 this can be used for CMOS opamps as you have a -5V too. That means a portable instrument may find this design useful.

The TI Datasheet Layout Guidelines



LM2575 - Step-Down Adjustable Voltage Switching Regulator with Output Enable

The Spirit of Hacking and Fixing, Giving back Life to Old Instruments.

Fluke 8050A LCD display replaced with LED seven-segment

"Recently I was able to cheaply buy a second hand Fluke 8050A made in the early eighties. It is a nice 4.5 desktop digit meter, but a typical problem seems to be that the LCD wears out and goes black. Replacement LCD displays are hard to find, not cheap and probably lead to similar problems in due time."

LM317 based Regulated Power Supply

This is a Regulated Power Supply based on the LM317 IC. It will need a Boost Power Transistor and heatsink for higher currents. It is a versatile building block for stable instrumentation supplies. Consumer Electronic gadgets can use a SMPS chip. In case you wish to use a SMPS for a Precision Instrumentation Block, then take extreme care on Shielding and EMI-RFI.

This is a General Purpose Chip, Series Regulation. It can be varied or trimmed. There is an Internal temperature compensated reference. The minimum trim value is around 1.2. In case you want a Low value voltage like 0.5 with a good current, then use a good negative supply to offset the 1.2 V.

See more at my Power Supplies Section.

The transformer can be s Split Bobbin with Pri-Sec copper shield foil.  This can be earthed along with the metal enclosure. C4 sends any hi-freq components to earth.  It is better if you do not earth the ground but use such capacitors. A Supply should simulate a a battery with both ends floating wrt Earth. A option to eartth the ground is fine. This also helps the user to configure his own dual supplies.

Q1 and R5 form a Short Circuit OR current fold back OR constant current mechanism. TP1 can be used to vary the output voltage.  Better use something like a Bourns 10T trimpot. An open preset may introduce a noise due to dust and vibration. I don’t remember why i added a zener DZ1, a diode may suffice.

MyCPU - A Computer made of Logic Gates

Look no CPU! - Built with MyCPU which is made of discrete logic gates as the Bricks. Homebrew Computer for Education and Experimenting. Dennis Kuschel is  the developer of MyCPU.

Homebrew Computer - MyCPU

The MyCPU is a "Central Processing Unit" that is completely built with discrete logic gates. Over the years the project has grown, and now the MyCPU is the brain of a real Personal Computer. The computer has the following capabilities and features



This can also be roasted on a single FPGA Board.

The “MyCPU v2.3” is ideal for education, and is a nice project for enthusiastic hobbyists. The system uses COM1 for terminal communication and COM2 for file service. The personal computer acts as file server. There are several applications you can use on the MyCPU.

Christmas Tree - CircuitStew

The true Christmas Spirit is in giving, You can only give if you have something, right. You can Have when you Acquire Skills, Imagination and a Cheerful Attitude.This will help you Create Things!  - Derek Wolfe

Develop a Skill this Christmas, Build these small LED Trees and give it to people who need a little bit of cheering up.

Christmas Tree - CircuitStew



"This was the first and last complete prototype that I made on proto board. This style of prototyping produces circuits that are very difficult to understand, debug, and modify. Because of all the extra work involved they also take forever to assemble. Suddenly I became very interested in designing and fabricating custom pcbs...."

The name CircuitStew refers both to the jumble of electronics presented here and to circuit boards suspended in neon green copper etching solution. -  Derek Wolfe

CREATE USB Interface - Overtone Labs

PIC18F4550 has a USB Interface easy to use, code or configure. This page will help in trying out this PC friendly PIC Microcontroller. A useful HowTo by Dan Overholt. of OverTone Labs- CUI32Stem

The CREATE USB Interface

All pre-made CUI boards are black as shown, with the new PIC18F4553 that has an increased resolution 12-bit ADC! They also natively support Open Sound Control (OSC) and MIDI-over-USB functionality in addition to the default HID firmware



The CUI also now speaks MIDI-over-USB natively, this bypasses the old-skool MIDI baud-rate limit of 31.25KHz, since the concept of buad rate is completely obfuscated with MIDI-over-USB. Additionally, this firmware (for the 18F4553-based CUIs) sends all the analog input pins as pitch-bend type data (using all 12 bits of the ADC converter) along side note-on/note-off data from the digital input pins.

PIC18F4550

The PIC is the heart of the board. It's a programmable microcontroller with 32Kbytes of flash program memory and 2kbytes of general purpose SRAM. It has 13 A/D inputs and 18 general purpose I/O ports. On the CUI board, one of the general purpose I/O pins is dedicated to the "program" button to enter bootloading mode. You can use the remaining ports for anything you wish.