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Electronics 2

 On Sunday Davy Dick ran an online version of his Electronics 2 course.



Normally he runs them at his home with around six or seven attendees which gives plenty time for questions and the opportunity to see and touch the circuits

The course was divided into three sections covering

  • Numbering systems - decimal, binary, hex - how do we use them in our projects
  • Digital signals
    • How do we store numbers (e.g. inside a DCC decoder or inside the Servo4 module)
    • How do we pass numbers (e.g. from a command station to a loco, CBUS, etc.)
  • Serial / parallel connections
  • How transistors work
  •  Using transistors as switches and operating high power devices.
    Integrated Circuits
  • Examples of ICs, PICs
  • Demonstrations of popular ICs.
    • Driving a 7-segment display
    • LED chasers
    • Route selection
    • Power drivers, including motors
    • Comparators (DCC TOTI)
  • 555 timers - and how they are used in Pocket Money Kits
  • How this very popular (and cheap) IC works and its three operating modes:
    • Bistable – as in the shuttle
    • Monostable – one shot timer as in the automatic lights kit
    • Astable – as a LED flasher and a pulse generator
A great insight into how some of our most popular kits are constructed, and as always clearly explained.

The whole session was recorded and it is hoped that this will be edited into 3 separate videos that will eventually be made available on the West of Scotland Area Groups own website.

Davy has a future session planned on PICs. More details later.
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