John Wiltrout's Blog

Western Electric Interrupter

jw0752

It is always hard for me to not be amazed by the technological progress that has been made in the last 50 or so years. The other day I came across an unusual motorized switch that was made for Western Electric by Raymond Controls Corp. It is a KS-191...
- 16 May 2019
Exploring Spot Welding - A Failed Experiment

jw0752

Since I do a lot of circuit board salvage I end up with a good supply of great components with short leads. When I use these components in my experiments and builds I must either deal with the short leads or add a...
- 2 May 2019
0 to 150 Volt AC Bench Power Supply Build

jw0752

A week or so ago I wrote a short blog about a variable AC isolated bench power supply that I wanted to build. See the following Blog: An Extreme Ripple Power Supply Build The idea was just a seed and a pile of assorted resources. Just as I...
- 14 Apr 2019
An Extreme Ripple Power Supply Build

jw0752

I usually like to build my projects before I blog about them. This is probably due to the number of times the initial plans do not lead me down the envisioned path. The simplicity of this build along with a good pile of solid resources and the fact t...
- 8 Apr 2019
Magnetostriction - Exploring one Application

jw0752

In honor of tariq.ahmad 's emphasis on magnetism this month, I thought I would do a little experiment involving the Magnetostrictive Phenomenon. Magnetostriction is a property of a ferromagnetic material whereby it changes shape when it is subjected...
- 17 Feb 2019
Learning Circuit Inspires "The Watch Stand"

jw0752

Karen's Learning Circuit Presentation: The Learning Circuit 39: Inductor Project: Battery Juicer got me to playing around with the Battery Juicer Circuit also called the "Joule Thief". You can check out her blog for a schematic and some su...
- 6 Feb 2019
Decentralized Power Distribution Architecture

jw0752

About 6 months ago we had an Essential Post on Power Distribution: Smart Power Distribution Tonight as I studied a junk circuit board in my bin I came across a good example of the De-Centralized Architecture. This is a board from an u...
- 20 Jan 2019
Experimenting with Auto Tap Selection for a Future Power Supply Build

jw0752

When a linear power supply is in operation the DC output voltage is regulated. The internal regulator circuit of the power supply takes its source voltage and produces a resistive voltage drop using its power control transistor so that the output vol...
- 20 Dec 2018
Inspired by Karen's Essentials The Learning Circuit

jw0752

Today I watched Karen's makerkaren Video about building a circuit from a schematic: https://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-91328/l/the-learning-circuit-34-making-a-circuit-from-a-schematic?sr=inbox&ru=360462 At ...
- 13 Dec 2018
Building a Process Duration Timer into a upscale Case

jw0752

The Process Duration Timer has been a long term project of mine and has gone through several upgrades. Recently I have improved its utility by adding increased flexibility by adding a mechanism for it to disconnect one of its inputs when a process ha...
- 10 Dec 2018
One Less Inconvenience

jw0752

I just finished a build that took me about 30 hours. While I am working on things I always try to be mindful of the flow of the work and whether there are things that are inconvenient in the shop environment. This could be related to the placement or...
- 10 Dec 2018
Back Up Battery failure inspires new test tools.

jw0752

The computer in my lab is very important to me. This of course is very subjective as its contents and utilities are understood and utilized only be me and so someday, when I can no longer use it, it will go directly from my lab to the computer recycl...
- 27 Nov 2018
Another Variation of a Bench Power Supply

jw0752

I like to build simple bench test and experimentation equipment, particularly power supplies. Those of you who have been here for a while have had to endure numerous power supply builds from me. My previous builds have been fairly traditional with a ...
- 23 Nov 2018
Memories of Cruising in my 57 Chevrolet and Listening to Tunes

jw0752

As I worked today at the Retro Electronics Store where I help out two days a week I came across a box of metal cylinders with four pins on one end. They looked like this: They were called car radio vibrators and they came from another age....
- 20 Nov 2018
The Pick Up The Wire Challenge - Aven Precision Pliers

jw0752

A week or so ago I wrote about my experience with a pair of Aven 10826F10826F Flush Cutters https://www.element14.com/community/groups/test-and-measurement/blog/2018/11/06/my-kingdom-for-a-good-pair-of-flush-cutters I was very please...
- 16 Nov 2018
Exploring the Recom RH-2405D

jw0752

My latest experiments revolve around using the Chinese linear power supply board that has been the heart of many of my bench supply builds but rather than powering it with the tradition transformer and bridge arrangement I want to power it with a swi...
- 10 Nov 2018
A Visit to the Embedded Systems Conference in Minneapolis Minnesota

jw0752

I have been bugging a new friend, Neil, whom I was introduced to by genebren but whom I had never met face to face to let me know when his company would be attending an electronics show somewhere near my home. Neil is the founder and inspiration behi...
- 1 Nov 2018
Not Everything is Electronics

jw0752

I have had a Dual 601 turntable for many years, perhaps 50, and it used to work great. Sometime ago it started acting strange as the motor became unstable and would power up and lock on a higher RPM than proper. From the information on the internet i...
- 23 Oct 2018
A Simple DC Electronic Load Episode II

jw0752

This is a second build of of a Simple DC Electronic Load project using information that I learned about curing Oscillations in a separate discussion: https://www.element14.com/community/thread/64985?start=15&tstart=0The knowledge that I received ...
- 8 Oct 2018
A Simple DC Electronic load for the experimenter's Shop.

jw0752

Test InstrumentationEnter Your Electronics & Design Project for a chance to win a Grand Prize for Originality, a Tool Set, and a $100 Shopping Cart!Back to The Project14 homepage Project14 Home Monthly Themes Monthly Theme Poll Thanks to conti...
- 25 Sep 2018
Old Technology, but Still Pretty Cool

jw0752

I have recently been helping my friend Judy organize and get her Electronics Parts store back on it's feet. This has meant I get to dig through the old stock and reorganize to my heart's content. As I was sorting packages of capacitors yester...
- 14 Sep 2018
Time to Release my "50 + Electronics Shop Tech Tips" Book

jw0752

About a year ago I decided that I would try to write an electronics related book. I had written, in the past, simple articles, a couple small books related to dental medical equipment, blog posts on this forum, and a manual for a desoledring station ...
- 9 Sep 2018
Check out the Interesting Telephone System Power Supply

jw0752

Today I pulled an old telephone system out of a store that was no longer using it. The one thing that caught my eye was this Harmer Simmons RD 219 Power Supply. It is a beast of a linear power supply with +/- 24 Volts at 4 amps and 5 Volts at 7 Amps....
- 7 Sep 2018
Specialized Old Man Proof Basement Door Alarm

jw0752

For a couple weeks I had been on a roll with respect to leaving the basement door exit to the garage open. My shop is in the basement of my home and there are two ways to get into and out of it. The first way is a doorway and stairs from the kitchen ...
- 3 Sep 2018
Three Fewer Protons and I would be rich!

jw0752

Today I decided that for the fun of it I would smelt the jars of solder tailings that I have accumulated over the last 4 years. I have been very faithful in collecting the scraps and splatters as well as the solder collected from desoldering and salv...
- 3 Sep 2018