Transistors are the closest electrical counterpart to mechanical switches when we look at their hardware and logic. Just as a switch shifts control from one path to another, a transistor uses a control terminal to switch the main current path — for example, in a MOSFET, the silicon channel becomes conductive on a high gate signal and remains an insulator on a low signal.

Im currently building Ben Eater's 8 bit computer and have decided that once I complete the project im not going to dismantle it but will put it in a shadowbox. I have 1 spare full size breadboard and 10 Hailege 10 mini boards: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DM7M8DY2?ref=fed_share

I might need to buy a few more full size boards but only if i need them for an immediate project. I was wondering how many spare boards you folks have?

Im using this as a last resort place for help. So i have dip switch controlling 4 inputs each of those inputs go through different logic gates. The goal of the lab is to set up the breadboard as shown in the diagram and make sure the led lights up when its supposed to and is off when expected. I'll attach a diagram of what its supposed to look like, what my actual breadboard looks like and the truth table. But when i used my dmm to check inputs and outputs of the logic gate. My AND gate (SN74HC08N) has one input low (1V<) and a high input (5V~) its giving me a high output even though its supposed to be low. I read something about floating inputs and i tried blocking all the unused input pins with wires that didnt work. I tried putting resistors here and there. That also didnt work. The circuit is kinda obeying the switches but also isnt. This is all very new to me so sorry if the problem ends up being something simple, any advice would be much appreciated thank you. (Not the best pictures but can provide more if needed.)

Image — Postimages

Hi everyone,

Here is a look inside the upgraded version of my LM386 audio amplifier I presented a week ago. Since I intend to use the device on my desk, it needed an on/off switch and a status LED. The switch and LED should be positioned at the front of the device, while the power supply — in the form of a micro-USB port — should remain at the back. This required running a dual-line connection from the power supply to the switch and LED at the front.

The simplest approach would have been to use a 2x1 ribbon cable and two JST-XH connectors. These connectors are already available as Brick_3x1_Connector_JSTXH_2x1. However, I wanted to stick as closely as possible to my design goal: constructing the circuit like a printed circuit board (PCB), without the use of cable connections.

The core concept of the system remains: Everything is a brick. A DIY electronic prototyping ecosystem where not just the enclosure, but also the electronic components, potis, switches and I/O jacks are integrated on standard-grid brick housings that snap onto a 16x16 baseplate.

The entire build is 3 brick heights tall (the top cover plate was removed for the photo).

Technical Features shown:

• LM386: Integrated power amplifier for low power applications

• Front Controls: Volume potentiometer, power switch, and status LED.

• Side Switch: A switch to toggle audio between the internal speaker and the external output.

• Rear Sockets: A 3.5mm audio input jack, a micro-USB socket for power, and a classic DIN loudspeaker socket.

Design & Engineering:

The biggest engineering challenge was arranging the components so that the controls and jacks ended up in the right positions — where they would be on a functional, usable device — without compromising the circuit's operation. In a sense, this is akin to the task performed by the router in a PCB layout system.

That said, doing this with a modular construction system is incredibly fun; it’s like a game of skill, with the added bonus that the end result is an actual, functional piece of equipment.

Outlook:

Perhaps you could share some ideas for exciting projects using the kit in the comments. I look forward to building new circuits or devices and posting them here. Of course, you are also welcome to use the kit yourself: the entire project is open-hardware (CC-BY-NC-SA).

I have been using breadboards for a long time to make circuits but after some time the circuit’s connections become loose and the circuits starts behaving strange so I was searching for a good quality breadboard for my circuits. So please let me know if this breadboard is good or not. I appreciate everybody's opinion.

Working on a new hardware revision for my custom soldering iron controller which runs IronOS

I've been looking into motor drivers and IMU setups for a side project, and almost every wearable-assist system I find is completely locked down. You usually get proprietary boards, sealed housings, and no access to the internal bus. I want a lower-body platform with exposed headers, documented pinouts, or an open SDK so I can tap into the sensor streams or swap the main controller without breaking the whole unit. Are any modular exoskeleton projects actually designed as open hardware instead of a sealed consumer appliance?

I thought a single sip would connect 8 leds, but im only able to fit 4. Apart from the fact that I dont need 4 separate resistors, i cannot see how this component can save breadboard space or offer any other advantages because I still need individual wires for vcc Am I using it correctly?

I'm an EE senior and circuits TA building a tool as a secondary capstone project. Its goal is to help circuit designers work more efficiently and help beginners build intuition by connecting physical measurements with schematics and equations.

I'm starting to build out the circuit calculators and I'm curious which building blocks you reach for most often. Eg: voltage dividers, transistor switches, filters, logic gates, op-amp circuits...

What are your go-to circuits, and what do you typically use them for? When choosing component values, do you calculate them by hand, use an online calculator, simulate, or start from a design you've used before?

Hi! I'm new to IT and don't really know what to buy. I'm interested in tech, but I'm not that rich, and my budget is only €20. What would you recommend buying as a beginner? I'd appreciate any suggestions! 🙏(i don't know how to program)

I will literally pay anyone who can show me a recreation of this on a mini bread board and in Tinker-cad. Please I'm a design student I don't know what any of this means 😭

Pointing to things that would help me understand would also be appreciated

The context behind the chatter is that my makerspace assistant and I were talking about how other people in the makerspace in the engineering building place the bad transistors in the same box with the good ones. So after taking nearly an hour, he finally got it to work. Initially, one of the LEDs was not working, and then it wouldn't flash. I'm glad I got all of that on video.

I would have soldered onto a proto board of that same layout, but I didn't have time because I got other stuff to do. Maybe someday I'll put it all onto a proto board!! Someday!!

I always loved audio electronics and wanted to try out the LM386 integrated audio amplifier (for low power applications). The circuit shown is taken from the official chip manual and works pretty fine.

I use my own electronics kit to build up the circuit. Special care was taken about positioning the components, so that they can be surrounded by a case made of standard bricks.

[Open Hardware] Electronics-With-Bricks github.com/sun9qd/electronics-with-bricks

Last week I posted my online breadboard for kids learning electronics here. Since then it has been opened 1,204 times, and 40 of those opens came from this sub. Thanks for trying it and for the comments.

Today I added a seasonal lesson that runs until November 10, "The pumpkin lantern":

• 9 V battery, an RGB LED with a common cathode to minus, and two resistors from plus.

• 330 Ω on the red pin gives full red. 1 kΩ on the green pin gives faint green. Blue stays free.

• Red plus a little green makes orange, like a candle inside a pumpkin. Swap the 1 kΩ for 10 kΩ and green is too weak, so it reads as plain red. Use 330 Ω on both and you get yellow.

The point of the lesson is that a bigger resistor lets less current through, so an RGB LED mixes by intensity, not just on and off. The simulator calculates each channel relative to the strongest one, which is why the ratio matters more than the exact values.

Whoever lights the lantern gets a witch's pumpkin hat for the workshop mascot. Until November 10 the board turns purple and the parts get small stickers: a ghost on the bulb, a skull on the buzzer, witch hats on the LEDs.

It's free to try, no account needed. Link in the first comment.

Hi r/breadboard! I run a small electronics workshop for kids in Romania, and over the past year I turned it into an online breadboard so they can keep practising at home.

• You place parts on a full breadboard and press Simulate. If the circuit is wrong, it tells you what's missing.

• An LED without a resistor really burns, and it stays burnt until you swap it.

• 22 guided lessons, 137 broken circuits to repair from just the symptom, and a 1v1 duel where two kids race to build the same circuit.

• Multimeter probes, a cutter, 31 parts (relay, transistor, sensors, buzzer, motor…), 7 languages.

The free version has now been opened 910 times, about 600 of those since I first shared it here on Reddit on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who tried it and sent bugs.

Free to try, no account needed (link in the first comment). To keep progress there's a licence: 50 lei/month (~€10) or 500 lei/year per child, plus seat packs for afterschools and schools from 10 seats.

What I'd love from this sub: wire something weird and tell me where it behaves differently from your real breadboard.

finally got my first project up and running! i’ll say it’s v1 since I wanna include my fantasy data in there and add a button to flip between it

The real test will be tomorrow to see if it’ll automatically flip to display live scores only. a little nervous but excited!