A Butterworth filter is a signal processing filter that has an extremely flat frequency response in the passband. It is referred to as a maximally flat magnitude filter and is commonly used in both analog and digital audio crossover filters in home, commercial, and car stereo systems. Who Invented the Butterworth Filter? British engineer, Stephen …
A thyristor is a solid state semiconductor device that consists of four alternating layers of N-type and P-type material. Many sources consider thyristors to be the same as Silicon Controlled Rectifiers (SCRs). In some cases they are defined as a large group of devices – the eligibility criterion being that the device should consist of …
The term wire gauge refers to a measurement of what the diameter of a wire is. This measure can then be used to determine what the electrical resistance, weight per unit of length, and the amount of current that can safely be carried by the wire. There are two internationally accepted measures for wire gauge, …
FCC ID stands for Federal Communications Commission Identification. An FCC ID is the number found in all computer hardware components. FCC ID numbers, usually found on the circuit boards, are helpful in finding information about the manufacturers of the hardware devices. An FCC ID has 2 elements. The first is a three-character Grantee Code which …
Satellite images were initially the exclusive realm of military and government agencies. They then became commercially available at very steep prices. Technology has now improved to the point where satellite images are available so inexpensively that they are now provided for free online. Free Satellite Images on the Web The best and by far the …
An integrated circuit (IC), also called a microchip, is an electronic circuit etched onto a silicon chip. Their main advantages are low cost, low power, high performance, and very small size. History The integrated circuit was invented in 1958 by Jack Kirby (1923-2005), an American engineer. In 2000, he won the Nobel prize in physics …
A ground loop isolator prevents interference in a ground loop circuit. A ground loop circuit is one in which two or more circuits are connected to the same ground wire. Ideally, all circuits in a ground loop circuit have the same voltage potential. However, if the ground wire has significant resistance and current, the voltage …
DVB-RCS stands for Digital Video Broadcast – Return Channel Satellite. DVB-RCS is part of the DVB standards for satellite communication, DVB-S and DVB-S2. The purpose of DVB-RCS is to provide a return channel to enable Internet and other data services over satellite. ViaSat’s LinkStar system is one of the VSAT satellite broadband implementations which support …
A rectifier changes alternating current into direct current. This process is called rectification. The three main types of rectifier are the half-wave, full-wave, and bridge. A rectifier is the opposite of an inverter, which changes direct current into alternating current. Half-Wave Rectifier The simplest type is the half-wave rectifier, which can be made with just …
Voltage is the measurement for the electrical force between two points that drives the current. More specifically, voltage is the measure of the energy per unit charge that is equal to the electrical potential difference between two measured points. Volts are normally measured by a voltmeter. Voltage drop is the reduction in voltage in an …