resistors

How-To:  Make your own graphite resistors from pencil lead

How-To: Make your own graphite resistors from pencil lead

Some audiophiles apparently think graphite resistors “sound better” than metal oxide or wound wire resistors. Whether that’s science or just myth, I don’t claim to know, but making one’s own resistors is pretty cool either way. Troels Gravesen’s tutorial shows you how. [via Hack a Day]

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Understanding pull-up and pull-down resistors

Understanding pull-up and pull-down resistors

When I first got involved in digital electronics, it took me awhile to understand the concepts of pull-up and pull-down resistors and when to use up or down, and when to use internal (built in, programmable) resistors, and when to use actual, discrete component, resistors. On Youritronics (a name that will always make me wince), […]

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EIA resistor values explained

EIA resistor values explained

Jeff, he of the mightyOhm, asks: Have you ever wondered why standard 5% resistors have strange values, like 330 and 470 Ohms, instead of nice round numbers like 300 or 500 Ohms? It turns out that standard resistor values form a preferred number series defined by the EIA.  5% values are part of a standard […]

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Takira shows the thermistor

Thermistors are pretty cool little items. They convert heat into resistance. By having the temperature available as resistance, you can use the value to control other things like circuits and programs. Photo cells do the same thing with light, and they are in lots of common devices from night lights to dimmers on clock radios. […]

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