Archiwa #Electronics - Rafal Bartoszak

Miniature clock with retro integrated circuit

Rumor has it that the only silicon structures that Polish engineers interfered with were clock circuits. It is difficult to confirm this, however, as it is known that factories in communist Poland produced silicon from ready-made designs, but not much is known about our native designs. At that time, technologies of this type were quite well protected, but who knows, there is a grain of truth in every rumor. Miniature clock with a retro integrated circuit

The display that turned out to be more

Microelectronics / By Rafal

Browsing popular auction sites, I once came across an offer for a display similar to those manufactured in the 1970s and 1980s. It was described as our indigenous CEMI design, although the “NN” logo, denoting National Semiconductor, was visible on the board. Of course, this type of design was produced in communist Poland, although not on a large scale, it is much more common to find displays from Czechoslovakia, where production volumes were larger. So, I think one can forgive the seller’s marketing gaffe of labeling the element as a CEMI production, although this is also some misrepresentation. Nevertheless, the price of the item was quite low, so I decided to order it, and in this article I will tell you about its construction and the adventures of trying to get it to work.

A forgotten type of integrated circuits

Microelectronics / By Rafal

Inside one of my retro treats, the Soviet calculator Электроника МК-52, about which I have already prepared an article“Электроника МК-52 – Soviet calculator in orbit”, as well as in some respects its twin design Электроника МК-61, one can find rather mysterious-looking integrated circuits.

Dark current and transistors without a case

Electronics / By Rafal

If one Internet trivia site is to be believed, the most manufactured thing in the world is a transistor. This may be true, but the authors of this information must have also taken into account those placed inside silicon cores, although they are not single elements. After all, in discrete circuits there are at least two resistors per single transistor, also the Internet fact can be questioned quite easily. However, whatever one may say, transistors in one form or another are quite common in electronics. It is thanks to them that a whole branch of digital and logic circuits was created, which, along with increasing computerization, have become the building blocks of the modern world.

Soviet VFD lamp controller

Electronics / By Rafal

Some time ago on one of the popular auction sites I noticed a rather interesting offer. It was a module of unknown origin with a small VFD lamp, which I suspect was the seller’s main motivation to get rid of it. After all, fluorescent designs sell quite well, though not as well as Nixie lamps. …

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In search of the perfect electric voltage

Electronics / By Rafal

When taking DC voltage measurements with a multimeter, we usually don’t think about its accuracy. Receiving a result of 5.1V, when we expect something in the neighborhood of 5V, we assume that the multimeter’s indication is correct, telling ourselves that simply at the output of the power supply or the USB port of the computer …

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What’s hidden inside a smart socket?

Electronics / By Rafal

In today’s world, the importance of various types of devices from the “smart home” category is growing day by day. There is nothing surprising in this, after all, thanks to these, sometimes very simple equipment, we can remotely control home lighting, heating or ventilation. Besides, thanks to all kinds of sensors, reading temperature, humidity and light intensity has become much simpler. The data collected by the system can be used to intelligently manage actuators such as relays. In other words, today’s technology allows us to build really complex structures at a low cost, which we can call a smart home.

The art of microelectronics – silicon integrated circuits

Microelectronics / By Rafal

Modern microelectronics is one of the fastest growing areas of science and technology. Its relevance to our daily lives is immense, as it is thanks to microelectronics that we can use advanced electronic devices, such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, which have become an integral part of our reality. In today’s article, we invite you to take a deeper dive into the fascinating world of silicon, where we will consider the construction of elements such as transistors and diodes.

In the land of silicon – an introduction to electronic structures

Microelectronics / By Rafal

The modern world is constantly flowing toward the future, driven by incredible advances in technology. Central to this dynamic process is the electronics that underpin most everyday devices. One of the key foundations of electronics are structures called integrated circuits, which have been revolutionizing our ability to process information and communicate for years. However, when we look deep into electronic chips, we see that they are made up of structures such as transistors, diodes, resistors and even capacitors. These elements are placed together, on a single piece of silicon, which makes them significantly different from similar structures placed on printed circuit boards. In this article I will tell you a little about silicon electronic structures, the foundation of today’s technological world.