This Design Idea shows how to use a 63¢ (Q=1) microprocessor reset voltage detector IC in a relay coil drive circuit to greatly reduce the coil’s hold-in current. When asked to estimate the coil ...

Many integrated circuits have undocumented features or abilities. This is one of them. The TLC555 output (pin 3) can sink a 100mA load to 1.28V. The open drain transistor reset (pin 7) can sink 100mA ...

Short ac powerline dropouts can cause incomplete power-on resets, leaving the microcontroller and logic circuits in an indeterminate state. This susceptibility can be tested using a very low-cost ...

In electronic and industrial automation systems, relay modules play a crucial role by allowing low-power control signals to switch high-power devices. Selecting between a 5V relay module and a 12V ...

What is a relay? What is zero voltage switching? How to create a zero-crossing relay driver with a simple external circuit. A relay is a device that allows for a smaller electronic switch to control a ...

Last column, I wrote about various applications where fire alarm relays could be used to integrate a commercial fire alarm system with other electrical systems at a customer’s site to provide them ...