A battery isolator is used to prevent primary battery systems from being drained and are mostly used in car stereo systems. These devices cause a secondary/auxiliary battery to be drained instead of the vehicle’s primary battery. This is so whether the stereo is used when the engine is turned off or if an after-market stereo …
A BUC (Block Upconverter) is a device that converts radio signals from a lower frequency to a higher frequency. BUCs are used in satellite uplink transmissions in order to transfer data from a ground based unit to a satellite in orbit that will then be redirected to another ground based unit in separate location. Likewise, …
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a wireless system used to identify tags. These tags may be attached to objects and even embedded under the skin of animals and human beings. Therefore, we can describe RFID as a form of identification tracking that allows retail outlets, airports, zoos, libraries, office buildings, warehouses, and different types of …
An inductor is a conducting coil, wrapped around a core, that creates inductance when an alternating current flows through it. Inductors are used to impede the flow of current in a circuit. The conductor is usually thin magnet wire, and the core is usually air or steel. Working of an Inductor When the alternating current …
A bug detector is a device that is able to locate and/or disable electronic spy equipment such as microphones, cameras, and GPS tracking devices. Law enforcement agencies, military counter-intelligence agencies, criminals, and everyday individuals who are suspicious of being overheard often use bug detectors. Bug detectors are usually small, portable, and have multiple display functions …
Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) is the simplest form of pulse modulation. This technique transmits data by varying the voltage or power amplitudes of individual pulses in a timed sequence of electromagnetic pulses. In other words, the data to be transmitted is encoded in the amplitude of a series of signal pulses. PAM can also be …
An attic antenna is one that is mounted inside of an attic in order to provide maximum range as well as protection from rain, snow, sun, wind, and animals. Attic antennas are rather common and provide quality reception for those who live in rural areas, away from most radio transmitters. While attic antennas do not …
8PSK (8 Phase Shift Keying) is a phase modulation algorithm. Phase modulation is a version of frequency modulation where the phase of the carrier wave is modulated to encode bits of digital information in each phase change. The “PSK” in 8PSK refers to the use of Phased Shift Keying. Phased Shift Keying is a form …
A breadboard is a thin rectangular piece of insulating material used to hold electronic components when making circuit prototypes. They have many rows and columns of conductive points for inserting component terminals and jumper wires. The original breadboards were just wooden boards, presumably used to cut bread on, but the modern versions have plastic cases …
Geostationary satellites are located exactly above the earth’s equator and revolve around the earth in a circular orbit. Their revolving speed and direction (west to east) are exactly same as that of the earth, which makes it look stationary from the earth’s surface. The exact altitude of these satellites above the equator is approximately 36,000 …