TechArchive

Original article date: June 1995 As simple as LEDs may seem there are still quite a few misconceptions. Gareth Eaton Dialight Corporation’s European Sales and Marketing Manager is your guide. Design engineers using leds can avoid common mistakes by gaining a better understanding of their use. Below are answers to 10 of the most frequently [...]

Original article date: November 1999 Alan Quinn has been finding out from Penny & Giles Controls how advances in electronic joystick technology are helping engineers to design new control systems for a wide range of applications Electronic joysticks use potentiometric or inductive sensing systems and/or switches to translate a lever’s motion into analogue or digital [...]

Original article date: May 2000 Erwin Sick Ltd’s W140 is a complete family of photoelectric switches in miniature housings offering, above all, giant ranges. Improved technologies and reduced costs offer new opportunities. The W140 displays device properties that have up to now only been achieved in larger photoelectric switch housings. All W140 devices share the [...]

Original article date: July 1998 Having printed and distributed 500 copies of the first edition Yuasa’s Little Red Book of Batteries has been back on the presses – with some important additions. Yuasa’s Little Red Book of Batteries is concerned with only one battery technology – lead acid. Consisting of lead and lead oxide immersed [...]

Original article date: May 1995 The proliferation of electronic controls for equipment is one reason why power supplies have deteriorated. But correct design can avoid serious problems. Here’s how… Typical Power Quality Problems Intermittent failure of computer equipment Permanent failure of computer equipment Interference with data communication equipment particularly data cabling Malfunction of process controllers [...]

Original article date: June 1999 “For Enclosure Experts“: The title of Rittal’s new pocket guide which provides amongst other things useful guidance to universal cabling systems. The European standard DIN EN 50 173 outlines the specifications for a universal cabling system used within locations with one or more buildings. It covers cabling with symmetrical copper [...]

Original article date: July 2000 Industrial manufacturing sites typically represent the worst electrical environments. So what problems can you expect, and what protection measures can you take? This guidance comes from Advance-Galatrek Uninterruptible power systems (UPS) and power protection devices are fundamental to preventing IT and telecoms equipment damage associated with electricity. However, choosing the [...]

Original article date: July 1998 Nickel-cadmium or lead acid batteries for standby applications? Alan Quinn takes a look at the case for the nickel-cadmium pocket-plate battery. Nickel-cadmium batteries are widely used for critical standby power applications where their reliability and long life often mean they are preferred to lead-acid batteries. Pocket-plate Ni-Cd batteries get their [...]

Original article date: July 1999 Dr Brad Johnson from Atlanta company Ingenius ATG explains how the company has developed an innovative new method of recycling alkaline batteries commonly used in small electronic devices found in homes and businesses. In recent years battery technology has quietly revolutionised the way we live. Many of us have integrated [...]

Original article date: October 1996 Rex Carroll, Director of the OEM Products Division of CH Products, explains the relative merits of the inductive and resistive joystick. While most people associate joysticks with fighting Ninjas in arcade games or with duelling spacecraft encounters on the family’s personal computer the truth of the matter is that joysticks [...]