Process automation: another RTD sensor board

In a previous article I described the design and build of a temperature sensor board based around a high precision LTC2986 part from Linear Technology. The project was successful so you may be wondering why I’m bothering to design another board when the LTC2986 probably cannot be...

Process automation: temperature sensing

My previous article documented how I designed and built a PCB that hosted three relays and a triac that could be mounted inside a PC case and connected up via the USB bus for host control using simple commands. The relays and triacs board That board is of course the output part of the system,...

Process automation: relays and triacs

In my previous article I discussed how I intended to convert an old PC into a controller that I could use to automate the temperature control required to ferment and conditional beer. If you haven’t already read that introduction then I’d encourage you to do that so you know what...

A high current power supply built around a server voltage regulator

Regular readers of this blog will have already seen the article that I published about 4 months ago where I attempted to reverse engineer a voltage regulator module originally designed to fit into a Dell server. The theory was that these would be high quality, stable and robust designs that...