r/AskElectronics

How to connect to Integrated Speakers
▲ 7 r/AskElectronics+1 crossposts

How to connect to Integrated Speakers

I moved into a house that has integrated speakers and need some advice on the best way to control them. Is this something I need an amp for?

I'm clueless on this stuff so hoping for some advice on a basic level. What type of equipment is best? I'd like to be able to control using my phone.

I'd also like to know if I can control speakers individually or is this a case of all are on or off simultaneously.

This photo is the cables to connect to.

u/Subject-Economy6344 — 2 hours ago

What type of charging cable is this? Came with knock off product from overseas.

I know that the blue side is a USB-A that one’s easy, but even the tech nerds in my life can’t tell me what this cord actually is.
It came with a wand that has heating coils in it to light and launch flash paper. When I tried to charge it recently though it seems both sides of the cord’s metal components have rusted? And now can’t charge the device
I wanted to see if getting a new cord would allow the wand to work again or if the internal components of the device itself are also destroyed beyond my level of repair.

u/YouGot_Moxie_Kid — 6 hours ago

Is this a single-pole double-throw, or a double-pole double-throw? Can I use two of these to control a three wire two-way motor?

I have two of these switches that I want to control a 24volt motor. With that, I also want the LED's from the switches to always be illuminated.

The motor has three wires. One common, and the other wires when connected, control the motor direction.

Is it possible to have both of these switches connected (in the diagram attached, it would be the one labeled Normal Open 2), with each switch controlling the motor in a different direction?

u/Weird_Finding9926 — 3 hours ago

What does the 102 on this 473 disk capacitor mean?

Hi all, electronics novice here. I'm trying to troubleshoot the flash circuit board for a Minolta point and shoot camera made in Japan in the late 80s or early 90s, and I've traced the issue to this capacitor failing. I'd like to replace it with an equivalent part, but I can't seem to figure out what the 102 below the bar means. It doesn't seem like a voltage, tolerance, or operating temperature. Is it a manufacture date?

u/Catastropheum — 5 hours ago

Why does the ground plane look like this?

Hi! I'm trying to implement this IC in my board. I don't know much about RF routing, but I thought that for impedance matching you needed the trace with a specific distance to ground, which should be constant.

Or that's what I thought, because it's clear that im wrong and there's something that im missing

Can someone explain why it's done this way? Thanks!

u/PhilosopherForeign46 — 10 hours ago

Jura F7 board condition?

Hello I have a jura impressa F7 that I would like to fix. The issue is random power shutoff. Sometimes after 1s and sometimes it will take 10s or even a minute. I can’t seem to tie it to a event or component

How is the board looking? Im a total noob here but i think these two large pins connecting the heatsink to the board look a bit suspicious? They dont look as smooth as the others

u/joeljulian — 3 hours ago
▲ 4 r/AskElectronics+1 crossposts

Wrong or Novice soldering?

Im sure you can tell that I did pins 1-8... I've tried to follow all the videos I've watched for instructions and tips. Am I doing something wrong or do I just need alot more practice?

u/FrontLettuce — 7 hours ago

How can I get the pull chain back into this light?

The pull chain to turn this wall light on and off came out a few months ago and I am once again motivated to try and fix it. I can get the chain partially back into the hole, but not all the way, and it doesn’t seem to be grabbing onto anything that would hold it. I don’t see an obvious way to open the round plastic part and insert the chain that way. What am I missing? Is it possible?

u/uncreatibe — 7 hours ago

I want to make a simple "done" tone using 555 timer or any simple IC

As the title says, I want to make a circuit that makes a simple sound that indicates mission done or successful. The closest sound I found on YouTube is this one:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=n4qnDaSidJs

I found alot of interesting circuits using 555 timer but they only do annoying alarm sounds that can't work with my project. The sound has to be very kids friendly and as low frequency as possible. I also have to say the sound should be triggered via a pushbutton and I can't use any microcontrollers, only simple ICs.

u/Shadowboxer9999 — 12 hours ago
▲ 4 r/AskElectronics+2 crossposts

Need to understand current trend of exploring modern electronics among students

Back when I was a student, we explored IOT and integration of sensors and stuff via boards like Raspberry pi , aurdino uno and Intel Edison. I know these boards can also do more than that.

I'm trying to encourage a few of my interns into these things but it's been a while and I'd like to understand the current trends and how to explore them. Thanks in advance.

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u/Past-Flow-9064 — 13 hours ago
▲ 21 r/AskElectronics+1 crossposts

Is there any software that can simulate an entire embedded hardware design before PCB fabrication?

Hello everyone,

"I'm designing an embedded hardware project with power supplies, UART, RS-485, Ethernet, sensors, and a microcontroller."

I'm designing an embedded hardware project with multiple interfaces. Using the datasheets, I've designed the complete circuit, but I'm not confident that it will behave exactly as expected. Before I manufacture the PCB, I'd like to verify that the design works correctly through simulation.

I'm looking for software that can:

  • Simulate an entire embedded circuit (or at least individual functional blocks).
  • Verify voltages, currents, timing, and signal behavior.
  • Support common components from datasheets.
  • If possible, simulate firmware as well (Arduino or other MCU code interacting with the hardware).

Is there a tool that can simulate a complete embedded design, or is it standard practice for engineers to simulate each interface separately (power supply, UART, RS-485, Ethernet, etc.)?

What simulation software do professional embedded hardware engineers typically use?
and
I'd also like to know what the typical workflow is in industry before sending a PCB for manufacturing.

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u/NewCategory1955 — 18 hours ago

120v to 15va Transformer has Gone Bad

Good morning, out on a limb here as I am very out of my depth in terms of knowledge.

This is a Morley Vector Zero Two speed controller for a model railway. It has two internal transformers to step down from UK 240V to 12ishV track power.

The component causing trouble is a "Formers I-EI 35X3/4" from Clairtronic Ltd and upon trying to use the controller yesterday, I think I shorted the track power and backfed into the controller. I have disconnected all connections to the controller and still get a light on the CDU and Red Reverse for Main Line and Loop on the control board.

Any help and advice would be muchly appreciatex, thanks in advance!

u/ReallyLongPseudonym — 14 hours ago

Rotary encoder with on/off function, what is the actual name for this component?

So, I would like to control an LED strips brightness and also fully turn off the strip with a single rotary knob, so what is the actual name for a rotating knob with a switch function when the knob points to zero/left side?

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u/cama888 — 16 hours ago

Is this a valid voltage divider configuration...

This is a simple voltage divider network taking 5V from a microUSB and feeding 3.56V to the GPIO pin...is this configuration fine or do i need to take out a trace from the middle of both of these resistors??
Sorry if this question seems dumb but I'm a beginner so any advice would really be appreciated.

https://preview.redd.it/ujblu3unzdbh1.png?width=1071&format=png&auto=webp&s=0c9f9056edc7578958fda7f8134e5d26fdfc777d

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u/Dependent_Growth_580 — 14 hours ago

How do I push in the button that used to be here?

There was a push button here that broke so I de-soldered it. Now I need to hold that button down for 5 seconds but I don't know which four of these contacts to connect together to simulate that. Are some of them NC or am I missing something else?

u/stuart_nz — 24 hours ago

Building an asymmetric buck converter with IR2104 (High side only) - Need expert inputs.

Hey everyone,

​I'm working on a 20V to 12V buck converter for battery charging purposes, aiming for around 10A current.

​The Setup:

I'm using an IR2104 gate driver to drive a single N-channel MOSFET for high-side switching. Since I’m implementing an asymmetric buck topology with an output inductor and a Schottky freewheeling diode, I’m considering not using the 'LO' pin and driving the high-side MOSFET directly with the PWM signal.

​My concerns:

​Will the freewheeling diode (Schottky) be enough to pull the VS pin low during the off-time to charge the bootstrap capacitor?

​What are the risks of using the IR2104 in this configuration for long-term battery charging?

​Any suggestions for handling the gate drive signal to avoid spikes and potential MOSFET failure?

​I’m using a high-current Schottky diode for the freewheeling path and planning to implement a software-based CC-CV loop via an MCU.

​Looking for some raw feedback and technical advice before I fry my components. Has anyone tried this "LO-less" configuration before?

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u/electrogasmYT — 18 hours ago

Searching for a very specific 128x64 COG LCD -- spent weeks on this, completely stuck

Hey all, been deep in a rabbit hole trying to source a display for a hardware project and I genuinely cannot find what I need anywhere. Tried DigiKey, Mouser, Newhaven, Crystalfontz, Raystar, AliExpress, TSD Display, WanDisplay, BuyDisplay -- nothing hits all my requirements at the same time.

Here is exactly what I need:

  • Resolution: 128x64
  • Active area: minimum 63mm wide x 25mm tall
  • Display tech: FSTN Positive, Transflective or Reflective (needs to look like an old monochrome LCD from the 90s, no glow whatsoever)
  • Backlight: None, or a backlight that can be physically removed without destroying the polarizer
  • Total module thickness: under 3mm
  • Interface: 4-wire SPI
  • Connector: 30-pin FPC ribbon cable, not rigid pins
  • Module outline: under 74mm wide to fit inside an existing plastic enclosure

The problem I keep running into is this -- every display with a 63mm+ active area comes with a thick LED backlight unit making it 6-9mm thick. Every thin no-backlight FSTN display has an active area of only 47-52mm which is too small. The one display that comes closest to checking everything is the NHD-C12864WO-B1TFH#-M from Newhaven but the module is 75.7mm wide which is 1.7mm too wide for my enclosure, and the backlight makes it 6mm thick.

Has anyone:

  1. Successfully peeled a backlight unit off a COG LCD without damaging the polarizer? Is this even possible?
  2. Found a 128x64 FSTN positive transflective display with a 63mm+ active area that is genuinely thin with no backlight?
  3. Ordered a custom COG LCD from TSD Display or BuyDisplay? What was the sample cost and lead time to India?

Any leads appreciated, been going in circles on this for weeks.

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u/Consistent-Formal483 — 18 hours ago

Landscape Lighting Voltage Issue has me entirely baffled

Getting to the meat of it, I have a 200W Transformer. I hook up a 12/2 AWG to the 15W output, and voltmeter shows 14.8V (Great). The run is about 8 feet. I hook up 1 Kichler LED light and the voltage drops 4V. (not Great)

Tried different 12/2 cables - same thing.
Tried a 300W Transformer. Same thing.
Tried a different light with the same type of LED bulb - same thing.

Each time, I get a proper reading up to the point of adding the light.

The only thing I didn't change was the brand of bulbs. Would a type of LED bulb cause a 4 volt drop? What if the bulb says 12V and it is connected to the 12 gauge wire coming out of 15V, would that make a difference?

THE BIGGER PICTURE: I had my daisy chain working just fine with a VERY long run (over 250 feet with 12 Gauge, and then half of them went out. I found the point on where the last light went on, and nothing after that and that is when I started trouble shooting. And part of that troubleshooting was to add another transformer (the 200W) and shorten the run to 8 feet and STILL the voltage drops after that first light was added. The ONLY thing I can even think of is it is the actual bulb that is causing the issue, but I have swapped out the bulb for the same brand of bulb and the same thing happens.

I am absolutely baffled. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

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