The use of transistors for switching things ON and OFF is a key feature of proper hacking. The ability for bipolar transistors to turn things ON and OFF is one of the less known uses while transistors ...

How many remote controls do you have in your home? Don’t you wish all these things were better integrated somehow, or that you could add remote control functionality to a random device? It’s a common ...

Fig. 1: Add this relay to prevent shorted transistors in the MW-1. Usually after a transmitter is discontinued, any hope of upgrades or improvements fades. Some enterprising engineers can’t help but ...

For our 2025 Component Abuse Challenge there have been a set of entries which merely use a component for a purpose it wasn’t quite intended, and another which push misuse of a part into ...

The 1-Wire Net, or MicroLAN (by Maxim-Dallas), is a simple way to connect slow devices (such as sensors, relay drivers, switches, and so on) using simple components. These components contain the ...

The Tor Project is one of the simplest and easiest ways to browse the internet anonymously, but the network relies on volunteers to donate bandwidth. Instructables user fNX wanted to do their part, so ...

This is a simple clap switch circuit with high sensitivity. The only unusual component is the single coil latching relay. While there are numerous means of generating the latching function, the ...

Panasonic has produced a 6pin DIP-style opto-relay that can switch 1.2kV at 750mA. Called AQV209G, it comes in through-hole and surface-mount versions and has a single ac-dc output with two mosfets ...

The telephone company had problems with vacuum tubes, too, and hoped to find something else to use for switching telephone calls. The idea of somehow using semiconductors (solid materials such as ...