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Potentiometer Circuits
Pot Circuits:  #'s - O      P - Z
 

Last Updated: November 22, 2021 02:42 PM

Circuits Designed by Dave Johnson, P.E. :

10 Turn Pot Forms Frequency Readout - Let’s say you are designing a signal generator for a test fixture.  To adjust the frequency you would like to use a ten turn pot with a nice dial mechanism attached as a frequency display.  However, a display range of 0 to 9.99 would be impractical since . . . Hobby Circuit designed by Dave Johnson P.E.-January, 2008

Control Variable LED Intensity - The circuit below uses power from four rechargeable AA NiMH cells to drive 3 white LEDs.  A potentiometer varies the duty cycle of a pulse width modulator circuit to vary the intensity of the LEDs from 0% to 100%.  The beauty of the circuit is that when the . . . Hobby Circuit designed by David A. Johnson P.E.-September, 2009

Capacitance Proximity Switch
Draws very low power - Ideal for battery-powered applications
6 Models Available - Call 806-778-8407


Links to electronic circuits, electronic schematics and designs for engineers, hobbyists, students & inventors:

µC Controls Digital Potentiometer-  10/08/98 EDN Design Ideas:  Many digitally controlled potentiometers (for example, the LM1971/02/3 from National Semiconductor, www.national.com] incorporate a three-wire serial digital interface, using data, clock, and enable lines. __ Circuit Design by Lukasz Sliwczynski, University Of Mining And Metallurgy, Krakow, Poland

µC multiplexes six digital potentiometers-  05/11/00 EDN Design Ideas:  In Figure 1's circuit, a µC lets you adjust as many as six digital potentiometers.  Like mechanical potentiometers, digital potentiometers can adjust regulator outputs or speaker volumes and act as rheostats.  Design by Ted Salazar, Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA

1 Amplifier has two gain figures-  09/19/02  EDN Design Ideas:  The single-supply circuit in Figure 1 is an inverting amplifier with two outputs—one for positive output voltages, VOUT (POS], and the other for negative output voltages, VOUT (NEG].  Steering diodes D1 and D2 split the amplifier, IC1 Design by Chuck Wojslaw, Catalyst Semiconductor, Sunnyvale, CA

1 switch controls digital potentiometer-  09/19/02  EDN Design Ideas:  This design idea   is an evolution and simplification of another (Figure 1, Reference 1].  Replacing the three inverted-input NOR gates with their logical equivalents, positive-input NAND gates, makes these three gate symbols consistent Design by Jim Bach, Delphi Delco Electronics Systems, Kokomo, IN

10 Turn Pot Forms Frequency Readout-  Let’s say you are designing a signal generator for a test fixture.  To adjust the frequency you would like to use a ten turn pot with a nice dial mechanism attached as a frequency display.  However, a display range of 0 to 9.99 would be impractical since . . . Hobby Circuit designed by Dave Johnson P.E.-January, 2008

16-bit adjustable reference uses 8-bit digital potentiometers-  12/25/03 EDN Design Ideas:  It may be easy to find a precision voltage reference for your application; however, a programmable precision reference is another matter.  The circuit in Figure 1 yields a precision reference with an LSB of 62.5 µV.  The circuit is a 16-bit DAC using three 8-bit digital potentiometers and three CMOS op amps Design by Bonnie Baker, Tucson, AZ

Add gain to an absolute-value Amplifier-  08/22/02 EDN Design Ideas:  The absolute-value amplifier is a basic building block in test-and-measurement and signal-processing applications.  The addition of a DPP (digitally programmable potentiometer] adds another dimension, G (gain], to this key circuit.  Because the gain is programmable, you can use the circuit as an absolute-value amplifier (G&1] or an absolute-value attenuator (G>1] Design by Chuck Wojslaw, Catalyst Semiconductor, Sunnyvale, CA

Analog Voltage Controls Digital Potentiometer-  03/20/08  EDN Design Ideas:  A microcontroller with an internal ADC controls a digital potentiometer via an I2C interface Design by Hrishikesh Shinde, Maxim Integrated Products, Dallas, TX

Calibrated trim tool tweaks multiturn pots-  01/07/99 EDN Design Ideas:  Many analog circuits contain multiturn trimming potentiometers whose settings you may need to change during maintenance or calibration.  Also, some instruments have panel-mounted potentiometers that may need periodic adjustments.  After disturbing a setting by more than one or two turns, it becomes difficult or impossible to restore the original setting.  The usual method    Page includes several designs.  Scroll to find this one Design by Sanjay Chendvankar, Tata Institute, Mumbai, India

Circuit forms industrial-grade digital potentiometer-  09/20/01 EDN Design Ideas:  Both ac and dc motors in modern industrial systems often receive their control from PLCs (programmable-logic controllers] in a control room safely away from the process.  If an operator must manually set the motor speed while observing the process, the component of choice is usually an industrial-grade potentiometer Design by Phill Leyva, Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA

CMOS IC Makes Low-Cost Digital Potentiometer-  01/18/96 EDN Design Ideas:  A growing trend in the design of electronic equipment is to replace analog knobs used to increase or reduce a continuous signal (such as volume or brightness]with "up" and "down" keys.  However, replacing a low-cost analog potentio Design by Jose Carlos Cossio, Santander, Spain

Control Variable LED Intensity-  The circuit below uses power from four rechargeable AA NiMH cells to drive 3 white LEDs.  A potentiometer varies the duty cycle of a pulse width modulator circuit to vary the intensity of the LEDs from 0% to 100%.  The beauty of the circuit is that when the . . . Hobby Circuit designed by David A. Johnson P.E.-September, 2009

Convert voltage to potentiometer-wiper setting-  09/05/02 EDN Design Ideas:  The circuit in Figure 1converts an analog input voltage, VIN, to a proportional wiper setting of a DPP (digitally programmable potentiometer].  The potentiometer's wiper setting, which varies from position 0 through 31, corresponds to the input voltage, which varies from 0 to 1V dc.  The CAT5114, IC5, is a 32-tap potentiometer with an increment/decrement interface Design by Chuck Wojslaw, Catalyst Semiconductor, Sunnyvale, CA, and Chris Wojslaw, Conexant Systems, Newport Beach, CA

Customized potentiometers aid Amplifier Design-  11/11/99  EDN Design Ideas:  The circuit in Figure 1 is a model of an amplifier circuit whose cutoff frequency and gain are functions of the values of variable resistors.  A first-order, RC lowpass filter establishes the cutoff frequency, and a traditional noninverting op-amp circuit Design by Chuck Wojslaw

DC Power Wire also Carries Clock or Data-  03/13/98 EDN Design Ideas:    NOTE:  File contains many circuits, please scroll to find this one.  High-side current-sense amplifier, IC1, offers a simple method of combining low-speed clocks or other signals with dc power in cables between subsystems Design by Mike Hardwick, Decade Engineering, Turner, OR

Difference Amplifier uses digital potentiometers-  05/30/02 EDN Design Ideas:  You sometimes need to measure a small signal in the presence of a large common-mode signal.  Traditional instrumentation amplifiers that use two or three op amps in their internal structure find common use in these applications.  The circuit in Figure 1 presents an alternative approach that is useful when low cost and low drift are important, but when you don't need high precision Design by Reza Moghimi, Analog Devices, San Jose, CA

Digital pot adjusts LCD's contrast-  02/04/99 EDN Design Ideas:    NOTE:    Page includes several designs.  Scroll to find this one.  You can use a digitally controlled potentiometer for many purposes.  In this example, you can use the device to regulate the contrast of a standard (such as two lines by 40 characters] LCD.  You can use the circuit in Figure 1 in a portable test system, in which you need to change the contrast of the LCD as a function of the viewing angle.  You choose the contrast setup Design by Jef Collin, CSE Systems, Turnhout, Belgium

Digital Pot Corrects for System Drift-  EDN Design Ideas:  11/10/94  The circuit in Fig 1 looks simple but usually comes as a revelation to designers.  Under control of the system's µP, the digital potentiometer, IC1, becomes a variable set-point reference that can adapt to the long-term drift of the variable measured.  The digital potentiometer replaces schemes involving A/D and D/A converters (see "Auto calibrator nulls dc offsets," EDN, June 9, 1994, pg 139, and "Infinite-hold circuit zeros out long-term drift," EDN, March 3, 1994, pg 90). Design by Mark Rutledge, Xicor Inc, Milpitas, CA

Digital potentiometer autonulls op Amp-  10/22/98 EDN Design Ideas:  Op-amp applications that need the highest possible dc accuracy are generally best served by CMOS chopper-stabilized amplifiers, such as the LTC1050.  But high-speed, low-noise applications may require high-performance rockets, such as the 700-MHz LT1226.  So what to do for applications Design by Stephen Woodward, University Of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Digital Potentiometer Controls LCD Bias-  03/17/94 EDN Design Ideas:  Designers of pen-based computers can easily relegate some controls that were previously mechanical, such as switches and potentiometers, to on-screen icons.  For example, the circuit in Fig 1 shows one way that digital logic can control the -24V-dc LCD bias using two general-purpose I/O command lines.  The DS-1669 from Dallas Semiconductor Design by Michael Cortopassi, Dauphin Technology, Lombard, IL

Digital Potentiometer Controls Phase Shift-  02/15/96 EDN Design Ideas:  You can use dual, quad, or hex potentiometers to put all phase-shift sections under control of a microprocessor, as in Figure 2.  The DS1806 hex digital . Design by Rick Downs, Dallas Semiconductor Dallas, TX

Digital potentiometer programs & stabilizes voltage reference-  05/30/02 EDN Design Ideas:  The potentiometer portion of a mixed-signal, digitally programmable potentiometer adds variability to an analog circuit, and its digital controls provide programmability.  You can use a digital potentiometer in two ways in an analog circuit.  You can use it as a two-terminal variable resistance, or rheostat, or as a three-terminal resistive divider Design by Chuck Wojslaw, Catalyst Semiconductor, Sunnyvale, CA

Digital potentiometers enable programmable biquadratic filter-  07/22/04 EDN Design Ideas:  Of the many types of analog filters available to designers, few allow easy adjustments of the filter parameters.  The biquadratic, or biquad, filter is an exception, however.  You can change that filter's corner frequency (ω0], Q, and gain (H] by adjusting the values of three resistors.  For that purpose, the lowpass biquad circuit of Figure 1 includes three digital potentiometers configure Design by Deborah Mancuso and Donald Schelle, Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA

Digital Stereo Potentiometer-  in PDF format, text in Finnish__

Digital volume control-  The Tiny Audio Amplifier kit is a good choice for battery operation.  It is based on LM386 IC.__

Digital Volume Control-  The heart of this digital volume controller DVC circuit is IC2 4067, 16-channel analog multiplexer.  Because the 1kΩ has been connected between every input and output, the multiplexer can act like a potentiometer.  The total resistance is 15kΩ.  You can use different values for the resistor to obtain a different characteristic. __ Designed by Popescu Marian

Digital volume control-  Circuit of a digital volume control using six discrete ICs, including a 5V regulator, is presented.  IC1 (555) is configured to function as astable flip-flop.  Its frequency or period may be adjusted by proper choice of resistors R44, R45 and capacitor C6 combination.  Here it is for 0.3 second period __ Contact IQ Technologies

Digital Volume Control-  This circuit could be used for replacing your manual volume control in a stereo amplifier.  In this circuit, push-to-on switch S1 controls the forward (volume increase) operation of both channels while a similar switch S2 controls __ Contact IQ Technologies

Digital volume control has log taper-  04/11/02 EDN Design Ideas:  Digital potentiometers provide a compact and convenient way to attenuate audio-amplifier signals.  However, most such potentiometers suffer from at least one flaw  a nonlogarithmic step increment.  To avoid this problem, a user must usually step the potentiometer in a nonlinear sequence to simulate a logarithmic taper Design by Doug Farrar, Los Altos, CA

Digital Volume Control using DS1669 Digital Pot IC-  This digital volume control has no pot to wear out and introduces almost no noise in the circuit.  Instead, the volume is controlled by pressing UP and DOWN buttons.  This simple circuit would be a great touch to any home audio project. __ Designed by Aaron Cake

Digitally controlled potentiometer sets cutoff frequency-  06/10/99 EDN Design Ideas:  The traditional method of controlling the upper cutoff frequency in the basic inverting-amplifier circuit of Figure 1 is to add capacitor C in parallel with R2.  The value of C controls the cutoff frequency.  R1  and R2 independently establish the magnitude of the circuit gain, which Design by Chuck Wojslaw, Xicor Inc, Milpitas, CA

Electronic-potentiometer system has pushbutton interface-  09/26/02 EDN Design Ideas:  As systems grow smaller, it becomes increasingly attractive to replace mechanical potentiometers with electronic potentiometers, which are smaller and less expensive silicon equivalents.  A common interface for such devices comprises a Chip-Select, Increment and, Up/ line.  CS activates the device and, on a rising edge of steps the wiper in a direction that the U/ pin indicates Design by Gene Warzecha and Roger Griswold, Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA

Industrial-Grade Digital Potentiometer-  09/20/01  EDN Design Ideas:  Both ac and dc motors in modern industrial systems often receive their control from PLCs (programmable-logic controllers] in a control room safely away from the process.  If an operator must manually set the motor speed while observi Design by Phill Leyva, Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA

Inexpensive Relays Form Digital Potentiometer-  03/13/98 EDN Design Ideas:    NOTE:  File contains many circuits, please scroll to find this one.  Build a digitally controllable isolated potentiometer that can tolerate voltages up to 60-Volt dc Design by Robert Perrin, Z-World, Davis, CA

Lab-Standard 16-Bit Digital Potentiometer-  No, this is not some kind of fancy digital volume control for hifi systems.  Instead, it's a low-cost digital programmable voltage divider.  It's used to provide an accurate adjustable output from a precision voltage reference for meter calibration and other tasks.__ SiliconChip

LED dimmer uses only two lines-  03/21/02 EDN Design Ideas:  The circuit in Figure 1provide as 32 steps of brightness control-from 0 to 100%-for a backlight or instrument panel, using just two general-purpose-microprocessor signals.  In addition, the circuit requires little board space, because it uses only three SOT-23s and one µMax package Design by Jerry Wasinger, WallyWare Inc, Norcross, GA

Linear potentiometer implements logarithmic gain control-  10/23/1997 EDN Design Ideas:  Trimmer potentiometers are ubiquitous components and are available in a variety of packages, resolutions, and temperature stabilities.  However, none of these potentiometers implements anything but the usual linear function of resistance vs shaft position.  This fact makes trouble for applications that need a wide dynamic-adjustment range. Design by W Stephen Woodward, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

Linear potentiometer provides nonlinear light intensity control-  04/28/05  EDN Design Ideas:  Circuit matches light control to eye’s intensity-response curve Design by Stephan Goldstein, Analog Devices, Wilmington, MA

Microcontroller multiplexes six digital potentiometers-  05/11/00 EDN Design Ideas:  In Figure 1's circuit, a µC lets you adjust as many as six digital potentiometers.  Like mechanical potentiometers, digital potentiometers can adjust regulator outputs or speaker volumes and act as rheostats.  Available in resistances of 50, 100, and 200 kV, they let you throw away your mechanical potentiometers and the little flat-headed screwdrivers that go with them. Design by Ted Salazar, Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA

Microprocessor generates programmable clock sequences-  05/12/05 EDN Design Ideas:  emulate radar and sonar returns with simple circuit Design by William Grill, Honeywell BRGA, Lenexa, KS

Microprocessor linear potentiometer Deliver echo pulses-  05/12/05 EDN Design Ideas:  Simulate radar and sonar returns with simple circuit Design by Abel Raynus, Armatron International Inc, Malden, MA

Network Forms Digital to Impedance Converter-  03/14/96 EDN Design Ideas:  The circuit in Figure 1 resembles a capacitive-ladder (C-2C]D/A converter.  However, it does not provide conversion from a digital code to a voltage or current, but rather converts the digital code to a capacitor value.  The C-2C topology is well-suited Design by Alex Belousov, SMP Inc, Rego Park, NY

Nonvolatile digital potentiometer gates logic signal-  09/03/07  EDN Design Ideas:  A novel use for digital potentiometers employs them as a logic gate that functions as soon as the system powers up Design by Reinhardt Wagner, Maxim Integrated Products, Ottobrunn, Germany

One Amplifier has two gain figures-  09/19/02 EDN Design Ideas:  The single-supply circuit in Figure 1 is an inverting amplifier with two outputs—one for positive output voltages, VOUT (POS], and the other for negative output voltages, VOUT (NEG].  Steering diodes D1 and D2 split the amplifier, IC1, output into the two output polarities relative to the 2 Design by Chuck Wojslaw, Catalyst Semiconductor, Sunnyvale, CA

One switch controls digital potentiometer-  09/19/02  EDN Design Ideas:  This design idea   is an evolution and simplification of another (Figure 1, Reference 1].  Replacing the three inverted-input NOR gates with their logical equivalents, positive-input NAND gates, makes these three gate symbols consistent Design by Jim Bach, Delphi Delco Electronics Systems, Kokomo, IN

Op Amp increases potentiometer's resolution-  06/05/00 EDN Design Ideas:  A key parameter of digitally controlled potentiometers (DCPs] is the number of taps (n] programmable positions of the wiper.  This parameter establishes the resolution in  programmable-voltage and -current applications.  A number of circuit - PDF has many circuits, please scroll to find this one Design by Chuck Wojslaw, Xicor Inc, Milpitas, CA, and P Gareth Lloyd, Elab Ltd, Stoke-on-Trent, UK


Pot Circuits:  #'s - O      P - Z


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