#electronics basics

By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — August 14, 2026 — 12:30 p.m. Last week we looked at switches. A switch is one of the simplest devices in electronics. It either allows electricity to flow or it does not. This week we examine one of the cleverest ideas ever developed in electrical engineering. What if electricity could operate the…

By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — August 7, 2026 — 12:30 p.m. A battery may provide power. A resistor may control current. A capacitor may store energy. But none of those things matter very much if electricity has nowhere to go. That is where the switch enters the story. The switch is one of the simplest devices in electronics. It is…

By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — July 10, 2026 — 12:30 p.m. If electricity is one of the foundations of modern civilization, magnetism is its silent partner. Most people encounter magnets on refrigerator doors, tool holders, cabinet latches, or children’s science kits. Magnets seem ordinary because they are familiar. Yet magnetism is one of…

By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — July 3, 2026 — 12:30 p.m. If resistors are the traffic controllers of electronics, capacitors are the storage tanks. They are one of the most common electronic components ever invented, and one of the first components that seems almost magical when you encounter it. After all, how do you store…

By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — June 19, 2026 — 12:30 p.m. Last week we asked a simple question: What is electricity? This week we move on to the first component in our Electronic Archaeology toolbox. The resistor. If electricity is the flow of charge through a circuit, a resistor is the component that gets in the way. That may not…

By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — June 12, 2026 — 12:30 p.m. Before we can talk about vacuum tubes, radios, transmitters, antennas, or any imagined attempt to rebuild a tricorder from old technology, we have to start with the force underneath all of it. Electricity. That sounds simple enough. Everybody uses electricity. We plug in phones.…

Inductance Converter Convert between different inductance units used in electronics and electrical engineering From Value Please enter a valid number Unit Loading… Information about this unit will appear here. To Result Unit Loading… Information about this unit will appear here. Swap Units ⇄ Reset Visual Scale Comparison 50% Loading… Loading… What is 1 Unit in other units? Common…