Texas Instruments Electronics Online Challenge
erittm01
Entry ID #: 2867
Created: Tue, Dec 13, 2016 5:09 PM
Texas Instruments Electronics Online Challenge By: Ethan Rittmiller The piece of technology I took apart and analyzed was an emergency light/radio. It was able to function as a normal radio, but it also had flashlights at either end that can go between modes, e.g. blinking and steady; dim and bright. I chose to take the radio apart because its components and their function interested me. Radios work by emitting and receiving waves that contain frequencies for things such as radio channels. The type I had was known as a receiver. This meant that a transmission of some kind was needed from a tower (or something similar) to give it a signal. In regards to the TI components, it had none that were observable within it. However, it did include two circuit boards with wires leading to the battery ports within it, and the various bulbs and to the board itself. It also had a number of components on its main circuit board, including capacitors, resistors, wiring, an All-Band AM/FM Receiver and Audio Amplifier, etc. A full analysis was in order for the parts within the radio-flashlight hybrid to explain how all the different pieces fit into the overall functionality of the system. First and foremost, it contained two bulbs, one a cylindrical bulb, and one a normal shaped bulb. The bulbs were directly connected to wires reaching to the 4 batteries it contained. Most importantly, though, it contained a mother chip with the most important item on it, the All-Band AM/FM Receiver and Audio Amplifier, which performed the important job of receiving radio signals. Next, it has a cubic segment on the top left that was connected to a dial for switching between radio channels. The last important component on this circuit board is a chip on the top right that deals with receiving radio signals. As for the second much smaller chip, it is connected to four wires leading to the bulbs, batteries, and the other motherboard. As for the components on it, it only has one of importance; a magnetic strip around a large capacitor. To conclude, the lessons learned from this project are that you never know what a piece of technology has within it. This is an important lesson because it can be put in use greatly within the engineering/ technology occupations becoming more and more prevalent as technology is a very important aspect of everyone's life.