From the monthly archives: April 2012

We are pleased to present below all posts archived in 'April 2012'. If you still can't find what you are looking for, try using the search box.

Control Theory

By Steven McFadyen on 3/29/2012 10:18 PM

Control theory looks at how systems work and are controlled from a mathematical view.  This note gives a brief introduction to some of the concepts – more of a notepad of concepts really, whi... read more..


Useful Motor Technical Information

By Steven McFadyen on 3/28/2012 10:09 PM

Sometimes it’s useful to be able to quickly lookup a piece of technical information.  This note is a collection of information related to motors, and in particular ac induction motors. read more..


Variable Frequency Drive

By Steven McFadyen on 3/28/2012 9:58 PM

Variable frequency drives are widely used to control the speed of ac motors.  This note looks at the mechanisms which enable d... read more..


Motor Efficiency Classification

By Steven McFadyen on 3/28/2012 2:05 PM

Electric motors are one of the most widely used items of electrical equipment. Improving motor efficiency benefits include, reduced power demand, lower operating costs and reduced environment impact.... read more..


Electric Motors

By Steven McFadyen on 3/28/2012 1:12 PM

Collection of links to various places with useful motor information. I’ll try and return to the page every now and again to update it with any motor notes added to the site. read more..


Motor Insulation

By Steven McFadyen on 3/28/2012 1:02 PM

Insulation on a motor prevents interconnection of windings and the winding to earth.  When looking at motors, it is important to understand how the insulation functions and its practical applicatio... read more..


DC Motor Operation

By Steven McFadyen on 3/28/2012 1:00 PM

Coils of wire on the rotor carry a d.c. current which generates a magnetic field. A stator magnetic field is created using either permanent mag... read more..


Wiki Depreciation

By Steven McFadyen on 3/27/2012 4:06 PM

We have had the Wiki with us for a long time now, but at last I have decided to say bye bye – more details on why below. read more..


Restricted Earth Fault Protection

By Steven McFadyen on 3/25/2012 12:49 PM

The windings of many medium and small sized transformers are protected by restricted earth fault (REF) systems. The illustration shows the principal of REF protection. read more..


How to Write an Electrical Note

By Steven McFadyen on 3/24/2012 11:47 AM

Electrical notes are a collaborative collection of electrical engineering information and educational material. Any registered user can add content.

Think of Notes as  an online book;&#... read more..


ANSI (IEEE) Protective Device Numbering

By Steven McFadyen on 3/22/2012 11:40 AM

The widely used United Sates standard ANSI/IEEE C37.2 'Electrical Power System Device Function Numbers, Acronyms, and Contact Designations' deals with protective device function numbering and acronyms. ... read more..


Famous Scientists

By Steven McFadyen on 3/22/2012 11:35 AM

Here’s list of some famous scientists. Deliberately short, with the aim to provide a quick memory jog or overview. If your looking for more detailed information, Google and Wikipedia have tons of ... read more..


Pages: Prev12NextReturn Top


Mobile Phones (Brick to Implant)

The mobile phone was born in 1973. They were the size of a brick and weighed a couple of kg, making them difficult to fit into your pocket. At a few thousand...

The ac resistance of conductors

In a previous article I looked at the dc resistance of conductors and in this article we turn our attention to ac resistance. If you have not read the...

How to Size Current Transformers

The correct sizing of current transformers is required to ensure satisfactory operation of measuring instruments and protection relays. Several methods...

IEEE Winds of Change

IEEE TV has a part series of videos on wind power and it's implication. For a really good overview to the technologies and issues around wind power, these...

Fault Calculation - Per Unit System

Per unit fault calculations is a method whereby system impedances and quantities are normalised across different voltage levels to a common base.  By removing...

Control Theory

Control theory looks at how systems work and are controlled from a mathematical view.  This note gives a brief introduction to some of the concepts – more...

A mechanical engineering paper, some history and memories

I was digging in my bookshelf and came across the 80th Anniversary Association of Mine Resident Engineers, Papers and Discussions Commemorative Edition...

Why use catalogues

I'm a fan of using manufacturers catalogues. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, if your involved in the purchase of equipment, you will likely...

Introduction to Traction Substations

Following on from my post on railway electrification voltages, I thought an introduction to traction substations would be a good idea. Traction substations...

Why a Sine Wave?

I received this question by email a few weeks. First thoughts was that it is a product of the mathematics of rotating a straight conductor in a magnetic...

Have some knowledge to share

If you have some expert knowledge or experience, why not consider sharing this with our community.  

By writing an electrical note, you will be educating our users and at the same time promoting your expertise within the engineering community.

To get started and understand our policy, you can read our How to Write an Electrical Note