Teaching Module 4 - Electronics

The module 4 is for Fundamental Electronics. It has 2 distinct group of knowledge. The syllabus includes:
- subject of electronics and the second part
-  includes the non electronic subject of syncro.

I presume that EASA realise the importance of subjects of data transmission like syncro and they cannot find a suitable module.As such it is parked in module 5.

In the learning theory, the researches had identified the effectiveness of the teaching medium.
- virtual
- audio
- experiential

It had been found that experiential learning is more effective. That mean, learning by doing will improve the learning and the students memory. We were using this method in the delivery.

We include some of the students activities..

Thrystors are generic term used to describe the semiconductors that have the latching effect. The most commonly used is the SCR, the silicon controlled rectifier. A SCR has 3 connecting wires, the anode, the cathode and the gate.

The + is connected to the anode and (-) connected to the cathode. The gate is the controlling input. With a positive pulse, the current will flow from anode to cathode and it continue to flow until the voltage falls below a certain level.

We covers the half wave and full wave rectifiers. For the full wave rectifier, we study the two types, the center tapped full wave rectifier that uses only two diodes. We also study the bridge type of rectifier which uses 4 diodes.
We did not cover the 3 phase rectifier. That remind me, to include the 3 phase rectifier, as it is the most common type used in the modern aircraft, noticeably for TRUs and the voltage regulators.

We covered rather in detail about the operation amplifiers. Covering the above topics, we cover the operation of 3 types of Op amplifiers, the inverting, the summing and comparator.

Microprocessor - The History

Microprocessor is a relatively new invention. As the name implies, the processor is made of micro-components integrated into one unit.  Prior to this, each of the component is made separated and later integrated in a printed circuit board.

The first microprocessor was C4004 built in 1969 for the Nippon Calculating Machine. Intel was engaged for the the project. The creator of 4004 later left Intel and started another company known as AMD. The 8-bit processor was later developed and enhance. The well known version was the 8088, which was used in the early IBM PCs.


 AMD started as the contracted producer of Intel microprocessors. That time the microprocessors were relatively slow, the speed was about 5-10 mhz and the components count was about 29,000.

16 bit processor - was introduced in 1982 as the 80186 processor. The speed was between 3-20 Mhz and able to process about 2.5 million processes per second. Then the 80286 was released. AMD continued to produce a clone of Intel.

32 bit processor was introduced in 1989 as i860. i960 was later introduced in the same year. The speed had reach 100Mhz and processing ability was about 5 MIPS. The x86 version was the first to reach 1million components per processor. Pentium was introduced in 1993.

The latest Intel Processor in 2012, the i7, is operating at 3.5GHz, with 8MB cache.

Having the basic understanding of a microprocessor and the its various elements is necessary. It is not only for your EASA licensing examination, but for your later working knowledge as aircraft nowadays are fitted with modern black boxes containing the microprocessors.

Syllabus Module 4: Electronic Fundamentals

Module 4 prepares the students/ staff for the electronics of the aircraft systems. Here, the basic of the electronics are covered.

The syllabus is rather selective, for example, for B1 modules, it excludes the materials and the electronics properties. However, we include this subjecs in our teaching, as we found out that, to understand the operation of diodes and transistors, the students need to know the materials.

Subtopics	A	B1	B2
4.1 Semiconductors 4.1.1 Diodes (a) Diode symbols; (LevelsA -,B1- 2, B2- 2) Diode characteristics and properties; Diodes in series and parallel; Main characteristics and use of silicon controlled rectifiers (thyristors), light emitting diode, photo conductive diode, varistor, rectifier diodes; Functional testing of diodes. (b) Materials, electron configuration, electrical properties; (Levels -, -, B2- 2) P and N type materials: effects of impurities on conduction, majority and minority characters; PN junction in a semiconductor, development of a potential across a PN junction in unbiased, forward biased & reverse biased conditions; Diode parameters: peak inverse voltage, maximum forward current, temperature, frequency, leakage current, power dissipation; Operation and function of diodes in the following circuits: clippers, clampers, full and half wave rectifiers, bridge rectifiers, voltage doublers and triplers; Detailed operation and characteristics of the following devices: silicon controlled rectifier (thyristor), light emitting diode, Shottky diode, photo conductive diode, varactor diode, varistor, rectifier diodes, Zener diode.	- -	2 -	2 2
4. 1.2 Transistors (a) Transistor symbols;  -  , 1, 2 Component description and orientation; Transistor characteristics and properties. (b) Construction and operation of PNP and NPN transistors;  - , -, 2 Base, collector and emitter configurations; Testing of transistors. Basic appreciation of other transistor types and their uses. Application of transistors: classes of amplifier (A, B, C); Simple circuits including: bias, decoupling, feedback & stabilisation; Multistage circuit principles: cascades, push-pull, oscillators, multivibrators, flip-flop circuits. 4.1.3 Integrated Circuits  (Levels -, 1, - ) (a) Description and operation of logic circuits and linear circuits/operational amplifiers. (b) Description and operation of logic circuits and linear circuits;  (Levels -, - , 2 ) Introduction to operation and function of an operational amplifier used as: integrator, differentiator, voltage follower, comparator; Operation and amplifier stages connecting methods: resistive capacitive, inductive (transformer), inductive resistive (IR), direct; Advantages and disadvantages of positive and negative feedback.		1 - 1 -
4.2 Printed Circuit Boards   (Levels, - , 1, 2) Description and use of printed circuit boards.
4.3 Servomechanisms   (Levels -, 1 , - ) (a) Understanding of the following terms: Open and closed loop systems, feedback, follow up, analogue transducers; Principles of operation and use of the following synchro system components/features: resolvers, differential, control and torque, transformers, inductance and capacitance transmitters. (b) Understanding of the following terms:  (Levels -, - , 2 ) Open & closed loop, follow up, servomechanism, analogue, transducer, null, damping, feedback, deadband; Construction operation and use of the following synchro system components: resolvers, differential, control and torque, E and I transformers, inductance transmitters, capacitance transmitters, synchronous transmitters; Servomechanism defects, reversal of synchro leads, hunting.

Module 4 Electronics Fundamental Resource

EASA part 66 Module 4 is for Electronic Fundamentals. It covers the basic of the electronic elements such as..
- the basic of semi-conductor
- basic electronic components such as diodes, transistors, tryristors etc
- integrated circuits, printed circuit boards, large scale integration etc.

It also include the non-electronic elements of servos and positions transmission devices such as transducer, transmitter.

I had traced some online resources, unfortunately it cannot be downloaded

Electronic Fundamentals Module-4 EASA Part-66

History of Microprocessor

The microprocessor is the enabler of modern electronics.The man on the street will be amazed on the minute size of the electronic components. Millions of parts can be assembled into an area as small as a 10cent coin. Microprocessor is the basic of making the computer. This short video is about the history of microprocessor..