Step 31: Power supply
Power supply
The RFID allegedly uses "a lot of power" when it is actually in "read" mode. Not sure how much this is but since I am supplying the backlight of my LCD display as well as my RFID reader with 5V power from the on-board voltage regulator on the Mega, I thought it would be best to turn the RFID off most of the time, having it "look" for a new RFID reading every 10 seconds instead.
The Arduino runs at 5V and has an on board voltage regulator to keep everything at 5V. It will run with a DC supply of 7-12V. However at 12V it is converting a lot of that to heat, and if I am also consuming a lot of current with my peripherals, that might not be a great idea.
I therefore have used a stabilised (i.e. not a really cheap thrift shop unit) 7V power supply with claimed output of up to 1.5Amps. By using a 7V supply I have enough to keep the Arduino regulator happy without generating masses of unwanted heat.
The RFID allegedly uses "a lot of power" when it is actually in "read" mode. Not sure how much this is but since I am supplying the backlight of my LCD display as well as my RFID reader with 5V power from the on-board voltage regulator on the Mega, I thought it would be best to turn the RFID off most of the time, having it "look" for a new RFID reading every 10 seconds instead.
The Arduino runs at 5V and has an on board voltage regulator to keep everything at 5V. It will run with a DC supply of 7-12V. However at 12V it is converting a lot of that to heat, and if I am also consuming a lot of current with my peripherals, that might not be a great idea.
I therefore have used a stabilised (i.e. not a really cheap thrift shop unit) 7V power supply with claimed output of up to 1.5Amps. By using a 7V supply I have enough to keep the Arduino regulator happy without generating masses of unwanted heat.
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