/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1767302
hmm, I guess I could imagine thermals being die-specific

>>1767772
if you understand the properties of the signal you're receiving, you can work out a way to isolate it, detect or discriminate the changes that encode the information, and convert them to a voltage which you then amplify
but there are a few common configurations for detection. one simple discriminator for FM involves a filtered, limited IF frequency of x MHz coupled into an LC tank tuned to x MHz + m*bw where m is a small multiple (1 < m < 5) and bw is the bandwidth of the channel. the impedance of the tank increases monotonically as frequency approaches the resonant frequency of the tank, which yields a higher voltage output, corresponding to the input frequency
there are still some single-chip broadcast AM/FM ICs around, and some analog front ends capable of other frequency bands

>>1767813
the usual laptop brick should be alright but some laptop supplies have been known to require authentication before releasing their high-energy goodness
if not the usual laptop brick, show picture of power supply