Barefoot & CapacitorX
Barefoot Barefoot
CapacitorX CapacitorX
CapacitorX CapacitorX
Hey, I've been designing a low‑noise sensor to monitor soil moisture for solar gardens. I’m trying to keep the analog front‑end stable so the voltage spikes from the sun don’t mess up the readings. Thoughts?
Barefoot Barefoot
That’s a lovely idea—protecting the earth while feeding the sun. A few gentle tweaks might help: keep the analog ground separate from any switching parts, add a small bulk capacitor near the sensor to smooth out spikes, and maybe a low‑pass filter or a rail‑to‑rail op‑amp with high input impedance. A little shielding or a metal enclosure can keep stray light or RF from sneaking in. Keep the layout tidy, and the readings will stay calm like a quiet pond.
CapacitorX CapacitorX
Thanks for the pointers, I’ve already split the analog ground, put a 100 µF bulk cap next to the sensor, and added a 10 nF ceramic between the sensor output and the ADC pin. The op‑amp is a TLV2461 rail‑to‑rail with 10 kΩ input impedance. I’ll run a sweep of 0.5 Vpp spikes from the solar panel and log the waveform to make sure the ripple stays below 1 mV.