Madisonville Community College Biomed Program

Madisonville Community College Biomed Program Enroll now! Learn to repair medical equipment at KY's only biomed program.

Contact Joey Jones, BTS Program Coordinator with questions about the program or to schedule an appointment to visit the college in person.

270.322.3227
[email protected]

04/01/2026

Thanks to John McRoy, BTS program graduate, with Fresenius Dialysis for the following educational support items:
3 IV pumps - Vista by Braun
2 conductivity, temp, pressure, and pH flow-through meters - Neo-2
4 AV fistula needle sets
1 blood tubing set
A 1 gallon jug of liquid bicarbonate
A 1 gallon jug of liquid acid concentrate

03/13/2026

Electrical signals often vary continuously with time, and one of the most common waveforms used to represent this variation is the sine wave. Understanding its parameters helps in analyzing AC circuits, communication systems, and signal processing.
A sine wave can be mathematically written as A(t) = Amax sin(ωt), where Amax is the maximum amplitude and ω is the angular frequency. The waveform starts at zero, increases smoothly to its positive peak, decreases back to zero, then reaches a negative peak, and finally returns to zero to complete one full cycle.
The peak amplitude (Amax) represents the highest value reached by the signal. If the signal represents voltage or current, this is the maximum magnitude during the cycle. The peak-to-peak value (Apk-pk) is the total vertical distance between the positive peak and negative peak, which equals 2 × Amax.
At any specific angle θ or time, the waveform has an instantaneous value. This value continuously changes as the sine wave progresses through the cycle from 0° to 360° (or 0 to 2π radians).
Two commonly used measures describe the effective strength of the signal. The RMS value (Arms) represents the equivalent DC value that would produce the same heating effect in a resistor. For a sine wave, Arms equals 0.707 × Amax. This is why AC voltage ratings such as household mains are expressed in RMS values.
Another parameter is the average value (Aavg) of the waveform over one half cycle, which equals 0.636 × Amax. The average over a full cycle is zero because the positive and negative halves cancel each other.
The horizontal axis represents the angle or phase of the waveform, while the time required to complete one full cycle is called the period (T). The frequency is simply the number of cycles occurring each second.
These parameters together fully describe how a sinusoidal signal behaves in electrical and electronic systems.

03/12/2026

Enrollment for summer and fall 2026 is going on. Get onboard with your career as a biomedical equipment technician.

03/08/2026

This is an iconic Voltage Divider Bias Common Emitter Amplifier and is one of the most widely used circuits in analogue electronics.

This amplifier offers good stability in terms of its biasing and provides consistent amplification. In this circuit, Resistors R1 and R2 are used to determine a fixed base voltage on the Base of the transistor, and an emitter resistor is used to increase the thermal stability (β) of the design. The input capacitor is designed to pass only AC signals and the output from the collector will have a higher voltage gain than the AC input voltage.

The Circuit shown in the above example is ideal for students, novice designers and anyone who wants to understand how transistor amplifiers operate in a real-world application.

02/15/2026

A bridge rectifier converts alternating current into pulsating direct current by using four diodes arranged in a closed loop. During the positive half cycle, one diagonal pair of diodes conducts and forces current through the load in a single direction. When the input polarity reverses, the opposite diode pair conducts, but the load current still flows in the same direction. Because both halves of the AC waveform are utilized, the output frequency becomes twice the input frequency and the average DC level increases compared to half-wave rectification.
The waveform shown at the bottom represents this full-wave rectified voltage. Its average value is approximately 0.637 times the peak voltage, or about 0.9 times the RMS value for an ideal rectifier without diode drops. In real circuits, each conducting path includes two diode forward voltages, slightly reducing the DC output. This principle forms the foundation of most linear power supplies used in electronics, chargers, and embedded systems.
Where have you seen bridge rectifiers used in everyday devices?

02/15/2026

Electrical Basic Formula

02/15/2026

AC voltage control is often imagined as smoothly reducing the sine wave, but an SCR phase-control circuit works differently. The AC source, lamp load, and SCR are in series. During each positive half cycle, the SCR stays OFF until a gate pulse arrives at a chosen firing angle θ. From that instant to the end of the half cycle, the SCR conducts and current flows through the lamp. When the waveform crosses zero, current naturally falls to zero and the SCR turns OFF again, waiting for the next trigger pulse.
Changing the firing angle shifts how much of each half cycle is delivered to the load. A small angle θ₁ allows conduction for most of the half cycle, giving higher average voltage and brighter light. A medium angle θ₂ shortens conduction, reducing power. A large angle θ₃ permits only a brief conduction interval, so the lamp becomes dim. This simple timing control converts a fixed AC supply into adjustable power using switching rather than resistive loss, which is why SCR phase control is widely used in light dimmers, heaters, and motor speed controllers.

02/15/2026

As a student once myself, the best learning came from what I wanted to know and not expected to know.

02/15/2026

Speed control in a DC motor is not achieved by lowering supply voltage directly, but by rapidly switching it on and off using PWM. The 555 timer generates pulses whose duty cycle is adjusted with the potentiometer, changing the motor’s average voltage and therefore its speed. The transistor acts as a power switch, while the diode protects against back-EMF. Narrow pulses give slow rotation; wider pulses produce faster motion.

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2000 College Drive
Madisonville, KY
42431

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+12703223227

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