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EPE Online - February 2007, Vol. 36, no. 2

1. Finally on the subject of Windows updates readers may wish to consider updating Windows Media Player to Version 11 It has been given the same new look and some of the navigation buttons now match those of Internet Explorer 7 A free download is available at www microsoft com windows windowsmedia The program enables audio and video to be played and it is a valuable tool for cre ating MP3s from a music CD or for playing your favourite collections In the UK as announced in the December 2006 Budget speech the technical illegality of creating MP3s for personal use from one s own music collection is going to be relaxed in the future e Vin d OWS IM i d id E layer The new look Windows Player Version 11 minimised view How to shop online smartly At the time of writing several weeks remain before Christmas 2006 is upon us and the UK is experiencing something of an online shopping boom UK shoppers are reportedly spending 180 million online per day during the festive season a 38 rise over the previous year s peak This is not surprising given the cost and hassle of travelling and parking the increasing pressure on disposable income and the frequently indif ferent or sub standard service forced onto consumers by major retailers Unlike many retail store staff a computer monitor gives you its undivided attention and online shopping is personal and dedicated to you Merchandise delivery systems are now in place such as Ho
2. Basic Calculations 263 pages Order code NE30 18 99 PROJECTS FOR RADIO AMATEURS AND S W L S R A Penfold This book describes a number of electronic circuits most of which are quite simple which can be used to enhance the performance of most short wave radio systems The circuits covered include An aerial tuning unit A simple active aerial An add on b f o for portable sets A wavetrap to combat signals on spurious responses An audio notch filter A parametric equaliser C W and S S B audio filters Simple noise limiters A speech processor A volume expander Other useful circuits include a crystal oscillator and RTTY C W tone decoder and a RTTY serial to parallel converter A full range of interesting and useful circuits for short wave enthusiasts Order code BP304 4 45 AN INTRODUCTION TO AMATEUR RADIO I D Poole Amateur radio is a unique and fascinating hobby which has attracted thousands of people since it began at the turn of the century This book gives the newcomer a comprehensive and easy to understand guide through the subject so that the reader can gain the most from the hobby It then remains an essential reference volume to be used time and again Topics covered include the basic aspects of the hobby such as operating proce dures jargon and setting up a station Technical topics covered include propagation receivers transmitters and aerials etc Order code BP257 5 49 92 pages 150
3. Card No Valid From Card Security Code The last 3 digits on or just under the signature strip SEND TO Everyday Practical Electronics Wimborne Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND Tel 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 E mail orders Oepemag wimborne co uk On line Shop www epemag wimborne co uk shopdoor htm Payments must be in sterling cheque or bank draft drawn on a UK bank Normally supplied within seven days of receipt of order Send a copy of this form or order by letter if you do not wish to cut your issue Everyday Practical Electronics February 2006 STORE YOUR BACK ISSUES ON CD ROMS py VEHICLE FROST BOX Icy road Wa ming EPE Crit Back ures cHROMATO owe Soun C otour Te Coll i G 4 ad a A great way to buy EPE Back Issues our CD ROMs contain back issues from our EPE Online website plus bonus articles all the rele vant PIC software and web links Note no free gifts are included All this for just 14 45 each including postage and packing VOL 1 BACK ISSUES January 1999 to June 1999 Order on line from Plus some bonus material from Nov and Dec 1998 www epemag wimborne co uk VOL 2 BACK ISSUES July 1999 to December 1999 shopdoor htm VOL 3 BACK ISSUES January 2000 to June 2000 or e pat A A VOL 4 BACK ISSUES July 2000 to December 2000 Rs PrOnc ar mA Netos VOL 5 BACK ISSUES January 2001 to June 2001 AR eo T UR A
4. Li Li iliii Leppiliti ilii i 10 25 5 6 Th 8B WT aliit ditiiligepliiii Liu Li ek Hiliki LLJ Volts Fig 2 The improved control program for the power supply has a keypad that is used to enter the required output voltage A three position virtual rotary switch is used to select the limit current parallel port via switching transistors TR3 and TR4 The two sets of relay contacts RLA1 and RLB1 can be used to shunt R4 or R5 across R3 providing respective limit currents of about 100mA and IA The circuit must be powered from a rea sonably stable 16V to 18V supply that can provide output currents of up to about 1 1A Software The original control program used a scrollbar component to set the output volt age plus three command buttons to enable the required limit current to be selected This program works well enough but using the techniques described in recent Interface articles it is possible to produce a more i 7 z IC3 CA3140E V OUT FE V OUT SENSE A V OUT SENSE B IC AD557JN W im to ia lailoa iu o GND Strobe Fig 1 The circuit diagram for the computer controlled power supply It provides an output voltage range of vA7BLOS O to 12 75 volts with a resolution of 50 millivolts 32 professional control program The final program is shown in operation in Fig 2 A simple keypad is used to enter the required output potential As each character is entered it is adde
5. Part 2 FEATURES e Teach In 2006 Part 9 e Ingenuity Unlimited e Practically Speaking Circuit Surgery e Techno Talk e PIC N MIX e Net Work The Internet Page PROJECTS e Loudspeaker Level Meter Telephone Dialler for Burglar Alarms e Adjustable DC DC Converter for Cars High Intensity Torch FEATURES e Circuit Surgery e Techno Talk e Teach In 2006 Part 10 e PIC N Mix e Interface e Ingenuity Unlimited e Net Work The Internet Page Bi RARA Le ETEF AMPE Cd PROJECTS e Low Cost 50 MHz Frequency Meter Smart Mixture Display for Your Car e Human Powered LED Torches Water Level Gauge FEATURES e Teach In 2006 Part 11 e Ingenuity Unlimited e Circuit Surgery e Techno Talk e PIC N Mix e Practically Speaking e Net Work The Internet Page DID YOU MISS THESE mmm OCT 06 PROJECTS e Studio 350 Power Amplifier Part 1 e Fridge Door Open Alarm e Through Glass Alarm Linear Supply for 1W Star LEDs FEATURES e Ingenuity Unlimited e Circuit Surgery e Techno Talk e PIC N Mix e Interface e Net Work The Internet Page NOV 06 PROJECTS e Giant LED Message Display e Micropower Battery Protector e Quick Brake Studio 350 Power Amplifier Part 2 FEATURES e C For PICs Part 1 e Ingenuity Unlimited Circuit Surgery Techno Talk PIC N Mix e Practically Speaking e Net Work The Internet Page Falk CU Septem Pe ae a E j t INi ee ERE a a UU EH i
6. 03 KIT 910 Seeks light beeps and avoids obstacles Spins and reverses when cornered Uses 8 pin PIC chip lt o ALSO KIT 911 As 910 i PLUS programmable 1 IT910 16 99 KIT911 24 99 leads and software CD included www magenta2000 co uk Tel 01283 565435 PIC PIPE DESCALER e SIMPLE TO BUILD e SWEPT FREQUENCY OUTPUT e HIGH POWER e AUDIO amp VISUAL MONITORING O An affordable circuit which sweeps the incoming water supply with varying frequency electromagnetic signals May reduce scale formation dissolve existing scale and improve the way salts in the water behave Kit includes case PCB coupling coil and all components High coil current ensures maximum effect LED and piezo monitor PIC WATER DESCALER KIT 868 22 95 PSU 3 99 12V EPROM ERASER A safe low cost eraser for up to 4 EPROMS or other UV erasable windowed devices at a time in 20 minutes Operates from a 12 Volt supply 400mA Ideal for mobile work and in educational applications where mains voltages are to be avoided Safety interlock prevents contact with UV KIT 790 29 90 PIC LCD DISPLAY DRIVER 16 Character x 2 Line dis e Learn how to drive the dis play pcb programmed play and write your own PIC16F84 software disk and code all components to experiment e Ideal development base for with standard intelligent al meters calculators phanumeric displays In counters timers just cludes full PIC source c
7. Expiry Date Maestro Issue No PIC World Clock Graphically displays world map calendar clock and global time zone data PICAXE Projects A 3 part series using PICAXE devices PIC microcontrollers that do not need specialist knowledge or programming equipment PIC based Tuning Fork and Metronome Thrill everyone by at long last getting your instrument properly tuned Versatile PIC Flasher An attractive display to enhance your Christmas decorations or your child s ceiling SEND TO Everyday Practical Electronics Wimborne Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND Tel 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 Email orders epemag wimborne co uk Payments must be by card or in Sterling cheque or bank draft drawn on a UK bank Normally supplied within seven days of receipt of order Send a copy of this form or order by letter if you do not wish to cut your issue l l l l l l l l l l l l l l How to prevent your food from defrosting unexpectedly l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l BECOME A PIC PROJECT BUILDER WITH THE HELP OF EPE Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 qi PCB SERVICE Printed circuit boards for most recent EPE constructional projects are available from the PCB Service see list These are fabricated in glass fibre and are fully drilled and roller tinned All prices include VAT and postage and packing Add 1 per board for airmail outs
8. Extremely Good C Book Dear EPE I have been reading Mike Hibbett s very interesting series on C for PICs and look forward to the next edition In the mean time I accidentally came across and pur chased an extremely good book called 23 PIC Microcontroller Experiments for the Evil Genius from Amazon standard UK price 14 99 I did not know at the time that it is based on the HT Soft PICC Lite C compiler and so should be OK for the Microchip C com piler It contains a wealth of information and there are literally 123 worthwhile pro jects to do eg IR sensing Motor Control Sound Detection etc Stephen Alsop via email Thanks Stephen I also passed your info on to Mike Hibbett Food Allergy Dear EPE Quite right Bryon Epps Readout Dec 06 your immune system can t react to anything in an insulated glass tube The allergen has to get into the body sufficient ly for the white cells to see it Unless there is a specific rare and severe reaction called anaphylaxis any allergy is going to take some time to manifest itself Skin resis tance depends on sweating which does not correlate directly with allergy Sad but true modern life makes people feel vaguely ill due to the stresses imposed Evolution has not yet caught up with these rapid changes and so unless the cause is recognised people assume a medical con dition and go looking for a diagnosis fol lowed by a prescription There is no disease th
9. 11 00 gt Additional digital input p 8052 8958252 based P ho programmer needed Includes Tiny BASIC gt On board power supply MONEY BACK GUARANTEE If you are not completely satisfied return the goods within 30 days for a full refund LCD Display LCD Controlle Dot Matrix A D Control Microcontrolle 14 95 KIT 4 50 RBT BV305 BV4107 BV4106 BV4102 BV4108 BV4103 All controlled with 2 wire serial bus Purchase Options On Line at www byvac co uk Telephone 07905 734 348 e email salese byvac com Cheque or Postal Order to ByVac PO BOX 4049 Penistone SHEFFIELD 36 6WP peyVac Post and packing UK 2 50 World Wide 3 50 23 www byvac co uk Implementing a software PLL for serious users of PICs Part Two of a software PLL We conclude by looking at the detailed implem entation Detail Assembly programs need a lot of house keeping instructions and often it isn t easy to discover where they start This program has three components The label Begin is a tiny stub that just does goto Begin This is where the application specific procedures would go in a practical program The label Interrupt is the start of the interrupt procedure that does the work To understand the program it is best to start here and to trust the third component start ing at the label Startup to have set the special function registers properly so Interrupt will work The inter
10. Finally check that there is 12V between the drain and source terminals of Q1 when the door switches are open ie with the doors closed If there is no voltage here check your wiring back to the door switch EPE Reproduced by arrangement with SILICON CHIP magazine 2007 OSCILLOSCOPES TEKTRONIX 2247A 4 Channel 100MHz Counter Timer Voltmeter TEKTRONIX 2335 Dual Trace 100MHz Delay Sweep TEKTRONIX 485 Dual Trace 350MHz Delay Sweep 300 IWATSU SS5711 4 Channel 100MHz Delay Sweep 150 PHILIPS 3065 2 1 Channel 100MHz Dual TB Delay Autoset 200 PHILIPS 3055 2 1 Channel 60MHz Dual TB Delay Autoset 150 PHILIPS PM3217 Dual Trace 50MHz Delay Sweep KIKUSUI COS6100 5 Trace 100MHz Delay TEKTRONIX 475A Dual Trace 250MHz Delay Sweep 175 TEKTRONIX 475 Dual Trace 200MHz Delay Sweep 150 TEKTRONIX 465B Dual Trace 100MHz Delay Sweep 125 TEKTRONIX 465 Dual Trace 100MHz Delay Sweep PHILIPS PM3209 Dual Trace 40MHz Delay PHILIPS PM3215 Dual Trace 50MHz KENWOOD CS4035 Dual Trace 40MHz PANASONIC VP5564A Dual Trace 40MHz HITACHI V525 Dual Trace 50MHz Cusors HITACHI V523 Dual Trace 50MHz Delay HITACHI V425 Dual Trace 40MHz Cursors HITACHI V422 Dual Trace 40MHz 125 HITACHI V223 Dual Trace 20MHz Delay HITACHI V222 Dual Trace 20MHz HITACHI V212 Dual Trace 20MHz FARNELL DTV12 14 Dual Trace 12MHz STORAGE PHILIPS PM3320 Dual Trace 200MHz 250Ms S LECROY 9400 Dual Trace 125MHz TEKTRONIX 468 Dual Trace 100
11. ICla is configured as a simple Schmitt inverter relaxation oscillator or clock gen erator The full flash cycle 1s determined by resistor R1 and capacitor Cl The outputs of IC1b and IClc go low alternately When IC1b output pin 4 goes low so C2 pushes a pulse of curent through LED D2 When IC1b output pin 4 goes high so C2 dis charges aided by the voltage limiting diode D1 The same applies to the identical circuit surrounding IClc Since IClb and 54 IClc switch alternately they also cause the LEDs to flash alternately Both D2 and D4 should be ultrabright LEDs Resistors R2 and R3 limit the cur rent flowing through them To change the speed of the flasher change the value of R1 lower resistance for a faster flash and vice versa The CD40106BE hex Schmitt trigger IC was found to work best for ICI Equivalents should work well but may cause a slight residual glow after flashing Current consumption is nearly 3mA That is it is modest but not small A set of AA batteries should last for two to three weeks in continuous use Thomas Scarborough Cape Town South Africa and must not have been published or submitted for publication else where The circuits shown have NOT been proven by us ngenuity Unlimited is open to ALL abilities but ttems for consideration in this column should be typed or word processed with a brief circuit description between 100 and 500 words maximum and include a full circuit diagram show
12. Note the small heatsink fitted to MOSFET Q1 to keep it cool BR1 which ensures that the positive voltage rail is fed to the anode of the optocoupler s internal LED The wiring arrangement of the tail light circuit is also unimportant since the circuit simply monitors the voltage across the lamps Parts List 1 PC board code 608 available from the EPE PCB Service size 78 x 46mm 1 front panel label see Fig 4 1 plastic box 82 x 54 x 31mm 1 mini heatsink 19 x 19 x 10mm 2 2 way PC board mount screw terminals 5 08mm spacing 1 M3 x 10mm screw amp nut 1 1MQ trimpot horizontal mount Semiconductors 1 MTP3055E 14A 60V MOSFET Q1 1 4N28 optocoupler OPTO1 1 W04 1 2A bridge rectifier BR1 1 1N914 or 1N4148 diode D1 Capacitors 1 470uF 16V PC electrolytic C1 1 47uF 16V PC electrolytic C2 1 100nF MKT polyester C3 Resistors 0 25W 1 1 220kQ 1 10kQ 1 100kQ 1 680Q 1 22kQ 1 470Q Miscellaneous Automotive wire connectors mounting brackets etc Construction All the parts for the Courtesy Light Delay are mounted on a PC board coded 603 78 x 46mm This then clips into a standard plastic case measuring just 82 x 54 x 31mm Fig 3 shows the assembly details Begin by checking the PC board for any shorts between tracks or breaks in the copper That done remove the corners of the PC board if this hasn t already been done so that the board clears the four pillars inside the case No
13. 0 79 Panasonic Special Power C 2pk 0 79 Panasonic Special Power D 2pk 0 79 Panasonic Special Power 9v 1pk 0 79 GP NiMh Rechargeable Batteries GP NiMh 600mAh AAA 4pk GP NiMh 750mAh AAA 4pk GP NiMh 800mAh AAA 4pk GP NiMh 850mAh AAA 4pk GP NiMh 1300mAh AA 4pk GP NiMh 2100mAh AA 4pk GP NiMh 2500mAh AA 4pk GP NiMh 2600mAh AA 4pk GP NiMh 2200mAh C 2pk GP NiMh 2200mAh D 2pk GP NiMh 170mAh PP3 1pk Alkaline Batteries Memorex AA Alkaline 4pk 0 99 Lithium Coin Cells Memorex AAA Alkaline 4pk 0 99 CR1216 Memorex C Alkaline 2pk 1 29 CR1616 Memorex D Alkaline 2pk 1 29 CR2016 Memorex 9v Alkaline 1pk 1 29 CR2025 Panasonic Xtreme AA 4pk 1 49 CR2032 Panasonic Xtreme AAA 4pk 1 49 CR2430 Panasonic Xtreme C 2pk 1 49 Panasonic Xtreme D 2pk 1 49 Panasonic Xtreme 9v 1pk 1 49 Alkaline Button Cells LR41 L736 AG3 LR43 L1142 AG12 LR44 L1154 AG13 LR48 L754 AG5 LR54 L1131 AG10 LR60 L621 AG1 Other Button Coin Cells available Lithium Camera Batteries Mitsubishi 6v Lithium 2CR5 1pk 0 99 Mitsubishi 3v Lithium CR2 1pk 0 99 Mitsubishi 3v Lithium CR123A 1pk 0 99 Mitsubishi 6v Lithium CR P2 1pk 0 99 Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA 2pk 3 99 Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA 4pk 5 99 Energizer Ultimate Lithium AAA 2pk 3 99 Energizer Ultimate Lithium AAA 4pk 5 99 Other Batteries amp Accessories Battery Boxes Switched Unswitched Battery Hold
14. CAN USB RS485 and OneWire communications Manchester_coding management logical and numerical conversion PWM signals interrupts etc The CD ROM contains many ready written and tested programs for use with our development boards Price with discount Regular price Buy one of our compil mikroBasic PIC 149 00 USD ers with one of our PIC mikroBasic PIC 30 99 00 USD mikroPascal PIC 149 00 USD development boards at mikroPascal PIC 30 99 00 USD mikroC PIC 249 00 USD up to 30 discount mikroC PIC 30 175 00 USD All of our products are shipped in special protective boxes On line secure ordering provides a fast and safe way to buy our products Please visit our web page for more info http www mikroe com Find your distributor http www mikroe com en distributors SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT TOOLS COMPILERS BOOKS SOLUTIONS EasyPIC4 Full featured development board for the Microchip PIC MCU s Now with on board USB 2 0 programmer and In Circuit Debugger MICROCHIP D PRE ae Examples in C BASIC and Pascal language Printing text on LCD LED blinking on PORTB MMC SD CF card read and write example USB communication 4x4 Keypad example PS2 keyboard example software SPI I2C RS232 communications AD conversion example Seven segment digit example Timer O and Timer 1 time measuring Measuring temperature with DS1820 and displaying on LCD Graphic LCD example examples for S
15. DEC 06 PROJECTS e USB Power Injector e RGB To Component Video Converter e Lapel Microphone Adaptor For PA Systems e Mind Trainer FEATURES e C For PICs Part 2 e Circuit Surgery e Interface e Ingenuity Unlimited e Techno Talk e PIC N Mix e Net Work The Internet Page JAN 07 PROJECTS e Balanced Microphone Preamp e Jumping Spider e High Efficiency Power Supply For 1W Luxeon Star LEDs e Charger For Deep Cycle 12V Batteries Part 1 FEATURES e C For PICs Part 3 e Circuit Surgery e Practically Speaking e Techno Talk e PIC N Mix Net Work The Internet Page BACK ISSUES ONLY 4 00 each inc UK p amp p Overseas prices 4 75 each surface mail 5 75 each airmail We can also supply issues from earlier years 2001 except Feb May Aug to Nov 2002 except Feb June Aug to Nov 2003 except June 2004 except June July Oct and Dec 2005 except Feb Nov Dec 2006 except Jan Feb Mar Apr and July Where we do not have an issue a photocopy of any one article or one part of a series can be provided at the same price ORDER FORM BACK ISSUES PHOTOCOPIES INDEXES Send back issues dated Send photocopies of article title and issue date Send copies of last five years indexes 4 00 for five inc p amp p Overseas 4 75 surface 5 75 airmail _ I enclose cheque P O bank draft to the value of Please charge my Visa Mastercard Amex Diners Club Switch
16. NE565N 230 ADM666AN Tel L387A 2 72 LM2940CT5 0 75 LM317LZ 0 25 LM317T 0 30 LM317K 2 28 LM323K 2 40 LM334Z 0 96 LM337T 0 64 LM338K 5 31 LM338T 1 10 LM723 0 40 LP2950CZ5 0 0 72 REFOICE 2 31 REFI95GP 3 04 meea 0 14 Diodes IN914 0 05 IN916 0 05 1N4001 0 05 1N4002 0 05 1N4003 0 03 1N4004 0 04 1N4005 0 04 1N4006 0 04 1N4007 0 03 1N4148 0 03 1N4149 0 07 1N5400 0 08 1N5401 0 08 1N5402 0 08 1N5404 0 09 1N5406 0 10 1N5407 0 10 1N5408 0 10 6A05 0 27 6A 1 0 30 6A2 0 27 6A4 0 28 6A6 0 32 6A8 0 30 6A 10 0 35 BA157 0 07 BA158 0 08 BA159 0 13 BAT41 0 12 BAT42 0 07 BAT46 0 12 BAT85 0 09 BAV2 0 07 BAW62 0 07 BAX16 0 05 BY127 0 18 BY133 0 10 OA47 0 70 OA9I0 0 33 OA9 0 32 OA200 0 56 UF4001 0 08 UF4002 0 08 UF4003 0 09 UF4004 0 08 UF4005 0 10 UF4006 0 10 UF4007 0 1 TA Zeners 2 7 to 33V 500mW 0 06 1 3W 0 10 pridgo Rectifiers 1A 50V 0 35 1A 100V 0 32 1A 200V 0 39 1A 600V 0 40 1A 800V 0 43 1 5A SOW 0 19 1 5A 100V 0 1 1 5A 200V 0 19 1 5A 400V 0 20 1 5A 600V 0 24 1 5A 800V 0 26 MESA EM 0 18 2A 100V 0 34 2A 200V 0 34 2A 400V 0 35 2A 800V 0 36 2A 1000V 0 45 3A 200V 0 34 3A 400V 0 40 3A 600V 0 33 3A 1000V 0 33 4A 100V 0 78 4A 200V 0 80 4A 400V 0 86 AA 600V 0 90 6A 100V 0 49 6A 200V 0 64 6A 400V 0 53 6
17. Package contains EasyPIC4 development system USB cable Serial cable User s Manual PICFlash Manual MikrolCD Manual CD with software drivers and examples in C BASIC and Pascal language Note LCD DS1820 temp sensor and GLCD are optional EasyPIC4 Development System ceeeeee sent eeee ee sis eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 119 00 USD Optional 2x16 LCD and DS1820 temperature sensor cceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 15 00 USD Graphic LCD 128x64 dots sssssnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnna 17 00 USD mikroBasic mikroPascal and mikroC compilers Supporting an impressive range of microcontrollers an easy to use IDE hundreds of ready to use func tions and many integrated tools makes MikroElektronika compilers one of the best choices on the market today Besides mikrolCD mikroElektronika compilers offer a statistical mod ule simulator bitmap generator for graphic displays _ __ T segment peer conversion tool ASCII table HTML code export communications tools for SD MMC UDP Ethernet and USB EEPROM editor programming mode management etc Each compiler has many routines and examples such as EEPROM FLASH and MMC SD and CF card reading writing writing to character and graphic LCDs manipulation of push buttons 4x4 keyboard and PS 2 keyboard input generation of signals and sounds character strin menino mathematical calculations 12C SPI RS232
18. Robotics and Mechatronics is designed to enable hobbyists students with little previous experience of electronics to design and build electromechanical systems The CD ROM deals with all aspects of robotics from the control systems used the transducers available motors actuators and the circuits to drive them Case study material including the NASA Mars Rover the Milford Spider and the Furby is used to show how practical robotic systems are designed The result is a highly stimulating resource that will make learning and building robotics and mechatronic systems easier The Institutional versions have additional worksheets and multiple choice questions O Interactive Virtual Laboratories O Little previous knowledge required O Mathematics is kept to a minimum and all calculations are explained O Clear circuit simulations PRICES Prices for each of the CD ROMs above are Order form on third page UK and EU customers add VAT at 17 5 to plus VAT prices 40 Hobbyist Student ccccccccssssseeeeseeeesseeeseeeeeeneees 45 inc VAT Institutional Schools HE FE Industry 99 plus VAT Institutional 10 user Network Licence 249 plus VAT SNe LICENCE sjaa saa EERE 499 plus VAT Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 PlCmicro TUTORIALS AND PROGRAMMING VERSION 3 PiCmicro MCU DEVELOPMENT BOARD Suitable for use with the three software packages listed below This flexible de
19. The best general purpose program is the LIGHT amp BUMP DEMO Place a lamp on the floor switch off any other lights and then switch on the robot facing any direction at all This demo never fails to impress with the Programmable Robot head ing for the light like a moth to a ame EPE Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 buy online an ee or pete Any value or even flexi valie to allow the k A TE E E re ciplent to se le qo the Ir item Up tO alimityye 60 ude he ase 4 a Eta dao al te Sie etrea dE a i _ The ie e PAULO dE ff Rem Handheld Test Ger Cool Smart 77 Ics THE No1 UK MAGAZINE FOR ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY BACK ISSU ES AND COMPUTER PROJECTS We can supply back issues of EPE by post most issues from the past five years are available An EPE index for the last five years is also available at www epemag co uk or see order form below Alternatively indexes are published in the December issue for that year Where we are unable to provide a back issue a photocopy of any one article or one part of a series can be purchased for the same price Issues from Jan 99 are available on CD ROM see next page and back issues from recent years are also available to download from www epemag com Please make sure all components are still available before commencing any project from a back dated issue OCT 05 PROJECTS e Haloween Howler e PIC Based U
20. There are two kinds of people those who are trading on eBay and the rest who are missing out Though eBay has been embraced by entrepreneurs all over the world it remains the peoples site and offers the largest mar ket for the smallest fee eBay presents an opportunity for everyone the trick is to master it This book shows you how to start trading on eBay UK It also offers advice on getting organised and tips to put you ahead The book has been developed from Cherry s popu lar hands on course Buying and Selling on eBay for Technological Simpletons In addition to fully explan ing eBay and how to trade on it there are sections on Paypal producing pictures of your sale items fees and accounts safety and security including what to do when things go wrong and what protection is provided 178 pages Order code BP551 8 99 NEWNES PC TROUBLESHOOTING POCKET BOOK THIRD EDITION Howard Anderson Mike Tooley All the essential data for PC fault finding and upgrad ing This book provides a concise and compact reference that describes in a clear and straightforward manner the principles and practice of fault finding and upgrading PCs and peripherals The book is aimed at anyone who is involved with the installation configuration maintenance upgrading repair or support of PC systems It also pro vides non technical users with sufficient background information charts and checklists to enable the diagnosis of faults and
21. ance and low output impedance It is some times called voltage matching So what happens when Zs Z and why might this be useful The answer 1s that maximum power 1s transferred from source to load in order to prove this you have to 56 Surgery Line Level What It Is use calculus This was the case in old tele phone systems which used 60092 matched input and output impedances and this in turn led to early audio equipment using the same standard but this is no longer rele vant to modern audio signals However the power transfer aspect of matching is important in other situations such as power amplifier output to speakers Power Next we need to look at power and its relationship to AC signal measurement The power dissipated in a resistor when a constant voltage DC is applied is easy to calculate It is P IV PR V R When we have any form of varying volt age or current i e AC the situation is Fig 1 source and load connected together more complicated The power dissipated in a resistor driven by an AC wave varies from instant to instant in accordance with the equations above However we often need to know what the average power dissipated or average signal level is over a period of time This is not simply a matter of taking the average voltage or current it is zero for a sine wave but practical experience quickly demonstrates that a resistor will get hot if an AC source of sufficient
22. email sue parkin alrad co uk price 75 79 including UK p amp p and VAT Reference 2 C18 C compiler student edition Version 3 0 free 22Mb download retrieved 10 28 2005 from http www microchip com stel lent idcplg ldcService SS_GET_PAGE amp nodeld 1406 amp dDocName en010014 amp part SW006011 Reference 3 MPLAB IDE Version 7 22 free 31Mb download re trieved 10 28 2005 from http www microchip com stellent idcplg ldcService SS_GET_PAGE amp nodeld 1406 amp dDocName en 019469 amp part SW007002 Reference 4 MPLAB C18 C Compiler Library Reference download retrieved 10 24 2005 from http ww1 microchip com downloads en DeviceDoc MPLAB C18 Libraries 51297f pdf Reference 5 Preprogrammed PIC18F2455 microprocessors are available from Magenta Electronics at www magenta2000 co uk and the Digital Geiger Counter website at http home comcast net rblang dgc dgc htm Reference 6 Rojvanit Rawin Migrating Applications to USB from RS 232 UART with Minimal Impact on PC Software Microchip Appli cation Note AN956 available at http www microchip com stellent idcplg ldcService SS_GET_PAGE amp nodeld 2121 amp fragment6_Nex tRow 151 Reference 7 The USBVIEW program is available at http www ftdichip com Resources Utilities htm Reference 8 The USB Command Verifier test program USBCV is available at http www usb org developers tools Reference 9 White Sands Missile Range website at http www wsmr army mil pao TrinitySite trinst h
23. light which may be used for light seek ing or light avoidance line tracking and day night sensing Several short programs are pro vided including a FIGURE 8 DEMO LIGHT amp BUMP DEMO PWM DEMO RANDOM DEMO and WALTZING MATILDA DEMO these are available from the Downloads area on the EPE UK website The WALTZING MATILDA DEMO has been designed not only for fun but as a get you going program during assembly while the LIGHT amp BUMP DEMO will give the best overall Fig 1 a PICAXE 08 microcontroller 10 MOSFETs and not much else comprise the circuit of this robot All the intelligence is contained in the micro s software Q2 Q7 Q9 12 MTP3055V Q1 Q8 BC547 E lt 7 1S MOTOR 1 S D1 D2 1N4004 1N5404 5 Q Z O Y Lu oz BUMP amp PROGRAMMABLE ROBOT 3 5mm STEREO SOCKET CONI Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 MTP3055V Fig 2 follow this parts layout diagram when assembling the PC board functionality This seeks out light and drives towards it reverses and turns away from obstacles as well as hav ing sound For the sake of clarity the most im portant PICAXE 08 outputs are listed in Table 1 Pin 7 PO activates both motors simultaneously via MOSFETs Q2 amp Q5 These two MOSFETs are wired in parallel and these should work satisfactorily with a small heatsink for the small motors used here While D2 can cope with two 9W motors the protot
24. www epemag wimborne co uk shopdoor htm Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS Everyday Practical Electronics reaches more UK readers than any other UK monthly hobby elec tronics magazine our sales figures prove it We have been the leading monthly magazine in this market for the last twenty two years If you want your advertisements to be seen by the largest readership at the most economical price our classified and semi display pages offer the best value The prepaid rate for semi display space is 10 VAT per single column centimetre minimum 2 5cm The prepaid rate for classified adverts is 40p VAT per word minimum 12 words All cheques postal orders etc to be made payable to Everyday Practical Electronics VAT must be added Advertisements together with remittance should be sent to Everyday Practical Electronics Advertisements 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND Phone 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 Email epeads wimborne co uk For rates and information on display and classified advertis ing please contact our Advertisement Manager Stewart Kearn as above BTEC ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN TRAINING NATIONAL ELECTRONICS VCE ADVANCED ICT HNC AND HND ELECTRONICS FOUNDATION DEGREES NVQ ENGINEERING AND IT DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY LONDON ELECTRONICS COLLEGE 20 PENYWERN ROAD EARLS COURT LONDON SW5 9SU TEL 020 7373 8721 www lec org uk BOW
25. 000 rpm Bearing application 6 high class ball bearings Material of the engine brass aluminium stainless steel running time 30 45 min Available as a kit 97 75 or built 101 99 www mamodspares co uk HB11 Stirling Engine Base measurements 156 mm x 108 mm x 130 mm 0 7 Kg Base plate beech Working rpm 2000 2500 rpm min run Bearing applica tion 4 high class ball bearings Material screw side parts total stainless steel Cylinder brass Rest aluminium stain less steel Available as a kit 97 75 or built 101 99 Www mamodspares co uk HB12 Stirling Engine Base measurements 156 mm x 108 mm x 130 mm 1 Kg Base plate beech Working rpm 2000 2500 rpm min Bearing application 6 high class ball bearings Material screw side parts total stainless steel Cylinder brass Rest aluminium stainless steel Available as a kit 136 or built 140 25 www mamodspares co uk HB13 Stirling Engine Base measurements 156 mm x 108 mm x 150 mm 0 75 kg Base plate beech Working rpm 2000 2500 rpm min Bearing application 6 high class ball bearings Material screw side parts total stainless steel Cylinder brass Available as a kit 97 75 or built 101 99 STEAM ENGINE KIT Everything in the kit enables you to build a fully functional model steam engine The main material is brass and the finished machine demonstrates the principle of oscillation The boiler uses solid fuel tablets and is quite safe All critical par
26. 2 0 programmer and In Circuit Debugger r N ml O ie TS querida E fan F 5 ARRRaRESS Toes ae E TELAT 5 aReR EEE F BAF AAT E B Gaeta ELEELE LH BEETS E ELI Eva Ea Em Ba Ee i m1 ir W m IFL ia EET Exa PRE l ERA PENA va a 1 CHP ag a LE um Ro ferver Li amics Fy bepo me ra a is pornag i o tRONAE Lt HARPER T r a J b im Chee milas jl e s m ee tee ee j ies Lo In EasyPIC4 development board Following in the tradition of the EasyPIC3 as one of the best PIC development systems on the market the EasyPIC4 has more new features for the same price The sys tem supports 8 14 18 20 28 and 40 pin PIC microcontrollers it comes with a PIC16F877A The ultra fast mikrolCD In circuit Debugger SYSTE enables very efficient debugging and faster proto type development Many ready made examples Elis successful use of the system EasyPIC4 is fully optimized for fast prototype development It allows the PIC microcontroller to be interfaced with external circuits to a broad ae of pene devices allowing the user to concentrate on just the software On a silkscreen there are labels beside every component These marks describe connections to the microcontroller operation modes and some other useful notes HARDWARE ICO ON BOARD USB 2O ON BOARD PROGRAMMER DEVELOPMENT PREFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD
27. 4011B 0 16 74HC163 0 26 7418273 0 32 OP113GP 3 44 4012B 0 16 74HC164 0 23 7415279 W OP176GP 2 09 4013B 0 18 74HC165 0 21 7415283 0 47 OPI77GP 2 18 4014B 0 30 74HC173 038 74183465 0 21 OP200GP 5 60 4015B 0 27 74HC174 0 27 7418367 0 21 OP213FP 5 20 4016B 0 20 74HC175 035 7418368 021 OP275GP 2 57 4017B 0 20 74HC1I93 W530 7415373 0 39 OP282GP 2 27 4018B 0 29 74HC195 0 32 7415374 0 38 OP283GP 5 20 4019B 0 25 74HC240 0 32 7415378 0 42 OP290GP 4 28 4020B 0 25 74HC241 0 37 7418390 0 34 OP297GP 4 64 4021B 0 31 74HC244 040 7418393 0 33 OP400GP 11 81 4022B 0 32 74HC245 034 7418395 0 26 OP495GP 8 69 4023B 0 23 74HC251 0 30 74 Series RC4136 1 00 4024B 0 22 74HC253 0 25 5407 0 40 SG3524N 0 82 4025B 0 20 74HC257 0 925 ESCADAS 6 88 4026B 0 67 74HC259 0 29 Linear ICs SSM2141P 3 21 4027B 0 21 74HC273 032 AD524AD 23 04 SSM2142P 6 16 A028B 0 21 74HC299 0 61 AD548JN 2 48 SSM2143P 3 78 4029B 0 38 74HC365 0 28 AD590JH 5 28 TBA1205 104 4030B 0 17 74HC367 038 AD595AQ 13 92 TBA800 0 75 4035B 0 31 74HC368 029 AD620AN 9 88 TBA810S 0 64 4040B 0 19 74HC373 0 35 AD625JN 16 20 TBA820M 0 53 4041B 0 31 74HC374 0 34 AD633JN 5 92 TDA1170S_ 480 4042B 0 19 74HC390 0 52 AD648JN 2 57 TDA2004 2 24 4043B 0 35 74HC393 036 AD654JN 5 51 TDA2030AV 1 24 4044B 0 35 74HC563 0 56 AD711JN 1 97 TDA205
28. 741504 0 30 cL7106CPL 22 EPROM s RES 0 53 4LSOS 0 14 ELHOTCPL 6206 24LCOBBP 0 73 4093B 0 16 741507 0 15 ICL7611DCP 1 00 24LC32AP 1 14 4098B 0 92 74181 0 17 ICL7460SCP 0 80 27296 200 3 27 4099B 0 35 741812 0 25 EM7555 0 41 2 C64A 15F 2 80 4502B 0 32 Z4LS14 0 33 Em7556 1 04 24G296B 15F 3 00 45038 60 40 7ALS15 0 24 L165V 69 36 2 C512 I5F1 2 85 1508B ET 40 74LS20 0 27 272M 121 2 C1001 15 3 17 4510B 0 45 74182 0 20 593E 4 00 24C2001 13 _ 4 41 ABI IB 0 30 741526 0 17 597 85 19 27C4001 10F 5 98 45128 027 741827 0 25 598N 6467 3C46N 0 33 4518B 0 26 441837 0 31 LF347N 0 46 A D Converters 4521B Ones SOL RSSSN 0 40 Hoa ee OTHE BBE SRS ADA toras 45298 cena 41875 F030 LMSTONTA 0 90 ABS ela 4532B co nese M324 0 20 ABIE2BKN 20 33 4536B 1 00 741885 0 48 M3357 1 12 DACO800 2 40 4538B 0 40 741886 0 25 M339N 0 19 CL7109CPL 7 75 4541B 0 33 741892 0 45 M3483N 036 4543B 0 47 741898 0 58 M35DZ 0 76 UControllers 4555B 0 32 Z4LS107 0 30 M358N 0 13 AT89C2051 6 38 4556B 0 40 74 8109 0 21 M380N 0 90 PIC Series 4584B 0 27 ZALSI12 0 24 M386 0 45 12C508A04P 0 78 4585B 0 47 oe tA ane LM392N 0 79 12C509A04P 0 83 dois SOMA ASS OS IMON 021 T c acouo 2 4 40109B 053 7418123 0 31 M290IN 0 15 OE Goo a CO28 Soma e158 coo CAP ET oa 40175B 041 7418126 0 25 M3900N 0 72 16E84 04P 3 14 74HC Series 7415133
29. ELECTRONICSMTECHNOLOGYERiCOMRUTER RROJECTS NSET SWITCH 6c s GOAT MAR 06 Photocopies onl PROJECTS e PortaPAL Public Address Amplifier Part 1 e Telescope Interface e Power Up e Video Audio Booster FEATURES e Teach In 2006 Part 5 e Practically Speaking e Circuit Surgery Techno Talk e PIC N Mix Net Work The Internet Page APR 06 Photocopies onl PROJECTS e A Programmable Continuity Tester Omni Pendulum e PortaPAL Public Address Amplifier Part 2 Smart Slave Flash Trigger FEATURES e Teach In 2006 Part 6 e Consumer Electronics Show e E Chip Review e Techno Talk e PIC N Mix e Net Work The Internet Page MAY 06 PROJECTS e LED Lighting For Your Car e Smart Card Reader and Programmer e Nail Sniffer and Volts Hound Digital Reaction Timer FEATURES e Teach In 2006 Part 7 e Practically Speaking elngenuity Unlimited e Circuit Surgery e Techo Talk e PIC N Mix Net Work The Internet Page 32 JUN 06 PROJECTS e Poor Man s Metal Locator e Widgy Box Distortion Effects For Your Guitar e Phone Ring amp Test Digital Instrument Display For Cars Part 1 FEATURES e Interface e Circuit Surgery Ingenuity Unlimited e Techno Talk e PIC N Mix e Teach In 2006 Part 8 e Net Work The Internet Page JUL 06 Photocopies onl PROJECTS e PIC Sudoku Unit e A Dirt Cheap High Current Bench Supply e PC Power Monitor e Digital Instrument Display For Cars
30. ISSUE ON SALE FEB 8 ADVERTISERS INDEX AUDON ELECTRONICS BETA LAYOUT BULL GROUP BYVAC DISPLAY ELECTRONICS EASYSYNC EPT SOFTWARE ESR ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS JAYCAR ELECTRONICS JPG ELECTRONICS LABCENTER LASER BUSINESS SYSTEMS MAGENTA ELECTRONICS MIKROELEKTRONIKA MILFORD INSTRUMENTS NURVE NETWORKS LLC PALTRONIX PEAK ELECTRONIC DESIGN PICO TECHNOLOGY QUASAR ELECTRONICS SAFFRON ELECTRONICS SCANTOOL SHERWOOD ELECTRONICS STEWART OF READING ADVERTISEMENT OFFICES 408 WIMBORNE ROAD EAST FERNDOWN DORSET BH22 9ND PHONE 01202 873872 FAX 01202 874562 EMAIL epeads wimborne co uk For Editorial address and phone numbers see page 7 Everyday Practical Electronics ISSN 0262 3617 is published monthly 12 times per year by Wimborne Publishing Ltd USA agent USACAN Media Dist Srv Corp at 26 Power Dam Way Suite S1 S3 Plattsburgh NY 12901 Periodicals postage paid at Plattsburgh NY and at additional mailing Offices POSTMASTER Send address changes to Everyday Practical Electronics c o Express Mag PO Box 2769 Plattsburgh NY USA 12901 0239 Published on approximately the second Thursday of each month by Wimborne Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND Printed in England by Apple Web Offset Ltd Warrington WAI 4RW Distributed by Seymour 86 Newman St London WIT 3EX Subscriptions INLAND 18 75 6 months 35 50 12 months 66 2 years OVERSEAS Standard air service 21 75 6 mont
31. PC board Use Table 1 as a guide to selecting each resistor and check each value using a multimeter Next insert the diodes taking care with their orientation then install IC1 and IC2 Be sure to install the LM358 in the IC1 position while IC2 must be the LM393 Both ICs must be installed with the correct orientation as shown on Fig 6 Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 The trimpots capacitors and 5W resistors can be inserted next Note that the 5W resistors should be mounted about 1mm above the PC board to allow cooling That done insert and solder in the R1 sense resistor When installing the capacitors make sure that the polarised types are inserted the right way around and that they have the correct voltage ratings for each position Leave transistors Q1 Q5 off until the final assembly to ensure they are set to the correct height for the heatsink mounting holes Three M4 x 10mm screws should now be soldered to the underside of the PC board one on either side of R1 for the power connections and one adjacent to transistor Q2 Each screw is installed from the underside of the PC board and soldered to the large copper areas provided This will make it easier to complete the connections on the top of the PC board Now for the Display PC board as sembly see Fig 6 Begin by installing the diodes the resistor the capacitors and trimpot VR5 Note that the 10uF capacitor needs to lie on its side
32. Ramp Pulse 80 PHILIPS PM5132 Function Gen 0 1Hz 2MHz PHILIPS PM5131 Function Gen 0 1Hz 2MHz FEEDBACK FG601 Func Gen 0 001Hz 1MHz HP 8112A Pulse Gen 50MHz HP 8111A Pulse Generator 20MHz LYONS PG78N Pulse Gen 20MHz LEADER LAG120B Sine Sq Audio Generator 10Hz 1MHz 60 FARNELL LFMA4 Sine Sq Osc 10Hz 1MHz Low Distortion TTL Output Amplitutde Meter GOULD J3B Sine Sq Osc 10Hz 100kHz Low Distortion 50 75 FARNELL LF1 Sine Sq Oscillator 10Hz 1MHz 50 MARCONI SANDERS 6055C Signal Source 850 2000MHz 125 MARCONI SANDERS 6055B Signal Source 850 2150MHz 125 MARCONI SANDERS 6056B Signal Source 2 4GHz MARCONI SANDERS 6057B Signal Source 4 5 8 5GHz 125 MARCONI SANDERS 6059A Signal Source 12 18GHz 125 MARCONI SANDERS 6070A Signal Source 400 1200MHz 125 FLUKE 6011A Synthesised 11MHz PHILIPS 5514V Colour Bar Generator Video BLACK STAR ORION Colour Bar Gen BLACK STAR ORION Later Version Metal Case FREQUENCY COUNTERS TIMERS EIP 371 Source Locking Microwave Counter 10Hz 18GHz 325 EIP 331 Autohet Microwave Counter 825MHz 18GHz 195 HP 5386A Counter 10Hz 3GHz FEEDBACK SC230 Counter 1 3GHz RACAL 9916 Counter 10Hz 520MHz RACAL 9906 Universal Counter 200MHz RACAL 9904 Counter Timer 50MHz RACAL 1991 Counter Timer 160MHz 9 digit MARCONI 2431A Frequency Meter 200MHz MARCONI 2437 Counter Timer 100MHz HP 5340A Automet Microwave Counter 10Hz 18GHz HP 5316A Universal Counter 0 100MHz HPIB THANDAR TF810 Frequen
33. USB E have covered some fairly dry material over the last three months and possibly surprised some of you by the lack of code being dis cussed Hopefully however you will agree that there is a lot going on under the hood of a compiler and that the journey has been worth the effort Perhaps things are beginning to make some sense Compilers from the variety of ven dors will take different approaches to implementing the various steps required to build your programs but they all have to deal with the same issues they have a pre processor libraries start up code and linker files They will just handle things in differ ent ways but you should be able to recognise the processes going on Constructional challenge This month finally we get into a real C programming challenge This is where you will get to see just how different high level programming and assembly language can be We are go ing to take a complex project a USB device and create it from a standing start within a few hours Although this article is in effect a constructional project we are going to depart from the normal editorial style and instead concentrate on the thought processes that go on as the design is created Programming efficiently in high level languages is often more of a construction process finding and then studying existing blocks of freely available software and working out how to tie them together with a little gl
34. at the RESOURCES download site GM COUNTER reports the status of the USB interface in LEDs as shown in Table 1 Ifthe USB is in the configured state then user data may be transferred to the PC The GM COUNTER program uses a very simple command response protocol to communicate with the PC Sleep mode and real time clock The menu item GEIGER COUNTER TIMER1 wakes up the microprocessor if it is asleep and updates the real time clock The microprocessor will go back to sleep if it has been sleeping unless the DGC has been plugged into a USB port or the EXECUTE switch has been pressed If the EXECUTE switch has been pressed the Geiger counter enters DGC mode If the counter has been plugged into a USB port it enters the USB mode PC software design In order to upload and analyse data from the DGC PC software is required The WINDGC program presented here is the latest incarnation of Visual Basic called VB NET As mentioned previ ously by defining the DGC as a USB communication device class the USB connection will appear as a standard COM serial port to the VB software Microsoft has examples of VB NET soft ware that will communicate with COM serial port The WINDGC PC software performs the following functions 1 Uploads data from the DGC 2 Frases all data from the DGC 3 Sets date and time on DGC to system date and time on PC 4 Adds data to database 5 Plots data from database Table 2 USB Commands an
35. be 103dB relative to a threshold of hearing reference at 1 x 10 1 Wm The calcula tion is 10 x logyy 2 x 102 1 x 10 12 103 Note that if the measured value is equal to the reference or the gain of the system is 1 then we get OdB If a circuit reduces power i e it is an attenuator then we get negative decibel values For example if the power output is 50 times smaller than the input then the gain is 17dB If the power is reduced by one half then the out put is at 3dB This is a figure that many readers may be familiar with as the cut off frequency of a filter or the bandwidth of an amplifi er is usually quoted as the point where the gain falls 3dB below the value in the pass band At this frequency the output power from the filter is half the value it is in the pass band for equal input power Voltage and current gain So far we have only discussed power ratios this was obviously appropriate for sound intensities but in circuits we often measure signals as voltages and currents Power is related to the square of voltage or current If we square something inside a logarithm it is equivalent to multiplying the log by two without the square That is Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 log V 2log V So to express a voltage gain V1 V2 in decibels we use 20 x logio V2 V 1 Note that we are multiplying by 20 not by 10 as we did with the power gain Strictly speaking this formula is
36. bracket and to hold the wheel in place It is important that this wheel should touch the ground at a point central to the other two wheels other wise the robot is likely to have a lean to it and this is why the steel wire is curved as it is Together with the other wheels the swivel wheel should also at all times provide a three point base on which the robot may rest so as not to tip over Make sure that the swivel wheel has the freedom to swivel through 360 It should not for instance bump into the motors or the on off switch or be impeded by drooping wires This robot has the potential for wild mo tion and could run into trouble if the swivel wheel snags Mounting the PC board The PC board is mounted on top of the platform at the back behind the battery with the jack socket facing the rear for easy insertion of the serial cable For neatness holes may be drilled in the platform beneath the PC board so that sheathed wires may be run underneath the platform In the prototype the PC board was raised above the platform on bolts which made the wiring easier as well as making room for the piezo sounder and the screws used to secure the swivel wheel assembly A simple bumper bar is fixed to the front of the robot for the bumper switch S1 All that is required here is that S1 s contacts should close on collision The prototype used a brass strip that was sprung on two brass loops making conta
37. charge and maintain deep cycle lead acid batteries so that they can deliver their full capacity HE BATTERY CHARGER is built on three PC boards These are the Power PC board code 604 and meas uring 224 x 77mm the Control PC board code 605 and measuring 92 x 69mm and the Display PC board code 606 and measuring 141 x 66mm all available from the EPE PCB Service These are housed inside a metal case measuring 88mm high x 279mm deep x 304mm wide The Power Controller components are mounted on a fan as sisted heatsink which is cooled using 58 an 80mm 12V fan The transformer is a 300VA toroid On the front panel are the power switch control switches and the LCD module At the rear of the case are the charger leads the temperature sensor input socket the fuses and the heat sink fan Also there is a finger guard to cover the fan blades Building the PC boards Before installing any parts check all the PC boards for any shorts between the copper tracks or for breaks in the connections Also check the hole sizes You will need 3mm holes for the mounting screws and the regulator screw The holes for the power connections at each side of sense resistor R1 and ad jacent to transistor Q2 need to be 4mm in diameter to suit M4 screws The component layouts for all three boards are shown in Fig 6 Start by installing the PC stakes at the wiring and test points then install the links and low wattage resistors on the Power
38. choice questions exam style questions fault finding virtual laboratories and investigations worksheets ANALOGUE ELECTRONICS Complimentary output stage DIGITAL ELECTRONICS V2 0 Filter synthesis Analogue Electronics is a complete learning resource for this most difficult branch of electronics The CD ROM includes a host of virtual laboratories animations diagrams photographs and text as well as a SPICE electronic circuit simulator with over 50 pre designed circuits Sections on the CD ROM include Fundamentals Analogue Signals 5 sections Transistors 4 sections Waveshaping Circuits 6 sections Op Amps 17 sections covering everything from Symbols and Signal Connections to Differentiators Amplifiers Single Stage Amplifiers 8 sections Multi stage Amplifiers 8 sections Filters Passive Filters 10 sections Phase Shifting Networks 4 sections Active Filters 6 sections Oscillators 6 sections from Positive Feedback to Crystal Oscillators Systems 12 sections from Audio Pre Amplifiers to 8 Bit ADC plus a gallery showing representative p c b photos Digital Electronics builds on the knowledge of logic gates covered in Electronic Circuits amp Components opposite and takes users through the subject of digital electronics up to the operation and architecture of microprocessors The virtual laboratories allow users to operate many circuits on screen Covers binary and hexadecimal numberi
39. e 512 bytes EEPROM e 8 analogue inputs range 0 SV e 4 Opto isolated Inputs I Os are bi directional with internal pull up resistors e Output buffers can sink 20mA current direct LED drive e 4x 12A open drain MOSFET outputs e RS485 network connector e 2 16 LCD Connector e 3 5mm Speaker Phone Jack e Supply 9 12Vdc The ABC Maxi STARTER PACK includes one assembled Maxi Board parallel and serial cables and Windows software CD ROM featuring an Assembler BASIC com piler and in system programmer Order Code ABCMAXISP 89 95 The ABC Maxi boards only can also be purchased separately at 69 95 each Controllers amp Loggers Here are just a few of the controller and data acquisition and control units we have See website for full details Suitable PSU for all units Order Code PSU 445 8 95 Rolling Code 4 Channel UHF Remote State of the Art High secu _ rity 4 channels Momentary or latching relay output i Range up to 40m Upto 15 Tx s can be learnt by one Rx kit includes one Tx but more 3 available separately 4 indicator LED s Rx PCB 77x85mm 12Vdc 6mA standby Two amp Ten Channel versions also available Kit Order Code 3180KT 44 95 Assembled Order Code AS3180 51 95 sen Temperature Data Logger Serial port 4 channel tem perature logger C or F Continuously logs up to 4 separate sensors located e 200m from board Wide range of free software appicakon for storin
40. e Featured in EPE Mar 00 KIT 900 34 99 Ideal for beginners amp PSU 3 99 experienced users Win dows 95 to XP Soft ware included ICEbreaker uses PIC16F877 in circuit debugger functions Fax 01283 546932 20W Stereo Amp EPE May 05 Magenta Stereo Mono Module Wide band Low distortion 11W channel Stereo 20W Mono True rms Real Power Short Circuit amp Overheat Protect ed Needs 8 to 18V supply Latest Technology Stable Reliable high performance IC with local feedback KIT 914 11 90 includes all parts amp heatsink for stereo or mono Magenta BrainiBorg A super walking programmable robot with eyes that sense obstacles and daylight BrainiBorg comes with PC software CD WIN95 amp XP with illustrated con struction details and can be programmed to walk and respond to light and obstacles on any smooth surface Kit includes all hardware components amp 3 motor gearboxes Uses 4 AA batteries not supplied Kit with CD Rom amp KIT 912 29 99 Sarie KIT 913 38 95 52 6u Buit amp As in EPE Apr May Jun 03 and on PIC Resources CD e Magenta Designed Toolkit 3 board with printed com ponent layout green solder mask places for 8 18 28 wide and slim and 40 pin PICs and many Magenta extras Also runs with WinPic800 prog Software e 16 x 2 LCD PIC chip all parts and sockets included e Follow John Becker s excellent PIC tutorial 2
41. fibre optic cables The projects include Simple audio links F M audio link PW M audio links Simple d c links PW M d c link P W M motor speed control RS232C data links MIDI link Loop alarms R P M meter All the components used in these designs are readily available none of them require the constructor to take out a second mortgage 132 pages Order code BP374 5 45 DISCOVERING PICS W D Phillips A good introduction to PIC programming covering every PLUS HARDWARE thing you need to know to get you started No previous knowledge of microcontrollers is required but some previous experience with electronic circuits is assumed Covers the basic concept of a micro controller fundamentals of a PIC based circuit and using the MPLAB program Further chapters introduce binary PIC architecture the instruction set the PIC memory map and special registers plus real world programming Four simple projects are also fully described a Wavy Wand an Electronic Dice a Games Timer and a Pulse Monitor The associated CDROM contains the book in PDF format MPLAB plus instruction manuals in PDF format and all the programs covered in the book as assembler ASM files Those that wish to programme their own PICs will require a PIC programmer In addition a p c b based hardware kit is also available that makes up into the Wavy Wand which will spell out a short message via a line of l e d s when waved through the air 21010 4 P
42. free to change things as the needs arise a universal board would inhibit me though I agree that the occasional board is similar to another and indeed will have been a mod of that previous design graphics LCD designs in particular EPE has done multipurpose boards before and indeed I ve done at least one series that had the same board through out with different component values and positions depending on needs But no I basically need to be free I can never really tell what I may come up with in the future On my current Polyphonium yet to be published I use two PCBs and three PICs master controller and PC inter face top octave and note generator and LED interface similar to the recent Giant LED Message Display Nov 06 It s all brand new except that many of the concepts I ve used before And inevitably I have my own PCB layout style developed over 30 years IP Cameras Dear EPE I note the comments in Net Work December regarding IP cameras They don t need a host PC but without a host PC the device would be on public networks and hence open to cracking look on Google to see the amount of open cameras available Imagine if this was your own home and someone was watching your pri vate moments The encryption stated in the article is purely the wireless encryption and even that is flaky with only the simplest of tools 72 required to crack it The TCP IP element is open to the world unles
43. go back to sleep LS In sleep mode with the display off the DGCwilluse about 2mA oftimekeeping current In normal operating mode the DGC uses about 38mA When the high 5 voltage is being generated the total cur FESTA rent used is 48mA a q f E When the microprocessor wakes up i once each second it will also check to 1 OWONONOWONONONOMONONCWONONG see if the EXECUTE menu button has legates ce cee ad Jct X2 oy been pressed It will also check to see o O TOS SSDSSUUNTS if the DGC has been plugged into a computer USB port E If either of these conditions has occurred the microprocessor will remain awake and the user can inter o sao act with the DGC through the menu ic system If the DGC is unplugged from VRI VR the USB port or the user selects the GEIGER COUNTER OFF menu option the DGC will turn off the LCD and go back to sleep Building the counter All components fit easily into a 100 x 60 x 150mm plastic box Drill holes for the LEDs menu buttons and LCD display in the box top and holes to mount the circuit board and battery pack in the bottom of the box Since the plastic box is more than enough to block all alpha particles a 12mm hole in the short side allows access for the G M tube A hole was also drilled for the USB connector Inductor L1 should be 10to 12mH and this can be made from 60 metres of 36swg 32awg enamelled copper wire wound on a plastic bobbin The bobbin
44. hookup wire 1 500mm length of 24 x 0 2mm black hookup wire 1 200mm length of 32 x 0 2mm brown hookup wire 1 200mm length of 32 x 0 2mm blue hookup wire 1 100mm length of 16mm heat shrink tubing 1 100mm length of 10mm heat shrink tubing 1 50mm length of 6mm heatshrink tubing Semiconductors 1 LM358 dual op amp IC1 1 LM393 dual comparator IC2 1 4051 analogue 1 of 8 selector IC3 1 TLC548 8 bit serial A D converter IC4 1 PIC16F628A 20P microcontroller programmed with battchrg hex IC5 available for free download from the EPE website at www epemag co uk Once the case has been assem bled each separate panel should be checked for a good connection to the baseplate using a multimeter set to read low ohms Don t skip this step it s vital to ensure that all panels are correctly earthed to ensure safety Wiring Fig 9 shows all the wiring details First strip back 250mm of the sheathing at Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 Pre programmed PICs are avail able from Magenta Electronics 1 BD649 NPN Darlington transistor Q1 4 TIP3055 NPN power transistors Q2 Q5 1 LM335Z temperature sensor SENSOR1 1 50A 600V bridge rectifier B 1 35A 400V bridge rectifier B 3 1N4004 1A diodes D1 D3 6 1N4148 diodes D4 D9 2 15V 5W Zener diodes ZD1 ZD2 15 1V 1W Zener diode ZD3 R1 R2 Capacitors 1 2200uF 50V PC electrolytic 1 220uF 50V PC electrolytic 4 100uF 25V PC electroly
45. in the colour drive is the pair of UV lamps HP also suggests using a disc with fre quency dependent dyes and a drive with lasers of three different wavelengths 980nm for magenta writing 830nm for cyan and 780nm for yellow But this will add cost and complexity Enter the Dragons New from Rapid Electronics is the Golden Dragon family of power LEDs manufactured by Osram The Golden Dragons use Osram s advanced thin film Indium Gallium Nitride technology to pro duce high levels of light output and effi ciency from a miniature surface mount package Driven at 500mA the cool white variant can emit 64 lumens of light for compari son a Luxeon I emits around 30 lumens They have a wide viewing angle with a half angle of 120 degrees Optical efficiency is 40Im W lumens per watt compared with a domestic light bulb at 12lm w halogen lamps at 18lm W and fluorescent tubes at around 50lm W Under optimal conditions these devices will give 50 000 hours service Rapid has also introduced a brand new range of NIC surface mount power induc tors These inductors can be used as direct replacements for the Bourns J W Miller products You can purchase NIC products from Rapid in small quantities as required As an added convenience Rapid can also supply handy development kits for proto typing and design Their Sound and Light catalogue is also out now They have teamed up with HQ Power and Velleman to bring you a wide range
46. knocking out the centre piece File the cutout to shape On the front panel cutouts and holes are required for the fan outlet and finger guard mounting the LCD win dow the control and power switches and the mounting pillars for Display Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 25V GND CONTROL VOLTAGE 4 CURRENT BATTERY NEGATIVE Va 4 TO FAN Po Cu a 560 5W q TO TH1 O BR2 O YASTTAA NEGATIVE OUTPUT TO BRI NEGATIVE OUTPUT TO BR2 POSITIVE TO SENSOR CASE SOCKET NS A Qa tiie ele emi lle Fig 6 install the parts on the three PC boards as shown in these parts layout diagrams Take care to ensure all polari nents are correctly orientated including switches S1 S4 on the display board Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 61 KEY TO HARDWARE CODES M3 x 15mm SCREW with M3 NUT M4 x 15mm SCREW amp M4 STAR WASHER M4 x 10mm SCREW amp M4 NUT M3 x 10mm SCREW amp M3 STAR WASHER M4 x 10mm SCREW amp M4 STAR WASHER Zr AST IOAN lt K x YELLOW SLEEVED SOLDERLUG S O Z M4 x 15mm SCREW M4 STAR WASHER amp M4 NUT M3 x 10mm SCREW M3 STAR WASHER amp M3 NUT TOROIDAL TRANSFORMER MOUNTING BOLT NUT amp WASHERS M3 x 15mm SCREW 6mm NYLON STANDOFF AND M3 NUT M3 x 15mm NYLON CSK SCREW 10mm STANDOFF and M3 NUT M4 x 15mm SCREW M4 STAR WASHER amp M4 NUT YELLOW SLEEVE SOLDER LUG M4 x 10mm SCREW SOLDERED TO PC BOARD M4 ST
47. magnitude is connected to it so the average power is obviously not zero In fact it is the heating effect produced in a resistor that forms the basis of the how we define power for non DC signals To work out the power for an arbitrary cyclic waveform we need to add up all the contributions for instantaneous power and average them over the cycle To find the average height of a number of people you measure the height of each add up all the heights and divide by the number of peo ple To find the average of the power it would seem to follow that we take I R for each instant of the waveform add them all up and divide by the number of instants Integration Unfortunately there is an infinite num ber of instantaneous power values the current varies continuously unlike people where there is a finite number of individu als So we have to use a special mathemat ical technique called integration to find our average power The average power dissipated in a resis tor R for a cyclically varying current i over the cycle time T of a waveform is given by the equation below We integrate indicated by the symbol J the waveform over one cycle 0 to T to add up all the instantaneous contributions and divide by T to get the average The dt in the equation represents an instant of time t 1 F P fi Rdt r 0 If we compare this formula with P PR for DC we can find a value of DC current which would give the same heatin
48. of high quality PA Audio DJ and lighting equipment With products suitable for amateurs pro fessionals schools and colleges Rapid say that they can now be your one stop Sound and Light shop The price list which accom panies the catalogue contains all product codes descriptions and prices and is avail able for download on the Rapid website www rapidonline com Furthermore Rapid s biggest ever Tools catalogue has recently been published It features hundreds of products including electronic and electrical tools mechanical and power tools Inside this catalogue you will find products from leading suppliers such as Stanley Ryobi AEG CK Milwaukee and Draper alongside their own branded tools which offer excellent value for money Recently introduced have been DeWalt power tools and accessories and Blackspur mechanical and electrical tools The catalogue contains some special offers including a Stanley heavy duty Jetcut saw for only 6 49 excl VAT There is a Milwaukee 18V cordless heavy duty combi drill on offer too at 219 95 excl VAT All purchases of the Milwaukee 18V cordless heavy duty combi drill will receive a Free Milwaukee Jobsite Radio worth over 100 Contact details are Rapid Electronics Ltd Dept EPE Severalls Lane Colchester Essex CO4 5JS Tel 01206 751166 Fax 01206 751188 Email sales rapidelec co uk Web www rapidonline com Alpha Micro Case Study Suitable for both corporate a
49. only valid if the two voltages are applied across the same value of resistance but in many cases we are only interested in the voltage gain not the power gain and the 20 x logj9 V2 V 1 formula is widely used for this purpose V2 is the output V1 is the input Similarly current gains can be expressed in decibels using 20 x logio h Power base Gains in decibels are relatively easy to understand because the ratio is input to output but for measuring signal level we need to make sure we know what reference level we are dealing with and whether it is power or voltage measurement If we work with matched systems where the input and output impedances are all basically the same then it makes sense to measure signals in power terms the matching achieves maximum power trans fer This was the case with the old 60062 matched systems For the signals in these systems one milliwatt was a convenient reference level for decibel power measure ment so the unit dBm or dBmW was used for this purpose Given an impedance of 6002 the ImW reference power corre sponds to a voltage of 0 775 V RMS This is easily verified using P V R 0 7757 600 0 001mW Under these conditions it made sense to use 0 775V RMS as a reference level for decibel voltage measurements We have to use a different unit for this as dBm is a power measurement not a voltage mea surement so dBu or dBv is used As with other voltage based decibel mea
50. or Athlon 64FX covering What first time builders need to know How to select and purchase parts How to assemble the PC How to install Windows XP The few existing books on this subject although badly outdated are in steady demand This one delivers the expertise and new tech nology that fledgling computer builders are eagerly looking for 224 pages large format Mode E MV Cla yam 16 99 THE PIC MICROCONTROLLER YOUR PERSONAL INTRODUCTORY COURSE THIRD EDITION John Morton Discover the potential of the PIC micro controller through graded projects this book could revolutionise your electronics construction work A uniquely concise and practical guide to getting up and running with the PIC Microcontroller The PIC is one of the most popular of the microcontrollers that are trans forming electronic project work and product design Assuming no prior knowledge of microcontrollers and introducing the PICs capabilities through simple projects this book is ideal for use in schools and colleges It is the ideal introduction for students teachers technicians and electronics enthusiasts The step by step explanations make it ideal for self study too this is not a reference book you start work with the PIC straight away The revised third edition covers the popular repro grammable Flash PICs 16F54 16F84 as well as the 12F508 and 12F675 Order code NE36 270 pages 18 99 eBAY FOR BEGINNERS Cherry Nixon
51. output from my amplifier is 450mV yet another value Is there a standard value or is it as I suspect whatever the design er manufacturer decides to use This prompted quite a few responses including helpful pointers to standard sig nal level definitions Here we will take up the general theme of measuring and defin ing signal levels particularly in audio systems Matching Matching is often mentioned when talk ing about audio signals so we will start with a quick look at what this means we will refer to it again later as it is relevant to the definition of standard signal levels Consider a source with impedance Zs con nected to load of impedance Z as shown in Fig 1 The matching problem is basi cally choosing the most appropriate Z given that we know Zs The two impedances form a potential divider Thus the voltage across the load is given by Z AR Zs Z We get this equation by using Ohm s law to get the current through the two imped ances Vs divided by the total impedance and applying Ohm s law again to get the voltage drop across Z multiplying Z by the current From the equation we see that if we want V to be as large as possible then Z must be much larger than Zs we are assuming Zs is fixed If Z is very much larger than Zs then the load voltage is effectively equal to the source voltage This is the situation with most modern audio equipment that is high input imped
52. over 20 off the regular retail price and buy EMC Retrospect Express HD today for only 39 99 so say Smith in their press release Browse www stuffit com Webi oera L K MARK NELSON Soldering Schadenfreude If you enjoy irony Schadenfreude may well appeal too In case the word doesn t ring a bell it s a borrowing from German that describes pleasure in other people s misfortune not something that Mark Nelson would admit to F course I would There s nothing better than seeing the biter bit and a backlash is already under way following the move to force us off using solder with a lead content Of course only a fool would deny the virtue and logic of European RoHS restriction of hazardous substances legislation although the use of lead free solder brings with it some problems for hobbyists as we have men tioned here before But it appears distributors have under estimated the requirement for traditional solder and more important components with traditional tin lead dipped connec tions Ironically while some electronic component manufacturers have ceased making leaded components others are finding their business is booming A report in trade newspaper EE Times Europe states that some of the largest component suppliers such as Tyco Electronics their well known brand names include AMP Bowthorpe Raychem and Schrack are actually boost ing production of tin lead parts The reason the article explains is tha
53. particular frequency for full speed operation 48MHz there are many options for the choice of external crystal frequency We will opt for 20MHz since a crystal of that frequency is to hand A search of the Microchip website for application notes on USB yields several but one in particular catches our eye AN956 Migrating Applica tions to USB from RS 232 UART Sounds perfect And there is an associ ated code download available which we download The application note describes the set of USB functions provide by Microchip functions which are im plemented in C and freely available Once the downloaded code file CDC __ RS232 Emulation exe is installed it will provide a complete MPLAB project with the USB functions and example code included Perfect Simply running the downloaded program will start the installation process Just click on Accept and Next at the various confirmation dialogs and when finished a new directory structure will be created under C MCHPFSUSB containing all the source files The circuit From studying the datasheet we now have a good idea of a design for the USB Interface and the clock frequency that we should run the processor at Next we need to work out how best to interface an LCD display Over the years there have been many designs in EPE which include LCDs so we know all that is required is a 4 7kQ trimmer to set the LCD voltage and a few wires to connect the data bus a
54. power supply configuration This is used to generate a 4000Hz squarewave with a 50 duty factor output on pin 13 RC2 This square wave is used to switch the IRFBC20 MOSFET Q1 on and off The inductor L1 diode D1 and ca pacitor C4 shown in Fig 1 are used as a boost power supply to increase the voltage from 5V DC to over 500V DC Radiation will cause the insulating property of the gas in the GM tube to momentarily break down which will cause a voltage spike on the tube output This voltage spike is sent to Q3 an 2N3904 NPN transistor The positive pulse causes the transistor to switch and its collector c is brought to ground Each negative transition on pin 6 of IC2 causes the TIMERO value to increase by one up to a maximum count of 65535 One of the challenges was in getting the Digital Geiger Counter DGC to keep track of time Microchip suggests Component layout on the prototype double sided PCB Parts List PIC Digital Geiger Counter PC board code 607 available from the EPE PCB Service size 98mm x 70mm plastic instrument case 152mm x 95mm x 57mm LND712 or ZP1401 or similar 500V Geiger tube Ref 1 20MHz crystal 32 768kHZz crystal 12mH inductor see text 60m of 36swg 32awg enamelled copper wire 4 line x 20 character alpha numeric LCD HJD44780 based 2 pin header 5 pin header 20 pin header USB connector 4AA battery holder 20 pin IDC socket for LCD square momentary contact switches
55. put from purpose designed generators than can be achieved using something like a car alternator or washing machine motor etc We could however come up with a design for those that are keen to experiment have the ability to work turn and weld the necessary metalwork and who are prepared to spend a reasonable figure on a generator All this of course without any guarantee that the energy produced will make it particularly cost effective Let us know if it is a project you would be interested in so we can judge if it is worthwhile publishing something in due course Also bear in mind that planning permission would be required and that any close neighbours might well object As I indicated taking all the metal bashing and potential problems into account I won der if it is a sensible EPE project but maybe you feel differently AVAILABILITY Copies of EPE are available on subscription anywhere in the world see opposite and from all UK newsagents distributed by SEYMOUR EPE can also be purchased from retail magazine outlets around the world An Internet on line ver sion can be purchased and downloaded for just 15 99US approx 9 00 per year available from www epemag com 2WIBATTERIES rar the SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions for delivery direct to any address in the UK 6 months 18 75 12 months 35 50 two years 66 Overseas 6 months 21 75 standard air service or 30 75 express airmail 12 months 41 50 s
56. tapped x 10mm standoffs 3 M4 x 15mm screws 12 M4 x 10mm screws 6 M4 x 12 Nylon screws 5 M4 nuts 19 M4 star washers 12 M3 x 15 screws 5 M3 x 15mm Nylon countersunk screw 12 M3 x 10mm screws 6 M3 x 6mm Nylon countersunk screws 10 M3 nuts 12 M3 star washers 2 M2 5 x 12mm screws 2 M2 5 nuts 23 PC stakes 1 50 x 50mm piece of plastic insu lating material 1 67 x 19mm sheet of 2 5 3mm clear Acrylic or Perspex 2 225 x 45mm pieces of 0 5mm flexible sheet plastic to insulate Note that we have specified extra star washers in the parts list This is so that you can place them under the screws attaching the panels to assem ble the case The star washers will bite into the metal to ensure the panels are earthed correctly to the baseplate Note also that you should scrape away any paint or powder coating around the screw holes to ensure good metal to metal contact heatsink top and bottom eg thin plastic chopping mat 1 225 x 80mm piece of 0 5mm flexible sheet plastic to insulate below the power PC board 2 30 x 70mm pieces of 0 5mm flexible sheet plastic for cov ering ventilation holes in fan airway tunnel 1 1 5m length of single core shielded cable 1 200mm length of 6 way rainbow cable 1 200mm length of 4 way rainbow cable 1 200mm length of 0 7mm tinned copper wire 1 1 5m 3 8mm squared 30A red automotive wire 12G 1 1 5m 3 3mm squared 30A black automotive wire 12G 1 500mm length of 24 x 0 2mm red
57. tell how it works see US patent applications 2006 0132585 and 0132588 Colour trick The trick is to coat the label side of the blank disc with three colour forming lay ers one cyan one magenta and one yellow All three layers respond to heat from the laser in the recorder and heating is helped by antenna particles small specks of metal that absorb laser light and radiate heat The laser is tightly focussed on the disc surface and antenna particles so heats mainly the top layer As the disc spins the laser pulses heat spots in the top yellow layer to write the yellow content of the pic ture Then an ultraviolet lamp of frequency 420nm built into the disc drive shines down on the disc to fix the top layer by inacti vating any remaining yellow dye Spot heat The laser now heats spots on the surface which represent the magenta content of the picture The antenna particles and inactivated yellow layer transfer the heat down to the magenta layer underneath so that it forms an image of the magenta content Shining ultra violet light of a different frequency 365nm on the disc inactivates any remaining magen ta dye Finally the laser heats spots on the top surface which represent the cyan content of the picture The heat drills down through the inactivated yellow and magenta layers to write the third colour layer The result is a full colour label printed with very fine resolution The only extra hardware needed
58. the connections to chassis Check also that you get a zero ohm reading between the earth pin of the mains plug and all case panels The Live lead is connected to the fuseholder by first passing the wire through a 50mm length of 16mm heatshrink tubing and then solder ing it in place The other terminal of the fuseholder also passes through the heatshrink tubing before it is soldered in place Finally slip the heatshrink tubing over the fuseholder before shrinking it down with a hot air gun Note be sure to use a safety fuse holder for fuse F1 see parts list so that there is no danger of receiving a shock if the fuse is removed while the unit is plugged into the mains Transformer mounting Typically the mains transformer will be supplied with two circular rub ber washers a dished metal mounting plate and a mounting bolt As noted previously the prototype s case re quired an additional plate underneath to provide secure anchoring for the transformer bolt The 3 way mains terminal block is placed over a 50 x 50mm piece of plastic insulating material and is held in place using two M3 x 15mm screws and M3 nuts The wiring to the mains side of the power transformer depends on its windings the power transformer will be supplied with one of two dif ferent winding arrangements The prototype transformer had 2 x 115V windings and 2 x 9V windings This requires the two 115V windings Everyday Practical Electronics Febr
59. the telephone Advertisement Offices EVERYDAY PRACTICAL ELECTRONICS ADVERTISEMENTS 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND VOL 36 No 2 FEBRUARY 2007 Windy Last month I discussed the ITER fusion project and how it might provide the world s energy needs in 100 years time I also mentioned wind power and we have recently been investigating the possibility of publishing a wind powered generator design Whilst this is possible it does not seem to be very realistic The mechanical aspects are quite onerous beside some sort of tower mounted in concrete which would need siting away from buildings etc there is also a requirement for high quality mountings and bearings to allow the whole thing to rotate to face the wind and for the generator to be mounted Add to this the need for an efficient genera tor and the whole thing becomes a rather complex task Even with one metre blades the actual amount of power that can be generated would be rather limited and could only charge 12V batteries with an inverter to provide 230V AC I guess if you live on a remote hillside with high levels of prevailing wind not where most of the UK population live then it might just be a worthwhile DIY project otherwise it only seems sensible for experimentation Our advertiser Bull Group Ltd see the inside front cover sell a range of turbine kits that solve the mechanical construction problems and that will provide much greater out
60. trigger current as low as 400pA at 12V to switch up to 30A at 50VDC It has an isolated input and is suitable for a variety of triggering options The kit includes PCB with overlay and all electronic components with clear English instructions Theremin Synthesiser MKII 5 in s By moving your hand between the metal antennae create unusual sound effects The Theremin MkIl improves on its predecessor by allowing adjustments to the tonal quality by providing a better waveform With a multitude of controls this instrument s musical potential is only limited by the skill and imagination of its player Kit includes stand PCB with overlay machined case with silkscreen printed lid loudspeaker pitch antennae all specified electronic components and clear English instructions DA Requires 9 12VDC wall adaptor Maplin UGO1B 13 99 AXE ES Paar w Spee Battery zapper h HoA This kit attacks a common cause e of failure i in wet lead acid cell batteries sulphation The circuit produces short bursts of high level energy to reverse the damaging sulphation effect This new improved unit features a battery health checker with LED indicator new circuit protection against badly sulphated batteries test points for a DMM and connection for a battery charger Kit includes case with screen printed lid PCB with overlay all i electronic components and clear English instructions Suitable for 6 12 and 24V batteries e Powe
61. use digital interface Animation brings circuits to life Vast library of logic macros and 74 series i c s with data sheets ePowerful tool for designing and learning Hobbyist Student 45 inc VAT Institutional 99 plus VAT Institutional 10 user 249 plus VAT Site Licence 599 plus VAT ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS PHOTOS A high quality selection of over 200 JPG images of electronic components This selection of high resolution photos can be used to enhance projects and presentations or to help with training and educational material They are royalty free for use in commercial or personal printed projects and can also be used royalty free in books catalogues magazine articles as well as worldwide web pages subject to restrictions see licence for full details Also contains a FREE 30 day evaluation of Paint Shop Pro 6 Paint Shop Pro image editing tips and on line help included Price 19 95 inc VAT Circuit Surgery PROJECT DESIGN WITH CROCODILE TECHNOLOGY An Interactive Guide to Circuit Design An interactive CD ROM to guide you through the process of circuit design Choose from an extensive range of input process and output modules including CMOS Logic Op Amps PIC PICAXE Remote Control Modules IR and Radio Transistors Thyristors Relays and much more Click Data for a complete guide to the pin layouts of i c s transistors etc Click More Information for detailed background information with m
62. used to confirm that the loop is suitably stable for a reason able range of values of the loop filter parameter B and for a reasonable range of input voltages For the recommended val ues the loop reports lock in about one sec ond but most of this is due to the very con servative lock detect strategy The loop is highly tolerant of gross distortion of the input waveform The signal at GPIO 4 and called PllTime is used to test how busy the PIC is The PLL is activated by the ADC each time a Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 fresh sample 1s available There are 16 samples per cycle For 15 interrupts the new value is just added to or subtracted from the current total and the interrupt completes in about 30us For the 16th interrupt the latest result is filtered and the new value of CCPR is computed and the interrupt completes in about 80us It is rea sonable to hope that the loop might work for frequencies up to 500Hz but there is a subtlety The PLL needs accuracy as well as speed and at high frequencies CCPR might hunt between values neither of which is right Modifying the Program The PLL strategy needs a capture com pare module that can reset TMRI and also trigger ADC conversions The 12F683 1s about the smallest PIC with this capability Most PICs with a capture compare PWM module are probably suitable Although it is possible to build applica tions with one PIC dedicated to imple menti
63. zine Over 1 000 classic science projects from a renowned source of winning projects All projects are rated for cost diffi culty and possible hazards Plus over 1 000 pages of helpful sci ence techniques that never appeared in Scientific American Exciting science projects in Astronomy Earth Science Biology Physics Chemistry Weather and much more The most complete resource ever assembled for hobbyists and professionals looking for novel solutions to research problems Includes extensive Science Software Library with even more science tools Suitable for Mac Windows Linux or UNIX 32MB RAM minimum Netscape 4 0 or higher or Internet Explorer 4 0 or higher Over 1 000 projects CD ROM Order code AS1 CD ROM 19 95 288 pages Music Audio and Video MAKING MUSIC WITH YOUR COMPUTER Stephen Bennett Nearly everyone with musical aspirations also has a com puter This same computer can double as a high quality recording studio capable of producing professional recordings This book tells you what software and hard ware you will need to get the best results You ll learn about recording techniques software and effects mixing mastering and CD production Suitable for PC and Mac users the book is full of tips how to do topics and illustrations It s the perfect answer to the question How do use my computer to produce my own CD Order code PC120 10 95 92 pages QUICK GUIDE TO ANALOGUE SYNTH
64. 0 16 BC171B 0 16 BGI 0 15 BC178 0 18 BDX34C BDX53C BDX54C BF180 BF182 BF245B Z ZVP2110A BEZ57 BF259 BES37 BF422 BF423 BF459 BF469 BFX29 BFX84 BFX85 eZ MRZE TIP30A MESOE TIP3SIA MRE TIP32A TIR3ZC ZVN2106A ZVN2110A ZVN3306A ZVN4206A ZVN4210A ZVN4306A ZVN4310A ZVP2106A ZVP3306A ZIX302 ZTX450 Z1X45 ZTX453 ZTX500 ZIX502 ZTX550 Ais ZTX600 ZTX600B ZTX605 ZTX651 ZTX653 0 37 ZTX689B 0 40 ZTX690B 0 37 ZTX 705 CONS Z1X750 L023 ZIX 51 0 34 Z1X753 0 40 VAD ASIN 0 41 ZIX790A 0 41 ZIX851 L050 ZIX853 0 50 ZUNZ 0 54 ZIX1048A 0 48 ZIX1051A 0 46 ZTX1053A 0 45 NEW ONLINE Transformers Large selection of mains amp audio tronstocmers Fuses 20mm 32mm Quick Blow amp Time lag Glass Ceramic 5 www esr co uk iu about ots We now carry in stock a wide range of positive Ruca ots s With Se with a centre click or 41 click posi tions Log Lin Single or Dual gang Quality Components No surplus or redundant stock All from leading manufactures Quality Service Sameday des patch on all stock Items Friendly helpful starr Fast Delivery Nextday service for all orders at no extra charge No Minimum Order Order what you need no pack quantities or min order value Quanti Discounts Available We offer dis counts for all items subject to quantity re quired phone fax or email for a qu
65. 0 36 3915 6994 16F627 04P 1 53 74HCOO 0 16 7415136 0 23 M13700 135 16F627 20IP 1 80 74HCO2 0 17 741S138 0 33 MCEBOCN 12 17F628 20IP 2 58 7AHCO3 0 21 7418139 0 26 MC6032IN 1 55 16F867 04SP 5 10 TACOS GOIS 74LS145 0 56 P3TIN 0 74 16F877 20P 5 79 74HCO08 0 16 7A4LS148 0 64 LP324N 0 75 i 74HC10 0 21 74LS15 1 0 29 p33qnN 1075 Voltage ZAHCTT 0 21 7418153 0 38 Tigiacns 4 64 Regulators 74HC14 0 18 7415156 0 36 pad Baca 780 74HC20 EO2B7ANSI57 0 29 Mago pee ale 74HC27 0 16 7415158 0 21 MAX202CPE 72 00 4898 Z4HC3O 0 22 7418160 0 48 MAX208CN 6 99 5815 Z4HC32 0 14 74LS16 0 32 MAX220CPE 5 06 58 8 74HC42 0 36 7418162 0 44 MAXSD2CPE E 04 78105 J4HC73 0 40 7415163 0 32 MAX232CPE 1 30 18106 Z4HC74 0 15 7418164 0 43 MAX4B3CP 313 58 08 o o 0 31 74LS165 048 MAX485CP 2 04 78115 4HC85 0239 7ALS173 0 24 MAX631ACP 4 99 78124 74HC86 0 21 74LS174 0 24 MAX635ACP 4 99 78505 74HC107 0 40 74LS175 0 30 MAX1232CP 2 80 78512 Z4HC123 0 33 74LS190 0 60 MC1458N C027 78815 4HC125 0 26 741819 0 27 MC1488 0 40 7905 74HC126 0 46 7415192 0 60 MC1489 0 35 5913 74HC132 0 26 74LS193 0 43 MC3302 0 56 7915 74HC133 0 34 74LS195 0 24 MC4558P 0 40 7924 74HC137 0 30 741592 0 41 MK4BA 60 66 79105 74HC138 0 26 74LS240 0 32 NE521N 6 39 79L12 4HC139 0 31 741824 0 32 NE555N CoG 79L15 74HC151 0 337415243 0 30 NESBEN 024 79124
66. 04 silicon diode D1 1 1N5404 silicon diode D2 Capacitors 1 220uF 16V PC electrolytic 1 10uF 16V PC electrolytic 2 100nF 0 1uF MKT polyester or ceramic Resistors 0 25W 1 3 47kQ 1 10kQ 4 22kQ 2 3309 Also required PICAXE Programming Editor software available free from www picaxe co uk PICAXE download cable prototype s baseboard measured 200mm from front to back and 160mm wide The prototype used hardboard a strong material that is easy to work with 47 50 BUMPER BAR SOLDERED TO TOP OF EACH SPRING BRACKET 2 L SHAPED 3mm HARDBOARD CHASSIS TOP BEARING S STRIP A A 5 o 20 5 A A A BOTTOM BEARING STRIP p ss HARDBOARD VIA M3 x 6mm COUNTERSINK HEAD SCREW AND NUT WIRES TO PC BOARD a SPRING BRACKET ONE EACH SIDE BENT FROM 90 x 10mm STRIPS OF 0 75mm BRASS M4 NUTS CEMENTED TO AXLE WITH EPOXY CEMENT 3mm RE CHASSI BUMPER BAR BENT FROM 210 x 10mm STRIP OF 0 75mm BRASS M4 NUTS CEMENTED TO AXLE WITH EPOXY CEMENT EITHER SIDE OF WHEEL ey M3 x 10mm BOLTS amp NUTS HARDBOARD CHASSIS VEE TO FORM CONTACT AOmm DIAMETER PLASTIC WHEEL Fig 4 a swivel wheel is used at the rear of the robot for simplicity of Fig 5 this diagram shows the details of the collision switch steering Two reversible 6V DC geared mo tors with through shafts were bolted to the baseboard The platfor
67. 0V 2 4046B 0 35 74HC573 027 ADZI2JN 2 51 TDAZ IIA 188 4047B 0 24 74HC574 0 30 AD 36JN 5 80 TDA2822A 0 79 4048B 0 34 74HC595 0 27 AD797AN 7 25 TDA2653A 2 99 4049B 0 29 74HC597 022 AD8IIN 5 50 TED3718DP 5 03 4049UB 0 17 74HC688 0 46 AD812AN 6 32 TEA5115 3 11 4050B 0 20 74HC4002 0 31 AD820AN 3 41 TLO61CP 0 37 4051B 0 23 74HC4017 036 AD822AN 5 20 TLO62CP 060 4052B 0 32 74HC4020 0 36 AD829JN 6 41 TLO64CN 0 29 4053B 0 22 74HC4040 0 29 AD830AN 5 44 TLO71CN 0 30 4054B 0 56 74HC4049 0 31 AD847JN 5 95 TLO 2CN 0 40 4055B 0 34 74HC4051 0 50 AD9696KN 7 73 TLOZ4CN 0 25 4060B 0 16 74HC4052 034 ADEL2020A 5 06 TLO81 0 28 4063B 0 41 74HC4053 0 22 ADM222AH 3 55 TLO82CN 0 32 4066B 0 18 74HC4060 023 ADM232AA 3 55 TLO84CN 037 4067B 2 20 74HC4075 0 27 ADM485JN 2 97 TL7705ACP 0 82 4068B 0 19 74HC4078 0 32 ADM666AN 2 72 TLC271 0 63 4069UB 0 17 74HC4511 0 64 ADM690AN 5 13 TS272CN 0 57 4070B 0 15 74HC4514 0 84 ADM691AN 6 48 TS274CN 0150 4071B 0 20 7AHC4538 0 41 ADM695AN 6 48 TS555CN 0 40 4072B 0 18 74HC4543 0 90 ADM699AN 3 58 TMPOIFP 5 60 40756 6017 ZALS Series Ch3 30E 0 87 ULN2003A 0 38 4076B 0 30 241800 0 38 Ca3140E 0 63 ULN2004A 044 4077B 0 28 74150 0 14 CA3240E 0 91 ULN2803A 0 42 4078B 0 30 241802 0 22 SG211C 125 ULN2804A 041 4081B 0 16 741803 0 29 DG411D 2 00 i 4082B 0 21
68. 2 various methods of component checking are described including tests for transistors thyristors resistors capaci tors and diodes Circuit testing is covered in Chapter 3 with subjects such as voltage current and continuity checks being discussed In the main little or no previous knowledge or experience is assumed Using these simple compo nent and circuit testing techniques the reader should be able to confidently tackle servicing of most elec tronic projects Order code BP239 5 49 96 pages STARTING ELECTRONICS THIRD EDITION KEITH BRINDLEY A punchy practical introduction to self build electronics The ideal starting point for home experimenters techni cians and students who want to develop the real hands on skills of electronics construction A highly practical introduction for hobbyists students and technicians Keith Brindley introduces readers to the functions of the main component types their uses and the basic principles of building and designing electronic cir cuits Breadboard layouts make this very much a ready to run book for the experimenter and the use of multimeter but not oscilloscopes and readily available inexpensive com ponents makes the practical work achievable in a home or school setting as well as a fully equiped lab Order code NE42 10 99 THE AMATEUR SCIENTIST CD ROM CD ROM VERSION 2 The complete collection of The Amateur Scientist articles from Scientific American maga
69. 3 Click output output amp 3 Label1 Caption output End Sub Private Sub Command4 Click output output amp 4 Label1 Caption output End Sub These values are then used at the appro priate points in the program the routines for Label2 Label3 and Label4 The rou tines for these label components must also output the appropriate values to the hand shake output register of the parallel port which will normally be at address amp H37A A short routine sets the limit current at an initial setting of 20mA when the form loads A differ ent initial setting could be used but the lowest current represents the safest default setting As featured in an earli er Interface article the virtual rotary switch actually had five positions Converting it to three way operation Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 Private Sub Command5_Click output output amp 5 Label1 Caption output End Sub Private Sub Command6_Click output output amp 6 Label1 Caption output End Sub Private Sub Command Click output output amp 7 Label1 Caption output End Sub Private Sub Command8 Click output output amp 8 Label1 Caption output End Sub Private Sub Command9 Click output output amp 9 Label1 Caption output End Sub Private Sub Form Load Shape53 Top 6360 Shape53 Left 960 Out amp H37A 3 End Sub Private Sub Label2_Cl
70. 4BDX 32 HD 100 The Phishing Filter icon can be disabled by right clicking the icon at the bottom of the browser screen Dont print it PDF it The IE7 Toolbar also has a new Page dropdown button Use this to make the text larger in most web pages or send a URL link or even the entire page by email As mentioned last month one extremely wel come update is that IE7 now makes a decent fist of printing web pages by reflowing them properly to fit the printer paper Cropped printing is a thing of the past Here s a tip instead of printing web pages order acknowledge ments or receipts onto paper send them to a PDF document instead You can always print it off line later if you still need to using Adobe Reader This is especially useful for retaining online order confirma tions A free PDF driver is available from www primopdf com After installing the software choose the PDF driver as your printer and give the file a name then save it to your hard disk You can also decide what information to include in the Headers and Footers of your web page printouts see the Page Setup options via the IE7 Print menu The character codes are described in the IE7 Help file under Headers Printing Web pages For example include amp u in the string forces IE7 to print the URL on your web page printouts and you can add your own header or footer plain text in there as well Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007
71. 51KT 8 95 Assembled Order Code AS3051 14 95 HPTX High Power FM Room Bug Our most powerful room bug Very impressive perform ance Clear and stable out put signal thanks to the extra circuitry employed Range 1000m 9V Supply 6 12V DC 9V PP3 battery clip supplied 70x15mm Kit Order Code 3032KT 9 95 Assembled Order Code AS3032 17 95 MTTX Miniature Telephone Transmitter Attach anywhere along phone line Tune a radio into the signal and hear exactly what both parties gt are saying Transmits only when phone Is used Clear stable signal Powered from phone line so completely maintenance free once installed Requires no aerial wire uses phone line as antenna Suitable for any phone system worldwide Range 300m 20x45mm Kit Order Code 3016KT 7 95 Assembled Order Code AS3016 13 95 Wide Band oe FM Transmitter PLL based crystal locked wide band FM transmitter delivering a high quality stable 10mW output Accepts both MIC audio signal 10mV and LINE input 1v p p for example hi fi CD audio mixer like our kit 1052 or computer sound card Supply 9 15Vdc Kit Order Code 3172KT 19 95 Assembled Order Code AS31 72 32 95 3 Watt FM Transmitter site Small powerful FM transmitter Audio pre amp stage and three RF stages deliver 3 watts of RF power Use with the electret microphone supplied or any line level audio source e g CD or tape OUT mixer sound card e
72. A 600V 0 67 6A 800V 0 37 8A 100V 0 98 8A 200V Always online Our catalogue is available to view or down oad Up to date with new products amp prices a dobro 2N5060 2N5061 BT151 500R TIC126D Triacs BT136 500 BT136 600 BT 137 600 BT139 500 BT139 600 1 BTAO8 600B 0 84 BTAO8 6008w 0 6 BTAO8 600C 0 96 BTA08 600sw 0 93 BTA08 6001w 1 10 BTA12 6008w 0 92 BTA16 600cw 1 45 BTA16 600B 1 28 BTA26 600B 2 78 TIC206D 0 70 TIC206M 0 75 TIC226D 0 80 TIC226M 1 00 TIC246D 1 00 TIC246M 1 00 TIC236D 1 12 ZO105DA 0 53 Diac DBESTS2V 0 08 Transistors 2N2222A 0 16 2N2369A 0 51 2N2646 1 02 2N2904A 0 35 2N2905A 0 30 2N2907A 0 28 2N3053 0 38 2N3054 0 85 2N3055 0 58 2N3439 0 62 2N3440 0 50 2N3702 0 09 2N3703 0 10 2N3704 0 11 2N3705 0 08 2N3771 1 44 2N3772 1 72 2N3773 2 30 2N3819 0 27 2N3903 0 11 2N3904 0 05 2N3905 0 10 2N3906 0 05 2N4401 0 08 2N4403 0 09 2N5245 0 80 2N5296 0 57 2N5401 0 12 PINS 0 07 2N6491 1 58 2N7000 0 19 2SB548 0 30 AC127 0 50 AC128 0 76 AC187 0 68 AC188 0 97 NGA 4 84 AD149 1 29 AD161 0 73 AD162 0 95 BC107 0 15 BC107B 0 14 BC108 0 13 BC108B 0 14 BC108C 0 18 BC109 0 17 BC109C 0 16 BC114 0 19 BC115 0 41 BC118 0 41 BC132 0 36 BC134 0 3 BC135 0 36 BC140 0 75 BC142 0 50 BC143 0 38 BC159 0 17 BC160 0 28 BC170B
73. A O TE ban ai rs rribrivpvuittt Prototype DGC showing general component positioning inside the plastic box The lid mounted components including the LCD module are interlinked to the PCB via the ribbon cable be obtained from Magenta Electronics or Reference 5 The menu system is based on a number of different machine states There is a unique machine state for each screen Machine states of related screens are grouped together For ex ample all machine states relating to the opening screen are in the 1 to 9 range The machine state is control led by the variable MENUSTATE Generally navigation between the different machine states is done with the SCROLL and EXECUTE pushbuttons Pulse counting When the user begins the count the STARTCOUNT routine is called STARTCOUNT calculates the number of one second intervals in the desired count time and stores this value as TIME TARGET TIME ELAPSED and the pulse count are cleared by writing O to TIMERO G M tube pulses provide the clock input to TIMERO A COUNT ING flag is set TIMER1 will cause the interrupt routine to execute every second and 16 increment TIME ELAPSED If TIME ELAPSED equals TIME_TARGET then the desired count time has elapsed and TIMERO is closed to stop the counting MENUSTATE is set to 60 to display the final count value and the COUNTING flag is cleared Front panel layout of the completed DGC unit Automatic counting periods
74. ACTURE for both the Hobbyist and Professional XGAMES TATION Learn Sree Stee Hom To DESIGN AND Buta Your DWA VIDEO GAME CONSOLE Complete Package eBook integrated IDE A cr ot E g de r Sei Me G Great for Hobbyists AND Students Complete Sohiware Devo premier eBook on Designing the XGS Console D Parallax SX KeyCompatiiHe Ea Fully Assembled AGS Micro Edition Uni The Fun Wayto Leam Embedded Systems a WWW XGAMESTATION COM SUPERDORTONLIRVE NET PH 525 amp 2098B Lima Diagnose any car with EOBD 9600 or 38400 baud Based on the ELM327 IC Supported by more software than Supports all EOBD and OBD II any other OBD interface protocols Inexpensive 15015765 4 CAN Full Speed USB 1 1 v 5014230 4 Keyword 2000 Automatic protocol detection ISO9I4 2 Package includes cables software v 1850 VPW CD and Quick Start Guide 1850 PWM Buy from your local UR distributors www ElmScan gt com epe ElmScan 5 USB Scan Tool Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 55 Regular Clinic lan Bell ECENTLY Alan Jones posed the question What level is Line Input on the EPE Chatzone forum access via www epemag co uk He went on to say Perhaps this is a silly question but I haven t found a definitive answer According to which article you read it can be 500mV 707mV IV or even 1 414V My computer s soundcard needs IV to drive it the
75. AR WASHER amp M4 NUT M4 x 12mm NYLON SCREWS X6 WITH 0 5mm PLASTIC SHEET INSULATION NOT SHOWN IN WIRING DIAGRAM ATTACHES HEATSINK TO BASE PLATE M2 5 x 15mm SCREWS amp M2 5 NUTS ATTACH LCD MODULE TO DISPLAY PC BOARD M3 x 10mm CSK NYLON SCREWS 6 HOLDS 0 5mm PLASTIC INSULATION TO TOP OF HEATSINK M3 x 10mm SCREWS amp M3 NUTS FRONT PANEL GRILLE M3 x 10mm SCREWS amp M3 NUTS ATTACH FRONT amp REAR PANELS TO BASEPLATE FEMALE INSULATED SPADE CONNECTOR FOR 6 4mm WIRE FEMALE INSULATED SPADE CONNECTOR FOR 5 3mm WIRE Fig 7 this diagram shows the hardware codes above for the main wiring diagram Fig 9 At right are the wiring connections for an alternative transformer PC board The latter holes for the PC board pillars need to be countersunk to suit countersink screws The LCD window cutout required is 67 x 19mm suitable for fitting the Perspex window The fan cutout is half a circle and this is on the side where the heatsink is positioned The cutout position for the LCD window depends on the particular module that is used Fit the front panel label and the Per spex window to the front panel SOLDER LUG LOCK NUT STAR WASHERS lt M4 x 10mm SCREW NUTS AND STAR WASHERS Fig 8 the mains earth solder lug must be securely attached to the metal chassis as shown here Tighten the first nut very firmly before winding on the second lock nut Note scrape away any paint or powder coati
76. Alternative and future technologies Order code BEB1 27 50 BOOK PLUS CD ROM 500 pages BEBOP BYTES BACK and the Beboputer Computer Simulator CD ROM Clive Max Maxfield and Alvin Brown This follow on to Bebop to the Boolean Boogie is a multime dia extravaganza of informa tion about how computers work It picks up where Bebop I left off guiding you through the fascinating world of computer design and you ll have a few chuckles if not belly laughs along the way In addition to over 200 megabytes of mega cool multimedia the CD ROM contains a virtual microcomputer simulating the motherboard and standard computer peripherals in an extremely realistic manner In addition to a wealth of technical information myriad nuggets of trivia and hun dreds of carefully drawn illustrations the CD ROM con tains a set of lab experiments for the virtual microcom puter that let you recreate the experiences of early com puter pioneers If you re the slightest bit interested in the inner workings of computers then don t dare to miss this Over 800 pages in Adobe Acrobat format CD ROM Order code BEB2 CD ROM 21 95 GETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR MULTIMETER R A Penfold This book is primarily aimed at beginners and those of lim ited experience of electronics Chapter 1 covers the basics of analogue and digital multimeters discussing the rela tive merits and the limitations of the two types In Chapter
77. BUILD The Base Manual describes 12 projects including a Theremin and a Simple TENS Unit ESSENTIAL DATA Extensive tables on diodes transistors thyristors and triacs digital and linear i c s EXTENSIVE GLOSSARY Should you come across a technical word phrase or abbreviation you re not familiar with simply look up the glossary and you ll find a comprehensive definition in plain English The Manual also covers Safety and provides web links to component and equipment Manufacturers and Suppliers Full contents list available online at www epemag wimborne co uk SUPPLEMENTS Additional CD ROMs each containing approximately 500 pages of additional information on specific areas of electronics are available for 19 95 each Information on the availability and content of each Supplement CD ROM will be sent to you Presentation CD ROM suitable for any modern PC Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader which is included on the CD ROM Wimborne Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND Tel 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 iii PLEASE send me VISA ES THE MODERN ELECTRONICS MANUAL CD ROM ELECTRONICS SERVICE MANUAL CD ROM ordering both together PLEASE PRINT Please charge my Visa Mastercard Amex Diners Club Switch Maestro enclose payment of 29 95 for one Manual or 49 90 for both Manuals saving 10 by FUELNAME ssasssainasinss dadas aca ds isa Dada a E di ADDRESS sussasisassais
78. Control for pulse width measurement a comparator with hysteris for Hall effect sensor interfaces and an A to D converter for temperature and other monitor ing functions The PICI6HV616 610 and PIC 12HV615 609 variants add an internal shunt regulator which allows the PIC to run from higher voltage rails without the addition of external voltage regulators Specific applica tion examples include home appliances cool ing fans and other motor control power tools system control and monitoring battery charg ers and power supplies For further information www microchip com startnow browse Underwater Comms Fallacy Radio waves don t travel through water do they Isn t that why white vans drive round collecting environmental water sam ples and underwater vehicles surface and dock to deliver oil exploration results Divers can t talk or text wirelessly either can they British company Wireless Fibre Systems of Livingston in Scotland wants to update the perceived wisdom At a recent conference on Unmanned Underwater Vehicles held in Southampton WES unveiled a wireless modem that works underwater Water especially salt sea water conducts electricity very well so short circuits the electrical component of any radio waves emitted by an underwater antenna Light can carry high rate data but is blocked by muddy water Modulated sound waves carry a few hundred bits of data per second for several kilometres but ice tu
79. ESIS lan Waugh Even though music production has moved into the digi tal domain modern synthesisers invariably use ana logue synthesis techniques The reason is simple analogue synthesis is flexible and versatile and it s rel atively easy for us to understand The basics are the same for all analogue synths and you ll quickly be able to adapt the principles to any instrument to edit exist ing sounds and create exciting new ones This book describes How analogue synthesis works The essen tial modules every synthesiser has The three steps to synthesis How to create phat bass sounds How to generate filter sweeps Advanced synth modules How to create simple and complex synth patches Where to find soft synths on the Web If you want to take your synthesiser of the hardware or software variety past the presets and program your own sounds and effects this practical and well illustrated book tells you what you need to know Order code PC118 7 45 QUICK GUIDE TO MP3 AND DIGITAL MUSIC lan Waugh MP3 files the latest digital music format have taken the music industry by storm What are they Where do you get them How do you use them Why have they thrown record companies into a panic Will they make music easier to buy And cheaper Is this the future of music All these questions and more are answered in this concise and practical book which explains everything 60 pages you need to know about MP3s in a si
80. Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 Table 1 USB Status is reported by the LEDs presented by the GM COUNTER program oo CONDITION USB Device has been reset USB Device has been addressed ALTERNATE ALTERNATE USB Device is configured All descriptor information has BLINKING BLINKING USB been successfully received by the personal computer SYNCHRONISED SYNCHRONISED USB BLINKING BLINKING High voltage being generated for GM tube BLINKING 1 OUT Timekeeping oscillator 32 768kHz oscillator running OF 10 SECONDS USB device is in a suspended state See Condition If LCD is off this means DGC is in sleep mode If LCD is on this means timekeeping oscillator has not yet started oscillating after inserting batteries run time the host PC initiates transac tions to specific peripherals and each peripheral accepts its transactions and responds accordingly The data for the enumeration is contained in the US BDSC C file Two free programs are useful for verifying that the USB connection is working USBVIEW Reference 7 and USB Command Verifier USBCV Reference 8 USBVIEW reports the results of the enumeration process as shown USBCV is the compliance test tool which evaluates full speed USB devices for conformance to the USB Device Framework Chapter 9 of the USB specification The DGC device with GM COUN TER software has passed all twenty two of the USBCV tests The output of the USBCV tests is available
81. Fixings for PCB and LCD 18 way ribbon cable connecting wire implementing a simple low power real time clock on the PIC18F 2455 by add ing an external 32 768kHz crystal and two 22pF capacitors on Timer1 inputs Ref 1 In order to keep accurate time microprocessor IC1 needs to be pow ered at all times This eliminates the need for a manual power switch The microprocessor uses an interrupt scheme and the sleep operating mode to keep battery drain to a minimum Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 Semiconductors 1 PIC18F2455 or PIC18F2550 see text preprogrammed microcontroller 1 IRFBC20 power MOSFET 2 2N3904 npn transistors 1 MR856 fast 600V diode 1 red LED 1 green LED Capacitors 1 18pF ceramic 1 470nF ceramic 1 5pF ceramic 1 33pF ceramic 1 22pF ceramic Resistors 0 25W 1 1 47kQ 1 2 2kQ 5 10kQ 3 10MQ 3 100kQ 1 200 3 560kQ 1270 1 150kQ 1 6600 Potentiometers 1 10k carbon preset 1 100k carbon preset When the microprocessor is put to sleep the main 20MHz oscillator stops and IC1 executes no instructions Transis tor Q2 is used to turn off the LCD before entering sleep mode and turn on the LCD when the microprocessor wakes up In sleep mode the 32 768kHz crystal connected to TIMER1 will continue to oscillate and TIMER1 will continue to in crement When TIMER1 overflows once per second an interrupt will occur and the microprocessor will wake up incre ment the time and
82. GHz HP8620C B A with any of the following plug ins HP 86220A Plug in 10 1300MHz HP 86230B Plug in 1 5 4GHz HP 86235A Plug in 1 7 4 3GHz HP 86240A Plug in 2 8 5GHz HP 86240C Plug in 3 6 8 6GHz HP 86245A Plug in 5 9 12 4GHz HP86250B Plug in 8 12 4GHz HP 86250D Plug in 8 12 4GHz HP 86260A Plug in 12 4 18GHz MARCONI TF2015 AM FM 10 520MHz MARCONI TF2016 AM FM 10kHz 120MHz PHILIPS PM5328 100kHz 180MHz with 200MHz Freq Counter IEEE PANASONIC VP8117A AM FM 100kHz 110MHz FM 0 100kHz Digital Display etc Unused STEWART of READING Z 17A King Street Mortimer Near Reading RG7 3RS ES Telephone 0118 933 1111 Fax 0118 933 2375 VISA www stewart of reading co uk Open 9am 5 00pm Monday to Friday other times by arrangement www siliconchip com au PLEASE ENSURE YOU TELEPHONE TO CHECK AVAILABILITY OF EQUIPMENT BEFORE ORDERING OR CALLING SPECIAL OFFERS HP 8165A Programmable Signal Source 1MHz 50MHz Pulse Function HP 3325A Synthesised Function Gen 21MHz HP 3312A Function Gen 0 1Hz 13MHz AM FM Sleep Tri Burst elC a sassntesao assada dink aian 200 WAVETEK 21 Stabilised Function Gen 11MHz WAVETEK 23 Synthesised Function Gen 12MHz EXACT 529 AM FM Function Gen 20MHz ANALOGUE 2030 Synthesised Multi Function Waveform 250 THANDER TG503 Pulse Function Gen 5MHz THANDER TG502 Sweep Function Gen 5MHz KRON HITE 5200A Sweep Func Gen 0 00003Hz 3MHz 150 HP 3310B Info as 3310A etc HP 3310A Func Gen 0 005Hz 5MHz Sine Sq Tri
83. GO GMO35 3 0 35V 0 3A 2 Meters TAKASAGO TMO35 2 0 35V 0 2A 2 Meters ISOLATING TRANSFORMER Yellow 500VA with 13Amp Socket Used Equipment GUARANTEED Manuals supplied This is a VERY SMALL SAMPLE OF STOCK SAE or Telephone for lists Please check availability before ordering CARRIAGE all units 16 VAT to be added to Total of Goods and Carriage Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 SHERWOOD ELECTRONICS FREE COMPONENTS og Buy 10 x 1 Special Packs and choose another one FREE SP1 15 x 5mm Red LEDs SP135 SP2 12 x 5mm Green LEDs SP136 SP3 12 x 5mm Yellow LEDs SP137 SP5 25 x 5mm 1 part LED clips SP138 SP6 15 x 3mm Red LEDs SP140 SP7 12 x 3mm Green LEDs SP142 SP8 10 x 38mm Yellow LEDs SP143 SP9 25 x 3mm 1 part LED clips SP10 100 x 1N4148 diodes SP144 SP11 30 x 1N4001 diodes SP12 30 x 1N4002 diodes SP146 SP18 20 x BC182 transistors SP147 SP20 20 x BC184 transistors SP23 20 x BC549 transistors SP151 SP24 4 x CMOS 4001 SP152 SP25 4 x 555 timers SP153 SP26 4 x 741 Op Amps SP154 SP28 4 x CMOS 4011 SP156 SP29 3 x CMOS 4013 SP33 4 x CMOS 4081 SP160 SP34 20 x 1N914 diodes SP161 SP36 25 x 10 25V radial elect caps SP164 SP37 12 x 100 35V radial elect caps SP165 SP38 15 x 47 25V radial elect caps SP166 SP39 10 x 470 16V radial elect caps SP167 SP40 15 x BC237 transistors SP168 SP41 20 x Mixed transistors SP171 SP42 200 x Mixed 0 25W C F resistors SP172 SP47 5 x Min PB switches SP173 SP49 4 x 5 metres stran
84. L a Led Cei LCD FIRST ROW has per 49 Lod CediLCD CURSOR SFF banal mii Pakit eet Per 170 t Led CEs di i tmet a i wt Thi Oi al iJ he djs ana E Step Into F7 and Step Over F8 are mikrolCD debugger functions that are used in stepping mode There is also Real Time mode supported by mikrolCD Functions that are used in Real Time mode are Run Pause Debugger F6 and Run to cursor F4 Pressing F4 goes to the line selected by user User just has to select line with cursor and press F4 and program will be executed until the selected line is reached Breakpoints have been separated into two groups There are hardware and software break points Hardware breakpoints are placed in PIC and they provide fast debug Number of hardware breakpoints is limited 1 for P16 and up to 3 for P18 If all hard ware brekpoints are used new breakpoints that will be used as software breakpoints Those breakpoints are placed inside mikrolCD software and they simulate hardware breakpoints LEA PICFlash2 On Board USB 2 0 In Circuit Programmer Very fast and reliable PIC progammer miata On board USB 2 0 PICFlash programmer An ultra fast USB 2 0 pro grammer for fast MCU programming Continuing its tradition as the fastest PIC programmer on the market the new PICFlash with mikrolCD now sup ports more PIC MCUs giving the developer a wider choice of PIC MCU for further pro totype development There is no ne
85. LED and it features an automatic dimmer for night driving Supplied with case pre punched silkscreened front panel PCB and all electronic components with clear English instructions Hall effect sensor included e As published in Everyday Practical Electronics January 2006 ote Moji mice 2 Amp DC DC Converter Kit This kit will step up 12V to between 13 8 and 24VDC Use it to charge 12V sealed lead acid batteries 6 5Ah or larger run your laptop and many other devices from a 12V supply It uses an efficient switchmode design features fuse and reverse polarity protection and an LED power indicator Kit includes PCB all electronic components and silkscreened front panel e As published in Everyday Practical Electronics August 2006 AC DC Current Clamp Meter Kit for DMMs A great low cost alternative It uses a simple hall effect sensor an iron ring core and connects to your digital multimeter It will measure AC and DC current and has a calibration dial to allow for any magnetising of the core Kit supplied with PCB clamp case with silkscreened front panel and all electronic components e As published in Everyday Practical Electronics January 2006 for your FREE catalogue Monday Friday 09 00 to 17 30 GMT 10 hours only For those who want to write 100 Silverwater Rd Silverwater NSW 2128 Sydney AUSTRALIA Smart Card Reader and Programmer Kit Program both the microcontroller and EEPROM in the popular go
86. LUS CDROM 190 pages A4 spiral bound Book CDROM Order code DOC1 222 00 21o qe 07D STO Ra E EERO Roe u01 99 50 BOOK ORDERING DETAILS All prices include UK postage For postage to Europe air and the rest of the world surface please add 2 per book For the rest of the world airmail add 3 per book CD ROM prices include VAT and or postage to anywhere in the world Send a PO cheque international money order sterling only made payable to Direct Book Service or card details Visa Mastercard Amex Diners Club or Maestro to DIRECT BOOK SERVICE WIMBORNE PUBLISHING LTD 408 WIMBORNE ROAD EAST FERNDOWN DORSET BH22 9ND Orders are normally sent out within seven days of receipt but please allow 28 days for deliv ery more for overseas orders Please check price and availability see latest issue of Everyday Practical Electronics before ordering from old lists For a further selection of books and CD ROMs see the next two issues of EPE Tel 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 Email dbs epemag wimborne co uk Order from our online shop at www epemag co uk shopdoor htm BOOK CD ROM ORDER FORM Full name erra Address ciciccccaccccanccvessscdececdnscacubsetanceseneacorsasceeceduacess Post code DIONNE aaee e a e E a Da saca a sacas E N Telephone NO sassssssssssessessrnnnseernnrrerenneneeen I enclose cheque PO payable to DIRECT BOOK SERVICE for Please charge my ca
87. MHz Delay Sweep Digital Storage VELLEMAN HPS5 1MHz 5MHz Sampling Handheld Unused 60 ANALYSERS ADVANTEST R3265A 100Hz 8GHz TEKTRONIX 492P 50kHz 21GHz HP8560A 50Hz 2 9GHz Built In Tracking Gen HP 8560A 50Hz 2 9GHz HP 8569A 10MHz 22GHz HP 8565A 10MHz 22GHz HP 853A with 8559A 100kHz 21GHz HP 182T with 8559A 100kHz 21GHz HP182T with 8558B 100kHz 1500MHz HP 182T with 8557A 10kHz 350MHz HP 140T with 8555A 10MHz 18GHz ADVANTEST TR4131 10kHz 3 5GHz WAYNE KERR SSA1000A 150kHz 1GHz MARCONI 2382 200Hz 400MHz High Resolution MARCONI 2370 30Hz 110MHz HP 8754A Network Analyser 4 1300MHz MARCONI 6500A Amplitude Analyser with head HP 334A Distortion Analyser 5Hz 600kHz SIGNAL GENERATORS HP 8350B Sweeper with 83592B 10MHz 20GHz HP 8350A Sweeper with 83592A 10MHz 20GHz HP 8350B Main Frame Only HP 83525B RF Plug in for 8350 0 01 8 4GHz HP 83590A RF Plug in for 8350 2 20GHz HP 8660C Sig Gen 1 3GHz HP 8660C Sig Gen 2 6GHz HP 86603A RF Plug in for 8660C 1 2600MHz 2 HP86631B Axillary Section for 86600 Bae HP86632B Modulation Section for 8660C Baw MARCONI 2017 0 01 124MHz Low Phase Noise MARCONI 2019 Synthesised AM FM 80kHz 1040MHz 325 FLUKE 6060B AM FM Syn Sig Gen 10kHz 1050MMHz 300 LEADER LSG221B Sig Gen 25 950MHz HP 8656B Synthesised 0 1 990MHz HP 8656A Synthesised 0 1 990MHz HP 8640A AM FM 500kHz 512MHz HP 8620C Sweep Osc with 86290B 2 18 6GHz HP8620C Sweep Osc with 86222B 0 01 2 4
88. OOD ELECTRONICS LTD Suppliers of Electronic Components Place a secure order on our website or call our sales line All major credit cards accepted Web www bowood electronics co uk Unit 1 McGregor s Way Turnoaks Business Park Chesterfield S40 2WB Sales 01246 200222 Send 60p stamp for catalogue EPPSHECTRONICS VISIT OUR ONLINE SHOP TO ORDER BACK ISSUES CD ROMS BOOKS PCBs AND MANUALS www epemag co uk Versatile Programmable PIC On Screen Dis play System S PIC 16F628 microcontroller PER 28 by 11 character sen EPs Or amp Fuly programmable ATA Text over composite video Ti Demo software available N R BARDWELL Ltd est 1948 Electronic Component Supplies LED s Semis IC s Resistors Caps etc send 44p for lists 1000 s bargains at our secure site www bardwells co uk 288 Abbeydale Rd Sheffield S7 1FL 0845 166 2329 local rate HEROS TECHNOLOGY LTD http w herostechnologyico uk e Electronic Components and Services eRF Components e PIC microcontollers practical applications never been so simple with our Modules Boards and Software e Peripheral modules for all microcontrollers eSolution for Developers Pre production Educational and Hobby applications W TTRANSFORMERS Transformers and Chokes for all types of circuits including specialist valve units Custom design or standard range High and low voltage Variable Voltage Technology Ltd Unit 3 Sheat Manor Farm Chille
89. PI communication examples for CAN communica tion examples for Sound generation sending and receiving data over Ethernet Interrupt upon PORTB state change Detection of button pressed on port and many more 36 buttons for program develop ing needs PS2 PC key board connector Digital thermome ter DS1820 System can be easily configured via DIP switch digits in multiplex mode 36 diodes for dis GLCD Graphic playing states of LCD 128x64 all pins RS 232 communi cation available on board All pins are con Pull up or Pull nected to IDC down port defin connectors ing Fa Crystal can be replaced by another one ADC inputs via two selectable potentiometers Character LCD support USB connector Reset circuit for MCU with on chip USB comm J mikrolCD On board In Circuit Debugger Prototype your 14 designs more efficiently and effectively al NES mikrolCD is a highly effective tool for Real Time debugging on a hard ware level The ICD debugger enables you to execute a mikroC mikroPascal mikroBasic program on a host PIC microcontroller and view variable values Special Function Registers SFR memory and EEPROM as the program is running program LCD demo ib h Li ed l E Seien costa frora het mim dim Leet ds sling co an byie mm LHE ori a a TRIS ne 5 aaa Jeer to crio bey cy Sopa EEE med
90. PUSB mcp in the mcw window and select Build All You may get a strange message about Different tool used last time Just accept the default alternative and continue the message will not ap pear again Once the build has completed check for any errors in the output window You will get a few warning messages expression is always true and several suspicious pointer con version these are acceptable and are as a result of Microchip s design The hex file will be found in the _output sub directory Program it into your PIC18F2550 using your favourite programmer and then plug it into your circuit USB driver When you connect your board to the PC there will be a brief period of hard disk activity then a driver instal lation wizard dialog box will appear prompting you to select the driver for the new USB device What the PC is looking for here is a driver information file inf that will 36 describe to Win dows how to talk to our hardware Microchip have cre ated such a file and you can find it in the directory C MCHPFSUSB FW CDC INF WIN2K_WINXP We will use the Wizard to locate and install the file This only needs to be done once The steps vary slightly between Windows 2000 and Windows XP but ultimately what you are doing is locating the inf file and installing it Once the Found New Hardware Wizard dialog appears click Next then Next again Under XP yo
91. R E a PR R 7 VOL 6 BACK ISSUES July 2001 to December 2001 BACK ISSUES CD ROM ORDER FORM i VOL 7 BACK ISSUES January 2002 to June 2002 l VOL 8 BACK ISSUES July 2002 to December 2002 Please send me the following Back Issue CD ROMs Volume i VOL 9 BACK ISSUES January 2003 to June 2003 E E E CE ES a tee coe E eae VOL 10 BACK ISSUES July 2003 to December 2003 i VOL 11 BACK ISSUES January 2004 to June 2004 eee eee eee eee i VOL 12 BACK ISSUES July 2004 to December 2004 MR PR e PI ere eee T VOL 13 BACK ISSUES January 2005 to June 2005 VOL 14 BACK ISSUES July 2005 to December 2005 I l I VOL 15 BACK ISSUES January 2006 to June 2006 NAO eoori ane camer ae eer oe Bae E AE l l I l NOTE These CD ROMs are suitable for use on any PC witha l Addresse ar e I o A a a od SR E A RE dE l CD ROM drive They require Adobe Acrobat Reader available free I I from the Internet www adobe com acrobat iets ev air A EO ER ee ent E haces oie ames a Ba l I WHAT IS INCLUDED aS erro ee ene Bee RR cots ees Post Code qcssesaos ama All volumes include the EPE Online editorial content of every listed issue plus all the available PIC Project Codes for the PIC projects i 1 enclose cheque P O bank draft to the value of l published in those issues I Please charge my Visa Mastercard Amex Diners I Note Some supplements etc can be downloaded free from the I I Library on the EPE Online website at www
92. SB Interface e Photic Phone e Telephone Switch e Parking Radar FEATURES e Introducing the Virtual DIY Calculator e Ingenuity Unlimited e Back To Basics 7 Circuit Surgery Techno Talk e PIC N Mix Interface e NetWork The Internet Page NOV 05 Photocopies onl PROJECTS e Speed Camera Watch Mk2 e PIC Chromatone e Multi Function R C Switch e Noughts and Crosses Enigma Weather Vane Repeater FEATURES e Teach In 2006 Part 1 e Circuit Surgery e Back To Basics 8 e Techno Talk e Practically Speaking Ingenuity Unlimed e PIC N Mix NetWork The Internet Page DEC 05 Photocopies onl PROJECTS e Vehicle Frost Box Mk2 e Propeller Monitor Solid State Hammond e Solid State Valve Power Supply FEATURES e Teach In 2006 Part 2 e Techno Talk e Viewing The Future e Circuit Surgery Interface PIC N Mix NetWork The Internet Page JAN 06 Photocopies onl PROJECTS e A Tiptronic Style Gear Indicator e Sunset Switch e PIC Ambilux e Current Clamp Adapter For Multimeters FEATURES e Teach In 2006 Part 3 Circuit Surgery Techno Talk e Practically Speaking PIC N Mix NetWork The Internet Page FEB 06 Photocopies onl PROJECTS e Highly Flexible Keypad Alarm e Active 3 way Crossover Status Monitor Jazzy Heart FEATURES e Teach In 2006 Part 4 e Techno Talk e Circuit Surgery e Interface e PIC N Mix e Network The Internet Page HENOM UKiMAGATINEFOR
93. THEN OMUKIMAGAZINE FOR ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY 87COMPUTERIPROJEGTS j EVERYDAY PRACTICAL E ELECTRONICS WIW We me mag co uk www epenagyecom BICIDIGITAL GEIGER COUNTER XCD Readout aen Internal Real Time Clock PROGRAMMABLE ROBOTA 6 95 US 8 99 CAN FEB 2007 PRINTED IN THE UK 02 2527407 lll adt Copyright 2007 Wimborne Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND UK and TechBites Interactive Inc PO Box 857 Madison Alabama 35758 USA All rights reserved WARNING The materials and works contained within EPE Online which are made available by Wimborne Publishing Ltd and TechBites Interactive Inc are copyrighted ou are permitted to make a backup copy of the downloaded file and one 1 hard copy of such materials and works for your personal use International copyright laws however prohibit any further copying or reproduction of such materials and works or any republication of any kind TechBites Interactive Inc and Wimborne Publishing Ltd have used their best efforts in preparing these materials and works However TechBites Interactive Inc and Wimborne Publishing Ltd make no warranties of any kind expressed or implied with regard to the documentation or data contained herein and specifically disclaim without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose Because of possibl
94. aiissi aaa iva a ds dd sd Rd SIGNATURE cotas ads dis SAC ane psi a l enclose cheque PO in UK pounds payable to Wimborne Publishing Ltd ORDER FORM Simply complete and return the order form with your payment to the following address Wimborne Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND Price includes postage to anywhere in the World We will happily exchange any faulty CD ROMs but since the content can be printed out we do not offer a refund on these items Your CD ROM s will be posted to you by first class Card NO aspssosravo sp Tu Sa ava dEUS Switch Maestro Issue No E E mail or airmail normally Valid From Expiry Date within four working days of L Card Security Code The last 3 digits on or just under the signature strip receipt of yani order 70 Everyday Practical Electronics February 2006 READOUT Email john becker wimborne co uk John Becker addresses some of the general points readers have raised Have you anything interesting to say Drop us a line All letters quoted here have previously been replied to directly PCB track widths Recently there was a discussion on our Chat Zone via www epemag co uk about PCB track widths and their current carry ing ability It s worth sharing with you some of the chat Jimbo I have been reading previous threads about PCB production and although a fair bit is written about how sma
95. ame address etc Or order on our secure server via our UK web site Overseas cus tomers your credit card will be charged by the card provider in your local currency at the existing exchange rate Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 Phone 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 Email stewart kearn wimborne co uk Editor MIKE KENWARD Consulting Editors DAVID BARRINGTON JOHN BECKER Business Manager DAVID J LEAVER Subscriptions MARILYN GOLDBERG General Manager FAY KEARN Editorial Admin 01202 873872 Advertising Manager STEWART KEARN 01202 873872 On Line Editor ALAN WINSTANLEY EPE Online Internet version Editors CLIVE MAX MAXFIELD and ALVIN BROWN READERS TECHNICAL ENQUIRIES E mail techdept epemag wimborne co uk We are unable to offer any advice on the use purchase repair or modification of commercial equipment or the incorporation or modification of designs published in the magazine We regret that we cannot provide data or answer queries on articles or projects that are more than five years old Letters requiring a personal reply must be accompanied by a stamped self addressed envelope or a self addressed envelope and international reply coupons We are not able to answer techni cal queries on the phone PROJECTS AND CIRCUITS All reasonable precautions are taken to ensure that the advice and data given to readers is reli able We cannot however guarantee it and we cannot accept le
96. anel EE PCB with overlay wy and all electronic components Requires 9VDC wall adaptor Maplin GS74R gt 10 99 ai eo 2 High Range Adjustable Temperature Switch for Cars This temperature sata can b set anywhere up to 1200 C so it is extremely versatile The relay can be used to trigger an extra thermo fan on an intercooler a sensor near your turbo manifold to trigger water spray cooling or a simple buzzer to indicate high temperature The LCD displays the temperature constantly and can easily be dash mounted Kit included PCB with overlay and all electronic components with clear English instructions EPE had been publishing a series of popular kits by the acclaimed Silicon Chip Magazine Australia These projects are brilliantly designed bullet proof and already tested down under All Jaycar kits are supplied with specified board components quality fibreglass tinned PCBs and have clear English instructions Studio 350 High power Amplifier It delivers a whopping 350WRMS into 4 ohms or Z00WRMS into 8 ohms Using eight 250V 200W plastic power transistors It is super quiet with a signal to noise ratio of 125dB A at full 8 ohm power Harmonic distortion is A just 0 002 and frequency My response is almost flat less i than 1dB between 15Hz and 4 60kHz Kit supplied in short form with PCB and electronic components Kit requires heatsink and 70V power supply Kit Delta Throttle Timer It wi
97. any animated diagrams Nearly all the circuits can be instantly simulated in Crocodile Technology not included on the CD ROM and you can customise the designs as required WHAT S INCLUDED Light Modules Temperature Modules Sound Modules Moisture Modules Switch Modules Astables including 555 Remote Control IR amp Radio Transistor Amplifiers Thyristor Relay Op Amp Modules Logic Modules 555 Timer PIC PICAXE Output Devices Transistor Drivers Relay Motor Direction amp Speed Control 7 Segment Displays Data sections with pinouts etc Example Projects Full Search Facility Further Background Information and Animated Diagrams Runs in Microsoft Internet Explorer All circuits can be viewed but can only be simulated if your computer has Crocodile Technoloy version 410 or later A free trial version of Crocodile Technology can be downloaded from www crocodile clips com Animated diagrams run without Crocodile Technology Single User 39 00 inc VAT Multiple Educational Users under 500 students 59 00 plus VAT Over 500 students 79 00 plus VAT UK and EU customers add VAT at 17 5 to plus VAT prices r rme oo Minimum system requirements for these CD ROMs Pentium PC CD ROM drive 32MB RAM 10MB hard disk space Windows 95 98 NT 2000 ME XP mouse sound card web browser Please send me dining CD ROM ORDER FORM ORDERING ectronic rrojecis Electronic Circuits amp Compone
98. as shown in the diagram The pushbutton switches must be orientated with their flat sides facing up as shown Positioning of the LCD will depend on the particular module Three differ ent LCD modules are generally avail able and their positions are shown in Fig 6 Type 1 is connected via a dual 7 way header strip while Type 2 and Type 3 modules are each connected via a single in line 14 pin header Note that the Type 2 module reads upside down compared to the other two modules This is solved simply by mounting the PC board upside down in the case The ends of the display adjacent to the header connection are supported Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 O Suitable for 12V lead acid batteries o LCD shows charging phase and settings O Temperature voltage and cur rent metering O 3 step charging O Optional equalisation phase O Battery temperature compensation O 16 6A charge current capacity O Initial trickle charge when bat tery voltage is low 4 preset battery chemistry settings O 2 adjustable specific battery set tings can be set for 6V batteries O Correction for voltage drop across battery leads O Wide battery capacity range 4 250Ah in 18 steps 59 Zs Coene C E C E C a EVE Crie CIE E i l i l CT A N S O A HS l i St using M2 5 x 15mm screws and M2 5 nuts The 4 way and 6 way header pins are right angle types Make up the plugs by terminating the 6 way and 4 way ra
99. at a medical test can show but many patients are unwilling to try existing means of coping such as anti depressants They derive some benefit from continuing to insist that they have a medical condition and then become easy prey for unproven ideas It s easy to become obsessed that some food allergy is the cause of all ills and spend great effort on strange and useless diets What a pity that society is sufficiently developed to change rapidly into a form that causes stresses but not sufficiently civilised to recognise and deal with the underlying problem A true allergy test is typically done by applying skin patches and reading the amount of any redness over several days Whether or not the allergens thus detected are actually of everyday sig nificance is still not clear even then Life is difficult enough but until we admit to rather than distract from the problems we cannot even begin to solve them Godfrey Manning via email Thank you very much for that opinion Godfrey soundly based I believe Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 Surfing The Internet Alan Winstanley More Internet Explorer tips Last month I introduced Microsoft s latest incarnation of their web browser Internet Explorer 7 This major upgrade can be installed optionally as part of Windows Automatic Update or can be down loaded from www microsoft com windows ie The browser interface has been restyled in line with the cur
100. brown brown green brown brown brown red brown brown brown black black brown the 25V supply pin and the GND pin That done connect a multimeter set to read 10V between the GND pin and the tab on the regulator REG1 Adjust VR4 for a 5 0V output Assuming all is OK switch off the power install IC5 into its socket and solder SENSOR 1 to the PC stakes Wait a minute or so until the sensor cools after soldering then install the shorting jumpers JP1 and JP2 Re apply power and adjust trimpot VR5 on the display PC board for best display contrast Check that the dis play shows BATTERY AMP HOUR and lt 60Ah gt Also press the Set switch and check that the display now shows BATTERY TYPE and lt LEAD ACID gt Press Start and check that the display shows BULK and 26 Deg C 0 0V 0 0A for example Next adjust trimpot VR3 so that the display shows the same temperature as the ambient this can be measured using another thermometer Note that the display reads in 2 C increments so set the display to the nearest value available This may need to be re checked to be sure the reading tracks the ambient value correctly To test the Power PC board apply between 12V and 25V DC to the 25V and GND pins That done check the voltage between pins 8 amp 4 of IC1 and IC2 this voltage should be similar to the input supply The voltage across ZD3 should be close to 5 1V if the supply is around 25V but may be lower than this if the powe
101. bulk programming Optional ZIF socket Assembled Order Code AS3117 24 95 Assembled with ZIF socket Order Code AS3117ZIF 39 95 ATMEL 89xxxx Programmer Uses serial port and any standard terminal comms program 4 LED s display the status ZIF sockets not included Supply 16Vdc Kit Order Code 3123KT 24 95 Assembled Order Code AS3123 34 95 Introduction to PIC Programming Go from complete beginner to burning a PIC and writing code in no time Includes 49 page step by step PDF Tutorial Manual Program ming Hardware with LED test section Win 3 11 XP Programming Software Program Read Verify amp Erase and 1rewritable PIC16F84A that you can use with different code 4 detailed examples pro vided for you to learn from PC parallel port Kit Order Code 3081KT 16 95 Assembled Order Code AS3081 24 95 Quasar Electronics Limited PO Box 6935 Bishops Stortford CM23 4WP United Kingdom Fax 0870 460 1045 E mail sales quasarelectronics com Web www QuasarElectronics com 08717 Credit Card Sales ABC Maxi AVR pa Board The ABC Maxi is ideal for developing new designs Open architecture built around an ATMEL AVR AT90S8535 microcontroller All circuits are embedded within the package and additional add on expansion modules are available to assist you with project development Features 8 Kb of In System Programmable Flash 1000 write erase cycles e 512 bytes internal SRAM
102. cam overlooking a traffic intersection in Norway and then an empty machine shop full of expensive look ing gear but I have no idea where it is These cameras are inherently expensive and seem to appear mostly in commercial or industrial applications My point about the IP camera not need ing a host PC unlike a standard USB web cam was only to get across the idea that IP Internet hardware has its own network address and operates as a standalone unit I agree and have mentioned previously that a router is the best defense with client machines operating on a LAN with their own private IP addresses 192 all run ning behind the the router s firewall I understand the frustrations of Windows v Linux next month I discuss MS E7 but the best I can do is allude to Linux as an alternative OS because the magazine col umn is a general interest Internet feature and the huge majority of readers rightly or wrongly have Windows OS I couldn t do Justice to Linux with such a small magazine space and Apple users feel the same way I do agree though and would like to spend some time running up a Linux machine myself but I never get the time to gain hands on experience and it would become a hobby challenge in itself I will continue to bear it in mind though Alan Winstanley To which I would add that I ll be happy to run a few letters on such in Readout if anyone cares to email me via the address at the top of the Readout page
103. can be made from 10mm outside diameter plas tic tubing 25mm long with two 25mm discs cut from a sheet of plastic The discs are epoxied onto the tubing 13mm apart as shown in the photograph Sixty metres of wire can be measured by creating a half metre wooden former and wrapping sixty times as shown in the background of the photo The actual bobbin winding can be accomplished with an electric screwdriver The final specification of the inductor is 12mH and 36 ohms 2 75in 70mm Circuit board Most of the components for the Gei ger Counter are mounted on a double sided printed circuit board PCB The component layout and full size copper track masters are shown in Fig 2 This Fig 2 Printed circuit board component layout and copper foil master patterns Some copper pads X 3 875in 98 5mm components need soldering on both sides of the PCB 14 Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 board is available from the EPE PCB Service code 607 Begin the board construction by mounting the resistors and other low profile components to the top of the board as shown in Fig 2 The high voltage portion of the circuit is on the bottom halfofthe circuit board Capaci tors C3 and C6 are very important If C3 is omitted then the microprocessor will notrun reliably at USB full speed If C6 is eliminated the counter will pick up noise from the 4000Hz PWM The board is connected to the front panel mou
104. ce boosting clear advice and the likely delivery dates Also bear in mind the Distance Selling Regulations in the UK allowing a seven day cooling off period for most goods bought at arm s length You can return them as new and undamaged for a full refund though you may have to pay for return postage Check the seller s terms before you buy You can contact Alan at alan epemag demon co uk T3 FREE Two booklets and a Circuit Surgery CD ROM with Teach In 2000 CD ROM x eli EPE TEACH IN 2000 CD ROM The whole of the 12 part Teach In 2000 series by John Becker published in EPE Nov 99 to Oct 2000 is now available on CD ROM Plus the Teach In 2000 interactive software Win 95 98 ME and above covering all aspects of the series and Alan Winstanley s Basic Soldering Guide including illustrations and Desoldering Teach In 2000 covers all the basic principles of elec tronics from Ohm s Law to Displays including Op Amps Logic Gates etc Each part has its own section on the inter active software where you can also change component values in the various on screen demonstration circuits The series gives a hands on approach to electronics with numerous breadboard circuits to try out plus a sim ple computer interface Win 95 98 ME only which allows a PC to be used as a basic oscilloscope ONLY 12 45 including VAT and p amp p Robotics INTRODUCING ROBOTICS WITH LEGO MINDSTORMS Robert Penfold Shows the
105. ch but wouldn t it be nice if the lights stayed on automatically for a short time instead And wouldn t it be classy ifthe lights faded out at the end of the timing period instead of a sudden switch off Another feature that would be use ful is to have the courtesy light s automatically switch off whenever the parking lights are switched on This would allow you to drive off if ready to go before the courtesy lights had timed out The final feature of this design is its ease of installation Past courtesy 26 light delay circuits have presented real problems for installation because of the various wiring combinations for courtesy lights in modern cars In presenting this design we particularly wanted to solve the connection problems Courtesy light circuits The automotive industry is renowned for its lack of standardisation when it comes to car wiring and this is certainly revealed when it comes to lighting cir cuits Fig 1 a and Fig 1 b show how the courtesy lights can be wired Some cars will have the lights connected to the 12V supply rail and the door switches connecting to the car chassis while other cars will have the opposite connection with the courtesy lights con necting to chassis and the door switches connecting to the 12V rail Note that we have shown only two lights and two switches Some cars will have more switches one in each door plus a manual courtesy switch inside and more lights The s
106. chanical parts e Build different robot configura tions from one kit including wheel based and track based e Program intelligence to follow light detect collisions and trace lines Learn about experiment and have fun with robotics with Robo BOX 3 0 an incredibly easy to build yet adaptable and expandable robot Various wheel based and track based robots can be built from the standard kit including light following collision detecting and line tracing models Programming is carried out in graphical Logo A range of low cost options allow for easy expansion and the development of more sophisticated robots We also stock similar robot kits based on PlCmicro 8051 and 68HC11 microcontrollers F d P Eu 1a Le Zz Es E E x O VA 1 h aa VA E bo bei Qu Se i E a All prices exclude UK delivery 5 standard 10 next day and VAT Test Equipment PoScope USB Oscilloscope Logic Analyser only 99 e Low cost PC based instrument featuring oscilloscope spectrum analyser logic analyser pattern generator and chart recorder e Decodes serial buses including UART SPI 12C and 1 wire e Supplied with logic analyser test lead set two oscilloscope probes USB cable and software PoScope has to be one of the best value pieces of test equipment available and features a dual channel oscilloscope 100Hz to 200kHz sample rate 16 channel logic analyser 1kHz to 8MHz sample rate and 8 channe
107. comes from a 6V 4Ah sealed lead acid battery which is mounted just behind the front axle assembly opening the WALTZING MATILDA DEMO file and then pressing F5 If the motors have been attached at this stage the robot will wiggle briefly then the first line of Waltzing Mat ilda will play and the robot will drive forwards Then it will turn and repeat the sequence If the motors have not yet been attached the sound of Waltzing Matilda will give confirmation that a good deal is already working the programming system the serial ca ble the PICAXE 08 IC and some of the surrounding components at the very least The PC board is elevated on its mounting bolts to allow the wiring to the motors etc to pass through holes drilled through the baseboard beneath it 50 To adjust the PICAXE 08 to the surrounding light level run the LDR ADJUST program and keep the serial cable connected while you do so Adjust VR1 and as you do observe variable b3 on your computer screen When the robot is aimed at the darkest areas of the room b3 should read 160 while lighter areas should show lesser numbers What is most important is that there should be maximum variation in this number b3 as the robot surveys dif ferent areas of a room Turning it loose Once complete place the Program mable Robot on a hard floor and switch on All being well it will wiggle then follow the rest of its programmed behaviour
108. controlled power supply Fig 1 This pro vides an output voltage that can be varied from O to 12 75 volts with a resolution of 50 millivolt 0 05 volts Output currents of up to one amp can be accommodated The Circuit Operation of the circuit will not be con sidered in detail here as it has been fully described in previous Interface articles The basic scheme of things is to have IC2 provide a stable 5V supply to an 8 bit digi tal to analogue converter based on ICI IC3 acts as a voltage amplifier that boosts the output of IC1 by a factor of five giving a O to 12 75V output range from the O to 2 55V output from IC1 Variable preset resistor VR1 enables the voltage gain of IC1 to be adjusted so that precisely the required output voltage range is obtained TR1 is a power Darlington transistor that acts as a buffer stage so that high output currents can be accommodated This device has to dissipate up to around 16 watts or so at high output currents and low output potentials so it must be fitted on a large heatsink Correct operation of the circuit is reliant upon the very high current gain of TR1 and there is no chance of the unit working properly if an ordinary power tran sistor 1s used here Transistor TR2 and resistor R3 act as a conventional current limiter that prevents output currents of more than about 20mA from being drawn Two relays are con trolled from handshake outputs of the PSU CONTROL PROGRAM 1 amp
109. ct the LND712 Geiger Mueller tube Select the GEIGER COUNTER OFF menu option and plug the device into a PC using a USB cable You should point the hardware wizard to the DGC INF file supplied with the GM COUNTER software Reading the DGC INF file will cause the Windows XP communication device drivers to be loaded Testing phase 2 After checking out the electronics the first thing to do is to try to measure a radioactive source Where do we get this radioactive source For about 5 you can buy a one microcurie Ameri cium 141 alpha source in the form of an ionizing smoke detector Ionizing smoke detectors having a radioactive source will have a warning label stating the type and strength of the source Locating the alpha source under a black grid cage in a ionising smoke detector Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 As shown in the photograph the alpha source pointed to by the pencil is located under a black grid As far as danger is concerned a sheet of paper or a few centimeters of air will reduce the radiation from this alpha particle source to a negligible level Fig 7 Measurement screen You can check the previous state ment for yourself Place the Americi um 141 alpha source smoke detector about 3mm from the G M tube s mica window Take a number of samples in MULTIPLE SAMPLE mode Now insert one sheet of paper between the alpha source and the G M tube and continue taking samples F
110. ct with a brass stub on the plat form when a collision took place Finally switch S2 piezo sounder X1 and LDR1 are connected to the PC board Switch S2 may be mounted on the hardboard platform The piezo sounder may be fixed underneath the PC board with a little glue A short tube say 15mm in length should be slipped over the LDR and this should be mounted on the front of the robot with a clear view in front Without this blinker tube the LDR does not have sufficient directionality to be of much use This close up view shows how the LDR is housed in a short 15mm length of tube It sits just behind the collision switch Reproduced by arrangement with SILICON CHIP magazine 2007 www siliconchip com au Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 Once the circuit is complete piezo sounder X1 presents a quick and easy way of testing for life in the circuit Us ing the WALTZING MATILDA DEMO only the piezo sounder and battery need to be wired up at first Switch on the circuit being vigilant for any sparks or abnormal heating If the slightest problem should be sus pected switch off immediately and thoroughly re check the PC board Program the PICAXE 08 by means of the serial cable This is done by 49 PIEZO SOUNDER UNDER BATTERY tt Tt At A CE MOTO FAOeOSYO TO amp OA 3J4AMMAA OAN Fig 6 follow this diagram to complete the wiring for the Robot Power
111. cts this invaluable book will save you a small fortune Circuits include video enhancer improved video enhancer video fader horizontal wiper improved video wiper negative video unit fade to grey unit black and white keyer vertical wiper audio mixer stereo headphone amplifier dynamic noise reducer automatic fader pushbutton fader computer control interface 12 volt mains power supply Order code PC115 3095 5 45 124 pages ALL PRICES INCLUDE UK POST amp PACKING Jo Data and Design PRACTICAL ELECTRONIC FILTERS Owen Bishop This book deals with the subject in a non mathematical way It reviews the main types of filter explaining in sim ple terms how each type works and how it is used The book also presents a dozen filter based projects with applications in and around the home or in the constructors workshop These include a number of audio projects such as a rythm sequencer and a multi voiced electronic organ Concluding the book is a practical step by step guide to designing simple filters for a wide range of purposes with circuit diagrams and worked examples 88 pages Order code BP299 5 49 DIGITAL LOGIC GATES AND FLIP FLOPS lan R Sinclair This book intended for enthusiasts students and techni cians seeks to establish a firm foundation in digital elec tronics by treating the topics of gates and flip flops thor oughly and from the beginning Topics such as Boolean algebra and Ka
112. cy Counter 5Hz 200MHz Battery 60 THANDAR TF200 Frequency Meter 10Hz 200MHz 8 digit BLACK STAR Meteor 100 Counter 5Hz 100MHz BLACK STAR 1325 Counter Timer 1300MHz BECKMAN UC10A Universal Counter 120MHz LEADER LDC9043 Digital Counter 100MHz DIGITAL MULTIMETERS Erc SOLARTRON 7150 6 digit True RMS IEEE SOLARTRON 7150Plus As Above Temp Measurement 100 DATRON 1065 5 digit Autocal AC DC Resistance IEEE 95 FLUKE 77 3 digit Handheld FLUKE 77 Series 2 31 digit Handheld FLUKE 8060A 4 digit True RMS Handheld BECKMAN HD110 3 digit Handheld in Carry Case TTI 1905A 5 digit Bench SOLARTRON 7045 4 digit Bench AVO DA116 3 digit with Batteries amp Leads AVO 8 Mk6 in Ever Ready Case with Leads etc AVO 8 Mk5 with Leads etc RACAL 9301A True RMS RF Millivoltmeter RACAL 9300 True RMS Millivoltmeter 5Hz 20MHz usable to 60MHz RACAL 9300B as 9300 GOODWILL GVT427 Dual Chan AC Millivoltmeter 10mV in 12 ranges 10Hz 1MHz Unused KENWOOD VT176 Dual Chan Millivoltmeter FARNELL XA35 2T 0 35V 0 2A Twice Digital FARNELL LT30 2 0 30V 0 2A Twice FARNELL B30 20 30V 20A Variable No Meters FARNELL B30 10 30V 10A Variable No Meters FARNELL LT30 1 0 30V 0 1A Twice FARNELL L30 2 0 30V 0 24 FARNELL L30 1 0 30V 0 1A FARNELL E350 0 350V 0 200mA FARNELL D30 2T 0 30V 0 2A Twice Digital THURLBY PL330 0 32V 0 3A Digital Kenwood badged 75 THURLBY TS3021S 0 30V 0 2A LCD 65 THURLBY PL320 0 30V 0 2A Digital TAKASA
113. d USA agent USACAN at 1320 Route 9 Champlain NY 12919 Subscription price in US Ae E A S eee 60 US per annum Periodicals postage paid at Champlain NY and at additional mailing offices POSTMASTER Send USA and Canada address changes to Everyday Practical Electronics c o Express Mag PO Box Postcode moree er ee erence E E Et cae ne trono rr aa is A EEA I 2769 Plattsburgh NY USA 12901 0239 22 Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 lt may surprise you but buying an Antex soldering iron costs less than you think in the long run British made to exacting standards they last significantly longer than imported brands And with a wide range of thermally balanced soldering irons you can pick up a fixed temperature or in handle temperature model that will suit your needs perfectly None of which will burn a hole in your pocket It your hobby demands the best iron tor the job but you don t want to get your fingers burnt by the cost visit our website or your electronics retailer tor the coolest models around PWS EAE A ANTE X eae NN Not just any old iron Pick up an J AWE GESE KILNY L 3 g www antex co uk 2 Westbridge Industrial Estate Tavistock Devon PL19 8DE Tel 01822 613565 Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 Build Your Own Weather Station EA Measure Wind Speed Measure Wind Direction Measure Temperature Easy Build Kit FREE Soltware USB or RS232 Op
114. d electro mechanical equipment and parts to the Hobbyist Educational and Industrial user Many current and obsolete hard to get parts are available from our vast stocks which include 6 000 000 Semiconductors 5 000 Power Supplies 25 000 Electric Motors 10 000 Connectors 100 000 Relays amp Contactors 2000 Rack Cabinets amp Accessories 4000 Items of Test Equipment 5000 Hard Disk Drives Display Electronics Telephone 44 020 8653 3333 Fax 44 020 8653 8888 29 35 Osborne Road Thornton Heath Surrey UK CR7 8PD Rechargeable Batteries With Solder Tags NIMH NICAD AA 2000mAh PP3 150mAh Instrument case with edge connector and screw terminals Size 112mm x 52mm x 105mm tall This box consists of a cream base with a PCB slot a cover plate to pro tect your circuit a black lid with a 12 way edge connector and 12 screw terminals built in 8mm pitch and 2 screws to hold the lid on The cream bases have minor marks from dust and handling price 2 00 VAT 2 35 for a sample or 44 00 VAT 51 70 for a box of 44 866 battery pack originally intended to be used with an orbitel mobile telephone it contains 10 1 6Ah sub C batteries 42 x 22 dia the size usually used in cordless screwdrivers etc the pack is new and unused and can be broken open quite j easily 7 46 VAT 8 77 p Please add 1 66 VAT 1 95 postage amp packing per order JPG Electronics Shaws Row Old Road Che
115. d Responses used to transmit data between the DGC and a PC COMMAND PC SEND QUERY ERASE SETCLOCK Smdyhms UPLOAD Ux DGC RESPONSE RorN xttccmmddyyhhmmss ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZR or N Send N if proper of characters are not received x is a specific datapoint n is the total number of data points z bytes are currently unused OFF can be used to save power This option turns offthe LCD display turns off the LCD power and puts the microproc essor into power saving sleep mode The one second interrupt from Lower case characters are binary bytes Upper case characters are ASCII characters Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 17 Digital Geiger Counter Ecs Comm Data Analysis Query DEC Upload Data from DEC Erase Data on DGC Set DGC Date Time Status Window Port 6 is a Comm Pon Port 3 15 a Comm Port the QUERY DGC menu item on COM6 6 Statistically analyses data The complete source code for the WINDGC program is available from the EPE website As you look through the source code you will notice that there is never a call to any USB func tion That is because as far as the PC is concerned the program is talking to a standard serial COM port not a USB port If you do not have a copy of VISUAL BASIC NET you can use the executable that is supplied on any PC running the Windows XP operat ing system The WINDGC program begins by testing for COM ports 1 through 9 When the program
116. d USB 2 0 interface Sampling raca irmputitivel 2 504 sos 108 HIOA En dee ipp Tig gan Fret tagger Say que meme tine en Ain die Sampling Pata inngle shoal SMS a Charman Uns a Advanced display amp trigger modes B E egg freriians ops kom ene Pride CO SOn ti Teddy to Ga Compact amp portable Timpbase accuracy Ape SS ppm idem Di to DGM Hurt momo ois EHEHE STE AME Spectrem reaqes O ta SOR Des 4 eines Supplied with PicoScope amp PicoLog software LETI 400m U to i HO Cansection LIS EO MNT ce pet dino Tel 01480 396395 See SE NO www picotech com scope371 PISCO Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 25 Universal circuit fits all vehicles Couriesy light delay lor cars Give your car that luxury feel by extending the time that your interior lights remain on once the car doors have closed For that extra touch of class the lights fade to darkness at the end of the time period By JOHN CLARKE COURTESY LIGHT DELAY As a great feature for your car It enables you to see to insert the ignition key and find your seatbelt when it is dark outside without having to leave the door open However many cars lack this fea ture particularly older models When the car door is opened the cabin lights do light up but as soon as the door is closed the lights go out This happens just when you are about to get settled into the seat Of course you can fum ble around and find the interior light swit
117. d to the digital display The Cancel button can be used to remove the last digit entered and using multiple operations it is possible to remove several characters The Enter button is operated once the correct voltage has been entered and the virtual panel meter then changes to indicate that the output voltage has been changed A different method of controlling the limit current is used in the new pro gram The three command buttons of the original have been replaced by a three posi tion virtual rotary switch Operation of the numeric keypad will not be considered in detail here since it is essen tially the same as the one described in a previous Interface article It was moved into the current program using the Copy and Paste method It has to be borne in mind that reusing programs and sections of programs in this way can produce one or two prob lems The usual cause of these is that component names in the new Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 material duplicate those already present in the program In order to correct this it is just a matter of renaming the offending compo nents and then changing the program code to match Of course it will usually be necessary to make changes to the program code in order to obtain the desired result In this case the routine for the Enter key Command11 includes an Out instruction that writes the appropriate value to the printer port As usual it is necessary f
118. ded core wire SP174 SP101 8 Metres 22SWG solder SP175 SP102 20 x 8 pin DIL sockets SP177 SP103 15 x 14 pin DIL sockets SP178 SP104 15 x 16 pin DIL sockets SP181 SP105 4 x 74LS00 SP182 SP109 15 x BC557 transistors SP183 SP112 4 x CMOS 4093 SP187 SP115 3 x 10mm Red LEDs SP189 SP116 3 x 10mm Green LEDs SP192 SP118 2 x CMOS 4047 SP195 SP124 20 x Assorted ceramic disc caps SP197 SP126 6 x Battery clips 3 ea SP198 PP3 PP9 SP199 SP130 100 x Mixed 0 5W C F resistors SP200 SP131 2 x TLO71 Op Amps SP133 20 x 1N4004 diodes SP134 15 x 1N4007 diodes RESISTOR PACKS C Film RP3 5 each value total 365 0 25W 3 40 RP7 10 each value total 730 0 25W 4 65 RP10 1000 popular values 0 25W 6 60 RP4 5 each value total 345 0 5W 4 30 RP8 10 each value total 690 0 5W 6 95 RP11 1000 popular values 0 5W 8 95 5 x Miniature slide switches 3 x BFY50 transistors 4 x W005 1 5A bridge rectifiers 20 x 2 2 63V radial elect caps 3 x W04 1 5A bridge rectifiers 2 x CMOS 4017 5 Pairs min crocodile clips Red amp Black 5 Pairs min crocodile clips assorted colours 10 x 2N3704 transistors 5 x Stripboard 9 strips x 25 holes 4 x 8mm Red LEDs 4 x 8mm Green LEDs 4 x 8mm Yellow LEDs 15 x BC548 transistors 3 x Stripboard 14 strips x 27 holes 10 x 2N3904 transistors 10 x 2N3906 transistors 2 x C106D thyristors 2 x LF351 Op Amps 20 x 1N4003 diodes 5 x BC107 transistors 5 x BC108 transistors 8 Metres 18SWG solder 4 x Standard slide switc
119. dware tool to help debug your PIC software PIC Video Cleaner Improving video viewing on poorly maintained TVs and VCRs PIC Graphics LCD Scope A PIC and graphics LCD signal monitor for your workshop I I I l I PIC to Printer Interface I I I I Please send me quantity EPE PIC PROJECTS VOL 1 CD ROM Price 14 45 each includes postage to anywhere in the world How to use dot matrix printers as data loggers with PIC microcontrollers PIC Polywhatsit A novel compendium of musical effects to delight the creative musician ec a a a PIC Magick Musick l Conjure music from thin air at the mere untouching gesture ofa e fingertip PIC Mini Enigma PO ee Post Code Ecs Ee ee me Share encrypted messages with your friends true spymaster entertainment PIC Virus Zapper Can disease be cured electronically Investigate this controversial subject for yourself PIC Controlled Intruder Alarm A sophisticated multi zone intruder detection system that offers a C I enclose cheque P O bank draft to the value of L Please charge my Visa Mastercard Amex Diners Club Maestro variety of monitoring facilities Card INO aparte eee Cogn pres Heche pete cele vee ein PIC Big Digit Display Control the giant ex British Rail platform clock 7 segment digits Card Security Code The last 3 digits on or just under that are now available on the surplus market the signature strip PIC Freezer Alarm Start Date
120. e MPASM assembler code for the PIC16F84 microcontroller on screen Using this you can actually see what happens inside the PlCmicro MCU as each instruction is executed which enhances understanding O Comprehensive instruction through 45 tutorial sections Includes Vlab a Virtual PICmicro microcontroller a fully functioning simulator Tests exercises and projects covering a wide range of PlCmicro MCU applications Includes MPLAB assembler O Visual representation of a PlCmicro showing architecture and functions Expert system for code entry helps first time users Shows data flow and fetch execute cycle and has challenges washing machine lift crossroads etc Imports MPASM files a L E Z4 Pro 4 e e va a a J iza m E ED TS ie go elie See DD E A ee ira ing VAT and postage supplied with USB cable and SOFTWARE C FOR PiCmicro VERSION 2 The C for PlCmicro microcontrollers CD ROM is designed for students and professionals who need to learn how to program embedded microcontrollers in C The CD contains a course as well as all the software tools needed to create Hex code for a wide range of PlCmicro devices including a full C compiler for a wide range of PICmicro devices Although the course focuses on the use of the PlCmicro microcontrollers this CD ROM will provide a good grounding in C programming for any microcontroller O Complete course in C as well as C programmin
121. e air to a distant transmitter which radiates magnetism down into the water again Says Gwyn Griffiths Head of the Underwater Systems Lab at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton I get an incredible sense of deja vu when I read the WES paper In 1975 my third year thesis was on electrical communica tion through seawater It s been a neglect ed technology The physics hasn t changed but the signal processing tech nology has You can do more today with the same physics What would kill this is being oversold on applications it can t deliver Sound is still best for long dis tance communication in deep water But they have seen and targeted niche applica tions I can t help wondering what I could have done in the 1970s with today s signal processing Barry Fox EMC RETROSPECT EXPRESS Smith Micro Software has announced the arrival of EMC Retrospect Express simple reliable software to protect your PC The company states that when 1t comes to protecting your home computer nothing beats EMC Retrospect Express HD Built on award winning technology that protects more than 10 million PCs worldwide Retrospect backup and recovery software consistently takes top honours from experts Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 Retrospect Express HD protects your music photos videos email games tax returns schoolwork computer settings important documents everything by automatically backing
122. e code here we have included all the modified source files main c user c io_cfg h usbcfg h in the Pic N Mix section of the down load page on the EPE website access via www epemag co uk The code added to processio is very simple we look to see if either of the buttons have been pressed and if so print a 1 or 2 character over the virtual serial port back to the PC That s four lines of code A further 26 lines of code poll the virtual se rial port for incoming characters if a character is received a simple if else statement tests for special characters 0x0C clear the LCD 0x0D move to next line otherwise the character is simply printed to the LCD This code is simple short clear and required no knowledge of implementing USB firmware When you download the code onto the PIC and re connect the hardware to your PC the hardware will be detected automatically no need to reload the driver If you run HyperTerminal now pressing the keys on the unit should result in the characters 1 and 2 appearing on the HyperTerminal window Any keys pressed on the PC keyboard will be displayed on the LCD If you press the lt enter gt key the LCD will move to the start of the second line If you press lt CTRL gt and lt L gt simultaneously the LCD display should clear You can control the unit in Visual Basic or any other program ming language by simply referring to the virtual c
123. e successful Upload complete Datapoint 13 received Datapoimt 12 received processing functions directly in Visual Basic Net Writing the functions in VB NET was more work but resulted in a smaller program that everyone can use The Data Analysis menu allows the user to plot and gather statistical data about selected points Moving the mouse over a particular data point will report the X and Y coordinate in the MOUSE X Y LOCATION textbox RM See RR Fig 6 The LCD display after welcome on power up Testing phase 1 The first test is to verify that the LCD is working Plug in the LCD and make sure the LCD contrast control VR2 is set to midrange Power up the unit and the welcome screen should appear followed by the main menu as shown in Fig 6 You should be able to set the real time clock using the menu system If there is a problem with the 32 768kHz oscillator the LCD time display will not increment Once the display and clock are working properly select the HIGH VOLTAGE screen from the UTILITY menu You should measure approxi mately 500V DC at TP1 You should now be able to read 500 volts on the LCD display when the high voltage is Fig 5 The WINDGC screen showing the result after an upload of 13 data points on You can calibrate the display to your voltmeter by adjusting R20 Be aware that your voltmeter may reduce the high voltage output during the cali bration Now you are ready to conne
124. e variances in the quality and condition of materials and workmanship used by readers EPE Online its publishers and agents disclaim any responsibility for the safe and proper functioning of reader constructed projects based on or from information published in these materials and works In no event shall TechBites Interactive Inc or Wimborne Publishing Ltd be responsible or liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages including but not limited to special incidental consequential or any other damages in connection with or arising out of furnishing performance or use of these materials and works HB7 Stirling Engine Base measurements 128 mm x 108 mm x 170 mm 1 kg Base plate beech Working rpm 2000 rpm min the engine has a aluminium good cooling Cylinder Bearing application 10 high class ball bearings Material screw side parts all stainless steel Cylinder brass Rest aluminium and stainless steel Available as a kit 80 75 or built 84 99 www mamodspares co uk HRS Ki HB9 Stirling engine Base measurements 156 mm x 108 mm x 130 mm 0 6 Kg Base plate beech Working rpm approx 2 000 min Bearing application 6 high class ball bearings Material of the engine brass aluminium stainless steel running time 30 45 min Available as a kit 97 75 or built 101 99 www mamodspares co uk HB10 Stirling Engine Base measurements 156 mm x 108 mm x 130 mm 0 6 Kg Base plate beech Working rpm approx 2
125. ed for the use of external equipment during pro gramming as EasyPIC4 development system has its own on board USB program mer All you need to do is connect the system to a PC using USB cable Then load your program into the microcontroller via the PICFlash2 programming software which is supplied with EasyPIC4 i j FERA Corea sum Bai e plane etc eae ER LOPE E inda Prenat elabor j lucia T Emi Mirna Watching limer penj OO EFE dd ari Fara Peres Timer Dio ve FiA Pep am Perey Ber ad beat E race nda Enable Eras Bam Lim ele Program raci E Wie postei TH Dakmik Protect Dati DIR Fh Praieciad smia Naa S76 Fh Prone bedem Debt Cutie EP E sitar E Oo FFFh Pramected n Tea HE a oA Ei Liar Eon S r FF EFF FFF FF Cm E Optoma Paige Memory Sor S KE Demi Slots elle Tyee p IPAO Soe FE Am icki k Perier CSA ii Fir Cae PES E ED A RA A A CAP ai FEST MES ees PCP Cpe Fare This Programmable Robot features full manoeuvrability forward reverse turn and stop with pulse width modulation for speed control It also sports bump and respond random motion Programmable programmable sound light sensing 16 levels and EEPROM byte wise addressing By THOMAS SCARBOROUGH To CIRCUTT lets you design your own robot to suit your own taste It would not be difficult for instance to convert this design to a c
126. eneric PIC PCB Dear EPE A number of John B s PIC projects appear to have similar PCBs I wonder if he could design a generic PIC basic 71 board that contains the PIC crystal pro gram connector LCD power supply con nections etc and then bring out the rest of what you normally use to a daughter board connector The idea being you wouldn t have to design the same board over and over you and the users could make a whole stack of them at one time maybe even justifying the cost of having them sent out and have some professional service solder mask and all that Then when you design a project you design from the daughter board connection up Then the end user only needs to manu facture the daughter board Plug the daugh ter board into the mother board and turn it on This should ease the board design on you and the end user And if you played your cards right you could re use the same board mother board only for several pro jects just the main board no daughter board needed Those would be rare birds but mostly ones like the graphics demo or the tape measure that were just a PIC LCD and a few glue circuits Naturally you couldn t do this for every project only the ones that have a lot in common George Johnson Obiwan on our Chat Zone via email George you re the second person to sug gest a universal board I told him I didn t wish to tie myself to a given design and to feel
127. epemag com Club Maestro I No advertisements are included in Volumes 1 and 2 from Volume 5 I l onwards the available relevant software for Interface articles is Daio erae ace Rye eh A a aT E E l also included l l Parea A EAE ENE N E es ee es eee l EXTRA ARTICLES ON ALL VOLUMES i BASIC SOLDERING GUIDE Alan Winstanley s internationally RECUO O egaa ine lasta digite Omer jusrtngder acclaimed fully illustrated guide UNDERSTANDING PASSIVE COMPO the signature strip NENTS Introduction to the basic principles of passive components HOW TO USE INTELLIGENT L C Ds by Julyan llett An utterly practi cal guide to interfacing and programming intelligent liquid crystal display modules PhyzzyB COMPUTERS BONUS ARTICLE 1 Signed and Unsigned Binary Numbers By Clive Max Maxfield and Alvin Brown PhyzzyB COMPUTERS BONUS ARTICLE 2 Creating an Event Counter By Clive Max Maxfield and Alvin Brown INTERGRAPH COMPUTER SYSTEMS 3D GRAPHICS A chapter from Intergraph s book that explains computer graphics technology FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE by Barry Fox Russian rockets launching American Satellites PC ENGINES by Ernest Flint The evolution of Intel s microprocessors THE ENDTO ALL DISEASE by Aubrey Scoon The original work of Rife COLLECTING AND RESTORING VINTAGE RADIOS by Paul Stenning THE LIFE amp WORKS OF KONRAD ZUSE a brilliant pioneer in the evolution of computers A bonus article on his life and wo
128. er B is not easy to discover This is an opportunity for further investigation Some PICs have two capture compare mod ules and in this case it is CCPR2 not CCPR1 that triggers TMR1 and ADC conversion The assignment of bits to the special purpose regis ters is not well standardized from PIC to PIC so it is necessary to read the data sheets care fully to ensure that TMR1 the CCPR module and the ADC are all configured correctly The program was written initially for a 16F876 and then converted to a 12F683 The conversion was not unusually difficult but revealed the need to examine the data sheets carefully Mike Hibbett returns next month T a Lt FREE E eee ree HE tee E n A FAABARTIIARA DB 1A A d Ta G Ta IPA ANT ec mention ICS p onain o to ments a Teas Orna call ly 1a4F OTTICO UR a N N y y Wa PA PicoScope 3000 Series PC Oscilloscopes The PicoScope 3000 series oscilloscopes are the latest offerings from the market leader in PC oscilloscopes combining high bandwidths with large buffer memories Using the latest advances in electronics the oscilloscopes connect to the USB port of any modern PC making full use of the PCs processing capabilities large screens and familiar graphical user interfaces High performance 10685 samaling rate gn p amp 200MHz bandwidth 1MB buffer memory PiceSrope Bandit DOGMA High spee
129. er the dashboard It s up to you how you secure it since the circum stances will vary from vehicle to vehicle To connect the unit you will need to access one of the car door switches and the tail light connections Note that some door switches will have two wires while others will only have a single wire connection In the latter case one contact is connected directly to chassis at the switch mounting position Note also that it s important to get the door switch connections to the unit the right way around ie the positive door switch connection must go to the positive rail of the Courtesy Light de lay You can quickly determine which is the positive door switch connection by using your multimeter to measure the voltage across the door switch when it is pushed open If there s only a single wire running to the switch this will be the positive the chassis connection is negative It s a good idea to disconnect the vehicle s battery before running the wiring to prevent any inadvertent short circuits Note that all wiring should berun using proper automotive cable and connectors The Tail lights terminals on the Courtesy Light Delay are simply con nected across one of the tail lights You can access this wiring either directly at the tail lights or at the lights switch or the fusebox Alternatively you can connect these terminals across one of the side lights at the front of the car It doesn t matte
130. ers PP3 Flying Leads Battery Snaps PP3 PP9 Battery Connectors PP3 PP9 PCB Tagged PCB Batteries Zinc Air Hearing Aid Batteries Rayovac 1 5v 10AE Yellow 6pk 2 99 Rayovac 1 5v 13AE Orange 6pk 2 99 Rayovac 1 5v 312AE Brown 6pk 2 99 Rayovac 1 5v 675AE Blue 6pk 2 99 GP Chargers also available USmart Smart2 Quick2 amp Universal All prices include Vat 17 5 16 Field Street UK P amp P for batteries 1 00 for 1 item Cannock n then additional 0 25 per item Staffs Except C D Cells 1 50 for 1 item then WS11 5QP additional 0 50 per item Tel 0845 166 2314 Bulk orders please call to arrange carriage Fax 0845 166 2315 UK P amp P for Battery Chargers is 2 95 Sales BatteryPlanet co uk LE E each Please allow upto 14 days for delivery SELL TO HOI S10 ole BS COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES through our BYISTS software Link your business website and begin selling to hobbyists and education for just 20 83 VAT per month see aptsoft com for details 31 INTERFACE Robert Penfold COMPUTER CONTROLLED POWER SUPPLY CONTROLS ECENT Interface articles have covered ways of using Visual BASIC to pro duce virtual controls panel meters etc This month s article continues this theme with an improved control program for a cir cuit that was featured in a previous Interface article EPE September 2005 The circuit in question is the computer
131. es relatively small adjustments each cycle until the error is reduced to zero Other PLLs can lock faster but are sensi tive to noise In small PICs like the 12F683 the tem porary registers TWO and IW1 are not strictly essential They hint at a useful strat egy for managing bank selection in larger PICs The strategy is reasonably efficient and it is useful to resist the temptation to do something more efficient in the smaller PICs Loading CCPR1 depends upon a trick If it is just loaded TMR1 might match pre maturely and trigger a spurious ADC con version and TMRI reset Instead IWO 7 is set so that the value initially loaded will be much bigger than any value expected in TMRI1 After both bytes of CCPRI have been loaded CCPR1H 7 is cleared For this application CCPRI is not expected to exceed OxOFFF so this strate gy should be very safe Performance PLLs aren t only difficult to analyse mathematically they are difficult to test It is easy to show that the loop is locked but it isn t easy to introduce small disturbances to show the behaviour when the loop is disturbed For demonstration and debugging the program provides two outputs A signal that is in phase with VADC and that conse quently lags VAC by 90 degrees is provid ed at GPIO 0 and is called VcoP A signal that is in phase with VAC is provided at GPIO 1 and is called VcoQ The names are mnemonic when referenced to VADC An oscilloscope can be
132. et Mr a jr io Sd and Drivers for superior CAN Bus Adapter with wall mount bracket and 5V om ania 61 00 DC auxiliary output ne CAANUSES and CAN 232 are small adapters that hug into any PC USB R5232 With over 20 different models available we probably stock the Port respectively to give instant CAN connectivity These can be treated by widest range of USB Serial Adapters available anywhere We offer cables multi p rt enclosure style models in metal and rd Windows COM Port Sending and ving can be Cor trare as a stand done in standard ASCII format These are high performance products for plasti also rack mount units with integral PSU such as the USB much less than competitive salutions L6COM RM Serial interfaces supported include AS23232 R5422 and RS485 nino supply opto isolated AS42727 and R5465 versions far rarigi products a as renas Pree ficcao cao MASA Tech brar LOM ANT16 USE Pradie do e tia 16 channel hog ic analyzer i f are based on the premium chipsets and drivers from FTO hip fo 125 00 probe set extra 195 00 pliable long distance communications All i superior compatibility pertfor ance and technical support across Windows MAC 05 CE and Linux platforms NETCOM BIS E350 ES W 3001 M 2 channel 1M OS1M12 signal generata PL instruments may be budget priced but have a wealth of features Chit 8 Port Indus met AS23232 normally oniy found i
133. eters Sensor Resistors Ohm s Law Diodes and L E D s Waveforms Frequency and Time Logic Gates Binary and Hex Logic FREE TWO BOOKLETS PLUS CD ROM WITH TEACH IN 2000 DIGITAL WORKS 3 0 Counter project Digital Works Version 3 0 is a graphical design tool that enables you to construct digital logic circuits and analyze their behaviour It is so simple to use that it will Op amps Comparators Mixers Audio and Sensor Amplifiers Transistors Transformers and Rectifiers Voltage Regulation Integration Differentiation 7 segment Displays L C D s Digital to Analogue Each part has an associated practical section and the series includes a simple PC interface Win 95 98 ME ONLY so you can use your PC as a basic oscilloscope with the various Circuits A hands on approach to electronics with numerous breadboard circuits to try out 1 2 45 including VAT and postage Requires Adobe Acrobat available free from the Internet www adobe com acrobat FREE WITH EACH TEACH IN CD ROM Understanding Active Components booklet Indentifying Electronic Components booklet and The Best Of Circuit Surgery CDROM Sine wave relationship values take you less than 10 minutes to make your first digital design It is so powerful that you will never outgrow its capability Software for simulating digital logic circuits Create your own macros highly scalable Create your own circuits components and i c s Easy to
134. evel we are interested in and find the ratio between them that is we find by what factor our intensity is larger than the reference Then if we take a logarithm of the ratio we get the scaled value For gain we have a ratio anyway output referenced to input For other measure ments we take an agreed reference level for example threshold of hearing if we are dealing with sound intensity or a particular power level say ImW if we are dealing with audio signals In fact this approach is the basis of the commonly used decibel notation The definition of a decibel dB is based on the logarithm of the power ratio of two signals P1 and P2 such that the power ratio in decibels is given by 10 x logj9 P2 P1 dB The term decibel means one tenth deci hence d of a bel symbol B The bell is named after Alexander Graham Bell One bel is log o P2 P1 but as we use 10 x logro P2 P1 we are counting in tenths of a bel If we are expressing power gain e g of an amplifier then P1 would be the input power and P2 the output power For mea suring a power quantity relative to a refer ence Pl would be the agreed reference level and P2 the value we are measuring Because power ratios are used in the decibel definition it does not matter if Pl and P2 are expressed as peak or RMS val ues as long as both are expressed in the same way As an example if your mp3 player is delivering 2 x 10 Wm of sound power to your eardrums this would
135. finds an active COM port it reports it as shown above The first step is to select a COM port using the Comm menu The next step is to select the Query DGC menu item on the DGC menu This determines if the selected port is actually connected to a DGC If a DGC is connected to the selected port then the number of saved datapoints on the DGC will be reported in the status window as shown above There are menu items to erase the data on the DGC and to set the date time on the DGC The most important menu item is Upload Data from DGC Fig 5 is the result of an Upload Data from DGC menu selection At this point the data can be plot ted using the Data Analysis menu We had originally planned to use the Excel component library to do the data plotting but decided against this option because it would limit the of the program to only those users who had Microsoft Excel installed on their computer The approach used was to write all the graphical and data 18 mr Digital Geiger Counter with 009 datapoints identified on COMO Fig 4 The WINDGC opening screen shows the result of Fie Hep BGC Comm Data Analysis TIME COUNT DATE 13441 13456 13363 13326 13553 07412 00136 Status Window 02 22 06 02 22 06 02 22 06 02 22 06 02 22 06 02 22 06 02 22 06 Um dad p Um dad j Wu ti LD A MD LO Clear Status Window i Digital Geiger Counter set time date successful Digital Geiger Counter eras
136. freeze the reading There s a 4 jiffy box to mount the electronics in and the enclosure for the radar gun assembly is made from 2 x coffee tins or similar Details included Kit includes PCB and all specified components with F clear English instructions ME Requires 12VDC power 4 Galactic Voice Kit Be the envy of everyone ato E the next Interplanetary T Conference for Evil Beings with this galactic voice simulator kit Effect and depth controls allow you to vary the effect to E simulate everything from E C 3PO to the hysterical E ranting of Daleks hell bent on exterminating anything not nailed down The kit includes PCB with overlay enclosure speaker and all components For those who really need to get out e of the house a lot more Take me to your leader e Requires 9V battery 4 speedo Corrector Mkdl A When you modify ou gearbox diff ratio or change to a large circumference tyre it may result in an inaccurate speedometer This kit alters the speedometer signal up or down from 0 to 99 of the original signal With this improved model the input set up selection can be automatically selected and it also features an LED indicator to show when the input signal is being received Kit supplied with PCB with overlay and all electronic components with clear English E instructions DC Relay Switch An treme er and versatile kit that enables you to use a tiny
137. g effect power dissipation as 7 averaged over one cycle This is obtained by dividing the above equation by R and taking a square root if this is hard to follow note we would get I if we did the same to I R which is our DC power value The result is lfa 0 bCequivatent So that P R x Ipceguivalent This equivalent current is called the Root Mean Square or RMS value of the AC current Observe that the current is being squared i in the equa tion averaged by integration hence mean and square rooted Jin the equation this is where the name comes from We can define an RMS voltage 1n the same way If we have a sine wave then i TyeakSin 27 T where t is time and Ipeak 18 the peak value of the AC current Now we have to do some more maths substitute the sinusoidal current into the equation above and perform the integration We will not go into the details here but we get IDCequivalent Ipeak 2 or 0 707 peak Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 This 1s a formula that may be well known to many readers to find the RMS value of an AC voltage or current divide the peak value by the square root of 2 The ratio of a waveform s peak value to its RMS value is known as the crest factor The crest factor isV2 for sine waves It is important to understand that kms 0 707I peak iS only true for pure sine waves For any other wave shape we have to apply the RMS integration equation again from scratc
138. g for PlCmicro microcontrollers Highly interactive course Virtual C PiCmicro improves understanding O Includes a C compiler for a wide range of PICmicro devices Includes full Integrated Development Environment Includes MPLAB software Compatible with most PiCmicro programmers Includes a compiler for all the PlCmicro devices e nm mm mm eet SF Stet ee Ose dies e ee bee geomet meh Minimum system requirements for these items Pentium PC running Windows 98 NT 2000 ME XP CD ROM drive 64MB RAM 10MB hard disk space programming software FLOWCODE FOR PiCmicro V3 Flowcode is a very high level language programming system for PlCmicro microcontrollers based on_ flowcharts Flowcode allows you to design and simulate complex robotics and control systems in a matter of minutes Flowcode is a powerful language that uses macros to facilitate the control of complex devices like 7 segment displays motor controllers and I c d displays The use of macros allows you to control these electronic devices without getting bogged down in understanding the programming Flowcode produces MPASM code which is compatible with virtually all PlCmicro programmers When used in conjunction with the Version 3 development board this provides a seamless solution that allows you to program chips in minutes O Requires no programming experience O Allows complex PlCmicro applications to be designed quickly Uses in
139. g using data PCB just 38x38mm Powered by PC Includes one DS1820 sensor and four header cables Kit Order Code 3145KT 18 95 Assembled Order Code AS3145 25 95 Additional DS1820 Sensors 3 95 each Most items are available in kit form KT suffix or pre assembled and ready for use AS prefix All prices INCLUDE 17 5 VAT Postage amp Packing Options Up to 2Kg gross weight UK Standard 3 7 TSA Day Delivery 3 95 UK Mainland Next Day Delivery 8 95 Europe EU Ns 6 95 Rest of World 9 95 up to 0 5Kg Order online for reduced price UK Postage Payment We accept all major credit debit cards Make cheques PO s payable to Quasar Electronics Call now for our FREE CATALOGUE with details of over 300 kits waa projects modules and publications Discounts for bulk quantities 177 168 Electron DTMF Telephone Relay Switcher Call your phone number using a DTMF phone from anywhere in the world and remotely turn on off any of the 4 relays as desired pres User settable Security Password Anti Tamper Rings to Answer Auto Hang up and Lockout Includes plastic case 130 x 110 x 30mm Power 12Vdc Kit Order Code 3140KT 46 95 Assembled Order Code AS3140 59 95 Serial Port Isolated I O Relay Module Computer controlled 8 channel relay board 5A mains rated relay outputs and 4 opto isolated digital inputs for monitoring switch states etc Useful in a variety of contr
140. gal responsibility for it A number of projects and circuits published in EPE employ voltages than can be lethal You should not build test modify or renovate any item of mains powered equipment unless you fully understand the safety aspects involved and you use an RCD adaptor COMPONENT SUPPLIES We do not supply electronic components or kits for building the projects featured these can be supplied by advertisers We advise readers to check that all parts are still available before commencing any pro ject in a back dated issue ADVERTISEMENTS Although the proprietors and staff of EVERYDAY PRACTICAL ELECTRONICS take reasonable precautions to protect the interests of readers by ensuring as far as practicable that advertisements are bona fide the magazine and its publishers cannot give any undertak ings in respect of statements or claims made by advertisers whether these advertisements are printed as part of the magazine or in inserts The Publishers regret that under no circum stances will the magazine accept liability for non receipt of goods ordered or for late delivery or for faults in manufacture TRANSMITTERS BUGS TELEPHONE EQUIPMENT We advise readers that certain items of radio transmitting and telephone equipment which may be advertised in our pages cannot be legally used in the UK Readers should check the law before buying any transmitting or telephone equipment as a fine confiscation of equipment and or im
141. guidelines for Radio Receivers TV Receivers Cassette Recorders Video Recorders Personal Computers etc TECHNICAL NOTES Commencing with the IBM PC this section and the Supplements deal with a very wide range of specific types of equipment radios TVs cassette recorders amplifiers video recorders etc REFERENCE DATA Diodes Small Signal Transistors Power Transistors Thyristors Triacs and Field Effect Transistors Supplements include Operational Amplifiers Logic Circuits Optoelectronic Devices etc Esp oe poe ETs e SRT rs SPECIAL OFFER Order both Manuals together and SAVE 10 THE MODERN ELECTRONICS MANUAL E orem lis nae a iam T o Made Electronics Manual b e ima The essential reference work for everyone studying electronics e Over 800 pages In depth theory e Projects to build e Detailed assembly instructions e Full components checklists e Extensive data tables e Manufacturers web links e Easy to use Adobe Acrobat format e Clear and simple layout e Comprehensive subject range Professionally written e Supplements BASIC PRINCIPLES Electronic Components and their Characteristics Circuits Using Passive Components Power Supplies The Amateur Electronics Workshop The Uses of Semiconductors Digital Electronics Operational Amplifiers Introduction to Physics including practical experiments Semiconductors and Digital Instruments CIRCUITS TO
142. h Loudness perception If we want to discuss audio measure ments it is useful to start by considering hearing and specifically human perception of loudness The human ear is able to hear sounds of a very large range of intensities which is measured in Watts per square meter Wm The quietest sound which can be per ceived is called the threshold of hearing and is about 1 10 2 Wm The threshold of pain is about 10 000 000 000 000 times more than this at about 10Wm these threshold figures are only approximate and vary with individuals and frequency An exponential increase in sound intensi ty from the quietest audible to the loudest tolerable sound is perceived by us as a basically linear increase in loudness It is worth mentioning here that while sound intensity in Watts per square meter is rigid ly defined loudness is a matter of human perception and will vary between individu als and with frequency however the gen eral exponential nature of the relationship just described remains valid We recently discussed exponential func tions in some depth in the context of resis tor capacitor timing circuits Exponential is the inverse of logarithmic the intensity varies exponentially our ears respond log arithmically so we perceive a linear increase in loudness Put another way each tenfold increase of sound intensity gives an equal step increase in loudness We could also say each doubling of sound intens
143. he same thing In any case here are two examples The first was spoken by the famous author broadcaster academic C S Lewis some years ago but it is still as valid today as when he first uttered it When medioc rity is the norm it is not long before medi ocrity becomes the ideal We see so much mediocrity nowadays The second quotation is much more recent It s possibly equally profound although I do wonder According to Alain Levy chairman of EMI Music the CD will not last long at least in its present form Speaking to an audience at the London Business School in October he told them The CD as it is right now is dead Downloads are now the thing and 60 per cent of the consumers who still bought CDs did so in order to listen to them on digital music players This did not signify the end of physical media for music entirely however adding You re not going to offer your mother in law iTunes downloads for Christmas But we have to be much more innovative in the way we sell physical content By the beginning of next year none of our content will come without additional material Really I buy CDs for the music on them not for mugshots of the band or interviews And will we get all this addi tional material without price rises Dream on As Stereophile magazine remarked afterwards once again we have the spec tacle of a major music mogul confessing that he doesn t have a clue what his cus
144. he start of bulk charging it will take a few seconds to bring the current up to the 25 of Ah current Note that an already charged battery will cycle through to the float charge in a short space of time This fast cycling through to float can also indicate a faulty battery if it has not been charged recently The temperature sensor does not necessarily need to be placed on the battery case during charging In most cases Fig 11 this artwork can be used as a drilling and the sensor can be located adjacent to the battery to monitor cutout template for the front panel Note that the the ambient temperature display cutout position shown here is for the Type 1 However the sensor does need to be placed on the battery LCD and is different for the Type 2 and Type 3 LCDs if it has been brought to the charger from a different tem perature environment such as acold room You can secure the sensor to the battery using masking tape Alternatively you can use adhesive backed Velcro material if the battery is to be charged regularly EPE om LLI om X L QO gt am LL E lt x aa m QO lt O lt LL l X CO N Reproduced by arrangement with SILICON CHIP magazine 2007 www siliconchip com au 68 Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 SERIAL COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST Test and Measurement Solu y USB 2COM M 36 00 cable with o R5232 ca 10cm CAN 232 2 Port Industrial USB R 232 Seria SET cable FTOI Chips
145. hed using a multimeter between chassis and this earth point you should measure this as a short circuit Note that one of the extra securing points for connecting the rear panel to the baseplate is located beneath where the fan mounts The M3 securing nut for this should be glued in place so as to make assembly easier Fig 9 shows how the hardware is installed on the rear panel Secure the bridge rectifier BR2 the blade Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 ANISLVAH JO ACIS Fig 10 here are the drilling and tapping details for the heatsink It is completely isolated from the chassis to avoid using insulation washers for the power devices 65 Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 PaintsalBisii BatteryiCharger 1 Power PC board code 604 224 x 77mm 1 Control PC board code 605 92 x 69mm 1 Display PC board code 606 141 x 66mm All PCBs are available from the EPE PCB Service 1 88 1mm high x 279mm deep x 304mm wide metal case 1 230V to 18V 300VA mains toroidal transformer 2 x 9V or 2 x 18V secondaries T1 1 fan assisted heatsink 225 long 1 80mm 12V DC 2 4W fan 2 80mm fan finger guards 1 NO 50 C thermostat switch TH1 1 NO 70 C thermostat switch TH2 1 M205 panel mount safety fuse holder F1 1 3A M205 slow blow fuse 1 30A chassis blade fuseholder F2 1 20A blade fuse 10 100mm long cable ties 6 20 x 20 x 8mm large adhesive rubber feet 2 4 8mm waterproof cable gla
146. help to carry out simple modifications and repairs In order to reflect rapid changes in computer tech nology both hardware and software this new edition has been completely revised and rewritten Order code NE41 256 pages 19 99 Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 Theory and Reference ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS FUNDAMENTALS amp APPLICATIONS Third Edition Mike Tooley A comprehensive reference text and practical electronics handbook in one volume at an affordable price New chapter on PIC microcontrollers the most popular chip family for use in project work by hobbyists and in colleges and universities New companion website spreadsheet design tools to simplify circuit calculations circuit models and templates to enable virtual simulation a bank of on line questions for lecturers to set as assignments and on line self test multiple choice questions for each chapter with automatic marking to enable students to continually monitor their progress and understanding The book s content is matched to the latest pre degree level courses making this an invaluable reference for all study levels and its broad coverage is combined with practical case studies based in real world engineering contexts throughout the text The unique combination of a comprehensive reference text incorporating a primary focus on practical applica tions ensures this text will prove a vital guide for stu dents and also for ind
147. hes 10 x 220 25V radial elect caps 20 x 22 25V radial elect caps 20 x 1 63V radial elect caps 10 x 1A 20mm quick blow fuses 10 x 2A 20mm quick blow fuses 5 x Phono plugs asstd colours 20 x 4 7 63V radial elect caps 20 x BC547 transistors 15 x BC239 transistors 4 x 5 metres solid core wire 3 x CMOS 4066 3 x 10mm Yellow LEDs 6 x 20 pin DIL sockets 5 x 24 pin DIL sockets 5 x 2 5mm mono jack plugs 5 x 2 5mm mono jack sockets 2007 Catalogue available 1 inc P amp P or FREE with first order P amp P 1 75 per order NO VAT Cheques and Postal Orders to Sherwood Electronics 7 Williamson St Mansfield Notts NG19 6TD PCB POOL 14 IV HA ERVICING YO 1 EUROCARD UR COMP ji Car 18 000 Cua bemnori nd contour possible Optional e Soldermask e Fast turnaround o Silkscreen e 4 Layer Multilayer e figo furia FREE LIPUT SOFTWARE E Freephone Q 0800 3898560 Digtal a are registered trademarks AIL product names which ap Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 BatteryPlanet UK Battery Specialist Brand new secure online shop Trade amp Bulk Enquiries Welcome Zinc Chloride Batteries Memorex AA Zinc Chloride 4pk 0 49 Memorex AAA Zinc Chloride 4pk 0 49 Memorex C Zinc Chloride 2pk 0 59 Memorex D Zinc Chloride 2pk 0 59 Memorex 9v Zinc Chloride 1pk 0 59 Panasonic Special Power AA 4pk 0 79 Panasonic Special Power AAA 4pk
148. hs 41 50 12 months 78 2 years Express airmail 30 75 6 months 59 50 12 months 114 2 years Payments payable to Everyday Practical Electronics Subs Dept Wimborne Publishing Ltd Email subs epemag wimborne co uk EVERYDAY PRACTICAL ELECTRONICS is sold subject to the following conditions namely that it shall not without the written consent of the Publishers first having been given be lent resold hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of Trade at more than the recommended selling price shown on the cover and that it shall not be lent resold hired out or otherwise disposed of in a mutilated condition or in any unauthorised cover by way of Trade or affixed to or as part of any publication or advertising literary or pictorial matter whatsoever HM e High quality development board E with on board USB programmer and built in I O devices e Supports 8 14 18 20 28 and 40 pin PICs in 10F 12F 16F and 18F families e Now features mikrolCD in circuit debugger e Supplied with PIC16F877A The new EasyPIC4 development board now supports even more PICs including 8 14 18 20 28 and 40 pin devices from the 10F 12F 16F and 18F families With its on board USB programmer mikrolCD in circuit debugger and useful I O devices the EasyPIC4 must be the best value development board on the market Our Starter Pack in cludes the EasyPIC4 board USB cable 16x2 LCD 128x64 GLCD DS1820 temperature sensor and a starte
149. ially C1 has a much lower impedance than C2 since it has 10 times greater capacitance ie 470uF vs 47uF As a result C2 is rapidly charged via C1 and so has almost the full supply voltage across it soon after power is applied to the circuit In practice if we ignore the voltage drop across diode D1 capacitor C1 will initially have about 1 1V across it and C2 will have 10 9V across it What happens now is that C1 charges to the 12V supply via resis tor R1 During charging the voltage on the negative side of C1 gradually drops to the negative supply rail At the same time diode D1 prevents C2 from discharging since it is reverse biased As a result C2 remains with about 10 9V across it At this point we need to under stand how MOSFET Q1 works These devices have three terminals called gate drain and source When the gate voltage is at the same voltage as the source the MOSFET is off and no current flows How ever when the gate voltage rises to its threshold of around 3 to 4V the 21 resistance between the drain and source suddenly goes low and so current can flow between these two terminals In practice the drain source resistance depends on the gate voltage and is at its lowest about 0 1Q when the gate voltage is more than 10V above the source Switch on Now take a look at the circuitry in volving capacitor C3 resistors R3 and R4 and the optocoupler OPTO1 When power is first app
150. ical and electronic technology It provides conpo nents that can be used in making basic digital logic cir cuits then progresses to using Integrated circuits to make and test a variety of digital circuits including Flip Flops and Counters Req s 4 x AA batteries 17 ref BET1804 The 75 in 1 electronic kit includes an nintroduction to electrical and electronic technology It provides conpo nents that can be used to make and test a wide variety of experiments including Water Sensors Logic Circuits and Oscillators The kit then progresses to the use of an inter grated circuit to produce digital voice and sound record ing experiments such as Morning Call and Burglar Alarm Requires 3 x AA batteries 20 ref BET1806 www slips co uk ISSN 0262 3617 PROJECTS THEORY NEWS COMMENT POPULAR FEATURES INCORPORATING ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL VOL 36 No 2 FEBRUARY 2007 www epemag co uk EPE Online www epemag com Projects and Circuits PIC DIGITAL GEIGER COUNTER by Robert Lane and Steve Thompson 11 With LCD readout and USB interface COURTESY LIGHT DELAY by John Clarke 26 Universal circuit fits all vehicles PROGRAMMABLE ROBOT by Thomas Scarborough 44 Bump and respond random motion programmable sound light sensing INGENUITY UNLIMITED Sharing your ideas with others 54 Alternating LED Flasher CHARGER FOR DEEP CYCLE 12V BATTERIES PART 2 by John Clarke 58 A 16A 3 step PIC controlled design Ser
151. ick Index As Integer Shape53 Top 6360 Shape53 Left 960 Out amp H37A 3 End Sub Private Sub Label3_Click Index As Integer Shape53 Top 6120 Shape53 Left 1560 Out amp H37A 2 End Sub Private Sub Label4_Click Index As Integer Shape53 Top 6360 Shape53 Left 2160 Out amp H37A 1 End Sub for use in this program simply entailed deleting the label components for what were originally positions one and five Finally Using Visual BASIC 6 it is quite easy to produce virtual controls and to integrate them into the controlling software for real world devices Reusing virtual controls meters etc in other programs is generally quite straightforward but some changes will usually be required Problems with duplicate names are easily rectified and can be avoided in the first place with care ful naming of components In some cases it is necessary to alter the co ordinates used in the program but as we have seen the Properties Window can usu ally be made to provide the information you require Obviously it will sometimes be necessary to add to an existing design or remove parts of it but both types of opera tion are normally straightforward Modifying an existing design should cer tainly be quicker and easier than starting from scratch Jo IC A four part beginners guide to using the C programming language for PIC microcontrollers Part 4 A practical implementation of using C for
152. ide of Europe Remittances should be sent to The PCB Service Everyday Practical Electronics Wimborne Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND Tel 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 Email orders Hepemag wimborne co uk On line Shop www epemag wimborne co uk shopdoor htm Cheques should be crossed and made payable to Everyday Practical Electronics Payment in sterling only NOTE While 95 of our boards are held in stock and are dispatched within seven days of receipt of order please allow a maximum of 28 days for delivery overseas readers allow extra if ordered by surface mail Back numbers or photocopies of articles are available if required see the Back Issues page for details We do not supply kits or components for our projects Please check price and availability in the latest issue A large number of older boards are listed on our website Boards can only be supplied on a payment with order basis PROJEGT TITLE Audio System AUG 05 Preamplifier Mic Supply Board Power Amp Pain Monitor MotorAmp Back To Basics 5 Kitchen Timer Room Thermometer All Band Radio Full Version Mini Version Multicore Cable Tester Main Active Back To Basics 6 Daily Reminder Whistle Switch Model Railway Signal Control x Snooker Darts Scoreboard Photic Phone Transmitter Receiver Back To Basics 7 Parking Radar Telephone Switch x Haloween Ho
153. ies and Features TECHNO TALK by Mark Nelson 10 Soldering Schadenfreude PIC N MIX by Keith Anderson 24 Implementing a software PLL for serious users of PICs Part 2 INTERFACE by Robert Penfold 32 Improved Visual BASIC controls C FOR PICs Part 4 by Mike Hibbett 34 A practical implementation of using C for USB control of LCDs CIRCUIT SURGERY By lan Bell 56 Line level What it is NET WORK THE INTERNET PAGE surfed by Alan Winstanley 73 More Internet Explorer tips Don t print it PDF it How to shop online smoothly Regulars and Services EDITORIAL NEWS Barry Fox highlights technology s leading edge Plus everyday news from the world of electronics PIC RESOURCES CD ROM 21 EPE PIC Tutorial V2 plus PIC Toolkit Mk3 and a selection of PIC related articles SUBSCRIBE TO EPE and save money 22 CD ROMS FOR ELECTRONICS 40 A wide range of CD ROMs for hobbyists students and engineers BACK ISSUES 52 Did you miss these ELECTRONIC MANUALS 70 The Modern Electronics Manual and Electronics Service Manual on CD ROM READOUT John Becker addresses general points arising 71 DIRECT BOOK SERVICE 74 A wide range of technical books available by mail order plus more CD ROMs PIC PROJECTS 77 A plethora of PIC projects on CD ROM Wimborne Publishing Ltd 2007 Copyright in all EPE PCB SERVICE 78 drawings photographs and articles published in EVERYDAY PRACTICAL ELECTRONICS is fully PCBs for EPE projects protected and reproduc
154. ils on website Hot New Kits This Summer Here are a few of the most recent kits added to our range See website or join our email Newsletter for all the latest news EPE Ultrasonic Wind Speed Meter meme Solid state design wind speed meter anemometer that uses ultrasonic tech mniques and has no moving parts and does not need calibrating It is intended for sports type activities such as track events sailing hang gliding kites and model aircraft flying to name but a few It can even be used to monitor conditions in your garden The probe is pointed in the direction from which the wind is blowing and the speed is dis played on an LCD display ne E i darmprgaroea Specifications e Units of display metres per second feet per second kilometres per hour and miles per hour e Resolution Nearest tenth of a metre e Range Zero to SOmph approx Based on the project published in Everyday Practical Electronics Jan 2003 We have made a few minor design changes see web site for full details Power 9Vdc PP3 bat tery Main PCB 50x83mm Kit Order Code 3168KT 36 95 Audio DTMF Decoder and Display Detects DTMF tones via an onboard electret microphone or direct from the phone lines through an audio trans former The numbers are displayed on a 16 RS single line display as they are received Up to 32 numbers can be displayed by scrolling the display left and right There is also a serial
155. inally remove the alpha source completely and take a few more samples Place the DGC in sleep mode by selecting the GEIGER COUNTER OFF menu item and plug into the personal computer s USB port The DGC will wake up when plugged into the USB port Start the WINDGC program on the PC Query the DGC and then upload the data Select the data analysis menu and display the data graphically Your data should look like Fig 4 By selecting different parts of the data to analyse it was determined that the average count with the alpha source was 54168 counts minute With the sheet of paper inserted the average count dropped to 536 counts minute Finally when the alpha source was re moved completely the count dropped to a background average of 24 counts minute A sheet of paper is an effective shield factor of 100 reduction against alpha particles Trinity and ground zero Living in New Mexico I was aware that the first nuclear weapon was exploded at 5 29am on July 16 1945 at the Trinity Site 33 40 30 N 106 28 30 W The site is about thirty miles southeast of Socorro New Mex ico on what is now the White Sands Missile Range The 1945 explosion was a test of an implosion design plutonium bomb the same type of weapon later dropped on Nagasaki Japan The detonation Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 was equivalent to an explosion of around 20 kilotons of TNT This was where we decided to conduct
156. inbow cable into the header clips and insert the clips into the header shells The plugs are placed at each end of the wire cabling Note that the PC board overlays show a pin 1 orientation for these connectors Ensure that their polari ties are correct You can now start work on the Control PC board by installing the resistors diodes and PC stakes IC3 and IC4 are soldered directly to the PC board while IC5 the PIC micro controller is mounted in a socket don t plug IC5 in yet The regulator mounts horizontally and is secured to the board using an M3 x 10mm screw and M3 nut Next install trimpots VR3 and VR4 making sure the 200Q trimpot goes into the VR4 position near the regulator The capacitors can then be installed again making sure that the electrolytics are correctly orientated Testing the PC boards The Control and Display PC boards can now be tested for correct opera tion First connect them together us ing the 4 way and 6 way cabling as shown in Fig 9 Make sure IC5 has not been installed and set trimpot VR4 fully anticlockwise Next apply power ie any DC volt age between 12V and 25V between 60 4 Band Code 1 brown black green brown white brown yellow brown brown black yellow brown yellow orange orange brown red red orange brown brown black orange brown green blue red brown orange orange red brown brown grey red brown brown black red brown orange orange brown brown red violet brown
157. ing all component values Please draw all circuit schematics as clearly as possible Send your circuit ideas to Ingenuity Unlimited Wimborne Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND We do not accept submissions for IU via email Your ideas could earn you some cash and a prize TEACH IN 2006 COMPETITION WINNERS We are pleased to announce the prize winners for our Teach In 2006 Competition for which the prizes were kindly donated by Rapid Electronics 1st Prize Jonathan N Crawford receives a magnificent 72 piece tool kit from Rapid Electronics worth 323 00 Runners Up Prizes each person receives a zipped case tool kit from Rapid Electronics each worth 13 51 Lee Archer Bill Smith Jay Lister Gary Bleads Jeremy Peterson Anderson Kho Vic Gossage Carlos Dahdah Chai Chien Liang Tiong Sie Liik Robert Wilson Rick Allsop Emmanuel Poitier George Guerin Steven Dean John Swales Tim Dodds Note We have been unable to con tact some of the prize winners If your name appears above and if you have not already done so please let us have via email only your full postal address for the prize to be posted to you Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 a VERYDAY PRACTICAL mes ELECTRONICS To advertise your company in EPE Magazine Please contact Stewart Kearn Tel 01202 873872 Email stewart kearn wimborne co uk lagar ss Circuits PCS DESIGN amp MANUF
158. ity gives an equal step increase in loudness these would be smaller steps than for a tenfold increase of course Signal level Sound intensity from an audio system is basically dependent on the signal level specifically power but for a more or less fixed load impedance we can consider voltage or current So it follows that audio circuits need to handle signals over a very wide range of levels and hence we need a means of expressing and presenting signal measurements in a way that can cope with this massive range of values If we plot signal levels on an ordinary graph then we will only be able to see vari ations in the high signal levels any varia tion at the lower end of the exponential range will be too small to see However the behaviour of our system at small sig nals may be very important for example they may correspond with the quietest parts of a piece of music reproduced by a hifi system Similarly if we plot the gain of a filter against frequency we may be interested in details of variations in gain in both the pass and stop bands but these gains may differ by a factor of 1000 or more and cannot both be shown on the same graph Decibels We overcome this problem by scaling our signal levels or gains so that an expo nential variation in original values trans lates to a linear variation in the scaled ver sion To do this we take a reference level say the threshold of hearing for sound intensity and the l
159. ity selection and over range indication Supplied complete with shrouded test leads shock proof rubber hol i ster built in probe holder ii stand Supplied fully assembled with holster battery and presentation box Features in clude Capacitance Audio Frequency Data Hold hFE Diode Test Auto Power Off Technical Specifications DC voltage 200mV 1000V AC voltage 2V 700V DC current 2mA 20A AC current 20mA 20A Resistance 2000 200MQ Capacitance 2nF 20uF e Frequency 20kHz Max display 19999 Order Code MM463 Was 44 95 Now on sale at just 29 95 See our website for more special offers www QuasarElectronics com Secure Online Ordering Facilities e Full Product Listing Descriptions amp Photos e Kit Documentation amp Software Downloads EPE PROJECT PICs Programmed PICs for EPE Projects 12C508 9 3 90 16F627 8 4 90 16F84 71 5 90 16F876 877 18Fxxxx 10 00 All inc VAT and Postage 1kV 500V Insulation Tester Super design Regulated output and efficient cir gt cuit Dual scale meter wd lt Jcompact case Reads up to 200 Megohms Kit includes wound ferrite transformer drilled and punched case meter scale PCB amp ALL compo nents Needs PP3 bat tery KIT 848 32 95 DUAL OUTPUT TENS UNIT An excellent kit for this project based on the EPE March 97 Design Our Full Kit includes all components hardware and an i
160. k Subscriptions start with the next Tel 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 available issue We accept MasterCard Amex Diners Club ee ae Maestro or Visa For past issues see the Back Issues page E mail subs epemag wimborne co uk ONLINE SUBSCRIPTIONS Online subscriptions for downloading the magazine via the Internet 15 99US approx 9 00 for one year available from www epemag com USA CANADA SUBSCRIPTIONS enclose payment of cheque PO in sterling only payable to Everyday Practical Electronics My cardinumbernis or oes are ee eee ee Please print clearly and check that you have the number correct To subscribe to EPE from the USA or Canada please telephone Signature ea io ete entree no aa eed barr aed Pt eee yee e ma 1 Express Mag toll free on 1877 363 1310 and have your credit card details ready Or fax 514 355 3332 or write to Express Mag Card Security Code The last 3 digits on or just under the PO Box 2769 Plattsburgh NY 12901 0239 or Express Mag Onate 8155 Larrey Street Anjou Quebec H1J 2L5 Email address expsmag expressmag com Card Ex Dale sia Postar Maestro Issue No Web site www expressmag com USA price 60 US per annum Canada price 97 Can per annum 12 issues per year NAE ae ee ere A SR eee eee ne ree hee ere i Everyday Practical Electronics periodicals pending ISSN 0262 3617 is published twelve times a year by Wimborne Publishing Lt
161. k0 2M2 4k7 2M2 L 4 00 1MO Linear Ak7 100k 1MO Log 10k 50k100k 500k Lin 10k 50k 100k 500k Log 4 00 1000 IMO 0 15W 1009 IMO 0 1W E3 2000 1MO 0 1W E3 1000 1MO 0 5W E3 5002 1MO 0 5W ate Value Require 470Q 2M 4k7 10k 47k 1 1k0 2 Linear Inear Prices Exclude Vat 17 UK Carriage 2 50 less than 1kg 5 50 greater than 1kg Cheques Postal orders payable to 2 Linear 00k 1M 2M2 Log Logarithmic ogarithmic per 100 of one value DO 10Q 1MO 0 02 Each 0 80 per 10 1Q 10M 0 02 Each 0 60 per 100 10Q 1M 0 04 Each 1 72 per 100 1Q 10M 0 02 Each 0 95 per 100 0021 2200 0 23 Each 0 12 Each 0 09 Each 0 12 Each 0 81 Each 0 59 Each 0 56 Each 0 56 Each 1 54 Each 1 54 Each 1 92 Each 1 92 Each 0 48 Each 0 56 Each 1 05 Each 1 00 Each ESR Electronic Components PLEASE ADD CARRIAGE amp VAT TO ALL ORDERS Editorial Offices EVERYDAY PRACTICAL ELECTRONICS EDITORIAL Wimborne Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND Phone 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 Email enquiries epemag wimborne co uk Web Site www epemag co uk EPE nm punioadable version of EPE www epemag com EPE Online See notes on Readers Technical Enquiries below we regret THE UK s No 1 MAGAZINE FOR ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY amp COMPUTER PROJECTS hop www epemag wimborne co uk shopdoor htm technical enquiries cannot be answered over
162. l pattern generator 1kHz to 1MHz What makes the PoScope really useful to those working with microcontrollers is its ability to decode serial communications including RS 232 12C SPI and 1 wire Priced at only 99 the PoScope comes with a USB cable logic analyser test lead set two oscilloscope probes and software Major credit and debit cards accepted Secure online ordering ELECTRONIC DESIGN i i i hoy pot z i F d Ps oath iy j gt T a i Ta ie J FRO M j co i SIS entry of complex schematics for simulation and PCB Layout Ai A ATC _ A powerful capture package tailored for todays engineer and designed to allow rapid A customised implementation of the industry standard Berkeley SPICE 3F5 engine with extensive optimisations and enhancements for true mixed mode simulation and circuit animation The worlds first and best schematic based microcontroller co simulation software Proteus VSM allows you to simulate the interaction between software running on a microcontroller and any analog or digital electronics connected to it This streamlines the project lifecycle and obviates the need for expensive hardware analysis tools A modern and professional layout package which seamlessly integrates with the ISIS capture software Features such as autoplacement and autorouting interactive DRC and an intuitive interface all serve to maximise productivity and red
163. ld silver and emerald wafer cards Card used needs to conform to ISO 7816 standards which includes ones sold by Jaycar Powered by 9 12 VDC wall adaptor or a 9V a battery Instructions outline software requirements that are freely available on the internet Kit supplied with PCB wafer card socket and all electronic components PCB measures 141 x 101mm e As published in Everyday Practical Electronics May 2006 Requires 9 12VDC wall adaptor Maplin UG01B 13 99 Audio Video Booster Kit This kit will boost your vides nie audio signals preserving them for the highest quality transmission to your projector or large screen TV It boosts composite S Video and stereo audio signals Kit includes case with silkscreened and punched panels PCB and all electronic components e As published in Everyday Practical Electronics March 2006 Requires 9VAC wall adaptor Maplin GU09K 9 99 Electronics EPE IS PLEASED TO BE ABLE TO OFFER YOU THESE ELECTRONICS CD ELECTRONICS PROJECTS Logic Probe testing Electronic Projects is split into two main sections Building Electronic Projects contains comprehensive information about the components tools and techniques used in developing projects from initial concept through to final circuit board production Extensive use is made of video presentations showing soldering and construction techniques The second section contains a set of ten projects for students to build ranging f
164. le as a kit 140 25 or built 144 50 2kW WIND TURBINE KIT The 2kW wind turbine is sup plied as the following kit turbine generator 48v three taper twisted fibreglass blades amp hub 8m tower four x 2m sections _ guylines anchors tensioners clamps foundation steel rectifier 2kW inverter heavy duty pivot tower 1 499 BULL GROUP LTD UNIT D HENFIELD BUSINESS PARK HENFIELD SUSSEX BN5 9SL TERMS C CARDS CASH PO CHEQUE OR ONLINE ORDERING PRICES PLUS VAT UK DELIVERY 5 50 TEL 0870 7707520 FAX 01273 491813 sales bullnet co uk Solar Panels We stock a range of solar photovoltaic panels These are polycrystalline panels made from wafers of silicon lami nated between an impact resistant transparent cover and an EVA rear mounting plate They are constructed with a lightweight anodised aluminium frame which is predrilled for linking to other frames roof mounting structure and contain waterproof electrical terminal box on the rear 5 watt panel 29 ref 5wnav 20 watt panel 99 ref 20wnav 60 watt panel 249 ref 6Ownav Suitable regulator for up to 60 watt panel 20 ref REGNAV Solar evacuated tube panels 20 tube shown These top of the range solar panel heat collectors are suitable for heating domestic hot water swimming pools etc even in the winter One unit is adequate for an average household 3 4people and it is modular so you can add more if required A single panel is sufficient for a 200 li
165. le on expensive commercial packages Output fills of the EPE PIC Magnetometry Logger with small modi fications in Excel can easily be import ed into this snuffler software Other users may be interested Graham Medlicott via email Thank you Graham Readers the pro ject referred by Graham was in the July and August 04 issues suitable trace width They re not perfect but generally work as good guidelines You could probably Google and find what you are looking for under PCB trace amperage or PCB current carrying capa bility something like that Maybe even What is the trace amperage for 2 oz cop per clad board Who knows Dave Squibb Try http polysat calpoly edu documents_cp1 systems tra ce_capacity pdf Putting PCB track widths and current capacity into Google gives several articles Ian Istedman A search on IPC2221 or MIL STD 275 will reveal more info on the standard data As a guide from these spec ifications for loz copper weight the fol lowing track widths current capacities can be used Track Width in Current Amps 0 004 0 1016mm 0 4 0 006 0 1524mm 0 6 0 008 0 2032mm 0 72 0 010 0 254mm 0 8 0 012 0 3048mm 1 0 0 015 0 381mm Liz 0 020 0 508mm 1 3 0 025 0 635mm 1 7 0 030 0 762mm lela 0 040 1 016mm 22 0 050 1 270mm 2 6 0 075 1 905mm 3 6 0 100 2 54mm 4 4 0 200 5 08mm 7 0 0 250 6 35 mm 9 0 Obiwan One should also find the rat ings for 20z cop
166. lied ie when the door is closed C3 initially behaves like a short circuit since it is discharged As a result current flows via R3 and switches on the transistor inside the optocoupler thus clamping Q1 s gate at its source voltage At this point C2 has about 10 9V across it as already stated but is prevented from quickly discharging since it is isolated from the optocoupler by resistor R2 100kQ Capacitor C3 now quickly charges via resistors R3 and R4 and removes the base drive to the optocoupler s transistor about 1ms after power is applied However this time period is so short that it does not allow C2 to discharge to any extent Now that the optocoupler s transis tor is off Q1 s gate voltage will be equal to the voltage that s across C2 As a result Q1 switches on to drive the courtesy lights From this it might appear that the courtesy lights will briefly switch off when the door is closed before the circuit switches them back on again In theory this is true but the off time is so short that it is virtually unnoticeable So why do we use the optocoupler to briefly hold Q1 s gate low ie for that 1ms period The answer is that without this feature Q1 would switch on as soon as C2 s voltage reached the MOSFET s conduction threshold of 3 to 4V This would effectively kill the DUOUUOUL 28 TO TAIL LIGHTS TO DOOR SWITCH YAIAd eTHOL YeaITAUOD Fig 3 install the par
167. ll and close together the tracks can be etched I ve never seen anything about the design width of tracks to ensure that they can carry the required current without overheating Obviously the thickness of the track related to the copper weight per unit area has a bearing as well as will the resistivity of the copper itself My immediate interest is for PCBs using the 7812 regulators so a maximum intend ed working current of 1A Would the basis of a safe design width for the track be for 1A 2A or what I have seen many examples of burn ups in early PCBs for valve television sets so overheating of the track until it fails just like a fuse can occur For very heavy current PSUs the regula tors or pass transistors are frequently mounted on separate heatsinks remote from the PCB so an element of hard wiring is needed but wherever the hard wire meets the track Mr Ohm tells us that 7 squared times R is going to create some heat Pd be grateful if anyone can point me in the right direction for some suitable data Thank you Obiwan You should design the PCB for the current that is going to be carried Do you have a limiter or fuse on that 7812 that cuts off at 1A However copper traces can carry quite a bit of current I was actually sur prised at just how much We had a new PCB design come back from the suppli ers after building one up we finally finally narrowed a fault down to a short in the powe
168. ll trigger a relay when the throttle is depressed or lifted quickly There is a long list of uses for this kit such as automatic transmission switching of economy to power modes triggering electronic blow off valves on quick throttle lifts and much more It is completely adjustable and uses the output of a standard throttle position sensor Kit supplied with PCB and all electronic components As published in Everyday Practical Electronics November 2006 i a suitable supply is described in the instructions e As published in Everyday Practical Electronics October amp November 2006 50MHZz Frequency Meter Kit This mieter is autoranging and displaye the frequency in either hertz kilohertz or megahertz Features compact size 130 x 67 x 44mm 8 digit LCD high and low resolution modes 0 1Hz resolution up to 150Hz 1Hz resolution maximum up to 150Hz and 10Hz resolution above 16MHz Kit includes PCB case with machined and silkscreened lid pre programmed PIC and all electronic components with clear English instructions e As published in Everyday Practical Electronics September 2006 Requires 9VDC wall adaptor Maplin GS74R 10 99 Tiptronic Style Gear Indicator This display indicates up to 9 gears neutral and reverse The unit is calibrated in setup so it will work with almost any vehicle Using a PIC microcontroller it calculates the gear via the engine RPM and speed Gear indication is displayed on a 7 segment
169. lying power Check that the power switch lights up when on The LCD should also be on Next disconnect power and remove the lid That done reconnect power and measure the supply voltage between the GND pin and pin 8 of both IC1 and IC2 These should be around 30V and 25V respectively Check also that ZD3 has 5 1V across it Adjust VR1 so that the voltage between TP1 and TP GND is 1 7V then adjust VR2 for 1 8V between TP2 and TP GND This sets the circuit over voltage and over current levels to 17V and 18A respectively The over voltage adjustment sets the maximum allow able voltage when charging during equalisation You may wish to raise this to allow the equalisation to operate for the fullthree hours Alternatively you can reduce the value to prevent damage to any equipment connected to the bat tery during equalisation Note that the over voltage value is restricted to 10 times the TP1 voltage LCD CUTOUT Final points The cooling fan will cycle on and off during charging par ticularly at the higher currents To ensure adequate cooling the air inlet at the rear of the unit should not be blocked When using the charger make sure that the battery clips are correctly connected to the battery terminals Check the Ah setting for the battery Remember that a battery with a reserve capacity RC rating will need this value to be multiplied by 0 42 to convert it to the Ah capacity Also be sure to set the correct battery type At t
170. m of the prototype was raised a little above the motors with 10mm square wood bat terns to provide more vertical room for the rear swivel wheel The motors purchased use about 250mA under load and at 6V run free at about 6000 RPM This is divided down to 70 RPM with the gearbox and this comes down to perhaps 50 RPM under load when the voltage drop via D2 is taken into account 60mm diameter gear wheels were used for the two drive wheels and these were simply pressed onto the drive shafts The motors are mounted so that they each face the same way as they turn that is their drive shafts both turn the same way when the robot is moving forward This is 48 because there may be inequalities in the forward and reverse speeds of DC motors and this ensures that the robot will drive in a reasonably straight line when the motors are activated Next attach leads with spade con nectors to suit the battery and connect the motors as well That done attach LDR1 at the front of the robot by means of suitable wires A short tube over LDR1 is required for directionality see below You also need to attach bump and respond switch S1 ie the bumper bar see below the piezo sounder and switch S2 using suitable leads Finally insert the PICAXE IC1 in the DIP socket Once the assembly is complete carefully check the PC board for any solder bridges or dry joints and check all components for correct placement and orie
171. m the copper track side as well as the wire links 2 solder the 8 pin dual in line DIP socket observe the correct orientation and CON1 3 solder the 10 resistors and preset potentiometer VR1 4 install the two diodes and the two electrolytic capacitors taking care with polarity 5 install the two 100nF capacitors 6 solder in the two transistors Q1 amp Q8 and the 10 MOSFETs 7 fit a small heatsink to MOSFETs Q2 amp Q5 Robot platform The physical construction of the Programmable Robot begins with a suitable baseboard to which everything else is attached The Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 1 Hardboard baseboard 200 x 160mm 1 PC board code 602 92 x 67mm available from the EPE PCB Service 1 piezo sounder without integral electronics X1 1 bumper switch S1 see text 1 miniature toggle switch S2 1 10kQ cermet trimpot top adjust 1 NORP 12 light dependent resistor LDR1 see text 1 3 5mm PC mount stereo jack socket CON1 2 reversible 6V geared motors ideally lt 2W each under load 1 8 pin DIP socket 1 6V 4Ah SLA battery 2 spade connectors to suit battery 14 PC stakes 2 60mm dia wheels to suit gearbox shafts 1 40mm dia rear wheel 130mm 2 5mm dia steel wire for rear wheels 4 corner brackets for battery Semiconductors 1 PICAXE 08 microcontroller IC 1 10 MTP3055V N channel MOSFETs Q2 Q7 Q9 Q12 2 BC547 NPN transistors Q1 Q8 1 1N40
172. me Delivery Network hand delivered by cheerful people in cars and there are clear signs of online stores harnessing the increasing pur chasing power of online buyers Clever web site programming and dynamic interaction affords cus tomers a convenient and stress free way of buying and customising their requirements via a web site e g Amazon or send a personalised chocogram via the glorious Hotel Chocolat Online services inform customers of order progress and email them with timely special offers Services such as Live Chat offer teleprinter style discussions with real customer service staff on demand Consumer confidence in buy ing online has been cemented A savvy buyer plans his requirements in advance compares prices online reads product reviews see www ciao co uk and Www reevoo com and if necessary groups his requirements together to minimise the impact of P amp P charges The best advice the author can give is to get a feel for prices by shopping around and flicking through brochures and web sites then draw up a short list based on reviews Shop smartly and you can recognise a bargain when you see one and hopefully avoid that feeling of having been mugged when you see online prices at 20 to 50 cheaper than the price a High Street retailer just charged you for the same thing The downside of online shopping is with stock availability and deliv eries Amazon got it right at Christmas 2006 by showing confiden
173. memade power booster inductor is made up from a plastic bobbin and 60 metres of 36swg 32awg enamelled copper wire The wire was measured out using a half metre wooden former Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 PC data can be erased on the DGC and the time date can be set on the DGC in USB mode USB mode is automatically activated when the DGC is plugged into a USB port The program was written to han dle all of the above functions using a freely available C compiler for the PIC18F2455 from Microchip A free C18 student edition C compiler pro gram is available at see reference 2 The C18 compiler integrates flawlessly into the MPLAB integrated develop ment environment Ref 3 The C18 compiler also includes libraries of functions Ref 4 that can be linked directly into your applica tion using the MPLINK linker These libraries provide simplified control of hardware peripheral functions like analogue to digital conversion pulse width modulation and timers In addition the libraries provide integer math functions memory and string formatting functions and character output functions We made use of these functions to keep the C program short and concise All source code for the GM COUN TER software is available from the EPE website under Downloads The compiled C program is called GM COUNTER HEX and it can be pro grammed into the microprocessor or a preprogrammed microprocessor can 15
174. missing a programme on telly Whereas the BBC website offers an excellent Listen Again facility for radio programmes its Watch Again facility for video clips covers only a limited selection and is nowhere near DVD quality But if you visit the Amazon com website and search for Unbox you will discover a much wider choice of programmes that you can download in DVD quality at rea sonable cost If you can unwrap a DVD you can do DVD quality downloads It s that easy and less sticky gushes Amazon All told there are thousands of DVD quality movies TV shows and more in the Unbox video store From the BBC alone there are already 41 popular BBC entertainment shows that you can view for 1 99 an episode The downloads are said to be in full DVD quality and although I cannot see anything about saving or not saving them there is certainly software on the market that will ensure you can watch them a second time Go to www amazon com unbox if you want to learn more about Unbox If you feel like checking out programs that can capture streaming video for acade mic interest of course then try Replay A V http applian com replay av and WM Recorder www wmrecorder com Quotable quotes I m a voracious reader so it s not sur prising that it takes a lot to stop me in my tracks as I devour the words But every now and again I see statements that force me to stop and wonder Perhaps you find t
175. most commonly used portable radiation instrument A GM tube is a gas filled device that when a high voltage is applied creates an electrical pulse when radiation in teracts with the wall or gas in the tube These pulses are converted to a reading on the instrument s meter The main drawback of the G M counter is its inability to provide infor mation on the energy of the radiation it detects To count alpha particles the G M tube must also have a very thin delicate mica window G M tubes come in a bewildering assortment of shapes and sizes For this project we chose the model LND712 because ofits small size and alpha sensitivity Take your PIC The Microchip PIC18F2455 micro processor was chosen for this project Several features recommended this chip 1 Built in full speed USB capability 2 Multiple built in 10 bit ana logue to digital conversion capability 3 24K of flash program memory 8K of program memory will be used to store data 4 Built in Inter Integrated Circuit IC bus capability 5 Speeds up to 48MHz 6 Small 28 pin footprint also surface mount 7 Self programmability Four separate timers 9 Low cost 10 Free C compiler and subrou tine libraries available Because the full speed USB module clock must run at 48MHz the Micro chip PIC18F2455 has a flexible oscilla tor scheme that allows the microproc essor and peripherals to run at other clock speeds This is accomplished Fig 1 Com
176. mple and easy to understand manner It explains How to play MP3s on your computer How to use MP8s with handheld MP3 players Where to find MP3s on the Web How MP8s work How to tune into Internet radio stations How to create your own MP3s How to record your own CDs from MP3 files Other digital audio music formats Whether you want to stay bang up to date with the lat est music or create your own MP3s and join the on line digital music revolution this book will show you how 0 co alo jo H Om k Ke 7 45 THE INVENTOR OF STEREO THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ALAN DOWER BLUMLEIN Robert Charles Alexander This book is the definitive study of the life and works of one of Britain s most important inventors who due to a cruel set of circumstances has all but been overlooked by history Alan Dower Blumlein led an extraordinary life in which his inventive output rate easily surpassed that of Edison but whose early death during the darkest days of World War Two led to a shroud of secrecy which has covered his life and achievements ever since His 1931 Patent for a Binaural Recording System was so revolutionary that most of his contemporaries regarded it as more than 20 years ahead of its time Even years after his death the full magnitude of its detail had not been fully utilized Among his 128 patents are the principal electronic circuits critical to the development of the world s first elecronic television system During his
177. mples and does not ignore the samples at PLLOO and PLLO8 This has been simulated in Excel but not tested in a PIC The simula tion indicates that it has no benefits and a few liabilities For phases PLLO1 to PLLO7 the latest sample is added to LatestCycleTot For phase PLLO8 the ADC sample is ignored and LatestCycleTot is not changed For phases PLLO9 to PLL15 the latest sample is subtracted from LatestCycleTot Phase PLL15 is where all the real work is done Shift and add instructions are used to compute PreviousCycleTot 3 2 x PreviousCycleTot 4 2 x LatestCycleTot The absolute value of this is a good indi cation of the phase error and is tested If it is suitably small then the loop is probably locked If it remains suitably small for sev eral consecutive cycles then the probabili ty that the loop is locked increases Specifically if the error is less than LoopError1K then the macro DecToZ8 decrements LoopCount to but not past zero If not LoopCount is reset to LoopError1K Testing indicates that this lock detect strategy is very conservative The signed value in the variable PreviousCycleTot is scaled to be the amount by which the value in CCPRIH and CCPRIL needs to be adjusted to set the appropriate period for the next cycle The new value for CCPRIH and CCPRIL is computed in IW and IW1 The algo rithm for the linear PLL does not attempt to correct all of the error in one cycle it just mak
178. mproved Magenta pcb All hardware and electrodes are included Designed for simple assembly and testing provid ing a high level controlled dual output drive KIT 866 32 90 Inc 4 electrodes EPE MICROCHIP P I Treasure Hunter Stable Sensitive Pulse Induction detector Easy to build and use No ground effect works in sea water Detects Gold Silver ferrous and non ferrous metals Kit Includes Head KIT 847 63 95 E misaa Ultrasonic PEsT Scarers Two Ultrasonic PEsT Scarers Kit 812 produces regular high level pulses of 32kHz Kit 867 produces Random pulses and can work with an optional slave unit to give two separate ultrasound sources Both kits need 9V supply Kit 812 14 81 psu 3 99 Kit 867 19 99 867Slave 12 51 MOSFET MKII Bench PSU 0 25V 2 5A Based on Mk1 design with switching pre regulator for high efficiency Panel meters for A and V Toroidal trans former Variable Volts O 25 AND Variable Current limit from O 2 5A Kit includes punched and la belled case A classic and essential piece of test gear Kit 845 64 95 Set of 4 Spare Electrodes 6 50 Stepping amp DC Motors A range of motors for many applications Visit our website for more details MD100 100 step Unipolar MD200 200 step Unipolar MD24 Type 23 size 200 step 22 95 MAGENTA BRAINIBOT amp Il Full kt with ALL hard Oog pay peo y ware and electronics As featured in EPE Feb
179. n more expensive jnatrumentation Our oscilloscopes RS422 j renee Serial Server Single Port high performance with wall mount bracket and Industrial Wireless Ethernet PSU R5232 R5422 R5485 Serial Server with PSU and wall mount and ANTIG Logic Analyzers feature 8 16 capture channels of data at a bracket Con have sophisticated digital triggering including delayed timebase and come a with application software and DLL interface to 3rd Party apps Our ANT blazing SDOMS 5 sample rate in compact enclosure Low Profile Version 5 i d wW r z i GME To E it port industrial strength Ethernet and Wireless ethernet siso avaliable WPCIH400HS ght p o 4 Port UPCI RS232 Serial Card serial R5232 R5422 RS5485 Servers Connect to your serial device Spider Cable or COMBOX IO remotely over your Wireless network Ethernet or via the Internet 65 0 0 e Based on the 32 bit ARM CPU these systems offer powerful serial onnectivity and a wealth of features WLAN models comply with IEEE BOOZ LLB og max 54 Mb s and also offer a 10 UOMbps secondary ethernet connection All models come complete with PSU Prices start at only 85 00 NetCOM 111 10 00 CscuwuSune td ba gil 373 Scotland Street Glasgow GS BQB U K z Tel 44 141 418 0181 Fax 44 141 418 0110 Supporting from one to eight ports the range includes AS232 R5422 Web Discover our great value for money range of mulli port uPCI seria cards http WW
180. nd control signals The question is however to where should we connect the LCD As we will be using the C library LCD functions to control the display we go and take a look in the C library manual for inspiration on which port pins to connect to Sure enough the section External LCD Functions short as it is gives a table showing the default port connections To save complicating matters you would have Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 4 Es Fig 1 circuit diagram for the USB Interface for LCD control to re compile the library source files to use different pins we will connect to the default port pins PORTBO 3 for LCD data PORTB4 for the E signal PORTBS for the RS signal and PORTB6 for the RW signal Now we know the connections for the LCD we are free to choose the two port pins for our switches For simplic ity we will use PORTAO for switch 1 and PORTA1 for switch 2 Adding a few pull up resistors and a couple of decoupling capacitors we quickly arrive at the circuit diagram in Fig 1 Building the circuit should not be a challenge the USB connector has four pins on a 0 1 inch pitch which will fit to stripboard The connection to the LCD TB1 is for a CDL4162 2 x 16 LCD that uses a 16 pin 0 1 inch pitch header It should be easy to con nect up to any 2 x 16 LCD based on the popular HD44780 controller Software configuration The example code will have been in stalled into the direc
181. nd edu cational environments 3Touch s solu tions allow individals to walk into any classroom lecture theatre or board room and instantly access a networked presentation from a 3Touch lecturn or control panel Eliminating the need for floppy disks USB memory sticks and networked PCs or laptops Using NetPort s embedded web serv er real time communications and mon itoring can be conducted via any stan dard web browser NetPort is a plug and play adaptor and can literally be plugged into a serial port of a machine and start sending and receiving infor mation over the Ethernet in a matter of minutes Based on proven technology NetPort utilises the popular XPort device serv er from Lantronix and is currently being used in a number of different applications from industrial sensors to vending machines For more information browse www alphamicro net Tel 44 0 1256 85 1770 Email cristos alphamicro net Please mention EPE if you get the opportunity Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 FIRST MICROCHIP SHUNTS Microchip has announced the first general purpose Flash PIC microcontrollers with peripherals for more cost effective control of fans or small motors The 14 pin PIC16F616 610 and the 8 pin PIC 12F615 609 microcontrollers can substantial ly reduce component count and cost with spe cialised peripherals such as full bridge pulse width modulation PWM with deadband control Timer1 Gate
182. ndable The illustrations are not the hackneyed pub licity shots that one has seen a hundred times before instead they are either spe cially taken or resurrected from long forgotten publications from days gone by The approach is sufficiently individual to make it can t put down able Obviously there s no way you can con dense the entire technology of television into a single book particularly if you want to keep it accessible Howett doesn t try this instead he has wisely gone for a selection and a good selection too Whilst written from a British perspective the book is not Anglo centric and presents a genuinely global view of television devel opment Finally however it s the eye candy or pictures that give this book the edge If you get a warm feeling from looking at massive TV cameras that look the part not like consumer toys lavish studio scenes and lumbering old outside broad cast vans this is the book for you You won t find it in many shops but you can order it instantly through the publish er s website www kellybooks net Unbox arrives Although I live in a parallel universe where names like Mullard and Radiospares are closer to reality than their new fangled replacements I am assured that I am not alone and that some of you readers inhabit that same world So it may just be that you haven t heard of Unbox yet which offers a potentially interesting way of taking the sting out of
183. nds 1 cordgrip clamp for mains cord 1 7 5A mains cord and plug 1 3 way 10A terminal strip 2 50A insulated battery clips 1 red 1 black 2 2 54mm jumper shunts JP1 JP2 2 2 way header terminal strips 1 2 line 16 characters per line alphanumeric LCD module 1 14 way SIL header strip for Type 1 and Type 2 LCD modules 1 14 way DIL header strip for Type 1 LCD module 1 6 way polarised header plug 1 6 way polarised right angle header plug fuseholder the mini XLR panel socket the fan and the fan guard as shown in this diagram That done secure the cable glands for the battery leads and the M205 fuseholder The fan should be orientated so that it blows air inside the case If you look closely you will see arrows on the fan that indicate the blade direction and airflow ours was installed with the labelled side facing inside the box 66 2 6 way polarised header sockets 1 4 way polarised header plug 1 4 way polarised right angle header plug 2 4 way polarised header sockets 6 5 3mm ID eyelet crimp connec tors suiting 6mm wire 9 female insulated 6 4mm spade connectors suiting 4 8mm wire 2 female insulated 6 4mm spade connectors suiting 6mm wire 1 solder lug 1 mini XLR 3 pin line plug 1 mini XLR 3 pin chassis mount socket 1 SPST neon illuminated 230V 6A rocker switch S5 4 White SPST PC board mount tactile snap action switches S1 S4 1 18 pin DIL IC socket 10 M3 tapped x 6mm Nylon standoffs 5 M3
184. ng from around the mounting point to ensure a good connection 62 OOJO The front panel can be assembled now Insert the M3 x 5mm Nylon countersunk screws for the Display PC board mounting and secure these with the 10mm tapped standoffs The Display PC board is attached to these screws and held in place with M3 nuts The fan guard is secured with M3 x 10mm screws and M3 nuts while the the mains switch is simply clipped into its rectangular cutout make sure that it is a tight fit so that it doesn t come adrift Holes in the box baseplate are re quired for the mains earth solder lug mounting the transformer mounting bolt and for mounting the PC boards and the heatsink In addition two holes are required for the 3 way mains terminal block Our prototype box included side panels which are used to increase the case height and these have side flanges The panel for the transformer side of the box needs to have these flanges removed We used a nibbling tool to cut these flanges away and filed the edges down to a smooth finish The flanges on the fan side also need to be removed near the fan to allow it to be positioned without fouling ALTERNATIVE TRANSFORMER CONNECTIONS In addition the front panel requires a 50 x 4mm notch adjacent to where the heatsink mounts on the top and bottom mounting flanges These are required to allow the heatsink to fit without touching the panel Insulated heatsink mounting An im
185. ng systems ASCII basic logic gates monostable action and circuits and bistables including JK and D type flip flops Multiple gate circuits equivalent logic functions and specialised logic functions Introduces sequential logic including clocks and clock circuitry counters binary coded decimal and shift registers A D and D A converters traffic light controllers memories and microprocessors architecture bus systems and their arithmetic logic units Sections on Boolean Logic and Venndiagrams displays and chip types have been expanded in Version 2 and new sections include shift registers digital fault finding programmable logic controllers and microcontrollers and microprocessors The Institutional versions now also include several types of assessment for supervisors including worksheets multiple choice tests fault finding exercises and examination questions ANALOGUE FILTERS Analogue Filters is a complete course in designing active and passive filters that makes use of highly interactive virtual laboratories and simulations to explain how filters are designed It is split into five chapters Revision which provides underpinning knowledge required for those who need to design filters Filter Basics which is a course in terminology and filter characterization important classes of filter filter order filter impedance and impedance matching and effects of different filter types Advanced Theory which covers the use of filter table
186. ng the PLL program and another implementing the application specific pro gram this is usually unnecessary and extravagant Instead one PIC would nor mally implement both the PLL program and the application specific program If activities synchronised with the input power are needed they can be triggered at any suitable phase of the input power There are at least three strategies Often it is suitable to set a flag within Interrupt to trigger action performed outside Interrupt This minimizes congestion within Interrupt but risks that some actions might be missed When it is important to ensure that no actions are missed and the action can be performed suitably quickly then the action can be performed inside Interrupt but this risks congesting Interrupt Sophisticated applications might update a counter inside Interrupt and perform appropriate actions outside Interrupt The counter can contain the information needed to compensate for missed actions The PLL does not use TMRO or TMR2 These are available for other times that might or might not be synchronised with the input power It is possible to implement the PLL strat egy with other than 16 samples per cycle The number of samples should be even but need not be a power of 2 The difficulty is that the appropriate value for the loop filter paramet
187. ngle program Since the PICAXE 08 microcon troller represents the Programmable This table shows the most important PICAXE 08 outputs ie for motor control Robot s control room this is where we Shall begin Unfortunately the PICAXE 08 is confusing in its pin num bering which has become something of a legend in its own time therefore we Shall resort to the standard IC pin numbering here ie pins 1 8 with pin 1 being situated next to the small indentation on top of the IC Circuit details The complete circuit is shown in Fig 1 The PICAXE 08 s pin 1 V and pin 8 OV are connected to a 6V battery via switch S2 and diode D2 D2 serves a dual purpose first to prevent reverse polarity which could do considerable damage and second to drop the supply voltage to about 5 4V which is more suitable for the PICAXE 08 Pin 7 PO is designated by the manufacturers for output only and is used to switch both of the motors on or off at the same time It may also be used to pulse the motors on and off pulse width modulation for speed control or special effects When it is high the motors are on when it is low they are off Pin 5 P2 is designated for input or output In this circuit it is used for Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 output only and controls the direction forward or reverse of the lefthand motor as seen from the rear of the ro bot Pin 3 P4 i
188. nt to use AO and A1 so let s change them define mInitAlISwitches TRIS Abits TRISA0O 1 TRISAbits TRI SA1 1 define mInitSwitch2 TRISA bits TRISAO 1 define mInitSwitch3 TRISA bits TRISA1 1 define sw2 PORTAbits RAO define sw3 PORTAbits RA1 As we mentioned in an earlier arti cle it is always a good idea to explic itly specify the config register settings in your source code The example code does not do that so we will add it to the beginning of the file main c anywhere near the top of the file The code you should add is pragma config PLLDIV 5 CPUDIV OSC1_PLL2 USBDIV 2 35 pragma config IESO OFF FCMEM OFF FOSC HSPLL HS pragma config PWRT OFF BOR OFF VREGEN ON MCLRE ON pragma config PBADEN OFF STVREN ON LVP OFF pragma config XINST OFF DEBUG OFF WDT OFF The example code has several configuration options for different hardware designs As we are going to be bus powered only we do not need to implement code to check to see when the USB cable is plugged in the board is not powered unless the cable is plugged in To handle that design decision we must remove a line of code in the file usbcfg h define USE_USB_BUS_SENSE_ IO Either remove it completely or sim ply comment it out like this define USE USB BUS SENSE IO We are now at the stage where we can test the code to see if the simple example works In the IDE right click over the entry MCH
189. ntation More construction detail The easiest way of working out the correct mounting of the motors will be through trial and error First wire them both up as shown observing the correct polarity of the motors That done run the WALTZING MATILDA DEMO Immediately after the first line of Waltzing Matilda the wheels should both roll so as to propel the robot forwards then there should be a beep and only the left motor viewed from the rear of the robot should reverse If the motors do not rotate as described then re orientate them so that they do Once the drive motors have been fastened into place the battery should be mounted on top of the platform slightly back from the two drive shafts so that the robot s load is slightly to Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 the rear of the platform This gives it a good weight distribution and gives traction to the drive wheels while not overburdening the rear swivel wheel Four corner brackets were used to hold the battery in place and a length of telephone wire or a cable tie can be used to tie it to the platform through drilled holes The prototype used a rear swivel wheel and a 40mm diameter pulley wheel was used for the wheel A sturdy 130mm length of 2 5mm diameter steel wire together with a metal bracket was used to attach the wheel to the platform Nuts were slipped over this wire and glued into place as shown to hold the wire in the
190. nted components by SK2 PL2 not shown on the circuit diagram to aid clarity Fig 3 shows the wiring arrangement for this The photographs show the com pleted DGC with connections to the LCD display on the front panel The case cutout for the GM tube is to the left of the GM tube and is covered by a nylon mesh screen to keep objects away from delicate mica window on the tube The large inductor L1 is not mounted on the circuit board but is mounted on the case Do not use a steel bolt to mount L1 because that will drastically change the inductance Software Two programs were written for use with the DGC The first program GM_ COUNTER runs on the PIC18F2455 and performs all the Geiger counter functions The second program WINDGC runs on a PC and handles the uploading of data from the DGC and data analysis 6 oe J J J J ooo SK2 PL2 J ee ee ee o ooo Fig 3 General wiring arrangement in schematic form to front panel mounted components The software program on the DGC GM_COUNTER operates in two modes DGC and USB In DGC mode the soft ware is controlled by the user menu and choices are available to make and store radiation measurements In DGC mode the user can manually monitor the high voltage erase the data memory or set the time date on the DGC In USB mode the user menu inputs are disabled and all control is via the USB port Data can be uploaded to the y WS 5 WE kik ow The ho
191. nts V2 0 ALL PRICES INCLUDE UK Analogue Electronics POSTAGE Digital Electronics V2 0 O Hobbyist Student SETAS Analogue Filters Institutional Electronics CAD Pack Institutional Professional 10 user O Version required Student Single User Standard Version price includes postage to most countries in the world EU residents outside the UK add 5 for airmail postage per order Robotics amp Mechatronics Site licence Assembly for PICmicro V3 op E C for PICmicro V2 inerte Flowcode V3 for PICmicro Digital Works 3 0 PiCmicro Development Board V3 hardware Teach In 2000 FREE BOOK Electronic Components Photos Project Design Single User Project Design Multiple User under 500 students Project Design Multiple User over 500 students Note The software on each version is the same only the licence for use varies OOOOO UO CNM enclose cheque PO in sterling payable to WIMBORNE PUBLISHING LTD for _ Please charge my Visa Mastercard Amex Diners Club Switch I l l l I I l l i Valid From aana naaa ed a Se Card expiry date 0 ee ee I I l l l I Card NO eaae iis Gx beh awa oad oie Se at aera RT ieee Be ee Maestro Issue No Card Security Code The last 3 digits on or just under the signature strip REI SR no en ae RI RO E E q SA SR EEE E EE 42 Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 EasyPIC4 Development Board with on board USB
192. o represent exceptional value You also o Avoid any cover price increase for the duration of your subscription Get your magazine delivered to your door each month Ensure your copy even if the newsagents sell out Order by phone or fax with a credit card or by post with a cheque or postal order or buy on line from www epemag co uk click on Subscribe Now SUBSCRIPTION ORDER EPE SUBSCRIPTION PRICES FORM Subscriptions for delivery direct to any address in the UK 6 months 18 75 12 months 35 50 two years 66 Overseas me 6 Months UK 18 75 Overseas 21 75 6 months 21 75 standard air service or 30 75 express airmail standard air service 30 75 express airmail 12 months 41 50 standard air service or 59 50 express airmail 1 Year UK 35 50 Overseas 41 50 standard air service 24 months 78 standard air service or 114 express airmail 59 50 express airmail Cheques or bank drafts in sterling only payable to Everyday 2 Years UK 66 00 Overseas 78 00 standard air service Practical Electronics and sent to EPE Subs Dept Wimborne 114 express airmail Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset To Everyday Practical Electronics BH22 9ND Tel 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 Email Wimborne Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East subs epemag wimborne co uk Also via the Web at Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND http www epemag co u
193. ode waiting for your application which can be changed to e Top quality display with match your application industry standard driver KIT 860 1 9 99 data and instructions PIC STEPPING MOTOR DRIVER PCB with components and PIC16F84 programmed with dem onstration software to drive any 4 phase unipolar motor up to 24 Volts at 1 Amp Kit includes 100 Step Hybrid Stepping Motor Full software source code supplied on disc Use this project to develop your own applications PCB allows simple PIC programmer SEND software to be used to reprogram e KIT 863 18 99 8 CHANNEL DATA LOGGER From Aug Sept 99 EPE Featuring 8 analogue inputs and serial data transfer to PC Magenta redesigned PCB LCD plugs directly onto board Use as Data Logger or as a test bed for developing other PIC16F877 projects Kit includes Icd programmed chip PCB Case all parts and 8 x 256k OS KIT 877 49 95 SUPER PIC PROGRAMMER Magenta s original parallel port programmer Runs with downloaded WINDOWS 95 XP software Use standard Microchip HEX files Read Prog Verify wide range of 18 28 and 40 pin PICs Including 16F84 876 877 627 8 Inc A versions 16xx OTPs KIT 862 29 99 Power Supply 3 99 ICEBREAKER OOOOoOoooogooo MELLES we lt A r O ICEBREAKER H poe PIC Real Time In Circuit Emulator With serial lead amp software disk PCB Breadboard PIC16F877 LCD all components and patch leads
194. of 15 30 45 seconds and 1 5 and 10 min utes can be selected from the menu In addition multiple measurements can be made by selecting the MULTIPLE SAMPLE menu option Memory and USB interface The program can remember up to 125 data measurements in flash program memory at addresses 0x5000 to Ox5fff This memory is not volatile and meas urements will not be lost when the DGC batteries are removed When the batter ies are installed the DGC will determine the number of the next data point to be stored The routines MemcpyRam2Flash and MemcpyFlash2Ramare used to store data in flash program memory and read data out of flash memory For the USB interface we used the approach of Reference 6 which is to define the DGC as a USB communi cation device This approach has two major advantages 1 Microchip has written and freely distributes PIC software for the Communication Device class to emu late RS232 over a USB connection 2 From the PC side the DGC will look as if it is connected to a standard COM port to the Windows software This simplifies the PC software The USB specification allows periph erals to be plugged and unplugged with out powering down the computer The enumeration process involves communi cating with the peripheral to discover the identity of the device driver that should be loaded A unique address is assigned to each peripheral during enumeration to be used for run time transfers During
195. ol and sensing applications Programmed via serial port use our new Windows interface terminal emulator or batch files Serial cable can be up to 35m long Once programmed unit can operate without PC Includes plastic case 130x100x30mm Power 12Vdc 500mA Kit Order Code 3108KT 54 95 Assembled Order Code AS3108 64 95 Infrared RC 12 Channel Relay Board Control 12 onboard relays with included infrared remote con trol unit Toggle or momentary 15m range 112 x 122mm Supply 12Vdc 0 5A Kit Order Code 3142KT 47 95 Assembled Order Code AS3142 59 95 PC Standalone Unipolar Stepper Motor Driver Drives any 5 6 or 8 lead unipolar stepper motor rated up to 6 Amps max Provides speed and direc tion control Operates in stand alone or PC controlled mode Up to six 3179 driver boards can be connected to a single parallel port Supply 9Vdc PCB 80x50mm Kit Order Code 3179KT 11 95 Assembled Order Code AS3179 18 95 Bi Polar Stepper Motor Driver also avail able Order Code 3158 details on website DC Motor opona Controller 100V 7 5A Control the speed of almost any common DC motor rated up to 100V 7 5A Pulse width modulation output for maximum motor torque at all speeds Supply 9 18Vdc Box supplied Dimensions mm 60VVx100Lx60H Kit Order Code 3067KT 13 95 Assembled Order Code AS3067 19 95 Bidirectional DC Motor Driver also avail able Order Code 3166 deta
196. om port That s a lot of functionality for about 30 lines of code Improvements There are several ways in which this code could be easily improved Adding control to the backlight by connecting it to a spare output port would be useful you can add a new clause in the if else statements in the function ProcessIO that uses another non printable character 0x07 perhaps to toggle the backlight on and off It wouldn t be difficult to add a piezo buzzer to the board then you could use the device as a remote console to the PC perhaps to buzz and display a notification when an email comes in There is another very useful piece of software supplied by Microchip that can make software development very easy You may have stumbled on the fact if you looked at the contents of the hex file of our project there is a big gap at the beginning of memory before the program starts This is be cause the code written by Microchip has been designed to co exist with a USB bootloader another program freely available on the Microchip website A discussion of the use of the bootloader is beyond the scope of this series of articles but you may like to download the bootloader code and examine it The link to it is provided in the references If there is sufficient interest we may cover this in a future article let us know We hope you have found this to be an interesting series of articles and that we have fired your enthusiasm f
197. oor Open Alarm OCT 06 Linear Supply For 1W Star LEDs Pair Through Glass Alarm Quick Brake Studio 350 Power Amplifier Micropower Battery Protector x Giant LED Message Display Master Slave NOV 06 Lapel Microphone Adaptor DEC 06 RGB To Component Video Converter double sided USB Power Injector x Mind Trainer Balanced Microphone Preamp JAN 07 High Efficiency Power Supply for 1W Star LEDs Jumping Spider x Programmable Robot FEB 07 Courtesy Light Delay Deep Cycle Battery Charger Power Board Control Board Display Board PIC Digital Geiger Counter double sided EPE SOFTWARE x All software programs for EPE Projects marked with an asterisk and others previously published can be downloaded free from our Downloads site accessible via our home page at www epemag co uk PCB MASTERS PCB masters for boards published from the March 06 issue onwards can also be downloaded from our UK website www epemag co uk go to the Downloads section EPE PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD SERVICE Order Code Project Quantity Price cheque PO in sterling only to Everyday aaa ms Practical Electronics MasterCard Amex Diners Club Visa or Switch Maestro Card No Valid From Expiry Date Card Security Code Maestro Issue No The last 3 digits on or just under the signature strip Signature NOTE You can also order p c b s by phone Fax Email or via our Web site on a secure server http
198. or For the less experienced RCX code programs accompany most of the featured robots However the more adventurous reader is also shown how to write programs using Microsoft s VisualBASIC running with the ActiveX con trol Spirit OCX that is provided with the RIS kit Detailed building instructions are provided for the fea tured robots including numerous step by step pho tographs The designs include rover vehicles a virtual pet a robot arm an intelligent sweet dispenser and a colour conscious robot that will try to grab objects of a specific colour Order code BP902 298 pages ANDROIDS ROBOTS AND ANIMATRONS Second Edition John lovine Build your own working robot or android using both off the shelf and workshop constructed materials and devices Computer control gives these robots and androids two types of artificial intelligence an expert sys tem and a neural network A lifelike android hand can be built and programmed to function doing repetitive tasks A fully animated robot or android can also be built and pro grammed to perform a wide variety of functions The contents include an Overview of State of the Art Robots Robotic Locomotion Motors and Power Controllers All Types of Sensors Tilt Bump Road and Wall Detection Light Speech and Sound Recognition Robotic Intelligence Expert Type Using a Single Board Computer Programmed in BASIC Robotic Intelligence Neutral Type Using Simple Neural Network
199. or Fuse F1 using heatshrink Once the wiring is in place it should be secured using cable ties as shown in the photos Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 63 This view shows how the parts are arranged on the rear panel and also shows how the display board is mounted Be sure to insulate the mains switch terminals and use cable ties to secure the wiring two thermostats Q1 Q5 and the posi tive supply connection In addition the top and bottom surfaces require six holes each A sheet of 0 5mm plastic insulating sheet 225 x 45mm is fixed to the top and bottom surfaces of the heatsink to ensure that it cannot short to either the base or the lid of the case The bottom holes are tapped M4 so that the heat sink can be attached to the baseplate using Nylon M4 screws the plastic sheet is sandwiched between the heat sink and the base of the case The holes in the top of the heatsink are tapped M3 so that the second 225 x 45 x 0 5mm plastic sheet can be secured using M3 countersunk Nylon screws Do not use glue to secure the plastic sheeting Fig 10 shows the drilling and tap ping details for the heatsink Attach the thermal cutouts to the heatsink using a smear of heatsink compound to the back of the sen sors before securing them with M3 x 10mm screws and star washers That 64 done install the heatsink in the case Check that it is isolated from the case by measuring the resistance between them with a multime
200. or Inpout32 dll to be available to the program and the BAS file supplied with it must be loaded into Visual BASIC 6 if you wish to experiment with or modify the program The number generated by the keypad is the required output potential in volts but the output port requires an 8 bit value In order to obtain a value in the range O to 255 it is merely necessary to multiply the value from the keypad by 20 Meter The meter was also taken from a previous program and merged into the current one using the Copy and Paste method It will inevitably be necessary to make slight adjustments to the program to accommo date the fact that the pasted meter will be in a different position on the form The pointer of the virtual meter is provided by the Line66 component and it is just a mat ter of using an appropriate value for its X2 parameter The basic X2 value is obtained by multi plying the value for the output port by 30 It is then necessary to add an appropriate off set to this value so that the pointer appears in the appropriate part of the screen One way of obtaining the offset is to select the long horizontal line in the meter s scale and then read its XI value from the Properties Window In this case the X1 value and therefore the required offset is equal to 3960 A similar problem occurs when the virtu al rotary switch is transferred to another program with a different form Clicking one of its legends sets the approp
201. or experimenting with C Although complicated at the start the rewards are high and the language may make a welcome change from the challenges of assembly If nothing else it is an other tool in your toolbox If you would like to discuss any of the topics raised in this series of arti cles feel free to join the conversation on the Chat Zone forum which can be accessed from the EPE website as above You may also contact the au thor Mike Hibbett directly at mike hibbett gmail com References PIC18F4550 datasheet www microchip com RS232 Example Code AN956 Source Code www microchip com stellent idcplg IdcService SS_GET_PAG E amp nodeld 2121 amp fragment6_Nex tRow 151 USB Bootloader Firmware www microchip com stellent idcplg IdcService SS_GET_PAGE amp NEWSAGENTS ORDER FORM Please reserve deliver a copy of Everyday Practical Electronics for me each month Name and Address Post Code Everyday Practical Electronics is published on the second Thursday of each month and distributed S 0 R by SEYMOUR Make sure of your copy each month cut out or photocopy this form fill it in and hand it to your newsagent Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 JI the metallically challenged Radar Speed Gun This Doppler radar gun reads speed in G AA km h or mph up to 250 km h or 155 2 1 mph It has a resolution of 1 km h or 1 mph with an accuracy of 1 and also has a hold switch so you can
202. or the courtesy lights are shown at Fig 1 a and Fig 1 b while Fig 1 c and Fig 1 d show the alternative tail light wiring configurations Door switches closed car doors open In practice this means that the Courtesy Light Delay requires just four connections to the car s wiring Two wiring leads connect across the door switch while the other two connect directly across one of the tail light filaments How it works Fig 2 shows the full circuit details of the Courtesy Light Delay It comprises a MOSFET Q1 an optocoupler OPTO1 a diode D1 a diode bridge BR1 and a few capacitors and resistors pal PR 470uF 16V D1 1N914 R3 Apyust 10k DELAY R4 22k 1N914 1N4148 MTP3055E A K 1 COURTESY LIGHT DELAY Q1 acts as a switch It s effectively wired in parallel with the door switch es and switches power to the courtesy lights during the timing period when all door switches are open Note that the door switches are marked with plus and minus signs in Fig 1 a and Fig 1 b The positive rail of the delay circuit connects to the plus side of the door switch while the nega tive rail connects to the minus side In operation the circuit derives its power from the vehicle s 12V battery via the courtesy lamp filaments As 6809 BRI W04 2 Or me To TAIL IGHTS WO4 Fig 2 the circuit uses MOSFET Q1 to switch power to the courtesy lights when the car s doo
203. ote We carry a large range of capacitors in stock Induding Ceramic Mini Disc Dipped Ceramic Multilayer Dipped amp Boxed Polyester Mylar Film Polystyrene Plastic Film MKT Polyester Tantalum Bead Sub min iafure Radial 105 C Radial Low Leakage Radial Non Polarised Radial amp Ax ial PCB Can Electrolytics Polypropylene amp Ceramic Trimmers and Tuning capacitors Full technical details available Resistors Please State Value Required 1783W Carbon Film 5 YW Carbon Film 5 AW Metal Film 1 YN Carbon Film 5 2 5W Wirewound 5 1W 2W 5W 20 E12 Series E12 Series E24 Series E12 Series E12 Series W 25W amp 50W also in stock selected values a contact sales dept Preset Resistors Please State Value Require Enclosed 10mm Square Horz Vert Skeleton 10mm Dia Horizontal 6mm Dia Horizontal Sub min Multiturn 10mm Square To Multiturn 19mm Long Potentiometers PI Single Gang X Shaft 25mm Dia X Shaft 25mm Dia Dual Gangh Shaft 20mm Dia Dual Sane Shaft 20mm Dia i 4 Shaft 20mm Dia Switched XY Shaft 20mm Dia Single Gan Switched End Adjust ust PCB Mount Splined Shaft 16mm Dia PCB Mount Spl Dual PCB plined Shaft i Dual PCB Splined Shaft 16mm Dia 0191 2514363 Fax 0191 2522296 F sales esr co uk NE30 4PQ ined Shaft 16mm Dia 6mm Dia Station Road E GS Cullercoats Tyne amp Wear T m 10k 470k 1
204. output for sending the detected tones to a PC via the serial port The unit will not detect numbers dialled using pulse dial ling Circuit is microcontroller based Supply 9 12V DC Order Code PSU445 Main PCB 55X95MM Kit Order Code 3153KT 20 95 Assembled Order Code AS3153 29 95 EPE PIC Controlled LED Flasher This versatile PIC based LED or filament bulb flasher can be Sused to flash from 1 to 176 ie LEDs The user arranges the LEDs i in any pattern they wish The kit comes with 8 super bright red LEDs and 8 green LEDs Based on the Versatile PIC Flasher EPE Magazine Dec 02 See website for full details Board Supply 9 12Vdc LED supply 9 45Vdc depending on number of LED used PCB 43x54mm Kit Order Code 3169KT 11 95 Most items are available in kit form KT suffix or assembled and ready for use AS prefix FM Bugs amp Transmitters Our extensive range goes from discreet surveillance bugs to powerful FM broadcast transmitters Here are a few examples All can be received on a standard FM radio and have adjustable transmitting frequency MMTX Micro Miniature 9V FM Room Bug Ps Our best selling bug Good _ performance Just 25x15mm Sold to detective agencies worldwide Small enough to hide just about anywhere Operates at the less busy top end of the commercial FM waveband and also up into the more private Air band Range 500m Supply PP3 battery Kit Order Code 30
205. pages Computers and Computing THE INTERNET FOR THE OLDER GENERATION Jim Gatenby Especially written for the over 50s Uses only clear and easy to understand language Larger type size for easy reading Provides basic knowledge to give you confi dence to join the local computer class This book explains how to use your PC on the Internet and covers amongst other things Choosing and setting up your computer for the Internet Getting connected to the Internet Sending and receiving emails pho tographs etc so that you can keep in touch with fam ily and friends all over the world Searching for and saving information on any subject On line shopping and home banking Setting up your own simple web site Order code BP600 8 99 228 pages BUILD YOUR OWN PC Fourth Edition Morris Rosenthal More and more people are building their own PCs They get more value for their money they create exactly the machine they want and the work is highly satisfying and actually fun That is if they have a unique begin ner s guide like this one which visually demonstrates how to construct a state of the art computer from start to finish Through 150 crisp photographs and clear but minimal text readers will confidently absorb the concepts of computer building The extra big format makes it easy to see what s going on in the pictures The author goes under the hood and shows step by step how to create a Pentium 4 computer or an Athlon 64
206. per isn t that a bit more common I know you can order loz and Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 etching is a bit quicker but around here at least USA most places stock more 2oz I like the smaller lighter thinner PCBs and that s what Pll be using when if I get the ability to make them 1 64 in 1 oz or 1 32 in can t remember right off the bat now Epithumia One thing I ve learned is not to use dimensioned PCB tracks as low value resistors e g in current sensing The theory is simple enough if you know the resistivity of copper and track thickness then you should be able to select a track length and width to get a known resistance In practice the track resistance is nothing like the calculated value PCB vendors I ve talked to are no use the best they could do was refer me to a page on the internet that gave the resistivity of copper as if I didn t already know that Pat I ve found some old notes but can not remember the source for 1oz copper 35 microns thick using 4A per 1mm width will contain temperature rise to 15 C above ambient and pro rata for other widths Thus for 6A use minimuum 6mm wide Ian Istedman I had access to IPC2221 when I compiled the data and I also used the online track width tools at www geoc ities com capecanaveral lab 9643 Trace Width htm As a guide it is allowable for a 10 C temperature rise in a given track without long term harm to the PCB G
207. plete circuit diagram for the PIC Digital Geiger Counter 12 gt 5V OV SEE TEXT X4 GM TUBE LND712 C4 IRFBC20 100n Q1 G D fse Bil LO i Te I a LE N as 33p Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 by a number of configuration bits that are set when the microprocessor is programmed These configuration bits allow the user to use almost any oscillator from 4MHz to 48MHz to drive the PIC18F2455 By setting these bits PLLDIV 5 CPU_DIV 0SC1_PLL2 USBDIV 2 and FOSC HSPLL_HS we can use a 20MHz crystal to drive the microprocessor at 48MHz and the USB at full speed Ifyou are going to program your own PIC18F2455 the circuit board has been designed with a programming connec tor that can be used to download the PIC firmware from a computer If you use a preprogrammed chip the pro gramming connector and associated components can be deleted The PIC18F2550 can also be used for this project The F2550 has 32K bytes of program memory and can store 250 additional radiation measurements Circuit The full circuit diagram for the PIC Digital Geiger Counter is shown in Fig 1 The GM tube requires 500V to 1000V DC to operate Always take ex treme caution when working on high voltage circuits The LND Inc 712 GM tube operates at 500V To generate this we have used the built in pulse width modulation PWM feature of the PIC18F2455 in a boost
208. portant aspect of the charger design is the heatsink which is com pletely insulated from the case This was done so that no mica or silicone washers are required when mount ing the bridge rectifier and the five power transistors Q1 Q5 and this maximises heat transfer from those components In addition it greatly simplifies the high current power connections to the collectors of the five power transis tors The 18V output from the main bridge rectifier simply connects to the heatsink and since all the transistor collector tabs are also bolted to the heatsink that makes the connection Simple but you do have to make sure the heatsink is properly isolated so there is no chance of shorts between it and the case The heatsink requires tapped holes to mount the bridge rectifier BR1 the Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 REAR PANEL OB MINI XLR 2 o EB N O O Z JO aa gt NOTE COVER FUSE F1 BODY WITH HEATSHRINK TUBING TO INSULATE TERMINALS CABLE GLAND x 69 Dodo oi AS POWER PC Vi OE 0 E SENSOR PLASTIC TI LNG vx FRONT PANEL VILBOMICO S S Fig 9 this is the main wiring diagram for the battery charger Be sure to use heavy duty cables where indicated see text and take care with the mains wiring The terminals of switch S5 should all be insulated see text as should the terminals f
209. prisonment can result from illegal use or ownership The laws vary from country to country readers should check local laws A roundup of the latest Everyday News from the world Colour CD Labels at Last Hewlett Packard may have solved the problem of laser printing CD labels for domestic use Barry Fox reports ATENT Offices around the world remain the best source of inside infor mation on what companies are planning to sell next Hewlett Packard has for several years been promoting the Lightscribe system for printing high quality labels directly onto CDs and DVDs A graphics package on a PC programs the laser in a slightly modified recorder drive to burn an image into light sensitive dye on the label side of a specially coated blank disc The graphics quality is high but monochrome The only way to intro duce any colour is to use a blank that has been coated with coloured dye But the image is still only in a single colour black over slate or gold for instance Add to this the fact that the writing process is time consuming and it is not surprising that Lightscribe has been very slow to catch on HP clearly recognises that the system will only take off and make the sale of downloaded music real competition for pressed CDs if Lightscribe drives can write a full colour high resolution label image HP has been hinting that a full colour system launch is expected soon but a series of patents filed by the company already
210. r bulence and reflections from the sea bed and surface spoil transmission Loud sound signals can disturb marine life Cold War systems used a transmitter of several megawatts and huge land based antennae to send signals at very low frequency around 70Hz round the world But they could carry only a few bits of data per second just enough to tell a submarine to surface and use ordinary radio to reply WES exploits the fact that the magnetic component of a radio signal is not short circuited and can travel through water An underwater antenna coil radiates magnet ism which is detected by a sensitive receiv er coil just as a hearing aid picks up cine ma or theatre sound radiated by magnetic coils around the hall Tests in the Firth of Forth with funding from the UK s Defence Science and Technology Lab and a Scottish Executive SMART award have shown that a five metre loop antenna radiating at 4kHz can carry a Ikbps signal through 200 metres of sea water Modern data compression tech niques developed for cellphones and digi tal radio systems can squeeze speech into this signal If the distance is reduced to one metre the data rate can be 10Mbps This lets a vehicle exchange survey data with a submerged dock without any physical connection For long range high rate communication the magnetic signal is beamed upwards and escapes from the water It is picked up by a dry land receiver and relayed by radio through th
211. r s guide with example pro grams in assembly language BASIC C and Pascal PiCmicro BASIC C and Pascal Compilers from 59 50 i Easy to use with user friendly IDE Features simulator and mikrolCD in circuit debugger Plentiful ready written routines and example programs e 30 discount for customers pur chasing EasyPIC4 BIGPIC4 devel opment boards Se a rr MikroElektronika s popular mikroBASIC mikroC and mikroPascal compilers now include the mikrolCD in circuit debugger for use with the EasyPIC4 and BIGPIC4 development boards programs can now be executed on a target PIC with variable values special function registers memory and EEPROM viewed on the PC screen Great value at 85 each for mikroBASIC mikroPascal and 145 for mikroC or when bought with an EasyPIC4 BIGPIC4 only 59 50 each for mikroBASIC mikroPascal and 101 50 for mikroC We also stock development tools for 8051 ARM AVR dsPIC PICmicro PSoC and other devices please see our website for details Educational Products PiCmicro Microcontroller Training System 99 e Teaches both assembly language programming and interfacing e Based on the popular PIC16F877A e Includes USB programmer e Features built in I O devices and solderless breadboard e Supplied with tutorial and program examples The PlCmicro Microcontroller Training System is an ideal platform for students and hobbyists alike to learn abo
212. r the circuit turns the courtesy lights off immedi ately if the side lights or the head lights are turned on This is achieved using bridge rectifier BR1 and the optocoupler In practice we don t monitor the side lights or the headlights directly Instead the circuit monitors the tail lights since these are always on with both the side lights and the headlights As shown the bridge rectifier is connected directly across the tail lights ie in parallel with one of the lamps When the tail lights are on there is 12V across them and this is applied to BR1 which then drives the LED inside the optocoupler via a 680Q current limit ing resistor This in turn switches on the transis tor inside the optocoupler and so Q1 switches off and the courtesy lights go out So the optocoupler performs a dual function 1 it forms part of the initial ims delay circuit and 2 it plays a vital role in switching off the courtesy lights when the tail lights are switched on Note that the connections to the tails lights can be made without any regard as to the polarity That s due to Table 1 Resistor Colour Codes 5 Band Code 1 red red black orange brown brown black black orange brown red red black red brown brown black black red brown blue grey black black brown yellow violet black black brown Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 The completed PC board clips into the side pillars of a standard plastic case
213. r which way around you connect them since the bridge rectifier automatically caters for both polarities as explained previously Once the wiring is complete recon nect the battery and check that the 29 COURTESY LIGHTS DELAY COURTESY LIGHT DELAY Q 9 Fig 4 here are full size artworks for the PC board etching pattern and for the front panel courtesy lights remain on after the door is closed Now turn the side lights on the courtesy lights should im mediately go out again You can now trigger the courtesy lights again and set the lights on delay period using VR1 Turning VR1 clockwise will increase the delay period Troubleshooting Ifthe courtesy lights are always on it may be because the door switch terminals have been connected with reverse polarity If that happens the courtesy lights turn on via the intrinsic reverse diode inside Q1 Simply swapping the leads to the door switch will fix this problem If the lights do not remain on after the door is closed and the connections are correct check that there is no voltage applied to the Tail light terminals on the PC board If there s no voltage here the problem will be on the PC board itself The first step is to carefully check the copper side of the board for missed solder joints and solder bridges between adjacent tracks That done check that all com ponents are oriented correctly and that they are in their correct positions
214. r is closed ie the door switch opens Trimpot VR1 sets the time delay while bridge rectifier BR1 monitors the tail lights and switches off Q1 via optoisolator OPTO1 if the tail lights are switched on Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 a result the lamps act as low value resistors in series with the supply However because the circuit draws so little current when it is operating there s very little voltage drop across the lamp filaments and so the circuit operates from almost the full battery voltage Note that the current flows via the courtesy lamp filaments it doesn t matter whether the lamp filaments are connect directly to the 12V supply as shown in Fig 1 a or to ground as in Fig 1 b The circuit operation is as follows When a car door is opened one of the door switches closes and the courtesy lights switch on as normal During this time the switch shorts out MOSFET Q1 and so there will be no voltage across the courtesy light delay circuit ie between its plus and minus termi nals As a result capacitor C1 will be discharged via R1 while C3 will be discharged via resistors R3 and R4 Subsequently when the door switch opens again ie the door is closed the courtesy lights will go out and there will be close to 12V across the drain D and source S of Q1 This voltage also immediately appears across a series connected network consisting of capacitor C1 diode D1 and capaci tor C2 Init
215. r supply is only 12V lableMiHResistomGolourGodes 5 Band Code 1 brown black black yellow brown white brown black orange brown brown black black orange brown yellow orange black red brown red red black red brown brown black black red brown green blue black brown brown orange orange black brown brown brown grey black brown brown brown black black brown brown orange orange black black brown red violet black black brown brown green black black brown brown red black black brown brown black black gold brown ab lepaCapacitorCodes Value uF Code 470nF 0 47uF EIA Code IEC Code 474 470n 224 220n 104 100n 0 001uF 102 in 220nF 0 22uF 100nF 0 1uF 1nF Drilling the case You will need to drill quite a few holes and make cutouts in the case We should note at the outset that the case used in our prototype has a drawback in that its bottom panel has a section of mesh right where we wanted to mount the transformer This means that it needs an additional large metal plate underneath to provide secure anchor ing for the transformer bolt On the rear panel holes and cutouts are required for the fan and finger guards mini XLR socket bridge rectifi er BR2 blade fuseholder cable glands for the charger leads mains cord grip grommet and the fuseholder The fan is mounted towards the far edge of the panel It requires a 75mm diameter cutout and this is made by drilling a series of holes around the perimeter and then
216. r supply somewhere It was a large board and no amount of looking would show up where So we hooked up a PSU and decided to blow the trace and then we could trace it down Nope we got to 50A and it only got a little warm So as long as you re not using very small traces you should be fine Many PCB design packages have design rules for stuff like that when you select a trace from a power component like V of that 7812 or mark a trace as POWER component it will automatically select a WIN AN ATLAS LCR ANALYSER WORTH 79 An Atlas LCR Passive Component Analyser kindly donated by Peak Electronic Design Ltd will be awarded to the author of the Letter Of The Month each month The Atlas LCR automatically measures inductance from 1uH to 10H capacitance from 1pF to 10 000uF and resistance from 1Q to 2MQ with a basic accuracy of 1 www peakelec co uk X LETTER OF THE MONTH x EPE Magnetometer After constructing the EPE magne tometer logger and using it for some time we became convinced that with more sophisticated software it would be possible to improve on the results we were getting This set in motion a gener al search of what is available free if possible This approach led us eventual ly to the web sit of the Archaeology dept of the University of Sussex at www2 prestle co uk aspen sussex snuffler html This freeware Geophysics software has image processing and many features only availab
217. rd Card Number Card Security Code Please send book CD ROM order codes The last 3 digits on or just below the signature strip Please continue on separate sheet of paper if necessary If you do not wish to cut your magazine send a letter or copy of this form Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 EPE PIC PROJECTS VOLUME 1 MINI CD ROM A plethora of 20 hand PICked PIC Projects from selected past issues of EPE Together with the PIC programming Use your browser to open Moo htm software for each project plus bonus articles ON L tel 11898 2003 Teen Baies interactive inc A imire Puhbehing Ltd The projects are edq 4 45 PIC Based Ultrasonic Tape Measure You ve got it taped if you PIC this ultrasonic distance measuring INCLUDING calculator VAT and P amp P EPE Mind PICkler Want seven ways to relax Try our PIC controlled mind machine Order on line from PIC MIDI Sustain Pedal a sta www epemag wimborne co uk shopdoor htm e e or by Phone Fax Email or Post PIC based MIDI Handbells Ring out thy bells with merry tolling plus a MIDI PIC up of NOTE The PDF files on this CD ROM are suitable to use on any PC witha course CD ROM drive They require Adobe Acrobat Reader EPE Mood PICker Oh for a good night s sleep Insomniacs rejoice your wakeful EPE PIC PROJ ECTS CD ROM nights could soon be over with this mini micro under the pillow PIC Micro Probe ORDER FORM A har
218. reader how to build a variety of increasingly sophis ticated computer controlled robots using the brilliant Lego Mindstorms Robotic Invention System RIS Initially covers fundamental building techniques and mechanics needed to construct strong and efficient robots using the various click together components supplied in the basic RIS kit Then explains in simple terms how the brain of the robot may be programmed on screen using a PC and zapped to the robot over an infra red link Also shows how a more sophisticated Windows programming language such as Visual BASIC may be used to control the robots Details building and programming instructions provided including numerous step by step photographs 288 pages large format WOKE 14 99 MORE ADVANCED ROBOTICS WITH LEGO MINDSTORMS Robert Penfold Covers the Vision Command System Shows the reader how to extend the capabilities of the brilliant Lego Mindstorms Robotic Invention System RIS by using Lego s own accessories and some sim ple home constructed units You will be able to build robots that can provide you with waiter service when you clap your hands perform tricks see and avoid objects by using bats radar or accurately follow a line marked on the floor Learn to use additional types of sensors including rotation light temperature sound and ultrasonic and also explore the possibilities provid ed by using an additional third mot
219. red by the battery itself POST AND PACKING CHARGES Order Value 20 49 99 5 200 499 99 30 50 99 99 10 500 40 100 199 99 20 Max weight 12lb 5kg Heavier parcels POA Minimum order 20 Note Products are dispatched from Australia so local customs duty and taxes may apply Cost Order Value Cost A Magnetic Cartridge Te amp This kit i is used to amplify the 3 4mV signals from a phono cartridge to line level so you can use your turntable with the CD or tuner inputs on your Hi Fi amplifier most modern amps don t include a phono input any more Dust off the old LP collection or use it to record your LPs on to CD The design is suitable for 12 LPs and also allows for RIAA equalisation of all the really old 78s Please note that the input sensitivity of this design means it s only suitable for moving magnet not moving coil cartridges Kit includes PCB with overlay and all electronic components cj j e Requires 12VAC power IR Romote Control Extender MKII Operate your DVD vero or digital decoder using its remote control from another room It picks up the signal from the remote control and sends it via a 2 wire cable to an infrared LED located close to the device This improved model features fast data transfer capable of transmitting Foxtel digital remote control signals using the Pace 400 series decoder Kit supplied with case screen printed front p
220. redible R2D2 without any modi fication to the PC board With a little imagination the possibilities would be even wider The circuit could operate a pulley system serve as a line tracker or rotate motors in response to broken beams of varying intensity without modification to the PC board The robot is programmable there fore the drive circuit is merely a slave to the software and is of a relatively simple design The circuit is based on a PICAXE 08 micro Although more limited than a raw microcontroller it is a little marvel nonetheless both for cutting out the need for a program Table 1 PICAXE Motor Control Outputs Low High Both motors on Left motor backwards Right motor backwards Pin 7 PO PAM EZ Pin 3 P4 44 Both motors off Left motor forwards Right motor forwards mer and for placing respectable power at the service of the constructor with great simplicity All that the Programmable Robot requires in its support is a PC and a se rial cable The programming software is free www rev ed co uk and comes in the form of a telegram style BASIC and flowchart programming Note that the Programmable Ro bot s memory is limited not all the features listed above can be used at the same time However with careful programming the robot will perform most dual or even triple tasks with aplomb As an example light seeking bump and respond and sound can all be incorporated in a si
221. rent fashion for shiny plastic and glassy buttons The browser s online security has been tightened up to the point of becoming obstructive but expert users can review settings in Tools Internet Options Security Custom The long overdue multi tabbed browsing system works well and at last several web sites can be opened side by side and compared easily Microsoft s IE7 includes a new anti phishing tool that in the author s experience has yet to prove its worth Look for the tiny phish ing bargraph scanning see screenshot You can right click it and disable the phishing filter Turn Off Automatic Web Site checking to speed up the loading of web pages The phishing filter settings are accessed via the new Tools drop down menu and you can also report a phishing site to Microsoft the same way This requires the user to interpret some incomprehensible ransom note characters which is intended to ensure that the submitter is not a malicious automated pro gram If you cannot decipher the characters click the Refresh button nearby to generate another string Phishing attacks are continuing unabated though and whilst Microsoft s phishing filter is a welcome addition it does not seem to be sufficiently up to date to catch real time phishing attempts Readers could try the Netcraft toolbar as an alternative from http toolbar netcraft com Input and speakers 119 99 inc vat PET706 7 samsung e Widescree f LE32R7
222. resistor determine how long a bump will be remembered and the values of these components may be modified as de sired These components are required because the software as it executes may need a moment to reach the pro gram line which monitors the status of S1 and because there is bound to be some switch bounce too Pins 2 Serial In and 7 Serial Out are used for downloading programs with pin 7 doing double duty for switching the motors as described earlier Since pin 7 does double duty the robot s motors may twitch a lit tle as a program is downloaded or debugged A 220uF capacitor provides supply decoupling and the 22kQ bleed resis tor ensures that the circuit powers down properly when switched off so that there will be no unpredictable behaviour when it is switched on again After switching off the robot allow a few seconds for the 220uF capacitor to discharge before switch ing on again Board assembly All the parts with the exception of the bump switch LDR piezo sounder and battery are mounted on a PC board coded 602 measuring 92 x 67mm The component overlay is shown in Fig 2 and the wiring details in Fig 6 PC board and hardware construc tion are inter linked and both of these sections need to be read first before final construction of the robot is un dertaken The following procedure is recommended when soldering com ponents to the PC board 1 solder the 14 PC pins insert these fro
223. riate limit current and moves the red dot to the appro priate position This enables the user to see the currently selected current The correct co ordinates for the dot Shape53 will be different when the switch is used at a new position on the form The easy way to find the new co ordinates is to move the dot into each of the three positions making a note of the Top and Left parameters in the Properties Window for each position Fig 3 Connection details for the PC parallel port The con nections to the port are made via a 25 way male D type connector Listing 1 Public output As Variant Private Sub Command1_Click output output amp 1 Label1 Caption output End Sub Private Sub CommandiO Click output output amp 0 Label1 Caption output End Sub Private Sub Commandi11 Click output output 20 output output 1 If output gt 255 Then Label1 Caption Error If output gt 255 Then output O Reading output 30 Reading Reading 3960 Line66 X2 Reading Out amp H378 output output End Sub Private Sub Command12_Click output output amp Label1 Caption output End Sub Private Sub Command13_Click Length Len output If Length 0 Then Exit Sub Length Length 1 output Left output Length Label1 Caption output End Sub Private Sub Command2_Click output output amp 2 Label1 Caption output End Sub Private Sub Command
224. rk written by his eldest son including many previously unpublished photographs Valid FOM ars ale wire Expiry Date Maestro Issue NO I I I l I l I I I SEND TO Everyday Practical Electronics I Wimborne Publishing Ltd i 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND I l I I I I I l I Tel 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 E mail orders epemag wimborne co uk Payments must be by card or in Sterling cheque or bank draft drawn on a UK bank Normally supplied within seven days of receipt of order Note Some of the EXTRA ARTICLES require WinZip to unzip them E up z Everyday Practical Electronics February 2006 23 Readers Circuits Ingenuity Our regular round up of readers own circuits We pay between 10 and 50 for all material pub lished depending on length and technical merit We re looking for novel applications and circuit designs not simply mechani cal electrical or software ideas Ideas must be the reader s own work Altemating LED Flasher Reciprocating Waming S1 IC1 CD40106BE IC1a IC1b mh 2 SMN Fig 1 Circuit diagram for the Alternating LED Flasher N alternating LED flasher may be used to simulate aircraft lights for example or to give a flash which seems more aggressive than a single LED The Flasher shown in Fig 1 flashes two LEDs alternately at a brisk pace just over 1Hz for the full two LED cycle
225. rnaugh mapping are explained demonstrated and used extensively and more attention is paid to the subject of synchronous coun ters than to the simple but less important ripple counters No background other than a basic knowledge of electron ics is assumed and the more theoretical topics are explained from the beginning as also are many working practices The book concludes with an explaination of microprocessor techniques as applied to digital logic Order code PC106 9 95 200 pages A BEGINNER S GUIDE TO TTL DIGITAL ICs R A Penfold This book first covers the basics of simple logic circuits in general and then progresses to specific TTL logic integrated circuits The devices covered include gates oscillators timers flip flops dividers and decoder cir cuits Some practical circuits are used to illustrate the use of TTL devices in the real world 142 pages Order code BP332 5 45 MICROCONTROLLER COOKBOOK Mike James The practical solutions to real problems shown in this cook book provide the basis to make PIC and 8051 devices real ly work Capabilities of the variants are examined and ways to enhance these are shown A survey of common interface devices and a description of programming models lead on to a section on development techniques The cookbook offers an introduction that will allow any user novice or experienced to make the most of micro controllers 240 pages 23 99 RADIO BYGONES We al
226. rom simple sensor circuits through to power amplifiers A shareware version of Matrix s CADPACK schematic capture circuit simulation and p c b design software is included The projects on the CD ROM are Logic Probe Light Heat and Moisture Sensor NE555 Timer Egg Timer Dice Machine Bike Alarm Stereo Mixer Power Amplifier Sound Activated Switch Reaction Tester Full parts lists schematics and p c b layouts are included on the CD ROM ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS amp COMPONENTS V2 0 Circuit simulation screen Provides an introduction to the principles and application of the most common types of electronic components and shows how they are used to form complete circuits The virtual laboratories worked examples and pre designed circuits allow students to learn experiment and check their understanding Version 2 has been considerably expanded in almost every area following a review of major syllabuses GCSE GNVQ A level and HNC It also contains both European and American circuit symbols Sections include Fundamentals units amp multiples electricity electric circuits alternating circuits Passive Components resistors capacitors inductors transformers Semiconductors diodes transistors op amps logic gates Passive Circuits Active Circuits The Parts Gallery will help students to recognise common electronic components and their corresponding symbols in circuit diagrams Included in the Institutional Versions are multiple
227. rton Newport Isle of Wight POSO 3HP Tel 0870 243 0414 Fax 01983 721572 pstivvi cowes freeserve co uk www vvttransformers co uk Your own complete eCommerce 24 7 site UH for only 10 per week 4 lis Domain secure hosting emails shopping basket etc included details www eConcept co uk Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 Miscellaneous VALVES AND ALLIED COMPO NENTS IN STOCK Phone for free list Valves books and magazines wanted Geoff Davies Radio tel 01788 574774 WANTED OLD HALF INCH FERRITE RODS Must be half inch 12 7mm in diameter and be six inches long or more will pay very good money for the rods Contact Peter Tankard on 0114 2316321 between 9am and 10pm FOR PRICE VALVE CLEARANCE catalogue send 1 00 in Ist or 2nd class stamps FOR COMBINED VALVE amp COMPONENT CLEARANCE list send 1 50 in Ist or 2nd class stamps W Burcher 676 Foxhall Road Ipswich Suffolk IP3 8NQ Tel 01473 272218 AALLOT ey WWW EDGING Get your magazine instantly anywhere in the world buy and download from the web TAKE A LOOK A FREE ISSUE IS AVAILABLE A one year subscription 12 issues costs just 15 99 US Back issues are also available 19 Europe s Largest Surplus Store 20 000 000 Items on line NOW New items added dail Established for over 25 years UK company Display Electronics prides itself on offering a massive range of electronic and associate
228. rupt is generated by the ana logue to digital converter ADC and occurs when the latest conversion com pletes and PIR1 ADIF is set This might be unexpected Although TMR1 forms the voltage controlled oscillator VCO it does this by counting up to the value in CCPRIH and CCPRIL and the capture compare module is set to mode OxOB which automatically resets TMR1 and trig gers the ADC to start another conversion The interrupt enable bit is set for the ADC but not for TMR1 or the CCPR module At each interrupt the specific sample is counted by the variable TickCount and a computed goto is used to perform the appropriate action for the latest value of TickCount It is possible to compact this code a lot for this demonstration but it is useful to resist the temptation to do that For a practical application the cost of repli cating the appropriate 16 bit add and sub tract instructions is much less important than being able to insert application specif ic actions easily and reliably at appropriate times within each cycle Macros The 16 bit operations are implemented by macros defined in the appropriate Include files For example Add VV16 adds a 16 bit variable to another 16 bit variable and is defined in the Include file MathAddSub16 asm Hopefully it is easy to guess that SubVV16 subtracts 16 bit variables and that AddKV16 adds a 16 bit constant to a 16 bit variable Macros have benefits and liabilities They don t just sa
229. s mathematics behind filter design and an explanation of the design of active filters Passive Filter Design which includes an expert system and filter synthesis tool for the design of low pass high pass band pass and band stop Bessel Butterworth and Chebyshev ladder filters Active Filter Design which includes an expert system and filter synthesis tool for the design of low pass high pass band pass and band stop Bessel Butterworth and Chebyshev ROMS ELECTRONICS Sand PACK PCB Layout Electronics CADPACK allows users to design complex circuit schematics to view circuit animations using a unique SPICE based simulation tool and to design printed circuit boards CADPACK is made up of three separate software modules These are restricted versions of the full Labcenter software ISIS Lite which provides full schematic drawing features including full control of drawing appearance automatic wire routing and over 6 000 parts PROSPICE Lite integrated into ISIS Lite which uses unique animation to show the operation of any circuit with mouse operated switches pots etc The animation is compiled using a full mixed mode SPICE simulator ARES Lite PCB layout software allows professional quality PCBs to be designed and includes advanced features such as 16 layer boards SMT components and an autorouter operating on user generated Net Lists ROBOTICS amp MECHATRONICS Case e of the Milford Instruments Spider
230. s Insect Intelligence Making a Lifelike Android Hand A Computer Controlled Robotic Insect Programmed in BASIC Telepresence Robots With Actual Arcade and Virtual Reality Applications A Computer Controlled Robotic Arm Animated Robots and Androids Real World Robotic Applications Order code MGH1 14 99 224 pages 16 99 74 DIRECT BOOK SERVICE NOTE ALL PRICES INCLUDE UK POSTAGE The books listed have been selected by Everyday Practical Electronics editorial staff as being of special interest to everyone involved in electronics and computing They are supplied by mail order to your door Full ordering details are given on the last book For a further selection of books see the next two issues of EPE BASIC RADIO PRINCIPLES AND TECHNOLOGY lan Poole Radio technology is becoming increasingly important in today s high technology society There are the traditional uses of radio which include broadcasting and point to point radio as well as the new technologies of satellites and cellular phones All of these developments mean there is a growing need for radio engineers at all levels Assuming a basic knowledge of electronics this book provides an easy to understand grounding in the topic Chapters in the book Radio Today Yesterday and Tomorrow Radio Waves and Propagation Capacitors Inductors and Filters Modulation Receivers Transmitters Antenna Systems Broadcasting Satellites Personal Communications Appendix
231. s that are found naturally in our bodies Large amounts of man made Sr 90 were produced during atmospheric nuclear weapons tests conducted in the 1950s and 1960s and were dis persed worldwide Sr 90 has a half life of 28 8 years so about 77 of the Sr 90 from a nuclear weapon test in 1945 has already decayed The 500V DC G M tube biasing voltage is generated by a PIC micro controller in a boost power supply configuration The display is menu driven with a four line LCD digital readout Radiation measurements are date time stamped by an internal real time clock Microprocessor sleep mode is used to reduce power consumption Internal memory can store 125 radiation measurements using PIC18F2455 375 using PIC18F2550 Built in USB interface for data upload to a personal computer PIC firmware is written in freely available C language Personal computer software is written in latest version of Visual Basic Net Device is portable powered by four AA lithium hydride batteries 5 volts Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 11 Hardware design The state of the art for radiation de tection for hobbyists has changed very little since Hans Geiger invented the gas filled radiation detector while working with Ernest Rutherford in 1908 The design ofthis device was later refined in the 1920s by Hans Geiger and Wilhelm Mueller It is sometimes called simply a Geiger counter or a G M counter and is the
232. s likewise designated for input or output and is used here to control the direction forward or reverse of the righthand motor Note that neither pin 5 nor pin 3 willaccomplish anything unless both motors are switched on first via pin 7 PO Both pins 5 and 3 cause a wheel to roll forwards when it is low and backwards when it is high Pins 7 5 and 3 together may be used not only to make the robot drive forwards or reverse but also to turn gyrate wiggle judder or do virtually anything else one may think of These motions may also be strung together sequentially as part of a programmed sequence within limits since memory is at a premium Pin 4 P3 is designated for input only and is used to sense collisions through the robot s bumper bar The robot need not only do a simple reverse and turn but it may also be programmed to re spond in various ways Pin 6 P1 is des ignated for output input or analogue input In this circuit it is used only for output and analogue input In output mode it is used to drive a piezo sounder for programmable sound The piezo sounder will beep play tunes or with a little ingenuity create sound effects such as a police siren or a cat s purr In analogue mode pin 6 reads the light level at the front of the robot Note that this first requires the correct adjustment of VR1 with the help ofthe LDR ADJUST program The robot is capable of detecting sixteen levels of
233. s that too is encrypted or tunnelled The best recommended installation would be to have a decent wireless router with all of the cameras on a local network scheme I prefer the 192 168 scheme myself then password protect and access control all the cameras such that they can only be accessed from nominated machines It s pretty academic really as even with a camera what will it stop Sadly nothing Someone can be in and out so fast if they are hungry for something Also can you help the free world by talking about Linux sometime too please Em sure 99 of people think there is no choice outside the Microsoft empire Simon Topley Silver Fox Computers Folkestone Kent As the author of Net Work Alan replied to Simon Thanks for your feedback Point taken a camera with a dedicated IP is accessible on the open network but they would have to know or find the IP address or URL and even with that they might still not know where the camera was physically situated This is no consolation for those having a romantic night indoors There have been a couple of recent cases where homeowners have been alerted via webcams to break in attempts and the local police caught the culprits in time There have also been cases of open cameras being found on Google as you say This can be done by searching for certain text strings eg as commonly used in Axis net work cam setups I ve just found via Google an IP network
234. series KIT 880 34 99 Si KIT 880 39 99 Si OR Built amp Tested 49 99 amp 55 99 EPE TEACH IN 2004 COMPLETE 12 PART Additional Parts as SERIES FROM NOVO3 listed in misc Sec All parts to follow this tion less RF modules Educational Electronics Lock and Motor g box Course Inc Bread KIT921 12 99 board and wire as listed on p752 Nov 03 Reprints 1 00 per part KIT920 29 99 BAT DETECTORS Magenta s Super Heterodyne Bat detectors Our best selling kit 861 now includes a drilled case and front panel label The Mkllb and digital MkIII are supplied built amp ready to go KIT 861 37 99 foras 6599 for all 3 5 99 Mkilb 49 95 Mbkill 89 95 All Prices Include VAT Add 3 00 P amp P per order or 7 99 for next day Chas P O amp Most major cards accepted See our Website for many more kits prod ucts amp Secure On Line ordering Mail Order Only PLE Cor RONG SED 135 Hunter Street Burton on Trent Staffs DE14 2ST UK email sales magenta2000 co uk 4000 Series 74HC153 0 30 0 41 NE5532N 0 48 4000B 0 27 74H 154 094 7415245 045 NE5534N 054 4001B 0 16 74HC157 022 7415247 0 60 NE5539N 435 4002B 0 19 74HC158 023 741525 0 24 OPOZCN 0 80 4008B 0 23 74HC160 0 64 7415257 0 24 OP27CN 2 33 4009UB 0 23 74HC161 0 27 7418258 0 24 OP90GP 2 91 4010B 0 23 74HC162 0 45 7415266 0 14 OP97FP 1 84
235. shed O Additional text for EPE PIC Tutorial V2 John Becker unpublished Il enclose cheque P O bank draft to the value of L Please charge my Visa Mastercard Amex Diners Club Maestro Card Security Code The last 3 digits on or just under the signature strip O a Z O Valid From sagas ated da dd Expiry Dales cammsadesi dass Maestro Issue NO SEND TO Everyday Practical Electronics Wimborne Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND Tel 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 Email orders Oepemag wimborne co uk Payments must be by card or in Sterling cheque or bank draft drawn on a UK bank Normally supplied within seven days of receipt of order Send a copy of this form or order by letter if you do not wish to cut your issue NOTE The PDF files on this CD ROM are suitable to use on any PC with a CD ROM drive They require Adobe Acrobat Reader included on the CD ROM BECOME A PIC WIZARD WITH THE HELP OF EPE Everyday Practical Electronics February 2006 21 jts VERYDAY PRACTICAL ELECTRONICS UK readers you can SAVE 54p on every issue of EPE How would you like to pay 2 96 instead of 3 50 for your copy of EPE Well you can just take out a one year subscription and save 54p an issue or 6 50 over the year You can even save 75p an issue if you subscribe for two years a total saving of 18 00 Overseas rates als
236. short working life Blumlein pro duced patent after patent breaking entirely new ground in electronic and audio engineering During the Second World War Alan Blumlein was deeply engaged in the very secret work of radar devel opment and contributed enormously to the system eventually to become H2S blind bombing radar Tragically during an experimental H2S flight in June 1942 the Halifax bomber in which Blumlein and several colleagues were flying crashed and all aboard were killed He was just days short of his thirty ninth birthday Order code NE32 17 99 60 pages 420 pages Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 VIDEO PROJECTS FOR THE ELECTRONICS CONSTRUCTOR R A Penfold Written by highly respected author R A Penfold this book contains a collection of electronic projects spe cially designed for video enthusiasts All the projects can be simply constructed and most are suitable for the newcomer to project construction as they are assembled on stripboard There are faders wipers and effects units which will add sparkle and originality to your video recordings an audio mixer and noise reducer to enhance your sound tracks and a basic computer control interface Also there s a useful selection on basic video production techniques to get you started Complete with explanations of how the circuit works shopping lists of components advice on construction and guidance on setting up and using the proje
237. so carry a selection of books aimed at readers of EPE s sister maga zine on vintage radio Radio Bygones These books include the Comprehensive Radio Valve Guides Also Jonathan Hill s excellent Radio Radio a comprehensive book with hundreds of photos depicting the development of the British wireless set up to the late 1960s The four volumes of our own Wireless For the Warrior by Louis Meulstee are also available These are a technical his tory of radio communication equipment in the British Army and clandestine equip ment from pre war through to the 1960s For details see the shop on our UK web site at www epemag co uk or contact us for a list of Radio Bygones books 16 Project Building amp Testing ELECTRONIC PROJECT BUILDING FOR BEGINNERS R A Penfold This book is for complete beginners to electronic project building It provides a complete introduction to the practi cal side of this fascinating hobby including the following topics Component identification and buying the right parts resistor colour codes capacitor value markings etc advice on buying the right tools for the job soldering making easy work of the hard wiring construction methods including stripboard custom printed circuit boards plain matrix boards surface mount boards and wire wrapping finishing off and adding panel labels getting problem projects to work including simple methods of fault finding In fact everything you need
238. sterfield S40 2RB Tel 01246 211202 Fax 01246 550959 www JPGElectronics com Mastercard Visa Switch Callers welcome 9 30 a m to 5 30 p m Monday to Saturday EVERYDAY PRACTICAL ELECTRONICS NEXT MONTH PIC POLYPHONIUM Visiting various steam fairs such as the Great Dorset Steam Fair the author has been fascinated by the grandeur of the sights and sounds of the superb showmans fairground organs there in abundance At last he has found a way to commemorate them a novel truly polyphonic PIC controlled musical design Music data is entered via a PC s keyboard and aided by an extra font is displayed on screen in standard musical score format Sheet music scores of any chosen themes can be keyed onto the screen or musical users can also be creative and key in their own scores IR REMOTE CHECKER Do your remote controls often fail Is it due to dead batteries poor contacts under the switch buttons or a more serious fault How would you know if it was working anyway Here is the answer a Remote Control Checker SMS CONTROLLER Would you like to be immediately informed when your burglar alarm is activated as well as which sectors were tripped What about if you could reset the alarm or even isolate one or more sectors Well this is just one of a huge number of possibile applications for our SMS Controller Other applications include switching home appliances rebooting a server or locating your car in a car park MARGH 07
239. surement the resistance may be ignored or unspeci fied although the dBu unit is often stated as referring to an open circuit situation that is unloaded or unterminated hence the u Note again that 0 775V RMS is about 1 1V peak not 1 0V for a sine wave sig nal the value 0 775V RMS relates to power into a 600 2 load and not conversion from peak to RMS voltages If you are not using a 6009 system then apart from its historical precedence the 0 775V RMS reference level seems very arbitrary For this reason a reference using the round number of 1V RMS is some times used instead The symbol for this is dBV 1dBV is equal to 2 2dBu from 20 x log 9 1 0 775 and IdBu is equal to 2 2dBV from 20 x logy9 0 775 1 The impedance is not specified for dBV measurements There are a couple of standard signal lev els used for audio equipment These are 4dBu and 10dBV The 4dBu value which is typical for professional audio equipment is 1 23V RMS from 0 775 x 104 20 or check that 20log 1 23 0 775 4 The 10dBV value which is typical for consumer equipment is 0 316V RMS from 1 x 1061020 or check that 20log 0 316 1 10 Meters on audio equipment will typically be calibrated to these levels e g OdB on the meter is 4dBu or 1 23V signal 57 Pi DY JONN GLAS In this second article on the 3 Step Battery Charger we present the full construction details the parts list and set up procedure It is designed to fully
240. t exempted firms that use these parts such as the aerospace defence and medical sectors need to protect their stocks In some cases they are even signing con tracts with manufacturers that guarantee continued production which makers like Tyco are happy to underwrite However Tyco is offering no assurance that prices remain constant simply because pricing depends on volume and costs are inverse ly related to volume Eye candy book Money always seems to be short in the months after Christmas well it is for me anyway but I m still going to recom mend a book to buy simply because it s interesting well written and well sea soned with the kind of nuggets in it that you won t find elsewhere It s called Television Innovations 50 Technological Developments Dicky Howett is the author of this large format 128 page paperback published at 14 95 by Kelly Books Considering the number of words writ ten on the subject of television technolo gy you might think it hard to come up with anything new I myself have read far too many books on television many of them poor or indifferent to the extent that I did not believe anybody could write something genuinely new and worth print ing Fortunately Howett s book manages this brilliantly and even better it 1s jargon free and readable 10 personally Or would he I love the book it is informative hon est amusing and different enough to make it highly recomme
241. tandard air service or 59 50 express airmail 24 months 78 stan dard air service or 114 express airmail To subscribe from the USA or Canada call Express Mag toll free on 1877 363 1310 Online subscriptions for downloading the magazine via the Internet 15 99US approx 9 00 for one year available from www epemag com Cheques or bank drafts in sterling only payable to Everyday Practical Electronics and sent to EPE Subs Dept Wimborne Publishing Ltd 408 Wimborne Road East Ferndown Dorset BH22 9ND Tel 01202 873872 Fax 01202 874562 Email subs epemag wimborne co uk Also via the Web at http Awww epemag wimborne co uk Subscriptions start with the next available issue We accept MasterCard Amex Diners Club Maestro or Visa For past issues see the Back Issues page BINDERS Binders to hold one volume 12 issues are available from the above address These are finished in blue p v c printed with the magazine logo in gold on the spine Price 7 95 plus 3 50 p amp p for overseas readers the postage is 6 00 to everywhere except Australia and Papua New Guinea which cost 10 50 Normally sent within seven days but please allow 28 days for delivery more for overseas Payment in sterling only please Visa Amex Diners Club Maestro and MasterCard accepted Send fax or phone your card number card expiry date and card security code the last 3 digits on or just under the sig nature strip with your n
242. tc Aerial can be an open di pole or Ground Plane Ideal project for the novice wishing to get started in the fascinat ing world of FM broadcasting 45x145mm Kit Order Code 1028KT 23 95 Assembled Order Code AS1028 31 95 Credit Card Sales 0871 717 7168 QUASAR electronics Get Plugged In Electronic Project Labs Great introduction to the world of electron ics Ideal gift for pudding electronics expert 500 in 1 Electronic Project Lab Top of the range Com plete self contained elec tronics course Takes you from beginner to A Level standard and beyond Contains all the hardware and manuals to assemble 500 projects You get 3 comprehensive course i books total 368 pages Harnas Entry Course Hardware Advanced Course and a microprocessor based Software Program ming Course Each book has individual circuit explanations schematic and connection dia grams Suitable for age 12 Order Code EPL500 149 95 Also available 30 in 1 15 95 130 in 1 37 95 amp 300 in 1 59 95 details on website Tools amp Test Equipment We stock an extensive range of soldering tools test equipment power supplies inverters amp much more please visit web site to see our full range of producis Precision Digital Multitester 4 5 Digit A highly featured high precision digital multime ter with a large 4 5 digit LCD display High accu racy 0 05 Auto zeroing polar
243. te readings were about 400 counts per minute As we were exiting the site we noticed a sign that said the radiation at ground zero was about ten times background We were pleased that we were able to confirm that sign with our measurements 240 vs 24 The radiation level at ground zero was said to be about 1 1000 Roentgen Equivalent Man REM per hour This provided us with a con venient conversion factor for our DGC 240 counts minute ImREM hour To put this in prospective a typical flight from London to New York gives a dose of 2mREM from cosmic rays EPE Get your magazine instantly anywhere in the world buy and download from the web A one year subscription 12 issues costs just 15 99 US www epemag com TAKE A LOOK A FREE ISSUE 20 IS AVAILABLE Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 EPE PIC RESOURCES CD ROM V2 Version 2 includes the EPE PIC Tutorial V2 series of Supplements ONLY EPE April May June 2003 e 1 4 45 The CD ROM contains the following INCLUDING Tutorial related software and texts VAT and P amp P O EPE PIC Tutorial V2 complete series of articles plus Or der on line from demonstration software John Becker April May June 03 www epemag wimborne co uk shopdoor htm O PIC Toolkit Mk3 TK3 hardware construction details ig sh Saag ca Lah 3 John Becker Oct 01 y y O PIC Toolkit TK3 for Windows software details John Becker Nov 01 Plus these
244. ter the meter should indicate an open circuit Installing the power board Next install the PC board standoffs onto the baseplate using the M3 tapped 6mm Nylon standoffs and the M3 x 15mm screws and place the Power PC board in place That done insert the five power transistors Q1 Q5 and adjust their height above the PC board so that the holes in the transistor tabs line up with their respective tapped holes in the heatsink You can then carefully lift the board out and solder the centre leg of each power transistor When you ve done this replace the board and re check alignment before soldering the other transistor leads The power transistors can now be bolted to the heatsink To do this first apply a smear of heatsink compound to their mounting faces then secure the Power PC board in place with M3 nuts The power transistors can then be fastened to the heatsink using M4 x 10mm screws and star washers Q1 BD649 is secured using an M3 x 10mm screw and star washer Similarly apply heatsink compound to the back of bridge rectifier BR1 be fore securing it in place with an M4 x 15mm screw and star washer Make sure it is oriented with its positive terminal positioned as shown The Control PC board can now be attached to the baseplate using 6mm standoffs M3 x 15mm screws and M3 nuts Note that the lower right mounting point connects the 470nF capacitor to chassis via a solder lug Check that this is eart
245. ternational standard flow chart symbols ISO5807 Full on screen simulation allows debugging and speeds up the development process O Facilitates learning via a full suite of demonstration tutorials Produces ASM code for a range of 18 28 and 40 pin devices New features in Version 3 include 16 bit arithmetic strings and string manipulation improved graphical user interface and printing support for 18 series devices pulse width modulation 12C new ADC component and many more PRICES Prices for each of the CD ROMs above are Order form on next page Hobbyist Student Institutional Schools HE FE Industry Institutional Professional 10 user Network Licence Site Licence Flowcode 10 user Network Licence Flowcode 50 user Network Licence 45 inc VAT 99 plus VAT 300 plus VAT 599 plus VAT 350 plus VAT 699 plus VAT UK and EU customers add VAT at 17 5 to plus VAT prices Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 4 TEACH IN 2000 LEARN ELECTRONICS WITH EPE EPE s own Teach In CD ROM contains the full 12 part Teach In 2000 series by John Becker in PDF form plus the Teach In interactive software Win 95 98 ME and above covering all aspects of the series We have also added Alan Winstanley s highly acclaimed Basic Soldering Guide which is fully illustrated and which also includes Desoldering The Teach In series covers Colour Codes and Resistors Capacitors Potentiom
246. tery leads For example you can use 2m each of 8 gauge wire 8mm Alternatively the voltage sensing lead that connects to fuse F2 inside the unit can be extended to the full length of the charger lead and connected to the positive battery clip This provides remote sensing in the positive lead In this case the negative lead could be 1 76m long using 12 gauge wire or 4m long using thicker 8 gauge wire Heavy duty hookup wire is used to make the remaining connections to the PC boards except for the shielded cable used for the temperature sensor lead This runs from the back of the mini XLR socket to the control PC 67 board Cable ties are used to hold the wires together and stop them from coming adrift This is important for the mains wires use cable ties to secure the wires at the rear of fuse F1 at the mains switch and at the terminal block Temperature sensor The temperature sensor Sensor 1 is mounted at the end of a 900mm length of shielded cable It can be inserted into a 5mm inside diameter tube and covered in heatshrink tubing Alternatively wire the sensor and cover it in heat shrink without the tube Make sure the probe does not have exposed metal that can short to the battery terminals or to the case The other end of the wire connects to pins 1 and 3 of a mini XLR plug Use the shield connection for pin 1 Final tests Do a thorough check of all your wiring then fit the lid on the case before app
247. the LDR in darkness is known VR1 should be adjusted to roughly 70 of this It might be asked what use a single LDR is since it would seem that two LDRs would be required to compare light level from different directions However since LDR1 is mounted on a moving platform light levels from different areas can be compared over time Thus the robot measures light level in one part of the room stores it then turns to measure light level in another part of the room The different light levels can then be compared and the robot can respond accordingly Table 2 Resistor Colour Codes 5 Band Code 1 yellow violet black red brown red red black red brown brown black black red brown orange orange black black brown Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 The completed PC board is secured to the base using machine screws and nuts Note the heatsink that s fitted to the tabs of MOSFETs Q2 amp Q5 Pins 3 amp 5 switch two power MOS FET H bridges Q3 Q4 and Q9 Q10 to control the direction of the motors forward or reverse The two 100nF capacitors and diode D1 are included to suppress interference Transistors Q1 and Q8 are used as inverters so that when the forward motion MOSFETs are disabled the reverse motion MOSFETs are acti vated Pin 4 is normally held low by its 47kQ resistor When bump and respond switch S1 the bumper bar is closed pin 4 is pulled high The 10uF capacitor and the 47kQ
248. the final test of the DGC We contacted White Sands and told them what we had in mind and they said we would be welcome to make measurements any time during the 12 hours a year that the Trinity ground zero site is open to the public Reference 9 On the appointed day we began the 135 mile drive to the Trinity site After passing over the now only 20 foot wide Rio Grande and about twelve Fig 9 Upload screen miles East of San Antonio there is a small wooden sign which says Trinity Site World s first atomic explosion occurred here on July 16 1945 This marked the beginning of the atomic age and the culmination of the Manhattan Project The site is now part of the White Sands Missile Range and is closed to the public After a picture identification and weapons check at the White Sands Missile Test range Stallion Gate we proceeded on Range Road 7 Approxi mately 18 miles from the Stallion Gate we arrived at the Trinity site nestling at the base of the Oscura Mountains rising 8600 feet towards the east The half mile diameter site is surrounded by a metal wire fence We took some References Reference 1 Geiger Mueller tubes from LND Inc at http Indinc com product htm Price 79 US plus tax and shipping email info O Indinc com UK shipping and export handling 50 plus import duty if shipped to the UK The Centronics ZP 1401 tube is available from Alrad Instru ments at www alrad co uk Tel 07000 425723
249. the software for this device To close this wizard click Finish Fig 2 final completion screen OpenXLCD FOUR_BIT amp LINES_ 5X7 putrsXLCD EPE USB DISPLAY while BusyXLCD WriteCmdXLCD BLINK OFF amp CURSOR OFF This will enable the display and turn the cursor and blink functions off As we are referencing LCD functions we will have to add the following in clude file at the top of main c put it at the end of the other include files include lt xlcd h gt The LCD routines require three functions to be written by the user DelayFor18TCY DelayXLCD and DelayPORXLCD These three routines implement delays 18 cycles 5ms and 15ms respec tively to provide delay timings required by the LCD module You can implement these anywhere in your code we have added them in main c As these routines are commonly implemented you will find an explanation of how to write them in the C Library document They are very simple In the file user c we must remove the following lines of code in the function inituser InitTempSensor InitializeUSART Obviously we do not have a US ART or temperature sensor on our hardware so these calls would only interfere with ours Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 We can now add our actual code in the function processio within user c just twenty lines of code to handle the keypresses and writing to the LCD To save printing th
250. tic 1 22uF 63V PC electrolytic 11 10uF 35V PC electrolytic 2 1uF 35V PC electrolytic 1 470nF 50V MKT polyester 1 220nF 50V MKT polyester 1 100nF 50V MKT polyester 2 1nF 50V MKT polyester Resistors 0 25W 1 1 1MQ 4 1kQ 1 910kQ 1 1kQ 0 5W 1 100kQ 1 3309 1W 1 43kQ 12709 4 22kQ 11209 5 10kQ 1569 5W 1 5 6kQ 1109 2 3 3kQ 4 0 19 5W 1 1 8kQ 1 0 0059 3W 1 Trimpots 3 10kQ horizontal trimpots VR1 VR2 VR5 1 20kQ horizontal trimpot VR3 1 20002 horizontal trimpot VR4 Miscellaneous Heatsink compound solder the end of the 3 core mains cable That done secure the cord into the back panel using a cord grip grommet This grom met needs to be really tight so that the cord cannot be pulled out Cut the Live brown and the Earth green yellow wires to 70mm length The earth wire connects to the solder lug it should be soldered in place rather than crimped to ensure a good earth connection is made Also scrape away the paint TO PINS OF MINI XLR LINE PLUG CUT ADJ PIN SHORT 3 1m LENGTH OF SHIELDED CABLE SENSOR WIRING from the earth position on the baseplate to ensure a reliable connection to the case and use an M4 x 15mm screw a star washer and an M4 nut to attach the lug in place A second M4 lock nut is then fitted so that the assembly cannot possibly come undone Now measure the resistance between chassis and the earth pin on the mains plug This should be zero ohms If not re check
251. tion or imitations in whole or in part are expressly forbidden ADVERTISERS INDEX 80 Our March 2007 issue will be published on Thursday Readers Services Editorial and Advertisement Departments 7 8 February 2007 see page 80 for details Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 1 Tel 0870 246 1826 QUASAR electronics Get Plugged In PIC amp ATMEL Programmers We have a wide range of low cost PIC and ATMEL Programmers Complete range and documentation available from our web site Programmer Accessories 40 pin Wide ZIF socket ZIF40W 15 00 18Vdc Power supply PSU010 19 95 Leads Parallel LDC136 4 95 Serial LDC441 4 95 USB LDC644 2 95 NEW USB amp Serial Port PIC Programmer USB Serial connection 3 ne Header cable for ICSP supported ZIF Socket and SB lead extra 18Vdc Kit Order Code 3149KT 37 95 Assembled Order Code AS3149 49 95 NEW USB All Flash PIC a tag tal USB PIC programmer for all Flash devices No external power supply making it truly portable Supplied with box and Windows XP Software ZIF Socket and USB lead not incl Assembled Order Code AS3128 44 95 Assembled with ZIF socket Order Code AS3128ZIF 59 95 PICALL ISP PIC Programmer Will program virtually all 8 to 40 pin serial mode AND parallel mode PIC15C family PIC microcontrol lers Free Windows soft ware Blank chip auto detect for super fast
252. tional Humidity Module Optional Weather Starter Kit 59 Pressure Module earner arter AD RS232 Interface 695 Optional Rainfall USB Interface E29 Gauge ae Humidity Module 39 Simple 1 wire Pressure Module F49 connection Rainfall Gauge 59 Build and add Prices exclude VAT and delivery your own devices For more information manuals and downloads on this and other interesting products see WWW audon co uk an CODD Electronics www audon cok 44 0 115 925 8412 Fax 44 0 115 925 9757 Control hardware using simple text commands Making complex tasks simple Using a two letter text command control LCD displays Analogue to digital converters motors key pads LED matrix displays All products work by serial connection This is just a small selection A M Visit the web site for hints tips Connect using a PC RS232 or Microcontroller UART and P Scrolling Text gt Backlight and contrast control Binary to text display 22 90 gt Much more gt Control any compatible LCD P Up to 4 lines by 20 characters P Scrolling text 11 00 Much more 8 x 8 Bi Colour Red Green gt Brightness control P User defined bit patterns 14 95 Switch on splash screen 4 x Analogue to digital 4x digital input or output Pulse width modulation 11 00 Trigger control E P gt 4x4 matrix keypad controller Keypad Contro et ri E P 16 key buffer P Row column configurable
253. tm A The authors comparing results at the Trinity site ground zero marker Photo Neal Ulevich DGC radiation measurements outside the fence and found the readings to be normal background about 24 counts minute We proceeded to walk the 1 4 mile to the Trinity ground zero marker and took additional radiation measure ments We measured about 240 counts per minute or about ten times normal background radiation at ground zero e Tiaa epemag Cors Because the bomb was on a 100 foot tower the explosion made a small de pression instead of a crater The heat of the blast vaporized all of the steel tower except for one reinforced concrete foot ing and melted the desert sand into an ugly green glassy porous and brittle substance After the blast this green Trinitite completely covered the depres sion The depression was later filled and dE dm Robert Lang is a professional electrical engineer interested in embedded microprocessors me chanical musical instruments and MIDI He is a freelance writer for electronic hobbyist computer and synthesizer magazines He can be reached at rblang comcast net or by a GOOGLE search for HARPSITRON Steve Thompson is a nuclear engineer with experience in reactor core design He can be reached at sthompson O comcast net much of the Trinitite was removed by the Atomic Energy Commision Some Trinitite can still be found at the site Our typical contact Triniti
254. to know in order to get start ed in this absorbing and creative hobby Order code BP392 5 49 ELECTRONIC PROJECTS FOR EXPERIMENTERS R A Penfold Many electronic hobbyists who have been pursuing their hobby for a number of years seem to suffer from the dreaded seen it all before syndrome This book is fairly and squarely aimed at sufferers of this complaint plus any other electronics enthusiasts who yearn to try some thing a bit different No doubt many of the projects fea tured here have practical applications but they are all worth a try for their interest value alone The subjects covered include Magnetic field detector Basic Hall effect compass Hall effect audio isolator Voice scrambler descrambler Bat detector Bat style echo loca tion Noise cancelling LED stroboscope Infra red torch Electronic breeze detector Class D power amplifier Strain gauge amplifier Super hearing aid Order code BP371 5 45 PRACTICAL FIBRE OPTIC PROJECTS R A Penfold While fibre optic cables may have potential advantages over ordinary electric cables for the electronics 135 pages 138 pages enthusiast it is probably their novelty value that makes them worthy of exploration Fibre optic cables provide an innovative interesting alternative to electric cables but in most cases they also represent a practical approach to the problem This book provides a number of tried and tested circuits for projects that utilize
255. tomers want Nothing new then although to be fair this affects every market sector that is forced to follow the changing tastes of the public Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 There is something fascinating about an instrument that can unter sense that which is invisible and undetectable to all human senses This article is about the design and building of a portable Digital Geiger Counter DGC device as shown in the photos with many unique features By ROBERT LANE amp STEVE THOMPSON ADIATION is energy that comes from a source and travels through any kind of material and through space Light radio and microwaves are types of radiation The kind of radiation discussed in this article is called ionizing radia tion because it can produce charged particles ions in matter Ionizing radiation There are three types of ionizing radiation An alpha particle consists of two protons and two neutrons i e the nucleus of a helium atom The two protons give the alpha particle a positive charge A Beta particle is simply an electron from the nucleus of an atom A gamma ray is a packet of electro magnetic energy a photon Gamma photons have about 10 000 times as much energy as the photons in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum Gamma rays can penetrate deeply into the human body There are both natural and man made radionuclides Potassium 40 and Carbon 14 are weak beta emitter
256. tory C MCHPF SUSB with several subdirectories The code to the project can be found in the fw cdc sub directory You will find the file MCHPUSB mcw MPLAB project file in this directory if you dou ble click on it you will open the entire project in the MPLAB program So what does the CDC emulation firmware actually do for us Reading the application note it explains that the code will enable the PIC when plugged into a USB port to appear as a new COM port on the computer You may then use any serial port code or HyperTerminal for that matter to connect to the board as though it were on an R 232 interface Obviously we must take a look at what the software does before we can start to modify it to make it work with our specific hardware Reading the application note and scanning the main source files main c user c give some ideas the framework of code should start up wait for a keypress and then display a message on any terminal program that is connected to the virtual com port Key press What key Searching through the code reveals a couple of macros that decide which port pins map to the switch input signals used by the software Unsurprisingly the port pins used by the software do Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 not match ours therefore we need to change these macros in the source code You will find these definitions in io_cfg h At the moment they point to ports B4 and B5 we wa
257. tre cylinder but you can fit 2 or more for high water usage or for heating swimming pools or underfloor heating Some types of renewable energy are only available in certain locations however free solar heating is potentially available to almost every house in the UK Every house should have one really And with an overall efficiency of almost 80 they are much more efficient than electric photovoltaic solar pan els efficiency of 7 15 Available in 10 20 and 30 tube versions 10 tube 199 20 tube 369 30 tube 549 Roof mounting kits 10 20 tubes 12 50 30 tube mounting kit 15 BENCH PSU 0 15V 0 2a Output and voltage are both smooth and can be regulated according E to work Input 230V 21 2 num F ber LCD display for voltage and current Robust PC grey hous ing Size 13x15x21cm Weight 3 2kg 48 REF trans2 NEW ELECTRONIC CONSTRUCTION KITS This 30 in 1 electronic kit includes an introduction to elec trical and electronic technology It provides conponents that can be used to make a variety of experiments includ ing Timers and Burglar Alarms Requires 3 x AA batter ies 15 00 ref BET1803 AM FM Radio This kit enables you to learn about elec tronics and also put this knowledge into practice so you can see and hear the effects Includes manual with explanations about the components and the electronic principles Req s 3 x AA batts 13 ref BET1801 This 40 in 1 electronic kit includes an introduction to electr
258. ts boiler end caps safety vent etc are ready finished to ensure success The very detailed instruction booklet 25 pages makes completion of this project pos sible in a step by step manner Among the techniques experienced are silver soldering folding drilling fitting and testing 29 70 ref STEAMKIT Silver solder flux pack 3 50 ref SSK www mamodspares co uk HB14 Stirling Engine Base measurements 156 mm x 108 mm x 150 mm 1 kg Base plate beech Working rpm 2000 2500 rpm min Incl drive pulley for external drives Bearing application 10 high class ball bearings Material screw side parts total stainless steelCylinder brass Rest aluminium stainless steel Available as a kit 140 25 or built 144 50 www mamodspares co uk HB15 Stirling Engine Base measurements 128 mm x 108 mm x 170 mm 0 75 kg Base plate beech Working rpm 2000 rpm min the engine has a aluminium good cooling Cylinder Bearing application 6 high class ball bearings Material screw side parts total stainless steel Cylinder brass Rest aluminium stainless steel Available as a kit 97 75 or built 102 www mamodspares co uk HB16 Stirling Engine Base measurements 128 mm x 108 mm x 170 mm 1 kg Base plate beech Working rpm 2000 rpm min the engine has a aluminium good cooling Cylinder Bearing application 10 high class ball bearings Material screw side parts total stainless steel Cylinder brass Rest aluminium stainless steel Availab
259. ts on the PC board as shown here taking care to ensure that the polarised parts are all oriented correctly supply to the circuit and prevent C2 from charging any further C2 would then quickly discharge via VR1 and the 220kQ resistor to below Q1 s gate threshold and so the courtesy lights would go out again almost immedi ately By contrast by using the opto coupler to hold Q1 s gate low for 1ms C2 charges to above 10 9V before MOSFET Q1 switches on And that means that C2 must then discharge from 10 9V down to below 4V before Q1 switches off and switches off the courtesy lights The time it takes to do this gives us the delayed on period for the lights Trimpot VR1 allows this delay period to be adjusted by varying the discharge resistance for C2 At the end of the timing period the lamp fades out as Q1 s resistance rap idly increases as its gate voltage falls below about 5V This means that the voltage across Q1 gradually rises from about OV when it is fully on to 12V when it is off As a result capacitors C1 amp C3 slowly charge to the 12V sup ply via R1 and R3 amp R4 respectively This slow rate of charge prevents C1 from recharging C2 and stops C3 from switching the optocoupler s transistor on again 4 Band Code 1 red red yellow brown brown black yellow brown red red orange brown brown black orange brown blue grey brown brown yellow violet brown brown Tail light circuit As mentioned earlie
260. u will be asked if Windows can connect to Windows Update select No to that option You should be prompted to tell Windows where to look for the driver click on Specify a location and click Next Click on Browse and then navi gate to the directory specified above If prompted to do so double click on the file mchpcdc inf Click Next you may be required to click on continue anyway and the driver for mapping our USB device to a com port will complete On Windows XP you will be prompted for the directory first and the inf file will be auto discovered You should end up with a message similar to that in Fig 2 Click Finish and your hardware will now be ready for use You should be able to open up HyperTerminal and select the new com port The com port parameters are irrelevant this is a virtual com port so just select 9600 8 data bits no parity no stop bits Press the buttons on the unit and you should see a message written to the HyperTerminal window Once you get to this stage you can be confident with adding some real functionality to the code it s time to get the LCD working LCD Code The first step will be to add the LCD initialisation code at the start of the program In main c right at the beginning of the main function add the indented code Found Wew Hardware Wizard Completing the Found New Hardware Wizard gt Comiurm alnoire Pol Windows has finished mstaling
261. uary 2007 Ds 1 COVER IN GE RINK SLEEVE Fig 12 here s how to wire the temperature sensor It s protected by covering it with heatshrink tubing SENSOR to be connected in series suitable for a 230V mains input The two 9V windings need to be connected in se ries to obtain 18V Other transformers will have a single 230V winding and two 18V windings The 18V windings will need to be connected in parallel The different wiring arrangements are shown in Figs 7 amp 9 Use 250VAC rated wire to connect between the power switch terminals and the terminal block Insulated 6 3mm crimp spade lugs make the connections to the switch while the remaining wiring is as shown in Fig 9 Note that heavy duty 12 gauge wire is used for the connections to BR1 and BR2 and for the screw terminals on the PC board via crimp eyelets The battery leads are also run us ing 12 gauge wires These leads must be exactly 880mm long and they pass through the cable glands in the rear panel and are terminated to the battery clips The battery clips we used require the jaw to be first removed and the wire passed through the handle ofits plastic clip before the lead is soldered Note if you want leads longer than 880mm you can use heavier gauge wire so that you get 0 010 total resist ance in both the positive and negative leads this exact resistance is required for the control circuit to accurately calculate the voltage loss in the bat
262. uce time to market i E m ELELTE ICS LTE CONTACT US NOW A technology pioneer in the EDA industry since 1988 to discuss requirements or Technical support direct from the program authors request a FREE evaluation copy Flexible packages and pricing tailored to customer requirements www labcenter co uk Electronics Tel 01756 753440 Fax 01756 752857 Email info labcenter co uk Labcenter Electronics Ltd 53 55 Main Street Grassington North Yorks BD23 SAA Registered in England 4692454
263. ue logic This month we set ourselves an arbitrary challenge it would be nice to design a simple LCD display that can interface to a PC through the USB 34 control of LCDs By Mike Hibbett interface The USB interface can sup ply the power so the unit should be small and require no external power supply Let s put a couple of buttons on it too so we can have an interac tive display That s not an unreasonable chal lenge USB can work with cables up to 5 metres in length so this could act as a remote display interface to the PC What s available Our first port of call will be the Microchip website to see what PICs support USB The PIC18F4550 fam ily look good the PIC18F2550 in particular comes in a small DIP28 or S028 package Importantly it is also available from the supplier Farnell in one off quantities We downloaded the datasheet for the part and skimmed through it It has the usual collection of I O ports but interestingly a higher clock frequency This device can run at 48MHz 20 faster than other PIC18F devices The datasheet indicates that the wiring for USB is simple when bus powered a 220nF capacitor and a USB connector This is simpler than an RS232 interface which will make our circuit very straight forward The section detailing the selection of the oscillator clock frequency is a little confusing but it eventually becomes clear that while the USB peripheral must run at a
264. up your PC to any available hard drive Other backup software requires time consuming full backups every week Retrospect s award winning technology captures just new or changed data It is fast and efficient You can start your first backup in min utes A wizard guides you through three simple steps choose what to protect select a hard drive to store your backups and set a schedule Schedule your backups at a time con venient to you or protect information instantly with a click of the Backup but ton To guard against loss of a backup drive use two external drives and rotate them No matter which drive you use Retrospect quickly adds new or changed data Restores remain fast and easy the sys tem rapidly restores a file a folder or your entire hard drive If you accidentally delete a file simply select a previous backup and locate the missing file If a virus or new software installation wreaks havoc on your PC Retrospect returns your entire computer to its exact state at a prior point in time You don t need to re install applications download updates and personalise your settings System Requirements 1 0 GHz or high er processor 256MB of RAM 512MB recommended Windows 2000 Profes sional or Windows XP 32 bit or x64 500 MB of available hard drive for storing backups including USB FireWire IEEE 1394 eSATA or networked hard drives TCP IP networking if backing up to a net work hard drive Save
265. useful texts to help you get the most out of your CD ROM ORDER FORM PIC programming EPE PIC RESOURCES V2 Please send me uantity EPE PIC RESOURCES V2 CD ROM O How to Use Intelligent L C D s Julyan llett Feb Mar 97 q y 6 PIC16F87x Microcontrollers Review John Becker April 99 Price 14 45 each includes postage to anywhere in the world PIC16F87x Mini Tutorial John Becker Oct 99 NAME 2 tk ig 3 oe 6006 bach Bok Sn Ba ee Sted ach Bk Be BR BIS A RR O Using PICs and Keypads John Becker Jan 01 AUS gee coe ctaddasin dee enecige ANAE CE l 6 How to Use Graphics L C D s with PICs John Becker i Feb 01 a a USAR SE l 6 PIC16F87x Extended Memory how to use it John Becker June 01 porca ra rea a aaa es l O PIC to Printer Interfacing dot matrix John Becker I Pote aa i July 01 EEE E E ah eee ae O PIC Magick Musick use of 40kHz transducers John Becker Jan 02 O Programming PIC Interrupts Malcolm Wiles Mar Apr 02 O Using the PIC s PCLATH Command John Waller July 02 O EPE StyloPIC precision tuning musical notes John Becker July 02 O Using Square Roots with PICs Peter Hemsley Aug 02 O Using TK3 with Windows XP and 2000 Mark Jones Oct 02 PIC Macros and Computed GOTOs Malcolm Wiles Jan 03 O Asynchronous Serial Communications RS 232 John Waller unpublished O Using I2C Facilities in the PIC16F877 John Waller unpublished O Using Serial EEPROMs Gary Moulton unpubli
266. ustry based engineers who are either new to the field of electronics or who wish to refresh their knowledge Order code NE43 21 99 400 pages BEBOP TO THE BOOLEAN BOOGIE Second Edition Clive Max Maxfield This book gives the big picture of digital electronics This indepth highly readable up to the minute guide shows you how electronic devices work and how they re made You ll discover how transistors operate how printed circuit boards are fabricated and what the innards of memory ICs look like You ll also gain a working knowledge of Boolean Algebra and Karnaugh Maps and understand what Reed Muller logic is and how its used And there s much MUCH more The author s tongue in cheek humour makes it a delight to read but this is a REAL technical book extremely detailed and accurate Comes with a free CD ROM which contains an eBook version with full text search plus bonus chapter An Illustrated History of Electronics and Computing Contents Fundamental concepts Analog versus digital Conductors and insulators Voltage current resistance capacitance and inductance Semiconductors Primitive logic functions Binary arith metic Boolean algebra Karnaugh maps State dia grams tables and machines Analog to digital and dig ital to analog Integrated circuits ICs Memory ICs Programmable ICs Application specific integrated cir cuits ASICs Circuit boards PWBs and DWBs Hybrids Multichip modules MCMs
267. ut PIC microcontrollers The experiment board features a range of built in I O devices and a solder less breadboard on which experiments may be conducted Circuits are connected using the provided jumper wires A USB programmer is also supplied and connects to the experiment board to program the PIC Also included are a mains power adapter 16x2 character LCD connecting leads and a tutorial with example programs Digital Logic Training System 99 e Ideal for learning about and experi menting with digital logic devices e Built in logic and pulse switches LEDs 7 segment displays piezo speaker pulse generator logic probe and solderless breadboard e Supplied with useful range of ICs jumper wire and mains adapter The Digital Logic Training System makes learning about digital logic and experimenting with discrete logic ICs easy The experiment board features a range of built in I O devices and a solderless breadboard on which experiments may be conducted Circuits are connected using the provided jumper wires and the system includes features such as a power supply pulse generator and logic probe Also included is a mains power adapter selection of ICs and a tutorial with example circuits We also stock other trainers circuit labs and solderless breadboards please see our website for details Robots and Accessories Robo BOX 3 0 Robot Kit 99 e Complete robot kit including con troller programming software and all me
268. ve typing They save reinventing wheels and they reduce the opportunities for bugs to party party party If the macro contains a bug and is used often it makes fi AST month we examined the basics 24 the bug conspicuous so it is fixed They also help to focus on the application rather than on the means to implement the application the forest rather than the trees However macros can make programs seem a little mysterious at first reading and it is not easy to trust that they really do what they look like they might do When reading this program the opti mum strategy is to remember that it has been tested and does work so it is more useful to trust mysterious statements to do what they claim to do than to wrestle with the details of how they do it For example the statement SaveContext looks like it might save context at the start of interrupt It does When all interrupt processing is complete RestoreContext restores that context before returning from an interrupt These macros are defined in the file SystemContext asm It isn t always easy to follow the opti mum strategy and the macros can be found in an appropriate Include file when the temptation to examine the detail becomes irresistible Operations As implied by the general description above for phase PLLOO the ADC sample is ignored and the variable LatestCycleTot is cleared The symbol EdgeStrategy is a hint of an alternative strategy that uses all sa
269. velopment board allows students to learn both how to program PICmicro microcontrollers as well as program a range of 8 18 28 and 40 pin devices from the 12 16 and 18 series PlCmicro ranges For experienced programmers all programming software is included in the PPP utility that comes with the development board For those who want to learn choose one or all of the packages below to use with the Development Board O Makes it easier to develop PiCmicro projects O Supports low cost Flash programmable PICmicro devices O Fully featured integrated displays 16 individual l e d s quad 7 segment display and alphanumeric c d display O Supports PICmicro microcontrollers with A D converters HARDWARE O Fully protected expansion bus for project work O USB programmable O Can be powered by USB no power supply required Suitable for use with the Development Board shown above ASSEMBLY FOR PICmicro V3 Formerly PiCtutor Assembly for PICmicro microcontrollers V3 0 previously known as PICtutor by John Becker contains a complete course in programming the PIC16F84 PlCmicro microcontroller from Arizona Microchip It starts with fundamental concepts and extends up to complex programs including watchdog timers interrupts and sleep modes The CD makes use of the latest simulation techniques which provide a superb tool for learning the Virtual PlCmicro micro controller This is a simulation tool that allows users to write and execut
270. w easysync co uk R 485 and opto isolated versions Our 4 port and amp port models can connect Aa ee a aa a E Mail salesDeasysyYnc co uM through external cables or the mnovative wall mounting COMEX ELECTRONICS MANUALS ON CD ROM 29 95 EACH ELECTRONICS SERVICE MANUAL ELELTROHICS MEAVICE MANUAL A practical mlerence margial on electron servicing techniques Everything you need to know to get started in repairing electronic equipment e Around 900 pages e Fundamental principles e Troubleshooting techniques e Servicing techniques e Choosing and using test equipment e Reference data e Manufacturers web links e Easy to use Adobe Acrobat format e Clear and simple layout e Vital safety precautions e Professionally written e Supplements SAFETY Safety Regulations Electrical Safety and First Aid UNDERPINNING KNOWLEDGE Electrical and Electronic Principles Active and Passive Components Circuit Diagrams Circuit Measurements Radio Computers Valves and Manufacturers Data etc PRACTICAL SKILLS Learn how to identify Electronic Components Avoid Static Hazards Carry Out Soldering and Wiring Remove and Replace Components TEST EQUIPMENT How to Choose and Use Test Equipment Assemble a Toolkit Set Up a Workshop and Get the Most from Your Multimeter and Oscilloscope etc SERVICING TECHNIQUES The Manual includes vital guidelines on how to Service Audio Amplifiers The Supplements include similar
271. w for the parts assembly First install the resistors in the positions shown followed by diode D1 and the optocoupler OPTO1 Table 1 shows the resistor colour codes but it s also a good idea to check each one using a digital multimeter before installing it on the board Take care when installing D1 and OPTO1 they must be oriented as shown see also Fig 2 for the device pinouts Next install trimpot VR1 this may be coded 105 then install the three capacitors bridge rectifier BR1 and the two 2 way terminals Again check to make sure that BR1 and the two electrolytic capacitors C1 amp C2 are oriented correctly Finally install MOSFET Q1 by bending its leads at right angles so that they fit into their allocated holes This device is fitted with a small U shaped heatsink and the assembly is secured to the PC board with a screw and nut Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 The PC board is mounted inside the case by simply clipping it into the mounting clips Before doing this you will have to mark out and drill two holes in one end of the case to allow for wire entry to the screw terminals These holes are located 11mm down from the lip and 18mm in from the outside edge of the case and are made using a 6mm drill Note for 24V operation change both C1 and C2 to 25V working and change the 6800 resistor to 1 2kQ Installation The Courtesy Light Delay can be mounted in any convenient location und
272. witches are all wired in parallel and extra lights are also wired together in parallel All of the courtesy lights switch on whenever one of the door switches is closed This occurs when a door is opened When all doors are closed all the switches will be open and the courtesy lights will be off Similarly the two possible tail light connections are shown in Fig 1 c and Fig 1 d The tail lights are on when the lights switch is closed This switch would also power the side lights at the front of the car but this is not shown in this circuit For our Courtesy Light Delay circuit to work we simply need to connect it across one of the door switches We also need to connect it to the tail light wiring so that the courtesy lights are immediately switched off if the tail lights are switched on during the timing period Main Features Adjustable delay period from 7 to 40s Lights fade out at end of time period Courtesy lights switch off if parking lights switched on No standby current drain from battery when lights are off Universal circuit works with any 12V car system can be modified for 24V systems Low parts count Easy to install Everyday Practical Electronics February 2007 COURTESY gt LIGHTS lt COURTESY L LUGHTS Fig 1 a Fig 1 b TAIL C LIGHTS lt LIGHTS SWITCH TAIL LIGHTS lt gt LIGHTS lt gt SWITCH 4 Fig 1 c Fig 1 d Fig 1 the two possible wiring configurations f
273. wler x PIC Based USB Interface PIC Chromatone NOV 05 Back To Basics 8 Noughts and Crosses Enigma Weather Vane Repeater x Multi Function R C Switch x Speed Camera Watch Mk2 Solid State Valve Power Supply x Vehicle Frost Box Mk2 x Propeller Monitor Solid State Hammond XX PIC Ambilux Sunset Switch Current Clamp Adaptor for Multimeters Tiptronic Style Gear Indicator Micro Board Display Board Hall Speed Board x Keypad Alarm 3 Way Active Crossover Jazzy Heart Status Monitor Transmitter Reciever SEPT 05 OCT 05 DEC 05 JAN 06 FEB 06 Power Up MAR 06 Video Audio Booster double sided Telescope Interface Smart Slave Flash Programmable Continuity Tester PortaPAL Microphone Board Auxilary Board Main Board Charger Board Omni Pendulum Smart Card Reader Programmer MAY 06 LED Lighting For Your Car set of 15 boards Digital Reaction Timer Poor Man s Metal Locator JUN 06 x Digital Instrument Display for Cars Micro Board Display Board Widgy Box Phone Ring amp Test x Sudoku Unit PC Power Monitor 78 AUG 06 Home Theatre Sound Level Checker Adjustable DC DC Converter For Cars x Telephone Dialler For Buglar Alarms High Intensity Torch x Low Cost 50MHz Frequency Meter SEP 06 Version 1 Version 2 Version 3 Smart Mixture Display for your Car Water Level Gauge Sensor Display Fridge D
274. ype s motors used only about 1 6W each under load If the drain on the battery is too heavy when the motors are switched on this could lead to a voltage drop which could make the PICAXE 08 do strange things Therefore the battery 46 ia MOTOR 2 E D PC board should be suitably rated for powering the motors The prototype used a 6V 4Ah battery AA batteries in series are unlikely to be adequate except for the most lightweight of motors Pin 6 P1 used in output mode drives piezo sounder X1 Since VR1 and LDR1 are connected to the same pin two 3300 resistors are included as protection for these components In an alogue mode pin 6 monitors LDR1 and the PICAXE 08 interprets the voltage as 16 discrete levels between lt 0 22V level 1 and gt 3 38V level 16 Ideally the darkest areas of a room should read about 3 6V at pin 6 This can be arranged by means of the LDR ADJUST program see below A value of 10kQ for VR1 should prove suitable if the specified NORP 12 Light Dependent Resistor LDR1 is 4 Band Code 1 yellow violet orange brown red red orange brown brown black orange brown orange orange brown brown PIEZO LDR1 Fig 3 this is the full size etching pattern for the used Virtually any other LDR may be used but the value of VR1 may need to be modified to match in order to provide a voltage of about 3 6V at pin 6 when surveying the darkest areas of aroom If the resistance of

EPE Online - February 2007, Vol. 36, no. 2

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