SE er Foilicis) Wen WOrId-Class) an Electronics| e. S CASSINI: Tassie’s role ing the mission to Saturn/s moon SS A ey TTT TA he Pe ga LET ol Tat =) cee oS ener, ae pe) pL Ae coe re »: Wireless Link: BEM ae et a‘Eont nts MESS MINS UE casu FEATURES 8 Knocking on Titan’s door Last January the Cassin probe made a sof landing on Titan, one of Saturn's ‘moons. Here's to ‘inside story by. Tom Motta. 14 Getting into Wi-Fi Is been four years since we ast looked at the subject. Alot has changed its cheaper, easior and theres any amount of equipment by Ross Tester 41 Hellschreiber: Sending Data Over UHF CB Radio Itwas invented decades ago and used during WWII. Now we show you how to use itwith cheap UHF CB hand-helds and shareware - by Stan Swan. 86 What's this? Free PC Boards for Schools? We're launching @ brand new educational series by "Mr Picaxe”, Clive Seager. To colabrate, we have 2000 experimenter's PC boards fo give away to schools! PROJECTS TO BUILD 28 Voice Recorder .25 second message recording without tapes or discs. Use it for phone messages, 2 voice memo pad, you name it! by Jim Rowe 34 Wireless Microphone/Audio Link This’ stereo FM wireless microphone also makes a great quality audio link. We tested it to beyond 50 metres and it was rock solid ~ by Ross Tester 62 MIDI Theremin, Pt Il The full constructional and setup details of our amazing new MIDI Theremin. Its set fo take the music world by storm! ~ by John Clarke 91 Pro Scoreboard, Pt Il ‘Now even better ~ it handles netball as well as basketball and other games. Putting i together and setting it yp ~ by Jim Rowe SPECIAL COLUMNS 46 Salvage It! ‘An automatic stopwatch tmer— by Jalan Edgar 48 Serviceman’s Log Warranty lam? I don thnk sol by the TV Servicoman 74 Circuit Notebook ‘Automatic bathroom exhaust fan; Your probing questions answered: Automotive LED tming igh: Low-voltage cutout for 12V SLA batteries 98 Vintage Radio The Ait Radlola 829 @-transictorraclo with batty efiminator ~ by Rodney Champness DEPARTMENTS 2 Publisher's Letter 82 Product Showcase 107 Notes & Errata 4 Mailbag 91 Book Review 109 Market Centre 61 Order Form 104 Ask Silicon Chip 111 Ad Index [Link] Get into WEFI: It's now so simplet = Page 14. Page 34. ‘= y a Hellschrelber - data via UHF CB = Page 41. PICAXE Experimenters\Boards =to give away! — Page 66. This month's cover: wo sont our photographer upto Titan to catch the ‘Cassin probe landing... No? (OK, thanks to NASAUIPL for the superb artist's impression, May 20054|] Publisher & Editor-in-Chiot Leo Simpson, [Link]., FAICD Production Manager Greg Swain, BSc.(Hons.) Technical Editor Peter Smith Technical Staff John Clarke, B.E (Elec) Ross Tester Jim Rowe, B.A., [Link], VK2ZLO Reader Services ‘Ann Jenkinson Advertising Enquirie. Lawrence Smith Benedictus Smith Pty Lis Phone (02) 9211 8035 Fax: (02) 8211 0088 lawrence @[Link] Regular Contributors Brendan Akhurst Fodney Champness, VKSUG Julian Edgar, Dip.T(Sec.), BEd, [Link] Int Mike Sheri, [Link], VKOYFK Stan Swan SILICON CHIP is published 12 times 2 yearby Siicon Chip Publications Ply Lid. ACN 003.205 490. ABN 49 003 208 490 All material copyright ‘©. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced without the written consent o tho publisher. Printing: Hannanprint, Noble Park, Victoria Distribution: Network Distribution Company. Subscription rates: $89.00 per year in Australia. For over Tales, s08 the subscription page in this icsue. Editorial office: Unit, 101 Darley St, Mona Vale, NSW 2108. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 9979 5644. Fax (c2) 9979 65083 E-mail: sichip@[Link] ISSN 1030-2662 * Recommended and maximum price ony 2 Siicon CH Publisher's Letter Pacific Hydro should not be sold ‘Australia’s biggest renewable energy company, Pacific Hydro, is under threat of takeover by a panish company Acciona in an $870 million deal announced at the end of March. The board of directors has unanimously recommended the takoovor to its shareholder and normally, that ‘would be that; another great Australian company sold off overseas due to the shortsightedness of Australian investment institutions Pacific Hydro operetes wind power installations both here and overseas and isan important part of Australia’s energy future. As a concerned shareholder, Twould prefer it to remain Australian-owned, even though I recognise that not every foreign takeover is necessarily a bad outcome. In this case though, we might have got lucky. One Australian institution, Investment Fund Services, is not selling, at any price. They own 32% of the company and therefore they will probably stop the deal as it is conditional (0n 90% of the shareholders accepting it. Still, brokers are recommending that small shareholders should sell, otherwise they will be squeezed between tho interests of large holders. Some commentators are hoping that Investment Fund Services will itself mount a takeover for Pacific Hydro but that is problematical since IFS is a superannuation fund and normally, such funds are unable to borrow money. The best result would be that, Acciona, finding itself thwarted by IFS, with: draws its bid, leaving Pacific Hydro to get on with business. Lot us hope this happens. Glitch with Jaycar’s 2005 catalog The April 2005 issue of SiLiCON CHIP Was accompanied by the 2005 Jaycar Engineering catalog which is very fine effort for this dynamic company. I ‘rust that readers have enjoyed both the magazine and the catalog and that you will find tho catalog a very handy reference for the coming yea. Howover, there was a problem with the packing of these catalogs. There is a chance that some Australian readers may have received the New Zealand version of this catalog instead of the Australian vorsion, With the exception of page 324, both versions of the Jaycar catalogs are absolutely identical except in regard to product pricing and the website identification at the bottom of tho left-hand pages. ‘Australian Jaycar catalogs have the website listed as [Link] while New Zealand catalogs have the website listed as www,[Link] In addition, page 324 of the Jaycar NZ catalog gives store location maps for New Zealand, while the same page in the Australian catalog shows a range of burglar alarms. Please check your catalog to see which version you have received. If you have been unlucky enough to receive a Jaycar NZ catalog instoad of the Aus: tralian version, please return it to your local Jaycar store who will replace it cor call 1800 022 888 and Jaycar's Tochstore staff will send out a replacement. We apologise for any inconvenience. 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Dealer inquiries; uterS@ae Info @[Link] E | See all these products & more on our website...[Link]|MAILBAG Definition of IHF Burst Peak Output (Music Power) Can someone please define the term “IHF Burst Peak Output (Music Power) as quoted in the TwinTen (February 2005) project. 1 was under the impression that peak music power specifications were worse than useless and as such have little place in a good technical journal, This impression was further re- forced by the Publishers Letter in the January 2005 edition which to quote, stated “ ...in fact, if a piece of audio or home theatre equipment makes any reference to “PMPO" (peak music power) itis a fair bet that it is junk... Now I know that there is no refer ence specifically to PMPO in the Twin- Ten article, nor is the project junk but please, what is the relevance of IHF Burst Peak Output (Music Power) and how does it differ from PMPO? Malcolm Fowler, Beaumaris, Vic. Comment: rather than being specified as THF Burst Peak Output, it should ‘have been simply called Music Power. This is measured using the 20 mil- lisecond tone burst method specified for measuring Dynamic Headroom in the American Institute of High Fidelity IHF-A-202: 1978 specification. It effectively measures the audio power that an amplifier can deliver with typical music signals. It is a le- gitimate measurement and one which gives a good guide to the amount of power that an amplifier van deliver under typical conditions. PMPO (peak music power output) ratings seldom have any connection to reality and typically far exceed the ‘maximum power consumption of the device, sometimes by as much as 100 times. For example, a device with @ maximum power consumption of say, 5W, might have a PMPO rating of 200W! USB-Up power switch a beauty recently built the USB-Up power. up kit and fitted it to a 4-outlet pow- cerboard, a $2.50 special. This unit is slightly narrower than your PC board 4 Siicon Cup so I shaved a millimetre off each side without any damage to the printed tracks. Forsafety reasons, the 240VAG cable had to be re-routed to enter from the opposite end. The cable clamp was omitted but drilling a hole just smaller than the 240VAC cable sheath ina spot where the top plastic cover when screwed on acted as a clamp worked fine. it may not mest the modern cable clamp standard but as this device when installed is rarely touched, very secure cable clamping is not an issue. Once I had assembled the PC board and then marked where tocut the base unit of the powerboard for the USB connectors I reelised that fixing this PC board via screws was inappropriate asit was held in place very tightly due to the snug fit in the plastic base and the top cover pressing on the tops of the USB connectors. ‘Anyway it worked perfectly when powered up, so thanks again for # beaut kit J.M. Taylor, Donvale, Vic. Why no 240V door switches? Could someone please explain why simple 240VAG door switches don’t seem to be readily available. Having had our kitchen renovated just re- cently, Iwas less than impressed with tho stato-of-the-art’ solution foran au- tomated pantry light. This consists of an infrared dotector switch connected to @ 12V halogen light. Yos, tho light comes on when you open the door. Having opened the door, however, you are standing there stroking your chin and wondering what you will extract to satisfy your appetite then click - the light promptly goes out again, leaving you in the dark with a rumbling stomach.. Yes, you can extend the period for which ihe light stays on but this is not a good solution. All told, I regard the infrared switch ideaas just plain dumb and vast overkill into the bargain. This eventually prompted me to replace the IR detector with a door switch. It was just a matter of buying one from the local hardware store, ors0 thought. No such luck! Doorswitches ‘seem to be unheard of (except on fridg- 6s, cars and house alarms). Eventually Isettled on a 240V micro-switch from Jaycar, mounted inside an insulating black plastic box, which I then had to paint white. Tt works well but it was a lot of fiddling around. Kitchen renovation companies sometimes use micro-switches but they do so with roluctance. I now understand why. Why is it that 240V door switches seem to be unavailable, even from kitchen renovation companies? Is there some law or regulation that prevents manufacturers from coming up with such a device? After all, door switches have many applications-not just kitchen pantries, Rod Ryburn, Fadden, ACT. Large low-speed fan better for PC coolin, Irecently came across the July 2004 issue and the article about silencing a noisy PC. Thave found that a huge fan running slowly is actually far better and cheapor than the cooling options available today. [use a 15-inch 3-spoed floorstanding low-profile fan, set to its slowest speed, blowing into the open side of the computer case. Both side panels of the PC case are removed, allowinga nice airflow around all com- ponents including the hard-drives, the AGP card and capture card. My machine uses an AMD 3000+ XP CPU, two 120GB 7200RPM hard- drives, 8x AGP with 128MB video RAM and Pinnacle AV/DV video cap- ture card. [have HDD TEMPERATURE installed and without the floor-stand- jing fan, the normal operating tem- perature of the HDDs is approximately 42°C with an ambient temperature [Link]of 25°C. With the fan at its slowest sspood, the roported tomporature drops significantly to around 30°C. Graeme Rixon, Otago, NZ. Comment: the lead picture in that story showed a PC with a huge fan—we in- cluded itas a sight gag. But apparently it really is true! So there you go. Raw prawns and persiflage Thave two comments: (1) page 66 of the January 2005 issue states that “twenty or thirty bucks for a kilo of prawns..”. By my reckoning that is extremely CHEAP, unless they are very small in which case they could be mini shrimps. After all, a kilo of prawns (or other things like apples etc) means you should have 1000 of them! So 1000 (typical sized) prawns for the $20 or $30 would be a real bargain! (2)Your articles use the’ (incor rect) term ‘voltage’ for the (correct but wordy) term ‘electrical potential difference’. For consistency, why not use terms like nanofaradage for capacitance, ohmage for resistance etc? Unfortunately, this is also found in too many publications, classes, lectures and often leads to (at least) students not properly understanding the important (electric) concepts. Any comments? However, the magazine is great D. Sidors, Port Vila, Vanuatu. Comments: (1) A kilo of raspberries. (2) How can you take issue with a term like voltage? We might have taken umbrage at the suggestion, from an insular personage, that we were involved in incorrect verbiage, then wo realised you wished to engage n mere persiflage. fo persist with this badinage would give you the opportunity to further disparage. Canal better than desalination Tam disappointed with Leo Simp- son's March editorial concerning desalination, He quotes just a handful of figures and supports the “no-brain” technology solution. I wonder how [Link] many people have downloaded the Tenix canal brochure? I’snot difficult to make some calcu- lations from the rather minimal data in tho proposal, Manning's formula suggests that a grade of one metre per 100km would provide the flow required. Thus the total head required is just 40m. With fairly efficient axial pumps the power (not “energy”) re- quired is around 5MW, compared to the 25MW the desalination plant will require. ‘This calculation though still fails to come to grips with the real problem Perth will use all the water that a government is prepared to lavish on it. Atthe samo time Water Corporation pollutes the sea with many gigelitres per year of fresh secondary-treated ex- sewage water instead of recycling it The horticultural industry still closely surrounds the city and uses a very significant amount of water that could bbe rodirected to hungry lawns. Leo suggests raising water pricing While that would increase revenue to buy a bigger desalination plant it is unlikely to reduce suburban water consumption, though it would force some horticulture out of town, The real problem is that we live in a society where the easiest solutions to implement are the buy-more-technol- ogy ones, like trucks over trains, that unfortunately cost us foreign exchange and use the most fossil fuels. These solutions are always easier to promote when we avoid looking at the whole set of relevant facts. Kevin Shackleton, via email. Comment: We think you will find thateven the most slowly flowing rivers have substantially more fall than 1m in 100km and even then, most slow rivers are very wide to give a large flow - just how wide is this proposed canal going to be? We have more regard forthe fig- ures on the Water Corporation website. In any case, it does not now appear that the canal will ever be built. All Australian cities can do much ‘more to promote water conservation and re-use. ‘True & reactive power explained With reference to the letter enti- led “Confusion about instantaneous power” (March 2005), I believe it is Atmel’s AVR, from JED in Australia JED has designed a range of single board computers and modules as a way of using the AVR without SMT board design ‘The AVR57O module (above) is a way of using an ATmegat28 CPU on a user base board without having to layout the intricate, surface-mounted surrounds the CPU, and then having to manufacture your boatc on ‘an SMT robot ine. Instead you simply layout ‘a square forfour 0.1" spaced socket strips ‘and_plug in our pre-ested module. The module has the crystal, resette, [Link] ‘programming header [Link] optional STAG. ICE pad), a8 well a8 progremming signal switching, For lite extra, we load DS1305 RTC, erystal and Li baitary undernaah, which uses SPI and port G. ‘See JED's wnw sito for a datasheot. |AVR573 Single Board Computer This board uses the AVAS70 module and adds 20 An,/Dig. inputs, 12 FET outs, LCD/ Kd, 2xF8232, 1x8485, 1-Wire, power eg, ete. See wiv [Link] $330 PC-PROM Programmer This programmer plugs into a PC printer port ang reads, writes and edits any 28 oF 52:pin PROM, Comes with plug-pack, cable ‘and software Also available is a multl-PROM UV eraser ‘with timer, and a 32/92 PLCC converter. JED Microprocessors Pty Ltd 173 Boronia Rd, Boronia, Victoria, 3155 Ph, 03 9762 3588, Fax 03 9762 5499 [Link] May 2005timely to clarify the difference be- tween “True” and “Reactive” power Allrosistive loads draw current that is in phase with the applied voltago, re- sulting in consumption of true power, measured in watts. The power factor is high, ie, unity. All purely reactive loads (ie, capaci- tive of inductive) cause the current to bbe 90 dogroos out of phase with the applied voltage so that the resultant power is reactive power, measured in vars (volt-amperes reactive). As @ TAFE instructor some years back, I would demonstrate this by connecting a large capacitor across 240VAC with aseries-connected ammeter in circuit, which read 10 amps. Iwould then pose the question, "How much power isbe- ing consumed by the capacitor?” ‘The answer is that an average of zero watts of true power is being consumed. However, 2400 vars of reactive power oxists and the circuit power factor is atminimum, ie, zero. In reality, power is being consumed by the device for a total of half a cycle and produced by the device for the other half, as a result of the stored energy capabilities of inductors and capacitors. Thus the net average true power is zero watts. In your reply, you state that high power factor loads cause serious problems to the distribution system. [presume you ‘mean low power factor loads, as the power companies apply penalties to consumers with low power factors. ‘Terry Ives, Penguin, Tasmania. Audio/video data is brilliant! always enjoy every issue of SILICON Cure Is full of intoresting material. Regarding the Professional Sports Scoreboard in the same issue, I have nouse fora scoreboard but the method of data transmission using video/audio modules is brilliant! Itis simple but effective and doesn't require dedicated (and therefore pricey) data modules. I have dabbied a bit with PICs transferring wireless data with limited success, Isthore any reason why these video! audio modules couldn't be set up to ‘work as a full duplex data link if the transmitters and the receivers were set to appropriate channels? And what could the maximum data rate be? Finally, the article about the start of Colour TV (March 2005) was par- ticularly interesting. I cut my teeth on cassette tape recorders and progressed to restoring written-off VCRs (when they were worth $1000+) and then onto fixing computer monitors. It was just a hobby but I don't do that any more as it isn't worth spend- ing the timo! David Vieritz, Mango Hill, Qld. Comment: We don't see any reason why you couldn't use two pairs of 2.4GHz AV transmit & receive modules (set on different channels) to providea duplex data link. However the simple data modulation system Jim Rowe used is fairly limited in terms of its maximum data rate, because of the audio channel bandwidth. It's only capable of reliable operation up to about 150 bits per second. More on current transformers respond to the editor's comments in the March 2005 edition of Silicon Chip on page 6 regarding the letter from David Millist about “Current transformers can be dangerous”. You are right that in normal opera- tion the voltage across the CT (current transformer) primary is very low but that is only true when the secondary winding has a low obmic load con- nected. ‘This secondary load is reflected to appear as the primary impedance (modified by the turns ratio). However, if the secondary is open-circuit, then the primary winding impedance by simple ratio would also be infinite. In practice, itis not infinite, asit can only be a large as the primary wind- ing impedance times the current. This impedance is formed from the primary winding inductance and resistance combined (ie, it looks like a choke) So yes, very high voltages do occur with open-circuit secondary circuits of current transformers. A single wire passed through your iron-cored toroid must complete. full turn loop back to the power source (even if it is miles away), otherwise you get no current. A common mis- oncoption is that this only forms a half-turn primary but if you do meas- urements it becomes apparent that it acts as one full turn, Peter Dettmann, Moonee Ponds, Vie. 230V change in name only In the October 2004 Mailbag, John Hunter asked “What ever happen to 230 volts?”. I work in Christchurch, ‘New Zealand, foran Australian pump company. We build submersible bore-hole pumps from German manufactured components supplied directly to us and held in stock in our warehouse. ‘The motor data sheets supplied to us from Germany show "voltage 400 +10% -10%”. Occasionally, we source 2 motor from our head office in Aus- tralia for an urgent job and the motor data sheet that is supplied to Australia from Germany for the motor shows “voltage 415 +7.5% -12.5%”. So yes, I believe the “conversion for Australia” is largely in name only. Why would a country waste its time and money to change over for 15V when most 400V appliances be af- fected by the difference? Tcan understand countries in Eu- rope changing when they are using power generated by neighbour coun- tries, New Zealand chose 230V/400V in the 1920s so when Europe sottled on 230/400V it was a stroke of good luck for us. Matthew Thomas, Christchurch, NZ. Current transformer clarification Some clarification required in re- gard to the letter in the March issue from David Millist and your response toit. The device described in the “Cur- rent Clamp Adaptor for Multimeters” in the September 2003 issue is not a current transformer in the sense of the devices used in electric power supply systems for measurement and protection purposes. It is more a cur rent transducer. A typical current transformer may consist of a bar primary conductor (ie, one tum) through the centre of a toroid and a number of secondary 6 SILICON Glu [Link]turns around the toroid, depending on the ratio required for the CT Forexample, a300/5 CT would have 60 turns ideally but more likely 59 tums to compensate for losses, There would bo insulation betwoen the pri- mary and the toroid appropriate to the primary voltage level, eg, 11kV. When the CT is oporating as in tended, the primary amp turns, 300 x 1, approximately equal the second- ary amp-turns, 5 x 60, and act in the opposite direction on the core (Len2’ Law) so that only enough amp-turns to magnetise the core are present. Depending on the quality of the core, this may amount to say 0.5% to 10% of the current and is the reason that the secondary may be reduced to 59 turns, to increase the secondary current for a given primary current. Ifthe secondary was open-circuited, the amp-turns of the primary would still act on the core without the oppos- ing amp-turns ofthe secondary and the core would be forced into saturation with resulting high voltage across the secondary winding. Because of non linear magnetic of: focts this voltage may be of the order of 1000 volts on a highly specified protection CT and could be nasty or even fatal on a modest CT. fyoueverworkin the power supply industry yousoon learn that you nover open-circuit a CT secondary winding whilst the primary is energised! Alex Brown, Ashburton, Vic Comment: seo our comments and editorial on this topic in the April 2005 issue. sc — Australian made LED Indoor & Outdoor lights Powered by - U x E @& N’ LUMILEDS i HIGH BRIGHTNESS * LONG LIFE * ENERGY EFFICIENT This range of interior downlights and outdoor weatherproof light fittings is manufactured in Australia using the latest Lumileds “superbright” LED technology and are ideally suited for use in Marine, Caravans and Mobile Homes that need to be power efficient, but are equally suitable for use in domestic lighting applications. For outdoor use we manufacture a series of weatherproof light fittings using the same “superbright” LED technology. A range of 1Watt, Watt and 5Watt Switchmode Power Supplies are available to drive these series of Luxeon LED based light fittings. Weatherproof — Outdoor types NEw? This sories is weatheroroot and canbe tly submerged for e pond or garden light applications. ‘Accommodates $x oPuiaR opuiat toreon LEDs OPLLETSHNB- Na py Black J | Suited tt the standara LFTSHMB Medion eheae brass powder SOmm sebroichalagen errant sam tector ponds Son te WB Wideangle tector (Picture is for ilustration purpose oniy Lenses not supplied with heatsink or LEDs) Fixed - Gelling mount 51m cut-out OPLLFG Gold / Chrome rushed §/Steel sales @[Link] Srtag 185 Parramatta Road eee ara Telephone: (02) $704 9000) Pete e Visit us at: [Link] Email us: pe) Miz Rta ELECTRONICS oct) [Link] Per Poneaey Poet e iy Telephone: (07) 3252 3762 PS ec Stoney cece ee) eco aak) May 20057Coren -year space mission came to a rousing conclusion in mid-January this year when a spacecraft named Huygens made a soft landing on the moon. So what's unusual about that? Things like that happen all the time. But this mission was rather special. The moon in question was Titan, which belongs to Saturn, not Earth. by Tom Moffat 1s arrived on Titan with plop ontoa sea of slushy zon mothan Many scientists believe this un- pleasant goo also existed on Tarth ound the timo life was formed, s0 anything learned from Titan could be applicable to Earth as well The Huygens pr pent most of its joumey attached to a mothe hhip named Cassini, Cassini wasn't designed to land on Saturn or Titan Instead, it went into orbit around Saturn, taking eye-popping pictures jam and its familiar rings Many of those photos are now on tho JPL wobsite for public downle Cassini will continue to fly for the next four yoars, making 74 orbits of Saturn and 44 fly of Titan, oping a: low as 1200 kilometers The Cassini-Huygens mission is a povrerfal example of cooperation be- twoon the eral countrios, The Jet Propulsion Lab in the USA is responsible forthe design construction, and management ofthe ni orbiter. The European Space nncy was responsible for Huygens and the lalian Space Agenoy designed the spacecraft antennas Creating the anton mean feat, given the tasks they were asked toThe Cassini orbiter and Huygens probe sitting aboard their Titan IV launch prior to lift-off on October 15 perform. Huygens collected data as it ‘dropped down toward Titan's surface and during and after landing, Data signals were then transmitted to the orbiting Cassini, which re-transmitted them to Earth-based receivers. Given Huygens’ smell size, it wasn't exactly a powerhouse of radio energy. The transmitter power was similar to one bicycle headlight. ‘The distance from Titan to Barth is about 1.2 billion kilometres, The path Joss would be astronomical. ‘To overcome excessive path loss itis necessary toadd some gain somewhere 10 SILICON CHIP 1997. The probe flew past both Venus and after launch, their gravity giving the spacecraft a “pull”. {n the system. In the case of Huygens, bumping up the transmitter power was not an option. So Cassini received, transmitted and added some much needed gain. But the most useful source of gain was the parabolic dish of a radio telescope. Cassini-Huygens graduated from a multi-nation into a world-wide mis sion when 17 radio telescopes joined in the tracking of Huygens. Australian participants included the University of Tasmania at Hobart (26m dish), Ceduna (30m), Mopra (22m) and Parkes which, at 64m, was the star of the film “The Dish” Because of the rotation of the earth only a few antennas around the world could see Huygens at any one time. Inthe Hobart installation, two small probe antennas are placed at the focus of the dish, one for left-hand and one for right-hand polarization. Signals from the probes are ampli fied and then sent to a very stable maser which locks the receiver's lo- cal oscillator to a 5MHz pilot tone. ‘The resulting intermediate frequency feeds an IF-to-video converter which produces baseband signals ready for recording. Back in the early days,a2-inch vide- otape recorder was used for this but nowadays the job is done by a special MarkS computer containing eight hard drives, each of 200 GigaBytes, for a total of 1.6 TeraBytes. During Huygens tracking, Hobart ‘was using two Mark 5's for a total of 3.2 TeraBytes. The whole multiple hard drive unit can be lifted out and sent elsewhere for data analysis. VLBI Most news coverage about Cas- sini-Huygens concerns the wonder ful pictures the spacecraft have been sending back and the data suggesting that Titan may resemble the cradle of life on Earth, Butmost interesting from aradioas- tronomy point of view are VLBI studies (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) ‘This technology allows extremely ac curate determination of the position ofa radio emission source. ‘A comparison: if someone could organize a table-tennis match on the surface of Earth’s moon, VLBI would allow continuous tracking of the posi- tion of the ball as it bounces back and forth between the players. VBLI requires several radio tel- escopes with a few common features. First, they must be widely separated (the Very Long Baseline part) and their clocks must be synchronised to within the accuracy ofa maser oscillator. The output of each radiotelescope receiver must be sent to @ correlator. This technique assumes that a radio source is being observed by several widely separated radiotelescopes. Be- cause of their different viewpoints, each sees the object within a back- ground of noise. Somewhere in there is the desired signal ‘Throw in another radiotelescope, [Link]‘cruising around Saturn in early October 2004, Cassi ‘of images that have been co and another, widely separated, and each will soo what looks like noiso. But one spike will appear in the same position from all the telescopes. So radio onergy at ono common place will keep building upon itself, and eventually, there is a correlated, real signal. The Macquarie Dictionary says: “Correlation = a mutual relation of two or more things” ‘You won't find a correlator at every radio telescope site, The correlator used for Huygens lives in Holland, under the watchful eye of JIVE, the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe. It’s a dedicated 60 TeraOps super computer spread over soveral equip- ment racks. So you can’t ust pick up the correla: torand take it to araw data source, You must bring the data to the correlator That's what all those removable hard drive packs are for. the JIVE correlator can process data from up to sixteen radioteloscopes at up to 512 megasamples/second por station. ‘The Hobart operation ‘The Hobart dish and the electronics to drive it were donated to the Uni: versity of Tasmania by NASA about 20 years ago. It was rescued from the junkyard, having beon deemed “surplus to re- quirements”. The dish was re-erected upon a small hill called Mt. Pleasant, from which it could be seen for many kilometres in every direction. Residents of peaceful towns such as Richmond and Cambridge were con: cerned that they would be exposed to high power radiation. It took a lot of PR work o convince the populace that the dish was forreceiving only —ithad no transmit capability at all [Link] sed into the largest, most detailed, global natural color view of Saturn and its rings ever madé Now they ac sept that the dish over there on the horizon is in fact a world- class research instrument. Being asked to participate in Cassini-Huygens has brought it even more prestige. So it was that upon the night of January 14, 2005, radio telescope staff marched through the door carrying three large pizzas. It is traditional, at east within the space program, that the workers must be properly fuelled, astronomical images precise antenna positions radio cross-power spectra just like the rockets, before undertak- ing a large and complex operation. It appears that radio astronomy is similarly affected, After one fin staff moved into the radio telesco} control room. Leading the operation was Brett Reid, the station manager, Jamie McCallum, a PHD student, and Eric Baynes, technical officer. ‘They went through a formal check- list, then did it again and again. Saturn ‘wasn’t to come over the horizon until several hours later and nobody wanted to waste any of that extra time Touch this, look at that ~ call it out Check! . .. just like the captain of a jumbo jet doing his pre-figh. The operation was carefully sched- uled: on Christmas day last yeer, Huygens was freed from its mother ship Cassini. That night, at 1013 UTC, Huygens would enter Titan's atmos- phere. At 1018 a parachute would pop out, hopefully slowing Huygens to some reasonable speed. A minute later the S-band radio link would begin transmitting rad radi on fen precise position of source of nearby radio emission image of illuminated object The recorded data from many widely-separated radio telescopes are correlated to produce the VLBI image. Brent Carlson, National Research Council of Canada. May 2005 11Conia ees Creer cen Irian cc ce The object of this part of the opera- tion was to measure the wind speed in ‘Titan's atmosphere using VLBI. Speeds over 400km/h were expected. Our local encounter with Huygens couldn't occur until Satu and its attending moons, rings, and orbiting Its Here 12 SILICON Grp ae = though there is a lot of that! Eric, Brett, and Jamie again go through the chec ONT Pitt resrRe eco ho ene spacecraft came over the horizon. With the dish’s elevation angleset to the con- tour limit of about 4°, we lay in wai At 1019, Huygens’ transmitter switched on, cranking out 3.5W, just before Saturn made its appearance from Hobart. Brett comparing notes with other stations. The hard drive data recorder had already been running for several minutes, having first disgraced itself by crashing while we were all outside admiring Satur, slowly rising in the Tasmanian sky. By the time the signal reached Earth itwas s0 weak that most radio astrono- mors felt it would be impossible to detect without the use of VLBI. And there would be no VLBI data until all the removable hard-drive packs had ‘made their journey to JIVE's correlator in Holland This, of course, results ina challenge irresistible to radio’ astronomers: Try to resolve the S-band signal on your from Cassini. Who would be frst We go into a routine monitoring mode. Is the recorder playing up again? No, looks OK. The right lights are flashing, Eric rolls out a cart-mounted spec- trum anelyzer and patches it into the system, Its screen is showing lots of ‘green “grass” (random noise) Then, oh-so-slowly, the grass de- velops a gentle hill. We stare at it until someone says “I think thore’s something ther ‘The hump seems to breathe up and down, like the chest of someone sloop ing. With some use of imagination, it is starting to look like an indistinct something or other centred right on Huygens transmit froquency. According to the experts, this shouldn't be happening. Eric starts tweaking the spectrum analyzer’s gain and bandwidth, and the hump gets bigger. Then it deflates again, like letting tho air out of a football. -[Link]‘This is frustrating, and thrilling, all at the same time. Isitoris itnota signal fromabillion kilometres away? It’s up again, then it fades away. All station personnel are staring at the screen, willing the signal to build up. Brett decides it’s time to compare notes with other radiotelescopes. Co- duna, Hobart’s sister station, has been off the air with a power failure. Between that and the Hobart ct puter crash, it looks like the gremlins are intent on spending the evening with us Tho mystery continues for several hours as the signal builds up, disap- pears and builds up again We phone more Australian radio- telescopes: Can you see anything on S-band? No, can you? Itappears we've got it on our own, the first and only radiotele’cope in the world to detect signals from Huygens. Again, tradition within the space program suggests that, whenover asig- nificant success occurs, control room personnel should whoop and holler and jump around giving high-fivés. And so it was with Huygens and its dinky little radio transmitter, heard first in faraway Tesmania, Congratula- tions all around. It wasn’t long before the European Space Agency mission control got wind of our “success” and Project Manager Loonid Gurvits phoned Ho- bart for more details, The ESA were in the middle of a press conference for the world-wide media. Are we SURE wo're hearing Huygens? Do we claim to be first? What ifwe're not? So we say we'll check fur ther before making a formal claim, Erie ti [Link] ing to coax a signal from the spectrum analyzer. . Artists impression of the final moments in Huygen's descent fom the Cassini “mothership”. Courtesy NASA/JPL. ‘At 1291 GMT, it was expected that Huygens would land or impact on Titan, depending on the severity of its arrival ‘And sure enough, right on timo, the S-band signal disappears rather sud- donly. That's it, Huygens has suffered ‘@ mighty prang, long live Huygens. Then comes & message from Parkes: ‘Are you guys still tracking? It’s really, nice and strong here now Oh-oh. That couldn’tbe right. less we've done something wrong Huygens is supposed to be dead! If it wasn't Huygens, what was it? ‘At time of writing, nothing was proved one way or the other. There is strong suspicion of an interfering “I think there's something there”. Is it from Huygens? birdie, after a weak carrier on 5MHz revealed itself. This is the maser timing signal running all around the station. But, why did the S-band signal keep fad- ing in an out, with the 5MHz signal remaining steady? Investigations are continuing And for what it’s worth, the honour of being first to hear Huygens went to the Greenbank radiotelescope in the USA. Well done! sc Tet Rea ee csr ee eer cere net May 2005 13GETTING INTO Last time we looked at wireless networking (January 2001), the term “Wi-Fi” didn’t even rate a mention. Things have moved on just a tad in that four-and-a-bit years!- ments in wireless networking. One is speed - it's now much faster; the second is availability ~ now much more equipment is available; the third is price - Wi-Fi equipment is now much cheaper. A lot of the equipment has also become smaller and the software to drive it has become more user-friendly. Before we go any further, let's try to remove some of the confusion about the terms used for wireless networking. Wi-Fi and 802.11 Wi-Fi, which is an abbreviation of Wireless Fidelity (itself a protty meaningless term!), is actually a registered trademerk of the Wi-Fi Alliance, an organisation sot up to ensure technical standards are maintainted, Strictly speaking, Wi-Fi should only be applied to equip- ment whose manufacturer is a member of the alliance. But rightly or wrongly, like so many computer and technical terms, Wi-Fi has already entered our language as a generic name in its own right. ‘The Wi-Fi Alliance regulates the use of the Wi-Fi trade- mark, only allowing manufacturers whose equipment passes thoir rathor stringent suite of tests (and who pay big $1) to be certified and use the name/bear the mark. While that control has been relatively successful in maintaining compatibility (they have about 200 member companies worldwide], there are now countless manu- facturers who don't bother joining the Wi-Fi Alliance but novertheless produce (usually!) compatible equipment. ‘To be compatible, the equipment has to comply with the standard of yet another organisation, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) ‘The IEEE has many working committees. One of these is the 802 Committee, which deals with computer networks. ‘Asub-group, the 802.11 Working Group, handles the speci- fications of Wireless Local Area Networks. Various Task Groups within the Working Group handle specific typos of Wireless LANs and assign their group code, or letter, to the standards they develop. Thus there isan 802.112 task group, an 802.11 task group and so on (in fact currently there are a, b,c, d, ef gh. i j,k, m & n groups and possibly more). We're really only concemed with the 802.114, b and g standards here. LE the past few years, there have been three major move- Speed ‘The first 802.11 standard (in 1997) was at the time con- 14 Swicon Crap sidored fast for wireless - 2Mb/s — but it was agonisingly slow compared to the hard-wired networks of even then. ‘Moreover, it had significant technical problems, not the least being it allowed two incompatible spread spectrum standards (frequency hopping spread spectrum, FHSS, and direct sequence spread spectrum, DSSS) at the same time. So some 802.11 equipment could not telk to other 802.11 equipment. By 1998, the 802.11b standard was in place. It was faster but more importantly, discarded FHSS, [Link] from thon on, all equipmont was at least theoretically compat- ible. AAs you can see, the 802.11b standard has been around for moro than five years. 802.11g, introduced in 2003, is now rapidly overtaking 802.11b, mainly due to its much faster speed or throughput, Apart from speed, “a” has other advantages over “b”; for example, it is more efficient in handling reflected (multi- path) signals. You will see various claims on speed for the two systems but these must be qualified or you may not be comparing apples with apples (no Mac pun intended). £802.11b is specified as having an 11Mb/s throughput or “raw speed”. For many reasons, mostly due to the way data is packeted and transmitted, the real throughput is usually less than half this, coming in at about SMb/s. On the other hand, 802.11g is rated at 54Mb/s but the real throughput is again less than half — around 20Mb/s. But that fourfold increase is certainly worthwhile. Both the 802.11b and 802.11g standards use the same frequency band, 2.4GHz, It was originally chosen because in the US it was an unlicenced “garbage” band (similar in some ways to the 27MHz band) therefore no licence fees would be required. ‘The use of that frequency has proved rather unfortunate, because it is shared with a huge number of devices, from toys to cordless phones to microwave ovens, Therefore, wireless networks can, and often do, suffer interference (or cause it). Ono advantage, though, of 802.11b and g being on the same band is that 802.11g is backward-compatible with 802.11b; that is, a "g" device can talk to a “b” device and vico vorsa, albeit at the slower speed of the “b” system. “y” and “g" equipment operates on 11 channels (indi- vidual frequencies) between 2,4000GHz and 2.4835GHz. “g” equipment is generally more expensive then “b” — but we are not talking sheep stations. We'll look at costs [Link]A FEW YEARS ON... Part 1 - by Ross Tester lite leter. 802.11a ~ an orphan? Despite its earlier alphabetical suffix, 802.118 effectively came about after 802.11b (in fact, the two standards were released simultaneously but the technology to support 802.11b came about faster) 802.11 soomed like a good idea at the time; a new standard operating on a highor frequency (5GHz, far from the madding crowd), with higher speed (54Mb/s raw spocd or 25Mb/s real speed). Unfortunately, perhaps like the Beta vs VHS baitle of last contury, the best system doesn’t always win, due mainly to the inertia and marketing of the inferior system. It wasn’t helped when Apple's CEO Steve Jobs said that “902.118 is doomed to failure”, justifying his company’s decision to base its AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi on 802.11g, That's not to say 802.11a is dead in the water far from Wi in the home means no messy cables to run and (theoré ‘want. As we explain, i’s not always quite that easy - but worthwhile, nevertheless. (Photo courtesy of the Wi-Fi Alliance). [Link] it, It still has many proponents and users and prices have fallen significantly — but compared to 802.11b/g its use is miniscule. Maybe, in time, it will emerge a winner but at the moment, we suggest you stick with 602.11g (or b if you must). Thore are systems which offer automatic dual band (a and b) and even tri band (a, b and g) operation (depending which one is in the area) but they are usually significantly more expensive. Long range . . . or maybe not! You will often see ranges quoted for Wi-Fi (yes, wi using the generic) of “up to 800m”, Note that phrase “up to”. By definition, that means somewhere between zero and 300m but our experience is it’s much more likely to be closer to the former than the latter. If you expect to be able to plug in a Wi-Fi card, dongle, or stick into your PC or notebook and expect to be able to access another computer anything like 300m away, in ically) you can use your notebook computer wherever you May 200515Airports were very early adopters of W flights 2-3 hours early. In some (li managements. (Photo courtesy of the Wi-Fi Alliance). those immortal words of Daryl Kerrigan in “The Castle”, you're dreamin! To achieve that sort of range, you'd definitely not want, any walls in the way and you'd generally need to use some form of oxternal anterina, probably with some gain (ie, directional) ‘With much of today’s smaller Wi-Fi equipment (particu- larly for notebooks) the latter is not practical, as antennas are usually built in However, our Kiwi colleague Stan Swan did describe fit- ting parabolic antennas to USB Wi-Fi sticks in his “WiFry” article in the September 2004 SiLicoN Crt So what's the range? As they come out of the box, the typical range of most Wi-Fi devices is dramatically loss than 300m — our experi- ence for domestic installations (te, with typical walls in tho way!) is that 10m is about maximum on a good day with a tailwind! ‘An example: my next-door neighbour and I share a broadband cable connection, linked via Wi-Fi. Our houses are side-by-side and his wireless access point is on a wall closost to my boundary. But there are very few places in my home which allow connection ~ any which do are on bis side of my house, So we are talking less than 5m. Even he has probloms accessing the system from many places in his home. He's gone to the trouble of a higher spec (better performing) access point, higher gain antennas and 0 on. But the improvements ware marginal at best ‘Oh, just in case you were wondering: yes it is perfectly legal to share a broadband connection with your neighbour. Messrs. Telstra, Optus and Go might not like it toomuch but sharing broadband (ADSL or cable) with @ neighbour, via wireloss, is a groat way to not only keep the cost down but 16 Silicon Crip !) airports, especially in the USA, Wi ‘especially handy since 9-11 when you have to book in for international access is oven provided free by altruistic get a faster and higher usage connection into the bargain! Incidentally, we're no lawyers but our reading of the relevant legislation suggests that it would be illogal to share a broadband connection with your next door neighbour via a wired network because the cable would cross your property boundary. With wireless, there's no cable, so you don't transgress legislation! ‘We might be tempted to have a closer look at explain- ing how to do this in a future issue — but it’s not exactly rocket science! Wireless networking basics Before we go too much further, we should point out, that we're concentrating here on “PCs”; that is Intel AMD otc machines running Windows, because they are, far and away, the most common/popular computers in both the home and the workplace. ‘That's not ignoring the Mac family — Apple has supported ‘Wi-Fi for a long timo with its AitPort and AirPort Extreme technology, to the extent where going wireless with a Mac is often easier than with a PC. (Yeah, go on Mac fans. So is everything else ...) Having said that, pethaps Win fans need more handhold {ng so be quiet, you Mec lot! (Why does a Mac mouse have only one button? ‘Cos Mac users can’t cope with two...) At the most simple level, to connect computers together in a wireless network all you need is a wireless network adaptor in each computer to be wirelessly networked. ‘We'll look at various types of adaptors shortly. Wireless adaptor hardware When wo covered this area back in 2001 there was very limited choice. The PC-slot cards we described were then quoted at around $490(}) (in 2001 they were known as [Link]Setting up a business meeting with wirele joining the mé Alliance). PCMCIA cards, which earned them the name of People Can't Memorise Computer Industry Acronyms). While PCI cards are still available for desktop PCs ~ in fact, now very commonly so and really cheap, like any- ‘where between $10 and $50 — you have a choice of a range of other adaptor hardware, suitable for either desktop or notebook ‘That assumes, of course, that your notebook doesn't have wireless inbuilt: all but the lowest end of notebooks these days now come with wireless as standard. But if yours doesn’t (ike my IBM R40e!) you can “go wire- Jess” via the aforementioned PC card, a USB “stick” which Jooks just like flash memory, or an Ethernet connection. PC cards now retell for a tenth (or less) of the 2001 prico —you can often pick them up for $20 or less. ‘Wireless USB sticks which, as late as last year, were selling for $100 or more, can now be sourced for much the same price as PC cards. Many notebooks/laptops use a “Mini PCI” card which connects internally and uses aerials which run up the side of tho LCD screen, again internally. ‘Some manufacturers include these aerials even if they don’t include the card (to save money) so a Mini PCI wire- Joss upgrado is often a possibility. One big advantage (apart from being completely internal) is that the Mini PCI card usually consumes less power than other cards, important in a battery-operated computer. ‘Another advantage is that the antennas usuelly (but not always) offer porformance advantages over the tiny anten- nas inside USB sticks or PC cards. The one piece of wireless hardware we haven't men- tioned, although available, is an Ethernet port adaptor. This is an option for a desk-bound notebook or laptop but hardly the type of thing you'd go walking around town with — apart from the fact that battery operation isn’t usu- [Link] ting needs is the WEP or WAP code and their computer basically does the rest. (Photo. networked laptops is easy ~ a simple ad-hoc system will do fine. All anyone ourtesy of the Wi-Fi ally offered, it sort of takes away the portability advantage ofa laptop/notebook! What about Bluetooth? Bluetooth, though certainly wireless device, doesn’t really fit into this discussion because it is incompatible with the 802.11 standard (you may noto that it is called her Wi-Fi nor 802.11). In fact, Bluetooth’s incompatibility often causes inter- forence problems for close-by Wi-Fi equipment, as it too occupies part of the 2.4GHz. band, ‘While its spood is only 1Mbps (or 700kHz true speed), significantly slower than even 802.11b, it doesn’t have the Bthemet-like overhead of 802.11b so is not quite as “bad” as those figures might suggest. It’s also much lower in range, with about 10m being the maximum you can expect. Bluetooth can be, and is, used for “ad hoo” style net- working but is much more suitable for connecting other peripherals (video/still cameras, for example) into the computer system. And WiMax? ‘We mention this here only because we have featured it in SILICON Cx recently, although not by that name. You ‘may recall our article on the “Unwired” wireless broad- band system in November 2004. Unwired is an example ‘of WiMax (and yos, it also has its own IEEE 802 working group ~ in this case 802.16/802.16a) WiMax is also an acronym ~ Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access. It is not a short-range systom as in Wi-Fi, it's intended for relatively longer distance internet access via microwave (radio signals above 3GHz). Formore information, rofer to the Novembor 2004 article (back issues available for $8.80 inc p&p) May 200517A typical adshoc witless network. No computer has PDAS) a portant” than any ater he computers ipl tal to each other on damandl The adva System hats ry SImple to sot up and no xt hardware i: Dut you cant ect to another erork nor tothe sree vo netork wy rc wir winess PIADAPTER AUGIN Wises Ss PCCARD FCC) Desir Fc win WHELSS Pe ADAPTER ‘OR USE WIRELESS SEK, ETC Add-in cards We've shown a selection of wireless hardware from a couple of well-known sources ~ Jayear Electronics and Dick Smith Electronics (New Zealand) Most of these are 602.11, specification and cover both USB and PGeard types. In all cases, you will note they have mndicator LEDs which show both connection and wirele: transmission. Again in all cases, drivers must be loaded before they will operate correctly found it best to use the manufacturer's software. All the adaptors shown below have inbuilt antennas (one can be varied in direction) so cannot be used with extemal (gain) antennas. However, some PC card adaptors can connect to pigtails which in'turn can be used with extemal antennas. None of this equipment carries the “Wi-Fi” logo but all worked perfectly with other equipment which does. /ealso shown a USB Bluetooth adaptor in this photo ef, A selection of low-cost wireless networking equipm so you can see the difference (and the similarities!) It's sig nificantly smaller than even the smallest USB stick shown here and this is normally the case. Connecting your computers The first thing you need to do is decide which type of connection you want to make —and that depends on what you want to do, Thore are basically two wireless network systems ~ ad hoc and infrastructure. If you only want to be able to communicate between a couple (or a few) computers, say to transfer files between them, or uso a printer connected to one computer on the network while at another computer, ad hoc is the way to 40. Itis relatively simple. Howaver, if like most people you want to be able to co neet your compu 3s through another com to the internet or even another network, you'll need an Far left are two 802.11b USB “sticks” with an 802.11 USB adaptor alongside (all from Dick ‘Smith Electronics NZ - DSE Australia do not appear to have equivalent products but DSE NZ will ‘mail order back to Australia ~ see [Link].n2), Fa ck. At front centre, for comy products from Jaycar Electronics - [Link],au, 18 Siticon Ciup right is a PC card 802.11g adaptor; alongside ison, is a USB Bluetooth adaptor (last three [Link]infrastracture setup, Infrastructure is more complicated, as its name suggests, because you need more hardware equipment than just wiroless acooss cards, ‘To some, an ad hoc network is not a “real” network at all, just a means of file sharing, “Real” networks are built on infrestructuro. But the ad hoc mothod is @ perfectly viable option, especially for home users not wishing to make it too grandiose. Because itis simpler, we'll look at ad hoc frst. Ad hoe wireless While it is possible to set up an ad hoc network using most versions of Windows. we strongly recommend using at least Windows 2000 and, if possible, Windows XP, ‘The reason is that the latest Windows versions, XP espe- cially, really make life easy when connecting to or building a network ~ and Wi-Fi networks are no exception, Fist, you neod to install the internal Wi-Fi card (or USB stick or PC card or Ethernet adaptor) in/on your PCs, along with their drivers. In many cases XP will have a suitable driver but it’s usually best to install the one which came with the card because it will have the latest versions and also include any manufacturer's “niceties” Remember to power down the PC first if you're installing an internal card, It's not absolutely essential to turn off tho notebook or laptop for (external) PC cards or USB adaptors, but we'd do it anyway and so let Windows find the now [Link] ‘The difference between the ad-hoc ‘wireless network opposite and the basic infrastructure wire network shown here is obvious: additional piece of hardware in the middle, called an access point It is in turn connected to what might once have been regarded as a fileserver, ie, the main computer in the network. It is through this ‘computer and its internal or external modem that connection wide world (also know ‘we have shown more devices in this diagram than are in the ad- "t necessarily so: in fact, many infrastructure networks will have just the main ‘computer, the access point and a single notebook computer to give that notebook internet access. hardware when it loads, Also, some hardware is quite specific about which order installation goes ~ some require the software loaded first then the hardware installed, others the opposite. And some don't care! Ifin doubt, follow that ago-old (but oft ignored) advioe: if all else fails, read the instructions! (Once installed and powered up, unless something is re-~ ally haywire, Windows lets you know it’s found the new hardware, loads the driver and puts the appropriate entry in Network Connections in the Control Panel From there it is usually just a matter of “follow the bouncing ball” ~ most software gives you a step-by-step runthrough where it finds and identifies the wireless connection and allows you to connect to it, Naturally, this assumes you have already done this in another computer otherwise there is no wireless connection to find! Some of the wireless network adaptors we have looked at, strongly recommend turning off XP's relatively automatic wireless networking and use theirs. We have usually found it is better to uso the adaptor's, software because it either contains more (or later) features than XP or because it allows the card to be sot up easier. Conversely, we have found software where, when some- thing doesn’t work, it dosn't work big time ~ and the only way to get around the problem is to uninstall and reinstall the system. But overall, setting up an ad-hoc network should be a relatively painless process. The main reason people have May 200519‘This Wireless PCI card from Jaycar 1s typical of the cards available these days. It’s 802.11g, 54Mb/s standard and can take an external antenna, i logo? Note there is no Wi problems at this stage is that the distance between comput- crs is too groat and it’s actually a lack of wireless signal that causes the problems. For this reason, when we're setting up any sort of wire- less notwork, if possible we do it with both/all computers {n the same room. Whon the system is up and running, we move themto thelr usual locations and hopefully everything still works perfectly. Wireless ecurity We're covering this here (before moving on to inira- structure networks) because it’s likely that once they've set up their ad hoc system, somo users may not read any further. And wireless security is really, really, really important. Is that enough emphasis? Many computer users imagine that having anti-virus software and a firewall installed will protect them from intrusion. To some degre, they will ~ but wireless in- troduces some extra security problems, problems that a firewall will not help. (What? You don’t have anti-virus software or a firewall? Thope you don’t do any Internet financial transactions, and remind me not to read any emails you send me! Then again, they won't get through mine . ..) By default, Windows will connect wireless without security enabled. Big, big mistake, if you value your data (and even more important when you go onto the next step, an infrastructure network with ‘net access) ‘The reason for thisis that without security, anyone within range can also log into your network and either take a look around, steal data or do somo real damage, if they're feeling malicious — or all of the above. Snooping really is as simple as turning on their com- puter and searching for your wireless network (which the computer does automatically!) ‘And that snooper doesn’t have to be particularly close = with a high gain antenna such as @ dish aimed at you, they can be some distance ~ perhaps as much as a couple of kilometres — away. WEP and WPA Wireless networking (currontly) has two main methods of preventing unauthorised access~WEP, or Wireloss Equiva- 20° SILICON Crue lent Privacy, and WPA, or Wi-Fi Protected Access WEP, tho older system, is somewhat similar to the security encryption used over a wired network: the difference is of course that it's quite hard for someone to “tap into” your wired network, especially contained inside a building. Wireless, which by and large doesn't respect walls, makes it that much easier. WPA is much newer and more secure, so of the two, WPA is by fara better choice than WEP but it’s not always available. Worse still, many people don’t even bother to use even WEP because (a) they are lazy, or (b) they haven't quite got around to enabling it, o(c) they don’t understand it. (WEP is much better than no security at all, protecting from casual snooping but anyone who knows what they are doing can break WEP fairly easily), WPA comes as a patch with Windows XP Service Pack 2 (XP SP2) which, of course, every XP user should have installed. It’s froe downloaded from [Link] and we would suggest you do it! WPA unfortunately won't work with all wireless hard- ‘ware, especially some older typos. In some cases this can be overcome by obtaining the latest drivers for your particular hardware (almost invariably, the setup disc or manual will include a manufacturer’s URL so you can download). If for some reason you're still running XP SP1 or Win- dows Server 2003 you'll need to download and run the WPA patch, again from-Microsof. Where WEP relies on you entering (and remembering!) an obscure hexadecimal number, WPA allows you to enter aplain-text password. It then mathematically generates the encryption key from that Ifesnooper manages to find out your password (og, because you've written it on the whiteboard next to your computer in plain view of the outside window!) they can still access your network. But they can’t easily decipher the password from your network data, as is possible with WEP. Our advice is to ALWAYS uso security ~ at least WEP, You can use either 64-bit or 128-bit encryption ~ the latter is more secure but still not unbreakable. But atleast it will discourage the casual snooper. If you can, use WPA. Infrastructure mode security ‘The preceding comments about security apply even mo- reso if you are setting up an infrastructure mode wireless network and accessing the internet. This is of course the main reason for setting up an infra- structure mode network, though you could be doing it to gain access to another network, etc. ‘Therefore, ifan intruder manages to get into your wireless network, they will also have access to the ‘net and be able to cost you real $88, espocially if thoy start downloading movies and music, for instance. Or they could use your system to send harmful email, spam and soon, place bogus orders charged to you or run a variety of scams and you ‘would got the blamo as the source. So enable that security! Access points/gateways The main obvious differonce between ad hoc and infra- structure mode is that you (usually) need another pioce of hardware, usually called an access point or wireless gateway, which connects to the computer containing or attached to your modem and thence internet connection. [Link]Access points usually provide just the tion and are now becoming quite cheap. When we looked at Access Points in the January 2001 article we quoted @ price of $1155.00 ~ they're now readily available at sub $100 for a “no frills” model. Wireless gateways provide the same connection but also may have more than one port to enable you to connect to another, usually wired, network, They are also a bit more expensive, ‘The choice, then, is an access point if you merely want to connect your wireless network to the internet, ora wire- less gatoway if you want to connect to another network and to the ‘net. A little while ago we said that an access point is another piece of hardware ~ but this is not necessarily so, Access points can be entirely software based — but it's more usual (and often simpler) to go the hardware rou Hubs, switches and bridges You'll also see references to those devices in your Wire- loss travels. Like many things in wireless, devices tend to mirror the devices found in wired networks, In a “star” network (as distinct from a peer-to-peer) there is a central device responsible for handing out data to all of the computers in the network. It’s sort of like a bike wheel, with all the spokes coming back to a central point, That's tho hub — and in networks, there are three basic types. ‘A passive hub does little more than send the data it receives back out again. While simple and cheap, it costs a lot of bandwidth because the passive hub doesn’t know which computer on the network is supposed to get the data = 50 it sends it to the lot A switching hub, on the other hand, reads the address on each packet of data and sends it to the correct computer. Therefore it docsn’t cost a lot of bandwidth. A switching hub is often abbreviated to simply a “switch ‘An intelligent hub has the smarts of a switching hub but goes one step further by allowing a network administrator 2 lot more control. Only if you have a largo notwork (og, in a big organisation), with someone looking after it, would you need one of these devices. Just like wired networks, hubs and switches aro found in wiroloss networks, doing very similar jobs. Bridges are a bit different to hubs and switches. They transfer packets of data from one physical medium to an- other. That might be two different networks, for example a wired network and a wireless network. They don't do anything with the data packets except transfer them —they don't read them to work out the address, for example. While bridges are very commonly available as stand- alone devices, for our purposes (remember, we're talking about wireloss!) the most common place you'll ind them is actually part of a wireless access point. They then allow the wireless network and a wired (eth- emet) network to talk to each other. Routers and gateways We said a moment ago that bridges merely transfer data packets ~ they don’t read it as such. But there are types of bridges that do and they're called routers. As their name suggests, they do read the data and determine where it is [Link]. au [Link] mcatenicom [Link] iia {2nd Generation Low Co USE Data 1/0 Modul Need to gt daa nto rout of a USB port? Here's what dpe oral ame © Single module highspeed ital npuvOuipat soon. Unto 126 meson comet singe PO ages ther Se © fay lcmat ty" pich betes oso sand © inte typ 8 US come. © on-oard unique srt umber in EEPROM and som progmnate FLASH eceaol Ban U8 enmeton ration mon ‘can be re-programmad to sult customer needs. ere Je tcc powered byte US8 tom te FC. supposed to go and then send it to that destination, In fact, in some ways you might regard the internet itself as ahuge collection of routors, which read data packets and send them on. Of course, there's @ lot more to the ‘net than that but it gives you some idea of data routing, Reading then routing data takes timo so invariably, routers, cost time and bandwidth. It would be unusual fora home or even medium-sized corporate wireless network to need the services of router. While English and Australian pronunciation of the word “route” might suggest an alternative, invariably (for we hope obvious where routers rhymes with “shoutors ‘And now we move onto gateways. What are they? Good question. Probably the best answer is (usually!) a device which combines most, if not all, of the functions above ~ and perhaps a few more. Gateways can be, orhave the functions of, hubs, switches and routers ~ and may even add additional hardware features such as built-in modems, firewalls and perhaps a DHCP (dynamic host configuration protocol) server and a NAT (network address translation) gateway. If you don't know whether you need a gateway or not, chances are you don't! sc WEEE a alae OIE ecko Caos Leone Sueur infrastructure wireless network. May 200524Pear ae g Eve) 0 ead Pos) So Soa Be te ce wae, Wey bevld Wc ys ; = of ol tag \ a? ger rc? 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HEN YOUN! messages with the highest possi- ble reliability, there's no substitute for ‘solid-state voice recorder chip. Thero ‘are no moving parts at all, so there are no tapes or belts to break, no heads to clog up with gunk, no motors to burn out and no bearings to jam. Instead, there's just amemory chip to store and replay the message electronically, any number of times. Because it's solid-state, the mess- ago(s) can be played back instantly = there's no tape to rewind. Smail ‘wonder thatmost telephone answering chines changed over to this kind of recording years ago. record voice 28 SiLicon GHP Wo've described solid-state voice re cordes projects in the past and they've been very popular. However, the special chips they used eventually be: came hard to get and so these projects eventually fell by the wayside. This situation rocently changed for the better again, when Jaycar Electron- ics managed to find a good source for a now voice recorder IC, the HK828 This made it possible for us to develop a new recorder design, incorporating notonly the features that were popular in the earlier designs but a fow more based on the requests we've received from readers over the years. ‘The new HK828 chip can store single or multiple messages with a total length of between 40 and 60 seconds, depending on the sampling rate and the voice quality you want. In ournew recorder module, this chip is teamed up with a low-cost eloctret microphone to allow easy message recording, plus an LM386 power am- plifier IC which allows the recorded messages to be played back through a small speaker. In addition, we've made provision for the module to be hooked up to a {60022/60022 lino isolation transformer for coupling into another system; eg, ‘an alarm system or a private phone line, There's also a simple interface 50 that the module's functions can be con- trolled via a PC or microcontroller ‘The new recorder module runs from 6V DG and draws very little current, so it's quite suitable for operating from either a battery (eg, four AA penlight cells) or from a regulated 6V plugpack supply. By the way, since the HK828 voice recorder chip is only available from Jaycar Electronics in Australia and [Link]Ved Veoh Vad Visa block diagram of the HK626 vo Now Zealand, kits for the new recorder will only be available from Jaycar and its dealers ~ soo parts list. How it works Bocause the HK828 chip forms the functional heart of the unit, you need to have a rough idea of what goes on inside this chip in order to understand how the recorder works. Fig.1 shows tho chip’s basic architecture, First, the chip includes a high-gain microphone preamp so that it can be driven directly by a low-cost electret microphone insert. An automatic gain control (AGC) stage follows this preamp, to ensure that good quality recordings can be made without any need for manual gain adjustment, de- spite input signal level variations. The output of the AGC circuit is not connected directly to the chip's record: ing circuitry but is instead brought out to the “Aout” pin. This is linked to the “Ain” pin by the user, to record ‘messages from the microphone. This arrangement also allows the chip to be used to record from line level signals in othor applications, Since the main part of the HK828 records by sampling the audio signals fod into it via the Ain pin, it needs to pass these signals through a low-pass filter before the sampling. Thisis done to prevent distortion caused by sam- [Link] WONG MEN -¢ record/playback IC. The incoming signal from the microphone is amplified and fed through an AGC stage and anti-aliasing filter before being sampled and stored in a 256K EPROM array. pling aliases, hence the “anti-aliasing” filter between the “Ain” input and the sample and hold circuit block Now although the audio is sampled inside the HK828, this is done using an analog sample-and-hold system rather than the more common digital sampling system. This is done because it stores the samples in an array of 262,144 (256K) Flash EEPROM analog storage cells, each of which can store any of 256 different voltage levels. This gives the equivalent of 8-bit digital recording, The capacity of the storage array means that the HK828 can store a total of 256K samples. However, the length of the recorded message depends on the sampling rate that’s used. For ‘example, if the sampling rate is 8000 samples per socond, 256K samples will correspond toa total mossage length of just over 32 seconds (262,144/8000) However, if you sample at 4200 sam- ples persecond, the 256K samples will xgivea total message length of just over 62 soconds (262,144/4200). ‘The recording bandwidth or “fidel- ity” also depends on the sampling rato in this case, directly rather than inversely. So if you sample at 4200 samples per second, the recording bandwidth will be just over 2kHz, whereas 8000 samples per second gives a bandwidth of just on 4kHz Choosing the sampling rate is thore- fore something of a compromise: the lower the sampling rate the longer the recording time but the lower the audio bandwidth, Conversely, the higher the sampling rate the higher the bandwidth but the shorter the rocording timo. ‘The HK828 chip has an internal sampling rate clock oscillator, as well as an input for an optional external clock. Either clock signal can be fed to the sample and hold circuit via the multiplexer (MUX), to control the sampling. ‘The internal oscillator is particu- larly easy to use, because its frequency is set simply by varying the value of anexternal resistor connected betwoen the “OscR” pin and ground, In this recorder, we have selected a 47kQ re- sistor, which sets the sampling rate to about 5800 samples second. This gives ‘a message recording time of about 45 seconds and a bandwidth of about 2,9kHz, for reasonable voice-quality recording. As shown in Fig, the recording and playback of samples in the storage array is controlled by analog write and read circuits, along with the message control and message decoding circuits, ‘When a message is being played back, tho signals pass through another low- pass filter to remove sampling noise May 2005 298¢ SOLID STATE VOICE RECORDER ew, ES Cpe ote Fig.2: the complete circuit of the voice recorder uses just two ICs - the HK828 voice record/playback IC (IC) and an LM3a6N audio amplifier. Power can come from a regulated 6V plugpack supply or from batteries (4 x 1.5V cells). and are then fed to the inbuilt output amplifior, ‘Tho rest of the circuitry inside the HK828 chip is used for overall device control and mode switching, e Circuit details Fig.2. shows the complete circuit details for the Solid-State Voice Re- corder, As shown, signals from the electret mic insert are coupled into the Micin input (pin 17) of the HK828 via a 100nF capacitor. Another 100nF capacitor is used to tie the preamp's “MicRef” input (pin 18) to ground, to provide maximum gain ‘The 4.7uF capacitor end 220kQ re- sistor connected between pin 19 and ground are used fo optimise the chip's AGC attack and decay characteristics for speech. The amplified audio from the mic preamp and AGG circuit ap- pears at pin 21 (Aout) and is then fed fo pin 20 (Ain) via another 100nF capacitor. ‘Asmentioned previously, the inter 30 SILICON CrP nal sampling oscillator frequency is sot to 5.8kHz by the 47kQ resistor con- nected to ground from pin 7 (OscR). Manual selection of the HK826’s operating mode (record or playback) is achioved by switch S2, which con- nects the chip’s RE-bar pin (27) to ground for record mode. When 82 is in the Play position, the RE-bar pin is pulled up to +6V via the 22kQ resis- tor and the base-emitter junction of transistor Q1, which forces the HK828 to operate in playback mode. ‘Note that when $2 is in the Record position, this not only grounds pin 27 of the HK628 but also turns Qu on. This in tum drives LED2 - the Record Mode indicator ~ via a 6800 current- limiting resistor. When the unit is switched to Re- cord mode, recording the message you want to save in the chip is very ‘simple ~ press pushbutton switch S1 and hold it down while you record the message. During recording, LED flashes to indicate that the HK828 is operating, while LED2 is turned on continuously. ‘Atthe end of the recording, you sim- ply release $1. However, if your mes ‘sage is too long for the chip’s memory, it will automatically stop recording when the memory is full. To replay the recorded message, $2 is first switched back to the Play position. Then the manual “rewind” button ($3) is prossed briefly to take the chip's CE-bar pin (23) to +5.4V, which makes sure the HK826 is resot to the start of its memory. Ifyou then briefly press pushbutton switch $1, the HK828 will replay the message. The replayed audio emerges from pins 14 & 15 of ICI (ie, from SP+ and SP-} In this circuit, the signal from pin 14 is fed though @ 10kQ resistor and 10uF coupling capacitor to trimpot VR1, which is used to set the playback volume. The signals are then fed to an LMS86N audio amplifier (IC2) which drives the external loudspeaker. [Link]Ce Une cel en Pa oa ly prototype before we fitted the power switch. photo of an e In addition, both output pins of the HK628 are brought out to terminal pins L1 and L2, These can be used to connect the recorder module to the primary winding of a 6002/6008 iso lating transformer (such as the Jaycar MA-1510 or MA-1512), so that the audio can be fed to other equipment (eg, an alarm system). ‘The remaining part of the circuit provides a simple interface which al- lows the voice recorder module to be controlled by a PG ora microcontroller. This involves bringing the HK828 control lines out to 10-pin IDC header CON1, so they can be manipulated by an external microcontroller pro- grammed to duplicate the actions of switch $2 and pushbutton switches S183, Note that when this interface is connected to a microcontroller, switch. $2 must be left in the Play position. This is necessary to allow the micro- controller to control the logic level on IC1’s RE-bar pin (pin 27). ‘There's one final point tonote about the HK828 recorder chip and the way we're using it here. ‘The HK828 can actually be programmed to record in anumber of different “message mode” formats, by manipulating the logic lov- els on pins 9 (MBoption), 24 (MSEL1) and 25 (MSEL2) In this circuit, we operate the chip in “tape mode” format, where it can record eithera single continuous mes- sage or a number of shorter messages in sequence. However, the module's PC board has been designed to allow you to change the format if you wish, by cutting short tracks and/or fitting pull-up resistors or links. It’s not hard to set the HK826 to [Link] record two, four or eight short fixed-length messages, which can be repla in random-access fashion (more on this later). Construction All of the components used in the Voice Recorder module except the speaker and battery mount direct- ly on a PC board coded (01105051. This board meas- ures 107 x 57mm, which ‘means that it can be mount- ed inside a standard UB3- size utility box, Fig.3 shows the parts lay- out on tho PG board. Start the assembly by fitting the eight PC-board terminal pins, then install the three wire links. ‘These links are all relatively long and should be run using insulated hookup Noxt, fit the 28-pin DIL sockot for IC1, meking sure you orientate it with itsnotched end towards the right. That done, fit the 10-pin IDC header, with its slot side towards the left as shown in Fig Once these hardware items are in place, fit trimpot VRi and the resistors Table 1 shows the resistor colour codes but itis also a good idea to check them using a multimeter as the colours can sometimes be difficult to read Next come the low value MKT ca~ pacitors (100nF and 47nF). These are Lunpolarised so you can it them either way around. ‘The tantalum and electrolytic ca- pacitors can go in next. Unlike the MET types, these are all polarised, so polarised, 16 are correctly, stalled and be sure to install 91 & $9 as shown ie, with the “fats” on the switch bodies facing LED1 & LED2. low this parts layout to assemble be sure tofit them as shown in Fig.3. In particular, note that the 1000uF elec- trolytic capacitor mounts on its side, with its leads bent down by 90°. Now for the semiconductors. Once again, these parts are all polarised, so follow Fig.3 carefully when installing them. Fit diode Di first, then transistor QU and the two LEDs. Finally, fit the IM386N amplifier (IC2). Don’t plug the HK828 chip into its socket just yet though - that step comes later. ‘Switches $1-S3 can go in next ~ it's just a matter of pushing them all the ‘way down onto the PC board and sol- dering their pins. Note that the “flats” on the bodies of $1 & $3 must face towards LED1 & LED2. ‘The electret mic is fitted by sol dering its two leads to the PG board terminal pins just behind switch $2. Note that the mic is polarised ~ the lead which is connected to its metal May 200531‘The completed PC board from the opposite the 1000jF electrolytic capacitor (top lef) case must be connected to the lefthand terminal pin on tho board, Next, solder the betiery snap leads and the speaker leads to their respe tive terminal pins. It doesn’t matter which way around you connect the speaker but take care with the battery leads (ie, connect the red battery lead to the “+” terminal and the black lead to the “-” terminal). Finally, complete the assembly by plugging the HK828 chip into its socket. Make sure that all pins go into the socket and chock that the notched end of the ICis to the right. Your Solid State Voice Recorder should now be ready to go. ‘Trying it out To check that your recorders work- ing correctly, first set trimpot VR1 to mid-position and connect a 6V bat- tery or regulated 6V power supply to the battery lead. That done, press the Rewind button (S3), to make sure that the HK826 has reset its storage array address correctly. Q Q Q Qa Qa Qo Q Q QO angle. Note the mounting method for Noxt, sot switch $2 to the Record position and check that the Record LED (LED2) starts glowing. If it does, press S1 (the Run/Start button) and hold it down while you talk into the electret mic to record your message. AS you speak, you'll notice that the green Run LED (LED1) is flashing, Koop talking until you reach the end of your message, or until LED1 stops flashing (indicating that the rocording has stopped, because you reached the limit of the HK826's memory). Finally, release $1 and that’s it - your message has beon recorded. To replay the message, first set 82 over to the Play position and briefly pross pushbutton S3 to reset the HKeze's memory address (ie, to “rewind” the unit). Now press pushbutton $1 again but this time only briefly because in Play mode, S1 only triggers the replay operation (i. it only has to be held down during recording). Yourrecorded message should now be replayed through the speaker, al- red red yellow brown yeliow violet orange brown red red orange brown brown black orange brown brown black red brown blue grey brown brown yellow violet black brown brown biack black brown though you may need to adjusttrimpot VR1 to set the replay volume to an acceptable level. This will depend on the sensitivity of your speaker. Ifyour recorded test message plays back as it should, your Solid State Voice Recorder is working correctly and should now be ready for use. One further point — you've possibly noticed the linkon the circuit diagram labelled “Beop Muto” and indicated on the PC board overlay diagram as “BM” (just to the right of VR1). This link may be fitted if you don’t like hearing the small “beeps” which the HK@26 chip sends out to the speaker toacknowledge the control signals fed to it from switches $1-S3. Fitting the “BM" link grounds pin 11 of IC1 and disables this “beep” function. Changing message length ‘As mentioned earlier, the message length stored in the HK628 chip's momory is determined by the sampling rato and this is sot by the resistor con- nected from pin 7 (OscR} to ground A value of 47kQ ~ as shown in the circuit and overlay diagram — gives 1 sampling rate of 5800 samples per second, resulting in a message longth of 45s and an audio bandwidth of about 2.9kHz. We picked this as a reasonable compromise between message length and recording quality but you are free to experiment with the value of this resistor to try longor/shortor rocord: ing times and narrower/wider audio bandwidths, For example, a valuo of 82kQ, will lower the sampling rate to about 4200 samples per second and increase the recording time to 60s. At the same time, the audio bandwidth will drop to about 2kHz, so the replayed message(s) will sound rather muffled. On the other hand, a value of 24k02 5-Band Code (1%) red red black orange brown yellow violet black red brown red red black red brown brown black black red brown brown black black brown brown blue grey black black brown yellow violet black gold brown brown black black gold brown 32 SILICON CuIP [Link]will increase the samplingrate to about £8000 samples per socond and reduce the recording time to 32s. However, the recording quality will improve, as the audio bandwidth will increase to about 4kHe So experiment by all means and sottle on the resistor value you decide gives the best combination of total ‘message length and acceptable audio quality for your application. Changing recording mode If you wire up the module exactly as described, it will operate in “Tape Mode" . We decided to make this the default mode because we believe it’s the most suitable for a majority of ap- plications. However, if you need the module to work in one of the HK828 chip's al- ternative “random access fixed length messages” mode, this can be done fairly easily. All you have to do is cut one or both of the short narrow tracks which currently link pins 24 & 25 of the HK828 to ground and tone ortwo extra 22kQ resistors to pull these pins up to +6V instead. ‘Table 2 shows how to program the HK826 for Random Access mode with either two, four or efght fixed duration mossages, as well as the default Tape Mode. As you can see, it’s relatively straightforward. But remember that if you set it fora relativoly large number of fixed-length messages, they will ch have a relatively short length. So with the sampling rate left at 5800 samples per second, giving a total recording time of 455, you'll get two fixed length messages of 22.58 each, or four messages of 11s each, or eight messages of only 5.5s each. Remember too that in any of the Random Access modes, pin 1 (M1-bar) of the HK828 chip no longer becomes the record/roplay trigger line for all messages. Instead, $1 becomes the Record/Start Play button only for the first randomly accessed mossage. You'll need to connect additional pushbuttons for recording and playing [Link] ‘Table 2: follow this table to change the message recording mode ~ see text. back the remaining messages. For example, if you set pins 24 and 25 for recording two fixed length mes- sages, you'll need to connect an extra pushbatton switch between pin2 (M2- bar) ofthe FK826 and ground, toellow the second message to be recorded and played back. This switch can be connected between pins 9 and 2 of tho 10-pin IDC header, by the way. Ifyou set pins 24 and 25 for record- ing four or eight fixed length messages, things got more complicated because you then need an extra pushbutton ‘and 22kQ pull-up resistor for each of the additional messages. These extra pushbuttons and pull-up resistors need to be connected to pins 3 & 4 of the HK828 for four messages and to pins 3,4, 5, 6, 8 & 9 for eight messages although pin 9 won't need a pull-up rosistor, because it already has one. The reason for this extra complexity is that in its random-access modes, the HK828 has a separate record/replay trigger line for each message. That's why pin 2 is labelled M2-bar, because it bocomes the record/replay triggor input for message 2. When you pro- gram the chip for four messages, pin 3 becomes M3-bar (the trigger input for message 3) and pin 4 bocomes Mé-bar (the trigger input for message 4). And if you program the chip for eight messages, pins 5,6, 8 & 9 become MB-bar, Mé-bar, M7-bar and M8-bar respectively. Expansion possibilities Asmentioned earlier, this unit could be used as a voice module for an alarm system. For thisand other applications ofthe Voice Recorder, you'll probably want to connect it to a PC or micro- controller so thet it can be controlled automatically. Asshown in Fig.2, all the logic lines needed for controlling the recorder chip are available via the 10-pin IDC header CON1 (pins 6-10), along with a couple of lines which can be moni- tored to check the HK828's status (pins 3 & 5). Interfacing the unit is really 1 PC board, code 01105051, 57 x 107mm 4 electret mic insert 4 10-pin (6 x 2) IDC header [Link] PC-mount pushbutton switches (S1,S3) [Link] mini toggle switch (S2, s4) 1 28-pin 0.6-inch IC socket 8 PC board terminal pins ‘ battery snap lead 1 battery holder (4 x AA cells) 4 20kG2 horizontal trimpot (V1) ‘Semiconductors 1 HKB28 woice record/playback Ic(icty 1 LM3B6N power amplifier (IC2) 4 PN200 PNP transistor (21) 1 5mm green LED (LED1) 45mm red LED (LED2) 11N4004 diode (01) Capacitors 4 1000RF 10V RB electrolytic 1 ATORF 10V RB electrolytic 2 220uF 10V RB electrolytic 4 22uF 16V RB electrolytic 1 10MF 16V RB electrolytic 4 4.7uF 35V TAG tantalum 5 100nF MKT polyester (code 404 or 100n) 1 47nF MKT polyester (code 473 or 470) Resistors (0.25W 1%) 4 220k 2 1k 247kKQ = -2 6800. 62K = 1470. 210kQ = 1100 Miscellaneous Hook-up wire for PC board links, speaker leads, eto, ‘Where To Buy A Kit This project has been spon- sored by Jaycar Electronics and they own the design copyright. A full kit of parts will be available from Jaycar Cat. KC-5412. quite straightforward — just connect these pins to the printer port of a PC (orto the /O pins ofa microcontroller) and then arrange for the software to control the recorder by duplicating the actions of switches $1-83 Finally, remember to set $2 in the Play position, so that the PC or micro- controller will be able to toggle the HK826's RE-bar line. sc May 2005 33Quolity Stereo Wireless Microphone or Audio Link Here’s an easy-to-build stereo wireless audio link or microphone that offers long range and is very easy to build, as it’s based on a pre-assembled transmitter module. You can receive it on any FM broadcast band receiver. By Ross Tester microphone we've ever published but ‘this one is a little different. First ofall it's stereo, providing supris- ingly good quality sound. Second, it has a really good range. Wotostod it at well over 50mand itwas still performing very well noise-free, in fact ~ but at tho time we couldn't get our receiver any further away. So it’s likely to have even better range than that, i certainly not the first wireless ‘Third, it really is simple to build = the hard work (the transmitter module) is already done for you. It’s just a matter of assembling the microphone module, which contains the clectret mics themselves, preamp and level controls, and solde back” style Finally, the transmitter module is exystal-locked, so you won't have the drift probles of some earlier wireless microphones. And just in case you wore wondering, that doesn't mean the output is locked to one particular frequency ~ it has a nifty synthesis circuit built in to give you the choice ofsaven different frequencies between 106.7MHz and 107.7MHz, ‘On-board preset pots adjust the sen- sitivity ofeach channel to take intoac- 34 Swicow Cru count mic differences orif you require different levels in each channel. By the way, the transmitter module is quite capable of oporating at line lovel if you want just aline level trans mitter (eg, to foed an audio program around your home). Sensitivity is about 100m. Oatley Electronics, who designed the kit, have the transmitter moduleavailableby itselfifthat’s what you're after. But more on that anon. Channel separation: | Total Harmonic Distortion: transmitter module onto it, “piggy | Output Frequency: You also have the choice of two power supply levels ~ 8-6V or 7-15V DC. The latterresults ina lowercurrent drain. The transmitter module also has a “SV out” rail to supply power to the preamp module. Two electret microphone inserts are supplied in the kit. These can be soldered direct to the PC board to make it a fully self-contained project orthey can be attached tothe board via suitable lengths of mini shielded coax cable. A third option is to use “proper” microphones ~ they can be electret or dynamic types - but no provision has boon made for plugging thoso in Construction Start with the smallest components = eight resistors and four capaci- tors, ensuring that the electrolytic capacitors are the right way eround (+ towards edge of PC board) The two electrot bias resistors (the 4.7kQ resistors closest to the edge of the PC board), are only re- quired if electret microphones are used - they can be left out if you use dynamic microphones. By the way, keep the resistor p tails when you cut the off you'll need some of them in a moment! ‘We'll assume you are going to make the module self-contained; ie, the tiny electret microphone insorts are soldered to the PC board. It does matter which way around the inserts go — look closely at the two pins and you will soc that one of them is connected to the insert body or case. This is the negative or earth pin and [Link]It’s easy to build, requires very little setup . .. and it’s cheap! In fact, the low price might turn some people off, thinking it's low quality. ry it~ and be ple goes, in both cases, to the “=" mark on the PC board overlay (towards the middle of the board). If mounting the microphones re- motely, ensure that the earth braid of microphone cable connects to tho on the PC board and the nogative pin of the microphone inserts. Ifusing other microphones, you will probably want to connect a couple of antly surprised! 3.5mm sockets to the PC board so you can plug the microphones in at will “remember, once again, that polarity matters! ‘And if you want to use the complete it for line level (100mV or so) inputs, you can increase the 10kS2 resistors at the op amp inputs to 47kQ and leave out the two 4.7kQ resistors as above. The tiny pushbutton switch which tox [Link] S& FM STEREO TRANSMITTER Fig.1: all you have to build is the preamp. The transmitter is pre-assembled and aligned. Easy “THESE RESsTORS ONY NEEDED (WHEN ElEcaeT MicROPVONES BEING USED selects frequency can be soldered in next, The pins are slightly offset so unless you really force it in, it cannot go in the wrong way. The only other passive components to mount are the two 1M “gain” trimpots, VR1 and VR2. These may be supplied in the kit as horizontal or vertical-mounting types; either can be accommodated on the PC board. 1 CHANGE THESE REssTORS 10 47k OR UNE TEVELINPLTS May 2005 35Rech INPUT PRE-EMPHASIS TIME CONSTANT LPF TIME CONSTANT FILTER COMPOSITE SIGNAL OUTPUT GND PLL PHASE DETECTOR OUTPUT Vee RF OSCILLATOR RF GND RF OUTPUT L-ch NBUT PRE-EMPHASIS TIME CONSTANT LPF TIME CONSTANT PILOT SIGNAL ADJUST Ds os Ds 0 Z] xtal [Link] Xtal OSCILLATOR PLLVeo The transmitter module Based on aRohm BH1417F chip, the internal workings of which are shown above, the transmitter module was originally manufactured for use in small audio wireless dovices fitted into eigaretto-lighter plugs in cars, hence the strange board shape. The module also contains a DC-DG converter to supply 5V which we tap into for the ‘microphone/preamp circuit. ‘The front side of the module is shown below (left) approximately same size, while the underside is shown below (right), ‘As mentioned earlier, it is complete and ready to use in its own right ~ it will accept line level (300mV or ‘more) input (from a GD player, for example) and needs ‘only power and an antenna wire to operate. ‘The module has been type-ap- proved for acceptance by the US FCCso would also pass the LIPD standards here in Australia. It is not only pre-assembled, it is prealigned and ready to rock, The only user setting is the ‘transmitter frequency, which is setby a push-button (50 there's no fiddly tuning!). You havea choice of seven different frequencies 36 SUICON GiuP between 106,7MHz and 107.7MEz (50 thet no collisions with local FM radio stations). The default {power up) frequency is 107.7MHz, Each time you push the button, you decrease the frequency 200kHz and the on-board LED flashes once to acknowledge. When you reach the lower limit (106.7MHz] the LED flashes three times. Incidentally, the BH1714F chip is the same as used in the SILION CxtP Micromitter (mini stereo FM transmitter) published in December 2002. This module essentially ‘does the same job as that project, at a lower cost. In this ‘case, though, the module only offers seven frequencies ‘whereas the Micromitter offered 14 (another seven be- tween 87.7MHz and 88.9MHz). ( Afull description of the operatic ofthe BH1417F chip can be found in the December 2002 article. Cop- is of that magazine orareprint of the article can be obtained from SILICON GutP for $8.80 including GST and postage. Like that project, you can use any standard FM broadcast band receiver to pick up the signal from the transmitter. Ifit’s a stereo FM receiver, it will receive stereo. [Link]2: the component overlay shows just 16 ‘components and a pre-built module fo go onto the PC board. It shouldn't take more than an hour or so to build. This photo is reproduced significantly larger than life size so you can see exactly where the components go and, where itis important, which way around. The red and black wires at top are for power, the black wire at right is the antenna. be supplied in the kit as horizontal or vertical-mounting types; either can be accommodated on the PC board. Now wecometo the final “main” PC board component, the op amp IC. It may have a socket supplied ~ in which caso, solder in the socket. The notch in the end faces away from the microphones. Don't insert the IC yet. Ifyou don’t have an IC socket, care- fully solder the IC itself in — again, with the notch facing away from the microphones, The insulated power supply wires can now be soldered on. The black, or ground wire, is easy; it connects to the [Link] point marked GND on the PC board. The red, or positive, wire, connects to the appropriate position on the PC board for your supply: to the 3-6V point if you have a 3-6V supply or the 7-15V point if you have a 7-15V supply. (Don't connect more than 6V to the 3-6V supply point!). Connecting the transmitter module Before soldering in the transmitter module, an antenna needs to be con- nected to it. This should bee length of insulated hookup wire cut to exactly 760mm long, Fig,3: this diagram shows {the seven connection points between the transmitter Imodule (green, on top) and the main board (grey, underneath), Fig. this is how to bend the wire link between pin 1 of the IC and the position, ‘Want cheap, really bright LEDs? We have the best value, brightest LEDs available in Australia! Check these out: Luxeon 1, 3 and 5 watt All colours available, with or without attached optics, as low as $10 each Low-cost 1 watt Like the Luxeons, but much lower cost. +Red, amber, green, blue and white: Just $6 each! Lumieds Superfiux a) ‘These are 7.6mm square and can be driven at up to 50mA continuously. ‘Red and amber: $2 each ‘Blue, green and cyan: $3 each} Asian Superfiux Same as above, but much lower cost, + Red and amber: Just 50 cents each! Blue, green, aqua and white: $1 each. Go to [Link] or call us on (03)9419 2440, Ifyou start with a 765mm length and cut off 5mm ofinsulation for soldering, you'll be spot on. There are actually two positions marked “antenna” on the transmitter module. Use the one closest to the LED. ‘Trim any excess wire from under the module. Allconnections between the two PG boards are made using resistor lead offeuts (commonly known as pigtails}. Most are just short lengths (they end up around 4mm or so), soldering di- rectly between the main PC board and the transmitter board above. However, one connection, the +5V connection, does not have any provision on the ‘transmitter board and must be treated differently. Cut a 25mm length of pigtail and bend as shown in the diagram below right (Fig). The tiny bend end solders directly onto pin 1 of the ICnearest the antenna lead you just soldered in, as shown in the overlay diagram. This IC is @ surface-mount type and therefore the pins are very close May 2005 37Parts List - BC 41 mini transmitter module (Oatley) 1 main PC board, code K222, 67 x4omm + Jength of insulated mini hookup ‘wire, 765mm long (antenna) 2 lengths hookup wire, red and black, length to suit (power) 1 mini-DIP (6-pin) IC socket 4 mini pushbutton switch, SPST 2 electret microphone inserts (see text) Semiconductors 1.5223 dual op amp (IC1) Capacitors 2 100uF 16V PC electrolytios 2 100nF (0.1nF) polyester Resistors (1/4W, 1%) 64.7k2 2 10k 21MQ mini trimpots together. You'll need a fine pointed, well-tinned iron and a good eye (or a magnifying glass). It’s easiest (and safest) to solder the link wire to the outside of pin 1. The other end ofthis wire goes over the edge of the transmitter board and solders to the +5V point of the main board ~ but this should be left until the other wires are soldered to their respective points on the transmitter board Don't try to cut the wires to short lengths yet - this can be done after soldering. In fact, it’s probably easiest if you use complete resistor lead offcuts —or if you don't have enough offcuts, at least half length offcuts. It makes holding them (with a pair of fine pli- ers!) that much easier while soldering if they are longer. Apart from the +5V connection we talked about earlier, there are six con- nections between the two boards, First, solder these to the transmitter module board in the positions shown in the diagram, with the majority of the lead on the underside of the board. Now pass thoso six wires AND the ond of the +5V connecting wire through their respective holes on the main board so that the two boards end up, say, 23mm apart (it’s not critical), Inall cases except the +5V wire, the 38 SILICON GHP ‘And finally, a view from the opposite (transmit module) end. You can clearly see that link between pin 1 of the IC and the +5V point on the main board. sets of holosare right above and below one another. Solder all seven wires to the un- derside of the main PC board, being careful not to unsolder them in the transmitter board above! When you are satisfied that your soldering is OK, carefully cut the six interconnecting wires above the transmitter board and below the main board so that all you are left with is short links between the two. ‘Trim the +5V wire on the underside of the main board. Because the holes in the transmitter board are plated-through, ifnecessary you should be able to touch-up the soldering on that board, from above, when completed. Testing Aftorgiving the kita complete visual inspection and satisfying yourself it’s all good, insert the op amp IC into its socket on the main board (if you haven't soldered it in, of course) and wind the two preset pots down to minimum. Connect power and the LED should light. ‘With a suitable FM radio, tune to near the top end of the band — at one point (actually 107.7MHz) you should find that the radio mutes or goes quiet. This is good — it means that you are “on the air” Now slowly adjust each of the two pots up in turn, Before too long, you should hear eny sound made in the room (click your fingers, for example) coming through the radio speakers. If you go too far, you'll probably find that the sound becomes distorted, ‘And if you go further, you'll find that it goos into feedback and you'll got a how! from the speakers - exactly the same as you will hear from any microphone and speaker that are too close together. ‘When you are happy with the level, adjust the two pots so that they are close to equal, unless for some reason you need to have one channel higher than the other. Finally, remember thet you can also use this project for an audio link, fed from any line level output. Simply remove the microphones and their as- sociated 4.7k@ resistors and increase the 10k0 resistors to 47k. sc MUO ‘This project design Is copyright (C) Oatley Electronics 2005 andkits are only available from Oatley. The complete kit of parts (eve- tything listed in the parts list in- cluding transmitter module) sells for $29.00 inc. GST, plus p&p. (Cat K222). ‘The fully assembled and tested transmitter module only (ie, no ‘main PC board nor components) is avallable separately from Oatley Electronics for $22.00 inc GST, plus p&p. Oatley Electronics maybecontacted via their website ([Link]. ‘gom);by phone (02) 9584 3563; by fax (02) 9584 9561; or by mailto PO Box 89, Oatley, NSW 2223, Pack & post is typically $7.00 per order. [Link]Data Acquisition 45 LOW-COST devices Choose from the widest range of low-cost /0 and bus support. Multifunction DAQ NI PCI-6220 $585 + 16 analog inputs (08M Pog + 16-bit resolution ‘vale + 250 kS/s + 24 Digital VO tines * Digital triggering + 8clocked DIO lines, 1 MHz Digital Input/Output NI PCL-6519 2 #16 inputs/16 outputs a * Optical isolation Doaisle icone + 24V logic inputs + Programmable power-up states + Watchdog timers *+ Upto 500 mA current drive ‘Available Buses: PCI, PXI, CompactPCI PCMCIA, USB, FireWire, Ethernet Find the right data acquisition device by sensor type See ee een ee i NI-DAQmx Measurement Services Software 'N-OAGm sperearaes your measurement appltin. + Rect REE wih aN ata aecustion devices a VO cents in test peels * Crete cnfiratan-besed measure ask tt OA Asian ‘Toko avrg of ttn eta compression elgonths to Flexible DAQ Software Options Many sosrarning evrnvents LRSVIEW ~ te nds standard fr grapicl programing LaWindousivt proven aay fer NSIC Measurement Studia —ae-on fr Vial Sto NET Reston sotwarachaices “NI Logger fo eerguraton-tased dara aging + Ni signlspressforiniaractieberctap masurements National Instmonte Australia Tel. 20020060 Fo 2988 8 Te 050559322 Infesusealienican niconlocenia National instruments Now Zealand 86H Infonenaesland@[Link]>nigom/ocenie From Portable to High Performance 22 PORTABLE devices Toke the power of NI data acquisition & NI LabVIEW ta your measurements. $930 eM Pricing ‘analog input channels a + 4 digital YO channels * Single channel sampling rates up to 200 kS/s ‘+ Multi-channel sampling rates up fo 132 kS/s micrean + Programmable with LabVIEW PDA 10 NEW USB devices ‘Take the power of USB-based data acquisition to your measurements NI CompactFlash DAQ NIUSB-6008 + Banalog inputs 12-bit inputs 10KS/s Built in signal connectivity 12 digital VO lines Available Buses: USB, PCMCIA, FireWire, Compact flash DRE ue EM eT MAURER ra ae eee Request your 2005 Measurement & Automation 3 Catalogue | NEW Products Brochure Now Avilble! visit [Link]/info and enter aucSph or FREECALLU | ‘computer employing the Atmel ATmaga32 microcontroller. Iehas 6-it RISC (reduced instruction set) architecture for ‘very elficiem programming in high level anguages suchas Wr Gand BASIC and can run in assembly code as well ‘The board has a host of input and output options, including 126 and is built entirely wih through-hole ‘The AVR200 has avery wide range of applications and Is designed by JED Microprocessors, by , t Convert your standard fridge to run as a wina cooler or better still, enable you to run a top-Ioading chest freezer as a very ficient fridge. Essentially, itis an adjustable thermostat which controls the fridge motor. 1h, No! Siicow CHP is about to go back on its principles. (again!) and publish another valve amplifier Circuit! Well actualy this one is afferent. Truly! ‘Not only does this stereo valve ampiier give ‘surprisingly good performance but it has very {900d styling - your wite/partner will ove its ‘appearance ~ even your mates will want one! * these articles are planned for publication — Italso uses novel technology to avoid the need but may be postponed due to Unforeseen for very expensive output ranstormers. NOMA REPRINT: More than'160 pages of new and exciting/projectsinever published before ~ all designed ro\get topiperformance from your car. RASCINATING ARTICLES: 7 chapters explaining your Ica engine!management, car electronics systems, etc ADVANCED PROJECTS: You'll build controllers for turbo boost, nitrous, fuel injection'and much more! Urey ere rth TURBO Boost MMSE RCM TE GUI ioe oer) Tn SHORT eae Silicon Chip Publications, PO BorGranddad’s 1930s text messaging? Younger readers may be unimpressed with yesteryear’s quaint technology but during the golden age of radio, beside such local 1950s staples as “Life with Dexter” and “Dad and Dave”, considerable international communications came via wireless signals on the adjacent short wave bands (3-30MHz). Gasp — you mean no global roaming text messaging? [Link] May 2005 41and a chain-sawing woodpecker and no doubt prompted many a spouse o1 mum to hit the mains switch. Hellschreiber Perhaps tho most enduring ofthese data signals was a 1929 by Dr. Rudolf Fell (1901— 2002), known as Hellschreber (Ger ‘es - pre TV, FM, satellites, GPS Y (and cortainly WiFi, mobile fh phones, internet and email) & i things were pretty tough on tronic communications front. . However that did motivate many, myself included, to explore the tech- on radio. Numorous ham radio and cloc- (ics careers bogan when curious twiddled the dial on the throughout WW2. ations amongst the cacophony of grateful hometown of Ki W listening at that stage was often ‘experience, compounded by fades, heterodyne i nce and — oh yes effective tor And you thought video games were noisy! or noisy si ikea er However, unlike audible Morse deco birthday in 2001 his mn Germany) even ILICON CHIP 2005 ~ AUSTRALIA'S ELECTRONIC: ILICON CHIP 2005 ~ AUSTRALIA'S oaig MONTHLY ‘ ALL> D CQ DE < CQ DE < DE + DE « | al! i x IL IL rN y|) Cems) 2 I Xt iC Ic Ic i })) (oso!) | Prewerns FX Moder FMW 21S boud Font FELONARR Set 13Nov- [Link] UTC ttn a50 Here's « screen grab for the IZABLY Hellscreiber sound card software, 42 SiticoN Chr [Link]noeds a trained operator), “Hell” uses the outstanding ability of our human eye and brain to recogniso shapes and distorted patterns. Instead of deciphering with your ears, Hell is decoded as an image with your eyes, via its signals traditionally printed out as charactors on paper ticker tape for anyone who can road to understand. Also, the printed copy allows later consideration of confused noisy mes- Its not every living person who has a street named after them. Dr Hell had! sages ~ misheard Morse characters may be lost forever. Such eye/brain data decoding has lead to Hellschroiber being in fact recently titled as a human readable “fuzzy mode” — neither quite analog or totally digital Hellschreiber became very popular in the 1930s, at a time when teleprinters were complex and costly, since it allowed direct keyboard text transmission on machines that were cheap and reliable with few moving parts. Its most celebrated use however came during WW2 with the German Army, when field portable electromechani- cal *Feld-Hell” units often were the only viable wireless communication link under battle conditions and enemy jamming. Such a character-forming tradition ensured wide sub- sequent peace-time use, with commercial short wave services employing the mode for decades afterwards well into the 1980s. Even SONY once made suitable units under liconce. Hell basics ‘Although it's now fully electronic and can be enhanced with sub modes such as FM-Hell, classic Hellschreiber involves on/off keying that portrays each text character (only capitals are used) as a sories of vertically delivered dot pixels in a 7x7 matrix, In effect the outgoing keyboard characters are broken into a string of dots and then suitably reassembled at tho ‘Two identical lines are displayed so that legibility re- mains with even major errors and blank spaces and gaps ‘betwoon characters are also considered, as are half height pixels to increase resolution. Here's a capital E, with tones black and silence white- 1294567 Traditionally 150 characters were transmitted a minute, with each taking 400ms, This equates to 2% ch/sec or about 25 “PARIS” words a minute ~a comfortable typing speed for many! With 7x7 (49) pixels @ character, each pixel duration is 4/49 = 8.163ms, so the data rate is 1/8.163ms = 122.5bps, Naturally this is very pedestrian beside even tod [Link] 56kbps dial-up modems but simplicity and robustness ensure this narrow band width mode remains durable Sound card software With war surplus equipment just 1a memory for most old timers and as even post-war commercial equipment was scrapped in favour of modern data- ‘comms, Heliscreiberbecamea technology that time almost passed by. In the early 1980s however radio hams began experimenting with fully elec- tronic implementations, although those ‘wore not for the faint hearted. ‘The whole wireless data field however underwent an enormous upsurge only some six years ago, as cheap PC hardware and sound cards became well established. ‘When combined with ingenious software, th PC sound cards inbuilt digital signal processing features can offer near offortless oxtomal data encoding and decoding ‘Such has been the phenomenal uptake of this approach, especially with radio hams on their short wave bands, that brand-new weak signal data modes (CLOVER, PICCOLO, PSK etc) have recently evolved, some even allowing fully digital Slow Scan TV (SSTV) images to be sent via low power HF radio transceivers around the world Naturally such offerings are appealing for isolated communities or seafarers and of course emergency use — ubiquitous Intemet cafes and mobile (cell) phones may be early casualties in disasters such as the recent Indian Ocean tsunami and earthquakes Hell’s been rediscovered! ‘Although perhaps best employed at lowor frequencies Close-up of a classic electro-mechanical Hellscreiber. Ne the paper tape under the keyboard. May 2005 43ced image decoding, allowing characters in “noisy” messages to be distinguished, when no other link is feasible, it’s now very easy to experi- ment with Hellscreiber over licence-free UHF CB. Enhanced modes, such as FM-Hell, ofergreat weak signal performance on even cheap CB sets- especially if used in Conjunction with range-boosting antenna as outlined in the January 2005 SILIGON Cun. Virtually any old Windows PC and sound card will do, since even a Win98 slow-coach laptop will readily keop up with the slow data employed. Naturally other transceivers and approved bands can be used if suitably licensed, with the old 27MHz CB band particularly tempting, Software — what's involved? Shareware Hollschroibor sound card software abounds, (Google "Hellschreiber”) with V4.0 of “IZ8BLY” by Italian ham Nino justifiably considered outstanding, In addition to classic Feld-Hell (and even Morse). it offers many enhanced modes, with the bolder characters and impulse noise immunity of FM-Hell particularly ap. pealing, For extreme conditions, even meteor scatter and ultra- ort 44 SILICON Cup ‘The IZBBLY sof- ware will also allow normal Morse code to be sent and received. Messages can be “read” from the width of the bars, with a short “dit” visibly thinner than a long fatter “dah”. Hence SOB salon SOS IN MORSE slow modes are available, Screen data can be saved as a ‘bmp snapshot & then printed, although if emailing images you would first convert them to a smaller .gif file. The PC screen display can’tbe taken as straight toxt to a spreadsheet or graph however. It’s an image, remomber! Once downloaded (~1MB) and installed, you may only need to just start typing if you've two nearby sound card PGs both set to use the same mode Such is the robustness of this technology that with suit- ably adjusted mic & speaker levels, even exchanging data as audio signals across a small room will usually be enough to display characters on the second PC — hard walls will show up as ghosted reflections. Modern switched-tone Hell implementations are quite musical incidentally, although the classic WW2 mode sounded “scratchy Although direct audio is an entertaining party or class: room trick, for proper wireless links simply turn on each UHF CB transceiver, sot toa data channel and enable VOX (voice activated switching). Suitable sound card mic/speaker and CB volume ad- (Left, above’) Jaycar and DSE both stock handheld UHF CB's that are typical of the cheap sets now on sale. Their units sport a multifunction socket for external mic and earphone connections, allowing easy acoustic coupling with a laptop’s mic and speaker by positioning CB mi PC speaker and vice versa. For more professional linki wired connection, simply made with 3.5mm stereo phono plugs, is preferable (and quieter!). (Right:) Positioning, perhaps by Velcro, headset mic to PC speakor and headphone to PC mic will allow easy acoustic coupling but you'll hear the musical tones and room noises may corrupt data. [Link]TO 4772 UHF CB (CHANNEL 22 OR 23 SET TO VOX" eg, AYCAR DC 1090, DICK SMITH D-1793, ae) Three 3.5mm stereo plugs can be easily wired to connect the CB set to a PC soundcard, and as well as ther may suit other soundcard digital modes To save wiring a fiddly 2.5mm plug, just use a 3.5/2.5mm adaptor if using the DSE sots and even consider sacrificing a cheap headphone sot for its lexible cables and Single prowired plug. You may need to experiment with the dropping resistor value, CB volume and sound card settings. justing will usually be enough to trigger the transmitter, although naturally volume levels may be rather loud unless you place the CB speaker very noar tho PC mic. For more elegance, it's suggested you use the headset and mic combo that is now available for most budget CB sets, These usually position nicely abovo the inbuilt mic and speaker of a laptop and allow much quieter acoustic coupling ~ Velero or Bluetak assist in securing the PC mic to the CB speaker and vice versa However for extended uso room noises may interfere and the faint data tones may be annoying, as also may the [Link] TO PC SOUND CARD INPUT soe CARDI/O O we rossiale O rd Q oe disabled background squelch noise if monitoring woak signals. Cable connection Direct cabling of two budget CB handhelds (DSED-1793 & Jaycar DC-1030) was investigated and although thoso sots differ in their /O socket size they were found electrically similar and roadily converted with 2.5-3.5mm adaptors. ‘To ease soldering woes on the 3.5mm stereo plig,a budget stereo headphone could be sacrificed for its shielded co- axial leads and CB plug pre-wiring, Such a cable allows a completely silent electrically-coupled connection direct to the soundcard but audio levels will almost certainly need tweaking on both your CB set and PC. Experimentation with a Toshiba P-233 480CDT laptop showed optimum Feld-Hell connection to its soundcard mic input was via a 330kQ series resistor. 'M-Hell howover being very impulse noise immune, behaved well on both the mic and line inputs without this limiting resistor. Applications Since anyone with suitable CB and PC sound card soft- ‘ware can join in, i's feasible for a UHF Hell chat room to evolve, suiting perhaps a scout or school group. Nino's froo software is not intended for commercial use however, so using it to co-ordinate big game fishing, courier deliveries, gas field exploration and the like may be frowned on. Perhaps the best use might be delivering weak telemetry data foran educational project~much as initially envisaged the UHF GB channels 22 and 23 would be suited for. Data images will eventually scroll off the screen top af- tora few minutes unless paused but the IZABLY software includes macros that may assis. Mmm - fancy a challenge? I wonder ifa suitable Picaxe could be persuaded to generate Hell! sc References and web links: IZBBLY software: [Link]/izBbly/ For convenience these are hot linked at [Link], [Link]/[Link] Mav 200545BY JULIAN EDGAR A automatic stopwatch timer Do you need to automatically record equipment running time? This stopwatch timer starts when power is applied to a low-voltage (12V) circuit and automatically stops when the power is switched off. When power is again applied, the stopwatch continues to count from where it last stopped. HE AUTOMATIC stopwatch timer is a cinch to build and resetting the count is as easy as pushing a button, And by using a snap-action thermostat (salvaged, of course!), it’s even possible to automatically measure how long a temperature is above or below a set-point — ideal for environmental, solar heating and machinery monitoring, Becauise it uses salvaged parts, the complete project should cost you only a few dollars. Let's soe what’s involved. The components You'll need an old digital watch with a stopwatch function, two relays (onea double-throw design), acapaci- tor and a pushbutton switch. Oh yes, and something to mount the compo: nents on! We used a small piece of pre- punched board laminate (unclad) and that was literally the only component that we had to buy new! It’s quite likely that you already have a digital stopwatch tucked away in a drawer ~ as fashions change, lots of people buy new watches even when the old one is still working fine IF you have to buy a now one, shop around at discount stores— it shouldn't be too hard to find a watch that in- cludes a stopwatch function for about ‘This digital stopwatch timer will automatically measure how long low voltage can be salvaged for nothing. 468 SuicoN CHIP equipment is running, making a cumulative count until reset. . Most of the parts $5. The unit shown here came froma watch I'd not worn in years ~ in fact, until I went looking, I'd forgotten 1 even had it! Relays can be found in a huge amount of discarded electrical equip ment. The ones used here are quality Omron designs that were salvaged from an old radio transmitter that had boon sent to the tip. Although they use 24V coils, they work fine in this application which is based around a 12 supply. Note that if you want to use the timer to monitor even lower voltage equipment, you'll need lower voltage relays; eg, 5V. Don't use this project to monitor voltage rails above about 15V DG, otherwise you will damage the circuit components. What about the 220uF 25V electro lytic capacitor used here? Well, again they're everywhere in older electrical equipment — just take 2 look! Finally, the monetary pushbutton switch was salvaged from behind tho front control panel of a VCR. All older VCRs with click-action pushbutton controls have this type of switch bur- ied behind the faceplate. How it works Fig:1 shows tho wiring diagram (the tricky cirouit was designed by John Clarke). Let’ look at Relay 1 first— its coil is wired in parallel with whatever device we're monitoring~so whea the device is on, so is Relay 1. This closes the Normally Opon (NO) and Common (©) connection, feeding power to the coil of Relay 2. The 220uF capacitor is wired in se ries with Relay 2's coil, so Relay 2 will pullin only for as long as it takes the capacitor to charge. In this case, using the relays and capacitor specified, that takos about 0.18, Relay 2's NO and C connections are wired to the contucts that nor mally start and stop the stopwatch [Link]two relays, a acitor and an old digital watch are used. The cireuit is configured so that the startstop button contacts of the ‘watch are momentarily connected by Relay 2 ‘when power is applied and the same occurs ‘when power is remaved. So when power is applied to Relay 1's coil, Relay 2 is momentarily pulled in and the stopwatch is trig- gered. That's tho starting pulse ~ now what about the stopping pulse? When powerisremoved from Relay 1's coil (ie, the monitored device is switched off), Relay 1's NC (normally closed) and Cterminals are connected, This immediately pro- vidos a path for the capaci- tor to discharge through the coil of Relay 2, s0 again ty + AZ momentarily pulling tin. Bingo! — we now have a switch-off pulse. ‘The reset button simply bridges the watch's origi- nal reset contacts. Fig.2: here's how to use the stopwatch timer to detect how long a temperature is below 4 setpoint. Thermostats found in much discarded equipment (eg oil-filled electric hoaters) open when the temperature rises above a setpoint. Wired as shown here, the count will stop when this occurs. ‘The first step is to re- move the rear of the watch, carefully pull out the workings and inspect the start/stop and reset buttons. Normally, a single common is con- nected to a PC-board pad to start and stop the count, and to another pad to resot the timer. You need to solder a wire to the common and then two others to the start/stop and reset pads. ‘As might be expected, it’s easier to do this in some watches than others. Note too, that in some watches, the common comprises a springy” stain- less steel strip which is impossible to solder. Ifthis is the case, bend the strip over and crimp it to the wire. Once you have the three wires com- ing from the watch, check that youcan start, stop and reset the stopwatch. [Link] After that, it's just a case of follow- ing the circuit diagram. Make sure that this project. However, the ease with which wire pads varies from watch to watch, When sele take note of the maximum time the stopwatch, ‘you work out which are the Normally ‘Open (NO), Normally Closed (NC) and Common (C)relay contacts. Often there is a small diagram on the relay itself, or you can use the continuity function of a multimeter to check the contact behaviour. Take care when wiring in the ca- pacitor, as this device is polarised. Its nogative side is shown by a line of symbols near one of its leads. Using It ‘Testing the unit is easy. First noct the +12V and earth leads to the power supply, then connect the 12V {rigger wire to +12V. The timer should start running and continue for as long as this wire is connected to the +12V rail. Now disconnect this wire—the tim- er should immediately stop. Finally, press the reset button and - well, you can guess what should happen! Note that if you just brush the trigger wire against the +12V rail, the relay contacts may “bounce” This can result in the timer getting out of sequence — ie, running when it should be stopped and stopped when it should be running. If this happens, manually bridge the start/stop termi nals toreturn it to the correct operating sequence, Ifyou find thet both relays click but the dovice isn’t working as it should, try increasing the value of the capaci- tor. Ifthe relays have clear covers it's interesting to watch Relay 2 quickly pulsing when the watch starts and stops. ‘When running, the prototype draws about 50 milliamps (50mA) so if you are monitoring a battery-operated de- vice, this should be considered. SC mn is potentially suitable for soldered to the switch the watch you should also splay can show. May 200547SERVICEMAN'S LOG Warranty claim? I don’t think so! It must be the season for lightning — there was one last month and another dead’n, which came in “under warranty”, looked suspiciously like lightning as well. But who am I to argue? We had a nwish 2004 Panasonic TC2iPM50A (GP-3 chassis) come in under warranty with the fault description “ead”. Apart from the dealer receipt, no other information was supplied. Ttwassoon apparent that the switch- ‘mode power supply was more or less ‘working and supplying 140V at the cathode of D854 (TPA 10). But the 14V rail was running et 38V from the cathode of D885 (at standby it should be only 7.5V). This had destroyed the smoothing electros C862, C880 and C2380, all of which are rated at 16V. This also meant there was over 100V across Q850 and R850 (470) DOS MUS © Panasonic TC21PMS0A (GP-3 chassis © LG CF-25H30N (MC-744 chassis) © LGLCD RT-13LA60 © NEC MT840G, © Yamaha RX360 amplifier ‘© Onkyo TXD5676 amplifier © Blaupunkt CS82-103VT FM 542,60 chassis ‘© Panasonic Tau Giga TX80- P300A (Euro 7A chassis) . cy KV-L84SN11 (G3F chas- is) © Philips 29PT8419/79R (EM1L chassis) 48 SmicoN Cine ‘Those were replaced but this didn't account for why the low voltage rail was so high Even though the 140V was correct, I felt that somehow the feedback wasn't quite right and so 1C802, the 140V optocoupler IC driver was changed, as was IC851, the switchable BV and 5V IC regulator. But nothing significant happened until D860, the PC123 optocoupler, was found to be leaky on both sides. Replacing this brought the voltage down to 14V (7.5V standby) However, the 8V line TPAS to the microprocessor (IC601) on pin 39 was still OV and this was due to a short inside the IC itself. Replacing the IC COME IN MAKING EXTREMELY LOUD NOISES. THAD AN LG CF-25HSON fixed this and the sot came on, There was now sound but no pic- ture, There was a white raster with a black bar beneath it, one-third of the way up tho screon. Replacing the EEPROM (C1103) finally resolved this last issue Methinks this was a bit more than a warranty claim - I suspect lightning had a lot to do with it! Extremely loud noises The summer months bring on the monsoon type weather with high humidity and dampness which eats away at the insulation of extra high voltage circuits. Inthe good old days, ‘we would call this “tipler weather" ‘whon triplers would fail and my cup would runneth over with workand the kids would grow fat on the bountiful fruit thereof. Nowadays it takes something like a Chieftain or Leopard tank to got through the insulation but sill it does happen a lot. Thad an LG CF-25H30N (MC-74AA COCKROACH HAD BEEN ELECTROCUTED ACROSS THE SWITCHMODE POWER SUPPLY chassis) come in making extremely loud noises. The flyback transformer ‘was arcing violontly and had to be replaced. ‘Theclient naturally wanted to know the cost of this exercise and I gladly obliged. The quote was accepted and the part ordered (61742-62291) but I ‘wasn't to know that this fault masked another one behind it When the picture was restored, I noticed that there wasa vertical deflec- tion problem with top foldover and retrace lines. 1 started by replacing electrolytic capacitors C301, C302 and C307 (as recommended by L.G) and checked D305 and D306, before ordering and replacing IC303, the TDA&350Q verti- al output amplifier. Before this could come in, theclient was back on the phono asking about the delays. After all, it had been a full two weeks since ho had brought itin, (Ido hope he never has to get in line for elective surgery in our wonderful National Health Service!). T explained about this secondary [Link] “ BY problem which apparently he was aware of but had neglected to tell me. L was made to agree that I would fit the parts for free but he would pay for them. This vertical problem became pro- gressively worse whilst on soak test until finally the set wouldn't start but just pulsated, Ifitted the new IG which restored the sound and picture but unfortunately the fault was more or less the same. I ‘was now beginning to panic. Servicing vertical amplifiers is very similar to servicing audio amplifiers which have lots of feedback. Oscilloscopes aren't much use be- cause you arenot able to deduce where the distortion starts as it is thereall the way around the loop. Only by disa- bling the feedback can you sometimes gota handle on it but more often than not, it will produce distortions of its own, invariably tripping the protec- tion circuits. The best way is the good old-fash- ioned method of using voltmeter checks and hopefully with a good circuit. CLIVE PRowWEND ANUINFESTATION, Thad the circuit and and on check- ing all the voltages on the IC I soon discovered the 48V rail to pin 8 was down to only 19V, It didn’t take an Binstein to realise that you cannot drop 28V across a 100 AW resistor without dire conse- quences. FR311, afusible resistor, had of course gone high. Replacing it fixed the problem completely. Cockroach execution Sometimes we do get strange prob- Jems and faults, like the new LG LCD RT-131A60 which arrived D.O.A in the workshop. Itdidn't take long to see that nearly all the ICs had been blown apart. But why? A new board was ordered and it was only when removing the old one that we find the answer on the other side. ‘A cockroach had been electrocuted across the switchmode power supply, causing the voltege torise dramatically on tho secondary and blowing the ICs see the photos! ‘The current generation of LG Plasma May 2005 49Display Panels (PDP) are quite impressive with a half-life (brightness) of 60,000 hours {about 30 years of normal us- ‘age) while the contrast levels using binary counting rising from 5000-1 to 10,000:1. Dual Scanning in the largor PDPs reduces address timing and increasos sustain time, giving more brightness and a dynamic range 2.5 times that of single scan. Pixel failure is substantially reduced (the maximum el- lowed is 35 cells on a fully scanned 60” PDP when viewed from 2.5 metres (3 x height) at between 100 ~ 200 Lux). ‘There are fourcell defects: Non-ignition dot (dark defect) Unstable dot (flickering); Non-extinguishable dot (bright- ness defect) and Uncontrollable dot. Coll defects do not increase or progress as time goes by. Most problems are there at birth and consoquontly can be picked up in the warranty period Service repairs are to board level only. The only elec- tronic chips on the PDP are the X amplifiers which are not replaceable. Ifany of the 10022 SMD anti-surge resistors are blown, the chip is unserviceable and the display has to be replaced. All other components are on separate boards which can be It didn't take long to see that nearly all the ICs had been blown apart. But why? Aha! Could this cockroach be the culprit - having been executed in the switch-mode power supply? 50 SILICON CHIP THERE At BIRTHS, replaced separately. LG PDPs are used {in most brand-name plasma sets. Yellowish projector We had e 3-year old $5000 NEG MT840G progressive scan. projector come in from an ex-technician. The fault was no picture and he requested that a now lamp bo fitted. The new lamp (worth $800) was ordered and fitted but when the pic- ture came on we noticed that it had a yellowish tinge. We contacted the client who said he knew about this but thought it was because of the lamp reaching the end of ts life (2000 hours) and a new one would fix it. GF course, if it wasn’t the lamp that caused the yellowish picture, it would be the LCD drive panel that was discol- oured, That would cost an additional {$3500 to replace! ‘The client took the projector home and a few months later started to com- plain loudly about the yellowish colour and wanting his money back. ‘Atthat stage we contacted NEC directly and they looked into it. The first thing they checked was the built in usage timer to find that the client had already used the new lamp for more than 40 hours. rhe battle is now on between NEG and the client but 1 don't think he will get his money back after using the set for so long. Home theatre no-show ‘Two completely different home theatre audio amplifiers, arrived with similar no-go symptoms. One was a Yamaha RX360 and the othor an Onkyo TXD5676. Both had their microprocessors in protect mode. ‘Apart from roughly having the same type of architecture in thoir block diagrams, these amplifiers were quite dis- similar. The powerdown detectors and power failure detect in- put pins on both processors are normally held high (SV), in one case by a resistor to the 5.6V rail (the resistor went high), and in the other case by a §.6V zener to the 13V rail (the zener went open) ‘We changed all the electrolytic capacitors on those powerrails as well as the battery backups. No other faults were found. Blaupunkt repeat Before the Grundig factory was finally sold off eighteen months or so ago they used to manufacture TVs for both Grundig and Blaupunkt. The Grundig chassis began with the prefix CUC and the Blaupunkt FM. On the Internet you can download a lot ofthe equivalents which means you then get access to purchase a schematic diagram, Recently {had to repair a Blaupunkt CS82-103VT which Thad done 18 months ago. ‘The chassis is an FM 542.60, which is the same as the Grundig CUC7880. The fault was virtually the same. It was flickering at the top of the picture with intermittent top vertical linearity only when the set is hot, Last time I had changed the TDA8350Q vertical IC, C587 (4700uF 35V) on the 16V rail supply, C552 (100uF 63V) on the 45V rail and C438 (4.7F 100V) on the East West Circuitry. There are no other electros in the vertical deflec- tion circuit, This time I replaced the IC again and also the two fusible resistors in the supply rails: R552 (2.28) and 525 (0.680). That fixed the fault, but how long will it last this time, I wonder? Monster Panasonic I did a service call on a 2000 Panasonic Tau Giga ‘TXBOP3O0A (Euro 7A chassis) These 80cm televisions are so heavy that the only practi- cal approach is to take the chassis and fit it into another set we have here in the workshop. ‘There have been a lot of problems with the Audio Digital Processor DP Panel causing intermittent no sound. This, board is now on its fith revision and the problem concerns the 12510 ROM. Bees et offers full digital and optical inputs (PCM, A and Dolby Prologic) for sound, everything has to go through this complex processor. It is a surface-mounted IC which suffers from poor flow soldering @ woll as feed-through soldering on its double- nm Low Cost /@ Module : Tre iyosino edule heveentannet | (ode powered byte USB rome NEW rare Astians NEW Fiore Adtons Jeito recon Sige (0p conraras wing Opn, Paris eae ona pars) oud Vode Tenge: oa BST (hts Power Mose idee aa 1 ls) #LED Ringon 3 range of 1/0-24 peripherals, too : = a CONNECTOR’ opto INPUT RELAY OUTPUT Suircupusi § EGipnoun’ O7QT Peer Saran § rots a Prove @ Opto Provides & Poa | amir comectons lead npute for tae aay push utr wi ss epbnat eter aan fine yo-ed contact ouputs LED nats ul vsorpuldom SOUND? Sutable fora. showng te sms sss arauen Pas th vary ofcass, afte VO nn eee Zi i Elexol Pty Ltd i 107) 5574 5988 Fax: (07) 5574 3833 (PO Box 5972, Bundal , aia 42m 3 sided printed tracks. This requires a steedy hand and the right set of tools to rework. An exchange board is available, 'TNPA1727ZA/R, at a cost of $300! On this particular service call, the fault report was that, the set was dead and pulsating. I measured a complete short circuit to ground on the main +144V rail (TPD15) and it didn’t take long to find this was due to Q561 (2SC5 591000RK), the line output transistor on the D Board. Removing this transistor fixed the short but fitting « TAKE YOUR PIC Developed for students, & professional performance makes PICAXE the most easy-to-use micro ever: DISTRIBUTOR: [Link] PHONE (02) 6772 2777 9-5 FAX (02) 6772 8987 24 Hours PICAXE “programmer" is two resistors and a 4,5V battery! NWS Arm am ACCS Ry ory Re eee Anne [Link] eon cee Tse Cetera aeuencal erent Peer ees Pen tee aE ey on) May 2005 51‘This flyback section of a Panasonic set had two faults, involving Q551 and D358, The latter short circuit diode was pai new one seemed to restore the short circuit, There was something strange going on here, I thought. Gradually nsoldering and resoldering parts of this rail, I could remove and restore this short at will but it was still not making any sense, Methodically, I worked away at this circuit until I found that unplugging D6, which leads to the CRT socket Board, removed the short Gotcha! I thought it had to be on the CRT socket board. Another fruitless half hourmade me realise that although the short went through plug D6 and L3, the short was still back on the D board. How could this be? There are only four conduc: tors on this load: Pin 6 = Ground; Pin 5 = Heater; Pin 3 = 144V and Pin 1 = 220V. Boinga bear of ver lttlo brain, ittook some time for the penny to drop. In fact there were three diodes involved. On the CRT board the 144V rail is connected to the 220V rail via diode D385 and the 220V rail is supplied via a diode D558 from pin 1 of the flyback transformer T551. What happened was that D558 went short circuit. So the 144V rail ‘was measuring short circuit one way through D558 and the other way through its own diode D855. Replacing D558 fixed up all the faults Refitting the chassis was a bit nasty as the plugs and sockets used vary from model to model according to its options, so care has to be exercised when refitting them - in particular on the small signal A board Help for the opposition The opposition service centre 52 SILICON Cie jcularly hard to find, in town brought in a 34” Sony KV- L34SN11 (G3F chassis), with no pic- ture and no on-screen display. Judging from all the soldering all over the placo they had tried this and they hed tried that but they had got nowhere. I guess if you do enough Of these sets, you gel to know their foibles. In this case, the cause was that some- one had tweaked RV709, the screen control, with the result that itwas now outside the capture range for the ABC circuit, This promptly cut offthe video output stages. Correctly adjusting this lots the sot measure the beam current and set the greyscale automatically, Resetting it fixed the problem. Weird Philips ‘A 2001 Philips 29P78419/79R (EMAL chassis) had the weirdest fault. Onswitch-on it would start as @ white line across the screen before changing to the most amazing and beautiful modern art pattern all over the screen (see photo blow). You could just soe some semblance ofa picture in the background and the sound was OK. Tostablished first that thohorizontet deflection was OK and not leaking or arcing into the vertical timebase The oscilloscope showed a vertical pulse of sorts was being delivered b the vertical output 1G7620 (TDA817; and the DVM measured correct volt- ‘ages on each of the seven pins. he vortical deflection yoke has ten additional correction circuit compo: nents not shown in the sorvice manual and its whole impedance measured 7.49. Imarked and then twiddled the YF and YHe controls but they made only a small differe connected. Still no difference. pinched the deflection yoke out of an A10A chassis and swapped over the leads. After resetting the screon volt- age. I could at last see a picture. My conclusion was that the vertical deflection yoke was shorted, [couldn't see where and so I couldn't fix it. Unfortunately, this is not sold as a spare part, only as part of the plete picture tube assembly which is goiting onto extremely expensive $900 ‘Aword with Mr Philips and aswap ‘was arranged for the client sc This surreal pattern was produced by a fault in the vertical deflection coils in a Philips TV. [Link](Tax Invoice [Link] YOUR DETAI Your Name, Pease state mont 1 TEEN ists yr a0 ay sxis0 , iti $08.90 2s Bnd” Organisation (if applicable) Sa09 Dye ski eres Fy SAS is Siaad Address. Postcode. Daytime Phone No. “SILICO ChIP BACKISSUES into: 10% dicount fr 10 Dat rane No. ( ‘ormore issues or photocopies. Australia: $A8.80 ea (includ- ing p&p). Overseas: $A10 each (including p&p bya). q it applicable Esse aceon pelioomie) “ELECTRONICS AUSTRALIA: project photocopies, limited backlssves 1% dsaun fr 10 ormre sss ox photo- Method of Payment: apes. Atala: SAAD each (reusing pep) Osea: S80 a (intucing pp by 3} cheque/Money Order CQ Bankcard Visa Card Ch Master Card BINDERS: BUY 5 ot more and get them postage (Gvalale in Aus. ony $1299 each UB 87 pp cardo. [| | | J PEJLLL IT ILELy | “ELECTRONICS PROJECTS FOR CARS, VOL.2: Aust sh14 95; zisaPactic $18.00 Ineing Pap (ar) Card expiry cate: |_| | atsennere $21 50 (Al pros nce pp). PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS FORCARS: ust $22.50; Oreos $425.00 (Pras neue pp & GST whee ap pla) Signature Item Description ‘Subscribe to SILICON CHIP on-line at: [Link] Both printed and on-line versions availablePart 2 ~ construction, testing and loading the software a: by John Clarke THREREGIN By now you are probably desperate to play a few compositions with the MIDI Theremin. But first you need to build it and install the software. Setting up the MIDI Theremin is quite detailed, so read carefully! Fes the circuit descrip- tion of the MIDI Theremin in the first article last month, wo Shall now describe the construction and setting up procedure. Software will also need to bo installed and to do this you'll need to download some files from the "net. Firstly, though, lot's start building the MIDI Theremin. Construction. he SILIOON Clie MIDI Theremin is constructed using two PCboards. The main PC board is coded 01204051 and measures 187 x 104mm, while the dis- Tudwig van, eat your h 62 SILICON CHP play PC board is coded 01204052 and ‘measures 142%99mm. The assembled PC boards are housod in a plastic box measuring 197 x 113 x 63mm. Begin construction by checking the PG boards for correct hole sizes and that there are no breaks in the copper or shorts betwoen tracks or pads. Hole sizes for the corner mounts on the display PC board and for the LCD module should be 3mm diameter (-1/8"), Check the mounting holes for the external jack socket, the DC power socket, the DB9F serial connector and the MIDI output socket are all correi Chock also that the PC board to fits into the box neatly at the side pillar clips without bowing the box. If the box does bow out, the edges of the PC board will need to be filed off by a small amount so that it is a better fit. We assume that the Theremin is be- ing built from the Jaycar kit (the only place you can get it!)~ in this case all the holes in the box will have been milled out and a screen-printed front panel will be supplied. Display board Start assembly with the display PC board. Its overlay is shown in Fig.1. Insort the link first so you don’t forgot rt out! You can become a composer with the MIDI Theremin and sequencer software! [Link]Here’s our MIDI Theremin working with the recommended “Rave” software on a laptop running Windows XP. Naturally, y separate the MIDI Theremin and laptop before use so that the volume plate wasn't influenced. you'd nor it, Mount the LGD module usinga dual 7-pin header to connect from the ICD module to the PC board. Solder the pins on the topside of the LCD display and on the underside of the display PCboard, The two opposite corner mounting holes on the LCD module ere held down using two M3 x 10mm screws and M3 nuts, with some Nylon washers placed in-between the display PC board and LCD PC board. The trimpot (VR4) and the 10xI capacitor can now be mounted, noting that this capacitor should lie on its side to provide clearance when the display assembly is secured to the lid. Insert and solder in the 34-way right angle header plug ‘The switchos can be insorted the wrong way ifyou aren't careful. They are mounted as shown with the flat [Link] ager switches oriented to the side of the PC board. Switch $7 is mounted with the wider spaced pins mounted in the horizontal plane. The display board is now complete but before moving on to the main board, give it'a close check for solder bridges, dry joints or incorrect com- ponent placement. Main board Begin assembly of the main PC board (Fig.2) by installing the links and resistors. Use the resistor colour code table or measure them with a digital mul- timeter to ensure the right resistor is in the right place. Next are the diodes taking care to orient thom as shown on the component overlay ‘Again watching orientat mn, 1C1, 103 ‘Your friends will RAVE about your MIDI Theremin when they hear ‘you playing like a pro! All you is the MIDI Theremin and “a MIDI Synthesiser ~ and if you are you already ‘own aPC, chanes hhave one of thoso! and IC4 can be soldered directly to the PC board. IC2 is mounted using « socket ~ the socket can be soldered in now but don’t insert the IC yet The capacitors and crystal can be mounted next, Again, the electrolytic capacitors must be oriented with the polarity shown. Now mount the tran: sistors and PC stakes. There are two types of transform- ers, white-cored and black-cored. Tt and 9 are white-cored T2 and T4 are black-cored. Don't mix them up! Each transformerhas three pins on one side end two on the other, s0 you cannot insort them the wrong way. VR1 and VR2 can now be soldered in, REG1 mounts horizontelly, with a heatsink sandwiched botween it and the PC board. Bend its leads at the correct position so they fit into the May 2005 6364 SmIcON CP [Link]holes while allowing the tab to be secured to the PC board and heatsink using an M3 x 10mm screw and nut. ert and solder in the upright 34-way IDC header taking care to orient it with the locating tab to the inside of the PC board, Similarly, solder in the MIDI out socket, the DB9 connector, the right angle 16-pin header, the DC socket and the 6.35mm jack socket. Note that when the jack socket is oriented with, the input towards the top, the switching contacts should be to the left and the wiping contacts for the jack on the right. If they are the other way around, remove the contacts from the plastic moulding and swap them around. LED1 is mounted with tho longer (anode) lead to the left and as high on its legs as possible ~ leave just a millimetre of the shorter (cathode) lead under the PC board for soldering, The LED is later bent over to fit into the hole in the side of the box. Whon complete, place the PC board in the box and clip the edges into the integral box side attachments, Attach the nut to the 6.35mm jack socket. ‘The display PG board can now be secured to the cas ing the 5 x 10mm tapped standofis end Ma x 6mm Connect short lengths of wire to the M3 and Mé eyelets. Now attach the hand plate to the side of the box using M3 x 10mm screws and nuts remombering to place the M3 eyelet onto the screw closest to T1. The antenna is secured with a nut once the Mé eyelet is placed on. lid us- Wiring Fig.3 shows the 34-way IDC connections using the 34-way IDC wire and the two IDC connectors. Orient the tabs on the side of the connectors as shown (note the red striped wire is pin 1) and clip the back of the connector with the wire in display board while opposite and below is Fig.2, the main bo: rera | astity Goils,' 8) = ae 5 sons [Link] Locams sAGOT ON TOP LOCATING SGOT UNDERNEATH sawar a. ayaw ice nto ioe soot sia DISPLAY BOARD CABLE Fig. 3 (above): the S4-way IDC cable ais maleioc tus ‘gowoe which connects the TOCCABESDE) ‘two PC boards. The ge WEARVEEN 0 split down the mide cae Fin’ essential ~it just makes the eable easier tole Fig. (right): the Garmes Port cao, with DBS male ug connecting toa X way IDC socket via cable, Note 16 of the IDC socket isnot usta Not. Ose GAMES PORT CABLE These two component overlays and photographs should help you assemble the two PC boards, Fig.1, (opposite top) is the rd. The two boards cones together via the IDC cable above. May 2005 68.place, Use a vyce to press the parts together, To allow more flexibility of the cable, we split the IDC cable lengthwise into two sections by open- ing it up around the centre (you don’t have to be too exact!) Make the connection between the main PC board and display PC board Games port wiring (Fig.4) is similar to the 34-way wiring except that we use 15-way cable. This is secured to the DB15 connector using a vyce as before. Only 15 of the 16 pins of the IDG socket are used ~ locate the 15-way IDC cable by not placing the wire onto the left most pin (pin 16), as shown, Wiring can now be completed for the last potentiometer (VR3) and to the hand plate eyelet and antenna eyelet. ‘These last two wires should be made as short as possible with just enough length to connect from the PG stakes on the PC board to the securing points for the plate and antenne, ‘The wires for the powerswitch (S10) are made using crimp connectors for the switch connections and soldered to the PC stakes on the PC board, Once again, give the finished PC board a good visual check for solder bridges, dry joints (or non-soldered joints ~ it’s easy to miss one or two!) and misplaced or wrongly oriented polarised components. Testing ‘Tho Theremin is now ready for testing. Make sure IG2 is not in its te Ree 20-8 & rn b: DISMAY BOARD MAIN BORD Poryea volue PLATE a woe @ Figs: the interconnecting wiring is delightfully simple most is taken care of via the 34-way IDC cable. The only other external wiring is to the power switch, potentiometer, the antenna ®| and hand plate. 66 SILICON Che [Link]socket, Plug in the plugpack into # DC socket. Connect your multimeter common (black) lead to one of the TP GND PC stakes and conneet the posi- tive (red) lead of the multimeter to the input of REGI (left pin). Switch on the plugpack at the mais and switch on $10, li you get a read ing of about 8V, good. If the reading is zero, check that the DC plug for the plugpack is inserted correctly into the two pronged plugpack lead con tion. You can rotate this connection by 180° ~ then check the valtage at the input of REG1 again to ensure you now get the 9V reading Moasure the output of REG1 (right terminal) for +5V. I this is not +5V (or very close] check the PC board for a short circuit, You should also be able to measure SV betwoon pins 5 and 14 ofthe IC2 socket and about 9V between pins 4 and 8 of IC1. On IC4 check for 5Vat pin 16, -9V at pin 6 and 9Vat pin 2.’These 9V readings may beanywhere up to 9.6V. f the voltages are OK, turn the power off, wait a short time — say five seconds ~ and install IC2 into its socket, the right way around! Apply power and check the display lights up and shows characters. If you Here's the display bo: divided 34-way IDC cable cannot see anything on the display adjust VR4, This trimpot needs to be adjusted to give tho best display contrast. Chock operation of all switches by going through the switch funetions Gescribed last month. Setting up ‘Test points have been included to help make setting up a little easier. Liston Smart Chargers Custom-made Lithium ton, NiCd and NiMH battery packs. [Link] High-quality single cell chargers with independent channels. Charge ‘any combination of NiCd & NIMH. ‘AA and AAA cells, installed on the case lid, Here you can also see the it’s essential to do this because the cable is twisted These provide connection points for your multimeter so measurements can bbe takon as you make adjustments You will need either (preferably) a plasticalignment tool with a3.5-4ma wide flat blade, or a screwdriver with the same type of blade, to adjust the slugs in the IF transformers The plastic tool should not affect your readings: However, if using a metal scrowdriver, you may need to ‘Ask for a free copy of the Battery Book catalogue or visit www. [Link] May 2005 671 PC board, coded 01204051, 487 x 104mm. 1 PC board, coded 01204052, 142 x 99mm. 1 plastic box, 197 x 113 x 68mm (UB2) 4 antenna, 170mm tong 1 hand plate, 80 x 70 x 1mm aluminium 4 2aline 16-character LCD module (backlit) 1 mini rocker switch ($10) 4 PC-mount 6.35mm switched jack socket 1 5:pin PC-mount DIN socket 1,DB15 IDC male plug 1089 PC-mount right angle female connector 1.34-pin IDC header 41 34-pin right angle IDC header 4 16-pin right angle IDC header 2 34-pin IDC line sockets 4 16:pin IDC socket 17-way DIL header v 19V 150MA DC plugpack 1 PC mount DC povier socket 8 SPST PCB mount snap. adjust the slugs in small steps taking the screwdriver away from the trans: formor slug to take the readings. ‘Also take care ifusinga metal screw: river that you donot crack the brittle forrito transformer cores. Do not force the slug past its end stops. A small 2.5-3mm flat bladed screwdriver will also be required for adjusting trimpots VR1 and VR2. Connect your multimeter between 68 SILICON Crm 1 90mm length of 0.8mm tinned ‘copper wire + 220mm length of 34-way IDC wire 1 2m length of 15-way IDC wire 4 400mm length of black hookup wire 4100mm length of green hookup wire 110mm length of yellow hookup wire 11 PC stakes: ‘Semiconductors 1 LM358 dual op amp (IC1) 1 PIC16F88 programmed with [Link] (C2) 1 6N198 optocoupler (IC3) 1 MAX282 RS232 receiver/driver (C4) 17805 three-termi tor (REG1) 2 BC547 NPN transistors (22,04) 2 2N5484 JFETs (Q1,03) 1 1N4004 1A diode (D6) 5 1N4148 switching diodes (D1- D 1 5V regula- apF ceramic ODF ceramic. one of the TP GND terminals and TP1 Using the alignment tool, adjust T2 fora reading of about 0.9V while your hand is away from the hand plate, Now move your hand close to the hand plate. The voltage should fll just slightly ~ by about 0.08V or so. If the voltage goes up instead, the core will need readjusting your hand away from the hand plate and turn the core anticlockwise, s0 that you see the voltage rise toa maximum ‘and then fall again, Stop turning when the voltage reaches 0.9V again. Note that the rise and fall in voltage ‘may not happen before you run out of adjustment (where the slug cannot be wound anticlockwise any more). In thiscase, turn the core in’T1 clockwise by one turn and the T2 core clockwise by more than one turn, then adjust anticlockwise again, stopping at the point whore the voltage falls to 0.9V, Now transfer the multimeter lead to TP2 and adjust VR1 for a reading of about 6V making sure your hand is away from the hand plate, Now move your hand close to the hand plate, ‘Tho voltage should go down to near OV. This adjustment is critical and can change when the lid of the Theremin is placed on the box, The adjustment is affected by lead dross inside the box and so some re- adjustment may be necessary later to have the hand plate operation work over a satisfactory range of hand movement ‘Adjustment of the antenna circuit is the seme as for the hand plate. In this case place the meter between TP GND and TP3 and adjust T for the 0.9V reading, Readjust T'S clockwise if you cannot find the position for T4 whore tho volt ago falls from 0.9V when your hand is brought near to the antenna. Adjust VR2 with the multimeter re-attached to TP4 for a reading of about 6V with the hand away from the antenne. ‘To make the final adjustment, place the MIDI Theremin lid on and select the Note display. Observe the volume and note values. The volume can be controlled from 500 when the hand is away from the plate down to 0 with your hand close to the plate. If the volume shows less than 500 with the hand away from the plate, readjust VR1 (you'll need to take offthe lid again!) for the 500 reading. Adjust VR1 so that the volume starts to fall from $00 when your hand is around 100mm from the plate. Similarly, when adjusting VR2, set this so that the top note begins to change at about the 100mm mark as your hand is brought closer and closer totheantenna. The top note will be C8 for the normal range setting and G8 in the wide setting Forzeally precise tuning, adjust VR2 with the antonna extended by about 10mm. Thon when the lid is closed [Link]Value WF 10 IEC Code EIA Code 105 400nF (0.1uF) 100n 104 560pF 560p 561 ‘390pF 391 68pF 68 33pF on the Theremin, you can shorten or lengthen the antenna slightly to obtain the best results from the antenna con- trol without having to open the lid. External control Ifan external foot control is required instead of the auxiliary potentiometer, a suitable design was published as part of the Waa-Waa Podal in the September 1998 issue of SILICON CuaP. Naturally, you won't require any- thing but the pedal itself; however full pedal constructional details are given in that article. Use dual-cored, shielded cable for tho interconnection, with the carth braid connecting to the common ter- minal on the stereo jack plug and the earth end of the potentiometer. Also note that the pot used in the MIDI ‘Theremin is a 5k0 linear, not 10k2 to 50kQ as used in the Waa-Waa Pedal. A socket could be installed on the footswitch as shown in tho original d sign or you could use a fixed lead from the foot switch to the jackplug. This later alternative is the wiring shown for the potentiometer in Fig.6. ‘You can obtain a back issue of Sep- tember 1998 or a copy ofthe article for {$8.80 from SiuicoN CaP, Software ‘As mentioned last month, if you ‘want to use the MIDI Theremin with a computer, you will need to install sequencer software. The software pro- vides the means to send a MIDI signal tothe computerand to drive the sound card's synthosiser. ‘There are many sequencers availa- ble on-the market including Cakewalk, Propellethead’s Reason, the Comput” erMuzys CM Studio and Rave We have tested the MIDI Theremin on the last threo. By far, the easiest-to- operate sequencers Rave. You can use other sequencer software if you wish, however, we recommend using Rave first unless you are already well versed in using them. [Link] Many sequencers are a little daunt- ing whon you start them up, due to their hugely complex control features. ‘The Rave sequencer is ideal for frst- time users as it is easy to use and has sufficient foatures for use with the MIDI Theremin. In fact, we believe most people will be completely satis- fied with this sequencer. Tf you plan to use a differont so- quencer, it must be able to accept incoming MIDI signals and direct them to tho sound card's synthesiser. Some sequencers do not do this and only send the MIDI signal back out through the MiDIoutput on the computer. This ‘means that the computer's synthesiser will not generate any sound. The Propellerhead “Reason” soft- ware is available on the net as a demo version with a “no-save” feature and an after-20-minute automatic shut- down. It must be purchased if you want to continue to use it (www. [Link]). ‘The Computer Muzys CM Studio is usually available on the GD supplied with “Computer Music” magazine from Puture Publishing in the UK. Check it out at your newsagent. This software requiresa minimum 500MHz PC or MAC ([Link]. [Link]). RAVE for Windows is available as a free download from the ‘net (www. i 7 This software (or another sequencer program) is the only software you will need to install if you are connecting to the computor using the sound card input via the games port. In this case make sure the Port sottings on the MIDI ‘Theremin are VIA MIDI OUT & GAMES PORT. What, no games port? Ifyou do not have a games port in- put, then you can connect via a serial port, or failing this using a USB port via a USB adaptor. USB connection is the most finicky way of operating the MIDI Theremin and if you have a serial port itis ree- ommended to use it rather than via usB. If you aro not convinced that the Fig.6: ifyou want an external control (including a foot pedal) hore's how to wire the pot to the 6.5mm stereo plug. serial connection is best, read the notes concerning USB operation in the section describing installing the USB driver. For USB uso, there aro two options. Firstly, you can use a Serial-to-USB converter and this is used in conjunc- tion with the MIDI serial driver. Soft ware to setup a USB to virtual serial port driver will be roquired and this is supplied with the Serial to USB converter. (See overleaf for the USB installation), For this option the Port settings on the MIDI Theremin will need to be sot to VIA SERIAL PORT ONLY. ‘Alternatively, if you use a MIDL-to- USB converter (available from music shops) thn you only need to install the sequencer software and the MIDI- to-USB driver. In this case make sure the Port settings on the MIDI Theremin are VIA MIDI OUT & GAMES PORT. The MIDI-to-USB converter connocts directly into the MIDI outlet on the Theremin, Software drivers for this converter should be supp! with it ‘Weill only describe setting up the Serial-to-USB converter since this is the cheapest option. You'll find tho complete setup procedure in tho panels on the next four pages. Where do you get the kit? ‘This project was sponsored by Jaycar Electronies, who hold the copyright ‘on the design, PC board layouts, ete. Kits are available from all Jaycar Electronics stores and most resellers. ‘The complete kit of parts (KC 5410) ‘as described hare, including hand plate, antenna, case, silk-screened front panel and a mini siand, sells for $159.00 A suitable power supply is the Jaycar M3008 seling for $13.95 For more information, refer to Jayear’s website: wun [Link] May 2005 69Cee i mm ee ee ‘When installing any programs or drivers, you need to be logged on to your computer as an administrator. Before instaling the sequencer software, itis best to check the settings in your com- puter to make sure that sound card is sat up correctly for MIDI For Windows XP select Start/control panel. Then switch to ‘classio view’ if it is set in the ‘category view’ mode. Now select sounds, speech and audio devices/audio/ mii music playback. In the MID! music playback, select an MPU-401 compatible synthesiser (eg Mi- ccrasoft GS Wavetable SW synth) ‘be ee | Liem De C= ee) _ Ce a Cae Oe) Oey aan Cx jC a=] ‘Also make sure volume is up for the synthesizer. Do this by selecting volume in the MDI musio playback box and checking settings for the SW Synth, This is similar for Windows 98. In this case select Start/settings/control_panel/ multimedia. In the multimedia properties select MIDI and an MPU-401 compatible synthesizer forinternal synthesis. (eg. ESFM Synthesis (220)) ‘Aso in Start/programs/accessories/enter- tainment/volume control. Check that volume control level for synthesizer is up, Driver signing Later versions of Windows include driver signing. You need to check thatthis is nat set to block programs from being installed. To check the settings in Windows XP, select Start/control panel/nard- ware/driver signing. Click on the Warn only button, If not already selected Rave Installation The sequencer program is available from 70 Siticon Ci ‘Olga ial howe en abet Qrten tetas seth ai, Ck ae a (ee acest Ce JCes) The zip fle is 647k bytes and must be un ioped before use. If using Windows 3.1 youll need to use PKunzip to extract the Zipped fles. ‘The software was written to run on Win- dows 3.1, Wo have tested it on Windows 98, Windows ME and Windows XP, ‘The only problem we have experienced during installation is where eror messages are shown because the DOS help fie is not installed on the computer. This occurs be- cause the software was written for Windows 3.1 and the operating system relied on having OS installed. Once the Rave sofware is installed, the error messages do not affect the operation ofthe RAVE sequencer Download the [Link] file from the loca- tion shown above and save thefile toa direc- {ory (or folder) called C:\rave (or similar). When the file is unzipped, install the software using [Link], During instalation the computer may ask fyou want to run this software with an unknown publisher. In this case click on the run ta. ‘As mentioned, if you are using @ current version of Windows that does not include DOS; there wil be an error message saying could not open the file c\dos\doshel. hip. Click on ignore. A similar DOS shell error will also be shown, Again, click on ignore. Cliok on close after the general protection fault eror is shown. A Caddo of he named: DOSDOSELP HY. [Epes] vce mwa PS Ifioedeon per you seers yar wate ‘ju aoe Go, yr sop od wri, ae 290 ceded oin alt | When installation is complete, use Win- dows explorer or ile manager goto the folder cclrave, Single click onto [Link] (c\rave\ [Link]) then to “File” and then select create shortout from the list of options. Dragtte shortcuttothe desktop (this does ‘not apply with Windows 3.1), Also copy the rmidiout dr fle (found in the to the c\vave folder tothe c’windows\system folder. if you wish to uninstall RAVE, locate the clave folder and delete it and all files it contains. Delete the desktop shortout and remove the [Link] fl from the c:\win- dows\system folder. Serial or USB operation Ityou are connecting tothe serial or USB. port, you will need to install the required divers now. Details are in the separate serial ‘por driver section and Serial-to-USB section Don'tforget that fyou are using the seral-to- USB converter, the MIDI serial driver will also be required. For a MIDI-to-USB driver install as per the instructions supplied with ft Running Rave To start up Rave, double click the Rave shortcut onthe desktop. A Rave copyright ox will appear. Click on the ok button. | RA seme | tai gan 5 cupeessl Joehitton Setting up RAVE Selectthe Options and te “midithru” box. [Link]This wil bring up a tick against the MIDI Thru. The sound card synthesizer will not produce any sounds unless this box is ticked, ‘Check thatthe Options/Metronome/Bars Count Ins set to at least (it tis is set to 210 you will nt beable to record) Check in the Options/Output Assign- ments, The settings should show the MIDI Playing the MIDI Theremin Youare finally ready to play the Theremin! Connect up the serial, USB or games port lead botween the MIDI Theremin and the ‘computer. Switch on the MIDI Theremin and check that you can ply the instrument and hear it through the sound card output using head- phones or loudspeakers, If you cannot hear anything, first make surethe volume sturned up on the computer and thatthe sound works an other mediums such as the CD player. If the CO player works and sound stil cannot be heard withthe Theremin, double check the MIDI Thru is ticked in the RAVE? Options settings and that you have selected the correct port in the settings menu on the MIDI Theremin, ‘Also check the settings as mentioned in the MIDI serial driver section and the Serial- to-USB sections. Recording To record, select File/new. Save as ‘yourflaname’ blk. Click onto the REG(ord) ‘button to begin recording. Thetape transport position marker will startto count up after a second orso and you are now recording. The stop fst wind and stop buttons operate the same as any tape or video recorder. So you can stop, rewind and play the composition. Saving the recorded composition is done by selecting File/save. Once you have saved a track you can multi track record if you want to. This lays down another recording alongside the original recording. So you can playback with more than one track, as though there is more than (one Theremin playing, or you can record another instrument such a8 a keyboard to ‘aocompany the Theremin. ‘To multi-track record Left lickthe mouse pointer in the track name block (eg, where silicon chip 2 is positioned) to select second track. These are intially set with an unnamed label but they can be renamed by right click- ing the mouse pointer on the word and use ‘the backspace to delete the word. Rewrite Your own required filename. The selected ‘rack can then be recorded as a separate ‘rack withthe original recording Up to 32 tracks oan be recorded. In the right hand blocks, there is the option to change the patch (instrument), the volume, pan and quantisation. Play around with ‘these options to understand the changes they make. The recorded composition can also be shown in music format. Select Edi/Score aditor to show the traitional five line (musi- ‘al stat formatof the recorded composition. Particular notes can be selected with the mouse pointer and its value (e9, 82 for note Binthe second octave) is the same as shown (nthe MIDI Theremin. Note that extremely complex compositions using the Pitch Glide control may cause the software to overload when selecting the Score editor, This isa basic rundown on how to use the software tis sufcient to enable you to play and record plus do some multitracking if required. From here on, you're on your cown. The only way you will discover the full potential of the MID! Theremin is to play with it. Enjoy! Installing the serial driver ‘The serial driver is commercial software ten by Yamaha Corporation for their MIDI musical instruments. it supports Windows 95,98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP. The driver automatically detects your operating system and installs one of two Versions best sulted for your computer. Both files are contained in a file called [Link]. Ths is a 971Kb fle and is ‘designed for use with COM or COM port on the computer. When using with a serial port connection, make sure that you have a free COMt or ‘COMS port on your computer before install ing the driver. ‘nsome cases you may be using the COM ports fora serial mouse and/or extemal mo- dem. You may have to free up one ofthese ports so you can use the MIDI Theremin with ‘his serial port driver In general, the Modem connection could ba used or if you only have one serial por, use this and connect your serial mouse to a USB port using the commonly available USB- to-serial converters avallable (one may well have come with your mouse) or buy a USB ‘mouse ~ they are very cheap these days. ‘When used in conjunction with a USB- ‘o-serial converter, the COM port numbers apply to the virtual serial port created with the USB-to-serial driver software (see its Installation inthe separate section). The Yamaha serial driver fle can be ‘obtained from: [Link],[Link]/xg/ fownloadAnols/[Link] Save the file to a directory (or folder) called c-midiobx (or similar) and unzip it. A readme fle wil be unzipped to \midict\ cbxdrv20tw\setupdiAO0S\[Link] and ‘his describes in detail how to set up the driver for the various Windows operating system versions. Basically, all you do is double click on the [Link] found inthe setup folder) ile and ‘ollow the prompts. When the “select COM ports” dialog shows, check COM! or COMS. The selection is dependent on how many serial ports you have and which one you are going to use forthe MIDI Theremin connection. If you are connecting via USB, select a COM port that does not correspond to a serial port that is already installed. Glick on the Next button and the MIDI ‘output ports dialog willbe shown, Select the “Use single MIDI output port. Click on Next and that completes the installation, The following dialog box ill be displayed. Itreminds the user to select the PC-2 position ‘on the Yamaha MIDI units 'To Host’ select switch, For our MIDI Theremin it reminds. Us to select the serial port setting on the ‘Theremin. Restart the computer to finalise the installation. Cea Correct installation can be seen in the ‘sounds and audio devices’ properties box. For Windows XP select Start/Control Panel in eos A (ances eo ear Clie ade cen Cx Cee) ] a | classic view, then select sounds, speech and ‘audio devioes/audio/midi music playback. In the MIDI music playback, select the down arrow to check if YAMAHA CBX A Driver is installed, Do not select this diver, we are just looking to see if itis there, so keep the original SW Synth setting. Once installed, you oan change settings ‘and disable the driver without uninstalling it. ‘Todothis selectStart/Control Panel and dou- ble click on the Yamaha CBX driver Icon. eS g When you double cick on the YAMAHA (CBX Driver Icon, the CBX river Setup box willbe displayed. You can select the COM port {again) and enable or disable the driver. The greyed out selections cannot be used. a ‘cou Pen Sting — |e com ¢ com | cow com te setng (OF mutport DierEnabie EE [ extonsenawrez ‘yawen.caxoerer200 Cop) 07 8 YMA COREORATION ‘ae Reasons. [essere foi When using tis driver with RAVE you can seiftis connected correctly by seect- ing Options/Synchronisaton, f correct the Yamaha CBX Driver wil be displayed in the Synchronisaton input port box. Removing the YAMAHA CBX Driver Navigate to the c:\midicbx folder and double-click the [Link]. The Setup dialog will appear. Follow the prompts to remove the driver. Restart the computer to complete the removal USB Operation {via serial to USB converter) When connecting the MIDI Theremin us Ing aUS8 port, you will need a USB-to-serlal (089)-converer, which converts the serial signal from the MIDI Theremin's serial port output to a USB signal ‘suitable device is avalable from Jaycar Electrons, cat number XC-4835, ‘The software supplied with this converter then produces a virtual serial port on the computer, This virtual port can be read by ‘the Yamaha MIDI serial port driver that is already installed. Both the virtual serial port and the MIDI serial port driver must be set to the same COM port. Note that if you have a serial port on ‘your computer, it is preferable not to select ‘the same COM port number for the virtual port. To Install the USB-to-serial converter and the software plug in the USB unit to a USB portonthe computer. The computer willalert that now hardware has been installed. In Windows XP, the Add New Hardware Wizard wil startup and assist in sating up the USB converter. When prompted, select insert the CD ROM disk into the computers CD drive and select the ‘USB to serial cable WH DRIVER\98-2009-2420021 folder. Click next to instal If you have problems with this method, lisconnect the USB to serial converter, walt a short time (say ten seconds) and recon- nect. Wait until the new hardware has been detected and the ‘add new harcware’ wizard ‘opens. Select te ‘install froma list or spectic location’ then click next. ‘SelectDon'tsearch | will choose the driver to instal’ and click next. Click on ‘Have disk’ then browse to the CD ROMIWN Driven98- 2009-2K2002"\[Link] Glick on open, ok and next. ‘A warning may appear 10 say that the software is not logo tested for compatibilty with windows. Clckon the'continue anyway’ button. Uninstalling or reinstalling Make sure the USB-to-serial driver Is plugged into the computer. Select Start/Con- trol Panel/system. In the system properties select hardware/device manager! ports (COM & LPT). Select the ‘Prolific USB-se- rial-bridge’. Double click on this then select Driver/uninstall and ok when it prompts you to uninstall. You can reinstall using this ‘method by selecting the update driver but- ‘ton and direct to the folder on the CD ROM as before. To change the COM port setting on the USB to serial converter, select Star/Control 72 Suicon Ciup [Link]= ae PaneV/system. In the system properties select hardware/device manager’ ports (COM & LPT), Select the ‘Prolific USB-se- rial-bridge’. Double click on this then select port set- tings/advanced. Select the COM port number from the drop down menu. Note that the port number must match the port number selected for the Yamaha MIDI serial port driver. You can only selec the ports that the Yamaha MIDI serial port driver allows. In ‘our case as shown n the Yamaha CBX driver satup this is COM or COMS. Note thatitis unnecessary toalterthe port settings apart from the COM number as the USB to serial driver sends at its maximum rate regardless ofthe port settings. This true even though the serial signal from the MIO! Theremin is sentatthe 28400- baud rate and the rate is set to a different value in the settings. Notes on the USB connection 1. You can connect the USB-to-st converter to the MIDI Theremin in one of two ways. First, you can use a DB9 exten- sion cable. The cable connects to the MIDI Theremin serial outlet and the socket end connects to the USB-to-serial converter. Plug the USB end into the computer. Alternatively, if you only require a short connection, the USB converter canbe directly, connected to the MIDI Theremin serial out- let. In this case the retaining screws on the ‘MIDI Theremin serial outlet wil need to be ‘removed and inserted from the inside of the box n orderto secure the USB converter unit in place. A 1.8m USB 2.0 A to A extension cable can be used to make the computer connection. 2. Ifyou plug the USB-to-serial converter into a different USB port on the computer, ‘you willneed to install the driver for that USB. ort. it much better to always plug into the original USB port where the driver was, installed (maybe label the USB input?) 3. Avoid plugging the USB-to-serial unit into the computer while the MIDI Theremin is switched on or the computer may some~ ‘times decide the device is a mouse or similar human interface device rather than the USB converter. If this happens, you will need to reinstall the USB to serial converter software as detailed above or click onto the driver ‘roll- back’ button instead of the ‘reinstall button’. This last option reverts the driver to the provious USB-to-serial driver and installa- tion is quicker (and you do not need to find the CD ROM!) de reek fonary ep so Yoinontbapene ware doe? a FEE [Link] this panel when starting Rave, it means that the MIDI Theremin will not (at present) work with the USB converter. The panel indicates that the virtual port data is. ‘corrupted. It could be that the Serialto-USB Gon- verter is not connected, or simply that the USB converter has tobe reset. Alternatively, the COM ports selected forthe Yamaha serial driver and the USB to serial driver may not be the same one. Inthe first wo cases, clickon the ‘no! but- ‘on and then the OK on the copyright pane! ‘when Rave starts. Exitfrom Rave by clicking on the top right hand X button (or Flexi). Unplug the USB connection and wait for the disconnect confirmation, then reconnect it and start Rave again. The wave device-warning panel should ‘not appear this time. 5. If you switch off the MIDI Theremin while you are within Rave, then the only way ‘to have the MIDI Tharemin play again is to exit from Rave and then restart Rave. Similarly in ComputerMuzys you may receive this error when starting, In this case exit from the program, dis- ‘connect the USB connection and reconnect it. Then restart the program. The Computer ‘Muzys MIDI port is set using the System/ (MIDI Hardware selection and the MIDI Hard ware set-up panel will be shown, ‘The reason? Following Is a soreen grab showing the Reason Sequencer demo version, Note the complexity compared tothe Rave sequencer The MIDI portisselected by cicking onto Edit then selecting preferences. Use the down button to select the page that shows MIDI. The port shows the Yamaha CBX driver is selected and the tick indicates that it is working. Apple Macintosh Computers Although we have not tried it, Nac users should be able to use the MIDI Theremin by using a Mac version MIDI sequencer. For example the ComputarMuzys CM studio and Reason 2.5 are available for the Mac. There are at least two options when making the connections between the MIDI Theremin and a Mac. You may need to visit a music shop and purchase a cable or converter. The simplest option iso use @ MIDIto-printer-port cable. The Macalready has MID! drivers installed fortis connection but itis only useful f you have a printer port. For USB connection you will require a USB-to-MIDI converter such asthe Yamaha UX96. This converts from the MIDI outiet on the MIDI Theremin to USB format. The driver supplied with the converter wil need to be installed. Alternatively, some Mac laptops supply @ USB-to-serial converter and you may be able [Link] this when connected to the serial pot on the MIDI Theremin. ‘A music stop salesperson well versed in MIDI should be able to supply you with the necessary information and hardware required. scCIRCUIT NOTEBOOK Interesting circuit ideas which we have checked but not built and tested. Contributions from readers are welcome and will be paid for at standard rates a. i tochanges inambiont temperature, | it’s already running orstart it ifnot 2eatean-titalictineemn The reminder beeps are produced | A 2-minuto cooling-off period is exhaust fan bya piezo buzzer on output 4(pin |. included after the fan stops so that This circuit starts a bathroom | 3} it doosn't start again immediately exhaust fan automatically when | The software is squeezed into | if the water temperature romaine the shower’s hot water is used. It | 122 bytes of PICAXE memory. The | sbove the set point. A 2-second also includesa push-button switch | “mainloop” routine reads the ADC | dobounce period is invoked after to allow the fan to be stopped or | inputandcomparestherosult with | a high status is detocted on the started at will. The fan runs for a | 96 (corresponding to about 1.88V) | switch input prodofined poriod (nominally four | to determine if the fan should be | Calibration simply involves set- minutes) with reminder beeps at | started. Without a vootored inter. | ting the voltage at the PICAXE's the2and4-minutemarksasawater | rupt feature on this chip, the mo- } ADC input (pin 6) close to 2.1V saving initiative. mentary switch (S1) input must be | using trimpot VRI. TH1 should be NTCthermistorTH1 senses water | checkedrepeatediy within themain | strapped to the shower pipe near temperature, with an increase in | and timing loops for high (svritch | tho rosetto (insulate its loads) and temperature causing a decrease in | pressed) status TH2 should be exposed to room thevoltegeappliedtothe ADCinput | "To achieve timing in minutes | temperature. Both thermistorsareot (pin 6) of ICt. Below about 1.86V, | and to provide appropriate timing | the same type (DSE Cat. R 1895) output 2 (pin 3) of the micro is sot | points, three for..next loops are | An electrician should handle all high, turningon Qi and onergising | nested, To alter the timing period, | 240VACmainswiring, while batter tho relay. ba may be sotto 67,90 or 112 fr_| ios orapvgpeck shouldbe ured to A second thermistor (TH2) is | approx. 3, 4 or S-minute periods, | powortho circ used inthe top log ofthe divider to | respectively. W. A. Titesimons, minimise voltage fluctuations due | Pressing $1 will stop the fan if | Mount Eliza, Vic. ($45) ISSUES IUCIUNG OG Eaten Keep your copies safe with these handy binders. Available Aust, only. Price: $A12.95 plus $7 p&p per order (includes GST). Just fill in and mail the handy order form in this issue; or fax (02) 9979 6503; or ring (02) 9979 5644 and quote your credit card number. 74 SiLicoN CxP [Link]Select your microcontroller 'PICAXE-08 kit and get started... cn oi = if bO < 96 then timer hot water temperature turns the fan on ae me, ifinput3 = 1 then timert ‘momentary switch takes input high p= te Dynamic goto mainloop = Feature eh, comple, timer a ata setae QOMINION =" bi=0 ‘resot delay flag high 2 ‘turn fan on SECIRONES pause 2000 ‘debouncing for input 3 timer2: forb4=1to8 ‘start timer input =1 then fanot for b9 =1 10243 ifinput3= 1 then fanoff forb2= 11090 ‘e7=9min, 90=4min,112-Smin ifinput = 1 then fanoft next be then beep “/2-way reminder itba= 6 then beep Yor timer completion beep: next b4 goto fanoff +4 beep on output 4 or tum fan off after delay then fant ‘after delay period tun fan off pulsout 4 65535 "+ beep on output goto beep beep2: '2 beeps on output 4 ulsout 4.65595 pause 1000 pulsout 4,65535 goto beep fanoff1; ifbt = 1 then timert 'f delay flag is set then tur fan on readadc 1,b0 i100 > 96 then fanot ‘no delay required As you can see, we pay good if bO = 96 then fanoff ‘no delay required money for each of the “Cir bint ot deley fag cult Notebook” contributions low 2 ‘sop fan published in SILICON CHIP. pause 2000 ‘dobouncing for input 3 Pal go tween enter oto timer2 idea: each month, the best eon tribution published will win « fanoff: superb Peak Atlas LCR Meter pi=0 reset delay flag valued at $195.00 low 2 ‘eop fan dont heey that eine SS iorinpe cireult secret any more: send i pause 2000 dsbouncing for nput 8 circulteccre: any mace send i goto mainloop be a winner! May 200578 [Link]FCBOARD PIN Sag" UarcAR260 Your probing questions answered This simple but extremely useful {dea lets you casily attach various extensions to your multimeter's probes, thus eliminating the need fora full-length test lead set for each type of probe ond. ‘As shown in the accompanying illustration, a series of whatever ends you normally use (hooks, al- 76 SILICON CEP SOIR END OF STINSON ID Ary EATSHRNK ‘SERVING @wee. TEST ROME TP VARIOUS PROBE EXTENSION OPTIONS: —k— lz, EXAMPLE LEAD: ‘AUIGATOR CUP ELICTESTHOOK ligator clips, etc) can be fitted with, lengths of flexible cable and termi- nated with PC board pin sockets (aycar Cat. HP-1260). As shown, the joins are insulated with heat- shrink tubing, Yourcustom designed extensions can be stored in a zip-lock bag with your multimeter so that they don’t Bot lost or damaged. ‘Bob Hammond, Engadine, NSW. ($35) Automotive LED timing light Auuseful timing strobe can be con- structed using high-brightness LEDs and a few common components. Ignition pulses from the number 1 cylinder high-tension lead are used to trigger the circuit via a home- made inductive pickup, ‘Transistors Qi & Q2 buffer and amplify the pulses from the pickup, which then drive the inputs of three Schmitt-trigger inverters (ICia, Cie & ICA). Each positive pulse at the inverter inputs causes a low pulse at their outputs, forward-biasing D2 and immediately discharging the 6.6nF capacitor. When the capacitors discharged, the inputs of the second bank of three inverters (IG1b, ICid & IC1e) seea logic low level, so their outputs gohigh, driving Q3 into conduction and powering the LED array. ‘After the pulse ends, the ICta, ICic & ICif inverter outputs return high, reverse biasing D2, Howover, it takes somo time for the 6.8nF Capacitor to charge to the logic high throshold voltage of the inverters’ inputs, effectively stretching the initial pulse width and lighting the LEDs for the required amount of time, Low-voltage cutout for 12V SLA batteries This simple circuit protects an SLA battery from overdischarge by disconnecting the load when the terminal voltage drops below a preset level. In operation, a sample of the battery voltage is derived from the 22kO resistor and 20k trimpot divider. This is applied to the non- inverting input (pin 3) of C1, where itis compared with areference volt- ‘age on the inverting input (pin 2), ‘When the sampled battery voltage falls below the reference voltage, IC1's output (pin 1) swings towards ground, switching Mosfet Q2 off and disconnocting the load from the battery. ‘The reference voltage is derived [Link]ee) = «Ges —S*3—$o «1 nef BBER ess UHL : am 680k ») ») ») INDUCTIVE — we hae a ocr] 4 cs ict cre nt ae : se» |k OBOOO®@ m 4 K . ih ro oe a ap ‘ xl Ke werd ry < * @o a Lot >t a A fr fe oe * bipe nan os: ana —s— al ‘The pickup can be salvaged from an old Xenon timing light or made up from a “G” type ferrite or pow- ered iron core large enough to ft around aHT lead. Some experimen- tation will be required to determine the number of tums required to achieve reliable triggering. About 1100 turns of light-gauge wire proved sufficient on the prototype. A cleat is used to close the magnetic path around the lead and is held in place with a large battery clip. Miniature screened microphone cable can be used to connect the pickup to the circuit, to prevent interference from other sources. Reforto the Current Clamp Adapter project in the September 2008 issue of SILICON Cxnr for more {ideas on how to make the core and clamp assembly. K, J. Benic, Forestville, NSW, ($40) from a 4.7V zener diode (2D1), which is connected to ground via the collector-emitter circuit of Qt (ie, when Q1 is on), However, when the op amp’s output is driven low, Qlis switched off, causing the non- inverting input to rise towards the full battery voltage. This greatly reinforces the switching action, latching the circuit in the “off” state until the battery is recharged and tho rosot switch (S1) pressed. The Mosfet used for Q2 should be selected to suit the intended application. The circuit could also drive a relay simply by connect the coil across the “load” terminals Asis usual practice, a diode should be connected across the relay coil to limit back-EMF spikes. Tim Nuske, Horsham, Vic. ($35) se ‘atra08sy [Link] ‘May 2005 7INTERNET TRONICS FB? FFI) Fer Aron igh ta at video mont yaar byeurnase ney any ein rw Pres ange ose do pases by, Inor sthin nd gy ane speraon. ur nay sas pol wl b> teyouin ur Syne & Par ses, ‘Jac O'Donnel - Managing Director + Ausable Howipors aura red ha rng use Sipe wh 2 pans The one mater at ‘Mons ot om theres Arapafoet me pected wih omen leares ee emer dating renay ‘anor ip son ers! Opt S232 ade sri lie = Hg up tena! 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Seeder IR 25% THIS MONTH ONLY!Me 'n’ me mate wanna hook up a wireless network .. Rob Clark, of Freenet-Antenn: reckons ho's heard that line at least @ million times. OK, slight exay but he has heard it so many times he’s decided to do something about it. He's released his “MnM" pack. No, it’s nothing to do with little chocky things—his MnM pack contains all te goodies you and your mate need to set upa wireless network, Yes, MnM doos stand for “me 'n’ me mat Even though he’s a regular adver- tisor and sometime contributor to SILICON CaP, we actually spoke to Rob forthe first time while researching the Wi-Fi” article elsewhere in this issue (ond next, and next!) Rob is a very knowledgable bloke when it comes to Wi-Fi. He was semi- rotired after a technical career in (sorry, f'we told you we'd then have to kill you). Freenet-Antennas was set up to keop his mind (and body) sort-of oc cupied .. . and it’s grown like topsy. then mainly to get the most out ofa Wi i setup. Its motto is “specializing in long-distance wireless networkis Even Stan Swan was impressed when we told him that Rob's best Wi- Filink to dete, with off-the-shelf gear, nothing illegal, was 29km. “Ifyou pay a bit more for premium equipment, you get significantly better results,” said Rob. “Apart from choos- ing the right antenna, the one thing that makes a lot of difference is the quality of the antenna cable, Anyway, back to the MnM pack. Inityoureceive everything you need to make half of a working “M mate” link, except the antenna pole You nood two kits to make a complete link - yours and your mate's. ‘There are four main components to the MnM Pack: a quality Wireless Ac- cess Point (AP), 3m oflow-loss antenna cable, 15m of Power-over-Ethernot cable (means your AP doesn’t have Now the business offers a wide to be close to a power point) and, of range of gear, mainly for Wi-Fi, and course, the antenna. Jaycar’s technical forum answers questions ft voucher. But that’s not all. The best answer to the trickiest question each throe months will receive a $500 gift voucher and tho answor doomed the best each year will receive a $1,000 reward. See ithe website at www,[Link] for full details ‘Commencement of the new forum coincides with the launch of Jaycar’s CU WebLINK Soom PE ee can access any of these organisations instantly b the SILICON Cin website ([Link] WebLINH and then on the websit Ras nea Jaycar Blectronicshasan innovative J new approach to solving your product related questions with an ‘interactive! online forum. Customers can post questions to the forum and Jaycar will encourage fel low users to provide clear and simple answers to them, The answers judged the best by the Jaycar moderator will be awarded a monthly prize of a $100 Hemet eny eee er PRODUCT SHOWCASE ur wei ented vt one ‘0 poet alse reg eo shone lat, re JAYCAR ELECTRONICS WebLINK: woe [Link] You choose the antenna according to the distance you want, There's no point paying top dollar for a high gain antenna if you only want to-go, say, 100m. But if you need it, their 24dBi Grid Antenne will get you to the horizon! You'll find ¢ lot more information onthe Freenet-Antennas website. Spe cifically, tho mo ’n’ mo mate pack can be found at ww. antennas. com/~freenet-/ ¥ catalog/product [Link]?products [Tel (08) 9319 3275 Fax: (08) 9819 1720 Website: www [Link] new website, which features a sig- nificantly improved search engine, ex- press ordering and 128-bit socurity. Contact: Jaycar Electronics PO Box 6424, Silverwater NSW 1811 Tet: 1800 022 888 Fax: (02) 9741 8500 site: wiv [Link] A QUESTAONDY we rain omen ewig an deen enim VR oo at ide, We fave Boe sng "ig 18% Asean unc 98 Ineatasceetenente esitaestatans QUESTRONIX ones sev fa nat 795 -Heat pump technology means big hot water savings A new commercial hot water sys tem, designed for dairy farms in par ticular uses heat pump technology to cut energy consumption and costs by up to 30%. The new Wilson Hot Water Systems ECOHP commercial hot water system ncorporaties @ Quantum commer- ial heat pump in its design. Among other farm activities, itis ideal for the sterilisation and wash down of milking machines and lines, ‘The heat pump recovers energy from ambient air and waste heat from build- ing and machine exhausts, The energy ‘ecovered is then used to pre-heat the systom’s water t pump operates by using t, which is colder than air, collecting heat energy from the ambi- ent air passing through a coil. A typical dairy farm with a 10001 hot water requirement could save 11,315kWh per year. The ECOHP System can further boost water temperature by accessing off-peak power. Contact: Wilson Hot Water Pty Ltd Unit 4, 54 Malvern Street Bayswater 3153 Tel: 1600 30 20 50 Website: [Link] “World’s First” RFID Wireless Mouse Cordless optical meeces are hardly big news these days. But this one ist Microgram have released what is claimed to be the world’s first, no bat tory, RFID mouse, RFID? The USB-powered mouse pad detects the mouse’s position by Radio Frequency Identification technology thereby saving interference from a wireless signal and, most importantly, patter The mouse itself is a lightweight, sleck, 2-button and wheel dosign which feels very “natural” in the hand Having no cable makes is a real boon = there's nothing to get tangled! ‘The mousepad, an integral part of the system, is large enough without being obtrusive. Its one drawback is not being able to be used on a metal surfaced table ~ but that’s rare, It must also be keptat least 200mm away from a GRT-equipped monitor. TE cess and mance ao ‘sine ad conpsers se er Was Ter aré Amal AVR) 25 wes CD pas and rao nd dig VO or Pos snd cools £9 alo mses PC PROM erarmarana ASS2MStes converters Jed Microprocessors Ply Ltd} a: (0) 87623588 Fax: 03 8782549 WebLINK: [Link] Installation of the mouse is as sim- pleas connecting toa vacant USB port and prossing the “tune” button on the mousopad, It is competitively priced at $49.00 inc, GST and is available from Micro: gram Computers or their authorised re-sellers, AUDIO MODULES broadcast quality Manufactured in Australia Harbuch Electronics pty. 9/40 Leighton Pl. HORNSBY 2077 Ph (02) 9476-5854 Fx (02) 9476-3231 Free catalog download from Tektronix The 2005 Tektronix Product Catalog is packed with essential new updates on oscilloscopes, logic analysers, mobile protocol testing, video test products, sig nal sources and spectrum analyser Tektronix claim you will need this newly updated version to keep yourself at the cutting edge of testing, measurement and monitoring You can find out about a portfolio of products in the design and manuf turing, network monitoring, video test, signal sources, and RF tools markets, all designed to meet your challenging Goto [Link] Key=9620,JVS.C.S.Fmz322 Contact: Microgram Computers 4/44 Bon Mace Cl, Berkeley Vale 2261 Tel: (02) 4389 8444 Fax: (02) 4989 8388 Website: [Link] Contact: NewTek instruments 4 St, North Ryde NSW 2119 el:(02) 9868 0100 Fax.(02) 9888 0125 Website: [Link]| 7 10% holon cn conoy spa ‘qo oat oats begs: ceo stv ies, D1. os. tomprate competed an oven cone tects onl ee eas care ers eon. Hy-0 International Pty Lid fs) 9562-4222 Fax: (3) 9882909 ‘WebLINK:[Link]. 20 sea provdig aang oo Pave ai sles for Ms es Dara the ios stony as ‘otic Thinner ses proaictrm MK Cotas te wr "eoaned spc nail TeleLink Communications Tek) 4934 063 Fax (7) 434 0311 WebLINK:[Link] au Bee UEC Ar Tat By RCL Want to be NOTICED? Without costing you a fortune? To reserve your place in Siucow Cr WeBLINK, ‘email BENEDICTUS SMITH Py Lid info@[Link] ee)Elnec have recently added the ‘SmartProg? to their range of IC pro- grammers. The SmartProg? is a uni- versal IC programmer (itcan program nearly 11,000 different ICtypes) with a 40-pin DIL ZIF socket. Itis similar tothe popular SmartProg except thet it has a USB interface. The SmartProg2 is only 160% 95 x 35mm, hasa rugged metal enclosure, an In-System Programming port and is supplied with software, power supply and cables. Software updates are released roughly every 2 weeks and are free from [Link]. List price is $630+GST. For this Elnec SmartProg2 Programmer a % ‘month only, you can gota SmartProg? for only $600+GST., Contact: Grantronics Pty Ltd PO Box 275, Wentworthville NSW 2145, Tel: (02) 9896 7150 Fax: (02) 9896 7153 ‘Website: [Link] DSE’s whome 2.4GHz audio/video sender “whome"? Wireless home, of course! They say it brings the digitally connected home to reality. W Home Automation is backed by a pretty big player, globally (SkyNot Global) and now DSE has this first offering, a 2.4GHz audio/video sender that can distribute not just audio and video around the home but also allows you to use your remote control from any room. Use it with DVDs, Pay TV, VCRs, etc — or send video or MP3 sound (full stereo) from your computer to your sound system, It has a rango of up to about 30m. ‘What you see in the photo above i what you get in the kit the wireless video transmitter and receiver, two power supplies and a collection of cables to give you just about unlimited Contact: [Dick Smith Electronics (al stores) Reply Paid 500, PO Box 500, Regents Park OC NSW 2143, Het: 1300 366 644 Fax: (02) 9642 9155 Website: [Link] 84 SiLscON Cup flexibility. There's even a 3.5mm to RCA socket adaptor! It’s available at all DSE and Powerklouse stores. Farnell InOne’s RoHS catalog ‘The electronics industry's first RoliS (Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances) Directive compliant catalog is now available from Farnell InOne, Containing over 1,600 RoHS compliant products, from suppliers such as National Semiconductor, EPCOS and AVX, the first issue has beon mailed to over 160,000 custom- ers across 13 countries including Australia and New Zealand. Also contained in the catalogue is ‘A Step-by-Step Guide to Compliance with the ROHS Directive’, a count down to compliance and answers to some of the most frequently asked questions. In addition to being available via the catalog, all compliant products are also flagged on Farnell InOne’s website — [Link], au, where design engineers can find products using RoHS’ as a search pa- rameter. The website will be continu: ally updated as new RoHS compliant products become available. Copies of the catalog are available by calling Farnell InOne. Contact: Farnell Inde PMB 6, Chester Hil NSW 2162 Tel: 1300 361 005 (NZ 0800 90 80 80) ‘www [Link] Jaycar opens two new stores in Aust & NZ Electronics enthusiasts in the south- em Sydney suburb of Alexandria and New Zealand city of Hamilton now have their own ‘local’ Jaycar stores. Both stores carry Jaycar’s full prod- uct range and will cater to the needs of electronics enthusiasts & hobbyists. The new stores will also provide the area's tradesmen with ready access to Jaycar’s range of electronic. com- ponents, tools, wire & cable, access control systems, etc. The stores are staffed by enthusiasts ‘who understand the products they sell, and can provide their customers with knowledgeable advice that few other stores can give. Products include car alarm systems, test equipment, video surveillance equipment, car audio, electrical & electronic tools, wire, ca- ble, accessories, and kits The new stores are located at — Alexandria: 647 Botany Rd, Roseberry NSW 2015 Ph (02) 9699- 4699 Hamilton (shown above): 90-92 Commerce St Frankton, NZ Ph (07) 846-017, |Contact: \Jaycar Electronics PO Box 6424, Siverwater NSW 1811, Tel: 1800 022 888 Fax: (02) 9741 8500 Website: wiv [Link] [Link]ST (NEW) 40mW> GREEN LASER HEADS: With a 90-240VAC/50-60tte power supply, samen. $270, 1LS2 (NEW) domW+635nm REDLASER HEADS [Supplied wth a small 100-240VAC 50-002, Output lsvtic500mA, 2immxSemm $200 1.83 (NEW)BLUE laser dlode 2mW: $1900 [LOst (ew) 2 colour laser light show: Uses lasers, edna, |L0s2 (NeW) 3 colour laserlight show: Uses 2lasers &mxes bot or Sr colour $700 “WARNING: Only qualified persons should use these components as the dangors of high voltage and high intensity laser energy both FLY1 (NEW) laser ight show: This. professional quality Tight show features: Sold. statof ‘aser diode, ad emis 2 powerful 30m at a ‘wavelength of S32nm, emerald green(OPSS). 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This kil includes PCB] land all onboard components fora basic SOW plus shunt regulator kit $22 INEWKIT...K221 SERIAL LCD INTERFACE [This it ocndes en nerfacebolween 22400 baud serial ine. ana commen ehwacter type LCDs that use | IHosé760 irtataoe. Ween use ver or soncrverted [data trom a PC, PICAXE. or other processor. Features Incude sofware contated variable backlght mens, ho auciry aig! ouput & a Teep™ ult 1 dive a peizospoaser Thelayoute i helt slows oa conn to tdand 18pm engoron linddouberow ypetco lconectons. Theceralin facets TTL. Thats etdeah stata ien TLogleone, 0° nea #8 0G. Formore deiais checkout ourwet ste, Te kitnctdes aPC, lroorammesPICteFe28.0 | filer ICandonboara seeawina DLBLCO. ote) t6x2 BACKLIT LCD: Stands Hien chipset Mound on: PCB wih LED backign, onboard piezo uzzer ver eon ED. $12 More details on these and other now kts ai [Link]| ‘Suppliers of kits and surplus electronics to hobbyists, experimenters, industry & professionals. ‘Orders: Ph (02) 9584 3563, Fax 9584 3561, sales@[Link], PO Box 89 Oatley NSW 2223