Published:2011/8/14 22:08:00 Author:Li xiao na
By Ton Giesberts PC power supplies can often be bought cheaply at places such as computer fairs. But it isn’t that easy to check if such a (second hand) power supply. This dedicated tester makes that job quick and straight forward. Apart from the power supply and this tester, you’ll only need a mains cable (and socket!). All outputs from the power supply can be ... (View)
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Published:2011/8/14 21:53:00 Author:Phyllis
By Chris Bayliss In 2006 European legislation on electrical and electronic waste comes into full force. Across North America, states are passing laws to deal with electronics waste. These measures reflect a hidden but growing problem. As any electronics enthusiast who has recently tried to repair a consumer product will know, it is more likely to be cheaper to dispose of and replace... (View)
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Published:2011/8/14 21:21:00 Author:Amy
Paul Goossens Developments in the electronics area (or is it an arena?) are never at a standstill. Whenever there is something substantially new to report it is almost always related to complex chips. However, Philips proves that new developments are possible even with what you thought were dead-standard components. For example, take the new range of transistors with the name ’RET’ -mean... (View)
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Published:2011/8/14 21:21:00 Author:Li xiao na
Model aircraft sometimes have the unpleasant property of choosing their own landing field, and doing so in terrain where they are hard to see. In such cases, the model finder described here can make the search easier. An unplanned landing is already bad enough, but to make matters worse, it sometimes happens in a cornfield. That often means searching crisscross through the field for sev... (View)
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Published:2011/8/14 21:04:00 Author:Phyllis
By Lourens le Grange Figure 4 gives the basics of a timer interrupt service routine (which is your code) containing a call to the subroutine SCHEDOO. The following execution rates (in ms) are available for Time Tasks: 10,20,40,50, 100,200 (View)
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Published:2011/8/14 21:04:00 Author:Amy
R. Edlinger Short circuits in the tracks, points or wiring are almost inevitable when building or operating a model railway. Although transformers for model systems must be protected against short circuits by built-in bimetallic switches, the response time of such switches is so long that is not possible to immedi... (View)
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Published:2011/8/14 20:07:00 Author:Amy
Source: National Semiconductor The well-known LM386 is an excellent choice for many designs requiring a small audio power amplifier (1-watt) in a single chip. However, the LM386 requires quite a few external parts including some electrolytic capacitors, which unfortunately add volume and cost to the circuit. ... (View)
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Published:2011/8/12 2:12:00 Author:Amy
Peter Verhoosel This multi-position switch is operated by the IR transmitter with HT12R described elsewhere in the issue. The signal transmitted by the transmitter enters the circuit through infrared detector IC4. At the output the demodulated signal is available, that via R2 and Tl is routed to t... (View)
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Published:2011/8/12 1:44:00 Author:Phyllis
By Lourens le Grange In Figure 1 the operating system’s ’task activation code’ is a single CALL TASK_X instruction. This will have to be extended. Firstly we need to add a test to prevent a task from being activated if it is switched OFF. Secondly we must be able to change a task’s entry point during runtime, in which case a CALL instruction cannot be used as the destinatio... (View)
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Published:2011/8/12 1:40:00 Author:Li xiao na
By Peter Moreton Uploading the demo firmware using IC-Prog Download the Elektor PIC18Flash demonstration firmware, file number 040010-11.zip from the Free Downloads page and unpack the zip file to a suitable folder. Connect a short parallel cable between the PC printer port and the PIC18Fiash MTSP port K4, run IC-Prog and select File, Open File, PIC18flash.hex. Now click... (View)
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Published:2011/8/12 1:39:00 Author:Amy
Luc Lemmens From time to time you may come across a unit of measure that’s completely unfamiliar. It also happens that the name sounds vaguely familiar, but you just can’t remember the fine points. Although the Internet probably contains numerous sites that can help out, the most comprehensive one is probably www.onlineconversion.com. Here you can convert physics quantities ... (View)
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Published:2011/8/12 1:28:00 Author:Amy
Paul Goosens It is often necessary to monitor the power supply voltage in a piece of equipment. When the device takes its power from a battery, the input voltage can change and provide an indication of how much energy is left. Even a device powered from the mains can benefit from keeping an eye on the (various... (View)
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Published:2011/8/12 1:20:00 Author:Phyllis
By Lourens le Grange This article describes the development of a multi-tasking operating system for the PIC1 8xxx microcontroller from Microchip. The code and RAM memory requirements are minimal and the basic idea straight forward, but it can simplify the implementation of an application on this microcontroller ... (View)
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Published:2011/8/12 1:13:00 Author:Amy
P.C. Hogenkamp CMOS circuits are known for their low current consumption. This is particularly important for battery-powered circuits. Unfortunately, oscillators often require quite a bit of current. We therefore propose this osc... (View)
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Published:2011/8/12 1:12:00 Author:Li xiao na
By Peter Moreton Introducing the MTSP programmer An important feature of the PICI8Flash system is the provision of onboard programming electronics. This enables the user to flash the microcontroller without having to remove the PIC from its socket and load it into a standalone programmer. In 1996, the ’Tait Classic’ programmer design was widely published, enabling th... (View)
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Published:2011/8/12 1:07:00 Author:Amy
Flemming Jensen This audio peak detector allows a pair of stereo channels to be monitored on a single LED. Identical circuitry is used in the left and right channels. Use is made of the switching levels of Schmitt t... (View)
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Published:2011/8/12 0:58:00 Author:Phyllis
By Harry Baggen Electronics is not always plain sailing. Although a small circuit can be built quickly without jotting down complex formulas, a deeper or more theoretical approach soon calls for equations and basic maths. There is no need however to know everything from the top of your head as the Internet is available to assist. Electronics can be downright easy... but also horrend... (View)
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Published:2011/8/12 0:51:00 Author:Amy
Paul Goossens In the digital domain, analogue signals can be easily manipulated without requiring different hardware for each operation (as is necessary for analogue circuits). Other important advantages are that no noise is added during the operation (provided it is programmed correctly) and that mathematical algorithms are easier to implement. Unfortunately, the... (View)
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Published:2011/8/12 0:49:00 Author:Li xiao na
By Peter Moreton The development system described in this article continues a fine tradition of Elektor Electronics microcontroller articles, and follows in the lineage of the popular PICee board, AVRee and others. The board described here employs the most recent and powerful of Microchip’s PIC family, the ’1 8F’ series, and specifically, the PIC18F452. The PIC18F4b2 has become ... (View)
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Published:2011/8/11 22:45:00 Author:Amy
Robert Edlinger In the July/August 2004 issue we published a flickering light for use in models that uses a microcontroller to minimize the component count. Regardless of whether you want to effectively imitate a house fire, a campfire, or light from welding, the circuit described here fills the bill ... (View)
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