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MARCH $4.95*
hy NZ $6.50 Bs

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ISSN 1030-2662

POST
PRINT
- 9"°771030"266001
PP255003/01272
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JC 30 COMPACT SPEAKER KIT

The JC 30 Speaker Kit consists of cabinets which we purchased at a fraction
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which is covered in an unfinished quality timber veneer and needs to be
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cabinet and this is reflected in the low price. Specifically this work is rear port
hole needs to be slightly enlarged, speaker grills need to be built from 4
pieces of pre cut hardwood beading supplied and grill cloth needs mounting. SPEAKER KIT Cat. CS-2590 $229 Pr
These jobs should not pose much of a problem to those with modest level of Includes: * 2 x 6" carbon fibre woofers © 2x Vifa D19 dene tweeters
woodworking skills. The fundamental quality of the enclosures will make the i 2 x pre built crossover networks « Total impedence -40
effort worthwhile. The cabinets have two choices of wood finishes available - (which is not a problem for most amplifiers and they sould
Jarrah (dark) and Blackwood (light). even be usd in a car stereo system) * Power - 80WRMS
CABINETS: Jarrah Cat. (S-2592, Blackwood Cat. (5-2594 $169 Pr
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We reserve the right to supply Jarrah when the Blackwood stocks are exhausted.

HEAD OFFICE: 8-10 LEEDS ST RHODES 2138 © PHONE: (02) 9743 5222 © FAX: (02) 9743 2066 ALL MAJOR
WHOLESALE: PHONE: (02) 9743 5222 ¢ ORDERS: 1800 620 169 © FAX: (02) 9743 3077 wii
MAIL ORDERS FREE POST TO: Reply Paid 72. Jaycar Mail Orders. PO Box 185 Concord NSW 2137 ACCEPTED
ELECTRONICS FREE CALL FOR ORDERS: 1800 022 888 ENQUIRY HOTLINE: (02) 9743 6144 FAX: (02) 9743 2066

SYDNEY CITY + 129 York St * Ph: (02) 9267 1614 ADELAIDE SA ¢ 194 Wright St (Cnr Selby St) * Ph: (08) 231 7355
BANKSTOWN «363 Hume Hwy (Cnr. Meredith St) * Ph: (02) 9709 2822 BURUNDA QLD ¢144 Logan Rd ¢ Ph: (07) 3393 0777
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FEATURES
7 Driving A Computer By Remote Control
The latest-generation remote access software makes it possible to control a
computer at a distant location via the telephone line. We look at two popular
packages — by Ross Tester
30 Video Conferencing: The Coming Boom
Video conferencing is set to revolutionise face-to-face communications. DRIVING A COMPUTER BY REMOTE
Here's a rundown on how it works — by Sammy Isreb CONTROL ~ PAGE 7 |
76 Cathode Ray Oscilloscopes; Pt.7
Learn how the display tubes used in modern digital scopes work and how
the image is built up on the screen — by Bryan Maher

PROJECTS TO BUILD
18 Plastic Power PA Amplifier
Rugged design includes a 100V line transformer, thermal cutout and DC
offset adjustment and puts out 175W — by Ross Tester
34 Signalling & Lighting For Model Railways
We describe two separate projects for your model railway: a 3-aspect signal
unit and a constant brilliance lighting circuit — by Jeff Monegal
40 Build A Jumbo LED Clock PLASTIC POWER PA AMPLIFIER-
Read the time at 50 paces. This digital clock has very large LED displays ne 8
and is based on readily available CMOS ICs— by John Clarke
58 RGB-To-PAL Encoder For The TV Pattern Generator
Simple add-on board replaces the discontinued TEA2000 RGB-to-PAL colour
encoder IC used in the TV Pattern Generator — by John Clarke
72 Audible Continuity Tester
This nifty little continuity tester varies its tone according to the resistance
being measured — by Rick Walters

SPECIAL COLUMNS
52 Serviceman’s Log
The rich tapestry of servicing — by the TV Serviceman
62 Radio Control SIGNALLING & LIGHTING FOR
Preventing RF interference on the 36MHz band — by Bob Young | MODEL RAILWAYS — PAGE 34
82 Vintage Radio
The importance of grid bias — by John Hill

DEPARTMENTS
2 Publisher’s Letter 90 Back Issues
3 Mailbag 92 Ask Silicon Chip
28 Circuit Notebook 95 Market Centre
86 Product Showcase 96 Advertising Index ==— ayy) A JUMBO LED CLOCK-
89 Order Form : - PAGE 40
MARCH 1997 1
 Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD
Editor
PUBLISHER'S LETTER
Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.)
Technical Staff Pay TV picture
John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.)
Robert Flynn quality is poor
Rick Walters So how many of you have signed up for Pay
Reader Services TV with Optus or Foxtel? Not many I hope, for
: Ann Jenkinson your sake, because a high proportion who do
quickly become disenchanted. Sure, there are
Advertising Manager lots of channels but most of them you wouldn’t
Brendon Sheridan
be bothered watching. The “Discovery” chan-
Phone (03) 9720 9198 nel on Foxtel is worth watching but most ofthe
Mobile 0416 009 217
others you would have to consign to the video
dustbin. Yes, I know that some people sign up to get sports programs but _ are
Regular Contributors special cases.
Brendan Akhurst
Garry Cratt, VK2YBX Even if you are perfectly happy with the program selection, eg, 24-hour
Julian Edgar, Dip.T.(Sec.), B.Ed cartoons, weather, endless re-runs of “I Love Lucy” or limited movies, the
John Hill picture quality is distinctly poor. In fact, one of the so-called advantages of Pay
Mike Sheriff, B.Sc, VK2YFK TV is that you get the “free to air” channels free. So you can dispense with your
Philip Watson, MIREE, VK2ZPW ugly old TV antenna. In fact, I have seen some people argue in favour of (ugly)
Bob Young cable TV because it will eliminate all those ugly TV antennas!
Well, you don’t have to be really discerning to see that the picture quality of
Photography
Glenn A. Keep
the free-to-air channels as fed down the cable is far inferior to viewers’ reception
from their own TV antenna. There are some exceptions, of course, and people in ~
SILICON CHIP is published 12 times difficult reception areas, such as the beachside suburbs of Sydney, will get better
a year by Silicon Chip Publications free-to-air channel pictures than off their old TV antenna; better, but still not first
Pty Ltd. A.C.N. 003 205 490. All class.
material copyright ©. No part of this In general, compared to the first class picture quality available from free-to-air
publication may be reproduced with- channels in most areas of Sydney, the cable pictures are smeary and lack colour
out the written consent of the pub- saturation. In fact, there is even ghosting present! What a big advance that is.
lisher. This is what people are paying for and now digital TV has been announced with
its extra channels and better picture quality. If cable TV is what some people are
Printing: Macquarie Print, Dubbo, prepared to accept, why bother with digital TV?
NSW.
And what if you do decide to get rid of your old TV antenna? There is a catch.
Distribution: Network Distribution Say you want to watch the cricket on Channel 9 and your wife wants to watch
Company. something on SBS or one of the pay TV channels. Sorry, no can do. You can only
watch one signal at a time, regardless of how many sets you may have in your
Subscription rates: $54 per year home. If you want to watch different channels on multiple sets simultaneously,
in Australia. For overseas rates, see you have to pay for extra decoders. So you really can’t afford to get rid of your old
the subscription page in this issue. antenna, can you?
Editorial & advertising offices: It seems to me that if the cable TV people cannot manage to deliver picture
Unit 34, 1-3 Jubilee Avenue, Warrie- quality which is at least as good as you can get from your own ugly TV antenna
~ wood, NSW 2102. Postal address: then they are going to have even more problems when it comes to delivering the
PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW more hi-tech services they are promising such as optical fibre modems, interac-
~ 2097. Phone (02) 9979 5644. Fax tive TV and all the rest of the pie in the sky stuff. Sure it will eventually come but
(02) 9979 6503. when it does it won’t be as half as good as it is cracked up to be.
ISSN 1030-2662 Leo Simpson

WARNING!
SILICON CHIP magazine regularly describes projects which employ a mains power supply or produce high voltage. All such projects should be
considered dangerous or even lethal if not used safely. Readers are warned that high voltage wiring should be carried out according to the
instructions in the articles. When working on these projects use extreme care to ensure that you do not accidentally come into contact with mains
AC voltages or high voltage DC. If you are not confident about working with projects employing mains voltages or other high voltages, you are
advised not to attempt work on them. Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd disclaims any liability for damages should anyone be killed or injured while
working on a project or circuit described in any issue of SILICON CHIP magazine. Devices or circuits described in SILICON CHIP may be
covered by patents. SILICON CHIP disclaims any liability for the infringement of such patents by the manufacturing or selling of any such
equipment. SILICON CHIP also disclaims any liability for projects which are used in such a way as to infringe relevant government regulations
and by-laws.
Advertisers are warned that they are responsible for the content of all advertisements and that they must conform to the Trade Practices Act 1974
—oras ee amended and to any gevernmenta! eaErene which are applicable.

2 SILICON CHIP
 MAILBAG
TO-220 mounting best idea for connection reliabil- case which is bolted to the compu-
has problems ity) or using short flying leads be- ter case!
Firstly, Iwould like to congratu- tween the device leads and the Opening the power supply
late you and the staff on a very circuit board. showed the cause. During the hand
readable hobbyist magazine. It is Theory has it that TO-3 socket soldering of the PC board to the
keenly read by many I know and connections are actually kept clean IEC sockets, the Earth wire, which
features some fine educational and low resistance by the thermal is a little loop, had flicked off the
projects. movement of the device leads but earth terminal and sprung up, still
I would like to comment on D. after a moderately long servicing molten and soldered itself to the
Woodbridge’s letter in the October career, I treat connections of any Active input pin directly above,
1996 issue. Mr Woodbridge raises sort with suspicion. creating what is the worse possi-
some excellent points in his letter M. Watts, ble combination, a unit that will
but the issues of the desirability of Wellington, NZ. function, yet the case is live.
vertical mounting of flatpak TO- The scary thing is that if I had
220 style power devices (and in- Dangerous computer erabbed the case to turn it around
deed ICs) deserves closer scrutiny mains wiring (I was about to) I don’t think I’d be
in my opinion. I would like to draw your atten-. writing this letter or a computer
It should be realised that when tion to a very dangerous computer builder could have built the unit,
such components are bolted to power supply I was sold recently. I sold it, and some kid on Christmas
heatsinks, soldered into a circuit do a fair number of computer up- Day with bare feet in his rumpus
board and mounted vertically erades and repairs for friends and room could have touched the case
when the heatsink is also bonded am always on the constant “up- or anything attached to it (modem,
to the board, they are prone to two grade path”. mouse, or CD-ROM headphone
possible modes of device and/or As the prices of these 686 socket) and been fried.
circuit malfunction. 166MHz+ CPUs are so low at the I contacted the importer/dis-
By rigidly bonding the compo- moment, anew computer was defi- tributor and the guy I spoke to told
nents in this fashion, thermal ex- nitely in order. All the various bits me they “went through 30+ cases a
pansion of the component leads required were purchased along day” and “they don’t have time to
leaves them nowhere to go but ei- with a new mini tower case and test them”. This is when I asked
ther back up into the device en- integral power supply. These have about basic electrical safety test-
capsulation or further through the those “speed displays” and I ing, when they perhaps open the
board. In both cases, connections though I should set the speed to boxes to change the voltage switch
of one type or another may fail and read 166 before the “guts” were from 110 to 240VAC — which they
often do (ie, broken wire bonds in inside, as otherwise it would be do not do. Basically, he seemed
the device or cracked solder joints too fiddly to change all those jump- relatively unconcerned but took my
in the board). ers with hard disks etc, in the way. number when I asked them what
If the devices are to be mounted After plugging in the IEC plug they were going to do about it.
vertically, a heatsink clamp which lead and turning it on, it read 133. Bear in mind, all I wanted was
affords some “give” rather than a Now [always have a habit of brush- an assurance they would check all
bolt is the best option. Bonding the ing the exposed metal of anything incoming cases for electrical safety.
device leads beyond the point new plugged into 240VAC quickly And this is from one of the biggest
where the lead narrows should be with the back of my hand and that’s importers of computer parts in the
fine for horizontal mounting as when I felt a nasty burning sensa- country too!
long as the bend is made slowly so tion. I thought some of these So there you have it, perhaps an
the metal in the lead doesn’t crys- _ switchmode supplies were nasty isolated incident on the produc-
tallise and craze. but this was really nasty. Bear in tion line and nobody hurt but if it
Some device manufacturers ex- mind that I was standing in the weren’t for my non-trust of any-
plicitly warn against rigid vertical kitchen, on tiles in bare feet. thing that plugs into 240VAC until
mounting in their power device I went upstairs to get the DMM it’s proved safe, I may have been
data books. It’s also worth noting and my suspicions were confirmed; fried or at least given a bigger jolt.
that TO-3 style devices can suffer a the chassis (the entire case!) was at By the way, the earth leakage
similar misfortune when rigidly 240AC! A quick test of the IEC breaker did not trip — even though
fixed to a PC board, an occurrence chassis plug revealed there was no it does on other occasions.
avoided by good manufacturers Earth and the Active pin was at- J. Richardson,
either using board sockets (not the tached also to the power supply Southport, Qld.

MARCH 1997 3
rr lr, _-_—=0dR-—="70d09@’—_—_—=#w
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 electronic design, and applications.
The sixth edition has been expanded
to include chapters on surface
mount technology, hardware & soft-
ware design, semicustom electron-
NEWINES GUIDE TO ics & data communications. 63
-./ SURFACE
SATELLITE TV
Riss, | So
ELECTRONICS
ENGINEER'S — MOUNT
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chapters, in hard cover at $120.00.
REFERENCE
ijele)4

Radio Frequency
SERVICING
PERSONAL
Transistors
COMPUTERS Principles & Practical Applica-
tions. By Norm Dye & Helge
Granberg. Published 1993.
This book strips away the
mysteries of RF circuit design.
Written by two Motorola engi-
neers, it looks at RF transistor
fundamentals before moving on to
Specific design examples; eg,
Newnes Guide practice of computer servicing and R-DAT. If you want to amplifiers, oscillators and pulsed
to Satellite TV (including disc drives, printers & understand digital audio, you need power systems. Also included are
Installation, Reception & monitors), describes some of the this reference book. 305 pages, in chapters on filtering, impedance
Repair. By Derek J. Stephen- latest software diagnostic routines paperback at $55.95. matching & CAD. 235 pages, in
son. First published 1991, & includes program listings. 387 hard cover at $85.00.
reprinted 1994 (3rd edition). pages in hard cover at $59.95. Power Electronics
This is a practical guide on the Handbook Surface Mount Technology
installation and servicing of The Art of Linear Components, Circuits & Applica- By Rudolph Strauss. First
satellite television equipment. The Electronics tions, by F. F. Mazda. Published published 1994.
coverage of the subject is By John Linsley Hood. Published 1990. This book will provide informative
extensive, without excessive 1993. : Previously a neglected field, power reading for anyone considering the
theory or mathematics. 371 pages, This is a practical handbook from electronics has come into its own, assembly of PC boards with
in hard cover at $55.95. one of the world’s most prolific particularly in the areas of traction surface mounted devices. Includes
audio designers, with many of his and electric vehicles. F. F. Mazda chapters on wave soldering, reflow
Guide to TV & Video designs having been published in is an acknowledged authority on soldering, component placement,
Technology English technical magazines over the subject and he writes mainly cleaning & quality control. 361
By Eugene Trundle. First publish- the years. A great many practical on the many uses of thyristors & pages, in hard cover at $99.00.
ed 1988. Second edition 1996. circuits are featured — a must for Triacs in single and three phase
Eugene Trundle has written for anyone interested in audio design. circuits. 417 pages, in soft cover at Audio Electronics
many years in Je/evision magazine 336 pages, in paperback at $49.95. $59.95. By John Linsley Hood. Published
and his latest book is right up date 1995.
on TV and video technology. 382 Digital Audio & Compact Electronics Engineer’s This book is for anyone involved in
pages, in paperback, at $39.95. Disc Technology Reference Book ~ designing, adapting and using
Produced by the Sony Service Edited by F. F. Mazdax = analog and digital audio equip-
Servicing Personal Centre (Europe). 3rd edition, First published 1989 ment. Covers tape recording,
Computers published 1995. 6th edition. tuners & radio receivers,
By Michael Tooley. First pub- Prepared by Sony’s technical staff, This just has to be the best refer- preamplifiers, voltage amplifiers,
lished 1985. 4th edition 1994. this is the best book on compact ence book available for electronics power amplifiers, the compact disc
Computers are prone to failure disc technology that we have ever engineers. Provides expert cover- & digital audio, test & measure-
from a number of common causes come across. It covers digital age of all aspects of electronics in ment, loudspeaker crossover
& some that are not so common. audio in depth, including PCM five parts: techniques, physical phe- systems and power supplies. 351
This book sets out the principles & adapters, the Video8 PCM format nomena, material & components, pages, in soft cover at $52.95.
a a a

Y Title Price
Your Name $55.95
| PLEASE PRINT
| Address $39.95
$59.95
Postcode $49.95
Daytime Phone No. Total Price $A $55.95
~ [UV Power Electronics Handbook $59.95
(J Cheque/Money Order _JBankcard ‘JVisaCard [J MasterCard $39.95
LJ Electronic Engineer's Reference Book —*| $120.00
CardNo | | | ELT TE EE LE
| || [a Radto Frequency Transistors $85.00
J Surface Mount Technology $99.00
Signature Card expiry date LJ Audio Electronics $52.95
Postage: add $5.00 per book. Orders over $100
| Return to: Silicon Chip Publications, PO Box 139, Collaroy NSW, Australia 2097. are post free within Australia. NZ & PNG add
I Or call (02) 9979 5644 & quote your credit card details; or fax to (02) 9979 650 3 |$10.00 per book; elsewhere add $15 per book.
TOTAL $A
Shox ‘iii: sniaes deneeek: uma sania Seed: nies cues: tee. deck ‘dk Stein aie oes oem il, tal See ei ee FE PE GER Te ee ee Ee ae

6 SILICON CHIP
 If you have ever been in the predicament of working
in one place when the files or programs you want are
in another, you will understand the frustration. “If
only there was some way to access that —_om
from where I am now... 99

It’s becoming they want to see

more and more of a the glorious living
problem as telecommuting be- Technicolor version. And
comes more and more popular. what if we moved this to there and
Telecommuting certainly doesn’t suit changed this and...
everyone, nor does it suit many in- A file is bigger than 1.44MB and split-
dustries but many organisations now ting it is not easy. But I need to get it
realise the benefits of allowing par- tem, when things don’t quite work as from pointA to point B. How can it
ticular staff to work at home, either intended! be transported?
part of the time or all the time, and Let’s look at a few real-life exam- Mylittle laptop computer simply can’t
use technology to “commute” their ples (yes, these are from unfortunate handle the jobs my desktop compu-
work to the office, instead of commut- experience!): ter can. If only Icould link them...
ing themselves to the office.
It saves time in travelling (which I have worked hours, perhaps days, at We could go on but we’re sure you
for most people is completely wasted home on a project and when Ifi- get the picture. So how do you solve
time) and it can save in high-rent of- nally take it to the office or to a the dilemma?
fice space. And the worker is usually bureau, one of the files is missing or
a lot happier; a win-win situation if corrupted! First you'll need a modem
ever there was one. I’m working in a strange office and What’s a modem? It’s one of those
Most contractors and freelancers the software they have simply won’t few buzz-words of computer speak
have practised a form of tele- do the job. Or they don’t have a which actually tells you what it does!
commuting for years, doing the work particular type style I want to use. If Modem is a contraction of
in one place and electronically lodg- only I could get access to the soft- MOdulate/DEModulate. Its task is to
ing it in another. But as with employ- ware on my own computer... take the digital information from a
ees telecommuting, they occasionally A client sees a proof from a fax or computer and MODulate it to analog
encounter a few hiccups in the sys- froma mono laser printer. Of course, format so that it can be fed down a

MARCH 1997 7
 buy more powerful software but even
that, for the most part, has been pretty
reasonably priced.
_ Basic communication software is
fine if all you want to do is send files
to and from other computers, log on to
bulletin boards or even access the
Internet {although you’ll need other
software to properly use the Net).
As you might expect if you want to
do much more than that you’ll need
more specialised software. In this ar-
ticle, we’re looking at software which
will do much more than allow two
computers to talk to each other. It will
allow one computer to control the
other!
We are talking about remote con-
This Dynalink 33.6Kb external modem was purchased by phone order for just trol or remote access software.
$179.95 including next morning delivery. An internal version is even cheaper In a nutshell, this software not only
but should only be considered if you have plenty of vacant slots — now and for communicates with a second compu-
the future. ter, it actually allows complete con-
trol over it.
While there are many packages
telephone line. Another moDEM will So modems have got: much faster around which do the job in varying
DEModulate the analog signal back to and much cheaper. So what? degrees, we looked at two main con-
digital for the computer to process. What it means is that data commu- tenders: LapLink and pcANYWHERE.
Modems have been around for years nication is now well and truly within With minor differences, both do es-
but today’s modem is a far cry from the average person’s reach. Most re- sentially the same job with similar
those of even a decade ago. tail computer packages now include a performance.
As everyone knows, one of the ma- 14,400 or 28,800 bps modem, espe- As its name suggests, LapLink origi-
jor advances in computer technology cially as more and more people are nally started out as a program to trans-
has been in the speed department. climbing onto the Internet band- fer files between laptop (and later note-
From the humble IBM XT operating at waggon. book) computers to desktop models
the then blinding speed of 4.77MHz, Of course, we are not limited to using their parallel or serial ports.
133MHz is rapidly becoming today’s using the telephone line and a couple pcANYWHERE, on the other hand,
entry level computer. And 166MHz of modems for communication be- started out as a software to remotely
and 200MHz models are now com- tween computers. These days you address one computer from another.
mon. could connect the computers directly Over the years, both packages have
At the same time, modems have via their parallel or serial cables if taken on more and more of the other’s
also been increasing in speed. Back in they are close enough, or you can use features to the point where today there
the days of the XT, most modems were an existing IPX or TCP/IP network, is little to choose between them.
flat out at 300 bits per second (bps). connection via the Internet or ISDN The version of LapLink we used
Today, no self-respecting ‘net surfer (Integrated Subscriber Digital Network was the 32-bit LapLink for Windows
would be seen dead with anything — a somewhat expensive digital data 95 (also known as LapLink V7.5). This
less than a 14,400 bps modem. Even link capable 64kb/s), or even infrared package also includes the 16-bit soft-
that is considered snail pace — 28,800 (IrDA) connections if you have them. ware for Windows 3.11 users and is,
and now 33,600 bps modems are vir- You might be wondering why any- in fact, a means of creating a bridge
tually a necessity. one would want software to commu- between machines using the different
Incidentally, 33,600 bps is just about nicate via a network when the net- operating systems.
as fast as modems can theoretically work is specifically set up for that We also used pcANYWHERE32, an-
get using conventional phone lines purpose. There are specific applica- other 32-bit package designed for Win-
and currently available technology. tions where the network doesn’t have dows 95 or Windows NT. Other ver-
Just as with PCs, as modems have the capabilities we are looking for: sions are available for 16-bit (ie, Win
gone up in speed, their price has taken more of this anon. 3.11, etc). But regardless of which soft-
the opposite direction. To research ware you use, the same program and
this article, we bought a brand new Suitable software version must be loaded on both com-
33,600 bps modem, over the counter, It doesn’t take much in the way of puters.
for just $179.95. By comparison, a software to get computers to talk via a
year ago when we purchased the modem. In fact, Windows has had What can you do?
28,800 bps modem we use in the Sili- quite usable communication software There are three basic uses for re-
con Chip office, we paid more than built in for years. If you wanted more mote software which we will exam-
double that! bells and whistles then you had to ine in turn.

8 SILICON CHIP
1: Remote Computer Control and simply sending screen images and of software licences. You know, all
This is the most important use for keystrokes over the link, resulting ina that “fine print” on the outside of the
remote software. much faster system. software which says “read me before
With this system, you effectively One application where remote con- opening” — which of course you never
“drive” the remote computer from the trol really comes into its own is in the read — or the important message which
computer you are currently at (the linking of a laptop or notebook com- flashes up when you load new pro-
local computer). It is important to note puter (which is often limited in re- grams: “Click here if you agree”. Yeah,
that the remote computer functions sources) to a higher-performing com- yeah — everyone clicks, no-one both-
just as if it would if you were sitting at puter. The laptop or notebook may ers reading through all the legal waf-
the keyboard — it provides all the not have the power to accomplish cer- fle!
power, all the “grunt” (or lack of it) - tain tasks — high-end graphics, for ex- What you are doing is agreeing to
any limitations you would experience ample. Connect it to a computer in- the terms of the manufacturer or dis-
at that computer (eg lack of memory, tended for the job and bingo! tributor. Despite your paying good
limited disc space, etc) you will also Another popular use: think about money for the software, after the event
experience remotely. how remote control can make life sim- they tell you that you haven’t pur-
However, all the software on that pler for people involved in computer chased it at all, just a licence to use it.
remote computer, its disc drives, even support. Ask anyone in this field and And if you don’t comply with the
its network connections (if it has any) they’ll tell you there is overwhelm- licence conditions (which of course
are at your disposal. Basically, the ingly one main problem: the person you ve never read) they’11 come down
local computer simply becomes a ter- on the other end of the phone! Not the keyboard lead and break your
minal for the remote computer — all only is that person more than likely to $#@%&~ fingers!
work is actually performed in the re- have caused the problem in the first One of those conditions you’ve
mote and “echoed” to the local com- place, they have a devil of a job ex- agreed to says that under pain of death,
puter. plaining the problem to tech support. or worse, you will only install the
Windows (3.11 and 95) has soft- Now, if tech support had remote com- software on one machine.
ware built in which sort-of does the puter control they could solve the However, if you use a remote con-
same thing. The big disadvantage is problem much more quickly, without trol program you’ve beaten them at
that it tends to send a lot more infor- having to leave the office! their own game! You get complete
mation to and from each computer, The potential savings in time, and access to the software on the remote
information which it needs to accom- therefore money, are staggering. By machine but it is not installed on the
plish the task because both comput- the way, this is not simply a possible local machine — you are simply con-
ers are working hard in the process. use: many PC support companies are trolling it from there. So now there’s
Programs such as peANYWHERE and using exactly this approach these days. no need to buy a copy of the software
LapLink achieve a better result by let- One question which arises from for home as well as the one you use at
ting the remote computer do the work time to time is on the touchy subject the office!

TRAVELING
SOT INARS

Using the New Features

of Version 7.5

*
gh , ra,
iy Att we dP

The two software packages we trialled: pcANYWHERE32

(above), which was capable of operating under both Windows
95 and Windows NT, and LapLink V7.5 for Windows 95
(right). There are many other programs available to do the
LAPLIN for Wind
ows’ 95

same or similar jobs, including some excellent "shareware"

versions.

MARCH 1997 9
2: File Transfer tion: the very pages you are reading for the 32-bit versions of the software;
We mentioned this before: if there’s now. As you probably know, SILICON if you are still using Windows 3.11
a file on one computer and you want CHIP is produced in Sydney but you will need to load the 16-bit ver-
it on another computer, remote soft- printed in Dubbo, some 400km away. sions. Better performance can be ex-
ware is one of the easiest ways to When we need to get a file to Dubbo in pected from the 32-bit versions.
transfer it. Regardless of whether the a hurry (presses just won’t wait!) we Purely for the convenience of hav-
computers are across a room or across use file transfer via a modem and ing two computers virtually side-by-
the world, file transfer is delightfully standard telephone lines. A typical side which we could compare, we
simple. page might take about twenty minutes first decided to try out the programs
One particular advantage of using or so to send - overall, the cost is not via their network connection instead
remote access software for file trans- dramatically different to sending the of via the modem and phone line.
fer (as distinct from generic commu- file by air express and certainly a lot, According to the manual, each works
nications software) is that if you don’t lot faster! | | in much the same way.
know where the file is or what it is 3: Idle Chit-Chat First snag: the PCs on the SILICON
called, you have the opportunity to Remote software can be used to en- CHIP network use Windows NT, the
search the remote machine. (Most ge- able a two-way conversation with “industrial strength” version of Win-
neric programs require you to know someone at a remote computer. dows. While pcANYWHERE would
the name and/or location of the file). Whether that is for information, for operate under both Windows 95 and
Another major reason for using this fun or even to ask for a date(!) it’s Windows NT, LapLink would only
type of software is that some of it simple. More than that, chatting can operate under Windows 95. To us that
(LapLink for example) has the ability be combined with remote control or doesn’t make a great deal of sense,
to synchronise files/folders between file transfer: the tech support person given the fact that Windows networks
two machines. What does that mean? we talked about earlier can now not in industry are more and more based
Let’s say you have transferred a file only control the remote machine, on NT, not 95. Of course, we wanted
from a remote machine and worked upload or download files as required to stack each program against the other
on it on your local machine. The files (eg software upgrades or patches) but so Windows 95 was required.
are now different, even though they can “talk” to the remote operator at Fortunately, one of our networked
might have the same name. Some time the same time. PCs is a “dual boot” Windows 3.11/
later you want to work on the file and Windows 95 system (see SILICON CHIP
... which one? Setting up the software July ’96) to allow the use of some
By using remote access software to Whether the software you choose is essential, but non-NT-compatbile soft-
synchronise files, the files on the two on CD-ROM or floppy, loading and ware. And it wasn't too difficult to
machines are always updated to the setting up is basically a matter of fol- bring in a Windows-95 machine from
latest version. More than that, you lowing the instructions. CD-ROMs home — I have three machines net-
can set the parameters so that only tend to come with an autoload file worked for my home-based business
amended files are synchronised, sav- which loads as soon as you put the anyway, so connecting one of these to
ing time. | disc in the drive. the SILICON CHIP network was quite
An example of file transfer in ac- Note that Windows 95 is required simple.

10 SILICON CHIP
 That done, we had no trouble load- the IPX network port was enabled. don’t have one, all you need do is
ing either of the programs. Setting up, Purely on a whim, we disabled the have someone place the photo on the
though, was not quite as simple. port and re-enabled it —just two clicks scanner. You can do the rest from any-
While both programs have a step- of the mouse button. Presto! It worked: where. You can even “chat” to them
by-step “Wizard” to guide you through up came the remote computer in the via the chat mode to tell them exactly
the process, and we followed the step- dialog box above. Clicking on that what you want to do, all remotely!
by-step instructions to the letter, we brought up the message that the link It was rather uncanny watching the
found that neither program worked with the other computer was being remote computer screen because eve-
over the network when first fired up. established and not too long after that rything being done by the local com-
LapLink was the first program we (perhaps 15-20 seconds) the screen puter was echoed — the mouse pointer
attacked and the cure also fixed the image of the remote computer came moving around the screen, selections
problem with pcANYWHERE. What up on the screen. being made, even the scanning, with
we had not done was first load the First of all, we were extremely dis- nobody near the thing.
specific drivers for our network. This appointed with the screen quality — it As mentioned, all this was tried out
was more a matter of ignorance on our was very difficult to read and nearly using LapLink because at this stage
part than anything else: had we read impossible to use. Then we realised we hadn’t again tried to get pcANY-
the packaging properly we would have that the remote computer was using a WHERE to work. But fixing the IPX
found that the protocol we use on our much higher screen resolution than problem for LapLink also fixed it for
network (NetBEUJ) was not supported the local computer. Once the resolu- pcANYWHERE, as one might expect.
by the programs. Instead, they required tion was made the same on each, the When we subsequently fired up
either TCP/IP or IPX. (No, we haven’t screens were almost identical. pcANYWHERE we were able to do
bothered to explain what the acro- One of the remote computer’s tasks exactly the same job.
nyms mean — what’s the point?) is to control a scanner. We thought a The times were comparable: it ap-
To cut a long story short, once we pretty reasonable task would be to pears that ppcANYWHERE might es-
realised this we went back into our remotely scan a photograph (of course, tablish the connection slightly faster,
network setup and loaded the IPX the photo had to be placed on the but in use there wasn’t much in it.
protocol (it’s a lot simpler than load- scanner first!). We mentioned before that it might
ing TCP/IP because you don’t have to Using LapLink, we were able to scan seem silly to install this type of soft-
work out machine addresses). Did it the photograph in exactly the same ware for use on a network. But the
spring to life? Not on your nelly! way we would have done at the re- above example highlights the versa-
Sod’s law No 42: if all else fails, mote computer’s keyboard. Yes, it was tility. You get much more than simple
read the manual. Under troubleshoot- markedly slower (perhaps twice as network connections.
ing there was a section on enabling long) but the scanner didn’t miss a
and disabling ports. Alas, it didn't beat (it is sometimes temperamental) Control via a modem
help. The software insisted that the and the end result was the equal of OK, so that was the network con-
IPX protocol was enabled — the “en- scanning it on the spot. nection. What about the modem con-
able port” checkbox was checked and Think of the possibilities that brings nection?
the dialogue box above reported that up: if you need access to a scanner but The secret here, as Mrs Beaton’s

LapLink for Windows 95

Connect over Network

Oeam
Mounted)

WORK [P:]
{R:] (Not Mounted)
1% @ IR:] (Not Mounted) ROSS-2[T:]
| 4g ROSS.2(T:|

MARCH 1997 11
Cook Book might suggest, is to first doesn’t work as intended at least you Again, operation is significantly
catch your modem. Make sure it is set can eliminate the modem and con- slower than it would be if you were
up and working perfectly before try- nection as a cause. sitting at the other PC and performing
ing to use the remote software on it. Alternatively, you could call one of the same keystrokes. You often have
You have the choice of using the in- the bulletin boards that allow free ac- to wait for the screen to refresh after
stallation software supplied with most cess or free limited visitor access (and having clicked with the mouse — in
modems, or letting Windows 95 in- there are lots of those). Don’t be fact, it is not too hard to get ahead of
stall it for you. | tempted — yet — to sign up with an yourself if you are used to working
We tend to prefer the latter ap- Internet Service Provider and go surf- quickly.
proach: by clicking on Control Panel ing the net, at least until you find out But, those reservations aside, either
and then Install New Hardware, Win- the cost you could be up for! program is an excellent way around
dows 95 will go off and look for the what has been a significant problem.
modem (and usually finds it). When it It’s working! One of the more interesting uses,
does, you can use the drivers sup- Now it’s time to call the other com- especially for business and commerce,
plied with Windows 95 if your mo- puter with the remote control soft- is the ability to log into a remote net-
dem is a common brand. ware. Naturally, the remote computer work by remotely controlling one of
If your modem is a little odd-ball, also needs to be running the same the PCs on that network. We did this
don’t despair: your instruction manual remote control software. on a small scale with the SILICON CHIP
will usually tell you it can be installed We have taken several “screen network: we were able to dial in to
as a “so and so” modem, or it may tell dumps” to show you what to expect. one PC from a location several kilo-
you to install it using the software It’s basically a matter of entering the metres away (we could have been
supplied on the installation disc. Ei- phone number you wish to call and thousands of kilometres away) and
ther way, it’s easy to do. clicking on dial. From there on in the through it, gain access to the entire
You may see a lot of information process is automatic until such time network.
about IRQ’s and addresses and so on. as the connection is established. There are countless applications
If these terms mean about as much to Once the connection is established, where this could be a Godsend but
you as Quantum Mechanics and the the remote computer screen pops up there are also some security aspects to
meaning of life, don’t despair — most (albeit slowly) and you are ready to worry about. Both software packages
of the process is automated. In most take full control, as outlined above. we used had the ability to limit access
cases, installation is as simple as fol- Alternatively, if you choose the ap- and to use a variety of password pro-
lowing the on-screen instructions. _ propriate options, you can very sim- tection devices to ensure that anyone
And finally, refer to Sod’s law no 42 ply transfer files, chat or just examine who accessed the system — and the
above. | the other system. network — had the authority to do so.
To test the modem, simply call an- Just as before, we were able to con- Even so, unless you have good rea-
other modem-equipped computer. It trol the scanner, edit text in Word- sons for allowing unlimited access at
makes some sense to call the compu- Perfect, open up a Pagemaker file and any time, security experts recommend
ter you are going to use the remote manipulate the pages... all as if we gateways to networks be turned off
software on later because if something were sitting there instead of here! or disconnected unless actually re-

12 SILICON CHIP
quired.That seems like fair enough
advice to us; it's something we do
here at SILICON CHIP. The Proof of the
Connecting via a cable
While we have been talking about
communication via modems and
phone lines, or via an existing IPX or
TCP/IP network, we acknowledge that My Computer Contral Panel — Floppy (A)

there are many people who don’t have

such devices. But often there is aneed
to transfer files between computers. Nestarork
Nevtibarhooad
Expicrer Hard Disk (0)

If you can get the computers close

enough you can connect a cable be- Fle Manege CD-ROM [Fi]
tween them and, using the remote
software, transfer files using their par- fad cue

allel or serial ports. Typhoon 16 Server D iF]

If at all possible, you should use the

~
parallel ports (ie, both computers’ par- t=? LP?

allel ports are connected via a special HP DeskScan 5

cable) because file transfer is signifi-

cantly faster via the parallel port.
Note that the cable must be pur-
rad

Nawigator

pose-made; ordinary parallel printer

cables and most serial data cables do Reovcle Bin

not work.
The cable connection is selected
during the setup procedure and file
transfer is achieved in a very similar
way to using a modem or network
connection. File transfer can be bi-
directional; either computer can send These two screen images show exactly the same Windows 95 “desktop”
or receive files to or from the other. screen but were actually taken on two different PCs. The top screen is
taken from the PC on which Windows 95 was actually running, the bottom
Which software? screen was the same Windows 95 desktop, captured by peANYWHERE, as
viewed on a computer in a different part of the same building. While in this
In use, we have found very little to case it was being run over a network, it could have been running via a
choose from between LapLink and modem from the other side of the world! Both PCs were also running
pcANYWHERE. Windows Paint, the program used to capture these screen images.
There were a couple of features we
liked slightly more on one than the
other but these were countered in other
directions. We'd be happy to use ei-
ther package. Control Panel Floppy PA}

Where do you get it?

LapLink For Windows 95 and Netwe
Neighborhood
Espllorer Hard Disk (0)

pcANYWHERE32 are available at vir- ray a.

tually any good computer store; if not Ed)re] bd
File Manager CO-ROM [F}
in stock, they should be able to get it
in for you.
With recommended retail prices of The Internet Typhoon ite Server OIF]
$230-295, you can expect to pay any-
where from under $200 up, depend- a
ing on the margin the retailer wants to The Microsott
Netiuycrk
make!
The Dynalink 33.6Kb external mo-
dem was purchased from Software
Today in Melbourne for $179.95, in-
cluding next day door-to-door deliv-
ery (in fact, the modem was delivered
just four working hours after order-
ing. That's not bad service from
1000km away!). SC
MARCH 1997 13
 DICK: SMITH
yf
2

ELECTRONICS

Passport To World Band The 1997 ARRL Amateur Radio

Radio 1997 Operator
Updated Handbook
international Fy
74th edition of the
shortwave radio
handbook with new projects
— broadcasting [0 WORLD BAND RADIO including inductance and
handbook which no
Miniature shortwave listener or ena Capacitance measuring
front ends for a voltmeter.
Rocker should be without.
PC compatible software
Particularly suited
Switch - for beginners
includes the TISFIND
database, and the addition
DPDT looking for an
of a new standard-value
240VAC 6A easier way to tune
into the world.
capacitor filter design
No hard to cut and program and more! 1200
Cat B 2058

$3495
fit Square or pages.
rectangular holes as
$5495
Cat B 2233
these need only one The World of
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drilled and a AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND
BY MARK LONG
EDITION :
i
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finishes the job. The World Of Satellite Television
Cat P 7725 Australia/NZ Edition. The authoritive guide to the home satellite TV
$495 industry. Prepared exclusivly for the Australia/NZ region. Includes
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charts, and satellite “footprints”. 216 pages.
Cat B 2390 $2995

PUBLISHED BY MLE INC

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oo. Input resistance: 9M ohm (x10) 9M ohm (x10) .
Hands-on guide to oscilloscopes 60 MHz 100 MHz
Bandwidth: an

go MHz $2695
This hand book covers all aspects of oscilloscope reernnnee
use from basic operation to advanced functions.
Ideal for electronic enthusiasts to
electrical engineers. be
S4995 $3650
B os é Lats

MAJOR DICK SMITH ELECTRONICS AUTHORISED STOCKISTS: ea

NSW: *Batemans Bay 725 030 *Bathurst 323 933 *Bowral 611 861 *Broken Hill 884 098 *Cootamundra 422 561 *Deniliquin 813 672 *Dubbo 828
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 6” Straight Heavy-Duty Pliers
Forceps Solidly built all-purpose 200mm
liers for heavy-duty applications.
Quality stainless-steel
locking forceps to hold Made from strong Chrome- ,
:
leads or components in bskageds nae these
place while-you work. ?, Pires
Forceps have three
(ave large sent
insulated handles for
lockingi teeth | greater levera ge, an
leverage,
providing variable _ in-built wire stripper,
a wire cutter, small
ressure. and
bolt cutter and a Crimping Tool
outed handles A handy tool when you’re working
for comfort. lug crimper.
Helping Hands Cat T-3305 y with non-insulated terminals. Has
Making models, jewellery Cat 17-4639 i” strong metal jaws and cable cutter,
or electronics will become © | 16 plus handles 10-28AWG wire.
a breeze! Includes a S 1495 $ 2 Cat T-3528

$1695
heavy cast iron base for
added stability, a
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SECURITY ACCESSORIES
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working on them.
Cat T-5715 $995
Yellow Car Alarm LED
Ideal replacement for existing light or can be
15-Piece ) wired to ignition as a deterrent to thieves.
Electronics Screwdriver Set 4— | oy = 5 4 95 EIT 07
A handy collection of small screwdrivers for the
electronics enthusiast. Sta
Includes: Amber Strobe Light PIR Detector
4 flat-blade drivers Suit many applications. Can be Mount to wall, ceiling or corner.
(1.4, 1.8, 2.4, 3.0mm), mounted outside, making it Offers 4 interchangeable lenses so
3 Phillips heads instantly obvious where the you can focus on a
alarm is coming —_ specific area. j »
(00, 0, 1), from. 95mm With
3 hex bar drivers dia. 12VDC. programmable ,
(1 a ew, 2.5mm). Cat L-6006 pulse count.
Complete with plastic Cat L-5015
storage case.
Cat T-4370
$2995
$1695
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Video conferencing:
the coming boom
Video conferencing is set to revolutionise the those videophones you see in sci-fi
movies! This means that two or more
way we do business, communicate and share people at different locations can see
and hear each other at the same time.
information. Here’s a quick rundown on More sophisticated video conferenc-
PictureTel’s new SwiftSite system. ing systems have the advantage of al-
lowing data to be exchanged as well,
By SAMMY ISREB using different protocols, along with
group video conferencing.

Video conferencing has tradition- The new video conferencing tech- Video conferencing uses
ally been very expensive and, in the nologies are set to change that. These At the present time, the cost of set-
past, has been the preserve of big busi- technologies are a natural outgrowth ting up a video conferencing system is
ness and government. For the rest of of the multimedia revolution and the ' still quite high —so high, in fact, that it
use, a face-to-face meeting with some- development of high-capacity ISDN remains out of the reach of the aver-
one in another state or country has telephone lines. To put it simply, video age person. And although the cost is
meant getting up early to catch the conferencing supports 2-way video falling very rapidly, video conferenc-
plane. and audio communication, similar to ing is still limited to a few key uses. In
18 SILICON CHIP
 schools, for example, video conferen-
cing is ideal for providing equitable
access to resources for at-risk or spe-
cial-needs students. It is also ideal for
isolated rural populations, replacing
the traditional radio schools.
Also, being an interactive medium,
2-way video offers the advantages of
establishing a more personal commu-
nication between people, allowing the
use of body language, along with other pty onesf
uroe
—
aussi

visual teaching aids. The health in-

dustry will find video conferencing a
great boon, as it allows patients in
remote locations to consult with doc-
tors and specialists that they would
not normally have access to without
travelling.
Businesses will also benefit enor-
_ mously from the new video conferenc-
ing technologies. Video conferencing
will slash travel costs and allow staff Unlike many units, PictureTel’s SwiftSite is a standalone video conferencing
in different geographical locations to system. All its functions, including the camera and a microphone, are
communicate effectively. It will be integrated into a small module which weighs less than 5kg. A remote control
possible to effectively demonstrate handpiece, similar in size to a TV remote control, is included.
products and service procedure as well
as to hold company meetings. mitting the information between the These systems can transmit informa-
different locations. tion via the Internet, a telephone net-
How it works A broadband satellite-based system work, or microwave link, thus greatly
When it comes down to the nitty- giving broadcast-quality video would reducing the cost of video confer-
gritty, most video conferencing equip- be very nice but, as you can imagine, encing.
ment works in a similar manner. Basi- that is less than practical for cost rea- In fact, most of today’s video confer-
cally, you need an audio-visual setup sons. More recently, advances in com- encing systems operate on a single
that consists of a monitor, camera, puter and telecommunications tech- ISDN telephone line. A CODEC (short
microphone and speaker. And, of nologies have sparked an interest in for coder-decoder) handles the com-
course, you need some way of trans- compression based video systems. pression/decompression task and is

Video Conferencing Terms Explained

Like most other electronics-based that is typically used by a single per- like a faculat 2-party isloshone call
industries, those in the video son; sometimes called a “desktop” but with the ability to see the person
conferencing field have their own system. These can be general-pur- or people with whom you are speak-
jargon. A list of these terms ap- pose computers that are enhanced ing. It also includes the ability to dig-
pears below: | with the addition of a video confer- itally “hand” them all types of data,
—encing card, a small camera and so regardless of distance.
Group System — a video confer- forth (just. like the PCS 50). Multipoint Call — a more compli
encing system that is designed for CODEC- specialised microproces- cated setup involving three or more >
use in a conference room; hence, it sor for compressing and decom- locations simultaneously. Multipoint
is sometimes called a “room” sys- pressing data. A CODEC is neces- calls can be used to teach classes at
tem. This type of system usually in- sary at each site that participates ina several locations at once, or for cor-
volves large monitors, remotely con- videoconference. porations to efficiently make policy
trolled wide-angle cameras, a docu- Data Rate— the speed at which a or product announcements.
ment scanner and other tools that network can carry data. It is some- Video conferencing Tools — these
facilitate participation in the meeting. times also called “channel rate.” The are any of a wide variety of commu- —
Rollabout System — a portable group higher data-rate networks are more _ nication and presentation tools that
system on a wheeled cart that can expensive and usually convey higher- can be incorporated in a video
be rolled into an office or meeting quality video signals. Group systems conferencing system. These tools in-
room and used for ad hoc confer- typically use higher data rates than clude several types of cameras,
ences. personal systems. 35mm slide projectors, overhead pro-
Personal System -— a computer- Point-to-Point Call — a videocon- jectors, VCRs, computers, computer
based video conferencing system ference involving two locations, just whiteboards and so forth.

MARCH 1997 19
 PictureTel, one of the world’s big- line.All the electronics of the system, tem, any user can connect with the
gest manufacturers of video confer- along with the camera and micro- server and download the latest soft-
encing equipment in the world, has phone, are integrated into a small ware upgrades.
just released two new systems that module which weighs less than 5kg
have slashed the price of video and sits on top of the monitor. The The PCS 50 System
conferencing. system conforms to the H.320 Plus The PCS 50 System is an PC-
The first of the systems, the video conferencing standard, provid- compatible based system with some
SwiftSite, is designed to act as a ing up to 15 frames a second using of the performance features of the
standalone video conferencing sys- an ISDN BRI telephone line running SwiftSite system. The system con-
tem. The alternative PCS 50 Desk- at 128Kb/s. sists of various modules, such as the
top System is intended for installa- Other features include an infrared CODEC desktop component. This
tion in a PC and allows for data ex- remote control that is similar in size consists basically of the CODEC
change. to the average TV remote control. card(s), as well as other modules,
The SwiftSite system is a break- SwiftSite also has the advantage of such as a high-end graphics accel-
through for PictureTel, as it elimi- being simple to install, requiring only erator card, 29-inch SVGA monitor,
nates the need for any PC equip- three connections: an RCA audio/ software and a video camera.
ment. According to David Lardinais, video cable between the television The main advantage of this sys-
the Managing Director of PictureTel and the unit, a power connection and tem is that it is easily upgraded, just
Australia, SwiftSite will become an an ISDN cable connection. by changing a couple of cards. It
integral part of business communi- One of the best features of the does, however, lack the versatility
cations and will support all kinds of SwiftSite system is the ability to up- and portability of the SwiftSite sys-
new applications. grade its software remotely, using tem. Both systems are very similar in
the SwiftSite Software Server. This price, at around $15,000 each.
The SwiftSite System is claimed to be the world’s Acknowledgement: thanks to Manoj
The SwiftSite video conferencing first ISDN, H.320 standard upgrade Murugan of Media Solutions for his
system operates using a single ISDN server for use with video conferencing _ help in supplying information on be-
basic rate interface (BRI) telephone systems. By using the SwiftSite sys- half of PictureTel.

usually based on a dedicated micro-

processor. The CODEC samples the
incoming analog video signal, digi-
tises it and then subsequently com-
presses it. The CODEC at the other
end then has the job of reversing this
process.
Depending on the transmission
standard used, the picture quality can
be surprisingly good. The downside
is that there is usually a slight delay
(generally less than a second) in receiv-
ing the picture.

Conclusion
The video conferencing industry is
still in its infancy and it will be sev-
eral years before we see solid stand-
ards set. At the same time, costs will
have to continue falling in order to
make video conferencing affordable
for most people.
Finally, medium-sized establish-
ments that have a need for video
' conferencing but have concerns as to
The SwiftSite video conferencing system is designed to sit on top of the monitor whether they can afford it should study
to which it is connected. Only three connections are required: an RCA audio/ the two new PictureTel systems (see
video cable between the television and the unit, a power connection and an panel), as these are a breakthrough in
ISDN cable connection. their price bracket. SC
20 SILICON CHIP
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 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.

Automatic pump & SW2. These counters count down

from a preset value.
timer/controller The pump on-time can be set be-
This circuit was developed to ap- tween 30 seconds and nine minutes,
‘ply insecticide on a 7-day cycle to in 30-second increments, as set by
fruit trees in an orchard. It could have switch S1 and thumbwheel switch
uses in hydroponics systems, fish SW3, both of which control counter
breeding or other long period timing IC7 (4029).
applications. When IC2 & IC3 have counted down
The pumping time is three minutes to zero, it is sensed by XOR gate IC4a
using a 12V DC 7A bilge pump. All (4070) which sets RS latch IC5b (4053),
pumping occurs at dusk, which is de- and this starts timer IC6. This turns on
tected by the light dependent resistor, Q1 and the relay for the set time.
LDR1. Power for the circuit can be derived
LDR1 controls clocking of the cir- from a 12-14V DC plugpack or battery
cuit and is buffered by two Schmitt and this is regulated to 5V. Note, how-
trigger inverters, IC1b & ICib. This ever that the bilge pump requires 12V
drives counters IC2 & IC3 which can at 7A. |
be set for a total time of up to 99 days, S. Carroll,
using the thumbwheel switches SW1 Timmsvale, NSW. ($40)
22 SILICON CHIP
MARCH 1997 23
Open-air sporting events like this rec ent Australia Day surf carnival at Freshwater Beach require plenty of PA muscle. Photo by Andrew McEwen.

This article adapts the Plastic Power cellent PA amplifier. But on reflec-
tion, it wasn’t quite as simple as that.
amplifier module described in the April 1996
PA requirements
issue to public address use. The circuit now For PA use, there are important re-
includes a 100V line transformer, output quirements which don’t occur in do-
transistor protection, a thermal cutout and mestic (ie, hifi) applications. Most
important of these is the ability to
DC offset adjustment. drive a 100V line transformer. A PA
amplifier that cannot work into a 100V
By ROSS TESTER (or even 70V) line is not considered a
PA amplifier — it’s just a toy.
But didn’t the specifications box in
The “Plastic Power” high-perform- And so it has been. But there was the April 1996 issue claim “uncondi-
ance amplifier module described in one use which we hadn’t really con- tional stability”? Wouldn’t this mean
the April 1996 issue has already sidered — public address or PA. Since that you could simply bung on a 100V
proved to be a trouble-free design. We the article appeared, we have had a line transformer and the amplifier
foresaw that it would be popular for number of enquiries: “can I use this would be happy?
new amplifier builders and equally amplifier for PA?” It would be if operating into com-
sought after as a high-power, high- The immediate reaction was “why plex loads was the only problem. But
performance replacement module for not?” After all, with power output it is not. In fact, it is only a minor
many ageing amplifiers out there — approaching 200 watts into 4Q loads, consideration. By far the most diffi-
both commercial and home-built. on first glance it would make an ex- cult problem to overcome when
24 SILICON CHIP
operating into a transformer of any
description is the DC offset at the am-
plifier’s output.
DC offset, as the term implies, is an Output power-saraiiwaiwde 175 watts into 4Q or 100V line
amount of DC voltage across the
speaker output terminals. Frequency response ........... -3dB at 30Hz and 17kHz
In a perfect world, or in a perfect Inpul Sensitivity ................ 1.15V RMS (for full power into 4Q)
amplifier, there would be no DC off-
set. But in any direct-coupled ampli- Harmonic distortion ............. <.03% from 20Hz to 20kHz, typically <.01%
fier there is always some small DC
offset voltage at the output and this is Signal-to-noise ratio ............ 101dB unweighted (22Hz to 22kHz); 116dB
mostly due to the mismatch of the A-weighted
differential input transistors. Typi- Siabily unconditional
cally, the DC offset is around 20-50
millivolts and it can be positive or
negative, with respect to the “cold”
side of the speaker terminals. typical value), a DC output offset of primary winding is 500 milliamps or
While this is tolerable in an ampli- 50mV will cause 8.3 milliamps DC to more and this causes really serious
fier intended for hifi or general audio flow through the speaker. problems.
applications where loudspeakers are This will cause a very small me- Any DC in a transformer winding is
being driven, it causes a big problem chanical offset of the speaker’s voice bad news. First of all, the transformer
when the load is a 100V line trans- coil from its rest position but other- can be saturated, which causes awful
former. A few quick calculations will wise no harm will be done. distortion (hardly what you want when
show why. For example, if the ampli- On the other hand, consider that Mr or Mrs High and Mighty steps up
fier is driving a loudspeaker with a same 50mV DC offset applied to the to the podium to speak!). Worse, a
voice coil resistance of 6Q (a fairly primary winding of a 100V line trans- current of 500mA is much higher than
former. In this case, the DC resistance the normal quiescent current in the
of the winding is likely to be 100 output stage and it will lead to extra
milliohms (0.1Q) or less. Now, the DC heating, by 20 or 30 watts, depending
current which will flow through the on the amplifier’s supply voltages.

This amplifier is capable of delivering 175 watts

into 4Q or a 100V line transformer for PA work.
The heatsink shown here is adequate for general
use but if the amplifier is to be operated in high
ambient temperatures and expected to deliver
high power continuously, a larger fan-
cooled heatsink will be required.

MARCH 1997 25
 PARTS LIST

1 PC board, code 01103971, 99 x 3 TO-126 transistor insulating 4 BC556 PNP transistors (Q1,
166mm washers G2, G3, Q17) |
2 panel mount M205 fuseholders 1 200 10-turn vertical trimpot 2 1N5404 power diodes (D5, D6)
(or 4 20mm fuse clips — see (Bourns 3296W series or 4 1N914 diodes (D1, D2, D3, D4)
text) equivalent) 1 3.3V 0.5W zener diode (ZD1)
2 5A M205 fuses 1 1002 5mm horizontal mounting
1 coil former, 24mm OD x trimpot Capacitors
13.7mm ID x 12.8mm deep, 13 PC board pins 4 100uF 63VW electrolytic
Phillips CP-P26/19-1S or 4322 4 3mm x 20mm screws 1 22uF 16VW electrolytic
021 30362 - see text 5 3mm x 15mm screws 1 0.33uF 250VAC MKP
1 4Q/100W toroidal output 9 3mm nuts 1 0.33uF 50VW MKT
transformer (Altronics M1124 5 0.1uF 63V MKT
or equivalent) Semiconductors 1 .0012uF MKT or ceramic
2 metres 0.8mm enamelled 2 MJL21194 NPN power 1 100pF 100V ceramic
copper wire transistors (Q12, Q13)
1 thermal circuit breaker 80°C, 2 MJL21193 PNP power Resistors (0.25W, 1%)
10A (Altronics $5610 or transistors (Q14, Q15) 2 18kQ 1 180Q
equivalent) 2 MJE340 NPN driver transistors 1 15kQ 1W 2 1602
1 large single-sided finned (Q9, Q10) 1 6.8kQ 3 100
heatsink, at least 300mm long, 1 MJE350 PNP driver transistor 1 5.GK0) 1W 1 68Q
0.7°C/W (Q11) 1 1.5kQ 1 47Q
2 TO-126 heatsinks (Altronics H- 1 BF469 NPN transistor (Q8) 1 8200 3 12Q 1W
0504 or equivalent) | 1 BF470 PNP transistor (Q6) 1 470Q 4 0.47Q 5W
4 TO-3P transistor insulating 4 BC546 NPN transistors (Q4, 2 39002 2 560Q 5W
washers 05,07 O16) 3 2200

Worse still, such a high current can of 150Q to 100Q and a 100Q trimpot two-way radios (and many sports,
easily lead to thermal runaway in the placed between them. Adjustment is coaches, etc, use two-way).
output devices, and their eventual simple: when the amplifier is com- (b) They’re often used in portable situ-
destruction. pleted set the trimpot to its centre ations, and every location has its own
The DC offset problem has been position, then adjust it so that the DC share of problem electrical noises
known for a long time, ever since di- voltage across the speaker output ter- which may or may not be treatable.
rect coupled amplifiers were first pro- minals (as measured on a digital mul- (c) If it is a portable setup, speaker
duced. In fact, some years ago, Na- timeter set to its lowest voltage range) lines may be temporary and therefore
tional Semiconductor brought out the is zero or as Close as possible. not too secure against either shorts or
LMC669 as the ideal answer to this The board pattern, incidentally, al- cuts. Speaker cabling is often exposed
problem and SILICON CHIP featured a lows for either a vertical or horizontal to the elements, with joins, plugs &
circuit using it in the September 1989 mounting 5mm trimpot. A horizontal sockets, etc which may be corroded,
issue. Alas, the IC now appears to be mounting pot is preferred, for ease of even with the best “weatherproofing”.
unobtainable, so other means need to adjustment. With these problems in mind, it is
be found to cure the DC offset prob- Second, we have modified the PC wise to limit the overall bandwidth of
lem. board slightly to allow Q1 & Q2 to be a PA amplifier. This can assist in re-
Fig.1 shows the modified circuit of thermally bonded together. Thus any ducing interference, especially elec-
the Plastic Power amplifier. It is capa- tendency for one transistor to get hot, trical noise picked up by the speaker
ble of delivering around 175 watts which may cause increased DC imbal- leads. Therefore, the input RC filter
into a 100V line. oe ance, will be reflected in the other and the output RLC filter have been
Now let’s consider the problem of transistor. We also did the same with modified. The result is that both the
DC offset and how it is corrected. First, Q4 and Q5, the current mirror stage. bass response and the high frequency
we include provision for adjusting the response have been deliberately cur-
DC offset to zero (or as close as we can Reduced bandwidth tailed: -3dB at 30Hz and 17kHz, as
achieve) with a trimpot connected Sometimes a high performance am- depicted in Fig.2. This shows the fre-
between the emitters of the differen- plifier is simply “too good” for PA. If quency response of the complete am-
tial pair, Q1 and Q2. This will allow you think about it, PA is one of the plifier, including the 100V line trans-
any minor differences between the two worst-case audio applications: former.
“sides” of the circuit to be nulled out. (a) Long speaker leads can act as mag-
The emitter resistors of Q1 and Q2 nificent RF antennas for any local ra- Protection circuitry
were reduced from their original value dio or TV station or even close-by This is something of a thorny sub-
26 SILICON CHIP
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1thas been adapted for PA use. The main changes include the addition of a 100V |ine
transformer, DC offset adjustment (using VR1) and cu rrent liml ting. The latter is prov ided
by transistors Q16 & Q17, which monitor the em itter c urrents of Q12 & Q14 respectively.
Note that the frequency response has been del iberately limited to ensure rel i b ility under
PA conditions.

MARCH 1997 27
 AUDIO PRECISION SCFREQRE AMPL(dBr) vs FREQ(Hz) 21 JAN 97 11:00:02 which monitors the current flow
15.000 through the 0.47Q emitter resistor of
output transistor Q14. Diodes D3 & D4
are included to prevent Q16 & Q17
from shunting the signal when they
are reverse-biased; this happens for
every half-cycle of the signal to the
driver transistors.
Diodes D5 & D6 are included as part
of the protection circuitry although
their function is ancillary. They pre-
vent large voltage spikes from the
transformer, generated when the cur-
rent limiting circuitry acts to turn off
the output transistors, from actually
damaging the transistors. D5 does this,
for example, by clamping any spike
voltage to 0.6V above the positive sup-
ply rail. Similarly, D6 clamps any spike
voltage to 0.6V below the negative
supply rail. Normally, both diodes are
reverse biased and play no part in the
amplifier operation.
Fig.2: this
meme rm the overall puss response of the power amplifier, Note that this protection circuitry
including the 100V line transformer, at a power level of 10 watts. The bass and provides simple current limiting, not
high frequency response has been deliberately curtailed. foldback protection, where the cur-
rent drops back to a low value to limit
power dissipation in the output stages
ject, so let’s get straight into the black- then complain that the PA is too loud! (and with attendant serious distortion,
berry bushes! Some designers of hifi We have had many occasions at sport- as outlined previously). With this sim- .
amplifiers will have nothing to do ing functions where the speaker lines ple current limiting, the transistors
with protection circuitry in the out- have been deliberately cut or shorted. are protected from sudden death in
put stages, claiming that it causes dis- Bring on the protection! the case of serious over-drive or short-
tortion even before it becomes active Transistors Q16 & Q17, in conjunc- circuits, although the fuses may blow
and then causes severe distortion as it tion with diodes D3 & D4, provide the before this happens.
acts to limit current. _ protection feature. Q16 monitors the While the output transistors are pro-
Indeed, where foldback current lim- current flow through the 0.47Q emit- tected against immediate destruction,
iting is used in amplifier output stages, ter resistor of output transistor Q13, their dissipation is greatly increased
it can cause squealing from tweeters, via a voltage divider consisting of 390Q over what it would be if the amplifier
and in severe over-drive condition, and 160Q resistors. was simply delivering full power. In
can cause tweeter burnout. PA ampli- What happens is that normally Q16 fact, the output transistors can dissi-
fiers, on the other hand, are a different (and Q17) are off and play no part in pate four or five times as much power
kettle of fish. First, ultimate low dis- the circuit operation. However, if the as in normal operation. Hence, they
tortion figures are of minor impor- current through the 0.47Q emitter re- get very hot very quickly and eventu-
tance (although this amplifier is pretty sistor of Q13 exceeds about 4.4 amps, ally, if the over-drive or short-circuit
good in that respect, even with pro- Q1i3 begins to turn on and it shunts condition is not corrected, they will
tection). Second, PA amplifiers are the base current from Q10, the associ- fail; probably sooner than later.
often subjected to serious abuse. ated driver transistor. In turn, the drive To prevent this eventual failure, we
Years of experience has taught us to Q12 & Q13 is limited so that the - have included a thermal cutout which
that people can be absolutely ruthless output current does not exceed about is mounted on the heatsink. When the
when it comes to their personal enjoy- 4.5 amps peak. heatsink temperature exceeds 80°C,
ment: they sit in front of a PA speaker, The same process happens with Q17 the thermal cutout opens and is not
restored until the heatsink cools down
BRI Fig.3: suggested power again.
supply for the amplifier.
The power transformer Heatsink selection
should be rated at Note that the thermal cutout is there
300VA or more.
for a secondary reason and that is to
prevent over-dissipation in the out-
put transistors under continuously
high power conditions. To elaborate,
the maximum dissipation in a class-B
amplifier occurs when it is delivering
28 SILICON CHIP
about 35 to 40% of the maximum out- AUDIO PRECISION SCTHD-W THD+N(%) vs measured LEVEL(W) 15 JAN 97 11:18:24
put power. 10 eee) ee De

Under this condition, the power

dissipated in the output transistors il
can be expected to be about 30% more
than the maximum output power. This
amplifier will actually deliver about
175 watts before clipping and the
maximum dissipation in the output
transistors can be expected to be about
230 watts, depending on the supply
regulation and the actual value of the

EE
SEU
40
load.
230 watts equates to almost 58 watts
per transistor which means that the
largest possible heatsink should be
used. Ideally, if you anticipate rigor- CO
EE
ous operating conditions, the heatsink
should be fan-cooled.
We have specified a fairly large
heatsink with a rating of 0.7°C/W but
to cope fully with a total dissipation
of 230 watts, the heatsink needs to be
much larger, at 0.3°C/W. Hence, with
the specified heatsink, the thermal cut-
out is a worthwhile safety feature in
case the amplifier’s operating condi- AUDIO PRECISION SCTHD-W THD+N(%) vs measured LEVEL(W ~_—
15 JAN 97 11:10:15
tions become a little torrid.
The remainder of the circuit de- =
= a ee ee ees es ee es ee es ee se
Ao
scription is as featured in the April ae i
ee
eee
eee ee ee
Gs 2
eee
ee
ee ee
ee I a ee
es |
ee:

1996 issue of SILICON CHIP. A sug-

Ce
Bat) ee ee a ee ae ee
gested power supply is shown in Fig.3.
The transformer should be rated at
300VA or more. rr
ae (De ee ee CE TE See 2 ee ee es
ak Gd x ih eee Ett RS ee ee ee ae ee
22 0 es Se ee ee ee 2 ee
Performance ot re a oe a a Pe ee
The amplifier’s performance is sum-
marised in a separate panel and as a UE TE
you can see, it is very respectable for SS
oes cee2 aS (a EE a Vd Ge eee A Oe eS ee es
PA use. Fig.4 shows the harmonic dis- a
tortion versus power output into a 4Q ee kt ee ae ee ee ee ee
load while Fig.5 shows the distortion
versus power with the 100V line trans- ooo LT Pr
ET tt
former connected. There is very little an ee oe el eee ees a 2 ee 2s ee SS Re ee Oe eee
Poi i. od ee
difference between these curves, in- eo
ee ee es ee ee ee a ee ee
dicating that the transformer is a high PTT
quality unit which degrades the sig-
nal very little. vor LUE EET EE
100
Construction Fig.5: THD versus power at 1kHz with a 100V line transformer. The load
The procedure for assembling the resistance was 57Q (two jug elements wired in series and immersed in water)!
PC board is quite similar to that the
for the original amplifier described in
the April 1996 issue but there are This done, you can start the assem- stalled the right way around on the PC
enough differences to justify giving bly by inserting the PC pins and the board.
the complete assembly and setting-up resistors, followed by the diodes. Note that the 100pF compensation
procedure. The component overlay for When installing the diodes, make sure capacitor from the collector of Q8 to
the PC board is shown in Fig.6. that they are inserted with correct po- the base of Q7 should have a voltage
Before starting the PC board assem- larity and don’t confuse D1-D4 (1N914 rating of at least 100V while the 0.33uF
bly, it is wise to check the board care- or 1N4148) with the 3.3V zener diode capacitor in the output filter should
fully for open or shorted tracks or (BZX79-C3V3 or equivalent). You have a rating of 250VAC.
undrilled lead holes. Fix any defects should also take care to ensure that The 4Q resistor in the output filter
before fitting the components. the electrolytic capacitors are all in- is comprised of three 12Q 1W resis-

MARCH 1997 29
 F2

THI
MOUNTED ON HEATSINK
CLOSE TO O/P DEVICE

Q15

pPocooonoc’®)

0.33 250VAC

TRANSFORME
Fig.6: install the parts on the PC board as shown in this diagram. Note that Philips CP-P26/19-1S (previously
while provision for on-board fuses has been made (as in the hifi version of the
known as a 4322 021 30362). If your
amplifier) external chassis-mounted fuses are more practical for PA use.
supplier cannot obtain this part, a pos-
sible replacement is the plastic bob-
tors in parallel. Choke L1 is wound sion of the original amplifier (ie, not bin some parts suppliers still have to
with 19.5 turns of 0.8mm enamelled from a kit) experienced difficulty in suit FX-2240 pot cores. This is mar-
copper wire on a 13mm plastic former. obtaining the correct former. ginally different in size but the in-
Some readers who built their own ver- The one used in our prototype is a ductance of the coil wound. (with the

RESISTOR COLOUR CODES

Value 4-Band Code (1%) 5-Band Code (1%)

18kQ brown grey orange brown brown grey black red brown
15kQ:.1W brown green orange brown brown green black red brown
6.8kQ blue grey red brown blue grey black brown brown
5.6kQ 1W green blue red brown green blue black brown brown
1.5kQ brown green red brown brown green black brown brown
8200 grey red brown brown grey red black black brown
470Q yellow violet brown brown yellow violet black black brown
390Q orange white brown brown orange white black black brown
2200 red red brown brown red red black black brown
180Q brown grey brown brown brown grey black black brown
160Q brown blue brown brown brown blue black black brown
100Q brown black brown brown brown black black black brown
68Q. blue grey black brown blue grey black gold brown
47Q yellow violet black brown yellow violet black gold brown
12Q 1W brown red black brown brown red black gold brown
0.47Q 5W not applicable not applicable
OU
DWWWUUUOUUOOUOOUOOOUOO
ot
oe
NRO
ON
40M
@=aww 560Q 5W not applicable not applicable

30 SILICON CHIP
 YOU CAN
AFFORD
3mm —_‘TRANSISTOR
INSULATING
WASHER AN INTERNATIONAL
SATELLITE TV
WASHER

SYSTEM
~ HEATSINK
SATELLITE ENTHUSIASTS
STARTER KIT

_Fig.7: this diagram shows the heatsink mounting details for the driver and
_ output transistors. After mounting, switch your multimeter to a high Ohms
range and check that each device has been correctly isolated from the
heatsink (there should be an open circuit between the heatsink and the
_ transistor collectors. : YOUR OWN INTERNATIONAL
SYSTEM FROM ONLY:

same number of turns) will be close mounted vertically on one side of the
enough. board and are secured to the heatsink
If installing the on-board fuse clips with 3mm machine screws. FREE RECEPTION FROM
(see text about external fuses below), Perhaps the best way of lining up Asiasat II, Gorizont, Palapa,
note that they each have little lugs on the transistors before they are soldered Panamsat, Intelsat
one end which stop the fuse from to the board is to temporarily attach
moving. If you install the clips the all of them to the heatsink; don’t bother HERE'S WHAT YOU GET:
wrong way, you will not be able to fit with heatsink compound or thermal e 400 channel dual input receiver
the fuses. The 560Q 5W wirewound washers at this stage. This done, poke preprogrammed for all viewable satellites.
resistors can also be installed at this all the transistor leads through their e 1.8m solid ground mount dish
stage; they are wired to PC stakes next appropriate holes in the PC board and e 20°K LNBF
to each fuseholder and are used when line it up board so that its bottom edge e 25m coaxial cable
setting the quiescent current. is 10mm above the bottom edge of the e easy set up instructions
Next, mount the smaller transistors heatsink. This is so that the board will e regular customer newsletters.
such as BC546 & 556, BF469 & 470. be horizontal when fitted with 10mm
Note that the transistor pairs Q1/Q2 spacers at its front corners. BEWARE OF IMITATORS
and Q4/Q5 are thermally bonded; the Note that you will have to bend out
pairs are mounted on the board so that all the transistor leads by about 30°, in Direct Importer: AV-COMM PTY. LTD.
their flat surfaces are touching, with order to poke them through the PC PO BOX 225, Balgowlah NSW 2093
heat transfer between them assisted board. The heatsink will need to be Tel: (02) 9949 7417 / 9948 2667
drilled and tapped to suit 3mm ma- Fax: (02) 9949 7095
by a smear of heatsink compound.
VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE http://;www.avcomm.com.au
Solder in one of the pair so that it is chine screws. The relevant drilling
angled very slightly towards where its details were included in the April 1996 I YES GARRY, please send me more
mate will go and then spread a thin article (Fig.12). I information on international band
film of heatsink compound over the You can now solder all the power I
| satellite systems. I
\flat surface. This done, solder in the transistor leads to the PC board. Hav- I I
I
collector and emitter of its mate and ing done that, undo the screws attach- 1 Name: : I
push the flat surfaces together before _ing the transistors to the heatsink and _
soldering the base, to lock the transis- then fit mica washers and apply | I
. ; : : , Address: _ i
tor in place. Repeat this process for heatsink compound to the transistor 7
the other pair of transistors. mounting surfaces and the heatsink |! _
Both Q6 & Q8 need to be fitted with areas covered by the mica washers. : —P code:
U-shaped heatsinks. The four output The mounting details forthesetran- | : _
transistors, the driver transistors(Q10 _sistorsisshownin Fig.7. Alternatively, 1 Phone: (____)
& Q11) and the Vbe multiplier Q9 are you can dispense with mica washers | ACN 002LA it

MARCH 1997 31
Note the thermal cutout fitted to the heatsink. This interrupts the speaker line
if the heatsink temperature rises above 80°C. Q6 & Q8, which are BF470 and
output terminals on the PC board —
BF469 respectively, are fitted with U-shaped flag heatsinks, as shown here.
that is, in parallel with the output
transformer primary. Carefully adjust
and heatsink compound and use sili- primaries are connected in parallel trimpot VR2 for minimum voltage (a
cone impregnated thermal washers while the secondary windings are con- digital multimeter is best for this pur-
instead, as can be seen in the photos. nected in series — watch out for the pose). You should be able to set VR2
Whichever method you use, do not colour-coding. so that the DC offset voltage is less
overtighten the mounting screws. than +2mV DC.
With your multimeter switched to a Adjustments Once this has been done, leave the
high Ohms range, check that there are With no fuses in position, set amplifier running for 10 minutes or so
no shorts between the heatsink and trimpot VR2 fully anticlockwise so and check both voltages again. Adjust
any of the transistor collector leads. If that it is set for minimum resistance VR1 if necessary — changing .this
you find a short, undo each transistor and set trimpot VR1 to its centre posi- should not have any effect on the out-
mounting screw until the short disap- tion. A 560Q 5W resistor should have put DC offset voltage but if your DC
pears. You can then remount the of- been soldered across each on-board offset has risen (in either direction)
fending transistor, having fixed the fuseholder (or more correctly, the PC adjust VR2 once again to achieve the
cause of the short. pins alongside). minimum possible.
The thermal cutout is mounted on Assuming that the amplifier passes Finally, install the 5A fuses.
the heatsink close to one of the output the “smoke test” when you apply
transistors. The leads connecting the power, set your multimeter to about External fuses
thermal cutout switch to its appropri- 20-50V DC and connect it across a As you may have noticed, the origi-
ate PC pins should be rated at 10A. 560Q resistor. Slowly adjust trimpot nal module used on-board fuses for
Double-check all your soldering and VR2 so that the multimeter reads 14V the supply rails. While not suggesting
assembly work against the circuit of (equivalent to a quiescent current of for amoment that the fuses be left out,
Fig.1 and the component layout dia- 25mA or 12.5mA through each output fuses inside a public address ampli-
gram of Fig.6. transistor). fier are a pain in the proverbial!
Finally, connect the primaries of The voltage across the other 560Q When the inevitable happens, it is
the output transformerto the output resistor should be virtually identical. invariably only a few minutes before
terminals, exactly as shown on the Now connect the multimeter, on its the keynote speaker is due to make
circuit diagram of Fig.1. Note that the lowest DC voltage range, across the his/her address, or the competitors
32 SILICON CHIP
 )
01103971

Fig.8: this is the full size artwork for the PC board. Check your board carefully
for any defects before installing the parts. ity; higher voltage means lower cur-
rent and lower current means lower
loss.
turn for their last lap in the final! parallel combinations which will bring In a typical PA installation for a
Searching around for a screwdriver to you back to 4Q or 8Q to suit the ampli- sporting field or large hall there could
open up acase can be a tad embarrass- fier. Then there’s the problem of power easily be 1000 metres of speaker ca-
ing in these circumstances. — can the individual speakers handle ble; often much, much more. Assum-
We suggest that external (ie, rear of the amount of power being fed to ing that the speaker cable used was of
case) fuseholders be provided and ca- them? And are the power ratings cor- reasonable quality, you could expect
ble of the same diameter/rating as the rect for the way you want to connect a resistance of about 2.5Q per 100
power supply cabling used to connect them? metres. That means 1000m of cable
these to the board. It’s not hard to get into a mess! would have an overall resistance of
This way, the on-board fuseholders All of these problems are solved by about 25Q. This would be totally im-
could be eliminated, with the 560Q the use of a 100V (or less commonly, practical for a 4Q or 8Q system but is
resistors still used to set up the mod- 70V) line. Each speaker, together with not a serious problem for a 100V line
ule in the suggested way. its own stepdown transformer, is system.
merely connected across the 100V line
Why 100V lines? (ie, in parallel). As far as power rat- Are 100V lines dangerous?
In this article, we have talked about ings are concerned, you simply add Finally, let’s dispel one furphy: that
100 volt lines as if they were “de up the wattage of the individual speak- 100V speaker lines are dangerous. Yes,
rigueur” in PA applications. But what ers and ensure that the total does not they will give you a bit of a bite if you
is a 100V line and why is it used so exceed the power rating of your get across them while the announcer
extensively for public address? Is a amplifier. is waxing eloquent or the music is
100V line essential? Even if it does, most speakers for reaching a crescendo. But — and the
Let’s answer the last question first. 100V line use have multiple taps — if but is important — the 100 volts is not
No, but... you want more speakers in the system constant like the 240VAC mains sup-
Of course “ordinary” 4Q or 8Q (for example,to fill a sound “hole”) ply which often does kill. The full
speakers could be and often are used then select a lower wattage tap on 100VAC is only present when the
in PA applications. In a small hall, for some of your speakers to allow the amplifier is delivering its full power.
example, a few low impedance speak- extras. It really is that simple. ~ Most of the time, the voltage is only a
ers connected appropriately will of- But there is a more important rea- few volts. |
ten be satisfactory. son to use 100V lines for PA use: less Of course, it’s better if you don’t get
The key word here is “appropri- power loss (commonly known as I?R yourself across a 100V speaker line,
ately”. First of all, you need to worry loss). It’s exactly the same reason that especially if a hyperventilating sports
about the overall impedance. You have power authorities use high voltage for commentator is getting excited at the
to work out the various series and long distance transmission of electric- other end of the signal chain! SC

MARCH 1997 33
 -Aspect Signalling
Many railway modellers strive to achieve the delay, the signal again shows green.
If the signal is used on two-way
ultimate in realism yet the resulting layout traffic lines, then a constant red is
usually has non-operating signals or signals displayed while ever the train runs
against the flow of the signal. It is
that constantly show a red or green lamp. simple in its operation but it adds a lot
The project presented here will go a long way of realism and interest to any layout.

o increasing the realism of signals. How it works

A look at the diagram of Fig.1 will
show that the circuit is quite simple
The addition ofa little of animation the signal the green light will be dis- in its operation. As the train passes
to any model railway layout can en- played. the signal, it is detected by the sensor
hance train operation immensely. That As soon as the locomotive has ‘which is placed just nearby on the
is what this simple unit has been de- passed the signal, it changes to red. A track; ie, past the signal. The sensor is
signed to do. It operates a three-aspect few seconds after the last car has an LDR (light dependent resistor), the
(red-amber-green) signal in a most re- passed the red signal, it changes to resistance of which goes high as the
alistic manner. As a train approaches amber. After a further few seconds passing train casts a shadow over it.

34. SILICON CHIP

SENSITIVITY
VR =

LDRI
dM

R11
4.7k
B PLASTIC
R13 SIDE
TRACK ps ik
Ik 1 aitir
es ton
GIG
THREE-ASPECT SIGNAL
Fig.1: this circuit provides three-aspect (green, amber, red) signalling for a
model railway. The train is detected when the locomotive passes over the light ~ Q6 pulls the junction of R4 and R5 to
dependent resistor (LDR1) which is mounted between the rails of the track. ground.
This triggers the signal to the red
condition and this is where it will
This causes the voltage at the junc- as the resistance of the LDR is high. stay as long as the polarity of the track
tion of resistor R1 and zener diode As the end of the train passes the voltage remains this way. This was
ZD1 to rise. When this voltage goes sensor, its resistance will again go low. done so that the signal will remain
above about +4.5V, the Darlington tran- Q1 and Q2 will turn off and C1 will red when a train is moving against the
sistor pair comprising Q1 & Q2 will start to charge through R4 and RS. flow of the signals. If this were not
turn on and pull the cathode of diode When its charge reaches about half done the signals would indicate a
D1 to ground. This lights LED1 which supply (+4.5V), pin 3 of IC1 will go green condition when a train was
indicates that a train has been de- low. The red signal now turns off. coming from behind — clearly un-
tected. Capacitor C1 will discharge Pin 11 will now go high, turning on prototypical.
quickly through resistor R5 and the the amber signal. C2 now charges Q7 is connected as a simple regula-
forward biased diode D1. through R9. When it reaches half sup- tor. Zener diode ZD2 holds the base at
This process pulls pins 1 & 2 of IC1a ply pin 10 will go low. D4 is now +12V so the emitter will be regulated
low which causes pin 3 to go high. forward biased which turns off the to about +11.4V. Diode D6 provides
This turns transistor Q3 and the red amber signal. Pin 4 now goes high and reverse polarity protection with C3
signal, LED2, on. At the same time, the green signal turns back on again. and C5 providing supply filtering. VR1
pin 11 of IC1b will go low which Q6 and its associated components, is the sensitivity adjustment for the
discharges capacitor C2 quickly diode D5 and resistors R11 & R13, LDR.
through R8. This causes pin 10 of IC1c detect when the track polarity is re-
to go high and pin 4 of IC1d to go low. versed. When the rail connected to Construction
This turns off Q5 and the green signal, R11 is positive with respect to the rail The component layout for the PC
LED4, goes out. connected to D5, Q6 will turn on. board is shown in Fig.2. There is noth-
This condition will remain as long When this happens the collector of ing difficult about assembly so go

RESISTOR COLOUR CODES- PROJECT ait

J No. 4-Band Code (1%) —5-Band Code 1%) ~~~—OSOD

o 1 470kQ yellow violet yellow brown yellow violet black orange brown
LJ 2 120kQ brown red yellow brown brown red black orange brown
i 1 47kKQ yellow violet orange brown yellow violet black redbrown
LJ 4 4.7kQ yellow violet red brown yellow violet black brown brown -
LJ 1 1.8kQ brown grey red brown brown grey black brown brown.
a 4 1kQ brown black red brown ~ brown black black brown brown

MARCH 1997 35
 PARTS LIST - #1

Fig.2: the component layout for the PC board of the circuit shown in
Fig.1. The PC board would normally be mounted under the layout,
quite close to the signal unit. Note that the coloured LEDs are not
mounted on the board but are part of the signal itself.

ahead and load all the passive compo- the green should come on. Capacitors -
nents, watching the polarity of the Remove the shorting lead and the 1 220uF 16VW. electrolytic
diodes and electrolytic capacitors. If detect LED should come on as well as 2 SSF 16VW electrolytic :
you want to use a socket for IC1 then the red lamp. If this all happened,
solder it in now. Finish with the re- then your signal circuit is working
maining components. Then go back correctly. If not, then go back over
over your work to ensure that you your work, looking for the fault. More
have done a good job and that all than likely you will have inserted a
components are in the right places. component wrongly or a solder joint
will not be done.
Testing 2 Miscellan >0US ©
Connect a signal or three LEDs to Installation
Solder, hook-up wire etc.
the appropriate terminals. At this stage Installing the signal is simply a
no LDR sensor is necessary. Switch on matter of choosing a place for the sig-
the power. The red lamp should come nal then drilling a 5mm hole down
on as well as the detect LED. Using a between the sleepers (ties) of the track. normal direction then reverse the two
clip lead short the two sensor termi- The sensor should be placed about wires to the track.
nals. The detect LED should go out. A 100mm past the signal. Connect power If the signal will only ever see sin-
few seconds later, the amber lamp and then the two wires to the track. If gle direction traffic then these two
should light. A further few seconds the red signal is constantly shown wires need not be connected. Simply
and the amber light should go out and when the train is travelling in the leave them unconnected.

8 Mc1401 1BCP
FFPS9010
You need one of these PC
boards for each railway
signal on your layout. By
using 2mm LEDs you can
wire HO signals for realistic
operation.

36 SILICON CHIP
 R7
8200
2xIN914
D2
RI
10k

R2 C7i, 3 al C4 cl C5 FROM
10k aT 0033" .0033 _ 12 _ CONTROLLER
|

20k

ae
VIEWED FROM
TO
TRACK

BELOW

CONTROLLED BRIGHTNESS LIGHTS

Fig.3: Q1 is a phase shift oscillator running at 25kHz. Its signal is fed to power amplifier IC1 which drives the
track via its 100uF output coupling capacitor. The two inductors provide isolation for the DC power controller
which also feeds the track to drive the model locomotives.

Project #2 4

Constant Brilliance
Lighting Circuit
Add constant brilliance lighting to your and as it slows down, it becomes dim.
This is not how it happens in the
model locomotives and carriages with this real world. A model train layout where
high frequency drive circuit. This will add the lights in passenger coaches and
locomotives remain on at a constant
extra realism to your layout, any if you level of brightness regardless of wheth-
model night-time scenes. er trains are moving or stopped has
greatly enhanced realism. That is what
this unit does.
Model railway rolling stock these lighting and if they do, it is not con- Frustrated by the very unrealistic
days is very realistic. The detail in the stant in brightness. So while the train appearance of my own railway mod-
plastic mouldings is quite astonish- is running the carriages may be lit but els, I decided to see what could be
ing and you need a magnifying glass when the train comes to a stop, the done. The principle behind this sys-
to read the fine printing of rolling lighting goes out, plunging the poor tem is not new and in fact, was pro-
stock reporting marks. (imaginary) passengers into darkness; posed many years ago. The basic idea
Where passenger rolling stock does not very considerate. is a 25kHz sinewave oscillator which
fall down is with interior lighting. Furthermore, if the train goes fast, is fed into a power amplifier then
Most carriages do not have interior the carriage and loco lighting is bright applied to the tracks.

MARCH 1997 37
 Fig.4: this is the parts layout
diagram for the Constant
Brilliance Lighting Circuit.
Note that the TDA1520
power amplifier IC must be
attached to a heatsink.

Inside each carriage and locomo- even switched on and off regardless of
tive is a small capacitor connected in what the train is doing.
series from track collectors on the The unit presented here can drive
metal wheels to each lamp. The ca- ZPC bi N, : e :
board,code> CBLGE!ca up to about 20 3V grain-of-wheat
pacitor blocks the DC track voltage nm lamps with an AC supply of 15V at
while allowing the high frequency sig- DO eccctc
sink
agsinestext)eo 1A. 15VAC has been chosen because
nal through to light the lamp. this is a commonly available voltage
The locomotive motor’s inductance 2 prewound inductor (L1,L2) | found on most power packs used for
will block the high frequency so that i)bolts and nuts _ model railways.
no damage will occur to the motor Q vertical trimpot (VR If you prefer, up to about 20VAC
while it is standing still. can be used with a corresponding in-
Semiconductors |
The high frequency is combined crease in the number of lamps that
- 1BC548 NPN transistor (at
with the DC train control voltage then can be driven. Be careful though, as
_ 1TDA1530 power am
connected to the track. Any lamp and lamps can be easily blown if the volt-
N914 signal diodes (D age is too high.
series capacitor connected to the track,
Seeilass (D3-D6)
via the track contacts, will light at a
brilliance level determined by the How it works
amplitude of the high frequency sig- Understanding how it works is not
nal and not the level of DC motor difficult. Referring to the circuit dia-
control voltage. gram of Fig.3, Q1 is configured as a
In other words, the lamps will burn standard phase shift oscillator. R4, R5
at the same level of brilliance as long and R6 together with C3, C4 and C5
as the unit is switched on and will be cause a phase shift of the signal that is
unaffected by the train control volt- fed back to the base of Q1. This causes
age. This is much more prototypical. the circuit to oscillate at a frequency
In normal use the output of the con- set by the values of these resistors and
troller is connected to the input termi- capacitors.
nals of this system. The output from The signal is tapped off from the
the unit is then connected to the track. emitter of Qi and then fed to the bril-
Any train can be controlled normally liance control, VR1. From here the
using the existing controller and the signal is fed to power amplifier IC1. It
lights can be adjusted in brilliance or has its gain set at 11 as controlled by

= Ss
— green veto intwn
yellow violet orange rown
brown black orange b
_ blue grey red brown:
- redredredbrown ee
_ brown black red brown. _
- grey red brown brown~

.
red violet brown brown
CoococooCo brown black black brown|—

38 SILICON CHIP
feedback resistors R10 and R11.
The amplified signal is then fed to - This board fed a 25kHz sinewavepatea
the track. Inductors L1 and L2 isolate - levelofupto15VAC ontothetrackto = — |
the low impedance output of the con- _ drive grain-of-wheat lamps in locomotives ee
troller from the 25kHz signal and this and: carriages. Each lamp needs a 0.47uF© >
allows the DC train control voltage to ha aaatane’in series to = the track DC.
operate the train but not block the
high frequency signal coming from
the amplifier. The output coupling
capacitor C12 also prevents the DC
voltage from the controller from up-
setting operation of the amplifier and
vice versa.
Power for the system comes from a
bridge rectifier, D3-D6, and a 220uF
filter capacitor, C14. C13 provides
more supply filtering at the power
input pin of the chip. The supply volt-
age for the oscillator is regulated to
+12V by resistor R7 and zener diode,
ZD1. This has been included to pre-
vent the oscillator from overdriving
the power amplifier if a higher power
supply is used.

Construction
The component layout for the PC
board is shown in Fig.4. There is noth- When power is applied, it should drain should be less than 50mA.
ing critical about assembly of the unit. be possible to vary the brightness of If everything works as it should,
Start by giving the PC board a close the lamps up and down by adjusting you can install the unit somewhere
inspection to make sure that no tracks trimpot VR1. When no lamps are con- under your layout and install the
are touching or have breaks in them. nected to the circuit, the DC current lamps in your carriages. SC
Load the resistors, capacitors and di-
odes, taking care with the polarity of
the electrolytic capacitors and diodes. Where To Buy Kits & Parts
Next insert the transistor and PC
stakes. |
Kits for the 3-Aspect Signalling and Constant Brilliance Lighting projects are
Before inserting the power ampli-
available from CTOAN Electronics. Cost of the signalling kit is $14.00 plus
fier IC, prepare the heatsink. This is
$3 postage within Australia. The kit includes the PC board plus all onboard
made from a piece of aluminium an-
components including an LDR.
gle 50mm long, 40mm on one side
and 25mm on the other, as shown in Cost of the Constant Brilliance Lighting kit is $26.00 plus $4.00 postage
the photos. within Australia. This includes the PC board, all components and heatsink,
Using IC1 as a template, mark the plus 10 0.47uF monolithic capacitors. Each 3V grain-of-wheat lamp re-
two holes that have to be drilled. En- quires one 0.47uF capacitor connected in series.
sure that the heatsink is aligned with CTOAN Electronics will be providing a repair service for both these kits. All _
the PC board and IC1. When assem- kits sent in for repair should be accompanied with a repair fee of $14.00
bled, the heatsink should be attached which includes return postage within Australia.
squarely to the PC board, with the two
screws holding both the heatsink and Fully assembled units are also available, priced at $25 for the signalling unit
power amplifier securely in position. and $45.00 for the Constant Brilliance Lighting project. Add $4.00 for
postage within Australia.
Testing Kits can be ordered by using Bankcard, Masibitard or Visacard or by
When the assembly is finished, it is sending a cheque or money order to CTOAN Electronics, PO Box 211,
time to test the unit. If you have an Jimboomba, Qlid 4280. Phone (07) 3297 5421.
oscilloscope, you can look at the 25kHz Oatley Electronics can supply a pack of 2mm LEDs for installation in HO
sinewave signal which will be present scale signals. Each pack contains 10 red, 10 orange and 10 green LEDs
at the emitter of Q1 and the output of plus 30 1kQ resistors. The cost is $10 plus $3 for postage and packing.
IC1. Failing that, it is just a matter of
hooking the unit up to the power and Oatley Electronics are located at 66 Lorraine Street, Peakhurst, NSW 2210.
coupling a number of “grain of wheat” Phone (02) 9584 3563; fax (02) 9584 3561.
lamps, each via a 0.47uF monolithic 3V grain-of-wheat lamps can be purchased from most hobby shops.
capacitor, across the output of IC1.

MARCH 1997 39
This Jumbo clock has large red LED displays dims in darkness so that it is not over-
bright at night. The circuit is crystal-
for high visibility in your home, in the office controlled and has battery backup in
or in a factory. It uses readily available case of power failure.
The Jumbo Clock is housed in a
CMOS ICs and runs from a 12V supply. You cutdown plastic instrument case to
could even use it in a boat or caravan. make it quite compact considering the
large display size. A red Perspex panel
forms the front of the box while at the
By JOHN CLARKE rear are two time-setting switches and
a DC input socket for a 12V DC
“Tempus Fugit” as they say in Latin, lar or odd shaped dials; and features plugpack supply.
or “Time Flies” in English. Which- such as alarm, calendar, world time,
ever language you prefer, it is hard to and stopwatch and timer functions. Speed-up feature
ignore this clock with its large red There are even “backward” clocks Model railway enthusiasts who
LED displays. In fact, they are 57mm available. What ever happened to the want a “fast clock” will be interested
high but the readout is so easy to read simple digital clock that was easy to in the Jumbo Clock, as it can be built
it looks larger than it really is. If you’re read? Well, here it is. to run at up to 12 times normal speed.
shortsighted, this is the clock for you. The SILICON CHIP Compact Jumbo For more information on this subject ,
These days, clocks are available in Clock uses four 7-segment LED dis- refer to the December 1996 issue.
virtually any form. You can have talk- plays to provide 12-hour time; 24-
ing watches or clocks; digital or ana- hour time is not an option. The only Block diagram |
log readouts with liquid crystal, LED, gimmicks, if you could call them that, Fig.1. shows the block diagram for
vacuum fluorescent or mechanical are a colon flashing once a second and the Jumbo Clock. There are two “min-
displays; oval, square, round, triangu- an AM/PM indicator. The display also utes” counters to provide the requi-

40 SILICON CHIP
 a

AM/PM
DECIMAL
POINT

Fig.1: block diagram for the Jumbo Clock. There are two “minutes” counters to provide the
requisite 0-59 count for the minutes displays, plus one counter and a flipflop for the hours
displays. All three counters count in 4-bit binary code and this is fed to 7-segment decoders
to drive three of the four LED displays.

hours counter IC8 is clocked to incre- IC12b and IC10b circuit turns the AM/
ment DISP3. PM LED off if it was on, or on if it was
When IC8 reaches the count of 0 off. When IC8 reaches the count of 3
site 0-59 count for the minutes dis- (after the 9), the output clocks flipflop (after the hours display reaches 12),
plays and one counter plus a flipflop IC10a. IC10a’s Q-bar output then drives the “3 detect” gates IC11c & IC11d
for the hours displays. All three the “1” digit of DISP4 via IC12c and clear flipflop IC10a. DISP4 is then
counters count in 4-bit binary code IC12d. DISP4 and DISP3 now show a switched off and the Q output drives
and this is fed to 7-segment decoders “10”. When IC8 reaches the count of 2 the load input of IC8 which preloads a
to drive three of the LED displays. The (in other words a 12 is displayed), the 1 into the counter. DISP3 now shows
fourth display is driven from the
flipflop via a buffer stage.
Timing is set by a 32.768kHz crystal 3
oscillator, IC1, which is internally di-
vided to produce a 2Hz output. This is
further divided by two. for ‘the 1Hz
colon driver and by 120 for the one
minute signal for the first minutes
counter, IC4. At each one-minute clock
pulse, the minutes counter increments
by one. Each time IC4 reaches the
count of 0 (after a 9), its output clocks
the second minutes counter, IC6.
Thus, DISP2 shows the next digit in
its count. When the count of “6” is
reached, it is detected in IC11a and
IC11b which clears IC6 back to “0”.
Thus, DISP2 only counts from 0-5 then
back to 0. When IC6 is preset to 0, the

MARCH 1997 41
The display board is soldered to the main PC board at right angles, as shown
here. Tack solder a couple of the end connections and test fit the assembly in
counts from 0-9 and its “Carry Out”
the case before soldering the remaining connections. signal at pin 7 is used to clock IC6.
IC5, IC7 and IC9 are 4511 latched
BCD-to-7-segment decoder drivers.
a 1. The count sequence therefore connected between the same pins but They take the 4-bit BCD (binary coded
changes from 12 to 1, as it should for in series with a 330kQ resistor. The decimal) outputs from counters IC4,
12-hour time. 330kQ resistor and trimmer VC1 pre- IC6 and IC8 and convert it to drive the
Setting the hours is achieved using vent the crystal from operating in 7-segment lines of the common cath-
switch S2 which triggers the “6 de- “overtone” mode (ie, at a multiple of ode LED displays, via 390Q resistors.
tect” output. This clears IC6 and clocks the wanted frequency) by virtue of the
IC8. The minutes setting switch S1 RC time constant. The resistor also Counting to 60
resets the divide by 120 circuit which reduces the signal level applied to the While IC4 is used as a conventional
clocks IC4. The crystal oscillator di- crystal while the trimmer allows a decade counter, counting from 0-9 in
vider is also reset so that the clock can small frequency variation for precise BCD, IC6 needs to count up to six and
be synchronised to the exact time from timekeeping. then flick back to zero. This is achieved
the beginning of the minute. IC1 divides the 32.768kHz signal at by using the presettable inputs on the
Dimming of the display is control- its pin 10 by 16,384 (214) to provide a 4029 — Ji, J2, J3 & J4 (for jam-load
led by an LDR (light dependent resis- 2Hz square wave at pin 3, the Q14 inputs) — at pins 4, 12, 13 & 3, respec-
tor) and transistor Q1. As the ambient output. This is fed to IC2 and IC3. tively. With all these inputs tied low,
light increases, the resistance of the These are 4526 programmable count- the preset value is 0 (in BCD).
LDR is reduced so it turns Q1 on harder ers which are set to give a total divi- When IC6 counts up to 6, its Q2 and
to brighten the display. sion of 120. Q3 outputs both go high and so the
IC2 and IC3 have four preload in- output of NAND gate IC11a goes low.
Circuit description puts called DP1, DP2, DP3 and DP4, at This is inverted by IC11b which ap-
Now let’s have look at the full cir- pins 5, 11, 14 & 2 respectively. For our plies a high load signal to the L input,
cuit diagram of Fig.2. It comprises a circuit, IC2 has DP4 set high to give a pin 1. This then presets IC6 back to 0,
total of 12 low-cost ICs, four large division factor of 8. For IC3, DP1, DP2
7-segment displays, plus several and DP3 are set high to give a division
resistors, capacitors, diodes and a factor of 112. The two factors are added
32.768kHz crystal. together to give a total division of 120.
IC1 is a 4060 14-stage divider with Note that, as part of the design pro-
Fig.2 (right): the complete circuit for
provision for a crystal oscillatorat its vision for speeding up the clock for the Jumbo LED clock. IC1, IC2 & IC3
input pins. A 10MQ resistor is con- railway modellers, other division ra- divide the 32.768kHz crystal by a
nected between pins 10 and 11 to bias tios can be used — see Table 1. factor of 1,966,080 (16,384 x 120) to
the internal inverter to linear opera- The divided output from IC3 is ap- provide one pulse per minute for the
tion, while the 32.768kHz crystal is plied to the clock input of IC4. IC4 minutes counters.

42 SILICON CHIP
 $]
SETNUTES
[mi

een
Rh.
4

CLOCK
JUMBO
COMPACT

>
2)
~~

+ ~~ i:

= uu
~~ a.
— € N

S “i
~
oO
x oD
oa

0.1

102

12VDC
PLUG-PACK

MARCH 1997 43
 siiicon COMPACT JUMBO cLock|

IC INPUT |
|
:

2
MINUTES HOURS
{SET es (SET FIRST) \_sOOMA
50 Oo
ean noo

This rear view of the Jumbo LED Clock shows the DC input socket (right) and and the Q output of IC10a pulls the
the hours and minutes time setting switches. Power can be supplied from either
load input (pin 1) of IC8 high, via a
a 12V battery or a 12V DC plugpack.
0.1uF capacitor. The J1 input (pin 4)
of IC8 is high and so IC8 is preloaded
the very instant that the 6-count is When IC8 is clocked to a count of 2, to a 1. Hence, when IC8 reaches a
reached. its Q2 output goes high and this is count of 3, instead of DISP4 & DISP3
This means that IC4 and IC6 actu- ANDed with the high Q-bar output of displaying “13”, DISP4 is turned off
ally count to 59 (for the minutes count) IC10a in IC12b. The resulting high and DISP3 shows “1”.
before being preset back to 00. The output from IC12b toggles IC10b. The count sequence for DISP4 and
1kQ resistor and .001uF capacitor at Hence, each time the clock shows DISP3 is therefore 1-9, 10, 11, 12 (AM/
the pin 9 input of IC11b provide a 12:00, the Q output of IC10b toggles. PM indication) and then 1 again.
short time delay to ensure that the This drives the AM/PM LED indicator
load signal is sufficiently long for the which is the decimal point of DISP4. Power-on reset
counter to function correctly. LEDs 3 and 4 are in series with the At switch-on, counters IC4, IC6 and
The load input also clocks counter AM/PM drive to allow the dimming IC8 are preloaded so that the display
IC8. When IC8 counts up to 9 and circuit to function correctly on all dis- reads “1.00”. For IC4, the load input
then to 0, its carry out (pin 7) clocks play segments, but more on this later. (pin 1) is momentarily held high via
flipflop IC10a. The low data level at At the count of 3, the Q1 and Q2 the 1uF capacitor. This loads a 0 into
pin 5 (the D input) is transferred to the outputs of IC8 both go high and the the counter. The 10kQ resistor releases
Q output and the Q-bar output goes pin 3 output of IC11c goes low and the the load by charging the capacitor to
high. The two segments to display the output of ICi1d goes high. This sets ground. IC6 is preset via the 1uF ca-
“4” digit on DISP4 are now driven via flipflop IC10a so that its Q output is pacitor at pin 8 of IC11b initially be-
gates IC12c and IC12d. Displays DISP4 high and its Q-bar output is low. Thus, ing discharged. This produces a high
and DISP3 now show 10. the displayed “1” in DISP4 goes off at IC11b’s output to preload a 0.

LJ No. Value 4-Band Code (1%) 5-Band Code (1%)

LJ 1 10MQ brown black blue brown brown black black green brown
LJ 1 330kQ orange orange yellow brown orange orange black orange brown
LJ 5 10kQ brown black orange brown brown black black red brown
i} 2 1kQ brown black red brown brown black black brown brown
Lj 1 470Q yellow violet brown brown yellow violet black black brown
LJ 26 3900 orange white brown brown orange white black black brown
LJ 1 10Q brown black black brown brown black black gold brown

44 SILICON CHIP
 PARTS LIST
Electronic
Projects
1 PC board, code Oneeet)> 224 binary counter (IC1)
x.940mtis*™ 2 4526 programmable divide-by-N
4 PC board, code 04302972, 20e 4-bit binary counters (IC2,IC3)

For Cars
| xo. 3 4029 presettable binary
i self-adhesive label, 89 x 49mm : counters (IC4, IC6 & IC8)
1 plastic instrument case, 260 x 3 4511 BCD-to-7-segment |
190 x 80mm _ decoders (IC5,IC7 & ICQ)
1red Perspex sheet, 252 x 76 x 1 4013 dual D flipflop (IC 10)
| (oom 1 4093 quad 2-input NAND
4SC23-12EWA 57mm 7-segment Schmitt trigger (IC 11)
~ common cathode LED displays 1 4081 quad 2-input AND gate
(DISP1-DISP4) (Jaycar Cat. (IC 12)
_ 2D-1850) 1 BD682 PNP Darlington
45mm red LEDs (LED1-LED4) transistor (Q1)
3 AA cell holders 1 15V 1W zener diode (ZD1)
' 3 AAnicad cells TNGI4, -1N4148 signal diode:
- 1DCpanelsocket. a
~112VDC 500mA plugpack — 11N4004 1Adiode oale
2 snap action PC board mounting oo |
pushbutton switches (S1,S2) _ | Capacitors _
1 LDR (LDR1) (Jaycar Cat FD: 1 2200uUF 25VW PC electrolytic
3480 or equivalent) 4 1uF 16VW PC electrolytic ©
1 32.768kHz watch crystal (X1) 9 0.1uF (100n or 104) MKT
~ 1 10kQ horizontal trimpot (VR1) - polyester or aeatibie
~ 1 300mm length red hookup wire © ceramic
a wire
300mm toadgreen eR 1 .0O1pF (1n0 or 102) MKT
:
polyester
oe 6 — 1 8.5-50pF trimmer Se
4 22pF NPOO ce
ramic

e4 Sais ) ir
ingscrews - Resistors (0%
25W,1%) Price: $8.95 (plus $3 for post-
_ 8 PC stakes — 110MQ. ~1470Q 0.sw age). Order by phoning (02)
1 330kQ 283902 ~ 9979 5644 & quoting your credit
: ‘Semiconductors 5 10kQ 1100. card number; or fax the details
1 4060 Ba? ripple carry 1 1kQ to (02) 9979 6503; or mail your
order with cheque or credit card
details to Silicon Chip Publica-
tions, PO Box 139, Collaroy,
The 1uF capacitor at pin 13 of IC11d indicator can be set by counting to NSW 2097.
produces a momentary high at the set 12:00.
input of IC10a. This sets its Q output The minutes display is set by press- Use this handy form |
high to produce a load signal to IC8 ing S1. This applies a reset to IC1, IC2
and thus preloads a 1. The low Q-bar and IC3. A positive pulse is applied to
of IC10a prevents the “1” digit in the clock input of IC4 on each reset. 2 Enclosed is my cheque/money order for t
DISP4 from lighting. Thus on power Note that counter IC1 is reset to en- i $ or please debit my cl
up, the clock resets to 1:00. The AM/ sure that on setting the minutes, the
i J Bankcard [} Visa [] Mastercard :
PM indicator could be either on or off seconds are also reset.
at power on. The clock is thus reset to begin Card No: ,
counting at the beginning of the min- : é
Time setting ute; ie, as soon as S11 is released. SS
The hours display of the clock is set The colon between the hours and
Card Expiry Date /
by pressing button S2. This discharges minutes displays is formed with the
the 1pF capacitor at the pin 8 input of decimal points of DISP2 and DISP3. 5 Signature a
IC11b. Thus, IC6 is preloaded to a 0 The 1-second pulse output of IC2 is
and IC8 is clocked. Upon releasing : Name | i
buffered using IC1 2a to drive the deci-
S2, the 1uF capacitor charges and mal points via two series-connected E Address |
IC11b's output goes low again. Thus LEDs (LED1 and LED2) and 390Q re-
every time S2 is pressed, the hours sistors. Note that if the clock is set to _sCé@P/CO@_
display is incremented. The AM/PM run at a x2 or x4 speed using the pin 2
: I
MARCH 1997 45
 cI .

7)
ac
lu
Qa
—)
oO
a
a |
—l

Oo
5 <
< <
od x<
an se)
Ww
<
O

Re

Fig.3: this diagram shows the component layout of the main PC board and wiring
for the backup battery. Take care to ensure that each IC is correctly oriented.

46 SILICON CHIP .
The LDR should be mounted so that its surface lines up
with the front of the LED displays. This device is the sensor
for the automatic dimming circuitry.

and pin 1 outputs of IC1, the colon will flash at a 2Hz or

4Hz rate.

Display dimming
Transistor Q1 drives the common cathodes of all four
LED displays. It is connected as an emitter-follower so that
the voltage at the emitter follows the base voltage. The base
voltage is set by trimpot VR1 and the LDR. As the ambient
light increases, the resistance of the LDR is reduced and Q1
turns on harder to brighten the display.
In darkness, the resistance of the LDR increases and so
Q1 is not turned on quite as hard and the display dims.
VR1 allows adjustment of the dimmed display brightness.
The dimming effect is dependent on the voltage drop
across the LED display segments. For the main segments,
there are four LEDs in series to produce an even light
distribution over the lit element.
Because the decimal point is smaller, only two LEDs are
in series. We have compensated for this lower display
voltage drop by adding two LEDs in series for the colon
decimal points (LEDs 1 & 2) plus two more for the AM/PM
indicator (LEDs 3 & 4).
These extra LEDs are not seen in the clock display but
are still illuminated on the main PC board where they are
mounted.

Power
The clock circuit is normally powered from a 12VDC
plugpack. These usually produce more than 15V when
unloaded and so a 15V zener diode has been included to
protect the ICs from overvoltage. A 220uF capacitor and
nine 0.1uF capacitors dotted around the PC board provide
power supply decoupling.
The backup battery consists of three 1.2V nicad cells in
series. These are kept charged via a 470Q resistor from the
12V supply. If the plugpack is disconnected or the mains
power is off, the battery feeds power to the circuit.
Note that the voltage is too low for the displays to light,
but sufficient to keep the ICs going. When power is re-
stored, the time displayed will be correct.
The battery is protected against reverse connection of
the plugpack supply via D2, while ZD1 protects the clock upside
mounted
accommodates
readouts
that
and
board
display
four
the
DISP4
DISP2
Note
LDR.
LED
are
circuit. The 10Q resistor feeding ZD1 is likely to go open
circuit if the reverse polarity connection is maintained Fig.4
down
decimal
that
display.
the
of
points
at
top
so
are
MARCH 1997 rs 7
This is the view inside the case with the top and the red Perspex front panel
removed. The three 1.5V backup batteries are mounted in single-cell holders ing sure that the electrolytics are in-
which are attached to the rear panel. serted the right way around; ie, with
correct polarity.
Next, install the diodes, zener di-
but, apart from this, there will be no PC boards for shorts between tracks, ode and LEDs and make sure that each
other damage. breaks in tracks or undrilled holes. is oriented correctly. The same com-
Fix any board defects before proceed- ment applies when installing the ICs.
Construction ing. Note that the 4511 ICs (IC5, IC7 and
The Jumbo Clock is built on two PC Next, insert and solder in all the IC9) are oriented differently to the
boards which are mounted at right links as shown on the overlay dia- other ICs.
angles to each other. The main PC gram. Be sure to install the links on Transistor Q1 is mounted horizon-
board is coded 04302971 and meas- the display board before placing the tally with its metal face towards the
ures 224 x 94mm, while the vertical displays in position. Note that DISP4 PC board. We inserted a metal washer
display PC board is coded 04302972 and DISP2 are mounted upside down between the transistor and PC board
and measures 252 x 76mm. It is housed as indicated by the position of the before securing it with a screw and
in a plastic instrument case which has decimal point. The LDR is mounted nut. The washer will allow the small
been reduced in depth so that its over- so that its face is about level with the amount of heat generated to dissipate
all measurements are 260 x 80 x front of the displays. more readily.
118mm (WxHxD). Insert the resistors and PC stakes Finally, wire in the time-setting
The parts layout diagram for the next. The PC stakes are required for switches, the adjustable trimmer ca-
main PC board is shown in Fig.3 while mounting the time-setting switches pacitor VC1, trimpot VR1 and the crys-
the display board is shown in Fig.4. and for the power supply connections. tal. Make sure that the switches are
Begin construction by checking the This done, install the capacitors, mak- correctly oriented.

Modifying the case

Fig.5: this full To make a reasonably compact case,
=7L7¢0n- COMPACT JUMBO CLOCK size artwork
we took a standard plastic instrument
can be copied
CHhiP—— and attached to case measuring 260 x 80 x 190mm and
the rear panel. reduced its depth to 119mm. This can
i SET— be easily done using a hacksaw. You
DC INPUT
MINUTES HOURS 12VDC @ will need to mark the cutting line on
(SET LAST) (SET FIRST) 500mA ® each case half and then cut between
the integral slots. After you have fin-
ished with the hacksaw you can use a
+ “ file to clean up the cuts.
Note that the part that must be re-
moved does not have the speaker slots

48 SILICON CHIP
 -
als
<a i
se

F are the a ctu al size a rtworks for the two PC

boa rds. Check your boards carefully for defects before
me

installing any of the parts.

NN
o

Dd
™
oN
7
 parsterinctns

The PC board assembly is secured using four self-tapping screws. These go into
integral plastic pillars moulded into the base of the case. Notice how the display disconnect the power and check for
PC board slides into the rearmost slot at the front. reversed supply connections or incor-
rectly placed components.
If all is well, the colon should flash
in the base. The rear plastic panel will are at right angles. Finally, check the at a one-second rate. You should be
need to be chamfered slightly around assembly in the case again to make able to increment the hours and min-
the edges since the new rear slot is _ sure that everything is correct before utes with the time-setting switches.
slightly narrower than the original. soldering all the matching pads. It is a Check that the minutes digits count
Remove all the integral mounting pil- good idea to apply a liberal fillet of from 00 to 59 then 00 again and that
lars in the base of the case, except for _ solder to the large copper pads to im- the hours digits count from 1 to 12.
the four in the corners (these support prove mechanical strength. Verify that the AM/PM indicator lights
the PC board). This can be done by The rear panel can now be drilled on alternative 12:00 time.
using a large drill. to accept the DC socket and switches
The cut down case halves still join S1 and S2. Attach the DC socket and Optional speed-up
together neatly and are retained using cell holders as shown, using contact Table 1 shows the modifications re-
the original two screws. adhesive or double-sided adhesive quired for faster than normal clock
Next, place the main PC board in tape. Finally, wire up the socket and operation. Note that the PC board has
position and locate it over the mount- holders as shown in Fig.3. been designed so that you only need
ing pillars. This done, slide the dis- to cut the narrowed tracks leading to
play board into the rearmost front slot Testing the IC1 output and the IC2 and IC3 DP
and mark the rear of this board where Only time will tell if the circuit is inputs, before applying solder bridges
the main PC board makes contact. You working or not (Er... sorry about that!). to make the new contacts.
can now remove both PC boards and Rotate VR1 fully clockwise, apply Most of the changes are indicated
tack solder them together at the large power and check that the displays on the PC board pattern. Note that for
copper pads, making sure that they show 1:00. If there is no display at all, timekeeping rates beyond x4, you have
to modify the linking to IC1 and to
B10)[=i Ba ©Coed sy0)1-10 MO)0)Ce)at either or both IC2 and IC3.
Finally, insert the cells in their hold-
IC3
ers and adjust VR1 so that, when you
in2
place your finger on the LDR, the dis-
play dims (the final adjustment should
be made in the dark). Trimmer capaci-
tor VC1 can be adjusted if the clock
needs to run slightly faster or slower
in order to keep the correct time. If
you have a frequency meter, it can be
connected to pin 9 of IC1 and VC1
adjusted for a reading of exactly
32.76800Hz. Sc
50 SILICON CHIP
 CURSES!

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“@ NICKED!!
The March issue of this magazine
ures included a copy of the totally new
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 SERVICEMAN'S LOG
The rich tapestry of servicing
What makes a non-technical person fiddle with that he had had the covers off and so I
his VCR when something goes wrong? And why decided to carry out a few prelimi-
nary checks while he was there. I con-
do young children like “posting” money into the nected the machine — a Teac MV505 —
cassette wells of VCRs? It’s all part of the rich to the power and pushed in a tape to
confirm what he had said.
tapestry of servicing. His description of the problem was
spot on but that wasn’t all. Ialso found
that the tape wouldn’t eject because
The tall, distinguished looking gen- his profession; instead, I politely asked the cassette flap wouldn’t open, which
tleman who wandered into the shop him for his particulars and asked what meant that he had also removed the
clutching his prized video to his was wrong. front escutcheon and not replaced it
bosom didn’t look the type to have a He.explained that the tape would properly. This he sheepishly admit-
go —he looked more like a lawyer than go in and down and wrap around the ted was the case.
a serviceman. Anyway, I wasn’t pre- drum motor but it wouldn’t play, fast After he left, I removed the covers
sumptuous enough to enquire about forward or rewind. He freely admitted and the front panel and re-engaged
the door flap lifter so that the tape ©
would now eject properly. Anyway,
that was only a minor detail; I now
had to track down the main fault.
Preliminary checks
The deck, surprisingly, was a
Mitsubishi Fo swift mechanism and I
could see that the tape was not lacing
up fully. The drum motor was spin-
ning but there was no sign of life from
the capstan motor.
My preliminary diagnosis was that
something was wrong with the load-
ing mechanism. But what? Was it jam-
ming? Were the gears out of align-
ment? Was it the timing? Or was it a
faulty mode select switch?
I began by inserting a tape and when
the loading motor stopped with the
tape 3/4 laced up I continued to rotate
it by hand, consciously feeling for any
resistance. I couldn’t feel any and I so
I continued to turn the motor until the
arms were almost completely laced,
at which point it would unload itself.
—SHESPISH
ADMISSIONS Because the loading motor turned a
a) squirrel gear, I concluded that this test
may be misleading. Because of the
SHPSH. ADMS. gear ratio, I would not necessarily feel
&—5) any resistance at my fingertips.
My next step was to check if there
L WASN'T PRESUMPTUOUS | was anything preventing the arms from
completing their travel to the end
ENOUGH TO ENQVIRE stops. They seemed quite free and
ABOUT HIS PROFESSION... loose and so I concluded that either a
52 — SILICON CHIP
gear had jumped a tooth in the load-
ing gear chain or the mode select
switch was at fault.
Unfortunately, as I discovered when
I removed the bottom cover, it’s not
easy to check the gear alignment as
there is a printed circuit board cover-
ing the master cam, along with several
sliding plates. However, the mode se-
lect switch is easy to access and so I
decided to check that first. This switch
is soldered to the PC board via five
connections and there is an alignment SUMMARISED
point which must marry up in the Hour OF
eject position. INVECT IVE &.
I replaced the switch but there was IBAD LANGUA
no improvement in the loading se-
quence. Regretfully, it looked like
major surgery was required and I was
extremely grateful that Ihad a full set
Be
of instructions for this deck, even
though these were for a Mitsubishi
VCR.
It is hard to summarise the next
hour of invective and bad language.
The instructions make it all sound so
easy and I suppose it is if you work on
this deck all day every day. If you
don’t, then it’s not quite so straightfor-
ward.
Anyway, I removed the reel belt,
capstan brake spring, cam plate B,
three gears, the loading gear arm and
five screws, before desoldering the
leads to the full erase head. At this SLIVING
point, the deck PC board is ready to be PLATES
prised off — at least in theory. How-
ever, on this model, the lower mould-
ing that supports the deck is some-
what generous and the PC board won't
SET V7e--
come out unless the whole deck, in-
cluding the ejector, is removed. POSITION
A closer inspection revealed that it
would be necessary to remove about THE RICH TAPESTRY
6mm from either side of the moulding
to free the PC board. As a result, I OF SERVICINGEe..
decided in the interests of time that an
Australian modification was required Worse, naturally, was to come. Any had been fitted with a new green pinch
and so I used a soldering iron to melt damn fool can take things to pieces — roller. Now the original pinch roller
away the plastic so that the board it’s getting them back together prop- arm mechanism was made of white
could be removed (this didn’t alter erly that sorts us out. Inevitably, I fell plastic and it is common for one of the
the strength of the structure in any for all the traps, in particular the record arms that guides it down the squirrel
way). safety lever which should be held back gear cam to break. This is replaced by
Finally, I had access to the main whilst inserting the board, not to men- the green type which you can either
cams (1 and 2) and, after wiping away tion pin “e” getting in the wrong track purchase as a single part or as part of
the excessive grey grease, I could check of the cam slide plate B. what is called “Abrasion Part Kit for
the\ alignment hole. Would you be- On the third attempt, it all finally Fo DECK (Rubber)”, whatever that
lieve that all was correct? The shafts came together and we were back to means (the part number is 789-
and levers were all in the right places. square one with the original fault. It C007020). This kit comprises the arm,
I removed the cams and carefully ex- was now that I had a little bit of well- the reel belt, the circlip, a sachet of
amined them on both sides for broken deserved luck. grease and a comprehensive instruc-
or bent galleries but all were perfect. Whilst cogitating menacingly over tion booklet. 7
Even their teeth were straight. this vile mechanism, I noticed that it However, if a serviceman doesn’t

MARCH 1997 53
 it paraded its full box of tricks. In fact
Serviceman’s Log — continued everything was working except the
display. Unfortunately, I don’t have
the service manual for this particular
model, which meant that Iwould have
to tackle it blind.
Fortunately, the deck isn’t too diffi-
cult to remove. It’s simply a matter of
removing five screws and three plugs,
removing the front escutcheon/con-
PNISIDOMINUS trol panel, and then lifting the deck
KW ERUSTA..GIVVUS A out vertically. This gives access to the
PC board which is held in via two
BRENKUS OL MATUS screws and half a dozen clips.
Unfortunately, the clips make it
rather awkward to remove the PC
board assembly but eventually I was
able to free it and lift it out from the
rear. This done, I gave it a careful
visual inspection but nothing obvious
was shouting back at me so I applied
power to the board and began check-
ing voltages around the circuit.
Because there was no display, I rea-
soned that the supply rail to it had
probably gone missing. Either that or
the display itself, or possibly the mi-
AFTER A LONG cue OF COFFEE, croprocessor that drives it, had been
damaged.
I TACKLED THE NEXT JOB, My initial checks revealed that a
PRAYING IT WOULD BE EASY oes voltage was present between the two
ends of the display where the fila-
ments are connected. This is typically
know about this kit (it isn’t mentioned Mr Grey brought in his Akai VS- either 5V DC or 5V AC. Having found
in any service manual) and only fits G220EA, with a tale of woe that his this, I checked various other points
the new pinch roller, he usually also youngest son had “posted” some toy around the display, looking for a -28V
neglects to clean and lubricate the or other into it. Of course, it no longer (approx.) rail, but there was none. I
shaft it slides up and down on. And worked and when I shook it I could . didn’t have a circuit diagram which
that’s precisely what had happened in clearly hear something rattling inside. was a bit of a hindrance but it all
this case. In operation, the pinch roller The coffee had definitely improved screamed ofa failed -30V rail from the
started to slide down the shaft but it my mood and I chose Mr Grey’s still switchmode power supply. All I had
was too slow because of the friction shiny VCR — just barely out of the egg to do was identify it.
and it was jamming the roller against (I think) — to look at next. There are about 16 diodes in the
the top of the capstan shaft housing in Removing the cover gave good ac- secondary of the power supply, most
a way that wasn’t obvious to the eye. cess to the mid-decked VCR and I of which are protected by low-value
Cleaning and lubricating it with grease quickly found two coins — a 10-cent resistors. Unfortunately, no voltages
fixed the problem completely. piece and a 5-cent piece — sitting on were marked on this part circuit but it
Anyway, when our lawyer (?) friend the PC circuit board just under the didn’t take a mental giant to figure out
arrived to pick it up, Iasked him about deck. I retrieved the two coins by care- which diodes were in the negative
it and he confirmed that the pinch fully jiggling the deck upside down in rail, as their anodes connect to the
roller had indeed been replaced just the air, then carefully checked for more negative side of an electrolytic capaci-
Over a year previously. What a palaver and for any signs of damage before tor.
over what, in hindsight, should have powering it up. Anyway, I checked each of these in
been a straightforward simple repair. When I switched it on, the drum turn and eventually found that D209
motor came to life briefly but no other was open circuit. Ireplaced it, plugged
Christmas treat signs of life were present — not even the machine into the wall socket and
After a long cup of coffee, I tackled from the display. I pushed various was immediately rewarded by a flash-
the next job, praying it would be easy. buttons and nothing happened but ing “AKAI” sign in the middle of the
Oh the joys of Christmas — the when I pushed a prerecorded tape in display. Switching on the power at
presents, the new VCR for Dad, the and pressed play, the tape loaded nor- the machine then brought up the word
odd bit of cash for Johnny the 5-year mally and a picture appeared on the “ERROR”, which is normal at this
old. And oh what a disaster this com- TV with full sound. | stage.
bination can make! I pushed all the buttons in turn and Getting it all back together again
54 SILICON CHIP
was surprisingly simple, with the PC
board literally falling into its supports.
The deck accurately followed suit and
I powered it up with a tape in place.
This time, the display worked cor-
rectly and I gave it a thorough soak
test before calling the customer.

The house call —

After lunch, I was asked by a little
old lady to do a house call on her
aging Sony KV2764EC which had
sound but no picture. This set is now
about 10 years old and not getting any
younger. In fact, assuming average use,
this is about the “use by” date ofa TV
receiver.
I don’t like doing service calls on
these sets as access is to the main
circuit board is quite poor. However,
she couldn’t possibly bring the set to
me, so I had to go to the set! |
When I got there, I found that the
set was on a low table near a window
and so the lighting was good. I
switched the set on and the symptoms
were as described — sound but no pic-
ture.
This set used a PE3 chassis rather
than the Rx chassis. The tube filament
was alight and you could hear the TARZAN ARRIVED IN
familiar rustle from the EHT at switch
on.
A SMALL HATCHBACK
Asa first step, Imeasured the screen
voltages on pins 3 and 4 (G1 & G2) of worse for wear. My instructions from to confirm my theory and I placed an
the tube. These were both around 500V the owner’s financier, namely the order for a new switch right away.
which is what I would expect them to father of two teenagers, was to make What about the other machine?
be. However, the cathodes were too one good unit out of the two. Well, it had a smashed control panel
high at nearly 200V. I then switched Much as I hate working on these and for a while I contemplated remov-
the set off and it momentarily flashed cheap units, I reluctantly agreed to ing its function switch for use on the
a white line. Ah, ah, I thought - a have a go. Gaining access to the cir- other machine. However, it wasn't
vertical deflection failure. cuitry of such units if often a problem worth the time that would be spent
When I finally managed to remove but in this case, the two halves of the removing and refitting it, particularly
the motherboard, I could see what cabinet shell can be split after remov- without knowing its condition. Of
looked like a number of dry joints and ing only eight screws. course, the other option was to repair
even though I worked them over, I One of the sets was completely dead the smashed unit with parts from the
knew that the problem just had to be and I decided to work on this first, as other machine but the hole was too
1C552 (TDA3652). However, this IC is I hoped that it would be a simple big and the damage too severe.
no longer available and is now re- power supply problem. In the event,
the power was OK and I could trace Tarzan’s TV
placed with a TDA3654. At the same
time, you also have to’replace R518 the problem to the cassette deck and My next customer was a young man
(6.8kQ) with a 1.5kQ resistor. function switch SW2. Unfortunately, who arrived in a small 3-door hatch-
As this is a well-known problem, I I didn’t have a circuit and sol couldn’t back. To my astonishment, he removed
had the parts on boards that I carried quite work out the sequence of events a 63cm stereo TV from the back seat
with me and installing these quickly from there on in. and effortlessly carried it into the shop
restored the picture. However, on de- The function switch was fairly com- as though it was an empty cabinet. He
parture, I advised her to start saving plex and as power was going in but plonked it down on our small counter
for a new TV. not coming out, this had to be the and cheerfully informed me that there
logical suspect. To confirm this, I wig- was no picture.
Portable players gled and twisted the switch and The set was a Philips 2B-S chassis
Back at the ranch, a couple of Pye sprayed contact cleaner inside it until KR5987R 25CT8883/75, circa 1988.
ND-20 portable CD cassette stereo ra- finally I managed to get some sound This was a fairly popular model and
dios had come looking very much the out of the speakers. That was enough is one that I am quite familiar with.
MARCH 1997 55
 always do as a matter of course with
these sets, as past experience has
shown that this capacitor can give
problems. Again, it made no dif-
ference. |
Finally, I stopped working as. an
automaton, put in my remaining
braincell, and started measuring
voltages and checking waveforms.
‘First, Ichecked the 1.2V nicad battery
which was OK (this battery backs up
the memory for the microprocessor).
This done, I checked gating pulse
waveforms 43 and 44 to the chroma
decoder (pin 8M10), to pin 9 of IC7550
(TDA3870/V2), to pin 10 of IC7300
(TDA4580/V2) and to pin 7 of IC7570
(TDA3654Q).
I was drawing blanks everywhere,
so I decided to go back to first princi-
ples and examine the CRT voltages.
And as luck would have it, I found the
cause almost immediately. As soon as
my 100kQ/V analog multimeter
touched pin 7 of the CRT socket, the
picture came on and stayed on. There
was just one problem — it was out of
focus. _
The voltage on pin 7 of the CRT is
Not bothering to even catch his breath, reached a certain level. This feature is marked as 650V and is derived from
“Tarzan” continued to elaborate on achieved using a video control chip the flyback transformer 7kV connec-
the set’s problems. Apparently, the (TDA4580/V2 — IC 7300), which also tion via the focus and screen control
picture had been a little “unclear” deals with brightness, contrast, satu- pots. And, fairly obviously, the very
and intermittently had taken longer ration, beam cutoff stabilisation and small current through the meter was
and longer to come on. beam limiting. necessary to make the focus control
Initially, I was rather reluctant to However, a problem arises as the function.
take the set on, as I didn’t fancy the tube ages, in that it takes longer and Replacing the focus control pot
prospect of it taking up so much bench longer for the picture to come on. Of- (33MQ) fixed the problem. Unfortu-
space for a week or two while I chased ten, there is only a white line at the nately, the picture still wasn’t the best,
an intermittent fault. 1mumbled that top of the screen but this can usually even after adjusting the focus, and I
it could take quite some time and sug- be fixed by adding a 33kQ resistor suspect that the emission was down.
gested that, in view of the set’s age, he between the +13a (12V) line (pin 6 of However, it wasn’t down far enough
might prefer to spend his money on a IC7300) and pin 26 (RGB output stage to justify the modification mentioned
new set. | | current sensor). | earlier.
His response was that he wanted Unfortunately, this same symptom When I stripped down the faulty
the set fixed and that I could take as (ie, the white line at the top of the pot, I found that the printed circuit on
long as I liked. It was the wrong re- screen) can also be produced by a the ceramic base had corroded. Ap-
sponse but still, you couldn’t help variety of other faults. And, in fact, it parently, the extra leakage of the me-
liking him for his cheerful manner. In showed up within a minute or two ter was enough for the voltage to arc
then end, I relented and promised to from switch on. | across the corroded section. I might
start on it straight away. All he had to Access to the PC board in this set is add that, on some sets, I have also had
do was move it to my workbench and not good and I find the best approach problems with the screen control
promise to pick it up as soon as it was is to turn the cabinet on its side, or (4.7MQ), especially on the KT3 chas-
ready. even upside down, to get to it. The sis, and with C2471, a 68nF capacitor
No problem — Tarzan made the set’s first thing to tackle when you do get which connects from the wiper of the
removal look as though a genie had access is to remake any suspicious- screen control to the +200a voltage
instantly answered my wish. If only looking joints, particularly around the rail.
he could have fixed it too! | transformers and ICs. In this case, it Tarzan, true to his word, turned up
When I switched it on, there was no wasn’t too bad and my efforts made not long after I made the call, tucked
picture but both sound and EHT were no difference to the problem. the set under one arm (well, not quite),
apparent and the CRT filaments lit Next, I replaced C2571, a 100uF and plonked it in the back of his tiny
up. Now, this chassis will not give a electrolytic capacitor in the vertical car. Fortunately, he was as happy as
picture until the beam current has output stage. This is something that I Larry. Sc
56 SILICON CHIP —
 plugpack: $10, also available is a larger model which
has mor features and has touch sensitive response
keys: $200 ...STEREO FM TRANSMITTER KIT: 88-
108MHz, 6-12V DC supply, 8mA @ 9V, 25X65mm
PCB size, PCB plus all on-board comp’s, plus battery
connector and 2 electret mic’s: $25, plastic case to
suit: $4 ... WOOFER STOPPER KIT: Stop that dog
bark, also works on most animals, refer SC Feb. 96,
Kit includes PCB and all on board comp’s, wound
transformer, electret mic., and a horn piezo tweeter:
$39, extra horn piezo tweeters (drives up to 4) $6
Ea. ..ALCOHOL BREATH TESTER KIT: Based on a
thick film alcohol sensor. The kit includes a PCB, all
on board comp’s and a meter : $30 ...CENTRAL
SWITCHED MODE POWER SUPPLY:Compact _ ...MAGNIFIERS: Small eyepiece: $3, 30mm Loupe: LOCKING KIT (NEW): A complete central locking kit
(50X360X380mm), enclosed in a perforated metal $8, 75mm Loupe: $12, 110mm Loupe: $15, a set of
for a vehicle. The kit is of good quality and actuators
case, 240V AC in, 12V DC/2A and 5VDC/5A out: $17 one of each of these magnifiers (4): $30 ... NEW
are well made, the kit includes 4 actuators, electronic
...HP POWER SUPPLIES: Compact (120X70X30mm) NICAD BATTERY BARGAIN: 6 PACK (7.2V) OF 1.2V/
800 mAHr. AA NICAD BATT’s plus 1 X thermal switch,
control box, wiring harness, screws, nuts, and other
HP switched mode, power in plastic case, 100-240V mechanical parts: $60, The actuators only: $9 Ea.
AC input, 10.6V/1.32A DC output, slightly soiled: easy to seperate: $4 per pack or 5 packs for $16,
...CODE HOPPING UHF CENTRAL LOCKING KIT PLUS
$14 ...LASER MODULE: Very bright (650nM/5mW) FLAT RECTANGULAR 1.2V, 400mAh NI-CAD
A ONE CHANNEL UHF REMOTE CONTROL: Similar
focusable module, suit many industrial applications, BATTERIES with thermal switch, easy to seperate,
to above but this one is wireless, includes code
bright enough for a disco laser light show, good (Each batt: 48x17x6 mm): $4 per pack or 5 packs
hoping Tx’s with two buttons (Lock-unlock), an extra
results with the Automatic Laser Light Show: $75 for $16 ...UV MONEY DETECTOR: Small complete
relay in the receiver can be used to immobilise the
dws IGHT KIT: 3 motors, unit with cold. cathode UV tube, works from 2 X AA
engine, etc., kit includes 4 actuators, control box,
mirrors plus PCB and comp. kit, has laser diode reg. batteries ( Not supplied), Inverter used can dimly
two Tx’s, wiring harness, screws, nuts, and other
cct, could be powered by the above 12V switched light a 4W white fluoro tube: $5Ea. or 5 for $19
mechanical parts: $109 ...ELECTROCARDIOGRAM
mode power supply, produces many different ..._MISCELLANE ED LENS ASSEMBLIES:
PCB + DISK: The software disk and a silk screened
patterns, gan be used with the laser module: $70 Unusual lens assemblies out of industrial equipment:
and solder masked PCB (PCB size: 105 x 53mm) for
...LASER POINTER: Our new metal laser pointer 3 for $22 ...USED PIR MOVEMENT DETECTORS: |
the ECG kit published in EA July 95. No further
(With keychain) is very bright, with 650nM/5mW Commercial quality 10-15M range, used but tested
components supplied: $10 ...SECURE IR SWITCH:
diode: $65 ... LEDS SUPER PRICES. INCLUDING A and guaranteed, have O/C transistor (BD139) output
IR remote controlled switch, both Rx and Tx have
SUPER BRIGHT BLUE!: All the following LEDS are in and a tamper switch, 12V operation, circuit provided:
Dip switches for coding, kit includes commercial 1
a 5mm housing ...By far THE BRIGHTEST BLUE $10 Ea. or 4 for $32 ... CCD CAMERA WITH BONUS:
Tx, Rx PCB and parts to operate a relay (not supplied):
EVER OFFERED, superbright at 400mCd: $1.50Ea. Tiny (32X32X27mm) CCD camera, 0.1lux, IR
$22 8A/4KV relay $3 ... FLUORESCENT TAPE: High
or 10 for $10 ... 1C red: 10 for $4 ...300mC green: responsive (Works in total dark with IR illumination),
quality Mitsubishi brand all weather 50mm wide Red
$1.10Ea. or 10 for $7 .. MAKE WHITE LIGHT BY connects to any standard video input (Eg VCR) or via
reflective tape with self adhesive backing: 3 meters
MIXING THE OUTPUT OF THE PREVIOUS 3 LEDS? a modulator to aerial input: $125, BONUS: With each
for $5 ...LOW COST IR ILLUMINATOR: Illuminates
..3Cd Red: $1.10Ea. or 10 for $7 ... 3Cd yellow camera you can buy the following at reduced prices:
night viewers or CCD cameras using 42 of our 880nm
(Small torch!) also available in 3mm: 10 for $9 ... COMMERCIAL UHF TRANSMITTER for$15 (Normally
/ 30mW / 12 degrees IR LEDs. Power output is
Superbright flashing LEDS: $1.50 Ea. or 10 for $10 $25), IR ILLUMINATOR KIT with 42 X 880nM LED's
varied using a trimpot., operates from 10 to 15V,
.. PHOTOTRANSISTORS: Enclosed in clear 5mm for $25 (Normally $35), REGULATED 10.4V
current is 5-600mA ...IR LASER DIODE KIT: Barely
housing similar to the 5mm LEDS, 30V/3uS/<100nA PLUGPACK for $10 (Normally $25) ...PIR CASE FOR
visible 780nM/S5mW (Sharp LT026) laser diode plus
dark current: $1.30 or 10 for $9 ...CONSTANT CCD CAMERA: Used PIR cases of normal appearance,
constant current driver kit plus collimator lens plus
VOLTAGE DIODES: 1.52-1.66V @ 10uA: 10 for $7 use to hide the CCD camera, plenty of room inside:
housing plus a suitable detector Pin diode, for medical
...MASTHEAD AMPLIFIER PLUS PLUGPACK $2.50 Ea. or 4 for $8 ...CAMERA-TIME LAPSE VCR
use, perimeter protection, data transmission,
SPECIAL: Our famous MAR-6 based masthead RECORDING SYSTEM: Includes PIR movement
experimentation: $32 ...WIRELESS IR EXTENDER:
amplifier plus a suitable plupack to power it: $20, detector and interface control kit, plus a learning
Converts the output from any IR remote control into
Waterproof box: $2.50, bottom box:$2.50 ...17mm remote control, combination can trigger any VCR to
a UHFtransmission, Txis self contained and attaches
MAGNIFIERS: Made in JAPAN by Micro Design these start recording with movement and stop recording a
with Velcro strap under the IR transmitter, receiver
eyepiece style metal enclosed magnifiers will see the few minutes after the last movement has stops: $90
has 2 IR Led’s and is place near the appliance being
grain of most papers, used, limited qty.: $4 Ea. ...HF ...GEIGER COUNTER KIT: Based on a Russian tube,
controlled, kit includes two PCB’s all components,
BALLASTS: Single tube 36W Dimmable high has traditional “click” to indicate each count. Kit
two plastic boxes, Velcro strap, 9V transmitter battery
frequency ballasts: $18 Ea. ...12V SLA BATTERY includes PCB, all on-board components, a speaker
is not supplied: $35, suitable plugpack for the
CHARGERS: INTELLIGENT “PLUGPACK” 240V-12V and Yes, the geiger counter tube is included: $30
receiver: $10 ...NEW - LOW COST 2 CHANNEL UHF ©
GEL BATTERY CHARGERS, 13.8V / 650mA, proper ...RARE EARTH MAGNETS: Very strong! 7X3mm
REMOTE CONTROL: Two channel encoded UHF
“switching” design with LED status indicator: $8.80 $2, 10X3mm $4, Torroidal 50mm outer, 35mm inner,
remote control has a small keyring style assembled
...LASER POINTER KIT: A special purchase of some 5mm thick: $10 ...IR TESTER: Kit includes a
transmitter, kit receiver has 5A relay contact output,
660nM/5mW laser diode means that we can reduce blemished IR converter tube as used in night vision
can be arranged for toggle or momentary operation:
the price of our Laser Pointer kit, includes everything and an EHT power supply kit, excellent for seeing IR
sources, price depends on blemishes: $30 / $40 $35 for one Tx and one Rx, additional Tx’s $12 Ea. .
except the batteries: $29 ... SPECIAL BATTERY AND
CHARGER OFFER: When our 7AHr/12V SLA battery ...ARGON-ION HEADS: Used Argon-lon heads with
($30) is bought with the SLA battery charger the 30-100mW output in the blue-green spectrum, power
total price for both is: $33 ... USED BRUSHLESS DC supply circuit provided, size: 350X160X160mm,
FANS: 4°/12V/0.25A: $8, 24V/6'/17W: $12 weight 6Kg, needs 1KW transformer available
...100,000uF ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS: 30V/ elsewhere for about $170, head only for: $350
40Vsurge, used but in exc. cond.:$10 ...12Hr. -DIGITAL RECORDING MODULES: Small digital
MECHANICAL TIMERS: 55X48X40mm, 5mm shaft voice recording modules as used in greeting cards,
(Knob not supplied), two hours timing per 45deg. microphone and a speaker included, 6 sec. recording
rotation, two 25V/16A SPST switches which close at time: $9 ...WIRED IR REPEATER KIT: Extend the
the end of the timing period: $5’... USED IEC LEADS: - range of existing IR remote controls by up to 15M
Used Australian IEC leads: $2.50 ...STANDARD and/or control equipment in other rooms: $18 ...12V-
PIEZO TWEETERS: Square, 85X85mm, 4-40KHz, 35V 2.5W SOLAR PANEL KIT: US amorphous glass solar
RMS: $8, Wide dispersion, 67X143mm, 3-30KHz, panels, 305X228mm, Vo-c 18-20V, Is/c 200mA: $22
35V RMS: $9 ...COMPUTER POWER SUPPLY: Ea. or 4 for $70 ... MIDI KEYBOARDS: Quality midi
Standard large supply as used in large computer keyboard with 49 keys, 2 digit LED display, MIDI out
towers, +5V/22A, +12V/8.5A, -5V/0.5A, -12V/0.5A, jack, Size: 655115X35mm, computer software
used but in excellent condition, guaranteed: $30 included, see review in Feb. 97 EA: $80, 9V DC
MARCH 1997 57
RGB-to-PAL encoder
replacement for the
ITV Pattern Generator
Since publication of the TV Pattern Generator IC is no longer available. This drop-in
board is the answer to that problem
in November 1991, the TEA2000 RGB-to-PAL but there is a performance penalty
encoder IC used in the circuit has gone out of which we’ll discuss shortly. It can
production. This add-on board using a different also be used to restore a circuit to
working order in those few isolated
encoder IC can be used as a replacement. instances where the TEA2000 has
failed.
The add-in board is based on the
The TV Pattern Generator described to-PAL encoder functioning correctly Motorola MC1377P RGB-to-PAL/
in the November and December 1991 to give the colour burst and chroma NTSC encoder. This device has been
issues was a very popular project. It waveforms in the composite video sig- available for many years and after be-
produced a variety of patterns, in- nal. ing assured by the Motorola distribu-
cluding checker board, crosshatch, In recent months, we’ve heard from tors in Australia that it is still in pro-
dot, white screen, greyscale, red screen quite a few readers who want to build duction, we decided to use it.
and colour bars. The colour bar and this project but have been unable to Although the MC1377P is equiva-
red screen patterns relied on the RGB- do so because the TEA2000 encoder lent in function to the TEA2000, it
58 SILICON CHIP
 +5V +12V Fig.1: the add-on circuit is based
PINI6 1C15 PINT] 1C16 on the Motorola MC1377 RGB-to-
PAL/NTSC converter (IC2). IC1
provides buffering and blanking
of the RGB input signals.

I Xx] 220pF
: 4.43MHz

VCl 220pF
3-30pF

SYNC
PINI6 ICI6
RED
PINT 1C16

PIN3 IC160

PINS IC160

GND o
PIN9 IC1é6
CHROMA Ik
PINIO ICI6

RGB TO PAL ENCODER FOR

COLOUR TV PATTERN GENERATOR

does not have the same pinouts and, ticular, there are faint horizontal lines horizontal and vertical sync, the col-
in our circuit at least, it also requires a across the colour bars and much more our burst and the luminance and
separate blanking facility. In addition, noticeable herringbone patterns be- chrominance information.
the TEA2000 IC operated from an tween the bars. The 4.43MHz crystal oscillator at
8.86MHz crystal to produce the PAL While these effects are probably not pins 17 & 18 produces the timing for
signal while the MC1377P uses a con- important as far as the overall test the colour burst and chrominance sig-
ventional 4.43MHz colour burst fre- pattern is concerned, we thought it nals. VC1 allows the crystal oscillator
quency crystal. only fair to warn readers of the poorer to be precisely trimmed, while the
As shown in the photos, the add-on picture quality. The other test pat- position of the colour burst signal is
PC board is mounted on the rear panel terns are virtually unaffected. set by the ramp signal generated at
above the main PC board using a cou- What we are saying is that this board pin 1. In this circuit, it is placed right
ple of right angle brackets. This board solves a problem if you wish to build in the middle of the back porch.
accommodates the Motorola MC1377P the TV Pattern Generator but don’t Note that the chrominance output
encoder, its companion 4.43MHz crys- expect too much in the way of picture at pin 13 is fed back into the pin 10
tal and an additional quad AND gate quality on the colour bar pattern. For input via a 3dB resistive divider and a
IC (4081) which provides the blank- the same reason, we don’t expect any .001pF capacitor. The divider reduces
ing facility. There are 10 external con- of the retailers to supply a kit contain- the high level at pin 13 which is in-
nections and these are wired directly ing the add-on board, particularly as tended to compensate for losses if a
to the original circuit. all the original kits have now been filter were to be included.
Note that the original TEA2000 and discontinued. The pin 10 input connects to the
its associated components must be main TV Pattern Generator circuit and
removed from the main board — see Circuit details is shunted to ground via a 0.1yF ca-
construction. Refer now to Fig.1 for the circuit of pacitor and switch S2b when either
the RGB-to-PAL Converter. IC2 is the the checker, hatch or dot pattern is
It’s not as good main encoder IC and it accepts sync selected. In other words, the colour
Unfortunately, the quality of the col- and RGB (red, green and blue) signals burst and chrominance information
our bar pattern is not as good with the on pins 2, 3, 4 & 5 to produce a com- is removed from the composite video
MC1377P (at least not in this design) posite video output at pin 9. This output.
as it was with the TEA2000. In par- composite video signal includes the The composite video output appears

MARCH 1997 59
*
 TABLE 2: CAPACITOR CODES
D,
C16
PINS | Value TEC
ce
@SYNC,
PINIS
ICI6 [fF Or on
(@12V,
PINT
IC16 Lc] OF jh 68
L) OOiur m0) ite
[J 220pF 220p 221

the RGB inputs (pins 3, 4 & 5) of IC2.

Power for the circuit is derived di-
rectly from the main PC board. Note
that two separate supply rails are used.
IC1 is powered from a 5V rail, while
IC2 is powered from a 12V rail.
Fig.2: install the parts on the PC board as shown in this wiring diagram, taking
care to ensure that the ICs and the electrolytic capacitors are correctly oriented. Construction
The external connections can be run using rainbow cable. The RGB-to-PAL Converter is built
on a PC board coded 02302971 and

lo GND SYNC
02302971
«|
measuring 98 x 53mm. Start construc-
tion by checking the PC board against
the published pattern for shorts or
breaks in the tracks.
[ eA: Fig.2 shows the parts layout on the ©
PC board. Begin the assembly by in-
[ eA: stalling PC stakes at all the external
7
=pais
Ry
wiring points, then install the two
wire links and the resistors. Table 1
lists the resistor colour codes but it is
GN9.
also a good idea to use your multi-
RGB-PAL meter to check each value just to be

|°
ino
dIA sure. |

Fig.3: this is the full-size etching pattern for the PC board. Check
SO)°| The ICs can be installed next, tak-
ing care to ensure that they are ori-
the board carefully before installing the parts. ented correctly. This done, complete
the assembly by installing the capaci-
tors, the trimmer (VC1) and the crys-
on pin 9 and is fed to a 360Q and 470Q with a blanking signal that’s derived tal (X1). The electrolytic capacitors
resistive divider to give the correct from pin 1 of IC10c on the main PC must all be oriented correctly, while
video level. board. This effectively blanks the RGB the crystal can be installed either way
The RGB and sync inputs from the signals during the horizontal sync and around.
main board are fed in via IC1 which is colour burst periods.
a 4081 quad AND gate. In the case of The gated RGB signals appear on Installation
the sync signal, IC1a simply acts as a pins 11, 13 & 14 respectively and are If you are building the TV Pattern
buffer stage, the sync signal then go- fed to voltage dividers (12kQ & 3kQ) Generator PC board as well, the fol-
ing directly to pin 2 of IC2. The RGB to obtain 1V p-p signals. They are lowing components should be omit-
signals, on the other hand, are gated then coupled via 22uF capacitors to ted: the TEA2000 (IC16), the 8.86MHz

_TABLE 1: RESISTOR COLOUR CODES

= bas -4-BandCode(1%) 0-Band Code (1%)
56kQ. green blue orange brown green blue black red brown
12k brown red orange brown brown red black red brown
10kQ brown black orange brown brown black black red brown
2.2kQ red red red brown _ red red black brown brown
3002 orange black brown brown orange black black black brown
1kQ brown black red brown brown black black brown brown
4702. yellow violet brown brown yellow violet black black brown
4a
oo
Oo 3602
OCOOUOOUUOU orange blue brown brown orange blue black black brown

60 | SILICON CHIP
 PARTS LIST
1 PC board, code 02302971, 98
x 53mm
11 PC stakes
1 50mm length of 0.8mm tinned
copper wire
2 right angle mounting brackets
4 3mm screws and nuts |
1 4.43MHz crystal (X1)
Semiconductors
1 4081 quad 2-input AND gate
(IC1) |
1 MC1377P RGB to PAL/NTSC
converter (IC2) ©
Capacitors
3 22uF 16VW PC electrolytic
1 10uF 16VW PC electrolytic .
3 0.1u.F MKT polyester
1 .01uF MKT polyester
2 .001uF MKT polyester
2 220pF ceramic
1 3-30pF trimmer (VC1)
Resistors (0.25W, 1%)
Pattern Generator using right angle brackets and machine screws and nuts. It
takes the place of the original TEA2000 RGB-to-PAL encoder (1C16). 1 56kQ 3 3002
3 12kQ 2 1kQ
1 10kQ 1 4702
1 2.2kQ 1 3602

wires connect to pin 1 of IC10c, pin 16

of IC15 and to the base of Q1. The
most convenient place to connect to
the latter is at the junction of the 390Q
and 470Q resistors.
The add-on board is mounted on
the rear panel above the BNC output
socket and is secured using right an-
gle brackets and machine screws and
nuts. You will have to drill a couple of
holes in the rear panel to mount the
brackets. Once the board is in place,
it’s simply a matter of connecting the
various hookup wires to the PC stakes,
as shown in Fig.2.
To test the unit, first apply power
and check for +5V on pin 14 of IC1
and +12V on pin 14 of IC2. It’s then
5V Sps simply a matter of connecting the unit
to a TV set using either the video
These oscilloscope waveforms show the colour bar composite video signal modulator or the direct video output
(top), the sync signal (centre) and the blanking interval signal (bottom). and checking that the unit works prop-
erly. If the colour is missing, adjust
crystal, the associated trimmer capaci- built the board, it will be necessary to VC1 on the add-on board to obtain the
tor (VC1), the two 5.6pF capacitors, remove these components. correct colour burst signal.
the 1kQ and 910Q resistors at pin 8, Next, insert hookup wires (eg, rain- Footnote: we have been informed
the 390Q and 470Q resistors at pin 6, bow cable) into seven of the vacant that Rod Irving Electronics still have
and the 330pF capacitor and 36kQ TEA2000 pads at pin positions 1, 3, 5, limited stocks of the original TEA2000
resistor at pin 15. If you have already 9, 10, 11 & 16. Additional hookup encoder. SC
MARCH 1997 61
 RADIO CONTROL
BY BOB YOUNG i.
“ssi

pe

Preventing RF interference on
the 36MHz band
This month we discuss the new operating the complete 27MHz block in which
we could space ourselves to suit our
frequencies on the 29MHz and 36MHz bands needs. But because the only R/C equip-
and how a new frequency keyboard will ment available at that time was Ameri-
can, Australia slavishly followed the
prevent serious interference problems on American frequency spacing. Silver-
36MHz. tone slavishly followed as well, until
1969 when I broke the spell with the
Mk.VII system.
Last month’s column has really set Thus, it was considered to be the gar- That system used AGC on the mixer
the cat amongst the pigeons (once bage band of the electromagnetic spec- plus a few other tricks and allowed
again) and has resulted in a directive trum and therefore unsatisfactory for operation down to 15kHz spacing,
from the MAAA (Model Aeronautical commercial transmission. completely outperforming the imports
Association of Australia) to the Fre- And we did suffer during periods of of the day. I had a terrible battle to
quency Sub-Committee. This directs sunspot activity and similar cosmic shift the Australian mind-set from the
the chairman of the subcommittee to disturbances, particularly when we usual “if the Americans thought it
examine the issues raised in that arti- were using super-regenerative receiv- was safe they would use closer
cle and initiate a course of action to ers. spacings” routine. To overcome all of
overcome the problems highlighted. In spite of this, we operated quite the objections, I had to develop the
Before we examine the new frequen- safely and successfully for many years. Silvertone Keyboard and the battle
cies in the 29MHz and 36MHz bands, Or we did, until the FCC in America raged on for years.
It was exactly the same sort of argu-
ment as “why 29MHz AM, when eve-
rybody is producing 36MHz FM?”
The bogey of 29MHz interference was Nobody ever spared a thought to the
fact that the Americans never had the
the mask used to manipulate people into opportunity or need to develop nar-
row-band systems and that conditions
buying 36MHz rather than a valid in Australia were, and still are, en-
tirely different.
technological objection. 30 years on, Australia has finally
released the 10kHz spacings for gen-
it will be helpful to look at some of the licensed it for citizens band (CB) ra- eral use, albeit with 2" keys, thereby
history regarding the development of dio, with channels every 10kHz apart. utilising the Australian regulations to
the Australian frequency allocations. American modellers were given six the full. Furthermore, the MAAA
When I began flying back in 1955, spots in the middle ofall of this, spaced strongly recommends the use of the
R/C modellers were considered to be 50kHz apart, and that set the trend for Silvertone Keyboard as the frequency
part of the worldwide radio experi- worldwide R/C development. control system! All of this is most
menters group and shared the 27MHz This persisted for many years and pertinent in regard to what follows.
allocation with this group. This band, eventually people came to believe that
26.962 - 27.270MHz, was given to the a 50kHz spacing was the only safe CB radio
experimenters because it was the fre- way to operate. It took some time for CB to gain
quency in which naturally occurring The situation in Australia was en- momentum but sales increased stead-
cosmic noise levels were the greatest. tirely different. Modellers were given ily and prices of equipment dropped
62 SILICON CHIP
accordingly, until by 1974 the stage fore 36MHz operation simply required
was set for a calamity to occur in the a crystal change and some retuning, a
worldwide R/C movement. much more satisfactory situation from
The situation in Australia was that the overseas manufacturers’ point of
it was illegal to operate CB sets but it view. In Australia, 35MHz is out of
was legal to sell them. Dealers stocked the question for R/C work because the
up with CB sets and the explosive frequencies are in use for base, mobile
growth of CB began. By 1974, those and repeater stations.
R/C aircraft still surviving were Once 36MHz was released, it be-
grounded all over Australia. | came almost impossible to purchase
Thankfully, the licensing people high quality sets on 29MHz and today
acted quickly and we were granted it is no longer possible to even pur-
the 29MHz band for our exclusive use. chase replacement receivers for exist-
The drawback was that it was to be for ing equipment (unless you go to
all R/C models, including cars and Silvertone, of course). So you see that
boats. Once again the explosive growth the bogey of 29MHz interference was
of toy cars and cheap 2-channel sets the mask used to manipulate people
placed the aircraft modellers at risk. into buying 36MHz rather than a valid
The problem with R/C aircraft is that technological objection.
the receiver is 100 metres in the air Thus, we now have an entire band
and can thus receive signals from miles virtually lying idle. So why not use it?
away. This is the problem that arises when
Once again the licensing authority control over supply passes from Aus-
smiled kindly upon us and in 1980 tralian control to overseas sources. We
eranted us the 36MHz band, origi- must simply take what the overseas
nally for the exclusive use of high- manufacturers dump on us and local
performance aircraft and boats and conditions play no part in the devel-
only on spots 20kHz apart. In time, opment process.
some abuse of the original agreement Actually, the way governments han-
took place and a recent ruling by the dle manufacturing in Australia is one
SMA (Spectrum Management Agency) of my pet peeves. SILICON CHIP read-
has just reaffirmed the original posi- ers have watched the Mk.22 system
tion and R/C cars have been asked to evolve from a proposed simple 4-chan-
clear the band. This time, however, nel run-of-the-mill system to a very
we have been pee 59 spots 10kHz complex state-of-the-art 24-channel
apart. AM or FM system. Along the way, I
Now the sien in all of this is have had to deal with complex tech-
that the 29MHz and 36MHz bands are nical issues such as third order
exclusive to Australia and NZ, al- intermodulation and transmitter
though the NZ spot frequencies are intermodulation 455kHz spacings.
different. Overseas manufacturers These are subjects not handled in a
hated making sets on 29MHz because serious manner by any other maga-
of the small quantities of sets sold in zine or indeed any group that I am
Australia and the conversions were aware of.
left to the local importers. Now the question is, how has this .
favourable development occurred?
High side crystals The answer is that SILICON CHIP gave
Enclosed is my cheque/money order for
A complicating factor was the fact me the reason to sit down and actu-
that the Australian 29MHz band used ally think hard about R/C systems for $ or please debit my
high-side receiver crystals (f + 455), the first time since the IAC (Industries (_} Bankcard [_] Visa [_) Mastercard
whereas the imported sets were de- Assistance Commission) effectively
signed for low-side crystals (f - 455) . “assisted” me out of manufacturing Card No:
This created havoc in FM sets because 20 years ago.
the detector inverted the recovered As I got deeper into the develop-
audio and the sets just did not work. ment of the Mk.22, my insight into the
Card Expiry Date pee
AM sets do not care if the Rx crystal problems and solutions facing R/C
is on the high or low side; they work modellers here in Australia expanded Signature
either way. So you can see there was a and is still expanding. Which raises
Name
large amount of self-interest on the the question what could I have
part of overseas manufacturers and achieved during those 20 years if the Address
their importers in the insane exodus government had assisted instead of
P/code
from 29MHz. effectively stopping me.
Other countries use 35MHz, there- If you multiply this effect by hun-
MARCH 1997 63
 width of the system. Thus, a system
Radio Control — continued with a 10kHz bandwidth is issued
with a 1-inch key, 20kHz systems get a
2-inch key, and so on.
In practice, the MAAA found no
=

dreds of thousands in every field of absolutely no reason why model air- current R/C systems that could han-
human endeavour, Australia could craft should not use 29MHz with com- dle 10kHz spacing, so the 10kHz ap-
once more be a strong industrial na- plete safety. An added bonus for clubs proval stickers were withdrawn.
tion with low unemployment. operating on 29MHz is that the key- In use, the Tx operator walks to the
So to finally answer the often-asked board is simple and cheap ($149). keyboard and inserts his key into the
question “why 29MHz?”, I wanted to So there you have it. The 29MHz appropriate slot on the board(s). If the
fill the vacuum left by the imports and band is empty, it is safe on the new required bandwidth is available, the
stimulate interest in the 29MHz band frequencies and cheap and simple to key easily drops into the correct slot
once more. Silvertone can now sup- operate from a club viewpoint. and the operator is cleared to switch
ply replacement receivers for all PPM The situation in regards to opera- on the transmitter. If insufficient band-
systems on AM or FM and on 27MHz, tion on the 36MHz band is difficult in width is available, the key cannot be
29MHz, 36MHz or 40MHz. that there are 59 spots, covering the inserted correctly and the transmitter
True, some care is required to make block 36.0MHz to 36.6MHz. This must not be switched on.
the 29MHz band completely safe but makes the keyboard very difficult to However, the fuss began recently
we flew very successfully and safely construct mechanically as a single when the SMA ratified the new 36MHz
for many years on this frequency and unit. A 1.7m long unit would soon allocation which included additional
I still fly today with an AM 29MHz buckle due to expansion in the heat of spots, making 59 in all (601 - 659).
module. In over three years of test the sun. Therefore, the best arrange- The new even-numbered slots are for
flying the Mk.22 system on 29MHz ment is for a two-board set, laid out as exclusive use of aircraft and the old
(even spots), we have never encoun- per Fig 1. | odd-numbered slots for shared use be-
tered interference nor indeed have we In addition, the new SMA alloca- tween aircraft and boats. R/C cars are
had any systems back due to crash tion has required modifications to be not to use 36MHz. .
damage. Some of this test flying is made to the original 36 MHz keyboard. These additional slots added to the
- being done on fields that are quite overlapping frequency problem. At the
close to suburban areas, which would Keyboard explanation | same time, the MAAA allowed the
pose the highest risk in regard to R/C For those not familiar with this new use of all 59 10kHz spots but using 2-
car interference. 36MHz keyboard or indeed, any fre- inch keys only. Previously the MAAA
This is due to the fact that the cheap quency keyboard, the following ex- only allowed every second spot to be
R/C cars commonly available in de- planation should help. The keyboard used; ie, a 20kHz spacing was main-
partment stores are often on the “even” is a graphical representation of the tained.
As subtle as this change is (we are
still using 20kHz spacings), the fact
that frequencies are now available on
all 59 10kHz spots had a dramatic
The 29MHz band is empty, it is safe on the effect on the operation of the key-
board. As explained above, I had bro-
new frequencies and cheap and simple to ken the 36MHz board into two, which
operate from a club viewpoint. made each board more mechanically
robust.
(The 29MHz board, which includes
29MHz spots, in particular 12, 16, 20, frequency allocation, laid out on a the 40MHz allocation, is still OK as a
24, 28, 32 and 36. Now there are 27 x grid wherein 1-inch represents 10kHz single board).
10kHz spots in all (numbered 10 - 37 (this system was designed in 1969, Now all was fine on the old system
in the block 29.72 - 30.0MHz), many before metric conversion). Thus, to
of which have never been officially control frequencies on a 10kHz spac-
released until just recently. The se- ing, itis necessary to have slots 1-inch
quence 10, 14, 18, etc has been re- apart. Each slot is identified with the
leased in smaller numbers but the frequency and band number, as in Fig.1 (right): this diagram shows the
“odd” sequence 11, 13, 15, etc has Fig.1. Hence, slot 602 is equivalent to new two-part frequency keyboard for
never been released to my knowledge. the frequency 36.02MHz, while slot model aircraft operation in the
603 is equivalent to 36.03MHz — a 36MHz band. The keyboard is a
10kHz spacing 10kHz step. graphical representation of the
_ Here then are safe frequencies for Every R/C system operating on club frequency allocation, laid out on a
aircraft and other high performance grid wherein 1" represents 10kHz.
fields is tested by MAAA approved
Each slot is identified with the
models. The MAAA has cleared the testing stations for bandwidth and an frequency and band number. Hence,
29MHz band for 10kHz spots using approval sticker is attached to the slot 602 is equivalent to the frequency
20kHz keys just as for the 36MHz band. transmitter. A key is also supplied 36.02MHz and slot 603 is equivalent
By using these frequencies, there is proportional in width to the band- to 36.03MHz, a 10kHz step.

64 SILICON CHIP
 65
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 portant to safe operation on 36MHz:
Radio Control — continued Any pair of transmitters separated
by 450kHz or 460kHz will generate a
strong 450-460kHz component in the
mixers of all single conversion re-
as the break occurred in the middle of lem that I finally modified the design ceivers, AM or FM. This will happen
the 20kHz spots and I had delivered to include the guard slot. in every receiver operating on that
many boards before the 10kHz rule This inter-club discussion also in- flying field, regardless of the fre-
came in. cluded an argument over a single board quency of the receiver and regardless
However, with 10kHz spacing, it is or two boards and more importantly of the frequencies of the overlapping
now possible to have a situation arise from the point of view of this column, pair of transmitters. |
wherein a 20kHz system with a 2-inch how to handle the problem of the In other words, any pair of trans-
key in the end slot on board 1 (630) is 455kHz overlap. (For more informa- mitters overlapping by 450kHz or
in danger of interference from a 2- tion on this, refer the February 1997 460kHz will simultaneously interfere
inch key in the first slot on board 2 issue of SILICON CHIP). with all 59 receivers operating on the
(631). This necessitated the addition The 455kHz argument, in my mind, 36MHz band.
of an extra slot (“G”) to accommodate boils down to three choices: Therefore, never at any time should
a 1-inch guard key on the original (1) partially restrict the band by clos- we allow any pair of overlapping trans-
boards. ing off the top slots affected (646 - mitters to transmit simultaneously on
Thus, if a 2-inch key is to be in- 659) and combining each overlapping fields using single conversion receiv-
serted into 630, the guard key is moved pair on the lower slots, thus allowing ers. But does everyone know if their
across to the second board and placed only one of the pair to transmit. receiver is single or double conver-
in the “G” slot, thereby preventing a (2) Restrict the band to less than sion? For this reason, we need to be
key from being inserted into 631. Con- 455kHz wide; or very careful about excluding double
versely, if a 2-inch key is placed into (3) adopt a policy of dual conver- conversion receivers from this ban.
the 631 slot, the guard key is placed sion receivers only on 36MHz. For the sake of safety, the ban on
into the “G” slot on board 1, prevent- Pairing the frequencies is my first overlapping frequencies should have
ing a key being inserted into 630. choice but the keyboard is designed to no exclusions.
cope with all three possibilities. The The best way to use the Silvertone
Guard keys eventual choice is a matter for indi- 36MHz keyboard on fields using sin-
Fig.1 shows a pair of 36MHz key- vidual clubs to decide. Some of the gle conversion receivers is to leave
the top set of overlapping slots (646 -
659) closed and pair these slots on the
bottom set of overlapping slots (601 -
614). For example 601/646, 602/647,
29MHz AM system is cheap, simple and 614/659.
If a club adopts an exclusive dual-
reliable. It is free of the complications of conversion receiver policy, then the
entire keyboard can be opened up and
36MHz FM and is by far the most cost- all frequencies used. For this reason
effective system for sports fliers. the Silvertone Keyboards still include
all 59 slots, with all slots closed.
As you can see from the foregoing,
boards with a variety of operational more conservative clubs want noth- operation on the 36MHz band is no
key arrangements. Key 653 is one of ing to do with 10kHz spacing and will longer a simple matter and there is
the paired frequencies, thus the key is only allow 20kHz frequencies on their now much to consider. If AM systems
in the 608/653 slot. Keys 623/625 are field. are banned from 36MHz, then the cost
two normal 2-inch keys inserted cor- How do I design a keyboard to ac- of operating on this band goes up ac-
rectly. Key 626 is a normal 2-inch key commodate all of these arguments? In cordingly. If any club does decide ona
which cannot be inserted into the cor- the end I have designed the keyboards policy of dual-conversion receivers
rect slot due to the system bandwidth with all 10kHz slots milled and num- only, then this pushes the expense of
being wider than the spacing required. bered but all slots have a 1mm safety operating on 36MHz even higher.
Key 630 has been inserted into its gate across them, sealing them off un- The foregoing strengthens my re-
correct slot after moving the 1-inch - til the club decides which slots to solve to continue to push for an ex-
guard key across to Board No 2. Thus, open and which to leave closed. A panded use of 29MHz, particularly
Key 631 cannot be inserted, again due quick wipe with a small file soon with AM systems. It is cheap, simple
to excessive bandwidth. opens the required slots. One final and reliable. It is free of the complica-
I was a little slow picking up on the point — all of this complication costs tions and expense of 36MHz FM and
need for a guard key. It wasn’t until a money and the 36MHz pair of key- is by far the most cost-effective sys-
rash of phone calls revealed that there boards now sell for $399. | tem for sports fliers.
was much discussion taking place in At this point I feel that I should Note: Bob Young is the principal of
the clubs on the best way to lay out repeat the main conclusion of last Silvertone Electronics. Phone (02)
the keyboard to overcome this prob- month’s article, which is vitally im- 9533 3517. Sc

66 SILICON CHIP
 SS ae,. i EX eee a a as ae Se = = * sins = bs a 3 ee

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DISCHARGER to 12V 3,4.5,5,6,7.5,9V , AY :
e|nternal Drive Bays: 2 or 4 x 3, Sec 77 CHARGER _ +12Volts 3s a: Si

THE (SCSI) SMALL|NEW HONDA CONNECTOR)

COMPUTER SYSTEMBY4) MT BeLS) td)
ATX FULL TOWER CASE & P/S |
} This battery charger actually prepares the
batteries for charging by first discharging them
INTERFACE EVOLUTION BUiyi3 Ur7.(! OD CABLE
* Dimensions: 195W x H620 xD445 mm completely then recharge them in 4 hours.
Charges group-or individual batteries. «Charges |.
bnaabis 5 x D-SUB 68 pin
¢ Drive Bays: 6 x 5.25" & 2 x 3.5"
AAA, AA, C, D & QV in groups or singularly |.
1.27mm pitch Male -
«Internal Drive Bays: 2 or 4x3 81] ¢ Standard charging time for 9V cells: 15 hours 4 x Male 68
«Charge sensing circuit *Reduced memory conductor ribbon
| effect *Overcharge protection circuit * When “Supports 7 SCSI devices on an 8- bitbus & a cable.
3|| batteries are charged theunit transfer from fast transfer rate of up to'5 Mbps. Centronics 50-is
Internal SCSI ribbon #
= |charge to trickle slow charge to keep: batteries its most common. connector. Approved in 1986. cable for thes
“topped up"
_¢ Fully approved to Australian standards.
SCS! HDD tom
PRINTER 2 PORT CARD 16-BIT ‘controller card.

Pa : : Single parallel 16-bit printer port Optional 16-and-32 buses "Wide SCSI".
Transfer rate can go up to 40 Mbps when standards.
240 Watt Power Supply ; card with two parallel ports. LPT 1
combined with Fast & Wide SCSI. MicroD 50- |
*240VAC/3A 50Hz "| to LPT 3 under MSDOS and LPT 1 pin connector with thumbclips.
are usually used.
Output: +3.3V +5V +12V to LPT 14 under Windows 95 ) |
-] 2V -5V +5V : operating environment. S C SI iid (S cS ; :k5 ) ie

bias
150W x 140D x 85H MM.
| ere INTERNAL HDD CABLE :|
_ acm.
With 4 standard power Sw
for
supply connectors 4 .
Found in high-
condesystems. MicroD 68- -pin
H.D.D/ gccsswent connector with thumbelips. are usually used.
D.: 16-bit common bus width..
3. 5" ED.

connector *® This is an ISA bus 16-bit parallel card. It 3xD-SUB “a

ATX _ style se" motherboard includes fourteen Parallel port address 68 pin oe
y Bee 1 oeee ek 2a (ex. 3BC, 378, 278, 208, etc...) and nine, SCSI AU CABLE TO -1.27mm pitch .
Thad
Ce eV ydey ae interrupt request signals io 4, : $0, ‘Male - 2 x Male
For the | . sg 68 conductor
installation of a ribbon cable.
2'4" Hard Disk Internal SCSI ribbon cable for the
Drive in a desk FEATURE: 3 connection of three SCSI HDD to
top PC. : % | ° Support one or two Parallel port. controller card. ANSI X3T9.2 and
‘| Selectable Parallel port from IRQ 3, 4; 5, X3.131 standards.
7,9, 10,11, 12, 15. ©All functions can
¢ | be disabled or enabled.
| THESE CARDS ARE IDEAL FOR WINDOWS
95 & NT OPERATING SYSTEMS :
ERRORS & OMISSIONS EXCEPTE D»PRICES CHANGE WITHOUT NOTIGE. *
 ne IS QUSESE Qa 8 Bane Rene a ss 3 oe :: rs S88 eS PTY. ESTABLISHED Xo ROD S Ie NTS
Soe
See
6°,
SINCE 1977 : 29641-8000 33 5757.
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aS Kee ER : sa Setiaatnn LTD A.C.N. 005 428 437 “ME WNL ORDER LOCAL CALLS: (03) 9543 7877
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FERRIC
es ee eo ee CHLORIDE
WASHERS,
SPACERS...
pooner NORM 1-9 104 H10810 250g... $4.95
SWITCH ECON MIN/TOGGLE C/OFF SPDT ai No. Title
$11010......$1.95 $1.20 $1.00 For approx. 1 litre of etchant
BOLT 3MM x 20MM SWITCH ECON MIN/TOGGLE C/OFF SPDT H10812 500g... $7.95
B10030 Radio Amateut Call Book 1994
$2.50
H12030 PKT 25 .......... $1.45 $11020......$2.50 $1.30 $1.10 For approx. 2 litres of etchant | 279937 Talking Electronics No. 1
H12033 PKT 200........ $9.95 $3.50
SWITCH ECON MIN/TOGGLE C/OFF SPDT | H10814 1kaq..$11.95z .
H12036 PKT 1000 cove $29.95 S1 1025 ee. $2. 50 $1 .00 $0 80 For approx. pi tide of etchant B10038 Talking -Electronics No. 2

. SWITCH R.A PCB TOG]GLE SPDT Notebook =: $4.00

— S11040......$2.50 $1.95 $1.50 Altus Park B10039 Talking Electronics Six sri
BOLT 3MM x 1OMM SWITCH R.A PCB TOGGLE DPDT PO a Projects $2.50.
H12010 PKT 25 .......... $3.25 | 511042......$2.95 $1.95 $1.50 | ple 810040 baa Electronics —
Basic .KT onceneee— ae | eee , Ras eos B10041 Talking Seine Learning No.
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Cat I = becetene _ 2 $3.95
| R19020 ‘
50V-100V Ceramic eae B10042
: Talking Bugs to
Build Electronics FM$3.95

1/8" STARPROOF WASHER! ° om R19030 Mixed Polyester Pack of 50 | 870043. Electronics Notebook a4 Go
H11030 PKT 50..........
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ee $1.25 $2.9 5 $2. 50 R15120 :Mixed Polyesier — fhen B10044 Talking Electronics -Model
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R19040 Mixed Elect 50 $5.95 |270045 Digital Electronics Reference

1/8" DI AMETER x 50MM BOLT! Great ae building your own toys |819060 MONSTER BAG$10.95
HIS) GRAB BAG 99-95 |10046 TTL
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enewat 3 P10546 Mixed IC Sockets Pack a 00 _ Poco 00

sesceces 15995 Mixed Fast Action Pack of 10

eae _ en $3 ‘95 cam ne Pack of a aa B10052 ein Electronics peep )

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ew $9.98 |PLASTIC
tor Pack of 100:
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en” : &

Black in colour
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a ; nce & eerestiesen|3 WATT SOLAR PANEL $3.95 $3.95 $350 $2.95
ee, gee oe
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Be ee A ee es 2V 16V (max) 800mA (max) 1000mA $10.95 4-9 104
Pmcae |i 405 x435 x44mm .
| = SE \7159036 $199.00 ZIO1T4 Diode IN404 Pack of1 5 [10101 150x90x 50mm $4.05 $4.45
4
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|
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IN4004 Pack of 100. [fine 195%x68x41mm_
119% OOmmm $6.0885.08
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sr | ERRORS &OMISSIONS EXCEPTED. PRICES CHANGE WITHOUT.NOTIGE- , : |
 BR Pry ESTABLISHED Ute ROD'S HOTLINE
in. SINCE 1977 OMe -800
33 5757
| | Rone .: Ree es ee A.C.N. 005 428 437 ‘ME MAIL ORDER LOCAL CALLS: (03) 9543 7877

ROD IRVING ELECTRONICS Check our prices against our opposition.

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THR yes fy By TRANSISTORS
C18
BUYIN
eles
A very high quality |
CAT No. NORMALLY 1-9 10-99 BUT KS1-9
-9
SAVE:
10+ 100+
audio amplifier in a U21990- 81LS95 | BC 547 = $0.15 $0.10 $0.07
9-pin flat package. | $2. 75 50¢ 40¢ BC 548 $0.15 $0.10 $0.07

The amplifier will U10600- LM301N OP AMP BC 557 $0.18 $0.10

§0.10 $0.07
$0.07
deliver 40W into a $1. 00 40¢ 30¢ BC 558 $0.15
8Q load with U10700- LM3080 OP AMP BC 559 $0.15 $0.10 $0.07
+21.5V powerrail, 123456789 $2.50 $1.50 $1.00 | 8C¢327 $0.20 $0.15 $0.12
With overload _ Non-inverting input (#1) BC 337 $0.20 $0.15 $0.12
4 protection andis -.2 a iii U11820- NE567 Tone decoder BD 139 $0.70 $0.60 $0.50
How much is" eignedtomest. $2.00 $1.00 80¢ | BD140 $0.70 $0.60 $0.50
sae ane and “Fi. esis neSune of & ve Z14520- pa s0¢ 408 VATE DAL aay lait)
igitai Soun . OV Non-inverting input (#2) . ° :
Comes complete
P with fly
fylead, sources, such as ._ Inverting Input 717004- 7404 2" installation
ofFora the Hard Disk
compact disc or : ee
car stereos. 9 717006 _ 20¢ 156 oe in a desk top
$12.95 $10.95 § 1.00 PC. €11931
: ot }
| SAIS cee

BACKUP ©
< e
| $5.90
5.90
0 PEPERPAP
$2.0 00 $1.5$1.50 VY Ui:
solder on type DIECAST BOX 100x50x25MM Cl Adaptor for 2.5"
replacement battery H11451..$6.95 $4.95 $4.75 drive to 3.5" drive
for your motherboard \¢ DIECAST BOX 120x65x40MM C3 3 slot. Plate & scre
CMOS memory H11453.. $10.95 $8.95 $7.75 | | = | only. Handy to have 65
backup DIECAST BOX I90XI20X60MM C5 around €11926 $
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Power adaptor
Ps
1-9 10-99 100+ | (614931) & Plate C11932
ord 3 $7.95 $6.95 $6.50 an (11926) $9 9.95
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ym Gili : Protect and Cn

SOCKETS sockets storagesystem. safeguard delicate
; | ¢ 1.8 metres * Transparent drawers oP semiconductors ;
as ¢ Approved to AS3112 * Rear wall mount screws
holes
eS from electronic
@ : Card indentification slot hazards. of es : aa
| H10500 225 x 150mm $5.95
H10501 225 x 300mm $8.95
H10502 300 x 300 x 5mm. $9.95

Static electricity- a build up of electricty in the human body is

CDR RECORDABLE a a natural phenomenon. It is caused by walking on carpet,
poe wearing rubber soled shoes or humidity conditions. Handling
| ? metre 240 volt AC # ® Multi-speed ©74 minutes eae | semiconductors with delicate circuitry in a such state can
~ Extra durabilit oe nee =| literally destroy the items by the sudden transfer of electricity.
power lead TPT y S ” “1! Listed below are some precautions to take note of before
° Input: 2 pin 240V AC plug $7.95 1-9 10+ Publish your multimedia handling ‘electronics components.
¢ Output: Figure eight socket I CD titles or archive your . Ground yourself, either by touching the metal part of the
“3 $22.95 $20.95 business data and records. computer box or by wearing a grounded wrist strap. |
POWER LEAD . Use insulated tweezers to handle components.
WITH RECTANGULAR : Ensure hands are clean. Sweat contain carbon and carbon
is a known conductor of electricity.
CONNECTOR $ 4. Use anti static foam (items above) to transport
% | components with pins.
2 metre 240 volt AC s : eee CD -R OM DISK Implement allthese procedures into the handling of electronics
power lead-black = OS 1-9 10+ components, especially when upgrading your computer
e Input: 2 pin 240V AC plug Piib2 : - sysytem or building electronic projects and you will cut down
© Output: Rectangular socket $ VA gS ae aa $14. 95 $1 3. 95 the possibility of damaged semiconductors.

ERRORS &OMISSIONS EXCERTEDa»PRICES CHANGE. WITHOUT NGOTIGE.

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AUDIOHM
A nifty audible continuity tester
Most continuity testers
beep at you when the
circuit being tested is
good but not this one.
It gives a tone which
varies from a low note
(a few hundred Hertz)
for a low resistance to
just above audibility
for an open circuit.
This feature prevents
the AudiOhm from
driving you mad while
you are not actually
measuring anything.

By RICK WALTERS
One of the things we frequently do
in the pursuit of our hobby is to check
for continuity or bridged tracks in the
projects we build. While some digital
-multimeters have a buzzer for this
function, most do not.
Sure, you can use a multimeter to
measure continuity of circuits. Just
switch it toa low Ohms range and you
are in business. Trouble is, you have
to keep looking at the multimeter to
see if anything has registered each
time you put the prods on the circuit.
This is where an audible indication is
pretty handy.
As well, the AudiOhm can test di-
ode and transistor junctions and it
will even give a relative indication of
the capacitance and leakage of elec-
trolytic capacitors. When using the
low range, you can discriminate be-
tween a short and a resistance of 50Q

72 SILICON CHIP
 47k

atl
+2.68V

_ +1.34V

$2 OHI
vl Lo
10kS
OHI 0.1
7 ©
LO T
-

10k °

VIEWED FROM
CONTINUITY TESTER 3 5k BELOW

Fig.1: the circuit is based on FET input op amp IC1 and phase locked loop IC2.
The DC output from IC1 is proportional to the resistance across the probes and
this signal is used to control the frequency generated by the VCO in IC2. The
output from IC2 drives a loudspeaker via complementary output pair Q1 & Q2. PARTS LIST

and on the high range a 4.7MQ resis- emitter followers, Q1 & Q2. These pro-
tor will register. vide sufficient current gain to drive
It can also readily differentiate be- the speaker. We have used a fairly
tween, say, a 56Q and a 560Q resistor large resistor in series with the speaker
— handy when you are building a to keep the volume down to a reason-
project and find the colour codes hard able level and also to reduce the cur-
to read. rent drawn from the battery. Our unit
drew only 18mA so the battery should
- How it works last for a long time.
As you can see from the circuit in Op amp IC1 is used to monitor the
Fig.1, only two ICs are used. IC2 is a voltage across the probes and amplify
4046 phase locked loop but we are it a level sufficient to give the full
using only its VCO (voltage control- audio range at the speaker. On the
led oscillator) section. IC1 is a FET high resistance range, as selected by
input op amp and its DC output, which toggle switch S2, a high impedance
is proportional to the resistance across voltage divider (one 4.7MQ and two
the probes, is used to control IC2. 1MQ resistors) sets the voltage across
Let’s look at IC2 in more detail. Its the probes. As you can see from the
oscillator output frequency at pin 4 is voltages on the circuit of Fig.1, there
controlled by the DC voltage applied is about 1.34V across the probes when
to pin 9; OV gives the lowest frequency no external resistance is present. Note
and +9V gives the highest. that while we have quoted fairly pre-
The lowest frequency is set by the cise values here, the actual values will
capacitor between pins 6 & 7 of IC2 depend on the battery voltage and re-
and the resistance at pin 12. The high- sistor tolerances. |
est frequency (with +9V applied to This voltage of 1.34V is amplified
pin 9) is determined by both these by IC1 to give about 7.6V at its output
former values and the resistance at (pin 6) and this is fed directly to pin 9
pin 11. of IC2, to set the highest frequency.
These frequency setting resistors When an external resistance is
have been made adjustable with present between the probes, the volt-
trimpots VR1 & VR2 to allow you to age between the input pins of IC1 will
set the tones to your particular prefer- be less than 1.34V; if a short circuit is
ence, as well as to compensate for present, there will be virtually no volt-
variations in ICs from different manu- age between pins 2 & 3 and so the
facturers. The maximum frequency is output voltage at pin 6 will be the
set by VR1 and the minimum by VR2. same as the voltage on pin 2; ie, +1.34V
IC2’s oscillator output at pin 4 is or close to it. This sets the minimum
connected to a pair of complementary frequency from IC2.

MARCH 1997 73
 solder the IC sockets, transis-
tors and capacitors. Make sure
that they are all correctly ori-
ented, as shown in Fig.2.
If you use PCstakes, now is
the time to fit them. I prefer to
poke each wire through the
SPEAKER PC board and solder it, as it
makes a neater looking con-
nection. Wire the two
switches, the battery and
speaker leads next. Before fit-
ting it all into the case, you
should plug the ICs in and do
a preliminary test of the cir-
cuit.
Connect the battery, switch
the unit on and vary the MAX
pot VR1. You should be able
to vary the frequency from
about 7kHz or 8kHz at the low
end, up to the limit of audibil-
ity (16kHz+). Now short the
probe pads and check that the
MIN pot, VR2, changes the low
frequency. If all is OK, pro-
ceed with the assembly, oth-
Fig.2: the assembly details.
Take care to ensure that the
erwise you will have to find
semiconductors and 100uF and fix the problem.
capacitor are correctly The plastic case we have
9V oriented & be careful not to specified has provision for the
BATTERY get Q1 & Q2 mixed up. battery in a separate compart-
ment but with a lot of effort
you may be able to cram eve-
rything into a different case.
Stick the label onto the case
When the low range is selected with AudiOhm. It measures 57 x 55mm and drill the nine holes to let the
switch S2, a lower impedance voltage and is coded 04103971. It is fitted into sound emanate from the speaker.
divider is switched in parallel with a small plastic case and the two While slide switches are nice, it is
the high range divider. This keeps the switches are fitted at one end, as can much easier to mount toggle switches
voltage applied to the probes the same, be seen from the photos. (just one round hole). Drill 2x 6.5mm
but allows them to sense lower values The component layout for the PC holes in the top of the case for the
¥

of resistance due to the increased cur- board and the other wiring is shown switches, 16mm either side of the cen-
rent. Without this range switching, it in Fig.2. | tre line.
is harder to resolve lower resistance As usual, check the PC board for __ Fit the two switches, then mount
values. | etching faults and shorts, especially the speaker on the front of the case
the track which goes between pins 13 with a couple of dobs of contact ce-
Putting it together © . & 14 on IC2. Fit and solder the one ment. You probably will not be able to
We designed a small PC for the link and the resistors. Next fit and position it exactly behind the speaker

Sd=e) boMO) am020)m0)0) 030)B]

SILICON CHIP
 Uo
(@ alas

This is the view inside the completed prototype. The two trimpots at the bottom,
right of the PC board are used to set the frequency range of the VCO. Note the
holes files in the side of the case for the probe leads.
Fig.3: this full-size artwork can be
holes (this will depend on the switches to get the required range or in an ex- photocopied and attached to the front
used). treme case alter the value of the ca- panel of the Continuity Tester.
File two small half-round holes in pacitor between pins 6 & 7 (smaller
the top and bottom left side of the case value for higher frequency and vice
with a needle file to let the probe versa).
leads out, but don’t make them too
deep. Try to file them so the probe Using the continuity tester
leads are actually clamped when the Using the AudiOhm to check conti-
case is assembled. This prevents them nuity is straightforward but as we
being pulled out and possibly damag- mentioned at the beginning of this
ing the PC board. As you can see from article, the unit can also be used to
Fig.2, they are also looped through check semiconductor junctions and
the hole adjacent to the pad before capacitors.
being soldered to the PC board. When the red (positive) probe lead
The PC board can now be secured is connected to the anode of a diode,
in place with the two short self-tap- the AudiOhm should indicate a low
ping screws. resistance but nota short circuit. When
the leads are reversed, the frequency
Setup procedure should be inaudible. A shorted diode Fig.4: check your PC board carefully
Short the probe leads together and will give the lowest tone in both di- against this full-size etching pattern
use VR2 to set the low frequency, then rections. In a similar manner, base- before installing any of the parts.
open circuit the leads and adjust VR1 emitter and base-collector junctions
until the whistle sound is just inaudi- of NPN and PNP transistors can be
ble. tested. ing the charge time of a known value
There is quite a variation in 4046 Finally, when a discharged capaci- of capacitor with that of an unknown
ICs from different manufacturers. The tor (electrolytics on the low range, value, an estimate of its capacity can
one we used in our unit was a Motorola others on the high range) is connected, be made. The final frequency gives an
device. If you use a different brand the tone will initially be low (indicat- indication of the leakage current
you may have to change the values of ing a short circuit) and then increase through the capacitor; the higher the
the resistors in series with the trimpots as the capacitor charges. By compar- frequency, the better. SC

MARCH 1997 795

While the cathode ray tubes used in most analog stores them as digital data in part 5 of
this series, in the September 1996 is-
oscilloscopes use electrostatic deflection, the sue of SILICON CHIP. Now let us see
display tubes used in most digital scopes are how that data is displayed on the
screen.
virtually the same as in computer monitors and To operate the deflection system,
TV sets; they use magnetic deflection via coils two sweep generator circuits run at
different frequencies, both derived
on the neck of the tube. from a crystal master oscillator. The
horizontal (or line) system produces
By BRYAN MAHER sawtooth waveform currents at exactly
28,800Hz in the horizontal deflection
The magnetic deflection cathode ray the tube neck. Currents flowing in coils (shown as H,H in Fig.1).
tubes used in digital storage scopes them produce a horizontal magnetic The resulting magnetic field deflects
are cheaper, shorter and more rugged field which deflects the electron beam the electron beam from the left side of
than the electrostatically deflected up or down. the screen to the right and back again
tubes used in fast analog scopes. The two sets of deflection coils are in exactly 34.7222 microseconds (ps),
In a cathode ray tube (CRT), mag- held in one assembly called the yoke as illustrated in Fig.1(c). The forward
netic deflection of the electron beam and its function is exactly the same as trace from left to right takes about
is achieved by wrapping two sets of the yoke in a colour TV set. Fig.2 33us and the fast retrace (flyback) takes
copper coils around the outside of the shows a more pictorial arrangement the remaining 1.7222us.
tube neck, as depicted in Fig.1. The of the coils. At the same time, the vertical (or
horizontal deflection coils are mount- Typically, the horizontal deflection frame) system sends a sawtooth wave-
ed above and below the neck of the. currents are +500mA and flow in coils form current at exactly 60Hz through
tube and current flowing in them gen- having 13 millihenries inductance. the vertical deflection coils. The mag-
erates a magnetic field which passes — The vertical deflection currents are netic field which results deflects the
vertically downward through the tube. typically +150mA flowing in coils of electron beam downwards compara-
Electrons in the beam are deflected 40mH inductance. tively slowly, taking 16ms to work its
in a direction at right angles to this Let us consider a basic digital scope way from the top of the screen to the
magnetic field; ie, across the screen. having 8-bit resolution. We featured a bottom and 0.666ms to fly back to the
By contrast, the vertical deflection simplified description of how the dig- starting point at the top.
coils are mounted one on each side of ital storage scope acquires signals and With both deflection systems oper-

76 SILICON CHIP
 ferent from the direct
HORIZONTAL
DEFLECTION electrostatic deflection
used in analog scopes.
And it is more complex.
—> CRT Fig.3 shows an abbre-
viated block diagram ofa
VERTICAL digital storage oscillo-
DEFLECTION
scope. The left hand half
of this figure is the acqui-
sition section, which in-
HORIZONTAL
cludes the input attenua-
DEFLECTION tor, analog preamplifier
Va) VERTICAL IC1, sampler IC2, A/D
DEFLECTION
converter IC3 and the fast
(b) RAM (random access
memory) IC4. In this
chapter of our story we
concentrate on the right
hand half of Fig.3, the dis-
play section, which in-
cludes IC5, IC6, IC7 and
the tube.
When the digital data
(EACH FRAME)
representing the input
LINES
480
AT analog sinewave is re-
Fig.1: the magnetic fields due to corded and stored in the
currents flowing in coils (a & b) SPACING fast RAM IC4, then the
0.25mm
APPROX.
external to the tube neck deflect the
electron beam to cover the whole display section can begin
screen (c) with 480 raster lines.
34.722ps its magical work. Firstly
HORIZONTALLY ACROSS AND BACK
| (EACH LINE) that data is read out from
(c) RAM IC4 into the display
processor IC5. This is a
microprocessor which
ating, as we see in Fig.1(c), the elec- come this standing bias to illuminate has running within it a scan conver-
tron beam starts at the top left corner the screen. sion point plotting algorithm.
of the screen. From there it traces in This rearranges the data into a dis-
the phosphor a pattern of 480 fast Greater deflection angle play image in scan line order, which it
horizontal lines, as it moves (com- Say a CRT has 16kV acceleration promptly writes into a second memory
paratively) slowly down, to arrive at potential. We recall from past episodes IC6, called the bit-map frame refresh
the bottom right hand corner. From that such a tube, when electrostati- buffer, which you see in Fig.3.
there the fast retrace (flyback) returns cally deflected, will have deflection In the basic digital scope we are
the beam to the starting point. angles inversely proportional to the describing, this buffer consists of an
Auxiliary circuits always blank off acceleration voltage. But a similar tube array of 307,200 semiconductor
both the vertical and horizontal re- magnetically deflected will have de- memory cells, electrically arranged
traces, so we show these as dotted flection angles inversely proportional. into a two-dimensional planar matrix
lines in Fig.1(c). to the square root of the acceleration of 480 horizontal rows and 640 verti-
If the electron beam was turned on voltage. | cal columns (480 x 640 = 307,200).
during all forward traces, you would So the magnetically deflected tube Fig.4(a) gives some idea of this
see the whole screen covered in a can deflect its electron beam through scheme, though here for clarity we
pattern of 480 fine horizontal bright an angle four times greater. So we see have drawn a much smaller number.
lines spaced about 0.25mm apart. why digital scopes commonly have Each memory cell in this buffer
In Fig.1(c) we illustrate this but for wider screens and shorter tubes. How- holds one bit: that is either a logic
clarity we have drawn only a few lines. ever, because of the coil’s inductance, high potential or a logic low. And in
This is the raster and it is similar to direct magnetic deflection is limited Fig.4(a) we have drawn a 1 in some of
the background line pattern you see to frequencies below about 100kHz. the cells to indicate those cells which
on your computer display if you turn contain a logic high potential. In the
the brightness up at night. Bit-mapped raster scan remainder of the cells we have drawn
A standing bias, applied between Most digital scopes have a frequency a 0 to indicate those which hold a
the tube grid G1 and cathode K as response that ranges up to 100MHz or logic low. In Fig.4(a) you can clearly
shown in Fig.3, may hold the electron a great deal more. To make that possi- see a waveform in the pattern of 1s
beam near cutoff, making the screen ble, an indirect method called “bit- and this is called the bit map. This is
dark. A voltage drive applied to the mapped horizontal raster scan dis- an image of the original analog input
cathode K (or grid G1) can then over- play” is used. This is completely dif- waveform.

MARCH 1997 77
 describing, the single bit read from
DEFLECTION COILS each buffer cell is simply a voltage,
WRAPPED AROUND either logic high level or logic low. Ifa
Lf TUBE NECK
TTL system is used, logic high means
about +4V and logic low about +0.5V.
As each cell is read, its voltage is
amplified and inverted by the follow-
ing video amplifier IC7, whose output
signal drives the cathode of the CRT
tube in Fig.3. (Alternatively, you could
drive the grid but without signal in-
version.)
Each time a logic 1 is read from a
cell in the refresh buffer, Fig.4(a), the
video amplifier IC7 inverts and am-
plifies this to a large negative voltage
pulse, typically -30V to -60V. Applied
to the CRT cathode, this is big enough
to overcome the G1-K standing bias.
Thus the electron beam is turned fully
Fig.2: the two sets of deflection coils are held in one assembly called the on momentarily. This produces a
yoke and its function is exactly the same as the yoke in a colour TV set. bright spot of light on the screen at a
This diagram shows a more pictorial representation of the coils. point corresponding to the address of
that logic 1 cell in the refresh buffer.
Each bright point is called a pixel
(for picture element). |
Now we aim to convert that blue- At the same time, the system ad- In the same way, many pixels are
print of electrical 1s in the buffer into dresses all cells in the bit map refresh displayed on the screen (Fig.4(b)) in a
a corresponding display on the CRT buffer IC6 and the bit value contained pattern which copies the disposition
screen. | in each is read out. Starting at the top of cells containing logic 1 bits in the
Once the processor IC5 has filled left corner, the system addresses the refresh buffer matrix (Fig.4(a)).
buffer IC6 with data forming the bit cells and reads their contents; cell by But on a screen typically 135mm
map, two different but intimately re- cell, from left to right and row by row. wide, each pixel is only 0.2mm apart,
lated actions commence simultane- First, each cell in the whole top row so normal spot width-blurring usu-
ously and run in synchronism, like is read, then those in the next row, ally merges strings of these dots into
two kids in a three-legged race. and so on, until the bottom right cor- continuous bright lines. If the sam-
ner is reached. pler cannot provide enough points,
Displaying the bit map Cells are addressed across a row of firmware routines can fill in by add-
The deflection circuits cause the IC6 at the same speed as the electron ing more bright dots in straight line
electron beam to commence from the beam is deflected across the tube approximations or Sin(x)/x geometric
top left corner of the CRT tube screen screen. The final addressing of the curves.
and trace out the full screen raster, cell in the bottom right corner of IC6 That trace we see on the screen in
line by line, as described above. Dur- and the reading of the bit it contains Fig.4(b) is a copy of the bit map in the
ing most of this time the beam elec- coincides with the electron beam ar- buffer IC6. This is itself a copy of the
tron current is reduced to nearly zero riving at the bottom right corner of the original analog signal applied to the
by the negative bias applied between screen. scope input socket.
the tube grid and cathode, which Fig.3 This is the raster scan method in
illustrates. So almost all of the screen Displaying the signal action: the digital scope is indirectly
is dark. In the basic digital scope we are displaying your input signals on a

VIDEO
INPUT PREAMP AMPLIFIER
e , ICl

ATTENUATOR &

~ 16kV

Fig.3: in a digital scope, IC1, IC2, IC3 and IC4 form the fast acquisition section. IC5, IC6 and IC7 then form the
rasterising display circuits.

78 SILICON CHIP
 OT MAP IN
“640HORIZONTAL CELLS *480 VE
eo ETGTAR MEMORY |

magnetically deflected cathode ray a refresh rate of 60Hz. That’s why we sampler very quickly takes a record of
tube screen. call IC6 the refresh buffer. 500 (or more) samples of the signal.
The A/D converts these to digital for-
Displaying a one-shot signal Video frequency mat and stores them safely in RAM.
Now let’s assume that the input to To perform these wonderful feats, Then while the sampler has paused,
your digital scope was a one-shot; ie, a all 307,200 cells in the buffer memory that data is read from IC4, converted
non-recurring signal. In the fleeting must be addressed and read every by IC5 to a bit map and stored in the
time that signal existed, it was sam- 16.666ms. So cells must be read at refresh buffer IC6. Now the system
pled by IC2, digitised by IC3 and re- (16.666ms/307,200) = 54.2535 nano- reads that buffer and displays its con-
corded in RAM IC4 and held there second intervals. This produces a se- tents on the screen raster at the much
indefinitely. After the signal had gone rial stream of single bits passing to the - slower display speed. 7
and the sampler had stopped, the out- amplifier IC7 at (307,200 x 60) = Once it does that, the system clock
put section of your scope (the right 18,432,000 bits/second. may reactivate the sampler afid-A/D
hand side of Fig.3) then performed all Because this bit stream produces a converter, to take another record of
the wondrous miracles we saw above. visible display on the screen, we call. samples and store them in RAM. These
The reading of the whole buffer IC6 this an 18.432MHz video frequency. can be then read from the RAM, con-
and the drawing of one raster on the And we call IC7 the video amplifier. verted to a complete new bit map
screen displaying the waveform both Notice that all this time the sampler which includes any changes in the
take exactly 16.666ms. Digital scopes IC2 and the A/D converter IC3 have input signal and displayed on the
commonly use a tube with a P4 white stopped. This is not because they are screen, replacing the old.
phosphor, which has a compound 150/ lazy or slothful. It’s because you pre- At fast sweep speeds, such as 2us/
480us persistence time, after which viously filled RAM IC4 with one div, the sampling of one record of the
the trace fades away. record of data from a one-shot input input signal may take only 20pus. But
To maintain a stationary picture on signal, now long gone. So your scope in conventional digital scopes the sam-
the screen, the scope must continu- continually refreshes the screen with pler pauses for about 20ms while the
ally refresh the trace illumination by the copy of that departed signal held display processor and refresh buffer
repeating the display process; ie, read in IG4. You are truly using the storage do their clever work and display the
the bit map stored in buffer IC6, am- capabilities of your DSO to the full. waveform on the screen.
plify the signal in IC7, and drive the So typically you will see only one
tube cathode to turn on the beam to Recurrent signals cycle in every thousand cycles that
re-illuminate the display. When you apply a continuously re- flow in your circuit. The elusive occa-
The system repeats this whole ac- curring high frequency signal to the sional glitch interference that you are
tion every 16.666 milliseconds; ie, at input of your digital scope, the busy searching for may escape detection.
MARCH 1997 +=79
 ANALOG TO ACQUISITION Fig.5: block diagram of
ATTENUATOR/
DIGITAL MEMORY InstaVu acquisition
PREAMP CONVERTER DEMUX IC ADDRESS ala architecture in the
INPUT 1 GIGABYTE/SEC ! 14 Tektronix TDS784
es
DIGITAL SIGNAL ! 2 scope, which can
; es
G PROCESSING roa ._ capture 400,000
reg) ar uesaes giscar goes aa ae+ waveforms/second on
— . t 500 x 256 x |
TRIGGER 125 MEGAPIXEL/SEC 1 RAM ACQUISITION one channel.
RASTERISER : INTERFACE
| SYSTEM BITMAP
—— ee 4

| TRIGGER 9 MIPS DIGITAL |

- COMPUTER | SIGNAL PROCESSOR |

| WAVEFORM
_ PROCESSOR DISPLAY
CONTROLLER |

DISPLAY
BITMAP

Your scope would be capturing only kept over many acquisitions, or over is troubling your electronic system,
about 50 waveforms per second and some period of time between 250ms more expensive digital scopes use pro-
missing the rest. to 10 seconds, or infinitely. In this prietary methods to raise the rate of
Alternatively, instead of deleting the way, infrequent events can be found waveform capture.
old display on each refresh, the elec- and displayed. The Tektronix TDS400 series dig-
trical variable persistence control gives ital scopes can acquire 200 waveforms/
you the option to accumulate old and Fast acquisition second in infinite persistence mode.
new data points in the bit map, and To increase your chances of seeing In each 16ms period they capture and
hence on the screen. These can be that occasional problem pulse which overlay three or more updated ver-
sions of the input waveform in the
refresh buffer. This is then written to
the screen at the 60 frames/second
instaVu refresh rate. So you see a greater per-
: Style centage of all the real cycles which
flow through your circuit.
But top analog scopes like the
Tektronix 2467B or 7104 can display
up to half a million waveforms per
second, showing 90% of all cycles of
your signal, because they have very
short holdoff times. They show rarely
occurring events dimly for emphasis
and are very good at finding elusive
faulty pulses! |
To produce digital storage scopes
infinite with equal capabilities, Tektronix in-
Persistence troduced the very clever TDS700 se-
ries. They can capture and display
M 106ns Chi J
more than 400,000 waveforms/second
when running at 1GHz using 500 sam-
ple points per acquisition, in one chan-
Graticule nel InstaVu Mode. How is this done?
frame Options |
First let’s consider why you can’t
just raise the rate at which the con-
This is a 3MHz signal depicted on a Tektronix TDS784A digital colour scope in ventional digital scope rasterises and
InstaVu mode. Here a runt signal is clearly visible, made doubly so by the displays the signal. We saw that to
colour display (although not reproduced in this B&W photo). display 60 updated versions of the

80 SILICON CHIP
 changing input signal each second
produces a video signal of 18.432MHz.
Could we just raise the refresh rate by
a factor of 7,000? Would (7,000 x 60)
frames/second capture 420,000 wave-
forms/second? The answer is NO!
To do that, a conventional architec-
ture must read the buffer cells in
IC6 at (307,200 x 7,000 x 60) =
129,024,000,000 bits/second, giving a
video frequency of 129GHz. And the
raster would need a vertical or frame
rate of 420kHz and a line or horizontal
frequency of 201.6MHz. No CRT tube
cathode can respond at such a video
frequency and the inductance of mag-
netic deflection coils prohibit such
fast sweep rates!
So Tektronix produced a revolution-
ary design.
InstaVu acquisition mode The Tektronix TDS784 scope has 1GHz analog bandwidth and each channel
samples at 1GS/s. In single channel operation all samplers interleave to achieve
For their high performance 4-chan- 4GS/s sampling speed. In InstaVu acquisition mode, this scope acquires 400,000
nel TDS700 digital scopes, Tektronix waveforms/second. The scope has a liquid crystal shutter to provide a colour
manufactured a patented high speed display and it has an unsurpassed ability to catch and display rare glitches in
dedicated processor and cache mem- signal waveforms.
ory. It includes 360,000 transistors
formed using 0.8 micron technology
into a 304-pin CMOS IC called a acquisition need be fetched only once. at the modest frame rate. But as the
Demux, which dissipates 2.5 watts Each read-modify-write cycle operates display shows almost every cycle that
when running at full speed. on 64 pixels at a time. ever passes through your circuit un-
This is integrated into the acquisi- Each cycle is 32ns long. Data is der test, the result is equivalent to a
tion system, duplicating the raster fetched in groups of eight bytes. Any continuous running picture of the live
forming capability there, so keeping column of the bit map, 256 pixels signal. |
the required video frequency within high, can be rasterised in 32 to 128ns. The display is so lively that signal
manageable limits. Also a section of When operating with one input sig- aberrations are seen instantly. You
the very fast main memory is used asa nal in InstaVu mode, each of the four have the confident feel of an analog
refresh buffer. Here it builds up dis- channels take turns acquiring that sin- scope yet also have the storage and
play images from thousands upon gle input. Three channels can con- mathematical powers of digital scopes.
_ thousands of passes of the signal, in- tinue acquiring while the formed raster Colour gradations highlight sections
cluding those glitches you seek. And is unloaded in the fourth channel. of the traces which occur less fre-
the acquisition section can calculate This architecture raises the perform- quently. You can show the continu-
its own trigger positions. ance to 400,000 full screen (500 point) ously repeating part of the signal in
This architecture, shown in block acquisitions and rasterisation cycles red, with brilliant blue highlighting
diagram form in Fig.5, is radically dif- per second on one channel. This data the occasional glitches.
ferent from any other digital scope. rate represents 220,000,000 pixels/sec- If the scope is left in variable per-
The acquiring of more and more sam- ond. The speed is limited by the trig- sistence mode for many hours, more
ples of the input signal almost never ger system rearm circuits as much as than 10 billion acquisitions can be
stops. Even while the screen display by the acquisition/graphics section. amassed if necessary to find an elu-
is being updated and refreshed, the The Demux IC demultiplexes and sive faulty signal. |
sampler continues acquiring more processes the data from all four A/D The vertical frame rate and the hori-
points of the signal. In this way any converters working together on the zontal line rate of the raster display
elusive glitches, line reflections, jitter one signal and rasterises the acquired are approximately as described be-
or bad pulses have a very high prob- data. Also it performs digital signal fore.
ability of being found by the sampler processing for local programmability, References: Tektronix Technical Brief
and shown on the screen. mathematical algorithms and trigger 12/94.XBS.15M.55W-10341-0. sc
Making good use of available position calculations.
memory bandwidth, the rasteriser op- The firmware only intervenes every
erates on a 16ns clock. It can draw 10,000 samples to copy out the com-
four complete acquisitions at once into plete raster which shows the behav-
a 500 x 256 x 1 bitmap. Drawing is iour over that time. Then the acquisi-
done in top to bottom, then left to tion section shifts out a complete bit-
right fashion, so each data point in an mapped image to the video amplifier

MARCH 1997 81
 By JOHN HILL

The importance of grid bias

Correct grid bias is vital if valve radio This caused some concern because I
knew, even back then, that battery
receivers are to function properly. Here’s a valves didn’t normally run hot.
rundown on how it works and what to look The circuit was checked and every-
thing was in order except for the two
for when restoring vintage receivers. “unnecessary” components.
When a milliamp meter was placed
in series with the 90V “B” battery it
Many years ago I built a little 2- ative usually went straight to chassis. indicated a drain of 20mA. That is
valve battery receiver called “Tom Well, it had on my previous home perhaps more “B” battery current than
Thumb”. It was an old “Radio and built 1-valve receivers. a valve portable would draw while
Hobbies” project that incorporated a In my “wisdom”, I chose to leave driving a loudspeaker. Could it be that
1T4 regenerative detector, followed out this part of the circuit and con- those unnecessary components had
by a 3S4 audio amplifier which drove nected “B” negative directly to chas- something to do with the problem?
a pair of high impedance headphones. sis due, in part, to the fact that neither After the 1500Q resistor and its
It was built from the circuit diagram a 1500Q resistor or a 10uF electrolytic accompanying 10uF capacitor were
only, without instructions, using a were on hand at the time. Besides, added to the receiver, three changes
small output transformer and low im- their inclusion seemed so unneces- were immediately apparent: (1) the B
pedance phones instead of the speci- sary. battery current dropped to less than
fied 20002 headphones. The set was built and it worked 5mA; (2) the output valve operated at
There was one part of the circuit reasonably well. Just as Ithought —the a much lower temperature; and (3) a
that, at the time, made no sense to me extra components were put into the degree of audio distortion (originally
at all. Why have a parallel connected circuit to confuse novice receiver assumed to be normal for such a sim-
1500Q resistor and 10uF electrolytic builders. ple set) vanished. The mystery com-
from “B” battery negative to chassis? However, while listening to my new ponents were not as unnecessary as
(see Fig.1.). What could such an ar- creation it was noticed that the 3S4 originally thought!
rangement possibly do when “B” neg- output valve was decidedly warm. At the time; my lack of knowledge

This old Eveready “C” battery contains three size “D” cells
wired in series. The close-up view (above) shows the
battery connections. The terminals, from left to right, are
OV, -1.5V, -3V and -4.5V.

82 SILICON CHIP
regarding basic theory prevented me
from knowing what the resistor/ca-
pacitor combination actually did. Ac-
INTERSTAGE
cordingly, I made a very bad error of COUPLING lm

j
judgement by leaving them out — but FROM I TRANSFORMER
DETECTOR SPEAKER
learnt a good lesson by doing so.

Negative grid bias

BIAS OR
As some readers would be aware, "C"= BATTERY
+
the reason for the resistor was to cre-
ate a negative bias voltage for the con-
trol grid of the output valve. This Fig.1: the back-bias circuit of the Fig.2: many battery valve sets
would allow the valve to work under “Tom Thumb” radio receiver used used a “C” battery to apply
the conditions for which it was de- a 15000 resistor in parallel with a negative bias voltage to the
signed. Without grid bias, the valve 10u.F capacitor. control grids.
overheated, consumed large amounts
of “B” battery current and, most im-
portant, created considerable distor- ce 6.3V
tion. Correct grid bias is important!
This matter of grid bias raises two
broad questions. Why do valves re-
240VAC
quire a negative potential on the con- RECTIFIER
trol grid or, more accurately, between
grid and cathode. And, secondly, how
are negative volts obtained when the
|
e
JOU
main supply voltage — from the “B”
battery — is positive? These are good BIAS =
questions and I will try to answer RESISTOR NEGATIVE
them as best I can. BIAS
VOLTAGE
First, why is the grid voltage neces-
sary? If one spends time looking Fig.3: a typical back-bias circuit as used in many AC-
powered receivers.
through valve data books, a lot of
reference is made to “characteristic
curves”. In simple terms, a characteris-
tic curve is a line plotted on a graph
which shows the relationship between is always measured in relation to the Some special high-mu (high gain) type
changes in grid voltage and changes cathode. Almost all valves need some valves are designed to function with
in plate current. Each type of valve negative bias on their control grids in minimum plate current without nega-
has its own set of characteristic curves order to function properly. Ignoring tive bias. They are designed for class
for a given range of plate voltages. this fact, as I did with the previously B operation in push-pull output cir-
A characteristic plot is not uniform: mentioned “Tom Thumb”, can lead to cuits.
it has a curved section at the bottom all sorts of problems.
(the “toe”) and another curved sec- Of course, there are exceptions. Battery bias
tion at the top (the “shoulder”). Be- This brings us to the second point
tween these two sections is a substan- in this discussion; the exact circuit
tially “straight” section. mechanism by which an appropriate
If a valve is correctly biased (typi- negative voltage can be applied to the
cally at the midpoint), the voltages on grid(s). There are a variety of arrange-
the grid will be confined to the straight ments but one point is paramount —
section of the curve and the valve will the basic requirement is to apply the
operate with minimal distortion. It required negative voltage to the grid
will also draw the specified amount with respect to the cathode.
of plate current. However, if the valve Valves have always needed to be
has insufficient bias, the plate current correctly biased but, back in the dim
will increase and there will be distor- past, in the era of battery receivers in
tion. the 1920s, the need for correct bias
Conversely, if it has too much bias, was not always fully understood. If it
there will be insufficient plate current was used at all, the usual procedure
and this will also give rise to distor- was to add a separate bias battery (typi-
tion. This distortion is particularly cally 4.5V) to the circuit. This battery
serious in the case of output valves. This battery-model late 1930s Radiola was referred to as the “C” battery and
Note that the grid potential — in fact uses a 4.5V tapped “C” battery for its it was connected as shown in Fig.2.
the potential of all valve electrodes — grid bias requirements. Battery bias is referred to as “fixed

MARCH 1997 83
 Checking the value of Looking at this another way, “B”
bias resistors is part of battery negative is the most negative
any radio restoration. point in the system, which means that
Shown here is a the chassis is positive by the voltage
restored early 1930s 6-
across the resistor. This in turn means
valve superhet receiver
made by Eclipse Radio. that the valve filament (cathode) must
be positive with respect to the grid by
the same amount.
The amount of bias produced by a
back-bias circuit is proportional to the
total high tension current — not neces-
sarily the current of the valve or valves
being biased. Negative voltages pro-
duced by back-biasing are produced
at the expense of “B” battery voltage.
In other words, if a receiver has a 90V
“B” battery and the back-bias resistor
supplies a 5V negative bias, then the
effective “B” battery voltage is reduced
to 85V. You don’t get something for
nothing!
Back biasing is also used in some
AC-type receivers. This involves add-
ing a resistor in the high tension cen-
tre-tap lead of the power transformer
(see Fig.3). Once again, the negative
bias voltage is produced at the ex-
pense of the overall high tension volt-
age.
Any form of grid bias that does not
use a battery requires a resistor to
produce the bias voltage. It is com-
mon practice to place a capacitor
across the bias resistor to suppress
bias” because the bias voltage remains potential with respect to this point. any unwanted signals.
constant regardless of the slowly
diminishing “B” voltage, which is not Back bias Self-bias
the ideal situation. There is virtually However, not all battery receivers Another form of biasing often used
no current drain from a “C” battery. Its used a “C” battery. Many, such as the in AC-powered sets is cathode bias-
sole purpose is to supply the control previously mentioned Tom Thumb, ing, sometimes referred to as self-bi-
grid with a negative potential. have a back-bias arrangement where- -asing (Fig.4). Cathode bias makes use
It is easy to understand battery bias- by the negative voltage is produced by of the cathode current through the
ing — one only has to look at the cir- the voltage across a resistor (Fig.1). In valve. The cathode current is the sum
cuit diagram of Fig.2 to see where the this back-bias circuit, the voltage of the plate and screen currents and if
negative volts come from. If “B” nega- across the resistor is negative at the a resistor is placed between the cath-
tive and “C” positive are at the com- grid end with respect to chassis and ode and chassis, then the cathode cur-
mon point, then the negative end of can be used as a source of bias for one rent flows through this resistor.
the “C” battery must be at a negative or more grids. This current flow through the cath-

84 SILICON CHIP
 AVAILABLE
VALVE RADIO & AUDIO
* Spare Parts
* Circuits
* Valves
* Books
Fully restored radios for sale
Wirewound potentiometers were used as variable cathode bias resistors in many
old radio receivers. When used in conjunction with variable-mu valves, variable WANTED for CASH
cathode bias was an effective volume control. * Valves and radios

ode resistor produces a voltage across valves; ie, the radio frequency (RF) Send SSAE for Catalogue
it and so a positive potential is devel- amplifier, the mixer and the interme-
oped at the cathode with respect to diate frequency (IF) amplifier.
Visit our Showroom at
chassis. Because the grid is normally These valves have variable mu-char-
242 Chapel Street (PO Box 2029),
connected to chassis via a resistor, it acteristics and their amplification fac-
follows that the grid must be negative tor is controlled by changes in grid PRAHRAN, VIC 3181.
with respect to the cathode. bias. In the case of the AVC circuit, the Phone: (03) 9510 4486; Fax (03) 9529 5639
The term “self-bias” is used here bias produced is proportional to the
because the bias voltage is propor- signal strength. As the signal strength
tional to the total current flow through becomes greater, so too does the bias
the valve being biased. voltage which automatically restricts of various bias methods but, as far as
Another form of cathode biasing the amplification provided by the RF vintage receivers are concerned, it
involves using a variable resistor in- valves. matters little. What is important is
stead of a fixed resistor. Many receiv- Basically, AGC is just another form that the bias circuits are working as
ers from the 1930s used such a system of grid biasing and is a variable bias. the designer intended but that is not
as a volume control, with the potent- Still another form of grid biasing always the case.
iometer in the cathode circuit of a can be found in some first audio stages One problem with old carbon resis-
variable-mu IF amplifier valve (see and is referred to as grid leak bias. tors is that they often go high with
Fig.5). This involves connecting a high-value age. When a bias resistor goes high so
In its simplest form, only one termi- resistor between the grid and chassis too does the bias voltage and that
nal and the moving arm connections (Fig.6). Itis normal for a small amount means that the grid can swing outside
are used. Connecting the other poten- of grid current to flow, the exact the straight part of the characteristic
tiometer terminal to the aerial is a amount depending on several factors. curve. This could cause the valve to
trick to improve the range of control These include the type of valve and operate near-cut off in extreme cir-
but has nothing to do with the bias its operating conditions. cumstances. When restoring a vintage
function. In practical terms, this bias system radio receiver, it is therefore impor-
is suitable for use with high-mu triode tant to check the bias resistors and
Automatic volume control valves handling low-level input sig- replace them where necessary. The
If one goes probing around with a nals. Running the weak grid current bypass capacitors should be checked
voltmeter underneath the chassis, it through the 10MQ resistor produces as well.
soon becomes apparent that there are the desired bias. The amount of bias is Finally, note that when checking
many points in the circuit that will small but can be sufficient to set the bias voltages, it is advisable to meas-
register negative voltages. Some of operating point on a straight portion ure the voltage across the bias resistor
these potentials vary in magnitude of the characteristic curve. Provided itself; checking from cathode to grid
depending on the strength of the sig- the input signal level is held within can give misleading readings. Note
nal being received. These variable bias limits, very little distortion will be that it’s also best to use a digital
voltages are produced by the auto- generated. multimeter. Using a low-impedance
matic volume control (AVC) circuit. analog meter can give a false indica-
AVC voltages are negative and are Bias problems tion, due to the current through the
directed at the grids of the front end Some would argue the pros and cons meter. sc

MARCH 1997 85
 Fast-charge battery controller
Philips has released a single-chip fast-charge nal ampere capacity. Single cell or
multiple cell battery packs can be
controller, the TEA1102, which is able to cope charged.
with all battery types including nickel cadmium If the charger is built into equip-
ment which must remain operational
(NiCd), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium ion while its battery pack is removed, the
and sealed lead-acid (SLA) batteries. TEA1102 can operate as an AC/DC
adapter, delivering a regulated volt-
age output rather than a pulsed charg-
The TEA1102 uses DT/dt (rate of ing current.
change of battery temperature) and Charging lithium ion and SLA bat-
peak voltage detection modes to en- teries is completely different. When
sure that the full charge condition is the batteries reach their maximum
reliably detected in NiCd and NiMH voltage (adjustable), the TEA1102 au-
battery packs. To enhance the reliabil- tomatically switches over from cur-
ity of the DT/dt and peak voltage de- rent regulation to voltage regulation.
tection, both detectors are temporar- After a defined period, which is de-
ily disabled for a short time at the pendent on battery capacity and charg-
beginning of the fast charge period ing current, charging is terminated;
and the DT/dt detector is itself tem- trickle charging is not necessary.
perature compensated. - Other features include manually
The detection modes can be selected activated discharge (“refresh”) of NiCd
individually or used together. Even if batteries before recharging to over-
only the DT/dt detection is selected, come “memory” effect, minimum and
the TEA1102 will automatically maximum temperature protection,
switch over to peak voltage detection short circuit and time-out protection
if the battery pack’s temperature sens- and outputs for LEDs and a buzzer to
ing thermistor fails, thereby ensuring indicate charging conditions.
maximum safety. transistors and the fast-charge current The TEA1102 is available in 20-pin
The TEA1102 has linear and PWM can be programmed to values between DIP or SO packages. For further infor-
outputs to control current regulator half and five times the battery’s nomi- mation, contact Philips Components,
34 Waterloo Rd, North Ryde, NSW
2213. Phone (02) 9805 4479; fax 9805
Light pipes 4466.

for LEDs nee Voice echo

_ The Khatod SMT Pipe Light ena-
bles surface mounted LEDs on a canceller
PC board to illuminate front panel Mitel Semiconductor is now sam-
indicators by providing a 90 de- pling an integrated voice echo cancel-
gree light path. Special shapes and. ler designed to eliminate voice echo
symbols can be provided and the and distortion. The MT9122 is a dual-
Pipe Light has electrostatic dis- channel VEC that accepts 16-bit lin- ©
charge protection of 15kV. They ear or G.711 companded PCM formats
can be used with conventional within a temperature range of 60 and is compatible with the ST-Bus
LEDs of 3mm or 5mm diameter to 125°C. 8 : and SSI. Power consumption is typi-
_and can be ordered with or with- For further information contact cally 250mW. It is also claimed to
out LEDs. _M. Rutty &Co, 4 Beaumont Rd, Mt | eliminate distortion without the need
Pipe Light is available in red, Kuringai, NSW 2080. Phonea ae to add separate DSPs for other func-
/ green and yellow and can operate 9457 2222. tions.
Applications include wireless base
86 SILICON CHIP
 AUDIO
TRANSFORMERS

Manufactured in Australia
Comprehensive data available
Harbuch Electronics Pty Ltd _
9/40 Leighton Pl. HORNSBY 2077
Ph (02) 9476-5854 Fx (02) 9476-3231
High output ous radiant intensity of 50mW/sr
@ 100mA and for remote control or
infrared LEDs
BassBox®
IR links up to 500mW/sr when
Allthings Sales and Services has pulsed at 1A. For IR illuminators,
released three new LEDs which radiation angles of 24, 50 and 60
are suitable for high output video degrees allow close matching of
camera IR illuminators, IR remote the video camera lens field of view
control and IR communication with the illuminator radiation an-
(IrDA PC) links. Main parameters gle, regardless of whether it is
are: up to 52mW/steradian (con- mounted behind, next to or ahead
tinuous) radiant intensity, radia- of the camera.
tion angles from 24-60°, spectral In packets of 50, they are priced
Design low frequency loudspeaker enclosures
radiation wavelength from 800- between 50 and 70 cents each. Full fast and accurately with BassBox® software.
950nm and standard 5mm dia- technical specifications and data Uses both Thiele-Small and Electro-Mechanical
meter transparent (clear) packages. are available from Allthings Sales parameters with equal ease. Includes X. Over
All are suitable for CCD video and Services, PO Box 25, West- 2.03 passive crossover design program.
camera infrared illuminators. A
925-950nm device has a continu-
minster, WA 6061. Phone (09) 9349
9413; (09) 9344 5905.
$299.00
Plus $6.00 postage.
Pay by cheque, Bankcard, Mastercard Visacard.
EARTHQUAKE AUDIO
PH: (02) 9949 8071 FAX: (02) 9949 8073
stations, video conferencing and cen- PO BOX 226 BALGOWLAH NSW 2093
tral office switches. Echo cancellation
works by measuring the echo end-
path and then using an adaptive filter This paste does not require refriger-
to generate a duplicate echo which is ated storage, making the CQ-1000 kit
then subtracted from the original echo. suitable for carrying in a service tool
As the echo tail length increases, dis- case, for the occasional field repair.
tortion begins to create the familiar For further information, contact
hollow sound in a receiver and even- Computronics International Pty Ltd,
tually distinct echoes emerge. 31 Kensington St, East Perth, WA 6004.
For further information, contact Phone (09) 221 2121; fax (09) 325 6686.
GEC Electronics Division, Unit 1, 38
South St, Rydalmere, NSW 2116. Quad low side
Phone (02) 9638 1888; fax (02) 9638
1798. driver IC
the board and replace the component. SGS-Thomson Microelectronics has
Handy SMD The only other tool required is a released the L9338 quad low side
temperature controlled soldering iron. driver IC. It contains four driver chan-
replacement kit The kit contains enough material to nels, each equipped with a logic input
PRB has released the CQ-1000 SMD remove approximately 2500 SMD pins and an open-drain DMOS output tran-
replacement kit. This has the tools plus dental picks, vacuum pick-up sistor with an on-resistance of 1.5Q at
and materials to remove SMCs, clean tools and anew no-clean solder paste. 25°C and an output clamp for fast
MARCH 1997 87
recirculation with inductive loads. are included with the TP-79.
The switching speed is controlled For more information, contact
to minimise electromagnetic interfer- Computronics Corporation Ltd, 31
ence and over-temperature protection Kensington Street, East Perth, WA,
is provided. A diagnostic output indi- 6004. Phone (09) 9221 2121; fax (09)
cates the status of the protection func- 9325 6686.
tion and open load conditions. The
outputs default to a defined state in 20MHz function
case of open circuit inputs.
In stand-by mode, the L9338 con- generator
sumes less than 2A. It operates on a The new Thurlby Thandar TG120
supply voltage from 4.5V to 45V and function generator has a frequency
is reverse bias protected to -24V. The range of 0.2Hz to 20MHz over eight
circuit is supplied in an SO-20 sur- component leg, giving a clean cut, ranges. It can be used in sweep mode
face mounting package. longer blade life and ease of use. It is (with an external sweep source) with
Typical automotive applications capable of a production rate of 50,000 a sweep range of at least 20:1. Outputs
include relay and lamp driving. In- per hour. include sine, triangle, square wave
dustrial applications include driving The lead length is adjustable from and DC level waveforms, as well as
relays in programmable controllers or 2mm to 10mm and the blade can ac- variable duty cycle and sawtooth
as a line driver. commodate lead diameters from pulses.
For further information phone (02) 0.3mm to 1.2mm. Adjustment is made The instrument has a main output
9580 3811; (02) fax 9580 6440. by using the integrated lead length of 20V peak-peak, from a 50Q source
ruler marked below the moving impedance. A two-step attenuator
TP-79 lead wheels. (20dB/step) and a 26dB vernier pro-
A toothed drum ensures the leads _ vide levels down to 10mV peak-peak.
cutting machine are parallel during the cutting proc- A variable DC offset of +10V can also
Computronics Corporation Ltd has ess, providing correct lead configura- be provided.
released the TP-79 lead cutting ma- tion for insertion of the component For more information, contact
chine for radial components. The TP- into the PC board. Nilsen Technologies, 150 Oxford St,
79 features a gear driven cutting wheel Adjustment tools, bandolier holder Collingwood, Vic 306. Phone 1 800
which has a scissors action on the and a full size metal collection tray 623 350; fax 1 800 067 263.

rom=
- 20MHz oscilloscope f
PO Box 314 Blackwood SA 5051
Ph 0414 323099 Fax 088 270 3175
_Leader Instruments |

88 SILICON CHIP
 ORDER FORM

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MARCH 1997 89
 December 1990: The CD Green Pen Controversy; 100W DC-DC

Silicon Chip
Converter For Car Amplifiers; Wiper Pulser For Rear Windows; 4-
Digit Combination Lock; 5W Power Amplifier For The 6-Metre Ama-
teur Transmitter; Index To Volume 3.

January 1991: Fast Charger For Nicad Batteries, Pt.1; Have Fun With
The Fruit Machine; Two-Tone Alarm Module; LCD Readout For The

ttle
@ lee
Capacitance Meter; How Quartz Crystals Work; The Dangers of
Servicing Microwave Ovens.

February 1991: Synthesised Stereo AM Tuner, Pt.1; Three Inverters

For Fluorescent Lights; Low-Cost Sinewave Oscillator; Fast Charger
For Nicad Batteries, Pt.2; How To Design Amplifier Output Stages.

September 1988: Hands-Free Speakerphone; Electronic Fish Bite Audio Oscillator, Pt.2; The Incredible Hot Canaries; Random Wire March 1991: Remote Controller For Garage Doors, Pt.1; Transistor
Detector; High Performance AC Millivoltmeter, Pt.2; Build The Vader Antenna Tuner For-6 Metres; Phone Patch For Radio Amateurs, Pt.2. Beta Tester Mk.2; A Synthesised AM Stereo Tuner, Pt.2; Multi-
Voice. Purpose I/O Board For PC-Compatibles; Universal Wideband RF
March 1990: Delay Unit For Automatic Antennas; Workout Timer For Preamplifier For Amateur Radio & TV.
April 1989: Auxiliary Brake Light Flasher; What You Need to Know Aerobics Classes; 16-Channel Mixing Desk, Pt.2; Using The UC3906
About Capacitors; 32-Band Graphic Equaliser, Pt.2; The Story Of SLA Battery Charger IC; The Australian VFT Project. April 1991: Steam Sound Simulator For Model Railroads; Remote
Amtrak Passenger Services. Controller For Garage Doors, Pt.2; Simple 12/24V Light Chaser;
April 1990: Dual Tracking +50V Power Supply; Voice-Operated Synthesised AM Stereo Tuner, Pt.3; A Practical Approach To Ampli-
May 1989: Build A Synthesised Tom-Tom; Biofeedback Monitor For Switch (VOX) With Delayed Audio; 16-Channel Mixing Desk, Pt.3; fier Design, Pt.2.
Your PC; Simple Stub Filter For Suppressing TV Interference; The Active CW Filter; Servicing Your Microwave Oven.
Burlington Northern Railroad. May 1991: 13.5V 25A Power Supply ForTransceivers; Stereo Audio
June 1990: Multi-Sector Home Burglar Alarm; Low-Noise Universal Expander; Fluorescent Light Simulator For Model Railways; How To
July 1989: Exhaust Gas Monitor; Experimental Mains Hum Sniffers; Stereo Preamplifier; Load Protector For Power Supplies; Speed Install Multiple TV Outlets, Pt.1.
Compact Ultrasonic Car Alarm; The NSW 86 Class Electrics. Alarm For Your Car; Fitting A Fax Card To A Computer.
June 1991: A Corner Reflector Antenna For UHF TV; 4-Channel
September 1989: 2-Chip Portable AM Stereo Radio (Uses MC13024 July 1990: Digital Sine/Square Generator, Pt.1 (Covers 0-500kHz); Lighting Desk, Pt.1; 13.5V 25A Power Supply ForTransceivers, Pt.2;
and TX7376P) Pt.1; High Or Low Fluid Level Detector; Studio Series Burglar Alarm Keypad & Combination Lock; Simple Electronic Die; Active Filter For CW Reception; Tuning In To Satellite TV.
20-Band Stereo Equaliser, Pt.2. Low-Cost Dual Power Supply; Inside A Coal Burning Power Station.
July 1991: Loudspeaker Protector For Stereo Amplifiers; 4-Channel
October 1989: FM Radio Intercom For Motorbikes Pt.1; GaAsFet August 1990: High Stability UHF Remote Transmitter; Universal Lighting Desk, Pt.2; How To Install MultipleTV Outlets, Pt.2; Tuning
Preamplifier For Amateur TV; 2-Chip Portable AM Stereo Radio, Pt.2; Safety Timer For Mains Appliances (9 Minutes); Horace The Elec- In To Satellite TV, Pt.2; The Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme.
ALook At Australian Monorails. tronic Cricket; Digital Sine/Square Generator, Pt.2.
August 1991: Build A Digital Tachometer; Masthead Amplifier ForTV
November 1989: Radfax Decoder For Your PC (Displays Fax, RTTY September 1990: Low-Cost 3-Digit Counter Module; Simple Shortwave & FM; PC Voice Recorder; Tuning In To Satellite TV, Pt.3; Step-By-Step
& Morse); FM Radio Intercom For Motorbikes, Pt.2; 2-Chip Portable Converter For The 2-Metre Band; the Bose Lifestyle Music System; Vintage Radio Repairs.
AM Stereo Radio, Pt.3; Floppy Disc Drive Formats & Options; The The Care & Feeding Of Battery Packs; How To Make Dynamark
Pilbara Iron Ore Railways. Labels. September 1991: Digital Altimeter For Gliders & Ultralights; Ultra-
sonic Switch For Mains Appliances; The Basics Of A/D & D/A
December 1989: Digital Voice Board; UHF Remote Switch; Balanced October 1990: The Dangers of PCBs; Low-Cost Siren For Burglar Conversion; Plotting The Course Of Thunderstorms.
Input & Output Stages; Operating an R/C Transmitter; Index to Vol. 2. Alarms; Dimming Controls For The Discolight; Surfsound Simulator;
DC Offset For DMMs; NE602 Converter Circuits. October 1991: Build A Talking Voltmeter For Your PC, Pt.1; SteamSound
January 1990: High Quality Sine/Square Oscillator; Service Tips For Simulator Mk.II; Magnetic Field Strength Meter; Digital Altimeter For
Your VCR; Phone Patch For Radio Amateurs; Active Antenna Kit; November 1990: How To Connect Two TV Sets To One VCR; Build An Gliders, Pt.2; Military Applications Of R/C Aircraft.
Designing UHF Transmitter Stages; A Look At Very Fast Trains. Egg Timer; Low-Cost Model Train Controller; 1.5V To 9V DC Con-
verter; Introduction To Digital Electronics; Build A Simple 6-Metre November 1991: Build A ColourTV Pattern Generator, Pt.1; AJunkbox
February 1990: A 16-Channel Mixing Desk; Build A High Quality Amateur Band Transmitter. 2-Valve Receiver; Flashing Alarm Light For Cars; Digital Altimeter

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90 SILICON CHIP
For Gliders, Pt.3; Build A Talking Voltmeter For Your PC, Pt.2. March 1994: Intelligent |R Remote Controller; 50W (LM3876) Audio Pt.2; Fast Charger For Nicad Batteries; Digital Speedometer & Fuel
Amplifier Module; Level Crossing Detector For Model Railways; Gauge For Cars, Pt.1.
December 1991: TV Transmitter For VCRs With UHF Modulators; Voice Activated Switch For FM Microphones; Simple LED Chaser;
infrared Light Beam Relay; Colour TV Pattern Generator, Pt.2: Index Engine Management, Pt.6. November 1995: Mixture Display For Fuel Injected Cars; CB
To Volume 4. Transverter For The 80M Amateur Band, Pt.1; PIR Movement Detec-
April 1994: Sound & Lights For Model Railway Level Crossings; tor; Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound Decoder Mk.2, Pt.1; Digital
January 1992: 4-Channel Guitar Mixer; Adjustable 0-45V 8A Power Discrete Dual Supply Voltage Regulator; Universal Stereo Preampli- Speedometer & Fuel Gauge For Cars, Pt.2.
Supply, Pt.1; Baby Room Monitor/FM Transmitter; Experiments For fier; Digital Water Tank Gauge; Engine Management, Pt.7.
. Your Games Card. December 1995: Engine Immobiliser; 5-Band Equaliser; CB
May 1994: Fast Charger For Nicad Batteries; Induction Balance Transverter For The 80M Amateur Band, Pt.2; Subwoofer Controller;
March 1992: TV Transmitter For VHF VCRs; Thermostatic Switch For Metal Locator; Multi-Channel Infrared Remote Control; Dual Elec- Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound Decoder Mk.2, Pt.2; Knock Sensing
Car Radiator Fans; Telephone Call Timer; Coping With Damaged tronic Dice; Simple Servo Driver Circuits; Engine Management, Pt.8; In Cars; Index To Volume 8.
Computer Directories; A Guide To Valve Substitution In Vintage Passive Rebroadcasting For TV Signals.
Radios. January 1996: Surround Sound Mixer & Decoder, Pt.1; Magnetic
June 1994: 200W/350W Mosfet Amplifier Module; A Coolant Level Card Reader; Build An Automatic Sprinkler Controller; IR Remote
April 1992: IR Remote Control For Model Railroads; Differential Input Alarm For Your Car; 80-Metre AM/CW Transmitter For Amateurs; Control For The Railpower Mk.2; Recharging Nicad Batteries For
Buffer For CROs; Understanding Computer Memory; Aligning Vintage Converting Phono Inputs To Line Inputs; PC-Based Nicad Battery Long Life.
Radio Receivers, Pt.1. Monitor; Engine Management, Pt.9.
February 1996: Three Remote Controls To Build; Woofer Stopper
May 1992: Build A Telephone Intercom; Electronic Doorbell; Battery July 1994: Build A 4-Bay Bow-Tie UHF Antenna; PreChamp 2-Tran- Mk.2; 10-Minute Kill Switch For Smoke Detectors; Basic Logic
Eliminator For Personal Players; Infrared Remote Control For Model sistor Preamplifier; Steam Train Whistle & Diesel Horn Simulator; Trainer; Surround Sound Mixer & Decoder, Pt.2; Use your PC As A
Railroads, Pt.2; Aligning Vintage Radio Receivers, Pt.2. Portable 6V SLA Battery Charger; Electronic Engine Management, Reaction Timer.
Pt.10.
June 1992: Multi-Station Headset Intercom, Pt.1; Video Switcher For March 1996: Programmable Electronic Ignition System; Zener Tester
Camcorders & VCRs; IR Remote Control For Model Railroads, Pt.3; August 1994: High-Power Dimmer For Incandescent Lights; Micro- For DMMs; Automatic Level Control For PA Systems; 20ms Delay For
15-Watt 12-240V Inverter; A Look At Hard Disc Drives. processor-Controlled Morse Keyer; Dual Diversity Tuner For FM Surround Sound Decoders; Multi-Channel Radio Control Transmit-
Microphones, Pt.1; Build a Nicad Zapper; Engine Management, Pt.11. ter; Pt.2; Cathode Ray Oscilloscopes, Pt.1.
July 1992: Build A Nicad Battery Discharger; 8-Station Automatic
Sprinkler Timer; Portable 12V SLA Battery Charger; Multi-Station September 1994: Automatic Discharger For Nicad Battery Packs; April 1996: Cheap Battery Refills For Mobile Telephones; 125W
Headset Intercom, Pt.2. MiniVox Voice Operated Relay; Image Intensified Night Viewer; AM Power Amplifier Module; Knock Indicator For Leaded Petrol Engines;
Radio For Weather Beacons; Dual Diversity Tuner For FM Micro- Multi-Channel Radio Control Transmitter; Pt.3; Cathode Ray Oscillo-
August 1992: An Automatic SLA Battery Charger; Miniature 1.5V To 9V phones, Pt.2; Engine Management, Pt.12. scopes, Pt.2.
DC Converter; 1kW Dummy Load Box For Audio Amplifiers; Trouble-
shooting Vintage Radio Receivers; MIDI Explained. October 1994: Dolby Surround Sound - How It Works; Dual Rail May 1996: Upgrading The CPU In Your PC; Build A High Voltage
Variable Power Supply; Talking Headlight Reminder; Electronic Insulation Tester; Knightrider Bi-Directional LED Chaser; Simple
October 1992: 2kW 24VDC - 240VAC Sinewave Inverter; Multi-Sector Ballast For Fluorescent Lights; Temperature Controlled Soldering Duplex Intercom Using Fibre Optic Cable; Cathode Ray Oscillo-
Home Burglar Alarm, Pt.2; Mini Amplifier For Personal Stereos; A Station; Engine Management, Pt.13. scopes, Pt.3.
Regulated Lead-Acid Battery Charger.
November 1994: Dry Cell Battery Rejuvenator; Novel Alphanumeric June 1996: BassBox CAD Loudspeaker Software Reviewed; Stereo
January 1993: Flea-Power AM Radio Transmitter; High Intensity LED Clock; 80-Metre DSB Amateur Transmitter; Twin-Cell Nicad Dis-
Flasher For Bicycles; 2kW 24VDC To 240VAC Sinewave Inverter, charger (See May 1993); Anti-Lock Braking Systems; How To Plot For Your DMM; Automatic 10A Battery Charger.
Pt.4; Speed Controller For Electric Models, Pt.3. Patterns Direct To PC Boards.
July 1996: Installing a Dual Boot Windows System On Your PC; Build
February 1993: Three Projects For Model Railroads; Low Fuel December 1994: Dolby Pro-Logic Surround Sound Decoder, Pt.1; _ AVGA Digital Oscilloscope, Pt.1; Remote Control Extender For VCRs;
Indicator For Cars; Audio Level/VU Meter (LED Readout); An Elec- Easy-To-Build Car Burglar Alarm; Three-Spot Low Distortion Sinewave 2A SLA Battery Charger; 3-Band Parametric Equaliser; Single Chan-
tronic Cockroach; 2kW 24VDC To 240VAC Sinewave Inverter, Pt.5. Oscillator; Clifford - A Pesky Electronic Cricket; Cruise Control - How nel 8-bit Data Logger.
It Works; Remote Control System for Models, Pt.1; Index to Vol.7.
March 1993: Solar Charger For 12V Batteries; Alarm-Triggered August 1996: Electronics on the Internet; Customising the Windows
Security Camera; Reaction Trainer; Audio Mixer for Camcorders; A January 1995: Sun Tracker For Solar Panels; Battery Saver For Desktop; Introduction to IGBTs; Electronic Starter For Fluorescent
24-Hour Sidereal Clock For Astronomers. Torches; Dolby Pro-Logic Surround Sound Decoder, Pt.2; Dual Lamps; VGA Oscilloscope, Pt.2; 350W Amplifier Module; Masthead
Channel UHF Remote Control; Stereo Microphone Preamplifier;The Amplifier For TV & FM; Cathode Ray Oscilloscopes, Pt.4.
April 1993: Solar-Powered Electric Fence; Audio Power Meter; Three- Latest Trends In Car Sound; Pt.1.
Function Home Weather Station; 12VDC To 70VDC Converter; Digital September 1996: Making Prototype Parts By Laser; VGA Oscillo-
Clock With Battery Back-Up. February 1995: 50-Watt/Channel Stereo Amplifier Module; Digital scope, Pt.3; Infrared Stereo Headphone Link, Pt.1; High Quality PA
Effects Unit For Musicians; 6-Channel Thermometer With LCD Loudspeaker; 3-Band HF Amateur Radio Receiver; Feedback On
May 1993: Nicad Cell Discharger; Build The Woofer Stopper; Alpha- Readout; Wide Range Electrostatic Loudspeakers, Pt.1; Oil Change Programmable Ignition (see March 1996); Cathode Ray Oscillo-
numeric LCD Demonstration Board; The Microsoft Windows Sound Timer For Cars; The Latest Trends In Car Sound; Pt.2; Remote Control scopes, Pt.5. :
System; The Story of Aluminium. System For Models, Pt.2.
October 1996: Send Video Signals Over Twisted Pair Cable; Power
June 1993: AM Radio Trainer, Pt.1; Remote Control For The Woofer March 1995: 50W/Channel Stereo Amplifier, Pt.1; Subcarrier De- Control With A Light Dimmer; 6(00W DC-DC Converter For Car Hifi
Stopper; Digital Voltmeter For Cars; Windows-based Logic Ana- coder For FM Receivers; Wide Range Electrostatic Loudspeakers, Systems, Pt.1; Infrared Stereo Headphone Link, Pt.2; Build A Multi-
lyser. Pt.2; IR Illuminator For CCD Cameras; Remote Control System For Media Sound System, Pt.1; Multi-Channel Radio Control Transmitter,
Models, Pt.3; Simple CW Filter. PL.8.
July 1993: Single Chip Message Recorder; Light Beam Relay Ex-
tender; AM Radio Trainer, Pt.2; Quiz Game Adjudicator; Windows- April 1995: Build An FM Radio Trainer, Pt.1; A Photographic Timer For November 1996: Adding An Extra Parallel Port To Your Computer; 8-
based Logic Analyser, Pt.2; Antenna Tuners — Why They Are Useful. Darkrooms; Balanced Microphone Preamplifier & Line Filter; 50- Channel Stereo Mixer, Pt.1; Low-Cost Fluorescent Light Inverter;
Watt Per Channel Stereo Amplifier, Pt.2; Wide Range Electrostatic How To Repair Domestic Light Dimmers; Build A Multi-Media Sound
August 1993: Low-Cost Colour Video Fader; 60-LED Brake Light Loudspeakers, Pt.3; An 8-Channel Decoder For Radio Remote Con- System, Pt.2; 6(00W DC-DC Converter For Car Hifi Systems, Pt.2.
Array; Microprocessor-Based Sidereal Clock; Southern Cross Z80- trol.
Based Computer; A Look At Satellites & Their Orbits. December 1996: CD Recorders — The Next Add-On For Your PC;
May 1995: What To Do When the Battery On Your PC’s Motherboard Active Filter Cleans Up CW Reception; Fast Clock For Railway
September 1993: Automatic Nicad Battery Charger/Discharger; Stereo Goes Flat; Build A Guitar Headphone Amplifier; FM Radio Trainer, Modellers; Laser Pistol & Electronic Target; Build A Sound Level
Preamplifier With IR Remote Control, Pt.1; In-Circuit Transistor Pt.2; Transistor/Mosfet Tester For DMMs; 16-Channel Decoder For Meter; 8-Channel Stereo Mixer, Pt.2; Index To Volume 9.
Tester; A +5V to 15V DC Converter; Remote-Controlled Cockroach. Radio Remote Control; Introduction to Satellite TV.
January 1997: How To Network Your PC; Using An Autotransformer
October 1993: Courtesy Light Switch-Off Timer For Cars; Wireless June 1995: Build A Satellite TV Receiver; Train Detector For Model To Save Light Bulbs; Control Panel For Multiple Smoke Alarms, Pt.1;
Microphone For Musicians; Stereo Preamplifier With IR Remote Railways; 1W Audio Amplifier Trainer; Low-Cost Video Security Build A Pink Noise Source (for Sound Level Meter calibration);
Control, Pt.2; Electronic Engine Management, Pt.1. System; Multi-Channel Radio Control Transmitter For Models, Pt.1; Computer Controlled Dual Power Supply, Pt.1; Digi-Temp Monitors
Build A $30 Digital Multimeter. Eight Temperatures.
November 1993: Jumbo Digital Clock; High Efficiency Inverter For
Fluorescent Tubes; Stereo Preamplifier With IR Remote Control, July 1995: Electric Fence Controller; How To Run Two Trains On A February 1997: Computer Problems: Sorting Out What's At Fault;
Pt.3; Siren Sound Generator; Engine Management, Pt.2; Experiments Single Track (Incl. Lights & Sound); Setting Up A Satellite TV Ground Cathode Ray Oscilloscopes, Pt.6; PC-Controlled Moving Message
For Games Cards. Station; Door Minder; Adding RAM To A Computer. Display; Computer Controlled Dual Power Supply, Pt.2; Alert-A-
Phone Loud Sounding Alarm; Control! Panel For Multiple Smoke
December 1993: Remote Controller For Garage Doors; LED Strobo- August 1995: Fuel Injector Monitor For Cars; Gain Controlled Micro- Alarms, Pt.2.
scope; 25W Amplifier Module; 1-Chip Melody Generator; Engine phone Preamp; Audio Lab PC Controlled Test Instrument, Pt.1; Mighty-
Management, Pt.3; Index To Volume 6. Mite Powered Loudspeaker; How To Identify IDE Hard Disc Drive PLEASE NOTE: November 1987 to August 1988, October 1988 to
Parameters. March 1989, June 1989, August 1989, May 1990, February 1992,
January 1994: 3A 40V Adjustable Power Supply; Switching Regulator September 1992, November 1992 and December 1992 are now sold
For Solar Panels; Printer Status Indicator; Mini Drill Speed Control- September 1995: Keypad Combination Lock; The Incredible Vader out. All other issues are presently in stock. For readers wanting
ler; Stepper Motor Controller; Active Filter Design; Engine Manage- Voice; Railpower Mk.2 Walkaround Throttle For Model Railways, articles from sold-out issues, we can supply photostat copies (or
ment, Pt.4. Pt.1; Jacob’s Ladder Display; The Audio Lab PC Controlled Test tear sheets) at $7.00 per article (includes p&p). When supplying
Instrument, Pt.2. photostat articles or back copies, we automatically supply any
February 1994: Build A 90-Second Message Recorder; 12-240VAC relevant notes & errata at no extra charge. A complete index to all
200W Inverter; 0.5W Audio Amplifier; 3A 40V Adjustable Power October 1995: Geiger Counter; 3-Way Bass Reflex Loudspeaker articles published to date is available on floppy disc at $10 including
Supply; Engine Management, Pt.5; Airbags - How They Work. System; Railpower Mk.2 Walkaround Throttle For Model Railways, packing & postage.

MARCH 1997 91
 Got a technical problem? Can’t understand a piece of jargon or some technical principle? Drop us a line
and we'll answer your question. Write to: Ask Silicon Chip, PO Box 139, a Beach, NSW 2097.

Light meter can purchase a Lux meter from Dick

Smith Electronics. It is priced at
tive to the negative size in use; ie,
image magnification stuff. What I have
wanted $139.50 (Cat. No. Q-1400). in mind for the former is the ability to
As an electrical contractor and ama- We have considered designing a feed in a known exposure and then to
teur photographer I have always felt high power 240VAC flash unit in the select a fractional on or off amount
the need for some sort of device which past but have decided not to proceed. and obtain an answer. For the mag-
would be able to measure available The design would be inherently dan- nification, feed in (a) neg size, present
light. Would you consider publishing gerous, with large capacitors charged exposure and total print height, then
a project along such lines? | to lethal voltages. Such capacitors and (b) feed in new total print height. Press
The capability to obtain light read- the discharge tube are very expensive “compute” for new exposure.
ings in Lux would be most welcomed which is partly the reason commer- An added function might be changes
by many self-employed electricians cial units are so expensive. in (film) development time versus tem-
such as myself, especially in a similar Note: a suggested power supply for perature, with readout in minutes and
form to your recent sound level meter, a photographic flash was featured in seconds, not decimals. (T. W., Point
which uses a DMM’s display, and if it the Circuit Notebook pages for Febru- Clare, NSW).
were also capable of measuring the ary 1997. ° These days no-one is (ely:to go to
colour temperature (degrees Kelvin) the trouble of designing a calculator
of any light source, photographers, Calculator for for darkroom functions. It is more
architects, designers, decorators and likely that someone has written a
many others would also welcome it.
darkrooms spreadsheet program that would do
As a matter of fact it would be quite a © Would you be able to design special the job. Maybe one of our readers has
unique device. purpose calculators — the sort of thing already done so.
While on the subject of light, Icould one might buy to change, say, metric
never comprehend the high cost of to imperial units and the like? There Oscillation in
are a number of darkroom functions
powerful flash units. Surely it would
be easy for you to publish a circuit of that you can do on an ordinary scien- 3-terminal regulator
one with a very quick recovery time, tific calculator but which require a While VHF reception at my address
to work on 240VAC, as in a studio set knowledge of theory — and photogra- is excellent, that of UHF is rather noisy,
up, where physical size and weight phers are not, alas, noted for numeracy although interference free. The mast-
are of secondary importance. (A. F,, or the workings of the laws of physics! head amplifier described by Branco
Warilla, NSW). The areas that need “help” are Justic in the August issue of SILICON
¢ We have not published such a de- “stops on and off” — especially frac- CHIP appeared to offer the solution to
vice but we will consider the feasibil- tions thereof — and exposure changes what has been more of a minor irrita-
ity of a design. In the meantime, you with alterations to print height rela- tion than a real problem.
Construction was very easy and I
tested it at the input to the TV set to be
greeted by a degraded signal on SBS
and progressively increasing noise
patterns as the TV was tuned down
the VHF band to ABC. It seemed that
the masthead amplifier was oscillat-
ing and I wondered what I could have
done wrong.
Hooking the unit up toa CRO proved
that it was indeed oscillating at just
above 6.5MHz but the problem was
why. I did not think I had damaged
the MAR6 IC and the chance of its
being faulty as delivered was remote.
It then came to me that there was a
capacitor across the output of the regu-
lator and that I had a similar problem
many years ago where a specified ca-
pacitor at the output ofa regulator had

92 SILICON CHIP
caused it to oscillate like mad.
Sure enough, it was indeed the
power supply that was oscillating so I
removed C4, the .0033uF capacitor
and was rewarded with a nice stable
5V supply. The unit is now temporar-
ily hooked up in the roof to the UHF
antenna (also described in SILICON
CHIP some time ago) and I have been
rewarded with first class reception of
SBS. When it stops raining I will in-
stall the amplifier at the antenna it-
self.
I don’t know how often this regula-
tor instability occurs but I bring it to
your attention in case other readers
strike similar trouble. (A. M., North
Turramurra, NSW).
¢ The .0033uF capacitor at the output
of the regulator is much smaller than
the conventional 10uF electrolytic nor-
mally stipulated in the National Semi-
conductor design literature. The ca-
pacitor is specified to stop the oscilla-
tion you experienced. We would pre-
fer to see a capacitor present and we
assume that a 10uUF capacitor would
fix the oscillation. We also wonder if
the fitted capacitor was defective or
the connections open circuit.

IGBTs for audio

amplifiers
I have just been reading the article
on IGBTs in the August 1996 issue of
SILICON CHIP. Could these devices be have higher distortion. The big diffi- mally. I have programmed the pro-
used in an amplifier module similar culty in producing an IGBT design in grammable ignition unit and it keeps
to the one in the June 1994 issue? This Australia would be in ensuring a reli- the data when accessed. The LED on
delivered 350 watts into 4Q loads. If able supply of suitable devices. the program board cycles on and off
so, would an IGBT amplifier be more Incidentally, your letter did not in- when the distributor is rotated.
efficient and have less distortion. clude your surname or your full ad- There is 7V at pin 7 of MC3334
(Andrew, Cessnock, NSW). dress, so we were unable to send you which drops to 5V when the distribu-
e It is certainly possible to design an a personal reply. tor is rotated. The coil output from the
audio amplifier with IGBTs in the out- programmer board is 7V which drops
put stage. Such an amplifier would Problem with to 6.5V when the distributor is ro-
have the benefit of very rugged output tated. The LED on the reluctor board
devices. In fact, we have seen an ap- programmable ignition does not light up unless the output
plication note from Toshiba Electron- I have previously written to you wire from Q4 is disconnected.
ics (UK) Ltd which featured IGBTs in with regard to fitting a programmable I have checked all components and.
the output stages (Ref No: X3504). This ignition/reluctor ignition unit to a Ford circuit boards for defects, replaced all
application note actually featured the hot rod and you advised me to use the solid state devices and measured all
same 40-80W amplifier using Mosfets, May 1996 “Circuit Notebook” version passive components and wiring and
IGBTs and bipolar transistors in the which I have completed but, unfortu- swapped the programmer ICs from
output stage. nately, it does not work. I have built one of my sons’ cars.
The IGBT output stage gave about two programmable ignition units Can you give me any advice?. (F.
10% more power than the bipolar out- which work off the points and fitted W., Airport West, Vic).
put stage which was about 12% better them to my sons’ Corollas and they ¢ Two points should be noted: (1) the
than the Mosfet output. However, the work fine. 330Q resistor at pin 6 of the MC3334
IGBT design also gave the worst dis- In summary, I have tested the should be deleted; and (2) we suspect
tortion. reluctor ignition unit/distributor that either Q3 or Q4 is faulty or the
So the answer is that the IGBT de- (Motorcraft unit) separately and it pro- incorrect type, because LED1 does not
sign would be more efficient but would duces a healthy spark and works nor- light when Q4 is connected. SC
MARCH 1997 93
 Cash in your surplus gear. Advertise it here in Silicon Chip.

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cents for each additional word. Display ads (casual rate): $25 per column to develop C and ASM software for
centimetre (Max. 10cm). Closing date: five weeks prior to month of sale.
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form below & send it with your cheque or credit card details to: Silicon Chip semblers for these CPUs + 6800/01/
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6503. Debug monitors: $70 for 6 CPUs. All
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94 SILICON CHIP
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68HC16 $139.95 each + $3 p&h e Ph (02)9974 1189 Fax (02)9974 5491
4Mb 30 PIN-70
.
$42
16Mb Tecra 500/610 Sat $229
4Mb 72 PIN-70 $50 $30 Allother models available $Call
Now on special is the SDK, a pack- 8Mb 72 PIN-70 Pv Pe
16Mb 72 PIN-70 $144 $115
age of ALL the DDS “C” compilers for 32Mb 72 PIN-70 $274 $230
16Mb T.Pad 755, 360 EDO $257
All other models available $Call
$399 + $6 p&h * EMILY52 is a PC BUSINESS FOR SALE - GATTON, QLD 4Mb/8Mb $30/50
DIMMS
4Mb - SO - 72 PIN $46
based 8051/52 high speed simulator TV, Video, Microwave, Audio Repairs. 16Mb/32Mb $102/222 gmp -SO-72 PIN $82
16Mb 11)
-SO -72 PIN: $147
$69.95 + $3 p&h « DDS demo disks Little Opposition. Excellent Figs. Huge Potential. ee ennentyy 8Mb/16Mb- 168 PIN $58/104
For Quick Sale: $30,000 S.A.V. 64Mb/256Mb = $1212/2472 +32Mb/64Mb- 168 PIN $258/480
$7 + $3 p&h « VHS VIDEO from the SYNCHRONOUS (SRAM)
Claire Stewarts Business Brokers 4Mb HP 4&5 $60 168 PIN -8Mb $90
USA (PAL) “CNC X-Y-Z using car alter- )38 4377 + 018 71 8Mb HP 4 & 5 $90 168 PIN - 16Mb $171
Allother models available $Call 168 PIN -32Mb $342
nators” (uses car aiternators as cheap Ex Tax Pricing — Delivery $8. Pricing as at 31/01/97. Phone for latest.
power stepper motors!) $49.95 + $6. Sales Tax 22%.
Credit Cards Welcome. We Also Buy And Trade-in Memory.
p&h (includes diagrams) * Device pro- lens. A.S. & S. (09) 349 9413. Fax (09) P=LHA Suite 6, 2 Hillcrest Rd, Ph: (02) 9980 6988
gramming EPROMs/PALS etc from 344 5905. Memory Pty Ltd
Pennant Hills, 2120.
Email:
Fax: (02) 99806991
pelham1 @ozemail.com.au
$1.50 * Fixed price electronic design
and PCB layout ¢ Credit cards ac-
cepted « All goods sent certified mail WARNING ! WARNING 1 MT lux infrared & low light. TEENY WEENY
e Call Bob for more details. MICRO- VIDEO CAMERA MODULES Beware 28x28mm PCBs. ELEVEN board
CRAFT, PO Box 514, Concord NSW of low prices for a similar camera! lenses. FOUR pinhole lenses. SIX C/
2137. Phone (02) 9744 5440 or fax BUY A BETTER CAMERA AT A SIMI- CS mount lenses. IR & polarising fil-
(02) 9744 9280. LAR PRICE! With a CHOICE OF .... ters. 800 + nm 52 mW/Sr IR LEDs.
380, 460 & 600 TVL resolution. 0.05 Ancillary equipment, AFTER-SALES
VIDEO CAMERA MODULES from
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infrared sensitive. Ultra tiny 28mm x
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WITH FILE VIEWER
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349 9413. Fax (09) 344 5905. page for quick browsing, or you can use the search function. All commands are
listed on the screen, so you'll always know what to do next.
COLOUR VIDEO CAMERA MOD-
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Auto shutter. Small. Light. (09) 349 & Errata (if any) for all articles published in SILICON CHIP. Not an index but a
9413. complete copy of all Notes & Errata text (diagrams not included). The file viewer
is included in the price, so that you can quickly locate the item of interest.
VIDEO AUDIO TRANSMITTERS 7"
wireless CCTV sets. TX/RX module The Floppy Index and Notes & Errata files are supplied in ASCII format on a 3.5-
pair only $80. (09) 349 9413. Fax (09) inch or 5.25-inch floppy disc to suit PC-compatible computers. Note: the File
344 5905. Viewer requires MSDOS 3.3 or above.

Price $7.00 each + $3 p&p. Send your order to: Silicon Chip Publications, PO
CAMERA MODULE: PCB size just Box 139, Collaroy 2097; or phone (02) 979 5644 & quote your credit card
28mmx28mm, infrared & low light sen- number; or fax the details to (02) 979 6503. Please specify 3.5-inch or 5.25-
inch disc.
sitive, with 2.8, 3.7 or 5.5mm pinhole

MARCH 1997 95
SERVICE, HELP and ADVICE! Be-
fore you buy! Ask for our very de- Microprocessor For Advertising Index
tailed, illustrated price list with appli-
cation notes. Also available CCTV tech-
Digital Effects Unit
Av-Comm
nical, design & training manuals and This is the 68HC705-C8P programm-
interactive CD ROMs. Allthings Sales ed microprocessor IC for the Digital
Effects Unit (see Feb. 1995). Dick Smith Electronics ...4,5,14-17
& Services 09 349 9413. Fax (09) 344
5905. Price: $45 + $6 p+p
Payment by cheque, money order or Earthquake Audio
DIY SECURITY ALARM SUPPLIES credit card to: Silicon Chip Publica-
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etc. Send for price list. All prices whole-
sale. AFFORDABLE ALARMS, 7 Fire- Instant PCBs
fly Crescent, Lawnton, Qld. 4501.
68HCO5 & HC11 DEVELOPMENT
EDUCATIONAL ELECTRONIC KITS: SYSTEMS: Oztechnics, PO Box 38,
Best prices. Easy to build. Full de- Illawong NSW 2234. Phone (02) 9541
tails. Latest technology. LESSON 0310. Fax (02) 9541 0734.
PLANS FOR TEACHERS - see our http://www.oztechnics.com.au/
web page. Send $2 stamp for catalog Macservice
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McGregor St, Numurkah, Vic. 3636. duction run surplus, $4 each + P&P,
negotiable for quantities 25+. Contact MicroZed Computers
Ph/fax (058) 62 1915. Or Email
[email protected] and let us send Greg at NowTech Sydney on 0414-
details. Go http://www.cnl.com.au/ 331-968, 24 hours Oatley Electronics
~laurie.c or BBS (058) 62 3303.
Download details free anytime. HOMEMADE GENERATORS: how to
instructions. Eight pages free text and Pelham
RAIN BRAIN AND DIGI-TEMP KITS: colour photos on the Internet at http://
8-station controller and 8-channel, www.onekw.co.nz/onekw Resurrection Radio
RS232 digital thermometer uses the
incredible DS1820 sensor. Call Man- CAR/RALLY COMPUTER KIT: includ-
Rod Irving Electronics
tis Micro Products, 38 Garnet St, ing fuel sensor & speed sensor.
Niddrie, 3042. P/F/A (03) 9337 1917.
PCBs MADE, ONE OR MANY. Low Silicon Chip Back Issues
http:/;www.home.aone.net.aumantismp
prices. Hobbyists welcome. Sesame
SIMPLE PIC84 PROGRAMMER: LED Electronics (02) 9554 9760. Silicon Chip Bookshop
model 6 lights $65, LCD 16x2 char.
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gramming service. Eastern Electron- 38x38x17mm. Low light & infrared sen-
ics (02) 9789-3616, Fax (02) 9718- sitive. 437 664 element sensor CCD. Silicon Chip Car Projects
4762. A.S. & S. Ph 09 349 9413.
Silicon Chip Model Railway
Projects Book

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: Zoom Magazine
_ These binders will protect your copies
of SILICON CHIP. :
:
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y Each binder holds up to 14 issues : CHIP projects are made by:
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9979 5644 & quote your credit card details or fax (02) 9979 6503. i 828 5730.
ot
96 SILICON CHIP
 As someone interested in technicalities, you’re sure
to find many articles of interest inZOOM - Australia’s
best auto tech magazine.
This new issue is out now, jam-packed with some
of the best cars you’ll find anywhere in Australia.
Cars like atriple-rotor RX-7 with an estimated
550 bhp (yes, 550!) Or anMX-5 which can match
it with the latest model Porsche around Phillip
co Island. How about one of the very few factory-
econ ier approved and fully ADR’d Falcon Turbos in
VN! existence? Or if you have a few bob, you could
NNN think about a magnificent stroked HSV
ail - Caprice. Then again, it has had more than one
hundred and fifty grand ploughed into it!
Then there’s an in-depth story of the Honda
Dream, the solar-powered car which recently won
the Darwin to Adelaide race. If that’s not your speed, how
about an 8.1 litre, 1420 bhp performance machine
which guzzles two litres every kilometre without a wheel in
site - just a dirty big propeller and a racing hull (did we
forget to mention it’s a boat?).
Of course, ZOOM is packed with the usual technical
features designed to help you get maximum performance
from what ever you drive. Features suchas “Skid Row” -
retrofitting an anti-lock braking system. Or our comparison
FEBRUARY/MARCH EDITION test of blow-off valves for turbo cars. We even show you
how to build a flow-meter for abour five bucks... and how
to design speaker boxes for your cars.
Speaking of car sound, one pictorial feature shows various
approaches to filling up the boot with sound gear...
another shows how to (and how not to) pick the right
wheels for your car; and yet another...
Sorry, we’ve only had space to tell you about half of the
features in this issue of ZOOM. The rest? You'll have to get
your copy to find out!
 Order Direct
From
SILICON CHIP SFT Sa
SHER OF SS A)
<< ag

This book has 14 model railway

projects for you to build, Please send me copies of 14 Model Railway Projects
including pulse power throttle
Enclosed is my cheque/money order for $ or please debit my
controllers, a level crossing
detector with matching lights & [J Bankcard ([JVisaCard [LJ Master Card
sound effects, & diesel sound &
steam sound simulators. If you — cadNo. | | | | JL] | L_LILELLILELL | |
are a model railway enthusiast,
then this collection of projects Signature CCC Card expiry date____/___
from SILICON CHIP is a must. Reine Phone No (
PLEASE PRINT

Price: $7.95 Street

if

plus $3 p&p
Suburb/town Postcode
e